Despite efforts to reduce dependence on coal-fired power generation due to climate concerns, continued usage for energy stability is anticipated. This study was conducted to address environmental issues associated with coal-fired power generation and promote its persistent utilization. we aimed to establish both eco-friendly and economically sustainable practices by mitigating waste such as fly ash (FA) and bottom ash (BA) emissions while recycling them in circulating fluidized bed combustion (CFBC).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAccurate analyses of total organic carbon (TOC) encompassing particulate organic carbon in wastewater are key for evaluating the behavior of particulate organic contaminants and maintaining the carbon mass balance throughout the wastewater treatment process. This study was conducted to develop candidate reference materials of environmental origin from excess sludge collected from wastewater treatment facilities, primarily receiving industrial wastewater and livestock manure as the main sources. Homogeneity and stability assessments for total carbon (TC) and TOC were conducted in the particle samples following the standardized procedures of ISO Guide 35 and ISO 13258.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPrior studies have successfully used manganese oxides to facilitate the transformation of tetracycline in aqueous solution. To further understand the kinetic and the transformation pathway of tetracycline via birnessite (δ-MnO) under different conditions, experiments were conducted at pH levels of 3, 6, and 9 in the presence or absence of Aldrich humic acid (ADHA). Tetracycline removal followed the pseudo-second-order reaction model in all investigated cases, and the removal efficiency (g mg h ) followed the following trend: pH 3 (0.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMonitoring and prevention of the formation of disinfection by-products (DBPs) is paramount in drinking water treatment plants (DWTP) to ensure human health safety. This review provides an overview of how fluorescence techniques are developed to predict DBP formation and to evaluate the reduction of fluorescence components and DBPs following individual DWTP processes. Evidence has shown that common DBPs, nitrogenous DBPs and specific emerging DBPs exhibit positive linear relationships with terrestrial, anthropogenic, tryptophan-like, and eutrophic humic-like fluorescence.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTotal organic carbon (TOC) analysis with accurate determination of particulate organic carbon (POC) content in suspended solids (SS) containing water is critical for evaluating the environmental impact of particulate organic pollutants in water and calculating the carbon cycle mass balance. TOC analysis is divided into the non-purgeable organic carbon (NPOC) and differential (known as TC-TIC) methods; although the selection of method is greatly affected by the sample matrix characteristics of SS, no studies have investigated this. This study quantitatively evaluates the effect of SS containing inorganic carbon (IC) and purgeable organic carbon (PuOC), as well as that of sample pretreatment, on the accuracy and precision of TOC measurement in both methods for various environmental water sample types (12 wastewater influents and effluents and 12 types of stream water).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe hydrophobicity of dissolved organic matter (DOM) affects various aspects of its environmental impacts in terms of water quality, sorption behaviors, interactions with other pollutants, and water treatment efficiency. In this study, source tracking of river DOM was conducted separately for hydrophobic acid (HoA-DOM) and hydrophilic (Hi-DOM) fractions using end-member mixing analysis (EMMA) in an agricultural watershed during a storm event. EMMA with optical indices of bulk DOM revealed larger contributions of soil (24 %), compost (28 %), and wastewater effluent (23 %) to riverine DOM under high versus low flow conditions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAs the water quality index (WQI) represents water quality, it is crucial to customize the WQI for a specific purpose. In this study, to better represent water quality data using WQI, a random forest (RF) approach was used to derive the parameter weight and calculate the WQI according to the watershed and its use. Eight parameters (water temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH, electrical conductivity, suspended solids, total nitrogen, total phosphorus, and total organic carbon) were evaluated using a total of 220,103 data points collected from 900 monitoring sites throughout South Korea between 2011 and 2020.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUsing surface functionalization and related applications to 2D materials as innovative solutions to environmental pollution has gained considerable attention among researchers. Fluorinated graphene has derivative-based synergistic components with high thermal and chemical stability because of its structure and bonding. Fluorine-functionalized reduced graphene oxide (rFGO-TiO) demonstrated enhanced hydrophilicity and wettability, highly efficient photocatalytic disinfection, and an algicidal effect.