Practical safety management for small or medium enterprises

The article is intended for those who are not safety professionals but are responsible for safety management in a small or medium enterprise (SME) of the process industry. It assumes that a SME is loosely coupled and of low complexity and has a small number of major hazards present in it. The article describes Elementary Safety Management (ESM) as a combination of activities that maintain openness to safety impulses with Elementary Risk Control (ERC). ERC uses four milestones and three rules to get to the necessary and sufficient selection of control measures, which will achieve an acceptable level of risk. To make the ESM scheme as simple as possible, the term causal event is used, which is derived from the term causal factor. Practical Safety Management (PrSM) adds to the ESM the knowledge and skills that a person, who is supposed to design and implement a safety management system, needs. The PrSM procedure is developed to identify optimum controls. The procedure recognizes the unavoidable role of commitment to safety, respects the role of hazard identification, and integrates prospective and retrospective analyses and current knowledge of safety management systems. Examples of application of the procedure are given in the article.     

Dynamics of explosion venting in a compartment with methane-air mixtures

A series of experiments on explosion venting of methane-air mixtures are performed to scrutinize the pressure evolution as well as the flame dynamics and morphology at various vent conditions. Specifically, a premixed flame is ignited at the center of a polycarbonate cylindrical compartment, with three various vent areas considered (with negligible vent relief pressure). As expected, the highest maximum pressure is observed in the case of the smallest vent area. For all three cases, the pressure evolution experiences two major peaks, associated with the instants (i) when the maximum flame front surface area in the chamber is reached and (ii) when an external explosion occurs due to venting of unburned gases, respectively. For the fuel-rich mixtures, a flashback is observed subsequent to the external explosion, constituting the key outcome of the present work. The flame tip velocities show two general trends, namely, exponential acceleration towards the vent, while a flame propagates towards the blocked side of the compartment with no acceleration, which is important to know in the fire/explosion safety applications.     

Informal mining in Mongolia: livelihood change and continuity in the rangelands

Change has been the leitmotif of Mongolia in recent years as the country rides on the back of a mining boom, but enormous upheavals tear apart Mongolian economic, political and social fabrics. Yet, Mongolian imagination continues to be imbued with the idea of nomadic herders, the quintessential pasture and rangeland dwellers of the steppes. The conflicting visions raise the question: “How is the livelihood of Mongolia’s nomadic herders responding to the diverse changes ushered in by the post-socialist economic reforms?” This paper investigates this question in the context of the growing artisanal and small-scale mining, which is described as informal mining, and argues that the Mongolian nomads are continually (re)adjusting their livelihoods through informal mining to cope with the variety of transitions triggered off by processes put in place by state policies. It argues that the nomadic herders are not only responding to climate change or poverty, but are also stepping up to seek a share of the mineral resource wealth that the state is promising to the international investors. The aim of the paper is to offer an alternative interpretation of the commodity rush by erstwhile rural-based nomadic herders of Mongolia, and to link their involvement in informal mining with global debates of political economy.     

Evaluation of the fish short term reproduction assay for detecting endocrine disrupters

In a fish testing strategy, positive results of the fish short term reproduction assay (FSTR), often trigger a definitive test like the fish sexual development test (FSDT) or the fish full life cycle test (FFLC), entailing ethical and economic problems. This study analysed 137 studies encompassing 35 chemicals with different modes of actions (MOAs). Variability is quantified for MOA endpoints vitellogenin (VTG) and secondary sex characteristics (SSCs) as well as for apical endpoints. Two MOA endpoints could indicate estrogenic, anti-estrogenic, androgenic, anti-androgenic and steroidogenesis activities. Great variability, however, has been observed for chemicals with anti-androgenic and steroidogenesis activities, suggesting that TG229/230 may not be sensitive enough to detect these types of chemicals and may produce false negatives. Changes in apical endpoints like fecundity are not limited to endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs). Non-EDCs could induce the similar effects on these apical endpoints. If elucidating MOA is needed, targeted in vitro MOA tests are suggested. Positive in vitro MOA results trigger a definitive test, which could be used for confirmation of the MOA in vivo and for deriving a no observed effect concentration (NOEC). Based on positive MOA results of TG229, a definitive test such as the FSDT or the FFLC is still needed, because the current TG229 has limitation on the derivation of a NOEC. An extended TG229 with more power to detect reproduction effects, as recently proposed in the OECD test guideline program, would improve the possibility to derive a NOEC and increase its usefulness in risk assessment.     

