A long-term static immersion experiment on the leaching behavior of heavy metals from waste printed circuit boards.

Printed circuit boards (PCBs) are the main components of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE). Waste PCBs contain several kinds of heavy metals, including Cu, Pb and Zn. We characterize the leaching of heavy metals (Cu, Pb, Zn and Ni) from waste PCBs in a pH range of 3.0 to 5.6 using a novel approach based on batch pH-static leaching experiments in this work. The results indicate that the leaching behavior of Cu, Pb, Zn and Ni is strongly dependent on pH. Leaching behavior also varies with different pH values and leaching times. The maximum concentrations of Cu, Pb, Zn and Ni in leachate from waste PCBs were 335.00, 17.57, 2.40 and 2.33 mg L(-1), respectively. The highest Pb, Ni, and Cu concentrations leached significantly exceeded the European Union waste-acceptance limit values with respect to inert waste landfills. The leaching of metals follows the shrinking core model with surface reaction control.

[Explore the spatial and temporal patterns of water pollution in the Yincungang canal of the Lake Taihu basin, China].

Two high-density snap-shot samplings were conducted along the Yincungang canal, one important tributary of the Lake Tai, in April (low flow period) and June (high flow period) of 2010. Geostatistical analysis based on the river network distance was used to analyze the spatial and temporal patterns of the pollutant concentrations along the canal with an emphasis on chemical oxygen demand (COD) and total nitrogen (TN). Study results have indicated: (1) COD and TN concentrations display distinctly different spatial and temporal patterns between the low and high flow periods. COD concentration in June is lower than that in April, while TN concentration has the contrary trend. (2) COD load is relatively constant during the period between the two monitoring periods. The spatial correlation structure of COD is exponential for both April and June, and the change of COD concentration is mainly influenced by hydrological conditions. (3) Nitrogen load from agriculture increased significantly during the period between the two monitoring periods. Large amount of chaotic fertilizing by individual farmers has led to the loss of the spatial correlation among the observed TN concentrations. Hence, changes of TN concentration in June are under the dual influence of agricultural fertilizing and hydrological conditions. In the view of the complex hydrological conditions and serious water pollution in the Lake Taihu region, geostatistical analysis is potentially a useful tool for studying the characteristics of pollutant distribution and making predictions in the region.

Effect of C/N ratios on the performance of earthworm eco-filter for treatment of synthetics domestic sewage.

PURPOSE: The performances of filter systems that use earthworms and plants, combined with earthworm eco-filter (EE) systems in treating synthetic domestic sewage (SDS) with different C/N ratios, were investigated for a 9-month period. METHODS: The effects of the combination of filters, earthworms, plants, as well as the combination of earthworms and plants on SDS nutrient removal efficiency were separately investigated to select the optimum system for treating SDS. The results of the current study could be used to determine how treatment performance responds to different C/N ratios and to explain and predict the performance of an operating EE system. RESULTS: EE systems with earthworms and plants (EP groups) consistently performed better than the other types of systems (CK, E, and P; that is, without earthworms and without plants, with earthworms and without plants, and without earthworms and with plants, respectively) under all C/N ratios. The highest removal efficiencies of chemical oxygen demand, total nitrogen, total phosphorus, and total organic carbon were achieved under C/N ratios of 6:1, 6:1, 6:1, and 9:1, respectively. The optimum nutrient removal efficiency was achieved at C/N = 6, and the contribution order for nutrient removal was EP > P > E > CK. CONCLUSIONS: Influent C/N ratios, the time of year, and the synergetic effects of earthworm behavior and microorganisms significantly affected nutrient removal efficiencies. Considering the removal of all nutrients, EE systems with plants and earthworms achieved optimum removal effects in July when the influent C/N ratio was controlled at 6. Appropriate control of carbon and nitrogen source concentrations permitted the achievement of optimal nutrient removal effects.

[Effect of TS loading rates of biogas residue of Spartina alterniflora for secondary anaerobic digestion].

Biogas residue of Spartina alterniflora treated by NaOH solution for 48h at room temperature was used for secondary anaerobic digestion with TS loading rates were 8%, 10%, 12% at (35 +/- 1) degrees C. The biogas yield, pH, and volatile fatty acid (VFA) were analyzed during the anaerobic digestion. The peak of daily gas production were 10, 14, 13 mL x g(-1) and the rates of cumulate gas production were 217, 227, 228 mL x g(-1) respectively. The methane content exceeded 65% and the lowest pH value was 7.04 during the process. The concentrations of acetic acid concentrations were 3 364, 3 286, 5 728 mg x L(-1) respectively while propionic acid and butyric acid concentrations were below 1 100 mg x L(-1). Biogas residue as a non-degradation organic compound with high potential biogas yield was decomposed slowly and no acid accumulation was not observed.

