Study of lignocellulosic biomass ignition properties estimation from thermogravimetric analysis

In the last decade, the use of renewable resources has increased significantly in order to reduce the energetic dependence on fossil fuels, as they have an important contribution to the global warning and greenhouse gasses effect. Because of that, research on biofuels has been increased in the last years as its characteristics of use match those of the conventional fuel's: solid biomass can be used instead of coals, and biodiesel could replace diesel. Research on solid biomass ignition properties has been considerably developed because of the amount of industrial accidents related to the treatment and use of solid biomass (self-ignition, dust explosions, etc.). On the other hand, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) is becoming and important characterization technique as it can be used to determine a wide spectrum of properties, such as kinetics, composition, proximate analysis, etc. This research aims to combine thermal analysis and ignition properties, by using the TGA to obtain the elemental composition of lignocellulosic biomass and compare those results to Minimum Ignition Energy (MIE) values test output, so a relation between composition and MIE can be found.To achieve this aim, biomass samples from different origins have been used: oil palm wastes (empty fruit bunches, mesocarp fiber and palm kernel shell), agricultural wastes (straw chops) and forestry wastes (wood chips and wood powder). Also, raw materials and torrefied biomass were compared. The hemicellulose/cellulose ratio was calculated and compared to different flammability properties, finding out that the greater the ratio and the lower the onset temperature (temperature at which the pyrolysis reaction accelerates), the lower was the minimum ignition energy. From this basis it was possible to define “tendency areas” that grouped the samples whose MIE values were similar. Three tendency areas were found: high minimum ignition energy, medium minimum ignition energy, and low ignition energy.     

道家的“自然无为”思想与我国非煤矿山安全制度管理

针对目前我国非煤矿山在安全制度管理过程中常常出现刚性有余而柔性不足的缺陷,总结出非煤矿山在制订、执行和完善安全制度中存在的问题主要表现在安全制度的制订与实际符合度不高、安全制度的执行过程重形式轻实践、对安全制度的完善重视度不够3个方面。引入道家"自然无为"思想,分析了"自然无为"思想对安全制度的制订、执行和完善3个阶段的影响。提出在安全制度的制订时注重"道法自然";在安全制度的执行时强调"三和"观;在安全制度的完善时注重"顺道而为"。将道家"自然无为"思想与安全制度管理相融合,能有效增强安全制度管理的"人情味",使其更好地发挥基础保障作用。     

航空器场内失事应急演练评估指标体系与评估方法研究

针对目前我国民用运输机场航空器场内失事应急救援综合演练缺乏有效评估体系的现状，通过对演练过程进行系统分析，构建航空器场内失事应急救援演练评估指标体系，涵盖消防、医疗、公安、媒体应对、运行指挥中心、地服、飞行区7个组织部门的2级指标。结合航空器场内失事救援的业务特点以及指标体系内在逻辑，设计相应的评估方法，对开展的航空器场内失事应急演练进行评估；最后，以国内2个机场的相关应急演练过程为典型示例，进行应用分析。研究结果表明:构建的演练评估指标体系及评估方法能较好地应用于实际应急演练过程，进而在演练评估结果和建议的基础上，实现应急演练的持续改进。     

Bacterial toxicity testing and antibacterial activity of parabens

Parabens are used because of their antimicrobial effects, yet they have multiple adverse effects. The aim of this work was to evaluate the bactericidal activity and bacterial toxicity of the most common parabens: methylparaben, ethylparaben, propylparaben, isopropylparaben, butylparaben, isobutylparaben and phenylparaben. The bactericidal action was evaluated by means of the dilution-neutralization method against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus, and the biotest of inhibition of growth of E. coli was applied for the bacterial toxicity assay. Bactericidal concentrations were reached only for propylparaben, butylparaben and isobutylparaben. The toxicity study showed methylparaben to be the least toxic, whereas the most toxic one was phenylparaben. It can be concluded that the disinfectant activity of the parabens studied is insignificant against S. aureus and E. coli. Acute toxicity is very low, and the inhibitory effect is weak. Our results provide information about the risk–benefit balance of parabens use.     

