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This paper developed an agent-based model (ABM) to explore the energy saving potentials (ESPs) of various types of appliances in offices under different pricing mechanisms. The model included four types of commonly used appliances in office buildings: an air conditioner (AC), computers, lights and a basic load. The total ESPs of the entire office are 6.7% and 17.4% on the second and the third price tier of the tiered pricing mechanism (TEP), while the ESPs are 11.8% and 14.2% under the peak-valley pricing (PVP) and critical peak pricing (CPP), respectively. Within different types of appliances, AC consumes the largest amount of electricity, over 50%, while the ESPs of the AC under different pricing mechanisms are only 6.9–12.1%. In contrast, the lights have the biggest ESP, i.e. 14.1–53.4%, under various pricing levels. Both the pricing mechanisms of PVP and CPP only have the effect of peak clipping and do not have a significant effect of valley filling, since there is no people working in the office during the valley price period. The maximum ESP, which is based on people’s maximum-saving behavior, is much larger than the ESPs on the basis of people’s ordinary consumption patterns. This implies the importance of improving people’s awareness of energy saving and refining their behaviors. Lastly, the model developed in this study provides a generic platform for simulating many types of energy systems and is very effective for handling the complicated relations between different types of technology and the way how they are used and interacted with each other. ABMs have very good adaptability and capacity in simulating energy systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The toxicity of antipyrine (AP) in the photodegradation using UV/CoFe 2 O 4 /TiO 2 was investigated by analyzing the characteristic of the catalyst, the effect of parameters (light source wavelength, catalyst dose, pH and initial AP concentration), the reaction mechanism (the organic intermediates, TOC reduction and inorganic ions release) and the newly proposed low-dosage-high-effective radical reaction approach. The catalyst shows the optimal removal efficiency under the conditions of wavelength at 350 nm, the catalyst dose at 0.5 g/L, and pH value at 5.5. Ten organic intermediates were identified, and five of them were newly reported in AP treatment process. Hydroxylation, demethylation and the cleavage of the pentacyclic ring were included in the decomposition pathways. The ring opening was certified by the 45% TOC reduction and 60% ammonia release during the process. The parent compound AP and its degradation products show positive effects on the growth of the algae. However, acute toxicity of AP was detected on brine shrimps Artemia salina . The toxicity was eliminated gradually with the decomposition of AP and the generation of the byproducts. The results indicate that the photocatalysis process is effective in AP removal, TOC reduction and toxicity elimination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a comparative study on removal of the emerging pollutant phenazone (PNZ) by two treatment processes UVA/Fe(II)/persulfate (PS) and UVA/Fe(II)/peroxymonosulfate (PMS) was conducted. The two processes showed high efficiency in PNZ degradation, followed by a reasonable mineralization. The treatment system with PMS was found to be more efficient for PNZ degradation than that with PS due to the larger amounts of radicals generated. While the treatment process UVA/Fe(II)/PS showed higher ΔTOC/ΔSMX (TOC removal per unit of PNZ decay) than UVA/Fe(II)/PMS process. The sulfate and hydroxyl radicals played dominant roles in PNZ degradation in the UVA/Fe(II)/PS and UVA/Fe(II)/PMS process, respectively. Six and seven intermediates during PNZ degradation by UVA/Fe(II)/PS and UVA/Fe(II)/PMS process were detected, respectively. Among the detected intermediates, six of them are found for the first time. It takes shorter time for toxicity elimination by UVA/Fe(II)/PS process than UVA/Fe(II)/PMS, possibly due to the lower Kow values of hydroxylated products. The results demonstrate that UVA/Fe(II)/PMS process is more efficient in PNZ degradation, while UVA/Fe(II)/PS is more efficient in detoxification of PNZ. The two sulfate radicals based processes have good potentials in degradation, mineralization and detoxification of the emerging contaminants such as PNZ. • Two systems were studied systematically for efficient reduction of phenazone. • Image 1 and OH were dominant radicals in PS and PMS system, respectively. • More radicals were generated for faster degradation in PMS system than PS system. • The PS system is more efficient in detoxification of phenazone than PMS system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]