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The distribution of the flow field in the dust collector significantly affects its performance. The uniform distribution of the flow field is conducive to the dust reduction of the system, thus it requires the use of simulation software to simulate and analyze the flow field distribution of the dust removal system. This study used Fluent to simulate the flow field distribution of gaseous single-phase flow, gas-solid two-phase flow and gas-solid-liquid three-phase flow to investigate the effect of droplet particles on the flow field of the dust removal system, and the effect of droplet particles on the dust removal performance. Results show that the dust particles exerts minimal impact on the system flow field; the structure of the dust collector is found to be the major factor affecting the system flow field; the presence of droplets will increase the dust removal efficiency of the system; after the droplet particles are added, the dust movement disorder is enhanced, and the collision effect with the droplets is strengthened, which promotes the condensation of fine dust, improve the dust removal efficiency, but at the same time affects the stability of the system flow field and increases the resistance loss of the system.

Bifunctional catalysts for oxygen evolution reduction (OER) and oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) are key renewable energy technologies including metal–air batteries and water splitting. In this work, a solid-state sintering approach was employed to prepare spinel-structured bimetallic oxides Co2GeO4 and Ni2GeO4 with remarkable bifunctional catalytic activity. Compared to Ni2GeO4 and Co3O4, Co2GeO4 demonstrates a larger density of oxygen vacancies, leading to an increased abundance of active sites and superior OER and ORR activities. Electrochemical measurements were carried out in alkaline media, the material requiring a mere overpotential of 263 mV to attain a current density of 10 mA cm−2. Moreover, Co2GeO4 exhibited exceptional stability, maintaining a stable potential for 40 h at a current density of 1 mA cm−2. The calculation revealed that the high stability is attributed to the robust Ge-O bonds, which stabilize the Ge-O4 tetrahedrons within the spinel framework. This study possesses significant potential in guiding the development of highly efficient bifunctional electrocatalysts for both OER and ORR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Black-necked Crane (Gni.s nigricol-lis) only breeds in high-altitude wetlands of the Tibetan Plateau. An important breeding area for this species, Qinghai Lake, has recently undergone large water level changes both inter- and intra-annually. Continually rising water between years and rapid rise of water levels during Black-necked Cranes' hatching period led to inundation of eggs. Hatching success among a study population of 13 nests at Qinghai Lake had a mean of 30.77% during 2009-2014. To examine (1) how readily Black-necked Cranes might adapt to artificial nests, and (2) whether artificial nests can improve their breeding performance, we built artificial nests for Black-necked Cranes at Qinghai Lake during 2015-2017. Results showed that Black-necked Cranes adapted well to artificial nests with 16 pairs hatching young in the structures out of 27 attempts, and the occupation rate exceeded 50% in 3 years. Furthermore, cranes using artificial nests had high hatching success rates of 77.78%, 100%, and 72.73%, respectively, and breeding success rate was 11.11-22.22% less than hatching success rate each year. Compared with Black-necked Cranes using natural nests in the study area during 2009-2014, nesting success rate of Black-necked Cranes that used artificial nests during 2015-2017 improved significantly. Therefore, we propose that artificial nests can be used to maintain Blacknecked Cranes' nest success rate at Qinghai Lake; our study contributes to the protection of this species in the future. Received 18 August 2019. Accepted 1 October 2021. Key words: breeding performance, environmental change. hatching success, occupation rate, water-level fluctuation, wildlife management. [phrase omitted], The Black-necked Crane (Grus nigricollis, hereafter BNCR) is the only crane species that lives on plateau areas during the entire annual cycle. It is classified as Vulnerable (VU) by the [...]

