Modeling cold soak evaporative vapor emissions from gasoline-powered automobiles using a newly developed method

ABSTRACT

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) evaporate and vent from a vehicle’s fuel tank to its evaporative control system when the vehicle is both driven and parked. VOCs making it past the control system are emissions. Driving and parking activity, fuel volatility, and temperature strongly affect vapor generation and the effectiveness of control technologies, and the wide variability in these factors and the sensitivity of emissions to these factors make it difficult to estimate evaporative emissions at the macro level. Established modeling methods, such as COPERT and MOVES, estimate evaporative emissions by assuming a constant in-use canister condition and consequently contain critical uncertainty when real conditions deviate from that standard condition. In this study, we have developed a new method to model canister capacity as a representative variable, and estimated emissions for all parking events based on semi-empirical functions derived from real-world activity data and laboratory measurements. As compared to chamber measurements collected during this study, the bias of the MOVES diurnal tank venting simulation ranges from ?100% to 129%, while the bias for our method’s simulation is 1.4% to 8.5%. Our modeling method is compared to the COPERT and MOVES models by estimating evaporative emissions from a Euro-3/4/5 and a Tier 2 vehicle in conditions representative for Chicago, IL, and Guangzhou, China. Estimates using the COPERT and MOVES methods differ from our method by ?56% to 120% and ?100% to 25%, respectively. The study highlights the importance for continued modeling improvement of the anthropogenic evaporative emission inventory and for tightened regulatory standards.

Implications: The COPERT and MOVES methodologies contain large uncertainties for estimating evaporative emissions, while our modeling method is developed based on chamber measurements to estimate evaporative emissions and can properly address those uncertainties. Modeling results suggested an urgent need to complete evaporative emissions inventories and also indicated that tightening evaporative emission standards is urgently needed, especially for warm areas.     

常温低基质厌氧氨氧化反应器启动及其稳定性

以上向流生物滤池为反应器,以实验室内氧化沟回流污泥为接种污泥,采用先培育好氧生物膜,后转为厌氧环境培育厌氧氨氧化生物膜的方式,成功实现了常温低基质浓度下厌氧氨氧化反应器的启动。控制反应器进水pH为7.50～7.80,NH4+-N为30～40 mg/L,NO2--N为35～50 mg/L,温度为20～25℃。224 d以后,反应器启动成功。在稳定运行阶段,出水亚硝氮和氨氮的平均浓度分别为1.4 mg/L和4.6 mg/L,平均去除率分别为95.3%和90.1%,去除比例为1～1.8∶1,主要集中在1.4～1.5∶1,亚硝氮和氨氮去除的容积负荷分别为104.2 mg/(L.d)和146.0 mg/(L.d)。     

树脂固定床吸附含酚废水预测模型研究

针对应用于实际工业化的树脂固定床吸附研究较少,而与之相关的固定床吸附穿透曲线可以用来确定固定床吸附操作参数,为固定床的设计和实际操作提供指导。通过对恒定波振荡理论和吸附等温方程的联合,来预测固定床吸附穿透曲线;并研究了不同操作条件对大孔弱碱树脂吸附对硝基酚穿透曲线预测模型的影响。以期望为树脂固定床的设计和实际工业应用产生指导意义。     

新农村建设污水处理工程实例

山海关区新民居污水治理工程采用水解酸化+接触氧化+曝气生物滤池为主的工艺进行污水治理,实际运行结果表明:系统运行稳定,处理出水COD≤48 mg.L-1,BOD5≤9 mg.L-1,SS≤10 mg.L-1,NH3-N≤4.5 mg.L-1,TP≤0.47 mg.L-1,处理出水达到《城镇污水处理厂污染物排放标准》(GB 18918-2002)一级A标准,出水用于农村绿化和农灌,经济效益和环境效益明显。     

Treatment of coking wastewater by an advanced Fenton oxidation process using iron powder and hydrogen peroxide

