Progress of Electrocatalytic Technology in Treating Organic Chemical Wastewater

In recent years,extensive research has been conducted on the preparation of high catalytic performance electrodes and the development of electrocatalytic water treatment processes.This article introduces the basic principles of electrochemical water treatment,the preparation of electrode materials,and the research progress of electrocatalytic technology for degrading organic chemical wastewater.It analyzes the problems faced by electrocatalytic degradation of organic chemical wastewater and looks forward to the development trend of electrocatalytic technology in the field of organic chemical wastewater treatment.

世界上最早的键盘乐器——两种水压管风琴Hydraulis与Water organ

管风琴是世界上最早的键盘乐器,也是当今世界最庞大的乐器。最早出现的管风琴是由古希腊发明家克特西比乌斯(Ctesibius)于公元前250年左右发明的水压管风琴(Hydraulis),它是现代管风琴的祖先。正如其名,这件乐器利用水来提供持续不断地向管子输送压力。空气由手动空气泵提供,水被用在一个装置中以稳定气压,以此向音管输送气体来吹响音管。每一个音管都由一个杆子(键盘)来控制。水管风琴(waterorgan)是一种没有风箱的自动管风琴,是由自然力(例如瀑布的水流或者是太阳发出的热量)激活的水直接压缩空气来吹管以发出乐音的,它是一种基于刻有音乐样式的滚筒(其表面带有凸点,可更换)来播放音乐的自动化乐器。

Effects of Combined Application of Water Retaining Agents and Organic Materials on Water Holding Characteristics of Yellow Brown Soils in Hilly Areas

[Objective] The aim was to reduce fertilizer and water losses caused by surface runoffs in rainy season and provide scientific references for soil moisture in arid season. [Method] The application proportion of complex water-holding organic materials was determined by multi-factor mixture experiment and the curve changes of soil moisture characters were tested to analyze water-holding capacity and water availability of soils. [Result] The initial moisture content of soil with different mixture proportions improved in varying degrees. For example, when water-retention agents reached 0.4% and 0.6% of soil weight, soil moisture contents were 69.0% and70.5%, respectively, which showed significant differences with the control（S0.0）. Soil dehydration terms in different treatments all extended, prolonging in the range of4.6-14 d. [Conclusion] The applications of water-retention agent and organic material would improve water-holding capacity of hills and low mountains, and initial moisture content and dehydration cycle tend to be volatile upon mixture proportion. Therefore,it is necessary to adjust soil fertility, crop species, and irrigation to meet crop demands on fertilizer and water.

Studies on the Secretion of Organic Acids from Roots of Two-year-old Larix olgensis under Nutrient and Water Stress

[Objective] This study aimed to investigate the effects of nutrient and water stress on the secretion of organic acids from roots of two-year-old Larix olgensis. [Method] Different nutrient and water stress conditions were designed to investi- gate the types and quantities of organic acids secreted from roots of two-year-old L. olgensis. [Result] Under nutrient and water stress, the types of organic acids secreted from roots of two-year-old L. olgensis increased, which varied with different stress levels. In addition, nutrient and water stress also increased the secretory vol- ume of organic acids from roots of two-year-old L. olgensis. The increment in total amount of organic acids reached the maximum under Level 1 （high stress）. Among different types of organic acids, the increment in secretory volume of citric acid reached the maximum, followed by malic acid, while oxalic acid presented relatively small increment. Furthermore, the increment in secretory volume of these three organic acids all reached the maximum under Level 1. [Conclusion] The proportion of the secretory volume of each organic acid accounting for the total amount of organic acids varied slightly, but the overall order was unchanged.

