Interval‐Based Diagnosis of Biological Systems – a Powerful Tool for Highly Uncertain Anaerobic Digestion Processes

Anaerobic digestion (AD) is a highly nonlinear time‐varying process commonly used for biological wastewater treatment, which is subject to large disturbances of both influent concentrations, and flow rates that may lead the process to a breakdown. In order to compensate the effect of these disturbances, the dynamics of the main state variables – including biomass – must be closely monitored and used to improve the process performance. However, AD processes still suffer from a lack of reliable and cheap sensors of key process variables to insure the right process operation. This has led to the development of estimation schemes, which infer the information of such key variables from the available measurements. Nevertheless, reliable measurements are not always possible to get because these readings may be corrupted by noise or erroneous due to sensor failures and as a consequence, they may lead to deteriorated control efforts and the eventual crash of the AD process. In this article, we propose an integrated system for the detection, isolation, and analysis of faults in AD processes by using interval observers (IO). The proposed approach was experimentally implemented on a 1‐m³ pilot scale anaerobic digester. Based on the comparison between the measured outputs and their corresponding estimates, results show that this approach was able to detect sensor failures as well as faults in the basic hypotheses made during the design step.     

Distribution,inventory and turnover of benthic organic biomass in the Strait of Georgia,Canada, in relation to natural and anthropogenic inputs

Recently compiled databases facilitated estimation of basin-wide benthic organic biomass and turnover in the Strait of Georgia, an inland sea off western Canada. Basin-wide organic biomass was estimated at 43.1 × 10⁶ kg C and production was 54.6 × 10⁶ kg C yr⁻¹, resulting in organic biomass turnover (P/B) of 1.27 × yr⁻¹. Organic biomass and production for sub-regions were predictable from modified organic flux (r² > 0.9). P/B declined significantly with increasing modified organic flux, suggesting greater biomass storage in high flux sediments. Biomass and production were highest, and P/B lowest near the Fraser River. Annual basin-wide benthic production was 60% of previously estimated oxidized organic flux to substrates, which agrees with proportional measurements from a recent, localized study.Deviations from expected patterns related to organic enrichment and other stressors are discussed, as are potential impacts to benthic biomass and production, of declining bottom oxygen, increasing bottom temperature and potential changes in riverine input.     

Negative influence of burial stress on plant growth was ameliorated by increased plant density in Polygonum hydropiper

Sedimentation and density are important factors influencing the growth of wetland plants. The aim of this study was to elucidate the role of plant density in acclimation to burial stress by investigating the growth, biomass allocation, and carbohydrate contents of Polygonum hydropiper L. var. flaccidum, one of the dominant species in the Dongting Lake wetland, China. Experimental treatments, conducted in a greenhouse, combined three plant densities (16, 144, and 400 plants m⁻²) with two burial depths (0 and 15 cm) in a factorial design. Greater burial depth and higher plant density had negative effects on biomass accumulation and plant height with some exceptions. Plant growth, although lower at higher densities in general, was unaffected by burial depth at medium and high densities, indicating that the negative effect of burial stress was ameliorated by increased plant density. Deeper burial led to higher stem mass fraction only in the low-density treatment. Belowground mass fraction increased significantly with increasing density in both burial treatments. Moreover, higher density and deeper burial led to higher soluble sugar content but lower starch content. These data indicate that higher density facilitates acclimation of P. hydropiper to burial stress through increased soluble sugar content.     

基于卫星观测的我国北方地区紫外吸收性气溶胶的时空分布研究

利用气溶胶指数(Aerosol Index,AI)资料研究了东亚地区紫外吸收性气溶胶的时空分布特征,主要得出以下结论:1)雨云七号卫星(Nimbus 7,N7)和地球探测卫星(Earth Probe,EP)搭载的臭氧总量测绘光谱仪(Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer,TOMS)以及臭氧监测仪(Ozone Monitoring Instrument,OMI)反演的AI数据在东亚大陆具有较好的一致性,但EP/TOMS-OMI AI的连续性较好,而N7/TOMS-EP/TOMS AI的连续性较差;2)东亚地区紫外吸收性气溶胶主要位于塔克拉玛干沙漠及其东部周边的库姆塔格、柴达木盆地沙漠、古尔班通古特沙漠、内蒙古中西部、蒙古国南部以及我国东北、华北地区;3)紫外吸收性气溶胶具有明显的月际变化特征;4)旋转正交经验函数分析不仅能分离紫外吸收性气溶胶的源区范围,还能给出源强相对大小的定性信息。     

Emission characteristic of ozone related trace gases at a semi-urban site in the Indo-Gangetic plain using inter-correlations

