Optimal Sectioning of Hydrocarbon Transport Pipeline by Volume Minimization, and Environmental and Social Vulnerability Assessment

PresentationSectioning is one of the key mitigation strategies in pipeline transport of liquid hydrocarbons. The valves located along pipelines reduce the maximum volume that may be spilled, decreasing economic, social and environmental losses. Defining the location and number of valves in a specific pipeline section is a challenge due to the countless combinations of these two design components (i.e., where and how many valves). In this work, we tackle the valve location problem (VLP) for sectioning. To solve the problem, we use an optimization approach which assesses the number and location of valves to minimize environmental and social consequences. This problem is modeled as a shortest path problem and it considers the maximum volume that could be spilled as well as environmental and social issues. To estimate and quantify the damages (environmental and social) a new framework is proposed. We present a case study for sectioning in a pipeline of Colombia; the problem is solved using a Bellman-Ford algorithm with CPU times up to 32 s. The results show reductions around 75% of the maximum possible spilled volume. The resulting valve configurations cover areas with high vulnerability, guarantying individual risks lower than the acceptable risk on all populated areas

Influencia del mucílago de cactus y extracto de algas pardas marinas en la resistencia a compresión y durabilidad del hormigón

This paper presents the mechanical performance and durability of concrete with water/cement (w/c) ratios of 0.30 and 0.60 containing cactus mucilage and brown marine seaweed extract solutions (at 0.5° Brix concentrations). Cylindrical specimens (100 mm x 200 mm) were cast and moist-cured for 0 and 28 days. Compressive strength, rapid chloride permeability, and chloride diffusion tests were conducted to evaluate all of the concrete mixes at the ages of 60 and 120 days. In addition, accelerated carbonation tests were carried out on specimens at the age of 180 days by exposure to 23 °C, 60% RH and at 4.4% CO2 for 120 days. The compressive strength results showed that only one concrete mix with admixtures increased in strength compared to the control. Regarding the rapid chloride permeability, chloride diffusion and carbonation, the results indicated that the durability of concretes containing organic additions was enhanced compared to the control.Este trabajo presenta el comportamiento mecánico y de durabilidad de concretos con relaciones agua/cemento de 0.30 y 0.60, conteniendo soluciones de mucílago de nopal y extracto de algas marinas cafés (0.5 °Brix de concentración). Especímenes cilíndricos (100 mm x 200 mm) fueron elaborados y curados en húmedo por 0 y 28 días. Se evaluó la resistencia a la compresión, permeabilidad rápida y difusión de cloruros a los 60 y 120 días de edad. Adicionalmente, se realizaron pruebas de carbonatación acelerada en especímenes con 180 días de edad, expuestos a 23 °C, 60% HR y 4.4% de CO2 por 120 días. Los resultados de resistencia a la compresión muestran que únicamente una mezcla de concreto con adición orgánica incrementó su resistencia con respecto al control. Con respecto a la permeabilidad rápida a cloruros, difusión de cloruros y carbonatación, los resultados indican que la durabilidad de los concretos que contenían adiciones orgánicas fue mejorada con respecto al control

Reversal of gulf stream circulation in a vertically vibrated triangular fluidized bed

Vibrated fluidized beds are a process intensification technique consisting in introducing vibratory kinetic energy in a fluidized bed (1). In this work we assess experimentally the effect of vibration on the gulf-stream circulation pattern of particles in a fluidized bed that is of triangular shape. The bed has 0.206 m span and 0.01 m thickness. The base of the bed is composed of two inclined walls, each one forming an angle of 45º with the horizontal. Air was injected through the inclined bed walls to fluidize the bed (see Figure 1a). This gas injection, together with vibration, can make the dynamics of this bed different to that found in a spouted fluidized bed (2). The bed is filled with ballotini particles with a mean diameter of 1.15 mm up to the top of the inclined walls. The bed vessel is made of antistatic PMMA to allow optical access with a high-speed camera. The bed was mounted on an electrodynamic shaker which produces the vibration. A high speed camera is used to record the motion of particles. The particle velocity was obtained via Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV). As a function of vibration amplitude and frequency, we observe several circulation patterns when the fluidization velocity is just below and above the minimum fluidization velocity. Noticeably, for zero gas velocity, particles ascend close to the side walls descend in the center of the bed. By injecting fluidization gas, the circulation pattern of the bed could be reversed (i.e. particles descending near the side walls ascend in the center of the bed) for certain conditions. For example, reversal of the gulf stream circulation of particles appeared in the triangular bed for gas superficial velocities higher than the minimum fluidization velocity and sufficiently high values of the vibration strength. This phenomenon is illustrated in Figure 1b in which, for the same vibrating conditions, the injection of gas superficial velocity through the walls reverses the gulf stream motion of particles in the bed. REFERENCES R. Gupta, A.S. Mujumdar, Hydrodynamic of vibrated fluidized bed, Can. J. Chem. Eng., 58:332-338, 1980. Vinayak S. Sutkar, Niels G. Deen, J.A.M. Kuipers, Spout fluidized beds: Recent advances in experimental and numerical studies, Chem. Eng. Sci., 86:124:136, 2013. Please click Additional Files below to see the full abstract

