Application of subsurface wastewater infiltration system to on-site treatment of domestic sewage under high hydraulic loading rate

In order to enhance the hydraulic loading rate （HLR） of a subsurface wastewater infiltration system （SWIS） used in treating domestic sewage, the intermittent operation mode was employed in the SWIS. The results show that the intermittent operation mode contributes to the improvement of the HLR and the pollutant removal rate. When the wetting-drying ratio （RwD） was 1.0, the pollutant removal rate increased by （13.6 ± 0.3）% for NH3-N, （20.7 ± 1.1）% for TN, （18.6± 0.4）% for TP, （12.2 ± 0.5）% for BOD, （10.1 ± 0.3）% for COD, and （36.2 ± 1.2）% for SS, compared with pollutant removal rates under the continuous operation mode. The pollutant removal rate declined with the increase of the HLR. The effluent quality met The Reuse of Urban Recycling Water - Water Quality Standard for Scenic Environment Use （GB/T 18921-2002） even when the HLR was as high as 10 cm/d. Hydraulic conductivity, oxidation reduction potential （ORP）, the quantity of nitrifying bacteria, and the pollutant removal rate of NH3-N increased with the decrease of the RWD. For the pollutant removal rates of TP, BOD, and COD, there were no significant difference （p 〈 0.05） under different RwDS. The suggested RWD was 1.0. Relative contribution of the pretreatment and SWlS to the pollutant removal was examined, and more than 80% removal of NH3-N, TN, TP, COD, and BOD occurred in the SWIS.

Influence of packing media on nitrogen removal in a subsurface infiltration system

Influence of packing media on nitrogen removal in a subsurface infiltration system was studied. System A was filled with loamy soil and system B was filled with mixed soil of 75% red clay with 25% cinder. Both systems were fed with sewage at the same hydraulic loading of 2 cm/d at continuous operation mode. The same excellent removal performances of COD and T-P could be achieved in both infiltration systems with removal rates about 85% and 98%, respectively. In system A, NH +_4-N removal rate was as high as 96.5% and T-N removal rate was relatively much lower as 55.7%. And in system B, NH +_4-N removal rate was as low as 75.4% and T-N removal rate was relatively much higher as 75.5%. The difference was attributed to different soil oxidation-reduction condition that was greatly influenced by soil texture in subsurface infiltration system. Loamy soil led to oxidative condition that was favorable to nitrification and disadvantageous to denitrification. The results were just adverse to the system filled with clay. Intermittent operation was adopted to improve nitrogen removal in system B. NH +_4-N removal rate could be increased to about 95% and T-N removal rate could be increased to about 90% at intermittent operation mode in system B. Analysis of nitrogen removal mechanisms indicated that nitrification-denitrification was the primary nitrogen removal path in subsurface infiltration system and crop uptake was another important nitrogen removal way. It was the key to improve the total N removal performance that a suitable packing soil was available to present favorable oxidation-reduction condition for simultaneous nitrification and denitrification.

Clogging Process Caused by Organic Particle Accumulation and Biofilm Growth in Subsurface Wastewater Infiltration System

Substrate clogging is the worst operational problem for subsurface wastewater infiltration system （ SWIS ）, nevertheless quantitative understanding of the clogging process is currently very limited. In this study, the developing process of clogging caused by organic particle accumulation and biofilm growth was investigated in two groups of lab-scale SWIS, which were fed with glucose （dissolved organic matter） and starch （particulate organic matter） influent and filled with the same substrate made of 50% brown soil and cinder at a weight of 50%. Results showed that in glucose-fed systems the growth of biofilm in the substrate pores certainly caused remarkable reduction of effective porosity, especially for the high concentration organic wastewater, whereas its influence on infiltration rate was negligible. In comparison with biofllm growth, organic particles accumulation could rapidly reduce infiltration rate and the clogging occurred in the upper layer in starch-fed systems and the most important contribution of biofilm growth to clogging was accelerating the occurrence of clogging.

