Wind erosion at the dry-up bottom of Aiby Lake——A case study on the source of air dust

Clay-rich deposits are usually considered as hard materials to be eroded by wind.Data from both surface monitoring and field survey at the dry-up bottom of Aiby Lake present thatclay-rich lacustrine deposits are easily broken down and eroded away by wind in the seasonalalternation process under the natural arid environment, and are the significant source of air dust.The surface of the clay-rich deposits is broken and softened by the freezing-and-thawing action inwinter season and/or by salt and alkali action with precipitation. Impact of wind-input particles andplow of plant branches with wind force drive the clay-rich sediments moving. Wind picks up theclay pebbles and repeats the impaction further-ward onto the dry-up surface. Tremendous finematerials, including soft salts, are contributed to air dust, and transported in long distance.

Numerical simulation of dust distribution at a fully mechanized face under the isolation effect of an air curtain

At a fully mechanized working face of a coal mine as prototype,we investigated,by simulation,the flow field and dust distribution during the process of its isolation by a curtain of air,using the CFD software, Fluent.The results show that the air curtain installed on the shearer can effectively prevent the dust （especially the respirable dust）from diffusing into the work area of the operator,reducing the dust concentration on the side of the operator and greatly improving his working environment.The field application of the air curtain shows that the dust-isolation effect of an air curtain is quite noticeable.The isolation efficiency for respiratory dust is over 70%and,as well,it has good dust-isolation effect for nonrespiratory dust.The air curtain is a useful way to resolve the problem of dust-isolation at a fully mechanized working face.It has a practical background elsewhere with more extensive applications.

Synergistic Use of AIRS and MODIS for Dust Top Height Retrieval over Land

It is nontrivial to extract the dust top height（DTH） accurately from passive instruments over land due to the complexity of the surface conditions. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer（MODIS） deep blue（DB） algorithm can be used to infer the aerosol optical depth（AOD） over high-reflective surfaces. The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder（AIRS） can simultaneously obtain the DTH and optical depth information. This study focuses on the synergistic use of AIRS observations and MODIS DB results for improving the DTH by using a stable relationship between the AIRS infrared and MODIS DB AODs. A one-dimensional variational（1DVAR） algorithm is applied to extract the DTH from AIRS. Simulation experiments indicate that when the uncertainty of the dust optical depth decreases from 50% to 20%, the improvement of the DTH retrieval accuracy from AIRS reaches 200 m for most of the assumed dust conditions. For two cases over the Taklimakan Desert, the results are compared against Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization（CALIOP） measurements. The results confirm that the MODIS DB product could help extract the DTH over land from AIRS.

Value enhancement of olivine process dust through air classification

As a result of the production of dry olivine sand products at A/S Olivin＇s production plant at Aheim in western Norway, an annual quantity of some 20000-30000 t of process dust is produced. The bulk of this material is currently being sold as a slag conditioner at a rela- tively low price; hence, alternative uses of the process dust are now being sought. Information regarding the chemical composition of the material as a function of particle size facilitates product modifications through exclusion or mixing of individual size fractions. This paper demonstrates how such information can be obtained from air classification experiments when these are combined with chemical analysis of the produced size fractions. The classification and subsequent analysis of the olivine process dust revealed that the finer size fractions had high loss on ignition （LOI） values and were relatively low in MgO when compared with the bulk analysis. Removal of the finer fractions re- sulted in a remaining coarse product of significantly higher quality. The coarse material could be used as a raw material for further processing; it could be recycled or it could constitute a new product in itself.

Simulation of Double-Front Detonation of Suspended Mixed Cyclotrimethylenetrinitramine and Aluminum Dust in Air

The two-phase detonation of suspended mixed cyclotrimethylenetrinitramine （i.e., RDX） and aluminum dust in air is simulated with a two-phase flow model. The parameters of the mixed RDX-AI dust detonation wave are obtained. The double-front detonation and steady state of detonation wave of the mixed dust are analyzed. For the dust mixed RDX with density of 0.565kg/m3 and radius of 10μm as well as aluminum with density of 0.145kg/m3 and radius of 4μm, the detonation wave will reach a steady state at 23m. The effects of the size of aluminum on the detonation are analyzed. For constant radius of RDX particles with radius of 10μm, as the radius of aluminum particles is larger than 2.0 μm, the double-front detonation can be observed due to the different ignition distances and reaction rates of RDX and aluminum particles. As the radius of aluminum particles is larger, the velocity, pressure and temperature of detonation wave will be slower. The pressure at the Chapman-Jouguet （CJ） point also becomes lower. Comparing the detonation with single RDX dust, the pressure and temperature in the flow field of detonation of mixed dust are higher.

