Hydrogen peroxide interference in chemical oxygen demand during ozone based advanced oxidation of anaerobically digested livestock wastewater

It is known that hydrogen peroxide interferes with chemical oxygen demand analysis by consuming oxidation agents such as potassium dichromate, thus leading to overestimation of the chemical oxygen demand measurements. The objective of the study was to investigate the effects of hydrogen peroxide interference and to determine true chemical oxygen demand values on interpreting treatment performance during ozone-based advanced oxidation of livestock wastewater in which hydrogen peroxide concentration and chemical oxygen demand values are dynamically changing. According to the chemical oxygen demand monitoring data, chemical oxygen demand values were always higher than the initial chemical oxygen demand load when hydrogen peroxide was involved and the treatment performance with ozone alone or ozone/ultraviolet was better than with coupled hydrogen peroxide. The extent of overestimation was proportional to the remaining hydrogen peroxide concentration and the average overestimation ratio in livestock wastewater was in the range of 0.50～0.58 mg per 1 mg of hydrogen peroxide, depending upon the quality of the wastewater treated. True chemical oxygen demand values were estimated by correlating the extent of overestimation with the remaining hydrogen peroxide concentration during treatment. The extent of overestimation decreased to zero gradually as the amount of hydrogen peroxide also approached zero as oxidation proceeded. The corrected chemical oxygen demand values indicated underlying tendency of oxidation, which could not be seen in the original chemical oxygen demand monitoring data. Application of ozone/hydrogen peroxide was more efficient for reducing chemical oxygen demand than ozone alone, as was ozone/hydrogen peroxide/ultraviolet compared to ozone/ultraviolet. When coupled with ozone, ultraviolet irradiation was more efficient than hydrogen peroxide for decreasing chemical oxygen demand during treatment of livestock wastewater.     

Interrelationship between geochemical elements of sediment and groundwater at Samrak Park Delta of Nakdong River Basin in Korea: multivariate statistical analyses and artificial neural network approaches

This research was conducted at Samrak Park Delta of Nakdong River Basin in Busan Metropolitan City, Korea. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the interrelationship of geochemical elements in sediments and groundwater through multivariate statistical analyses and a multilayer perceptron artificial neural network model. The mean concentrations of chemical elements were Si (46%), Fe (16.9%), Al (15.7%), K (7.5%) and Ca (4.5%) in sediments, and Na (8650 mg/L), Mg (999 mg/L), Ca (432 mg/L), K (293 mg/L) and Cl (17,640 mg/L) in groundwater, respectively. The principal component analysis produced 3 kinds of factors with the variances of 63.37, 27.02 and 9.62%, respectively. It is suggested that the chemical components of sediments and groundwater were mainly originated from source rocks and seawater intrusion, with the minor impacts of irrigation and industry. Cluster analysis also showed that chemical elements were mainly controlled by the natural geogenic sources and seawater intrusion. Multilayer perceptron of artificial neural network (ANN) presented the good interrelationship between sediment and groundwater. The determination coefficients (R ²) between ANN predicted values and observed values in groundwater showed the high values of 0.61–0.97 except Mg, Mn and Sr. It is revealed that the chemical components of sediment and groundwater were derived from local geological origin and from the minor impact of anthropogenic sources. Multivariate analyses and ANN contributed to the identification of the mutual relationship between the geochemical elements of sediment and those of groundwater.     

Application of bivariate frequency analysis to the derivation of rainfall–frequency curves

Bivariate distributions have been recently employed in hydrologic frequency analysis to analyze the joint probabilistic characteristics of multivariate storm events. This study aims to derive practical solutions of application for the bivariate distribution to estimate design rainfalls corresponding to the desired return periods. Using the Gumbel mixed model, this study constructed rainfall–frequency curves at sample stations in Korea which provide joint relationships between amount, duration, and frequency of storm events. Based on comparisons and analyses of the rainfall–frequency curves derived from univariate and bivariate storm frequency analyses, this study found that conditional frequency analysis provides more appropriate estimates of design rainfalls as it more accurately represents the natural relationship between storm properties than the conventional univariate storm frequency analysis.     

Influence of relative density,particle shape,and stress path on the plane strain compression behavior of granular materials

Two types of stress path-controlled plane strain compression tests were performed on both loose and dense specimens of angular and sub-angular sands and two rounded glass beads with different particle sizes. Digital image correlation method was used to analyze local deformation developments, especially shear band patterns. The material behavior in response to shearing has been found to be dependent on the relative density, particle shape, and stress path. The results of analysis on local deformation developments showed that the onset of shear bands occurred prior to their peak strengths in both dense and loose specimens. The growth rates of local maximum shear strain along a shear band were approximately consistent with an increasing global axial strain after the onset of shear band. The shear band width was influenced by both the mean particle size and the particle shape. The measured shear band inclination angles were in between those estimated by Coulomb’s and Roscoe’s formulas.     

