Tạp chí Khoa học Trái Đất và Môi trường Đại học Quốc gia Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh

The port system of Ho Chi Minh City including 34 ports, serves as the gateway to the South (including the South East and the Mekong Delta) in export and import activities. In which contribute a huge amount of pollutants to the atmosphere in Ho Chi Minh City. The objective of this study is to: (i) Calculating air emissions from ports system in Ho Chi Minh city using the SPDGIZ model which emits a large amount of air pollutants such as sulfur oxide (SOX), nitrogen oxide (NOX), fine dust (PM2.5, PM10), volatile organic compounds (VOC), carbon monoxide (CO) from large ships (Ocean going vessels - OGVs), towing ships (Harbor Crafts - HCs), cargo handling equipment (Cargo handling equipment - CHE) and other vehicles (Heavy trucks – HVs); (ii) Using dispersion model TAPM-AERMOD to assess the impact of port operations to air quality in surouding port area; (iii) Proposing abatement measures based on the results of simulation to reduce emissions/ air pollution levels. The results of emission inventory show that the total port emissions are largely NOX and SOX mainly from large ships (OGVs) and cargo handling equipment (CHE) due to the use of heavy oil and diesel which have high sulfur content. The results show that the time at which a mooring boat is the most time consuming (accounting for over 90% of total emissions from OGVs).

This research applied the groundwater quality index (GWQI) and principal component analysis (PCA) for assessing pollution levels and factors effecting groundwater quality of Pleistocene aquifer in Tan Thanh district, Ba Ria – Vung Tau province. Seventeen wells were colected in April (dry season) and October (rainy season) during 5 years (2012-2017). Nine parameters of water (pH, TDS, độ cứng, Cl-, F-, NO3-, SO42-, Cu2+ và Fe2+) were collected for analyses. The results of GWQI (dry season) divided into 17 wells in dry season with groundwater quality from good to very good which occupied to 82% databases, compared to 94% of rainy season. Meanwhile, the number of wells significantly changed from poor to very poor water between two seasons. PCA demonstrated that two specific factors, interaction of chemical components in river sediments and character of aquifer and anthropogenic, affected to the quality of groundwater in this study area. These explained 65.555% (dry season) and 61.562% (rainy season) of the variances. This result is provided specific information, and the useful tools in order to deal with the complicated databases, as well as zone the groundwater quality in the study area. This further help the authorities to plan suitable strategy for groundwater quality management.

Plastic debris was separated from Saigon river sediment using a microplastic sediment separator (MPSS) for the first time. A separation fluid of ZnCl2 solution (1.6 kg/L) was used to separate lower density materials (floating on the top) from higher density materials (sinking in the bottom). Plastic and plastic-like materials were collected and analyzed by a FTIR spectrometer to determine plastic composition. The results show that a total of 350 items (0.0485 g) of plastic debris were extracted from 1,500.00 g dry sediment, including 11 items (0.0130 g) of macroplastics (> 5 mm) and 339 items (0.0355 g) of microplastics (0.3–5 mm). Polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), and PE-PP mixture were the most major plastic types with 225, 85, and 21 items, respectively. Others, including polystyrene (PS), polyurethane (PU), silicon, rubber, and nylon were also found in the sediment sample. Fragments were the major shape with 300 items while other shapes of sheets, fibers and beads were also recorded. The advantages of MPSS are high capacity, high separation efficiency, and low-cost operation. The disadvantages of this apparatus are high pollution due to using ZnCl2, bottom stirrer is easily stuck, and uncertain efficiency with small microplastic particles (< 0.3 mm). A significant high number of microplastics in sediment environment indicates that microplastics could be a potential risk for benthic organisms and aquatic food web. Various types and shapes of plastics also suggests that macroplastics and microplastics in sediment could originate from various sources. It is said that, for the first time in Vietnam, plastic debris, particular with microplastics, can be efficiently extracted from a large amount of sediment sample (up to 1.5 kg dry sediment). These findings could be an interesting reference for researchers who may want to obtain a large amount of microplastics for further investigation of microplastic toxicology.

