Relay-intercropping soybean with maize maintains soil fertility and increases nitrogen recovery efficiency by reducing nitrogen input

Optimized nitrogen(N)management can increase N-use efficiency in intercropping systems.Legume-nonlegume intercropping systems can reduce N input by exploiting biological N fixation by legumes.Measurement of N utilization can help in dissecting the mechanisms underlying N uptake and utilization in legume-nonlegume intercropping systems.An experiment was performed with three planting patterns:monoculture maize(MM),monoculture soybean(SS),and maize-soybean relay intercropping(IMS),and three N application levels:zero N(NN),reduced N(RN),and conventional N(CN)to investigate crop N uptake and utilization characteristics.N recovery efficiency and 15N recovery rate of crops were higher under RN than under CN,and those under RN were higher under intercropping than under the corresponding monocultures.Compared with MM,IMS showed a lower soil N-dependent rate(SNDR)in 2012.However,the SNDR of MM rapidly declined from 86.8%in 2012 to 49.4%in 2014,whereas that of IMS declined slowly from 75.4%in 2012 to 69.4%in 2014.The interspecific N competition rate(NCRms)was higher under RN than under CN,and increased yearly.Soybean nodule dry weight and nitrogenase activities were respectively 34.2%and 12.5%higher under intercropping than in monoculture at the beginning seed stage.The amount(Ndfa)and ratio(%Ndfa)of soybean N2 fixation were significantly greater under IS than under SS.In conclusion,N fertilizer was more efficiently used under RN than under CN;in particular,the relay intercropping system promoted N fertilizer utilization in comparison with the corresponding monocultures.An intercropping system helps to maintain soil fertility because interspecific N competition promotes biological N fixation by soybean by reducing N input.Thus,a maize-soybean relay intercropping system with reduced N application is sustainable and environmentally friendly.

Using side-dressing technique to reduce nitrogen leaching and improve nitrogen recovery efficiency under an irrigated rice system in the upper reaches of Yellow River Basin, Northwest China

The excessive nitrogen （N） fertilizer input coupled with flood irrigation might result in higher N leaching and lower nitrogen recovery efficiency （NRE）. Under an intensive rice system in the Ningxia irrigation region, China, environmental friendly N management practices are hreavily needed to balance the amount of N input for optimum crop production while minimize the nitrogen loss. The objective of this study was to determine the influences of side-dressing （SD） technique in mechanical transplanting systems on the NRE, N leaching losses and rice yield in anthropogenic-alluvial soil during two rice growing seasons （2010-2011）. Four fertilizer N treatments were established, including conventional urea rate （CU, 300 kg ha-1 yr-1）; higher SD of controlled-release N fertilizer rate （SD1,176 kg ha-1 yr-1）; lower SD of controlled-release N fertilizer rate （SD2, 125 kg ha-1 yr-1）; and control （CK, no N fertilizer）. Field lysimeters were used to quantify drainage from undisturbed soil during six rice growing stages. Meanwhile, the temporal variations of total nitrigen （TN）, NO3--N, and NH4＋-N concentrations in percolation water were examined. The results showed that SD1 substantially improved NRE and reduced N leaching losses while maintaining rice yields. Across two years, the averaged NRE under SD1 treatment increased by 25.5% as relative to CU, but yet the rice yield was similar between two treatments. On average, the nitrogen loss defined as TN, NH4＋-N, and NO3--N under the SD1 treatment reduced by 27.4, 37.2 and 24.1%, respectively, when compared with CU during the study periods. Although the SD2 treatment could further reduce N leaching loss to some extent, this technique would sharply decline rice yield, with the magnitude of as high as 21.0% relative to CU treatment. Additionally, the average NRE under SD2 was 11.2% lower than that under SD1 treatment. Overall, the present study concluded that the SO technique is an effective strategy to reduce N leaching and increase NRE, thus potentially mitigate local environmental threat. We propose SD1 as a novel alternative fertilizer technique under an irrigated rice-based system in Ningxia irrigation region when higher yields are under consideration.

