Emission Factors for Gasoline Light-Duty Vehicles: Experimental Program in Santiago,Chile

ABSTRACT

The emission inventory of the city of Santiago, Chile, related to mobile sources was built up using constant emission factors extracted from international literature. To improve the estimate of mobile source emissions, an experimental program was designed, consisting of transient tests on a chassis dynamometer over a sample of about 166 vehicles, applying 9 local driving cycles with average speeds of 3-80 km/hr, and experimentally determined in previous research carried out by the authors. An analysis of the influence of fuel inlet technology, and a year time-length model over emissions, was undertaken. We proposed emission factors as a function of average speed and of CO, THC, and NO_x for catalytic and noncatalytic light-duty gasoline vehicles, disaggregated on commercial and private cars. A comparative analysis with emission factors obtained for the application of the COPERT II and AP-42 models was also presented. Our current analysis gives solid evidence indicating that to obtain a reasonable accuracy on emission estimates and calculations, local emission factors must be used.     

Assessing safety culture in the Spanish nuclear industry through the use of working groups

This paper presents the design and the implementation of a methodology for measuring and improving safety culture at a nuclear power plant (NPP). The study has involved the completion of a pilot project aimed at seeing how to make use of the RADAR logic (Results, Approach, Deployment, Assessment and Review) of the EFQM model as a tool for the self assessment of safety culture in a nuclear power plant. The work was aimed at finding evidence of the safety culture that was in place at the plant and at identifying both the strengths of that culture and any areas in which it could be improved. The score obtained from an analysis of those strengths and areas for improvement has made it possible to prioritise the actions to be taken. The identification of perceptions and evidence, the agreement on the strong points and areas for improvement and the quantification of the safety culture have been performed by groups comprising volunteers who work at the NPP. The advantages of this methodology are assessed in the paper.     

Heavy trucks, conspicuity treatment, and the decline of collision risk in darkness

IntroductionThe influence of amendments to Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 108, requiring conspicuity treatments on heavy tractors and trailers, was determined in analyses of the odds of fatal collisions in darkness.MethodComparisons were made between crashes in which conspicuity treatment was likely relevant, and those in which it was likely irrelevant.ResultsOver 23 years, the odds that a fatal collision involving a heavy truck occurred in darkness declined by 58% among relevant crashes, while little decline was observed for irrelevant crashes. Disaggregation into crash types revealed the largest declines occurred in fatal rear-end and angle collisions. A parallel analysis of light vehicles also found declines but no differences among crash type. Similar trends were also observed for nonfatal rear end collisions.ConclusionThe results suggest that detection failure may have contributed to the risk of striking a tractor-semitrailer in darkness, and that conspicuity treatments have reduced this risk.Impact on IndustryConspicuity treatments appear to reduce risk of collision into heavy trucks in darkness. It is likely that this benefit would also extend to other vehicles that are not included in the FMVSS 108 regulation (e.g., buses, single unit trucks, recreational vehicles), although many are so equipped, regardless of the regulation.     

催化湿式过氧化氢氧化苯酚的诱导期研究

针对诱导期发生机制及影响因素尚不清楚问题,采用自制化学反应装置和批动力学试验方法,研究了黏土基催化剂催化过氧化氢（H₂O₂）氧化苯酚过程中诱导期发生的原因及其关键影响因子。结果表明：H₂O₂扩散或吸附到催化剂金属活性位及随后的表面修饰（通过≡Fe（III）还原到≡Fe（II）降低pH）共同决定了诱导期;Fermi’s方程能很好地拟合苯酚氧化过程（R²>0.99）;反应温度和溶液pH强烈影响诱导时间（t_I）,随温度增加和pH降低,t_I分别从59和129 min降到22和0 min（没有诱导期）,而催化剂与H₂O₂用量对t_I的影响相对较小,随催化剂和H₂O₂浓度增加,t_I分别从69和75 min降到32和52 min。尽管诱导时间可通过调整反应参数缩短或消除,但考虑到成本和环境风险,在用黏土基催化剂处理实际含酚废水时应采纳适宜的反应条件：H₂O₂和苯酚质量浓度摩尔比为15,催化剂浓度为0.8~1.0
g/L,温度为30~40 °C,介质pH（不调整）,反应时间为2 h。     

Prediction of thermal hazards from fireballs

Various models of fireball diameter have been evaluated by statistical techniques. The model of Gayle for fireball diameter estimation showed good agreement between the predicted and experimental data. The models relating to fireball duration, transmissivity and view factor have been selected based on their relative merits. A user interactive computer program has been developed to predict thermal hazards from fireballs in chemical process industries.