Prediction of SO_2 Concentration in Urban Atmosphere Based on B-P Neural Network

Base on the principle and method of B-P neural network,the prediction model of SO2 concentration in urban atmosphere was established by using the statistical data of a city in southwest China from 1991 to 2009,so as to forecast atmospheric SO2 concentration in a city of southwest China.The results showed that B-P neural network applied in the prediction of SO2 concentration in urban atmosphere was reasonable and efficient with high accuracy and wide adaptability,so it was worthy to be popularized.

The concentrations and distribution of mercury in aquatic ecosystem of Baihua Reservoir

Mercury species in water column, sediment and fish from the Hg-contaminated Baihua Reservoir were measured by trap pre-concentration and CVAFS and CVAAS detection methods. The results showed that the highest average total Hg concentration is up to {73.36} ng/L in the water column, {186.7} ng/L in pore water of surface sediment in the Baihua Reservoir. The total mercury concentrations in the sediments range from {0.87} to {33.74} mg/kg. This suggests that sediment re-suspending and Hg input from the upstream organochemical plant are the main mercury sources of water body for this reservoir. In addition, the possible reason why mercury is low in fish is that the low DOC and high pH are infavarable to methylmercury formation or absorption by fish.

Olkaria Geothermal Power Plants, Kenya： Preliminary Evaluation of Mercury Emission to the Atmosphere

At Olkaria （Kenya） geothermal energy has been used since 1981, to generate electricity and now there are currently 3 plants with a nominal capacity of 205 MW. Preliminary measurement and evaluation of possible mercury （Hg） emission from two plants has been investigated. Potential atmospheric Hg emission has been determined based on an existing model for estimating the transport of mercury along geothermal fluid flow streams as pertains to energy recovery and conversion from liquid dominated geothermal reservoirs. Hg concentrations, addition, retention and release rates were calculated at a number of locations in the geothermal power plants based on the plant operating parameters and steam flow process （turbine, condenser, non-condensable gas ejector, and cooling tower）. Potential Hg emission rates through plume range from 0.455 g/h to 2.17 g/h, or 10-30 mg/h per MWe. The emission per hour per MWe is 130-300 times lower compared to Hg levels reported for 88 MWe five operating geothermal power plants around Mt. Amiata area in Italy. These emissions are coupled with a release of 1.07 kg/h per MW of hydrogen sulphide （HzS）. The potential Hg release rates to the environment will depend greatly on the concentration of HzS in the system. Any higher HzS contents may reduce solubility of rig in the brine hence making it to be available in the steam. The volatile Hg may travel with the non-condensable gases as Hg vapour.

Environmental mercury exposure, semen quality and reproductive hormones in Greenlandic Inuit and European men： a cross-sectional study

Several animal studies indicate that mercury is a male reproductive toxicant, but human studies are few and contradictory. We examined semen characteristics and serum levels of reproductive hormones in relation to environmental exposure to mercury. Blood and semen samples were collected from 529 male partners of pregnant women living in Greenland, Poland and Ukraine between May 2002 and February 2004. The median concentration of the total content of mercury in whole blood was 9.2 ng ml-1 in Greenland （0.2- 385.8 ng ml-1）, 1.0 ng m1-1 in Poland （0.2-6.4 ng ml-z） and 1.0 ng ml-I in Ukraine （0.2-4.9 ng ml-1）. We found a significantly positive association between the blood levels of mercury and serum concentration of inhibin B in men from Greenland （p=0.074, 95% confidence interval （CI）=0.021 to 0.126） and in an analysis including men from all three regions （p=0.067, 95% C1=0.024 to O. 110）. The association may be due to beneficial effects of polyunsaturated fatty acids （PUFAs）, which are contained in seafood and fish. No significant association （P〉O.05） was found between blood concentrations of mercury and any of the other measured semen characteristics （semen volume, total sperm count, sperm concentration, morphology and motility） and reproductive hormones （free androgen index {FAI）, follicle-stimulating hormone （FSH）, luteinizing hormone （LH）, testosterone and LH xtestosterone） in any region. In conclusion, the findings do not provide evidence that environmental mercury exposure in Greenlandic and European men with median whole blood concentration up to 10 ng m1^-1 has adverse effects on biomarkers of male reproductive health.