Effect of Pretreatment on Physico-Chemical Parameters of Matrix and Pollutant Removals in Subsurface Wastewater Infiltration System

Two pilot subsurface wastewater infdtrafion systems （SWISs） were filled with the same mixed matrix and operated in the intermittent feeding mode with hydraulic loading of 0. 1 m3/ （m2 d） for 140 d. One of SWISs was fed with wastewater which was previously settled （ ST）, and the other with the same wastewater but in addition treated with a coagulation process （CT）. After 140 d of operation, in the upper layer of ST system the effective porosity decreased by 4.1% and the organic matter （OM） content increased by 246.4 %, whereas only decreased by 0.7 % and increased by 35. 7% of CT system, respectively. During the study, dogging didn＇t occur in CT system and occurred in ST system. Effluent chemical oxygen demand （COD）, total phosphorus （TP） and ammonia nitrogen （NH4＋ --N ） concentrations in CT system were less than those in ST system. In ST system, effluent COD, TP, NH4＋ --N concentrations increased and suspended solid （SS） concentration decreased after dogging. The results indicated that the use of a prior coagulation treatment was a good alternative for improving the effluent quality and avoiding an anticipated dogging.

Fate of nitrogen in subsurface infiltration system for treating secondary effluent

The concentration of total nitrogen(TN) is reported to vary between 20 and 35 mg/L in domestic wastewater. In raw wastewater, ammonia nitrogen eNHt4-NT is the main nitrogen form, accounting for 70%e82% of the TN concentration. Organic nitrogen, nitrite nitrogen eNOà2-NT,and nitrate nitrogen eNOà3-NT are present as well. For years, due to the lack of regulatory limits on nitrogen concentration in surface waters,nitrogen from secondary effluent has posed a significant threat to the health of aquatic ecosystems. Researchers have made substantial efforts to reduce the nitrogen concentration in secondary effluent. As a kind of advanced wastewater treatment technology, the subsurface infiltration(SI)system has been widely used, owing to its advantages, which include low operation cost, easy maintenance, and low energy consumption. This review discusses the fate of various forms of nitrogen in SI treatment, including organic nitrogen, NHt4-N, NOà2-N, and NOà3-N. Major biological processes involved in nitrogen removal and the main factors influencing its transformation are suggested. Finally, it is shown that ammonification followed by nitrification-denitrification plays a major role in nitrogen removal. Further research needs to focus on the emission characteristics of gaseous nitrogen(generated from the nitrification, denitrification, and completely autotrophic nitrogen-removal over nitrite(CANON) processes) with respect to their greenhouse effects.

Renovated water reuse for rapid infiltration system

The renovated water in the rapid infiltration system (RI) as area for fish and duck farming is feasible. The flesh of fish and duck is edible. The farming of fish for 5 months and duck for 120 - 130 days can be accepted. It is beneficial to environment and economy, especially in developing countries. The production of fish and duck can make up for the cost of wastewater treatment.

The Effect of Different Artificial Soil on Urban Non-Point Source Pollution Reduction in the Artificial Rapid Infiltration System

The non-point source pollution posed great risks to the urban water environment which has aroused great concerns. Artificial rapid infiltration systems have been widely used in sewage treatment, which have great environmental and economic values. This study investigated the potential of utilizing artificial rapid infiltration systems on the reduction of urban non-point source pollution. The obtained results showed that the components and composition of artificial soils were vital to the operational performance. The mixture of natural soil, coarse sand and zeolite was ideal for the construction of artificial soils. The permeability coefficient of soils could be improved to 0.166 cm/min at the optimized ratio of 1:1:0.05 (natural soil, coarse sand and zeolite). Also, high removal efficiency for the typical pollutants in rain runoffs (i.e. COD, NH4+-N, TN and TP) could be simultaneous obtained which was above 74% in the artificial rapid infiltration systems. The results demonstrated the effectiveness on the reduction of urban non-point pollution by optimized artificial rapid infiltration system.

