Di（2-ethylhexyl）phosphoric acid-coconut oil supported liquid membrane for the separation of copper ions from copper plating wastewater

Permeation of Cu(II) from its aqueous solution through a supported liquid membrane (SLM) containing di(2-ethylhexyl)phosphoric acid (D2EHPA) carrier dissolved in coconut oil has been studied. The effects of Cu(II), pH (in feed), H2SO4 (stripping) and D2EHPA (in membrane) concentrations have been investigated. The stability of the D2EHPA-coconutoil has also been evaluated. High Cu(II) concentration in the feed leads to an increase in flux from 4.1 × 10-9 to 8.9 × 10-9 mol/(m2·s) within the Cu(II) concentration range 7.8×10-4-78.6×10-4 mol/L at pH of 4.0 in the feed and 12.4 × 10-4 mol/L D2EHPA in the membrane phase. Increase in H2SO4 concentration in strip solution leads to an increase in copper ions flux up to 0.25 mol/L H2SO4, providing a maximum flux of 7.4 × 10-9 mol/(m2·s). The optimum conditions for Cu(II) transport are, pH of feed 4.0, 0.25 mol/L H2SO4 in strip phase and 12.4 × 10-4 mol/L D2EHPA (membrane) in 0.5 (m pore size polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) membrane. It has been observed that Cu(II) flux across the membrane tends to increase with the concentration of copper ions. Application of the method developed to copper plating bath rinse solutions has been found to be successful in the recovery of Cu(II). rane. It     

Anaerobic digestion of dairy manure with enhanced ammonia removal

Poor ammonia-nitrogen removal in methanogenic anaerobic reactors digesting animal manure has been reported as an important disadvantage of anaerobic digestion (AD) in several studies. Development of anaerobic processes that are capable of producing reduced ammonia-nitrogen levels in their effluent is one of the areas where further research must be pursued if AD technology is to be made more effective and economically advantageous. One approach to removing ammonia from anaerobically digested effluents is the forced precipitation of magnesium ammonium phosphate hexahydrate (MgNH4PO4 x 6H2O), commonly called struvite. Struvite is a valuable plant nutrient source for nitrogen and phosphorus since it releases them slowly and has non-burning features because of its low solubility in water. This study investigated coupling AD and controlled struvite precipitation in the same reactor to minimize the nitrogen removal costs and possibly increase the performance of the AD by reducing the ammonia concentration which has an adverse effect on anaerobic bacteria. The results indicated that up to 19% extra COD and almost 11% extra NH3 removals were achieved relative to a control by adding 1750 mg/L of MgCl2 x 6H2O to the anaerobic reactor.     

Degradation of anionic surfactants during drying of UASBR sludges on sand drying beds

Anionic surfactant (AS) concentrations in wet up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket reactor (UASBR) sludges from five sewage treatment plants (STPs) were found to range from 4480 to 9233mgkg(-1)drywt. (average 7347mgkg(-1)drywt.) over a period of 18 months. After drying on sand drying beds (SDBs), AS in dried-stabilized sludges averaged 1452mgkg(-1)drywt., a reduction of around 80%. The kinetics of drying followed simple first-order reduction of moisture with value of drying constant (k(d))=0.051d(-1). Reduction of AS also followed first-order kinetics. AS degradation rate constant (k(AS)) was found to be 0.034d(-1) and half-life of AS as 20 days. The order of rates of removal observed was k(d)>k(AS)>k(COD)>k(OM) (drying >AS degradation>COD reduction>organic matter reduction). For the three applications of dried-stabilized sludges (soil, agricultural soil, grassland), values of risk quotient (RQ) were found to be <1, indicating no risk.     

Removal of carotene-like colored compounds by liquid-liquid extraction during polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons analysis of plant tissue

Plants contain a wide variety of chemicals, some of which may have similar chromatographic behavior to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). During solid phase extraction (SPE) with Si-gel for instance, the co-elution of carotene-like colored compounds with PAHs has been observed. In this paper, liquid–liquid extraction was applied for the separation and subsequent analysis of PAHs from plant extracts. PAHs containing 2–6 rings, which include naphthalene, phenanthrene, pyrene, benzo[a]pyrene and benzo[ghi]perylene, were used as representative target chemicals. Carotene-like compounds extracted from Komatsuna (Brassica campestris) shoot by acetone followed by Si-gel treatment were incorporated as undesired components in the model matrix. Results showed the feasibility of employing either acetonitrile or 2% (w/v) KOH–methanol as solvents for high PAHs recovery and low extraction of colored fraction. For acetonitrile, 86.9–93.5% of each PAH could be recovered after three extraction cycles (relative standard deviation, RSD < 1.6%) with only about 10% co-extraction of colored fraction. For 2% KOH–methanol, PAHs recoveries ranging from 79.3% to 83.1% after five cycles (RSD < 1.5%) were achieved while the percent extraction of colored fraction was also low at 10%. The relatively higher selectivity of the solvents for PAHs over the colored fraction as well as the solubility of the matrix solution in the solvent may have contributed to these results. On this basis, liquid–liquid extraction is very useful for the pre-treatment of plant extracts for PAHs analysis.     

