Analysis of the Trend and Seasonal Cycle of Carbon Monoxide Concentrations in an Urban Area (4 pp)

Background, Aim and Scope Air quality is an field of major concern in large cities. This problem has led administrations to introduce plans and regulations to reduce pollutant emissions. The analysis of variations in the concentration of pollutants is useful when evaluating the effectiveness of these plans. However, such an analysis cannot be undertaken using standard statistical techniques, due to the fact that concentrations of atmospheric pollutants often exhibit a lack of normality and are autocorrelated. On the other hand, if long-term trends of any pollutant’s emissions are to be detected, meteorological effects must be removed from the time series analysed, due to their strong masking effects. Materials and Methods The application of statistical methods to analyse temporal variations is illustrated using monthly carbon monoxide (CO) concentrations observed at an urban site. The sampling site is located at a street intersection in central Valencia (Spain) with a high traffic density. Valencia is the third largest city in Spain. It is a typical Mediterranean city in terms of its urban structure and climatology. The sampling site started operation in January 1994 and monitored CO ground level concentrations until February 2002. Its geographic coordinates are W0°22′52″ N39°28′05″ and its altitude is 11 m. Two nonparametric trend tests are applied. One of these is robust against serial correlation with regards to the false rejection rate, when observations have a strong persistence or when the sample size per month is small. A nonparametric analysis of the homogeneity of trends between seasons is also discussed. A multiple linear regression model is used with the transformed data, including the effect of meteorological variables. The method of generalized least squares is applied to estimate the model parameters to take into account the serial dependence of the residuals of this model. This study also assesses temporal changes using the Kolmogorov-Zurbenko (KZ) filter. The KZ filter has been shown to be an effective way to remove the influence of meteorological conditions on O₃ and PM to examine underlying trends. Results The nonparametric tests indicate a decreasing, significant trend in the sampled site. The application of the linear model yields a significant decrease every twelve months of 15.8% for the average monthly CO concentration. The 95% confidence interval for the trend ranges from 13.9% to 17.7%. The seasonal cycle also provides significant results. There are no differences in trends throughout the months. The percentage of CO variance explained by the linear model is 90.3%. The KZ filter separates out long, short-term and seasonal variations in the CO series. The estimated, significant, long-term trend every year results in 10.3% with this method. The 95% confidence interval ranges from 8.8% to 11.9%. This approach explains 89.9% of the CO temporal variations. Discussion The differences between the linear model and KZ filter trend estimations are due to the fact that the KZ filter performs the analysis on the smoothed data rather than the original data. In the KZ filter trend estimation, the effect of meteorological conditions has been removed. The CO short-term componentis attributable to weather and short-term fluctuations in emissions. There is a significant seasonal cycle. This component is a result of changes in the traffic, the yearly meteorological cycle and the interactions between these two factors. There are peaks during the autumn and winter months, which have more traffic density in the sampled site. There is a minimum during the month of August, reflecting the very low level of vehicle emissions which is a direct consequence of the holiday period. Conclusions The significant, decreasing trend implies to a certain extent that the urban environment in the area is improving. This trend results from changes in overall emissions, pollutant transport, climate, policy and economics. It is also due to the effect of introducing reformulated gasoline. The additives enable vehicles to burn fuel with a higher air/fuel ratio, thereby lowering the emission of CO. The KZ filter has been the most effective method to separate the CO series components and to obtain an estimate of the long-term trend due to changes in emissions, removing the effect of meteorological conditions. Recommendations and Perspectives Air quality managers and policy-makers must understand the link between climate and pollutants to select optimal pollutant reduction strategies and avoid exceeding emission directives. This paper analyses eight years of ambient CO data at a site with a high traffic density, and provides results that are useful for decision-making. The assessment of long-term changes in air pollutants to evaluate reduction strategies has to be done while taking into account meteorological variability     

Stability of a Coal Waste Artificial Reef

The feasibility of using U.K. coal-fired power station waste materials for artificial reef production is being examined. in June, 1989, an experimental artificial reef was constructed in Poole Bay, off the central south coast of the U.K., using three different mixtures of pulverised fuel ash (PFA), flue gas desulphurisation (FGD) gypsum and slurry, stabilized with cement and formed into blocks. Fifty tonnes of 40 × 20 × 20 cm blocks were formed into eight conical reef units replicating three different PFA/gypsum mixtures and one concrete control. the reef structure is 10m below chart datum on a flat sandy sea-bed.

