Municipal Wastewater Treatment Using Moringa oleifera Seed and Press Cake Powder: A Comparative Analysis

Moringa oleifera (MO), also known as drumstick tree, has gained worldwide attention among researchers and policy makers, for showing its remarkable potential in environmental management. Recently, MO seed or press cake (a by-product of oil extraction industry) powder has also emerged as an alternative and promising coagulant for environmental remediation. In this view, attempts have been made in this study to evaluate the efficacy of MO seed and press cake powder (MSP & PCP) for the treatment of municipal wastewater. Both MSP and PCP are characterized by using swelling ratio, scanning and transmission electron microscopy analysis. The effect of various operational parameters such as coagulation–flocculation pH (2–10), coagulant dosage (0.1–1 g L⁻¹), and sedimentation time (0–180 min), etc., is investigated to understand the potential of MSP and PCP. At optimized operational conditions, sedimentation kinetics is also performed suggesting that the treatment process is being governed by the second-order kinetic model. The chemical and biological oxygen demand removals at optimized conditions are observed as follows: ≈38 and ≈73% for MSP and ≈47 and ≈85% for PCP. Overall, the results of the present study elucidated that PCP can be employed as a promising alternative of MSP for municipal wastewater with improved treatment efficiencies.     

湖光岩玛珥湖春季浮游植物对溶解态氮的吸收

利用15N稳定同位素示踪技术,采用现场挂瓶培养的方法测定了湖光岩玛珥湖浮游植物群落对铵态氮、硝态氮和尿素态氮的吸收速率,研究了湖光岩玛珥湖浮游植物群落氮吸收及其吸收动力学特征.结果表明:湖光岩玛珥湖共检测到浮游植物7门54种(包括变种和变型),主要为蓝藻门、硅藻门和绿藻门种类,分别占浮游植物总量的44.68%、26.70%和19.21%,其中水华微囊藻(Microcystis flos-aquae)与铜绿微囊藻(Microcystis aeruginosa)为绝对优势种,优势度分别为0.39与0.28.湖光岩玛珥湖浮游植物群落对铵态氮的绝对吸收速率最高,分别是对硝态氮、尿素态氮绝对吸收速率的5.8和4.2倍,占3种溶解态氮总吸收量的73.3%.铵态氮、硝态氮和尿素态氮的相对优先指数分别为2.907、0.190和1.192,说明浮游植物群落优先吸收铵态氮,其次为尿素态氮,最后为硝态氮.铵态氮、硝态氮和尿素态氮的周转时间分别为3.72、57.03和9.07 h.湖光岩玛珥湖浮游植物对溶解态氮的吸收可用Michaelis-Menten酶动力学方程描述,最大比吸收速率表现为铵态氮尿素态氮硝态氮,亲和力表现为硝态氮铵态氮尿素态氮.湖光岩玛珥湖浮游植物群落对铵态氮具有较高的吸收潜力,并且对硝态氮具有一定的亲和力,具备利用硝态氮的能力.     

Magnetic properties as indicators of pedogenic and pyrogenic processes at the Upper Paleolithic site of Kostenki 14

In geoarchaeological studies, there is an issue with distinguishing between natural and anthropogenic signals in pedological paleoarchives. With the pedostratigraphy of the Upper Paleolithic site of Kostenki 14, this issue is reflected by problems with the determination of features of pedogenic and pyrogenic processes. This issue was addressed by means of a thorough analysis of the magnetic properties of paleosols accompanied by micromorphological observations. Most of the humic samples were shown to be a result of pedogenesis, but two samples (a Paleolithic hearth sample and a sample from paleosol IIc) had features of intensely burnt material. The difference in the typical intensity of large-scale (natural or human-induced) and local-scale anthropogenic fire allowed for suggesting that the magnetic properties of the burnt sample were the result of an anthropogenically controlled fire event, that is, a hearth. This study shows that the magnetic properties of paleosols can be used to differentiate anthropogenic activity, in particular—burning, from pedogenic processes. This indicator is especially helpful in finding disturbed combustion features when the hearth structure is lost. This methodology used to demonstrate the local human-induced pyrogenic effect at the Upper Paleolithic site can contribute to the discussion of the niche construction effect of human activities in the Pleistocene.     