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFParticulate organic matter (POM) in water systems can be converted into dissolved organic matter (DOM) through various pathways depending on its properties and transformation. Thus, information on the behavior of POM is crucial for fully understanding water systems and the carbon cycle. In this study, the effects of particle size and the source of POM, as well as photochemical and microbial changes in DOM characteristics subsequently released from POM were evaluated using various spectral indices, excitation-emission matrix combined with parallel factor analysis components, and principal component analysis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA variety of analytical methods have been applied to describe the properties of aquatic humic substances (HS). However, there are only a few methods available to probe HS hydrophobicity because of the heterogeneous character of HS. In this study, hydrophilic interaction chromatography (HILIC) equipped with a UV detector was employed to describe the heterogeneous distribution of HS with respect to its hydrophobicity and to suggest a representative HS hydrophobicity index.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSediment humins are extremely important for binding hydrophobic organic contaminants in rivers and lakes. Nonetheless, little is known about their structure and binding. We, therefore, examined the structure and phenanthrene sorption affinity of sediment humin samples upstream, midstream, and downstream from two artificial lakes in South Korea by using the elemental C-NMR analysis, Freundlich model, and Langmuir model.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn this study, spatial and temporal changes of eight water quality indicators and 30 types of hazardous substances including volatile organic compounds (VOCs), semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs), pesticides, and inorganic matters for the small coastal streams along the West Coast of South Korea were investigated. In coastal streams with clear seasonal changes in water quality, larger watershed areas led to greater contamination by particulate matter (i.e.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAccelerated export of nitrogen-containing dissolved organic matter (DOM) or dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) to streams and rivers from agricultural watersheds has been reported worldwide. However, few studies have examined the dynamics of DOM molecular composition with the attention paid to the relative contributions of DON from various sources altered with flow conditions. In this study, end-member mixing analysis (EMMA) was conducted with the optical properties of DOM to quantify the relative contributions of several major organic matter sources (litter, reed, field soil, and manure) in two rivers of a small agricultural watershed.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBiochar (BC) application has the potential to be integrated into a carbon-trading framework owing to its multiple environmental and economic benefits. Despite the increasing research attention over the past ten years, the mechanisms of BC-induced priming effects on soil organic carbon mineralization and their influencing factors have not been systematically considered. This review aims to document the recent progress in BC research by focusing on (1) how BC-induced priming effects change the soil environment, (2) the factors governing the mechanisms underlying BC amendment effects on soils, and (3) how BC amendments alter soil microbial communities and nutrient dynamics.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFVarious biochars (BCs) have been developed to remove heavy metals contained in road runoff; however, there is insufficient information regarding the competitive adsorption efficiency of modified BC with regard to heavy metals due to a lack of comparative evaluation based on BC properties and modification methods. In this study, three different types of BC (RBC: rice husk, WBC: wood chip, MBC: mixture) were modified following five different methods: acidic, alkaline, oxidic, and manganese oxide (MnOx) and iron oxide (FeOx) impregnation. The changes in the physicochemical and morphological properties of the modified BC were investigated, and the adsorption characteristics of three heavy metals (Cd, Pb, and Zn) under single and mixed conditions were compared and evaluated.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe effects of chlorination on 16 humic and fulvic acids (HAs and FAs, respectively) extracted from six different soil samples from Korea and two purchased soil samples (Canadian peat moss, Elliott Silt Loam Soil) were investigated to identify the changes in their structural characteristics and their effects on trihalomethane formation potential (THMFP) and haloacetic acid formation potential. The effect of chlorination was also investigated in fractionated samples (Aldrich HA, F-F) based on molecular weight (MW). Total organic carbon (TOC), specific UV absorbance (SUVA), fulvic-like fluorescence (%FLF), terrestrial humic-like fluorescence (%THLF), weight-average molecular weight (MW), and carbon structures (C NMR) were measured for each sample before and after chlorination, and factors relating to the chlorination mechanism were examined using principal component analysis (PCA).