Harnessing database resources for understanding the profile of chemical process industry incidents

Analyzing historical databases can provide valuable information on the incident occurrences and their consequences for assessing the safety of the chemical process industry. In this study, the RMP and HSEES databases were utilized to understand the patterns and the factors influencing chemical process industry incidents. Frequency exceedance curves were generated by utilizing the different incident consequences from the databases to understand the profile of societal loss from reported incidents. Understanding the statistics and trends of the historical incidents could serve as important lagging indicators in order to assess the probable proximity to major consequences from the low-probability/high-consequence incidents. To this regard, the safety pyramids were also generated to better understand the relationship between the different consequences of the reported incidents. Furthermore, the safety pyramids were analyzed in comparison with the traditional safety pyramid proposed by Heinrich to understand the US process industry incident occurrence trends.     

Techno policy aspects and socio-economic impacts of eco-industrial networking in the fishery sector: experiences from An Giang Province,Vietnam

Eco-industrial networking is considered as a new approach for businesses to improve their competitiveness, economic viability and human and ecosystem health. A cyclic material flow with alternative usage of all materials in the loop is an essential feature of an eco-industrial network. While eco-industrial networking has been primarily applied on the high-tech sector, this paper attempts to apply the principles on the fishery sector of An Giang, a Vietnamese province in the Mekong River Delta. An Giang Province has its own market share in the trade of Tra and Basa fish. The industries in the value chain of Tra and Basa are in a situation that forces them to improve their competitiveness to retain the market share. It was found that forming an eco-industrial network and recruiting new businesses to utilize all materials in the process provides additional revenue apart from reducing waste disposal concerns. This paper details the current market situation, the issues faced and material flow patterns and presents a feasible eco-industrial network. The results of the study indicate that the eco-industrial network creates positive impacts in terms of increased competitiveness, improved socio-economic conditions and cleaner environment.     

Acephate-induced shortening of developmental duration and early adult emergence in a nontarget insect Drosophila melanogaster

Similar to several environmental monitoring studies, the present study used Drosophila melanogaster as a model nontarget organism to explore the interfering effects of an organophosphate (OP) insecticide acephate on insect life cycle parameters. Acephate, a common OP, is readily available in nature from agricultural sources as an environmental contaminant. Along with target pests, nontarget fruit flies also suffer exposure to such environmental chemical. To evaluate the effects of such exposure, initially, acute LC₅₀ of acephate for third instar larvae was investigated and found to be between 14 and 16 μg/ml. This information yielded the following experimental concentrations (0.5, 1.5, 2.5, 3.5, 4.5, and 5.5 μg/ml) of test chemical for evaluation of effect, if any, on the insect model. Results showed that mean larval duration of insect significantly decreased on treatment with acephate, whereas the mean pupal duration remained unaffected. Interestingly the decreasing trend was seen to persist in case of mean adult emergence, where treated flies emerged significantly earlier in comparison to controls. Thus, the study demonstrated that acephate-induced shortening of developmental time and early emergence in Drosophila melanogaster.     

Persistence of phorate in soils: role of moisture, temperature, preexposure, and microorganisms

In laboratory incubation studies with three soils of varying physicochemical characteristics, phorate was more persistent in nonflooded (60% water holding capacity) soils than in flooded soils. Phorate sulphoxide was recovered as the only metabolite of phorate in nonflooded soils while three metabolites (diethyl dithiophosphate, triethyl dithiophosphate and an unidentified metabolite) were formed in flooded soils. Study indicates that in nonflooded soils phorate is degraded via oxidation while in flooded soils hydrolysis is the major degradation process. Degradation of phorate was accelerated by an increase in incubation temperature. Preexposure or repeated application of soils to phorate slightly decreased the persistence of phorate or its metabolites. Decreased persistence of phorate and its metabolites formed in nonsterile soils compared to sterile soils suggested the role of microorganisms in their transformation.     

