Dust explosion prevention by addition of thermal inhibitors

Combustible dusts such as flour, sugar, metals, plastics and coal are produced as end- or by-products in many industries, including the chemical process industries. The risk of fire or explosion in the handling of these dusts has prompted considerable research effort in the areas of explosion prevention and mitigation. While this work has generally resulted in safer plant operation, the dust explosion hazard has not been eliminated.     

KZJ丢手接头可靠性改进与现场应用

针对液力可取式机械堵水技术丢手工艺实施过程中出现的问题作了具体分析,并对丢手接头进行了可靠性改进,使丢手接头在下井、丢手过程中更安全、可靠,确保了液力可取式机械堵水技术的顺利实施,促进了丢手技术与采油新技术的有机结合,满足了油田生产开发的需要。     

Debt, Operating Margin, and Investment In Workplace Safety

We investigate how a firm's financial performance affects workplace safety. We provide empirical estimates of the relationship between a firm's financial condition and its investment in workplace safety using plant-level proxies for safety performance from OSHA records for thirteen large U.S. industries for the period 1972-87. Our results suggest that, at the lowest levels of operating margins, firms with higher operating margins have safer workplaces. Firms with more debt also have safer workplaces, but only when operating margins are relatively low. These results are consistent with a number of theoretical models in which financial factors influence operating decisions.     

Conflicts and decisions in the search for inherently safer process options

Identification of inherently safer process options is a multi-dimensional problem. Nearly all chemical processes involve a number of processing steps. Associated with each processing step there is usually a number of hazards or hazard types, for example, high pressure, high temperature, acute toxicity, chronic toxicity, fire, explosion. A process which is inherently safer with respect to one of these hazards may be more hazardous with respect to another hazard. Several examples will be discussed, including selection of refrigerants, batch vs. continuous reaction, and solvent selection for a batch exothermic reaction. These examples illustrate the importance of a thorough understanding of all of the potential hazards in the process. Finally, some tools for evaluating process options and selecting among a group of processes with conflicting inherent safety characteristics are discussed.     

Food safety and product liability

This paper focuses on the U.S. product liability system for food poisoning cases and makes six key points. First, current legal incentives to produce safer food are weak, though slightly stronger in outbreak situations and in markets where foodborne illness can be more easily traced to individual firms. Far less than 0.01% of cases are litigated and even fewer are paid compensation. Second, even if potential plaintiffs can overcome the high information and transaction costs necessary to file lawsuits, monetary compensation provides only weak incentives to pursue litigation. Firms paid compensation in 56% of the 294 cases examined in this study and the median compensation was only $2,000 before legal fees. Third, indirect incentives for firms may be important and deserve more research. For example, firms may be influenced by costly settlements and decisions against other firms in the same industry. Fourth, confidential settlements, health insurance, and product liability insurance distort legal incentives to produce safer food. Fifth, the ambiguity about whether microbial contamination is “natural” or an “adulterant” hinders the legal system from effectively dealing with food safety issues. Sixth, a brief comparison of the incentives from U.S. and English legal systems suggests that more research is needed to understand the strengths, weaknesses, and relative impact of each country's legal system on the incentives to produce safer food.     

Systematic approach to incorporate human factors into a process plant design

Despite the increasing number of accidents in process industry caused by human error, there are still too few efforts devoted to this area. This is mainly caused by people's tendency to overestimate human's capability in interacting with their working environment and moreover by the unavailability of reliable analysis methods. Because of the current lack of adequate methods, human factors (HF) analysis is not widely performed in process industry. Some HF techniques developed in the process industry were examined regarding their practical applicability and were unfortunately proved to be unsuitable for an elaborate HF analysis. Therefore, a new approach was developed, which provides a systematic way in performing a qualitative HF analysis to achieve a safer operation and decrease the number of human failure events. HF consideration during the design of a process plant is the key to minimize accidents caused by human error in process industry. Thus, an approach to incorporate HF into design phase is described in this article, which can help achieving a safer operation as early as possible with minimized costs. © 2009 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Process Saf Prog 2009     

发挥电价杠杆作用 促进合理用电

以 A 省为例,列举了我国现行销售电价在引导客户合理可靠用电方面的不合理之处,系统分析了现行销售电价时客户侧合理可靠用电所形成的不利导向,提出了以进一步引导促进客户合理可靠用电为目标的改革销售电价体系的具体建议。     

When does a partner’s reputation impact cooperation effects in partnerships?

