Elimination of formaldehyde over Cu-Al_2O_3 catalyst at room temperature

Catalytic elimination of formaldehyde(HCHO) was investigated over Cu-Al_2O_3 catalyst at room temperature. The results indicated that no oxidation of HCHO into CO_2 occurs at room temperature, but the adsorption of HCHO occurs on the catalyst surface. With the increase of gas hourly space velocity(GHSV) and inlet HCHO concentration, the time to reach saturation was shortened proportionally. The results of the in situ DRIFTS, Density functional theory calculations and temperature programmed desorption(TPD) showed that HCHO was completely oxidized into HCOOH over Cu-Al_2O_3 at room temperature. With increasing the temperature in a flow of helium, HCOOH was completely decomposed into CO_2 over the catalyst surface, and the deactivated Cu-Al_2O_3 is regenerated at the same time. In addition, although Cu had no obvious influence on the adsorption of HCHO on Al_2O_3, Cu dramatically lowered the decomposition temperature of HCOOH into CO_2. It was shown that Cu-Al_2O_3 catalyst had a good ability for the removal of HCHO, and appeared to be promising for its application in destroying HCHO at room temperature.

Phosphorus removal by the multipond system sediments receiving agricultural drainage in a headstream watershed

Wetland systems in headstream watersheds are important to control the nonpoint source pollutant phosphorus. Experiments were conducted using intact sediment-water columns obtained from the multipond system in Liuchahe watershed of Chaohu Lake to determine its capacity to retain P. It was found that pond sediments had strong P retention ability. For the Hill pond, Village pond and Rice pond, their retention coefficient(A) were 288.3, 279.2 and 260.8 L/m2, respectively. The equilibrium P concentration(EPC_w) were 0.016, 0.028 and 0.018 mg/L, respectively. The Hill pond indicated the highest P retention ability. P retained in the pond sediments indicated high stable degree. P removal from the overlying water column into the pond sediments followed a first-order kinetic model. Under the experimental hydrological conditions, the retention time had a positive correlation with the P loading. The multipond system could provide enough retention time to retain P in drainage runoffs. At the P levels evaluated, the sediments of the multipond system are effective sinks to retain P from nonpoint source runoffs.

Removal of heavy metals from aqueous solution by carbon nanotubes: adsorption equilibrium and kinetics

Carbon nanotubes prepared by catalytic chemical vapor deposition of hydrocarbon at 650℃ show good adsorption capability of Pb 2+ , Cu 2+ and Cd 2+ ions from aqueous solution after oxidized with concentrated nitric acid at 140℃ for 1 h. The specific surface area and particle size distribution of the as-grown and oxidized CNTs were studied by BET method and laser particle analyzer. Three kinetic models, that is, first-, pseudo second- and second-order, were used to investigate the adsorption data and the pseudo second-order model can represent the experimental data better than two others. The equilibrium data fitted well with the Langmuir model and showed the following adsorption order: Pb 2+ >Cu 2+ >Cd 2+ .

Biological removal of methanol from process condensate for the purpose of reclamation

The biological removal of methanol from condensate of ammonia manufacturing processes for the purpose of reclamation using contact type reactor was studied. Methanol of 60 mg/L was removed completely under an HRT of 1 12 h. Optimal inorganic nutrient dose was determined on evaluating methanol removal performance and dehydrogenase activities(DHA) under different nutrition doses. The optimal inorganic nutrient dose only gave an increase of conductivity of ca. 10 μs/cm 2 in the effluent on treating synthetic condensate containing methanol of 30 mg/L. The results demonstrated that biological removal of methanol was effective for the purpose of recovering the methanol bearing condensate.

Life cycle assessment of mobile phone housing

The life cycle assessment of the mobile phone housing in Motorola(China) Electronics Ltd. was carried out, in which materials flows and environmental emissions based on a basic production scheme were analyzed and assessed. In the manufacturing stage, such primary processes as polycarbonate molding and surface painting are included, whereas different surface finishing technologies like normal painting, electroplate, IMD and VDM etc. were assessed. The results showed that housing decoration plays a significant role within the housing life cycle. The most significant environmental impact from housing production is the photochemical ozone formation potential. Environmental impacts of different decoration techniques varied widely, for example, the electroplating technique is more environmentally friendly than VDM. VDM consumes much more energy and raw material. In addition, the results of two alternative scenarios of dematerialization showed that material flow analysis and assessment is very important and valuable in selecting an environmentally friendly process.

Streptomyces avermitilis from marine

The insecticidal strain 173 was isolated from marine source and its activity was explored by the bioassay of brine shrimp and Helicoverpa armigera . Based on morphological, physiological and molecular properties, the insecticidal strain 173 was identified as Streptomycetes avermitilis , which is the best insecticidal microorganism found in the terrestrial environment. The taxonomy of the strain 173, insecticidal spectrum and properties of the corresponding insecticidal antibiotics are reported.

Preparation and catalytic properties of ZrO_2-Al_2O_3 composite oxide supported nickel catalysts for methane reforming with carbon dioxide

ZrO 2-Al 2O 3 composite oxides and supported Ni catalysts were prepared, and characterized by N 2 adsorption /desorption, X-ray diffraction(XRD) an d X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy(XPS) techniques. The catalytic performance and carbon deposition was also investigated. This mesoporous composite oxide is shown to be a promising catalyst support. An increase in the catalytic activity and stability of methane and carbon dioxide reforming reaction was resulted from the zirconia addition, especially at 5wt% ZrO 2 content. The Ni catalyst supported ZrO 2-Al 2O 3 has a strong resistance to sintering and the carbon deposition in a relatively long-term reaction.