Risk assessment of a compound feed process based on HAZOP analysis and linguistic terms

The size and complexity of industrial plants, along with the characteristics of the products used, require a study, analysis and control of the existing risks in every industrial process.In this paper, a methodology for risk assessment in industrial plants, based on the combination of risks identification through the Hazard and Operability (HAZOP) analysis and the risks evaluation through linguistic variables and fuzzy numbers is applied to a case study consisting on a compound feed plant located in the town of Silla (Valencia, Spain).The results from this study show that the main risk in the compound feed production process is the formation of explosive atmospheres (ATEX). Therefore, the corrective measures will focus on reducing the concentration of dust in the atmosphere and eliminating the possible sources of ignition, such as electrostatic discharges or sparks during the different phases of the process (the grinding, the transport of the raw materials, etc.)     

Positives and pathologies of natural resource management on private land‐conservation areas

In managed natural resource systems, such as fisheries and rangelands, there is a recognized trade‐off between managing for short‐term benefits and managing for longer term resilience. Management actions that stabilize ecological attributes or processes can improve productivity in the supply of ecosystem goods and services in the short term but erode system resilience at longer time scales. For example, fire suppression in rangelands can increase grass biomass initially but ultimately result in an undesirable, shrub‐dominated system. Analyses of this phenomenon have focused largely on how management actions influence slow‐changing biophysical system attributes (such as vegetation composition). Data on the frequency of management actions that reduce natural ecological variation on 66 private land‐conservation areas (PLCAs) in South Africa were used to investigate how management actions are influenced by manager decision‐making approaches, a largely ignored part of the problem. The pathology of natural resource management was evident on some PLCAs: increased focus on revenue‐generation in decision making resulted in an increased frequency of actions to stabilize short‐term variation in large mammal populations, which led to increased revenues from ecotourism or hunting. On many PLCAs, these management actions corresponded with a reduced focus on ecological monitoring and an increase in overstocking of game (i.e., ungulate species) and stocking of extralimitals (i.e., game species outside their historical range). Positives in natural resource management also existed. Some managers monitored slower changing ecological attributes, which resulted in less‐intensive management, fewer extralimital species, and lower stocking rates. Our unique, empirical investigation of monitoring‐management relationships illustrates that management decisions informed by revenue monitoring versus ecological monitoring can have opposing consequences for natural resource productivity and sustainability. Promoting management actions that maintain resilience in natural resource systems therefore requires cognizance of why managers act the way they do and how these actions can gradually shift managers toward unsustainable strategies.     

辽河入海口及城市段柱状沉积物金属元素含量及分布特征

通过对辽河入海口地区(LN-2)和沈阳地区(LN-5)柱状沉积物粒度组成、TOC、TN、C/N比值和金属元素的分析,结合沉积物~(210)Pb的年代测定,探讨了有机质和金属元素的垂直变化特征及其影响因素,对沉积物有机质来源进行了初步分析,并采用地质累积指数法(I_(geo))和富集因子法(EFs)对沉积物中金属进行污染评价.研究表明,LN-2和LN-5均以粉砂为主,LN-2粒度组成和有机质含量垂向分布变化不大,LN-5则呈波动变化.通过C/N比值对沉积物有机质来源进行分析,结果显示LN-2中C/N比值范围在5.24~7.93之间,具有机质来源以河流自身为主,LN-5中C/N比值范围在9.94~14.21之间,以陆源输入为主.Al、Ca、Fe、Mn、Ni、Cu、Zn、Cd、Pb和Cr在两个柱状沉积物垂向上变化规律有所不同,LN-2沉积物中Ni和Zn元素以及LN-5沉积物中Pb和Zn元素受自然作用和人为因素共同影响,其他元素均与有机质分布规律相似,表明这些元素主要受自然作用和有机质影响.研究地区金属元素污染评价结果显示,Ni、Zn和Pb的污染程度较其他元素严重.结合辽宁省和研究地区近20年的经济发展情况,探讨了人类活动对环境的影响.     

南水北调东线水源核心区浮游植物多样性状况与评价研究

分别于2013年4月、8月、10月和2014年1月对南水北调东线水源核心区河流浮游植物群落结构、浮游植物密度进行调查,并利用多样性指数进行水质评价.区域共检出浮游植物5门34科67属118种,春秋两季物种数较多,夏冬两季物种数较少.优势种为蓝藻门小席藻( Phormidium.tenue)、绿藻门小球藻( Chlorella.pyrenoidosa)、硅藻门变异直链藻( Melosira.varians).区域浮游植物密度为3.5 ×105 cells/L,Shannon-wiener指数为2.32,Margalef指数为1.06,Pielou均匀度指数为0.54,水质为寡污-中污水平.     

