Acceleration of the particulate organic matter hydrolysis by start-up stage recovery and its original microbial mechanism

• Carbon availability was partially solved by POM recovery and fermentation. • 12% carbon sources were regenerated by fermentation of the entrapped 35% TCOD. • The unique microbial communities facilitated the efficient hydrolysis of the POM. • Considerable economic benefits in aeration power and ECS dosage were anticipated. To address the availability of carbon sources for denitrification, the accelerated hydrolysis of the most abundant but low-availability fraction of particulate organic matter (POM) was investigated. Mesh sieves with different pore sizes were used as primary pretreatment at the start-up-stage of the biological process to separate some POM from the liquid system. The changes in soluble carbohydrates and proteins were monitored to investigate the hydrolysis performance of the sieved POM, with waste activated sludge (WAS) as the control test. The results showed that an average of 35% POM could be entrapped before filtrate mat development. In addition, benefiting from the high polysaccharides concentration, as well as the high availability due to the relatively loose physical structure, a 23% hydrolysis efficiency of POM was obtained, in contrast to that of WAS (3.4%), with a hydrolysis constant of 0.39 h⁻¹. The prominent performance was also attributed to the unique microbial communities having been domesticated at a lower temperature, especially the cellulose-degrading bacteria Paraclostridium and psychrophile Psychrobacter, making up 6.94% and 2.56%, respectively. Furthermore, the potential benefits and application of improved POM hydrolysis by start-up stage recovery via mesh sieves combined with anaerobic fermentation were evaluated, including selective POM entrapment, alleviation of blockage and wear, and a reduction in aeration energy. By the proposed strategy, carbon availability for biological nutrient removal (BNR) processes is anticipated to be improved more economically than that can be achieved by primary clarifier elimination.     

Formation mechanism and control strategy for particulate nitrate in China

Over the past decade, fine particulate matter (PM) pollution in China has been abated significantly, benefiting from strict emission control measures, but particulate nitrate continues to rise. Here, we review the progress in particulate nitrate (pNO₃⁻) pollution characterization, nitrate formation mechanisms, and the proposed control strategies in China. The spatial and temporal distributions of pNO₃⁻ are summarized. The current status of knowledge on the chemical mechanism is updated, and the significance of its formation pathways is assessed by various approaches such as field observation and modelling of nitrate production rate, as well as isotopic analysis. The factors impacting pNO₃⁻ formation and the corresponding pollution regulation strategies are discussed, in which the importance of atmospheric oxidation capacity and ammonia are addressed. Finally, the challenges and open questions in pNO₃⁻ pollution control in China are outlined.     

Seasonal variations, temperature dependence, and sources of size-resolved PM components in Nanjing, east China

Size-segregated ambient particulate matter (PM) samples were collected seasonally in suburban Nanjing of east China from 2016 to 2017 and chemically speciated. In both fine (< 2.1 µm, PM_2.1) and coarse (> 2.1 µm, PM_>2.1) PM, organic carbon (OC) accounted for the highest fractions (26.9% ± 10.9% and 23.1% ± 9.35%) of all measured species, and NO₃⁻ lead in average concentrations of water-soluble inorganic ions (WSIIs). The size distributions of measured components were parameterized using geometric mean diameter (GMD). GMD values of NO₃⁻, Cl⁻, OC, and PM for the whole size range varied from < 2.1 µm in winter to > 2.1 μm in warm seasons, which was due to the fact that the size distributions of semi-volatile components (e.g., NH₄NO₃, NH₄Cl, and OC) had a dependency on the ambient temperature. Unlike OC, elemental carbon (EC), and elements, NH₄⁺, NO₃⁻, and SO₄²⁻ exhibited an increase trend in GMD values with relative humidity, indicating that the hygroscopic growth might also play a role in driving seasonal changes of PM size distributions. Positive matrix factorization was performed using compositional data of fine and coarse particles, respectively. The secondary formation of inorganic salts contributing to the majority (> 70%) of fine PM and 20.2% ± 19.9% of speciated coarse PM. The remaining coarse PM content was attributed to a variety of dust sources. Considering that coarse and fine PM had comparable mass concentrations, more attention should be paid to local dust emissions in future air quality plans.     

Raman spectroscopy of diesel and gasoline engine-out soot using different laser power

We studied engine-out soot samples collected from a heavy-duty direct-injection diesel engine and port-fuel injection gasoline spark-ignition engine. The two types of soot samples were characterized using Raman spectroscopy with different laser powers. A Matlab program using least-square-method with trust-region-reflective algorithm was developed for curve fitting. A DOE (design of experiments) method was used to avoid local convergence. The method was used for two-band fitting and three-band fitting. The fitting results were used to determine the intensity ratio of D (for “Defect” or “Disorder”) and G (for “Graphite”) Raman bands. It is found that high laser power may cause oxidation of soot sample, which gives higher D/G intensity ratio. Diesel soot has consistently higher amorphous/graphitic carbon ratio, and thus higher oxidation reactivity, compared to gasoline soot, which is reflected by the higher D/G intensity ratio in Raman spectra measured under the same laser power.     

