Self-ignition of tetrafluoroethylene induced by rapid valve opening in small diameter pipes

This work investigates the ignition of tetrafluoroethylene induced by the adiabatic compression that can arise by activating a high speed valve separating two portions of a pipeline with a high pressure difference. In the tests performed the high pressure zone contained tetrafluoroethylene at pressures between 15 and 30 bar. For the low pressure zone, experiments with nitrogen, air and tetrafluoroethylene were carried out. The pressure range in the low pressure zone was comprised between 0.05 and 1 bar. The pipe diameters analyzed were 15 and 20 mm. For the analyzed geometries, special conditions were required in order to reach reproducible ignitions, namely air at temperatures of at least 105 °C had to be present in the compression pipe. Furthermore, a minimum length of the compression pipe had to be used. The current work describes the experimental setup employed for the tests and discusses the achieved results. Numerical simulations were performed in order to clarify unexpected findings.     

Habitat loss, trophic collapse, and the decline of ecosystem services

The provisioning of sustaining goods and services that we obtain from natural ecosystems is a strong economic justification for the conservation of biological diversity. Understanding the relationship between these goods and services and changes in the size, arrangement, and quality of natural habitats is a fundamental challenge of natural resource management. In this paper, we describe a new approach to assessing the implications of habitat loss for loss of ecosystem services by examining how the provision of different ecosystem services is dominated by species from different trophic levels. We then develop a mathematical model that illustrates how declines in habitat quality and quantity lead to sequential losses of trophic diversity. The model suggests that declines in the provisioning of services will initially be slow but will then accelerate as species from higher trophic levels are lost at faster rates. Comparison of these patterns with empirical examples of ecosystem collapse (and assembly) suggest similar patterns occur in natural systems impacted by anthropogenic change. In general, ecosystem goods and services provided by species in the upper trophic levels will be lost before those provided by species lower in the food chain. The decrease in terrestrial food chain length predicted by the model parallels that observed in the oceans following overexploitation. The large area requirements of higher trophic levels make them as susceptible to extinction as they are in marine systems where they are systematically exploited. Whereas the traditional species-area curve suggests that 50% of species are driven extinct by an order-of-magnitude decline in habitat abundance, this magnitude of loss may represent the loss of an entire trophic level and all the ecosystem services performed by the species on this trophic level.     

Thermal manikin measurements--exact or not?

According to the European prestandard ENV 342:1998, the thermal insulation of cold-protective clothing is measured with a thermal manikin. Systematic studies on the reproducibility of the values, measured with different types of clothing on the commonly used standing and walking manikins, have not been reported in the literature. Over 300 measurements were done in 8 different European laboratories. The reproducibility of the thermal insulation test results was good. The coefficient of variation was lower than 8%. The measured clothing should fit the manikin precisely, because poorly fitting clothing gave an error in the results. The correlation between parallel and serial insulation values was excellent and parallel values were about 20% lower than serial ones. The influence of ambient conditions was critical only in the case of air velocity. The reproducibility of thermal insulation test results in a single laboratory was good, and the variation was lower than 3%.     

Comparison of calculated data for the flammability and the oxidation potential according to ISO 10156 with experimentally determined values

The classification of flammable gas mixtures is based on either testing or calculation methods proposed by the revised international standard ISO 10156. This standard is used for classification of physical hazards in Chapters 2.2 and 2.4 of the UN Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS) and in the UN Recommendations on Transport of Dangerous Goods (TDG). The test methods of flammability and oxidizing potential in this standard were developed by BAM. Earlier versions of this standard are not based on triangular diagrams and on the reference combustible substance “ethane”. The old material characteristics, especially in case of oxidizing potential, are based mostly on practical experience without any quantifiable test results. First time it is possible to compare experimental results from the CHEMSAFE database with the newly developed calculation method. In this paper the basic principles of the calculation methods are presented and the methods are validated by examples. A comparison of experimental flammability data with classification results gained by the calculation methods of ISO 10156 is demonstrated.     

Take your swimsuit along: the value of improving urban bathing sites in the metropolitan area of Berlin

Many inhabitants of Berlin enjoy bathing in lakes and rivers during the summer. However, so far no data exist about who goes bathing and what quality bathers expect from bathing sites. In an online survey conducted during the summer of 2007 respondents were presented with a choice experiment concerning various attributes of bathing sites such as water quality or cleanliness of the beach. Applying both random parameter logit models as well as a latent class model reveals that unobserved taste heterogeneity is present among bathers, i.e. not all bathers would benefit equally from improving bathing sites. A test concerning preference consistency reveals high internal validity.     

Extraction of soil solution by drainage centrifugation—effects of centrifugal force and time of centrifugation on soil moisture recovery and solute concentration in soil moisture of loess subsoils

The solute concentration in the subsoil beneath the root zone is an important parameter for leaching assessment. Drainage centrifugation is considered a simple and straightforward method of determining soil solution chemistry. Although several studies have been carried out to determine whether this method is robust, hardly any results are available for loess subsoils. To study the effect of centrifugation conditions on soil moisture recovery and solute concentration, we sampled the subsoil (1.5–3.0 m depth) at commercial farms in the loess region of the Netherlands. The effect of time (20, 35, 60, 120 and 240 min) on recovery was studied at two levels of the relative centrifugal force (733 and 6597g). The effect of force on recovery was studied by centrifugation for 35 min at 117, 264, 733, 2932, 6597 and 14,191g. All soil moisture samples were chemically analysed. This study shows that drainage centrifugation offers a robust, reproducible and standardised way for determining solute concentrations in mobile soil moisture in silt loam subsoils. The centrifugal force, rather than centrifugation time, has a major effect on recovery. The maximum recovery for silt loams at field capacity is about 40%. Concentrations of most solutes are fairly constant with an increasing recovery, as most solutes, including nitrate, did not show a change in concentration with an increasing recovery.     

Daytime air pollution transport mechanisms in stable atmospheres of narrow versus wide urban valleys

Transport of air pollutants emitted from urban valleys can be strongly restricted by interactions between static and dynamic factors including topographic forcing, low-level atmospheric stability related to temperature inversions, and urban heat island-induced circulations. Interplay between these processes has a complex and dynamic nature, and is determinant for the evolution of different ventilation mechanisms and the associated impacts on air quality. Here we investigate these transport mechanisms through large eddy simulations using EULAG, an established model for multiscale flows, to simulate an idealized atmospheric environment in narrow versus wide urban valleys during critical conditions for air quality (high atmospheric stability). Our results show how the ventilation of valleys depends on a dynamic (variable during the daytime) balance between interacting and sometimes competing processes related to thermally-driven slope flows, urban heat island-induced flows, and the trapping effect of atmospheric stability; and how valley width affects this balance. Particularly important is that the time-space distribution of pollutants (a passive tracer) varies greatly between both valleys despite having the same urban area and emission rates. These variations lead to pollutants being mostly concentrated in different areas of the narrow and wide valleys. We discuss the mechanisms behind these results and their potential implications for real urban valleys. Further understanding of these mechanisms is crucial for explaining the occurrence of severe air pollution episodes and informing related decision-making processes in urban valleys.