Hybrid H2/Al dust explosions in Siwek sphere

Explosion indices and explosion behaviour of Al dust/H₂/air mixtures were studied using standard 20 l sphere. The study was motivated by an explosion hazard occurring at some accidental scenarios considered now in ITER design (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor). During Loss-of-Vacuum or Loss-of-Coolant Accidents (LOCA/LOVA) it is possible to form inside the ITER vacuum vessel an explosible atmosphere containing fine Be or W dusts and hydrogen. To approach the Be/H₂ explosion problem, Be dust is substituted in this study by aluminium, because of high toxicity of Be dusts. The tested dust concentrations were 100, 200, 400, 800, and 1200 g/m3; hydrogen concentrations varied from 8 to 20 vol. % with 2% step. The mixtures were ignited by a weak electric spark. Pressure evolutions were recorded during the mixture explosions. In addition, the gaseous compositions of the combustion products were measured by a quadruple mass-spectrometer. The dust was involved in the explosion process at all hydrogen and dust concentrations even at the combination ‘8%/100 g/m3’. In all the other tests the explosion overpressures and the pressure rise rates were noticeably higher than those relevant to pure H₂/air mixtures and pure Al dust/air mixtures. At lower hybrid fuel concentrations the mixture exploded in two steps: first hydrogen explosion followed by a clearly separated Al dust explosion. With rising concentrations, the two-phase explosion regime transits to a single-phase regime where the two fuel components exploded together as a single fuel. In this regime both the hybrid explosion pressures and pressure rise rates are higher than either H₂ or Al ones. The two fuels compete for the oxygen; the higher the dust concentration, the more part of O2 it consumes (and the more H₂ remains in the combustion products). The test results are used to support DUST3D CFD code developed at KIT to model LOCA or LOVA scenarios in ITER.     

Vegetation changes in Conservation Reserve Program lands in interior Alaska

Over 14 million hectares of erosion prone cropland in the United States has been converted into grasslands through the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) administered by the United States Department of Agriculture, however, studies of the effects of CRP enrollment on plant communities and subsequent plant succession are largely lacking. In Delta Junction, Alaska plant communities in CRP fields are transitioning from grasslands to shrub dominated plant communities, which are resulting in compliance problems with program regulations that state “fields must be maintained in a condition that permits easy conversion to cropland”. To determine plant succession and how previous land management and soils might influence the transition, we measured plant populations in 20 CRP fields throughout Delta Junction using modified-Whittaker plots. These data were combined with data on current management practices, previous farming history, soils, soil properties, diversity indices, and time since land was cleared and analyzed with nonmetric multidimensional scaling ordination to determine factors that influence plant succession. Time in the CRP was the only factor consistently influencing plant succession. As time in the CRP increased, the planted introduced grasses brome grass (Bromus inermis) and red fescue (Festuca rubra) and the native pteridophyte (Equisetum arvense) decreased, whereas a native grass (Calamigrostis canadensis), five native forb, two native shrub, and three native tree species increased. Plant diversity increased at a rate of more than 2 species per 1000 m² per year. Regression analyses of plant species and plant groups using time in the CRP as the dependent variable resulted in the identification of outlier CRP fields with significantly more or less than expected covers of vegetation. All fields with these outliers had reasonable explanations for the differences in cover that were unrelated to the overall rate of plant succession. Current management practices will result in incompliant fields and different management practices that result in woody vegetation control is key to maintaining CRP fields in compliance.     

New indicator approaches for effective urban air quality management

Measurements of urban air quality at monitoring stations in developed countries have frequently involved the criteria gaseous pollutants, particulates, hazardous air pollutants, perceived air quality and relevant meteorological conditions. Large numbers of indicators have therefore been established to quantify emissions, concentrations and environmental and human health impacts of each of these groups of substances. To simplify the data for management, several indicators have been grouped together to form urban air quality indices but the weightings of individual variables is contentious. In industrialising and developing countries, data may be limited and traditional air pollutant indicators cannot often be constructed. The emphasis therefore has to be placed on the development of policy-relevant indicators, such as Response Indicators that reflect different policy principles for regulating air pollutant emissions. Indices that quantify the air quality management capabilities and capacities at the city level provide further useful decision-relevant tools. Four sets of indices, namely, 1. air quality measurement capacity, 2. data assessment and availability, 3. emissions estimates, and 4. management enabling capabilities, and a composite index to evaluate air quality management capability, were constructed and applied to 80 cities. The indices revealed that management capability varied widely between the cities. In some of the cities, existing national knowledge on urban air quality could have been more effectively used for management. It was concluded that for effective urban air quality management, a greater emphasis should be given, not just to monitoring and data capture programmes, but to the development of indicators and indices that empower decision-makers to initiate management response strategies. Over-reliance on restricted, predetermined sets of traditional air quality indicators should be avoided.     

