Abiotic association of phthalic acid esters with humic acid of a sludge landfill

The abiotic association between phthalic acid esters （PAEs） and humic substances （HS） in sludge landfill plays an important role in the fate and stability of PAEs. An equilibrium dialysis combined with 14C-labeling was used to study the abiotic association of two abundant PAEs （diethyl phthalate and di-n-butyl phthalate） with humic acid （HA） isolated from a sludge landfill with different stabilization times and different molecular weights. Ele- mental analysis and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectro- photometer （FTIR） suggested that high KA value of HA was related to the high aromatic content and large molecular weight of HA. The results indicated that the association strength of PAEs with HA depended on both the properties of the PAEs and the characteristics of HA. The KA values of the association were strongly dependent on solution pH, and decreased dramatically as the pH was increased from 3.0 to 9.0. The results suggested that non- specific hydrophobic interaction between PAEs and HA was the main contributor to the association of the PAEs with HA. The interactive hydrogen-bonds between the HA and the PAEs molecules may also be involved in the association.

Designing an in situ remediation strategy for polluted surface water bodies through the specific regulation of microbial community

This paper proposes an in situ restoration strategy, ecosystem activation system (EAS), for selfpurification abilities of polluted water ecosystems through the specific regulation of microbial community. EAS utilizes polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) to modify indigenous microbial communities of polluted water bodies. Microorganisms preferentially utilizing PHA as the carbon source for their enhanced growth are defined as specific, and those with no special selectivity to PHA and raw-water dissolved organic matter are defined as non-specific and can be phased out during EAS operation. As a result, the microbial community can be regulated to the specific structure, which is beneficial for the water quality improvement. The developed model described the above principle with accounting for the growth kinetics of specific microorganisms, competitive inhabitation of specific microorganisms on non-specific microorganisms, and coupled EAS-induced self-purification of polluted water bodies. The conceptual model is believed to be a primary step toward quantitative design, operation, and optimization of EAS.

High order DBR GaSb based single longitude mode diode lasers at 2 μm wavelength

The GaSb-based distributed Bragg reflection（DBR） diode laser with 23 rd-order gratings have been fabricated by conventional UV lithography and inductively coupled plasma（ICP） etching. The ICP etching conditions were optimized and the relationship among etching depth, duty ratio and side-mode suppression ratio（SMSR） was studied. The device with a ridge width of 100 μm, gratings period of 13 μm and etching depth of 1.55 μm as well as the duty ratio of 85% was fabricated, its maximum SMSR reached 22.52 dB with uncoated cavity facets under single longitudinal operation mode at room temperature.

Greenhouse gas emission and its potential mitigation process from the waste sector in a large-scale exhibition

As one of the largest human activities, World Expo is an important source of anthropogenic Greenhouse Gas emission（GHG）, and the GHG emission and other environmental impacts of the Expo Shanghai 2010, where around 59,397 tons of waste was generated during 184 Expo running days, were assessed by life cycle assessment（LCA）. Two scenarios, i.e., the actual and expected figures of the waste sector, were assessed and compared, and 124.01 kg CO2-equivalent（CO2-eq.）, 4.43 kg SO2-eq., 4.88 kg NO-3-eq., and 3509 m3 water per ton tourist waste were found to be released in terms of global warming（GW）, acidification（AC）,nutrient enrichment（NE） and spoiled groundwater resources（SGWR）, respectively. The total GHG emission was around 3499 ton CO2-eq. from the waste sector in Expo Park, among which 86.47% was generated during the waste landfilling at the rate of 107.24 kg CO2-eq.,and CH4, CO and other hydrocarbons（HC） were the main contributors. If the waste sorting process had been implemented according to the plan scenario, around 497 ton CO2-eq.savings could have been attained. Unlike municipal solid waste, with more organic matter content, an incineration plant is more suitable for tourist waste disposal due to its high heating value, from the GHG reduction perspective.

Environmental impacts of a large-scale incinerator with mixed MSW of high water content from a LCA perspective

Large-scale incinerators are applied widely as a result of the heavy burden of municipal solid waste（MSW） generated, while strong opposition is arising from the public living nearby. A large-scale working incineration plant of 1500 ton/day was chosen for evaluation using life cycle assessment. It was found that the corresponding human toxicity impacts via soil（HTs）, human toxicity impacts via water（HTw） and human toxicity impacts via air（HTa）categories are 0.213, 2.171, and 0.012 personal equivalents（PE）, and global warming（GW100）and nutrient enrichment（NE） impacts are 0.002 and 0.001 PE per ton of waste burned for this plant. Heavy metals in flue gas, such as Hg and Pb, are the two dominant contributors to the toxicity impact categories, and energy recovery could reduce the GW100 and NE greatly. The corresponding HTs, HTw and HTa decrease to 0.087, 0.911 and 0.008 PE, and GW100 turns into savings of- 0.007 PE due to the increase of the heating value from 3935 to5811 k J/kg, if a trommel screener of 40 mm mesh size is used to pre-separate MSW. MSW sorting and the reduction of water content by physical pressure might be two promising pre-treatment methods to improve the combustion performance, and the application of stricter standards for leachate discharge and the flue gas purification process are two critical factors for improvement of the environmental profile identified in this work.

Characterization of chlorine and heavy metals for the potential recycling of bottom ash from municipal solid waste incinerators as cement additives

Bottom ash is an inevitable by-product fi＇om municipal solid waste （MSW） incineration plants. Recycling it as additives for cement production is a promising disposal method. However, the heavy metals and chlorine are the main limiting factors because of the potential environmental risks and corrosion of cement kilns. Therefore ,investigating heavy metal and chlorine characteristics of bottom ash is the significant prerequisite of its reuse in cement industries. In this study, a correlative analysis was conducted to evaluate the effect of the MSW components and collection mode on the heavy metal and chlorine characteristics in bottom ash. The chemical speciation of insoluble chlorine was also investigated by synchrotron X-ray diffraction analysis. The results showed that industrial waste was the main source of heavy metals, especially Cr and Pb, in bottom ash. The higher contents of plastics and kitchen waste lead to the higher chlorine level （0.6 wt.%-0.7 wt.%） of the bottom ash. The insoluble chlorine in the MSW incineration bottom ash existed primarily as AlOCl, which was produced under the high temperature （1250℃） in incinerators.

Indicating landfill stabilization state by using leachate property from Laogang Refuse Landfill

Variation and evolution process of leachate can be applied as a reference for landfill stabilization phase. In this work, leachates with different ages were collected from Laogang Refuse Landfill, and characterized with 14 key parameters. Simultaneously, principal component analysis （PCA） was applied to develop a synthetic parameter-F based on these 14 parameters, and a logarithm equation was simulated for the landfill stabilization process finally. It was predicted that leachates would meet Class I and Class II in standard for pollution control on the landfill site of municipal solid waste （GB 16889-1997） after 32 years and 22 years disposal under the natural attenuation in the humid and warm southern areas of China, respectively. The predication of landfill state would be more accurate and useful according to the synthetic parameter F of leachate from a working landfill.