Electrochemical Degradation of Indigocarmine Dye at Ni/Graphite Modified Electrode in Aqueous Solution

Nickel Graphite modified electrode (Ni/GME) was prepared by electrochemical method and degradation of Indigocarmine (IC) dye was carried out. An investigation between the efficiency of degradation by graphite electrode and the Ni/graphite modified electrode has been carried out. The different effects of concentration, current density and temperature on the rate of degradation were studied. This study shows that the rate of the degradation is more for Ni doped modified graphite electrode. UV-Visible spectra before and after degradation of the dye solution were observed. The thin film formation of Ni or encapsulated in graphite rod is observed by scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM & EDAX). The instantaneous current effectiveness values of different experimental conditions are evaluated. The anodic oxidation by Ni/ graphite modified electrode showed the complete degradation of aqueous solution indigocarmine, which is confirmed by UV-Visible and chemical oxygen demand (COD) measurements. The dye is converted into CO2, H2O and simpler inorganic salts. The results observed for reuse of modified electrodes indicate that the Ni/graphite modified electrode would be a promising anode for electrochemical degradation of indigocarmine. This method can be applied for the remediation of waste water containing organics, cost-effective and simple.

A Study on the Effects of Oxygenation Irrigation on Some Growth Agronomic Traits of Super Rice Shenyou 9516

In the growing process of rice, roots need aerobic respiration. Oxygenation irrigation means oxygenation in accordance with the demand of crops for oxygen for their growth. This experiment designed three treatments： mechanical oxygenation, chemical oxygenation and conventional irrigation. The mechanical oxygenation group A was divided into 6 small treatment groups and the chemical oxygenation group B was divided into 3 small treatment groups. Each treatment group had 3 replications and the average was used for analysis. Some agronomic traits of the roots and the plants of super rice were examined. The result showed that the two oxygenation treatments significantly promoted the growth of the roots and the plants. In the me- chanical oxygenation group A4, the number of filled grain per panicle was 37.6% higher than that of the conventional treatment group, and the kilo-grain weight was 7.4% higher than that of the conventional treatment group. The study results provide a theoretical basis for the application of oxygenation irrigation to super rice.

Performance of a water hyacinth(Eichhornia crassipes)system in the treatment of wastewater from a duck farm and the effects of using water hyacinth as duck feed

Nowadays, intensive breeding of poultry and livestock of large scale has made the treatment of its waste and wastewater an urgent environmental issue, which motivated this study. A wetland of 688 mz was constructed on an egg duck farm, and water hyacinth （Eichhornia crassipes） was chosen as an aquatic plant for the wetland and used as food for duck production. The objectives of this study were to test the role of water hyacinth in purifying nutrient-rich wastewater and its effects on the ducks＇ feed intake, egg laying performance and egg quality. This paper shows that the constructed wetland removed as much as 64.44% of chemical oxygen demand （COD）, 21.78% of total nitrogen （TN） and 23.02% of total phosphorus （TP）. Both dissolved oxygen （DO） and the transparency of the wastewater were remarkably improved, with its transparency 2.5 times higher than that of the untreated wastewater. After the ducks were fed with water hyacinth, the average daily feed intake and the egg-laying ratio in the test group were 5.86% and 9.79% higher, respectively, than in the control group; the differences were both significant at the 0.01 probability level. The egg weight in the test group was 2.36% higher than in the control group （P 〈 0.05）, but the feed conversion ratios were almost the same. The eggshell thickness and strength were among the egg qualities significantly increased in ducks fed with water hyacinth. We concluded that a water hyacinth system was effective for purifying wastewater from an intensive duck farm during the water hyacinth growing season, as harvested water hyacinth had an excellent performance as duck feed. We also discussed the limitations of the experiment.