Visible-light degradation of azo dyes by imine-linked covalent organic frameworks

Covalent organic frameworks(COFs)are nanoporous crystalline polymers with densely conjugated structures.This work discovers that imine-linked COFs exhibit remarkable photodegradation efficiency to azo dyes dissolved in water.Visible light generates different types of radicals from COFs,and superoxide radicals break N=N bonds in dye molecules,resulting in 100%degradation of azo dyes within 1 h.In contrast,these dyes cannot be degraded by conventionally used photocatalysts,for example,TiO2.Importantly,the COF photocatalysts can be recovered from the dye solutions and re-used to degrade azo dyes for multiple times without loss of degradation efficiency.This work provides an efficient strategy to degrade synthetic dyes,and we expect that COFs with designable structures may use as new photocatalysts for other important applications.

Biodegradability of soil water soluble organic carbon extracted from seven different soils

Water soluble organic carbon （WSOC） is considered the most mobile and reactive soil carbon source and its characterization is an important issue for soil ecology study. A biodegradability test was set up to study WSOC extracted from 7 soils differently managed. WSOC was extracted from soil with water （soil/water ratio of 1：2, W/V） for 30 min, and then tested for biodegradability by a liquid state respirometric test. Result obtained confirmed the finding that WSOC biodegradability depended on the both land use and management practice. These results suggested the biodegradability test as suitable method to characterize WSOC, and provided useful information to soil fertility.

Formation and Water Stability of Aggregates in Red Soils as Affected by Organic Matter

The water stability of aggregates in various size classes separated from 18 samples of red soils under different managements, and the mechanisms responsible for the formation of water-stable soil aggregates were studied. The results showed that the water stability of soil aggregates declined with increasing size, especially for the low organic matter soils. Organic matter plays a key role in the formation of water-stable soil aggregates. The larger the soil aggregate size, the greater the impact of organic matter on the water stability of soil aggregates. Removal of organic matter markedly disintegrated the large water-stable aggregates (> 2.0 mm) and increased the small ones (< 0.25-0.smm) to some extent, whereas removal of free iron(aluminium) oxides considerably destroyed aggregates of all sizes, especially the < 0.25-0.5 mm classes. The contents of organic matter in water-stable aggregates increased with aggregate sizes. It is concluded from this study that small water-stable aggregates (< 0.25-0.5 mm) were chiefly cemented by Fe and Al oxides whilst the large ones (> 2.0 mm) were mainly glued up by organic matter. Both free oxides and organic matter contribute to the formation and water stability of aggregates in red soils.

Effect of Temperature, pH and Salt on Fluorescent Quality of Water Extractable Organic Matter in Black Soil

Water erosion is the major reason for the loss of soil organic carbon in the Northeast China, which leads to the soil quality deterioration and adjacent water pollution. In this study, the effect of extraction temperature, pH value, and salt on the water extractable organic matter （WEOM） was determined by means of the UV absorbance, fluorescence excitation-emission matrix, and derived fluorescence indexes. In general, the carbon content and aromaticity of WEOM increased with the increasing of extraction temperature, with the exception that there was no significant difference in the amount at 0 and 20℃. More fluorophores, especially microbially-derived organic matter were extracted at high temperature. The pH values of extractant, including 5, 7, and 10, showed no effect on the carbon amount of WEOM, whereas the aromaticity and microbially-derived component gradually increased with the increasing of pH values. The fluorescence intensity of humic acid-like fluorophore was stronger in neutral and alkali condition than that in acidic condition. The addition of 10 mmol L-1 CaCl2 significantly decreased the carbon amount of recovered WEOM. Moreover, it significantly decreased the aromaticity of WEOM and the quantity of fulvic acid-like and humic acid-like fluorophores, whereas increased the percentage of tyrosine-like and tryptophan-like fluorophores in the total fluorophores and the amount of microbially-derived organic matter. Generally, 10 mmol L-1 KCl showed the same influence trend, but with low influence degree.

