Flammability of methane,propane, and hydrogen gases

This paper reports the results of flammability studies for methane, propane, hydrogen, and deuterium gases in air conducted by the Pittsburgh Research Laboratory. Knowledge of the explosion hazards of these gases is important to the coal mining industry and to other industries that produce or use flammable gases. The experimental research was conducted in 20 L and 120 L closed explosion chambers under both quiescent and turbulent conditions, using both electric spark and pyrotechnic ignition sources. The data reported here generally confirm the data of previous investigators, but they are more comprehensive than those reported previously. The results illustrate the complications associated with buoyancy, turbulence, selective diffusion, and ignitor strength versus chamber size. Although the lower flammable limits (LFLs) are well defined for methane (CH₄) and propane (C₃H₈), the LFLs for hydrogen (H₂) and its heavier isotope deuterium (D₂) are much more dependent on the limit criterion chosen. A similar behavior is observed for the upper flammable limit of propane. The data presented include lower and upper flammable limits, maximum pressures, and maximum rates of pressure rise. The rates of pressure rise, even when normalized by the cube root of the chamber volume (V^1/3), are shown to be sensitive to chamber size.     

Effect of initial temperature on explosion characteristics of 2, 3, 3, 3–Tetrafluoropropene

The flammability of refrigerants is a major cause of refrigerant explosion incidents. Studying the explosion characteristics of refrigerants at different initial temperatures can provide significant benefits for solving the safety problems of refrigerants under actual working conditions. This paper studied the effects of the initial temperature and refrigerant concentration on the explosion characteristics of refrigerant 2, 3, 3, 3-tetrafluoropropene (R1234yf) at 0.1 MPa. The curves of explosion characteristics with different initial temperature revealed the same variation trend ranged from 25 °C to 115 °C. Specifically, as the refrigerant concentration was raised, the peak overpressure, the maximum rate of pressure rise, and laminar burning velocity increased initially and decreased afterwards, along with maximum values at the refrigerant concentration of 7.6%. When the refrigerant concentration was 7.6%, the peak overpressure declined exponentially with the initial temperature rise, while the maximum rate of pressure rise increased linearly. The laminar burning velocity calculated from the spherical expansion method indicated that the flame propagation was gradually accelerated by the increase of initial temperature, which coincided with the change of the maximum rate of pressure rise. Meanwhile, experiments and CHEMKIN simulation results demonstrated the effects of elevated temperature from 20 °C to 50 °C on the explosion limits of R1234yf. The lower explosion limit reduced and the upper explosion limit increased with rising initial temperature. In general, R1234yf exhibited moderate combustion and lower explosion risk, compared with traditional refrigerants.     

崛起中的PPE产业 发展中的新明辉——山东省临沂市新明辉安全科技有限公司发展纪实

随着国家经济实力的提升和"以人为本"科学理念的贯彻,我国劳动者的职业安全与健康水平正在得到不断改善,这其中包含着中国个体防护装备产业同仁们的努力与奉献。与劳动者对职业安全健康不断增长的需求相比,我国个体防护装备产业的供给能力在质和量两个方面都还远远不能满足需要。为此,加速技术进步和结构升级已经成为了我国个体防护装备产业面临的严峻挑战。促进技术进步,推动我国个体防护装备产业的结构升级,是本刊长期以来所践行的一项重要使命。要想有效应对挑战,我们必须充分研究挑战来自何方、性质怎样、强度如何,只有这样才能做到知己知彼,才有可能化挑战为机遇。本刊今年开始开辟了《行业标杆》专栏,向业界同仁们全面展示世界领先的个体防护装备制造商的发展经验,以供学习、借鉴。他山之石可以攻玉。本刊展示的这些行业领军企业应成为我国个体防护装备企业自主创新发展所参照的标杆,学习他们,将帮助我们确立起适宜的发展目标,制定好合理的发展规划,设计出科学的实施路径,从而使产业在自主创新发展的新的历史时期能够有所突破。     

Nighttime pedestrian fatalities: A comprehensive examination of infrastructure,user, vehicle,and situational factors

Introduction: Pedestrian fatalities in the United States increased 45.5% between 2009 and 2017. More than 85% of those additional pedestrian fatalities occurred at night. Method: We examine Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) data for fatal pedestrian crashes that occurred in the dark between 2002 and 2017. Within-variable and before/after examinations of crashes in terms of infrastructure, user, vehicle, and situational characteristics are performed with one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and two-sample t-tests. We model changes in crash characteristic proportions between 2002–2009 and 2010–2017 using linear regressions and test for autocorrelation with Breusch-Godfrey tests. Results: The increase in fatal nighttime pedestrian crashes is most strongly correlated with infrastructure factors: non-intersection unmarked locations (saw 80.8% of additional fatalities); 40–45 mph roads (54.6%); five-lane roads (40.7%); urban (99.7%); and arterials (81.1%). In addition, SUVs were involved in 39.7% of additional fatalities, overrepresenting their share of the fleet. Increased pedestrian alcohol and drug involvement warrant further investigation. The age of pedestrians killed increased more (18.1%) than the national average (3.2%). Conclusions: By identifying factors related to the increase in nighttime pedestrian fatalities, this work constitutes a vital first step in making our streets safer for pedestrians. Practical Applications: More research is needed to understand the efficacy of different solutions, but this paper provides guidance for such future research. Engineering solutions such as road diets or traffic calming may be used to improve identified infrastructure issues by reducing vehicle speeds and road widths. Rethinking vehicle design, especially high front profiles, may improve vehicle issues. However, the problems giving rise to these pedestrian fatalities are likely a result of not only engineering issues but also interrelated social and political factors. Solutions may be correspondingly comprehensive, employing non-linear, systems-based approaches such as Safe Systems.