Characteristics and mixing state of S-rich particles in haze episodes in Beijing

Direct individual analysis using Scanning Electron Microscopy combined with online observation was conducted to examine the S-rich particles in PM_2.5 of two typical polluted haze episodes in summer and winter from 2014 to 2015 in Beijing. Four major types of S-rich particles, including secondary CaSO₄ particles (mainly observed in summer), S-rich mineral particles (SRM), S-rich water droplets (SRW) and (C, O, S)-rich particles (COS) were identified.We found the different typical morphologies and element distributions of S-rich particles and considered that (C, O, S)-rich particles had two major mixing states in different seasons. On the basis of the S-rich particles’ relative abundances, S concentrations and their relationships with PM_2.5 as well as the seasonal comparison, we revealed that the S-participated formation degrees of SRM and SRW would enhance with increasing PM_2.5 concentration. Moreover, C-rich matter and sulfate had seasonally different but significant impacts on the formation of COS.

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天津市冬季颗粒物化学组成及其消光特征

于2013年冬季在天津大气边界层观测站利用Andersen撞击式采样器采集了26 d的颗粒物样品,并进行化学组分分析,同步观测颗粒物吸收系数、数浓度、能见度及其他气象要素. 对比分析了污染日和清洁日颗粒物质量浓度及其化学组成的粒径分布特征,在此基础上,利用Mie模型计算外混、内混、“核-壳” 3种混合态假设下颗粒物的消光系数、散射系数和吸收系数. 与实测吸收系数的比较可知,颗粒物的混合态可能更加接近“核-壳”态. “核-壳”态假设下颗粒物平均消光系数模拟值为(517.44±308.42)Mm-1,其中污染日平均值为(668.39±307.30)Mm-1,清洁日为(275.91±37.90)Mm-1,相对湿度对颗粒物的消光系数有显著影响. 污染日颗粒物中OM(有机质)、(NH₄)₂SO₄、NH₄NO₃、EC和其他物质对消光系数的贡献率分别为30.4%、25.5%、17.7%、8.1%和18.3%,清洁日分别为49.8%、11.0%、7.2%、10.6%和21.4%. PM_0.4~1.1、PM>1.1~2.1、PM>2.1~10的消光系数贡献率分别为69.6%±6.7%、13.9%±3.3%和16.5%±6.4%. 污染日高浓度的细粒子是导致能见度下降的主要原因,其中亚微米颗粒物对消光占据主导地位,(NH₄)₂SO₄、NH₄NO₃、OM是主要的消光化学组分.      

正丁醇对柴油机颗粒组分与形貌特征的影响

为探讨柴油机燃用正丁醇-柴油混合燃料降低颗粒排放的机理,采用热重分析仪与场发射扫描电子显微镜,重点对正丁醇-柴油混合燃料燃烧的颗粒形貌特征进行研究,分析了颗粒的组分、微观结构以及粒径分布随w(正丁醇)的变化规律. 结果表明:正丁醇-柴油混合燃料燃烧的颗粒呈团簇状结构,随着w(正丁醇)的增加,团聚程度逐渐提高,排列结构更加紧密;颗粒的粒径逐渐减小,柴油、B5、B10〔B5、B10是指w(正丁醇)分别为5%、10%的正丁醇-柴油混合燃料〕燃烧的颗粒平均粒径分别为1.43、0.85、0.52 μm;颗粒中的主要成分为碳烟,其质量分数约为60%,随着w(正丁醇)的增加,碳烟和可溶有机物组分的质量分数有所增加,硫酸盐、金属等不易挥发组分以及金属元素的质量分数逐渐减少. 研究显示,添加正丁醇,可促进颗粒转化、改善颗粒的氧化过程,使颗粒向小粒径方向移动;由于颗粒中可溶有机物组分含量增加,因此提高了颗粒在碰撞过程中凝并的概率,致使颗粒的团聚程度增加.      

Limiting explosible concentration of hydrogen–oxygen–helium mixtures related to the practical operational case

This paper presents data on the limiting (minimum) concentrations of hydrogen in oxygen, in the presence of added helium, at elevated temperature and pressure related to the practical operational case. A 5 L explosion vessel, an ignition sub-system and a transient pressure measurement sub-system were used. Through a series of experiments carried out using this system, the limiting concentrations of hydrogen in oxygen and helium at different initial pressures and temperatures for the practical operational case were studied, and the influence of ignition energy and initial temperature on the limiting concentration of hydrogen in oxygen and helium was analyzed and discussed. The variation of ignition energy within the studied range is found to have a significant effect on the limiting concentration of hydrogen in oxygen and helium at lower initial temperature. However, when the ignition energy is higher than 32 mJ, the limiting hydrogen concentration remains almost changeless as the initial temperature increases from 21 °C to 90 °C. The limiting explosible concentration of hydrogen–oxygen–helium mixture decreases as the ignition energy increases when the initial temperature is lower. When the initial temperature is higher, the ignition energy has little effect on the limiting hydrogen concentration of hydrogen–oxygen–helium mixtures. When the initial temperature reaches 90 °C, the limiting hydrogen concentration remains almost changeless with an increase in ignition energy. The limiting explosible concentration of hydrogen in the mixtures, at the initial temperature of 21 °C and the ignition energy of 0.5 mJ, is 8.5% and that of oxygen is 11.25%.     

