Supercritical Fluid Extraction for Forensic Analysis of Hydrocarbons in Soil

Supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) was investigated to evaluate its potential for obtaining high quality chromatographic fingerprints from soils encountered in environmental investigations. While the volatile and semivolatile fractions of light nonaqueous phase liquid (LNAPL) samples can be “fingerprinted” in a single chromatographic run, it is commonly not possible to obtain samples of LNAPL in the locations of interest. For this and other reasons, it was desirable to develop this method (SFE) of soil extraction, which allows chromatographic fingerprinting of the same quality routinely obtained with LNAPL so that environmental forensic investigations could be extended to areas beyond those containing LNAPL in monitoring wells. In this study, SFE was compared to conventional dichloromethane extraction. Both artificially spiked soil and soil from petroleum release sites were tested. Since water can be a problem when using the SFE method, particular attention was given to handling soils with high moisture contents. The SFE extracts showed excellent retention of low molecular components, including pentanes. Gas chromatography of SFE extracts yielded molecular distributions that showed no significant bias toward either low or high molecular weight components. These results show that SFE can be used to obtain an unbiased, single-run chromatographic “fingerprint” of both volatile and semivolatile hydrocarbons in contaminated soil samples.     

固定化微生物修复石油污染土壤影响因素研究

针对石油污染土壤修复,利用实验室已筛选的高效石油降解单菌SM-3,以天然有机材料为载体,吸附法制备固定化微生物。将游离与固定化微生物应用于室内花盆模拟修复石油污染土壤,对C/N/P、微生物投加量、石油含量、氧化剂和表面活性剂设计5因素4水平正交实验,探讨不同修复时期各影响因素的重要性顺序,最佳条件下各菌株的修复效果。结果表明,不同微生物在不同降解时期,各影响因素的重要性会发生变化;经过21 d的修复,固定化单菌SM-3石油降解率为22.77%,修复过程中,接种量是最重要的影响因素,营养元素N、P投加影响较大,表面活性剂和氧化剂影响次之。     

小型好氧堆肥设备处理有机垃圾

针对我国生活垃圾的特点,提出了厨余等有机生活垃圾单独收集,在产生源头进行好氧堆肥处理。研制了好氧堆肥设备,由加热装置、通风装置、冷凝水收集和回灌装置,以及与该生物堆肥设备配套的生物过滤除臭装置、自控系统和数据采集软件几部分构成。自控系统由氧气、温度、湿度三路传感器以及2个控制器构成,并与加热装置、通风装置连接,能满足物料加热、供氧和散热的要求。本研究通过为期30 d的试运行实验表明,物料快速升温并稳定保持在高温阶段(50～60℃),物料中的氧气浓度保持在14%～16%范围内。在堆肥实验结束时,物料的含水率降至36.4%,有机质含量降至49%,另外,通过好氧速率指标也可判定物料达到腐熟。     

生物强化修复石油污染土壤

筛选高效石油降解菌,考察菌株的降解性能及降解机理,进行花盆模拟高效外源菌强化修复石油污染土壤实验,在降解后期添加激活剂H2O2以及木屑来试图改善微生物的修复环境,减缓微生物的衰亡,并考察修复效果。结果表明,菌株L-1的降解效果较好,其对pH和温度有较大范围的适应性,能分泌较多的表面活性物质,细胞疏水性较强。将其应用于土壤修复中,经过50 d的修复,石油残留率达到50.6%左右,生物强化比自然修复残留率降低了8%左右。在第45天添加激活剂能有效改善修复效果,70 d时添加外源菌的土样最小石油残留率达到37.9%。     

炼油污水回用处理RO系统的稳定运行及维护

文章介绍了兰州石化公司炼油污水深度处理反渗透(RO)系统的工艺流程及维护。通过进出水电导率、产水回收率等变化情况,分析了RO系统的运行状况。得知:运用此系统,反渗透系统产水回收率达到65%～70%,系统脱盐率在99%以上,产水可以满足一级除盐水要求,实现了装置稳定运行的目标。     

气相色谱法测定气田产出水中的甲醇含量

文章建立了使用气相色谱仪分析气田产出水中甲醇含量的方法。通过实验在设定不同分流比的情况下,能有效监测出气田产出水中不同浓度的甲醇含量,此方法灵敏度高,最低检出限为0.02%,测定气田产出水中甲醇加标回收率达到93%～94%。     

