Robustness testing of a free-fall triboelectric separation process for plastic waste recovery

Among the separation techniques used in industries, the triboelectric separation of insulating particles using a rotary tube is an effective way employed in the waste recovery of plastic and mineral products. This process, also called free-fall triboelectric separation, is widely used for the sorting of granular mixtures resulting from industrial plastic wastes. Given that the robustness of such a separation process is an important issue, a standard procedure is used for determining the set point and for minimising the process sensitivity of sorting mixed particles of different polymers to changes in the values of some critical factors. The aim of this paper was to analyse the efficiency of the triboelectric separation process of polymers with respect to any slight variation in the values of the most significant factors. Experiments with a sample of high-density polyethylene and polyvinyl chloride plastic granules were carried out on a laboratory experimental bench. Several one-factor-at-a-time experiments, followed by two factorial designs (one composite and the other fractional), were performed based on the following experimental procedure: (1) determination of the variation limits of the input variables; (2) identification of the set point and (3) robustness testing of the process, i.e. testing whether the performance of the system remains high even when the factors vary slightly around the set point.     

Phenol depletion by thermally activated peroxydisulfate at 70°C

The ability of thermal activated peroxydisulfate (PS) of mineralizing phenol at 70 °C from contaminated waters is investigated. Phenol in concentrations of 10⁻⁴ to 5 × 10⁻⁴ M is quantitatively depleted by 5 × 10⁻³ to 10⁻² M activated PS in 15 min of reaction. However, mineralization of the organic carbon is not observed. Instead, an insoluble phenol polymer-type product is formed. A reaction mechanism including the formation of phenoxyl radicals and validated by computer simulations is proposed. High molecular weight phenolic products are formed by phenoxyl radical H-abstraction reactions. This is not the case for the room temperature degradation of phenol by sulfate radicals where sulfate addition to the aromatic ring mainly leads to the generation of hydroxycyclohexadienyl radicals leading to hydroxybenzenes and oxidized open chain products. Therefore, a change in the reaction mechanism is observed with increasing temperature, and thermal activation of PS at 70 °C does not lead to the mineralization of phenol. Thus PS activation at 70 °C may be considered a potential method to reduce the load of phenol in polluted waters by polymerization.     

利用剩余活性污泥生产一次性可降解材料

为了缓解污水处理厂日益严重的污泥处置难题,实现剩余活性污泥的无害化、减量化、稳定化、资源化利用。采用SBR系统对剩余活性污泥进行10 d的驯化,加入4.0 g/L的乙酸钠作为发酵培养基碳源和前体物质,累积聚羟基烷酸酯(polyhydroxyalkanoates,PHA)。30℃好氧发酵10 h后,PHA积累达1 125 mg/L,占污泥浓度(MLSS)的质量分数为35.7%。然后经过离心、烘干、粉碎后模压成型加工成一次性使用的可生物降解材料。使用正交实验进行优化,结果表明:其最佳的物料配比和模压条件为:干污泥57%;稻草纤维20%;聚乙烯醇(PVA)19%;硬脂酸钡2%;氧化钙2%;最佳工艺条件为100℃,加热1.5 h,此时加工出来的产品具有最优的抗压强度和拉伸强度。以本方法制成的可生物降解花盆其所含细菌总数、粪大肠菌群、蛔虫卵死亡率均达到国标所规定的污泥农用生物安全要求;另外,试样中未检出病毒;其重金属含量也达到国标所规定的污泥农用标准;其可生物降解性能达到了可降解材料的要求。因而本研究制备的一次性使用可降解花盆具有较好的开发和应用价值。     

Outdoor Weathering Evaluation of Carbon-Black-Filled, Biodegradable Copolyester as Substitute for Traditionally Used, Carbon-Black-Filled, Nonbiodegradable, High-Density Polyethylene Mulch Films

Carbon-black-filled, biodegradable, copolyester mulch film (Eastar®, or EA, Tennessee Eastman, Kingsport, TN) and commercial carbon-black-filled, high-density polyethylene (HDPE) mulch film were exposed for 12 weeks to commercial vegetable crop growing conditions by being placed directly on irrigated soil in the field of the University of Tennessee Alcoa Highway State Agriculture Experiment Station (Knoxville, TN) and by being placed on a plywood exposure rack as described by the American Society of Testing and Materials (ASTM) Standard Test Method 1435: Outdoor Weathering of Plastics. Mechanical properties and weather information were collected in order to evaluate the feasibility of using the newly developed biodegradable EA mulch film to replace the nonbiodegradable HDPE mulch film. Results indicate that the EA mulch film exhibited favorable tensile strength and elongation-at-break during outdoor exposure rack testing and outdoor, in-field, placed directly on the soil, exposure testing, suggesting biodegradable EA could be a substitute for the HDPE nonbiodegradable material.     