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFParticulate matter (PM) has long-term effects on water quality compared to dissolved matter (DM) during downstream transfer after inflows into an aquatic environment. In the present study, the characteristics, behavior, and effects of PM from an urban watershed under photo-irradiation were investigated through sequential resuspensions before being compared. Changes in the organic matter content, heavy metals (Mn, Fe, Zn, Pb), spectroscopic indices (SUVA, slope ratio (S), humidification index (HIX), fluorescence index (FI), and biological index (BIX)), excitation-emission matrix combined with parallel factor analysis components (EEM-PARAFAC), and disinfection by-product formation potential (DBPFP) were analyzed.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn this study, a combined media filtration process with micro-flocculation (CMF) was developed, to simultaneously treat particulate and dissolved contaminants in urban road runoff. Dual-size foam glass media with stone and sand layers were applied and the efficiency of road runoff treatment was investigated according to filtration and micro-flocculation under various experimental conditions (stone/sand layer ratio, linear velocity, and coagulant types). Moreover, the removal efficiencies of suspended solids (SS), phosphorus, organic carbon, and heavy metals (Zn, Cu, Pb, Cd) by CMF were evaluated.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInt J Environ Res Public Health
July 2020
This study investigated the birnessite (-MnO) catalyzed oxidative removal of 1,4-naphthoquinone (1,4-NPQ) in the presence of phenolic mediators; specifically, the kinetics of 1,4-NPQ removal under various conditions was examined, and the reaction pathway of 1,4-NPQ was verified by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). The removal rate of 1,4-NPQ by birnessite-catalyzed oxidation (pH = 5) was faster in the presence of phenolic mediators with electron-donating substituents (pseudo-first-order initial stage rate constant () = 0.380-0.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis study was conducted to develop and validate a more reliable total organic carbon (TOC) analytical procedure for water samples containing suspended solids (SS). The effects of the combined ultrasonic and alkaline pretreatment (CULA) on the TOC measurement were studied in water samples containing SS from three origins (algae, sewage particles, and soil) under different analytical conditions (SS concentration, oxidation methods, and sieve size). The applicability of turbidity as a homogeneity index was also evaluated.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn this study, we investigated the effect of sample pretreatments (ultrasonication and alkaline extraction) on total organic carbon (TOC) measurements for water samples containing suspended solids (SS) of four different origins (algae, soil, sewage sludge, and leaf litter) to more clearly assess the impact of particulate organic carbon (POC) in water. The effects each of ultrasonication (power, pulse, etc.) and alkaline extraction condition (concentration, time, etc.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPretreatment processes substantially modify the organic composition of landfill leachate, which affect the fouling behavior in the post-treatment of membrane filtration. In this study, the changes in the chemical composition of stabilized landfill leachate upon various pretreatments, which encompassed coagulation/flocculation (C/F), ion exchange resins (MIEX), granular activated carbon (GAC) adsorption, and their combinations, were tracked via excitation emission matrix - parallel factor analysis (EEM-PARAFAC), and the membrane fouling potentials were assessed in the subsequent processes of nanofiltration (NF). Fluorescence components, fulvic-like (C1), protein-like (C2), and humic-like (C3), were identified and validated using EEM-PARAFAC.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn this study, we investigated the photochemical release of dissolved organic matter (DOM) from the particulate organic matter (POM) of soil and litter leaves (broad leaves; coniferous leaves) and compared the releasing characteristics of the DOM using UV-visible and fluorescence spectroscopy. The disinfection by-product formation potential (DBPFP) of the released DOM was also examined. Additional dissolved organic carbon (DOC) was released by UV irradiation for all POM sources (10.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn this work, the changes of different organic constituents in landfill leachate were tracked in Fenton oxidation processes with different operation parameters including HO doses, pH, and the ratios of [HO]/[Fe] via fluorescence excitation emission matrix - parallel factor analysis (EEM-PARAFAC) and two-dimensional correlation spectroscopy (2D-COS). One tryptophan-like (C1), one fulvic-like (C2), and one humic-like (C3) components were identified in the leachates. The removal behaviors of the individual fluorescent components were dependent upon the operation conditions, suggesting the existence of unique characteristics with respect to the responses to the oxidation mechanisms, which were likely altered by different operation conditions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFActivation of the ileal brake through the delivery of nutrients into the distal small intestine to promote satiety and suppress food intake provides a new target for weight loss. Evidence is limited, with support from naso-ileal lipid infusion studies. The objective of the study was to investigate whether glucose infused into the duodenum and ileum differentially alters appetite response, food intake, and secretion of satiety-related gastrointestinal peptides.
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