X-Ray fluorescence analysis of feldspars and silicate glass: effects of melting time on fused bead consistency and volatilisation

Reproducible preparation of lithium tetraborate fused beads for XRF analysis of glass and mineral samples is of paramount importance for analytical repeatability. However, as with all glass melting processes, losses due to volatilization must be taken into account and their effects are not negligible. Here the effects of fused bead melting time have been studied for four Certified Reference Materials (CRM’s-three feldspars, one silicate glass), in terms of their effects on analytical variability and volatilization losses arising from fused bead preparation. At melting temperatures of 1065 °C, and for feldspar samples, fused bead melting times shorter than approximately 25 minutes generally gave rise to greater deviation of XRF-analyzed composition from certified composition. This variation might be due to incomplete fusion and / or fused bead inhomogeneity but further research is needed. In contrast, the shortest fused bead melting time for the silicate glass CRM gave an XRF-analyzed composition closer to the certified values than longer melting times. This may suggest a faster rate of glass-in-glass dissolution and homogenization during fused bead preparation. For all samples, longer melting times gave rise to greater volatilization losses (including sulphates and halides) during fusion. This was demonstrated by a linear relationship between SO3 mass loss and time1/2, as predicted by a simple diffusion-based model. Iodine volatilization displays a more complex relationship, suggestive of diffusion plus additional mechanisms. This conclusion may have implications for vitrification of iodine-bearing radioactive wastes. Our research demonstrates that the nature of the sample material impacts on the most appropriate fusion times. For feldspars no less than ~25 min and no more than ~60 min of fusion at 1065 °C, using Li2B4O7 as the fusion medium and in the context of feldspar samples and the automatic fusion equipment used here, strikes an acceptable (albeit non-ideal) balance between the competing factors of fused bead quality, analytical consistency and mitigating volatilization losses. Conversely, for the silicate glass sample, shorter fusion times of less than ~30 minutes under the same conditions provided more accurate analyses whilst limiting volatile losses

Assessing biogeochemical effects and best management practice for a wheat–maize cropping system using the DNDC model

Contemporary agriculture is shifting from a single-goal to a multi-goal strategy, which in turn requires choosing best management practice (BMP) based on an assessment of the biogeochemical effects of management alternatives. The bottleneck is the capacity of predicting the simultaneous effects of different management practice scenarios on multiple goals and choosing BMP among scenarios. The denitrification–decomposition (DNDC) model may provide an opportunity to solve this problem. We validated the DNDC model (version 95) using the observations of soil moisture and temperature, crop yields, aboveground biomass and fluxes of net ecosystem exchange of carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide (N2O), nitric oxide (NO) and ammonia (NH3) from a wheat–maize cropping site in northern China. The model performed well for these variables. Then we used this model to simulate the effects of management practices on the goal variables of crop yields, NO emission, nitrate leaching, NH3 volatilization and net emission of greenhouse gases in the ecosystem (NEGE). Results showed that no-till and straw-incorporated practices had beneficial effects on crop yields and NEGE. Use of nitrification inhibitors decreased nitrate leaching and N2O and NO emissions, but they significantly increased NH3 volatilization. Irrigation based on crop demand significantly increased crop yield and decreased nitrate leaching and NH3 volatilization. Crop yields were hardly decreased if nitrogen dose was reduced by 15% or irrigation water amount was reduced by 25%. Two methods were used to identify BMP and resulted in the same BMP, which adopted the current crop cultivar, field operation schedules and full straw incorporation and applied nitrogen and irrigation water at 15 and 25% lower rates, respectively, than the current use. Our study indicates that the DNDC model can be used as a tool to assess biogeochemical effects of management alternatives and identify BMP

