Mutual effects between dynamic leakage behavior and the pressure/temperature in a LNG tank with external heat fluxes

The objective of this work is to investigate and model the mutual effects between the dynamic pressure/temperature in the LNG tank and the leakage behavior with external heat fluxes. The results suggest that the pressure and temperature in tank during leakage change with the comparison results between the heat flux consumed in liquid boil-off and the external heat flux supplied. At the liquid leakage stage, when the external heat flux is not very high, the pressure in tank tends to increase significantly, even results in tank explosion. It increases more and more heavily with higher and higher external heat fluxes. At the vapor leakage stage, large amount of vapor spray out, which results in a high generation rate of vapor by the liquid boil-off. The pressure in tank normally decreases to be low, which is unfavorable for the LNG tank explosion. Therefore, at this vapor leakage stage, blocking the leakage hole as soon as possible is not always a right choice for fire fighters. Finally, it is suggested that reducing the heat flux into the tank, either at the liquid leakage stage or in vapor one, is key to the tank safety.     

绿色经济视角下环渤海经济圈经济效率的再评价——基于熵权法和DEA—Malmquist方法

长期以传统GDP作为衡量经济发展的单一评价指标,造成了一系列环境问题,已不能满足科学发展观的要求。以绿色经济为视角,通过计量方法重新计算包含环境成本的相对绿色GDP,发现环渤海地区除北京市以外,在经济总量扩张的同时环境压力不断增加。将计算得到的相对绿色GDP作为DEA—Malmquist模型的产出指标,重新评价环渤海地区的经济效率,发现新的效率值明显低于传统GDP下的经济效率,并有不断下降的趋势。     

Chemical plant innovative safety investments decision-support methodology

Introduction

This article examines the extent to which investing in safety during the creation of a new chemical installation proves profitable.

Method

The authors propose a management supporting cost-benefit model that identifies and evaluates investments in safety within a chemical company. This innovative model differentiates between serious accidents and less serious accidents, thus providing an authentic image of prevention-related costs and benefits. In classic cost-benefit analyses, which do not make such differentiations, only a rudimentary image of potential profitability resulting from investments in safety is obtained.

Results

The resulting management conclusions that can be drawn from such classical analyses are of a very limited nature. The proposed model, however, is applied to a real case study and the proposed investments in safety at an appointed chemical installation are weighed against the estimated hypothetical benefits resulting from the preventive measures to be installed at the installation.

Conclusion

In the case-study carried out in question, it would appear that the proposed prevention investments are justified.

Impact on industry

Such an economic exercise may be very important to chemical corporations trying to (further) improve their safety investments.     

A GIS-based evaluation of the effect of decontamination on effective doses due to long-term external exposures in Fukushima

Despite the enormous cost of radiation decontamination, there has been almost no quantitative discussion on how much it would reduce the long-term external radiation exposure in the Evacuation Zone and Planned Evacuation Zone (restricted zone) in Fukushima. The aim of this study is to assess the effectiveness of decontamination and return options and to identify important parameters for estimating the long-term cumulated effective dose (CED) during 15, 30 and 70 year period using data on land-use, population and decontamination in the restricted zone (about 1100 km²) in Fukushima.     

环境成本的内在化问题

环境成本是指人类经济活动引起的环境损失。主流经济学认为，外部性与产权是产生环境污染的经济根源，减少环境成本的实质是通过一定的手段将环境成本内在化。不同的治理手段具有不同的治理成本，一般而言，经济手段具有更高的经济效率和较低的成本，但管制手段也有其存在的意义。解决我国的环境成本问题需要树立生态经济协调发展模式，让企业成为污染治理的主体，建立环境补偿机制等。     

External cost internalisation of urban transport: a case study of Dublin

Transport users do not currently pay all costs associated with their transport activities and in particular do not pay the costs they impose on the environment. Case studies on Dublin, Amsterdam, Brussels and London have been conducted to evaluate how best to meet the requirement of the European Commission in its fair and efficient pricing aims in the transport sector, i.e. where transport users are made to pay all costs they impose. The paper presents the results of Do Nothing (DN) and Do Something (DS) scenarios for 2005 where in the latter case each transport user pays for all costs they impose including pollution, noise, accidents etc. The Dublin results, from an economics model used in the study, are examined in detail; the findings are compared with those of parallel studies conducted in the other cities to demonstrate the international relevance of this work. The comparison between the DN and DS scenarios indicates that taxes on all transport modes should be increased substantially, particularly in the morning and evening peak periods. As a result of the price increases, travel demand is reduced. A practical example where transport users could be made to pay for all their costs is road use pricing, i.e. charging individuals for the use of road space. The taxation levels suggested in the DS scenario have been used in a road use pricing trial in Dublin, the results of which were published in O'Mahony, Geraghty and Humphreys (Transportation 27, 269-283, 2000), to see if the reductions in the travel requirements of individuals proposed by the economics model are in fact true. The principles of the work presented in this paper are not only relevant to environmental impact management in the transport sector but can also be applied to other sectors.     