A New Soil Infiltration Technology for Decentralized Sewage Treatment:Two-Stage Anaerobic Tank and Soil Trench System

The low removal efficiency of total nitrogen （TN） is one of the main disadvantages of traditional single stage subsurface infiltration system, which combines an anaerobic tank and a soil filter field. In this study, a full-scale, two-stage anaerobic tank and soil trench system was designed and operated to evaluate the feasibility and performances in treating sewage from a school campus for over a one-year monitoring period. The raw sewage was prepared and fed into the first anaerobic tank and second tank by 60% and 40%, respectively. This novel process could decrease chemical oxygen demand with the dichromate method by 89%-96%, suspended solids by 91%-97%, and total phosphorus by 91%-97%. The denitrification was satisfactory in the second stage soil trench, so the removals of TN as well as ammonia nitrogen （NH4^＋-N） reached 68%-75% and 96% 99%, respectively. It appeared that the removal efficiency of TN in this two-stage anaerobic tank and soil trench system was more effective than that in the single stage soil infiltration system. The effluent met the discharge standard for the sewage treatment plant （GB18918-2002） of China.

Analysis of Microbial Molecular Ecology Techniques in Constructed Rapid Infiltration System

The microbial molecular ecology techniques, which were developed on the basis of molecular, were applied in studying the bacteria in Constructed Rapid Infiltration （CRI） system. These techniques are very efficient in better describing the bacterial diversity, microbial community distribution, and relations between microbial group structure and nitrogen contamination through the analysis of microbial nucleic acid sequence fragment in CRI. The results further revealed the removal mechanism of contamination, which is essential for the improvement of wastewater treatment in CRI.

Wettability and pressureless infiltration mechanism in SiC-Cu systems

The wetting behavior of copper alloys on SiC substrates was studied by a sessile drop technique. The microstructure of SiCp/Cu composites and the pressureless infiltration mechanism were analyzed. The results indicate that Ti and Cr are effective elements to improve the wettability, while Ni, Fe, and Al have minor influence on the improvement of wettability. Non-wetting to wetting transition occurs at 1210 and 1190℃ for Cu-3Al-3Ni-9Si and Cu-3Si-2Al-1Ti, respectively. All the copper alloys react with SiC at the interface forming a reaction layer except for Cu-3Al-3Ni-9Si. High Si content favors the suppression of interracial reaction. The infiltration mechanism during pressureless infiltration is attributed to the decomposition of SiC. The beneficial effect of Fe, Ni, and Al is to favor the dissolution of SiC. The real active element during pressureless infiltration is Si.

Melt Infiltration Ability and Microstructural Evolution of Fe40Al/ TiC Composites System

Pressureless melt infiltration is an economic route f or preparation of high-density ceramic/melt composites. In this study, the Fe40 Al iron aluminide intermetallic, a low cost material of excellent oxidation and corrosion resistance, was used as binder for fabricating Fe40Al/TiC composites b y pressureless melt infiltration. The wetting ability of liquid Fe40Al in porous TiC pre-form was studied by in-situ monitoring the melting and infiltration p rocess. The infiltration ability was investigated by observing the distance of l iquid Fe40Al intrusion in porous TiC pre-forms at different infiltration temper atures and times by using optical microscope. Porous TiC per-forms with density of 60%～88%TD (theoretical density), prepared under pre-defined sintering temp e rature cycles, were used for fabricating Fe40Al/TiC composites in the range of 1 2%～40% metal content by volume. Almost full dense Fe40Al/TiC composites were su c cessfully fabricated by this technique. Liquid Fe40Al exhibited excellent infilt ration ability, the distance of complete intrusion of liquid Fe40Al in the TiC s intered pre-form with density of 88%TD was over 7 mm after 5 min at the inf iltration temperature of 1 450 ℃. Microstructural observation by SEM and TEM also showed that liquid Fe40Al filled the very narrow gaps among TiC particles, the interfaces of TiC particles and F e40Al plastic ligaments being metallurgical bonded. TEM revealed that high densi ty of dislocations formed in Fe40Al ligaments during solidification, which favor the mechanical properties. Ti decomposed from TiC particles and dissolved into Fe40Al during infiltration. According to the compositional analysis of TEM-EDS, the concentration of Ti in Fe40Al ranges at 1at%～4at% depending on composite f a bricating conditions and the distance from the measuring point to the closest Ti C particles. XRD analysis indicated that the composites were composed of two pha ses, the original TiC and Fe 0.4Al 0.6 intermetallic. No new phase formed during infiltration, but the lattice parameter of Fe 0.4Al 0.6 was expended due to the Ti in the solid solution.

