Hydrochemistry Characteristics of Groundwater with the Influence of Spatial Variability and Water Flow in Hetao Irrigation District, China

Groundwater is an important resource of water in arid and semi-arid agricultural regions. This study considered the spatial differentiation of geographical features and the concentration of groundwater flow. The upstream of the Hetao Irrigation District Shenwu Irrigation Area (SWIA) and the downstream Wulate Irrigation Area (WLTIA) were selected as the study area, and a total of 85 groundwater samples (42 from SW and 43 from WLTIA) were collected. The aims of the study were to analyze the chemical composition and main control mechanisms of groundwater, and to evaluate the suitability of groundwater irrigation in the study area from the perspective of salt and alkali damage. Geological and environmental factors increase the spatial variability of groundwater chemical characteristics in the Hetao Irrigation District. In addition the groundwater of the study area is weakly alkaline, with the flow of groundwater; the solute content of downstream (WLTIA) is higher than that of upstream (SWIA); SWIA is mainly fresh water (47.62%); and WLTIA is mainly brackish water (65.12%). The main water chemistry types are Cl-Na type, Cl·SO-Ca· Mg type, Na+ and Cl− have obvious advantages in WLTIA, and they are the main contribution indicators of groundwater TDS in the study area. Rock weathering, ions exchange and evaporate crystallization are the main controlling factors for groundwater in the Hetao Irrigation District. Na+ mainly originates from the dissolution of evaporate salt rock and silicate rock, and Ca2+ from the dissolution of gypsum and carbonate. The order of contribution of different rocks is evaporation rock > silicate rock > carbonate rock, and the contribution rates of human activities and atmospheric input are small. The groundwater quality of the upstream SW is better than that of the downstream WLTIA. However, due to the high chemical ion concentration of the groundwater, most of the groundwater cannot be directly used for irrigation, which may cause salt and alkali damage. Therefore, when using groundwater irrigation, either drip irrigation or irrigation water aeration pretreatment can be used to avoid damages such as reduced soil permeability and compaction.

Laboratory Scale Evaluation of Fertiliser Factory Wastewater Treatment through Membrane Distillation and Reverse Osmosis

The incumbent water stress scenario imposes wastewater valorisation to freshwater, promoting technology for its effective treatment. Wastewater from fertiliser factories is quite problematic because of its relevant acidity and solute content. Its treatment through vacuum membrane distillation (VMD) was evaluated through laboratory scale tests at 40 °C and 25 mbar vacuum pressure with polytetrafluoroethylene and polypropylene flat-sheet porous membranes. The wastewater from a partially disused Italian industrial site was considered. VMD distillate fluxes between 22 and 57.4 L m−2 h−1 (LMH), depending on the pore size of the membranes, along with very high retention (R > 99%) for anions (Cl−, NO3−, SO42−, PO43−), NH4+, and chemical oxygen demand (COD) were observed. Laboratory scale reverse osmosis (RO) tests at 25 °C and increasing of the operating pressure (from 20 bar to 40 bar) were carried out with a seawater desalination membrane for comparison purposes. Permeability values around 1.1 LMH/bar almost independently of the operating pressure were observed. Lower retentions than those measured from VMD tests were found. Finally, for any given RO operating pressure, the flux recovery ratio (FRR) calculated from permeate fluxes measured with pure water before and after wastewater treatment was always much lower that evaluated for VMD membranes.

Experience in using high matrix introduction (HMI) technology for the analysis of lead by inductively coupled plasma mass-spectrometry (ICP-MS)

