Value chain analysis of bio-coal business in Finland: Perspectives from multiple value chain members

The purpose of this study is to provide a comprehensive outline of the Value Chain (VC)¹ of bio-coal in Finland, define the proper business models of bio-coal business, and investigate the interrelationships between VC activities. The major findings are: 1) the study found significant interrelationships between support and primary activities in the bio-coal VC which suggest that we should not emphasis only the core value/primary activities of the bio-coal business, but pay more attentions to the “side values”/support activities; 2) The study identified political and environmental factors as the effective drivers, while technology and cost-profit uncertainty as major restrictions for the Finnish bio-coal business. The authors would like to suggest that instead of purely “environmental concerns”, the term “sustainability credentials” should be emphasized, which means value creating and adding items should not limit to monetary values, but consider social and environmental value propositions. 3) The study identified “low competition” in the current bio-coal business in Finland, which implies opportunities of market entrance for Finnish and international companies; 4) The study identified that the current Finnish bio-coal model is the decentralized model at the local level. However, the future Finnish bio-coal model will be a large scaled model, with a focus on export sales.     

Strength and chemical resistance of mortars containing brick manufacturing clays subjected to different treatments

This paper presents the results of an investigation of the properties of mortar in which a calcined clay was employed as a pozzolan. Mortars were prepared using either heat treated clay or ground waste clay bricks (from the same clay subjected to 1000 °C calcining) as a pozzolanic partial replacement for cement at replacement levels of 10%, 20% and 30%. The compressive strengths of the mortars were monitored up to 90 days and the resistance to sodium sulphate solution and synthetic seawater was monitored up to 300 days. The specimens were also monitored for weight changes. Partially replacing cement by ground brick or heat-treated brick clay gives early strengths that are lower than that of the control. At 90 days, however, the strengths are the same as or are greater than that of the control. Heat-treated clay is effective in reducing expansion during exposure of the mortar to sulphate solution and synthetic seawater. The rapidly cooled clay gives better performance, in terms of strength development and resistance to harmful solutions, than the slow cooled clay.     

Machine-learning paradigms for selecting ecologically significant input variables

Harmful algal blooms, which are considered a serious environmental problem nowadays, occur in coastal waters in many parts of the world. They cause acute ecological damage and ensuing economic losses, due to fish kills and shellfish poisoning as well as public health threats posed by toxic blooms. Recently, data-driven models including machine-learning (ML) techniques have been employed to mimic dynamics of algal blooms. One of the most important steps in the application of a ML technique is the selection of significant model input variables. In the present paper, we use two extensively used ML techniques, artificial neural networks (ANN) and genetic programming (GP) for selecting the significant input variables. The efficacy of these techniques is first demonstrated on a test problem with known dependence and then they are applied to a real-world case study of water quality data from Tolo Harbour, Hong Kong. These ML techniques overcome some of the limitations of the currently used techniques for input variable selection, a review of which is also presented. The interpretation of the weights of the trained ANN and the GP evolved equations demonstrate their ability to identify the ecologically significant variables precisely. The significant variables suggested by the ML techniques also indicate chlorophyll-a (Chl-a) itself to be the most significant input in predicting the algal blooms, suggesting an auto-regressive nature or persistence in the algal bloom dynamics, which may be related to the long flushing time in the semi-enclosed coastal waters. The study also confirms the previous understanding that the algal blooms in coastal waters of Hong Kong often occur with a life cycle of the order of 1–2 weeks.     

Development of a novel modified EGSB reactor for municipal sewage treatment at ambient temperatures

A novel modified expanded granular sludge bed(EGSBm) reactor was developed for anaerobic treatment of municipal sewage with mixed liquid recirculation instead of effluent recirculation commonly adopted by a conventional EGSB(EGSBc) reactor.Performances of these two reactors were compared in treating municipal sewage at ambient temperatures ranging from 8 to 26 ℃.At an upflow liquid velocity(Vup) of 10.3 m/h,the mean concentrations of filtrated COD(CODfilt) and COD of the EGSBm effluent were determined to be 59.4 and 95.9 mg/L,respectively,which were significantly lower than those of the EGSBc effluent operated under identical experimental conditions.When the organic loading rate was suddenly increased from 1.2 to 7.2 kg COD/(m3·d),the EGSBm regained the removal efficiency of previous operation phase in 10 d.Hydrodynamic characteristics of the reactors were compared using the residence time distribution(RTD) model.It was found that the treatment efficiency of EGSBm kept increasing as the Vup increased.The polymerase Chain Reaction-Denaturing Gradient Gel Electrophoresis(PCR-DGGE) technique was used to analyze the microbial diversity in EGSBm.Fingerprinting pattern indicated that some species in the inoculating sludge were still reserved in the granular sludge of EGSBm,moreover,several new species occurred.     