Infiltration pattern beneath shrub canopy and interspace grass patches in typical steppe ecosystems of Inner Mongolia, China

Water is the most critical factor for controlling die vegetation pattern in arid and semiarid regions.Using a dye-tracing experiment,we analyzed the infiltration pattern beneath shrub canopy and interspace grass patches in typical steppe ecosystems.The dye coverage,uniform infiltration depth,maximum infiltration depth,total stained area and heterogeneous infiltration stained area were measured by two indices,the maximum infiltration depth index(MIDI)and heterogeneous infiltration index(HII),which were calculated by processing dye-stained photos.The MIDI and HII of soil under shrubs were 1.41±0.14 and 0.29±0.068,respectively,and larger than those of grass soil,1.26±0.14 and0.20±0.076.Using the MIDI,HII,field soil moisture and rainfall data,the infiltration depth and heterogeneous infiltration amount for 26 nature rainfall events were calculated.The results imply that water can infiltrate to a deeper layer beneath shrub canopy than beneath grass patches and that more water infiltration occurs beneath shrub canopy than beneath grass patches.These results are of prime importance for arid and semiarid ecosystems with a limited water supply due to high evaporation and low precipitation.

Effect of slope angle on fractured rock masses under combined influence of variable rainfall infiltration and excavation unloading

Intense precipitation infiltration and intricate excavation processes are crucial factors that impact the stability and security of towering and steep rock slopes within mining sites.The primary aim of this research was to investigate the progression of cumulative failure within a cracked rock formation,considering the combined effects of precipitation and excavation activities.The study was conducted in the Huangniuqian eastern mining area of the Dexing Copper Mine in Jiangxi Province,China.An engineering geological investigation was conducted,a physical model experiment was performed,numerical calculations and theoretical analysis were conducted using the matrix discrete element method(Mat-DEM),and the deformation characteristics and the effect of the slope angle of a fractured rock mass under different scenarios were examined.The failure and instability mechanisms of the fractured rock mass under three slope angle models were analyzed.The experimental results indicate that as the slope angle increases,the combined effect of rainfall infiltration and excavation unloading is reduced.A novel approach to simulating unsaturated seepage in a rock mass,based on the van Genuchten model(VGM),has been developed.Compared to the vertical displacement observed in a similar physical experiment,the average relative errors associated with the slope angles of 45,50,and 55were 2.094%,1.916%,and 2.328%,respectively.Accordingly,the combined effect of rainfall and excavation was determined using the proposed method.Moreover,the accuracy of the numerical simulation was validated.The findings contribute to the seepage field in a meaningful way,offering insight that can inform and enhance existing methods and theories for research on the underlying mechanism of ultra-high and steep rock slope instability,which can inform the development of more effective risk management strategies.