Combustion of coal concentrates the heavy metal content in the resultant ash. the purpose of stabilization of the ash as blocks is twofold: to immobilize heavy metals (or other components) and to provide hard substratum for the attachment of organisms. to examine the effectiveness of this stabilization and hence the environmental compatibility of the block materials, heavy metal (Cd, Cr, Cu, Pb, Mn, Ni, Zn) content of the blocks has been monitored routinely over two years, to determine leaching rates. Sectional profiles indicate partial replacement of calcium content by magnesium. Associated with this there has also been some redistribution of heavy metals. Only in the case of cadmium has there been a detectable loss from the surface of blocks. Chromium and manganese concentrations appear to have increased. the metal content of the reef epibiota (including ascidians, Ascidia mentula; hydroids, Halecium spp.; bryozoans, Bugula spp. and red algae) growing on the ash blocks has been compared to that of epibiota attached to the concrete controls and surrounding sea-bed. to date no evidence of excess bioaccumulation of metals has been detected.

The physical integrity of the ash reef blocks has been maintained. There is evidence that the blocks are increasing in compressive strength.

An indication of the fishery enhancement potential of the experimental structure is given by the presence of eight commercially fished species (crustaceans and molluscs) including lobsters (Homarus gammarus).     

焚烧飞灰重金属含量及浸出长期变化规律研究

通过对24个飞灰样品的重金属全量消解和高精度X射线荧光光谱法（HDXRF）快速检测结果进行线性回归分析,发现HDXRF法可较准确测定飞灰中Cu、Pb、Zn、Ni和Cd含量（线性回归决定系数R²³0.90）.采用HDXRF法对某焚烧厂飞灰重金属含量6个月快速检测及浸出毒性测定数据统计分析发现：飞灰重金属月均含量较稳定（变异系数CV<0.14）但日均含量波动较大（CV>2.54）;飞灰中Pb、Cu和Zn含量呈正相关（相关系数r>0.78）;金属浸出浓度受浸出液终点pH值影响显著,超标频率依次为Pb（68.9%）、Cd（66.1%）、Ni（24.0%）、Cu（14.2%）和Zn（1.6%）.短期飞灰金属含量和浸出毒性数据受焚烧工况,烟气处理工况和垃圾组分等多种因素共同影响,不具有代表性.为评估垃圾分类源头削减重金属效果,建议采用快速检测方法对焚烧飞灰重金属含量进行长期监测.     

Coupling mechanism of activated carbon mixed with dust for flue gas desulfurization and denitrification

To clarify the effect of coking dust, sintering dust and fly ash on the activity of activated carbon for various industrial flue gas desulfurization and denitrification, the coupling mechanism of the mixed activated carbon and dust was investigated to provide theoretical reference for the stable operation. The results show that coking dust had 34% desulfurization efficiency and 10% denitrification efficiency; correspondingly, sintering dust and fly ash had no obvious desulfurization and denitrification activities. For the mixture of activated carbon and dust, the coking dust reduced the desulfurization and denitrification efficiencies by blocking the pores of activated carbon, and its inhibiting effect on activated carbon was larger than its own desulfurization and denitrification activity. The sintering dust also reduced the desulfurization efficiency on the activated carbon while enhancing the denitrification efficiency. Fly ash blocked the pores of activated carbon and reduced its reaction activity. The reaction activity of coking dust mainly came from the surface functional groups, similar to that of activated carbon. The reaction activity of sintering dust mainly came from the oxidative property of Fe₂O₃, which oxidized NO to NO₂ and promoted the fast selectively catalytic reduction (SCR) of NO to form N₂. Sintering dust was activated by the joint action of activated carbon, and both had a coupling function. Sintering dust enhanced the adsorption and oxidation of NO, and activated carbon further promoted the reduction of NO_x by NH₃; thus, the denitrification efficiency increased by 5%-7% on the activated carbon.     

