Degradation of Polylactic Acid (PLA) Plastic in Costa Rican Soil and Iowa State University Compost Rows

In this study the degradation of polylactic acid (PLA) plastic films in Costa Rican soil and in a leaf composting environment was investigated. Three types of PLA films were used: Ch-I, (PLA monolayer plastic films from Chronopol, Golden, CO), GII (PLA trilayer plastic films from Cargill Dow Polymers LLC, Minnetonka, MN), and Ca-I (PLA monolayer plastic films from Cargill Dow Polymers LLC). The average soil temperature and moisture content in Costa Rica were 27°C and 80%, respectively. The average degradation rate of PLA plastic films in the soil of the banana field was 7675 M _w/week. Two compost rows were set up at the Iowa State University (ISU) (Ames) compost site. Temperature and relative humidity of the compost rows were kept at 55 ± 5°C and 50 ± 10% RH, respectively. The degradation rates of GII and Ca-I in the compost rows were 113,290 and 71,283 M _w/week, respectively. Therefore, it was estimated that in Costa Rican soil and in compost rows, PLA would be visibly degraded in 6 months and in 3 weeks, respectively.     

Material cycles in Asia: especially the recycling loop between Japan and China

In this article, we clarify the current status of Japanese exports and Chinese imports of secondary resources. A total of around 10 million metric tons (t) of secondary resources are exported annually from Japan to China, Hong Kong, and Korea. Hong Kong plays the role of a transshipment point, especially regarding the trade in plastic waste, and China imports much from the USA and Japan, often through Hong Kong. The secondary resources exported from Japan include both byproducts from manufacturing processes and end-of-life products or materials. The great demand in China, and the difference in prices between countries, drive this transboundary shipment, although Japan has enacted various recycling laws that were implicitly intended to promote domestic recycling. In China, the imported secondary resources are recycled, usually by means of primitive and low-cost hand labor. The greatest concern is whether there are still improper (illegal or polluting) recycling activities in China. International material cycles should prevent environmental pollution and ensure efficient resource utilization. To that end, the following measures are needed: cooperative control of the trade of secondary resources between countries, the alignment of domestic laws with the regulations in other countries based on the actual trade activities, and the realization of sound practices for global resources management.     

Flame behaviors and pressure characteristics of vented dust explosions at elevated static activation overpressures

Dust explosion venting experiments were performed using a 20-L spherical chamber at elevated static activation overpressures larger than 1 bar. Lycopodium dust samples with mean diameter of 70 μm and electric igniters with 0.5 KJ ignition energy were used in the experiments. Explosion overpressures in the chamber and flame appearances near the vent were recorded simultaneously. The results indicated that the flame appeared as the under-expanded free jet with shock diamonds, when the overpressure in the chamber was larger than the critical pressure during the venting process. The flame appeared as the normal constant-pressure combustion when the pressure venting process finished. Three types of venting processes were concluded in the experiments: no secondary flame and no secondary explosion, secondary flame, secondary explosion. The occurrence of the secondary explosions near the vent was related to the vent diameter and the static activation overpressure. Larger diameters and lower static activation overpressures were beneficial to the occurrence of the secondary explosions. In current experiments, the secondary explosions only occurred at the following combinations of the vent diameter and the static activation overpressure: 40 mm and 1.2 bar, 60 mm and 1.2 bar, 60 mm and 1.8 bar.     

地表载荷对硬岩区埋地管道应力应变影响分析

为研究地表载荷对硬岩区埋地管道力学性能的影响,建立了管-土耦合三维数值模型,分析了地表载荷大小、作用面积、管道压力、管道径厚比及回填土弹性模量对管道应力分布、塑性应变、椭圆度的影响。结果表明:地表压载作用下,高应力区首先出现在管道顶部且呈椭圆形;随着地表载荷及其作用面积的增大,管道高应力区逐渐扩大,管道截面左右两侧也出现应力集中;随着回填土弹性模量、管道壁厚及内压的增加,管道顶部高应力区及最大等效应力均减小。塑性应变首先出现在管顶,且塑性区随地表载荷、载荷作用长度增加而增大,随回填土体弹性模量及管道壁厚增大而逐渐减小;当内压为0~4MPa时,管道塑性应变及塑性区随内压的增大而减小。管道椭圆度随回填土体弹性模量、管道内压、壁厚增加而逐渐减小,随地表压载增大而增大。     

Climate change,adaptation and Eco-Art in Singapore

Eco-Art has recently emerged as a potential means to place emphasis on environmental issues such as climate change, recycling and the metabolism of the city experienced both materially and conceptually within local, regional and global contexts. Such art presents the possibility of shaping civic practices in arenas beyond those of traditional planning domains. Adopting a pragmatic approach, which recognises the contextual pluralism that exists in debates regarding climate change, this paper is interested in how Eco-Art projects encourage the re-imagining of urban spaces within the context of sustainability, and flows of materials and the recycling of plastic in art specifically.     

