The formation of cancinogenic nitrosamines, esp.
In this study, the adsorption performance of powdered activated carbon (PAC) on phenol was investigated in aqueous solutions. Batch adsorption studies were performed to evaluate the effects of various experimental parameters like PAC type, PAC dose, initial solution pH, temperature and pre-oxidation on the adsorption of phenol by PAC and establish the adsorption kinetics, thermodynamics and isothermal models. The results indicated that PAC adsorption is an effective method to remove phenol from water, and the effects of all the five factors on adsorption of phenol were significant. The adsorption rate of phenol by PAC was rapid, and more than 80% phenol could be absorbed by PAC within the initial 10 min. The adsorption process can be well described by pseudo-second-order adsorption kinetic model with rate constant amounted to 0.0313, 0.0305 and 0.0241 mg·μg -1·min -1 with coal, coconut shell and bamboo charcoal. The equilibrium data of phenol absorbed onto PAC were analyzed by Langmuir, Freundlich and Tempkin adsorption isotherms and Freundlich adsorption isotherm model gave the best correlation with the experimental data. Thermodynamic parameters such as the standard Gibbs free energy (?
Polycyclic musks are widely used for cosmetics and other personal care and household cleaning products. The occurrence and removal of two representative polycyclic musks, galaxolide (HHCB) and tonalide (AHTN) were investigated in three different processes of two sewage treatment plants (STPs) in Xi’an, China. The samples were preconcentrated by solid phase extraction procedure and analyzed using a gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC/MS) by a modified procedure. The HHCB was in the range of 82.8 to 182.5 ng·L-1 in the influents and 22.6 to 103.9 ng·L-1 in the effluents. The AHTN ranged from 11.0 to 19.3 ng·L-1 in the influents and 2.2 to 8.8 ng·L-1 in the effluents. The removal efficiency of the two musks varied in the ranges of 43.1%–70.4% for HHCB and 54.2%–84.4% for AHTN. Concentrations of the two musks in aqueous phase of three processes slightly increased along the primary process, and significantly removed during the biologic treatment processes, revealing that the selected musks could be remarkably removed in varied activated sludge processes. Advanced processes of activated sludge did not show a significant superiority on selected musk removal compared to the conventional process. The selected musk removal mainly resulted from the adsorption function of activated sludge. There was no significant change of HHCB/AHTN ratios along the treatment flow, indicating that each sewage treatment structure had a similar removal efficiency for the two musks.
Phosphorus (P) is a vital nutrient for sustaining natural water productivity. Both particulate and dissolved forms of organic and inorganic P are potentially important sources of bioavailable P for primary and secondary producers. A microcosm system to imitate the bacterial community in Plym river sediment and pore water is described and bacterial uptake rates for inorganic and organic phosphorus are presented in this paper. The aim of this study was to investigate the uptake of two organic phosphorus compounds (phytic acid and D-glucose-6-phosphate) by freshwater bacteria. The bioreactors comprise glass columns packed with two types of small glass beads on which bacterial biofilm can develop. The glass beads with different porosity were introduced to simulate River SPM. The selected P compounds spiked into the inflow of the microcosm, and measured the step change of P concentration in the outflow to investigate the behavior of bacterial uptake of nutrients. The results showed that organic phosphorus was converted into inorganic phosphorus but the conversion rate depended on the type of phosphorus species. One experiment suggested that phytic acid (refractory) could displace phosphate from the biofilm surface; the other experiment showed that D-glucose-6-phosphate (labile) could be hydrolysed and utilized easily by the bacteria. The results also suggested that bacteria might break down the C-P bonds to utilize the carbon. Further experiments should investigate the effect of varying the C:N:P ratio in the microcosm system to determine which nutrient limits bacteria uptake.