Comparison of inorganic chemical compositions of atmospheric TSP, PM10 and PM2.5 in northern and southern Chinese coastal cities

To compare the inorganic chemical compositions of TSP(total suspended paniculate),PM_(10)(particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter less than 10 μm) and PM_(2.5)(particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter less than 2.5 μm) in southern and northern cities in China,atmospheric particles were synchronously collected in Dalian(the northern city)and Xiamen(the southern city) in spring and autumn of 2004.The mass concentrations,twenty-three elements and nine soluble ions were assessed.The results show that in Dalian,the mass concentrations of Mg,Al,Ca,Mn and Fe in spring were 4.0-10.1,2.6-8.0,4.1-12,1.2-3.6 and 2.9-7.9 times higher,respectively,than those in Xiamen.The dust storm influence is more obvious in Dalian in spring.However,in Xiamen,heavy metals accounted for 13.9%-17.9%of TSP,while heavy metals contributed to 5.5%-9.3%of TSP in Dalian.These concentrations suggest that heavy metal pollution in Xiamen was more serious.In addition,the concentrations of Na~+,Cl~-,Ca~(2+) and Mg~(2+) were higher in Dalian due to the influence of marine aerosol,construction activities and soil dust.The NO~(3-)/SO_4~(2-) ratios in Dalian(0.25-0.49) were lower than those in Xiamen(0.51-0.62),indicating that the contributions of vehicle emission to particles in Xiamen were higher.Coefficient of divergence values was higher than 0.40,implying that the inorganic chemical composition profiles for the particles of Dalian and Xiamen were quite different from each other.     

桂林市流动源对大气细颗粒物的贡献研究

在桂林市2013年机动车保有量数据的基础上,参考清华大学开发的中国多尺度大气污染排放清单模型(MEIC)中的排放因子,估算流动源对大气细颗粒物的贡献。结果表明:桂林市区和桂林3大区域的流动源PM_(2.5)排放量分别为71.96和118.87t;按使用的燃料来分,柴油燃料对桂林市区和桂林3大区域PM_(2.5)贡献率较大,分别为94.07%和90.44%;按机动车类型来分,桂林市区和桂林3大区域的流动源PM_(2.5)主要贡献车型均为重型载货车、大型载客车、中型载货车,3大车型PM_(2.5)贡献率之和均超过80%。     

Integrating lidar and satellite optical depth with ambient monitoring for 3-dimensional particulate characterization

A combination of in-situ PM_2.5, sunphotometers, upward pointing lidar and satellite aerosol optical depth (AOD) instruments have been employed to better understand variability in the correlation between AOD and PM_2.5 at the surface. Previous studies have shown good correlation between these measures, especially in the US east, and encouraged the use of satellite data for spatially interpolating between ground sensors. This work shows that cases of weak correlation can be better understood with knowledge of whether the aerosol is confined to the surface planetary boundary layer (PBL) or aloft. Lidar apportionment of the fraction of aerosol optical depth that is within the PBL can be scaled to give better agreement with surface PM_2.5 than does the total column amount. The study has shown that lidar combined with surface and remotely sensed data might be strategically used to improve our understanding of long-range or regionally transported pollutants in multiple dimensions.     

Influence of atmospheric stability on the mass concentration and chemical composition of atmospheric particles: a case study in Rome, Italy

PM(10) concentration and chemical composition (ions and carbon compounds) at three sampling stations in Rome and in its surroundings was determined daily during a one-month field study, carried out during December 2003. PM concentration at the traffic station was considerably higher than at the urban background and semi-rural stations; elemental carbon was detected as one of the chemical components responsible for this increase. The difference in the concentration of sulphate and ammonium was negligible, as it was expected for secondary pollutants. A negative artefact in the determination of ammonium nitrate by means of heated automatic monitors was highlighted. The dilution properties of the lower atmosphere were traced by means of a natural radioactivity monitor. This parameter has been found to play an essential role in pollution buildup. A considerable increase in PM concentration was observed to coincide with periods of atmospheric stability. The main difference in PM composition between periods of high concentration and periods of "clean" air was found to be in the increase of ammonium nitrate concentration.     

Adding virtual measuring stations to a network for urban air pollution mapping

Maps of pollutants concentration are usually generated by means of interpolation and extrapolation methods. The quality of the results depends mainly of the number of permanent or temporary measuring stations. This paper deals with a method for the virtual densification of the network of stations. The method creates "virtual measuring stations". It aims at improving the quality of interpolation by increasing the number of data on pollutant concentration. The virtual stations are determined by the means of a classification method applied to each pixel of the area under concern. Discriminating elements are pollutants emission classes, land cover types, urban morphological indicators created to this purpose and distance to major roads. A first implementation was made for particulate matter (PM) for the city of Strasbourg (France) using thin-plates spline interpolation method in Arcview 9 GIS. The relative Root Mean Square Error decreases from 49% for five input stations down to 15% for the virtual stations.