Effects of landfill gas on subtropical woody plants

An account is given of the influence of landfill gas on tree growth in the field at Gin Drinkers' Bay (GDB) landfill, Hong Kong, and in the laboratory. Ten species (Acacia confusa, Albizzia lebbek, Aporusa chinensis, Bombax malabaricum, Castanopsis fissa, Liquidambar formosana, Litsea glutinosa, Machilus breviflora, Pinus elliottii, andTristania conferta), belonging to eight families, were transplanted to two sites, one with a high concentration of landfill gas in the cover soil (high-gas site, HGS) and the other with a relatively low concentration of gas (low-gas site, LGS). Apart from the gaseous composition, the general soil properties were similar. A strong negative correlation between tree growth and landfill gas concentration was observed. A laboratory study using the simulated landfill gas to fumigate seedlings of the above species showed that the adventitious root growth ofAporusa chinensis, Bombax malabaricum, Machilus breviflora, andTristania confera was stimulated by the gas, with shallow root systems being induced.Acacia confusa, Albizzia lebbek, andLitsea glutinosa were gas-tolerant, while root growth ofCastanopsis fissa, Liquidambar formosana, andPinus elliottii was inhibited. In most cases, shoot growth was not affected, exceptions beingBombax malabaricum, Liquidambar formosana, andTristania conferta, where stunted growth and/or reduced foliation was observed. A very high CO₂ concentration in cover soil limits the depth of the root system. Trees with a shallow root system become very susceptible to water stress. The effects of low O₂ concentration in soil are less important than the effects of high CO₂ concentration.Acacia confusa, Albizzia lebbek, andTristania conferta are suited for growth on subtropical completed landfills mainly due to their gas tolerance and/or drought tolerance.     

Energy and carbon balances of wood cascade chains

In this study we analyze the energy and carbon balances of various cascade chains for recovered wood lumber. Post-recovery options include reuse as lumber, reprocessing as particleboard, pulping to form paper products, and burning for energy recovery. We compare energy and carbon balances of chains of cascaded products to the balances of products obtained from virgin wood fiber or from non-wood material. We describe and quantify several mechanisms through which cascading can affect the energy and carbon balances: direct cascade effects due to different properties and logistics of virgin and recovered materials, substitution effects due to the reduced demand for non-wood materials when wood is cascaded, and land use effects due to alternative possible land uses when less timber harvest is needed because of wood cascading. In some analyses we assume the forest is a limiting resource, and in others we include a fixed amount of forest land from which biomass can be harvested for use as material or biofuel. Energy and carbon balances take into account manufacturing processes, recovery and transportation energy, material recovery losses, and forest processes. We find that land use effects have the greatest impact on energy and carbon balances, followed by substitution effects, while direct cascade effects are relatively minor.     

EFFECTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON WATER RESOURCES IN THE DELAWARE RWER BASIN1

ABSTRACT: The effects of potential climate change on water resources in the Delaware River basin were determined. The study focused on two important water-resource components in the basin: (1) storage in the reservoirs that supply New York City, and (2) the position of the salt front in the Delaware River estuary. Current reservoir operating procedures provide for releases from the New York City reservoirs to maintain the position of the salt front in the estuary downstream from freshwater intakes and ground-water recharge zones in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. A hydrologic model of the basin was developed to simulate changes in New York City reservoir storage and the position of the salt front in the Delaware River estuary given changes in temperature and precipitation. Results of simulations indicated that storage depletion in the New York City reservoirs is a more likely effect of changes in temperature and precipitation than is the upstream movement of the salt front in the Delaware River estuary. In contrast, the results indicated that a rise in sea level would have a greater effect on movement of the salt front than on storage in the New York City reservoirs. The model simulations also projected that, by decreasing current mandated reservoir releases, a balance can be reached wherein the negative effects of climate change on storage in the New York City reservoirs and the position of the salt front in the Delaware River estuary are minimized. Finally, the results indicated that natural variability in climate is of such magnitude that its effects on water resources could overwhelm the effects of long-term trends in precipitation and temperature.     

Air Pollution Effects on Forest Trees in Balikesir,Turkey

Air pollution has become an actual problem in Balikesir because of rapid urbanisation and increasing of the polluting sources. Air pollutionproblems occur under the unfavorable meteorological conditions which increase in frequency of occurrence in winter due to use of low quality lignite coals for heating. The `Protection of Air Quality' in Turkey dated 1986 is based on the human health criteria. But the critical limit values are lethal for the forest trees as far as SO₂ is concerned. The field observations showed that leaves of the trees have yellow spots indicating acid burns in Balikesir. This study aims at determining the relationships between the SO₂ concentrationsin the air under selected climatic conditions, and the effects of air pollution on forest trees in Balikesir. Samples of leaves were collected from the City Parks in Balikesir, Deirmenboaz forested area located 10 km far fromBalikesiron the Balikesir-Bursa highway, and from the forestation areas near the Balikesir-Edremit highway. Sulfur contents of the leaves were very high especially in the city (2650–5300 g m^-3).Samples from other areas had values lower than this range but above the usual values (850–3612 g m^-3). The diameter increments of the trees were found to be lower and these results clearly showed the adverse impacts. Negative correlations were found between these sulfur concentrations and the daily mean temperatures and wind speeds. Positive correlation was seen between these concentrations and pressures, humidities. Emission sources must be controlled in order to safeguard the forests which protects the soil, facilitate water production, assimilate carbon dioxide in air and produce oxygen. It must be considered that the problems are not only regional but have a global identity.     

