Determining the state of a potentially hazardous object with restricted initial information

An approach is presented to the determination of accident-rate category for a potentially hazardous object, which is exposed to unregulated factors and subject to restricted initial information. Formulas are derived for combining the information from various sources, which enable one to reduce the mean losses from erroneous decisions. __________ Translated from Izmeritel’naya Tekhnika, No. 3, pp. 19–22, March, 2006.     

Leather waste--potential threat to human health, and a new technology of its treatment

In this paper, the authors deal with the problem of processing various types of waste generated by leather industry, with special emphasis to chrome-tanned waste. The agent that makes this waste potentially hazardous is hexavalent chromium. Its compounds can have negative effects on human health and some CrVI salts are considered carcinogens. The authors present the risks of spontaneous oxidization of CrIII to CrVI in the open-air dumps as well as the possible risks of wearing bad quality shoes, in which the chromium content is not controlled. There are several ways of handling primary leather waste, but no satisfactory technology has been developed for the secondary waste (manipulation waste, e.g. leather scraps and used leather products). In this contribution, a new three-step hybrid technology of processing manipulation waste is presented and tested under laboratory, pilot-scale and industrial conditions. The filtrate can be used as a good quality NPK fertilizer. The solid product, titanium–chromium sludge, can serve as an inorganic pigment in glass and ceramic industry. Further, the authors propose selective collection of used leather products (e.g. old shoes), the hydrolysable parts of which can be also processed by the new hybrid technology.     

Assessment of reactions occurring during the solid state processing of iron-based titanium diboride composites

The reactions occurring during the solid-state processing of Fe-C/TiB₂ composite materials have been assessed. Optical microscopy and X-ray diffraction have been used to identify the products of reaction after sintering and hot isostatic pressing of such materials in the temperature range 1000–1200 °C. TiC has been seen to form readily at the TiB₂/Fe interface: an apparently continuous layer of TiC forms on the surface of the TiB₂, hindering further reaction. Solid state processing appears to be a potentially viable route for the production of iron-based TiB₂ composite materials.     

Profiling hazardous waste generation for management planning

Results of a survey of the hazardous wastes generated by the industrial sector of the United States' economy are presented. Although data availabilityA method is also presented for building the results of waste generation surveys into hazardous waste management models. This requires the creation of a     

The methodologies of hazardous materials transportation risk assessment

Intense interest now exists in the potential of risk assessment as an aid to public and private decision making on hazardous activities. Inadequacies in its methodologies and supporting data have nevertheless so far limited its efficacy in practice. Among attacks on the problem of improving this efficacy is a project supported by the National Science Foundation which identifies and focuses on improvements in particular areas of uncertainty in risk assessment methodologies. This paper presents some of the project's material that pertains to hazardous materials transportation. It overviews the general risk assessment problem, presents a structured review of the types of methodologies employed in estimating the contribution to risk of the different phases of a hazardous material incident, and then reviews the procedures available for the evaluation of the significance of the risks estimated, and of potential means for their mitigation. Comments are made throughout, and in the paper's conclusions, on the problems arising in these estimation and evaluation processes, and on general approaches to their resolution.     

The equations of state and the thermodynamic properties of inert gases in the interval from the normal boiling point to 1300°k at pressures below 1000 bar

Statistical processing on a computer of the most reliable p, v, and T data provided the basis for the plotting and discussion of the equation of state for gaseous krypton with T = 120–1300°K and p = 1-1000 bar.Translated from Inzhenerno-Fizicheskii Zhurnal, Vol.16, No.3, pp. 504–509, March, 1969.     

Fast, automatically darkening welding filter offering an improved level of safety

A mode of operation is introduced for the standard 90° twisted nematic (TN) liquid-crystal cell when placed together with an interference filter and positioned between crossed polarizers such that a small stimulating voltage of between ±2.0 and ±13.0 V is required in order to attain the light state. Further incrementation of the driving electronics reverts the system back to a darker phase. Such cells offer advantages over those of the standard 90° TN device operating in the normally white mode, in that the unit maintains the fast response time from the light to the dark state associated with the employment of TN cells placed between crossed polarizers. In addition, a low transmittance state is achieved when the unit is in the inactivated phase; this is an effect usually correlated with the normally black mode of operation. These cells are therefore ideal candidates for incorporation into fast, automatically darkening, welding filters that are designed to change rapidly from the light to the dark protective state, while offering an improved level of safety by not holding in a potentially hazardous light state should the controlling electronics malfunction. The requirement for this phenomenon to be observed is that the cell displays a low optical transmittance over the green wavelengths of the visible spectrum when in the inactivated phase and placed between crossed polarizers. The presence of an interference filter that possesses a peak transmittance over the central part of the visible spectrum is also necessary. It is shown that there are only two possible cell types that satisfy this criteria, and the optical properties of such cells are analyzed in some detail.     