Shale oil recovery by CO_(2)injection in Jiyang Depression,Bohai Bay Basin,East China

Laboratory experiments,numerical simulations and fracturing technology were combined to address the problems in shale oil recovery by CO_(2)injection.The laboratory experiments were conducted to investigate the displacement mechanisms of shale oil extraction by CO_(2)injection,and the influences of CO_(2)pre-pad on shale mechanical properties.Numerical simulations were performed about influences of CO_(2)pre-pad fracturing and puff-n-huff for energy replenishment on the recovery efficiency.The findings obtained were applied to the field tests of CO_(2)pre-pad fracturing and single well puff-n-huff.The results show that the efficiency of CO_(2)puff-n-huff is affected by micro-and nano-scale effect,kerogen,adsorbed oil and so on,and a longer soaking time in a reasonable range leads to a higher exploitation degree of shale oil.In the"injection+soaking"stage,the exploitation degree of heavy hydrocarbons is enhanced by CO_(2)through its effects of solubility-diffusion and mass-transfer.In the"huff"stage,crude oil in large pores is displaced by CO_(2)to surrounding larger pores or bedding fractures and finally flows to the production well.The injection of CO_(2)pre-pad is conducive to keeping the rock brittle and reducing the fracture breakdown pressure,and the CO_(2)is liable to filter along the bedding surface,thereby creating a more complex fracture.Increasing the volume of CO_(2)pre-pad can improve the energizing effect,and enhance the replenishment of formation energy.Moreover,the oil recovery is more enhanced by CO_(2)huff-n-puff with the lower shale matrix permeability,the lower formation pressure,and the larger heavy hydrocarbon content.The field tests demonstrate a good performance with the pressure maintained well after CO_(2)pre-pad fracturing,the formation energy replenished effectively after CO_(2)huff-n-puff in a single well,and the well productivity improved.

Post-earthquake economic resilience and recovery efficiency in the border areas of the Tibetan Plateau: A case study of areas affected by the Wenchuan Ms 8.0 Earthquake in Sichuan, China in 2008

The border areas of the Tibetan Plateau and the neighboring mountainous areas have a high incidence of earthquakes with a magnitude greater than Ms 5.0, as well as having a dense distribution of geological disasters such as collapses, landslides, and debris flows. Revealing the post-disaster economic development and recovery process is very important for enhancing disaster prevention and response capacity in order to formulate control policies and recovery methods for post-disaster economic reconstruction based on economic resilience. Using long-term socioeconomic data and the autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) model, this paper calculated the economic resilience index of the areas most severely affected by the Wenchuan Earthquake of 2008 and adopted the improved variable returns to scale (VRS) date envelopment analysis (DEA) model and the Malmquist productivity index to analyze the efficiency and effect of annual post-disaster recovery. The results show that: (1) the economic resilience index of the areas most severely affected by the Wenchuan Earthquake was 0.877. The earthquake resulted in a short-term economic recession in the affected areas, but the economy returned to pre-quake levels within two years. In addition, the industrial economy was less resilient than agriculture and the service industry. (2) The comprehensive economic recovery efficiency of the disaster-stricken area in the year following the disaster was 0.603. The comprehensive efficiency, the pure technical efficiency, and the scale efficiency of the plain and hilly areas were significantly greater than those of the plateau and mountain areas. (3) The annual fluctuation in total factor productivity (TFP) following the disaster was considerable, and the economic recovery efficiency decreased significantly, resulting in a short-term economic recession. The TFP index returned to steady state following decreases of 33.7% and 15.2%, respectively, in the two years following the disaster. (4) The significant decrease in the post-disaster recovery efficiency was caused mainly by technological changes, and the renewal of the production system was the leading factor in determining the economic resilience following the disaster. With the decline in the scale of economic recovery following the earthquake, long-term economic recovery in the disaster-stricken areas depended mainly on pure technical efficiency, and the improvement in the latter was the driving force for maintaining the long-term growth of the post-disaster economy. Therefore, according to the local characteristics of natural environment and economic system, the disaster-stricken areas need to actively change and readjust their economic structures. At the same time, attention should be paid to updating the production system to enhance the level of technological progress and give full play to the scale effects of large-scale capital, new facilities, human resources, and other investment factors following the disaster so as to enhance the impact of economic resilience and recovery efficiency in response to the disaster.

Quantitative Description of the Effects of Sweep Efficiency and Displacement Efficiency during Chemical Flooding on a Heterogeneous Reservoir

The processes of flooding—water flooding, polymer flooding and ternary combination flooding—were simulated respectively on a 2-D positive rhythm profile geological model by using the ASP numerical modeling software developed by RIPED (Yuan, et al. 1995). The recovery coefficient, remaining oil saturation, sweep efficiency and displacement efficiency were calculated and correlated layer by layer. The results show that the sweep efficiency and displacement efficiency work different effects on different layers in the severely heterogeneous reservoir. The study shows that the displacement efficiency and sweep efficiency play different roles in different layers for severely heterogeneous reservoirs. The displacement efficiency contributes mainly to the high permeability zones, the sweep efficiency to the low permeability zones, both of which contribute to the middle permeable zones. To improve the sweep efficiency in the low permeability zones is of significance for enhancing the whole recovery of the reservoir. It is an important path for improving the effectiveness of chemical flooding in the severely heterogeneous reservoirs to inject ternary combination slug after profile control.