南水北调丹江口水库原水有机物分子组成规律及其强化混凝处理的效能对比

以取自南水北调中线工程的丹江口水库原水作为研究对象,考察了丹江口水库原水中有机物的分子量大小和亲疏水性分子组成规律,并确定了其所适用的强化混凝工艺条件.分离试验表明,丹江口原水中有机物主要以小分子量形式存在.其中,1 000组分的溶解性有机碳(DOC)和UV254所占比例最大,分别为39.98%和39.10%,且此区间还具有最高的三卤甲烷生成潜能(THMFP)和含氮消毒副产物生成潜能(N-DBPFP).亲疏水性方面,原水中弱疏水性组分含量最高,疏水性有机物的比例用DOC表征时超过80%.强疏水性组分含量最低但是强疏水性组分的THMFP最大,占总量的57.31%,而各组分的NDBPFP则相差不大.混凝试验表明,当采用聚合硫酸铁(PFS,4 mg·L-1)和聚丙烯酰胺(PAM,0.4 mg·L-1)处理丹江口原水时,强化混凝效果最好,可实现较为有效的去除浊度(76.33%)、DOC(25.57%)、UV254(37.78%)及THMFP(23.16%).本研究成果可为南水北调河南受水区既有水厂升级改造与工艺的优化运行提供有效的理论和技术支持.     

基于风险管理的区域（流域）地下水污染预警方法研究

地下水是我国重要的水资源,当前我国面临的地下水污染防治形势较为严峻.开展地下水污染风险评价及预警是预防地下水污染的有效措施,目前国内外有关地下水污染预警方面研究尚处于探索阶段,未形成一套完善的、可供借鉴的技术方法.本研究在分析不同尺度地区地下水污染预警工作需求的基础上,筛选出区域(流域)尺度地下水污染预警指标,包括地质介质防护性能、污染源特征、地下水动态及地下水价值因素四项指标,并利用指标叠置法建立了地下水污染预警模型.以包头平原区为例,开展了地下水污染预警研究,利用建立的模型划分了不同等级的地下水污染预警分区,研究成果可为当地地下水资源管理部门提供科技支撑.     

粮食安全:西北地区退耕对粮食生产的可能影响

据西北五省区制定的规划或计划,到2010年将累计退耕400×104hm₂,约占现有耕地面积的1/4。按照目前的单产水平和粮食作物比例,西北地区将减少粮食产量近400×104t,相当于1996年西北地区粮食总产量的1/8。同时,退耕对当地的粮食生产存在正面影响,主要表现在:①退耕节省下来的生产要素的转移可以带来未退耕耕地粮食产量提高;②西北地区生态环境以及局地小生境的改善可以促进粮食生产、降低灾害风险。此外,农业科技进步和工程设施建设的加强,会对保留耕地上的粮食生产起到极大的推动作用。通过对西北五省区粮食单产的预测并结合人口预测可知,2010年西北地区粮食总产量可达4516.9×104t,在人均400kg、425kg和450kg水平下粮食需求分别为3936.1×104t、4182.1×104t和4428.1×104t。因此,从长远的角度来看,就西北地区整体而言将不会出现粮食短缺,但粮食盈余水平较低;而就具体省区而言,陕西、甘肃和青海三省区必须通过粮食调入才能满足本省区需求,而新疆和宁夏粮食则有一定盈余。     

美国资产证券化中的政府作用对我国的借鉴

美国政府在资产证券化创设过程中发挥了巨大的作用。为推动我国资产证券化的开展，我国政府可借鉴美国做法，采取修订法律、营造金融环境、设置政府机构等措施。     

聚乙烯醇固定化混合细菌细胞对印染废水脱色的研究

应用聚乙烯醇(PVA)为载体固定化混合细菌细胞以PVA浓度为12％(w/v),细胞浓度为2％(w/v)最好,pH对固定化操作过程影响不大。固定化细胞对印染废水的脱色活性与其自然细胞相似,最适温度为30—40℃,最适pH为7.0;在pH 6.0—8.0温度25—40℃范围内都具有较高的脱色活性,以及好的热稳定性;在连续一个月的印染废水脱色试验中,停留时间小于3.0h,脱色率均可维持在70—80％。     

天津经济技术开发区（TEDA）环境预警系统的建立研究

本文通过对警系统的分析,指出环境预警系统是多目标系统,其包含对某一时点和某段时间变化 趋势的报警。