用改性活性碳纤维去除CO2原料气中的H2S

采用固定床动态吸附实验，用改性活性碳纤维（ACF）吸附去除CO2原料气中的H2S。通过改变改性剂种类、反应温度和原料气中CO2浓度，找出用改性ACF去除CO2原料气中H2S的规律。实验结果表明：常温下，可用NaON改性的ACF来消除CO2的酸性对去除H2S的不利影响；随着反应温度的升高，CO2与ACF形成的C（O＊）中间产物增多，CO2的存在有利于改性ACF去除H2S；而当反应温度过高时，CO2与ACF形成的C（O＊）中间产物发生分解，导致ACF碳化，不利于H2S的吸附去除。     

Air quality assessment along Dhanbad - Jharia road

Road ambient air pollution status along Dhanbad – Jharia road isstudied and presented in this article. The selection of this areais made considering the importance of the road in Dhanbad district and the nature of activities taking place along the road, which reflect that the portion of road upto Dhansar can be considered as having commercial areas on both sides and that from Dhansar to Jharia as having industrial areas on both sides.For the assessment of the ambient air quality along the road monitoring is done at the following five locations: Indian Schoolof Mines (ISM), main gate; Bankmore; Dhansar police check post; Dhansar opencast project agent office and a residential house beside the Rajapur opencast project. The location of ISM, maingate is specially chosen as this represents a commercial shoppingcomplexes and the situation can be compared with that at Bankmore. Monitoring of ambient air quality is done following thestandard procedure prescribed in IS: 5182. In addition the concentration of lead, zinc, copper, iron, manganese, cadmium metals in SPM is also monitored. The ambient air quality is monitored in the months of September and November 1999, respectively, to represent monsoon and winter seasons. The SPM concentration observed at all the five locations in the winterseason is more than the permissible limits for commercial andindustrial areas. However, in the monsoon season, the SPM concentration is higher than the permissible limit at the twocommercial locations, i.e., ISM gate and Bankmore, while it isless than the prescribed limit for industrial areas at the remaining three locations. At the ISM gate and Bankmore the SPM generation is mainly by vehicular traffic while at other three locations it was in addition due to mining and other activities.     

Direct supercritical fluid extraction from water

Abstract

This paper describes the development of apparatus suitable for direct supercritical fluid extraction of organics from water. Results are presented for the extraction of pentachlorophenol present in water at concentrations of the order of 0.1 ppm. The effect of changes in apparatus design and supercritical fluid flow rate on recovery are discussed.     

Biospheric influence on carbon dioxide measurements in Italy

The study concerning carbon dioxide measurements taken during the 1997, 1998 and 1999 summer campaigns at two different altitude stations and biospheric conditions are presented. The higher station (Mt. Cimone, 2165 m a.s.l.) is characterised by 360° free horizon and is located on a rocky mountain while the lower (Ninfa lake, 1550 m a.s.l.) is located inside the red spruce and beech forest. The different behaviour of CO₂ at the two mountain stations has been registered. It shows the strong effect of nighttime soil emission and vegetation respiration on CO₂ mixing ratio increases and of diurnal vegetative activity on CO₂ concentration decreases at the lower measurement site. The baseline character of the higher measurement site has been confirmed by comparison of CO₂ diurnal amplitudes recorded at the two stations.     

Reducing the risk level for pipelines transporting carbon dioxide and hydrogen by means of optimal safety valves spacing

In many countries where electricity generation is based on their natural resources of fossil fuels a need arises to implement new power engineering technologies that allow carbon dioxide capture. Simultaneously, efforts are made to find new energy carriers which, if fired, do not involve carbon dioxide emissions. Hydrogen is one of such fuels with this future potential which is now becoming increasingly popular. Obviously, this means that the two gases mentioned above – carbon dioxide and hydrogen – will be produced in large quantities in future, which in many cases will necessitate their transport over considerable distances. If a pipeline failure occurs, the transport of the gases may pose a serious hazard to people in the immediate vicinity of the leakage site. This paper presents an analysis of the possibility of reducing the level of risk related to pipelines transporting CO₂ and H₂ by means of safety valves. It is shown that for a 50 km long and a 0.4 m diameter pipeline transporting gas with the pressure of 15 MPa the individual risk level can be reduced from 1·10⁻⁴ to 6.5·10⁻⁷ for CO₂ and from 1·10⁻⁶ to 6·10⁻¹⁰ for H₂. The social risk can be diminished in similar proportions.     

离子液体对CO2吸收性能的研究进展

CO2引起的气候变暖已成为全球最关注的环境问题之一,利用离子液体固定CO2引起了众多学者的关注。介绍了近年来离子液体吸收CO2的研究进展,包括常规离子液体和含氨基离子液体、氨基酸离子液体、聚离子液体及其他离子液体等4种功能化离子液体,并简要分析了吸收机理。综合分析了每种离子液体的吸收性能,离子液体对CO2的吸收能力均随温度上升而减小,随压力升高而增加。烷基链的增长以及含氟基团的增加有利于对CO2的吸收。功能化离子液体由于引入了功能化基团,相同条件下,其对CO2的吸收力几乎是常规离子液体的两倍。此外,将离子液体与有机溶液(特别是醇胺溶液)混合能提高离子液体对CO2的吸收能力,且能降低生产费用。最后指出了高吸收性能、低黏度、低毒以及低成本是未来离子液体的研究方向。