Inverse calculation approaches for source determination in hazardous chemical releases

Source determination is vital in decision making and emergency planning involving hazardous chemical releases. This work was concentrated on inverse calculation approaches for source determination as well as current trends and future perspectives. In this paper, these different approaches are reviewed by dividing them into two categories: probability modeling methods and optimization modeling methods. The traits of these approaches are comparatively analyzed. Then it is shown how these approaches behave when applied to practical cases, and their feasibility, applicability, stability, and limitation in determining the location and strength are presented. It is argued that when experimenting with potential terrorist attacks involving hazardous chemical releases, observation points should be around the main line of the downwind direction when the source is known; while the uniform distribution of observation points is an efficient solution for unknown incidents. Probability modeling methods are demonstrated to be insufficient during emergency responses due to their lacking of enough prior information of unknown parameters, while optimization modeling methods are efficient and become a new trend in source determination. Findings reflect an urgent need for the development of high-accuracy detectors and further research of data transmission techniques in order to ensure the validity of these approaches.     

Techno-economic characteristics of wastewater treatment plants retrofitted from the conventional activated sludge process to the membrane bioreactor process

• Retrofitting from CAS to MBR increased effluent quality and environmental benefits. • Retrofitting from CAS to MBR increased energy consumption but not operating cost. • Retrofitting from CAS to MBR increased the net profit and cost efficiency. • The advantage of MBR is related to the adopted effluent standard. • The techno-economy of MBR improves with stricter effluent standards. While a growing number of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are being retrofitted from the conventional activated sludge (CAS) process to the membrane bioreactor (MBR) process, the debate on the techno-economy of MBR vs. CAS has continued and calls for a thorough assessment based on techno-economic valuation. In this study, we analyzed the operating data of 20 large-scale WWTPs (capacity≥10000 m³/d) and compared their techno-economy before and after the retrofitting from CAS to MBR. Through cost-benefit analysis, we evaluated the net profit by subtracting the operating cost from the environmental benefit (estimated by the shadow price of pollutant removal and water reclamation). After the retrofitting, the removal rate of pollutants increased (e.g., from 89.0% to 93.3% on average for NH₃-N), the average energy consumption increased from 0.40 to 0.57 kWh/m³, but the operating cost did not increase significantly. The average marginal environmental benefit increased remarkably (from 0.47 to 0.66 CNY/g for NH₃-N removal), leading to an increase in the average net profit from 19.4 to 24.4 CNY/m³. We further scored the technical efficiencies via data envelopment analysis based on non-radial directional distance functions. After the retrofitting, the relative cost efficiency increased from 0.70 to 0.73 (the theoretical maximum is 1), while the relative energy efficiency did not change significantly. The techno-economy is closely related to the effluent standard adopted, particularly when truncating the extra benefit of pollutant removal beyond the standard in economic modeling. The modeling results suggested that MBR is more profitable than CAS given stricter effluent standards.     

Testing the efficacy of camera-trap sampling designs for monitoring giant pandas in a heterogeneous landscape

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The use of camera traps is prevalent in the ecological study of giant pandas (Ailuropoda melanoleuca). The reliability of camera-trap surveying...     

火灾扑救模拟演练DIS系统框架的研究

论述了分布式交互仿真 (DistributedInteractiveSimulation ,简称DIS)技术在火灾扑救模拟演练中的应用 ,给出其系统框架 ;详细描述了该DIS系统中的白方系统、蓝方系统和红方系统的具体组成功能部分 ;提出了实现这些功能的软件平台。最后给出了研究DIS在火灾扑救演练应用中的结论 ;指出未来的发展方向 ,强调了实际应用中可能出现的技术难点     

饮用水消毒副产物研究状况

本文介绍了饮用水中消毒副产物的研究状况。其中重点介绍了饮用水的消毒方式及四类消毒副产物的产生、浓度、存在形态及影响因素等。简单介绍了饮用水中消毒副产物的采集、前处理方法及污染控制对策等     