紧急救援系统可靠性评价指标及评价方法研究

基于人机工效学的原理,分析高速公路紧急救援系统的结构组成和特点,从事件检测、救援方案及设备管理3个方面建立紧急救援系统可靠性的评价指标体系,通过理论分析和专家咨询,确定各影响因素的重要度,运用层次分析法与模糊综合评价相结合的方法,对紧急救援系统的可靠性进行评价。采用该方法对陕西省某高速公路紧急救援系统的可靠性进行评价,得到综合评价值为77.96,与实际状况相符,表明该方法可行。     

Investigation of long-term river water quality variations using different urbanization indices and assessment of common scientific perspectives of urbanization on water quality

This study investigated the water quality variation spanning 30 years (1986–2017) in 16 catchments of Hong Kong against different urbanization indices, namely, built area fraction; population; and product of population and built area fraction. Pearson correlations of three different periods of time (1988–1990, 1998–2000, and 2015–2017) indicated that water quality trends were dependent on the urbanization index. Total solids, nitrite-nitrogen, total phosphorus, electrical conductivity, dissolved oxygen, and flow rate had significant deteriorative trends (Pearson r > 0.5 and p < 0.05) with population and product of built area and population. Results also interpreted that built area fraction and product of built area and population were the worst and best indices that represented urbanization and/or its impacts, respectively. Mann-Kendall test for the entire 30 year period showed that water quality had improved with time with respect to certain water quality parameters (e.g., dissolved oxygen, ammoniacal nitrogen and total suspended solids). The results portrayed that although the urbanization of catchments had increased with time, the river water quality with respect to many parameters showed signs of improvement and the legislative measures implemented seemed to be effective in controlling pollution.     

鸭绿江上游细鳞鱼的生境现状及资源退化原因分析

细鳞鱼作为名贵的鲑科陆封型冷水性鱼类,属于国家二级保护动物。近年来我国冷水鱼资源急剧下降,有些种类濒临灭绝。本项研究进行了冷水鱼在鸭绿江上游支流生存繁息的生态环境现状调查和监测,为冷水鱼生存环境提供背景值,同时也为冷水鱼类的人工增养殖和保存冷水鱼物种提供环境方面的科学依据。根据测定结果分析,冷水鱼资源退化的直接原因不是冷水水域水质的恶化,而是人类活动的干扰。     

Traditional management of lagoons for fishery can be inconsistent with restoration purposes: the Valli di Comacchio study case

We gathered water and macrobenthic data over a 5-year period in the Valli di Comacchio, the largest lagoons in the Po River Delta (northern Adriatic), to evaluate the response of ecological indices and to test their sensitivity against environmental variables. Of 84 sampling points, only 12 exhibited a good/high ecological quality status according to the BITS and 28 according to the M-AMBI. Environmental variables representative of eutrophication did not correlate with the indices. The impacts experienced by the Valli during the last 30 years seem to have led to disruption of the pelagic–benthic food web. Eel fisheries, whose management is traditionally characterised by long water residence time, thus seem inconsistent with restoration purposes.     

近53年黄河流域降水时空分布特征

利用黄河流域76个气象台站近53 a（1960-2012）的逐日降水资料,采用国际上通用的极端降水事件指数,应用一元线性回归法、移动平均法和径向基函数空间插值法,研究了黄河流域极端降水指数时空变化特征。结果表明：（1）时间上,黄河流域年平均降水量在过去53 a下降趋势较为显著,降水倾向率为-7.2 mm/10a;极端降水量变化趋势表现较为稳定,极端降水倾向率为-0.64 mm/10a,呈不断降低趋势;极端降水强度倾向率为-0.078 mm/10a,呈不断下降趋势;极端降水比率总体表现为微弱增长趋势,倾向率为0.49 mm/10a。（2）空间上,降水量空间分布具有明显的差异性,由北至南呈阶梯式逐渐增多趋势,其中降水量最少的地区是以银川为代表的周边区域,最多的地区为黄河流域南部区域;极端降水量从北至南也具有逐渐增多态势,与降水量具有相似的空间分布特点,且极端降水量越多的地区降水总量也相对较多;极端降水强度表现出由流域西部向东部逐渐增多的趋势,西部最低值为不到20 mm/d,逐渐向东过渡到最大值为76 mm/d;极端降水比率的分布呈由北向南逐渐递减的特点,并且出现了以银川为中心的极大值和以西安为中心的极小值分布格局。     

Determination and QSPR analysis of log Kow and log Koc for fluorine containing benzene derivatives

Octanol‐water partition coefficients (Kow) and soil organic carbon sorption coefficients (Koc) were determined for 14 fluorinated benzene derivatives. Quantitative structure‐property relationships were developed using molecular connectivity indices and quantum chemical parameters to analyze the most significant factors influencing these physico‐chemical properties of the compounds. The substitution by F in benzene derivatives has greater influence on Koc than on Kow.