Chunjiang An

Concordia University Montreal · Department of Building, Civil and Environmental Engineering

The effects of five short-chain organic acids (SCOAs) on the behaviors of pyrene in soil-water system were investigated. The influences of the quantity and species of organic acids, pH, and soil dissolved organic matter were considered. The results showed the presence of SCOAs inhibited the adsorption and promoted the desorption of pyrene in the fo...

Massive quantities of food waste often coexist with other agroindustrial and industrial waste, which might contain coal ash (CA) and uric acid (UA). This study investigated the influence of CA and UA on the composting of food waste in the in-vessel system. The patterns of food waste composting were compared among various combinations. The results s...

Oil spills in the marine environment frequently reach the coastal zone where active cleanup strategies may become necessary if the rates of natural weathering and attenuation of the stranded oil are considered inadequate. The application of surface washing agents (SWAs) is an operational technique that enhances the separation and removal of oil tha...

Biomass as an abundant renewable energy source can play a vital role in controlling the greenhouse gas emissions. The distributed nature of biomass and its low energy density have complicated the utilization of this cheap and available source of energy. Governments can stimulate the bioenergy industry and remove barriers for adoption of bioenergy b...

Sea ice can serve as a temporary sink for microplastics (MPs), and thus, it too can function as a secondary source of and transport medium for MPs. This study aimed to explore the effect of various MP properties and environmental characteristics on the entrainment and enrichment of MPs in ice under varying turbulence conditions. It was found that h...

The produced effluents after shoreline washing contain a certain number of oil droplets and further treatment is necessary. In this study, the innocuous, widely available, and biodegradable sodium caseinate (NaCas) was deployed to capture oil pollutants from oily wastewater. Oil droplets can be effectively and rapidly captured by NaCas and subseque...

The presence of plastic fragments in the environment is a growing global concern. In this study, we explored the effects of dynamic fluctuations of capillary fringe on the transport of microplastics (MPs) in the substrate combining various environmental and MP properties. Both experimental and Hydrus-2D modeling results confirmed that increasing cy...

Promoting cleaner municipal solid waste transportation processes plays a key role in sustainable waste management. In this study, a regional cap-and-trade system as an incentive tool was developed and applied to waste disposal in Montreal, Canada. The full life-cycle carbon emissions of a waste transport fleet, including four alternative energy sce...

The large number of oily wastewater discharges and oil spills are bringing about severe threats to environment and human health. Corresponding to this challenge, a functional PAA-ZnO-HDTMS flax fiber with UV-induced switchable wettability was developed for efficient oil-water separation in this study. The developed flax fiber was obtained through P...

Due to the excessive use of disposable face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic, their accumulation has posed a great threat to the environment. In this study, we explored the fate of masks after being disposed in landfill. We simulated the possible process that masks would experience, including the exposure to sunlight before being covered and the...

There is an increasing concern regarding the sustainable solid waste management (SWM) around the world. This review first summarizes First Nations’ social behavior, culture, environmental perspectives, and sustainable development perspectives. The review then introduces the laws and regulations regarding the First Nations SWM system and environment...

Oil spills are significant environmental accidents that have significant impacts on environmental and ecological health. Spill pollution in the cold regions may pose a particular challenge. To achieve a fast response, the oil transport mode such as penetration should be well understood. In this study, the oil penetration behavior in thawing frozen...

Oil pollution is one of the major environmental concerns in the petroleum industry. In this study, a cheap food-grade sodium caseinate (NaCas) was used as a pH-responsive washing fluid in the remediation of phenanthrene (PHE) affected peat moss. The effects of environmental factors on the removal of PHE were systematically investigated. The results...

Fresh biochar has been widely applied to the remediation of heavy metals in soil by its property of adsorption, but the changes in its physicochemical properties and in situ adsorption performance over time cannot be ignored. In this study, the sorption of Cd²⁺ by corn straw biochars (CB) and municipal sludge biochars (SB) produced at 350 °C and 65...

