Pollution Control Technologies Research Articles

Study on Soil Pollution Control Technology of Land Remediation Project

The problem of soil pollution in China is becoming increasingly serious, which has brought potential threats to the surrounding ecological environment. The harmful substances in the soil will enter the human body with agricultural products or food chains, affecting human health. Based on the current situation of soil pollution in China, this paper analyzes the existing problems of farmland soil pollution, and puts forward effective soil pollution control technologies in order to provide technical support for the current soil pollution control.

Is digital finance a powerful means for Chinese cities to reduce environmental pollution in the fourth industrial revolution?

ABSTRACT Exploring the impact of digital finance on environmental pollution is of great significance for realising regional sustainable development and promoting digital finance strategies. This paper uses the balanced panel data of 274 prefecture-level cities in China collected between 2011 and 2018, empirically studies the impact of digital finance on environmental pollution, and analyses its direct, mediating, nonlinear and heterogeneity effects. The results show that digital finance reduces environmental pollution and the effect gradually increases with time. The sub-indicators of digital finance significantly reduce environmental pollution, among which the usage-depth has the greatest impact on environmental pollution, while digitalisation level has the least. Digital finance reduces environmental pollution through production technology and industrial structure, while pollution control technology does not play an intermediary role. The pollution control effect of digital finance is more prominent in cities with a high level of Internet development and human capital. Furthermore, the inhibitory effect is more significant in western region and medium-small sized cities.

A review on management practices, environmental impacts, and human exposure risks related to electrical and electronic waste in Vietnam: findings from case studies in informal e-waste recycling areas.

Electrical and electronic waste (e-waste) has become a global concern, especially in developing countries. In this review, we conducted a literature survey of e-waste management practices, processing activities, and adverse effects in Vietnam, an emerging country in Southeast Asia, by gathering data from peer-reviewed articles published between 2009 and 2021. This is the first review paper to comprehensively discuss management and research aspects regarding e-waste in an Asian developing country. Due to the lack of an effective management and recycling system, a certain portion of Vietnamese e-waste has been processed by informal sectors without appropriate recycling and pollution control technology, resulting in localized contamination and human exposure to toxic chemicals. Primitive processing activities, such as manual dismantling, open burning, and plastic recycling, have been identified as important contributors to the environmental emission and human exposure to toxic elements (notably As, Mn, Ni, Pb, Zn) and organic pollutants like flame retardants, PAHs, PCBs, and dioxin-related compounds. Informal e-waste processing from these small-scale workshops can release pollutants at similar levels compared to large-scale facilities in developed countries. This fact suggests an urgent need to develop management best practices for e-waste in Vietnam as well as other emerging and developing countries, in order to increase recycling efficiency and minimize their adverse impacts on environmental and human health.

Influence of DOM and microbes on Fe biogeochemistry at a riverbank filtration site

Riverbank filtration (RBF) constitutes an important part of the water cycle, which involves active natural filtration leading to pollution of river water being intercepted and retained. The RBF has the function of water purification, but retention of exogenous pollutants in the RBF system complicates biogeochemical processes due to the presence of primary active components. In this study, we verified the essential role of microbial mediation during the interactions between primary Fe minerals in the RBF system and dissolved organic matter (DOM) in river water based on lab-scale experiments. The results demonstrated that DOM from infiltration of river water increased the amount of iron (Fe) released from the sediment in RBF, leading to an increase in Fe concentration in groundwater by higher than one order of magnitude. In particular, the existence of Fe bacteria even made this effect more thorough and more complex. Abiotic reduction was shown to play a more significant role in increasing Fe release than microbe-mediated reduction. Increasing the amount of Fe released could change the distribution of Fe minerals at the sediment surface, thereby affecting the structure of the microbial community in the RBF system and decreasing the DOM concentration in the groundwater. Moreover, As and Mn were found to behave in a similar manner as Fe due to their close biochemical properties when interacting with primary minerals in sediment. This study not only provides mechanistic insight into the higher Fe concentrations encountered in the groundwater of nearby rivers but also has important practical implications for developing nature-based technologies for water pollution control and environmental remediation.

