Environmental impact of the Gulf War: An integrated preliminary assessment

This article provides an objective integrated environmental impact assessment of the Gulf War consequences. The environmental damage was evaluated and found to be significantly exaggerated by the media and speculators. The total amount of burned crude oil was calculated to be 52.5 million metric tons. Most air pollution field measurements were comparable to those found in Western cities. The health impact associated with such exposure was found to be minimal. The total amount of oil released into the marine environment ranged between 2 and 4 million barrels, much less than the early estimation of 12–14 million barrels. The marine environment is expected to recover much faster than earlier anticipations. Unlike water and air, soil pollution is likely to persist for some years to come.     

油罐扬沸火灾及其安全防治对策

本文应用模拟实验研究方法,考察了扬沸过程的基本物理性状及其特点,在研究了扬沸形成规律的基础上,提出了两个新的安全防治对策:利用扬沸前兆噪声诊断、预报扬沸发生及应用循环冷却原理阻止扬沸形成。     

陆地石油污染生物降解技术的进展

生物治理石油环境污染具有处理费用低、效果好、无二次污染等优点，近年来得到广泛重视和发展应用，并已在治理土壤、岩石及地下水石油污染等方面取得了较好的效果。在此对就地或集中治理过程的近期发展进行了综述，讨论了强化治理过程的途径与展望以及在我国实验室和现场开发的前景。     

油田生命线工程系统抗灾防灾时域变化可靠度控制研究

本文从工程可靠度理论出发，探讨了油田生命线工程系统随着时域的变化控制抗灾防灾能力的问题。提出了界线控制，保证油田生命线工程系统抗灾防灾能力的方法。指出了油田生命线工程系统抗灾防灾进行可靠度研究的必要性及意义。阐述了计算机仿真应用于油田生命线工程系统抗灾防灾研究的可行性和方法。     

Response of Georges Bank cod to periodic and nonperiodic oil spill events

In the management of conflicting dual-resource systems such as continental shelf hydrocarbon extraction and commercial fishing operations, it is necessary to consider the possibility of repeated impact events. The potential magnitude of impacts on Georges Bank fisheries of single oil spill events has been addressed in detail elsewhere (Reed and Spaulding 1979, Reed and others 1980, Spaulding and others 1982). An oil spill-fishery impact estimation model, implemented for the Georges Bank cod fishery (Reed and others 1980), has been used to investigate the potential for nonlinear biological responses to periodic and nonperiodic repetitive spill events. Prerecruit mortality equations incorporating young-of-the-year as well as adult-juvenile interactions, perform acceptably vis-à-vis the historical catch record, but show highly variable behavior under recruitment reductions induced by periodic simulated spills. The results demonstrate the importance of selecting mathematical representations of biological and physical processes underlying population dynamics such that characteristic system behavior is adequately represented in both the time and frequency domains.     

Magnetic particle technology in environmental remediation and wildlife rehabilitation

The use of magnetic particles in environmental remediation and wildlife rehabilitation is currently under investigation at Victoria University, in collaboration with the Phillip Island Research Centre, Victoria, Australia. Iron powder has been shown to be very effective for the magnetic cleansing of feathers and plumage and is almost ideal for this purpose, being non-toxic, a non-irritant and recyclable. Detailed investigations have demonstrated that by varying particle size, particle structure and surface texture, the efficacy of oil removal from feathers and plumage can be successfully manipulated. In this regard, it is possible to identify a grade of iron powder whereby, within experimental error, effectively 100% removal of a variety of fresh contaminants from different matrices, including feathers, can be achieved. Our investigations have been extended to the application of such particles to the successful removal of tarry and weathered/tarry contamination. The results of these investigations have indicated that, for such contaminants, removals ranging from 97–99% may be achieved. Magnetic particle technology may also be adapted for the screening of pre-conditioning agents that can further assist in the removal of tarry and weathered/tarry contamination from feathers. These investigations suggest that magnetic particles could have an important role to play in environmental remediation and wildlife rehabilitation as a clean and effective technology.     

Methane and CO2 fluxes from an Indonesian peatland used for sago palm (Metroxylon sagu Rottb.) cultivation: Effects of fertilizer and groundwater level management

Tropical peatland is a vast potential land source for biological production, but peatland is a major natural source of greenhouse gases, especially methane (CH₄). It is important to evaluate the changes in greenhouse gas emissions induced by cultivation practices for sustainable agricultural use of tropical peatland. We investigated the effects of fertilizer application and the groundwater level on CH₄ and carbon dioxide (CO₂) fluxes in an Indonesian peat soil. The crop cultivated was sago palm (Metroxylon sagu Rottb.), which can grow on tropical peat soil without drainage and yield great amounts of starch. CH₄ emission through sago palm plants was first estimated by collecting gas samples immediately after cutting sago suckers using the closed chamber method. The CH₄ fluxes ranged from negative values to 1.0 mg C m⁻² h⁻¹. The mean CH₄ flux from treatment with macroelements (N, P, and K) and microelements (B, Cu, Fe, and Zn) applied at normal rates did not differ significantly from that of the No fertilizer treatment, although increasing the application rates of macroelements or microelements by 10-fold increased the CH₄ flux by a factor of two or three. The relationship between CH₄ flux and the groundwater table was regressed to a logarithmic equation, which indicated that to maintain a small CH₄ flux, the groundwater table should be maintained at <−45 cm. The CO₂ fluxes ranged between 24 and 150 mg C m⁻² h⁻¹, and were not significantly affected by either fertilizer treatments or the groundwater level. The inclusion of sago palm suckers in a chamber increased CH₄ emission from the peat soil significantly. Thus, gas emissions mediated by certain kinds of palm plants should not be disregarded.     

湖库水体对石油类物质的自净能力评价初探

为了合理的预测湖库水体对油田特征污染物的自净能力,建立了突发事件溢油在水面上影响及对水质影响的模型,采用实测与预测相结合的方式对模型的参数进行了确定,同时根据建立的模型选择两个泡沼进行了验证。说明预测结果与实测值有较好的相关性,用湖泡推流衰减模型对湖泡的预测是可行的。     

固定化菌剂处理含油废水的试验研究

探讨了固定化菌剂的接种量、曝气强度及温度等因素对废水中CODer去除率的影响.试验结果表明:在采用适当的曝气方式和曝气强度下,温度为30℃时,采用10％的固定化颗粒接种量,4种固定化产品对含油废水中CODer降解均有较好的效果.     

多因素下小尺度油罐火燃烧速率的研究

以正庚烷为研究对象,开展了不同因素耦合作用下小尺度油罐火燃烧特性的实验研究。结果表明:在不改变其他工况条件下,开口因子直接影响燃料燃烧速率,发现不同开口因子下燃烧速率与全开口下燃烧速率之比始终正比于对应的开口面积之比,且之间存在着相应的关系式。在实验所测两种液位6cm和8cm下,其燃烧速率变化不大,由此可发现,在该实验液位下油罐火液位高度不是影响燃烧速率的主要因素。在不同的风速下,随着风速的增加燃烧速率逐渐增加并趋于一定值,且不同开口因子下风速对燃烧速率的影响程度不同。风速对开口因子大的油罐燃烧速率的影响小于开口因子较小的油罐。