Reliability evaluation of fire alarm systems using dynamic Bayesian networks and fuzzy fault tree analysis

In almost all industries, fire alarm systems play a vital role in the reducing the risks associated with fires and damages. Therefore, it is necessary to evaluate their reliability and performance in emergency situations. The present study aimed to use fault tree analysis (FTA) to determine the root causes involved in the failure of fire alarm systems, to use Fuzzy set theory and expert elicitation to determine relative probabilities, and finally, to evaluate the reliability of a fire alarm system using dynamic Bayesian networks (BNs) during a thirty-six months period. A total of 29 basic events were detected from the FT. The reliability of the fire alarm system was estimated at 0.954 according to the FT and 0.957 according to conventional BNs. The reliability of the fire alarm system after 36 months was estimated at 0.375 according to dynamic BNs. All the events involved in the failure of fire alarm systems were drawn in the fault tree diagram. The results indicate that remodeling of these systems and simultaneous construction activities are the most important factors in the failure of the fire alarm system. System reliability can also be increased to 0.965 by providing preventive and control measures to reduce the probability of critical events.     

Gaseous mercury emissions from unsterilized and sterilized soils: The effect of temperature and UV radiation

Mercury (Hg) emissions from the soils taken from two different sites (deciduous and coniferous forests) in the Adirondacks were measured in outdoor and laboratory experiments. Some of the soil samples were irradiated to eliminate biological activity. The result from the outdoor measurements with different soils suggests the Hg emission from the soils is partly limited by fallen leaves covering the soils which helps maintain relatively high soil moisture and limits the amount of heat and solar radiation reaching the soil surface. In laboratory experiments exposure to UV-A (365 nm) had no significant effect on the Hg emissions while the Hg emissions increased dramatically during exposure to UV-B (302 nm) light suggesting UV-B directly reduced soil-associated Hg. Overall these results indicate that for these soils biotic processes have a relatively constant and smaller influence on the Hg emission from the soil than the more variable abiotic processes.     

Experimental research of the dynamic behavior of the natural gas suspension pipeline aerial crossing during pigging process

Suspension pipeline aerial crossings (SPAC) are mainly used to carry pipeline segments over large obstacles that are not suitable for trenchless technologies. It may suffer great vibrations and displacements during the pigging process due to the dynamic pigging loads and insufficient constraints from cables. Based on similarity criteria, an experimental scale model based on the Nujiang natural gas SPAC was designed and established. The vibration and displacement of the scale model were measured under different pigging velocities and liquid deposit volumes. The experimental results reveal that the natural gas SPAC vibrates during the pigging process, but the displacement versus time forms a U curve instead of a sinusoidal like curve. The extremum of the displacement is positively related to the pigging velocity and liquid deposit volume. In particular, the extremum increases by 0.37% with a 1% increase in the pigging velocity, while the displacement increases by 0.62% with a 1% increase in the liquid deposit volume. Under certain pigging conditions, or with damaged constraint components, the displacement extremum could be unacceptable. A low pigging velocity and a short time interval between two pigging operations are suggested to guarantee the safety of the natural gas SPACs. Besides, based on the experimental data, an empirical formula is developed to obtain the SPAC displacement-time curve with consideration of the span length, the pipeline diameter, the pigging velocity, the length and holdup of the liquid column. This formula can help to determine a suspicious displacement overrun, and to develop a data basis for choosing a safe pigging scheme of SPACs. This research provides insightful information to understand the mechanism of the SPAC's dynamic response as well as a practical tool to calculate the SPAC's displacement during the pigging process.     

饮用水中三氯甲烷亨利常数的测定

推导了改变气液相比静态顶空气相色谱法测定挥发性有机污染物亨利常数的理论关系式，根据顶空气相色谱峰面积倒数与气液相比之间的线性关系测定了不同温度下的氯仿亨利常数值，从热力学定律出发，提出了在22-100℃范围内，温度对亨利常数影响的数学关系式；1nK=A B/T ClnT，对实验值的拟合系数为0.999。预测100℃时氯仿的亨利常数值是1.359。与实验值比较，相对误差为2.89%，比经典的范特菏夫方程1nK=A B/T的预测精度提高了近10%。     

