Enclave development and ‘offshore corporate social responsibility’: Implications for oil-rich sub-Saharan Africa

This paper critically reflects on the challenges of engaging, proactively, in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in oil-rich sub-Saharan Africa. Most of the region's oil production takes place in enclave-type environments offshore and in countries ruled by autocratic governments which generally exert minimal pressure on companies to embrace CSR. With companies having little sense of who to target in their local economic development policies and programs, there is always a possibility of ‘offshore CSR’ – recognized here as potentially-effective ideas for improving social welfare that linger within the enclave and never fully materialize – surfacing. The aim is to conceptualize and broaden understanding of the challenge of developing CSR programs in these settings, where there are no clear linkages to communities or local economies more generally.     

Corporate Social Responsibility in the extractive industries: Experiences from developing countries

This paper introduces a special issue on ‘Corporate Social Responsibility in the extractive industries: experiences from developing countries’. Drawing upon case study analysis from Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa and Asia, the papers in this issue broaden understanding of how multinational mining and oil and gas companies have embraced the CSR challenge and responded to criticisms of their performance in developing countries. This paper provides an introduction to the debate on CSR in the extractive industries in developing countries, reviewing the key issues examined on this subject to date.     

Structural and optical characterization of dissolved organic matter from the lower Athabasca River, Canada

Dissolved organic matter (DOM) is a ubiquitous constituent of natural waters and is comprised of a variety of chemically heterogeneous molecular structures and functional groups. DOM is often considered to be a major ligand for metals in most natural waters and its reactivity is thought to be strongly dependent on its chemical composition and structure. In this study, a combination of UV/visible, emission excitation matrix fluorescence (EEM) and ¹H NMR spectroscopies were used to characterize DOM from the Athabasca River (Alberta, Canada). The chemical characterization of river DOM showed that the most upstream samples located in agricultural areas were blue-shifted and less aromatic and contained more hydrogens connected with oxygen functional groups than those in the wetland dominated area in the Athabasca oil sand deposit region. The presence of paramagnetic ions (Fe and Al) was not found to significantly affect the structural composition of DOM as revealed by ¹H NMR. Such change in the quality of DOM may have a profound impact on metal binding in the Athabasca River watershed.     

微量元素对牛粪低温厌氧发酵的影响

为考察较低温度(<17℃)条件下添加微量金属元素对厌氧发酵产气量的影响,在发酵底物TS(含固率)为10%下采用10 L玻璃瓶作反应器,以牛粪为原料,向厌氧生物反应器中分别添加MnSO4、FeSO4·7H2O、电解锰渣,分析了厌氧消化系统运行过程中的产气量、COD(化学需氧量)和pH的变化。结果表明,锰元素能促进低温下牛粪的厌氧发酵,加速反应启动。当添加6 g MnSO4、100 g电解锰渣时,单位质量VS产气率分别为0.26 mL/g和0.64 mL/g,添加6 g FeSO4·7H2O与空白对照组均未见明显产气。     

The evolution of the Canadian mining industry: The role of regulatory punctuation

In this study, we analyze the evolution of Canada's mining industry from 1929 to 2006, focussing on the determinants of the number of firms in the industry and why this number changed over that period. Most empirical studies of industry evolution have focused on manufacturing industries that share similar structural characteristics. Perhaps because of this, extant models of industry evolution tend to ignore industry-specific and national-specific factors that can cause atypical trajectories, that is, heterogeneous industry evolution. Initial inspection of the Canadian mining industry shows that it is atypical in that it exhibits “negative skew” over time in the number of firms rather than the typical “positive skew.” We review two dominant theoretical approaches to industry evolution: the density-dependence theory and variants of industrial organization economics. We also consider possible sources of industry evolution heterogeneity, focussing particularly on “regulatory punctuation”. Using Canadian mining data, we find that the traditional models do not fully explain the changes in population size in Canada's mining industry. As a result, we introduce a number of hybrid models. The results from these hybrid models suggest that Canadian-specific regulatory punctuations, particularly the introduction of significant new taxes, environmental legislation, and incentives have shaped the trajectory of mining firm participation.     

