Determining the reliability of concrete dams through diagnosis of their bedrock

Power Technology and Engineering -     

Parathion degradation and toxicity reduction in solar photocatalysis and photolysis.

The solar photocatalytic degradation of methyl parathion was investigated using a circulating TiO2/solar light reactor. Under solar photocatalysis condition, parathion was more effectively degraded than solar photolysis and TiO2-only conditions. With solar photocatalysis, 20 mg/L of parathion was completely degraded within 60 min with a TOC decrease of 63% after 150 min. The main ionic byproducts during photocatalysis recovered from parathion degradation were mainly as NO3-, NO2- and NH4+, 80% of the sulphur as SO4(2-), and 5% of phosphorus as PO4(3-). The organic intermediates 4-nitrophenol and methyl paraoxon were also identified, and these were further degraded in solar photocatalytic condition. Two different bioassays (Vibrio fischeri and Daphnia magna) were used to test the acute toxicity of solutions treated by solar photocatalysis and photolysis. The Microtox test using V. fischeri showed that the toxicity expressed as EC50 (%) value increased from 5.5% to >82% in solar photocatalysis, indicating that the treated solution is non-toxic, but only increased from 4.9 to 20.5% after 150 min in solar photolysis. The acute toxicity test using D. magna showed that EC50 (%) increased from 0.05 to 1.08% under solar photocatalysis, but only increased to 0.12% after 150 min with solar photolysis, indicating the solution is still toxic. The pattern of toxicity reduction parallels the decrease in TOC and the parathion concentrations.     

Reconstruction of the friction units of turbine guide vanes

Conclusions After the almost 2-yr operation of the gate apparatus since the start of reconstruction of friction units of the vanes, we can make a preliminary evaluation of the effectiveness of the works:There is practically no leakage of water through the gate vanes to the turbine cover, which led to a complete unloading of the drainage pumps on the turbine cover and the efficiency of operating the gate apparatus increased considerably.Repair of the gate apparatus is not required during maintenance.There is no vibration of the gate vanes, since the gaps in the friction units of the journals of the gate vanes are minimum and stable.The operating personnel objectively evaluate highly the work of the gate apparatus of the turbine after reconstruction and will continue this work on the remaining turbines.Translated from Gidrotekhnicheskoe Stroitel'stvo, No. 9, pp. 12–14, September, 1985.     

An air curtain for Protecting Hydraulic Structures from seismic and blast effects

Translated from Gidrotekhnicheskoe Stroitel'stvo, No. 10, pp. 1–6, October, 1992.     

Structural vibrations of hydraulic structures at the boundary with fluid regions with a complex shape (three-dimensional problem)

Translated from Gidrotehnicheskoe Stroitel'stvo, No. 3, pp. 27–31, March, 1992.     

A longitudinal study of the cause and consequences of changes in diversification in the U.S. pharmaceutical industry 1977–1986

The paper hypothesizes that diversification by firms based in the pharmaceutical industry during the 1977-86 time period was primarily undertaken to reduce the risks associated with being dependent upon a technologically dynamic environment. Consistent with this non-efficiency motive for diversification, declining economic performance is predicted. A longitudinal empirical analysis provides support for these propositions.     

Quantification and genotyping of Cryptosporidium spp. in river water by quenching probe PCR and denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis.

A new detection method was developed for the simultaneous quantification and genotyping of Cryptosporidium spp. in river water. Several modifications made to the US EPA Method 1623 enabled high and stable recovery of Cryptosporidium from 40 L of river water (geometric mean = 35%, standard deviation = 8.7%). Quenching probe PCR (QProbe PCR) was used to quantify the 18S rRNA gene of Cryptosporidium spp. This method could successfully detect single oocysts in a sample, and the lower quantitation limit was as low as 2.5 oocysts/sample. In addition, denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) followed by DNA sequencing was used to identify the genotypes. These methods were applied to detect Cryptosporidium spp. in the Koyama River, Japan. The positive ratio was 69% (11/16) with the maximum concentration of 59 oocysts/100 L. Seven genotypes including two novel ones were identified. These results showed that this detection method could provide valuable information on Cryptosporidium in river water, both in the concentration and in the genotypes, which is essential for the precise assessment of waterborne risk to human health.     

The characteristics and measuring technique of refractory dissolved organic substances in urban runoff.

It is considered that refractory dissolved organic substances have caused an increase in the COD concentration in Lake Biwa in recent years. We investigated the organic matter in the first flush of stormwater runoff from a road in the watershed area of the lake, and studied the possibility of improvement in the water environment from that aspect. After percolating the stormwater through soil, we analyzed organic substances fractionated by using GPC-TC. And we examined the effect of removal of organic substances by comparing the peak height before and after percolation. In the result of the experiments, we found that soil infiltration reduced the refractory dissolved organic substance and we successfully designed a system for a simple and easy experimental facility to treat urban runoff.     

Fuzzy control of nitrogen removal in predenitrification process using ORP.

In order to meet increasingly stringent discharge standards, new applications and control strategies for the sustainable removal of nitrogen from wastewater have to be implemented. In the past years, numerous studies have been carried out dealing with the application of fuzzy logic to improve the control of the activated sludge process. In this paper, fuzzy control strategies of predenitrification systems are presented that could lead to better effluent quality and, in parallel, to a reduction of chemicals consumption. Extensive experimental investigations on lab scale plant studies have shown that there was excellent correlation between nitrate concentration and ORP value at the end of the anoxic zone. Results indicated that ORP could be used as an on-line fuzzy control parameter of nitrate recirculation and external carbon addition. The optimal value of ORP to control nitrate recirculation and external carbon addition was - 86 +/- 2 mV and - 90 +/- 2 mV, respectively. The results obtained with real wastewater also showed the good performance and stability of the fuzzy controllers independently from external disturbances. The integrated control structure of nitrate recirculation and external carbon addition in the predenitrification system is also presented.