Quantifying Tradeoffs Associated with Hydrologic Environmental Flow Methods

Freshwater management requires balancing and tradingoff multiple objectives, many of which may be competing. Ecological needs for freshwater are often described in terms of environmental flow recommendations (e.g., minimum flows), and there are many techniques for developing these recommendations, which range from hydrologic rules to multidisciplinary analyses supported by large teams of subject matter experts. Although hydrologic rules are well acknowledged as overly simplified, these techniques remain the state‐of‐the‐practice in many locations. This article seeks to add complexity to the application of these techniques by studying the emergent properties of hydrologic environmental flow methodologies. Two hydrologic rules are applied: minimum flow criteria and sustainability boundaries. Objectives and metrics associated with withdrawal rate and similarity to natural flow regimes are used to tradeoff economic and environmental needs, respectively, over a range of flow thresholds and value judgments. A case study of hypothetical water withdrawals on the Middle Oconee River near Athens, Georgia is applied to demonstrate these techniques. For this case study, sustainability boundaries emerge as preferable relative to both environmental and economic outcomes. Methods applied here provide a mechanism for examining the role of stakeholder values and tradeoffs in application of hydrologic rules for environmental flows.     

Enhanced flushing of polychlorinated biphenyls contaminated sands using surfactant foam: Effect of partition coefficient and sweep efficiency

Foam flushing is an in situ soil remediation technology based on the traditional surfactant flushing method. The contribution of mobility control to contaminant removal by foam is helpful for improving this technology. Foam flushing of polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB)-contaminated unconsolidated media was performed to evaluate the effect of the partition coefficient (PC) and sweep efficiency (SE) on PCB removal. Column flushing with surfactant solution and foam with different types and concentrations of surfactant was carried out for PCB removal. Two types of quartz sand were investigated to evaluate the Jamin effect on the SE value of the washing agent. The results demonstrate that a small PC value and large SE value are necessary to achieve high PCB removal for foam flushing. Compared with solution flushing, the introduction of foam can effectively control the mobility of the washing agent. Similar to solution flushing, solubilization is a key factor which dominates the removal of PCBs in foam flushing. In addition, the SE value and PCB removal by foam flushing is less affected by particle size. Therefore, foam flushing was proved to be more effective in porous media with low hydraulic conductivity and high porosity. An integrated flushing with water, surfactant solution and foam was performed and the results prove that this technology successfully combines the advantages of solution solubilization and mobility control by foam, and thus further increases the remediation efficiency of PCBs to 94.7% for coarse sand.     

重金属污染土壤淋洗技术的基础研究与工程应用进展

随着城市结构调整,工业企业易地搬迁后遗留下大量污染场地,严重威胁人居环境,亟待开展土壤修复.土壤淋洗技术具有工艺简单、处理范围广、修复效率高和治理费用相对低廉等优点,是目前修复重金属污染土壤最有效的技术之一,同时对于有机物污染土壤也具有显著修复效果.经过大量资料、文献调研,系统梳理土壤淋洗技术在国内的研究现状,结合实际...     

改进GC/ECD法连续测定大气中的CFCs

基于气相色谱仪 (GC)和电子捕获检测器 (ECD) ,设计了一种连续测量大气中痕量氯氟烃的自动系统。系统色谱基线稳定 ,分离效果好 ,定性、定量准确可靠 ,系统高度自动化 ,长期运行无需人值守 ,自动校正数据 ,定时进行严格的质量控制 ;系统具有较高的现场测量频率 (6次 /h) ,改进的反吹 /外切设计使CFCs色谱峰不再受氧峰的干扰 ,大大延长了检测器的寿命 ,使长期连续观测成为可能。系统设计在分离效果方面优于世界气象组织 (WMO)全球大气监测网 (GAW )目前所使用的测量大气本底CFCs的方法 ,采用美国EPA认可的标气 ,外标工作曲线法测定大气CFCs的浓度 ,最低检测限可达1pL/L ,检测精密度小于 1 % ,准确度在± 3%之内 ,可用于我国本底大气观测站对CFCs的连续测定     

Quantification of Water, Salt and Nutrient Exchange Processes at the Mouth of A mediterranean Coastal Lagoon

Vassova lagoon is a typical Mediterranean (small, shallow, micro-tidal, well-mixed) coastal lagoon, receiving limited seasonal freshwater inflows from direct precipitation and underground seepage. An intensive study was carried out in order to quantify the mechanisms responsible for the intra-tidal and residual transport of water, salt, nutrients and chlorophyll at the mouth of this lagoon and to assess the lagoon's flushing behavior. Results indicated that although the system is micro-tidal, tidal effects appeared to be the dominant factor for the longitudinal distribution of physical and chemical parameters, while the associated residual flow is also important and serves as a baseline measure of overall circulation. However, analysis of the net longitudinal currents and fluxes of water, salt and nutrients revealed the importance of non-tidal effects (wind effect and precipitation incidents) in the mean tidal transport. It is shown that the Eulerian residual currents transported water and its properties inwards under southern winds, while a seaward transport was induced during precipitation incidents and northern winds. The Stokes drift effect was found an order of magnitude lower than the Eulerian current, directed towards the lagoon, proving the partially-progressive nature of the tide. Nutrients and chlorophyll-α loads are exported from the lagoon to the open sea during the ebb phase of the autumn and winter tidal cycles, associated with the inflow of nutrient-rich freshwater, seeped through the surrounding drainage canal. The reverse transport occurs in spring and early summer, when nutrients enter the lagoon during the flood tidal phase, from the nutrient-rich upper layer of the stratified adjacent sea. Application of a tidal prism model shows that Vassova lagoon has a mean flushing time of 7.5 days, ranging between 4 to 18 days, affected inversely by the tidal oscillation.     