H2S、NH3混合臭气在生物滴滤池中的净化研究

研究了生物滴滤塔净化含H2S与NH3臭气最佳的生态条件为:在温度为25 ℃、气体通气量为0.4 m3/h、营养盐喷淋量为8.0 L/h、入口H2S质量浓度712.80-948.80 mg/m3、入口NH3质量浓度422.20-795.40 mg/m3、pH值7.0-8.0之间的情况下,去除效率可达90%以上.生物滴滤塔在处理H2S和NH3混合气时,塔内pH值保持在6.5-8.5之间,此pH值对反应器中优势菌的生长繁殖不会造成太大影响,对处理效果影响不大,因此反应过程可不用对pH值进行调节,节约运行成本.     

膨润土的羟基铝改性及对染料工业废水的处理研究

通过对膨润土的羟基铝改性实验大大提高了膨润土对染料废水的处理效率。实验结果表明:改性膨润土对变色酸有很好的去除效果,对H酸有较好的去除效果,对T酸处理效果一般,对吐氏酸几乎没有效果。     

秸秆添加对厨余垃圾堆肥时H_2S和NH_3排放的影响

厨余垃圾堆肥过程中NH3和H2S的排放不但降低了堆肥的养分含量,而且会引发严重的恶臭。以厨余垃圾为研究对象,以玉米秸秆为膨松剂,设置5%、10%、15%、20%(质量分数)4个添加比例(湿基)的堆肥处理,研究秸秆添加量对厨余垃圾堆肥过程中H2S和NH3排放的影响。结果表明:从温度来看,仅T4处理未达到无害化和腐熟的要求。氧气不足是造成H2S排放的主要原因,4个堆肥处理的H2S主要集中在前2周排放,随着秸秆添加量的增加,H2S的排放量逐渐降低。与T1处理相比,T2、T3、T4的H2S累积排放量分别降低了35.5%、44.7%、64.2%。各处理NH3的排放趋势与H2S类似,高温期为NH3释放的关键时期,NH3累积释放量占总释放量的62.2%~72.2%,与T1处理相比,T2、T3和T4的NH3累积排放量分别降低了36.9%、45.2%、76.3%。由此可见,添加适量的玉米秸秆不但能促进厨余垃圾堆肥的进行,明显降低堆肥过程中H2S和NH3的排放,而且可以实现玉米秸秆的资源化利用。     

UV和UV/H2O2工艺对水中二嗪磷的降解

在低压汞灯（LPUV,253.7nm）光照条件下,研究了过氧化氢（H₂O₂）加入量对二嗪磷降解动力学、产物生成和降解途径的影响规律与作用机理.结果表明,二嗪磷水溶液在单独UV和UV/H₂O₂工艺中的降解反应均符合准一级反应动力学,且反应速率常数（k）随H₂O₂加入量的增加而增大,H₂O₂加入量为0,5,10mg/L时的k分别为0.0234,0.0301,0.0341min-1.在UV光照处理条件下,二嗪磷水溶液中的溶解性有机碳（DOC）随H₂O₂加入量的增加而降低,但其矿化度均相对较低（光照120min时的DOC去除率均低于20%）.此外,UV光照处理时,H₂O₂的加入对二嗪磷光氧化降解产物的种类及生成量均存在显著影响.二嗪磷水溶液单独UV光照处理60min时检出了8种中间/降解产物,但经UV/H₂O₂工艺处理60min时仅检出了6种中间/降解产物,且不同H₂O₂加入量时的光氧化降解产物生成量或浓度及随UV光照处理时间的变化幅度与趋势均存在较大程度的差别.基于二嗪磷及其降解产物的定性、（半）定量分析结果,提出了二嗪磷水溶液在单独UV和UV/H₂O₂工艺中的降解途径与机理.     

氢气添加对乙醇/空气预混火焰燃烧特性影响的数值模拟研究

通过对不同混合比率的乙醇/氢气/空气燃烧特性进行数值模拟,研究氢气添加量对点火延迟时间、层流燃烧速度、火焰厚度、化学反应滞留时间及组分分布情况的影响。研究发现一定程度上氢气添加量的增加能够缩短混合气体的点火延迟时间,并且氢气对点火延迟时间的影响随着温度的升高而逐渐减小。随着混合比率的增大,层流燃烧速度增大,并且在混合比率大于0.4时显著增大。火焰厚度及化学反应滞留时间随氢气增加而逐渐减小。此外,进一步分析组分分布情况得知氢气添加使火焰中H*、O*、OH*自由基摩尔分数峰值增大,并且H+O+OH摩尔分数峰值与层流燃烧速度存在线性关系。