Optimal Absorbent Evaluation for the CO2 Separating Process by Absorption Loading,Desorption Efficiency,Cost, and Environmental Tolerance

The CO₂ absorption capacities of potassium glycinate, potassium sarcosinate (choline, proline), mono-ethanolamine (MEA), and tri-ethanolamine were evaluated to find the optimal absorbent for separating CO₂ from gaseous products by a CO₂ purification process. The absorption loading, desorption efficiency, cost, and environmental tolerance were assessed to select the optimal absorbent. MEA was found to be the optimum absorbent for separating the CO₂ and H₂ mixture in gaseous product. The maximum absorption loading rate was 0.77 mol CO₂ per mol MEA at temperature of 20°C and absorbent concentration of 2.5 mol/L, whereas desorption efficiency was 90% by heating for 3 h at 130°C. MEA was found to be an optimal absorbent for the purification process of CO₂ during gaseous production.     

Review: recent advances in biogas purifying technologies

Biomethane production through biogas upgrading is a promising renewable energy for some industries which could be part of the equilibrium needed with fossil fuels consumption to achieve a sustainable society. This paper presents a comprehensive list of biogas upgrading technologies focused on carbon dioxide removal as well as recent advances reported by researcher with wide expertise in this topic. Additionally, an extensive costs–performance comparison among the technologies studied is discussed. Among the different alternatives, chemical scrubbing stood out to achieve high biomethane purities while cryogenic technologies proved to be effective against methane losses. Regarding the different costs, water scrubbing and membrane separation seem to be the most affordable techniques.     

Tuning the fill percentage in the hydrothermal synthesis process to increase catalyst performance for ozone decomposition

The performance of Ce-OMS-2 catalysts was improved by tuning the fill percentage in the hydrothermal synthesis process to increase the oxygen vacancy density. The Ce-OMS-2 samples were prepared with different fill percentages by means of a hydrothermal approach (i.e. 80%, 70%, 50% and 30%). Ce-OMS-2 with 80% fill percentage (Ce-OMS-2-80%) showed ozone conversion of 97%, and a lifetime experiment carried out for more than 20?days showed that the activity of the catalyst still remained satisfactorily high (91%). For Ce-OMS-2-80%, Mn ions in the framework as well as K ions in the tunnel sites were replaced by Ce⁴⁺, while for the others only Mn ions were replaced. O₂-TPD and H₂-TPR measurements proved that the Ce-OMS-2-80% catalyst possessed the greatest number of mobile surface oxygen species. XPS and XAFS showed that increasing the fill percentage can reduce the AOS of Mn and augment the amount of oxygen vacancies. The active sites, which accelerate the elimination of O₃, can be enriched by increasing the oxygen vacancies. These findings indicate that increasing ozone removal can be achieved by tuning the fill percentage in the hydrothermal synthesis process.     

Advanced molecular-fingerprinting analysis of dissolved organic sulfur by electrospray ionization-Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry using optimal spray solvent

Molecular level characterization of dissolved organic sulfur (DOS) by electrospray ionization-Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (ESI-FTICR MS) is necessary for further understanding of the role of DOS in the environment. Here, ESI spray solvent, a key parameter for ion production during ESI process, was investigated for its effect on the molecular characterization of DOS by ESI-FTICR MS. 100% MeOH as spray solvent was found for the first time to remarkably enhance the ionization efficiency of the majority of CHOS-molecules in NOM, which facilitated a total of 1473 CHOS-molecular formulas with one sulfur atom to be detected. The number of CHOS-molecular formulas obtained using 100%MeOH as spray solvent increased notably over 740 in comparison with those using 50% MeOH aqueous solution (731) or 50% ACN aqueous solution (653). Moreover, due to the enhancement of ionization efficiency of DOS during ESI processes, the tandem mass spectra of the NOM CHOS-molecules could be easily obtained using 100% MeOH as spray solvent, which were hardly obtained using 50% MeOH aqueous solution as spray solvent. The results of the tandem mass spectra suggested the first discovery of organosulfates or sulfonic acids in Suwannee River NOM sample. A simple method based on 100% MeOH as ESI spray solvent for advanced molecular characterization of DOS by ESI-FTICR MS was proposed and applied, and the results revealed more molecular information of DOS in sea DOM samples.     

大气沉降向华中丘陵区稻田输入硫通量的观测

选取我国华中丘陵区的湖南省长沙县一个典型水稻种植区,对2015与2016年2年雨水样中的SO₄²-S和大气SO₂的沉降量进行监测,分析雨水中SO₄^2-、NO₃^-的关系,解析大气硫沉降的主要来源.结果表明,研究区大气中SO₂-S和雨水中SO₄^2--S的年均浓度分别为8.5 μg/m³和1.1mg/L,大气硫沉降年均总量为26.8kgS/（hm²·a）,其中年均降雨混合沉降量18.2kgS/（hm²·a）,年均干沉降量为8.6kgS/（hm²·a）.研究区域硫素干、混合沉降量存在明显的季节差异,硫素混合沉降春季高于夏、秋、冬季,而硫素干沉降冬季高于春、夏、秋季.雨水中NO₃^-/SO₄^2-的质量比大多小于1,表明研究区大气硫素主要来自固定污染源（燃煤）.华中丘陵区稻田具有较高的硫沉降,但硫沉降量已较21世纪初出现了较大幅度下降,农业生产中需要根据农田硫素收支状况酌情补充硫肥来保证作物高产稳产.     