Geospatial strategy for sustainable management of municipal solid waste for growing urban environment

This paper presents the implementation of a Geospatial approach for improving the Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) disposal suitability site assessment in growing urban environment. The increasing trend of population growth and the absolute amounts of waste disposed of worldwide have increased substantially reflecting changes in consumption patterns, consequently worldwide. MSW is now a bigger problem than ever. Despite an increase in alternative techniques for disposing of waste, land-filling remains the primary means. In this context, the pressures and requirements placed on decision makers dealing with land-filling by government and society have increased, as they now have to make decisions taking into considerations environmental safety and economic practicality. The waste disposed by the municipal corporation in the Bhagalpur City (India) is thought to be different from the landfill waste where clearly scientific criterion for locating suitable disposal sites does not seem to exist. The location of disposal sites of Bhagalpur City represents the unconsciousness about the environmental and public health hazards arising from disposing of waste in improper location. Concerning about urban environment and health aspects of people, a good method of waste management and appropriate technologies needed for urban area of Bhagalpur city to improve this trend using Multi Criteria Geographical Information System and Remote Sensing for selection of suitable disposal sites. The purpose of GIS was to perform process to part restricted to highly suitable land followed by using chosen criteria. GIS modeling with overlay operation has been used to find the suitability site for MSW.     

Biodegradation of α and β isomers of endosulphan and endosulphan sulphate in Indian soils

Abstract

The degradation of α and β isomers of endosulphan and endosulphan sulphate in four sterilized and non sterilized Indian soils under laboratory conditions was studied. Degradation was found to be more in non‐sterilized as compared to the sterilized soil. The half life of α‐endosulphan, β‐endosulphan and endosulphan sulphate was found to be 136.8, 273 and 301 days in sterilized Alfisol and 55, 256 and 277 days in non‐sterilized Alfisol, respectively. α‐Endosulphan degraded more readily than β‐endosulphan and endosulphan sulphate under both sterilized and non‐sterilized soil conditions.     

Challenges and needs for process safety in the new millennium

Process industries have made quite a bit of progress in process safety since the tragic night of December 2, 1984 in Bhopal. Nonetheless, incidents continue to occur on a regular basis due to insufficient understanding of the urgency to identify best practices and drive for process safety improvements in the organization. This paper addresses some of the critical challenges in implementing effective safety programs: (a) failure to learn from past incidents and to capture those lessons into process design, procedures, training, maintenance, and other programs, (b) insufficient attention to leading indicators, and (c) an increase in complexity of process operations and lack of communication. In the presence of these challenges, there is a great need to develop better solutions by utilizing good science based approaches and best practice studies. Potential research areas include, but are not limited to, incident database analysis, reactive chemicals, inherently safer design, combustible dust explosion, facility siting, and the flammability of fuel mixtures and aerosols. In addition, an example was presented on LNG industry safety to illustrate that science-based research is needed to ensure the safe operation and to avoid or mitigate unintended consequences.     

Contact angle measurements of CO2–water–quartz/calcite systems in the perspective of carbon sequestration

This work presents contact angle measurements for CO₂–water–quartz/calcite systems at general sequestration pressure and temperature conditions (200–3000 psig and 77–122 °F). The effect of drop volume, repeated exposure of the substrates to dense water saturated CO₂, pressure and temperature on the contact angles is examined. In the 1st measurement cycle, the contact angles for the quartz substrate varied from 46 to 48° and 47 to 46° for gaseous (water saturated) CO₂ and liquid (water saturated) CO₂ respectively, at 77 °F. For calcite substrate, these values varied from 45 to 48° and 42 to 40°, respectively. Remarkably, this work highlights a characteristic permanent shift in the contact angle data with repeated exposure to dense, water saturated, CO₂. The contact angle data trends after repeated exposure to the dense, water saturated CO₂ varied from 89 to 91° and 85 to 80° for the quartz substrate for gaseous (water saturated) CO₂ and liquid (water saturated) CO₂ respectively, at 77 °F. For calcite substrates, these values varied from 60 to 59° and 54 to 48°, respectively. This important observation has serious implications towards the design and safety issues, as a permanent positive contact angle shift indicates lower CO₂ retention capabilities of sequestration sites due to a reduction in the capillary pressure. It is further confirmed that the permanent shift in the contact angle is due to surface phenomena. With an increase in temperature (from 77 to 122 °F), the contact angle shift is reduced from about 45° to about 20° for quartz substrates. Other observations in the contact angle data with respect to pressure are in good agreement with the trends reported in the literature.