Surrogate modeling for unsaturated infiltration via the physics and equality-constrained artificial neural networks

Machine learning(ML)provides a new surrogate method for investigating groundwater flow dynamics in unsaturated soils.Traditional pure data-driven methods(e.g.deep neural network,DNN)can provide rapid predictions,but they do require sufficient on-site data for accurate training,and lack interpretability to the physical processes within the data.In this paper,we provide a physics and equalityconstrained artificial neural network(PECANN),to derive unsaturated infiltration solutions with a small amount of initial and boundary data.PECANN takes the physics-informed neural network(PINN)as a foundation,encodes the unsaturated infiltration physical laws(i.e.Richards equation,RE)into the loss function,and uses the augmented Lagrangian method to constrain the learning process of the solutions of RE by adding stronger penalty for the initial and boundary conditions.Four unsaturated infiltration cases are designed to test the training performance of PECANN,i.e.one-dimensional(1D)steady-state unsaturated infiltration,1D transient-state infiltration,two-dimensional(2D)transient-state infiltration,and 1D coupled unsaturated infiltration and deformation.The predicted results of PECANN are compared with the finite difference solutions or analytical solutions.The results indicate that PECANN can accurately capture the variations of pressure head during the unsaturated infiltration,and present higher precision and robustness than DNN and PINN.It is also revealed that PECANN can achieve the same accuracy as the finite difference method with fewer initial and boundary training data.Additionally,we investigate the effect of the hyperparameters of PECANN on solving RE problem.PECANN provides an effective tool for simulating unsaturated infiltration.

Metadherin promotes stem cell phenotypes and correlated with immune infiltration in hepatocellular carcinoma

BACKGROUND Metadherin(MTDH)is a key oncogene in most cancer types,including hepato-cellular carcinoma(HCC).Notably,MTDH does not affect the stemness pheno-type or immune infiltration of HCC.AIM To explore the role of MTDH on stemness and immune infiltration in HCC.METHODS MTDH expression in HCC tissues was detected using TCGA and GEO databases.Immunohistochemistry was used to analyze the tissue samples.MTDH was stably knocked down or overexpressed by lentiviral transfection in the two HCC cell lines.The invasion and migration abilities of HCC cells were evaluated using Matrigel invasion and wound healing assays.Next,we obtained liver cancer stem cells from the spheroids by culturing them in a serum-free medium.Gene expression was determined by western blotting and quantitative reverse transcri-ption PCR.Flow cytometry,immunofluorescence,and tumor sphere formation assays were used to characterize stem-like cells.The effects of MTDH inhibition on tumor growth were evaluated in vivo.The correlation of MTDH with immune cells,immunomodulators,and chemokines was analyzed using ssGSEA and TISIDB databases.RESULTS HCC tissues expressed higher levels of MTDH than normal liver tissues.High MTDH expression was associated with a poor prognosis.HCC cells overex-pressing MTDH exhibited stronger invasion and migration abilities,exhibited a stem cell-like phenotype,and formed spheres;however,MTDH inhibition attenuated these effects.MTDH inhibition suppressed HCC progression and CD133 expression in vivo.MTDH was positively correlated with immature dendritic,T helper 2 cells,central memory CD8^(+)T,memory B,activated dendritic,natural killer(NK)T,NK,activated CD4^(+)T,and central memory CD4^(+)T cells.MTDH was negatively correlated with activated CD8^(+)T cells,eosinophils,activated B cells,monocytes,macrophages,and mast cells.A positive correlation was observed between the MTDH level and CXCL2 expression,whereas a negative correlation was observed between the MTDH level and CX3CL1 and CXCL12 expression.CONCLUSION High levels of MTDH expression in patients with HCC are associated with poor prognosis,promoting tumor stemness,immune infiltration,and HCC progression.

