Pyrolytic kinetics of sludge from a petrochemical factory wastewater treatment plant--a transition state theory approach

The pyrolysis of hydrocarbon-rich sludge in an oxygen-free environment can provide useful liquefaction products and residues. When applied to sewage sludge, energy and time costs are the major factors that affect the operation. Therefore, it is important to understand how the process is affected by temperature. The pyrolysis kinetics of sludge from a petrochemical factory wastewater treatment plant was studied to reveal the effects of temperature on the reaction rate and the magnitude of deltaH and deltaS of the reaction barrier. Oven-dried sludge samples were pyrolyzed in an isothermal reactor under six different temperatures. The residues were weighed at frequent intervals within a total 30-min experiment period. Data analysis indicated that a first order reaction model could describe the pyrolysis kinetics, across all experimental temperature ranges. When transition state theory was applied, the results indicated that the major reaction barrier came from the entropy term of the activation free energy. Therefore, increasing the pyrolysis temperature to overcome the reaction barrier yielded no apparent improvement, but strategies that reduced the entropy should significantly improve the reaction.     

A METHODOLOGY FOR OUTDOOR RECREATION ANALYSIS IN A STATE WATER RESOURCES PLANNING STUDY1

ABSTRACT: The paper presents a methodology for outdoor recreation analysis in a comprehensive State water resources planning study. This methodology applies to determination of recreation participation desires among the population, allocation of those desires to areas of potential resources within which they must be satisfied, comparison of the areal potential resources against the allocated desires to identify areas having recreational resource deficits or needs, and exploration of alternative solutions to the identified needs. Major elements discussed are: market area, inflow-outflow, resource desire determination and projection, resource desire allocation, facility inventory, resource desire-resource analysis and alternative solutions to identified needs of water-oriented outdoor recreation.     

Effects of chlorides on emissions of toxic compounds in waste incineration: study on partitioning characteristics of heavy metal

Chlorides derived from plastics and food residue content in MSW will affect the formation and partitioning of metal chlorides in the incineration discharges. Our study investigated the effects of waste-derived chlorides on the partitioning of heavy metals in a single-metal combustion system. The results indicate that the heavy metal partitioning behaviors are mainly affected by the presence of chloride, alkaline metals (i.e., Na, K) and moisture in the wastes. The configuration of the metal partitioning is determined by the availability of chlorine, hydrogen, and alkaline metals, or the extent to which the elements may divide from their compounds at a given combustion temperature. The effects of chlorides, including PVC, C2Cl4, FeCl3, NaCl and KCl, were also discussed.     

世界与中国核电市场寿命周期探索

核电是高效、安全、清洁、经济的能源 ,但它和一切进入市场的产品一样 ,有其市场寿命周期。世界核电发展 5 0年 ,经历了市场寿命的投入期、成长期 ,现在处于成熟期 ;中国核电发展十多年 ,已进入成长期。笔者探索了世界与中国核电市场寿命分期 ,各期产生转换的动因 ,重点探讨了核电市场前景 ;同时认为 ,世界核电在未来的 2 0年左右 ,由于退役装机容量大于新增装机容量 ,可能出现阶段衰退 ,但会继续发展 ,进入新的寿命周期 ;而中国核电由于社会、经济快速发展 ,能源资源的不足 ,能源、电力结构调整与地区优化 ,环境与生态可持续发展等多方因素 ,仍需要不断发展 ,预测中国核电将有 6 0年以上的发展期。     

OPTIMUM USE OF PADDY FIELDS FOR FLOOD MITIGATION1

In Taiwan, the continuously increasing levels of rice imports are likely to result in surplus paddy fields. Hence, the surplus paddy fields may be developed into wetlands to increase ground water recharge, provide appropriate environments for wildlife, and most importantly, store flood water. This study developed a hydrological model incorporating the distributed rainfall‐runoff model based on the kinematics wave approach and the distributed tank model for simulation, respectively, in mountainous and flat areas. The hydrological model was found to simulate the rainfall‐runoff behavior well in the study area. Furthermore, a decision method based on the genetic algorithm concepts was proposed to give policy makers the optimal location and area size of paddy fields to construct wetlands for flood mitigation.     

基于旅游生态足迹模型的陕西省旅游可持续发展研究

在介绍生态足迹理论基础上,将旅游生态足迹引入区域旅游可持续发展评价,阐述了旅游生态足迹的概念,并构建旅游生态足迹模型,用于衡量旅游可持续发展能力。以陕西省作为研究对象,对旅游生态足迹模型在大尺度区域旅游业可持续发展定量测度中的运用进行实证研究,计算其1991年至2008年的旅游生态足迹。结果表明:陕西省出现了不同程度的旅游生态赤字和生态压力,平均存在0.033 1hm2/人的旅游生态赤字,其旅游业处于不可持续发展状态。最后提出未来实现旅游业可持续发展的建议。     

Photoelectrochemical degradation of Methylene Blue with -PbO2 electrodes driven by visible light irradiation

