Poor efficacy of herbicides in biochar-amended soils as affected by their chemistry and mode of action

We evaluated wheat straw biochar produced at 450 °C for its ability to influence bioavailability and persistence of two commonly used herbicides (atrazine and trifluralin) with different modes of action (photosynthesis versus root tip mitosis inhibitors) in two contrasting soils. The biochar was added to soils at 0%, 0.5% and 1.0% (w/w) and the herbicides were applied to those soil-biochar mixes at nil, half, full, two times, and four times, the recommended dosage (H₄). Annual ryegrass (Lolium rigidum) was grown in biochar amended soils for 1 month. Biochar had a positive impact on ryegrass survival rate and above-ground biomass at most of the application rates, and particularly at H₄. Within any given biochar treatment, increasing herbicide application decreased the survival rate and fresh weight of above-ground biomass. Biomass production across the biochar treatment gradient significantly differed (p < 0.01) and was more pronounced in the case of atrazine than trifluralin. For example, the dose-response analysis showed that in the presence of 1% biochar in soil, the value of GR₅₀ (i.e. the dose required to reduce weed biomass by 50%) for atrazine increased by 3.5 times, whereas it increased only by a factor of 1.6 in the case of trifluralin. The combination of the chemical properties and the mode of action governed the extent of biochar-induced reduction in bioavailability of herbicides. The greater biomass of ryegrass in the soil containing the highest biochar (despite having the highest herbicide residues) demonstrates decreased bioavailability of the chemicals caused by the wheat straw biochar. This work clearly demonstrates decreased efficacy of herbicides in biochar amended soils. The role played by herbicide chemistry and mode of action will have major implications in choosing the appropriate application rates for biochar amended soils.     

An engineering-economic model of pipeline transport of CO2 with application to carbon capture and storage

Carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS) involves the capture of CO₂ at a large industrial facility, such as a power plant, and its transport to a geological (or other) storage site where CO₂ is sequestered. Previous work has identified pipeline transport of liquid CO₂ as the most economical method of transport for large volumes of CO₂. However, there is little published work on the economics of CO₂ pipeline transport. The objective of this paper is to estimate total cost and the cost per tonne of transporting varying amounts of CO₂ over a range of distances for different regions of the continental United States. An engineering-economic model of pipeline CO₂ transport is developed for this purpose. The model incorporates a probabilistic analysis capability that can be used to quantify the sensitivity of transport cost to variability and uncertainty in the model input parameters. The results of a case study show a pipeline cost of US$ 1.16 per tonne of CO₂ transported for a 100 km pipeline constructed in the Midwest handling 5 million tonnes of CO₂ per year (the approximate output of an 800 MW coal-fired power plant with carbon capture). For the same set of assumptions, the cost of transport is US$ 0.39 per tonne lower in the Central US and US$ 0.20 per tonne higher in the Northeast US. Costs are sensitive to the design capacity of the pipeline and the pipeline length. For example, decreasing the design capacity of the Midwest US pipeline to 2 million tonnes per year increases the cost to US$ 2.23 per tonne of CO₂ for a 100 km pipeline, and US$ 4.06 per tonne CO₂ for a 200 km pipeline. An illustrative probabilistic analysis assigns uncertainty distributions to the pipeline capacity factor, pipeline inlet pressure, capital recovery factor, annual O&M cost, and escalation factors for capital cost components. The result indicates a 90% probability that the cost per tonne of CO₂ is between US$ 1.03 and US$ 2.63 per tonne of CO₂ transported in the Midwest US. In this case, the transport cost is shown to be most sensitive to the pipeline capacity factor and the capital recovery factor. The analytical model elaborated in this paper can be used to estimate pipeline costs for a broad range of potential CCS projects. It can also be used in conjunction with models producing more detailed estimates for specific projects, which requires substantially more information on site-specific factors affecting pipeline routing.     

Non-isothermal flow of carbon dioxide in injection wells during geological storage

During sequestration, carbon dioxide within injection wells is likely to be in a dense state and therefore its weight within the wellbore will play an important role in determining the bottomhole pressure and thus the injection rate. However, the density could vary significantly along the well in response to the variation in pressure and temperature. A numerical procedure is formulated in this paper to evaluate the flow of carbon dioxide and its mixtures in non-isothermal wells. This procedure solves the coupled heat, mass and momentum equations with the various fluid and thermodynamic properties, including the saturation pressure, of the gas mixture calculated using a real gas equation of state. This treatment is particularly useful when dealing with gas mixtures where experimental data on mixture properties are not available and these must be predicted. To test the developed procedure two wellbore flow problems from the literature, involving geothermal gradients and wellbore phase transitions are considered; production of 97% carbon dioxide and injection of superheated steam. While these are not typical carbon dioxide injection problems they provide field observations of wellbore flow processes which encompass the mechanisms of interest for carbon dioxide injection, such as phase transition, temperature and density variations with depth. These two examples show that the developed procedure can offer accurate predictions. In a third application the role of wellbore hydraulics during a hypothetical carbon dioxide injection application is considered. The results obtained illustrate the potential complexity of carbon dioxide wellbore hydraulics for sequestration applications and the significant role it can play in determining the well bottomhole pressure and thus injection rate.     

