Risk assessment in a hypothetical network pipeline in UK transporting carbon dioxide

With the advent of Carbon Capture and Storage technology (CCS) the scale and extent of its handling is set to increase. Carbon dioxide (CO₂) capture plants are expected to be situated near to power plants and other large industrial sources. Afterward CO₂ is to be transported to storage site using one or a combination of transport media: truck, train, ship or pipeline. Transport by pipeline is considered the preferred option for large quantities of CO₂ over long distances. The hazard connected with this kind of transportation can be considered an emerging risk and is the subject of this paper.The paper describes the Quantitative Risk Assessment of a hypothetical network pipeline located in UK, in particular the study of consequences due to a CO₂ release from pipeline.The risk analysis highlighted that some sections of pipeline network cross densely populated areas. For this reason, some changes in the original path of the network have been proposed in order to achieve a significant reduction in the societal risk.     

Modeling the impacts of temperature and precipitation changes on soil CO2 fluxes from a Switchgrass stand recently converted from cropland

Switchgrass(Panicum virgatum L.) is a perennial C_4 grass native to North America and successfully adapted to diverse environmental conditions. It offers the potential to reduce soil surface carbon dioxide(CO_2) fluxes and mitigate climate change. However, information on how these CO_2 fluxes respond to changing climate is still lacking. In this study, CO_2 fluxes were monitored continuously from 2011 through 2014 using high frequency measurements from Switchgrass land seeded in 2008 on an experimental site that has been previously used for soybean(Glycine max L.) in South Dakota, USA. DAYCENT, a process-based model, was used to simulate CO_2 fluxes. An improved methodology CPTE[Combining Parameter estimation(PEST) with "Trial and Error" method] was used to calibrate DAYCENT. The calibrated DAYCENT model was used for simulating future CO_2 emissions based on different climate change scenarios. This study showed that:(i) the measured soil CO_2 fluxes from Switchgrass land were higher for 2012 which was a drought year, and these fluxes when simulated using DAYCENT for long-term(2015–2070) provided a pattern of polynomial curve;(ii) the simulated CO_2 fluxes provided different patterns with temperature and precipitation changes in a long-term,(iii) the future CO_2 fluxes from Switchgrass land under different changing climate scenarios were not significantly different, therefore, it can be concluded that Switchgrass grown for longer durations could reduce changes in CO_2 fluxes from soil as a result of temperature and precipitation changes to some extent.     

The relationship between the black carbon and bisphenol A in sea and river sediments (Southern Baltic)

This study was derived from field investigations to assess bisphenol A (BPA) concentrations in the sea and river sediments of the Gulf of Gdansk. Black carbon (BC) and total organic carbon (TOC) were identified as influencing factors on the accumulation. As a result of the transportation of BC with organic matter via rivers into the Gulf of Gdansk, the highest mean concentrations (11.26 ng BPA/(g dry weight (dw))), were determined in the sediments of river estuaries. Sediments in coastal stations were characterized by the lowest mean concentrations (5.73 ng BPA/(g dw)). TOC content below 0.1% determined the sorption of BPA on BC particles in sediments, and statistically significant correlation between the concentration of BPA and the BC/TOC ratio was found in these cases. In addition, dependency between the concentration of BPA and the content of BC was discovered in sediments where the BC/TOC ratio was > 0.33.     

CO2 capture performance of bi-functional activated bleaching earth modified with basic-alcoholic solution and functionalization with monoethanolamine: isotherms, kinetics and thermodynamics

CO_2 capture performance of bifunctional activated bleaching earth(ABE) was investigated at atmospheric pressure. The sorbents were characterized by means of X-ray diffraction(XRD), Brunauer–Emmett–Teller(BET), Caron-Hydrogen-Nitrogen analysis(CHN), Fourier transform infrared(FT-IR) and thermal gravimetric analysis(TGA). The CO_2 capacity was enhanced via basic-modification and monoethanolamine(MEA) loading of the ABE sorbent to obtain a bifunctional surface property. Here, basic-modified calcined ABE with a 30 wt.%MEA loading(SAB-30) showed the highest CO_2 capture capacity, but this was decreased with excess MEA loading( 30 wt.%). At a 10%(V/V) initial CO_2 concentration feed, the maximum capacity of SAB-30 increased from 2.71 mmol/g at 30℃(without adding moisture to the feed) to 3.3 mmol/g at 50℃ when adding 10%(V/V) moisture to the feed. Increasing the moisture concentration further reduced the maximum CO_2 capacity due to the blocking effect of the excess moisture on the sorbent surface. However, SAB-30 could completely capture CO_2 even in a 100%(V/V) initial CO_2 concentration feed. A maximum CO_2 capacity of5.7 mmol/g for SAB-30 was achieved at 30℃. Varying the ratio of sorbent weight to total flow rate of the gas stream had no discernible effect on the equilibrium CO_2 capture capacity. Avrami's equation and Toth's isotherm model provided a good fitting for the data and suggested the presence of more than one reaction pathway in the CO_2 capture process and the heterogeneous adsorption surface of SAB-30. Thermodynamics studies revealed that CO_2 capture on the bifunctional SAB-30 is feasible, spontaneous and exothermic in nature.     

