A HYBRID COMPUTER PROGRAM FOR PREDICTING THE CHEMICAL QUALITY OF IRRIGATION RETURN FLOWS1

ABSTRACT. A hybrid computer program was developed to predict the water and salt outflow from a river basin in which irrigation is the major user of water. The model combines a chemical model which predicts the quality of water percolated through a soil profile with a general hydrologic model. The chemical model considers the reactions that occur in the soil, including the exchange of calcium, magnesium, and sodium cations on the soil complex, and the dissolution and precipitation of gypsum and lime. The chemical composition of the outflow is a function of these chemical processes within the soil, plus the blending of undiverted inflows, evaporation, transpiration, and the mixing of sub surface return flows with groundwater. The six common ions of western waters, namely calcium (Ca⁺⁺), magnesium (Mg⁺⁺), sodium (Na⁺), sulfate (SO₄⁼), chloride (Cl^?), and bicarbonate (HCO₃^?) were considered in the study. Total dissolved solids (TDS) outflow was obtained by adding the individual ions. The overall model operates on a monthly time unit. The model was tested on a portion of the Little Bear River basin in northern Utah. The model successfully simulated measured outflows of water and each of the six ions for a 24-month period. The usefulness of the model was demonstrated by a management study of the prototype system. For example, preliminary results indicated that the available water supply could be used to irrigate additional land without unduly increasing the salt outflow from the basin. With minor adjustments the model can be applied to other hydrologic areas.     

ADVANCES IN THE BOUNDARY INTEGRAL EQUATION METHOD IN SUBSURFACE FLOW1

ABSTRACT: This paper explores some of the advances of the boundary element method, as applied to ground-water problems, during the last five years. Although the method is still somewhat limited compared to solution by finite elements, the range of solutions has increased considerably. Diffusion and advection-diffusion solutions are done efficiently. These include the incorporation of inhomogeneity, anisotropy, and nonlinear diffusion. The difficult problem of stream-aquifer interaction is an important application as it is much easier to follow a free surface with its multiple configurations. The application must be able to cycle between ground-water connection and disconnection with the stream and include seepage surfaces. Flow in fractured media is a natural application where the flow in fractures can usually be treated without a computational exception in spite of extremely high aspect ratios. The case of seawater intrusion forms a type of free surface problem and thus is a case for which the method has special advantages. For these and other applications the boundary element method provides an inexpensive technique for calculation where the data preparation and setup time is minimal. In most of these cases, programs can and have been written on microcomputers.     

Pathway and policy analysis to China’s deep decarbonization

The Paris Agreement marks the beginning of a new era in the global response to climate change, which further clarifies the long-term goal and underlines the urgency addressing climate change. For China, promoting the decoupling between economic growth and carbon emissions as soon as possible is not only the core task of achieving the medium- and long-term goals and strategies to address climate change, but also the inevitable requirement for ensuring the sustainable development of economy and society. Based on the analysis of the historical trends of the economy and social development, as well as society, energy consumption, and key end-use sectors in China, this paper studies the deep carbon emission reduction potential of carbon emission of in energy, industry, building, and transportation and other sectors with “bottom-up” modeling analysis and proposes a medium- and long-term deep decarbonization pathway based on key technologies’ mitigation potentials for China. It is found that under deep decarbonization pathway, China will successfully realize the goals set in China’s Intended Nationally Determined Contributions of achieving carbon emissions peak around 2030 and lowering carbon dioxide emissions per unit of gross domestic product (GDP) by 60–65% from the 2005 level. From 2030 onward, the development of nonfossil energy will further accelerates, and the share of nonfossil energies in primary energy will amounts to about 44% by 2050. Combined with the acceleration of low-carbon transformation in end-use sectors including industry, building, and transportation, the carbon dioxide emissions in 2050 will fall to the level before 2005, and the carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP will decreases by more than 90% from the 2005 level. To ensure the realization of the deep decarbonization pathway, this paper puts forward policy recommendations from four perspectives, including intensifying the total carbon dioxide emissions cap and strengthening the related institutional systems and regulations, improving the incentive policies for industrial low-carbon development, enhancing the role of the market mechanism, and advocating low-carbon life and consumption patterns.     

Sulphur-oxidising bacteria isolated from deep caves improve the removal of arsenic from contaminated harbour sediments

Acidophilic S-oxidising bacteria isolated from sulphur-rich deep caves (Frasassi, Italy), characterised by relatively low temperature, were tested for their ability to mobilise (semi-)metals from contaminated sediments. Sediment samples from two commercial Italian seaports were used to set up bioleaching experiments. The effect of different growth substrates was also investigated. Our experiments revealed that S-oxidising bacteria isolated from Frasassi caves have a high potential to remove As from contaminated marine sediments, as never reported before. Although As solubilisation efficiency was quite low (i.e. about 30%), only a small amount of As was associated with non-residual fractions of the sediment. On the contrary, the solubilisation efficiencies of Zn and Ni (20% and 10%, respectively) were lower than those previously obtained by the use of other acidophilic bacteria and mainly influenced by the experimental conditions rather than by the presence of the S-oxidising bacteria. Results presented here open new perspectives in bioleaching applications for the remediation of contaminated sediments. Indeed, microbial strains adapted to relatively low-temperature environments could improve sediment bioleaching at temperature regimes where mesophilic and thermophilic strains are not favoured. Such strains could be exploited for developing selective bioremediation procedures for sediments contaminated with As, to be applied in multistep biotreatment processes.     

