Characterization of the toxic effects of cadmium and 3.5-dichlorophenol on nitrifying activity and mortality in biologically activated sludge systems—effect of low temperature

Background, aims, and scope  Sometimes, urban wastewaters convey a more or less significant part of toxic products from industries or the craft industry. Nitrifying activity can be affected by these substances, implying higher ammonia concentrations in the outlet effluent and contributing to toxicity for the aquatic environment. Moreover, the more stringently treated wastewater standards now require a reliable treatment for nitrogen. One of the key issues is the identification of the inhibition behavior of nitrifying bacteria facing a toxic substance. This new understanding could then finally be integrated into models in order to represent and to optimize wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) operation in cases involving ‘toxic scenarios’. Materials and methods  The toxic substances studied in this work, cadmium and 3.5-dichlorophenol (3.5-DCP), are representative of chemical substances commonly found in municipal sewage and industrial effluents and symbolize two different contaminant groups. The effects of Cd and 3.5-DCP on nitrification kinetics have been investigated using respirometry techniques. Results  IC50 values determination gives concentrations of 3.1 mg/L for 3.5-DCP and 45.8 mg/L for Cd at 21 ± 1°C. The variation to low temperature seems to have no real effect on IC50 for DCP, but induces a decrease of cadmium IC50 to 27.5 mg/L at 14°C. Finally, specific respirometric tests have been carried out in order to determine the potential effect of these toxic substances on the nitrifying decay rate b _a . No significant effect has been noticed for Cd, whereas the presence of 3.5-DCP (at IC50 concentration) induced a dramatic increase of b _a at 20°C. The same behavior has been confirmed by experiments performed in winter periods with a sludge temperature around 12°C. Discussion  The target substances have different modes of action on activity and mortality, notably due to the abilities of the contaminant to be precipitated, accumulated, or even to be progressively degraded. Studies realized at low temperature confirmed this assumption, and put in evidence the effect of temperature on toxic substances capable of being biosorbed. However, the change in the sludge sample characteristics can be pointed out as a problem in the investigation of the temperature effect on nitrification inhibition, as biosorption, bioaccumulation, and predation are directly linked to the sludge characteristics (VSS concentration, temperature) and the plant operating conditions (loading rates, sludge age, etc.). Conclusions  This work brings new understandings concerning the action mode of these specific contaminants on nitrifying bacteria and, in particular, on the role of temperature. The experiments lead to the determination of the IC50 values for both toxic substances on biological nitrification. The inhibition mechanisms of Cd and 3.5-DCP on nitrifying activity have been simply represented by a non-competitive inhibition model. Recommendations and perspectives  Other experiments carried out in a continuous lab-scale pilot plant should be done with a proper control of the operating conditions and of the sludge characteristics in order to better understand the mechanisms of nitrification inhibition for each contaminant. Finally, these first results show that toxic substances can have an effect on the growth rate but also on the decay rate, depending on the characteristics of the toxic substance and the sludge. This eventual double effect would imply different strategies of WWTP operation according to the behavior of the contaminant on the bacteria.     

苏州污水处理厂污泥干化工艺方案的比选

污泥处理及其处置所面临的重要问题之一,就是如何对城市污水处理厂产生的污泥进行有效减容,尽量降低对外部能源的需求。文中在掌握国内外污泥干化主要工艺技术的基础上,针对某城市污水处理厂的污泥干化工程,拟对采用燃煤烟气干燥、污泥消化一干化一体化、太阳能热泵干燥等三种不同污泥干化工艺进行物料、能量工艺核算。并在此基础上,计算初期投资与15年的运行费用总和。通过对燃料价格、环保和安全等影响因素的研究,分析比较了五种供热系统,以太阳能热泵供热系统为最优,值得大力推广和应用。     

常压立式储油罐地震应力的有限元计算

采用有限元方法 ,考虑在静载和动载共同作用下 ,对常压立式拱顶储油罐的地震应力进行了计算分析 ,给出了轴向应力的分布状态 ;并与相关抗震设计规范中的验算公式得出的结果进行了比较。结果表明 :由于地震的动力作用 ,储油罐的受力状态不是均匀分布 ,出现了峰值和谷值 ,而这些应力峰值大于工业设备抗震鉴定标准和石油化工设备抗震鉴定标准中公式的计算应力值 ,这应引起足够的注意。     

Alteration of dominant cyanobacteria in different bloom periods caused by abiotic factors and species interactions

Freshwater cyanobacterial blooms have drawn public attention because they threaten the safety of water resources and human health worldwide. Heavy cyanobacterial blooms outbreak in Lake Taihu in summer annually and vanish in other months. To find out the factors impacting the cyanobacterial blooms, the present study measured the physicochemical parameters of water and investigated the composition of microbial community using the 16S rRNA gene and internal transcribed spacer amplicon sequencing in the months with or without bloom. The most interesting finding is that two major cyanobacteria, Planktothrix and Microcystis, dramatically alternated during a cyanobacterial bloom in 2016, which is less mentioned in previous studies. When the temperature of the water began increasing in July, Planktothrix appeared first and showed as a superior competitor for M. aeruginosa in NO₃^?-rich conditions. Microcystis became the dominant genus when the water temperature increased further in August. Laboratory experiments confirmed the influence of temperature and the total dissolved nitrogen (TDN) form on the growth of Planktothrix and Microcystis in a co-culture system. Besides, species interactions between cyanobacteria and non-cyanobacterial microorganisms, especially the prokaryotes, also played a key role in the alteration of Planktothrix and Microcystis. The present study exhibited the alteration of two dominant cyanobacteria in the different bloom periods caused by the temperature, TDN forms as well as the species interactions. These results helped the better understanding of cyanobacterial blooms and the factors which contribute to them.     