Water,organic matter,nitrogen and phosphorus contents in sediment of a large-scale mariculture area in the Zhelin Bay of eastern Guangdong Province,China

The Zhelin Bay is one of the most important bays for large-scale mariculture in Guangdong Province, China. Owing to the increasing human population and the expanding mariculture in the last two decades, the ecological environment has greatly changed with frequent harmful algal blooms. A monthly survey of water content, organic matter （TOM）, and various forms of nitrogen and phosphorous in sediment from July 2002 to July 2003 in the bay was conducted. The results showed that the water content was correlated significantly with TOM and various forms of nitrogen and phosphorus and can be used as proxy for quick and rough estimate of these factors in the future surveys. TOM was also correlated significantly with various forms of nitrogen and phosphorus, indicating that it was one of the key factors affecting the concentrations and distributions of nitrogen and phosphorus in the investigated waters. Average total Kjeldhal nitrogen （TkN） content was（ 1 113.1 ± 382.5）μg/g and average total phosphorus （TP） content was（567.2± 223.3）μg/g, and both were much higher than those of similar estuaries in China and elsewhere. Average nitrogen and phosphorus tended to be higher inside than outside the bay, higher at aquaculture than non-aquaculture areas, and higher at fish-cage culture than oyster culture areas, suggesting that large-scale mariculture inside the bay played an important role in the eutrophication of the Zhelin Bay. Various forms of nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations were higher during the warm season （July--September）, which was due to the increased decomposition and concentration of organic matter resulted from the fast growth and high mortality of the cultured species. Compared with July 2002, TkN and TP contents were much higher in July 2003, in consonance with the eutrophication of the Zhelin Bay. Because exchangeable phosphorus （Ex-P）, iron-bounded phos- phorus （Fe-P） and organic phosphorus （OP） combined accounted for 34.3% of the TP and authigenic phosphorus （Au-P） accounted for 49.2% of the TP, biological phosphorus （BP） that includes Ex-P, Fe-P, OP, and a portion of Au-P, thus accounted for 34.3% to 83.5% of the TP in the Zhelin Bay, which was within the percentage range, but with a high absolute value among the estuaries. Au-P was the most important species of phosphorus and accounted for 49.2% of the TP during the investigation. Since eutrophication in the water column can lead to reduction of pH in sediment and release of phosphorus in Au-P combined with authigenic spodiosite and calcium carbonate, high content of Au-P in the sediment maybe act as a time bomb that can trigger a vicious cycle of eutrophication and large-scale harmful algal bloom in the Zhelin Bay.

Genotoxicity evaluation and a primary risk assessment of organic pollutants in the drinking water sources of Nanjing, China

An increasing number of industrial, agricultural, and commercial chemicals in the aquatic environment leads to various deleterious effects on organisms, which is becoming an increasingly serious problem in China. In this study, the comet assay was conducted to investigate the genotoxicity to human body caused by organic concentrates in the drinking water sources of Nanjing City from Yangtze River of China, and health and ecology risk due to expose to these organic pollutants were evaluated with the multimedia environmental assessment system （MEAS）. For all the water samples, they were collected from four different locations in the drinking water sourcr samples, es of Nanjing City. The results of the comet assay showed that all the organic concentrates from the water samples could induce different levels DNA damages on human peripheral blood lymphocytes, and a statistically significant difference （p〈0.01） was observed compared with the solvent control, which demonstrated the genotoxicity was in existence. According to the ambient severity （AS） of individual compound, we had sorted out the main organic pollutants in the drinking water source of the four waterworks, and the results showed that there was some potential hazard to human body for all the source water, namely the total ambient severity （TAS） of health for each water source was more than 1. However, the TAS of ecology for each water source was less than 1, which indicated that it was safe to ecology. The results of this investigation demonstrate the application of the comet assay and the MEAS in aquatic environmental monitoring studies, and the comet assay found to be fast, sensitive, and suitable for genotoxicity monitoring programs of drinking water source.