Thermodynamic method for the prediction of solid CO2 formation from multicomponent mixtures

The increase in GHG concentration has a direct effect on global climate conditions. Among the possible technologies to mitigate GHG emissions, CCS is being accepted to gain emission reduction. Such technology also involves cryogenic CO₂ capture processes based on CO₂ freeze-out or where the formation of solid CO₂ must be avoided. Captured CO₂ is usually transported in pipelines for the reinjection.The risk associated to the release of CO₂ is due to the changing temperatures and pressures the system may experience, which can lead to the deposition of solid CO₂ where it must be avoided. Prolonged exposure to dry ice can cause severe skin damage and its resublimation could pose a danger of hypercapnia. It is, thus, necessary to build up a tool able to predict the conditions in which CO₂ can freeze-out.A thermodynamic methodology based on cubic EoSs has been developed which is able to predict solid–liquid–vapor equilibrium of CO₂ mixtures with n-alkanes or H₂S which are usually found in equipment for acidic gas, mainly natural gas, treatment.The focus is a detailed analysis of the method performances when more than two components are present since, for such a case, literature does not provide significant modeling results.     

Major accident management in the process industry: An expert tool called CESMA for intelligent allocation of prevention investments

A tool (called CESMA) was developed to carry out cost–benefit analyses and cost-effectiveness analyses of prevention investments for avoiding major accidents. A wide variety of parameters necessary to calculate both the costs of the considered preventive measures and the benefits related with the avoidance of accidents were identified in the research. The benefits are determined by estimating the difference in (hypothetical) major accident costs without and with the implementation of a preventive measure. As many relevant costs and benefits as possible were included into the tool, based on literature and expert opinion, in order to be able to deliver an all-embracing cost–benefit analysis and cost-effectiveness analysis to assist in the investment decision process. Because major accidents are related to extremely low frequencies, the tool takes the uncertainty of the unwanted occurrence of a major accident into account through the usage of a so-called ‘disproportion factor’. Compared with existing software, the CESMA tool is innovative by striving for an as-accurate-as-possible picture of costs and benefits of major accident prevention, and taking the uncertainties accompanying disastrous events into consideration. Furthermore, an illustrative example of CESMA is presented in the paper.     

A review on application of flocculants in wastewater treatment

Flocculation is an essential phenomenon in industrial wastewater treatment. Inorganic coagulants (salts of multivalent metals) are being commonly used due to its low cost and ease of use. However, their application is constrained with low flocculating efficiency and the presence of residue metal concentration in the treated water. Organic polymeric flocculants are widely used nowadays due to its remarkable ability to flocculate efficiently with low dosage. However, its application is associated with lack of biodegradability and dispersion of monomers residue in water that may represent a health hazard. Therefore, biopolymers based flocculants have been attracting wide interest of researchers because they have the advantages of biodegradability and environmental friendly. But, natural flocculants are needed in large dosage due to its moderate flocculating efficiency and shorter shelf life. Thus, in order to combine the best properties of both, synthetic polymers are grafted onto the backbone of natural polymers to obtain tailor-made grafted flocculants. This paper gives an overview of the development of different types of flocculants that were being investigated for treatment of industrial wastewater. Furthermore, their flocculation performance will be reviewed and the flocculation mechanism will be discussed.     

Simulation-based fault propagation analysis—Application on hydrogen production plant

Recently production of hydrogen from water through the Cu–Cl thermochemical cycle is developed as a new technology. The main advantages of this technology over existing ones are higher efficiency, lower costs, lower environmental impact and reduced greenhouse gas emissions. Considering these advantages, the usage of this technology in new industries such as nuclear and oil is increasingly developed. Due to hazards involved in hydrogen production, design and implementation of hydrogen plants require provisions for safety, reliability and risk assessment. However, very little research is done from safety point of view. This paper introduces fault semantic network (FSN) as a novel method for fault diagnosis and fault propagation analysis by using evolutionary techniques like genetic programming (GP) and neural networks (NN), to uncover process variables’ interactions. The effectiveness, feasibility and robustness of the proposed method are demonstrated on simulated data obtained from the simulation of hydrogen production process in Aspen HYSYS^®. The proposed method has successfully achieved reasonable detection and prediction of non-linear interaction patterns among process variables.     

Interaction of alcohol and kola nut on brain sodium pump activity in Wistar rats

The effect of interaction of alcohol and kola nut on sodium pump activity was studied in Wistar rats. Thirty Wistar rats were divided into six groups of five rats per group. Control received a placebo (4 mL of distilled water). Groups 2–6 were treated for a period of 21 days with 10% (v/v) alcohol, 50 mg caffeine/kg, 50 mg kola nut/kg, or a combination of 10% (v/v) alcohol + 50 mg kola nut/kg, or 10% (v/v) alcohol + 50 mg caffeine/kg, respectively. One day after the final exposure, brains were harvested and several biochemical parameters examined including activities of total ATPase, ouabain-insensitive ATPase, ouabain sensitive ATPase (Na⁺–K⁺-ATPase) and levels of nonenzymatic breakdown of ATP and inorganic phosphate (P_i) released. Results showed that the essential enzyme of the brain responsible for neuronal function, Na⁺–K⁺-ATPase, was inhibited by alcohol–kola nut co-administration relative to control, resulting in a decreased ATP production, ion transport and action potential, leading to loss of neuronal activities.