Novel thin-film composite membranes with improved water flux from sulfonated cardo poly(arylene ether sulfone) bearing pendant amino groups

A new class of polymeric amine, namely, sulfonated cardo poly(arylene ether sulfone) (SPES-NH2) was synthesized and used for the preparation of thin-film composite membrane. The TFC membranes were prepared on a polysulfone supporting film through interfacial polymerization with trimesoyl chloride (TMC) solutions and amine solutions containing SPES-NH2 and m-phenylenediamine (MPDA). The resultant membranes were characterized with water permeation performance, chemical structure, hydrophilicity of active layer and membrane morphology including top surface and cross-section.

辽河三角洲芦苇湿地生态系统水碳通量动态及其控制机制

全球变化背景下人类生存环境及社会经济的可持续发展要求，使得水循环和碳循环成为科学研究的关注点。湿地与森林、海洋并称为全球三大生态系统，与生态平衡、人类生存和经济社会可持续发展息息相关，特别是湿地的碳汇功能使得其在全球碳循环中具有重要作用。我国湿地面积占亚洲第一位，世界第四位，占世界湿地面积的11.9% 。但是，与森林、草地与农田等生态系统相比，湿地水碳循环控制机制研究的甚少，制约着湿地生态系统的水碳管理。 本论文基于2005~2007 年盘锦芦苇湿地生态系统野外观测站的涡度相关系统的水碳通量和气象环境因子的连续观测数据，结合芦苇湿地生态系统的生物学调查资料，较系统地分析了芦苇湿地生态系统水汽通量和碳通量的动态特征，探讨了不同时间尺度芦苇湿地生态系统水汽通量和碳通量的环境控制机制。主要结论如下： (1)芦苇湿地生态系统蒸散的日、季变化显著。2005~2007 年盘锦芦苇湿地生态系统的年蒸散量分别为432、480 和445 mm。非生长季(11 月~次年4 月)对全年蒸散量的贡献约13~16%，表明在湿地蒸散年总量的估算中不能忽略非生长季的贡献。 (2)关于动力作用和热力作用对芦苇湿地蒸散的贡献表明，能量是驱动芦苇湿地蒸散的重要因素，在小时至月尺度上均起着主导作用；时间尺度越长，能量因子对蒸散变异的解释率越大。仅温度就能解释蒸散月总量变异的95%左右。但是，随着时间尺度的降低，水分条件如饱和水汽压差、相对湿度，对芦苇湿地蒸散的作用逐渐显现。降雨和蒸散的变化虽然没有统计上的相关性，但短时段的降雨可能导致雨后蒸散增强，而持续多天的阴雨天气却能导致蒸散量连续下降。 (3)基于芦苇湿地生态系统作物系数(kc)具有显著日间变异的事实，发展了耦合气温、相对湿度和净辐射影响的芦苇湿地日作物系数模型，弥补了国际粮农组织建议的蒸发散估算模型FAO56 缺乏适宜湿地作物系数的不足。 (4)芦苇湿地生态系统呼吸呈单峰型季节变化，2005~2007 年生态系统呼吸的年总量分别为834、894 和872 g C m-2 yr-1，非生长季芦苇湿地的生态系统呼吸碳排放量为102~136 g C m-2 season-1，占全年生态系统呼吸总量的12~16%。这说明，非生长季湿地生态系统的碳排放通量不可忽视。温度是小时至月尺度的生态系统呼吸控制因子；同时，生物因素也对芦苇湿地生态系统呼吸有显著影响。生态系统呼吸对温度的响应呈指数函数关系，二者间的响应受土壤水分的影响。当表层土壤含水量(5 cm) 为20~25%时，芦苇湿地生态系统呼吸的潜力(Reco,10)最大。生态系统呼吸的日值与地上生物量、叶面积指数呈对数正相关，而与冠层高度呈显著二次曲线关系。生态系统呼吸的年际差异并不是由温度变化引起，而与植被生长状况密切相关。 (5)芦苇湿地生态系统的净碳交换季节变化明显，变化范围在-12.9~4.2 g C m-2 day-1 之间。一般在5~9 月表现为大气CO2 的汇，其余月份为碳源。其中，净碳吸收最大的月份为6、7 月，而净碳排放最大的月份为4、10 月。2005~2007 年的年碳收支分别为-55、-230 和-53 g C m-2 yr-1，呈碳汇。 (6)不同时间尺度的净碳交换控制因子不同。小时尺度上，影响芦苇湿地生态系统净碳交换的环境因子主要是光合有效辐射(PAR) 。芦苇湿地生态系统光合作用的光响应参数(α、Amax 和Reco)随温度指数上升，而与叶面积指数呈线性正相关。光响应参数的这种显著季节波动表明，在生态系统碳循环模型中不应该将生态系统的光合作用参数视为常数，应该考虑采用光响应参数与环境和生物因子间的定量关系来反映光合作用光响应参数动态。日尺度上，温度是芦苇湿地碳交换的主要控制因子，湿地净碳交换在15℃左右由正值变为负值，芦苇湿地由碳源变为碳汇。除温度外，饱和水汽压差对日尺度净碳交换波动也有影响，二者呈二次曲线关系(U 型)，当饱和水汽压差在0.8 kPa 附近时，芦苇湿地净碳吸收达到最大。月尺度上，影响芦苇湿地净碳交换的主要环境因子依然是温度，二者间表现出“非对称响应”特征。 (7)对芦苇湿地碳交换各组分间的关系分析表明，芦苇湿地生态系统呼吸和净碳交换均受总光合生产力的显著影响，即通过光合作用产物来源控制。

