In-depth analysis of the causal factors of incidents reported in the Greek petrochemical industry

This paper presents a statistical analysis of all reported incidents in the Greek petrochemical industry from 1997 to 2003. A comprehensive database has been developed to include industrial accidents (fires, explosions and substance releases), occupational accidents, incidents without significant consequences and near misses. The study concentrates on identifying and analyzing the causal factors related to different consequences of incidents, in particular, injury, absence from work and material damage. Methods of analysis include logistic regression with one of these consequences as dependent variable. The causal factors that are considered cover four major categories related to organizational issues, equipment malfunctions, human errors (of commission or omission) and external causes. Further analyses aim to confirm the value of recording near misses by comparing their causal factors with those of more serious incidents. The statistical analysis highlights the connection between the human factor and the underlying causes of accidents or incidents.     

Occupational exposure in Greek industrial radiography laboratories (1996-2003)

More than 40 industrial radiography laboratories are operating in Greece using X-ray or gamma-ray sources and more than 250 workers occupationally exposed to ionising radiation in these facilities are monitored on a regular basis. This study presents the evolution of individual doses received by radiographers during the past years. The mean annual dose (MAD) of all workers as well as of exposed workers is estimated, and correlated to the types of laboratories and practices applied. The MAD of the exposed workers in industrial radiography is compared with the doses of workers in other specialties and with the doses of radiographers in other countries. Furthermore, the study attempts to propose dose constraints for the practices in industrial radiography, according to the BSS European directive and the relevant Greek radiation protection legislation. The proposed value was defined as the dose below which the annual doses of 75% of the exposed radiographers are expected to be included.     

Occupational exposure in nuclear medicine in Portugal in the 1999-2003 period

The annual doses received by the staff of nuclear medicine departments from public hospitals and private clinics and evaluated by the Individual Monitoring Service of the Radiological Protection and Nuclear Safety Department (DPRSN) of the Nuclear and Technological Institute (ITN) in Portugal, in the 5 y period from 1999 to 2003, are analysed and presented in this paper. In the 1999-2003 period, ITN-DPRSN monitored on an average 462 workers from nuclear medicine departments, which represents 6% of the 8000 workers of the medical field (approximately). The medical sector represents 80-85% of all the monitored population in Portugal. The professions of the monitored workers at nuclear medicine departments were identified by the respective departments as administrative, auxiliary, medical doctor, nuclear medicine technician, nurse, pharmacist and physicist. This information was collected at the onset of the monitoring and was updated over the last 3 y. The annual whole-body doses evaluated in the period 1999-2003 were used to derive the distribution of workers by dose intervals for every profession. The respective annual average doses and annual collective doses, as well as, the total average and total collective doses for the nuclear medicine sector were also determined and are presented. Internal radiation hasn't been monitored.     

Smart Manufacturing for the Oil Refining and Petrochemical Industry

Smart manufacturing will transform the oil refining and petrochemical sector into a connected, information-driven environment. Using real-time and high-value support systems, smart manufacturing enables a coordinated and performance-oriented manufacturing enterprise that responds quickly to customer demands and minimizes energy and material usage, while radically improving sustainability, productivity, innovation, and economic competitiveness. In this paper, several examples of the application of so-called “smart manufacturing” for the petrochemical sector are demonstrated, such as the fault detection of a catalytic cracking unit driven by big data, advanced optimization for the planning and scheduling of oil refinery sites, and more. Key scientific factors and challenges for the further smart manufacturing of chemical and petrochemical processes are identified.     

Bibliometric analysis of homeopathy research during the period of 1991 to 2003

Summary Homeopathy has been applied to clinical use since it was first presented 200 years ago. The use of the bibilometric analysis technique for examining this topic does not exist in the literature. The objective of this study is to conduct a bibliometric analysis of all homeopathy-related publications in Science Citation Index (SCI). A systematic search was performed using the SCI for publications during the period of 1991 to 2003. Selected documents included Homoeopathy, Homoeopathic, Homeopathy, or Homeopathic as a part of the title, abstract, or keywords. Analyzed parameters included authorship, patterns of international collaboration, journal, language, document type, research address, number of times cited, and reprint authors address. Citation analysis was mainly based on the impact factor as defined by the Journal Citation Reports (JCR) and on citations per publications (CPP), which is used to assess the impact relative to the entire field and is defined as the ratio between the average numbers of citations per publications in a certain period. Of total articles, 49% had a single author. The UK, the US, and Germany produced 71% of the total output, while European countries as a whole also contributed 65% of the total share of independent publications. English remains the dominant language, it comprised only 76%, while German contributed 18%, and the remaining where distributed among 8 European languages. More document types and languages, and fewer pages have appeared in homeopathy research. 3.5% of papers were cited more than 10 times in three years after publication, and 60% were never cited. Small-group collaboration was a popular method as co-authorship. The top 3 ranking countries of publication were the UK, the US, and Germany. The US dominated citation followed by the UK, and then Germany. In addition, a simulation model was applied to describe the relationship between the cumulative number of citations and the paper life.     