The effects of temperature and resource availability on denitrification and relative N2O production in boreal lake sediments

Anthropogenic environmental stressors(like atmospheric deposition,land use change,and climate warming) are predicted to increase inorganic nitrogen and organic carbon loading to northern boreal lakes,with potential consequences for denitrification in lakes.However,our ability to predict effects of these changes is currently limited as northern boreal lakes have been largely neglected in denitrification studies.The aim of this study was therefore to assess how maximum potential denitrification and N_2O production rates,and the relationship between the two(relative N_2O production),is controlled by availability of nitrate(NO_3~-),carbon(C),phosphorus(P),and temperature.Experiments were performed using the acetylene inhibition technique on sediments from a small,nutrient poor boreal lake in northern Sweden in 2014.Maximum potential denitrification and N_2O production rates at 4°C were reached already at NO_3~-additions of 106–120 μg NO_3~-–N/L,and remained unchanged with higher NO_3 amendments.Higher incubation temperatures increased maximum potential denitrification and N_2O production rates,and Q10 was somewhat higher for N_2O production(1.77) than for denitrification(1.69).The relative N_2O production ranged between 13% and 64%,and was not related to NO_3~-concentration,but the ratio increased when incubations were amended with C and P(from a median of 16% to 27%).Combined,our results suggests that unproductive northern boreal lakes currently have low potential for denitrification but are susceptible to small changes in NO_3 loading especially if these are accompanied by enhanced C and P availability,likely promoting higher N_2O production relative to N_2.     

“Mama,I can’t breathe.” Louisville’s dirty air has steep medical and economic costs

ABSTRACT

The calls for greater racial equity also means cleaning up the air, water, and soil. Poor people needlessly suffer more in Louisville than the same low-income people in West Coast cites. If we adopted the same tough, environmental regulations as our West Coast Counterparts West Louisville would surely bloom instead of slowly die. The unfairness between black and white neighbourhoods is stark and vivid. As the great urbanist, Jane Jacobs, once said: “everyone hungers for a first class neighbourhood for both pride and dignity?…?nobody wants a second class neighborhood.” First class neighbourhoods are safe, healthy, sustainable, and prosperous. It is a human right; a Worldwide right.     

软包装印刷的有机废气净化和溶剂回收工艺研究

为了促进企业开展节能减排和资源回用,在车间选取了一条干式复合线进行废气净化和溶剂回收及利用工艺研究,使用乙酸乙酯作为粘胶剂的稀释剂,废气净化和溶剂回收采用吸附浓缩+冷凝回收工艺,溶剂脱水提纯采用渗透汽化膜分离工艺.结果表明,这两种工艺组合十分适合干式复合线的溶剂回收和溶剂脱水提纯,处理装置具有溶剂回收率高、纯度好、运行...     

2005～2009年南京市二氧化碳排放特征研究

采用IPCC报告(2006版)提供的计量方法与碳含量缺省值,对南京市能源消费碳排放进行了计量研究.结果表明:从2005～2009年,CO2排放总量从8.05×107t增加到1.02×108t,人均CO2排放量从11.7 t/a增加到13.2 t/a,但CO2排放强度持续降低,从3.34 t/万元下降到2.41 t/万元...     

Carbon balance of an intensively grazed temperate pasture in two climatically contrasting years

Grazed grasslands occupy 26% of the earth's ice free land surface and are therefore an important component of the global C balance. In New Zealand, pastoral agriculture is the dominant land use and recent research has shown that soils under intensive dairy pastures have lost large amounts of carbon (∼1000 kg C ha⁻¹ y⁻¹) during the past few decades. The objective of this research was to determine the net ecosystem carbon balance (NECB) of an intensively grazed dairy pasture in New Zealand. Net ecosystem CO₂ exchange (NEE) was measured using an eddy covariance (EC) system from 1 January 2008 to 31 December 2009. Other C imports (feed) and exports (milk, methane, leaching, and harvested biomass) were calculated from farm production data and literature values. During 2008 there was a one in 100 year drought during summer/autumn, which was followed by a very wet winter. There were no prolonged periods of above or below average rainfall or soil moisture in 2009, but temperatures were consistently lower than 2008. The severe summer/autumn drought during 2008 caused a loss of CO₂ to the atmosphere, but annual NEE remained negative (a CO₂ sink, −1610 ± 500 kg C ha⁻¹), because CO₂ lost during the drought was regained during the winter and spring. The site was also a net CO₂ sink during 2009 despite the colder than usual conditions (−2290 ± 500 kg C ha⁻¹). Including C imports and exports in addition to CO₂ exchange revealed that the site was a C sink in both years, with a NECB of 590 ± 560 kg C ha⁻¹ in 2008, and 900 ± 560 kg C ha⁻¹ in 2009. The C sequestration found in this study is in agreement with most other Northern Hemisphere EC studies of grazed pastures on mineral soils, but is not consistent with the large C losses reported for soils under dairy pastures throughout New Zealand. In the current study (like many other EC studies) the influence of climatic conditions and management practices on the annual C balance was only semi-quantitatively assessed. An extended period of EC measurements combined with modelling is required to more accurately quantify the effect of different climatic conditions on the annual C balance, and the influence of different management practices needs to be quantified using specifically designed studies (such as paired EC towers), so that practices which minimise C losses and maximise C sequestration can be identified.     

Biodecolorization and partial mineralization of Reactive Black 5 by a strain of Rhodopseudomonas palustris

A strain of photosynthetic bacterium, Rhodopseudomonas palustris W1, isolated from a lab-scale anaerobic moving bed biofilm reactor (MBBR) treating textile e?uent was demonstrated to decolorize Reactive Black 5 (RB5) effciently under anaerobic condition. By a series of batch tests, the suitable conditions for RB5 decolorization were obtained, namely, pH < 10, light presence, glutamine or lactate as carbon source with concentration more than 500 mg/L when lactate is selected, NH4Cl as a nitrogen source with ...