Sustainability prioritization of technologies for cleaning up soils polluted with oil and petroleum products: A decision support system under complex spherical fuzzy environment

The transition towards a sustainable land management (SLM) needs for utilizing appropriate technologies for controlling soil pollution, and ensures the development of environmental, economic, technical, and social dimensions in region. Using these technologies for cleaning up soils polluted with oil and petroleum products in Behbahan city (in the southwest of Iran) is considered. The soil pollution control technologies (SPCTs) can assist local authorities, governments, investors, and developers to reduce climate change, mitigate soil, water, and air pollution and construct the sustainable communities. With the aim of balance between the issues in the context of sustainability policy, criteria (principles) including environmental, economic, technical, and social aspects are considered. The research takes into consideration the applicability of a novel multi-criteria decision-making approach namely complex spherical fuzzy set-based CODAS (Combinative distance-based assessment). The approach can be used to choose the suitable technology in a sustainable mode, considering the principles related to sustainability pillars. It comprises various technologies for soil pollution control and prioritizes technologies from the most to least as: Biorestoration technology, Excavation technology, Soil venting technology, Soil flushing, and Hydraulic barriers technology.

Advances in air pollution control for key industries in China during the 13th five-year plan

Industrial development is an essential foundation of the national economy, but the industry is also the largest source of air pollution, of which power plants, iron and steel, building materials, and other industries emit large amounts of pollutants. Therefore, the Chinese government has promulgated a series of stringent emission regulations, and it is against this backdrop that research into air pollution control technologies for key industrial sectors is in full swing. In particular, during the 13th Five-Year Plan, breakthroughs have been made in pollution control technology for key industrial sectors. A multi-pollutant treatment technology system of desulfurization, denitrification, and dust collection, which applies to key industries such as power plants, steel, and building materials, has been developed. High-performance materials for the treatment of different pollutants, such as denitrification catalysts and desulfurization absorbers, were developed. At the same time, multi-pollutant synergistic removal technologies for flue gas in various industries have also become a hot research topic, with important breakthroughs in the synergistic removal of NOx, SOx, and Hg. Due to the increasingly stringent emission standards and regulations in China, there is still a need to work on the development of multi-pollutant synergistic technologies and further research and development of synergistic abatement technologies for CO2 to meet the requirements of ultra-low emissions in industrial sectors.

ISO 14001 certification and industrial decarbonization: An empirical study

Voluntary environmental programs have proven to be a viable tool of pollution abatement, supplementing the command-and-control approach and market-based policies such as emissions trading and taxes. These voluntary initiatives aim to achieve pollution reduction through several channels, including procedural changes, raw material changes, product and packaging redesign, and innovation in pollution control technologies. The ISO 14001 standard is such a voluntary program; first introduced in 1996 by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), it has steadily grown since and has been widely adopted by organizations around the world. In this paper, we empirically study the effects of the ISO 14001 standard on carbon emissions using a panel dataset of Korean manufacturing firms. As the largest contributor to the warming of the earth's atmosphere, carbon emissions are the focus of national and international efforts to curb climate change. The Korean manufacturing industry is responsible for about 40% of greenhouse gases in the country and has experienced rapid growth in ISO 14001 certified facilities. Our econometric results indicate that ISO 14001 certification spurs a significant reduction in carbon emissions among certified firms, after accounting for its potential endogeneity with an instrumental variable strategy. The empirical results suggest that wider ISO 14001 certification among carbon-intensive industries can be a credible pathway to help achieve the Korean government's goal of cutting domestic carbon emissions by 37% by 2030.

