The production of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) via the calcium carbide process utilizes a catalyst containing large amounts of mercury (Hg) and is therefore one of the most important sources of anthropogenic Hg in China. To measure the emission of Hg from PVC production, we established a flowchart for the calcium carbide process, for which we quantified the Hg content of the material/product at each step. Results indicated that 71.5% of the total Hg (Hg(T)) was lost from the catalyst, most of which was recovered by the Hg remover, accounting for 46.0% of the total Hg (Hg(T)). We determined that 3.7% of the Hg(T) was released into the environment, mostly in solid wastes and byproducts such as hydrochloric acid. Furthermore, no Hg has been detected in the PVC end product. However, we were only able to account for 78.1% of the Hg across the whole system, leaving 21.7% unaccounted for in the mass balance. A rough estimation indicates that most of the "missing" Hg had accumulated in deposits on the inner surface of converters and downstream pipelines; however, the emission to the atmosphere was ≤ 1% of the Hg(T). For a PVC production line equipped with a Hg remover, emissions of Hg to the atmosphere have been estimated to be 4.9 g per tonne PVC. Currently, almost all calcium carbide facilities have been equipped with a Hg remover, which may reduce the release of Hg in China by ∼ 500 t/year.
Lignite activated coke (LAC) has been modified in situ by adsorbing the biodegradation effluent of super heavy oil wastewater (SHOW) to extract organic pollutants from raw SHOW before biodegradation is investigated.
The removal efficiency of dibutyl phthalate (DBP) and its environmental hormone treated by biofilm reactor has been investigated. Besides, the the kinetic model of the degradation of DBP and its degradation products in the reactor have been discussed. The results indicate that the biofilm reactor had a positive effect on the removal of DBP and was able to significantly reduce the environmental hormone in DBP influent. The activity of β-galactosidase dropped from 13.55 millers to 3.3 millers and the removal efficiency of DBP reached 98.5% at water temperature 20°C and HRT (Hydraulic Retention Time) of 4 hours. The metabolic intermediate of DBP in the reactor mainly consisted of dibutyl phthalate and phthalic acid. The kinetic models of the degradation of DBP can be expressed by Lawrence-McCarty equation.
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