Preparation and performance of cellulose acetate/polyethyleneimine blend microfiltration membranes and their applications

A modified microfiltration membrane has been prepared by blending a matrix polymer with a functional polymer. Cellulose acetate (CA) was blended with polyethyleneimine (PEI), which was then crosslinked by polyisocyanate, in a mixture of solvents. In the membrane, PEI can supply coupling sites for ligands in affinity separation or be used as ligands for metal chelating, removal of endotoxin or ion exchange. The effects of the time of phase inversion induced by water vapor, blended amount of PEI and amount of crosslinking agent on membrane performance were investigated. The prepared blend membranes have specific surface area of 12.04-24.11 m(2)/g and pure water flux (PWF) of 10-50 ml/cm(2) min with porosity of 63-75%. The membranes, made of 0.15 50 wt.% PEI/CA ratio and 0.5 crosslinking agent/PEI ratio, were applied to adsorbing Cu2+ and bovine serum albumin (BSA) individually. The maximum adsorption capacity of Cu2+ ion on the blend membrane is 7.42 mg/g dry membrane. The maximum adsorption capacities of BSA on the membranes with and without chelating Cu2+ ion are 86.6 and 43.8 mg/g dry membrane, respectively. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Polyamide thin film composite membranes prepared from 3,4',5-biphenyl triacyl chloride, 3,3',5,5'-biphenyl tetraacyl chloride and m-phenylenediamine

Two novel of tri- and tetra-functional biphenyl acid chloride: 3,4',5-biphenyl triacyl chloride (BTRC) and 3,3',5,5'-biphenyl tetraacyl chloride (BTEC), were synthesized, and used as new monomers for the preparations of the thin film composite (TFC) reverse osmosis (RO) membranes. The TFC RO membranes were prepared on a polysulfone supporting film through interfacial polymerization with the two new monomers and m-phenylenediamine (MPD). The membranes were characterized for the permeation properties, chemical composition, d-space between polymer chains, hydrophilicity, membrane morphology including top surface and cross-section. Permeation experiment was employed to evaluate the membranes performance including salt rejection and water flux. The surface structure and chemical composition of membranes were analyzed by attenuated total reflectance infrared (ATR-IR) and X-ray photoelectronic spectroscopy (XPS). The results revealed that the active layer of membranes was composed of highly cross-linked aromatic polyamide with the functional acylamide (-CONH-) bonds. The TFC membranes prepared from biphenyl acid chloride exhibit higher salt rejection compared with that prepared from trimesoyl chloride (TMC) at the expanse of some flux.