Insight into the kinetic analysis of acid mine drainage treated by carbonate rock

ABSTRACT Acid mine drainage (AMD) has caused a great impact on soil, surface water, groundwater, plants or other organisms in the mining environment because of its high acidity, high sulphate content, and contains a variety of heavy metals. AMD treated by carbonate rocks have been regarded as a feasible technology for pollution control and applied widely in mine area. However, to date, the kinetics of the reaction between carbonate rock and AMD have not been investigated, resulting in the lack of systematic theoretical guidance for the implementation of this technology. In this study, effects of carbonate particle sizes and reaction temperature on AMD treatment were investigated. The dissolution efficiency of Ca2+ was used to quantitatively reflect extent of reaction, and the leaching kinetics was analysed based on the shrinking core model. The results showed that carbonate rocks with a particle size of 0.5–1.0 mm had the best pH-enhancing performance for AMD and highest removal efficiency for Fe3+ (>98.00%), while the Mn2+ and SO4 2− were temperature sensitive. The diffusion of solid product layer was the controlling step of the leaching reaction, and the apparent activation energy of the reaction was 12.63 kJ·mol−1.

Impacts of official high-standard scenic spots on environment and growth — Evidence from China's 5A scenic spots at the city level

5A scenic spots represent world-class tourist attractions, the highest level of officially certified scenic spots in China. This study uses the establishment of 5A scenic spots as a quasi-natural experiment to evaluate their impact on the local environment and economic growth using the difference-in-difference method. The results indicate that the establishment of 5A scenic spots is associated with an 11.2% drop in the local total volume of SO2 and a 10.5% drop in unit volume (total volume divided by area). This effect was larger in more economically developed cities. Emission reduction was achieved by the deindustrialization of industrial structures rather than the improvement of pollution control technology. It was mainly realized by a substantial drop in the number of newly added key polluting enterprises approved by local governments. Furthermore, deindustrialization associated with 5A spots benefited the tertiary industry, but hindered the secondary industry. The net effect of 5A spots on local GDP was positive on average. These findings indicate that the establishment of 5A scenic spots can reconcile the goals of environmental protection and economic growth.

The Interreg Project AdSWiM: Managed Use of Treated Wastewater for the Quality of the Adriatic Sea

The Italy-Croatia Cross Border Cooperation (CBC) Programme is the financial instrument supporting the cooperation between the two European Member States overlooking the Adriatic Sea. The first call for proposals was launched in 2017, identifying four priority axes of intervention. Subsequently, in 2019, the kick-off of the AdSWiM project “Managed use of treated urban wastewater for the quality of the Adriatic Sea” took place in Udine (IT). Adriatic marine waters are generally classified as good to excellent based on the Bathing Water Directive (2006/7/EC). Nevertheless, issues of low productivity or the lack of nutrients have been often suggested, especially on the Italian side. The project addresses the question of whether wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) discharging to the sea, after applying appropriate pollution control and management technologies, can modulate the nutrient content of their effluents to support localized depleted areas. This idea is borrowed from one of the motivations that support the reuse of treated wastewater for irrigation, thus leading to the return of nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, etc.) to natural biogeochemical cycles. However, the hypothesis of modulating the nutrient composition of wastewater opens up to several critical aspects, including legislative and technological ones. Being aware of the delicate environmental implications, we have undertaken the project involving WWTPs, research centers, municipalities, and legal experts with the aim of investigating in detail the problems related to wastewater reuse, especially with regard to the content of nutrients. Our experimental approach aimed to evaluate appropriate and possibly new treatment technologies to reduce the microbial load and to implement chemical and microbiological tests on the treated wastewater. Results have shown that it can be tricky to draw decisive conclusions because (i) the wastewater management systems differ between the two sides of the Adriatic sea due to the different levels of technological development of WWTPs; (ii) the Italian and Croatian coasts deeply differ in geographic characteristics (i.e., topography, orography, current circuits, presence of rivers) and anthropogenic pressure (i.e., exploitation levels, population density); (iii) the new treatment technologies to lower bacterial contamination need further efforts to raise their technological level of readiness (TRL) and make them implementable in the existing WWTPs. However, in terms of chemical control methodologies, the proposed sensors and biosensors gave positive results, managing to decrease the detection limits for the measured parameters, and the tested technologies for microbiological monitoring were also effective. In particular, the latter was carried out by using recent molecular biology techniques, capable of resolving the microbiota in treated wastewater, which emerged to be strictly related to the features of the WWTPs.

