Participatory Modeling Workshops in a Water-Stressed Basin Result in Gains in Modeling Capacity but Reveal Disparity in Water Resources Management Priorities

Participatory modeling workshops were held in Sonora, México, with the goal of developing water resources management strategies in a water-stressed basin. A model of the water resources system, consisting of watershed hydrology, water resources infrastructure, and groundwater models, was developed deliberatively in the workshops, along with scenarios of future climate and development. Participants used the final version of the water resources systems model to select management strategies. The performance of the strategies was based on the reliability of meeting current and future demands at a daily time scale over a year’s period. Pre- and post-workshop surveys were developed and administered. The survey questions focused on evaluation of participants’ modeling capacity and the utility and accuracy of the models. The selected water resources strategies and the associated, expected reliability varied widely among participants. Most participants could be clustered into three groups with roughly equal numbers of participants that varied in terms of reliance on expanding infrastructure vs. demand modification; expectations of reliability; and perceptions of social, environmental, and economic impacts. The wide range of strategies chosen and associated reliabilities indicate that there is a substantial degree of uncertainty in how future water resources decisions could be made in the region. The pre- and post-survey results indicate that participants believed their modeling abilities increased and beliefs in the utility of models increased as a result of the workshops.     

Synthesis and Characterization of Highly Dispersed Antimony-Doped Stannic Hydroxide Nanoparticles: Effects of the Azeotropic Solvents to Remove Water on the Properties and Microstructures of the Nanoparticles

Highly dispersed antimony (Sb)-doped stannic hydroxide nanoparticles have been successfully prepared using the solution chemistry method. The properties and microstructures of the nanoparticles are investigated in detail by means of infrared, transmission electron microscope, X-ray diffractometer, and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller nitrogen surface area measurements. The results indicate that the properties and microstructures of the nanoparticles strongly depend on the azeotropic solvents used to remove water at the drying stage. Various azeotropic solvents are screened to investigate their effects on the size and dispersivity of dried Sb-doped stannic hydroxide. Three empirical rules are drawn for selecting an effective azeotropic solvent: (1) the solvent molecule should contain at least one atom such as oxygen as the hydrogen (H)-bond acceptor to form H bonds with the surface –OH (acting as an H-bond donor) of polymer particle; (2) the H-bond acceptor should locate in the middle of the alkane chain rather than on the terminal so that the alkane chain can stretch out and cover more surface area, improving the dispersivity of the dried product; and (3) the solvent should have a higher boiling point (∼140°C) to reduce the time of azeotropic distillation for removing water and maintain a lower residual amount of azeotropic agent. Based on the empirical rules, it is discovered that iso-amyl acetate is the most effective azeotropic solvent.     

Submerged membrane adsorption hybrid system (SMAHS): process control and optimization of operating parameters

This study is to investigate the effect of operating parameters of submerged membrane adsorption hybrid system (SMAHS) such as preadsorption and powdered activated carbon requirement, aeration, filtration flux; There is an optimum value for each of the operating parameters and they are specific to the wastewater used. The duration and frequency of backwashing are vital parameters for successful long-term operation of a membrane system. The backwash duration and frequency required to remove the reversible component of the foulant layer increased with time during the operation of membrane and is not fixed. A new methodology introduced in this study to decide the appropriate duration and frequency of backwash based transmembrane pressure during the membrane operation. This method led to significant saving on the amount of backwash water and energy requirement.     

Operations research in solid waste management: A survey of strategic and tactical issues

Solid waste management (SWM) is an increasingly complex task, absorbing a huge amount of resources and having a major environmental impact. Computerized systems based on operations research techniques can help decision makers to achieve remarkable cost savings as well as to improve waste recovery. Nevertheless, the literature is quite scattered and disorganized. The objective of this paper is to present an updated survey of the most relevant operations research literature on SWM, mainly focusing on strategic and tactical issues. In addition to providing an extensive bibliographic coverage, we describe the relationships between the various problems, and outline future research.     

Membrane bioreactor with nonwoven fabrics as solid–liquid separation media for wastewater treatment

A nonwoven fabric module was utilized as a solid–liquid separation medium in a membrane bioreactor (MBR) for treating wastewater. The experimental results indicated that nonwoven fabrics had lower filtration resistance than microporous membranes in MBR applications. The optimal aeration intensity was approximately 0.01m³/m² s. The effect of mixed liquor suspended solid concentration on filtration resistance was not significant at an operating flux of under 0.8m³/m² d in the study range. The performance of nonwoven fabrics in a MBR application was further demonstrated in a pilot test. Chemical oxygen demand (COD) and suspended solids (SS) in the effluent were maintained under 60 and 10 mg/L, respectively, whereas influent COD varied from 800 to 1800mg/L. The transmembrane pressure was maintained below 5 kPa at a permeation flux of 0.18m³/m² d. The experimental results demonstrated that nonwoven fabrics maintained stable operation in MBR applications under appropriate operating conditions.     

