Some unusual case histories from personal experience

Is protection of equipment the only consideration when setting the relieving pressures of safety relief valves? I will show you a case where other factors should have been considered and suggest that you might give your safety valve set pressures a second thought.Do you have side-by-side pieces of identical equipment? If so, you must consider that operating or maintenance personnel may become confused, and the results maybe catastrophic. A PVC reactor incident will demonstrate this point.Does your process contain materials that could decompose? After thirty years of safe operation in butadiene units, there was a vinyl acetylene decomposition. Could it happen to you?It is my hope that these three unique and unusual cases will provide valuable information for operations and maintenance personnel, managers, safety professionals, and engineers.     

What Can Funders Do to Better Link Science with Decisions? Case Studies of Coastal Communities and Climate Change

Many reports and studies have noted that a significant portion of problem-oriented coastal science does not actually link to decisions. Here, three competitively funded project case studies are studied to determine what funders can and should do to better link science with decisions. The qualitative analysis used for this study indicates that the studied program was seen as being unusually attentive to the issue of linking science to decisions, as opposed to simply generating new knowledge. Nevertheless, much of the data indicate that funders can and should do more. Three ideas figured most prominently in the qualitative data: (1) funders should do more to ensure that the problem itself is defined more thoroughly with people who are envisioned as potential users of the science; (2) funders need to allocate more resources and attention to communicating effectively (with users) throughout the project; and (3) funders need to demand more engagement of users throughout the project. These findings have important implications for how funders review and support science, especially when competitive processes are used. Most importantly, funders should adjust what kind of science they ask for. Secondly, funders need to change who is involved in the review process. Currently, review processes focus on knowledge generation, which means that the reviewers themselves have expertise in that area. Instead, review panels should be balanced between those who focus on knowledge generation and those who focus on linking knowledge to decisions; this is a separate but critical discipline currently left out of the review process.     

基于优化模型的抚仙湖营养物标准技术经济评估方法

在对美国水质标准经济分析研究的基础上,结合我国环境管理的实际情况,构建湖泊营养物标准的技术经济评估框架。计算标准建议值条件下的湖泊营养物容量及入量湖,得到削减量。通过不确定性优化模型对削减量进行分配,核算湖泊富营养化控制成本,并假设标准执行后,对流域经济造成的影响进行评估。将该方法应用于抚仙湖营养物标准的技术经济评估系统,结果表明,通过优化模型对削减量进行分配的削减成本较原规划低,通过构建的技术经济评估框架对该成本进行评估,标准执行后,对流域经济影响适中。     

Increased bioavailability of metals in two contrasting agricultural soils treated with waste wood-derived biochar and ash

Recycled waste wood is being increasingly used for energy production; however, organic and metal contaminants in by-products produced from the combustion/pyrolysis residue may pose a significant environmental risk if they are disposed of to land. Here we conducted a study to evaluate if highly polluted biochar (from pyrolysis) and ash (from incineration) derived from Cu-based preservative-treated wood led to different metal (e.g., Cu, As, Ni, Cd, Pb, and Zn) bioavailability and accumulation in sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.). In a pot experiment, biochar at a common rate of 2 % w/w, corresponding to ～50 t ha^?1, and an equivalent pre-combustion dose of wood ash (0.2 % w/w) were added to a Eutric Cambisol (pH 6.02) and a Haplic Podzol (pH 4.95), respectively. Both amendments initially raised soil pH, although this effect was relatively short-term, with pH returning close to the unamended control within about 7 weeks. The addition of both amendments resulted in an exceedance of soil Cu statutory limit, together with a significant increase of Cu and plant nutrient (e.g., K) bioavailability. The metal-sorbing capacity of the biochar, and the temporary increase in soil pH caused by adding the ash and biochar were insufficient to offset the amount of free metal released into solution. Sunflower plants were negatively affected by the addition of metal-treated wood-derived biochar and led to elevated concentration of metals in plant tissue, and reduced above- and below-ground biomass, while sunflower did not grow at all in the Haplic Podzol. Biochar and ash derived from wood treated with Cu-based preservatives can lead to extremely high Cu concentrations in soil and negatively affect plant growth. Identifying sources of contaminated wood in waste stream feedstocks is crucial before large-scale application of biochar or wood ash to soil is considered.     

Report on the fifth meeting of INRA’s national network of ecotoxicologists,ECOTOX

The fifth meeting of INRA’s national network of ecotoxicologists took place on 25 to 27 November 2014 in Biarritz, France. The main aim of the meeting was to bring together ecotoxicologists from INRA and associated partners, providing them ample opportunity to share and discuss their latest scientific results as well as the national policy of research in ecotoxicology and to precise perspectives for the network.