Global-scale modeling of nitrogen balances at the soil surface

This paper provides global terrestrial surface balances of nitrogen (N) at a resolution of 0.5 by 0.5 degree for the years 1961, 1995 and 2050 as simulated by the model WaterGAP-N. The terms livestock N excretion (Nanm), synthetic N fertilizer (Nfert), atmospheric N deposition (Ndep) and biological N fixation (Nfix) are considered as input while N export by plant uptake (Nexp) and ammonia volatilization (Nvol) are taken into account as output terms. The different terms in the balance are compared to results of other global models and uncertainties are described. Total global surface N surplus increased from 161 Tg N yr-1 in 1961 to 230 Tg N yr-1 in 1995. Using assumptions for the scenario A1B of the Special Report on Emission Scenarios (SRES) of the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) as quantified by the IMAGE model, total global surface N surplus is estimated to be 229 Tg N yr-1 in 2050. However, the implementation of these scenario assumptions leads to negative surface balances in many agricultural areas on the globe, which indicates that the assumptions about N fertilizer use and crop production changes are not consistent. Recommendations are made on how to change the assumptions about N fertilizer use to receive a more consistent scenario, which would lead to higher N surpluses in 2050 as compared to 1995

Nitrogen loss assessment and environmental consequences in the loess soil of China

Attention is focused on fertilizer nitrogen loss and the environmental consequences in Shaanxi Province in loess region of China, including N losses to the atmosphere via ammonia volatilization, nitrification and denitrification, N losses to groundwater by leaching, and crop uptake by roots. Three soils were selected, Entisol, Anthrosol and Luvisol from north, central and south Shaanxi, respectively. Nitrification and NH4+ fixation were measured using a closed chamber method in the laboratory. Denitrification was tested in the laboratory with intact soil cores, C2H2 inhibition techniques. N2O emission was assessed via in situ measurement of N2O in the soil profile and at the soil surface in field experiments. Fertilizer use and crop yields obtained by the farmers were investigated on a large scale in Shaanxi Province. Transformation of fertilizer NH4+ to NO3- was within nine days in the Entisol and Anthrosols, but it took 40 days in Luvisol due to NH4+ fixation by clay minerals. In the pot experiment open to the wind and sunshine with different water content, applied N fertilizer recovery was 74.2% for the Luvisol and 61.3% for the Entisol. The results for the Luvisol showed lower nitrogen recovery as initial soil water content increased. When the fertilizer was incorporated, the recovery was 91.6% at 8% and 68.9% at 28% water content. Recovery increased with increasing soil clay content. Large amount of nitrate was accumulated at 200-400 cm depth in the soil profile and accounted for 362-543, 144-677 and 165-569 kg N ha-1 in terrace and bottom land in north Shaanxi, terrace land in Guanzhong and south Shaanxi, respectively. N2O measurements also showed that N2O spatial variation in the profile could be ranked as, 10 cm < 30 cm < 150 cm < 90 cm < 60 cm. Temporal variation was correlated with rainfall or irrigation. Closed chamber measurements or calculations from profile concentrations resulted in N2O emission of less than 1 kg N2O ha-1 y-1. An investigation showed that soil fertility in the Guanzhong area is high, but yield has not increased with increasing N fertilizer application during the last five years. Over-application of N fertilizer was very common in the Guanzhong area and ranged from 100 to 382 kg N ha-1 for wheat and from 106 to 530 kg N ha-1 for maize. The results of the experiments indicate that the N fertilizer recovery efficiency is about 30% and the consequences of N losses are seriously threatening the environment by leaching to the groundwater and by denitrification to the atmosphere

Ammonia volatilization, nitrogen in soil, and growth of barley after application of peat manure and pig slurry