Development of a LCST membrane forming system for cellulose acetate ultrafiltration hollow fiber

A novel lower critical solution temperature (LCST) membrane forming system containing cellulose acetate (CA)/poly (vinyl pyrrolidone) (PVP 3 60K)/N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP)/1,2-propanediol with a weight ratio of 24.0:5.0:62.6:8.4 had been developed. CA hollow fiber ultrafiltration (UF) membranes were fabricated using the dry-wet spinning technique. The fibers were post-treated with a 200 mg/L hypochlorite solution over a period of 6 It at pH 7. The experimental results showed that water flux of a membrane decreased while retention increased with increasing CA concentration in a dope. It was concluded that the membrane pore size decreased with increasing CA concentration. The membrane fouling tendency for BSA was 3 times higher than that for PVP 24K. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Dissolved oxygen and O-2 flux across the water-air interface of the Changjiang Estuary in May 2003

The field observation of this study was carried out in the Changjiang Estuary from May 19 to 26,2003, just a few days before the Three Gorges Dam began to store water. A total of 29 stations, including 2 anchor stations, were distributed through almost the whole salinity gradient Based on the data gained from these stations, the biogeochemical characteristics of dissolved oxygen (DO) were examined. Spatial distribution of DO concentrations showed the pattern that it increased in a downriver direction. DO concentration generally varied within a narrow range of 733-8.10 mg l(-1) in the freshwater region and the west part of the mixed water region, and after that it increased rapidly. In vertical direction, the differences in DO concentrations between surface and 2 m above the bottom were big at the stations with water depths exceeding 20 m; DO concentration up to 14.88 mg l(-1) was recorded at the sea surface, while at 2 m above the bottom its concentration was only about 4 mg l(-1). The fluctuation in DO concentrations was small during a period of 48 h in the mixed water region and 2 m above the bottom of the seawater region; while it was large during the same period in the seawater region for surface and 5 m below the surface layer, and a maximum variation from 8.77 to 12.66 mg l(-1) in 4 h was recorded. Oxygen fluxes also showed a marked spatio-temporal variation. As a whole, the freshwater region and mixed water region were an oxygen sink while the seawater region was a source. Relationships between dissolved oxygen and some biogeochemical parameters which could markedly influence its spatio-temporal distribution were discussed in this paper. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Monitoring and simulation of water, heat,and CO2 fluxes in terrestrial ecosystems based on the APEIS-FLUX system

The Integrated Environmental Monitoring (IEM) project, part of the Asia-Pacific Environmental Innovation Strategy (APEIS) project, developed an integrated environmental monitoring system that can be used to detect, monitor, and assess environmental disasters, degradation, and their impacts in the Asia-Pacific region. The system primarily employs data from the moderate resolution imaging spectrometer (MODIS) sensor on the Earth Observation System- (EOS-) Terra/Aqua satellite,as well as those from ground observations at five sites in different ecological systems in China. From the preliminary data analysis on both annual and daily variations of water, heat and CO2 fluxes, we can confirm that this system basically has been working well. The results show that both latent flux and CO2 flux are much greater in the crop field than those in the grassland and the saline desert, whereas the sensible heat flux shows the opposite trend. Different data products from MODIS have very different correspondence, e.g. MODIS-derived land surface temperature has a close correlation with measured ones, but LAI and NPP are quite different from ground measurements, which suggests that the algorithms used to process MODIS data need to be revised by using the local dataset. We are now using the APEIS-FLUX data to develop an integrated model, which can simulate the regional water,heat, and carbon fluxes. Finally, we are expected to use this model to develop more precise high-order MODIS products in Asia-Pacific region.

