Performance of low temperature Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs) catalyzed by mixed bacterial consortia

Microbial Fuel Cells(MFCs) are a promising technology for treating wastewater in a sustainable manner. In potential applications, low temperatures substantially reduce MFC performance. To better understand the effect of temperature and particularly how bioanodes respond to changes in temperature, we investigated the current generation of mixed-culture and pure-culture MFCs at two low temperatures, 10°C and 5°C. The results implied that the mixed-culture MFC sustainably performed better than the pure-culture(Shewanella) MFC at 10°C, but the electrogenic activity of anodic bacteria was substantially reduced at the lower temperature of 5°C. At 10°C, the maximum output voltage generated with the mixed-culture was 540–560 m V, which was 10%–15% higher than that of Shewanella MFCs. The maximum power density reached 465.3 ± 5.8 m W/m~2 for the mixed-culture at10°C, while only 68.7 ± 3.7 m W/m~2 was achieved with the pure-culture. It was shown that the anodic biofilm of the mixed-culture MFC had a lower overpotential and resistance than the pure-culture MFC. Phylogenetic analysis disclosed the prevalence of Geobacter and Pseudomonas rather than Shewanella in the mixed-culture anodic biofilm, which mitigated the increase of resistance or overpotential at low temperatures.     

Pseudomonas sp. ZXY-1, a newly isolated and highly efficient atrazine-degrading bacterium, and optimization of biodegradation using response surface methodology

Atrazine, a widely used herbicide, is increasing the agricultural production effectively, while also causing great environmental concern. Efficient atrazine-degrading bacterium is necessary to removal atrazine rapidly to keep a safe environment. In the present study, a new atrazine-degrading strain ZXY-1, identified as Pseudomonas, was isolated. This new isolated strain has a strong ability to biodegrade atrazine with a high efficiency of 9.09 mg/L/hr.Temperature, p H, inoculum size and initial atrazine concentration were examined to further optimize the degradation of atrazine, and the synthetic effect of these factors were investigated by the response surface methodology. With a high quadratic polynomial mathematical model(R~2= 0.9821) being obtained, the highest biodegradation efficiency of 19.03 mg/L/hr was reached compared to previous reports under the optimal conditions(30.71°C, pH 7.14, 4.23%(V/V) inoculum size and 157.1 mg/L initial atrazine concentration).Overall, this study provided an efficient bacterium and approach that could be potentially useful for the bioremediation of wastewater containing atrazine.     

Research on the degradation mechanism of pyridine in drinking water by dielectric barrier discharge

Pyridine, an important chemical raw material, is widely used in industry, for example in textiles,leather, printing, dyeing, etc. In this research, a dielectric barrier discharge(DBD) system was developed to remove pyridine, as a representative type of nitrogen heterocyclic compound in drinking water. First, the influence of the active species inhibitors tertiary butanol alcohol(TBA),HCO_3~-, and CO_3~(2-)on the degradation rate of pyridine was investigated to verify the existence of active species produced by the strong ionization discharge in the system. The intermediate and final products generated in the degradation process of pyridine were confirmed and analyzed through a series of analytical techniques, including liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry(LC–MS), high performance liquid chromatography(HPLC), ion chromatography(IC), total organic carbon(TOC) analysis, ultraviolet(UV) spectroscopy, etc. The results showed that the degradation of pyridine was mainly due to the strong oxidizing power of ozone and hydroxyl radical produced by the DBD system. Several intermediate products including 3-hydroxyl pyridine, fumaric acid, 2, 3-dihydroxypyridine, and oxalic acid were detected. Nitrogen was removed from the pyridine molecule to form nitrate. Through analysis of the degradation mechanism of pyridine, the oxidation pathway was deduced. The study provided a theoretical and experimental basis for the application of DBD strong ionization discharge in treatment of nitrogen heterocyclic compounds in drinking water.     

Assessment of the maximum allowed acid deposition load at current stage in China

Soil acidification caused by acid deposition has been significant in some forests in southern China. We present an approach for assessing the current stage maximum allowed load (SML) of acid deposition for terrestrial system in the country. The main idea was that soil base cation exchange as a finite buffer to acidity was included in the soil acidity mass balance calculation at current acidification stage. We calculated the SML for five forests in southern China. The usual critical loads for the same forests were also calculated by the steady state mass balance model for comparison. The results showed that the SML is a more tolerant limit than the critical load for the forests with soils not acidified seriously at current stage. However, the SML become a more stringent limit to acid deposition when the forest soils have acidified seriously to very low base cation saturation. In this case the SML assessment is beneficial for the soils recovering from a serious acidified state. Based on a national scale database, the SML mapping for non-agricultural soil system in China was carried out.     