Treatment of flotation wastewater using biological activated carbon

A laboratory scale up-flow biological activated carbon(BAC) reactor was constructed for the advanced treatment of synthetic flotation wastewater. Biodegradation of a common collector(i.e., ethyl xanthate) for non-ferrous metallic ore flotation was evaluated. The results show that the two stages of domestication can improve microbial degradation ability. The BAC reactor obtains a chemical oxygen demand(COD) reduction rate of 82.5% for ethyl xanthate and its effluent COD concentration lowers to below 20 mg/L. The kinetics equation of the BAC reactor proves that the activated carbon layers at the height of 0 mm to 70 mm play a key role in the removal of flotation reagents. Ultraviolet spectral analysis indicates that most of the ethyl xanthate are degraded by microorganisms after advanced treatment by the BAC reactor.

Effects of COD/N ratio and DO concentration on simultaneous nitrification and denitrification in an airlift internal circulation membrane bioreactor

The effects of chemical oxygen demand and nitrogen(COD/N)ratio and dissolved oxygen concentration(DO)on simultaneous nitrification and denitrification(SND)were investigated using an airlift internal circulation membrane bioreactor(AIC-MBR)with synthetic wastewater.The results showed that the COD efficiencies were consistently greater than 90% regardless of changes in the COD/N ratio.At the COD/N ratio of 4.77 and 10.04,the system nitrogen removal efficiency became higher than 70%.However,the nitrogen remova...

COD Removal Efficiencies of Some Aromatic Compounds in Supercritical Water Oxidation

Some aromatic compounds, phenol, aniline and nitrobenzene, were oxidized in supercritical water. It was experimentally found that the chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal efficiency of these organic compounds can achieve a high level more than 90% in a short residence time at temperatures high enough. As temperature, pressure and residence time increase, the COD removal efficiencies of the organic compounds would all increase. It is also found that temperature and residence time offer greater influences on the oxidation process than pressure. The difficulty in oxidizing these three compounds is in the order of nitrobenzene ＞ aniline ＞ Phenol. In addition, it is extremely difficult to oxidize aniline and nitrobenzene to CO2 and H2O at the temperature lower than 873.15 K and 923.15 K, respectively. Only at the temperature higher than 873.15 K and 923.15 K, respectively, the COD removal efficiencies of 90% of aniline and nitrobenzene can be achieved.

Assessment of Point and Nonpoint Sources Pollution in Songhua River Basin,Northeast China by Using Revised Water Quality Model

Individual participation of pollutants in the pollution load should be estimated even if roughly for the appropriate environmental management of a river basin.It is difficult to identify the sources and to quantify the load, especially in modeling nonpoint source.In this study a revised model was established by integrating point and nonpoint sources into one-dimensional Streeter-Phelps(S-P) model on the basis of real-time hydrologic data and surface water quality monitoring data in the Jilin Reach of the Songhua River Basin.Chemical oxygen demand(COD) and ammonia nitrogen(NH 3-N) loads were estimated.Results showed that COD loads of point source and nonpoint source were 134 958 t/yr and 86 209 t/yr, accounting for 61.02% and 38.98% of total loads, respectively.NH 3-N loads of point source and nonpoint source were 16 739 t/yr and 14 272 t/yr, accounting for 53.98% and 46.02%, respectively.Point source pollution was stronger than nonpoint source pollution in the study area at present.The water quality of upstream was better than that of downstream of the rivers and cities.It is indispensable to treat industrial wastewater and municipal sewage out of point sources, to adopt the best management practices to control diffuse pollutants from agricultural land and urban surface runoff in improving water quality of the Songhua River Basin.The revised S-P model can be successfully used to identify pollution source and quantify point source and nonpoint source loads by calibrating and validating.