Sister chromatid exchange and DNA damage in human lymphocytes induced by air-dust in Lanzhou City: involvement in free radicals

The air-dust samples collected from petro-chemical industrial region in the suburb of Lanzhou and from a certain rural region 64 km away from the city were extracted, with a mixed solvent (benzene: hexane: isopropanol=7:2:1) for 8 hours. A strong free radical signal at g= 2.00 of air-dust itself and a hyperfine splitting EPR signal of extract from air-dust have been detected. The sister chromatid exchange frequency (SCE) was increased by extracts of both dusts from the industrial region and from the rural region. If a chemical is able to increase SCE up to twice as high as the control, this chemical is considered to be mutagenic and/or carcinogenic. The double SCE frequency concentration is 23 μg/ml for the dust extract obtained from the industrial region and 47μg/ml for that from the rural region. Extracts were able to damage to DNA template. Results indicated that the mutagenicity and/or carcinogenicity of the extracts obtained from the petro-chemical industrial region were stronger than that of the extracts from the rural region.

Influence of Dust Weather on Air Quality in Lanzhou City

[Objective] The study aimed to discuss the effects of dust weather on air quality in Lanzhou City. [Met]hod] Under the influence of a strong sandstorm during March 8 -15, 2013 on air quality in Gansu Province, the changes of wind speed, atmospheric visibility and PM10 concentra- tion as well as air pollution in Lanzhou were analyzed. [ Result] The dust weather during March 8 -15, 2013 affected Lanzhou City for the longest time in recent 10 years, and the city suffered medium pollution on March 8 and heavy pollution during March 9 -15 under the influence of the dust weather, while PM10 was the pdmary pollutant. [ Condusion] The research could provide the corresponding technical support for the prevention and control of environmental pollution in Lanzhou City.

Effect of a commercial air ionizer on dust mites Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus and Dermatophagoides farinae(Acari:Pyroglyphidae) in the laboratory

Objective:To investigate the short and long tenn efficacy of a commercial air ionizer in killing Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus(D.pteronyssinus)and Dermalophagoides farinae(D.farinae)mites.Methods:The effect of a commercial ionizer on D.pteronyssinus and D.farinae was evaluated in the laboratory,using a specially designed test.Mortality was assessed after 6,16and 24 hours for direct exposure and after 24,36,48,60 and 72 hours for exposure in simulated mattress.New batches of mites were used for each exposure time.Results:LT_(50)for direct exposure of ionizer was 10 hours for D.pteronyssinus and 18 hours for D.farinae.The LT_(50)for exposure in simulated mattress was 132 hours or 5.5 days for D.pteronyssinus and 72 hours or 3days for D.farinae.LT_(95)for direct exposure of ionizer was 36 hours for D.pteronyssinus and D.farinae.Meanwhile,the LT_(95)for exposure in simulated mattress was 956 hours or 39.8 days for D.pteronyssinus and 403 hours or 16.8 days for D.farinae.Conclusions:This study demonstrates the increasing mite mortalities with increasing exposure time of a commercial ionizer and suggests that negative ions produced by an ionizer kill dust mites and can be used to reduce natural mile populations on exposed surfaces such as floors,clothes,curtains,etc.However,there is reduced efficacy on mites inside stuffed materials as in mattresses and furniture.

Simulation and Evaluation of Dust Emission with Polair3D-SIREAM Model over West Africa Focused on Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso)

The study of air pollution is recent in West Africa. There is a lack of data on air pollution. However, some studies conducted in West Africa show that air quality is a concern. Population growth and massive vehicles imports are contributing to the deterioration of this air quality. In this work, we present the modelling of desert aerosols using a CTM Polair3D-SIREAM. The objective is to evaluate the ability of Polair3D-SIREAM to reproduce observations of PM10 and Aerosol Optical Thicknesses (AOT). A simulation with Polair3D-SIREAM was carried out in West Africa, focused on Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso) for 2007. The model of Marticorena and Bergametti (1995), MB95, was used to estimate desert aerosols emissions. The total emission of dust modelled is 52.2 Tg. For the evaluation of PM10, the simulated averages remained within the same orders of magnitude as the observed averages. Correlations are low in all the observation sites. The other indicators are similar to those found by Schmechtig et al. (2011). Performance criteria of Boylan and Russel (2006) are met for the observation sites of Ouagadougou and Ilorin (Nigeria). For the AOTs, the correlations are significantly improved, in particular, at the sites of Ouagadougou and Ilorin. Performance criteria of Boylan are met for all observation sites. However, the performance goals are only achieved for Ouagadougou and Ilorin.