Novel Polymeric Materials from Biological Oils

A variety of novel polymeric materials ranging from elastomers to tough, rigid plastics have been prepared by the cationic copolymerization of regular soybean oil, low-saturation soybean oil, or conjugated low-saturation soybean oil with various alkene commonomers. Using appropriate compositions and reaction conditions, 70–100% of the soybean oil is covalently incorporated into the cross-linked polymer networks, contributing significantly to cross-linking during copolymerization. The resulting thermosets exhibit thermophysical and mechanical properties that are competitive with those of their petroleum-based counterparts. In addition, good damping and shape memory properties have been obtained by controlling the degree of cross-linking and the rigidity of the polymer backbone. New materials with similar characteristics have also been produced from other biological oils, including tung, and fish oils using the same technique. The new, more valuable properties of these bioplastics suggest numerous promising applications of these novel polymeric materials.     

基于BDPs的多级土壤渗滤系统处理受污染河水的试验研究

针对受污染的流入滇池的河流河水,采用具有曝气段和缺氧段的两段式多级土壤渗滤(multi-soil-layering,MSL)系统,开展了在缺氧段添加非水溶性可生物降解多聚物(BDPs)材料PBS颗粒的强化脱氮除磷研究.结果表明,添加PBS碳源可有效解决传统MSL系统因碳源不足而导致的脱氮效果不理想的问题.在河水污染较轻及较重两种情况下,系统对TN的平均去除率分别达到78%、85%,平均单位表面去除负荷分别为9.09g·m-·2d-1、24.55g·m-·2d-1;TP平均去除率分别达到92%、98%,平均单位表面去除负荷分别为0.76g·m-·2d-1、2.02g·m-·2d-1.此外,系统对COD的平均去除率可达到75%以上.     

碳源对O/A-F/F模式积累内源聚合物及反硝化的影响

好氧/缺氧-盛宴/饥饿(O/A-F/F)选择模式能够在好氧段实现活性污泥积累内源聚合物的同时在缺氧段原位利用内源聚合物驱动反硝化.为了深入探究不同的碳源类型对O/A-F/F模式下内源聚合物积累和内源反硝化的影响,实验以乙酸和葡萄糖为主要碳源探究内源聚合物积累和内源反硝化特性以及富集的活性污泥菌群的结构和功能.结果表明,在O/A-F/F选择模式下,当进水化学需氧量(COD)为500 mg·L~(-1)左右时,以乙酸为主要碳源系统(Ac-SBR)和以葡萄糖为主要碳源的系统(Gc-SBR)均能实现40 mg·L~(-1)的硝酸盐氮的内源去除,且各系统均实现了部分短程反硝化.但Ac-SBR实现了更高的亚硝酸盐的积累.乙酸有利于内源聚羟基脂肪酸酯(PHA)积累并驱动内源反硝化过程,PHA产率为0.52,平均反硝化速率(DNR)为9.65 mg·(L·h)-1.Gc-SBR系统能够实现PHA和糖原(Gly)的同时积累,但Gly产率高于PHA产率,分别为0.36和0.17,DNR为4.35 mg·(L·h)-1.Gly是实现内源反硝化过程的主要驱动力,反硝化脱氮贡献率占总量的77%.16S rRNA高通量测序表明Proteobacteria门中的β-Proteobacteria在Ac-SBR中为优势菌纲,菌群丰度为40.56%,而在Gc-SBR中菌群丰度为18.05%.α-Proteobacteria可能在Gc-SBR中贡献了微生物的糖原积累.β-Proteobacteria、Unclassified Bacteroidetes和Lgnavibacteria在Ac-SBR中贡献了内源PHA积累.     

Preliminary Studies on Converting Agricultural Waste into Biodegradable Plastics—Part IV: Polysaccharide Containing Natural Materials

Corn distillers’ dry grain, corncob powder, hardwood powder, and sugar beet pulp were separately anionized by oxidation with sodium hypochlorite in aqueous solution. Solid reaction products instantly precipitated upon admixing each of the above-oxidized materials with soy protein isolate. Infrared spectra and differential scanning calorimetry supported the hypothesis that soy protein isolate complexed with all of the above-oxidized polysaccharides. Reaction products with either oxidized corn distillers’ dry grain or oxidized sugar beet pulp provided hard, brittle pellets with tensile strengths as high as 9.5 MPa, suggesting that these materials could be viable as biodegradable plastics.     

Role of Amino Acids on <Emphasis Type="Italic">In Situ</Emphasis> Photografting of Jute Yarn with 3-(Trimethoxysilyl) Propylmethacrylate

To improve the mechanical performance of natural lignocellulosic jute yarn, grafting with [3-(trimethoxysilyl) propylmethacrylate] (TMSPM) monomer has been performed on in situ UV radiation and optimized the monomer concentration (30%) and irradiation time (30 min). Effect of various amino acids (1%) as additives in TMSPM with photografted jute yarn at optimized system has been studied. The polymer loading (PL) and tensile properties like tensile strength (TS) and elongation at break (Eb) of treated samples were enhanced by incorporation of amino acids and the highest properties (TS = 300% and Eb = 386%) achieved by the sample treated with l-Arginine (Arg) with 32.5% PL value. Weak acid like 3% acetic acid and inorganic acid like 1% sulfuric acid were also incorporated in the optimized system of TMSPM grafting and compared their effect on the tensile properties with amino acid treated samples. Water absorption and weathering resistance of treated and untreated samples were also performed and treated sample showed lesser water uptake as well as less weight loss and mechanical properties as compared to untreated samples.