Effect of surfactant microstructures on photocatalytic degradation of phenol and chlorophenols

The effect of hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide (HTAB) on the photocatalytic degradation of phenol (Phe), 2,5-dichlorophenol (2,5-DCP) and 2,4,5-trichlorophenol (2,4,5-TCP) in the presence of aqueous TiO₂ suspensions at pH ca. 5 was investigated using a laboratory photoreactor equipped with a medium-pressure mercury lamp. Inhibition of substrate decomposition was observed for phenol, both below and above the surfactant critical micellar concentration, whereas a more complex behaviour was exhibited by chlorophenols. It was found that adsorption of these compounds onto the surfactant-modified semiconductor particles facilitates their faster decomposition, but the competitive partition of substrates between adsorbed surfactant structures and micellar aggregates tends to limit the beneficial kinetic effects at higher amphiphile concentrations. The crucial influence of surfactant adsorption was clearly evidenced in some runs performed at pH 3. Relevant inhibition of chloride release from chlorophenols, observed in the presence of HTAB, indicates a higher persistence of reaction intermediates in the reaction media, suggesting the need for a careful investigation of surfactant effects on all the degradation steps of the process.     

Nonlinear multiobjective model-predictive control scheme for wastewater treatment process

A nonlinear multiobjective model-predictive control (NMMPC) scheme, consisting of self-organizing radial basis function (SORBF) neural network prediction and multiobjective gradient optimization, is proposed for wastewater treatment process (WWTP) in this paper. The proposed NMMPC comprises a SORBF neural network identifier and a multiple objectives controller via the multi-gradient method (MGM). The SORBF neural network with concurrent structure and parameter learning is developed as a model identifier for approximating on-line the states of WWTP. Then, this NMMPC optimizes the multiple objectives under different operating functions, where all the objectives are minimized simultaneously. The solution of optimal control is based on the MGM which can shorten the solution time. Moreover, the stability and control performance of the closed-loop control system are well studied. Numerical simulations reveal that the proposed control strategy gives satisfactory tracking and disturbance rejection performance for WWTP. Experimental results show the efficacy of the proposed method.     

An overview of aqueous-phase catalytic processes for production of hydrogen and alkanes in a biorefinery

In this overview we discuss how aqueous-phase catalytic processes can be used to convert biomass into hydrogen and alkanes ranging from C₁ to C₁₅. Hydrogen can be produced by aqueous-phase reforming (APR) of biomass-derived oxygenated hydrocarbons at low temperatures (423–538 K) in a single reactor over supported metal catalysts. Alkanes, ranging from C₁ to C₆ can be produced by aqueous-phase dehydration/hydrogenation (APD/H). This APD/H process involves a bi-functional pathway in which sorbitol (hydrogenated glucose) is repeatedly dehydrated by a solid acid (SiO₂–Al₂O₃) or a mineral acid (HCl) catalyst and then hydrogenated on a metal catalyst (Pt or Pd). Liquid alkanes ranging from C₇ to C₁₅ can be produced from carbohydrates by combining the dehydration/hydrogenation process with an upstream aldol condensation step to form C–C bonds. In this case, the dehydration/hydrogenation step takes place over a bi-functional catalyst (4 wt.% Pt/SiO₂–Al₂O₃) containing acid and metal sites in a specially designed four-phase reactor employing an aqueous inlet stream containing the large water-soluble organic reactant, a hexadecane alkane sweep stream, and a H₂ inlet gas stream. The aqueous organic reactant become more hydrophobic during dehydration/hydrogenation, and the hexadecane sweep stream removes these species from the catalyst as valuable products before they go on further to form coke.     

Building a research network to better understand climate governance in the Great Lakes

Climate-driven disturbances threaten the sustainability of coastal communities in the Great Lakes Basin. Because such disturbances are unpredictable, their magnitude, number and intensity are changing, and they occur at varying temporal and spatial scales. Consequently, communities struggle to respond in effective ways. The expected intensification of climate-driven disturbances will require that community capacity and governance structures match the spatial and temporal scales of these disturbances, as the most sustainable social and economic systems will be those that can respond at similar frequencies to key natural system drivers. The Climate Governance Variability in the Great Lakes Research Coordination Network (CGVG-RCN) was recently established to address questions about the relationship between climate-driven disturbances and community response. The objective of this short communication is to introduce the ideas behind the CGVG-RCN, outline its goals, and facilitate engagements and collaboration with social and natural scientists interested in social-ecological systems in the Great Lakes Basin.