Spatial distribution of soil moisture,salinity and organic matter in Manas River watershed,Xinjiang,China

With the classical statistical and geostatistical methods, the study of the spatial distribution and its in- fluence factors of soil water, salinity and organic matter was carried out for 0-70 cm soil layers in Manas River watershed. The results showed that the soil moisture data from all soil layers exhibited a normal distribution, with average values of 14.08%-21.55%. Geostatistical analysis revealed that the content of soil moisture had a moder- ate spatial autocorrelation with the ratios of nugget/sill ranging from 0.500 to 0.718, which implies that the spatial pattern of soil moisture is influenced by the combined effects of structural factors and random factors. Remarkable spatial distributions with stripped and mottled features were found for soil moisture in all different soil layers. The landform and crop planting had a relatively big influence on the spatial distribution of soil moisture; total soil salinity was high in east but low in west, and non-salinized soil and lightly salinized soil appeared at the northwest and southwest of the study area. Under the effect of reservoir leakage, the heavily salinized soils are widely distributed in the middle of the study area. The areas of the non-salinized and lightly salinized soils decreased gradually with soil depth increment, which is contrary to the case for saline soils that reached a maximum of 245.67 km2 at the layer of 50-70 cm. The types of soil salinization in Manas River watershed were classified into four classes： the sulfate, chloride-sulfate, sulfate-chloride and chloride. The sulfate salinized soil is most widely distributed in the surface layer. The areas of chloride-sulfate, sulfate-chloride, and chloride salinized soils increased gradually along with the increment of soil depth; the variation range of the average values of soil organic matter content was be- tween 7.48%-11.33%. The ratios of nugget/sill reduced gradually from 0.698 to 0.299 with soil depth increment, which shows that the content of soil organic matter has a moderate spatial autocorrelation. The soil organic matter in all soil layers met normal distribution after logarithmic transformation. The spatial distribution patterns of soil or- ganic matter and soil moisture were similar; the areas with high organic matter contents were mainly distributed in the south of the study area, with the lowest contents in the middle.

An Effective Method of UV-Oxidation of Dissolved Organic Carbon in Natural Waters for Radiocarbon Analysis by Accelerator Mass Spectrometry

Radiocarbon(14C) measurement of dissolved organic carbon(DOC) is a very powerful tool to study the sources, transformation and cycling of carbon in the ocean. The technique, however, remains great challenges for complete and successful oxidation of sufficient DOC with low blanks for high precision carbon isotopic ratio analysis, largely due to the overwhelming proportion of salts and low DOC concentrations in the ocean. In this paper, we report an effective UV-Oxidation method for oxidizing DOC in natural waters for radiocarbon analysis by accelerator mass spectrometry(AMS). The UV-oxidation system and method show 95%± 4% oxidation efficiency and high reproducibility for DOC in both river and seawater samples. The blanks associated with the method was also low(about 3 μg C) that is critical for 14 C analysis. As a great advantage of the method, multiple water samples can be oxidized at the same time so it reduces the sample processing time substantially compared with other UV-oxidation method currently being used in other laboratories. We have used the system and method for 14 C studies of DOC in rivers, estuaries, and oceanic environments and have received promise results.

Structural Characterization and Octanol/water Partition Coefficients(LogP) Prediction for Oxygen-containing Organic Compounds

New descriptors were constructed and structures of some oxygen-containing organic compounds were parameterized. The multiple linear regression（MLR） and partial least squares regression（PLS） methods were employed to build two relationship models between the structures and octanol/water partition coefficients（LogP） of the compounds. The modeling correlation coefficients（R） were 0.976 and 0.922, and the ＂leave one out＂ cross validation correlation coefficients（R（CV）） were 0.973 and 0.909, respectively. The results showed that the structural descriptors could well characterize the molecular structures of the compounds; the stability and predictive power of the models were good.

