Utilization of Bagasse Energy in Thailand

Bagasse, a biomass fuel, is the waste generated by the sugar-making process from sugar cane. Sugar making is one of the most important agricultural-produce processing industries for developing countries in Southeast Asia, Latin America and Africa. As sugar producing plants need electric power and process steam, co-generation using bagasse as an alternate fuel for petroleum has been in use for some time. Thailand recently became one of the largest sugar exporters by enlarging plant capacities and improving equipment, thus reducing its production cost. In addition, the Thai government promotes power generation using bagasse as a means to combat global warming by raising the purchase price of the surplus power. The industry is in the process of further raising the plant capacity, and improving the power-generating efficiency. This will enable a plant to generate more electric power than its in-plant need so that the surplus power can be sold to the commercial grid. It also plans to become a local power supplier during off-season of sugar making by adding a condensing turbine generator. A typical Thai sugar plant of the latest design generates steam of 4Mpa at the bagasse boiler outlet with the temperature of 400°C at 84% boiler efficiency. With the bagasse LHV of 7,540 kJ/kg and that of fuel oil 41, 840 kJ/kg, and taking 90%as oil-burning boiler efficiency, 5.95 kg of bagasse would replace 1 kg of oil. The Kyoto Mechanism defines CO₂ generation by fuel oil as 2.65 kg per liter. Using 0.85for the specific gravity of fuel oil, the amount of CO₂ generation will be 3.12 kg-CO₂/kg. Therefore, CO₂reduction per ton of bagasse in terms of fuel oil will be: 3.12/5.95 =0.524 kg-CO₂/kg-bagasse. As 1 kg of bagasse generates 2 kg of steam, the CO₂reduction of a 100t/h steam boiler will be112,660 ton/year for an annual operation of4,300 hours, as follows. 0.524 × 100/2 = 26.2 t-CO₂/h, 26.2 × 4,300 =112,660 t-CO₂/year. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Molasses-based growth and lipid production by Chlorella pyrenoidosa: A potential feedstock for biodiesel

Biodiesel provides a feasible solution to the twin crisis of energy security and environmental concerns prevalent today, and it can be extracted from conventional oil crops as well as microalgae. However, lipid productivity in case of microalgae is much higher and has several advantages as compared with crop plants, so it is a better feedstock for biodiesel. In case of Chlorella pyrenoidosa, the heterotrophic cultured cells were found to be better in terms of lipid production, and ultimately biodiesel production, but the bottleneck is that in this mode glucose is used to feed the cells, which amounts to almost 80% of the total cost of biodiesel production. The purpose of this study is to evaluate and highlight the feasibility of using the industrially cheap cane molasses as a carbon source in place of glucose for a large-scale, low-cost lipid production of Chlorella pyrenoidosa. When treated molasses was used as a carbon source instead of glucose, the biomass sharply increases from 0.89 to 1.22 g L^–1. On the other hand, the total lipid content increases from 0.27 to 0.66 g g^–1. The specific growth rate and yield was higher in treated molasses as compared with that in glucose-supplemented. A mathematical model was also developed based on logistic, Luedeking–Piret, and Luedeking-Piret-like equations. Model predictions were in satisfactory agreement with the measured data, and the mode of lipid production was growth-associated.     

棉纺织企业火灾成因及消防管理对策研究

棉纺织企业存在大量的易燃可燃物质,火灾危险性大,极易引发火灾事故,且火灾蔓延途径多、燃烧速度快,易造成严重后果。该文根据棉纺织企业生产的特点,从人—机—环境系统的角度,从"人的不安全行为"、"物的不安全状态"和"环境的不安全条件"三个方面分析了棉纺织企业火灾的成因,有针对性从六个方面提出了消防安全管理对策,对提高企业的消防安全管理水平,增强其经济效益和社会效益具有重要的意义。     

Fe-pillared clay as a Fenton-type heterogeneous catalyst for cinnamic acid degradation

Fe-pillared montmorillonite has been used as a Fenton-type heterogeneous catalyst for the removal of cinnamic acid in water. The influences of the cinnamic acid, catalyst and H2O2 concentrations and pH on the removal rate of cinnamic acid have been studied. The results show that the efficiency of Fe-pillared montmorillonite is higher than that of the Fe ions in the homogeneous phase, and less sensitive to pH.     

Impact of Invasive Cane Toads on Australian Birds

Abstract: The cane toad (Bufo marinus), a large, toxic, American anuran, was introduced to Australia in 1935. Populations of many of Australia's reptiles (snakes, varanid lizards, crocodiles) and carnivorous mammals (dasyurid marsupials) have declined because these predators are killed by the toad's powerful toxins. In contrast to these well‐studied species, little is known about the cane toads impacts on Australian birds. We reviewed published and unpublished data on behavioral interactions between Australian avian predators and cane toads and collated distributional and dietary information to identify avian taxa potentially at risk from cane toad invasion. Cane toads are sympatric with 172 frog‐eating bird species in Australia, and an additional 8 bird species overlap with the predicted future range of the toad. Although many bird species thus are potentially at risk, behavioral observations suggest the risk level is generally low. Despite occasional reports of Australian birds being killed when they ingest cane toads, most birds either ignore toads or survive the predation event. The apparently higher tolerance of Australian birds to toad toxins, compared with Australian reptiles and marsupials, may reflect genetic exchange between Australian birds and Asian populations that encounter other bufonid species regularly and hence have evolved the capacity to recognize or tolerate this toxic prey.     

