New high-efficiency low-waste technology at the Vyksa Metallurgical Plant for operating metallurgical equipment with the use of Kompaks® monitoring systems

Introduction of the BER? KOMPAKS® automated system at the Vyksa Metallurgical Plant to safely and efficiently manage the operation of the plant’s equipment has allowed the facility to begin operating that equipment based on real-time evaluations of its actual physical condition. Introduction of the new system has also allowed better coordination of repair-scheduling with ongoing production operations, significantly improved the reliability and readiness of the equipment for operation at 100% capacity, completely eliminated the human factor from the process of monitoring the condition of equipment, and made it possible to check the quality and timeliness of equipment maintenance and repair work so as to ensure safe, efficient operation of the entire production complex.     

Diel Vertical Migration of Round Goby Larvae in the Great Lakes

One hypothesis for the transcontinental and intra-Great Lakes basin transfer of round gobies (Neogobius melanostomus) has been that round gobies were pumped into the ballast water of ships. During June 2005 in Lake Erie, we obtained evidence of a vertical migration of round goby larvae, when we collected 167 round goby larvae in surface ichthyoplankton net tows at night and zero during day. These results complemented similar findings from the Muskegon River estuary of Lake Michigan during 2003 and 2004, documenting diel vertical migration for the first time in larval round gobies. We suggest vertical migration behavior may have allowed larval round gobies to be transported to and within the Great Lakes via ballast water and dispersed in the Great Lakes via advection of 6.5–8.5-mm long larvae at the surface. Based on our results, if ballast water was only taken on near the surface during daylight hours from May through September when larval round gobies were present, it would have mitigated the spread of round gobies throughout the Great Lakes.     

Hydrogen reduction kinetics of electrometallurgical slime

The interaction of hydrogen with the zinc-containing electrometallurgical slime of the Severstal’ metallurgical works has been studied. The sequence of transformations in the slime heated to 1100°C in hydrogen or air has been established. The experimental and calculated weight losses coincide. Some of the carbonates are shown to decompose in the temperature range 300–700°C, and most iron and zinc oxides are reduced to a metal. In the temperature range 650–850°C, zinc is almost completely sublimated. At temperatures above 800°C, complex oxides are reduced and calcium and magnesium carbonates and sulfates are likely to decompose. Experimental digital data on the zinc sublimation rate are processed by the least squares method with approximating equations used in thermal analysis. The kinetics of nonisothermal zinc sublimation is comprehensively analyzed using a unique procedure developed for taking into account the background of a peak and the effect of accompanying processes. An equation for the calculation of the zinc sublimation rate under experimental conditions (fluidized bed) is given and tested.     

Tensions in water management: Dutch tradition and European policy.

Present-day worldwide water problems require new management tools and sustainable system innovations. At Delft University of Technology research is being carried out into water resources and management development aimed at forming such tools and innovations, focused on Integrated River Basin Management (IRBM). One of the case-studies deals with Dutch water management and technology in the context of European IRBM in the form of the 2000 Water Frame Directive. The Netherlands experience many water problems and European IRBM could bring help by offering a framework for both international cooperation and technological innovations. To work as an adequate management tool European IRBM should be tailored to the Dutch water tradition, which recently culminated in Integrated Water Management. Both approaches are in some respects contradicting. Europe pursues, for example, centralized control; while the Dutch have their strongly water boards based decentralized administration. The tensions between both approaches require mutual adaptation, for which the concept of subsidiarity might offer points of departure. This paper describes the first results of the case-research into Dutch water management and technology in the context of Europe as well as the backgrounds and the set-up of the research as a whole.     

The effect of the textile industry dye bath additive EDTMPA on colour removal characteristics by ozone oxidation.

In this study, the effects of the phosphonic acid based sequestering agent EDTMPA used in the textile dye baths on colour and organic matter removal by ozone oxidation was experimentally investigated. Procion Navy HEXL dyestuff that has been commonly used for the reactive dyeing of cellulose fibers was selected as the model component. The organic matter oxidation by ozone was determined to obey the pseudo-first order kinetics as they are treated singly or in combination. COD removal rates obtained from pseudo-first order reaction kinetics showed that oxidation of Navy HEXL alone (0.0947 L/min) was faster than that of EDTMPA (0.0171 L/min) and EDTMPA with dye (0.0155 L/min) at pH 3.0. It was also found that reaction rates of single EDTMPA removal and EDTMPA and dye mixture removal increased as the reaction pH was increased from 3.0 to 10.5.     

Some modifications of the classification tree construction algorithm

The paper describes a few modifications of the classification tree construction algorithm that have proved to be useful for solving tasks of noise spectra processing with reference to NPP diagnostics. The article was translated by the authors.