The impurities contained in lead and lead-based alloys, which are widely used in various branches of industry, i.e., nuclear, medical, electrical engineering, etc., affect their physicochemical properties which necessitates developing of the reliable method for the impurity determination. Photometric, spectral, and chemical — spectral methods used to address this problem are labor-intensive and do not always have the required sensitivity. A method of inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) coupled with High Matrix Introduction (HMI) technology has been proposed as alternative easy to use procedure designed to be more sensitive. The Agilent HMI Sample Injection System provides inline dilution of the sample aerosol (supplied from the spray chamber to the burner) with pure argon. This method of sample introduction provides for analysis of the solutions with a solute content of up to 1% and higher. The aerosol dilution reduces concentration of the matrix and solvent at the inductively coupled plasma interface without conventional dilution. In this case, the matrix suppression of impurities is almost eliminated and CeO+/Ce+ is reduced to 0.2%, while the typical CeO+/Ce+ ratio for the Agilent 7500 mass spectrometers is 1 – 2%, but no more than 3%. We present application of this method to the analysis of Mg, Ca, Fe, Cu, As, Ag, Sn, Sb, Bi in lead by an Agilent 7500cx ICP-MS with preliminary acid digestion of lead samples in a microwave autoclave. The use of the HMI system made it possible to exclude the stage of sample dilution, reducing the possibility of sample contamination with a diluent, and to determine the content of impurities in a highly concentrated matrix at a level of 10–4 – 10–5 %. The efficiency of the method, as well as the possibility of using multi-element standard solutions prepared with 1% nitric acid for analysis of the samples with high lead content is shown.

Microstructure/Mechanical Characterization of Plasma Nitrided Fine-Grain Austenitic Stainless Steels in Low Temperature

Fine-grained austenitic stainless steels (FGSS) were plasma nitrided below 700 K to describe their microstructure evolution during the nitrogen supersaturation process and to investigate the post-stressing effect on the microstructure and mechanical properties of nitrided FGSS. Normal- and fine-grained AISI304 plates were nitrided at 623 K and 673 K to investigate the grain size effect on the nitrogen supersaturation process as well as the microstructure evolution during the nitriding process. Fine-grained AISI316 (FGSS316) wires were nitrided at 623 K to demonstrate that their outer surfaces were uniformly nitrided to have the same two-phase, refined microstructure with high nitrogen solute content. This nitrided FGSS316 wire had a core structure where the original FGSS316 core matrix was bound by the nitrided FGSS316 layer. The nitrided wire had higher stiffness, ultimate strength, and elongation in the uniaxial tensile testing than its un-nitrided wires. The core microstructure was refined and homogenized by this applied loading together with an increase of nitrided layer hardness.

Organophosphorus Polyurethane Ionomers as Water Vapor Permeable and Pervaporation Membranes

Organophosphorus polyurethane ionomers (AEPA-PU) based on aminoethers of ortho-phosphoric acid (AEPA) were obtained and studied as pervaporation membrane materials for separating isopropanol/water mixtures. The regularities of the change in the water vapor permeability of AEPA-PU were also investigated. It has been established that an increase of solute content in the composition of the urethane-forming system and the content of ionogenic groups in AEPA leads to a noticeable increase in the vapor permeability of the resulting film materials. An increase in water vapor permeability values is accompanied by a significant increase in the pervaporation characteristics of AEPU-PU. It was shown that the conditions promoting clustering of phosphate anions cause an increase in the values of the vapor permeability coefficient of AEPA-PU obtained using polyoxypropylene glycol. However, the hydrophobicity of the polypropylene glycol surrounding the clusters makes it difficult for water to move through the polymer matrix. Due to the hydrophilicity of polyoxyethylene glycol, the highest values of water vapor permeability and pervaporation characteristics are achieved for AEPA-PU synthesized using PEG.

Phase-Field Modeling of Chemoelastic Binodal/Spinodal Relations and Solute Segregation to Defects in Binary Alloys

