Direct contact membrane distillation of refining waste stream from precious metal recovery:Chemistry of silica and chromium (III) in membrane scaling

Precious metals, such as platinum group metals (PGMs) with distinct catalytic activity, are widely used as active components in various industrial catalysts. It is, therefore, highly desirable to recover these valuable components from the end-of-life products. We explored treatment of refining wastewater from precious metals recovery using direct contact membrane distillation (DCMD). The role of various initial pH of refining wastewater on DCMD performance was assessed. Results suggested that hydrochloride acid (HCl) and high-quality water can be reclaimed from the real refining wastewater by adjusting initial pH. Furthermore, DCMD water flux decline was mainly caused by silica and chromium (III) scaling, which was dependent on initial pH of refining wastewater. Silica scaling was responsible for the decrease of DCMD performance when the initial pH of refining wastewater increased from original 0.03 to 5 and 7. Silica oligomers in the concentrated feed with various initial pH were identified using mass spectra. Dichlorotetraaquochromiun was identified by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and ultraviolet and visible absorbance spectra as the main species contributing to the green colour and scaling on the PTFE membrane surface. Our results suggest that DCMD can be used as a promising and feasible solution for resource recovery from acidic refining waste stream.</p

Rational design of high-performance continuous-flow microreactors based on gold nanoclusters and graphene for catalysis

In this work, we rationally designed a high-performance microreactor system for continuous-flow catalysis. The membrane consists of ultrasmall gold nanoclusters (AuNCs) and two-dimensional graphene. The Au cores of the NCs act as catalysts, while their ligands have two functions: (1) protecting the Au cores to avoid agglomeration and (2) providing a well-defined surfactant assembly to disperse graphene in aqueous solution. Hydrogenation of 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) was employed as model reaction to evaluate catalytic activity. The catalytic membrane microreactor demonstrated excellent catalytic activity and stability, where complete 4-NP conversion was readily achieved via a single pass through the membrane. This desirable performance was maintained over 12 h of continuous operation, although a certain amount of organic buildup on the membrane was observed. The catalytic membrane microreactor outperforms conventional batch reactors due to its improved mass transport. 4-NP-spiked real water samples were also completely converted. This study provides new insights for the rational design of membrane reactors for industrial applications

Nitrogen recovery from a palladium leachate via membrane distillation:System performance and ammonium chloride crystallization

Ammonia leaching process was often used to separate precious and rare-earth metals during their recovery via hydrometallurgy, resulting in the generation of nitrogen-rich leachate. Therefore, it is significantly important to recover the nitrogen from the leachate for reuse. In this work, we explored the treatment of palladium leachate (PL) via direct contact membrane distillation (DCMD) for nitrogen recovery. Effects of temperature and pH on system performance and nitrogen recovery mainly in the form of ammonium chloride (NH4Cl) were evaluated. Results showed that DCMD performance decline caused by membrane scaling was primarily impacted by feed temperature rather than pH. The higher temperature, the more severe membrane scaling occurrence. However, there was little to no effect of initial pH on distillate flux decline. Nitrogen in the form of NH4Cl was successfully recovered from PL, which was significantly influenced by initial pH. The weight of NH4Cl obtained ranged from 17.4 to 21.5 g/L under various operating conditions, and the purity of the NH4Cl was up to 97.4%, near the industrial grade, at feed temperature of 40°C and initial pH of 8.5. Additionally, results of gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC–MS) revealed that the primary dissolved organic matter (DOM) in the virgin PL were tetradecanoic acid and isosorbide. Our results suggest that DCMD can be used as a promising and feasible solution for nitrogen recovery from the PL.</p

The numerical simulation for coal gangue as roadbed material on groundwater nitrate concentration

Numerical simulation was used to elaborate temporal and spatial distribution of nitrate concentration in groundwater under one highway,which was constructed with coal gangue based on experiment.Experimental results indicated that the contaminated area spread around over time,but more obviously in horizontal direction,especially in groundwater flow direction.In addition,nitrate concentration decreased gradually in two-axis direction,and contaminated degree decreased with the increasing of distance from the contaminated source caused leaching solution.Numerical simulation suggests that the nitrate concentration (N) in the section will only meet the standard of class III (GB/T14848-93) for groundwater environmental quality after 10 years,although the concentration reaches the standard of class I currently

BiOBr/BiOI Photocatalyst Based on Fly Ash Cenospheres with Improved Photocatalytic Performance

A series of BiOBr/BiOI photocatalysts supported on fly-ash cenospheres (FACs) were successfully prepared via a facile one-pot alcoholysis method. The as-prepared samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray photoelectron spectrometer (XPS) and UV-visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS). The results indicate that pH value plays a critical role in BiOBr/BiOI loading. Based on the photodegradation tests under visible light irradiation (blue LED irradiation), the photocatalytic property of BiOBr/BiOI/FACs photocatalysts obtained under alkaline conditions is superior to that prepared under neutral or acidic conditions, and higher than those of BiOB/FACs and BiOI//FACs. The improved photocatalytic performance of BiOBr/BiOI/FACs can be attributed to more BiOBr/BiOI loaded on the surface of FACs and the efficient photogenerated electron-hole separation

Study on carbon-fixing,oxygen-releasing,temperature-reducing and humidity-increasing effects of evergreen plants in south highway

Li-6400 portable photosynthesis system,was used to test the diurnal variations of photosynthetic rate and stomatal conductance of evergreen plants in Southern Highway,and to calculate their ability of absorbing carbon dioxide and releasing oxygen and to calculate the transpiring water volume and absorbing heat quantity of plants.Results showed that Euonymus fortunei Hand-Mazz,Hedera helix.Aucuba eriobotryaefolia had better carbon-fixing and oxygen-releasing effects,while Photinia serrulata,Trachycarpus fortunei,Radix Ophiopogonis had worse carbon-fixing and oxygen-releasing effects.Radix Ophiopogonis,Photinia glabra,Euonymus fortunei Hand.-Mazz had higher cooling and humidification ability,while Photinia serrulata,Trachycarpus fortunei did not act as well as them.Euonymus fortunei Hand.-Mazz and Hedera helix had higher leaf chlorophyll in per unit mass,values are 12.91、10.34、9.93 mg·g-1.Radix Ophiopogonis、Cinnamomum camphora(Linn.) Presl and Trachycarpus fortunei had lower leaf chlorophyll in per unit mass,value is 3.55、2.67、2.06 mg·g-1.Releasing oxygen,fixing carbon,net assimilation and chlorophyll content has good correlation(P＜0.05)

Removal characteristics of tetracyclines resistant bacteria and tetracycline resistance genes in sludge deep dehydration

In order to investigate the removal characteristics of Tetracyclines Resistant Bacteria (TRB) and Tetracycline Resistance Genes (TRGs) in sludge deep dehydration,Dilution plate coating method and Real-Time Polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) were used to detected the numbers of TRB and four tet genes (tetA、tetB、tetM and tetX) abundant before and after sludge dehydration,and then TRB and TRGs removal characteristics before and after sludge deep dehydration were analyzed.Results showed that:both TRB and TRGs were determined before and after sludge deep dehydration.However,the TRB and TRGs were partly removed after the treatment of sludge deep dehydration.tetA, tetB and tetM removal percentages reached more than 80%.The results can be used as reference for the control of TRB and TRGs contamination