A closer look at BLEVE overpressure

The overpressure produced by the boiling liquid expanding vapor explosion (BLEVE) is still not well understood. Various methods have been published on the overpressure modeling in the far field. They mostly differ by the modeling of the expansion energy, used to scale the distance to the source where the overpressure needs to be calculated. But these methods usually include a experimentally fitted reduction factor, and are mostly overestimating the overpressures. Today there is a growing interest in modeling the BLEVE overpressure in the near field, for studying the blast effect on critical infrastructure such as bridges and buildings. This requires a much better understanding of the BLEVE blast. This paper goes deeper in the understanding of the physical phenomenon leading to the BLEVE blast wave generation and propagation. First, mid-scale BLEVE experiments in addition to new experimental data for near field blast from a small scale supercritical BLEVE are analyzed. And second, an analysis method of the shocks observed in the experiments is presented based on fundamental gas dynamics, and allows the elaboration of a new modeling approach for BLEVE overpressure, based on the calculation of the initial overpressure and radius of the blast.     

A new leak location method based on leakage acoustic waves for oil and gas pipelines

In order to study a new leak detection and location method for oil and natural gas pipelines based on acoustic waves, the propagation model is established and modified. Firstly, the propagation law in theory is obtained by analyzing the damping impact factors which cause the attenuation. Then, the dominant-energy frequency bands of leakage acoustic waves are obtained through experiments by wavelet transform analysis. Thirdly, the actual propagation model is modified by the correction factor based on the dominant-energy frequency bands. Then a new leak detection and location method is proposed based on the propagation law which is validated by the experiments for oil pipelines. Finally, the conclusions and the method are applied to the gas pipelines in experiments. The results indicate: the modified propagation model can be established by the experimental method; the new leak location method is effective and can be applied to both oil and gas pipelines and it has advantages over the traditional location method based on the velocity and the time difference. Conclusions can be drawn that the new leak detection and location method can effectively and accurately detect and locate the leakages in oil and natural gas pipelines.     

Safety-related conclusions for the application of ultrasound in explosive atmospheres

International safety regulations such as EN 1127-1 consider ultrasound to be an ignition source. Currently, applications of ultrasound in explosive atmospheres have to comply with a threshold value of 1 mW/mm². However, it is unclear as to how this intensity has to be measured and, therefore, this threshold value is poorly defined. Moreover, it is based on theoretical estimations in analogy to other ignition sources and there are no publications or significant records on these estimations. Within a research project at PTB, it has now been investigated experimentally in relation to worst-case considerations including airborne ultrasound, focused MHz ultrasound in liquids and acoustic cavitation. On the basis of the results of the research it is now possible to revise the current regulations and to specify measures for safe operation of ultrasonic applications in explosive atmospheres. In this context, for ultrasound coupled directly to gaseous atmospheres a new threshold value of 170 dB (re. 20 μPa) can be suggested, and for ultrasonic applications in liquids, an augmentation can be made to the threshold to 400 mW/mm².     

Climate hazards: Lessons from recent events in the United States

Three recent cases of climate extremes are studied to identify human impacts and response strategies and to identify common characteristics that may help illuminate the nature of climate hazards. The 1980 heat wave in the central United States, 1981 cold wave in Boston, Massachusetts, and recent flooding and lake level rise in northern Utah, illustrate several important aspects of climate hazards that separate them from the more traditional set of catastrophic events (e.g. tornadoes, hurricanes and earthquakes) usually dealt with by hazards research and management. Among those characteristics are an emphasis on health impacts rather than physical damage, accumulative effects rather than short shocks, a tendency for impacts to accrue to certain socio-economic classes, and relatively slow onset. The management and research implications of these hazard characteristics are explored.     

镉─邻菲啰啉配合物吸附波的研究与应用

在ｐＨ３．３的盐酸－醋酸钠介质中．镉－邻菲啉配合物在－０．６５Ｖ（ｖＳ．ＳＣＥ）处产生一灵敏的吸附波，其二次导数波高与镉浓度在０．０００６～０．１ｍｇ／Ｌ范围内呈良好的线性关系，检出下限达０．０００３ｍｇ／Ｌ。极谱波性质的研究表明该波具有配合物吸附波的特征。方法已用于环境水样中微量错的测定，结果与其它方法吻合。     

超声与紫外光协同氧化法处理染料废水的工艺研究

对超声波、紫外光协同氧化方法处理碱性红B染料废水进行了研究，探讨了水样初始浓度、初始pH值对其脱色效率的影响。并在各条件下，对超声波、紫外光单独作用和两者协同作用下的结果进行了对比。结果表明，超声波与紫外光的协同作用效果明显，染料的降解过程符合准一级动力学方程，在温度30℃、初始浓度50m/L、pH＝1．5、饱和气体为氧气、紫外光波长为253．7nm时，酸性工B经协同处理60min，脱色率可达99．1％。     

地震灾害与地震预报——写在邢台地震40周年之际

本文分析了我国的地震灾害，阐述了近代地震灾害的特点和发展趋势，指出地震预报既是强烈的社会需求，也是全球性的科学难题，最后较为全面地介绍了我国地震预报的主要进展。     

为防震减灾事业做好科普宣传--南京地震科学馆的建设与发展

从1989年江苏省第一届科普宣传周起,南京基准地震台都被列为宣传周期间重点对外开放单位.于是,南京地震台克服重重困难,筹建了地震科学馆.十多年来在江苏省地震局和有关单位的大力支持下,由最初腾出地震台的会议室和几间办公室发展到有530平方米的展室和多功能厅,展出内容也得到丰富.同时,地震科学馆在防震减灾宣传中取得了一定的社会效益.     

滞洪型平原水库蓄水对水环境影响分析及其协同调控研究

本文通过滞洪型水库运行机理的介绍,以石佛寺水库为例,提出利用地表水和地下水协同调控解决蓄水带来的环境负效应,通过建立库区水环境统一模型,利用数值模拟方法分析预测水库蓄水对环境的影响,并对解决水库蓄水产生的环境负效应进行方案的优化选择,最终提出地表水库蓄水和地下水库供水的最优方案.     

基于集集地震的建筑物易损性统计分析

文章收集了台湾921集集地震的强地震动和震害调查资料，利用统计分析的方法，分析了建筑物破坏的数量、震中距、地表加速度之间的关系，对集集地震做了基于地震动参数的易损性初步分析。