Mercury emissions and partitioning from Indian coal-fired power plants

In India coal combustion is the single largest source of emission of mercury which is a wide-spread persistent global toxicant, travelling across international borders through air and water. As a party to the Minamata convention, India aims to monitor and reduce Hg emissions and stricter norms are introduced for mercury emissions from power plants (30 μg/Nm³for flue gas in stack).This paper presents the results obtained during the experimental studies performed on mercury emissions at four coal-fired and one lignite-fired power plants in India. The mercury concentration in the feed coal varied between 0.12–0.27 mg/Kg. In the mercury mass balance, significant proportion of feed coal mercury has been found to be associated with fly ash, whereas bottom ash contained very low mercury. 80%–90% of mercury was released to air through stack gas. However, for circulating fluidised bed boiler burning lignite, about 64.8% of feed mercury was found to get captured in the fly ash and only 32.4% was released to air. The mercury emission factor was found to lie in the range of 4.7–15.7 mg/GJ.     

Monitoring perchlorate exposure and thyroid hormone status among raccoons inhabiting a perchlorate-contaminated site

Perchlorate is a water soluble anion that is readily accumulated in vegetation. It inhibits uptake of iodide into thyroid gland tissue, thereby reducing production of thyroid hormones. Potential raccoon food items including berries, fish, and vegetation collected at a contaminated site contained quantifiable concentrations of perchlorate as determined by ion chromatography. Therefore, we monitored resident raccoons for exposure to perchlorate by examining plasma perchlorate and thyroid hormone concentrations. Resulting analytical data failed to demonstrate perchlorate exposure among raccoons that likely consumed food items collected along perchlorate-contaminated water bodies. There were no correlations between triiodothyronine or thyroxine and thyroid stimulating hormone concentrations, but triiodothyronine concentrations in raccoon plasma were significantly higher in 2000 than in 2001 (p = 0.0081). These data suggest that natural attenuation and remedial efforts initiated in January of 2001 may have reduced perchlorate exposure among raccoons inhabiting this site from 2000 to 2001. Temporal, spatial, and analytical factors limited our ability to quantify exposure among raccoons, however, our data do not indicate that raccoons currently inhabiting this site are at risk for significant exposure to perchlorate and subsequent effects.     

垃圾渗滤液特性分析及Fenton预处理研究

利用Fenton—混凝沉淀法预处理广西某垃圾焚烧发电厂和垃圾填埋场的垃圾渗滤液,对Fenton试剂以及混凝沉淀进行了单因素分析,分别研究了垃圾渗滤液在不同的n[Fe2+]/n[H2O2]、H2O2投加量、FeSO4投加量、pH值、反应时间、PAC投加量等条件下的处理效果。结果表明:垃圾渗滤液经Fenton—混凝预处理,对COD、色度、SS处理效果好,对NH3—N去除效果不明显;渗滤液的可生化性有所提高,可进行后续生化处理。     

Evaluating the success of functional restoration after reintroduction of a lost avian pollinator

Conservation translocation is a common method for species recovery, for which one increasingly frequent objective is restoring lost ecological functions to promote ecosystem recovery. However, few conservation translocation programs explicitly state or monitor function as an objective, limiting the ability to test assumptions, learn from past efforts, and improve management. We evaluated whether translocations of hihi (Notiomystis cincta), a threatened New Zealand passerine, achieved their implicit objective of restoring lost pollination function. Through a pollinator-exclusion experiment, we quantified, with log response ratios (lnR), the effects of birds on fruit set and seed quality in hangehange (Geniostoma ligustrifolium), a native flowering shrub. We isolated the contributions of hihi by making comparisons across sites with and without hihi. Birds improved fruit set more at sites without hihi (lnR = 1.27) than sites with hihi (lnR = 0.50), suggesting other avian pollinators compensated for and even exceeded hihi contributions to fruit set. Although birds improved seed germination only at hihi sites (lnR = 0.22–0.41), plants at sites without hihi had germination rates similar to hihi sites because they produced 26% more filled seeds, regardless of pollination condition. Therefore, although our results showed hihi improved seed quality, they also highlighted the complexity of ecological functions. When an important species is lost, ecosystems may be able to achieve similar function through different means. Our results underscore the importance of stating and monitoring the ecological benefits of conservation translocations when functional restoration is a motivation to ensure these programs are achieving their objectives.     

演马矿煤矸石堆周围环境中重金属分布特征

以焦作市演马矿煤矸石堆为对象,检测分析其周围土壤、地下水和植物中的重金属含量,并结合当地的地形地貌、土壤性质和地下水动力条件,研究煤矸石堆放与环境污染之间的联系. 根据地形地貌、地下水流向和风向,在演马矿煤矸石堆周围布置土壤、地下水和植物采样点,检测分析pH和重金属(如Pb,Mn,Zn,Cu,Cr和Cd)含量及分布规律. 结果表明:煤矸石堆放是造成周围环境污染的重要因素,煤矸石释放的重金属大部分被土壤所吸附,所检测的6种重金属在土壤中均被检出,其中部分点位的Zn和Cd含量已经超过土壤环境质量标准(GB15618-1995)中的二级标准;土壤中重金属可以进一步向地下水和植物传递,地下水中Mn含量与煤矸石堆的距离呈负相关,植物叶中Pb的含量最高,叶和茎中重金属含量表现出与煤矸石堆的相关性;矿坑排水、锅炉房飘尘也是造成周围环境重金属污染的重要来源.      