Peat is added to manure, because its low pH and capacity to adsorb ammonia (NH3) give it potential to reduce nitrogen (N) loss. Peat manure was prepared by mixing pig slurry with moderately humified Sphagnum peat. Less than 1% of applied ammoniacal N was volatilized as NH3 from peat manure and pig slurry within 8 h of surface application on clay loam soil according to JTI method. Incorporated manures showed even smaller N loss. The low volatilization was due to the adsorption of manure ammoniacal N by peat, and the infiltration of slurry into harrowed, moist clay soil. In another experiment, peat manure was applied on polypropylene fabric without soil contact. Within the first 3 days there was only 9% reduction in the ammoniacal N of peat manure, but the major part of it was lost during several weeks of dry and warm weather. Peat manure did not cause any major improvements on the growth and N uptake of spring barley in spring and early summer as compared with slurry. Moisture deficit limited the availability of ammoniacal N of manures. As compared with surface application, incorporation of manures increased nitrification of ammonium in the soil, and dry matter mass (19–73%) and N uptake of barley. Supplementing manures with inorganic NPK fertilizer increased both dry matter mass (40–98%) and N concentration of barley stand

Lunar atmosphere

Solar wind, meteoric volatilization, and internal degassing contributing to lunar rarefied atmosphere, and transient contributions produced by rocket gases during lunar mission

Fate of selected drugs in the wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) for domestic sewage

The wide diffusion of Emerging Organic Micropollutants (EOMs) in the environment is receiving increasing attention due to their potential toxicological effects on living organisms. So far, the Wastewater Treatment Plants (WWTPs) have not been designed with the purpose to remove these contaminants; therefore, they can represent the major source of release into the environment both through the effluent and the wasted sludge. The fate of EOMs in the WWTPs is still not completely known; further investigations are therefore needed to assess if it is possible to exploit the existing treatment units to reduce EOM concentrations or which processes must be implemented to this purpose. Among the wide class of EOMs, the present study focused on the following drugs of abuse: amphetamine (AM), methamphetamine (MET), 11-nor-Δ9-THC-9carboxy (THC-COOH) and benzoylecgonine (BEG). Presence and removal efficiency of these drugs in the activated sludge tank of a WWTP for domestic sewage was investigated through analyses at both full-scale and laboratory scale. Determinations conducted in the full-scale WWTP highlighted that, among the searched drugs, AM was found to be the most abundant in the influent and effluent of the biological oxidation tank, while 11-nor-Δ9-THC-9carboxy was present at the lowest concentration. Some removal took place in the units prior to the oxidation tank, although the main reduction was observed to occur in the biological oxidation reactor. All the drugs showed a wide variability of the measured concentrations during the week and the day. Taking into account results from both full-scale observations and batch tests, removals in the biological reactor were found within the following ranges: 33–84% for AM, 33–97% for MET, 33–57% for BEG and 29–83% for THC-COOH. These removals were due to a combination of adsorption and biodegradation mainly, while volatilization did not play a significant role. Other processes, e.g. hydrolysis, were likely to occur. © 2017 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelber

Effect of Air-Flow Rates on Laboratory Measurement of NH3 Volatilization

The effect of air-flow rates on the volatilization loss of NH3 from urea was studied on two soil types. In both soils, the volatilization loss increased with increasing air flow rates up to 14 volume/min. Further increase in air-flow rate to more than 14 volume/min. did not significantly increase volatilization loss ofNH3" It is suggested that volatilization loss should be measured at an air flow rate of14 volume/ min

Optimization of struvite precipitation in synthetic biologically treated swine wastewater - Determination of the optimal process parameters

A sustainable way to recover phosphorus (P) in swine wastewater involves a preliminary step of P dissolution followed by the separation of particulate organic matter. The next two steps are firstly the precipitation of struvite crystals done by adding a crystallization reagent (magnesia) and secondly the filtration of the crystals. A design of experiments with five process parameters was set up to optimize the size of the struvite crystals in a synthetic swine wastewater. More than 90% of P was recovered as large crystals of struvite in optimal conditions which were: low Mg:Ca ratio (2.25:1), the leading parameter, high N:P ratio (3:1), moderate stirring rate (between 45 and 90 rpm) and low temperature (below 20°C). These results were obtained despite the presence of a large amount of calcium and using a cheap reactant (MgO). The composition of the precipitates was identified by Raman analysis and solid dissolution. Results showed that amorphous calcium phosphate (ACP) co-precipitated with struvite and that carbonates were incorporated with solid fractions