In this study the treatment of coking wastewater was investigated by an advanced Fenton oxidation process using iron powder and hydrogen peroxide. Particular attention was paid to the effect of initial pH, dosage of H₂O₂ and to improvement in biodegradation. The results showed that higher COD and total phenol removal rates were achieved with a decrease in initial pH and an increase in H₂O₂ dosage. At an initial pH of less than 6.5 and H₂O₂ concentration of 0.3 M, COD removal reached 44-50% and approximately 95% of total phenol removal was achieved at a reaction time of 1 h. The oxygen uptake rate of the effluent measured at a reaction time of 1 h increased by approximately 65% compared to that of the raw coking wastewater. This indicated that biodegradation of the coking wastewater was significantly improved. Several organic compounds, including bifuran, quinoline, resorcinol and benzofuranol were removed completely as determined by GC-MS analysis. The advanced Fenton oxidation process is an effective pretreatment method for the removal of organic pollutants from coking wastewater. This process increases biodegradation, and may be combined with a classical biological process to achieve effluent of high quality.     

Molecular and physiological characterization of fluoroquinolone resistance in relation to uropathogenicity among Escherichia coli isolates isolated from Wenyu River, China

Increasing antibacterial resistance and pathogenicity in the environment is of growing concern due to its potential human risk. In the present study, 236 Escherichia coli isolates were collected from Wenyu River in China on drugless (48 isolates) and quinolone-containing plates (189 isolates). Their minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) were determined ranging from 0.125 μg mL⁻¹ to 128 μg mL⁻¹. Mutation points related to fluoroquinolone resistance were observed at S83 to L and D87 to N or Y in the GyrA subunit and S80 to R or I and E84 to G in the ParC subunit. Generally, MICs of LEV and GAT are dependent on the patterns of these mutation points. The profile with three mutation points was related to LEV-resistant E. coli isolates, and the (S83L, D87N + S80I) mutation profile was most prevalent (65.7%) in LEV-resistant isolates, while a large proportion of isolates, even those with three mutation points, were susceptive to GAT. The incidence of virulence factors in LEV-resistant isolates (44.7%, 59/132) was much higher than in nonresistant isolates (23.1%, 24/104) (χ² = 11.925, 1° of freedom, p < 0.001) indicating that fluoroquinolone-resistant E. coli would pose a potential risk. A similar distribution was also found in isolates resistant to GAT (χ² = 7.843, 1° of freedom, p = 0.0079).     

Effect of humic acids on physicochemical property and Cd(II) sorption of multiwalled carbon nanotubes

Zinc pyrithione is used as an antifouling agent. However, the environmental impacts of zinc pyrithione have recently been of concern. Zinc induces diverse actions during oxidative stress; therefore, we examined the effect of zinc pyrithione on rat thymocytes suffering from oxidative stress using appropriate fluorescent probes. The cytotoxicity of zinc pyrithione was not observed when the cells were incubated with 3 μM zinc pyrithione for 3 h. However, zinc pyrithione at nanomolar concentrations (10 nM or more) significantly increased the lethality of cells suffering from oxidative stress induced by 3 mM H₂O₂. The application of zinc pyrithione alone at nanomolar concentrations increased intracellular Zn²⁺ level and the cellular content of superoxide anions, and decreased the cellular content of nonprotein thiols. The simultaneous application of nanomolar zinc pyrithione and micromolar H₂O₂ synergistically increased the intracellular Zn²⁺ level. Therefore, zinc pyrithione at nanomolar concentrations may exert severe cytotoxic action on cells simultaneously exposed to chemicals that induce oxidative stress. If so, zinc pyrithione leaked from antifouling materials into surrounding environments would be a risk factor for aquatic ecosystems. Alternatively, zinc pyrithione under conditions of oxidative stress may become more potent antifouling ingredient.     

