Simulation and source identification of X-ray contrast media in the water cycle of Berlin

This article describes the development of a model to simulate the fate of iodinated X-ray contrast media (XRC) in the water cycle of the German capital, Berlin. It also handles data uncertainties concerning the different amounts and sources of input for XRC via source densities in single districts for the XRC usage by inhabitants, hospitals, and radiologists. As well, different degradation rates for the behavior of the adsorbable organic iodine (AOI) were investigated in single water compartments. The introduced model consists of mass balances and includes, in addition to naturally branched bodies of water, the water distribution network between waterways and wastewater treatment plants, which are coupled to natural surface waters at numerous points. Scenarios were calculated according to the data uncertainties that were statistically evaluated to identify the scenario with the highest agreement among the provided measurement data. The simulation of X-ray contrast media in the water cycle of Berlin showed that medical institutions have to be considered as point sources for congested urban areas due to their high levels of X-ray contrast media emission. The calculations identified hospitals, represented by their capacity (number of hospital beds), as the most relevant point sources, while the inhabitants served as important diffusive sources. Deployed for almost inert substances like contrast media, the model can be used for qualitative statements and, therefore, as a decision-support tool.     

饱和多孔介质中胶体运移模拟方法研究进展

阐述了国内外针对胶体在饱和多孔介质中运移模拟方法的研究进展：胶体在多孔介质中由于对流和弥散作用发生运移,而由于表面沉积和筛滤作用滞留在多孔介质中,通常采用含有滞留项的对流弥散方程对胶体的运移行为进行宏观描述,并通过拟合得到胶体运移和滞留的宏观参数,但是对流弥散方程是对试验曲线的宏观描述,无法解释其背后的微观机理;胶体的运移和滞留作用由胶体的微观受力决定,包括胶体在水中的布朗运动和有效重力,胶体-胶体/胶体-固相表面之间的相互作用以及流场作用在胶体上的力3个部分;为了实现从微观受力到宏观参数的升尺度计算,研究者们提出了胶体过滤理论及其后续的修正方法对沉积速率等宏观参数进行预测,然而现有方法通常基于简化的流场,忽略了多孔介质复杂孔隙结构和表面特性的影响;孔隙结构模型是多孔介质孔隙结构的简化模型,基于该模型能够从胶体在多孔介质中的微观力学分析出发,预测胶体的宏观运移行为,然而已有研究中尚未全面的考虑胶体在多孔介质中运移和滞留的多种作用.本文总结了该领域待解决的问题,包括建立考虑微观机理的对流弥散方程,发展考虑多孔介质孔隙结构的胶体过滤理论以及完善基于孔隙结构模型的胶体运移模拟方法.     

混合滤料的润湿性及其过滤处理含油废水性能

为了探究两种润湿性相反的特殊润湿性滤料的耦合作用,将超疏水超亲油石英砂滤料和超亲水水下超疏油石英砂滤料均匀混合,研究了混合滤料的润湿性以及过滤除油性能.结果表明,两种滤料混合组成的固体表面润湿性不满足每种滤料润湿性的加权平均关系,更符合二次曲线关系,决定系数高达0.9992;交替润湿性对过滤除油效率具有耦合增强作用.混合滤料的疏水亲油性越强,其除油效率、归一化附着效率和渗透系数都越大,反之亦然.滤料粒径越小,归一化附着效率的变化斜率越大,而滤速和床深对归一化附着效率的变化斜率影响不明显.滤料的疏水性具有增阻的效应,流速的增加有助于增大滤层的渗透系数.以上研究成果可为特殊润湿性混合滤料过滤处理含油废水提供研究思路和参考.     

Pollutant removal from municipal wastewater employing baffled subsurface flow and integrated surface flow-floating treatment wetlands

This article reports pollutant removal performances of baffled subsurface flow, and integrated surface flow-floating treatment wetland units, when arranged in series for the treatment of municipal wastewater in Bangladesh. The wetland units （of the hybrid system） included organic, inorganic media, and were planted with nineteen types of macrophytes. The wetland train was operated under hydraulic loading fluctuation and seasonal variation. The performance analyses （across the wetland units） illustrated simultaneous denitrification and organics removal rates in the first stage vertical flow wetland, due to organic carbon leaching from the employed organic media. Higher mean organics removal rates （656.0 g COD]（m2.day）） did not completely inhibit nitrification in the first stage vertical flow system; such pattern could be linked to effective utilization of the trapped oxygen, as the flow was directed throughout the media by the baffle walls. Second stage horizontal flow wetland showed enhanced biodegradable organics removal, which depleted organic carbon availability for denitrification. The final stage integrated wetland system allowed further nitrogen removal from wastewater, via nutrient uptake by plant roots （along with nitrification）, and generation of organic carbon （by the dead macrophytes） to support denitrification. The system achieved higher E. coli mortality through protozoa predation, E. coli oxidation, and destruction by UV radiation. In general, enhanced pollutant removal efflciencies as demonstrated by the structurally modified hybrid wetland system signify the necessity of such modification, when operated under adverse conditions such as： substantial input organics loading, hydraulic loading fluctuation, and seasonal variation.     