Spatial Inhomogeneity of Atmospheric CO_(2) Concentration and Its Uncertainty in CMIP6 Earth System Models

This paper provides a systematic evaluation of the ability of 12 Earth System Models(ESMs)participating in the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6(CMIP6)to simulate the spatial inhomogeneity of the atmospheric carbon dioxide(CO_(2))concentration.The multi-model ensemble mean(MME)can reasonably simulate the increasing trend of CO_(2) concentration from 1850 to 2014,compared with the observation data from the Scripps CO_(2) Program and CMIP6 prescribed data,and improves upon the CMIP5 MME CO_(2) concentration(which is overestimated after 1950).The growth rate of CO_(2) concentration in the northern hemisphere(NH)is higher than that in the southern hemisphere(SH),with the highest growth rate in the mid-latitudes of the NH.The MME can also reasonably simulate the seasonal amplitude of CO_(2) concentration,which is larger in the NH than in the SH and grows in amplitude after the 1950s(especially in the NH).Although the results of the MME are reasonable,there is a large spread among ESMs,and the difference between the ESMs increases with time.The MME results show that regions with relatively large CO_(2) concentrations(such as northern Russia,eastern China,Southeast Asia,the eastern United States,northern South America,and southern Africa)have greater seasonal variability and also exhibit a larger inter-model spread.Compared with CMIP5,the CMIP6 MME simulates an average spatial distribution of CO_(2) concentration that is much closer to the site observations,but the CMIP6-inter-model spread is larger.The inter-model differences of the annual means and seasonal cycles of atmospheric CO_(2) concentration are both attributed to the differences in natural sources and sinks of CO_(2) between the simulations.

Separation and enrichment of elemental sulfur and mercury from hydrometallurgical zinc residue using sodium sulfide

The separation and enrichment of mercury and the recovery of elemental sulfur from flotation sulfur concentrate in zinc pressure leaching process were carried out by sodium sulfide leaching and carbon dioxide precipitating. The results show that the leaching rate of elemental sulfur is more than 98%, and 98.13% of mercury is enriched in the residue, under the optimized conditions of sodium sulfide concentration 1.5 mol/L, liquid/solid ratio 6：1 and leaching time 30 min at room temperature. In addition, the content of mercury is enriched 5.23 times that in the leaching residue. The elemental sulfur is precipitated from leaching solution under conditions of carbon dioxide flow rate 200 mL/min and blowing time 150 min, while solution is stirred adequately. The recovery efficiency of elemental sulfur reaches 97.67%, and the purity of elemental sulfur is 99.75%, meeting the requirements of industrial first-rate product standard according to the national standard of GB/T 2449-2006 （PRC）.

Predicted no-effect concentrations for mercury species and ecological risk assessment for mercury pollution in aquatic environment

Mercury（Hg） exists in different chemical forms presenting varied toxic potentials. It is necessary to explore an ecological risk assessment method for different mercury species in aquatic environment. The predicted no-effect concentrations（PNECs） for Hg（Ⅱ） and methyl mercury（Me Hg） in the aqueous phase, calculated using the species sensitivity distribution method and the assessment factor method, were 0.39 and 6.5 × 10-3μg/L, respectively. The partition theory of Hg between sediment and aqueous phases was considered, along with PNECs for the aqueous phase to conduct an ecological risk assessment for Hg in the sediment phase. Two case studies, one in China and one in the Western Black Sea, were conducted using these PNECs. The toxicity of mercury is heavily dependent on their forms,and their potential ecological risk should be respectively evaluated on the basis of mercury species.

