Multispectral image analysis method to determine dynamic fluid saturation distribution in two-dimensional three-fluid phase flow laboratory experiments

The need for measuring dynamic fluid saturation distribution in multi-dimensional three-fluid phase flow experiments is hampered by lack of appropriate techniques to monitor full field transient flow phenomena. There is no conventional technique able to measure dynamic three-fluid phase saturation at several array points of the flow field at the same time. A multispectral image analysis technique was developed to determine dynamic NAPL, water and air saturation distribution in two-dimensional three-fluid phase laboratory experiments. Using a digital near-infrared camera, images of sand samples with various degrees of NAPL, water and air saturation were taken, under constant lighting conditions and within three narrow spectral bands of the visible and near-infrared spectrum. It was shown that the optical density defined for the reflected luminous intensity was a linear function of the NAPL and the water saturation for each spectral band and for any two and three-fluid phase systems. This allowed the definition of dimensionless lump reflection coefficients for the NAPL and the water phase within each spectral band. Consequently, at any given time, two images taken within two different spectral bands provided two linear equations which could be solved for the water and the NAPL saturation. The method was applied to two-dimensional three-phase flow experiments, which were conducted to investigate the migration and the distribution of LNAPL in the vadose zone. The method was used to obtain continuous, quantitative and dynamic full field mapping of the NAPL saturation as well as the variation of the water and the air saturation during NAPL flow. The method provides a non-destructive and non-intrusive tool for studying multiphase flow for which rapid changes in fluid saturation in the entire flow domain is difficult to measure using conventional techniques.     

金沙江一期工程蓄水前后绥江段鱼类群落多样性特征

为探索流域梯级水电开发对鱼类群落多样性影响,于2011年(蓄水前)和2015年(蓄水后)对金沙江下游绥江断面进行渔业资源调查,分析鱼类群落结构特征。结果表明,绥江段共计采集鱼类60种,隶属于5目12科,其中长江上游特有鱼类12种。蓄水前以瓦氏黄颡鱼(Pelteobagrus vachelli)、圆口铜鱼(Coreius guichenoti)、光泽黄颡鱼(Pelteobagrus nitidus)为优势种类;蓄水后以草鱼(Ctenopharyngodon idellus)、鳙(Aristichthys nobilis)、鲢(Hypophthalmichthys molitrix)为优势种类。与蓄水前相比,鱼类群落Margalef丰富度指数、Shannon-Weiner多样性指数、Pielou均匀度指数均呈现下降趋势,但无显著性差异(P0.05)。根据生态类群分析,静水缓流型鱼类由蓄水前54%增加到蓄水后的71%,河道洄游型鱼类从39%减少到20%,江湖洄游型鱼类蓄水前后变化不大。丰度生物量比较曲线显示,蓄水前绥江段鱼类群落未受到干扰,而蓄水后受到严重干扰。库区蓄水后总生物量有明显增加趋势,但优势种类趋于小型化、种类结构单一化。为科学保护金沙江下游流域鱼类生物多样性,建议成立鱼类保护区、开展梯级生态调度和加强流域环保预警研究等措施。     

燃煤电厂排放总气态汞连续自动监测技术的选择

介绍了汞连续排放监测系统和汞吸附管采样系统的主要特点,比较了不同仪器的测定原理、样品处理技术、检出限和测定汞的形态,报道了美国环境保护署认证中心关于两个系统的认证结果.建议将汞连续排放监测系统与汞吸附管监测系统两种技术联合用于我国燃煤电厂排放总气态汞的自动监测.     

Effects of Spatial Distribution of Prairie Vegetation in an Agricultural Landscape on Curve Number Values

The curve number (CN) method is used to calculate runoff in many hydrologic models, including the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT). The CN method does not account for the spatial distribution of land cover types, an important factor controlling runoff patterns. The objective of this study was to empirically derive CN values that reflect the strategic placement of native prairie vegetation (NPV) within row crop agricultural landscapes. CNs were derived using precipitation and runoff data from a seven‐year period for 14 small watersheds in Iowa. The watersheds were planted with varying amounts of NPV located in different watershed positions. The least squares and asymptotic least squares methods (LSM) were used to derive CNs using an initial abstraction coefficient (λ) of 0.2 and 0.05. The CNs were verified using leave‐one‐out cross‐validation and adjustment for antecedent moisture conditions (AMC) was tested. The asymptotic method produced CN values for watersheds with NPV treatment that were 8.9 and 14.7% lower than watersheds with 100% row crop at λ = 0.2 and λ = 0.05, respectively. The derived CNs produced Nash‐Sutcliffe efficiency values ranging from 0.4 to 0.7 during validation. Our analyses show the CNs verified best for the asymptotic LSM, when using λ of 0.05 and adjusting for AMC. Further, comparison of derived CNs against an area weighted CN indicated that the placement of vegetation does impact the CN value. Editor's note : This paper is part of the featured series on SWAT Applications for Emerging Hydrologic and Water Quality Challenges. See the February 2017 issue for the introduction and background to the series.     