Variants of Secondary Control with Power Recovery for Loading Hydraulic Driving Device

Current high power load simulators are generally incapable of obtaining both high loading performance and high energy efficiency. Simulators with high energy efficiency are used to simulate static-state load, and those with high dynamic performance typically have low energy efficiency. In this paper, the variants of secondary control（VSC） with power recovery are developed to solve this problem for loading hydraulic driving devices that operate under variable pressure, unlike classical secondary control（CSC） that operates in constant pressure network. Hydrostatic secondary control units are used as the loading components, by which the absorbed mechanical power from the tested device is converted into hydraulic power and then fed back into the tested system through 4 types of feedback passages（FPs）. The loading subsystem can operate in constant pressure network, controlled variable pressure network, or the same variable pressure network as that of the tested device by using different FPs. The 4 types of systems are defined, and their key techniques are analyzed, including work principle, simulating the work state of original tested device, static operation points, loading performance, energy efficiency, and control strategy, etc. The important technical merits of the 4 schemes are compared, and 3 of the schemes are selected, designed, simulated using AMESim and evaluated. The researching results show that the investigated systems can simulate the given loads effectively, realize the work conditions of the tested device, and furthermore attain a high power recovery efficiency that ranges from 0.54 to 0.85, even though the 3 schemes have different loading performances and energy efficiencies. This paper proposes several loading schemes that can achieve both high dynamic performance and high power recovery efficiency.

Reducing nitrogen application with dense planting increases nitrogen use efficiency by maintaining root growth in a double-rice cropping system

Rational nitrogen(N) application can greatly increase rice(Oryza sativa L.) yield. However, excessive N input can lead not only to low N use efficiency(NUE) but also to severe environmental pollution.Reducing N application rate with a higher planting density(RNHD) is recommended to maintain rice yield and improve NUE. The effects of RNHD on fertilizer N fate and rice root growth traits remain unclear. We accordingly conducted a two-year field experiment to investigate the influence of RNHD on rice yield, fertilizer 15N fate, and root growth in a double-rice cropping system in China. In comparison with the conventional practice of high N application with sparse planting, RNHD resulted in similar yield and biomass production as well as plant N uptake. RNHD increased agronomic NUEs by 23.3%–31.9%(P < 0.05) and N recovery efficiency by 17.4%–24.1%(P < 0.05). RNHD increased fertilizer 15N recovery rate by 14.5%–34.7%(P < 0.05), but reduced15 N retention rate by 9.2%–12.0%(P < 0.05). Although a reduced N rate led to significantly reduced root length, surface area, volume, and biomass, these root traits were significantly increased by higher planting density. RNHD did not affect these root morphological traits and reduced activities of nitrate reductase(NR) and glutamine synthetase(GS) only at tillering stage. Plant N uptake was significantly positively correlated with these root traits, but not correlated with NR and GS activities. Together, these findings show that reducing N application with dense planting can lead to high plant N uptake by maintaining rice root growth and thus increase NUE.

Optimize nitrogen fertilization location in root-growing zone to increase grain yield and nitrogen use efficiency of transplanted rice in subtropical China

The optimized nitrogen fertilization location differs in different rice-growing regions. We optimized nitrogen deep-point application in root-growing zone（NARZ） for transplanted rice in subtropical China. Field plot experiments were conducted over two years（2014–2015） in a double-rice cropping system to evaluate the effects of nitrogen（N） fertilizer location on grain yield and N use efficiency（NUE）. Four different nitrogen deep-point application methods（DN） were compared with traditional broadcast application（BN） using granular urea. The results showed that grain yield, recovery efficiency of N（REN）, agronomic efficiency of N（AEN）, and partial factor productivity of N（PFP_N） significantly increased 10.3–63.4, 13.7–56.7, 24.7–201.9 and 10.2–63.4%, respectively, in DN treatment compared to BN, respectively. We also find that DN treatments increased grain yield as well as grain N content, and thus grain quality, in comparison with conventional BN treatment. Correlation analysis indicated that significant improvement in grain yield and NUE mainly resulted from increases in productive panicle number and grain N content. In our proposed NARZ method, granular urea should be placed 0 to 5 cm around the rice seeding at a 12-cm depth druing rice transplanting. In NARZ, balanced application of N, P and K further improved grain yield and NUE over treatments with a single N deep-point application. High N uptake by the rice plant did not cause significant soil fertility depletion, demonstrating that this method could guarantee sustainable rice production.