Impact of Dust Weather on Air Quality and Solar Radiation

Based on the observation data of PM 10 mass concentration, ground meteorological elements and solar radiation in Dunhuang and Jiuquan , the changing trends of PM 10 mass concentration and solar total radiation in the west of the Hexi Corridor in the spring of 2014 (from March to May) were studied, and the relationship between solar total radiation and net radiation in different pollution situations was analyzed. Moreover, the changes of solar radiation and PM 10 mass concentration in a typical dust process in April 2014, as well as the responses of ground meteorological elements were also analyzed. The results showed that in the west of the Hexi Corridor, solar total radiation and PM 10 mass concentration showed an increasing trend with fluctuation, and there was inverse correlation between them. The correlation was particularly obvious in dust days. The dust weather led to the increase of PM 10 mass concentration, so that the total radiation decreased. The net radiation declined in the daytime and rose at night. Dust weather is a major factor affecting air quality and total radiation.

A new design of foaming agent mixing device for a pneumatic foaming system used for mine dust suppression

To overcome the drawbacks of the conventional foam technology used for dust suppression,including large pressure loss,high water pressure and low driving pressure,a new pneumatic foaming system is introduced.Then an original design of foaming agent mixing device is proposed,and its performance is investigated and evaluated under different pressure compensations.Experimental results show that the maximum absorption amount increases by 2.9-6.7 times at a pressure compensation of 0.04-0.2 MPa compared with no pressure compensation.The pressure loss and pressure fluctuation both reduce significantly with increasing pressure compensation.The critical outlet pressure increases by30.4-240%.Field application indicates that the proposed mixing device ensures the reliable addition of foaming agent used for foam dust suppression.The effect of foam on dust suppression is remarkable,and the economic cost of foam is low.Therefore,there is reason to believe that the new mixing device will greatly promote foam technology to be widely used for suppressing dust in underground coal mines.

Retrofitting Sprinkler Systems for Suppressing Dust Generated by Moving Vehicles Inside Farms

Fugitive dust is one of the well known problems in agriculture and it affects both humans and machine producing quality. Dust problems can seriously cause harmful diseases to workers and ruin expensive equipments. In this study, a dust formation generated in open environment by vehicles was analyzed on unpaved roads. Formed dust was measured by calculating total forces on the PM10 （airborne particles smaller than 10 mm） of dust particles, such as air velocity, gravity forces and air turbulence generated by the moving vehicle. The water fogger nozzle discharge was measured to determine the approximate droplets quantity in the air. The foggers were used to suppress the generated dust in an open environment via installing a proposed automatic suppression system which opens automatically when vehicles pass under the system. The relationship between water droplet speed and ability of collecting fugitive dust showed that high air temperature above 40oC and wind speed above 10 m s-1 have negative effects on the system’s ability of collecting dust due to evaporation of small radius droplets and/or drifting water droplets away from the effective area. The overall system efficiency was found to be 85% and the proposed dust suppression system was found to be a satisfying solution for reducing fugitive dust hazards.

Preparation of Electrospun PVDF Nanofiber Composite Filter Medium and Its Application in Air Filtration

Nanofibrous media with both high particle interception efficiency and robust air permeability has broad technological applications in areas including individual protection, industrial security, and environmental governance. However, producing such filtration media has proven to be extremely challenging. Here we reported an approach to preparing and fabricating a polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) nanofiber composite filter medium composed of 2D PVDF nanofiber nets and a stable substrate via onestep electrospinning for effective air filtration. PVDF nanofibers are obtained by adjusting the electrospinning process. With the combined properties of ultrasmall diameter, high porosity, and a bonded scaffold, the resulting PVDF nanofiber composite filter medium exhibits a robust high filtration efficiency of 99.901%(equivalent to an F9 rating) for 0.4 mm particles and a long service life (a large dust holding capacity of 36 g/m^2) for ultrafine airborne particles based on the sieving principle and surface filtration behavior. The successful synthesis of PVDF nanofibers medium would not only make it a promising candidate for air filtration, but also provide new insights into the design and development of composite nanofiber structures for various applications.