A product analysis-based study on the mechanism of inflammable gas explosion suppression

To study the mechanism of the suppressing effect of Expanded Aluminium (EA) on the premixed gas explosion, premixed methane-air and propane-air gases were undergone explosion reaction in the presence of EA in a self-designed closed pipeline with the overpressures and the compositions, rates and sensitivities of products analyzed. The results showed that the 9.5% methane-air and 5% propane-air explosions produced peak pressures decreased by 79.3% and 65.6%, and residual methane and propane contents increased by 270% and 560% respectively than without EA. In addition, the results revealed that the explosions of propane in the presence of EA produced less methane and carbon oxides contents, but more ethylene and propylene contents. The simulation showed that H, O, and OH are the key factors affecting the rate of products. The product compositions, together with other parameters, suggested that EA decreased temperature, inhibited chain initiation and propagation reaction, but facilitated chain termination reaction by advancing and accelerating the gas phase and wall destruction reaction of radicals, especially collisions and concentration of key free radicals. This new research method based on the analysis of explosion products can be used for in-depth research into gas explosion features and shed light on the suppressing mechanism of EA in flammable gas explosion.     

自然资源资产审计制度的供给侧改革

自然资源是可持续发展的基础。完善自然资源资产审计制度,是保护自然资源、践行生态文明的要求。自然资源资产审计的前提是自然资源的确权和量化,是自然资源与自然资源资产在审计上的“融合”。作为自然资源资产审计的依据,相关制度应该对自然资源的确权、计量和有效利用作出合理安排,才能有效抑制资源滥用冲动。但立足于自然资源资产审计实践,综合运用文献研究、个案调查、跨学科研究等方法,分析现行的自然资源制度,没有发现可操作性的自然资源产权制度、计量制度和评价制度,已有制度存在权责不匹配、责任界定不清晰、公众参与有困难、审计指标不健全;制度系统呈现存量不足、增量困难、实践不力,不能适应新时代要求和自然资源合理利用需要。因此,可以从制度存量、增量和协同三条路径实施制度供给侧改革;在完善制度存量方面,可以在经济责任审计规定中嵌入自然资源资产审计内容,完善自然资源资产评价标准、责任制度和审计结果运用办法等;在提高制度增量方面,完善自然资源资产的权利制度、计量制度、信息公开制度和公众参与制度等;同时,通过适时修订审计法、制定自然资源资产法,强化制度协调,以突破自然资源资产的制度瓶颈,方便审计算好“生态账”、把好“生态关”。在自然资源资产制度改革过程中,需要借助决策层和专家力量,摆脱部门立法局限,强化制度协调;同时,制度改革也是一个不断优化的过程,要兼顾公众、个人、政府及其职能部门等多方利益,才能有效满足资源节约型和环境友好型社会的需要。     

A hybrid decision-making approach based on FCM and MOORA for occupational health and safety risk analysis

IntroductionWith the development of industries and increased diversity of their associated hazards, the importance of identifying these hazards and controlling the Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) risks has also dramatically augmented. Currently, there is a serious need for a risk management system to identify and prioritize risks with the aim of providing corrective/preventive measures to minimize the negative consequences of OHS risks. In fact, this system can help the protection of employees’ health and reduction of organizational costs. Method: The present study proposes a hybrid decision-making approach based on the Failure Mode and Effect Analysis (FMEA), Fuzzy Cognitive Map (FCM), and Multi-Objective Optimization on the basis of Ratio Analysis (MOORA) for assessing and prioritizing OHS risks. After identifying the risks and determining the values of the risk assessment criteria via the FMEA technique, the attempt is made to determine the weights of criteria based on their causal relationships through FCM and the hybrid learning algorithm. Then, the risk prioritization is carried out using the MOORA method based on the decision matrix (the output of the FMEA) and the weights of the criteria (the output of the FCM). Results: The results from the implementation of the proposed approach in a manufacturing company reveal that the score at issue can overcome some of the drawbacks of the traditional Risk Priority Number (RPN) in the conventional FMEA, including lack of assignment the different relative importance to the assessment criteria, inability to take into account other important management criteria, lack of consideration of causal relationships among criteria, and high dependence of the prioritization on the experts’ opinions, which finally provides a full and distinct risk prioritization.     

