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The hydroxyl radical (OH) is one of the most important oxidants controlling the oxidation capacity of the indoor atmosphere. One of the main OH sources indoors is the photolysis of nitrous acid (HONO). In this study, real-time measurements of HONO, nitrogen oxides (NOx) and ozone (O3) in an indoor environment in Guangzhou, China, were performed under two different conditions: (1) in the absence of any human activity and (2) in the presence of cooking. The maximum NOx and HONO levels drastically increased from 15 and 4 ppb in the absence of human activity to 135 and 40 ppb during the cooking event, respectively. The photon flux was determined for the sunlit room, which has a closed south-east oriented window. The photon flux was used to estimate the photolysis rate constants of NO2, J(NO2), and HONO, J(HONO), which span the range between 8 × 10−5 and 1.5 × 10−5 s−1 in the morning from 9:30 to 11:45, and 8.5 × 10−4 and 1.5 × 10−4 s−1 at noon, respectively. The OH concentrations calculated by photostationary state (PSS) approach, observed around noon, are very similar, i.e., 2.4 × 106 and 3.1 × 106 cm−3 in the absence of human activity and during cooking, respectively. These results suggest that under "high NOx" conditions (NOx higher than a few ppb) and with direct sunlight in the room, the NOx and HONO chemistry would be similar, independent of the geographic location of the indoor environment, which facilitates future modeling studies focused on indoor gas phase oxidation capacity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A series of rare earth elements (La, Ce and Pr) modified HZSM-5 catalysts were synthesized by incipient-wetness impregnation method and then characterized by XRD, N 2 adsorption–desorption, SEM, CO 2 -TPD, NH 3 -TPD, and FT-IR measurements. Their catalytic behaviors toward methyl mercaptan decomposition reactivity were investigated. The results indicated that rare earth modified HZSM-5 catalysts demonstrated improved catalytic activity, which significantly reduced the reaction temperature for complete conversion of CH 3 SH, and La modified HZSM-5 catalyst exhibited higher activity than Ce and Pr doped HZSM-5 catalysts. CH 3 SH can be almost completely converted over 5%La/HZSM-5 at 450 °C compared to pure HZSM-5 at 600 °C. Moreover, 5%La/HZSM-5 showed high stability and no notable deactivation was observed during 30 h on stream. The improvement in catalytic performance can be attributed to the regulated acid–base properties of the HZSM-5 catalysts by rare earth metal doping. Comparisons between spent HZSM-5 and spent La doped HZSM-5 catalysts were done using Raman and TG techniques. Furthermore, the optimal loading amount of La was investigated, and 9 wt% and 13 wt% La/HZSM-5 catalysts exhibited better catalytic activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditional pipeline leak locating methods require that geophones have to be placed on the pipe wall. While if the exact location of the pipeline is unknown, the leaks may not be identified accurately. To solve this problem, considering the characteristics of pipeline leak, a continuous random seismic source model is proposed and geological models are established. Based on the two dimensional (2D) viscoacoustic equations and the staggered grid finite-difference (FD) algorithm, the microseismic wave field generated by a leaking pipe is modeled. Cross-correlation analysis and the simulated annealing (SA) algorithm are employed to obtain the time difference and the leak location. Analysis and discussions of the effects of number of recorded traces, survey layout, and offset and trace interval on the accuracy of the estimated location are also conducted. Simulation and data field experiment results indicate that: (1) A continuous random source can realistically represent the leak microseismic wave field in a simulation using 2D viscoacoustic equations and staggered grid FD algorithm. (2) For the leak microseismic wave field, the cross-correlation method is effective for calculating time difference of the direct wave relative to the reference trace. However, outside the refraction blind zone, accuracy of the time difference is reduced by the effects of refracted wave. (3) The SA algorithm based upon time difference, helps to identify the leak location effectively, even in the presence of noise. Estimation of the horizontal distance is more accurate than that of the depth, and the locating errors increase with increasing number of traces and offset. Moreover, in the refraction blind zone, trace interval has almost no impact on the accuracy of the location estimate. And the symmetrical array provides a higher estimate accuracy than the asymmetrical array. (4) The acquisition method of time difference based on the microseismic theory and SA algorithm has a great potential for locating underground pipelines leak from an array located on the ground surface. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A boulder stone, a common geological feature in south China, is referred to the remnant of a granite body which has been unevenly weathered. Undetected boulders could adversely impact the schedule and safety of subway construction when using tunnel boring machine (TBM) method. Therefore, boulder detection has always been a key issue demanded to be solved before the construction. Nowadays, cross-hole seismic tomography is a high resolution technique capable of boulder detection, however, the method can only solve for velocity in a 2-D slice between two wells, and the size and central position of the boulder are generally difficult to be accurately obtained. In this paper, the authors conduct a multi-hole wave field simulation and characteristic analysis of a boulder model based on the 3-D elastic wave staggered-grid finite difference theory, and also a 2-D imaging analysis based on first arrival travel time. The results indicate that (1) full wave field records could be obtained from multi-hole seismic wave simulations. Simulation results describe that the seismic wave propagation pattern in cross-hole high-velocity spherical geological bodies is more detailed and can serve as a basis for the wave field analysis. (2) When a cross-hole seismic section cuts through the boulder, the proposed method provides satisfactory cross-hole tomography results; however, when the section is closely positioned to the boulder, such high-velocity object in the 3-D space would impact on the surrounding wave field. The received diffracted wave interferes with the primary wave and in consequence the picked first arrival travel time is not derived from the profile, which results in a false appearance of high-velocity geology features. Finally, the results of 2-D analysis in 3-D modeling space are comparatively analyzed with the physical model test vis-a-vis the effect of high velocity body on the seismic tomographic measurements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]