Health impact and noise exposure assessment in the cricket bat industry of Kashmir,India

Aim. The aim of the present study was to identify and evaluate predominant noise sources in the cricket bat industry of Kashmir, India. Methods. Sound levels were measured at operator’s ear level in the working zone of the workers of seven cricket bat factories. The impact assessment was made through personal interviews with each worker separately during their period of rest. Results. On average, 62.5% of the workers reported difficulty in hearing and 24.1% of the workers have become patients for hypertension. Only 58.1% of the workers complained of headache due to high noise level. Conclusions. The workers engaged in the cricket bat industry of Kashmir are exposed to high noise levels. It is suggested that personal protective equipment like ear plugs and ear muffs be used by these workers as a protection against this hazard.     

Protection from psychosocial risks at work under the European Convention on Human Rights: is it possible?

This paper argues the possibility of establishing common principles of protection from psychosocial risks (PSR) on the basis of the legal positions of the European Court of Human Rights (the Court) expressed in recent cases on degrading treatment and occupational health. The author focuses on the positive obligations of the States to ensure the protection of the right for life and of the right to respect for private life. The prohibition of degrading treatment in relations between private persons is also considered as relevant to the issue of the protection from PSR. Analyzing the Court's case law (judgments of the Court) we substantiate the possibility of claiming protection from PSR under the European Convention on Human Rights, namely, articles 2, 3 and 6, 8.     

A fuzzy logic and probabilistic hybrid approach to quantify the uncertainty in layer of protection analysis

Layer of protection analysis (LOPA) is a widely used semi-quantitative risk assessment method. It provides a simplified and less precise method to assess the effectiveness of protection layers and the residual risk of an incident scenario. The outcome failure frequency and consequence of that residual risk are intended to be conservative by prudently selecting input data, given that design specification and component manufacturer's data are often overly optimistic. There are many influencing factors, including design deficiencies, lack of layer independence, availability, human factors, wear by testing and maintenance shortcomings, which are not quantified and are dependent on type of process and location. This makes the risk in LOPA usually overestimated. Therefore, to make decisions for a cost-effective system, different sources and types of uncertainty in the LOPA model need to be identified and quantified. In this study, a fuzzy logic and probabilistic hybrid approach was developed to determine the mean and to quantify the uncertainty of frequency of an initiating event and the probabilities of failure on demand (PFD) of independent protection layers (IPLs). It is based on the available data and expert judgment. The method was applied to a distillation system with a capacity to distill 40 tons of flammable n-hexane. The outcome risk of the new method has been proven to be more precise compared to results from the conventional LOPA approach.     

A numerical study on the feasibility and efficiency of point smoke extraction strategies in large cross-section shield tunnel fires using CFD modeling

The strategy of smoke control is of high importance for the design process of tunnels, especially for long and large cross-section tunnels. The South Hongmei Rd. Tunnel (SHT) located in Shanghai, China, is a 3.39 km long shield TBM (tunnel boring machine) tunnel with an external diameter of 14.5 m. The point smoke extraction system was proposed initially as the main ventilation strategy during a tunnel fire. To investigate the fire characteristics in the tunnel and develop appropriate smoke control strategies, a series of numerical 3D Computation Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations were conducted. Three fire scenarios, namely 5 MW, 20 MW and 50 MW, were modeled to evaluate the point extraction system. The gas temperatures, the stratification of the smoke, air temperature, minimum visibility etc., during the smoke spreading of a fire were analyzed. Based on the results of the simulation, the smoke extraction strategies according to fire scale and fire location were proposed for fire extinguishing. It was found that the three-point extraction opening strategy can control the smoke better than two-point extraction opening strategy under various fire scales, especially under serious fire scenario. From the results, damper openings ranged at closer intervals were found more efficient in two-point extraction system. Besides, placing the damper openings in the longitudinal direction can improve the efficiency of smoke extraction. It also results in reduction of the quantity of prefabricated members of duct slab and the process of assembly will be simplified during the construction.     

新时代中国生态环境保护的成绩、经验与新要求

目前,生态环境保护正在发生历史性、转折性、全局性变化。2018年5月18—19日在京召开的全国生态环境保护大会,是十九大后在全国形成强大生态文明共识基础上全党和全国的生态环境保护大会。其成功召开,将开启新时代生态环境保护工作的新阶段。本文梳理总结了新时代中国生态环境保护的总体实效和经验,深入剖析了新时代中国深化生态环境保护工作的总体要求,对在新时代的新阶段开展生态环境保护工作的原则、内容、方法等做出了理论阐释和系统说明。     

难熔金属表面高温防护涂层研究进展与技术展望

回顾了难熔金属五大高温防护涂层体系的发展现状,即生成保护性氧化膜的金属间化合物涂层、贵金属涂层、生成保护性氧化膜的合金涂层、惰性氧化物陶瓷涂层以及玻璃陶瓷基复合涂层,总结了这些涂层的高温防护机理、制备方法以及失效机制。基于单一的传统高温防护涂层体系已经难以满足新一代高比冲姿、轨控火箭发动机以及高超声速飞行器热端部件对高温防护涂层提出的抗超高温氧化性能、优良的抗热震性能、良好的抗热冲刷(烧蚀)性能以及长服役寿命等性能需求的现状,简要介绍了过渡族金属的硼化物、碳化物等几种潜在的新型高温防护涂层材料体系,以及相应的涂层制备方法,这些新型涂层体系的发展有望满足现代宇航工业难熔金属热端部件的高温防护需求。     

基于CREP的国家环境质量改善工程规划与管理:以《大气污染防治行动计划》为例

重大环保工程管理是我国国家环境保护规划制度的重要组成和实施基础。对国家重大环保工程管理的演变和模式特征进行回顾,认为基于CREP的环境质量工程管理模式是适应国家环境质量管理转型的新模式,主要包括环境容量下的削减规模确定、给定削减规模的工程方案设计、基于减排工程的环境质量和健康效果评估、支撑减排和环境质量改善的配套政策等管理模块。最后,以《大气污染防治行动计划》为例,证明了基于CREP的环境质量工程管理模式的可行性和有效性。     

推动土壤污染修复产业可持续发展的思考

土壤污染修复产业是环保产业新一轮发展的重点,其市场规模在未来可能是千亿级或万亿级。我国土壤污染修复产业发展面临要素支撑能力不强、配套基础条件薄弱和环境监管基础能力不足三大难题。需要从强化土壤污染修复人才的引进、储备和培养,以科技创新能力提升支撑土壤污染修复产业的发展,拓展投融资渠道、夯实土壤污染修复产业发展的资金保障三方面入手加强土壤污染修复产业的要素支撑能力建设;培育和壮大土壤污染修复产业集群,推进污染土壤污染修复环境管理与工程示范;完善土壤污染修复产业配套基础条件;加强环境监管能力建设,完善土壤环境管理体系,提升项目管理水平。     

电解铝行业清洁生产实践

概述了电解铝行业清洁生产实践,分析说明企业实施清洁生产后,能够达到污染减排、节能降耗、提高企业经济效益的目的。     

关于尾矿库的建设与环境保护问题的思考

尾矿库是矿山企业最大的环境保护工程项目,但是如不加以合理合法的规范建设与保护,将会引起一系列的环境问题。分析了葫芦岛市尾矿的产生及贮存情况、尾矿库的现状及存在的问题,提出了有关环境保护方面的建议。