水下振动台关键技术的研究

本文从理论和实践两方面分析研究了水下振动台的若干关键技术问题,主要包括运动部件的设计、冷却系统的设计、密封系统的设计、压力平衡系统的设计等。解决了水下振动台设计所存在的难题。     

浅议排污申报登记与环境监理的关系

阐述了排污申报登记与环境监理的关系。指出，排污申报的作用 应当体现在对污染源监理的全过程中，应对申报数据进行核查，形成一个有效的污染源动态管理系统，并建立相应的污染源动态信息库。     

Consequence risk analysis using operating procedure event trees and dynamic simulation

Faults due to human errors cost the petrochemical industry billions of dollars every year and can have adverse environmental consequences. Unquantified human error probabilities exist during process state transitions performed each day by process operators using standard operating procedures. Managing the risks associated with operating procedures is an essential part of managing the overall safety risk. Additional operator training and safety education cannot eliminate all such faults due to human errors; therefore, we propose an operating procedure event tree (OPET) like analysis with branches and events specifically designed to perform risk analysis on operating procedures. The OPET method adapts event trees to analyze the risk due to human error while performing operating procedures. We consider human error scenarios during the procedure and determine the likely consequences by applying dynamic simulation. The modified event tree provides an estimate of the error frequencies.Operating procedure steps were developed, and potential operator faults were determined for two typical equipment switching procedures found in chemical plant operations. Then, dynamic simulation using Aspen HYSYS software was applied to determine the overpressure related consequences of each fault. Finally, the error frequencies resulting from those scenarios were analyzed using operating procedure event trees. We found that a typical ethylene plant gas header would overpressure with 0.6% frequency per manual dryer switch. Since dryer switches occur from every few days up to once per shift, these results suggest that dryer switching should be automated to ensure safe and environmentally friendly operation. Process dryer switching performed manually by operators opening and closing gate valves can be automated with control valves and a distributed control system. A sample distillation column was found to overpressure with 0.85% frequency per manual reflux pump switch.     

顶空固相微萃取-气相色谱法测定饮用水中的百菌清

建立了顶空固相微萃取(HS-SPME)-气相色谱法(GC-ECD)分析饮用水中百菌清的方法。对HS-SPME的各项参数进行了优化:萃取纤维应选择弱极性的聚二甲基硅氧烷(PDMS,100μm),水样分析前应加入一定量的H2SO4溶液和Na Cl固体,调节pH和离子强度,可显著提高萃取效率。萃取温度70℃,萃取时间30 min,搅拌速度250 r/min,解吸时间3 min。根据优化后的条件,从线性、检出限、回收率、精密度等方面对整个方法进行了验证,结果表明,该方法线性良好,相关系数大于0.999,回收率与精密度均符合要求。取样量为10.0 mL时,检出限为0.09μg/L,可完全满足饮用水分析的需要。     

Bargaining over natural resources: Governments between environmental organizations and extraction firms

We consider the resource-extraction policy of a government that is lobbied by an environmental organization and an extraction firm from foreign countries. To analyze this situation, we propose a sequential Nash bargaining solution: The government bargains with both lobbies simultaneously. Should this trilateral negotiation fail, it chooses one lobby for a bilateral negotiation. The disagreement point then is to bargain with the other lobby. Finally, should this second bilateral negotiation break down, the government chooses the welfare-maximizing policy.As long as cumulative extraction is low, such that stock-dependent extraction costs are also low and extraction profits are high, the environmental organization has a weak bargaining position, but it takes influence to reduce extraction. Once that cumulative extraction has increased so much that extraction profits are below a threshold, the bargaining positions change, and the environmental organization gets compensated by the extraction firm for not letting the trilateral negotiation fail.     

顶空气相色谱法测定水中苦味酸

建立了顶空气相色谱法测定水中苦味酸的新方法,将10 mL水样中的苦味酸衍生化后,直接取顶空气进样,保留时间定性,外标法定量。结果表明,该法在0～25μg/L浓度范围内有良好的线性关系(r=0.999 5),加标回收率为90.2%～107.6%,相对标准偏差为6.8%,检出限为0.02μg/L,能同时满足饮用水源地水和废水中苦味酸的测定要求。