Sheep's wool insulation: A sustainable alternative use for a renewable resource?

Material selection in manufacturing may be characterized as a series of trade-offs between characteristics, properties, environmental impacts, sustainability, availability, and economics. Societal concerns about the environmental impacts of construction practices and materials have been expressed through an increase in the demand, production and use of “green” building products. This, combined with a desire to integrate more bioproducts and natural and renewable resources into the construction industry, has extended to the production and promotion of insulation made from sheep's wool.Although substantial literature exists on the insulation properties and other benefits of wool, less is known about the economics and manufacturing processes of sheep's wool insulation at varying scales of production. This paper contributes to this field of enquiry through presentation of the preliminary results of a wool insulation manufacturing pilot project, in which the scale and economics of the production of sheep's wool insulation were considered. Processing techniques, the impact of sheep breed, yield, energy use, and manufacturing costs were also examined. The results of the pilot project indicate that, while sheep's wool insulation produced at a smaller, or artisanal scale shows some potential, scale of operation and volume of production need to be carefully considered in order to ensure long-term sustainability of the operation. Using the least expensive sheep's wool available for the manufacture of wool batt insulation (and thereby reducing production costs) did not, in this pilot study, have a negative impact on productivity or product performance. Diversion of this waste stream of currently less marketable, and consequently less valuable wool, into the production of a green building material may offer small but significant benefit to sheep producers and the broader agricultural community, as well as consumers.     

生态沟渠对农田排水中氮磷的去除机理初探

在野外分别构建生态沟渠(采用分布有10 cm×10 cm长方形孔的混凝土板材,沟底、沟壁种植植物)、对照沟渠1(采用硬质化混凝土板材,未人为布设植物)和对照沟渠2(土质沟渠,未人为布设植物),研究了3种沟渠对颗粒物的拦截效果及其机理。结果表明,生态沟渠对农田排水中氮磷的高效去除机理主要表现在沟渠植物的吸收、过滤箱中的基质吸附和植物吸收、沟渠拦截坝所产生的减缓流速和沉降泥沙等方面。其中,沟渠植物吸收氮磷分别占夏季试验进水氮磷总量的68.30%和78.45%,泥沙沉降占1.05%和5.05%;生态沟渠放置过滤箱后的氮磷去除效果显著好于未放置时,过滤箱中的植物吸收氮磷占放置过滤箱试验进水氮磷量的0.37%和1.55%,过滤箱中的基质吸附占10.82%和37.94%;生态沟渠设置拦截坝时的水力停留时间较未设拦截坝时延长2.0倍。     

植物净化空气中汞污染的研究

对上海市常见易生长的22种植物进行了现场采样测试，结果发现，瓜子黄杨、广玉兰、海桐、蚊母、墨西哥落叶杉及棕榈对汞蒸气具有很强的吸收富集能力及抗毒性能．然后采用富集能力最强的瓜子黄杨进行一系列试验，结果显示，汞浓度随接触瓜子黄杨时间的延长而降低，而瓜子黄杨叶片的汞含量随时间的延长而增加。根据吸汞实验，计算得瓜子黄杨叶面积的吸气速率为0.133m     

汽车内饰材料老化试验研究

本文介绍了汽车内饰材料常见的老化试验方法:人工加速老化试验、IP/DP箱暴晒和整车暴晒,分别讨论三种试验方法涉及的规范以及操作性.人工加速老化试验能快速掌握汽车内饰材料老化性能,缩短材料研发周期;IP/DP箱和整车对内饰件或其装配件进行的老化试验降低内饰材料加工工艺存在的风险,确保了内饰材料质量.整车暴晒收集的数据为人...     

仲丁醇对苯乙烯臭氧化反应生成二次有机气溶胶的影响:实验和模型研究

通过烟雾箱实验,研究了仲丁醇对苯乙烯臭氧化反应生成二次有机气溶胶(SOA)的影响.结果发现,在烟雾箱实验中,过量仲丁醇的加入导致生成SOA的产率明显下降.同时,结合MCM气相机理和气-粒分配理论,将Criegee中间体与醛类的双分子反应添加到箱式模型中模拟烟雾箱中SOA的生成过程.模拟结果表明,在没有仲丁醇存在的情况下,次级臭氧化物在SOA组分中占1/2左右的比例.仲丁醇的加入消耗了大量的·OH,同时使得[HO_2]/[RO_2]比值升高,影响自由基相关的反应机制,使得SOA产率下降.另外,研究发现,Criegee中间体与醛类反应的速率常数也是影响SOA生成模拟的一个重要参数,需要进一步开展相关的动力学实验和理论研究.