[Adsorption behavior and influence factors of p-nitroaniline on high surface area activated carbons prepared from plant stems].

Low-cost and high surface area microporous activated carbons were prepared from Spartina alternilora and cotton stalk with KOH activation under the conditions of impregnation ratio of 3.0, activation temperature at 800 degrees C and activation time of 1.5 h. The adsorption behavior of p-nitroaniline on the activated carbons was investigated by batch sorption experiments. The influences of solution pH value, adsorbent dose and temperature were investigated. The adsorption isotherm and thermodynamic characteristics were also discussed. The Spartina alterniflora activated carbon (SA-AC) has a high surface area of 2825 m2 x g(-1) and a micropore volume of 1.192 cm3 x g(-1). The BET surface area and micropore volume of the cotton stalk activated carbon (CS-AC) are 2135 m2 x g(-1) and 1.011 cm3 x g(-1), respectively. The sorption experiments show that both the activated carbons have high sorption capacity for p-nitroaniline. The Langmuir maximum sorption amount was found to be 719 mg x g(-1) for SA-AC and 716 mg x g(-1) for CS-AC, respectively. The sorption was found to depend on solution pH, adsorbent dose, and temperature. The optimum pH for the removal of p-nitroaniline was found to be 7.0. The Freundlich model and Redlich-Peterson model can describe the experimental data effectively. The negative changes in free energy (delta G0) and enthalpy (delta H0) indicate that the sorption is a spontaneous and exothermic procedure. The negative values of the adsorption entropy delta S0 indicate that the mobility of p-nitroaniline on the carbon surface becomes more restricted as compared with that of those in solution.

[Nitrogen removal in earthworm ecofilter treating domestic wastewater].

The removal efficiency of different forms of nitrogen was studied in earthworm ecofilter treating domestic wastewater, and the mechanisms were discussed. Results indicated that, the major form of total nitrogen (TN) in influent water and effluent water were existed as ammonia-nitrogen (NH4+ -N) and nitrate-nitrogen (NO3- -N), respectively. NH4+ -N /TN in influent water and NO3- -N /TN in effluent water were 83.88% and 76.46%, respectively, NH4+ -N decreased and NO3- -N increased during the process. The average removal efficiency of TN and NH4+ -N were 28.08% and 90.44%, respectively, nitrate-nitrogen accumulated massively and nitrite-nitrogen (NO2- -N) accumulated a little. It was also observed that nitrification in earthworm ecofilter was strong and the denitrification was inhibited, TN removal was not as obvious as the NH4+ -N removal due to the poor denitrification environment. The overall removal of TN can be improved by increasing wet/dry ratio, modifying the structure of filter, multistage filter series, following by constructed wetland, and increasing C/N ratio of the influent water.

[Speciation distribution characters of heavy metals in waste printed circuit boards].

The environmental availability of heavy metals from the waste printed circuit boards (PCBs) were studied through BCR's three-stage extraction procedures from EU and Tessier's five sequential extraction procedures. The results show that the heavy metal extraction rates with BCR's procedures are higher than that with Tessier's from waste PCBs. There are significant differences in fraction distributions of heavy metals in PCBs. The speciation of Ni in the PCBs exists mainly in residual forms and has little effect on the environment. The percentage of acidic extractable forms with BCR's method and the total amount of exchangeable and carbonate which bound for Tessier's procedure of Pb and Zn are high, in the South China, the two metals are more easily released by acid rain. Acidic extractable forms of Cu is the main speciation in PCBs with BCR's extraction procedures, while the percentage of Fe-Mn oxides- bound of Cu is the highest with Tessier's procedures, though the result is not agree consistent, due to the high content of Cu in PCBs, the harm of Cu from PCBs could not be neglected.

[Different leaching procedures for heavy metal toxicity of waste PCBs].

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the hazardous of heavy metals of waste printed circuit boards (PCBs) by using four kinds of methods (GB 5086.1-1997, GB 5086.2-1997 from China and 1311 (TCLP), 1312 (SPLP) from USA), and the four kinds of methods are compared to choose a better way to identify toxicity characteristics of waste PCBs. The results show that the leaching concentrations of heavy metals (Cu, Pb, Ni, Mn, Zn and Fe) in the leachate after TCLP are much higher than that after the other three kinds of methods, the concentration of Pb is over the standards, so the waste PCBs may be the hazardous solid waste, the TCLP could be the appropriate way to assess the heavy metals hazardous characteristics of waste PCBs. The leaching concentrations by the leaching methods used in China are relatively lower, which could be disadvantageous to control the hazardous wastes. The initial pH and particle size of waste PCBs have great effect on the leachability of heavy metals from waste PCBs.