艾比湖流域不同植物群落土壤呼吸研究

利用开路式土壤碳通量测量系统LI-8100测定艾比湖流域4种植物群落土壤呼吸速率日变化,分析土壤温度、湿度和气温以及空气相对湿度对土壤呼吸速率的影响.结果表明:胡杨、梭梭、芦苇和盐节木4种植物群落的土壤呼吸速率日变化基本呈单峰曲线.胡杨、梭梭和盐节木群落的土壤呼吸速率与地上10 和150 cm处气温均表现为极显著相关.除芦苇群落外,各植物群落土壤呼吸速率与不同深度土壤温度呈极显著负相关.除沙地梭梭群落外,胡杨、盐渍地梭梭、芦苇和盐节木群落的土壤呼吸速率与地上10和150 cm处的空气相对湿度均呈极显著负相关.不同植物群落土壤呼吸速率与土壤湿度呈极显著负相关.多元逐步回归拟合的回归模型均达极显著水平,由土壤温度和湿度共同拟合出的回归模型能够解释土壤呼吸速率变化87%以上的原因.不同植物群落土壤呼吸差异原因的分析显示,细菌、真菌、放线菌以及根系干质量不是造成植物群落土壤呼吸差异的主要原因.      

热电厂再生水回用工艺分析

介绍一套日处理量14 400 t的再生水回用工艺,该工艺应用预处理+反渗透工艺深度处理二级城市污水并将产水回用于热电厂的循环冷却水及锅炉补给水的源水,分析了该工艺关键单元的特点。运行结果表明:该工艺可行,产水各项指标满足该热电厂对回用水的要求。最后,对工艺运行过程中出现的问题提出解决办法和改进建议。     

Gasification of dried sewage sludge: status of the demonstration and the pilot plant

The disposal of sewage sludge from municipal waste water treatment plants is suffering from raising costs.The gasification is an alternative way of treatment, which can reduce the amount of solid residues that must be disposed from a water treatment plant. The produced gas can be used very flexible to produce electrical energy, to burn it very cleanly or to use it for upgrading.The gasification in the fluidised bed and the gas cleaning with the granular bed filter has shown successful operation. A demonstration plant in Balingen was set up in 2002 and rebuilt to a larger throughput in 2010. As a next step a demonstration plant was built in Mannheim and is now at the end of the commissioning phase. Nowadays the product gas is blended with biogas from sludge fermentation and utilized in a gas engine or combustion chamber to produce heat. In the future the process control for a maximized efficiency and the removal of organic and inorganic impurities in the gas will be further improved.     

The design and implementation of sustainable plant diversity conservation program for alpine meadows and pastures

The paper describes the design and implementation of a plant biodiversity conservation program that was developed under funding and time constraints for diverse ecological, social, and institutional environments. The biodiversity program for alpine meadows and pastures located in the Swiss Canton of the Grisons is used as an example. The design of the sustainable program relied on existing legislation, accounted for limited ecological knowledge and expertise, and considered biodiversity as a common-pool resource. The trend to intensified cultivation of restricted areas required fast action, while the sustainability of the program design had to take into account institutional diversity. Fifteen habitats and plant communities worth conserving were known, and 57 plant species were identified as indicator species for establishing an inventory and for monitoring purposes. A small subset of 16 well known plant species was presented to the farming communities. They were invited to notify the areas in which they observed the presence of these plants. In different regions of the Canton a total number of 39 paraecologists were trained to inspect the areas notified by farmers and to recommend possible incorporation into the Cantonal inventory. This was done once the farmers signed a contract in which they agreed to follow adequate management practices. The farmers received subsidies to compensate for their losses. Communal authorities controlled the fertilizer input and cutting dates, while the paraecologists were trained to monitor plant biodiversity. The program started in 1992 and the initial phase of the inventory was terminated in 1996. At the beginning of 1996, an inventory of 2617.19 ha, most of which are meadows, was taken and managed according to the rules specified in the contract. The program was considered successful because (i) of the size of the area in the inventory, (ii) about 30%of the farmers participated, and (iii) farmers started cultivating previously abandoned farmland.     

蔗糖厂洗布水的生化处理试验研究

分别采用水解 -二段生物接触氧化以及二段生物接触氧化两种工艺 ,通过接种高效蔗糖降解菌对蔗糖厂洗布水的生化处理进行试验研究 ,结果表明 :填料采用煤渣较好 ;加适量的氮源和磷源能提高生化处理效果 ;两种工艺处理都能使废水达标排放 ,但从经济角度考虑认为水解 -二段接触氧化工艺较优。