序批式反应器内多尺度三相流动的数值模拟

提出1个混合模型来数值模拟序批式反应器内气-液-固三相的多尺度流动.该混合模型采用Level Set方法模拟曝气气泡的运动,应用离散颗粒方法处理活性污泥固体的运动,运用体积平均的Navier-Stokes方程描述液相的流动.模型考虑了颗粒-气泡、颗粒-流体以及气泡-流体之间的相互作用.通过模拟反应器内曝气气泡生成、上升以及污泥沉淀的动态过程,检验了模型的可行性.流动结构的模拟结果显示,在反应器中污泥与污水均有明显的环流特征.气泡与颗粒相互作用引起的气泡破碎行为会导致反应器内大量小气泡的生成以及污泥颗粒的弥散.反应器内这些流体动力学特征使得污泥与污水达到充分混合,有利于生物降解处理.     

Implementation of airborne trace element monitoring with devitalised transplants of Hypnum cupressiforme Hedw.: assessment of temporal trends and element contribution by vehicular traffic in Naples city

A biomonitoring of airborne trace elements was performed in 2006 in Naples urban area through the exposure of devitalised Hypnum cupressiforme for 10 weeks at 4 m height. In one street, the moss was exposed at different heights to assess vertical gradients of element concentrations. Results were compared with those of a 1999 biosurvey. Correlations among Al, Fe and Ti suggested a soil particles contribution to element uptake. Cu, Mo and Fe were related with traffic flows. Long-range transport contributed to Cd, Cu and Mo accumulation in moss at higher heights. As in 1999, the airborne element load was higher in coastal sites, more affected by marine aerosols and traffic. In all sites, contents of Cd, Fe, Pb, Ni and V in moss were remarkably lower than in 1999, indicating a positive effect of actions set up in recent years to reduce the traffic and to improve the city air quality.     

End-of-life flows of multiple cycle consumer products

Explicit expressions for the end-of-life flows (EOL) of single and multiple cycle products (MCPs) are presented, including deterministic and stochastic EOL exit. The expressions are given in terms of the physical parameters (maximum lifetime, T, annual cycling frequency, f, number of cycles, N, and early discard or usage loss). EOL flows are also obtained for hi-tech products, which are rapidly renewed and thus may not attain steady state (e.g. electronic products, passenger cars). A ten-step recursive procedure for obtaining the dynamic EOL flow evolution is proposed. Applications of the EOL expressions and the ten-step procedure are given for electric household appliances, industrial machinery, tyres, vehicles and buildings, both for deterministic and stochastic EOL exit, (normal, Weibull and uniform exit distributions). The effect of the physical parameters and the stochastic characteristics on the EOL flow is investigated in the examples: it is shown that the EOL flow profile is determined primarily by the early discard dynamics; it also depends strongly on longevity and cycling frequency: higher lifetime or early discard/loss imply lower dynamic and steady state EOL flows. The stochastic exit shapes the overall EOL dynamic profile: Under symmetric EOL exit distribution, as the variance of the distribution increases (uniform to normal to deterministic) the initial EOL flow rise becomes steeper but the steady state or maximum EOL flow level is lower. The steepest EOL flow profile, featuring the highest steady state or maximum level, as well, corresponds to skew, earlier shifted EOL exit (e.g. Weibull). Since the EOL flow of returned products consists the sink of the reuse/remanufacturing cycle (sink to recycle) the results may be used in closed loop product lifecycle management operations for scheduling and sizing reverse manufacturing and for planning recycle logistics. Decoupling and quantification of both the full age EOL and of the early discard flows is useful, the latter being the target of enacted legislation aiming at increasing reuse.     

Environmental flows for rivers and economic compensation for irrigators

Securing flows for environmental purposes from an already fully utilized river is an impossible task--unless users are either coerced into freeing up water, or offered incentives to do so. One sensible strategy for motivating users to liberate volumes is to offer them economic compensation. The right amount for that compensation then becomes a key environmental management issue. This paper analyses a proposal to restore and maintain ecosystems on a stretch of the Río Conchos in northern Mexico, downstream from a large irrigation district that consumes nearly all local flows. We present here estimates of environmental flow requirements for these ecosystems and compute compensation figures for irrigators. These figures are derived from crop-specific irrigation water productivities we statistically estimate from a large set of historical production and irrigation data obtained from the district. This work has general implications for river ecosystem management in water-stressed basins, particularly in terms of the design of fair and effective water sharing mechanisms.     

A Tale of Two Rivers: Implications of Water Management Practices for Mussel Biodiversity Outcomes During Droughts

Droughts often pose situations where stream water levels are lowest while human demand for water is highest. Here we present results of an observational study documenting changes in freshwater mussel communities in two southern US rivers during a multi-year drought. During a 13-year period water releases into the Kiamichi River from an impoundment were halted during droughts, while minimum releases from an impoundment were maintained in the Little River. The Kiamichi observed nearly twice as many low-flow events known to cause mussel mortality than the Little, and regression tree analyses suggest that this difference was influenced by reduced releases. During this period mussel communities in the Kiamichi declined in species richness and abundance, changes that were not observed in the Little. These results suggest that reduced releases during droughts likely led to mussel declines in one river, while maintaining reservoir releases may have sustained mussel populations in another.