Effect of PCM on temperature fluctuation during the door opening of a household refrigerator

Temperature fluctuation inside the cabinet of a household refrigerator significantly affects the quality of preserved food. Phase change material (PCM) is a latent heat storage system that can store and release the heat energy by changing its phase from liquid to solid and solid to liquid respectively. Therefore, use of PCM inside the refrigerator cabinet has the potential for minimizing the temperature fluctuation during the door opening and the power failure. However, very few studies in the literature were dedicated to investigating the role of PCM to reduce the temperature fluctuation. The aim of this work is to experimentally investigate the effects of PCM on temperature fluctuation inside the cabinet of a household refrigerator during the door opening and power failure. The results found that a significantly lower temperature fluctuation can be obtained using PCM. It was found that during the door opening condition the air temperature in the cabinet rose rapidly. However, when a PCM container was used, temperature variation was reduced to 3–5°C. During the power failure, the system with PCM maintained a lower temperature inside the storage chamber for a long period of time (about 2 hours). Moreover, the test results indicate that PCM maintains more stable temperature in the foodstuffs inside the refrigerator. This reduction of temperature fluctuation ultimately improves the quality of preserved food.     

Towards a more effective EIA in transport planning: a literature review to derive interventions and mechanisms to improve knowledge integration

A set of process-related barriers negatively determines the effectiveness of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) in transport planning. Recent research highlights the unstructured stakeholder involvement and inefficient public participation in earlier phases of EIA as key bottlenecks. While the academic literature has produced promising theories for addressing these barriers, they have rarely been translated into solutions applicable and testable in practice. In order to bridge this theory–practice gap, we present a systematic literature review of interventions and mechanisms aimed at facilitating the integration of different sources and types of knowledge during the scoping phase of EIA. This review explores if and how interventions and mechanisms have been conducted in practice; if and why they worked or did not work and how relevant they are for EIA in transport planning. Based on this review, we distil a set of three specific interventions and trigger mechanisms applicable in the context of EIA in transport planning.     

Application of a novel cold activated carbon fiber-solid phase microextraction for analysis of organochlorine pesticides in soil

A novel and simple analytical procedure using cold activated carbon fiber-solid phase microextraction (CACF-SPME) was applied to determine organochlorine pesticides (OCs) in soil samples. The pesticides in this study consist of α -, β -, γ -, and δ -hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH). By heating the sample while cooling the fiber, the developed method not only provides better performance in terms of sensitivity, linearity and recovery but also offers shorter adsorption procedure than that of traditional headspace-solid phase microextraction (HS-SPME). The experimental conditions such as the amount of water, adsorption time and adsorption temperature were optimized. Matrix effects were investigated with different types of soils. We concluded that using the standard addition method was required for quantification purposes. The limits of detection obtained using the proposed method range from 0.01 to 0.05 ng/g, and the recoveries for CACF-SPME are in the range of 80.01% to 89.68% with relative standard deviation (RSDs) better than 8.60%. The proposed method was further applied to determine OCs in real agricultural soil. The results are in good agreement with those obtained using traditional ultrasonic extraction. The research demonstrates the suitability of the CACF-SPME for the analysis of OCs in soil.     

Degradation kinetics of forchlorfenuron in typical grapevine soils of India and its influence on specific soil enzyme activities

The rate of degradation of forchlorfenuron, a cytokinin-based plant growth regulator (PGR) was explored in typical grapevine soils of India with simultaneous evaluation of its effect on biochemical attributes of the test soils in terms of the activities of specific soil microbial enzymes. In all the test soils, namely clay, sandy-loam and silty-clay, the dissipation rate was faster at the beginning, which slowed down with time, indicating a non-linear pattern of degradation. Degradation in soils could best be explained by two-compartment 1st + 1st order kinetics with half-life ranging between 4–10 days. The results suggest that organic matter might be playing a major role in influencing the rate of degradation of forchlorfenuron in soil. The rate of degradation in sandy-loam soil was fastest followed by clay and silty-clay soils, respectively. Comparison of the rate of degradation in natural against sterilized soils suggests that microbial degradation might be the major pathway of residue dissipation. Changes in soil enzyme activities as a consequence of forchlorfenuron treatment were studied for extra-cellular enzymes namely acid phosphatase, alkaline phosphatase and β -glucosidase and intracellular enzyme-dehydrogenase. Although small changes in enzyme activities were observed, forchlorfenuron did not have any significant deleterious effect on the enzymatic activity of the test soils. Simple correlation studies between degradation percentage and individual enzyme activities did not establish any significant relationships. The pattern and change of enzyme activity was primarily the effect of the incubation period rather than the effect of forchlorfenuron itself.     

Rapid screening for organochlorine and organophosphorus pesticides in milk using C18 and graphitized carbon black solid phase extraction cleanup

Abstract

A rapid, multiresidue, solid phase extraction (SPE) technique for the isolation and gas chromatographic determination of organochlorine and moderately polar organophosphorus pesticide residues in milk is described. Milk is sonicated with an acetonitrile‐acetone‐methanol mixture and centrifuged. The supernatant is subjected to a cleanup using both C₁₈ and graphitized carbon black SPE columns. The pesticide residues are determined by gas chromatography with electron capture and flame photometric detection. The method required minimal volumes of solvent and resulted in the production of minimal volumes of hazardous waste.     

两相厌氧反应器相分离实验研究

在两相上流式厌氧生物反应器(UASB)动力学启动成功的条件下,选用钼酸盐作为产甲烷菌抑制剂,进行进一步的分相实验。实验前3 d在产酸相反应器进水中投加2.0 mmol/L的钼酸钠溶液,出水不进入产甲烷反应器。然后停止投加钼酸钠溶液,再运行3 d,出水依然不进入产甲烷反应器。6 d后,产酸反应器出水开始进入产甲烷反应器。结果表明:在停止投加钼酸盐后产酸菌便迅速恢复,而钼酸盐对产甲烷菌的作用是杀灭性的;产酸相出水去除效果降低,但是其酸化率由50%左右上升并最终稳定在60%左右,同时两相厌氧反应器整体去除效率提高。