Data Analysis for Condition‐Based Railway Infrastructure Maintenance

Condition assessment is crucial to optimize condition‐based maintenance actions of assets such as railway infrastructure, where a faulty state might have severe consequences. Hence, railways are regularly inspected to detect failure events and prevent the inspected item (e.g. rail) to reach a faulty state with potentially safety critical consequences (e.g. derailment). However, the preventive measures (e.g. condition‐based maintenance) initiated by the inspection results may cause traffic disturbances, especially if the expected time to a faulty state is short. The alarm limits are traditionally safety related and often based on geometrical properties of the inspected item. Maintenance limits would reduce the level of emergency, producing earlier alarms and increasing possibilities of planned preventive rather than acute maintenance. However, selecting these earlier maintenance limits in a systematic way while balancing the risk of undetected safety‐critical faults and false alarms is challenging. Here, we propose a statistically based approach using condition data of linear railway infrastructure assets. The data were obtained from regular inspections done by a railway track measurement wagon. The condition data were analysed by a control chart approach to evaluate the possibility for earlier detection of derailment hazardous faults using both temporal and spatial information. The study indicates that that the proposed approach could be used for condition assessment of tracks. Control charts led to earlier fault warnings compared to the traditional approach, facilitating planned condition‐based maintenance actions and thereby a reduction of track downtime. Copyright © 2014 The Authors. Quality and Reliability Engineering International published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Disassembly methodology for conducting failure analysis on lithium–ion batteries

To facilitate construction analysis, failure analysis, and research in lithium–ion battery technology, a high quality methodology for battery disassembly is needed. This paper presents a methodology for battery disassembly that considers key factors based on the nature and purpose of post-disassembly analysis. The methodology involves upfront consideration of analysis paths that will be conducted on the exposed internal components to preserve the state (operational or failed) of the battery. The disassembly processes and exposures must not alter the battery materials once they are removed from their hermetically sealed containers. Because the process of battery disassembly can involve exposure to potentially hazardous compounds or lead to thermal run-away, a brief review concerning the safety hazards of disassembly is also given.     

Molten salts safety and hazards: An annotated bibliography

The present information was compiled as a guide to good practice and as an aid in discovering potentially dangerous situations with molten salts in research and technology, and is based on a survey of the primary, secondary, and tertiary scientific literature to December, 1976. The format of an annotated bibliography was selected for this communication; the results are reported with reference to nine categories: hazards; reactive chemical hazards; dangerous mixtures of inorganic compounds; potentially hazardous metal—molten salts mixtures; precautions; applications of molten salts in process design and technology; water in melts; water solubility data; and reviews. A systems index is included. Titles of selected publications are included in the list of references as an additional aid to the user (196 references).     

一个面向对象的星体标校软件的设计与实现

面向对象是目前编程技术的发展趋势。介绍一种采用面向中对象编程的经纬仪星体标校软件，该软件可实现对经纬仪的实时引星、拍星、拍星数据处理及单项误差的分离等工作，是经纬仪外场精度检测和单项误差调整的极好的辅助工具。     

Solubilities of long-chain hydrocarbons in carbon dioxide

Heavy hydrocarbons are becoming an increasingly important problem for the natural gas industry as it develops more costly gas reserves, such as those in the deep Gulf of Mexico. The waxy substances precipiate during natural gas processing, causing blockage of transmission pipelines. Knowledge of the solubility behavior of these hydrocarbon solids is therefore necessary to develop solutions to the solid deposition problem. This work reports solid-supercritical fluid equilibrum data for long-chain n-alkanes in carbon dioxide, a component of natural gas, over a range of temperatures and pressures that are typical of natural gas processing. A flow apparatus was used to measure the solubility, and the data were correlated by the Patel-Teja equation of state. Satisfactory agreement was obtained between calculated and experimental values, so the equation of state may be used to estimate the conditions for solid deposition and the amounts of solids formed at typical processing conditions.Paper presented at the Twelfth Symposium on Thermophysical Properties, June 19–24, 1994, Boulder, Colorado, U.S.A.     

Preliminary study on the transport of hazardous materials through tunnels

The risk associated to road and rail transportation of some hazardous materials along two routes, one including a significant portion in tunnels, and the other following the same path, but running completely in the open, is assessed. The results show that, for rail transport, no particular risk increase or mitigation is associated to the circulation of the dangerous goods through tunnels; on the contrary, for road transport, a risk increase is generally observed in the presence of tunnels. However, for LPG, the risk curve in the open lies above that in tunnels in the high frequency–low fatality zone, according to the different evolution of the accidental scenarios in the tunnel (assuming no ventilation). The transportation of liquefied nitrogen, not hazardous in the open but potentially asphyxiating in a tunnel, gives rise to a negligible risk when performed by rail, but to a not negligible one, when performed by road. These preliminary results focused on the risk for the exposed population, suggest that it may be unnecessary to limit dangerous goods circulation through rail tunnels, while, at least for some types of dangerous goods, the circulation through road tunnels may be allowed/forbidden based on the results of a specific risk analysis.     