Filtration Properties of Nonwovens

Abstract

This paper presents the results and conclusions from experimental investigations concerning filtration properties of nonwovens. The needled nonwovens were made from polyester fibres (PTE) with average fibre diameter 12 µm and polypropylene fibres (PP) with average fibre diameter 32 μm. Nonwovens were produced out of each of those fibres or out of a mixture of polyester and polypropylene fibres. This paper also presents investigations of nonwoven fabric made of polypropylene fibres (PP) with average fibre diameter 2.6 μm, which was formed according to melt-blown technology. Oil mist, as challenge aerosol, was used to evaluate the performance of filter media at various aerosol velocities. The average oil mist test aerosol particle diameter was 0.3 μm. Filter penetration was measured at oil mist concentration 0.24 g/m³.     

Evaporative Cooling of Water in a Small Vessel Under Varying Ambient Humidity

Evaporative cooling of water in a small porous clay vessel was studied under controlled humidity conditions. In steady-state experiments performed at an ambient temperature of 23 °C, the cooling effect increased from 4.7 to 8.3 °C as the ambient relative humidity decreased from 60 to 15%. External heat and mass transfer coefficients, estimated from the steady-state measurements, were used in mathematical models to predict the experimentally observed transient temperature variation of the water under ramp changes of the ambient relative humidity. With a prototypical cool chamber containing water tested in Kolkata, India under an ambient temperature of 34.5–35 °C, the cooling effect reached a maximum of 7 °C between 3 and 3:30 PM and then declined to 4.5 °C around 6 PM.     

The Influence of Media Use on Environmental Engagement: A Political Socialization Approach

Current research suggests that the media play an important part in informing and engaging citizens in environmental issues. Building on these findings, this study adopts a political socialization approach to citizens' involvement in everyday-life pro-environmental behavior. Multivariate analysis of recent survey data from Swedish adolescents (N = 1148) demonstrates direct as well as indirect relationships between frequency of news media use, talk about environmental issues with parents and peers, and extent of pro-environmental behavior. The findings are consistent with the notion that news media use promotes behavior by raising awareness of environmental issues. The results are also discussed in terms of a citizen-communication framework according to which interpersonal communication translates environmental information gleaned from news sources to adolescents' everyday-life reality, thereby motivating pro-environmental behavior. Future directions for examining causal mechanisms in more detail are discussed.     

Imagining the Future at the Global and National Scale: A Comparative Study of British and Dutch Press Coverage of Rio 1992 and Rio 2012

Climate change and imagined futures are intricately linked, discussed by policy-makers and reported in the media. In this article we focus on the construction of future expectations in the press coverage of the 1992 and 2012 United Nations conferences in Rio de Janeiro in British and Dutch national newspapers. We use a novel combination of methods, semantic co-word networks and metaphor analysis, to study imagined futures. Our findings show that between 1992 and 2012 there was an overall shift from future-oriented hope to past-oriented disappointment regarding implementing international agreements on climate change policy, but with subtle and interesting differences between the UK and The Netherlands. Certain national differences seem to be stable over time and are indicative of rather dissimilar policy cultures in two nations which are geographically quite close.     

咸淡水界面上含水介质的水敏感性研究

在野外水文地质调查的基础上,采集大沽河下游咸水入侵区砂样,通过室内渗流柱咸淡水驱替试验,分别研究了盐度突变和渐变条件下咸淡水界面上含水介质的水敏感性.研究结果表明,在盐度突变条件下含水多孔介质的渗透系数下降了50.0%,而在盐度渐变条件下渗透系数只下降了25.1%,溶液盐浓度递减速率越快则渗透性降低程度越大;随着渗透时间的延长,渗透系数可降低1～3个数量级,且渗透性的降低具有不可逆性.另外,本区渗透性发生变化主要是由伊利石、高岭石和绿泥石这些非膨胀性粘粒在渗流柱内迁移和沉积引起的.