• Energy Research

A historical perspective of past 59 years (1955-2014) for contamination and isotopic composition of Pb in sediment core system of the Huaihe River, Huainan City, Anhui Province of China is presented. Detailed investigation regarding changes in Pb sources, enrichment factor, sequential extraction and isotopic analysis revealed that high Pb concentrations were detected along the core, especially during the first two decades (1955-1974). Large variations in Pb isotopic compositions were observed, with 206Pb/207Pb and 208Pb/207Pb values ranging from 1.1504-1.1694, and 2.0817-2.1380, respectively. Diverse Pb sources were identified for sediment contamination over the time. Among anthropogenic sources, metallurgic dust and leaded petrol were on top during 1955-1974, especially when the Great Leap Forward Movement (1958-1960) was in progress in China, the time numerous small industries were established without wastewater treatment facility. However, coal and coal combustion were recognized as the primary sources of Pb emissions for the recent four decades (1974-2014) due to tremendous increase of coal consumption for power and heat generation. Unleaded vehicle exhaust, waste incineration and industrial emission were also sources of Pb during the years 1974-2014. Our estimates based on geochemical and lead isotopic approaches have shown that anthropogenic Pb contributions varied from 4.35 to 92.01%, and 13.28-99.06%, respectively. Assessment of lead speciation indicated an overwhelming presence of reducible fraction (Fe-Mn hydro-(oxides)) in the sediment core, except during 1995-1997, which was thought to be affected by water pollution accidents caused by heavy rainfall.

The thermal decomposition behavior of coal gangue, peanut shell, wheat straw and their blends during combustion were determined via thermogravimetric analysis. The coal gangue/agricultural biomass blends were prepared in four weight ratios and oxidized under dynamic conditions from room temperature to 1000 °C by various heating rates. Kinetic models were carried out to evaluate the thermal reactivity. The overall mass balance was performed to assess the partition behavior of coal gangue, peanut shell and their blends during combustion in a fixed bed reactor. The decomposition processes of agricultural biomass included evaporation, release of volatile matter and combustion as well as char oxidation. The thermal reactivity of coal gangue could be improved through the addition of agricultural biomass in suitable proportion and subsequent appropriate heating rate during combustion. In combination with the heating value and base/acid ratio limitations, a blending ratio of 30% agricultural biomass is conservatively selected as optimum blending.

Polyphosphate (Poly-P) accumulation has been reported in Chlorella vulgaris under nitrogen deficiency conditions with sufficient P supply, and the process has been demonstrated to have great impact on lipid productivity. In this article, the utilization of polyphosphates and the regreening process under N resupplying conditions, especially for lipid production reviving, were investigated. This regreening process was completed within approximately 3–5 days. Polyphosphates were first degraded within 3 days in the regreening process, with and without an external P supply, and the degradation preceded the assimilation of phosphate in the media with an external P offering. Nitrate assimilation was markedly influenced by the starvation of P after polyphosphates were exhausted in the medium without external phosphates, and then the reviving process of biomass and lipid production was strictly impeded. It is, thus, reasonable to assume that simultaneous provision of external N and P is essential for overall biodiesel production revival during the regreening process.

Abstract In this study, Scenedesmus obliquus NIES-2280 was cultivated heterotrophically with acetate as the carbon source. The effects of nitrogen deficiency and different phosphorus supply levels on biodiesel production by S. obliquus were investigated. It was found that S. obliquus could make good use of assimilated acetate for fatty acid accumulation. Fatty acid contents of algae in nitrogen deficiency media increased to 38–48% after 6-day cultivation. Interestingly, the productivity of fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs) under nitrogen starved conditions increased fourfold than that under nitrogen sufficient conditions. Moreover, FAME productivity could be further enhanced by a sufficient phosphorus supply rather than under P limitation or P deficiency conditions, and the highest FAME productivity was 55.9 mg L−1 d−1. Furthermore, the conversion yields of acetate to fatty acids (COD based) in nitrogen starvation media (18–28%) were much higher than those in nitrogen sufficient media (∼7%). This study indicates a great potential to combine wastewater treatment with biodiesel production via S. obliquus which can significantly improve biodiesel productivity and COD utilization under nitrogen starvation coupled with sufficient phosphorus supply.