Influence of chloride ion concentration on immersion corrosion behaviour of plasma sprayed alumina coatings on AZ31B magnesium alloy

Corrosion attack of aluminium and magnesium based alloys is a major issue worldwide.The corrosion degradation of an uncoated and atmospheric plasma sprayed alumina(APS)coatings on AZ31B magnesium alloy was investigated using immersion corrosion test in NaCl solutions of different chloride ion concentrations viz.,0.01 M,0.2 M,0.6 M and 1 M.The corroded surface was characterized by an optical microscope and X-ray diffraction.The results showed that the corrosion deterioration of uncoated and coated samples were significantly influenced by chloride ion concentration.The uncoated magnesium and alumina coatings were found to offer a superior corrosion resistance in lower chloride ion concentration NaCl solutions(0.01 M and 0.2 M NaCl).On the other hand the coatings and Mg alloy substrate were found to be highly susceptible to localized damage,and could not provide an effective corrosion protection in solutions containing higher chloride concentrations(0.6 M and 1 M).It was found that the corrosion resistance of the ceramic coatings and base metal gets deteriorated with the increase in the chloride concentrations.

Using a Tree Ring δ^(13)C Annual Series to Reconstruct Atmospheric CO_2 Concentration over the Past 300 Years

The annual series of δ13C were measured in tree rings of three Cryptomeria fortunei disks （OF-1, OF-2, and OF- 3） collected from West Tianmu Mountain, Zhejiang Province, China, according to cross-dating tree ring ages. There was no obvious decreasing trend of the δ13C annual time series of CF-2 before 1835. However, from 1835 to 1982 the three tree ring δ13C annual series exhibited similar decreasing trends that were significantly （P ≤ 0.001） correlated. The distribution characteristics of a scatter diagram between estimated δ13C series of CF-2 from modeling and the atmospheric CO2 concentration extracted from the Law Dome ice core from 1840 to 1978 were analyzed and a curvilinear regression equation for reconstructing atmospheric CO2 concentration was established with R2 = 0.98. Also, a test of independent samples indicated that between 1685 and 1839 the reconstructed atmospheric CO2 concentration .using the δ13C series of CF-2 had a close relationship with the Law Dome and Siple ice cores, with a standard deviation of 1.98. The general increasing trend of the reconstructed atmospheric CO2 concentration closely reflected the 10ng-term variation of atmospheric CO2 concentration recorded both before and after the Industrial Revolution. Between 1685 and 1840 the evaluated atmospheric CO2 concentration was stable, but after 1840 it exhibited a rapid increase. Given a longer δ13C annual time series of tree rings, it was feasible to rebuild a representative time series to describe the atmospheric CO2 concentration for an earlier period and for years that were not in the ice core record.

ESTIMATION OF ATMOSPHERIC INPUT OF MERCURY TO SOUTH LAKE AND JINGYUE POOL

Taking South Lake and Jingyue Pool in Changchun as examples, we determined particulate Hg in ambient air and Hg concentration in precipitation. Results indicated that particulate Hg in air and Hg concentration in precipitation in both sites in nonheating period were lower than that in heating period, which is influenced by coal combustion. The annual particulate Hg concentrations of South Lake and Jingyue Pool were 0.254ng/m3 and 0.109ng/m3. The yearly average Hg concentrations in precipitation were 0.268μg/L(South Lake) and 0.108μg/L(Jingyue Pool). The higher particulate Hg concentration in air and Hg concentration in precipitation in South Lake than that of Jingyue Pool indicated that mercury deposition was influenced by anthropogenic sources(especially from coas combustion). Hg concentration in precipitation is related with particulate Hg in the atmosphere. Dry deposition fluxes were estimated by using dry deposition model on the base of particulate Hg concentrations in the atmosphere, they were 35.5μg/(m2.a) for South lake and 15.3μg/(m2.a) for Jingyue Pool. Combined with precipitation amount, wet deposition fluxes were estimated in these two sites, 152.2μg/(m2.a) for South Lake and 61.2μg/(m2.a) for Jingyue Pool. Atmospheric Hg deposition fluxes were 160.2g/a for South Lake and 328.62g/a for Jingyue Pool.