Characteristics of air pollution events over Hotan Prefecture at the southwestern edge of Taklimakan Desert, China

Hotan Prefecture is located at the southwestern edge of Taklimakan Desert, the world＇s largest shifting sand desert, of China. The desert is one of the main sources for frequent sand-dust weather events which strongly affect the air quality of Hotan Prefecture. Although this region is characterized by the highest annual mean PMlo concentration values that are routinely recorded by environmental monitoring stations across China, both this phenomenon and its underlying causes have not been adequately addressed in previous researches. Reliable pollutant PM_10 data are currently retrieved using a tapered element oscillating microbalance （TEOM） 1400a, a direct real-time monitor, while additional concentration values including for PM_2.5, sulfur dioxide （SO_2）, nitrogen dioxide （NO_2）, carbon monoxide （CO） and ozone （O_3） have been collected in recent years by the Hotan Environmental Monitoring Station. Based on these data, this paper presents a comparison of the influences of different kinds of sand-dust weather events on PM_10 （or PM_2.5） as well as the concentrations of other gaseous pollutants in Hotan Prefecture. It is revealed that the highest monthly average PM_10 concentrations are observed in the spring because of the frequent occurrence of three distinct kinds of sand-dust weather events at this time, including dust storms, blowing dust and floating dust. The floating dust makes the most significant contribution to PM_10 （or PM_2.5） concentration in this region, a result that differs from eastern Chinese cities where the heaviest PM_10 pollution occurs usually in winter and air pollution results from the excess emission of local anthropogenic pollutants. It is also shown that PM_10 concentration varies within wpical dust storms. PM_10 concentrations vary among 20 dust storm events within Hotan Prefecture, and the hourly mean concentrations tend to sharply increase initially then slowly decreasing over time. Data collected from cities in eastern China show the opposite with the hourly mean PM_10 （or PM_2.5） concentration tending to slowly increase then sharply decrease during heavy air pollution due to the excess emission of local anthropogenic pollutants. It is also found that the concentration of gaseous pollutants during sand-dust weather events tends to be lower than those cases under clear sky conditions. This indicates that these dust events effectively remove and rapidly diffuse gaseous pollutants. The analysis also shows that the concentration of SO_2 decreases gradually at the onset of all three kinds of sand-dust weather events because of rapidly increasing wind velocity and the development of favorable atmospheric conditions for diffusion. In contrast, changes in O_3 and NO_2 concentrations conformed to the opposite pattern during all three kinds of sand-dust weather events within this region, implying the inter transformation of these gas species during these events.

综掘工作面混合式风流调控下的粉尘沉降研究

煤矿掘进过程中粉尘聚集严重,目前针对综掘工作面混合式风流调控下粉尘沉降规律及优化的研究还不够深入。基于混合式风流调控系统,依托陕煤集团神木柠条塔矿业有限公司综掘工作面,分析了压风口距工作面距离、压风口右偏角度、压风口口径、抽风口距工作面距离和压抽比等混合式风流调控参数对粉尘沉降规律的影响:随着压风口距工作面距离增加,司机处和回风侧行人呼吸带截面大颗粒粉尘占比先增后减再增,小颗粒粉尘占比增加;随着压风口右偏角度增加,司机处和回风侧行人呼吸带截面大颗粒粉尘占比变化明显;随着压风口口径增加,司机处截面小颗粒粉尘占比先增后减再增,回风侧行人呼吸带截面大颗粒粉尘占比先增后减;随着抽风口距工作面距离增加,司机处截面大颗粒粉尘占比先增后减,小颗粒粉尘占比先增后减再增,回风侧行人呼吸带截面粉尘粒径分布变化不大;随着压抽比增大,司机处和回风侧行人呼吸带截面小颗粒粉尘占比减小。以上述风流调控各参数为自变量,回风侧行人呼吸带全尘平均浓度和司机处呼尘平均浓度最低为优化目标,建立了粉尘沉降优化回归模型,利用粒子群优化算法求解模型,得到最优风流调控方案:压风口距工作面距离为8.9 m,压风口右偏角度为14.8°,压风口口径为0.9 m,抽风口距工作面距离为4.3 m,压抽比为1.1。搭建了风流调控下粉尘沉降实验平台,实验结果表明:测试值与粉尘沉降优化回归模型的模拟值误差在13%以内,验证了模型的准确性;优化后粒径为71~100μm的粉尘受风流调控参数影响明显,沉降在掘进机前方;优化后回风侧行人呼吸带全尘平均浓度和司机处呼尘平均浓度分别降低了47.4%和42.4%,降尘效果明显。

Effect of Asian Dust Storms on the Ambient SO₂Concentration over North-East India: A Case Study

