Characteristics of element distributions in an MSW ash melting treatment system

Thermal treatment of municipal solid waste (MSW) has become a common practice in waste volume reduction and resource recovery. For the utilization of molten slag for construction materials and metal recovery, it is important to understand the behavior of heavy metals in the melting process. In this study, the correlation between the contents of elements in feed materials and MSW molten slag and their distributions in the ash melting process, including metal residues, are investigated. The hazardous metal contents in the molten slag were significantly related to the contents of metals in the feed materials. Therefore, the separation of products containing these metals in waste materials could be an effective means of producing environmentally safe molten slag with a low hazardous metals content. The distribution ratios of elements in the ash melting process were also determined. The elements Zn and Pb were found to have a distribution ratio of over 60% in fly ash from the melting furnace and the contents of these metals were also high; therefore, Zn and Pb could be potential target metals for recycling from fly ash from the melting furnace. Meanwhile, Cu, Ni, Mo, Sn, and Sb were found to have distribution ratios of over 60% in the metal residue. Therefore, metal residue could be a good resource for these metals, as the contents of Cu, Ni, Mo, Sn, and Sb in metal residue are higher than those in other output materials.     

Generation of copper rich metallic phases from waste printed circuit boards

The rapid consumption and obsolescence of electronics have resulted in e-waste being one of the fastest growing waste streams worldwide. Printed circuit boards (PCBs) are among the most complex e-waste, containing significant quantities of hazardous and toxic materials leading to high levels of pollution if landfilled or processed inappropriately. However, PCBs are also an important resource of metals including copper, tin, lead and precious metals; their recycling is appealing especially as the concentration of these metals in PCBs is considerably higher than in their ores. This article is focused on a novel approach to recover copper rich phases from waste PCBs. Crushed PCBs were heat treated at 1150 °C under argon gas flowing at 1 L/min into a horizontal tube furnace. Samples were placed into an alumina crucible and positioned in the cold zone of the furnace for 5 min to avoid thermal shock, and then pushed into the hot zone, with specimens exposed to high temperatures for 10 and 20 min. After treatment, residues were pulled back to the cold zone and kept there for 5 min to avoid thermal cracking and re-oxidation. This process resulted in the generation of a metallic phase in the form of droplets and a carbonaceous residue. The metallic phase was formed of copper-rich red droplets and tin-rich white droplets along with the presence of several precious metals. The carbonaceous residue was found to consist of slag and ～30% carbon. The process conditions led to the segregation of hazardous lead and tin clusters in the metallic phase. The heat treatment temperature was chosen to be above the melting point of copper; molten copper helped to concentrate metallic constituents and their separation from the carbonaceous residue and the slag. Inert atmosphere prevented the re-oxidation of metals and the loss of carbon in the gaseous fraction. Recycling e-waste is expected to lead to enhanced metal recovery, conserving natural resources and providing an environmentally sustainable solution to the management of waste products.     

Sewage sludge drying by energy recovery from OFMSW composting: Preliminary feasibility evaluation

In this paper an original energy recovery method from composting is analyzed. The integrated system exploits the heat available from the aerobic biochemical process in order to support the drying of sewage sludge, using a specific solar greenhouse. The aim is to tackle the problem of organic waste treatment, with specific regard to food waste. This is done by optimizing the energy consumption of the aerobic process of composting, using the heat produced to solve a second important waste management problem such as the sewage waste treatment. Energy and mass balances are presented in a preliminary feasibility study. Referring to a composting plant with a capacity of 15,000 t/y of food waste, the estimation of the power from recovered heat for the entire plant resulted about 42 kW. The results demonstrated that the energy recoverable can cover part of the heat necessary for the treatment of sludge generated by the population served by the composting plant (in terms of food waste and green waste collection). The addition of a renewable source such as solar energy could cover the residual energy demand. The approach is presented in detail in order for it to be replicated in other case studies or at full scale applications.     