Feasibility and advantage of biofilm-electrode reactor for phenol degradation

The new biofilm-electrode method was used for the phenol degradation, because of its low current requirement. The biofilm-electrode reactor consisted of immobilized degrading bacteria on Ti electrode as cathode and Ti/PbO2 electrode as anode. With the biofilmelectrode reactor in a divided electrolytic cell, the phenol degradation rate could achieve 100% at 18 h which was higher than using traditional methods, such as biological or electrochemical methods. Chemical oxygen demand （COD） removal rate of the biofilmelectrode reactor was also greater than that using biological and electrochemical method, and could reach 80% at 16 h. The results suggested that the biofilm-electrode reactor system can be used to treat wastewater with phenol.

Application of a novel backwashing process in upflow biological aerated filter

To improve the efficiency of backwashing in upflow biological aerated filter （BAF）, a novel backwashing process named air-water siphon backwashing （AWSB） was proposed and applied on laboratory scale. The effects of backwashing on turbidity and suspended solid （SS） in backwashing efluent using this new backwashing process were compared with those of traditional backwashing process, namely air-water backwashing （AWB）. In AWB, the turbidity of backwashing efluent maintained 100 NUT when consumed 60 min and 10.5 L water. However, in AWSB, it declined to 44 NUT, consumed 40 min, and 7 L water. The COD removal of BAF after backwashing was also analyzed. The average removal rate of COD in the reactor backwashed by AWB and AWSB was 89.34% and 90.91%, respectively. Compared with AWB, the backwashing interval had been prolonged 35%. The volume of backwashing water in that AWSB was only 66.7% of that in AWB. The results demonstrated that AWSB required less water and took shorter backwashing timerelative to AWB to achieve the same turbidity of backwashing efluent, and AWSB was more effective in removing fouling than that of AWB. More significant advantage of AWSB was that the backwashing interval was effectively prolonged

Environmental capacity of chemical oxygen demand in the Bohai Sea: modeling and calculation

A three-dimensional advection-diffusion model coupled with the degradation process is established for describing the transport of chemical oxygen demand (COD). Comparison of the simulated distribution of COD at the surface in the Bohai Sea in August, 2001 with field observations, shows that the model simulates the dataset reasonably well. The Laizhou Bay, Bohai Bay, and Liaodong Bay were contaminated heavily near shore. Based on the optimal discharge flux method, the Environmental Capacity (EC) and allocated capacities of COD in the Bohai Sea are calculated. For seawater of Grades I to IV of the Chinese National Standard, the ECs of COD in the Bohai Sea were 77×104 t/a, 116×104 t/a, 154×104 t/a and 193×104 t/a, respectively. The Huanghe (Yellow) River pollutant discharge accounted for the largest percentage of COD at 14.3%, followed by that of from the Liugu River (11.5%), and other nine local rivers below 10%. The COD level in 2005 was worse than that of Grade II seawater and was beyond the environmental capacity. In average, 35% COD reduction is called to meet the standard of Grade I seawater.

Numerical simulation of water quality in Yangtze Estuary

In order to monitor water quality in the Yangtze Estuary, water samples were collected and field observation of current and velocity stratification was carried out using a shipboard acoustic Doppler current profiler （ADCP）. Results of two representative variables, the temporal and spatial variation of new point source sewage discharge as manifested by chemical oxygen demand （COD） and the initial water quality distribution as manifested by dissolved oxygen （DO）, were obtained by application of the Environmental Fluid Dynamics Code （EFDC） with solutions for hydrodynamics during tides. The numerical results were compared with field data, and the field data provided verification of numerical application： this numerical model is an effective tool for water quality simulation. For point source discharge, COD concentration was simulated with an initial value in the river of zero. The simulated increments and distribution of COD in the water show acceptable agreement with field data. The concentration of DO is much higher in the North Branch than in the South Branch due to consumption of oxygen in the South Branch resulting from discharge of sewage from Shanghai. The DO concentration is greater in the surface layer than in the bottom layer. The DO concentration is low in areas with a depth of less than 20 m, and high in areas between the 20-m and 30-m isobaths. It is concluded that the numerical model is valuable in simulation of water quality in the case of specific point source pollutant discharge. The EFDC model is also of satisfactory accuracy in water quality simulation of the Yangtze Estuary.