Experimental Investigation On The Holdup Distribution Of Oil-Water Two-Phase Flow In Horizontal Parallel Tubes

An experimental investigation was conducted to study the holdup distribution of oil and water two-phase flow in two parallel tubes with unequal tube diameter. Tests were performed using white oil (of viscosity 52 mPa s and density 860 kg/m(3)) and tap water as liquid phases at room temperature and atmospheric outlet pressure. Measurements were taken of water flow rates from 0.5 to 12.5 m(3)/h and input oil volume fractions from 3 to 94 %. Results showed that there were different flow pattern maps between the run and bypass tubes when oil-water two-phase flow is found in the parallel tubes. At low input fluid flow rates, a large deviation could be found on the average oil holdup between the bypass and the run tubes. However, with increased input oil fraction at constant water flow rate, the holdup at the bypass tube became close to that at the run tube. Furthermore, experimental data showed that there was no significant variation in flow pattern and holdup between the run and main tubes. In order to calculate the holdup in the form of segregated flow, the drift flux model has been used here.

A Multimoment Finite-Volume Shallow-Water Model On The Yin-Yang Overset Spherical Grid

A numerical model for shallow-water equations has been built and tested on the Yin-Yang overset spherical grid. A high-order multimoment finite-volume method is used for the spatial discretization in which two kinds of so-called moments of the physical field [i.e., the volume integrated average ( VIA) and the point value (PV)] are treated as the model variables and updated separately in time. In the present model, the PV is computed by the semi-implicit semi-Lagrangian formulation, whereas the VIA is predicted in time via a flux-based finite-volume method and is numerically conserved on each component grid. The concept of including an extra moment (i.e., the volume-integrated value) to enforce the numerical conservativeness provides a general methodology and applies to the existing semi-implicit semi-Lagrangian formulations. Based on both VIA and PV, the high-order interpolation reconstruction can only be done over a single grid cell, which then minimizes the overlapping zone between the Yin and Yang components and effectively reduces the numerical errors introduced in the interpolation required to communicate the data between the two components. The present model completely gets around the singularity and grid convergence in the polar regions of the conventional longitude-latitude grid. Being an issue demanding further investigation, the high-order interpolation across the overlapping region of the Yin-Yang grid in the current model does not rigorously guarantee the numerical conservativeness. Nevertheless, these numerical tests show that the global conservation error in the present model is negligibly small. The model has competitive accuracy and efficiency.

A Cip/Multi-Moment Finite Volume Method For Shallow Water Equations With Source Terms

A novel finite volume method has been presented to solve the shallow water equations. In addition to the volume-integrated average (VIA) for each mesh cell, the surface-integrated average (SIA) is also treated as the model variable and is independently predicted. The numerical reconstruction is conducted based on both the VIA and the SIA. Different approaches are used to update VIA and SIA separately. The SIA is updated by a semi-Lagrangian scheme in terms of the Riemann invariants of the shallow water equations, while the VIA is computed by a flux-based finite volume formulation and is thus exactly conserved. Numerical oscillation can be effectively avoided through the use of a non-oscillatory interpolation function. The numerical formulations for both SIA and VIA moments maintain exactly the balance between the fluxes and the source terms. 1D and 2D numerical formulations are validated with numerical experiments. Copyright (c) 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

A multi-moment finite volume formulation for shallow water equations on unstructured mesh

A novel and accurate finite volume method has been presented to solve the shallow water equations on unstructured grid in plane geometry. In addition to the volume integrated average (VIA moment) for each mesh cell, the point values (PV moment) defined on cell boundary are also treated as the model variables. The volume integrated average is updated via a finite volume formulation, and thus is numerically conserved, while the point value is computed by a point-wise Riemann solver. The cell-wise local interpolation reconstruction is built based on both the VIA and the PV moments, which results in a scheme of almost third order accuracy. Efforts have also been made to formulate the source term of the bottom topography in a way to balance the numerical flux function to satisfy the so-called C-property. The proposed numerical model is validated by numerical tests in comparison with other methods reported in the literature. (C) 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Controls on suppression of methane flux from a peat bog subjected to simulated acid rain sulfate deposition

