Explosion behavior of n-alkane/nitrous oxide mixtures

The explosion properties of alkane/nitrous oxide mixtures were investigated and were compared with those of the corresponding alkane/oxygen and alkane/air mixtures. The explosion properties were characterized by three parameters: the explosion limit, explosion pressure, and deflagration index. For the same alkane, the order of the lower explosion limits (LELs) of the mixtures was found to be alkane/oxygen ≈ alkane/air > alkane/nitrous oxide. In addition, the mixtures containing nitrous oxide tended to exhibit higher explosion pressures than the corresponding mixtures containing oxygen under fuel-lean conditions. The Burgess–Wheeler law was also observed to hold for the mixtures containing nitrous oxide.     

Communication and use of climate scenarios for climate change adaptation in Finland,Sweden and Norway

This paper assesses the communication and the use of climate scenarios at the science–science and science–policy interface in Finland, Sweden and Norway. It is based on document analysis and stakeholder questionnaires. The questionnaires targeted three stakeholder groups, all engaged in the communication and the use of climate scenario information: climate scenario producers; impact, adaptation and vulnerability (IAV) experts; and policy-makers. The respondents were asked to identify issues associated with the communication of scenarios and other needs pertaining to the usefulness and availability of such information. Despite the relatively long history of climate change adaptation in the three countries, climate scenarios are not utilised to their full potential. Climate scenarios have been used in awareness raising, problem understanding and strategy development. However, far less examples can be found on adaptation actions, particularly on harnessing the benefits of climate change. The communication between climate scenario producers and IAV experts functions well; however, communication between climate researchers and policy-makers is less efficient. Each country has developed boundary services to enhance dissemination of the climate scenario information to policy-makers. They are cost-efficient but do not necessarily enhance the comprehension of the information and encourage the actual dialogue between scenario producers and the end-users. Further translation of scenario information to impact and vulnerability estimates together with established boundary work could improve the use of climate research information. As adaptation policy in these countries further progresses towards implementation, there are increasing expectations of support from research, further challenging the communication of climate scenarios.     

强化EGSB-好氧组合工艺处理马铃薯淀粉废水研究

马铃薯淀粉废水具有处理难度大、有机污染物浓度高等特点,属于高难度有机废水。为了有效的解决马铃薯淀粉废水造成的环境污染问题,采用强化厌氧膨胀颗粒污泥床组合好氧工艺对有机污染物质和氨氮的去除效能进行研究。研究结果表明-强化厌氧膨胀颗粒污泥床在最佳运行工况条件下(进水温度为30℃、外回流比为2和水力停留时间24 h),组合工艺出水COD质量浓度和氨氮浓度分别在92.35 mg/L和10.28 mg/L左右,去除率分别在98.85%和86.29%左右,出水水质能够满足《污水综合排放标准》(GB8978—1996)二级标准,说明该工艺是一种适用于马铃薯淀粉废水的处理技术。     

Synthesis of the starch grafting of superabsorbent and high oil-absorbing resin

The graft copolymerization of the starch and acrylic were used to prepare the superabsorbent, and the high oil-absorbing resin was also studied preliminarily. In addition, following the method of the emulsion polymerization, the cerium nitrate amine was regarded as the initiator, the acrylic amide and the methyl methacrylate functioned as the monomer. There are several significant parameters taken into consideration such as the factors that influence the performance of the superabsorbent and the high oil-absorbing resin, the dosage of the initiator amount, the ratio of the starch and the monomer and the dosage of crosslinking agent.     

淀粉废水处理系统中活性污泥的微生物群落结构及多样性分析

为探究淀粉废水处理活性污泥中微生物的群落结构及多样性,基于Illumina MiSeq高通量测序方法,分析了不同运行阶段的A/O处理系统中活性污泥的微生物群落与多样性组成.结果表明,A/O系统中处理淀粉生产废水的活性污泥在同一种废水下微生物群落结构总体比较稳定,优势细菌主要为变形菌门(Proteobacteria)、拟杆菌门(Bacteroidetes)、绿弯菌门(Chloroflexi)、厚壁菌门(Firmicutes)和放线菌门(Actinobacteria)等;最重要优势细菌类群为变形菌门(45. 66%～66. 30%),其中γ-亚纲细菌是其主要成员,占比36. 38%～66. 65%.优势拟杆菌门主要成员鞘脂杆菌纲在污泥沉降性能较好时其占比下降,但绿弯菌门主要成员厌氧绳菌纲在污泥沉降性能较好时其占比明显增加,变化趋势正好相反,或许它们二者之间的耦合变化与污泥沉降性能变化密切相关.活性污泥样品中存在大量特殊功能菌群,它们在活性污泥的污染物分解和氮磷去除中发挥重要作用.     