Effects of Urechis unicinctus Juveniles on Chemical Characteristics of Organically Contaminated Coastal Sediment

Biological activities of marine benthos such as burrowing and feeding may change sediment characteristics.We conducted three experiments to examine the potential of using juveniles of a spoon worm Urechis unicinctus to improve the quality of organically contaminated coastal sediment.Sediment samples were collected from a site that was heavily contaminated with organic matter (Seonso) and two sites that were clean (Myo-do,Dolsan-do).Urechis juveniles,obtained by artificial fertilization and cultured in the laboratory,were introduced to the sediment (weight 3 kg,depth 10 cm) at a density of 500 individuals per aquarium (length 50 cm,width 35 cm,height 30 cm) (Experiment 1),or at densities ranging from 100 to 900 individuals per beaker (Experiment 2).To examine how sediment contamination can be modified by the effects of Urechis,500 individuals (per aquarium) were exposed to the Seonso contaminated sediment that had been mixed with 0-100% clean sand (Experiment 3).Each experiment lasted two months and sediment samples were collected every 15 d to determine the several indexes of sediment quality,which included acid volatile sulfide (AVS),chemical oxygen demand (COD) and total ignition loss (TIL).In Experiment 1,the existence of Urechis did not result in significant changes in quality indexes in the sediments collected from Myo-do,Dolsan-do.However,AVS,COD and TIL of the Seonso sediment all decreased significantly after co-incubation with Urechis juveniles for 30 to 45 d.Experiment 2 showed that a density of at least 300 juveniles per beaker was necessary to significantly reduce all three quality indexes,and the magnitude of reduction was positively correlated with juvenile density.Experiment 3 revealed that Urechis juveniles were effective in reducing the AVS,COD and TIL of the Seonso sediment that had been mixed with 60%,80%,and 80% of clean sand,respectively.The results of the present study therefore indicated that juveniles of this spoon worm have the potential to be used to improve the quality of organically contaminated sediment in coastal waters.

Chemical oxygen demand reduction in coffee wastewater through chemical flocculation and advanced oxidation processes

The removal of the natural organic matter present in coffee processing wastewater through chemical coagulation-flocculation and advanced oxidation processes （AOP） had been studied. The effectiveness of the removal of natural organic matter using commercial flocculants and UV/H202, UV/O3 and UV/H2O2/O3 processes was determined under acidic conditions. For each of these processes, different operational conditions were explored to optimize the treatment efficiency of the coffee wastewater. Coffee wastewater is characterized by a high chemical oxygen demand （COD） and low total suspended solids. The outcomes of coffee wastewater treatment using coagulation-flocculation and photodegradation processes were assessed in terms of reduction of COD, color, and turbidity. It was found that a reduction in COD of 67% could be realized when the coffee wastewater was treated by chemical coagulation-flocculation with lime and coagulant T-1. When coffee wastewater was treated by coagulation-flocculation in combination with UV/H2O2, a COD reduction of 86% was achieved, although only after prolonged UV irradiation. Of the three advanced oxidation processes considered, UV/H2O2, UV/O3 and UV/H2O2/O3, we found that the treatment with UV/H2O2/O3 was the most effective, with an efficiency of color, turbidity and further COD removal of 87%, when applied to the flocculated coffee wastewater.