Investigation on removing recalcitrant toxic organic polluters in coking wastewater by forward osmosis

Investigation was made on the efficiency of two commercial membranes in removing via forward osmosis(FO)the low molecular weight organic compounds typical of coking wastewater. The membranes were supplied by Poten and HTI companies. The organics in the simulated coking water were indole and pyrridine. Under FO mode, the rejection to the organics by Poten membrane was around 50%, whereas that for HTI membrane was obviously higher, ranging from 65% to 74%. The response of the two membranes in terms of Water flux and reverse salt flux(RSF) towards changing feed/draw solution(DS) flow rates in FO mode showed similar tendency,but different degree. Generally, the flux in FO using HTI membranes was lower. For HTI membrane, FO operated with pressure retarded osmosis(PRO) mode was also performed and the overall rejection of the organics was slightly lower than that in FO mode. In the long term FO test within 15 days, both Poten and HTI membranes displayed flux reduction and rejection enhancement. But the variation with Poten membrane was much more obvious. Discussion was carried out about the reasons and the mechanisms behind the FO performance difference between two membranes and the variation in flux and rejection with operation conditions. Characterizations by SEM, FTIR, AFM, XRD and XPS were tried to support the proposed explanations.

Changes of Soil Water, Organic Matter, and Exchangeable Cations Along a Forest Successional Gradient in Southern China

Information on the distribution patterns of soil water content （SWC）, soil organic matter （SOM）, and soil exchangeable cations （SEC） is important for managing forest ecosystems in a sustainable manner. This study investigated how SWC, SOM, and SEC were influenced in forests along a successional gradient, including a regional climax （monsoon evergreen broad-leaved forest, or MEBF）, a transitional forest （coniferous and broad-leaved mixed forest, or MF）, and a pioneer forest （coniferous Masson pine （Pinus rnassoniana） forest, or MPF） of the Dinghushan Biosphere Reserve in the subtropical region of southern China. SWC, SOM, and SEC excluding Ca^2＋ were found to increase in the soil during forest succession, being highest in the top soil layer （0 to 15 cm depth） except for Na^＋. The differences between soil layers were largest in MF. This finding also suggested that the nutrients were enriched in the topsoil when they became increasingly scarce in the soil. There were no significant differences （P = 0.05） among SWC, SOM, and SEC. A linear, positive correlation was found between SWC and SOM. The correlation between SOM and cation exchange capacity （CEC） was statistically significant, which agreed with the theory that the most important factor determining SEC is SOM. The ratio of K^＋ to Na^＋ in the topsoil was about a half of that in the plants of each forest. MF had the lowest exchangeable Ca^2＋ concentration among the three forests and Ca^2＋：K^＋ in MPF was two times higher than that in MF. Understanding the changes of SWC, SOM, and CEC during forest succession would be of great help in protecting all three forests in southern China.

Energy and exergy recovery from exhaust hot water using organic Rankine cycle and a retrofitted configuration

Exhaust hot water （EHW） is widely used for various industrial processes. However, the excess heat carried by EHW is typically ignored and discharged into the environment, resulting in heat loss and heat pollution. An organic Rankine cycle （ORC） is an attractive technology to recycle heat from low-temperature energy carriers. Herein, ORC was used to recycle the heat carried by EHW. To investigate the energy and exergy recovery effects of EHW, a mathematical model was developed and a parametric study was conducted. The energy efficiency and exergy efficiency of the EHW-driven ORC system were modeled with R245fa, Rl13 and R123 as the working fluids. The results demonstrate that the EHW and evaporation temperatures have significant effects on the energy and exergy efficiencies of the EHW-driven ORC system. Under given EHW conditions, an optimum evaporation temperature exists corresponding to the highest exergy efficiency. To further use the low-temperature EHW, a configuration retrofitted to the ORC by combining with flash evaporation （FE） was conducted. For an EHW at 120 ~C and 0.2 MPa, the maximum exergy efficiency of the FE-ORC system is 45.91% at a flash pressure of 0.088 MPa. The FE-ORC performs better in exergy efficiency than the basic FE and basic EHW-driven ORC.