Effect of TiO2 nanoparticle aggregation on marine microalgae Isochrysis galbana

TiO_2 nanoparticles(NPs) could adversely impact aquatic ecosystems. However, the aggregation of these NPs could attenuate this effect. In this work, the biological effects of TiO_2 NPs on a marine microalgae Isochrysis galbana were investigated. The aggregation kinetics of TiO_2 NPs under different conditions was also investigated to determine and understand these effects. Results showed that, though TiO_2 NPs had no obvious impact on the size and reproducibility of algal cells under testing conditions, they caused a negative effect on algal chlorophyll, which led to a reduction in photosynthesis. Furthermore, fast aggregation of TiO_2 NPs occurred under all conditions, especially at the pH close to the p Hzpc. Increasing ionic strength and NP concentration also enhanced the aggregation rate.The aggregation and the following sedimentation of TiO_2 NPs reduced their adverse effects on I. galbana.     

Photocatalytic degradation of phenol

In this study photocatalytic degradation of phenol in thepresence of UV irradiated TiO₂ catalyst andH₂O₂was investigated. Effects of TiO₂ andH₂O₂concentrations and pH on photocatalytic degradation were examined. The rate constants for photocatalytic degradation wereevaluated as a function of TiO₂ and H₂O₂ concentrations and pH of the solution. It was found thatphotodegradation is an effective method for the removal of phenoland disappearance of phenol obeyed first order kinetics. The amount of CO₂h produced during photocatalytic degradation wascorresponding to the complete mineralization. Photodegradationcan be an alternative method for the treatment of phenol containing wastewaters.     

Using improved neural network model to analyze RSP,NOx and NO2 levels in urban air in Mong Kok,Hong Kong

As the health impact of air pollutants existing in ambient addresses much attention in recent years, forecasting of airpollutant parameters becomes an important and popular topic inenvironmental science. Airborne pollution is a serious, and willbe a major problem in Hong Kong within the next few years. InHong Kong, Respirable Suspended Particulate (RSP) and NitrogenOxides NO_x and NO₂ are major air pollutants due to thedominant diesel fuel usage by public transportation and heavyvehicles. Hence, the investigation and prediction of the influence and the tendency of these pollutants are ofsignificance to public and the city image. The multi-layerperceptron (MLP) neural network is regarded as a reliable andcost-effective method to achieve such tasks. The works presentedhere involve developing an improved neural network model, whichcombines the principal component analysis (PCA) technique and theradial basis function (RBF) network, and forecasting thepollutant levels and tendencies based in the recorded data. Inthe study, the PCA is firstly used to reduce and orthogonalizethe original input variables (data), these treated variables arethen used as new input vectors in RBF neural network modelestablished for forecasting the pollutant tendencies. Comparingwith the general neural network models, the proposed modelpossesses simpler network architecture, faster training speed,and more satisfactory predicting performance. This improvedmodel is evaluated by using hourly time series of RSP, NO_x and NO₂ concentrations collected at Mong Kok Roadside Gaseous Monitory Station in Hong Kong during the year 2000. By comparing the predicted RSP, NO_x and NO₂ concentrationswith the actual data of these pollutants recorded at the monitorystation, the effectiveness of the proposed model has been proven.Therefore, in authors' opinion, the model presented in the paper is a potential tool in forecasting air quality parameters and hasadvantages over the traditional neural network methods.     

The Chemistry of Soils, Rocks and Plant Bioindicators in Three Ecosystems of the Holy Cross Mountains, Poland

In June of 2000, biogeochemical study was carried out in three ecosystems of the Holy Cross Mountains (south-central Poland). This paper presents element concentrations and stable sulfur (and in one site lead) isotope ratios in rocks, detailed soil profiles, and plant bioindicators including epiphytic lichen Hypogymnia physodes (L.) Nyl., mosses (Pleurozium schreberi (Brid.) Mitt., Hypnum cupressiforme Hedw. S. Str., Hylocomium splendens (Hedw.) B.S.G.), Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.), common birch (Betula pendula Roth.), aspen (Populus tremula L.) and English oak (Quercus robur L.). Chemical analyses were performed with ICP-AES and AAS methods in the accredited laboratory (Central Chemical Laboratory of the Polish Geological Institute in Warsaw). The principal objective of this study was to compare the chemical composition of rocks, soils and selected plant bioindicators between investigation sites using the same methods of sample collection, preparation and analyses. The results of this study have shown that there is a high variability in concentrations of elements in plant bioindicators from the same sites that can not be explained only by soil properties or anthropogenic influence. This conclusion indicates that for biomonitoring purposes (especially with vascular plants) we cannot neglect individual features of the species examined.     

Higher Plants As Bioindicators Of Sulphur Dioxide Emissions In Urban Environments

The evaluation of certain vascular plants that grow in the city of Madrid as biomonitors of SO₂ air pollution in urban environments has been carried out. Total concentration of sulphur in leaves of the chosen higher plants as well as other parameters in close relation to this contaminant (visible injury symptoms, chlorophyll a- and b-content and peroxidase activity) have been determined in order to study the spatial distribution and temporal changes in SO₂ deposition. Results obtained show that coniferous species such as Pinus pinea, were more sensitive to SO₂ atmospheric concentration than leafy species as Quercux ilex subspecies ballota and, in the same way, bush species, such asPyracantha coccinea and Nerium oleander, were more sensitive than wooded species, such as Cedrus deodaraandPinus pinea, respectively. There is a higher accumulation of sulphur in vegetable species located near highways and dense traffic incidence roads and near areas with high density of population. The minimum values for accumulation of SO₂ were registered in winter and spring seasons (from January to April) due to the vegetative stop; while maximum values are obtained during the summer season (from June to September), due to the stoma opening. The highest increments in sulphur concentration, calculated as the difference between two consecutive months, are obtained in May and June for all considered species except forCedrus deodara and Pyracantha coccinea, both species have few seasonal changes during the whole year. Some species are more sensitive to natural washing than others, showing a decrease in sulphur concentration after rainfall periods.