Toxicological effect of MPA-CdSe QDs exposure on zebrafish embryo and larvae

Cadmium selenium (CdSe) quantum dots (QDs) are semiconductor nanocrystals that hold wide range of applications and substantial production volumes. Due to unique composition and nanoscale properties, their potential toxicity to aquatic organisms has increasingly gained a great amount of interest. However, the impact of CdSe QDs exposure on zebrafish embryo and larvae remains almost unknown. Therefore, the lab study was performed to determine the developmental and behavioral toxicities to zebrafish under continuous exposure to low level CdSe QDs (0.05-31.25 mg L⁻¹) coated with mercaptopropionic acid (MPA). The results showed MPA-CdSe exposure from embryo to larvae stage affected overall fitness. Our findings for the first time revealed that: (1) The 120 h LC₅₀ of MPA-CdSe for zebrafish was 1.98 mg L⁻¹; (2) embryos exposed to MPA-CdSe resulted in malformations incidence and lower hatch rate; (3) abnormal vascular of FLI-1 transgenic zebrafish larvae appeared after exposure to MPA-CdSe including vascular junction, bifurcation, crossing and particle appearance; (4) larvae behavior assessment showed during MPA-CdSe exposure a rapid transition from light-to-dark elicited a similar, brief burst and a higher basal swimming rate; (5) MPA-CdSe induced embryos cell apoptosis in the head and tail region. Results of the observations provide a basic understanding of MPA-CdSe toxicity to aquatic organisms and suggest the need for additional research to identify the toxicological mechanism.     

Exposure to heavy metals in blood and risk perception of the population living in the vicinity of municipal waste incinerators in Korea

Background, aim, and scope

The purpose of this study was to monitor and present the heavy metal concentrations in the blood of residents of areas near municipal waste incinerators (MWIs), who are more prone to environmental pollution. We also sought to compare and analyze the residents?? perception of environmental pollution as one of the factors affecting heavy metal concentrations in the blood using a survey about the perceived damage caused by the facilities. Since heavy metal levels in the blood can be affected not only by local environmental pollution but also by personal and occupational factors, heavy metal levels in the blood need to be verified and consistently monitored.

Methods

Residents who live within 300?m of MWIs in Seoul are acknowledged to be under indirect influence according to the Waste Disposal Act. A survey was given to 841 residents living within 300?m of a MWI from 2006 to 2009. The concentrations of heavy metals (lead, cadmium, and mercury) in the blood were measured in the 841 surveyed residents and in 105 residents in reference areas. Additionally, the perception of the damage caused by municipal waste incinerators was investigated using scores from 1 to 5 on a Likert scale.

Results

The measurements of the heavy metal concentrations in the blood showed that the mean concentrations of lead, cadmium, and mercury were 43.1, 1.7, and 1.3?ug/L, respectively. The blood levels of lead and cadmium were slightly higher in the group of the subjects who had resided the longest near the municipal waste incinerators. When compared with the domestic investigation by the Ministry of Environment, the concentrations of lead and cadmium were a little higher, while that of mercury was a little lower. Overall, there was no significant difference in the distribution of heavy metal levels in the blood among age groups. Additionally, the investigation of the perceived damage from municipal waste incinerators showed that the subjects     

Can body-size patterns of ciliated zooplankton be used for assessing marine water quality? A case study on bioassessment in Jiaozhou Bay, northern Yellow Sea

Introduction

In order to reveal the potential relationships between body-size patterns of microzooplankton and environmental status, the spatial patterns in body-size spectra of ciliated zooplanktons were studied based on an annual dataset in a bay of the Yellow Sea, northern China.

Materials and methods

A total of 120 samples were collected at a depth of 1?m from each of five sampling sites with a spatial gradient of environmental stress from June 2007 to May 2008. A range of physico-chemical variables were measured synchronously for comparison with biotic parameters.

Results

The spatial body-size patterns of ciliated zooplankton represented significant differences among the five sites, and were significantly correlated with the changes of physico-chemical parameters, especially salinity, dissolved oxygen and nutrients. Two paired indices, the average body-size distinctness (AvBSD) and the variation in body-size distinctness (VarBSD), were proposed based on the trait resemblances among ciliate species in body-size pattern. The paired measures showed a clear decreasing trend of departure from the expected body-size spectra in response to water quality status.

Conclusion

These results suggest that the body-size pattern of ciliated zooplankton might be used as a potential indicator of marine water quality.