Ambient SO2 concentration at a high rain fall site, Shillong (25.67oN, 91.91oE, 1064 m ASL), located in North-East India, was measured during March 2009 and January 2010 with the aim to understand the effect of long range transport of pollutants from North-East Asia on the ambient SO2 levels at this relatively clean site. The concentrations recorded during the former sampling period were very high (Max: 262.3 ppb)—which decayed down gradually towards the end the sampling period—whereas those during the latter sampling period were well within the acceptable limits (Max: 29.7 ppb). This elevated SO2 concentrations during March 2009 is proposed to have association with a major cold air outbreak and an associated cyclone preceding one of the dust storm events reported in China, and a resultant sudden change in wind trajectory leading to the long range transport of pollutants to the sampling site. The argument is formulated on the basis of the back trajectory analysis performed using HYSPLIT for the month of March 2009—the plots clearly showed a drastic change in wind trajectories between 8th and 15th of March 2009 wherein the winds traveled over some of the highly polluted regions such as the Perm region of Russia—and on the results from model runs performed using the global 3-D model of tropospheric chemistry, GEOS-Chem (v8-03-01)—it clearly showed the tropospheric SO2 over Perm region in Russia peaking during Nov, Dec, Jan, Feb and Mar every year, possibly due to central heating. The observation of long range transport of SO2 from the highly industrialized areas of Perm in Russia to North-East India during dust storm events has important implications to the present understanding on its relative contribution to the Asian pollutant outflow to the Pacific during spring as the GEOS-Chem model runs also showed regions in and around Russia with relatively high concentrations of atmospheric NOx, Peroxyacetyl Nitrate, Lumped Peroxypropionyl Nitrate, HNO3, HNO4,C3H8, C2H6, SO4, NH4, Inorganic Sulphur Nitrates and Lumped Alkyl Nitrate.

Investigation of Heavy Metals and Radionuclide’s Impact on Environment Due to The Waste Products of Different Iron Processing Industries in Chittagong, Bangladesh

The waste products, such as induction furnace slag, ladle furnace slag, air pollution control dust, and ramming mass collected from major iron processing industries in Chittagong, Bangladesh were analyzed for heavy metals and naturally radioactive elements. The concentrations of heavy metals Fe, Cr, Mn, Co, Cd, Ni, Pb, Cu and Zn were obtained from atomic absorption spectrophotometer (AAS) analysis with flame atomizer and the radioactivities due to 226Ra, 232Th and 40K were determined using high purity germanium (HPGe) detector of well shielded gamma-ray counting system. From the mean specific activities of the above three natural radionuclides in the investigated samples, the radium equivalent activity (Raeq) and the external hazard index (Hex) were calculated. The study showed the prospect of contamination of environmental materials (viz., soil, water, air, plant) due to many of these investigated elements by using the collected waste products in landfill. The chemical process of ion exchange indicates that the elevated heavy metals in soil can play a role to increase the natural radioactivity of the soil. The obtained Raeq as well as Hex indicated the insignificant radiation hazard due to the activities of primordial radionuclides found in the investigated samples.

Air Quality Status of Respirable Particulate Levels at Selected Traffic Junctions along the Section of Lateral Highway in Hyderabad

The aerodynamic diameter of an air borne particle is the key property in determining its respiratory deposition. The study aim to assess PM2.5 level and its size distribution at 5 traffic junctions located along the lateral highway connected to NH-202. A cascade impactor has been used to measure the size function range of PM2.5 apart from PM10 of atmospheric dust particles in air being PM2.5 is concern with respect to effect on human health and is able to tend deeply into the respiratory tract reaching the lungs. It is observed that weight % of PM2.5 values are in the range of 40% - 60% of PM10 and few values of PM2.5 are exceeding the standards prescribed by CPCB. It is concluded that free flow of traffic is main concern and maintenance of road should be carried out during low traffic hours.

附壁旋流风幕集尘系统数值模拟与试验研究

大型设备工作时产生的粉尘浓度过高、粉尘扩散等问题,会影响工作人员的身体健康,甚至可能造成“粉尘爆炸”等安全问题。基于此现状提出了一种新型风幕集尘系统并介绍了其构造及应用。为了使系统的集尘效果更好,采用计算流体力学FLUENT软件进行数值模拟分析并对风幕集尘系统的工作参数进行了试验研究,得到最佳的设备工作参数及风幕的集尘效率。结果表明:(1)附壁旋流集尘风幕系统可形成稳定的螺旋风流场,大部分粉尘可以控制在风幕内侧,达到良好的集尘效果;(2)附壁旋流风幕集尘系统的射流腔条缝口的喷射角度对风幕形成效果影响最明显,风幕闭合性会随着射流腔工作角度变化而变化;(3)当射流腔条缝口角度为45°、风幕入口速度为15~25 m/s时,风幕的闭合性最好;(4)风幕的入口速度过大或过小都会使风幕的集尘效果下降;(5)吸尘盘的负压区域与风幕交界处会产生微弱湍流,但对风幕整体闭合性影响较小;(6)模拟与试验结果吻合,验证了新型附壁旋流集尘风幕技术的有效性。