Acid dissolution methods for heavy metals determination in pine needles

Microwave digestion procedures using HNO₃, HNO₃+H₂O₂, HNO₃+HClO₄, HF mixtures and dry ashing with HF were investigated for heavy metals analysis by either inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES) or ICP-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) in pine needles. The HF digestion procedures gave about 1.5 times higher values than a mixture of HNO₃+H₂O₂ alone. For Ti determination in needles, the HF procedure using dry ashing is thus recommended. The mean concentrations amounted to 900 mg/kg for Fe and 21.8 mg/kg for Ti in needles collected at an area polluted by a stainless steel works. Those concentrations were 10.6 and 4.3 times higher than in needles collected at an area nearby a pulp mill complex (84.5 mg/kg Fe and 5.0 mg/kg Ti).     

能源甘蔗主要经济和光合性状的遗传分析

以 4× 5不完全双列杂交 (NcII)衍生的 2 0个家系实生苗为材料 ,对其主要经济和光合性状的遗传力和配合力进行分析 .结果表明 :(1)锤度、株高和茎径的遗传主要由加性基因效应引起 ,而丛有效茎数、丛重、锤重和地上部鲜重的遗传主要由非加性基因效应引起 ;(2 )配合力分析表明 ,CP84 / 1198、CP74 / 383、崖 90 / 3、桂 73/ 16 7和科 5各性状 gca较大 ,是较好的高生物量高光效亲本 ,CP84 / 1198×Ya 90 / 3、CP85 / 14 32×桂 73/ 16 7、CP74 / 383×桂 73/ 16 7、CP85 /14 32×科 5各性状sca和tca较大 ,为较好的高生物量高光效组合 ;(3)茎径、锤度和丛重母本gca方差大于父本 gca方差 ,丛有效茎数、锤度和地上部鲜重的广义遗传力在 5 0 %以上 .表 7参 16     

Efficient water use in industries: cases from the Indian agro-based pulp and paper mills

Agro-based pulp and paper mills in India are one of the most polluting industries; in addition, they are high consumers of raw water. Growing scarcity of high quality freshwater as well as stringent regulatory standards is compelling these units to explore appropriate water management options. Based on data obtained through a questionnaire survey and plant visits, this work provides an overview of the water use and effluent treatment status in Indian agro-residue and recycled pulp and paper mills. The challenges faced by this sector are reviewed and practices adopted by progressive units to minimize freshwater use are illustrated through case studies.     

UASB工艺在甘蔗渣浆纸厂堆垛蔗渣渗出液处理中的应用

利用甘蔗渣生产纸浆厂堆垛蔗渣产生的渗出液CODCr,浓度高达8000～13000mg／L,属于较难处理的高浓度有机废水。将UASB废水处理技术应用于处理清洁堆垛蔗渣产生的渗出液,不仅能够获得良好的处理效果,而且能降低废水处理成本,从而实现经济效益、环境效益和社会效益三赢。     

Occupational accident rate in olive oil mills

Problem

This paper aims at examining the occupational accident rate in Spain in the olive oil mill industry. These mills produce olive oil by physical or mechanical, but not chemical procedures. Although Spain is the leading olive oil producer in the world with 1,200,000 tons/year and over 25% of the world olive farming area, the occupational accident rate in this sector has been little studied in the relevant scientific literature.

Method

Our study analyses all occupational accidents which occurred during 2004-2009, with or without sick leave, at 90 Andalusian olive oil mills covered by one of the biggest state insurance companies for accidents at work and occupational diseases (within the Spanish Social Security system).

Results and discussion

Slips or trips are the most frequent cause of occupational accidents in this sector, accounting for 14.86% of the cases. In second position, incorrectly coordinated bodily movements account for almost 13.51% of the accidents. Falls from height, 12.2% of the cases, are also statistically noteworthy. As for the seriousness of the injuries, entrapments are particularly important, since in 2.70% of the cases they result in the traumatic amputation of a part of the body. The analysis of accidents without sick leave reveals that a high number of incidents are caused by contact of the skin and eyes with hazardous substances (20% of the cases) and 10% of them involve superficial injuries.

Impact on the industry

This paper provides a clear and updated image of the accident rate in Spanish olive oil mills and can be a useful tool for the design and adequate adjustment of the management systems implemented in these plants to guarantee a satisfactory level of occupational health and safety by means of more efficient planning and monitoring of measures intended to reduce professional risks and improve working conditions.

Recommendations

Given not only the high incidence of falls on the same level and the potential seriousness of falls from different levels, but also the small, round fruit involved, with a high oil content and a hard round stone, it is extremely important to design and implement safe working procedures and specifically train both operatives and managers in charge of the tidiness, cleanliness and regular control of the premises and operations. The analysis of the accidents not requiring sick leave (mostly cases of contact with hazardous substances on the skin or eyes, or superficial injuries) clearly reveals that the use of suitable personal protective equipment and the relevant training are crucial issues.