Process analysis of an industrial waste-to-energy plant: Theory and experiments

Thermal conversion is fundamental in an integrated waste management system due to the capability of reducing mass and volume of waste and recovering energy content from unrecyclable materials. Indeed, power generation from industrial solid wastes (ISW) is a topic of great interest for its appeal in the field of renewable energy production as well as for an increasing public concern related to its emissions. This paper is based on the process engineering and optimization analysis, commissioned to the University Campus-Biomedico of Rome by the MIDA Tecnologie Ambientali S.r.l. enterprise, ended up in the construction of an ISW thermo-conversion plant in Crotone (Southern Italy), where it is nowadays operating. The scientific approach to the process analysis is founded on a novel cascade numerical simulation of each plant section and it has been used initially in the process design step and after to simulate the performances of the industrial plant. In this paper, the plant process scheme is described together with the values of main operating parameters monitored during the experimental test runs. The thermodynamic and kinetic basics of the mathematical model for the simulation of the energy recovery and flue gas treatment sections are presented. Moreover, the simulation results, together with the implemented parameters, are given and compared to the experimental data for 10 specific plant test runs. It was found that the model is capable to predict the process performances in the energy production as well as in the gas treatment sections with high accuracy by knowing a set of measurable input variables. In the paper fundamental plant variables have been considered such as steam temperature, steam flow rate, power generated as well as temperature, flow rate and composition of the resulting flue gas; therefore, the mathematical model can be simply implemented as a reliable and efficient tool for management optimization of this kind of plants.     

森林生态系统对大气氮沉降降低的响应

大气氮沉降是全球变化的重要影响因素之一,而过量氮沉降导致森林出现氮饱和,引起土壤酸化、硝酸根淋溶、氧化亚氮排放增加、植物物种多样性和植被生产力下降.在欧洲、北美和我国大气氮沉降降低的背景下,总结森林生态系统对氮输入降低的响应,不仅能够完善氮沉降对森林生态系统影响的知识体系,也能评估各国已开展的减排行动的成效,为我国制定进一步的减排政策提供科学依据.回顾了欧洲和北美的温带森林以及我国亚热带森林的土壤、地表水、氮循环和植被对大气含氮污染气体和氮沉降降低的响应.土壤溶液中硝酸根浓度对氮沉降的减少响应迅速,但具体响应规律未出现统一趋势.土壤酸化和氮循环过程从高氮沉降中的恢复过程出现滞后现象.森林氮矿化和固持、土壤碳储量和净初级生产力可能需要几十年的时间对氮沉降的减少作出响应.相对而言,虽然有一两年的延迟,土壤无机氮库和氮淋溶量会随着氮沉降的下降而下降.地表水氮浓度与森林生态系统氮状态密切相关.当氮沉降降低时,在历史高氮沉降地区,森林生态系统的氮淋溶下降,因此地表水氮浓度的响应较明显.而在氮缺乏的森林中,普遍较低的地表水氮浓度受到氮沉降变化的影响不显著.地表水酸化的恢复受到土壤硫解吸-矿化和硝化...     

Basic properties of sintering dust from iron and steel plant and potassium recovery

With the production of crude steel, China produces several million tons of sintering dusts which contain a great deal of valuable metals such as, K, Na, Zn, Pb. If discharged directly without adequate treatment, these elements can lead to adverse effects on the environment. Therefore, it is very necessary to determine how to separate these elements from the dust before discharge. Several physical and chemical detection methods were used to study the basic properties of sintering dust. At the same time, preliminary experiments on the recovery of the potassium resources from the sintering dust were carried out. The mean particle size of the electrostatic precipitator (ESP) dust determined by a laser granulometer was 41.468 μm. Multi-point BET and single-point BET analysis showed that the surface area of the ESP dust was 2.697 m²/g. XRD measurements detected the following phases in the ESP dust: Fe₂O₃, Fe₃O₄, KCl and NaCl, and Fe₂O₃, Fe₃O₄ and SiO₂ in the water-washed dust. SEM-EDS results proved that in the ESP dust, K mostly existed in the form of KCl particles without being coated. Leaching experiments showed that the KCl in the ESP dust could be separated and recovered by water leaching and fractional crystallization. Through the recovery experiments, the yield of K-Na vaporized crystalline salt was 18.56%, in which the mass fractions of KCl, NaCl, CaSO₄ and K₂SO₄ were about 61.03%, 13.58%, 14.03% and 9.97%, respectively. This process is technically viable and considerable in economic benefit. There was almost no secondary pollution produced in the whole recovery process.     