New explicit algebraic stress and flux model for active scalar and simulation of shear stratified cylinder wake flow

On the numerical simulation of active scalar, a new explicit algebraic expression on active scalar flux was derived based on Wikstr?m, Wallin and Johansson model (a ^WWJ model). Reynolds stress algebraic expressions were added by a term to account for the buoyancy effect. The new explicit Reynolds stress and active scalar flux model was then established. Governing equations of this model were solved by finite volume method with unstructured grids. The thermal shear stratified cylinder wake flow was computed by this new model. The computational results are in good agreement with laboratorial measurements. This work is the development on modeling of explicit algebraic Reynolds stress and scalar flux, and is also a further modification of the a ^WWJ model for complex situations such as a shear stratified flow. Supported by the National Nature Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 50679019, 50009001), the National Basic Research Program of China (“973” Project) (Grant No. 2008CB418202), the Project of “Six Talent Peak” of Jiangsu Province (08-C), Social Technology Development Foundation of Jiangsu Province (Grant No. BS2006095) and the “908” Special Foundation of Jiangsu Province (Grant No. JS-908-02-06)     

不同有机物组分对膜污染影响的中试研究

采用粉末活性炭、混凝沉淀和超滤膜联用的技术对某低浊湖水进行中试研究。试验结果表明,采用的超滤膜及其工艺系统不仅能有效地去除浊度及悬浮颗粒,还可将CODMn由4.17mg/L降至3mg/L以下。试验将有机物分离为强疏水、弱疏水、极性亲水和中性亲水四种组分,研究不同组分对膜污染的影响。试验结果显示,预处理和超滤膜能有效去除疏水性和极性亲水性有机物,但对中性亲水性有机物的去除效果较差。反冲洗能有效清除累积在膜内的疏水性和极性亲水性有机物,但难以清洗中性亲水性组分。药剂清洗可有效去除中性亲水性有机物。疏水组分造成膜的可逆污染,而中性亲水组分导致膜的不可逆污染。三维荧光分析表明,造成不可逆污染的有机物主要在Ex238/Em345区域响应。     

一种新的有机物分子质量测定以及在膜污染研究中的应用

采用高效凝胶色谱仪(HPSEC)与紫外检测器和总有机炭检测器联用,研究测定有机物分子质量分布。研究表明,该技术可正确检测亲水性的大分子有机物的分子质量分布。膜过滤试验结果表明,大分子的疏水性和中性亲水性有机物是造成膜通量下降的主要物质。     

Experiments on the short-term development of sine-generated meandering rivers

This paper presents recent works on the simulation of short-term development of sine-generated meandering river in laboratory conditions. The influences of initial system parameters on the evolution process of rivers are investigated, including control over channel sinuousness, channel width and dominant discharge, eventually leading to different results of planforms. Measurements on the bank-line, flow field, bed topography and sediment transport rate were carried out. Braided rivers are easy to produce using non-cohesive sediments in floodplains, whereas environmental temperatures and humidities could influence the fluvial process by their effects on material cohesion. Channelized rivers were obtained in the “High Flow” conditions and the river corridor width was proven to be mainly connected with initial channel sinuousness and water discharge. Sickle-shaped and bamboo leaves-shaped sandbars were formed in the channels during the transformation process of meandering to braiding, the stability degree of sandbars reflects the adaption of channel morphology to hydrodynamic condition. Quantitative analysis confirms the formation of free steady bars, which manifests the free response as a downstream oscillation of the perturbation. Damping length is mainly affected by dominant discharge, channel width is the secondary factor, and channel sinuousness is the weakest factor. The wavelength of steady bars approximately equals to half of the initial streamwise wavelength. Sediment transport rate tends to increase with the increasing of channel sinuousness but stops growing due to the excessive increase of flow route and flow friction. The experiment results could be useful for verifying river pattern discriminant functions and offer a basis for further study on the morphological evolution of large-scale natural rivers, such as Yangtze River.     

利用含氮化合物研究卞闵杨地区油气运移

通过对卞闵杨地区各个油田不同层位原油样品含氮化合物质量分数以及各异构体参数比值的相对变化趋势进行研究,探讨了卞闵杨地区原油的运移特征和注入方向。结果表明,墩塘油田南部戴南组"阜四型"原油来自于龙岗次凹阜宁组四段烃源岩;墩塘北部阜宁组二段,杨家坝阜宁组一、二段,卞东阜宁组三段储集层原油均来自于龙岗次凹;而卞东油田阜宁组二段,闵桥油田阜宁组二、三段则均来源于氾水次凹。     

西湖凹陷平湖斜坡带原油轻烃地球化学特征

通过对西湖凹陷平湖斜坡带的12个原油样品中轻烃分布及组成特征进行分析,结果表明:原油的轻烃馏分组成中甲苯、甲基环己烷指数高,石蜡指数低;原油发生蒸发分馏作用其程度大体相当于Thompson的5~7次充注观察值;C7化合物组成特征和甲基环己烷指数均指示原油母质来源于腐殖型有机质;Mango轻烃参数K1基本符合轻烃稳定态催化动力学轻烃成因模式;轻烃组分中的庚烷和异庚烷指数因蒸发分馏作用而出现成熟度偏低的假象,原油形成温度在124~131℃之间。