Microscopic phase-field chemomechanics (MPFCM) is employed in the current work to model solute segregation, dislocation-solute interaction, spinodal decomposition, and precipitate formation, at straight dislocations and configurations of these in a model binary solid alloy. In particular, (i) a single static edge dipole, (ii) arrays of static dipoles forming low-angle tilt (edge) and twist (screw) grain boundaries, as well as at (iii) a moving (gliding) edge dipole, are considered. In the first part of the work, MPFCM is formulated for such an alloy. Central here is the MPFCM model for the alloy free energy, which includes chemical, dislocation, and lattice (elastic), contributions. The solute concentration-dependence of the latter due to solute lattice misfit results in a strong elastic influence on the binodal (i.e., coexistence) and spinodal behavior of the alloy. In addition, MPFCM-based modeling of energy storage couples the thermodynamic forces driving (Cottrell and Suzuki) solute segregation, precipitate formation and dislocation glide. As implied by the simulation results for edge dislocation dipoles and their configurations, there is a competition between (i) Cottrell segregation to dislocations resulting in a uniform solute distribution along the line, and (ii) destabilization of this distribution due to low-dimensional spinodal decomposition when the segregated solute content at the line exceeds the spinodal value locally, i.e., at and along the dislocation line. Due to the completely different stress field of the screw dislocation configuration in the twist boundary, the segregated solute distribution is immediately unstable and decomposes into precipitates from the start.

Procurement and Operation Technical For Meniran (Phyllanthus Niruri) Extraction Equipment

At this time the government prohibits the use of antibiotics in animal feed as a growth promoter (AGP) or antibiotic, so an effective and safe immunomodulator and herbal growth stimulant product are needed through Meniran extract products (Phyllantus niruri) and chemicals in the market are not yet optimal as immunomodulators and growth stimulants. CV. Maxipro Agrosatwa which is engaged in veterinary medicine, wholesale trade of agricultural products, and other live animals will produce feed using Meniran extract products. Extraction equipment that is needed is a Rotary vacuum evaporator. This equipment is needed to separate the solvent from the solute without high heating which will damage the solute content. The vacuum condition in the flask is to make the separation more efficient as well as accelerate the separation of the solvent from a solution by reducing the boiling point. The rotation of the flask is to increase evaporation. The complexity of this equipment is what makes CV. Maxipro Agrosatwa cannot handle it alone and requires technical assistance from the Department of Mechanical Engineering (JTM) FT UNS. Technical assistance provided by JTM FT UNS is in the form of procurement, delivery, installation, operation, and maintenance of the rotary vacuum evaporator.

Effect of a High Mg Solute Content on the Hot Workability of Al–Mg Alloys

The workability of Al–xMg alloys with a high Mg content (Al–6Mg, Al–8Mg, Al–9Mg) was evaluated by investigating the microstructure and processing map. Hot torsion tests were conducted in the range of 350–500 °C between 0.1 and 1 s−1. Constitutive equations were derived from various effective stress–strain curves, and the thermal activation energies for deformation obtained were 171 kJ/mol at Al–6Mg, 195 kJ/mol at Al–8Mg, and 220 kJ/mol at Al–9Mg. In the case of the processing map, the instability region, which widened with increasing Mg content, was due mainly to the influence of the Mg solute, which activated grain boundary cracking and flow localization.

Exogenous Serotonin Improves Salt Tolerance in Rapeseed (Brassica napus L.) Seedlings

Serotonin is a well-known agent that plays various roles in animals, and is little known in plants. In this study, the effect of exogenous serotonin was tested on Brassica napus L. (rapeseed) under salt stress. The results revealed that exogenous application of 200 µmol/L serotonin had the best protection under salinity. Exogenous serotonin effectively alleviated the growth inhibition of seedlings caused by salinity, and significantly promoted the accumulation of the fresh and dry weights of roots and shoots. Besides, although the H2O2 and malondialdehyde (MDA) contents were raised under salinity, they were reduced by exogenous serotonin. The chlorophyll content was decreased under salinity, and was increased by exogenous serotonin. Under salinity, serotonin effectively activated antioxidant enzyme system through improving the catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and peroxidase (POD) activities, and the expression of POD7, CAT3 and Cu-SOD genes was also up-regulated. The results also revealed exogenous serotonin increased the solute content by promoting the accumulation of soluble sugar and protein. In conclusion, salinity caused a toxicity to seedlings through oxidative damage to chlorophyll and cell membrane integrity, and serotonin possessed the ability of scavenging reactive oxygen species, osmotic pressure regulation and promoting growth, thus alleviating salinity of rape seedlings.