Studies on the Bioremediation Potential of Bacteria Isolated from Diesel-contaminated Soils in Kano

Bioremediation is pollution control technology that uses microorganism to clean up contaminated environment. This study was aimed at assessing the bioremediation potential of bacteria isolated from diesel-contaminated soils and screen them for the ability to remediate diesel contaminated environment using their potential to degrade diesel as carbon and energy source. Diesel-contaminated soil samples were collected using standard method. Bacteria were isolated, characterized and identified using standard microbiological procedures. The identified bacteria species were subsequently screened for diesel biodegradation potential in Bushnell Haas Media (BHM). Optimum conditions (pH, temperature, and diesel concentrations) for biodegradation were determined. The results showed that Bacillus subtilis and Bacillus megaterium were the most potent species identified. Bacillus subtilis and Bacillus megaterium were observed to utilize diesel as the sole carbon source in which they degrade 79% and 80% diesel during the 25 days incubation study respectively. Optimum diesel biodegradation for Bacillus subtilis and Bacillus megaterium were temperatures of between 30 and 35 C, pH between 6 and 7, diesel concentrations between 3% and 2%. The findings of this study demonstrated the species' ability to digest fuel, suggesting their potential utility in the broad-scale bioremediation of diesel-contaminated soils.

Experimental Study of Al-Modified Zeolite with Oxygen Nanobubbles in Repairing Black Odorous Sediments in River Channels

As an extreme phenomenon of water pollution, black odorous water not only causes ecological damage, but also severely restricts urban development. Presently, the in situ remediation technology for sediment from river channels is still undeveloped, and there are many bottlenecks in the key technologies for sediment pollution control and ecological restoration. In this study, three experimental tanks were used to explore the restoration effect of Al-modified zeolite with oxygen nanobubbles on black odorous sediment from the Shichuan River. One of the tanks housed Typha orientalis and Canna indica L. (TC), another tank housed the same plants and had Al-modified zeolite with oxygen nanobubbles (TC+AMZON), and the last tank was used as a comparison test (CS). The results show that the nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) in the sediment are violently released into the surrounding water. However, TC+AMZON could effectively inhibit the release of P. The released amount of soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP) from the pore water in the sediment reached its maximum at 40 d, and the amounts were 122.97% and 74.32% greater in TC and CS, respectively, than in TC+AMZON. However, the released amount of total phosphorus (TP) reached its maximum at 70 d, and the amounts were 260.14% and 218.23% greater in TC and CS, respectively, than in TC+AMZON. TC+AMZON significantly increased the dissolved oxygen (DO) and the oxidation-reduction potential (ORP) of pore water in the sediment in the early stages of the test. At 0 d, the DO content in TC+AMZON reached 10.6 mg/L, which is 112.0% and 178.95% greater than in TC and CS, respectively. The change law of ORP in the sediment is consistent with the DO. TC+AMZON significantly improved the transparency and reduced the content of chlorophylla in the upper water and could slightly reduce the N and P content in overlying water. The transparency of TC+AMZON increased by 130.76% and 58.73%, and chlorophylla decreased by 55.6% and 50.0% when compared to TC and CS, respectively.

