On April 29th, the project appraisal meeting for "Efficient and Green Control of Harmful Algal Blooms and Pathogenic Organisms in Land and Sea Areas" hosted by the China Society of Environmental Sciences, and the strategic seminar on "Key Laboratory for Pollution Control and Carbon Sequestration in Land and Sea Areas in Tianjin" organized by the Institute of Environmental and Ecological Research at Tianjin University, was held at Tianjin University. The innovative achievements in the efficient and green control of harmful algal blooms and pathogenic organisms in land and sea areas led by Tianjin University were unanimously recognized and approved by academic experts.
The appraisal committee, chaired by Academician Zhang Cai from the Chinese Academy of Engineering and researcher at the South China Sea Institute of Oceanology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, unanimously agreed that the overall achievement has reached the international leading level with broad application prospects and approved the appraisal.
The project "Efficient and Green Control of Harmful Algal Blooms and Pathogenic Organisms in Land and Sea Areas" was led by Professor Bai Mindong's team at Tianjin University, revealing a new principle of hydroxyl radicals (·OH) efficiently generating in situ to kill tiny harmful organisms while mineralizing organic pollutants. The team developed a series of new equipment based on atmospheric pressure dielectric barrier discharge to generate hydroxyl radicals, established an engineering technical system for efficient and green control using hydroxyl radicals, and solved the international technical challenges of massive biomass, significant harm, and difficulty in control during harmful algal blooms and pathogenic organism outbreaks in land and sea areas.
The project achievements won six awards, including the First Prize of Environmental Protection Science and Technology Award, the First Prize of Science and Technology Progress Award in Fujian Province, and the First Prize of Marine Science and Technology Award. In the coastal areas, the project ensured the safety of high algal water sources for drinking water, guaranteed that the water quality at national and provincial control sections reached 100%, and significantly reduced the input of terrestrial nutrients into the Taiwan Strait and the Bohai Sea. In the nearshore waters, it prevented the occurrence of parasitic diseases in aquaculture animals at the source, achieving the prevention of large-scale toxic harmful algal blooms in approximately 18 million mu of sea areas within three years.
After the appraisal meeting, the participating experts also conducted strategic consultations on the construction and development of the Key Laboratory for Pollution Control and Carbon Sequestration in Land and Sea Areas in Tianjin. The experts suggested focusing on "major achievements, talents, projects, scenarios, applications, and breakthroughs," aiming to build a first-class and internationally influential key laboratory in China through team collaboration, interdisciplinary cooperation, refining directions, and highlighting key points. Recommendations were also provided on major theoretical and technological breakthrough directions for the laboratory, independent topic selection mechanisms and assessments, promoting high-quality talent cultivation and recruitment, advancing cooperation between the laboratory and Tianjin City, and jointly applying for major projects.