Partitioning of water soluble organic carbon in three sediment size fractions:Effect of the humic substances

Water soluble organic carbon （WSOC） in sediments plays an important role in transference and transformation of aquatic pollutants. This article investigated the inherent mechanisms of how sediemnt grain size affect the partitioning coeffcient （k） of WSOC. Influences of NaOH extracted humic substances were particularly focused on. Sediments were sampled from two cross-sections of the middle Yellow River and sieved into three size fractions （〈 63 μm, 63-100 μm, and 100-300 μm）. The total concentration of WSOC in sediments （Cwsoc） and k were estimated using multiple water-sediment ratio experiments. Results showed that Cwsoc ranged from 0.012 to 0.022 mg/g, while k ranged from 0.8 to 3.9 L/kg. Correlations between the spectrum characteristics of NaOH extracted humic substances and k were analyzed. Strong positive correlations are determined between k and the aromaticity indicators of NaOH extracted humic substances in different sediment size fractions. Comparing with finer fractions （〈 63 μm）, k is higher in larger size fractions （63- 100 μm and 100-300 μm） related to higher aromaticity degree of NaOH extracted humic substances mostly. While negative relationship between k and the area ratio of fourier transform infrared spectroscopy （FT-IR） at 3400 and 1430 cm^-1 implied that the lowest k was related to the highest concentration of acidic humic groups in particles 〈 63 μm. WSOC in finer fractions （〈 63 μm） is likely to enter into pore water, which may further accelerate the transportation of aquatic contaminants from sediment to water.

Slag-washing water of blast furnace power station with supercritical organic Rankine cycle

Organic Rankine cycle(ORC) power plant operating with supercritical parameters supplied by low temperature slag-washing water(SWW) of blast furnace was investigated.A schematic of such installation was presented with a description of its operation and the algorithm of calculations of a supercritical power plant.Two typical organic fluids with sufficiently low critical parameters were selected as candidate working fluids in the plant to study the efficiency of the system with different organic fluids.An analysis of the influence on the effectiveness of operation of a plant was carried out.With the same temperature of slag-washing water,the specific work in turbine of fluid R143a is 45% higher than that obtained for the fluid R125,however,the specific work in pump of fluid R143a is approximate equal into that one of the fluid R125.

Asymmetric Synthesis of (-)-1-Trimethylsilyl-ethanol with Immobilized Saccharomyces Cerevisiae Cells in Water/Organic Solvent Diphasic System

Asymmetric synthesis of (-)-1-trimethylsilyl-ethanol with immobilized Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells in water/organic solvent biphasic system was studied. The effects of shake speed, hydrophobicity of organic solvent, volume ratio of water phase to organic phase, pH value of aqueous phase and reaction temperature on the initial reaction rate, maximum yield and enantiomeric excess (ee) of the product were systematically explored. All the above-mentioned factors had significant influence on the reaction. n-Hexane was found to be the best organic solvent for the reaction. The optimum shake speed, volume ratio of water phase to organic phase, pH value and reaction temperature were 150 r.min-1, 1/2, 8 and 30 ℃ respectively, under which the maximum yield and enantiomeric excess of the product were as high as 96.8% and 95.7%, which are 15% and 16% higher than those of the corresponding reaction performed in aqueous phase. To our best knowledge, this is the most satisfactory result obtained.

Decomposition of Organic Compounds in Coke Plant Wastewater by Ultrasonic Irradiation and Its Combined Process

The paper deals with the degradation of the organic compounds in the coke plant wastewater by the combined process of ultrasonic irradiation and activated sludge. The influence factors of the ultrasonic degradation effect such as air atmosphere, initial concentration, ultrasonic power density and the category and consumption of catalyst were investigated. A water quality model was used to explain the degradation of different kinds of organic compounds in the coke plant wastewater by ultrasonic irradiation. After the wastewater was treated by the combined process of ultrasonic irradiation and activated sludge, the COD degradation efficiency was 95.74%, which is 63.49% higher than that by the process of activated sludge alone.