壳体缓释技术对带壳装药慢速烤燃反应烈度的缓解作用研究

为了研究2种典型壳体缓释技术对弹药慢速烤燃响应烈度的缓解作用,基于试验条件分别建立无缓释设计、侧壁加工应力槽和端盖加工泄压孔的带壳PBX装药慢速烤燃仿真模型,提出使用热分解反应动力学模型和燃烧反应模型模拟计算不同约束条件下带壳PBX装药从开始加热发生热分解反应到点火燃烧以及炸药与壳体耦合作用的烤燃过程的计算方法。研究结果表明：通过侧壁加工应力槽以及端盖加工泄压孔的缓释结构设计,可以有效地降低壳体破裂时炸药内部的压力及反应度,以达到缓解反应烈度的目的。     

Numerical study on premixing characteristics and explosion process of starch in a vertical pipe under turbulent flow

Fire and explosion accidents are frequently caused by combustible dust, which has led to increased interest in this area of research. Although scholars have performed some research in this field, they often ignored interesting phenomena in their experiments. In this paper, we established a 2D numerical method to thoroughly investigate the particle motion and distribution before ignition. The optimal time for the corn starch dust cloud to ignite was determined in a semi-closed tube, and the characteristics of the flame propagation and temperature field were investigated after ignition inside and outside the tube. From the simulation, certain unexpected phenomena that occurred in the experiment were explained, and some suggestions were proposed for future experiments. The results from the simulation showed that 60–70 ms was the best time for the dust cloud to ignite. The local high-temperature flame clusters were caused by the agglomeration of high-temperature particles, and there were no flames near the wall of the tube due to particles gathering and attaching to the wall. Vortices formed around the nozzle, where the particle concentration was low and the flame spread slowly. During the explosion venting, particles flew out of the tube before the flame. The venting flame exhibited a “mushroom cloud” shape due to interactions with the vortex, and the flame maintained this shape as it was driven upward by the vortex.     

大型碳化硅生产园区面源源强及减排指标核算

以某年产25万吨大型碳化硅园区无组织排放面源为例,提出基于多个地面站气象数据的CALPUFF模型地面浓度反推方法,优化流场模拟,使得无组织面源源强核算结果更加准确,并以环境保护目标空气质量达标为原则,核算其大气污染物减排指标,得出具体结论:园区大气污染物SO2、NOX、CO、PM10年排放量分别为449.06t、86.98t、5158.58t、115.06t;无组织排放SO2、CO及PM10的减排比例分别为63.5%、19.2%、42.44%,对应减排量分别为285.16 t/a、990.45 t/a、48.83 t/a。     

放电条件下锂离子电池热行为的研究

锂离子电池在生产生活中扮演着重要角色,为了对其热性能有更全面的了解,对锂离子电池放电条件下的热行为进行了探究。通过采集表面温度、电压、热释放速率等参数后对比发现,在可逆热与不可逆热的作用下,电池放电过程中存在明显的升温。此外,放电处理将导致电池出现更为明显的升温情况,更早发生热失控。最后,经过放电处理的锂电池在外加热源作用进而发生失控的实验过程中有着更剧烈的热失控行为,并最终释放较少的热量。     

阴角邻面火灾作用下L型钢管混凝土柱耐火极限研究

运用有限元软件ABAQUS计算L形带肋钢管混凝土柱阴角相邻两面受火全过程下的耐火极限,分析了阴角邻面受火方式下构件内部温度场和应力场的变化规律,在此基础上分析荷载比、宽厚比、计算长度、加劲肋纵向间距、荷载偏心率、荷载角等参数对耐火极限的影响规律。数据表明:荷载比、计算长度对构件耐火极限影响较大,随着荷载比和计算长度的增大,耐火极限基本呈线性下降;加劲肋间距对构件耐火性能影响较小;由于L形柱的特殊形式,偏心荷载对耐火极限的影响规律较复杂,荷载作用点偏向低温区可以提高耐火极限。     

Influence of environmental factors on the response of a natural population of Daphnia magna (Crustacea: Cladocera) to spinosad and Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis in Mediterranean coastal wetlands

The present study was undertaken to assess the impact of a candidate mosquito larvicide, spinosad (8, 17 and 33 μg L⁻¹) on a field population of Daphnia magna under natural variations of water temperature and salinity, using Bti (0.16 and 0.50 μL L⁻¹) as the reference larvicide. Microcosms (125 L) were placed in a shallow temporary marsh where D. magna was naturally present. The peak of salinity observed during the 21-day observation period may have been partly responsible for the decrease of daphnid population density in all the microcosms. It is also probably responsible for the absence of recovery in the microcosms treated with spinosad which caused a sharp decrease of D. magna abundance within the first two days following treatment whereas Bti had no effect. These results suggest that it may be difficult for a field population of daphnids to cope simultaneously with natural (water salinity and temperature) and anthropogenic (larvicides) stressors.