Organic dyes from textile industries are becoming the second largest pollutants in the world. In this study, inspired by the seawater fish, a new diamine monomer, N,N-bis(3-aminopropyl)methylamine N-oxide (DNMAO) with a trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO)-derived “N⁺─O⁻” zwitterionic functionality, has been designed for the fabrication of polyamide thin-...

Marine oil spills are serious ecological disasters that have massive adverse impacts on the environment. The impacts are even worse once the spilled oil is stranded on a shoreline. A series of shoreline cleanup methods are deployed to remove spilled oil, but their performance can be affected by the stranded oil. This review therefore comprehensivel...

Poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) membrane has been commonly used for wastewater treatment processes. However, they usually suffer from membrane fouling due to their hydrophobic property. In this study, a multifunctional PVDF microfiltration membrane was developed through ZnO–Ag nanocomposites to increase wastewater treatment efficiency. The develop...

Canola plays an important role in the agricultural production in Canadian Prairie. An effective approach is required to improve the growth and yield of canola. Insights into effects of tillage and residue management on the growth of canola have been analyzed in this study through evaluating physicochemical features of canola plants under the interf...

Biogenic oxygenated volatile organic compounds (BOVOCs), including methanol (CH3OH), are mainly released from vegetation and soil microbes in terrestrial ecosystems. Cropland is an important emission source of methanol to the environment. Wheat, as one of the large-methanol-emitters among fast-growing crops in Canada, was selected for this study. T...

There has been an increase in marine transportation in cold regions, which in turn has led to an increasing risk of oil spills in these areas. To better support risk assessment and pollution control of oil spills, it is important to have a good understanding of oil transport in the environment. This information is essential to manage response prior...

Since nearly half of the world's population lives near the coast, coastal areas have become hotspots for microplastic (MP) pollution due to human activity. The ubiquity of natural colloids in coastal waters plays a critical role in the potential fate of, and risks posed by, MPs. Nevertheless, far less has been known regarding the aggregation of MPs...

Container ship accidents can contaminate the surrounding marine environment and even have wider impact. Our study aims to provide a comprehensive review of emerging marine pollution from container ship accidents with the focus on risk characteristics, response strategies, and regulation advancements. It was found that the number of container ship a...

Oil spill incidents frequently cause serious impacts on the ecosystem, society, and economy. To cope with this problem, the use of phase-selective organogelators (PSOGs) has been developed in recent years as a promising oil spill response tool, which can congeal oils from biphasic systems, accelerating oil removal and recovery and reducing impacts...

Heritage sites and buildings are very important for the society and the need for their conservation is becoming increasingly urgent. The unique nature and the significant value of the heritage buildings have created the need for standard unified methods to be used in local heritage building rehabilitation projects. This will allow such important bu...

In this study, aged biochar (CCB350 and CCB650) were obtained from pyrolysis of corn stalk biochar (CB350 and CB650) at the degree of 350 °C and 650 °C by artificial oxidation with hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). Also, the mechanism of Pb2+ and Cd2+ on fresh and aged biochars was analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively by batch adsorption experiments c...

When oil is released into the oceans, spilled oil may get to the shoreline driven by wind and wave. This study comprehensively explored the effects of bentonite nanoclay on the oil behaviors in a water–sand system from both experimental and modeling perspectives. Four factors including nanoclay concentration, temperature, salinity, and pH have been...

The rapid growth in the global production of organophosphate esters (OPEs) has resulted in their high environmental concentrations. The low removal rate of OPEs makes the effluents of wastewater treatment plants be one of the major sources of OPEs. Due to relatively high solubility and mobility, OPEs can be carried to the coastal environment throug...

In the present study, an innovative, environmentally benign recyclable, and magnetically mediated surface washing fluid based on water-dispersible magnetite nanoparticles has been designed and investigated for the cleanup of oiled beach sand. The characterization results showed that the as-prepared magnetite nanoparticles had a spherical morphology...