Current research on the disposal of hazardous wastes

The Solid and Hazardous Waste Research Laboratory is one of six laboratories in the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), National Environmental Research Center at Cincinnati, Ohio. The laboratory is responsible for research into new and improved systems of solid and hazardous waste management, development of technology, determination of environmental effects, and collection of data necessary for the establishment of processing and disposal guidelines. In the past, the laboratory concentrated on problems associated with municipal solid waste; but recently the emphasis has shifted, and present efforts are directed primarily toward the problem of industrial hazardous waste disposal on land. Under the solid waste program, investigations were initiated on the migration of municipal landfill leachate and leachate containment with synthetic liners. These studies have been underway for more than a year, but they will not be discussed here because of the present emphasis on industrial hazardous waste problems. Although none of our research projects is concerned specifically with the disposal of residues and sorbants generated during cleanup of hazardous material spills, much of the forthcoming information will be applicable to spill-cleanup problems. The extramural projects and program areas described here involve many activities that could be useful in spill problems.     

Spectral influence functions of boundary effects in problems dealing with control of thermal objects

We describe a method for solving problems dealing with the optimum control of a thermal object that is based on high-speed action where limitations are imposed on the control function and on the thermal state.Translated from Inzhenerno-Fizicheskii Zhurnal, Vol. 57, No. 6, pp. 974–977, December, 1989.     

Automatic control of industrial processes (an antonym-logic approach)

Conclusions Evaluation of functional ability and quality is usually conducted with methods based on mathematical statistics and probability theory (in functional fitness evaluation) and on the theory of mean values (in quality assessments).In this paper, the authors assume that control (evaluation) of a production process is a combination of monitoring of the state of production equipment and the state of product throughout the stages of its processing. On the basis of AL, making use of logical connections between these objects, mathematical models are constructed for industrial process control. These models represent different degrees of control stringency at different stages. The possibility of combining an assessment of the functional fitness of equipment with the comprehensive product quality assessment is provided by the flexibility of AL apparatus, which allows the construction of estimates for objects to be described in fuzzy terms.Translated from Izmeritel'naya Tekhnika, No. 9, pp. 8–10, September, 1991.     

Mathematical modeling of experiments with the help of inverse problems

The problem of interpreting observations under conditions when the properties of the object of interest depend on the state of the object is studied. A procedure that permits studying an experiment from the viewpoint of achieving maximum information from it is proposed and justified on the basis of linear abstract models.Translated from Inzhenerno-Fizicheskii Zhurnal, Vol. 57, No. 3, pp. 494–500, September, 1989.     

Integrating process safety with molecular modeling-based risk assessment of chemicals within the REACH regulatory framework: benefits and future challenges

Registration, evaluation and authorization of chemicals (REACH) represents a recent regulatory initiative by the European union commission to protect human health and the environment from potentially hazardous chemicals. Under REACH, all stakeholders must submit (thermo)physical, thermochemical, and toxicological data for certain chemicals. The commission's impact assessment studies estimate that the costs of REACH will be approximately 3-5 billion Euros. The present study advocates the systematic incorporation of computational chemistry and computer-assisted chemical risk assessment methods into REACH to reduce regulatory compliance costs. Currently powerful computer-aided ab initio techniques can be used to generate predictions of key properties of broad classes of chemicals, without resorting to costly experimentation and potentially hazardous testing. These data could be integrated into a centralized IT decision and compliance support system, and stored in a retrievable, easily communicable manner should new regulatory and/or production requirements necessitate the introduction of different uses of chemicals under different conditions. For illustration purposes, ab initio calculations are performed on heterocyclic nitrogen-containing compounds which currently serve as high energy density materials in the chemical industry. Since investigations of these compounds are still in their infancy, stability studies are imperative regarding their safe handling and storage, as well as registration under REACH.     

Avoiding pitfalls in assembling an equipment failure rate database for risk assessments

As companies move progressively toward quantifying the risks of releases of hazardous materials, there becomes a greater need for developing the data necessary to populate the risk analysis. Sophisticated mathematical models have been developed to predict the consequences of a hazardous material release. But the effort devoted to the frequency side of the "risk equation" has been very disorganized by comparison, with inconsistent or non-existent definitions of "failure", mixing of incompatible data, application of data from one industry to a completely different industry, and a host of other problems. Nonetheless, through judicious assembly and analysis of a variety of data sources, a useful failure rate database can be developed. Many seminal sources of data are described, with an emphasis on loss of containment failure rates. Pitfalls in interpreting failure rate data are also illustrated.