二氧化碳驱油工艺中油酸咪唑啉对碳钢的缓蚀行为研究

目的 研究CO2驱油工艺中咪唑啉缓蚀剂对油套管P110钢腐蚀的缓蚀机制与规律。方法 模拟长庆油田CO2驱工艺环境为实验条件,采用失重挂片、电化学测试、微观表征等手段,研究油酸咪唑啉缓蚀剂对P110碳钢的腐蚀抑制行为。结果 P110钢的腐蚀速度随着CO2分压的升高而增大,但是增大幅度不明显。当CO2分压为2、6 MPa时,油酸咪唑啉对P110钢腐蚀具有显著的抑制效果,缓蚀效率均超过98%,试片表面基本完整;当CO2分压升高到8 MPa时,油酸咪唑啉的缓蚀性能明显下降,缓蚀效率仅为64.33%,试片表面存在明显的腐蚀特征。结论 CO2分压升高到8 MPa时,P110钢表面携带过剩的正电荷,不利于油酸咪唑啉缓蚀剂的吸附。     

Electro-oxidation of Ni (II)-citrate complexes at BDD electrode and simultaneous recovery of metallic nickel by electrodeposition

The simultaneous electro-oxidation of Ni (II)-citrate and electrodeposition recovery of nickel metal were attempted in a combined electro-oxidation-electrodeposition reactor with a boron-doped diamond (BDD) anode and a polished titanium cathode. Effects of initial nickel citrate concentration, current density, initial pH, electrode spacing, electrolyte type, and initial electrolyte dosage on electrochemical performance were examined. The efficiencies of Ni (II)-citrate removal and nickel metal recovery were determined to be 100% and over 72%, respectively, under the optimized conditions (10 mA/cm², pH 4.09, 80 mmol/L Na₂SO₄, initial Ni (II)-citrate concentration of 75 mg/L, electrode spacing of 1 cm, and 180 min of electrolysis). Energy consumption increased with increased current density, and the energy consumption was 0.032 kWh/L at a current density of 10 mA/cm² (pH 6.58). The deposits at the cathode were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive spectrometry (EDS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). These characterization results indicated that the purity of metallic nickel in cathodic deposition was over 95%. The electrochemical system exhibited a prospective approach to oxidize metal complexes and recover metallic nickel.     

Enhanced biological phosphorus removal using thermal alkaline hydrolyzed municipal wastewater biosolids

This study reports the feasibility of using municipal wastewater biosolids as an alternative carbon source for biological phosphorus removal. The biosolids were treated by a lowtemperature, thermal alkaline hydrolysis process patented by Lystek International Inc.(Cambridge, ON, Canada) to produce short-chain volatile fatty acids and other readily biodegradable organics. Two sequencing batch reactors(SBRs) were operated with synthetic volatile fatty acids(Syn VFA) and readily biodegradable organics produced from the alkaline hydrolysis of municipal wastewater biosolids(Lystek) as the carbon source, respectively.Municipal wastewaters with different strengths and COD:N:P ratios were tested in the study. The reactors' performances were compared with respect to nitrogen and phosphorus removal. It was observed that phosphorus removal efficiencies were between 98%–99% and 90%–97% and nitrogen removal efficiencies were 78%–81%, and 67% for the Syn VFA and Lystek, respectively. However, the kinetics for phosphorus release and uptake during the anaerobic and aerobic stages with Lystek were observed to be significantly lower than Syn VFA due to the presence of higher order VFAs(C4 and above) and other fermentable organics in the Lystek.     

基于水足迹强度的江苏省水资源利用效率分析

水足迹强度是可以量化水资源利用效率的指标,文章在计算江苏省水足迹的基础上,选取6项水足迹强度指标,分部门比较各地市水资源利用效率的差异,并基于ESDA研究水足迹强度的空间自相关性,构建空间集聚图。研究表明:2002~2014年江苏省各市水足迹总体呈现上升趋势,水资源压力增大;总体上苏南和苏北地区的农业水足迹强度都偏高,农业水资源利用效率低;苏南地区工业产值高但耗水量大,因此工业水足迹强度也偏高;苏北地区的灰水足迹强度偏高,水资源压力较大;江苏省水足迹强度具有不断增强的全局自相关性,地市出现集聚现象,不同地市的集聚分布也日益明显;大部分苏北地区属于高高集聚并且向外扩张,低低集聚主要分布在苏南地区。研究结果为政府部门分析地市间水资源利用效率差异,制定高效的水资源利用政策等提供依据。