We examine how formal contracts moderate the relationship between a partner??s reputation and cooperation effects in public-private (P-P) partnerships. We base our analysis on differences between formal contracts, which require a series of legal agreements, and informal contracts, which may be implicit and/or unwritten. We argue that a partner??s reputation is more likely to impact cooperation effects in the context of strong formal or informal contracts. Using a sample of 244 partners from various P-P partnerships in the medical and healthcare fields in China, we find that the positive relationship between a partner??s reputation and cooperation effects is stronger given the existence of strong formal and/or informal contracts. We conclude that in China, where there is a weak legal system that rarely offers or enforces sufficient protections to contract signatories, it is safer to cooperate with a partner who has a good reputation. Such a reputation correspondingly enhances cooperation effects. Moreover, this relationship may be amplified when there are strong formal and/or informal contracts, all of which may be associated with cooperation between the public and private sectors.     

影响公众对核电接受度的因素分析

公众参与是核电环境影响评价中的一个重要组成部分,而居民对核电的接受度已成为许多国家发展核电面临的最主要的问题之一。通过分析中国公众和外国公众对核电的接受度现状,总结了一些影响公众对核电接受度的因素,提出了加强宣传、研究公众对风险的认知规律、努力提高核电清洁水平和安全水平、提高核废料处置水平以及加强核电企业的形象建设等改善公众接受度的途径。     

Nutrition and GNP: A comparison of problems in Thailand and the Philippines

The relationship between GNP and nutritional status between countries shows a high correlation. This study of two countries with the same GNP (Thailand and Philippines) investigated their use of equal resources and the impact on nutritional status. Malnutrition is more prevalent in the Philippines than Thailand despite an extensive national nutrition programme in the Philippines, better medical and educational services and safer water supplies. The most important underlying economic factor is not income distribution but rather the cost of living, particularly for basic needs. Finally, it is concluded that although GNP is closely related to nutritional status between countries, the longitudinal correlations within a country are much weaker.     

Explosive decomposition of ethylene oxide

The purpose of this work was to obtain data on explosive limits for ethylene oxide (EtO) in nitrogen beyond the published data range. Tests were conducted at temperatures from 60°-190°C and pressures in the range 10 to 80 psig. Initial measurements showed that the limits for the EtO/N₂ system are unusually dependent on the details of the ignition source. Hot wire ignition gave very erratic responses. Induction coil sparks were not satisfactory due to inadequate energy and uncertain gap breakdown at elevated pressure. However, high-energy capacitive discharge across an exploding bridge element tuned to the ignitive process gave responses that were reproducible and judged to be true and conservative. Graphite filament was used as the exploding bridge “wire” to avoid contamination of the test mixture. (Carbon is a product of EtO explosions.) The data from this study show the EtO explosive range becomes wider with increasing pressure at the low end of the temperature range examined than previously understood from literature data. At modest pressures, the directly-measured limits at elevated temperature agree with extrapolations of earlier reported data. Because of the pressure nonlinearity, the system is deemed safer at 80 psig and high temperature than had been predicted from the linear treatment.     

新型彩钢瓦屋顶除雪机设计

为了解决由积雪引起的彩钢瓦屋顶坍塌现象,设计一种新型彩钢瓦屋顶除雪机。提出了推移式除雪和隔热保温的总体设计方案,制定了除雪和隔热保温工艺路线,对除雪机进行了结构设计、样机测试和控制设计等。使用UG软件对除雪机进行三维建模;采用ANSYS Workbench对零件进行有限元分析,检验设计的合理性;采用西门子S-200 SMART PLC作为核心控制器,完成控制原理图设计,及驱动装置、人机交互设备和各类传感器选型。结果表明,所设计的除雪机可以实现彩钢瓦屋顶的自动除雪,与人工相比效率高、安全性高、操作方便,并无除雪不均的问题出现。除雪机的设计改变了传统人工除雪方式,其结构可靠、容易操作、效率较高,可为其他斜屋顶的自动除雪提供一种新的解决方案。     

明日加油站展望——基于远程物联的能源便利店E-Store

未来的加油站,顺应汽车能源多元化、清洁化和可持续化的变革趋势,将不再是传统意义上的“油品＋便利商品”的形态,而是多种复合能源与便利服务共生的汽车能源零售平台,既为汽车出行提供多种能源解决方案,也是提供信息化服务的平台。前者的经营内容包括汽车能源零售、便利购物零售、车辆清洁美容、车用备品零售,后者的服务范围包括电子支付、账户管理、远程控制、网络服务。从社会经济环境来看,未来加油站的经营发展趋势包括规模化连锁经营、多种能源补给,将更加安全环保节能,提供更加人性化的服务等。     