Mineral fines act a pivotal part in determining the fate and behavior of oil. In this study, the infiltrations of oil emulsion in simulated sediments and natural shoreline sediments were investigated using a fixed bed experiment. Oil infiltration process was simulated based on fixed-bed dispersion model. The role of mineral fines in oil release was...

Tidal zones providing habitats are particularly vulnerable to microplastic (MP) pollution. In this study, the effects of tidal cycles on the transport of MPs (4-6 μm polyethylene, PE1; 125 μm polyethylene, PE2; and 5-6 μm polytetrafluoroethylene, PFTE) in porous media combined with various environmental and MPs properties were systemically investig...

Intensive energy production and consumption are associated with many oil spill accidents which can result in environmental pollution and other socio-economic impacts. Oil/water separation and surface washing strategies have been adopted to remove oil from both water and shorelines. Recently, green biomass-derived materials have attracted tremendous...

The use of machine learning techniques in waste management studies is increasingly popular. Recent literature suggests k-fold cross validation may reduce input dataset partition uncertainties and minimize overfitting issues. The objectives are to quantify the benefits of k-fold cross validation for municipal waste disposal prediction and to identif...

Understanding the emission characteristics in the evolution of private vehicle fleet composition has become a key issue to be addressed to develop appropriate emission mitigation strategies in transportation sector. In this study, the influence of such evolution on on-road emissions was investigated based on a comprehensive dataset encompassing veh...

Oil spills are of great concern because they impose a threat to the marine ecosystem, including shorelines. As oil spilled at sea is transported to the shoreline, and after its arrival, its behavior and physicochemical characteristics change because of natural weathering phenomena. Additionally, the fate of the oil depends on shoreline type, tidal...

In response to oil spills, it is imperative to develop efficient and eco-friendly sorbent materials. Oil remediation techniques are limited, prompting researchers to look into using nanotechnology for oil cleanup. Therefore, magnetic Fe3O4 composite nanoparticles (MNPs) were synthesized by the chemical co-precipitation method. The MNPs were then co...

With the increase in global population, industrialization, and urbanization, waste from construction, renovation, and demolition (CRD) activities has grown rapidly. There are some issues associated with the disposal of CRD waste in landfills. Depositing in landfills is still the main method for CRD waste disposal from the global perspective. The ob...

The release and transport of benzene in coastal aquifers were investigated in the present study. Numerical simulations were implemented using the SEAM3D, coupled with GMS, to study the behavior of benzene in the subsurface of tidally influenced beaches. The transport and fate of the benzene plume were simulated, considering advection, dispersion, s...

It is well known that oil stranded on shoreline substrates can be difficult to remove and cause serious environmental effects. To address this issue, a calcium alginate-cellulose nanocrystal (CA-CNC)-based coating with a unique surface structure and superhydrophobic properties was developed to reduce the extent of shoreline oiling. The results of b...

Clay is a natural substance widely existing in the environment. Nanoclays have small particle size, large surface area, and high porosity. Due to their special characteristics, nanoclays can be used in many different industrial applications. There is also an emerging trend for the use of nanoclays in environmental applications. Nanoclays can be use...

The explosive growth of disposable gloves usage in cities around the world has posed a considerable risk to municipal solid management and disposal during the COVID-19 pandemic. The lack of the environmental awareness leads to glove waste being discarded randomly and ending up in the soil and/or the ocean ecosystem. To explore the physicochemical c...

The National Pollutant Release Inventory (NPRI) was enacted in Canada as an information management tool under federal administration to assist in identifying the amount of point pollution sources. This study demonstrates an approach to combine on-ground air pollutant emission inventory (i.e., NPRI) with satellite monitoring data to verify the impac...

Oil spill accidents can cause negative impacts on the shoreline ecosystem and endanger public health. In the present study, an innovative green surface washing method based on sodium caseinate (NaCas) was proposed for the cleanup of oiled sand that is removed from the shoreline and treated by washing ex-situ. The comprehensive performance evaluatio...

