Mercury flows in large-scale gold production and implications for Hg pollution control

Large-scale gold production(LSGP) is one of the five convention-related atmospheric mercury(Hg) emission sources in the Minamata Convention on Mercury. However, field experiments on Hg flows of the whole process of LSGP are limited. To identify the atmospheric Hg emission points and understand Hg emission characteristics of LSGP, Hg flows in two gold smelters were studied. Overall atmospheric Hg emissions accounted for 10%–17% of total Hg outputs and the Hg emission factors for all processes were 7.6–9.6 kg/ton. There were three dominant atmospheric Hg emission points in the studied gold smelters, including the exhaust gas of the roasting process, exhaust gas from the environmental fog collection stack and exhaust gas from the converter of the refining process. Atmospheric Hg emissions from the roasting process only accounted for 16%–29% of total emissions and the rest were emitted from the refining process. The overall Hg speciation profile(gaseous elemental Hg/gaseous oxidized Hg/particulate-bound Hg) for LSGP was 34.1/57.1/8.8. The dominant Hg output byproducts included waste acid, sulfuric acid and cyanide leaching residue. Total Hg outputs from these three byproducts were 80% in smelter A and 84% in smelter B. Our study indicated that previous atmospheric Hg emissions from large-scale gold production might have been overestimated.Hg emission control in LSGP is not especially urgent in China compared to other significant emission sources(e.g., cement plants). Instead, LSGP is a potential Hg release source due to the high Hg output proportions to acid and sludge.     

畜禽养殖业的清洁生产途径

现有畜禽养殖的生产工艺落后、资源消耗量大、环境污染严重，通过推行清洁生产技术，可以有效解决畜禽养殖业的环境问题、提高畜禽养殖业的经济效益，实现畜禽养殖业的可持续发展。     

Ammonia large scale atmospheric dispersion experiments in industrial configurations

A programme of large-scale experiments for atmospheric dispersion was carried out by INERIS over a period extending from December 1996 to April 1997. The objectives of the test campaign were to measure anhydrous ammonia concentrations in a range of few meters to 2 km from the release, in order to generate data to be used to improve 2-phase discharge and dispersion modelling.

The discharges were released from a 6-tonne storage tank of pressurised liquid ammonia and through a discharge device with an outlet diameter of 2 in. Fifteen trials were carried out with various release configurations corresponding to industrial situations (impinging jets on the ground and on a wall at various distances, release through a flange without seal…). The quantity of ammonia discharged from the liquid phase varied according to the tests, from 1.4 to 3.5 tons for durations between 7 and 14 min and, therefore, at flow rates between 2 and 4.5 kg/s. Approximately 200 sensors were settled downwind to measure ammonia concentrations and temperature in the plume. These tests showed that for discharges with identical flow rates the distances corresponding to the same concentration vary a lot according to the configurations. These distances tend to be reduced by the presence of obstacles or retention dikes that collected liquid ammonia. In the paper, the main experimental results are presented. In order to enable the comparisons with numerical predictions, more detailed information are given in [Bouet R. (1999). Ammoniac—Essais de dispersion atmosphérique à grande échelle. INERIS rapport, ref INERIS-DRA-RBo-1999-20410 (available at http://www.ineris.fr/recherches/recherches.htm).     

The Nature Conservancy's approach to prioritizing conservation action

Like many conservation organizations and federal and state agencies, The Nature Conservancy is in the process of large-scale planning and prioritization efforts. To improve the efficiency of these planning efforts, the Conservancy has developed a methodology for these efforts. The results of these planning efforts will be a conservation blueprint which identifies the conservation areas necessary for conserving biodiversity and a subset of those areas where the Conservancy will focus its immediate efforts over the next 10 years. The subset of all the conservation areas identified in the planning process help The Nature Conservancy determine where it will work. This subset of areas (referred to as action sites) is selected using a tool which ranks key criteria for each conservation area. These criteria include the current conservation status of each area, complementarity to other areas selected, the diversity and viability of targets at the area, the urgency and degree of threats to the targets, the feasibility or opportunity to abate the threats at the area and the leverage potential of working at a conservation area. Taken together, these criteria help planners to select the areas where they will focus their conservation efforts.     