Livestock is one of the main activities of the agricultural sector in Tan Thanh district, Ba Ria – Vung Tau province. Beside of pollution sources such as waste water, solid waste, livestock activity in Tan Thanh district, Ba Ria - Vung Tau province in recent years has caused air pollution in the livestock area and surrounding area. This research was carried out to evaluate the process of air pollution dispersion from livestock activities based on applying the TAPM meteorological model and AERMOD air quality model. The results showed that the maximum concentrations of air pollutants from livestock area such as NH3, H2S and CH3SH exceeded the National Technical Regulation on Ambient Air Quality (average hour) in the centre of Tan Thanh district, such as Toc Tien commune, part of Tan Phuoc and Phuoc Hoa communes, is 505 μg/m3; 57.4 μg/m3 and 111 μg/m3, respectively. Phu My district and other suburban communes (Hac Dich, Song Xoai, Chau Pha, Tan Hoa, Tan Hai, My Xuan, etc.) have distribution of lower concentrations of air pollutants. Base on the present results of modeling, the authors have proposed livestock development scenarios to control air pollution from this activity, contributing to environmental protection for Tan Thanh district.

In the present study, Multivariate Statistical Analysis (MSA) such as Principle Component Analysis (PCA) and Cluster Analysis (CA) were applied to determine the temporal and spatial variations of groundwater quality in Tan Thanh district, Ba Ria – Vung Tau province. Groundwater samples were collected from 18 monitoring wells in April (dry season) and October (wet season) during the year 2012. Fifteen parameters (pH, TH, TDS, Cl-, F-, NO3-, SO42-, Cr6+, Cu2+, Ca2+, Mg2+, Na+, K+, HCO3- and Fe2+) were selected for MSA. PCA identified a reduced number of mean three latent factors of groundwater quality. Three factors called salinization, water-rock interaction and anthropogenic pollution explanined 70,5% (dry season) and 71.28% (wet season) of the variances. Cluster analysis revealed two main different groups of similarities between the sampling sites. This study presents the necessity of MSA in order to extract more precise information from a huge minitoring data, which will be usefull to groundwater quality management.

The purpose of this study is to reuse fishpond sediment to produce organic fertilizer for planting maize. The sludge was mixed with rice husk and Composted under aerobic conditions. The effectiveness of Compost on planting maizes was assessed by adding to maizes with and without combination chemical fertilizers as different dosages as recommendations. The amounts of Compost adding for maizes were 10 and 20 tons/ha. Maize growth, characteristics of corn, and soil physical and chemical parameters such as bulk density, soil aggregate stability, the volume of moisture, and useful moisture of soil were measured and evaluated. The results showed that the quality of organic fertilizer produced from waste sludge met Vietnamese standard (QCVN:2018/BNNPTNT) for adding to crops. Applying organic fertilizer with the quantity of 20 tons/ha to combine with the recommendation of inorganic fertilizer amount for planting maizes increased the yield. Moreover, 20 ton/ha of organic fertilizer coupling with 50% of chemical fertilizer amount as a recommendation for planting maize also enhanced the yield to compare with the control (only using inorganic fertilizer as a recommendation). The maize yield of applying 20 tons/ha of organic fertilizer was higher than the maize yield of 10 tons/ha of organic fertilizer. Using organic fertilizer produced by fishpond sediment did improve not only the soil quality but also protected the canals and increased household income.

Anaerobic/Anoxic/Oxic – Membrane BioReactor (A2O-MBR) system was used to enhance simultaneous removal of nitrogen and phosphorus from brewery wastewater. The A2O unit containing microorganisms with short solids retention time (SRT) was employed mainly for removal of organic matter and phosphorus together with denitrification. The MBR containing microorganisms with long SRT was employed mainly for nitrification of NH4+-N and recirculation of NO3--N. The model of A2O-MBR system made from polyacrylic with the capacity of 49.5 liters was operated with hydraulic retention times decreased from 24, 18 to 12 hours corresponding to organic loading rates increased from 0.50, 0.75 to 1.00 kg COD/m3.day. The results showed that the model not only treated organic matter well but also nearly completely removed both nitrogen and phosphorus. For all three loading rates, chemical oxygen demand (COD) concentration decreased significantly in the anaerobic and anoxic compartments of the A2O unit, indicating that most of organic matter was utilized in the anaerobic and anoxic compartments for phosphorus release and denitrification, respectively. Nitrification in the MBR was almost perfectly completed, with average NH4 +-N removal efficiencies of over 98%. Denitrification in the anoxic compartment happened as much as possible. Demands for the development of PAOs, which were responsible for enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR) processes, could be provided. For loading rate of 0.75 kg COD/m3.day, treatment efficiencies of COD, NH4+-N, total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) of the model were the highest as 95.4, 99.2, 86.7 and 84.6%, respectively. Output values of these parameters were within the limits of Vietnam National Technical Regulation on Industrial Wastewater (QCVN 40:2011/BTNMT), column A. The model of A2O-MBR system was capable of achieving effluents with very low nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations from brewery wastewater.  