Characteristics and distributions of atmospheric mercury emitted from anthropogenic sources in Guiyang, southwestern Chin

Continuous measurements of speciated atmo- spheric mercury （Hg）, including gaseous elemental mer- cury （GEM）, particulate mercury （PHg）, and reactive gaseous mercury （RGM） were conducted in Guizhou Pro- vince, southwestern China. Guiyang Power Plant （GPP）, Guiyang Wujiang Cement Plant, Guizhou Aluminum Plant （GAP）, and Guiyang Forest Park （GFP） in Guiyang were selected as study sites. Automatic Atmospheric Mercury Speciation Analyzers （Tekran 2537A） were used for GEM analysis. PHg and RGM were simultaneously collected by a manual sampling system, including elutriator, coupler/ impactor, KCl-coated annular denuder, and a filter holder. Results show that different emission sources dominate different species of Hg. The highest average GEM value was 22.2 ±28.3 ng·m-3 and the lowest 6.1 ± 3.9 ng·m-3, from samples collected at GPP and GAP, respectively. The maximum average PHg was 1984.9 pg·m-3 and the mini- mum average 55.9 pg·m-3, also from GPP and GAP, respectively. Similarly, the highest average RGM of 68.8 pg·m-3 was measured at GPP, and the lowest level of 20.5 pg·m-3 was found at GAP. We conclude that coal combustion sources are still playing a key role in GEM; traffic contributes significantly to PHg; and domestic pol- lution dominates RGM.

Analysis of mass concentration of atmospheric particulate matter in a sandstorm course and its affecting factors in the Taklimakan Desert

During the course of a major sandstorm from April 17 to April 23, 2008 in the Taklimakan Desert, data pertaining to the mass concentrations of different-sized atmospheric particulate matter were observed continuously with Grimm 1.108, Thermo RP 1400a, TSP, and CAWS-600 instruments. The results showed that： （1） during the entire sandstorm process there were some dif- ferences between the daily mean particle concentration peaks and the hourly mean particle concentration peaks because the actual sandstorm lasted for only about 4 hr, whereas more particles were accumulated in the floating dust days before and after the actual sandstorm; （2） the intensity of the sandstorm was enhanced with the increase of wind speed, and this was related to the peak mass concentrations of atmospheric particulate matter; the wind speed directly affected the concentration of atmospheric particulate matter： the higher the wind speed, the higher the mass concentration （〉0.23 μm was 39,496.5 μg/m^3, and 〉20.0 μm was 5,390.7μg/m^3）; （3） the concentration changes of PM10 and TSP were also related to the course and intensity of the sandstorm; and （4） the mass concentration of atmospheric particulate matter had the following sequence during the dust weather： clear day 〈 floating dust 〈 floating and blowing dust 〈 sandstorm. Temperature, relative humidity, and barometric pressure are important factors affecting the strength of storms, which could also indirectly affect the concentration change of atmospheric particulate matter.

Suspended sediment concentration mapping based on the MODIS satellite imagery in the East China inland, estuarine, and coastal waters

The purpose of this research is to improve the retrieval accuracy for the suspended sediment concentration(SSC) from in situ and satellite remote sensing measurements in turbid East China estuarine and coastal waters. For this aim, three important tasks are formulated and solved: 1) an estimation of remote-sensing reflectance spectra R_(rs)(λ) after atmospheric correction; 2) an estimation of R_(rs)(λ) from the radiometric signals above the air-water surface; and 3) an estimation of SSC from R_(rs)(λ). Six different models for radiometric R_(rs)(λ) determination and 28 models for SSC versus R_(rs)(λ) are analyzed based on the field observations made in the Changjiang River estuary and its adjacent coastal area. The SSC images based on the above-mentioned analysis are generated for the area.