Responses of meiofauna and nematode communities to crude oil contamination in a laboratory microcosm experiment

We examined the effects of crude oil contamination on community assemblages of meiofauna and nematodes after exposure to total petroleum hydrocarbons in the laboratory. We administered a seawater solution that had been contaminated with total petroleum hydrocarbons to seven treatment groups at different concentrations, while the control group received uncontaminated filtered seawater. The average density of total meiofauna in the experimental microcosms diluted with 0.5%, 1%, 2%, and 4% contaminated seawater was higher than the density in the control. The average density of total meiofauna in the 8%, 15%, and 20% microcosms was lower than the density in the control. The density of nematodes was similar to that of the total meiofauna. Cluster analysis divided the microcosms into group 1 (control, 0.5%, 1%, 2%, and 4% microcosms) and group 2 (8%, 15%, and 20% microcosms). However, SIMPROF analysis showed no significant difference between the two groups (p > 0.05). Bolbolaimus spp. (37.1%) were dominant among the nematodes. Cluster analysis showed similar results for nematode and meiofaunal communities. The total meiofaunal density, nematode density, and number of Bolbolaimus spp. individuals were significantly negatively associated with the concentration of total petroleum hydrocarbons (Spearman correlation coefficients, p < 0.05). Within the nematodes, epistrate feeders (group 2A: 46%) were the most abundant trophic group. Among the treatment groups, the abundance of group 2A increased in low-concentration microcosms and decreased in high-concentration microcosms. Thus, our findings provide information on the effects of oil pollution on meiofauna in the intertidal zones of sandy beaches.     

Mineralogical and geochemical characterization of precipitates on stream receiving acid mine water, Korea

Seasonal variations of water chemistry occurred in acid mine drainage receiving mine and leachate water. Sulfate and metal concentrations were low in winter but high in spring and summer. Mine waters were highly acidic (up to pH 3.4) in nature with high concentrations of manganese, copper and zinc but high electrical conductivity and sulfate in leachate. The blue and brownish yellow precipitates were formed under different chemical environments of acid mine drainage. Brownish yellow (Munsell color 7.5YR 8/12), blue (Munsell color 2.5B 9/7) and light blue (Munsell color 2.5B 9/3) precipitates deposited on the stream bottom receiving acid mine water. The brownish yellow precipitates formed in the acid mine water, whereas the blue and light blue precipitates formed in the leachate water. The brownish yellow precipitates consisted mainly of ferrihydrite, whereas the blue and light blue precipitates consisted of glaucocerinite and/or woodwardite.     

A review of jet grouting practice and development

The jet grouting technique was originally initiated in the UK and progressively developed following the needs for larger geometries, ease of implementation, economic rationality, and better mechanical properties. This paper presents a comprehensive review of the development and practice of jet grouting through some fundamental concepts and relevant case studies. Subsequently, a laboratory testing program is performed to investigate the factors affecting the efficacy of the twin grouting system. The principal objective of this study is to define the suitable conditions for the jet grouting efficacy regarding economic rationality as well as quality control. For the first phase, a particular emphasis is placed on the properties of jet columns, site geological conditions, implementation methods, and the justification of each selected treatment option, while the second phase mainly focuses on the unconfined compressive strength (UCS) tests. It follows that the mono-fluid jet grouting system presents a valuable flexibility in dealing with complex configurations; yet, the double- and triple-fluid systems are more indicated for cases of mass treatments for which large portions of space must be treated and overlapping is fundamentally important for the reliability of the treatment. Furthermore, it was established that the efficacy of the twin-jet method primarily relies on the proper adequacy of some critical parameters, namely, the cement content, the water-cement ratio, and cement slurry-water glass ratio. In spite of some uncertainties inherently related to the technique, the UCS test represents the quintessential laboratory index for evaluating the mechanical properties of grouted elements, deriving jet grouting efficacy and the economics of jet grouts.     

Spatio-temporal variations of optical properties of aerosols in East Asia measured by MODIS and relation to the ground-based mass concentrations observed in central Korea during 2001∼2010

Long-term variations and trends of atmospheric aerosols in the East Asian region were analyzed by using aerosol optical depth (AOD or τ), and ångström exponent (AE or α) obtained from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) from 2001 to 2010. The increased emission of anthropogenic fine aerosols in east China resulted in the high AOD in this region during summer. The steady increasing emission of anthropogenic fine aerosols caused an increasing trend of AOD in east China, and the large-scale transport of sandstorms and smoke plume caused by forest fires affected intense inter-annual variations of AOD in the East Asian region. While in the central part of South Korea, located in the lee side of the East Asian continent, AE tended to rise to a level higher than in east China, the ground-based mass concentrations continued to decline. A noticeable decrease of PM10 mass concentration in spring and winter in central Korea is most likely attributable to decreases in sandstorms in the source region of East Asia. However, the ratio of PM2.5 mass concentration to PM10 increases overall with a high level in summer. Aerosol types were classified into dust, smoke plume, and sulphate by using satellite data over Cheongwon in central Korea. The columnar AOD, with different aerosol types, was compared with the ground-based mass concentrations at Cheongwon, and the relatively high level of the correlations presented between PM2.5 and AOD produced in sulphate. Growth and increases of fine hygroscopic aerosols generated as gas-to-particle conversion particularly in summer contribute to increases of columnar AOD in the East Asian region.     

A method of colour excess determination for classical cepheids

By use of the reddening free [m ₁], [c ₁], and indices data inuvby photometric system for three classical cepheids whose reddening values had been determined with the aid of photometry of field stars, three intrinsic relations of [m ₁]–(b–y), [c ₁]–(b–y), and –(b–y) have been established. It was shown that these three relations can be used to determine the colour excesses for other classical cepheids.