DN322p, an offspring of
The combination of two bacteria (
The effect of physical parameters of cultivation (load volume, temperature, pH, agitation, inoculum size, and incubation period) in the production of laccase by wood-rotting basidiomycete
The various forms of uncertainty that firms may face in bankable emission permit trading markets will affect firms’ decision making as well as their market performance. This research explores the effect of increased uncertainty over future input costs and output prices on the temporal distribution of emission. In a dynamic programming setting, the permit price is a convex function of stochastic prices of coal and electricity. Increased uncertainty about future market conditions increases the expected permit price and causes a risk neutral firm to reduce ex ante emissions in order to smooth out marginal abatement costs over time. Finally, safety valves, both low-side and high-side, are suggested to reduce the impact of uncertainty in bankable emission trading markets.
Given the statistical gaps in material flow among provinces in China, a method was introduced to estimate regional physical imports and exports (RPIE), which includes international and interregional imports/exports. This method uses provincial monetary input-output tables (MIOT) and international trade statistics. A coefficient matrix representing correlations between monetary value and physical mass for years 2000–2009 was obtained based on a detailed commodity classification and 22 material production sectors in MIOT. With the coefficient matrix as reference, RPIE was measured. Pilot calculation of both regional physical trade balance and domestic material consumption, as well as a brief analysis of these methods, were conducted using 2002 data.
Denitrifying phosphorus accumulating organisms (DPAOs) using nitrite as an electron acceptor can reduce more energy. However, nitrite has been reported to have an inhibition on denitrifying phosphorus removal. In this study, the step-feed strategy was proposed to achieve low nitrite concentration, which can avoid or relieve nitrite inhibition. The results showed that denitrification rate, phosphorus uptake rate and the ratio of the phosphorus uptaken to nitrite denitrified (anoxic P/N ratio) increased when the nitrite concentration was 15 mg·L-1 after step-feeding nitrite. The maximum denitrification rate and phosphorus uptake rate was 12.73 mg
Increasing shortages of fresh water has led to greater use of treated wastewater for irrigation of crops. This study evaluates the spatial variability of soil properties after irrigation with wastewater and freshwater. Geostatistical techniques were used to identify the variability of soil properties at the different sites. A set of physical and chemical soil properties were measured including total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP), organic matter (OM) and soil moisture. The TN concentration levels varied from 567 to 700 mg·kg-1, while OC levels ranged from 7.3 to 16.3 mg·kg-1 in wastewater-irrigated zones. The concentration levels of TP were between 371.53 and 402.88 mg·kg-1 for the wastewater-irrigated sites. Wastewater irrigation resulted in higher TN, TP and OM concentrations by 18.4%, 8% and 25%, respectively. The highest TN and OM occurred along the wastewater trunk. It was also observed that nitrogen concentrations correlate with the soil's organic matter. The increase of salinity may be associated with the increase of pH, which might suggest that a reduction of pH will be beneficial for plant growth due to the decrease of salinity. The average concentrations of nitrogen in topsoil were higher than those in subsurface soils in irrigated areas. Such differences of the N profile might be due to variations in organic matter content and microbial populations. Consistent with TN and OM, soil C:N decreased significantly with an increase of depth. This phenomenon possibly reflects a greater degree of breakdown and the older age of humus stored in the deeper soil layers. The analysis of pH levels at different depths for the three sites showed that pH values for wastewater irrigation were slightly lower than the controlled sites at the same depths.
Forward osmotic membrane bioreactor is an emerging technology that combines the advantages of forward osmosis and conventional membrane bioreactor. In this paper, bisphenol A removal by using a forward osmotic membrane bioreactor and a conventional membrane bioreactor that shared one biologic reactor was studied. The total removal rate of bisphenol A by the conventional membrane bioreactor and forward osmotic membrane bioreactor was as high as 93.9% and 98%, respectively. Biodegradation plays a dominant role in the total removal of bisphenol A in both processes. In comparison of membrane rejection, the forward osmosis membrane can remove approximately 70% bisphenol A from the feed, much higher than that of the microfiltration membrane (below 10%). Forward osmosis membrane bioreactor should be operated with its BPA loading rate under 0.08 mg·g-1·d-1 to guarantee the effluent bisphenol A concentration less than10 μg·L-1.