Comparative study of oxidation ability between boron-doped diamond (BDD) and lead oxide (PbO_2) electrodes

The electrochemical oxidation capabilities of two high-performance electrodes,the boron-doped diamond film on Ti （Ti/BDD） and the lead oxide film on Ti （Ti/PbO2）,were discussed.Hydroxyl radicals （·HO） generated on the electrode surface were detected by using p-nitrosodimethylaniline （RNO） as the trapping reagent.Electrochemical oxidation measurements,including the chemical oxygen demand （COD） removal and the current efficiency （CE）,were carried out via the degradation of p-nitrophenol （PNP） under the galvanostatic condition.The results indicate that an indirect reaction,which is attributed to free hydroxyl radicals with high activation,conducts on the Ti/BDD electrode,while the absorbed hydroxyl radicals generated at the Ti/PbO2 surface results in low degradation efficiency.Due to quick mineralization which combusts PNP to CO2 and H2O absolutely by the active hydroxyl radical directly,the CE obtained on the Ti/BDD electrode is much higher than that on the Ti/PbO2 electrode,notwithstanding the number of hydroxyl radicals produced on PbO2 is higher than that on the BDD surface.

Spatial distribution and diurnal variation of chemical oxygen demand at the beginning of the rainy season in the Changjiang (Yangtze) River Estuary

A field observation was carried out in the Changjiang (Yangtze) River Estuary from May 19 to 26, 2003. A total of 29 stations, including 2 anchored stations, were occupied through almost the whole salinity gradient. Based on the observation data, biogeochemistry of chemical oxygen demand (COD) was examined. Spatial distribution pattern of COD shows that it decreased downstream. The COD concentration varied generally within a narrow range of 1.24–1.60 mg/L in the zone around the river mouth, beyond which it decreased rapidly to 0.20 mg/L. In the mixed water zone, the fluctuation in COD was smaller at 2 m above the bottom layer than at the surface layer in 48 h. In the seawater zone, the 48-h fluctuation at the surface was the largest, followed by that of 5 m below the surface and 2 m above the bottom layers in a range of from 2.50 to 0.55 mg/L. Freshwater discharge was the dominant source of COD in the estuary. The average COD beyond the river mouth was 2.7 mg/L, which accorded with the Chinese seawater quality Grade I. Relationships between dissolved oxygen and biogeochemical parameters such as suspended particulate matter, dissolved organic matter and chlorophyll-a were also discussed.

A New Spectrophotometric Method for Measuring COD of Seawater

This research studied a new spectrophotometric method for measuring the chemical oxygen demand （COD） of seawater. In this method, the COD was measured using a spectrophotometer instead of titrating with sodium thiosuiphate. The measuring wavelength was selected to be 470 nm, and the COD of three standard glucose solutions （COD = 0.5, 1.5 and 2.5 mgL^-1, respectively） and two seawater samples （from the South Yellow Sea and Jiaozhou Bay） were measured using the spectrophotometric method and titrimetric method respectively. The results showed that the spectrophotometric method was somewhat better than the titrimetric method. The relative standard deviation （RSD） of the spectrophotometric method was less than 2.7%, and the recovery of seawater samples ranged from 96.3% to 103.8%. In addition, the spectrophotometric method has other advantages such as expeditiousness, operation simplicity, analysis automatization, etc. Therefore the spectrophotometric method can be used to measure the COD of seawater with satisfactory results.

Homogeneous catalytic wet air oxidation for the treatment of textile wastewaters

An extensive series of experiments was carried out in order to identify suitable catalysts to boost the reaction rate of wet air oxidation of real textile wastewaters at relatively mild temperature and pressure. Experimental results indicated that all catalysts tested in this investigation had shown an impressive increase in the initial COD and TOC removal rate as well as the COD and TOC removal levels in two hours reaction. Among all the catalysts tested, copper salts were more effective than the rest. Anions of the salt solutions also played a role in the catalytic process with nitrate ions having better effect than sulfate ions. Hence copper nitrates were more effective than copper sulfates. It was also found that a mixture of salts with different metals performed better than either of the component single salt alone.

