Bhopal disaster—a personal experience

Bhopal Gas Tragedy was the worst industrial accident in the world where several thousand persons lost their lives. It occurred at the Union Carbide plant located inside the city of Bhopal and close to the railway station, at midnight of December 2-3, 1984 due to the leakage of MIC gas which took the local sleeping and floating population unawares.

This paper describes the experience of a transit passenger who reached the Bhopal Railway Station by train at about the same time when the deadly gas leakage occurred.     

Greening Nigeria's economy for industrial and environmental sustainability: Polyurethane production as a test case

The study focused on Nigeria's polyurethane (PU) production process as a test case. Though it is currently insignificant when viewed from a global perspective, PU production in Nigeria is not eco‐friendly. Traditionally, PU is produced by reacting petro‐based polyol with a poly‐isocyanate, which is made from amines and phosgene and are currently imported into the country. These two materials are detrimental to the human health and environment, indicating that Nigeria's PU industries need to re‐examine their production inputs for environmental compliance. The objective of this study is to review the PU industry for nontoxic reagents that could be sourced locally vis‐à‐vis overcoming sustainable development (greening the economy) challenges in Nigeria. Non‐isocyanate polyurethane (NIPU) is preferred to petro‐polyurethane because, in comparison, NIPU has improved thermal and chemical resistance, porosity and water absorption, and is less toxic. Engaging local resources to produce PU is economically feasible; in addition, NIPU is relatively advantageous to human health and the environment. Aside from being economically feasible, production of NIPU in Nigeria has the propensity to greatly enlarge the growth of the existing PU industry to tremendous heights and contribute to diversifying and improving the overall economy.     

The effects of benomyl and its breakdown products carbendazim and butyl isocyanate on the structure and function of tracheal ciliated cells

Abstract

The effects of the fungicide benomyl and its breakdown products, carbendazim and butyl isocyanate, were examined on canine tracheal epithelial tissue in primary culture. Changes in ciliary frequencies were monitored with an optical spectrum analysis system. Serial dilutions of the test compounds were prepared in 100% corn oil and applied to the cell cultures for intervals up to 6 hours and frequencies measured at intervals of 15 minutes to 1 hour. Benomyl and butyl isocyanate caused concentration‐dependent decreases in ciliary beat frequency. Benomyl at 300 μg/ml (3 mM) caused ciliostasis within 75 minutes of exposure. Butyl isocyanate at a molar concentration three times lower than benomyl (1 mM) caused a similar response, although within 30 minutes. The IBC₅₀ for benomyl was 0.75 mM, while for butyl isocyanate it was 0.52 mM. Carbendazim caused a moderate decrease in frequency over a 6 hour exposure period. Benomyl caused moderate to severe swelling of the mitochondria of ciliated epithelial cells with other cell organelles appearing normal. Butyl isocyanate did not cause any noticeable effect on cell ultrastructure and the apparently low rate of penetration of carbendazim into cells made it impossible to obtain an effect which justified ultrastructural analysis. It appears, at least for benomyl and butyl isocyanate, that while the physiological effect of these two compounds (inhibition of ciliary beat) is the same, the sites of action in the cell may be different.     

异氰酸酯生产过程中危险有害因素及安全防护措施

介绍二苯基甲烷二异氰酸酯(MDI)、甲苯二异氰酸酯(TDI)这两种最常见的主要异氰酸酯的生产工艺技术概况;分析其生产过程中异氰酸酯、光气、氯气泄漏事故和存在的危险有害因素;辨识出异氰酸酯生产过程中的主要危险有害因素为毒性危害、火灾、爆炸危险等;提出相应的国际5层次安全防护措施,即选择合适的工艺路线、采用严格的设计条件、增加快速高效的在线监测、切实可行的监控和减缓措施、组织机构和安全管理措施,提出异氰酸酯生产和生产装置设计应严格遵守《光气及光气化产品生产安全规程》的要求。     

Effect of SO2 on the performance of Ag-Pd/Al2O3 for the selective catalytic reduction of NOx with C2H5OH

The influence of SO2 on the performance of Ag-Pd/Al2O3 for the selective catalytic reduction （SCR） of NOx with C2H5OH was investigated experimentally. The activity test results suggest that Ag-Pd/Al2O3 shows a small activity loss in the presence of SO2 when using C2H5OH as a reductant. In situ DRIFTS spectra show that the activity loss originates from the formation of surface sulphate species on the Ag-Pd/Al2O3. The surface sulphate species formation inhibits the formation of nitrate, whereas hardly changes the partial oxidation of C2H5OH. Compared with the NOx reduction by C3H6, an obvious suppression of the surface sulphate species formation was observed by DRIFTS experiment when using C2H5OH as a reductant. This phenomenon reveals the better catalytic performance and strong SO2 tolerance of Ag-Pd/Al2O3-C2H50H system.     

The Bhopal gas tragedy—A perspective

We, the then Mayor and Chief of Police of Bhopal, were the two people on whom the responsibility of handling the world's worst industrial disaster fell unceremoniously on the cold night of December 2–3, 1984 when 41 tons of MIC gas was released from the Union Carbide plant in Bhopal. With the company initially in denial mode about the release and then calling it a ‘tear-gas’ type and providing no information on antidote, and with the limited means of evacuation, handling of medical emergency affecting hundreds of thousand, identification and disposal of the thousands of dead, it was probably the most challenging task faced by a duo in peace time. The local people, the medical community, the railway staff, the NGOs, were all very helpful. We narrate the happening and the handling of the consequences and the spot decisions that had to be made with the hope that no such accident happens anywhere.     

用无醛胶粘剂生产环保型人造板的研制及应用

本研究是以水性异氰酸酯为交联剂,以聚乙烯醇、橡胶乳液与助剂共混为主剂,制成无醛系胶粘剂。该胶粘剂性能完全达到国家检测标准,生产完全满足现有的工艺要求。     

异氰酸甲酯采样方法的探讨

目前，空气中异氰酸甲酯（ＭＩＣ）浓度的分析尚无国家标准方法，而推荐方法实质上是分析吸收液中甲胺的浓度，若空气中存在甲胺，对该方法就会有干扰，因此，排除甲胺的干扰－即采用正确的采样方法，就显得尤其重要。为此，我们做了不同条件下采样方法的试验，比较试验结果，认为只有保证干燥的空气经过一定量的阳离子交换树脂，才能排除甲胺的干扰，且不影响异氰酸甲酯的测定结果。     

Dynamic modeling and bifurcation analysis for the methyl isocyanate hydrolysis reaction

The aim of this work was to characterize the methyl isocyanate hydrolysis reaction and to identify its operational criteria. The parametric sensitivity and dynamic stability methodologies were performed at the Bhopal disaster circumstances, over the relevant operating parameter space. Stable and unstable conditions, bifurcations points, turning points and oscillatory behavior were determined. The combined methodology give useful guidance on the operative conditions selection and the appropriate strategy to overcome hazardous situations. The obtained results demonstrated high sensitivity to small perturbations (thermal runaway) and prevalent oscillatory behavior. Moreover, the following critical parameters for the studied dynamic system were defined: the inverse residence time of 1.5700103 and the heat transfer coefficient of 752.394.