有机蒸气膜在石油化工领域的应用

介绍了有机蒸气膜的结构和选择分离原理，重点阐述了有机蒸气膜在石油化工、天然气和石油炼制等工业领域的应用，并以MTR有机蒸气膜为例，结合实际的有机蒸气膜回收装置及有机蒸气回收方案，详细介绍了有机蒸气膜在有机蒸气回收方面的应用．     

气体膜分离在石化行业氢气分离回收中的应用

气体膜分离技术大规模实用型工业化始于20世纪70年代末期．一经推出，就因其简便、经济、操作灵活而日益受到普遍欢迎，应用领域也不断扩展．特别是在氢气的分离回收方面，由最初主要在合成氨放空气的氢回收，逐步扩展到炼油厂中各种含氢尾气的氢气分离回收及合成甲醇的放空气中氢气及二氧化碳的分离回收．但各种不同的应用，其预处理的要求不尽相同，操作工况也存在差异．合适的预处理及操作条件，对延长膜的使用寿命及最大限度地发挥膜的效能，有很大的作用．     

Science and technology policy in Turkey. National strategies for innovation and change during the 1983-2003 period and beyond

Summary An evaluation of Turkey's science and technology (S & T) policy in the last two decades has been made by using various indicators of S & T and technological innovation. National trends in inputs for research and development (R & D) activities, publication output and patent data have been studied for the implications of the S & T policy from 1983 to 2003. Some of the findings on the outcomes of policy measures in terms of inputs to R & D and publication output are as follows: (1) Total R & D expenditure, as percent of gross domestic product (GDP), increased from 0.32% in 1990 to 0.67% in 2002, (2) the fraction of R & D in the total expenditure for technological innovation increased from 6.6% in 1995-1997 to 29.2% in 1998-2000, and (3) the number of papers in the journals covered in the Science Citation Index (SCI) of the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI) increased from 464 in 1983 to 12160 in 2003 - a more than 26-fold increase in the last two decades.     

An analysis of incidents involving major hazards in the chemical industry

Some problems associated with assessing the safety performance of the Chemical Industry are discussed. Over 170 major incidents involving chemical plants world-wide have been collated and analysed for trends.The number of major incidents and the total number of people killed by such events are rising exponentially. The trend to increased size and complexity of installations does not appear to have led to more severe incidents in terms of deaths, although the analysis has limitations. Financial costs of major incidents are increasing at a rate way ahead of inflation but there is no correlation between these costs and the number of fatalities arising from these incidents. All this, together with additional considerations identified, is considered ample justification for the special attention directed at the study of Major Hazard installations.     

石化企业信息技术的应用与对策

介绍了国外石化企业信息技术应用概况,着重介绍了先进控制及优化技术的主要功能和技术要点,针对国内石化企业的差距提出了发展对策。     

Statistical Tools for Process Control and Quality Improvement in the Pharmaceutical Industry

If every batch coming off a production line could flawlessly reproduce the original design, there would be little need for statistical input in quality control. Unfortunately, in the real world of manufacturing, many factors combine to make each unit unique, so that some form of statistical control is necessary for any manufacturing process. Building control chart is the most efficient way to detect non random causes of variation that are easy to remove. Then the process is in a state of statistical control, capabilities studies are helpful to define if the process is meeting the specifications. When a process is stable over time and is found highly capable, the opportunity of applying optimization methods to really improve the products characteristics must not be lost. Multifactorial analyses are used to highlight the fundamental structures of the data above all when numerous variables are collected for a great number of items. Obviously, excellency can not be achieved just by using only one of these methods or by running a single shot approach, quality improvement is a long and exciting way by which the knowledge about the process is built up step by step, from day to day.     

全面解析GB 6675-2003《国家玩具安全技术规范》

1概述GB6675一2003《国家玩具安全技术规范》是依据《中华人民共和国标准化法》、《中华人民共和国产品质量法》而制定的强制性国家标准,已于2003年10月9日正式发布,经过近一年的过渡期,于2004年10月1日正式实施,并代替GB6675一1986((玩具安全》。该标准适用于所有的玩具,即设计或预定供14岁以下儿童玩耍的所有产品和材料。任何在我国市场上销售的玩具(含进口、免费试用和赠送的玩具)及生产并供境内销售的玩具均应符合本标准要求。2玩具安全的具体内容GB6675一2003旨在保证玩具安全,维护消费者的利益,最大可能地保护儿童的生命和健康。玩…     

A probabilistic safety analysis of incidents in nuclear research reactors

This work aims to evaluate the potential risks of incidents in nuclear research reactors. For its development, two databases of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) were used: the Research Reactor Data Base (RRDB) and the Incident Report System for Research Reactor (IRSRR). For this study, the probabilistic safety analysis (PSA) was used. To obtain the result of the probability calculations for PSA, the theory and equations in the paper IAEA TECDOC-636 were used. A specific program to analyse the probabilities was developed within the main program, Scilab 5.1.1. for two distributions, Fischer and chi-square, both with the confidence level of 90 %. Using Sordi equations, the maximum admissible doses to compare with the risk limits established by the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) were obtained. All results achieved with this probability analysis led to the conclusion that the incidents which occurred had radiation doses within the stochastic effects reference interval established by the ICRP-64.     

