Heterogeneity of Thermal Extremes: Driven by Disturbance or Inherent in the Landscape

Ecologists are beginning to recognize the effect of heterogeneity on structure and function in arid and semiarid ecosystems. Additionally, the influences of temperature on ecosystems are widely documented, but landscape temperature patterns and relationships with vegetation are rarely reported in ecological studies. To better understand the importance of temperature patterns to the conservation and restoration of native ecosystems, we designed an experiment to investigate relationships among soil surface temperature, landscape heterogeneity, and grazing intensity. Grazing intensity did influence the vegetation structure and composition. Heavy treatments had the greatest bare ground and the least vertical structure. Ungrazed treatments had the most litter and live grass cover. However, average temperatures among the three grazing treatments were not different and ranged less than 2°C during midday summer periods. The temperature difference between riparian and upland landscapes within grazing treatments was 21°C. Landscape position (riparian vs. upland) did have a significant influence on soil surface temperature and produced a variation in temperature 11 times greater than grazing intensities. Thermal heterogeneity did not differ among grazing treatments. Lower soil surface temperatures (associated with riparian areas) may provide a critical thermal refuge for many animals in arid and semiarid ecosystems on hot summer days, when air temperatures can exceed 37°C. Riparian zones, specifically riparian vegetation, are an important component in ecosystem management.     

An improved user-based beach climate index

In many coastal resort areas of the world, it is likely that optimal climatic conditions for beach use might occur outside the peak of the tourist season. Investigation of this issue together with associated publicity might help to spread the tourism load and hence reduce undesirable social and environmental effects of extreme seasonality in tourist demand. For this to take place, better knowledge of beach user preferences in terms of climate and bathing water temperature is required. Questionnaire surveys were carried out in Wales, Malta and Turkey to establish the preferences of north European beach users for thermal sensation and bathing water temperature, plus priority levels for other climatic attributes. A user-based beach climate index based on these preferences and priorities was formulated. Linkage was made between the user-generated ratings for various climatic conditions and published climate data to evaluate most major Euro-Mediterranean/Black Sea and a range of other beach tourism areas on a month-by-month basis. Results showed excessively hot thermal sensation in many southern and eastern Mediterranean coastal destinations during July and August, the present peak of the beach tourism season. Highest preference was given to water temperatures rather lower than those found in these areas during late summer. Many long haul coastal destinations popular with north European visitors had similar unpleasant thermal sensations over several months. Uncertainties and deficiencies still exist with the system, but from the point of view of north European beach users the final scores generated in this study may be regarded as good approximations of the quality of resort area climates for sedentary beach use.     

二硫化铁(FeS2)纳米颗粒对聚苯乙烯(PS)热稳定性和燃烧性能的影响

采用熔融共混法制备聚苯乙烯(PS)/二硫化铁(FeS2)纳米复合材料研究FeS2对PS热稳定性和燃烧性能的影响。扫描电镜(SEM)结果表明FeS2能够很好地分散在PS基体中。热重分析(TGA)的数据显示,FeS2可以显著地提高残余炭量。锥形量热仪(CONE)结果表明,FeS2可以改变PS的分解,从而在复合材料的表面上形成炭层,导致燃烧和烟气方面的参数有效降低,如热释放速率(HRR)、总热释放(THR)、烟释放率(SPR)、烟释放总量(TSR)、平均质量损失速率(AMLR)和平均烟消光面积(ASEA)等。此外,极限氧指数也得到了提高。拉曼(LRS)的结果证实了残余炭中有石墨碳的存在,热降解过程中石墨碳的形成有利于对热扩散的抑制,从而改善了PS的热稳定和燃烧性能。     

空调器印剧电路板(PCB)无铅焊点寿命评估研究

由于无铅焊料的应用,无铅焊点的可靠性问题得到了关注.本文针对无铅焊点的空调器印刷电路板(PCB),结合实际使用条件,采用加速寿命的方式,测试了焊点的寿命.并针对温度循环条件下的焊点,使用有限元模拟技术计算测定了其寿命,并与实验的结果进行了比较,取得了较吻合的结果.     

Role of NO and SO2 in mercury oxidation over a La2O3/Fe2O3 catalyst with high thermal stability

In this study, the thermal stability of a ferric oxide catalyst for mercury oxidation was found to be considerably promoted by doping with La₂O₃. The catalysts doped with La₂O₃ maintained a higher surface area when subjected to high-temperature calcination, with lower average pore size and a narrower pore size distribution. X-ray diffraction (XRD) results revealed that La₂O₃ doping hinders the growth of catalyst particles and crystallization of the material at high temperatures. Both NO and SO₂ inhibited Hg⁰ oxidation over the La₂O₃/Fe₂O₃ catalyst. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectra revealed that SO₂ reacts with O₂ over the catalysts to form several species that are inert for mercury oxidation, such as SO₄^2?, HSO₄^?, or other related species; these inert species cover the catalyst surface and consequently decrease Hg⁰ oxidation capacity. In addition, NO or SO₂ competed with Hg⁰ for active sites on the La₂O₃/Fe₂O₃ catalyst and hindered the adsorption of mercury, thereby inhibiting subsequent Hg⁰ oxidation. Hg⁰ oxidation on the La₂O₃/Fe₂O₃ catalyst mainly followed the Eley–Rideal mechanism. Moreover, the inhibition effects of NO and SO₂ were at least partially reversible, and the catalytic activity was temporarily restored after eliminating NO or SO₂.     

