Vapor−Liquid equilibria for two binary mixtures at elevated pressures were determined by a novel technique of density measurement. In this investigation using two high-pressure densitometers, phase diagrams for carbon dioxide + ethanol and carbon dioxide + acetone mixtures were established at five temperatures and pressures up to 14.39 MPa. Solubilities of carbon dioxide in both ethanol and acetone were found to increase with applied pressure but decreased with increasing temperature. The solubility for carbon dioxide in acetone was found to be greater than that of carbon dioxide in ethanol.

The solubilities of carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide in three liquid solvents were measured under static phase equilibrium conditions at temperatures of 290.8, 300.9, and 310.1 K and pressures up to 12.34 MPa. The solubility data were determined from the liquid phase density obtained from an Anton-Paar densitometer, and the level of liquid phase expanded by supercritical and subcritical gases. The solubility of N2O in each solvent increased with pressure, but decreased with temperature, and in each case, was greater than that of CO2. Both CO2 and N2O showed the highest solubility in cyclohexanone and the least solubility in AUV-dimethylformamide.

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This study is intended to conduct an extended evaluation of sustainability based on the material flow analysis of resource productivity. We first present updated information on the material flow analysis (MFA) database in Taiwan. Essential indicators are selected to quantify resource productivity associated with the economy-wide MFA of Taiwan. The study also applies the IPAT (impact-population-affluence-technology) master equation to measure trends of material use efficiency in Taiwan and to compare them with those of other Asia-Pacific countries. An extended evaluation of efficiency, in comparison with selected economies by applying data envelopment analysis (DEA), is conducted accordingly. The Malmquist Productivity Index (MPI) is thereby adopted to quantify the patterns and the associated changes of efficiency. Observations and summaries can be described as follows. Based on the MFA of the Taiwanese economy, the average growth rates of domestic material input (DMI; 2.83%) and domestic material consumption (DMC; 2.13%) in the past two decades were both less than that of gross domestic product (GDP; 4.95%). The decoupling of environmental pressures from economic growth can be observed. In terms of the decomposition analysis of the IPAT equation and in comparison with 38 other economies, the material use efficiency of Taiwan did not perform as well as its economic growth. The DEA comparisons of resource productivity show that Denmark, Germany, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, United Kingdom and Japan performed the best in 2008. Since the MPI consists of technological change (frontier-shift or innovation) and efficiency change (catch-up), the change in efficiency (catch-up) of Taiwan has not been accomplished as expected in spite of the increase in its technological efficiency.

In this study, two microbial bioassays, i.e. the commercialized Microtox® test and the specific oxygen uptake rate (SOUR) method, are used to assess the individual response of existing wastewater treatment facilities in several high-intensity pollution industries. Initially, the microbial toxicity of manufacturing effluents from a petrochemical industry are assessed. The toxicant sources in the manufacturing effluents are then investigated to develop the baseline of the waste reduction in the manufacturing processes. According to these results, the amount of aldehyde group contributes the majority of the microbial toxicity in the wastewater. Therefore, the abatement of the aldehyde wastewater may be the most effective factor to release the loads for following wastewater treatment facilities. To control the discharge sources to the treatment facilities (WWTP), WWTPs with high-intensity pollution industries and public WWTPs in three industrial districts are further evaluated with their effluents to determine the primary contributor of toxicants. From the effluent toxicity results, the relationship between organic loads and toxic effluents exhibits a positive conjunction in the high-intensity pollution industries. If these industries can enhance their removal efficiency of organic compounds in the pretreatment system, the toxicity of their effluents can be effectively reduced. Consequently, the following treatment facilities can perform more efficiently to satisfy their needs.