Characterization of the incipient smoke point for steam-/air-assisted and nonassisted flares

Flares are important safety devices for pressure relief; at the same time, flares are a significant point source for soot and highly reactive volatile organic compounds (HRVOCs). Currently, simple guidelines for flare operations to maintain high combustion efficiency (CE) remain elusive. This paper fills the gap by investigating the characteristics of the incipient smoke point (ISP), which is widely recognized as the condition for good combustion. This study characterizes the ISP in terms of 100–% combustion inefficiency (CE), percent opacity, absorbance, air assist, steam assist, air equivalence ratio, steam equivalence ratio, exit velocity, vent gas net heating value, and combustion zone net heating value. Flame lengths were calculated for buoyant and momentum-dominated plumes under calm and windy conditions at stable and neutral atmosphere. Opacity was calculated using the Beer–Lambert law based on soot concentration, flame diameter, and mass-specific extinction cross section of soot. The calculated opacity and absorbance were found to be lognormally distributed. Linear relations were established for soot yield versus absorptivity with R² > 0.99 and power-law relations for opacity versus soot emission rate with R² ≥ 0.97 for steam-assisted, air-assisted, and nonassisted flares. The characterized steam/air assists, combustion zone/vent gas heating values, exit velocity, steam, and air equivalence ratios for the incipient smoke point will serve as a useful guideline for efficient flare operations.

Implications: A Recent EPA rule requires an evaluation of visible emissions in terms of opacity in compliance with the standards. In this paper, visible emissions such as soot particles are characterized in terms of opacity at ISP. Since ISP is widely recognized as most efficient flare operation for high combustion efficiency (CE)/destruction efficiency (DE) with initial soot particles formed in the flame, this characterization provides a useful guideline for flare operators in the refinery, oil and gas, and chemical industries to sustain smokeless and high combustion efficiency flaring in compliance with recent EPA regulations, in addition to protecting the environment.     

Boosting freshwater fish conservation with high-resolution distribution mapping across a large territory

The lack of high-resolution distribution maps for freshwater species across large extents fundamentally challenges biodiversity conservation worldwide. We devised a simple framework to delineate the distributions of freshwater fishes in a high-resolution drainage map based on stacked species distribution models and expert information. We applied this framework to the entire Chinese freshwater fish fauna (>1600 species) to examine high-resolution biodiversity patterns and reveal potential conflicts between freshwater biodiversity and anthropogenic disturbances. The correlations between spatial patterns of biodiversity facets (species richness, endemicity, and phylogenetic diversity) were all significant (r = 0.43–0.98, p < 0.001). Areas with high values of different biodiversity facets overlapped with anthropogenic disturbances. Existing protected areas (PAs), covering 22% of China's territory, protected 25–29% of fish habitats, 16–23% of species, and 30–31% of priority conservation areas. Moreover, 6–21% of the species were completely unprotected. These results suggest the need for extending the network of PAs to ensure the conservation of China's freshwater fishes and the goods and services they provide. Specifically, middle to low reaches of large rivers and their associated lakes from northeast to southwest China hosted the most diverse species assemblages and thus should be the target of future expansions of the network of PAs. More generally, our framework, which can be used to draw high-resolution freshwater biodiversity maps combining species occurrence data and expert knowledge on species distribution, provides an efficient way to design PAs regardless of the ecosystem, taxonomic group, or region considered.     

Evaluation of ecotourism development in rural regions of China

The current status of ecotourism in rural China was analyzed in this paper.Empirical surveys covering the whole country indicate that ecotourism in rural China has attracted a large number of tourists who,however,didn’t generate revenues that can match the number.Although the environmental quality of those rural ecotourism destinations is high with little negative impacts,several problems have already appeared,suggesting a need to monitor those areas.The current practice of interpretation in most rural ecotourism destinations did not provide environmental education opportunities to the tourists.And local communities need more effective ways to decide on the prospects of local ecotourism development by themselves.Finally,a few recommendations for improving the sustainability of ecotourism destinations were provided.     

Magnetic graphene-based nanocomposites as highly efficient absorbents for Cr(VI) removal from wastewater

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Due to the merits of their high adsorption and convenient separation, magnetic graphene-based composites have become a promising adsorbent in terms of...     

Effects of intercropping with floricultural accumulator plants on cadmium accumulation in grapevine

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.) intercropping with floricultural cadmium (Cd) accumulator plants (Helianthus annuus L., Cosmos sulphureus Cav., Cosmos...     

Numerical model of aerobic bioreactor landfill considering aerobic-anaerobic condition and bio-stable zone development

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Aeration by airflow technology is a reliable method to accelerate waste biodegradation and stabilization and hence shorten the aftercare period of a...     

Personal exposure to PM2.5-bound heavy metals associated with cardiopulmonary function in general population

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - To better understand the cardiopulmonary alterations associated with personal exposed PM2.5-bound heavy meals, we conducted a cross-sectional study in...     

Simultaneous adsorption and immobilization of As and Cd by birnessite-loaded biochar in water and soil

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - A novel biochar was prepared by loading birnessite to improve its capability to simultaneously adsorb As(III), As(V), and Cd(II) in water and soil....     

电梯旁路装置常见故障以及检验流程

在TSG T7001-2009《电梯监督检验和定期检验规则——曳引与强制驱动电梯》2号修改单执行后,电梯旁路装置作为电梯的重要装置,极大地方便了维保人员维护保养电梯,以及排除相关的故障.本文通过旁路装置的相关要求,结合实例,描述了旁路装置的形式、常见故障,以及检验时的注意事项.