Pressures,trends, and impacts in coastal zones: Interactions between socioeconomic and natural systems

This paper assesses the status of coastal zones in the context of expected climate change and its related impacts, as well as current and future socioeconomic pressures and impacts. It is argued that external stresses and shocks relating to sea-level rise and other changes will tend to exacerbate existing environmental pressures and damage in coastal zones. Coastal zones are under increasing stress because of an interrelated set of planning failures including information, economic market, and policy intervention failures. Moves towards integrated coastal zone management are urgently required to guide the coevolution of natural and human systems. Overtly technocentric claims that assessments of vulnerability undertaken to date are overestimates of likely future damages from global warming are premature. While it is the case that forecasts of sea-level rise have been scaled down, much uncertainty remains over, for example, combined storm, sea surge, and other events. In any case, within the socioeconomic analyses of the problem, resource valuations have been at best only partial and have failed to incorporate sensitivity analysis in terms of the discount rates utilized. This would indicate an underestimation of potential damage costs. Overall, a precautionary approach is justified based on the need to act ahead of adequate information acquisition, economically efficient resource pricing and proactive coastal planning.     

TOPHAZOP: a knowledge-based software tool for conducting HAZOP in a rapid, efficient yet inexpensive manner

Hazard and operability (HAZOP) studies constitute an essential step in the risk analysis of any chemical process industry and involve systematic identification of every conceivable abnormal process deviation, its causes and abnormal consequences. These authors have recently proposed optHAZOP as an alternative procedure for conducting HAZOP studies in a shorter span of time than taken by conventional HAZOP procedure, with greater accuracy and effectiveness [Khan, F. I. and Abassi, S. A., optHAZOP. An effective and efficient technique for hazard identification and assessment Journal of Loss Prevention in the Process Industries, 1997, 10, 191–204]. optHAZOP consists of several steps, the most crucial one requires use of a knowledge-based software tool which would significantly reduce the requirement of expert man-hours and speed up the work of the study team. TOPHAZOP (Tool for OPTmizing HAZOP) has been developed to fulfil this need.

The TOPHAZOP knowledge-base consists of two main branches: process-specific and general. The TOPHAZOP framework allows these two branches to interact during the analysis to address the process-specific aspects of HAZOP analysis while maintaining the generality of the system. The system is open-ended and modular in structure to make easy implementation and/or expansion of knowledge. The important features of TOPHAZOP and its performance on an industrial case study are described.     

Thermal and mechanical properties of poly(lactic Acid) and poly(ethylene/butylene Succinate) blends

In this study, blends of poly (lactic acid) (PLA) with poly(ethylene/butylene succinate) (Bionolle) have been investigated for their thermal and mechanical properties as a function of the concentration of Bionolle. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA), and tensile tests were used to characterize the blends. From the results of the DMA and DSC, it was found that this blend system was not miscible within the compositions studied. DSC results showed that adding Bionolle aids in crystallization of PLA. It was observed that increasing the Bionolle concentration led to a slight increase in the strain-at-break of the blends but a decrease in the Young’s modulus and ultimate tensile strength. Biaxially oriented films showed an increase in tensile strength, modulus, and strain-at-break.     

Synthesis of poly(hydroxyalkanoate) from hydrolyzed linseed oil

Pseudomonas putida was grown on a mixture of long-chain fatty acids obtained by hydrolysis of linseed oil. A poly(3-hydroxyalkanoate) containing 51.2% of unsaturated monomers was obtained. A considerable percentage (13.6%) was constituted by C₁₄ and C₁₆ monomers containing three double-bonds in the side chains. The polymer showed a high tendency to crosslink when it was kept in presence of air. In the crosslinked polymer no polyunsaturated monomers could be detected.     

Design parameters for fixed bed reactors of activated carbon developed from fertilizer waste for the removal of some heavy metal ions

Activated carbon, developed from fertilizer waste, has been used for the removal of Hg²⁺, Cr⁶⁺, Pb²⁺, and Cu²⁺. Mass transfer kinetic approach has been successfully applied for the determination of various parameters necessary for designing a fixed-bed absorber. Parameters selected are the length of the (PAZ) primary adsorption zone (δ), total time involved for the establishment of primary adsorption zone (t_x), mass rate of flow to the absorber (F_m), time for primary adsorption zone to move down its length (t_δ), amount of adsorbate adsorbed in PAZ from breakpoint to exhaustion (M_s), fractional capacity (f), time of initial formation of PAZ (t_f) and per cent saturation of column at break point. Chemical regeneration has been achieved with 1 M HNO₃.     

The impact of impression‐management tactics on supervisor ratings of organizational citizenship behavior

Previous research indicates that the use of impression management is related to supervisor ratings of employee likeability and job performance. It has been argued, though, that employees might also use impression management so that their superiors will see them as ‘good soldiers’ who engage in high levels of organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs). This study investigates the ways in which three types of impression management—namely, job‐focused, self‐focused, and supervisor‐focused tactics of impression management—influence supervisor ratings of OCB. Using a sample of 122 supervisor‐subordinate dyads, the findings indicate that supervisor‐focused tactics of impression management are positively related to OCB ratings, while job‐focused tactics are negatively related to such evaluations. Additionally, citizenship behaviors are positively related to supervisor liking of the employee and overall ratings of job performance. Finally, the results suggest that OCB ratings mediate the relationship between supervisor‐focused tactics of impression management and supervisor evaluations of employee likeability. Some implications of this study and directions for future research are also addressed. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

On the response of 500 gal propane tanks to a 25% engulfing fire

This paper presents detailed data on the thermal response of two 500 gal ASME code propane tanks that were 25% engulfed in a hydrocarbon fire. These tests were done as part of an overall test programme to study thermal protection systems for propane-filled railway tank-cars.

The fire was generated using an array of 25 liquid propane-fuelled burners. This provided a luminous fire that engulfed 25% of the tank surface on one side. The intent of these tests was to model a severe partially engulfing fire situation.

The paper presents data on the tank wall and lading temperatures and tank internal pressure. In the first test the wind reduced the fire heating and resulted in a late failure of the tank at 46 min. This tank failed catastrophically with a powerful boiling liquid expanding vapour explosion (BLEVE). In the other test, the fire heating was very severe and steady and this tank failed very quickly in 8 min as a finite rupture with massive two-phase jet release. The reasons for these different outcomes are discussed. The different failures provide a range of realistic outcomes for the subject tank and fire condition.