Effects of thermal radiation heat transfer on flame acceleration and transition to detonation in particle-cloud hydrogen flames

The current work examines regimes of the hydrogen–oxygen flame propagation and ignition of mixtures heated by radiation emitted from the flame. The gaseous phase is assumed to be transparent for the radiation, while the suspended particles of the dust cloud ahead of the flame absorb and reemit the radiation. The radiant heat absorbed by the particles is then lost by conduction to the surrounding unreacted gaseous phase so that the gas phase temperature lags that of the particles. The direct numerical simulations solve the full system of two phase gas dynamic time-dependent equations with a detailed chemical kinetics for a plane flames propagating through a dust cloud. It is shown that depending on the spatial distribution of the dispersed particles and on the value of radiation absorption length the consequence of the radiative preheating of the mixture ahead of the flame can be either the increase of the flame velocity for uniformly dispersed particles or ignition either new deflagration or detonation ahead of the original flame via the Zel'dovich gradient mechanism in the case of a layered particle-gas cloud deposits. In the latter case the ignited combustion regime depends on the radiation absorption length and correspondingly on the steepness of the formed temperature gradient in the preignition zone that can be treated independently of the primary flame. The impact of radiation heat transfer in a particle-laden flame is of paramount importance for better risk assessment and represents a route for understanding of dust explosion origin.     

Applications of thermal hazard analyses on process safety assessments

In 2011, a large petrochemical complex in Taiwan incurred several fire and explosion accidents, which had considerable negative impact for the industry on both environmental and safety issues. Reactive substances are widely used in many chemical industrial fields as an initiator, hardeners, or cross-linking agents of radical polymerization process with unsaturated monomer. However, the unpredictable factors during the process having risk to runaway reaction, thermal explosion, fire, and exposure to harmful toxic chemicals release due to the huge heat and gas products by thermal decomposition could not be removed from the process. This study used differential technology of thermal analysis to characterize the inherent hazard behaviors of azo compounds and organic peroxides in the process, to seek the elimination of the source of the harmful effects and achieve the best process safety practices with zero disaster and sound business continuity plan.     

Thermal behaviors, combustion mechanisms, evolved gasses, and ash analysis of spent potlining for a hazardous waste management

An unavoidable but reusable waste so as to enhance a more circular waste utilization has been spent potlining (SPL) generated by the aluminum industry. The combustion mechanisms, evolved gasses, and ash properties of SPL were characterized dynamically in response to the elevated temperature and heating rates. Differential scanning calorimetric (DSC) results indicated an exothermic reaction behavior probably able to meet the energy needs of various industrial applications. The reaction mechanisms for the SPL combustion were best described using the 1.5-, 3- and 2.5-order reaction models. Fluoride volatilization rate of the flue gas was estimated at 2.24%. The SPL combustion emitted CO₂, HNCO, NO, and NO₂ but SO_x. The joint optimization of remaining mass, derivative thermogravimetry, and derivative DSC was achieved with the optimal temperature and heating rate combination of 783.5°C, and 5 °C/min, respectively. Interaction between temperature and heating rate exerted the strongest and weakest impact on DSC and remaining mass, respectively. The fluorine mainly as the formation of substantial NaF and CaF₂ in the residual ash. Besides, the composition and effect of environment of residual solid were evaluated. The ash slagging tendency and its mineral deposition mechanisms were elucidated in terms of turning SPL waste into a benign input to a circular waste utilization.     

Bioconcentration of metals in the moss Scleropodium purum in the area surrounding a power plant. A geotopographical predictive model for mercury

Samples of the moss Scleropodium purum collected in 1995 and 1997 were used to biomonitor the deposition of metals in the area surrounding a thermal power plant. Significantly higher levels of Cu (p<0.05), Fe (p<0.01), As and Hg (p<0.001) were found in the 1997 samples than in the 1995 samples, due to changes in atmospheric conditions. The influence on bioconcentration of the orientation of the sampling sites relative to the source of emission was studied. It was found that the increase recorded in 1997 generally occurred in the sampling sites in the south east of the study area. Analysis of the effect of distance from the source of emission revealed that the increase in metal levels in 1997 took place close to the power station (10–30 km). Finally, multiple regression analysis was used to construct a model that related different topographical variables to the concentrations of Hg in moss. The model, constructed using the data collected in both sampling periods, included the orientation of the sampling sites relative to the source of emission as well as the height of sampling sites in 1995 and the distance from the emission point in 1997. The model allowed us to determine the extent of the area affected by deposition and to establish the magnitude of deposition.