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Sulfur Compounds in a Sustainable World

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 July 2018) | Viewed by 18747

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Chair Professor of Environmental Chemistry, School of Energy and Environment, City University of Hong Kong, Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR
Interests: long-term changes in urban air pollution and its effects on health and material damage; air pollution monitoring data and the implications it holds for regulations and policy

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Guest Editor
Department of Chemistry and NUS Environmental Research Institute, National University of Singapore
Interests: Measurement techniques and source apportionment of atmospheric particulates, sulfur compounds, and metals; precipitation chemistry; science learning and communication

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues

(1) This Special Issue will bring together contributions showing how an element, taken as the old devil of atmospheric pollution, remains alive and relevant to current and future issues. Although the issue will be flexible, it is envisaged that papers will likely address some of the following topics in the context of sustainability, economics and societal change, in issues such as:

  • sulfur and energy storage
  • sulfur and fuel
  • sulfur and contemporary acid rain issues
  • sulfur as a marker or tracer of industry
  • sulfur and the Kuznets curve
  • earth history of sulfur, from prehistory to ice ages
  • sulfur and urban health in a post-industrial society
  • sulfur and adaptation to climate change

(2) The Special Issue will be unique in the way it sees sulfur in terms of sustainability, economics and societal change rather than simply as a traditional air pollutant. Current cultural and geopolitical changes potentially leading to a less common/unified approach to areas of finance and policy, can easily have regional implications to the 'sulfur landscape', forcing a re-assessment of health standards for food, import barriers to and taxation of agriculture etc.

Prof. Dr. Peter Brimblecombe
Assoc. Prof. Simon Watts
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • fuel and air pollution
  • history of air pollution
  • mining pollutants
  • acid rain
  • economics of air pollution
  • regulation of  pollution

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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13 pages, 4332 KiB  
Article
Durability Studies of Solar Reflectors Used in Concentrating Solar Thermal Technologies under Corrosive Sulfurous Atmospheres
by Alejandro García-Segura, Aránzazu Fernández-García, Francisco Buendía-Martínez, María Jesús Ariza, Florian Sutter and Loreto Valenzuela
Sustainability 2018, 10(9), 3008; https://doi.org/10.3390/su10093008 - 24 Aug 2018
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 3476
Abstract
Concentrating solar thermal (CST) technologies are a feasible and promising option to tackle worldwide energy problems. These solar facilities are sometimes located near industrial sites, where their main components—including concentrating solar reflectors—are prone to significant degradation caused by corrosive agents, especially in the [...] Read more.
Concentrating solar thermal (CST) technologies are a feasible and promising option to tackle worldwide energy problems. These solar facilities are sometimes located near industrial sites, where their main components—including concentrating solar reflectors—are prone to significant degradation caused by corrosive agents, especially in the presence of sulfurous atmospheres such as H2S and SO2. This paper focuses on analyzing the influence of sulfurous atmospheres on the durability of reflector materials used in CST technologies. To this end, accelerated aging tests were performed on the most commonly used materials found in solar reflectors (i.e., thick silvered glass and aluminum-based reflectors) by applying the same concentrations of H2S and SO2 under the same conditions of temperature and relative humidity. The results showed that the solar reflectors based on a silver reflective layer are significantly corroded by H2S atmospheres—several corrosion defects were found in the samples tested. However, those based on aluminum were barely affected by sulfurous environments in the conditions tested. Nonetheless, the study suggests that both reflector types are suitable candidates, depending on the purpose of the CST technology in question and the specific environmental conditions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sulfur Compounds in a Sustainable World)
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Review