Discharge of decentralized livestock wastewater without effective treatment has become a common problem in rural areas, threatening the regional water environment. A new microcurrent-assisted multi-soil-layering (MSL) system was developed for treating rural decentralized livestock wastewater. The results showed the highest removal rates of chemical...

In-situ burning can be used to prevent oil spreading in oil spill response. In this study, a steady-state Gaussian plume model was applied to analyze the concentration distribution of fine particulate matter produced by in-situ burning, as well as to assess the health risks associated with different combustion methods and ambient conditions, in ref...

Oil spills may affect ecosystems and endanger public health. In this study, we developed a novel and dual responsive nanoclay/sodium alginate (NS) washing fluid, and systematically evaluated its application potential in oiled shoreline cleanup. The characterization results demonstrated that sodium alginate combined with nanoclay via hydrogen bonds,...

Marine oil spills may cause huge economic loss and detrimental effects to the coastal ecosystem and communities. In this study, a green and responsive washing fluid was developed by modifying the nanoclay with a nonionic surfactant to wash the stranded oil on beach sand. The characterization results showed changes in the basal spacing, absorption p...

Marine oil spills are often reported as a result of activities associated with oil exploration, production and transportation. The spilled oil may reach the shoreline, and then the stranded oil can persist for a long time, exerting many negative effects on coastal ecosystems. Conventional shoreline cleanup methods cannot effectively remove the oil...

Modeling oil biodegradation and remediation has become an increasingly important means to predict oil persistence and explore potential in-situ bioremediation strategies for oil-contaminated beaches. Beaches involve complex mixing dynamics between seawater and groundwater. Thus, numerically predicting oil biodegradation within beach systems faces m...

The released oil can affect the vulnerable shoreline environment if the oil spills happen in coastal waters. The stranded oil on shorelines is persistent, posing a long-term influence on the intertidal ecosystem after weathering. Therefore, shoreline cleanup techniques are required to remove the oil from the shoreline environment. In this study, a...

Coastal environment is one of the most important ecological and socioeconomic areas. However, increasing energy demand and economic development lead to a continuous gas and oil exploration, production, and traffics, which notably raise the risk of oil spill accidents in coastal areas. Sensitivity assessment aiming to determine the coastal features...

The 2010 Deepwater Horizon (DWH) blowout released 3.19 million barrels (435 000 tons) of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico. Driven by currents and wind, an estimated 22 000 tons of spilled oil were deposited onto the northeastern Gulf shorelines, adversely impacting the ecosystems and economies of the Gulf coast regions. In this work we present fie...

Bioenergy is considered a promising alternative to achieve carbon neutrality and emission reduction. There is a debate over the role of bioenergy in climate change mitigation because of carbon emissions from the production and utilization of biofuels. Recently, studies on emissions of biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs) have substantially i...

Due to the extensive application of sulfonamide antibiotics for disease control on humans and livestock, the discharge of their residuals has caused serious pollution to the water environment. To mitigate this pollution, various types of carbonaceous materials have been used as adsorbents to remove antibiotics from water. In this study, adsorption...

Electrically conductive membranes can achieve simultaneous membrane separation and electrochemical reactions, which have been recognized as an effective strategy for water and wastewater treatment. Conductive inorganic membranes have attracted much attention in recent decades due to their inherent merits such as high chemical inertness, excellent t...

The COVID-19 pandemic has induced many issues for all societal sectors, in particular in the production and disposal of municipal solid waste. This may be because successive easing and reimposing of lockdown measures have deeply changed people's movements, consumers' behaviors and waste management. Previous studies have focused on the short-term ef...

Spilled oil slicks are likely to break into droplets offshore due to wave energy. The fate and transport of such droplets are affected by suspended particles in local marine environment, through forming oil particle aggregates (OPAs). OPA formation is affected by various factors, including the mixing energy and duration. To evaluate these two facto...