Studies on Recovery Efficiencies of Phenols from Phenol Fraction Using Alkali Treatment

Experiments were conducted for the extraction of phenols from the phenol fraction obtained from the coal tar distillate. The phenol fraction for the present investigation has been procured from Visakhapatnam Steel Plant, Visakhapatnam whose composition is known. The phenol fraction from coal tar distillate can be treated for extracting phenols using caustic soda. An attempt has been made to find out whether the existing practice of using only 8%-15% can be modified by increasing the strength of sodium hydroxide and also explore the possibilities of substituting the sodium hydroxide with KOH as an extractant. The different streams of liquids obtained during experimentation have been analyzed by gas chromatograph. Salient features of the study are that higher concentrations of the alkali significantly improved the separation efficiencies of phenols and also regenerate the phenolate with higher phenol content. Increase in the alkali strength has greatly improved the separation as well as the phenol content in the regenerated phenols. Disposal of effluents containing phenols may lead to environmental problem of ground water pollution and the study throws a light on the removal of phenols from the effluents to the extent possible by using higher strength alkali solutions.

Performance and Optimization for a Ground-Coupled Liquid Loop Heat Recovery Ventilation System

Ground-coupled heat pumps(GCHP)are commonly used in residential heating system.To mitigate the boreholes temperature dropping with operating time,a new exhaust-air recharging system is developed.The new recharging system can be used in three operational modes.In this paper,a ground-coupled heat recovery ventilation(HRV)model is discussed.A thermal model is set up to find the optimal brine flow rate and heat transfer allocation ratio between exhaust and supply coils for maximum heat recovery efficiency.Contrary to the conventional liquid-loop HRV systems,the brine temperature entering the exhaust coil never goes blow zero(0℃),and hence defrosting is needless in the ground-coupled HRV system.This can make the ground-coupled HRV system over 20% more efficient than a conventional HRV system at low outdoor temperatures.

Simulation Studies on Comparative Evaluation of Waterflooding and Gas Injection in Niger Delta Thin-Bed Reservoir

There is a need to increase ultimate recovery from petroleum reservoirs. In order to guarantee efficient resource extraction from reservoirs, primary recovery methods cannot be relied on throughout the life of a well. There is a time in the life of a reservoir when the primary energy will not be sufficient to ensure economic recovery. Complete abandonment of the reservoir at this point may not be a sound engineering decision given the huge investments in developing the asset. Secondary recovery methods present potentials for the recovery of the other trapped resources. The choice of the secondary recovery means depends on the reservoir and geologic conditions and should be determined by modeling and simulation. In this work, a simulation study is conducted for Niger Delta Field ABX2 to determine the performance of water-flooding and gas injection in the recovery of the asset after the primary recovery stage. ECLIPSE Blackoil simulator was used for the modeling and simulation. An equal reservoir rectangular grid block was designed for both the waterflooding and water injection comprising a total of 750 grid cells. Water and gas were injected in both cases at an injection rate of 11,000 stb/d and 300,000 scf/d for waterflooding and gas injection respectively. From the results of the simulation, it was realized that waterflooding gave a higher total oil recovery than gas injection. The difference in oil recovery from water-flooding and gas injection amounted to 0.08 MMstb/d. The Field Oil Recovery Efficiency (FOE) for waterflooding and gas injection was 38% and 16% respectively giving a difference of 22%. The waterflooding method was troubled with excessive water cuts due to water breakthroughs. Waterflooding was chosen against gas injection to be applied to Field ABX2 to improve recovery after primary production ceased.

Power recovery method for testing the efficiency of the ECD of an integrated generation unit for offshore wind power and ocean wave energy

Offshore wind power and ocean wave energy are clean,renewable and rich resources.The integrated generation unit for the two

Optimization of magnetic separation process for iron recovery from steel slag

To improve the efficiency of iron recovery from steel slag and reduce the wear-and-tear on facilities, a new method was proposed by adding a secondary screen sizer to the magnetic separation process according to grain size distribution of magnetic iron （M-Fe） in the slag. The final recycling efficiency was evaluated by calculating the percentage of recycled M-Fe to the maximum amount of M-Fe that could be recovered. Three types of slags, namely basic oxygen furnace slag, desul- furization slag, and iron ladle slag, were studied, and the results showed that the optimized re- covery efficieneies were 93.20%, 92. 48%, and 85.82% respectively, and the recycling efficien eies were improved by 9.58%, 7.11%, and 6.24% respectively. Furthermore, the abrasion between the mill equipment and the remaining slags was significantly reduced owing to the efficient recovery of larger M-Fe particles. In addition, the using amount of grinding balls was reduced by 0. 46 kg when every 1 t steel slag was processed.