Application of KCl-denuder for measuring gas-phase mercuric species(Hg^(2+))in atmosphere

KCl denuder technique was meployed in the measurement of Hg(II) species in atmosphere firstly. Intensive lab tests indicate that Hg 0 can pass through KCl denuder freely, while Hg 2+ can be trapped in it very efficiently. The efficiencies for adsorbing inorganic Hg 2+ averaged between 95% to 100% with a gross mean of 98%, and those for absorption of organic Hg 2+ were around 94%. Mass balance calculation shows that mercury trapped in denuder can be quantitatively extracted by 1 mol/L HCl (super grade) and analysed by the method of SnCl 2 reduction CVAFS determination, thus, demonstrated the feasibility of KCl denuder in measurement of Hg(II) in atmosphere. Preliminary application at two sites Gteborg, Sweden and one site in Ireland, found 0 04—0 15 ng/m 3 of Hg(II) species, contributing to 2%—10% of the total mercury.

Performance of Dielectric Barrier Discharge Reactors on Elemental Mercury Oxidation in the Coal-Fired Flue Gas

The oxidation of elemental mercury （Hg~） by dielectric barrier discharge reactors was studied at room temperature, where concentric cylinder discharge reactor （CCDR） and surface discharge plasma reactor （SDPR） were employed. The parameters （e.g. Hg^0 oxidation efficiency, energy constant, energy yield, energy consumption, and O3 concentration） were discussed. From comparison of the two reactors, higher Hg^0 oxidation efficiency and energy constant in the SDPR system were obtained by using lower specific energy density. At the same applied voltage, energy yield in the SDPR system was larger than that in the CCDR system, and energy consumption in the SDPR system was much less. Additionally, more 03 was generated in the SDPR system. The experimental results showed that 98% of Hg^0 oxidation efficiency, 0.6 J·L^-1 of energy constant, 13.7 μg·J^-1 of energy yield, 15.1 eV·molecule^-1 of energy consumption, and 12.7 μg·J^-1 of O3 concentration were achieved in the SDPR system. The study reveals an alternative and economical technology for Hg^0 oxidation in the coal-fired flue gas.

Improved atmospheric mercury simulation using updated gas-particle partition and organic aerosol concentrations

The gaseous or particulate forms of divalent mercury(HgⅡ) significantly impact the spatial distribution of atmospheric mercury concentration and deposition flux(FLX). In the new nested-grid GEOS-Chem model, we try to modify the HgⅡ gas-particle partitioning relationship with synchronous and hourly observations at four sites in China. Observations of gaseous oxidized Hg(GOM), particulate-bound Hg(PBM), and PM 2.5 were used to derive an empirical gas-particle partitioning coefficient as a function of temperature( T) and organic aerosol(OA) concentrations under different relative humidity(RH). Results showed that with increasing RH, the dominant process of HgⅡ gas-particle partitioning changed from physical adsorption to chemical desorption. And the dominant factor of HgⅡ gas-particle partitioning changed from T to OA concentrations. We thus improved the simulated OA concentration field by introducing intermediate-volatility and semi-volatile organic compounds(I/SVOCs) emission inventory into the model framework and refining the volatile distributions of I/SVOCs according to new filed tests in the recent literatures. Finally, normalized mean biases(NMBs) of monthly gaseous element mercury(GEM), GOM, PBM, WFLX were reduced from-33%–29%, 95%–300%, 64%–261%, 117%–122% to-13%–0%,-20%–80%,-31%–50%,-17%–23%. The improved model explains 69%–98% of the observed atmospheric Hg decrease during 2013–2020 and can serve as a useful tool to evaluate the effectiveness of the Minamata Convention on Mercury.