Year-round observation of atmospheric inorganic aerosols in urban Beijing: Size distribution, source analysis, and reduction mechanism

To investigate particle characteristics and find an effective measure to control severe particle pollution, year-round observation of size-segregated inorganic aerosols was conducted in Beijing from January to December, 2016. The sampled atmospheric particles all presented bimodal size distribution at four pollution levels (clear, slight pollution, moderate pollution and severe pollution), and peak values appeared at the size range of 0.7-2.1 μm and >9.0 μm, respectively. As dominant particle compositions, NO₃⁻, SO₄²⁻, and NH₄⁺ in four pollution levels all showed significant peaks in fine mode, especially at the size range of 1.1-2.1 μm. Secondary inorganic aerosols accounted for about 67.6% (36.3% (secondary sulfates) + 31.3% (secondary nitrates)) of the total sources of fine particles in urban Beijing. Severe pollution of fine particles was mainly caused by the air masses transported from nearby western and southern areas, which are industrial and densely populated region, respectively. Sensitivity tests further revealed that the control measures focusing on ammonium emission reduction was the most effective for particle pollution mitigation, and fine particles all showed nonlinear responses after reducing ammonium, nitrate, and sulfate concentrations, with the fitting curves of y = -120.8x - 306.1x² + 290.2x³, y = -43.5x - 67.8x², and y = -25.8x - 110.4x² + 7.6x³, respectively (y and x present fine particle mass variation (μg/m³) and concentration reduction ratio (CRR)/100 (dimensionless)). Overall, our study presents useful information for understanding the characteristics of atmospheric inorganic aerosols in urban Beijing, as well as offers policy makers with effective measure for mitigating particle pollution.     

长期覆膜条件下农田土壤微生物群落的响应特征

地膜覆盖是农业生产中保障粮食增产增收的重要措施.为明确长期地膜覆盖对农田土壤微生物群落结构特征的影响,采集4个不同覆膜年限的农田土壤,利用高通量测序技术分析土壤细菌和真菌群落结构变化,探讨长期覆膜农田土壤中微生物群落的变化及其对微生物生态环境效应的影响.结果表明,长期覆膜对土壤细菌多样性无显著影响,但降低真菌多样性;长期覆膜使土壤细菌酸杆菌（Acidobacteriota）和真菌被孢霉菌（Mortierellomycetes）物种丰度降低,增加土壤放线菌（Actinobacteriota）物种丰度.长期覆膜可以使土壤富集细菌中的芽孢杆菌（Bacillus）和类诺卡氏菌（Nocardioidaceae）,及真菌中的肉座菌目（Hypocreales）和曲霉菌（Aspergillus）等有益微生物菌群.然而长期覆膜使土壤真菌共生网络变得简单而脆弱,其关键物种仅有子囊菌门中的粪壳菌目（Sordariales）中的未知菌属一种,因此对农田土壤生态环境带来潜在风险.本研究为深化了解长期覆膜对农田微生物生态环境效应的影响提供理论依据.     

我国地膜覆盖和残留污染特点与防控技术

地膜覆盖技术已成为我国农业应用最为广泛的农艺技术之一,但同时地膜残留污染也成为影响农业可持续发展的一个重大问题,系统分析梳理地膜覆盖种植技术、地膜残留污染的特点及防控技术对于该技术合理利用具有重要意义。本文在已有工作基础上,系统分析了我国地膜覆盖种植技术应用情况、地膜残留污染特点和防治技术。结果表明,20世纪80年代以来,我国地膜用量及覆盖面积一直呈大幅度上升态势,年增长率在8％左右,1991—2011年20年间,地膜使用强度增加了3～10倍,但存在明显区域差异。总体上,北方省区的地膜使用强度大,增长幅度快。地膜覆盖应用作物也从经济作物扩大到粮食作物,应用面积最大作物依次为玉米、蔬菜、棉花、烟草和花生等。地膜覆盖技术的应用产生了巨大效益,但同时也带来了一系列污染危害。长期覆膜农田土壤中都存在程度不同的残膜污染,残留量一般在71．9-259．1kg·hm-2。西北地区是残膜污染最严重的地区,土壤中残膜量远远高于华北和西南地区。残留地膜大小和形态多种多样,主要有片状、蜷缩圆筒状和球状等,在土壤中呈水平、垂直和倾斜状分布。目前,我国地膜残留污染防治技术滞后,人工回收是普遍和主要的回收形式,其他防治技术如机械回收、节约型地膜应用、生物降解地膜尚未较大规模应用。当前,为防止地膜残留污染进一步加剧,急需修订完善地膜标准和加强质量监管,提高可回收性;推广节约型地膜使用技术和残膜回收技术;开展地膜覆盖技术适应性研究,促进技术合理利用。     

Management of used lead acid battery in China: Secondary lead industry progress,policies and problems

The amount of used lead acid batteries rises along with the rapid development of battery manufacture in China. The battery manufacture and recycling industry has developed sharply in these recent 5 years. The annual production of secondary lead from used lead acid batteries in China increased rapidly to 1.5 million tonnes (MT) in 2013, making china the world's largest secondary lead producer. Secondary lead enterprises are mainly located in the middle and eastern regions of China, with a legal production capacity of 3 MT/year. Environmental pollution problems began to happen frequently from 2009. After 2011, the government began to put in efforts to promote pollution control, eliminate outdated production capacity, support advanced production and technology innovation research, and has achieved remarkable results. However, the main existing problems are that the proportion of secondary lead production is only 30% of the total lead production, no formal recycling network has been established and the overall level of industrial technology and equipment is outdated. Compared with developed countries, this paper predicts that, secondary proportion will reach 44% in 2015 and 60% in 2028. Finally some countermeasures are given to the recycling mode and technology promotion.