Comparison of SCS-CN Determination Methodologies in a Heterogeneous Catchment

The aim of this study was to assess the runoff amount from a catchment characterized by diverse land uses by using the Soil Conservation Service Curve Number(SCS-CN) method based on Curve Number(CN) defined for dominant homogeneous elementary sub-regions.The calculations employed the SCS-CN method,involving the division of the catchment in two homogeneous parts and determining the runoff amount.The obtained results were compared with the results provided by three other CN determination methods,i.e.the Hawkins function,the kinetics equation,and a complementary error function peak.The catchment is located in a mountain dominated by forest land cover.Empirical CN-Precipitation(CN_(emp)-P) data pairs were analyzed using the mentioned methods,and the highest quality score was achieved from model 1.The results suggest that dividing a catchment into two homogeneous areas and determining their separate CN parameters,used later on to calculate the runoff by means of the presented approach,could be an alternative to the standard methods.The described method is relatively easy,and as it does not require an adoption of numerous parameters,and it can be employed for designing hydraulic facilities.

Optimization of the Production of Biogas in Anaerobic Digestion by the Addition of Hydrolytic Microorganisms

It is well known that fossil fuels are one of the major pollutants that contribute to climate change and there is a need to develop alternatives to their uses.One option is the use of a renewable fuel such as biogas obtained from the breaking down of organic matter in the anaerobic digestion process.When biogas is cleaned up to a certain quality,it can substitute the use of natural gas.However,this slow process requires optimization to increase the amount of gas.There are chemical,physical and biological treatments for organic matter to increase the amount and quality of biogas.In the former research,a biological treatment was tested by adding a selection of microorganisms that showed hydrolytic activity to an anaerobic digester for its optimization.First,a selection of microorganisms with the ability to grow in fresh sewage sludge as only nutrient was selected.Then,the lipolytic,cellulolytic and PA(Proteolytic Activity)of microorganisms was tested using selective growth media.Finally,10 samples with the greatest hydrolytic activity were used to evaluate their effects in the increasing of biogas production in the anaerobic process.The results showed that 83%of the microorganisms with the ability to grow in sewage sludge were proteolytic,while the percentage of lipolytic and cellulolytic microorganisms was smaller.Furthermore,it was found that proteolytic microorganisms are the ones that increase biogas yield in a maximum of 80%with a COD(Chemical Oxygen Demand)reduction of 58%.

Singlet oxygen-dominated peroxymonosulfate activation by layered crednerite for organic pollutants degradation in high salinity wastewater

Advanced oxidation processes have been widely studied for organic pollutants treatment in water,but the degradation performance of radical-dominated pathway was severely inhibited by the side reactions between the anions and radicals,especially in high salinity conditions.Here,a singlet oxygen(^(1)O_(2))-dominated non-radical process was developed for organic pollutants degradation in high salinity wastewater,with layered crednerite(CuMnO_(2))as catalysts and peroxymonosulfate(PMS)as oxidant.Based on the experiments and density functional theory calculations,^(1)O_(2)was the dominating reactive species and the constructed Cu-O-Mn with electron-deficient Mn captured electron from PMS promoting the generation of^(1)O_(2).The rapid degradation of bisphenol A(BPA)was achieved by CuMnO_(2)/PMS system,which was 5-fold and 21-fold higher than that in Mn_(2)O_(3)/PMS system and Cu_(2)O/PMS system.The CuMnO_(2)/PMS system shown prominent BPA removal performance under high salinity conditions,prominent PMS utilization efficiency,outstanding total organic carbon removal rate,wide range of applicable pH and good stability.This work unveiled that the^(1)O_(2)-dominated non-radical process of CuMnO_(2)/PMS system overcame the inhibitory effect of anions in high salinity conditions,which provided a promising technique to remove organic pollutants from high saline wastewater.