The Impact of Suppliers’ Adoption of Voluntary Labour Codes/Certifications on Job Quality in Global Supply Chains: The Sri Lankan Case of Garments without Guilt

Codes of conduct and certifications on labour standards are designed to distinguish export manufacturing suppliers offering higher quality jobs from those offering poor quality jobs. However, previous research suggests that such codes/certifications have a limited impact on job quality. These studies do not differentiate between ‘compliance-based codes of conduct’ that retailers enforce on suppliers and ‘voluntary labour codes/certifications’ that suppliers adopt at their discretion. We examine the relationship between suppliers’ adoption of the Garments without Guilt (GwG) voluntary labour code/certification and job quality using fieldwork and longitudinal data on Sri Lankan export apparel suppliers. We find that GwG adoption is associated with higher base pay and safer work, while base pay is lower for GwG adopters that are simultaneously subject to retailers’ enforcement of compliance-based codes.     

Consumers’ willingness-to-pay for food safety labels in an emerging market: The case of fresh produce in Thailand

Food safety systems in emerging markets are currently facing a transformation period, becoming more stringent because of an increasing demand for safer food. Consequently, policy makers need to find strategies to increase food safety while giving the industry time to improve their performance. In Thailand, policy makers have adopted the strategy of upgrading food safety standards gradually. Government and private food safety brands and labels were introduced onto the market but little is known whether Thai consumers have preferences for them or not. This study is aimed at evaluating Thai consumers’ preferences for food safety labels and brands on fresh produce, using a surveyed based on discrete-choice experiments. A sample of 350 Thai consumers was surveyed in Bangkok and Nonthaburi in 2013. Quota sampling according to the shopping outlets and convenience sampling methods were adopted. Two hundred respondents were recruited at fresh-food markets and 150 respondents were recruited at supermarkets. We found that consumers are willing-to-pay more for both government led food safety label and private brands, but that there is high heterogeneity in their preferences. The high degree of social desirability for food safety labels confirms that food safety labelling policy should be supported. However, the provision of information and credibility are vital in order to mitigate the risk of consumer deception by self-claimed labels.     

The missing link in assistance planning

A major problem of past efforts to deal with food problems has been that both bilateral and multilateral assistance activities have been piecemeal. The focus has been on individual projects, each with limited objectives and a short time frame. There has been a broad spectrum of types of projects, ranging from specialized soil surveys for areas to be irrigated, to comprehensive rural development. It has been taken for granted that the individual projects would somehow add up to a net benefit in terms of national food supplies.     

京津冀城市可持续发展效率动态测评及比较研究——基于超效率CCR-DEA模型和Malmquist指数的度量

本文借助超效率 CCR-DEA 模型和 Malmquist 指数,对 2008~2015 年京津冀 13 个城市的可持续发展效率进行了动态测评和对应项分解。研究结果表明：（1）北京与津冀城市的可持续发展效率极为不平衡,北京大幅领先于津冀城市并有逐年扩大的趋势;津冀城市可持续发展效率的差距有逐年缩小的趋势;（2）京津冀城市作为一个整体其可持续发展效率在提高,但各城市可持续发展效率意义上的纯技术效率几乎没有提升;（3）京津冀各城市投入--产出系统虽处于可持续发展效率意义上的规模经济阶段,但不具有持续性。未来京津冀三地应充分利用建设雄安国家新区的战略性历史机遇,统一认识,密切合作,促进京津冀城市经济、社会和资源环境的协调可持续发展。     

油田结垢治理技术的改进与提高

油井及地面集输系统结垢是长庆油田开发生产过程中普遍存在的实际问题，从质量控制入手，通过不断完善配方，改进现场施工工艺，降低施工成本，取得了明显增油效果，延长了油井的检泵同期，取得了较大的技术效益和经济效益，为油田的稳产和上产提供了技术支持和保障。     

The Treatment of Market Power in Korea

Competitive forces have been relatively weak in Korea. Control of the chaebols' diversified expansion and conglomerate power has been a primary object of government policies. Competition law and policy has been expanded to include direct controls on chaebols, but it has been rather ineffective in resolving chaebol-related problems mainly because of insufficient attention having been paid to the problems of market power. Attempts to rein in chaebols by direct controls, without enhancing competitive forces, will be in vain, insofar as chaebol problems are really symptoms of their entrenched market potions in a non-competitive environment.