原子荧光光谱法测定底泥中的总砷

采用硫酸-硝酸-高氯酸混合试剂热消解氢化物发生原子荧光法,测定底泥中的总砷。方法的检出限为0．016mg／kg,相对标准偏差为0．2％,加标回收率在92．8％-108％之间。此方法操作简便、灵敏度高、快捷、便于推广,适用于底泥中的总砷测定。     

CO2地质封存中单井源泄漏风险的

通过模拟某废弃井CO₂泄漏事故,对CO₂泄漏事故进行风险评估。利用高斯模型得到不同大气条件下泄漏事故的影响范围及CO₂浓度分布特征,并采用信息扩散法对模拟结果进行评价。研究结果可为利用钻井封存CO₂项目的安全规划及风险防控提供理论依据。     

Arsenic accumulation and resistance mechanism in Panax notoginseng, a traditional rare medicinal herb

Panax notoginseng, a traditional rare Chinese medicinal herb, was recently found to bring health risk to consumers, mainly because soil in its major plantation area was contaminated by arsenic (As). We investigated the effect of soil As pollution on the growth and As uptake of pot-cultured P. notoginseng, and the associated mechanisms of As stressed response. Results showed that, comparing with P. notoginseng growing in a low-As soil, the root, stem, and leaf biomasses of those growing in a high-As soil significantly reduced by 0.75, 0.09 and 0.21 g seedling⁻¹, respectively. Arsenic concentrations in roots, stems and leaves of the seedlings growing in high-As soil were 22, 15 and 3 times higher than those growing in low-As soil, respectively. Regardless of the soil As concentration, As existed in plants mainly as As(III), suggesting that the reduction of As(V) is a key step in As metabolism. Arsenic was distributed primarily in cell walls (51.7% for plants growing in the low-As soil, and 51.5% in the high-As soil), followed by cytoplasm supernatant, with cell organelles containing the least As. Compared with plants growing in the low-As soil, those in the high-As soil had increased superoxide dismutase and peroxidase activities in their roots, stems, and leaves, which would be associate with improving the resistance of P. notoginseng to As stress. The results suggest that there exists some special mechanisms of As-tolerance in P. notoginseng and the study is of significance in developing measures to reduce As in the herb.     

微波消解-ICP/MS法同时测定鱼肉中的砷和汞

采用微波消解处理鱼肉样品,用电感耦合等离子体质谱法测定样品中砷和汞。通过试验优化微波消解参数、酸体系及赶酸温度,用在线加入内标方法消除基体干扰及仪器漂移对测定的影响。方法在0μg/L～40. 0μg/L范围内线性良好,砷和汞的方法检出限分别为0. 002 mg/kg和0. 001 mg/kg,实际样品6次测定结果的RSD为5. 4%～15. 6%,加标回收率为90. 0%～110%。将该方法用于测定芹菜和扇贝标准物质,测定值在标准值不确定度范围内。     

原子荧光法测定水中砷监测质量控制指标研究

通过全国多家实验室测定的大量监测数据研究了原子荧光法测定水中砷的质量控制指标,并与《水和废水监测分析方法》(第4版)中的相关指标进行了比较,旨在为环境监测工作提供质量控制依据和质量控制指标。研究表明,标准样品实验室内相对偏差的控制范围为小于等于4%;浓度小于0.05 mg/L的实际样品的相对偏差小于等于10%,浓度大于等于0.05 mg/L时相对偏差小于等于5%。实验室间相对偏差的控制范围为小于等于10%。相对误差一般控制在±15%以内,加标回收率为90%～110%。     

铅冶炼企业周边大气降尘中铅、镉、砷量及其对土壤的影响

通过在2012年5月-2013年4月1个周期年内,对修复基地和对照点每月大气降尘中铅、镉、砷沉降量的监测,结果表明：修复基地大气降尘中铅、镉、砷含量明显较对照点高,年总沉降量分别是对照点的17．6倍、16．3倍和14．1倍,表明铅冶炼企业对基地大气降尘中铅、镉、砷含量影响显著;大气降尘中铅、镉、砷沉降量受位置和时间影响较大,在相距不到100 m的测点间,沉降量相差1倍以上,冬季主导风明显、地面植被少、二次扬尘大,使处于铅冶炼企业下风向的基地降尘中铅、镉、砷沉降量较大。沉降量时空不均匀与土壤污染不均匀现状一致,也验证了铅冶炼企业是基地大气和土壤重金属污染的主要来源。以降尘缸模拟土壤进行测算,结果表明大气降尘中镉对土壤污染速度最快,风险最大。     

基于遥感时-空-谱特征及随机森林模型的土壤重金属空间分布预测

获取土壤重金属的含量特征及空间分布是预防土壤污染和制定环保政策的关键.选取济南市长清区为研究区,系统采集304处表层土壤样品（0~20 cm）,利用多源遥感数据构建土壤重金属的光谱特征、时间特征和空间特征;进一步采用相关分析法选择出与土壤重金属密切相关的时-空-谱特征,并将其作为输入自变量,实测土壤砷（As）含量值为因变量,建立基于随机森林（RF）算法的空间预测模型,完成土壤重金属的含量估算和空间分布预测.结果表明：①As含量均值超出背景值43.17％,低于农用地土壤污染风险规定的筛选值和管控值,表明As在土壤中出现富集,但处于可管控范围内.②在单个遥感特征构建的土壤重金属空间预测模型中,精度由高到低依次为：空间特征（RPIQ=3.87）>时间特征（RPIQ=2.57）>光谱特征（RPIQ=2.50）,空间特征对土壤重金属空间预测最为重要.③基于“时间-空间”、“时间-光谱”和“空间-光谱”组合特征的土壤重金属空间预测模型均优于单个特征构建的模型,其精度系数RPIQ值分别为4.81、4.21和4.70.④利用“时间-空间-光谱”特征组合输入的随机森林模型达到最佳的空间预测精度（R²=0.90;RMSE=0.77;RPIQ=5.68）.⑤As在空间分布上从西北到东南含量逐步降低,主要受到黄河冲淤积和工业活动影响.研究采用的遥感时-空-谱特征结合随机森林算法的土壤重金属空间预测技术,可为土壤污染防治及环境风险管控提供有效的方法支持.