SOX11 as a potential prognostic biomarker in hepatocellular carcinoma linked to immune infiltration and ferroptosis

Objective:SOX11 is expressed in numerous malignancies,including hepatocellular carcinomas(HCC),but its oncogenic function has not been elucidated.Here,we performed a comprehensive bioinformatics analysis of the Liver Hepatocellular Carcinoma(LIHC)dataset to investigate the function of SOX11 in tumorgenesis.Methods:SOX11 expression data from The Cancer Genome Atlas(TCGA)and Gene Expression Omnibus(GEO)were validated by immunohistochemistry(IHC).Co-expression,differential expression,and functional analyses utilized TCGA-LIHC,Timer 2.0,Metascape,GTEx,and LinkedOmics databases.Associations with immune infiltration,ferroptosis,and immune checkpoint genes were assessed.Genetic changes were explored via CBioPortal.Logistic regression,receiver operating characteristic curve(ROC),Kaplan-Meier analysis,and nomogram modeling evaluated associations with HCC clinicopathological features.SOX11’s impact on proliferation and migration was studied in HepG2 and HuH7 cell lines.Results:SOX11 was significantly elevated in HCC tumors compared to controls.SOX11-associated genes exhibited differential expression in pathways involving extracellular membrane ion channels.Significant associations were found between SOX11 levels,immune infiltration,ferroptosis,and immune checkpoint genes in HCC tissue.SOX11 levels correlated with HCC stage,histologic grade,and tumor status,and independently predicted overall and disease-specific survival.SOX11 expression effectively distinguished between tumor and normal liver tissue.Spearman correlations highlighted a significant relationship between SOX11 and ferroptosis-associated genes.Decreased SOX11 levels in HepG2 and HuH7 cells resulted in reduced proliferation and migration.Conclusions:SOX11 was found to represent a promising biomarker within HCC diagnosis and prognosis together with being a possible drug-target.

Modelling the water diversion of a sustainable cover system under humid climates

Extreme rainfall significantly threatens the safety of the landfill cover system,especially under humid climates.This study aims to provide design recommendations for a sustainable landfill cover system consisting of a low-permeability soil layer underlying a two-layer capillary barrier for humid climates.First,the numerical back-analysis was conducted for verification against a series of flume model tests.Then,a parametric study was performed to investigate the effects of inclination angle,particle size and layer thickness on the lateral diversion length(DL)of the three-layer cover system under the 100-year return period rainfall of humid climates.The results show that the water lateral DL of the cover system can be greatly enhanced by increasing the inclination angle from 3°to 18°.Moreover,the bottom layer of the cover system with a coarser d10 was more susceptible to the impact of the heavy rainfall,while this can be alleviated by increasing the thickness of the bottom layer.A dimensionless number,defined as the ratio of thickness and d_(10) of the bottom layer,is proposed for designing lateral diversion of the three-layer cover system under humid climates.To preserve the maximum DL,it is suggested that the proposed dimensionless number should be larger than 95 and 110 for the design of rainfall events with 50-year and 100-year return periods for humid climates,respectively.

Infiltration,runoff,and slope stability behaviors of infinite slope with macropores based on an improved Green–Ampt model

Infiltration–runoff–slope instability mechanism of macropore slope under heavy rainfall is unclear.This paper studied its instability mechanism with an improved Green–Ampt(GA)model considering the dual-porosity(i.e.,matrix and macropore)and ponding condition,and proposed the infiltration equations,infiltration–runoff coupled model,and safety factor calculation method.Results show that the infiltration processes of macropore slope can be divided into three stages,and the proposed model is rational by a comparative analysis.The wetting front depth of the traditional unsaturated slope is 17.2%larger than that of the macropore slope in the early rainfall stage and 27%smaller than that of the macropore slope in the late rainfall stage.Then,macropores benefit the slope stability in the early rainfall but not in the latter.Macropore flow does not occur initially but becomes pronounced with increasing rainfall duration.The equal depth of the wetting front in the two domains is regarded as the onset criteria of macropore flow.Parameter analysis shows that macropore flow is delayed by increasing proportion of macropore domain(ω_(f)),whereas promoted by increasing ratio of saturated permeability coefficients between the two domains(μ).The increasing trend of ponding depth is sharp at first and then grows slowly.Finally,when rainfall duration is less than 3 h,ωf andμhave no significant effect on the safety factor,whereas it decreases with increasingωf and increases with increasingμunder longer duration(≥3 h).With the increase ofω_(f),the slope maximum instability time advances by 10.5 h,and with the increase ofμ,the slope maximum instability time delays by 3.1 h.