Design and numerical investigation of swirl recovery vanes for the Fokker 29 propeller

Swirl recovery vanes（SRVs） are a set of stationary vanes located downstream from a propeller, which may recover some of the residual swirl from the propeller, hoping for an improvement in both thrust and efficiency. The SRV concept design for a scaled version representing the Fokker 29 propeller is performed in this paper, which may give rise to a promotion in propulsive performance of this traditional propeller. Firstly the numerical strategy is validated from two aspects of global quantities and the local flow field of the propeller compared with experimental data, and then the exit flow together with the development of propeller wake is analyzed in detail.Three kinds of SRV are designed with multiple circular airfoils. The numerical results show that the swirl behind the propeller is recovered significantly with Model V3, which is characterized by the highest solidity along spanwise, for various working conditions, and the combination of rotor and vane produced 5.76% extra thrust at the design point. However, a lower efficiency is observed asking for a better vane design and the choice of a working point. The vane position is studied which shows that there is an optimum range for higher thrust and efficiency.

Scaling trends in energy recovery logic:an analytical approach

This paper presents an analytical model to study the scaling trends in energy recovery logic.The energy performance of conventional CMOS and energy recovery logic are compared with scaling the design and technology parameters such as supply voltage,device threshold voltage and gate oxide thickness.The proposed analytical model is validated with simulation results at 90 nm and 65 nm CMOS technology nodes and predicts the scaling behavior accurately that help us to design an energy-efficient CMOS digital circuit design at the nanoscale.This research work shows the adiabatic switching as an ultra-low-power circuit technique for sub-100 nm digital CMOS circuit applications.

Optimization of nitrogen fertilizer rate under integrated rice management in a hilly area of Southwest China

China has the world’s highest nitrogen(N)application rate,and the lowest N use efficiency(NUE).With the crop yield increasing,serious N pollution is also caused.An in-situ field experiment(2011–2015)was conducted to examine the effects of three N levels,0(i.e.,no fertilizer N addition to soil),120,and 180 kg N ha-1,using integrated rice management(IRM).We investigated rice yield,aboveground N uptake,and soil surface N budget in a hilly region of Southwest China.Compared to traditional rice management(TRM),IRM integrated raised beds,plastic mulch,furrow irrigation,and triangular transplanting,which significantly improved rice grain yield,straw biomass,aboveground N uptake,and NUE.Integrated rice management significantly improved 15N recovery efficiency(by 10%)and significantly reduced the ratio of potential15N loss(by 8%–12%).Among all treatments,the 120 kg N ha-1 level under IRM achieved the highest 15N recovery efficiency(32%)and 15N residual efficiency(29%),with the lowest 15N loss ratio(39%).After rice harvest,the residual N fertilizer did not achieve a full replenishment of soil N consumption,as the replenishing effect was insufficient(ranging from-31 to-49 kg N ha-1).Furthermore,soil surface N budget showed a surplus(69–146 kg N ha-1)under all treatments,and the N surplus was lower under IRM than TRM.These results indicate IRM as a reliable and stable method for high rice yield and high NUE,while exerting a minor risk of N loss.In the hilly area of Southwest China,the optimized N fertilizer application rate under IRM was found to be 100–150 kg N ha-1.

NUMERICAL SIMULATION AND FIELD IMPLEMENTATION OF SURFACTANT FLOODING

Based on the features of surfactant flooding, a mathematical model for surfactant flooding is established. The adsorption-retentlon, convection diffusion of surfactant and influence of concentration change upon relative permeability curve are included in the model. The novel description of adsorption quantity of surfaetant and relative permeability curve are presented, which enhance the coincidence between mathematical model and field practice, the relative errors of main development indexes arc within 6%. The model is applied to the numerical research of the surfactant flooding in the untabulated beds of Xingl-3 surfactant flooding pilot site of No. 4 Oil Production Company of Daqing Oilfield, the influences of surfaetant concentration, injection quantity, slug combination mode upon the development effect and economic benefit are quantitatively analyzed, the injection scheme is optimized as follows： surfaetant concentration is 0.5%, slug volume is 0.02 PV, slug combination mode is 2 slugs. After the implementation of scheme in oilfield, the cumulative increase of oil is 2186.0 t, up to nearly 30%.