Comparative quantification of oxygen release by wetland plants: electrode technique and oxygen consumption model

Understanding oxygen release by plants is important to the design of constructed wetlands for wastewater treatment. Lab-scale systems planted with Phragmites australis were studied to evaluate the amount of oxygen release by plants using electrode techniques and oxygen consumption model. Oxygen release rate (0.14 g O₂/m²/day) measured using electrode techniques was much lower than that (3.94–25.20 gO₂/m²/day) calculated using the oxygen consumption model. The results revealed that oxygen release by plants was significantly influenced by the oxygen demand for the degradation of pollutants, and the oxygen release rate increased with the rising of the concentration of degradable materials in the solution. The summary of the methods in qualifying oxygen release by wetland plants demonstrated that variations existed among different measuring methods and even in the same measuring approach. The results would be helpful for understanding the contribution of plants in constructed wetlands toward actual wastewater treatment.     

The influences of pH and ionic strength on the sorption of tylosin on goethite

As one of the widely used antibiotics in the world, the environmental risks of tylosin (TYL) received more and more attention. In order to assess its environmental fate and ecological effects accurately, it is necessary to understand the sorption properties of TYL on the soils/sediments. The sorption of TYL on goethite at different pH and ionic strength conditions were measured through a series of batch experiments and the sorption data of TYL were fitted by Freundlich and dual-mode sorption models. It was obvious that sorption was strongly dependent on pH and ionic strength. Sorption capacity of TYL increased as the pH increased and ionic strength decreased. The pH and ionic strength-dependent trends might be related with complexation between cationic/neutral TYL species and goethite. The sorption affinity of TYL on goethite decreased as ionic strength increased, which only occurred at higher TYL concentrations, suggested that inner complex might have dominated process at low concentrations and outer complex might occur at higher concentrations of TYL. Spectroscopic evidence indicated that tricarbonylamide and hydroxyl functional groups of TYL might be accounted for the sorption on mineral surfaces. The experimental data of TYL sorption could be fitted by surface complexation model (FITEQL), indicating that ≡FeOH with TYL interaction could be reasonably represented as a complex formation of a monoacid with discrete sites on goethite. The sorption mechanism of TYL might be related with surface complexation, electrostatic repulsion, and H-bounding on goethite. It should be noticed that the heterogeneous of sorption affinity of TYL on goethite at various environment to assess its environment risk.     

Positive matrix factorization as source apportionment of soil lead and cadmium around a battery plant (Changxing County,China)

Chemical compositions of soil samples are multivariate in nature and provide datasets suitable for the application of multivariate factor analytical techniques. One of the analytical techniques, the positive matrix factorization (PMF), uses a weighted least square by fitting the data matrix to determine the weights of the sources based on the error estimates of each data point. In this research, PMF was employed to apportion the sources of heavy metals in 104 soil samples taken within a 1-km radius of a lead battery plant contaminated site in Changxing County, Zhejiang Province, China. The site is heavily contaminated with high concentrations of lead (Pb) and cadmium (Cd). PMF successfully partitioned the variances into sources related to soil background, agronomic practices, and the lead battery plants combined with a geostatistical approach. It was estimated that the lead battery plants and the agronomic practices contributed 55.37 and 29.28 %, respectively, for soil Pb of the total source. Soil Cd mainly came from the lead battery plants (65.92 %), followed by the agronomic practices (21.65 %), and soil parent materials (12.43 %). This research indicates that PMF combined with geostatistics is a useful tool for source identification and apportionment.     

Influence of soil and hydrocarbon properties on the solvent extraction of high-concentration weathered petroleum from contaminated soils

Petroleum ether was used to extract petroleum hydrocarbons from soils collected from six oil fields with different history of exploratory and contamination. It was capable of fast removing 76–94 % of the total petroleum hydrocarbons including 25 alkanes (C₁₁–C₃₅) and 16 US EPA priority polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons from soils at room temperature. The partial least squares analysis indicated that the solvent extraction efficiencies were positively correlated with soil organic matter, cation exchange capacity, moisture, pH, and sand content of soils, while negative effects were observed in the properties reflecting the molecular size (e.g., molecular weight and number of carbon atoms) and hydrophobicity (e.g., water solubility, octanol–water partition coefficient, soil organic carbon partition coefficient) of hydrocarbons. The high concentration of weathered crude oil at the order of 10⁵ mg kg^?1 in this study was demonstrated adverse for solvent extraction by providing an obvious nonaqueous phase liquid phase for hydrocarbon sinking and increasing the sequestration of soluble hydrocarbons in the insoluble oil fractions during weathering. A full picture of the mass distribution and transport mechanism of petroleum contaminants in soils will ultimately require a variety of studies to gain insights into the dynamic interactions between environmental indicator hydrocarbons and their host oil matrix.     