炼化能量系统优化技术标准化探索

能量系统优化是“十一五”期间我国的十大重点节能工程之一,也是“十二五”规划中的节能重点工程之一.研究总结我国在炼化能量系统优化领域的实践经验,尽快形成行业标准或国家标准,对于巩固并推广已有的成果、进一步提升石油化工行业的能源利用效率具有重要意义.鉴于国内外无公开的能量系统优化技术标准,建议研究解决能量系统优化相关术语的定义、炼化能量系统优化工作流程、流程模拟准确度、节能量和经济效益计算方法等关键问题.     

面向半导体制造业的统计过程分析与控制

传统的统计过程控制方法不能完全适应半导体制造业生产形式需要。本文在分析半导体光电封装制造模式的特点和实施过程控制所面临的问题的基础上,提出一种基于聚类分析的统计质量控制方法。通过实证分析,证实了该方法的可操作性并取得了良好的实际效果。     

Statistical analysis of measurements for telecommunication-network troubleshooting

This paper presents a method for assessing network failures by means of a suitable statistical post-processing analysis of measurement data collected by nonintrusive devices. The proposed solution can be easily implemented by already available monitoring instruments for network performance surveillance and automatic detection of anomalies. The effectiveness of the method has been proven on real-life telecommunication systems, and results are reported.     

Statistical analysis for windowed Fourier ridge algorithm in fringe pattern analysis

Based on the windowed Fourier transform, the windowed Fourier ridges (WFR) algorithm and the windowed Fourier filtering algorithm (WFF) have been developed and proven effective for fringe pattern analysis. The WFR algorithm is able to estimate local frequency and phase by assuming the phase distribution in a local area to be a quadratic polynomial. In this paper, a general and detailed statistical analysis is carried out for the WFR algorithm when an exponential phase field is disturbed by additive white Gaussian noise. Because of the bias introduced by the WFR algorithm for phase estimation, a phase compensation method is proposed for the WFR algorithm followed by statistical analysis. The mean squared errors are derived for both local frequency and phase estimates using a first-order perturbation technique. These mean square errors are compared with Cramer-Rao bounds, which shows that the WFR algorithm with phase compensation is a suboptimal estimator. The above theoretical analysis and comparison are verified by Monte Carlo simulations. Furthermore, the WFR algorithm is shown to be slightly better than the WFF algorithm for quadratic phase.     

Statistical models for the analysis of fracture toughness test data

The analysis of fracture toughness test data should provide distributional parameter estimates for the population of toughness predictions for use in integrity assessments. Standard statistical techniques are available which provide such information where the appropriate distributional form is normal but not where a skewed distribution (e.g. Weibull) is applicable. A procedure to analyse data for a Weibull distribution fit has been derived and is discussed. In this approach it is important to use the correct type of regression analysis. The assumptions of the statistical model, on which the analysis of multispecimen toughness data is based, are considered in the light of possible mechanisms of ductile crack growth. The implications of these mechanisms for the choice of regression analysis are discussed, and an assessment of the regression model based on the analysis of residuals is given.     

A retrospective benefit-cost analysis of the 1997 stair-fall requirements for baby walkers

Based on estimates from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), there were about 25,000 baby walker-related injuries treated annually in U.S. hospital emergency departments during the early 1990s. This amounted to about 8 injuries for every 1000 baby walkers in use. Most injuries resulted from falls down stairs. After CPSC initiated a regulatory proceeding in 1994, the CPSC staff worked with industry to address the stair-fall hazard. This cooperative effort resulted in requirements designed to prevent stair-fall injuries that became effective in 1997 as part of a revised voluntary safety standard. This study presents a retrospective benefit-cost analysis of the 1997 stair-fall requirements. The benefits were defined as the reduction in the costs of injuries resulting from the use of the safer walkers. The costs were defined as the additional resource costs associated with making baby walkers safer. The study found that the stair-fall requirements were highly effective in reducing the risk of stair-fall injury, and that the benefits of the requirements substantially exceeded the costs. The expected net benefits (i.e., benefits minus costs) amounted to an average of about $169 per walker, over the walker's expected product life. Given current U.S. sales of about 600,000 baby walkers annually, the present value of the expected net benefits associated with 1 year's production amounts to over $100 million annually. A sensitivity analysis showed that the major findings were robust with respect to variations in underlying assumptions.     

U型试件混凝土冲击寿命的统计分析

采用自行设计的U型混凝土试件,以及自制的落锤冲击实验装置,研究了其抗冲击性能。引入顺序统计量和秩的概念,根据平均秩法的期望估计,计算累积失效概率函数F(N)和生存概率函数R(N)的估计值。利用双参数威布尔(Weibull)分布理论及线性回归理论,分析了在4种不同落锤质量水平下冲击寿命N的分布规律,结果表明,双参数威布尔分布理论可以很好地描述U型试件混凝土冲击寿命N的分布特征。