The human–technical–environmental systems framework for sustainability analysis

The field of sustainability science has grown significantly over the past two decades in terms of both conceptual development and empirical research. Systems-focused analysis is critical to building generalizable knowledge in the field, yet much relevant research does not take a systems view. Systems-oriented analytical frameworks can help researchers conceptualize and analyze sustainability-relevant systems, but existing frameworks may lack access or utility outside a particular research tradition. In this article, we outline the human–technical–environmental (HTE) framework, which provides analysts from different disciplinary backgrounds and fields of study a common way to advance systems-focused research on sustainability issues. We detail a step-by-step guide for the application of the HTE framework through a matrix-based approach for identifying system components, studying interactions among system components, and examining interventions targeting components and/or their interactions for the purpose of advancing sustainability. We demonstrate the applicability of the HTE framework and the matrix-based approach through an analysis of an empirical case of coal-fired power plants and mercury pollution, which is relevant to large-scale sustainability transitions. Based on this analysis, we identify specific insights related to the applicability of upstream and downstream leverage points, connections between energy markets and the use of pollution control technologies, and the importance of institutions fitting both biophysical dynamics and socioeconomic and political dynamics. Further application of the HTE framework and the identification of insights can help develop systems-oriented analysis, and inform societal efforts to advance sustainability, as well as contribute to the formulation of empirically grounded middle-range theories related to sustainability systems and sustainability transitions. We conclude with a discussion of areas for further development and application of the HTE framework.

A Light-Permeable Solar Evaporator with Three-Dimensional Photocatalytic Sites to Boost Volatile-Organic-Compound Rejection for Water Purification.

Solar-driven interfacial evaporation (SIE) is emerging as an energy-efficient technology to alleviate the global water shortages. However, there is a fatal disadvantage in using SIE, that is, the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) widely present in feedwater would concurrently evaporate and transport in distilled water, which threatens the water safety. Photocatalysis is a sustainable technology for pollution control, and after years of development, it has become a mature method. Considering the restriction by the insufficient reaction of the permeating VOCs on the two-dimensional (2D) light-available interface of conventional materials, a 3D photocatalytic approach can be established to boost VOC rejection for photothermal evaporation. In the present work, a light-permeable solar evaporator with 3D photocatalytic sites is constructed by a porous sponge decorated with BiOBrI nanosheets with oxygen-rich vacancies. The 3D microchannels in the evaporator provide a light-permeable path with the deepest irradiation depth of about 580 μm, and the reactive interface is increased by tens of times compared with the traditional 2D membrane, resulting in suppression of VOC remnants in distilled water by around four orders of magnitude. When evaporating river water containing 5 mg L-1 extra added phenol, no phenol residues (below 0.001 mg/L) were detected in the produced freshwater. This development is believed to provide a powerful strategy to resolve the VOC bottleneck of SIE.

Compilation of reaction kinetics parameters determined in the Key Development Project for Air Pollution Formation Mechanism and Control Technologies in China

A compilation of new advances made in the research field of laboratory reaction kinetics in China's Key Development Project for Air Pollution Formation Mechanism and Control Technologies was presented. These advances are grouped into six broad, interrelated categories, including volatile organic compound (VOC) oxidation, secondary organic aerosol (SOA) formation, new particle formation (NPF) and gas-particle partitioning, ozone chemistry, model parameters, and secondary inorganic aerosol (SIA) formation, highlighting the laboratory work done by Chinese researchers. For smog chamber applications, the current knowledge gained from laboratory studies is reviewed, with emphasis on summarizing the oxidation mechanisms of long-chain alkanes, aromatics, alkenes, aldehydes/ketones in the atmosphere, SOA formation from anthropogenic emission sources, and oxidation of aromatics, isoprene, and limonene, as well as SIA formation. For flow tube applications, atmospheric oxidation mechanisms of toluene and methacrolein, SOA formation from limonene oxidation by ozone, gas-particle partitioning of peroxides, and sulfuric acid-water (H2SO4-H2O) binary nucleation, methanesulfonic acid-water (MSA-H2O) binary nucleation, and sulfuric acid-ammonia-water (H2SO4-NH3-H2O) ternary nucleation are discussed.