The adsorption process during inorganic phosphorus removal by cultured periphyton

To explain the detailed process involved in phosphorus removal by periphyton, the periphyton dominated by photoautotrophic microorganisms was employed in this study to remove inorganic phosphorus (P _i ) from wastewater, and the removal kinetics and isotherms were then evaluated for the P _i removal process. Results showed that the periphyton was capable of effectively removing P _i that could completely remove the P _i in 24 h at an initial P _i concentration of 13 mg P L^?1. Furthermore, the P _i removal process by the periphyton was dominated by adsorption at initial stage (~24 h), which involved physical mechanistic process. However, this P _i adsorption process was significantly influenced by environmental conditions. This work provides an insight into the understanding of phosphorus adsorption by periphyton or similar microbial aggregates.

甲苯对UASB反应器中溶解性微生物产物的影响

以乙酸钠为外加碳源,考察了UASB反应器内甲苯对可溶性微生物产物（SMP）的影响。实验结果表明：低质量浓度（20~70 mg/L）的甲苯对微生物有刺激作用,使得污泥增殖速率变小,SMP的质量浓度也逐渐减少,经过一段时间的驯化后,系统COD和TOC的去除率分别达到93%和94%以上,下降趋势较小;较高质量浓度（70~200 mg/L）的甲苯对微生物有抑制作用,污泥活性下降,反应器运行状况开始恶化,SMP的质量浓度也逐渐增大,经过一段时间的驯化后,系统COD和TOC的去除率分别维持在81%和83%以上;当甲苯质量浓度超过200 mg/L时,表现为污泥活性严重下降,对COD的去除效果极差。     

有机改性成都粘土预处理垃圾渗滤液

以成都粘土为原料,十六烷基三甲基溴化铵(HDTMA)为改性剂制备有机改性土,并将其应用于垃圾渗滤液的预处理。采用单因素静态吸附实验,以粘土对垃圾渗滤液COD和氨氮的去除率作为考查指标,初步探究有机改性土预处理垃圾渗滤液的适宜条件;并对有机改性粘土及原土进行性能表征,初步分析其吸附机理。研究结果表明,有机土的处理效果明显优于原土,处理效果上比原土提高了1.6~2.3倍;有机土预处理垃圾渗滤液适宜条件为:投加量120 g/L、搅拌速度200 r/min、搅拌时间50 min、pH=7、静置时间为6 h。     

负载型Mn-Ce/TiO2催化剂的制备及其低温脱硝活性简

以成型TiO₂作为载体,通过浸渍法制备了Mn-Ce/TiO₂低温SCR催化剂,并系统研究了制备方法、煅烧条件、活性组分担载量、Mn含量等参数对催化剂催化还原NO性能的影响。结果表明,煅烧温度的升高会促使活性组分结晶度的提高,从而引起催化活性的降低,在500℃和600℃下所得Mn-Ce/TiO₂催化剂活性组分为无定型态,表现出较高的脱硝活性。活性组分担载量的增加有利于催化活性的提高。Mn含量对Mn-Ce/TiO₂催化剂的活性有较大影响,当Mn/（Mn+Ce）摩尔比为40%和85%时,催化剂活性最高。     

镍基催化剂对污泥微波热解制生物气效能的影响

为实现污水污泥减量化、无害化及资源化的目标,在微波热解污水污泥基础上,进行了镍基催化剂对制取生物气效能影响的研究。采用元素分析对污泥元素进行检测,气/质联用分析(GC-MS)和气相色谱(GC)对热解生物气的组成和含量进行测定。实验结果表明,镍基催化剂的添加对微波热解污水污泥制取生物气有较大促进作用。5%添加量与800℃热解终温条件下具有最佳催化效果:生物气中H2、CO产量最大,H2产量由29 g/kg增加到35.8 g/kg,提升23.4%,CO产量由302.7 g/kg增加到383.3 g/kg,提升26.6%;同时催化剂还能提高热能利用效率,降低热解终温,即5%添加量在700℃热解终温时可达到空白800℃时的产气效果;镍基催化剂主要在500~600℃时发挥催化作用,加快了H2和CO的释放。微波热解污泥制取的生物气具有产量大、富含H2与CO等优点,可推动污水污泥的资源化进程。