-PbO2 electrodes were prepared by electro-deposition and characterized by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and linear sweep voltammetry. We confirmed pure -PbO2 crystals were on the electrode and it had a high oxygen evolution potential. The photoactivity and photoelectrochemical (PEC) properties of the -PbO2 electrode were investigated under visible light irradiation ( > 420 nm) for the decolorization of Methylene Blue. Pseudo first-order kinetics parameter (Kapp) for dye decolorization using the -PbO2 electrode achieved 6.71×10?4 min?1 under visible light irradiation, which indicated its excellent visible light-induced photoactivity. The Kapp of the PEC process was as much as 1.41×10?3 min?1 and was 1.71 times that of visible light irradiation or electrolysis even in the presence of the -PbO2 electrode. A significant synergetic effect was observed in the PEC system. We also employed TiO2 modified -PbO2 electrodes in this test, which revealed that the TiO2 immobilized on the -PbO2 electrode inhibited the visible light-induced PEC efficiency despite the amount of TiO2 used for electrode preparation. The -PbO2 electrode was also superior to the dimensionally stable anode (Ti/Ru0:3Ti0:7O2) in visible light-induced photoactivity and PEC efficiency.     

Improving the Synthesis Gas Quality in Catalytic Gasification of Rice Straw by an Integrated Hot-Gas Cleaning System

This research investigates an enhanced removal rate of tar and trace pollutants (e.g. hydrogen chloride and hydrogen sulfide, H₂S) in the gasification of rice straw, using an integrated in situ tar reduction and hot-gas cleaning technique. The gasification temperature was set at 900°C and equilibrium ratio (ER) was 0.30 in the gasifier. In the in situ tar reduction method, the catalyst, dolomite with an amended ratio of 0–15% was introduced to the gasifier. The integrated hot-gas cleaning system applied a multi-packed tower to remove the tar, sulfur and/or chlorine byproduct in syngas at 250°C. The packed materials composed of zeolite, calcined dolomite and activated carbon. The experimental results indicated that the tar concentration of syngas was approximately 20 g/kg. However, in catalytic gasification with 5% dolomite addition, the tar concentration reduced to 17 g/kg. The tar reduction efficiency was approximately 15% by an in situ dolomite addition. When applying the integrated hot-gas cleanup system, the tar was virtually eliminated. The total tar elimination rate was almost 100% and the cleaned syngas could be applied in other energy utilization equipment. On the other hand, the H₂S and HCl concentration were 101 ppmv and 991 ppmv, respectively. After the integrated syngas cleaning system, the H₂S and HCl were decreased to 7.9 ppmv and 410 ppmv with a removal efficiency of 92.1% and 58.6%, respectively. It can be concluded that combining the in situ method with the integrated syngas cleaning system can effectively reduce the amount of byproduct and enhance the syngas quality in the gasification of rice straw.     

Investigation of drinking water bacterial community through high-throughput sequencing

<正>Delivery of safe and pathogen-free drinking water is crucial to public health.However,there exist challenges to the maintenance of the sterility of drinking water throughout the drinking water distribution systems(DWDS).Microbial growth in DWDS,such as growth of opportunistic pathogenic microorganisms,can lead to severe health problems in consumers(Berry et al.,2006;Brettar and Hofle,2006;Lu et al.,2014;Zhang et al.,2015).     

Pedestrian crossing behavior,an observational study in the city of Ushuaia,Argentina

Objectives: Pedestrian crashes are a critical problem in Latin American countries. However, little research has been published about pedestrians and even less about their behaviors in a naturalistic context. The objective of the present research was to explore risky pedestrian crossing behaviors in traffic intersections in an argentine city (Ushuaia). It is focused in different stages of the crossing process, traffic code violations, and other potentially risky behaviors such as distractions. A high frequency of risky behaviors among pedestrians was expected. Moreover, according to previous findings, it was hypothesized that men and younger pedestrians would show riskier behaviors.

Methods: Participants were 802 pedestrians (53.9% females) observed at several intersections (with and without traffic lights) in the city of Ushuaia. Behaviors were codified following a standardized observation protocol. Observers documented information on behavior previous to, during, and after crossing. Gender and age were also registered. Data were gathered through video recording. Frequency analyses of observed behaviors were conducted for the total sample, as well as by gender and by age group. A general crossing risk index was calculated to facilitate comparisons between the genders and age groups. We conducted an analysis of variance to evaluate gender and age differences for this index.

Results: A high proportion of risky behaviors were observed among pedestrians. The majority of pedestrian waited in the street (as opposed to on the sidewalk) before crossing, did not comply with traffic lights, or crossed outside the crosswalk. A large number of pedestrians were distracted while crossing. Men presented higher scores on risky behaviors than women. No differences were observed by age group.

Conclusions: The high level of risk behaviors during the different stages of street crossing is worrisome and reinforces the idea that pedestrians are responsible for many of the conflicts with motorists. Many of the risky behaviors seem to be associated with gender, which is in line with the previous literature showing more risk behaviors among men than among women. No differences were found for age group. Findings are interpreted considering some features of the Argentine road culture.