A New Approach to Determining the Content and 15N Abundance of Total Dissolved Nitrogen in Aqueous Samples: TOC Analyser-QMS Coupling

Abstract

The standard method for determining the ¹⁵N abundance of total dissolved nitrogen (TDN) in aqueous samples (e.g., soil leachate, sewage, urine) is currently Kjeldahl digestion followed by steam distillation or diffusion to isolate the ammonium, and then ¹⁵N measurement using IRMS. However, this technique is both time-consuming and laborious. One way of overcoming these disadvantages could be to couple a TOC analyser to determine the TDN with a sufficient quadrupole MS to determine the ¹⁵N abundance. The highTOC analyser (Elementar Analysensysteme Hanau, Germany), which catalytically oxidises the sample's total nitrogen with a high, constant yield to nitrogen monoxide (NO), appeared particularly suitable. The quadrupole-MS ESD 100 (InProcess Instruments Bremen, Germany) proved to be a suitable mass spectrometer for the ¹⁵N determination of NO. This combination of instruments was found to provide a workable method in numerous measurements of standard and actual samples. The detection limit concerning the N amount required per analysis is 2 μg, corresponding to an N concentration of 0.7mg/l in a maximum sample volume of 3ml. Depending on the N concentration, ¹⁵N abundances starting from 0.5 at.% can be measured with the required precision of better than 3% (simple standard deviation). For example, measuring the abundance of 0.5 at.% requires about 50 μg N, whereas for 1 at.% or more only about 5 μg N is needed per analysis.     

约束理论在H公司生产系统的应用

以制造企业H公司作为研究对象,以约束理论(简称TOC)为基础,运用TOC五步骤法、"鼓缓冲绳"生产计划与控制系统(简称DBR)等方法,对H公司生产系统系进行改进.通过改变排产方式、提升瓶颈工序产能等活动,使H公司在生产效率有了明显的改善.各项数据结果表明,H公司借助TOC实施的生产系统改善是有效而且成功的,验证了TOC约束理论在制造企业的有效性.     

基于TOC理论的OEE的应用

在介绍OEE与TOC理论的基础上,将两者的优缺点互补,引入IEE概念进行瓶颈诊断,开展了TPM活动以提高系统整体效率,同时提出一宏观与微观相结合的企业数据收集与处理模型.结合目前国内半导体厂实时性差的特点,介绍了一晶圆制造过程实时系统工作流程.     

Performance and energetic analysis of hydrodynamic cavitation and potential integration with existing advanced oxidation processes: A case study for real life greywater treatment

The current work is a “first of a kind” report on the feasibility and efficacy of hydrodynamic cavitation integrated Advanced Oxidation Processes (AOP’s) towards treatment of a real life greywater stream in form of kitchen wastewater. The work has been carried out in a sequential manner starting with geometry optimization of orifice plate (cavitating device) followed by studying the effects of inlet pressure, pH, effluent dilution ratio on degradation of TOC and COD. Under optimized conditions of pH 3, 4 bar pressure, TOC and COD reduction of 18.23 and 25% were obtained using HC for a period of 120 min. To improve the performance of HC, further studies were carried out by integrating H₂O₂ and O₃ with HC. Using 5 g/h optimum dosage of H₂O₂, 87.5% reduction in COD was obtained beyond which it started decreasing. Moreover, integrating O₃ (57.5% reduction in COD) increased the treatment cost. However, a hybrid process (HC + H₂O₂ + O₃) yielded 76.26 and 98.25% reductions in TOC and COD within 60 min. The energetics of all the processes and the treatment costs were studied in detail and it was concluded that combined process of HC + H₂O₂ + O₃ surpassed by far the performances of HC + H₂O₂ and HC + O₃.     

Natural organic matter removal by coagulation during drinking water treatment: A review

Natural organic matter (NOM) is found in all surface, ground and soil waters. An increase in the amount of NOM has been observed over the past 10-20 years in raw water supplies in several areas, which has a significant effect on drinking water treatment. The presence of NOM causes many problems in drinking water and drinking water treatment processes, including (i) negative effect on water quality by causing colour, taste and odor problems, (ii) increased coagulant and disinfectant doses (which in turn results in increased sludge volumes and production of harmful disinfection by-products), (iii) promoted biological growth in distribution system, and (iv) increased levels of complexed heavy metals and adsorbed organic pollutants. NOM can be removed from drinking water by several treatment options, of which the most common and economically feasible processes are considered to be coagulation and flocculation followed by sedimentation/flotation and sand filtration. Most of the NOM can be removed by coagulation, although, the hydrophobic fraction and high molar mass compounds of NOM are removed more efficiently than hydrophilic fraction and the low molar mass compounds. Thus, enhanced and/or optimized coagulation, as well as new process alternatives for the better removal of NOM by coagulation process has been suggested. In the present work, an overview of the recent research dealing with coagulation and flocculation in the removal of NOM from drinking water is presented.     