Preface

The 4th International Conference on Environmental Prevention and Pollution Control Technologies (EPPCT 2022) was planned to be held in Zhangjiajie, China from April 22 to 24, 2022. However, it is uncertain when the COVID-19 will end, so it remains unclear for postponement time, while many scholars and researchers wanted to attend this long-waited conference and have academic exchanges with their peers. Therefore, in order to actively respond the call of the government, and meet author’s request, EPPCT 2022 was organized in a virtual mode. This approach not only avoids people gathering, but also meets their communication needs.The meeting focused on the research fields of “environmental prevention” and “environmental pollution prevention and control”. The primary goal of the conference is to provide an exchange platform for experts and scholars in “environmental prevention” and “pollution prevention” as well as enterprise developers, to promote the exchange of new technologies for environmental pollution prevention and control at home and abroad, to explore the development path of ecological civilization construction, and to cope with new opportunities and challenges.This scientific event brings together more than 70 national and international researchers in environmental prevention and pollution control technologies. On top of the local participants coming from different national universities, international participants are also registered from different countries, namely India, Malaysia, Egypt, Ethiopia, and Australia. During the conference, the conference model was divided into three sessions, including oral presentations, keynote speeches, and online Q&A discussion. In the first part, some scholars, whose submissions were selected as the excellent papers, were given about 5-10 minutes to perform their oral presentations one by one. Then in the second part, keynote speakers were each allocated 30-45 minutes to hold their speeches.List of Committee member is available in this pdf.

1970년대 미국 환경규제정책과 오염통제기술의 공동형성: 가솔린 자동차 배기가스 저감장치에 대한 미국환경보호청 내부 논쟁을 중심으로

The Co-production of Environmental Regulation and Pollution Control Technology in 1970s America: The Controversy over Catalytic Converters at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency - Environmental Regulation;Pollution Control Technology;Air Pollution;Catalytic Converter;EPA

Review of Particle Filters for Internal Combustion Engines

Diesel engines have gradually become one of the main forces in the human transportation industry because of their high efficiency, good durability, and stable operation. However, compared with gasoline vehicles, the high emission of diesel vehicles forces manufacturers to introduce new pollutant control technologies. Although the particulate matter emissions of gasoline vehicles are lower than that of diesel vehicles, with the popularity of gasoline vehicles and the continuous rise of power, the impact of these particles on the environment cannot be ignored. Therefore, diesel particulate filters and gasoline particulate filters have been invented to collect the fine particles in the exhaust gas to protect the environment and meet increasingly stringent emission regulations. This paper summarizes the research progress on diesel particulate filters and gasoline particulate filters at present and comprehensively introduces the diesel particulate filter and gasoline particulate filter from the mechanism, composition, and operation processes. Additionally, the laws and regulations of various countries and the impact of gas waste particulates on the human body are described. In addition, the mechanisms of the diesel particulate filter, gasoline particulate filter, and regeneration were studied. Finally, the prospects and future directions for the development of particle filters for internal combustion engines are presented.

A bibliometric analysis of research progress in sulfate-rich wastewater pollution control technology

Sustainable industrial development requires research on pollution control in industrial wastewater, particularly sulfate-rich wastewater, which poses a threat to the environment. This article differs from the previous sulfate wastewater treatment process and equipment review. Based on the quantitative analysis, this paper has determined some characteristics of the related literature on the pollution control technology of high-concentration sulfate wastewater to help researchers establish future research directions. From 1991–2020, the WoS database published 9473 articles related to high-concentration sulfate wastewater treatment technology. We used bibliometric analysis combined with social network analysis and s-curve technical analysis in this research. The United States was the first to start this type of research, Australia has insightful and instructive research articles in this area, and China is the most active in international cooperation. The keywords that appear most frequently in the dataset are degradation, adsorption, oxidation, reduction, and recovery. By S-curve fitting, it is known that biological treatment methods are closer to the maturity stage than physical and chemical treatment methods.

Water Pollution Control and Comprehensive Utilization Technology of Water Resources in Chemical Industrial Parks

Water Pollution Control and Comprehensive Utilization Technology of Water Resources in Chemical Industrial Parks