The purpose of this study is to evaluate and analyze the possibility of nitrogen recirculation when applying a closed eco-system for intensive catfish ponds in the Mekong Delta in accordance with the existing available natural conditions in the local area. A closed ecosystem is proposed for optimizing N emissions from intensive pangasius farming on the basis of closed flows of materials, waste, and energy. The entire system is applied to Tran Trung Nhan household in An Binh B ward, Hong Ngu city, Dong Thap province consisting of 6 sub-systems (catfish ponds, composting, rice cultivation, livestock, liquid fertilizer, aquatic ditches) which are designed to be interacted, and Nitrogen in the catfish ponds are used as the main nutrient sources throughout the integrated system. The material flow analysis (MFA) method, which is based on the principle of material flow balance, is applied in the integrated system to analyze the potential of Nitrogen circulation in the whole system. The results show that the input N source is mainly from feed (43.35 kgN), and there are 3 main sources of N emissions from the system: sewage sludge (20.55 KgN), wastewater (3.4 KgN), and hydrolyzed nitrogen from dead fish (3 KgN). The source of N generated from sewage sludge is mixed with other wastes (biomass from rice straw and water hyacinth) in the system to produce compost (26 KgN), and wastewater generated from catfish ponds after aquatic treatment is supplied to agricultural activities (4.9 KgN).

The problem of studying, calculating, simulating the process of transporting sediment and calculating erosion and accretion in rivers is very complicated. There are many methods that are applied and have shown their own effectiveness. However, at present, the development of a computer system as well as a good data base (especially topographic data) will ensure the ability to apply hydrodynamic models to simulate high results. In the Mekong Delta, there are currently 406 landslide sections, with a total length of 891km, of which An Giang is assessed as one of the localities most severely affected by riverbank erosion. Currently, there are many methods used to assess and predict riverbank erosion through the calculation of sediment content and regime in the river in specific areas, such as: document analysis method. real measurement; physical model; experience formula and mathematical model. Research using 2D Mike 21FM model is being widely used to simulate sediment regime on Tien and Hau river systems and analyze in detail for Long Xuyen city, An Giang province, which is a serious landslide area in recent years. The criteria to evaluate the reliability of the model both in terms of hydrodynamics and sediment at Vam Nao hydrological station show that the set of parameters ensures enough reliability to conduct the simulation of sediment on the system. Simulation results of flow regime and velocity show that the direction of sediment movement is from the right bank to the left bank, and this area has many scour holes and the level of sediment moving away from the shore is up to 50kg/m3. Many locations also clearly show a high risk of landslides in this area. This result will strengthen the scientific basis of the mathematical modeling method along with other methods for simulating finding mechanisms and causes of riverbank erosion, serving the prevention and mitigation of riverbank erosion. damage caused by landslides.

Geological environment zonation is to divide the areas into relatively homogeneous units based on their natural factors such as hydrology, topography, geology, disasters... to create geoenvironmental units which suit a specific type of exploitation for the purpose of research or regional management. This study presents a process of integrating GIS and remotely sensed data to develop a map of environmental geological zonning for the planning of development of the efective and safety construction sites. Data used in this work include Landsat 8 satellite image classified by application of Fuzzy Logic method to build the map of land use status which includes construction sites, and the GIS data including geology, topography, engineering geology and hydrogeology. The result from this process of integration is the suitability maps of appropriate units for the development of construction sites on the Thi Vai river basin. This map shows 3 different levels of geological environmental condition for development of the construction sites. This result demonstrates the efficiency of the integration of GIS and remote sensing to build tools to assist for the environmental capacity management, for data analysis, and beyond, to identify and incorporate the influencing factors to the subjects of management or research.