How effective are current household recycling policies? Results from a national survey of U.S. households

This paper analyzes a unique dataset collected during a 2006 national survey of U.S. households to explore the effectiveness of common household recycling policies for metals, glass, and plastics: curbside recycling, drop-off recycling, deposit–refund systems (bottle bills), and marginal pricing for household waste. After estimating either generalized ordered logit or multinomial logit models, we find that the most important determinants of household recycling are people's attitudes toward recycling. Our results also suggest that omitting internal variables (perceived recycling obstacles and benefits as well as moral considerations) may bias policy coefficients. Socio-economic variables are typically not statistically significant, with the exceptions of young adults and of African Americans who tend to recycle less than others. Policies with the largest odds ratios are curbside recycling (which is further strengthened if recycling is mandatory), followed by the presence of drop-off collection centers nearby. Bottle bills are also statistically significant but their odds ratios are smaller, possibly because refunds are relatively small and typically do not change for years. Finally, marginal pricing appears to have a limited impact on recycling. These results suggest avenues for improving household recycling at a time when recycling rates appear to be plateauing.     

An imprecise Fault Tree Analysis for the estimation of the Rate of OCcurrence Of Failure (ROCOF)

The paper proposes an imprecise Fault Tree Analysis in order to characterize systems affected by the lack of reliability data. Differently from other research works, the paper introduces a classification of basic events into two categories, namely Initiators and Enablers. Actually, in real industrial systems some events refer to component failures or process parameter deviations from normal operating conditions (Initiators), whereas others refer to the functioning of safety barriers to be activated on demand (Enablers). As a consequence, the output parameter of interest is not the classical probability of occurrence of the top event, but its Rate of OCcurrence (ROCOF) over a stated period of time. In order to characterize the basic events, interval-valued information supplied by experts are properly aggregated and propagated to the top. To this purpose, the Dempster–Shafer Theory of evidence is proposed as a more appropriate mathematical framework than the classical probabilistic one. The proposed methodology, applied to a real industrial scenario, can be considered a helpful tool to support risk managers working in industrial plants.     

Experimental investigation of fast flame propagation in stratified hydrogen–air mixtures in semi-confined flat layers

This paper presents results of an experimental investigation on fast flame propagation and the deflagration-to-detonation transition (DDT) and following detonation propagation in a semi-confined flat layer filled with stratified hydrogen–air mixtures. The experiments were performed in a transparent, rectangular channel open from below. The combustion channel has a width of 0.3 m and a length of 2.5 m. The effective layer thickness in the channel was varied by using different linear hydrogen concentration gradients. The method to create quasi-linear hydrogen concentration gradients that differ in the range and slope is also presented. The ignited mixtures were accelerated quickly to sonic flame speed in the first obstructed part of the channel. The interaction of the fast flame propagation with different obstacle set-ups was studied in the second part of the channel. The experimental results show an initiation of DDT by one additional metal grid in the obstructed semi-confined flat layer. Detonation propagation and failed detonation propagation were observed in obstructed and unobstructed parts of the channel.     

Issues of the Human Reliability Analysis in the Context of Probabilistic Safety Studies

This article addresses methodological issues of the human reliability analysis (HRA) in the context of probabilistic safety studies. Several conventional HRA techniques, more often used for the evaluation of the human error probabilities (HEPs), have been classified. A taxonomy of human actions, failure events, and related factors is outlined in order to distinguish action phases, human behavior types and incorrect outputs (errors of omission or commission), error types (slips, lapses, and mistakes), and performance-shaping factors (PSFs) influencing the human performance. A tree is proposed to facilitate the selection of a specific method for the evaluation of human reliability with regard to attributes of the situation analyzed. A software system based on the expert system technology to facilitate and document PSA and HRA is outlined. At the end of the article some research challenges in the domain are discussed.     

The Relationship Between Shift Work Schedules and Spillover in a Sample of Nurses

The aim of the present study was to estimate spillover effects between the work and the family sphere in a sample of nurses (N = 2058). Hierarchical regression analyses investigated whether shift work schedules were associated with negative or positive spillover, both from family to work and vice versa, controlling for demographic factors, job demands and decision latitude. With daytime work as a reference group, all types of shift work (day and evening shift, night shift only and rotating 3 shift) were associated with higher negative work-to-family spillover. Night work was associated with significantly less negative family-to-work spillover. None of the different shift work schedules were related to any type of positive spillover. The results indicate that working outside of daytime hours is less compatible with workers’ family lives, compared to working ordinary day shifts. On the other hand, working night shifts only was associated with reduced negative family-to-work spillover.