Measurements of surface O₃, CO, NO_x and light NMHCs were made during December 2004 at Hissar, a semi-urban site in the state of Haryana in north-west region of the Indo-Gangetic Plain (IGP). The night-time O₃ values were higher when levels of CO, NO and NO₂ were lower but almost zero values were observed during the episodes of elevated mixing ratios of CO (above 2000 ppbv) and NO_x (above 50 ppbv). Slopes derived from linear fits of O₃ versus CO and O₃ versus NO_x scatter plots were also negative. However, elevated levels of O₃ were observed when CO and NO_x were in the range of 200–300 ppbv and 20–30 ppbv, respectively. Slope of CO-NO_x of about 33 ppbv/ppbv is much larger than that observed in the US and Europe indicating significant impact of incomplete combustion processes emitting higher CO and lesser NO_x. Correlations and ratios of these trace gases including NMHCs show dominance of recently emitted pollutants mostly from biomass burning at this site.     

Spatio‐temporal dynamics and biomass of Cymodocea nodosa in Bekalta (Tunisia,Southern Mediterranean Sea)

Leaf growth, biomass and production of Cymodocea nodosa were measured from October 2006 to September 2007 in Monastir Bay (Tunisia). Shoot density showed a clear seasonal pattern, increasing during spring and summer and decreasing during fall and winter. Monthly mean shoot density ranged between 633 ± 48 and 704 ± 48 shoots?m^?2. The monthly average total biomass ranged between 560 ± 37 and 646 ± 32 g dry weight (DW)?m^?2. Total biomass varied significantly among stations and sampling times but did not show seasonal variation. Leaf plastochrone intervals varied seasonally, with an annual average of 28–30 days. Leaf productivity was highest in August (2.61 g DW?m^?2?day^?1) and lowest in February (0.35 g DW?m^?2?day^?1). Annual belowground primary production varied from 263 to 311 g DW?m^?2?year^?1. Annual leaf production was approximately equal for all the stations (from 264 to 289 g DW?m^?2?year^?1). Variability in water temperature, air temperature and salinity explained the annual variability in biological characteristics. Changes in belowground and total biomass were not correlated with seasonal variability in the environmental parameters monitored. Additionally, a literature review was conducted of C. nodosa features at other Mediterranean sites, encompassing 30 studies from 1985 to 2014.     

Last glacial fire regime variability in western France inferred from microcharcoal preserved in core MD04-2845, Bay of Biscay

High resolution multiproxy analysis (microcharcoal, pollen, organic carbon, Neogloboquadrina pachyderma (s), ice rafted debris) of the deep-sea record MD04-2845 (Bay of Biscay) provides new insights for understanding mechanisms of fire regime variability of the last glacial period in western France. Fire regime of western France closely follows Dansgaard–Oeschger climatic variability and presents the same pattern than that of southwestern Iberia, namely low fire regime associated with open vegetation during stadials including Heinrich events, and high fire regime associated with open forest during interstadials. This supports a regional climatic control on fire regime for western Europe through fuel availability for the last glacial period. Additionally, each of Heinrich events 6, 5 and 4 is characterised by three episodes of fire regime, with a high regime bracketed by lower fire regime episodes, related to vegetational succession and complex environmental condition changes.     

Characteristics of high heating rate biomass chars prepared under N2 and CO2 atmospheres

Partial substitution of coal by biomass in combustion systems in conjunction with advanced technologies for CO₂ capture and storage may result in a significant reduction of greenhouse gases emissions. This study investigates three biomass chars produced from rice husk, forest residuals and wood chips under N₂ and CO₂ atmospheres using a drop tube furnace (DTF) heated at 950 °C. The char constitutes an unburned residue which has been devolatilized under conditions resembling in thermal history those in full scale boilers. Higher weight losses were achieved under N₂ than under CO₂ for each type of biomass, and the highest weight loss was that of wood chips biomass, followed by forest residuals and then rice husk. The results indicate significant morphological differences between the biomass chars produced. The wood chips yielded thick-walled chars with a cenospheric shape very similar to those of low-rank vitrinite. The forest residual chars were angular in shape and often had a tenuinetwork structure, while the rice husk chars retained their vegetal structure. Overall, the studied biomass chars can be described as microporous solids. However, in the case of the rice husk, the silica associated to the char walls was essentially mesoporous, increasing the adsorption capacity of the rice husk chars. The atmosphere in the DTF affects the development of porosity in the chars. The pore volumes of the rice husk and forest residual chars prepared under a CO₂ atmosphere were higher than those of chars prepared under a N₂ atmosphere, whereas the opposite was the case with the wood chip chars. The chars that experienced the most drastic devolatilization were those with the lowest intrinsic reactivity. This indicates a more efficient reorganization of the chemical structure that reduces the number of active sites available for oxygen attack. Overall a similar morphology, optical texture, specific surface area and reactivity were found for the biomass chars generated under N₂ and CO₂, which is a similar result to that obtained for coal chars.