Spatiotemporal Variation of Riverine Nutrients in a Typical Hilly Watershed in Southeast China Using Multivariate Statistics Tools

The water quality of lakes can be degraded by excessive riverine nutrients.Riverine water quality generally varies depending on region and season because of the spatiotemporal variations in natural factors and anthropogenic activities.Monthly water quality measurements of eight water quality variables were analyzed for two years at 16 sites of the Tianmuhu watershed.The variables were examined using hierarchical cluster analysis(HCA) and factor analysis/principal component analysis(FA/PCA) to reveal the spatiotemporal variations in riverine nutrients and to identify their potential sources.HCA revealed three geographical groups and three periods.Two drainages comprising towns and large villages were the most polluted, six drainages comprising widely distributed tea plantations and orchards were moderately polluted, and eight drainages without the factors were the least polluted.The river was most polluted in June when the first heavy rain(daily rainfall > 50 mm) occurs after fertilization and the number of rainy days is most(monthly number of rainy days > 20 days).Moderate pollution was observed from October to May, during which morethan 60% of the total nitrogen fertilizer and all of the phosphorus fertilizer are applied to the cropland, the total manure is applied to tea plantations and orchards, and a monthly rainfall ranging from 0 mm to 164 mm occurs.The remaining months were characterized by frequent raining(i.e., number of rainy days per month ranged from 5 to 24) and little use of fertilizers, and were thus least polluted.FA/PCA identified that the greatest pollution sources were the runoff from tea plantations and orchards,domestic pollution and the surface runoff from towns and villages, and rural sewage, which had extremely high contributions of riverine nitrogen, phosphorus,and chemical oxygen demand, respectively.The tea plantations and orchards promoted by the agricultural comprehensive development(ACD) were not environmentally friendly.Riverine nitrogen is a major water pollution parameter in hilly watersheds affected by ACD, and this parameter would not be reduced unless its loss load through the runoff from tea plantations and orchards is effectively controlled.

Disruption of biofilms from sewage pipes under physical and chemical conditioning

Biofilms grown inside two sewage collecting pipes located in industrial and residential areas are studied. Bacterial biomass inside three layers of biofilms was evaluated. Biofilm cohesion under different mixing rate and ionic strength was also investigated. Effects of physical and chemical parameters in the biofilms were evaluated by monitoring turbidity, chemical and biochemical oxygen demands. Extracted organic matter from biofilms was partitioned to polar, aromatic and saturated fractions using activated silica column chromatography. Results revealed that bacterial biomass growth depending on biofilm thickness and stratification. The most loaded stratum in bacteria/biomass was the sewage-biofilm interface stratum that represented 51% of the total bacteria/biomass. Stirring rate and ionic strength of mono- and bivalent salts showed a major influence in biofilm disruption. The stirring time enhanced the exchange dynamic and matter capture between biofilm fragments at the critical stirring rate 90 r/min. Sodium chloride showed the dispersing effect on biofilms in suspension, and decreased the BOD5 （biochemical oxygen demand） beyond the physiological salt concentration.

Reactivity study and kinetic evaluation of CuO-based oxygen carriers modified by three different ores in chemical looping with oxygen uncoupling(CLOU)process

In the chemical looping with oxygen uncoupling(CLOU)process,CuO is a promising material due to the high oxygen carrier capacity and exothermic reaction in fuel reactor but limited by the low melting point.The combustion rate of carbon is faster than the decoupling rate of oxygen carrier(OC).Hence,high temperature tolerance and rapid oxygen release rate of CuO modified by three different ores were investigated in this study.The kinetics analysis of oxygen decoupling with Cu-based oxygen carriers was also evaluated.Results showed that CuO modified by chrysolite had faster oxygen release rate than that of CuO.Limestone showed obvious positive effect on the oxidization process.The selected OCs could keep stable in at least 20 cycles,for about 1200 min.Shrinking core model(SCM)fitted well for the decoupling process in the temperature range of 1123-1223 K.Reduction rate kinetic information may aid in the development of chemical looping with oxygen uncoupling(CLOU)technologies during reactor design and process modeling.Ternary doped copper oxide with chrysolite and limestone could improve the reactivity of CuO in decoupling and coupling process and also improve the high temperature tolerance.