滤纸法测定悬浮物的干扰及其消除

提出了滤纸法测定悬浮物时，水样的酸碱度，取样量的多少对悬浮物测定有直接的影响。通过实验验证，对于偏酸，偏碱的水样用酸碱中和后再过滤即可消除影响，取样量应根据悬浮物的不同而定。     

Fly-ash-induced oxidative stress and tolerance in Prosopis juliflora L. grown on different amended substrates

Field experiments were conducted to study the impact of metal accumulation on malondialdehyde (MDA), cysteine and non-protein thiol (NPSH) contents in the plants of Prosopis juliflora grown on the fly ash (FA) amended with soil, blue green algae (BGA) biofertilizer, farm yard manure, press mud and Rhizobium inoculation. The analysis of data revealed that the level of MDA, cysteine and NPSH was higher in the roots of the plant than leaves, which was found positively correlated with metal accumulation. An increase of 361.14, 64.25 and 305.62% in MDA, cysteine and NPSH contents, respectively was observed after 45 days in the roots of the plants grown in 100% FA as compared to 100% garden soil (GS). The level of MDA, cysteine and NPSH was found less in the plants grown on various amendments of FA showing ameliorating effect on the toxicity induced due to the accumulation of metals. The decrease in MDA, cysteine and NPSH contents was higher in Rhizobium-inoculated plants as compared to uninoculated plants grown on 100% FA. The results showed a high tolerance potential of the plant, which is further increased by inoculating the plant with FA-tolerant Rhizobium showing feasibility of using P. juliflora in environmental monitoring of FA landfills.     

恶臭污染防治技术及工程实践

目前，恶臭污染对人类生活的危害日益加剧，文中介绍了几种恶臭污染物的防治技术。对生物滴滤池 活性炭吸附工艺进行了探讨，工程实例表明具有良好的治理效果。     

CFB锅炉燃烧高硫石油焦的灰渣综合利用研究

循环流化床锅炉在燃烧含硫石油焦时,通过加入石灰石在燃烧的过程中以固态的形式脱硫,燃烧后将产生大量的灰渣,过去处理灰渣最通常的方式是作土地填埋。从灰渣的化学、物理特性试验研究出发,寻找循环流化床灰渣在建筑材料、农业应用和水泥添加剂方面的利用途径,研究了更加经济有效的灰渣处理方法。     

粉煤灰预处理及其对染料单体脱色效果的研究

介绍了一种粉煤灰预处理的方法-用8mol/L的H2SO4处理，可较好地改善其表面状况，并用预处理后的粉煤灰对染料单体进行脱色试验，寻找了最佳的处理方案，脱色效果较好，建立了Langmuir吸附等温模型。探讨了其脱色机理，为实际开发利用粉煤灰处理印染废水提供基础研究。     

浅淡大阻力配水系统的技术改造

大阻力配水系统滤池由于采用穿孔钢管配水 ,而穿孔钢管容易腐蚀、结垢 ,导致孔眼堵塞 ,再若高位水箱反冲强度掌握不当 ,会使承托层和滤料冲洗混乱 ,滤池不能正常运行。针对这一问题 ,湖州市自来水公司与浙江省玉环净化厂联手 ,利用该厂滤板、滤头及有关专利新技术 ,对自来水公司的 6万t/d快速滤池进行改造 ,运行半年来 ,取得了满意的结果。