重庆万盛煤矸石山自燃爆炸型滑坡碎屑流成因探讨

2 0 0 4 - 0 5 - 0 5重庆万盛胡家沟煤矸石山发生滑坡碎屑流灾害。灾害发生时,伴随巨大的响声和刺鼻气味,约2 0×10 4m3 煤矸石碎屑以极高初始速度崩滑而下,滑体横扫运动途中一切障碍,垂直坡降32 0m ,水平运动距离6 0 0m。造成重大人员和财产损失。通过实地考察和实验研究,作者认为煤矸石山中硫铁矿和碳氧化物升温,煤矸石山自燃、内部热量大量积聚所导致的煤矸石山的爆炸,是使大量矸石脱离矸石山形成此次煤矸石高速滑坡碎屑流灾害的主要原因     

煤田火区碳排放量计算模型和关键参数研究

完善碳排放清单,是进行减排工作的基础,为了查明煤田火区对大气碳排放的贡献量,以煤氧复合作用学说为理论基础,从不同的研究思路出发,提出了烧失煤量法和排放通量法两种火区碳排放量计算模型。在明确模型中关键参数“释放因子”“排放系数α”“排放通量”“排放系数β”的具体含义的基础上,重点对各参数所对应的获取途径进行了研究论述：(1)释放因子通过在室内进行煤自燃模拟实验得出;(2)排放系数α通过煤岩吸附实验结合火区实地勘测得出;(3)排放通量通过对火区现场煤自燃气体排放及环境因素的实时监测得出;(4)排放系数β通过对遥感图像裂隙信息的提取得到。上述两种计算模型在我国乌达实验区进行了实际应用,并对其可实现性进行了检验。     

Study on the gas-curtain generation characteristics by the multiple gas jets in a liquid-filled tube

To further understand the gas-curtain generation characteristics during the launching process of the underwater guns, a simulated gas-injector with multiple nozzles is designed and the expansion process of these multiple combustion-gas jets is experimentally captured. Experiment results indicate that, with turbulent mixing between the gas jets and the liquid medium, the gas curtain is generated in the observation chamber. Based on the experiment, a three dimensional unsteady model is established to simulate the expansion process of the multiple jets. Numerical result shows, with the injection of the gas jets, pressure declines in the Taylor cavity along the axial direction at the beginning. During the expansion process, the multiple jets contact and interact with each other, and pressure rises in the mixing area. After merging, backflow vortexes interact and converge, and the vortexes move along the axial direction with the expansion of the combustion gas jets.     

Assessment of the impact of pore-scale mass-transfer restrictions on microbially-induced stable-isotope fractionation

Stable-isotope fractionation has become an established method for the assessment of contaminant biodegradation in groundwater. At the pore scale however, mass-transfer processes can limit the bioavailability of chemical species and therefore affect the observed fractionation. This can challenge the application of stable-isotope analysis in practice. A linear-exchange model provides a computational link between the microbially-induced isotope fractionation, determined under ideal conditions, and the fractionation observed under conditions of limited bioavailability. This simplifying conceptual approach allows for accurately estimating the mass-transfer limited degradation rates but its applicability for stable-isotope fractionation at the pore scale has not been evaluated yet. In this study, we perform high-resolution numerical simulations of microbial degradation and stable-isotope fractionation of a chemical species in a pore-scale model. The numerical results are compared to theoretical predictions derived from the linear-exchange model. Our results show an overall good agreement between numerical simulations and theoretical predictions, which confirms the applicability of the theoretical approach and of the value for the mass-transfer coefficient previously derived from the geometry of the pore space. In addition we provide a quantitative link between the value of the observable fractionation factor and the effective bioavailability of a biodegradable contaminant.