Capability of cation exchange technology to remove proven N-nitrosodimethylamine precursors

N-nitrosodimethylamine(NDMA) precursors consist of a positively charged dimethylamine group and a non-polar moiety, which inspired us to develop a targeted cation exchange technology to remove NDMA precursors. In this study, we tested the removal of two representative NDMA precursors, dimethylamine(DMA) and ranitidine(RNTD), by strong acidic cation exchange resin. The results showed that pH greatly affected the exchange efficiency, with high removal(DMA 78% and RNTD 94%) observed at pH pk_a-1 when the molar ratio of exchange capacity to precursor was 4. The exchange order was obtained as follows: Ca~(2+) Mg~(2+) RNTD~+ K~+ DMA~+ NH_4~+ Na~+. The partition coefficient of DMA~+to Na~+was 1.41 ± 0.26, while that of RNTD~+to Na~+was 12.1 ± 1.9. The pseudo second-order equation fitted the cation exchange kinetics well. Bivalent inorganic cations such as Ca~(2+)were found to have a notable effect on NA precursor removal in softening column test. Besides DMA and RNTD, cation exchange process also worked well for removing other 7 model NDMA precursors. Overall, NDMA precursor removal can be an added benefit of making use of cation exchange water softening processes.     

原子吸收法测定海水中铁含量的不确定度评定

为了保证海水中铁元素含量的检测质量,更好地深入了解铁在整个海水体系的生物地球化学中扮演的角色,需科学地评定检测结果的分散性。文章依据《测量不确定度的评定与表示》(JJF1059-1999)的理论,以浙江近海海水为例,评定原子吸收法测定海水中铁含量的不确定度。测得浙江近海样品中铁的浓度为5.2μg/L,扩展不确定度U=0.8μg/L(k=2)。通过对各不确定度分量进行评定发现,利用该方法测定海水中铁含量时,对其合成标准不确定度的主要贡献来自于样品制备过程,尤其是萃取过程。     

辽河三角洲地区土地利用及生态服务价值变化研究

以辽河三角洲地区为例,利用修正的生态服务价值当量因子表结合服务价值评估方法,分析了3个时期土地利用格局时空动态变化特征及其服务价值变化状况。结果表明:研究区土地利用以水田为主,占56.76%,其次为湿地和建设用地,分别占15.29%和14.77%,3种土地利用类型占总面积的86.82%;1986~2000年土地利用格局变化较大,而2000~2010年土地利用格局变化程度较小,两个时段内建设用地面积都稳步增加,湿地面积均逐渐下降;研究区土地利用服务的总价值逐年减少,湿地服务价值对总服务价值的贡献度最大,占总服务价值的60%以上。     

好氧MBBR处理含吲哚废水的工艺优化试验研究

为了处理制药企业废水中吲哚类有机污染物,采用好氧MBBR(移动床生物膜反应器)工艺对含吲哚废水进行了试验研究,通过考察HRT、曝气量、吲哚冲击负荷等工艺条件对吲哚、COD和NH_4~+-N等去除效果的影响,确定了好氧MBBR反应器的最佳工艺条件。实验结果表明,在HRT在6~18 h变化时,MBBR工艺对吲哚去除率在8 h以上时达到100%,COD去除率在8 h达到89.65%,而NH_4~+-N去除率在12 h达到最高。在曝气量为0.1~0.12 m L/min时,MBBR工艺对COD和NH_4~+-N去除率分别为88.88%~92.95%和65%~66.83%。进水吲哚浓度25~65 mg/L变化时,好氧MBBR对吲哚去除率保持在100%,而对COD和NH_4~+-N去除率也保持在80%和40%以上,表明好氧MBBR工艺在处理难降解有机污染物方面具有显著优势。     

紫外消毒对城市污水处理厂耐药菌去除的影响研究

通过选取假单胞杆菌、鲍曼不动杆菌以及芽孢杆菌3种耐药菌作为研究对象,研究紫外光变化对这3种耐药菌的去除效果,得出较好的紫外消毒条件,应用到实际的污水处理厂消毒过程中。结果表明,紫外消毒对3种耐药菌都有很好的灭活效果。     

低碳经济背景下我国产业结构升级对策研究

为了实现我国经济的平稳发展,改变以"高消耗、高增长、高污染"的传统经济增长方式,解决资源的过度消耗和温室气体的过量排放等问题,文章从我国产业及内部结构、产业的碳排放量和产业节能率三个方面进行了分析,提出了在低碳经济背景下实现我国产业结构升级的对策。