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21 pages, 4746 KiB  
Review
Sulfolane: Magic Extractor or Bad Actor? Pilot-Scale Study on Solvent Corrosion Potential
by Andrzej Bak, Violetta Kozik, Paulina Dybal, Slawomir Kus, Aleksandra Swietlicka and Josef Jampilek
Sustainability 2018, 10(10), 3677; https://doi.org/10.3390/su10103677 - 14 Oct 2018
Cited by 31 | Viewed by 10932
Abstract
The sulfur-containing derivatives and their metabolites, regarded as ‘old devils of green’ chemistry, constitute a relevant class of air/water/soil contaminants in over-polluted world. In fact, some industrially-engineered solvents have become environmentally unfavorable. An attractive alternative to commonly used industrial liquids is sulfolane (C [...] Read more.
The sulfur-containing derivatives and their metabolites, regarded as ‘old devils of green’ chemistry, constitute a relevant class of air/water/soil contaminants in over-polluted world. In fact, some industrially-engineered solvents have become environmentally unfavorable. An attractive alternative to commonly used industrial liquids is sulfolane (C4H8SO2), an anthropogenic medium. The main objective of this paper is the comprehensive review focusing mainly on the state-of-the-art aspects of the sulfolane synthesis, application of sulfolane as an extractive solvent due to its ‘unique’ physicochemical properties as well as the potential of sulfolane to cause equipment corrosion and subsequent spills. The potential risk for groundwater contamination, danger for human health and ways of sulfolane biodegradation were briefly reviewed as well. Interestingly, the analysis performed on data stored in the Reaxys database revealed an alternating tendency of waxing and waning interest in sulfolane during the space of the last fifty years. Moreover, the primary goal of the presented case study was to verify applicability of industrial, multi-electrochemical technique for reliable detection of corrosion in low conductive process fluids. Several aspects of corrosion measurement including the impact of process parameters (temperature) and impurities (oxygen and chlorides) on stainless steel corrosion in pure sulfolane were investigated briefly. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sulfur Compounds in a Sustainable World)
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Other

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16 pages, 2730 KiB  
Case Report
Comprehensive Study of Reclaimed Soil, Plant, and Water Chemistry Relationships in Highly S-Contaminated Post Sulfur Mine Site Jeziórko (Southern Poland)
by Marcin Pietrzykowski and Justyna Likus-Cieślik
Sustainability 2018, 10(7), 2442; https://doi.org/10.3390/su10072442 - 12 Jul 2018
Cited by 13 | Viewed by 3304
Abstract
The aim of the work was a comprehensive study of the soils (pH, EC, SOC, NT, ST), surface waters (pH, EC, Ca2+ Mg2+, Na+, NO3−, SO42−, Cl, [...] Read more.
The aim of the work was a comprehensive study of the soils (pH, EC, SOC, NT, ST), surface waters (pH, EC, Ca2+ Mg2+, Na+, NO3−, SO42−, Cl, HCO3), and reactions of trees and herbaceous plants in the restored forest ecosystem of a former sulfur mine. Common birch and Scots pine growth reaction, vitality (according to IUFRO standards- International Union of Forest Research Organizations), nutrient supply (Na, K, P, Ca, Mg, K), and Calamagrostis epigejos (L.) Roth chemical composition (Na, K, P, Ca, Mg, K) were assayed. The chemistry dynamics (pH, EC, DOC, NT, Ca, Mg, and S at the beginning and end of the experiment) of soil leaching and the sulfur load leached from the sulfur-contaminated soil substrates were evaluated. The remediation effects of birch and pine litter were assayed in an experiment under controlled conditions. It was found that reclamation was effective in the majority of the post-mining site; however, hotspots with sulfur contamination reaching even 45,000 mg kg−1, pH < 2.0 and electrical conductivity (EC) of 6500 µS cm−1 were reported. Surface waters typically displayed elevated concentrations of sulfate ions (average 935.13 mg L−1), calcium ions (up to 434 mg L−1), and high EC (average 1797 µS cm−1), which was related both to sulfur contamination and the sludge lime that was used in neutralization. Calamagrostis epigejos was found to be a species that adapted well to the conditions of elevated soil salinity and sulfur concentration. It was observed that the application of organic matter had a significant beneficial impact on the chemistry of soil solutions, but did not show a remediation effect by increased sulfur leaching in a short-term study. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sulfur Compounds in a Sustainable World)
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