Oil spills are a serious environmental problem. To better support risk assessment and pollution control for oil spills, a good understanding of oil transport in the environment is required. This study focused on the numerical simulation of the nearshore oil behaviors based on computational fluid dynamics. Based on the Navier-Stokes momentum equatio...

Understanding the interactions between oil and other particles in shoreline can help determine the environmental risk and cleanup strategy after oil spill. Nevertheless, far less has been known regarding the impact of aged MPs on oil behavior in the shoreline environment. In this study, the aging course of polyethylene (PE) in shaking seawater and...

To prevent the transmission of the Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) in the public, the demand and consumption of personal protective equipment (PPE) increased drastically. Such wide use of PPE has brough a new challenge to waste management and disposal. It is difficult to sort PPE waste before further treatment, and such waste will often end up being proce...

Biomass, as one of the most available renewable energies, could reduce dependency on fossil fuels and the consequent environmental impacts. There is a need for biomass supply chain management, which is managing bioenergy production from harvesting feedstock to energy conversion facilities. In case of remote communities, bioenergy adoption requires...

The shorelines frequently suffer adverse impacts from oil spill accidents. As one important technique of shoreline cleanup, the application of surface washing agents (SWAs) can help achieve high oil removal from shoreline substrates with less damage to affected zone. In this study, a framework for evaluation and selection of SWAs in oil spill incid...

Marine oil spills pose a significant threat to ocean and coastal ecosystems. In addition to costs incurred by response activities, an economic burden could be experienced by stakeholders dependent on coastal resources. Decision support tools for oil spill response (OSR-DSTs) have been playing an important role during oil spill response operations....

As a volatile organic compound existing in the atmosphere, methanol plays a key role in atmospheric chemistry due to its comparatively high abundance and long lifetime. Croplands are a significant source of biogenic methanol, but there is a lack of systematic assessment for the production and emission of methanol from crops in various phases. In th...

Alberta has over 70% of total irrigated land in Canada and 13 irrigation districts are mainly located along the rivers in southern Alberta. The runoff and irrigation return flow can carry excess nutrients, pesticides, and sediments, which adversely affect the river water quality. In the present study, the comprehensive spatiotemporal analysis of la...

The COVID-19 pandemic has driven explosive growth in the use of masks has resulted in many issues related to the disposal and management of waste masks. As improperly disposed masks enter the ocean, the risk to the marine ecological system is further aggravated, especially in the shoreline environment. The objective of this study is to explore the...

Despite advances in technology and safety measures, accidental releases of crude oil and refined products into marine and freshwater environments remains a major environmental concern. To minimize the impacts of future spills on our aquatic ecosystems and human health, numerous studies have been refocused on the development of novel approaches to r...

#1141234 The coastal waters of Canada embrace a wide range of physical environments and ecosystems from the warm, sediment-rich waters of the Bay of Fundy to the nutrient-limited cold waters of the high Arctic. This range of biophysical characteristics impacts natural attenuation and weathering processes for oil stranded on shorelines. This study w...

Over the past decades, a large amount of petroleum pollutants has been released into the environment resulting from various activities related to petrochemicals. The discharge of wastewater with petrochemicals can pose considerable risk of harm to the human health and the environment. The use of adsorbents has received much consideration across the...

The assessment of GHG emissions from spring wheat cropping system in Saskatchewan was conducted in this study. A general emission assessment model was developed. The main sources of GHG included emissions from farming operations, emissions from the manufacturing and transportation of N/P fertilizer, emissions from herbicides usage, and direct and i...

Ceramic filters are a point-of-use (POU) technology applied for water purification in developing regions. Nano-CeO2 modified ceramic filter water purifier (CeO2–CFP) is designed to provide clean potable water and address drinking water safety issues in remote areas. To assess the impact of the entire life cycle of CeO2–CFP on the water environment,...

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are persistent and widespread in the aquatic environment, causing potential hazards for human health. In this study, a superwetting and robust PES-PAA-ZrO2 nanofiltration membrane was proposed through surface modification for PAH removal with high efficiency. A ZrO2 coating was formed on polyethersulfone (PES...