高加速应力试验装置技术参数的测量

气锤驱动的高加速应力试验装置,能产生温度和非高斯随机振动应力,其中振动应力是由多个气锤作六自由度运动产生的。一般用来进行高温步进、低温步进、快速温度变化、振动、快速温变和振动复合试验。目前国家标准和校准规程中均无关于该试验装置的技术参数的校准方法。本文结合试验装置的技术特点,提出了几个关于温度和振动技术参数的测量方法,如:温度偏差、温度波动度、温度均匀度、温度过冲量、温度变化速率、均方根加速度、横向振动比、功率谱密度等。     

Reconstructions of Soil Moisture for the Upper Colorado River Basin Using Tree‐Ring Chronologies1

Anderson, SallyRose, Glenn Tootle, and Henri Grissino‐Mayer, 2012. Reconstructions of Soil Moisture for the Upper Colorado River Basin Using Tree‐Ring Chronologies. Journal of the American Water Resources Association (JAWRA) 48(4): 849‐858. DOI: 10.1111/j.1752‐1688.2012.00651.x Abstract: Soil moisture is an important factor in the global hydrologic cycle, but existing reconstructions of historic soil moisture are limited. We used tree‐ring chronologies to reconstruct annual soil moisture in the Upper Colorado River Basin (UCRB). Gridded soil moisture data were spatially regionalized using principal components analysis and k‐nearest neighbor techniques. We correlated moisture sensitive tree‐ring chronologies in and adjacent to the UCRB with regional soil moisture and tested the relationships for temporal stability. Chronologies that were positively correlated and stable for the calibration period were retained. We used stepwise linear regression to identify the best predictor combinations for each soil moisture region. The regressions explained 42‐78% of the variability in soil moisture data. We performed reconstructions for individual soil moisture grid cells to enhance understanding of the disparity in reconstructive skill across the regions. Reconstructions that used chronologies based on ponderosa pines (Pinus ponderosa) and pinyon pines (Pinus edulis) explained more variance in the datasets. Reconstructed soil moisture data was standardized and compared with standardized reconstructed streamflow and snow water equivalent data from the same region. Soil moisture and other hydrologic variables were highly correlated, indicating reconstructions of soil moisture in the UCRB using tree‐ring chronologies successfully represent hydrologic trends.     

Recycling of EDTA solution after soil washing of Pb, Zn, Cd and As contaminated soil

Soil washing with EDTA is known to be an effective means of removing toxic metals from contaminated soil. A practical way of recycling of used soil washing solution remains, however, an unsolved technical problem. We demonstrate here, in a laboratory scale experiment, the feasibility of using acid precipitation to recover up to 50% of EDTA from used soil washing solution obtained after extraction of Pb (5330 mg kg⁻¹), Zn (3400 mg kg⁻¹), Cd (35 mg kg⁻¹) and As (279 mg kg⁻¹) contaminated soil. Up to 100% of EDTA residual in the washing solution and 100%, 97%, 98% and 100% of initial Pb, Zn, Cd and As concentration in the solution, respectively, were removed in an electrolytic cell using a graphite anode. We employed the recovered EDTA and treated washing solution to prepare recycled soil washing solution with the same potential for extracting toxic metals from soil as the original. The efficiency of soil washing depends on the EDTA concentration. Using twice recycled 30 mmol EDTA kg⁻¹ soil, we removed 44%, 20%, 53% and 61% of Pb, Zn, Cd and As, respectively, from contaminated soil.     

Toxicity of the fungicide trifloxystrobin on tadpoles and its effect on fish-tadpole interaction

Contamination of aquatic systems is a major environmental stress that can interfere with predator-prey interactions, altering prey or predator behavior differentially. We determined toxicity parameters of the fungicide trifloxystrobin (TFS) and examined its effects on predation rate, using a fish predator (Synbranchus marmoratus) and four anuran tadpole species as prey (Rhinella arenarum, Physalaemus santafecinus, Leptodactylus latrans, and Elachistocleis bicolor). TFS was not equally toxic to the four tadpole species, E. bicolor being the most sensitive species, followed by P. santafecinus, R. arenarum, and L. latrans. Predation rates were evaluated using different treatments that combined predator and prey exposed or not to this fungicide. TFS would alter the outcome of eel-tadpole interaction by reducing prey movements; thus, prey detection would decrease and therefore tadpole survival would increase. In addition, eels preyed selectively upon non-exposed tadpoles avoiding the exposed ones almost all throughout the period evaluated. Predation rate differed among prey species; such differences were not due to TFS exposure, but to interspecific differences in behavior. The mechanism that would explain TFS-induced reduction in predation rates remains unclear; however, what is clear is that sublethal TFS concentrations have the potential to alter prey behavior, thereby indirectly altering predator-prey interactions. In addition, we consider that predator-prey relationships are measurable responses of toxicant exposure and provide ecological insight into how contaminants modify predator-prey interactions.