The use of tailor-made acidic deep eutectic solvents for preparation of quercetin-enriched extracts from onion solid wastes

The current examination dealt with the development of a methodology to produce quercetin, a multifunctional bio-flavonoid, by designing task-specific, highly acidic deep eutectic solvents, based on glycerol and natural organic acids. The purpose was to achieve a simultaneous hydrolysis of spiraeoside, the major quercetin glycoconjugate occurring in onion solid wastes, and quercetin extraction. After an initial performance screening, the combination of glycerol/oxalic acid was identified as the highest-performing system, and further investigation showed that the most efficacious molar ratio was glycerol/oxalic acid 3:1. Further study of hydrolysis/extractions conditions suggested 30 min, at 130°C, to be the best operating conditions, giving the highest yield of 19.65 mg quercetin per grams of dry mass. The extract obtained under these conditions displayed significantly enhanced antiradical activity, compared to control extracts prepared with water or aqueous ethanol. On the other hand, results on the ferric-reducing power were rather contradictory. It is proposed that such a methodology may be implemented to valorize onion solid wastes, for the production of extracts significantly enriched in quercetin, with increased antiradical properties.     

Sustainability： A view from the wind-eroded field

This article explores the assessment of sustainability in fields subject to wind erosion. In the first part, simple sustainability audits are examined, as of soil depth and nutrients. Direct measurement of these characteristics has many problems, largely because of huge variability in space and time at all scales. Modelling still has its problems, but it may be possible to overcome many of them soon. It is true that wind erosion preferentially removes soil nutrients, but there are imponderables even here. The nutrient balance in many of these soils includes considerable input from dust. In West Africa, it has been shown that the amounts of calcium and potassium that are added in dust are sufficient to fertilize dispersed crops. In mildly acidic sandy soils, such as those found on the widespread palaeo- aeolian deposits, much of the phosphorus is fixed and unavailable to plants by the time it is removed by wind erosion, so that erosion has no added downside. Most of the nutrients carried by dust have been shown to travel close to the ground （even when they are attached to dust-sized particles）, and so are trapped in nearby fallow strips, and are thus not lost to the farming system. Second, the sustalnabillty of a whole semi-arid farming system is explored. Wind erosion in semi-arid areas （like China, the Sahel and Norflawestern Europe） generally takes place on aeolian deposits of the recent geological past. Most of these soils are deep enough to withstand centuries of wind erosion before they are totally lost to production, and some of these soils have greater fertility at greater depth （so that wind erosion may even improve the soil）. Finally some remarks are made about environmental change in relation to sustainability.     

深埋地铁岛式站点火灾模型实验研究(2)--列车火灾

列车停靠站台时一旦发生火灾,火灾烟气将向站台和区间隧道空间蔓延.尤其对于深埋地铁车站,如何控制车站列车火灾是地铁设计过程中必需解决的科学问题之一.这里,笔者利用深埋地铁车站模型实验台研究了列车停靠在站台时发生火灾情况下,火灾烟气蔓延规律,分析了火灾烟气有效控制方案,研究结果有利于火灾时深埋车站排烟模式的选择.     

深部岩体分区破裂化模拟试验模型几何尺寸的确定

为了揭示深部岩体在开挖时所发生的一系列变化情况,需要进行模拟试验研究。简要介绍了深部岩体在开挖洞室或巷道时发生的分区破裂化现象及其发展规律。根据分区破裂化力学现象、模拟试验背景和试验加载条件,运用弹性力学的基本理论,通过分析与计算,确定了采用b/a≥10作为模型几何参数的选取原则。在实验室条件下,可以采用石膏半径b=1 000 mm,钻孔半径a=100 mm的圆柱体模型来模拟深部岩体的分区破裂化现象及其规律。     

海底深部生物圈真菌的研究现状

海底深部生物圈是科学大洋钻探的最大发现之一,已证明以厌氧、高压、贫营养、温度跨幅大为特点的海底深部生物圈中存在大量微生物类群,其中研究较多的是细菌和古菌,而对真菌的研究则很少。本文重点综述目前有关海底深部生物圈真菌的研究进展,为我国从事海底深部生物圈真菌研究提供参考。     

铝合金牺牲阳极深海应用性能研究

目的评价铝合金牺牲阳极在深海环境的电化学性能。方法通过利用中国船舶重工集团公司第七二五研究所深海试验技术和装置,原位测量三种铝合金牺牲阳极在南海1200 m深海环境的电化学性能。结果三种阳极在1200 m深海环境下的开路电位均在?1.17 V左右,工作电位在?1.11～?0.91 V范围内。1#和2#阳极的实际电容量小于2400A?h/kg,电流效率约为80%,表面存在明显的优先溶解和晶粒脱落现象,表面腐蚀产物有结壳现象发生。3#阳极的实际电容量约为2500A?h/kg,电流效率大于85%,表面微观溶解形貌相对均匀,但表面存在大面积未溶解区域,且腐蚀产物不易脱落。结论该研究结果为深海工程装备阴极保护设计提供了支撑。