Sperm traits in the quacking frog (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Crinia georgiana</Emphasis>), a species with plastic alternative mating tactics

In species where males use alternative reproductive tactics and male phenotypes are confronted with different risks of sperm competition, theory predicts that between-male-type differences in sperm expenditure may evolve. In the frog Crinia georgiana big males can monopolize females, whereas small males often engage in polyandrous matings. Consequently, big males may experience a lower risk of sperm competition than do small males. We tested if the predictions from theoretical models can be applied to the mating system of C. georgiana. Our results showed that small males do not have larger testes relative to their body size compared to their larger counterparts and that the efficiency with which sperm number, size, motility, and longevity are produced by the testes does not differ between small and large males in the predicted way. These results are not in alignment with predictions from a loaded raffle model of sperm competition on sperm expenditure in males with alternative phenotypes. The plasticity in mating tactics used by C. georgiana males and a high intraseasonal variation in male densities may have prevented the evolution of enhanced sperm performance in smaller males. A fair raffle in the sperm competition game played by C. georgiana males could also explain the observed patterns in sperm traits. Future investigations determining the parameters responsible for the deviation from theoretical predictions in this system will test the degree to which current theoretical models can indeed be applied to species with plastic reproductive tactics.     

外循环三相流化床污水处理特性的研究

采用三相外循环生物流化床处理生活污水。该设备包含好氧区和缺氧区,可获得足够的停留时间造成缺氧条件,能保证有效去除NH3—N。实验在室温下进行,进水条件pH为7～8,CODCr为286-656mg／L,NH3-N为10～51mg／L。结果显示,控制水力停留时间在3h为宜,最佳通气量为0．09m^3／h,此时CODc和NH3-N的去除率分别达91％和96．6％,有较好的处理效果。同时实验确定了最佳膜厚为145μm。     

Efficient and equitable design of marine protected areas in Fiji through inclusion of stakeholder‐specific objectives in conservation planning

The efficacy of protected areas varies, partly because socioeconomic factors are not sufficiently considered in planning and management. Although integrating socioeconomic factors into systematic conservation planning is increasingly advocated, research is needed to progress from recognition of these factors to incorporating them effectively in spatial prioritization of protected areas. We evaluated 2 key aspects of incorporating socioeconomic factors into spatial prioritization: treatment of socioeconomic factors as costs or objectives and treatment of stakeholders as a single group or multiple groups. Using as a case study the design of a system of no‐take marine protected areas (MPAs) in Kubulau, Fiji, we assessed how these aspects affected the configuration of no‐take MPAs in terms of trade‐offs between biodiversity objectives, fisheries objectives, and equity in catch losses among fisher stakeholder groups. The achievement of fisheries objectives and equity tended to trade‐off concavely with increasing biodiversity objectives, indicating that it is possible to achieve low to mid‐range biodiversity objectives with relatively small losses to fisheries and equity. Importantly, the extent of trade‐offs depended on the method used to incorporate socioeconomic data and was least severe when objectives were set for each fisher stakeholder group explicitly. We found that using different methods to incorporate socioeconomic factors that require similar data and expertise can result in plans with very different impacts on local stakeholders.     

Expanding Kenya's protected areas under the Convention on Biological Diversity to maximize coverage of plant diversity

Biodiversity is highly valuable and critically threatened by anthropogenic degradation of the natural environment. In response, governments have pledged enhanced protected‐area coverage, which requires scarce biological data to identify conservation priorities. To assist this effort, we mapped conservation priorities in Kenya based on maximizing alpha (species richness) and beta diversity (species turnover) of plant communities while minimizing economic costs. We used plant‐cover percentages from vegetation surveys of over 2000 plots to build separate models for each type of diversity. Opportunity and management costs were based on literature data and interviews with conservation organizations. Species richness was predicted to be highest in a belt from Lake Turkana through Mount Kenya and in a belt parallel to the coast, and species turnover was predicted to be highest in western Kenya and along the coast. Our results suggest the expanding reserve network should focus on the coast and northeastern provinces of Kenya, where new biological surveys would also fill biological data gaps. Meeting the Convention on Biological Diversity target of 17% terrestrial coverage by 2020 would increase representation of Kenya's plant communities by 75%. However, this would require about 50 times more funds than Kenya has received thus far from the Global Environment Facility.