晋江河口柱状沉积物中重金属的赋存形态及生态风险评价

采用改进的BCR连续提取法对晋江河口柱状沉积物中的重金属(Fe、Zn、Ni、Pb、Cu和Cr)进行形态分析。结果表明,在垂向分布上重金属的形态分布基本一致。其中,Fe主要存在于残渣态,Pb、Cu和Ni主要存在于可还原态,Zn主要存在于弱酸溶态,Cr主要存在于可氧化态。各金属总可提取态占总量的比值(即生物有效性)排序为:CuCrPb=Zn=NiFe,Cu、Cr、Pb、Zn和Ni的迁移性和生物有效性均较高,对环境存在较大的潜在危害。运用次生相与原生相比值法对重金属潜在生态风险进行评价,结果表明:Fe处于无污染水平,Zn、Pb、Ni、Cu和Cr均处于中到重度污染水平。     

中远船务构筑特色安全文化的探索与实践

本文主要阐述了在企业核心价值理念孵化牵引下生发的安全文化理念,总结和提炼了具有企业特色的“严、细、真、实、慎”的安全文化,并从制度建设、行为规范以及体现执行力的十大主要措施上,进行了比较系统的论述,对进一步促进企业安全文化建设提出了4个方面的对策。     

The impact of privatization approaches on the productivity growth of the water industry: A case study of Chile

The water industry faces the challenge of implementing privatization reforms. This process mainly adopts the following two approaches: the privatization of public water and sewerage services (WSS) and the privatization of water companies’ ownership. This paper investigates the impact of both privatization approaches on changes in productivity in the water industry. In doing so, the Luenberger productivity indicator (LPI) was computed for a sample of Chilean water and sewerage companies (WaSCs) for the period 1997–2013. Unlike the most commonly applied index (Malmquist productivity index), the LPI simultaneously takes into account output expansion and input contraction. The results evidenced that productivity in the Chilean water industry decreased after its privatization. However, in the sub-periods in which the ownership of WaSCs was privatized, the productivity of the water industry increased due to technical improvements. On the other hand, the concession of WWS to private WaSCs involved a regression in productivity. From a policy perspective, regulators and managers of WaSCs at the international level can learn important lessons from the Chilean case to improve the productivity of the water industries in their countries.     

Relations of fish community composition to environmental variables in streams of central Nebraska,USA

Nine sites on streams in the Platte River Basin in central Nebraska were sampled as part of the US Geological Survey's National Water-Quality Assessment Program during 1993–1994. A combination of canonical correspondence analysis and an index of biotic integrity determined from fish community data produced complementary evaluations of water-quality conditions. Results of the canonical correspondence analysis were useful in showing which environmental variables were significant in differentiating fish communities at the nine sites. Five environmental variables were statistically significant in the analysis. Median specific conductance of water samples collected at a site accounted for the largest amount of variability in the species data. Although the percentage of the basin as cropland was not the first variable chosen in a forward selection process, it was the most strongly correlated with the first ordination axis. A rangeland-dominated site was distinguished from all others along that axis. Median orthophosphate concentration of samples collected in the year up to the time of fish sampling was most strongly correlated with the second ordination axis. The index of biotic integrity produced results that could be interpreted in terms of the relative water quality between sites. Sites draining nearly 100% cropland had the lowest scores for two individual metrics of the index of biotic integrity that were related to species tolerance. Effective monitoring of water quality could be achieved by coupling methods that address both the ecological components of fish communities and their statistical relationships to environmental factors.     

Environmental strategies: A case study of systematic evaluation

A major problem facing environmental managers is the necessity to effectively evaluate management alternatives. Traditional environmental assessments have emphasized the use of economic analyses. These approaches are often deficient due to difficulty in assigning dollar values to environmental systems and to social amenities. A more flexible decisionmaking model has been developed to analyze management options for coping with beach erosion problems at the Sandy Hook Unit of Gateway National Recreation Area in New Jersey. This model is comprised of decision-making variables which are formulated from a combination of environmental and management criteria, and it has an accept-reject format in which the management options are analyzed in terms of the variables. Through logical ordering of the insertion of the variables into the model, stepwise elimination of alternatives is possible. A hierarchy of variables is determined through estimating work required to complete an assessment of the alternatives for each variable. The assessment requiring the least work is performed first so that the more difficult evaluation will be limited to fewer alternatives. The application of this approach is illustrated with a case study in which beach protection alternatives were evaluated for the United States National Park Service.Portions of this paper have been excerpted from Sherman and Garès (1978).     

STATE VARIABLE MODEL FOR URBAN RAINFALL-RUNOFF PROCESS1

ABSTRACT: A nonlinear hydrologic system model has been developed for analyzing the urban rainfall-runoff process. The model is formulated as a state variable model consisting of several parameters. A search technique is employed to find the set of parameters for which the model's response best fits observed data. The model could be used in either a simulation or forecasting mode. The model is applied to observed data for the Waller Creek Watershed in Austin, Texas, to develop the model parameters for various levels of urbanization of the watershed. The trend of each parameter with respect to levels of urbanization is examined.