Ablation behaviour and mechanical performance of ZrB_(2)-ZrC-SiC modified carbon/carbon composites prepared by vacuum infiltration combined with reactive melt infiltration

The development of advanced aircraft relies on high performance thermal-structural materials,and carbon/carbon com-posites(C/C)composited with ultrahigh-temperature ceramics are ideal candidates.However,the traditional routes of compositing are either inefficient and expensive or lead to a non-uniform distribution of ceramics in the matrix.Compared with the traditional C/C-ZrC-SiC composites prepared by the reactive melt infiltration of ZrSi_(2),C/C-ZrB_(2)-ZrC-SiC composites prepared by the vacuum infiltration of ZrB_(2) combined with reactive melt infiltration have the higher content and more uniform distribution of the introduced ceramic phases.The mass and linear ablation rates of the C/C-ZrB_(2)-ZrC-SiC composites were respectively 68.9%and 29.7%lower than those of C/C-ZrC-SiC composites prepared by reactive melt infiltration.The ablation performance was improved because the volatilization of B_(2)O_(3),removes some of the heat,and the more uniformly distributed ZrO_(2),that helps produce a ZrO2-SiO2 continu-ous protective layer,hinders oxygen infiltration and decreases ablation.

Microstructure and Oxidation Behavior of ZrB_(2)-SiC Ceramics Fabricated by Tape Casting and Reactive Melt Infiltration

ZrB_(2)-based ceramics typically necessitate high temperature and pressure for sintering,whereas ZrB_(2)-SiC ceramics can be fabricated at 1500℃using the process of reactive melt infiltration with Si.In comparison to the conventional preparation method,reactive synthesis allows for the more facile production of ultra-high temperature ceramics with fine particle size and homogeneous composition.In this work,ZrSi_(2),B4C,and C were used as raw materials to prepare ZrB_(2)-SiC via combination of tape casting and reactive melt infiltration herein referred to as ZBC ceramics.Control sample of ZrB_(2)-SiC was also prepared using ZrB_(2) and SiC as raw materials through an identical process designated as ZS ceramics.Microscopic analysis of both ceramic groups revealed smaller and more uniformly distributed particles of the ZrB_(2) phase in ZBC ceramics compared to the larger particles in ZS ceramics.Both sets of ceramics underwent cyclic oxidation testing in the air at 1600℃for a cumulative duration of 5 cycles,each cycle lasting 2 h.Analysis of the oxidation behavior showed that both ZBC ceramics and ZS ceramics developed a glassy SiO_(2)-ZrO_(2) oxide layer on their surfaces during the oxidation.This layer severed as a barrier against oxygen.In ZBC ceramics,ZrO_(2) is finely distributed in SiO_(2),whereas in ZS ceramics,larger ZrO_(2) particles coexist with glassy SiO_(2).The surface oxide layer of ZBC ceramics maintains a dense structure because the well-dispersed ZrO_(2) increases the viscosity of glassy SiO_(2),preventing its crystallization during the cooling.Conversely,some SiO_(2) in the oxide layer of ZS ceramics may crystallize and form a eutectic with ZrO_(2),leading to the formation of ZrSiO_(4).This leads to cracking of the oxide layer due to differences in thermal expansion coefficients,weakening its barrier effect.An analysis of the oxidation resistance shows that ZBC ceramics exhibit less increase in oxide layer thickness and mass compared to ZS ceramics,suggesting superior oxidation resistance of ZBC ceramics.