The physicochemical properties and origins of atmospheric aerosols in the Tibetan Plateau (TP) region are a research topic of great interest, but an in‐depth understanding of this topic is challenging, partially due to a lack of intensive in situ observations. Thus, a field campaign was conducted over Yadong, a remote area on the south slope of the TP from June 11 to 31 August 2021. The aerosol loading was low, with a black carbon mass concentration of 147.4 ± 98.4 ng·m−3. Aerosol single‐scattering albedo was low (0.73 ± 0.11 at 550 nm) and increased from 450 to 700 nm wavelength. Organic matter (OM) accounting for 69.6% of the total aerosol mass and relatively high secondary organic carbon ratios, highlighting the importance of secondary formation. An interesting phenomenon observed was that the evolution of aerosols was mainly characterized by diurnal variation, which could not be explained by large‐scale atmospheric processes such as Indian summer monsoon. Instead, it was found that regional mountain‐valley winds between the Himalayas and South Asia transported polluted air masses toward the TP, especially in the afternoon when regional valley wind are expected to be the strongest and the boundary layer in South Asia is deepest. Additionally, daytime local valley wind further elevated these aerosols to higher altitudes on the TP. This paper provides insights into the transport mechanisms of aerosols from South Asia to the TP. These findings are of great importance since aerosols exhibit significant diurnal variations in the TP region. Plain Language Summary: Previous studies focused on the analysis of the physical or chemical properties of aerosols on the Tibetan Plateau, but this study provides a comprehensive examination of both. The findings reveal that aerosols on the southern slope of the Tibetan Plateau exhibit strong absorption efficiency. Aerosol single‐scattering albedo was low (0.73 ± 0.11 at 550 nm), which may be attributed to aerosol secondary generation and coating. Finally, the mechanism of pollutant transport from South Asia to the Tibetan Plateau was analyzed relies on site observations, satellite, and reanalysis data to highlight the link between diurnal variations of pollutants and transport mechanism. The specific transport mechanism be understood uniformly across different scales, including Indian summer monsoon, regional mountain‐valley winds between the Himalayas and South Asia, and local mountain‐valley winds circulation. Key Points: Aerosol single‐scattering albedo was low (0.73 ± 0.11 at 550 nm) and secondary organic matter was the major aerosol componentThe evolution of aerosols was mainly characterized by diurnal variation that was related to transport mechanism over YadongThe Himalayas‐South Asia regional mountain‐valley winds combined with local mountain‐valley winds transport aerosols to the Tibetan Plateau [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of heterostructure electrolytes represents a promising strategy for enhancing the performance of solid oxide fuel cells for the intermediate-temperature solid oxide fuel cell (IT-SOFC). In this work, a p–n semiconductor ZnO-SNT heterostructured electrolyte based on p-type Sr2Nb1.9Ti0.1O7–δ (SNT) and n-type ZnO nanoparticles is proposed. In addition, its structural characterization and electrochemical performance are also investigated. Particular attention is paid to the effect of the commercial ZnO particle size on the electrical conductivity. It was revealed that the resulting ZnO-SNT electrolyte exhibited a desirable heterostructure and was enriched with oxygen vacancies. Electrochemical studies demonstrated that the 6ZnO-4SNT fuel cell achieved a peak power density of 570 mW cm–2 at 550 °C, with an open-circuit voltage of 1.06 V, and an ionic conductivity of 0.163 S cm–1. Meanwhile, such optimal cell performance was yielded at an average size of 30 nm for the ZnO, which indicated that the interfacial area plays a crucial role in the ionic conductivity of the ZnO-SNT composites. Further investigation of the rectification properties showed that there was a pronounced p–n rectification effect in the ZnO-SNT heterostructure. Building upon this finding, the band alignment effect was exploited to explain the electron-blocking and ion-promoting behavior of such p–n heterojunctions. Our findings not only show that ZnO-SNT nanocomposites are promising electrolytes but also provide insights into the development of effective IT-SOFC electrolytes utilizing semiconductor heterostructure materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Studies on the migration patterns, habitat use, and conservation of the Eastern common crane Grus grus lilfordi in East Asia are insufficient. Most of the summering, breeding, wintering, and stopover sites are located outside the current protected areas boundary, so it is necessary to pay attention to these areas for the future protection of this subspecies. Studies on the subspecies Eastern common crane Grus grus lilfordi are still scarce, especially in Southeastern Siberia, the far east of Russia, Eastern Mongolia, and Northeastern China. This study explores the migration pattern, habitat use, and conservation status of the Eastern common crane. Using GPS/GSM tracking data, 36 complete migrations of 11 individuals were obtained from 2017 to 2021. The cranes migrated an average of 1581.5 km (±476.5 SD) in autumn and 1446.5 (±742.8 SD) in spring between their breeding site in Eastern Mongolia and the following wintering sites: the Xar Moron River, Chifeng; the Bohai Bay; the Yellow River Delta; Tangshan, Hebei; and Tianjin. During the autumn and spring migrations, the cranes used three critical stopover sites. The subspecies spent 60.3% of their time in rangeland, 18.1% in cropland, and 14.2% in water. The tracking data determined that, of the areas used by cranes, 97–98% of the summering sites were in Russia, 96% of the breeding sites were in Mongolia, and over 70% of the stopover sites and 90% of the wintering sites in China lay outside the current protected area boundaries. Consequently, establishing and expanding protected areas in summering, breeding, stopover, and wintering sites should be a central component of future conservation strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]