The effect of acid rain SO42− deposition on peatland CH4 emissions was examined by manipulating SO42− inputs to a pristine raised peat bog in northern Scotland. Weekly pulses of dissolved Na2SO4 were applied to the bog over two years in doses of 25, 50, and 100 kg S ha−1 yr−1, reflecting the range of pollutant S deposition loads experienced in acid rain-impacted regions of the world. CH4 fluxes were measured at regular intervals using a static chamber/gas chromatographic flame ionization detector method. Total emissions of CH4 were reduced by between 21 and 42% relative to controls, although no significant differences were observed between treatments. Estimated total annual fluxes during the second year of the experiment were 16.6 g m−2 from the controls and (in order of increasing SO42− dose size) 10.7, 13.2, and 9.8 g m−2 from the three SO42− treatments, respectively. The relative extent of CH4 flux suppression varied with changes in both peat temperature and peat water table with the largest suppression during cool periods and episodes of falling water table. Our findings suggest that low doses of SO42− at deposition rates commonly experienced in areas impacted by acid rain, may significantly affect CH4 emissions from wetlands in affected areas. We propose that SO42− from acid rain can stimulate sulfate-reducing bacteria into a population capable of outcompeting methanogens for substrates. We further propose that this microbially mediated interaction may have a significant current and future effect on the contribution of northern peatlands to the global methane budget.

Benthic foraminifera and bottom water evolution in the middle-southern Okinawa Trough during the last 18 ka

A piston sediment core E017 from the middle-southern Okinawa Trough was investigated. A preliminary study of the deep-water evolution since 18 cal. ka BP was performed based on the quantitative census data of benthic foraminiferal fauna, together with planktonic foraminiferal oxygen and carbon isotope, AMS(14)C dating, and the previous results achieved in the southern Okinawa Trough. The result shows that the benthic fauna was dominated by Bulimina aculeata (d'Orbigny), Uvigerina peregrina (Cushman), Hispid Uvigerina and Uvigerina dirupta (Todd) during the glaciation-deglaciation before 9.2 cal. ka BP, while Epistominella exigua (Brady), Pullenia bulloides (d'Orbigny), Cibicidoides hyalina (Hofker), Sphaeroidina bulloides (d'Orbigny) and Globocassidulina subglobosa (Brady) predominated the fauna in the post-glacial period after 9.2 cal. ka BP. The benthic foraminifera accumulation rate (BFAR), paleoproductivity estimates and benthic foraminiferal assemblage conformably indicate that surface water paleoproductivity and organic matter flux during the glaciation-deglaciation were higher than those of the post-glacial period in the middle-southern Okinawa Trough, and gradually enhanced from the southern to the central Okinawa Trough during the glaciation-deglaciation, which could be caused by the discrepancy of the terrigenous nutrients supply. High abundances of E exigua, an indicator of pulsed organic matter input, after 9.2 cal. ka. BP may indicate that the intensity of seasonally riverine pulsed flux during the post-glacial period was stronger than that of the glaciation-deglaciation period, and the seasonal influx in the central trough might be stronger than in the south. The temporal distributions of the typical species indicating bottom water oxygen content and ventilation condition show that the ventilation of the bottom water during the post-glacial period is more active than the glaciation-deglaciation, which reflects that the evolution of the intermediate and deep waters of the northwestern Pacific during the last glaciation has no evident influence on the deep-water of the middle-southern Okinawa Trough. Additionally, the variations in agglutinated benthic foraminiferal abundance and other carbonate dissolution proxies indicate that carbonate dissolution gradually increased since the last 18 ka in the Okinawa Trough and rapidly enhanced at 9.2 cal. ka BP. The modern shallow carbonate lysocline could form at 3 cal. ka BP.