两种有机锌络合物处理棉花的霉变及热解行为研究

棉花是纺织业的重要原料,是人民群众生活不可或缺的必需品,同时也是我国进出口重要的商品。研究如何安全有效地进行棉花的储备具有十分重要的现实意义。棉纤维本身含有脂肪、蜡质和果胶等适合微生物生长繁殖的营养物质。在棉花储备中,高的回潮率会加速微生物的繁殖,进而产生热量。热量的累积会引起温度升高以及棉花霉变,不利于棉花的安全有效储存。因此,通过静电吸附法将安全无毒的有机锌络合物附着在棉纤维表面,研究表明,相同条件下,处理棉的霉变状况明显得到抑制。加速发霉条件下,未处理棉的相对于白纸的平均色差值为28.10,而双乙酸锌以及苯甲酸锌防霉处理棉的色差值分别为5.16和5.86,下降了81.6%和79.1%。自然发霉条件下,双乙酸锌以及苯甲酸锌防霉处理棉的色差值分别下降了53.8%和50.7%。同时研究了纯棉以及处理棉氮气下的热分解动力学,相比于未处理棉,双乙酸锌防霉处理后活化能下降了15.8%,而苯甲酸锌防霉处理后活化能下降了10.9%。此外,利用实时红外和热重红外联用技术得到了样品在热解过程中固相以及气相的裂解产物的红外谱图,发现防霉处理能一定程度上抑制棉花热解。     

How certain are we about the certainty-equivalent long term social discount rate?

Theoretical arguments for using a term structure of social discount rates (SDR) that declines with the time horizon have influenced government guidelines in the US and Europe. The certainty equivalent discount rate that often underpins this guidance embodies uncertainty in the primitives of the SDR, such as growth. For distant time horizons the probability distributions of these primitives are ambiguous and the certainty equivalent itself is uncertain. Yet, if a limited set of characteristics of the unknown probability distributions can be agreed upon, ‘sharp’ upper and lower bounds can be defined for the certainty-equivalent SDR. Unfortunately, even with considerable agreement on these features, these bounds are widely spread for horizons beyond 75 years. So while estimates of the present value of intergenerational impacts, including the social cost of carbon, can be bounded in the presence of this ambiguity, they typically remain so imprecise as to provide little practical guidance.     

Off-grid: community energy and the pursuit of self-sufficiency in British Columbia's remote and First Nations communities

Remote or off-grid communities in Canada primarily rely on diesel generators for the provision of their electricity. Often surrounded by potential renewable resources, they are characterised as the low-hanging fruit of greenhouse gas mitigation strategies. While much is said about the promises of community energy projects, as well as technologies and policy mechanisms for addressing the needs of these communities, little attention has been paid to what communities, themselves, might want for their energy projects and what the implications of those desires might be for both technology development and community energy policies. This paper aims to fill this gap by exploring the on-going energy pursuits of a number of remote First Nations communities in British Columbia. It identifies a desire for community self-sufficiency as a primary motivation for engaging with energy projects on the part of the communities and discusses the various meanings and implications of self-sufficiency in the context of community energy projects. These meanings and implications primarily include the two dimensions of material self-sufficiency and political self-determination, the latter of which suggests a view of community energy projects as processes of decolonisation among First Nation communities in British Columbia. It then suggests that the pursuit of this goal is somewhat incongruent with the approach that government and industry have taken in addressing community energy, especially the way in which remote communities are viewed as the low-hanging fruit of various sustainability projects.