大型建材家居类商场的人员安全疏散研究

大型建材家居类商场存在建筑面积大,人员密度小,所需疏散宽度小等特点,这类商场往往存在两方面问题：①为满足2层以上楼层对疏散距离的需要,致使首层部分楼梯的疏散出口不能直通室外以及疏散距离过长;②为满足疏散出口直通室外,楼梯沿建筑外墙布置,致使某些楼层的一些区域的疏散距离过长。对比了国家规范和地方规范对人员密度规定的差异,...     

一起大型游乐设施困人故障的调查分析与预防措施

随着大型游乐设施数量的快速增长,大型游乐设施的使用安全越来越得到社会的广泛关注。通过对一起名为空中飞旋的大型游乐设施发生的困人故障进行调查与分析,清晰地还原了设备故障的发生情形,详细描述了故障原因的排查过程,具体分析了排查出的机械故障及电气故障。最后,根据调查分析的结果提出了四点预防措施,为防止类似设备发生困人事故提供了参考。     

Resource frontiers and agglomeration economies: The varied logics of transnational land-based investing in Southern and Eastern Africa

Actor-level data on large-scale commercial agriculture in Sub-Saharan Africa are scarce. The peculiar choice of transnational investing in African land has, therefore, been subject to conjecture. Addressing this gap, we reconstructed the underlying logics of investment location choices in a Bayesian network, using firm- and actor-level interview and spatial data from 37 transnational agriculture and forestry investments across 121 sites in Mozambique, Zambia, Tanzania, and Ethiopia. We distinguish four investment locations across gradients of resource frontiers and agglomeration economies to derive the preferred locations of different investors with varied skillsets and market reach (i.e., track record). In contrast to newcomers, investors with extensive track records are more likely to expand the land use frontier, but they are also likely to survive the high transaction costs of the pre-commercial frontier. We highlight key comparative advantages of Southern and Eastern African frontiers and map the most probable categories of investment locations.Supplementary informationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13280-021-01682-z.     

建瓯市规模化奶牛养殖场污染现状及防治对策

论述了建瓯市规模化奶牛场污染现状及治理状况，并对污染防治工作提出了对策和建议。     

基于大面积网格法的商场疏散时间预测

为了准确预测商场人员疏散时间,文中结合群集流动规律及离散法建立新的大面积网格算法,将时间离散为微小单元Δt,空间离散为大面积网格,利用人员流动速度—密度公式,计算每一Δt时间内网格中人员流动速度,迭代累计各单元时间得到疏散时间。以某商场人员疏散演练为例进行分析,结果表明,大面积网格算法预测的人员疏散时间与实际疏散演习时间基本吻合,其相对误差为3.4%,预测精确度较高。     

How you start matters: A comparison of Gold Fields' Tarkwa and Damang Mines and their divergent relationships with local small-scale miners in Ghana

This paper argues that actions of large-scale mining companies at the early stages of a mining project establish a legacy which sets the tone for that mine's long-term relationship with the local artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) stakeholders. This paper compares the experiences of Gold Fields' Tarkwa and Damang mines and the divergent histories of each of these mines' relationship with local small-scale mining stakeholders. Circumstances at Damang during the discovery and early development of the project drove a rift between the mine and the ASM community. As the mine developed, a chain of ASM engagement strategies were enacted in an attempted to repair the relationship but which has never able to regain sufficient trust between the mine and ASM stakeholders. At the nearby Tarkwa mine, ASM confrontations have been much easier to manage. Despite early disagreements at Tarkwa, a relationship characterized by greater trust between the mine and ASM communities was established early and therefore ASM engagement strategies have been simpler and more effective. This paper will conclude that establishing and maintaining a positive mine legacy as early as the exploration phase of a mining project is critical to maintaining a positive, trust-based relationship between LSM companies and their local ASM stakeholders over the life of a mine.