From July to September 2008, air samples were collected aboard the research expedition icebreaker XueLong (Snow Dragon) as part of the 2008 Chinese Arctic Research Expedition Program. Hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH) concentrations were analyzed in all of the samples. The average concentrations (± standard deviation) over the entire period were 33 ± 16, 5.4 ± 3.0, and 13 ± 7.5 pg m⁻³ for α-, β- and γ-HCH, respectively. Compared to previous studies in the same areas, total HCH (ΣHCH, the sum of α-, β-, and γ-HCH) levels declined by more than 10 × compared to those observed in the 1990s, but were approximately 4 × higher than those measured by the 2003 China Arctic Research Expedition, suggesting the increase of atmospheric ΣHCH recently. Because of the continuing use of lindane, ratios of α/γ-HCH showed an obvious decrease in North Pacific and Arctic region compared with those for 2003 Chinese Arctic Research Expedition. In Arctic, the level of α-HCH was found to be linked to sea ice distribution. Geographically, the average concentration of α-HCH in air samples from the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas, neither of which contain sea ice, was 23 ± 4.4 pg m⁻³, while samples from the area covered by seasonal ice (∼75°N to ∼83°N), the so-called "floating sea ice region", contained the highest average levels of α-HCH at 48 ± 12 pg m⁻³, likely due to emission from sea ice and strong air-sea exchange. The lowest concentrations of α-HCH were observed in the pack ice region in the high Arctic covered by multiyear sea ice (∼83°N to ∼86°N). This phenomenon implies that the re-emission of HCH trapped in ice sheets and Arctic Ocean may accelerate during the summer as ice coverage in the Arctic Ocean decreases in response to global climate change.

The thermochemical behaviors during co-combustion of coal gangue (CG), soybean stalk (SS), sawdust (SD) and their blends prepared at different ratios have been determined via thermogravimetric analysis. The simulate experiments in a fixed bed reactor were performed to investigate the partition behaviors of trace elements during co-combustion. The combustion profiles of biomass was more complicated than that of coal gangue. Ignition property and thermal reactivity of coal gangue could be enhanced by the addition of biomass. No interactions were observed between coal gangue and biomass during co-combustion. The volatilization ratios of trace elements decrease with the increasing proportions of biomass in the blends during co-combustion. Based on the results of heating value, activation energy, base/acid ratio and gaseous pollutant emissions, the blending ratio of 20-30% biomass content is regarded as optimum composition for blending and could be applied directly at current combustion application with few modifications.

The large scale lignocellulosic biomass wastes could also be regarded as abundantly-available renewable resources, and how to convert them into value-added products via sustainable approaches is still a big challenge. In this work, we demonstrated a facile pyrolysis method to construct N, P-dually doped biochar materials from the lignocellulosic biomass wastes. The as-synthesized N, P-dually doped biochar samples could act as electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction and evolution reactions (ORR/OER), showing excellent catalytic performance and long-term durability, as well as robust tolerance to CO and methanol. The unique hierarchical porous structure, favorable electronic structure modified by the N and P doping, as well as a variety of defect sites induced by the N and P doping into the carbon framework were identified as the main contributions to the prominent catalytic activity of the as-synthesized N, P-dually doped biochar materials. We expect this work would spur more efforts into developing advanced materials from the large scale lignocellulosic biomass wastes.

In order to study the effect of phosphorus on biodiesel production from Scenedesmus obliquus especially under nitrogen deficiency conditions, six types of media with combinations of nitrogen repletion/depletion and phosphorus repletion/limitation/depletion were investigated in this study. It was found that nitrogen starvation compared to nitrogen repletion enhanced biodiesel productivity. Moreover, biodiesel productivity was further strengthened by varying the supply level of phosphorus from depletion, limitation, through to repletion. The maximum FAMEs productivity of 24.2 mg/L/day was obtained in nitrogen depletion with phosphorus repletion, which was two times higher than that in nutrient complete medium. More phosphorus was accumulated in cells under the nitrogen starvation with sufficient phosphorus condition, but no polyphosphate was formed. This study indicated that nitrogen starvation plus sufficient P supply might be the real "lipid trigger". Furthermore, results of the current study suggest a potential application for utilizing microalgae to combine phosphorus removal from wastewater with biodiesel production.