Fe/MCM-41 as a promising heterogeneous catalyst for ozonation of p-chlorobenzoic acid in aqueous solution

Mesoporous MCM-41 and Fe loaded MCM-41（Fe/MCM-41）,which were successfully prepared by a hydrothermal method and a dipping method respectively,were applied as heterogeneous catalysts for ozonation of p-chlorobenzoic acid（p-CBA） in aqueous solution.MCM-41 and Fe/MCM-41 were characterized by XRD,FT-IR and diffuse reflectance UV-vis（DR-UV-vis） techniques. The presence of either MCM-41 or Fe/MCM-41 improves p-CBA and total organic carbon（TOC） removal efficiency compared to ozonation alone.Under the experimental condition,TOC removal rate of Fe/MCM-41/O₃ process is over 63.5%at 60 min oxidation time,44.5%using MCM-41 as catalyst,only 37.7%with ozonation alone.The presence of tert-butanol（TBA） in the Fe/MCM-41/ O₃ process indicated that the oxidation mechanism of p-CBA occurs via OH in the liquid bulk.And Fe/MCM-41 is a promising catalyst.     

TiO2纳米管阵列覆盖Si薄膜光催化还原CO2性能的研究

本工作采用CVD法在阳极氧化TiO2纳米管阵列膜表面沉积一层非晶Si膜,通过退火后得到晶化了的Si膜/TiO2纳米管阵列的复合结构,并初步就其光催化还原CO2制备碳氢化合物的活性进行研究。拉曼光谱(Raman)、X射线衍射(XRD)、场发射扫描电镜(FE-SEM)、高分辨透射电子显微镜(TEM)等微结构表征结果表明所制备的TiO2纳米管阵列的厚度为270 nm左右,管直径约为70 nm,管壁厚度约为16 nm。覆盖的Si膜已晶化,其厚度约为300 nm。通过高效液相色谱(HPLC)及总有机碳(TOC)来检测光催化还原液相产物中的甲酸及总有机碳含量,发现负载Si膜后的TiO2纳米管阵列光催化性能有所提高,在装有400cut滤光片氙灯照射2 h下TOC含量从21.2 mg.L-1增长到29.5 mg.L-1,表明Si与TiO2的复合可有效的提高光催化还原CO2的活性,这可能与该异质结结构可增加对光的吸收并且可降低光生空穴-电子对复合有关。光催化循环实验表明所制得的催化剂在循环5次后仍可保持91.6%的催化活性。     

Mesoporous Titania-Silica nanocomposite as an effective material for the degradation of Bisphenol A under visible light

A simple and very effective method is proposed for the removal of Bisphenol A (BPA) under visible light using mesoporous TiO₂-SiO₂ nanocomposite. The material was characterized using FTIR, XRD, DRS, XPS, FESEM, HRTEM, and BET techniques. The photo degradation efficiency of TiO₂-SiO₂ compared with bare TiO₂. The effect of calcination temperature on the photo-degradation of the materials is also studied. The radical intermediates formed during the degradation of BPA were followed with different radical scavengers. The solution after reaction is subjected to TOC (Total Organic Carbon content) and LCMS analysis to determine the mineralization rate and degradation products exist in the solution. Kinetic studies were revealed that the degradation process follow pseudo first order kinetics.     

Flow injection analysis as a tool for enhancing oceanographic nutrient measurements—A review

Macronutrient elements (C, N and P) and micronutrient elements (Fe, Co, Cu, Zn and Mn) are widely measured in their various physico-chemical forms in open ocean, shelf sea, coastal and estuarine waters. These measurements help to elucidate the biogeochemical cycling of these elements in marine waters and highlight the ecological and socio-economic importance of the oceans. Due to the dynamic nature of marine waters in terms of chemical, biological and physical processes, it is advantageous to make these measurements in situ and in this regard flow injection analysis (FIA) provides a suitable shipboard platform. This review, therefore, discusses the role of FIA in the determination of macro- and micro-nutrient elements, with an emphasis on manifold design and detection strategies for the reliable shipboard determination of specific nutrient species. The application of various FIA manifolds to oceanographic nutrient determinations is discussed, with an emphasis on sensitivity, selectivity, high throughput analysis and suitability for underway analysis and depth profiles. Strategies for enhancing sensitivity and minimizing matrix effects, e.g. refractive index (schlieren) effects and the important role of uncertainty budgets in underpinning method validation and data quality are discussed in some detail.     

Soft-sensing of level of satisfaction in TOC product-mix decision heuristic using robust fuzzy-LP

Product-mix decision through theory of constraints (TOC) should take into account considerations like the decision-maker’s (DM) level of satisfaction in order to make product-mix decision a robust one. Sensitivity of the decision made, needs to be focused for a bottle-neck-free, optimal product-mix solution of TOC problem. A membership function (MF) has been suitably designed in the present work, first in finding out the degree of imprecision in the product-mix decision, and thereafter to sense the level of satisfaction of the DM. Inefficiency of traditional linear programming (LP) in handling multiple-bottleneck problem through TOC has been discussed through an illustrative example. Comparison of traditional LP over fully fuzzified-LP (FLP) model has also been addressed to elucidate the advantages of FLP in TOC. Key objective of this work is to guide DMs in finding out the optimal product-mix with higher degree of satisfaction with lesser degree of fuzziness under tripartite fuzzy environment.