The potential negative effects of perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) discharged into aquatic environments are drawing increasing attention. However, little research has been undertaken on PFASs in wastewater from electroplating industrial parks. In this study, the concentration profiles and geographical distribution of 11 PFASs were analyzed in water samples collected from different production workshops and an artificial landscaped lake. The total concentrations of PFASs (Σ₁₁PFASs) at various points in the production drainage system range from 229.5 to 5 410.6 ng/L, and are mainly contributed by nickel plating, pickling, and cyanide bright silver plating procedure, which correspond to cyanide-containing and acid-alkali wastewater conditioning tanks. Wastewater treatment by oxidation and precipitation removed 52.6% and 20% of PFASs, respectively. Σ₁₁PFASs in effluents is about 538 ng/L, that consists of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA, 430.5 ng/L), followed by perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS, 35.27 ng/L), perfluorohexane sulfonate (PFHxS, 28.05 ng/L), and perfluorohexanoic acid (PFHxA, 18.3 ng/L). Principal component analysis suggests that the Σ₁₁PFASs in electroplating wastewater is very high and short-chain (C4–C8) PFASs have high detection and contribution rates. As a result, much attention should be paid to the increase in short-chain substitution effects and pollution around the factory area.

The emerging interest in fluoride-removal from wastewater has attracted attention to zeolite since it has been considered as a natural adsorbent. However, the fluoride-removal efficiency of natural zeolite is generally low. As part of the effort to improve the zeolite adsorption efficiency, we have produced and tested the Mn-Ti modified zeolite. In the current work, the material preparation is discussed, and prepared materials were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), scanning electron microscopy, and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectra. Both static and dynamic experiments were conducted to examine the effects of independent variables. In the static adsorption section, sensitivity analysis experiments were conducted for independent variables, such as adsorbent dosage, pH, temperature, and competitive ions. The maximum adsorption capacity is 2.175 mg/g, which was obtained at PH = 7, temperature = 25 °C, and initial fluoride concentration = 10 mg/L. For adsorption kinetics, both Lagergren and Pseudo-second order models predict the experiments very well, which probably demonstrates that the current process is a combination of physical sorption and chemisorption. For adsorption isotherms, the Freundlich model performs better than the Langmuir model since it is usually applied to illustrate adsorption on inhomogeneous surfaces. In the dynamic adsorption section, sensitivity analysis experiments were also conducted for independent variables, such as adsorbent thickness, flow velocity, initial fluoride concentration, and PH. Additionally, the adsorption mechanism is also discussed. The main reason is the hydrated metal fluoride precipitate formation. As we know, the current work provides the first quantified comparison of the natural zeolite and the Mn-Ti modified zeolite regarding fluoride-removal efficiency.

Cyclic injection hydraulic fracturing is a promising way for the geothermal energy exploitation by reactivating the fractures in geothermal reservoir. However, fracture initiation and growth induced by cyclic injection schemes have been inadequately studied for hot dry rock (HDR), and the cyclic injection fracturing optimized often by experience. For this reason, the initiation and propagation of hydraulic fractures in the HDR under different cyclic injection methods were determined by experiment research for hydraulic fracturing. The results show that the cyclic frequency and injection rate play different roles in the stimulation of HDR. The cyclic injection with low frequency-low pressure can create more branched fractures, forming a short but complex hydraulic fracture network. However, when high flow-high frequency injection method is subjected, the branch fractures formed are significantly reduced, but each branch fracture can be fully expanded. To fully exploit the advantages of different injection methods, a numerical model that contains a fracture network was established with PFC software, and an alternating cyclic injection scheme with synergistic control of the cyclic frequency and injection rate was proposed. The comparison results indicated that the alternating cyclic injection method can effectively improve the fracturing effect in the HDR. The stimulation area of the alternating cyclic injection method is about 2.3 times and 2.7 times that of the low flow-low frequency and high flow-high frequency injection methods, respectively. The method presented here can be adopted to optimize the fracture growth regime and provide a scientific basis for EGS hydraulic fracturing design.