增补UV-B辐射下南亚热带森林建群树种叶片对UV-B辐射的防护

研究了我国南亚热带森林5种建群树种UV-B辐射诱导的UV-B吸收物质(在280～320 nm波长下测定)的积累及抗UV-B辐射的可能性保护机制.增补UV-B辐射下,马尾松(Pinus massoniana)针叶的甲醇可溶性提取物和细胞壁的碱提取酚类的含量明显高于正常水平的光辐射下.红椎(Castanopsis hystrix)和厚壳桂(Cryptocarya chinensis)叶片的这些化学物质也升高,意味着增补UV-B辐射刺激UV-B辐射吸收物质的生成,形成抗UV-B辐射的功能性保护结构.然而,自然光下已含有大量细胞壁碱提取酚类的荷木(Schima superba)和藜蒴(Castanopsis fissa),这些化合物在增补UV-B辐射下则见下降,很有可能表皮层细胞壁碱提取酚类被转移到含有较低甲醇可溶性色素的液胞可溶性化合物里,这一现象意示着可能涉及叶肉组织光合机构的保护策略.增补UV-B下,马尾松针叶的叶绿素a和b含量不受影响,而其他4种阔叶树叶片则下降10.7% 到16.8%不等.胡萝卜素对增补UV-B辐射的响应变化不一,红椎和荷木的胡萝卜素水平下降,而马尾松、厚壳桂和藜蒴的胡萝卜素则上升,后者也许与功能性增加激发能耗散有关.结果显示,自然条件下不同树种展示出不同的驯化策略以形成抗UV-B辐射增加的防护机制.表4参29     

四川省部分豆科植物根瘤菌的遗传多样性

从四川省豆科植物鸡眼草属、合欢属、豇豆属、葛属、金合欢、杭子梢分离获得了103株根瘤菌,采用AFLP、BOXAIR-PCR研究了这些菌株的遗传多样性.结果表明,分离自四川省豆科植物6个属的根瘤菌存在明显的遗传多样性,AFLP分析中,全部供试菌株的相似性为21%,全部供试菌株可分为26个AFLP遗传群;BOXAIR-PCR聚类分析结果表明,103个菌株分在70%相似性水平处,供试菌株被分为18个BOX遗传群.除部分菌株外,多数根瘤菌按宿主类型聚群,同一宿主而地理来源不同的根瘤菌分布于不同的遗传群,表明宿主和地理环境对根瘤菌具有深刻影响.图3表1参9     

枯草芽孢杆菌胞外蛋白酶突变株的筛选及其拮抗作用

从小麦根际土壤中分离到一株对多种植物病原真菌有拮抗作用且产蛋白酶的枯草芽孢杆菌 Bacillus subtilis T2.经紫外线(UV)和硫酸二乙酯(DES)诱变处理,获得具有良好遗传稳定性的蛋白酶正负突变株.与出发菌株相比,培养48 h的正突变株胞外蛋白酶活力提高108.5%,负突变株蛋白酶活力降低81.1%,而二者的几丁质酶和β-1.3-葡聚糖酶活力均无显著变化.正突变株对棉花枯萎病菌(Fusarium oxysporum f. Sp. Vasinfectum)的平板拮抗作用增强,其粗酶液可使该菌菌丝变形膨大成珠状、原生质浓缩,萌发的孢子芽管短且畸形膨大;负突变株对该菌的平板拮抗作用显著降低,粗酶液对该菌菌丝和孢子的形态无明显作用.表明提高生防芽孢杆菌胞外蛋白酶的活力可增强其拮抗病原真菌的能力.     

气-固流化床光催化氧化甲苯的研究

在自制的流化床光催化反应装置中研究了中低浓度(28~140mg/m3)甲苯的气相光催化降解过程,考察了光照时间、初始浓度、表观气速和催化剂负载量等因素对甲苯光催化降解率的影响规律。结果表明,紫外灯照射约1·5h,甲苯的转化率达最大值,甲苯初始浓度越低,维持此最大值的时间越久;在一定低浓度范围内(28~55mg/m3),甲苯的转化率不随浓度变化,符合一级反应动力学,浓度进一步增加,则甲苯的转化率下降;表观气速和催化剂负载量的最佳值分别为3·3Umf和0·19gTiO2/gSiO2。     

清洁过程环境影响评估模块的开发

在过程开发早期阶段考虑环境问题是实现污染预防的有效手段。将环境影响评估功能集成于过程模拟软件是一项重要的工作。以通用模拟软件ECSS—ChStar为平台,开发出环境影响评估模块。该模块可以对物质流、过程单元和总流程提供环境模拟分析,并计算过程方案的环境影响指数。