Biodegradation of mono-alkyl phthalate esters in natural sediments

Mono-alkyl phthalate esters (MPEs) are primary metabolites of di-alkyl phthalate esters (DPEs), a family of industrial chemicals widely used in the production of soft polyvinyl chloride and a large range of other products. To better understand the long term fate of DPEs in the environment, we measured the biodegradation kinetics of eight MPEs (-ethyl, -n-butyl, -benzyl, -i-hexyl, -2-ethyl-hexyl, -n-octyl, -i-nonyl, and -i-decyl monoesters) in marine and freshwater sediments collected from three locations in the Greater Vancouver area. After a lag period in which no apparent biodegradation occurred, all MPEs tested showed degradation rates in both marine and freshwater sediments at 22 °C with half-lives ranging between 16 and 39 h. Half-lives increased approximately 8-fold in incubations performed at 5 °C. Biodegradation rates did not differ between marine and freshwater sediments. Half-lives did not show a relationship with increasing alkyl chain length. We conclude that MPEs can be quickly degraded in natural sediments and that the similarity in MPE degradation kinetics among sediment types suggests a wide occurrence of nonspecific esterases in microorganisms from various locations, as has been reported previously.     

Book Reviews

Books reviewed:
Rutherford H., Platt et al. Disasters and Democracy: The Politics of Extreme Natural Events
S., Suri Orissa Disaster: Agony of the Living     

The Accuracy of Mortality Reporting in Displaced Persons Camps During the Post-emergency Phase

For humanitarian organisations, accurate data are essential to identify emerging health problems and determine programme needs. We visited 45 post-emergency phase displaced persons camps and collected three months' mortality data which we compared with organisations' routine mortality reports. Organisations reported 612 deaths and we identified 741 deaths, for a mortality-reporting ratio, defined as the number of organisation-reported deaths divided by the number of investigator-identified deaths, of 83 per cent. For the majority of camps which under-reported deaths, mortality reporting ratios were significantly higher for women than men, and for camps with central mortality registers rather than those without. In the few camps which over-reported deaths, these occurred primarily among children younger than five years of age, probably due to the inclusion of abortions and stillbirths. Despite the overall under-reporting of deaths by humanitarian organisations, the existing health information systems appear to estimate mortality rates adequately in these post-emergency camps. However, organisations should improve the precision and completeness with which they report the characteristics of deaths in order to provide valuable data to target their programmes at the most vulnerable people.     

Analysis of a gas-phase partitioning tracer test conducted in an unsaturated fractured-clay formation

The gas-phase partitioning tracer method was used to estimate non-aqueous phase liquid (NAPL), water, and air saturations in the vadose zone at a chlorinated-solvent contaminated field site in Tucson, AZ. The tracer test was conducted in a fractured-clay system that is the confining layer for the underlying regional aquifer. Three suites of three tracers were injected into wells located 14, 24, and 24 m from a single, central extraction well. The tracers comprised noble gases (traditionally thought to be nonsorbing), alkanes (primarily water partitioning), perfluorides (primarily NAPL partitioning), and halons (both NAPL and water partitioning). Observations of vacuum response were consistent with flow in a fractured system. The halon tracers exhibited the greatest amount of retardation, and helium and the perfluoride tracers the least. The alkane tracers were unexpectedly more retarded than the perfluoride tracers, indicating low NAPL saturations and high water saturations. An NAPL saturation of 0.01, water saturation of 0.215, and gas saturation of 0.775 was estimated based on analysis of the suite of tracers comprising helium, perfluoromethylcyclohexane and dibromodifluoromethane, which was considered to be the most robust set. The estimated saturations compare reasonably well to independently determined values.     

低C/N条件下MUCT工艺的反硝化除磷特性

以C/N较低的污水为处理对象,重点研究和分析了MUCT工艺缺氧区的反硝化除磷特性.结果表明,①缺氧区1因为COD浓度相对较高,回流污泥中的硝酸盐氮优先被传统反硝化菌利用,不能作为DPB的电子受体,所以主要发生释磷反应;②缺氧区2内DPB利用厌氧段贮存大量PHB为碳源,以硝酸盐氮为电子受体进行吸磷,且吸磷量逐日提高,从最初的0 .93 mg/Ｌ增加至18 mg/Ｌ,缺氧吸磷率最终稳定在40%左右;③缺氧区3内,由于硝酸盐氮和COD浓度过低,进行无效释磷反应过程,释磷量在0 .27～3 mg/Ｌ之间;④系统对COD、TN、TP的去除率较高,出水TN和TP浓度分别在10 mg/Ｌ和0 .9 mg/Ｌ以下.     

一株苯酚厌氧降解菌的选育及其降解苯酚的研究

从厌氧驯化的活性污泥中筛选到一株高活力苯酚降解菌,鉴定为白假丝酵母(Candida albicans),命名为PDY-07。该菌株能以苯酚为唯一碳源和能源。菌株PDY-07降解苯酚的最佳温度为35℃;pH值范围为6.9～7.1;菌株PDY-07耐受苯酚的能力可以达到2600mg/L。