Gender-Dynamiken in der Rekonstruktion von Bildungsprozessen in Medienprojekten

Dieser Beitrag basiert auf Erfahrungen aus einem aktuellen Praxisforschungsprojekt des tifs (Tübinger Institut für frauenpolitische Sozialforschung). Es wurde in Auftrag gegeben von der Landesstiftung Baden-Württemberg zur Evaluation ihres Programms «Jugend und verantwortungsvolle Mediennutzung», mit dem sie medienpädagogische Projekte in unterschiedlichen Jugendhilfe-Kontexten (Projekte der offenen und der verbandlichen Jugendarbeit, der Hilfen zur Erziehung, der Jugendberatung etc.) förderte

Segregation of equal-sized particles of different densities in a vertically vibrated fluidized bed

Many operations in the chemical and energy-conversion industries rely on the fluidization of heterogeneous materials. During fluidization, particles of different densities can segregate, even if they are of the same size. Segregation is typically an undesired phenomenon, especially in fluidized bed reactors (1). Thus, an understanding of segregation on a fundamental level is paramount to identify effective measures to control it. One approach to control segregation could be the vibration of the bed vessel. However, there is very little literature available concerning the effect of vibration on density-induced segregation dynamics (2). Thus, this work studies the influence of vibration on density-induced segregation dynamics in a gas fluidized bed. Experiments were carried out in a pseudo-2D bed of 0.2 m width, 0.5 m height and 0.01 m thickness. The bed was filled with black, ballotini spheres (density 2500 kg/m3) mixed with heavier, white, ceramic particles (density 4100 kg/m3 and 6000 kg/m3). All particles have an average diameter of 1.1 mm. The bed was fluidized by air and vibrated by an electrodynamic shaker. High-speed images were recorded through the transparent front wall of the bed. Digital Image Analysis (DIA) was used to characterize the rate and extent of particle mixing with time (see Figure 1). At the start of the experiments the particles were mixed. The results obtained indicate that both the vibration strength and the gas velocity have an important effect on both the rate and the maximum degree of segregation of particles. We observed that particles become segregated for fluidization velocities greater than the minimum fluidization velocity of the denser particles. Adding vertical vibration to this system tended to enhance density-induced segregation. Interestingly, we found that, for sufficiently high vibration strengths, the degree of segregation decreased with vibration. These results indicate that by a judicious choice of the vibration strength and the fluidization velocity density-induced segregation can be controlled. REFERENCES W-C. Yang, Handbook of fluidization and fluid-particle systems, CRC Press, 2003. L. Sun, F. Zhao, Q. Zhang, D. Li, H. Lu, Numerical simulation of particle segregation in vibration fluidized bed, Chem. Eng. Technol., 37(12):2109-2115, 2014. Please click Additional Files below to see the full abstract

Environmental impact assessment of industrial activities on heavy metals distribution in street dust and soil

Street dust and soil are important materials for evaluating the contaminants level in industrial areas. Detailed size-resolved distribution of metal(loid)s in street dusts and soils influenced by industrial activities has rarely been investigated. This study was carried out to understand how industrialization might affect the size distribution of metal(loid)s concentration and contamination level in the street dust and soil from Murcia, southern Spain. An industrial and a natural areas were selected and surface soil and street dust samples were taken. They were fractionated into eleven size classes and total concentrations of Pb, Zn, Cu, Cd, Cr, Ni, As and Fe were determined in both the bulk samples and their fractions. Enrichment factor, geoaccumulation index, and mass loading of different heavy metal(loids) were calculated. The results indicated that the street dust from natural and industrial areas had almost the same particle size distribution, both containing higher percentage of coarse-sized particles than the soil. Industrialization seems to have only slightly affected the concentration of most elements studied in the soil. In contrast, the concentrations of the heavy elements in bulk industrial dust samples and all their size fractions were extremely higher than those from the natural area. This means that the industrial activities only affected the size dependency of the concentration (contamination level) of certain elements (Pb, Zn, Cu, Cd, and Cr) in the street dust, but not in the soil.Este artículo fue financiado por las universidades Isfahan University of Technology y Shahrood University of Technology (Irán) a través de las estancias de los profesores Khademi y Abbaspour, así como por la Fundación Séneca de la Comunidad Autónoma de la Región de Murcia, con el proyecto de referencia 15380/PI/10

Distribution of metal(loid)s in particle size fraction in urban soil and street dust: influence of population density

Assessment of street dust is an invaluable approach for monitoring atmospheric pollution. Little information is available on the size distribution of contaminants in street dusts and urban soils and it is not known how the population density would influence them. This research was carried out to assess the size distribution of trace metal(loid)s in street dust and urban soil, and to understand how population density might influence the size-resolved concentration of metal(loid)s. Three urban areas with a high (HD), medium (MD) and low population density (LD) and a natural area (NA) were selected, and urban soil and street dust sampled. They were fractionated into 8 size fractions: 2000-850, 850-180, 180-106, 106-50, 50-20, 20-10, 10-2, and < 2 µm. The concentration of Pb, Zn, Cu, Cd, Cr, Ni, As, and Fe was determined and enrichment factor and grain size fraction loadings were computed. The results indicated that the concentration of Pb, Zn, Cu, Cd, Cr were highly size dependent, particularly for particles < 100 µm, especially for street dust. Low concentrations of Ni and As in street dust and urban soil were size and population density independent. Higher size dependency of the metals concentration and the higher degree of elemental enrichment in the street dust fractions than the urban soils indicate higher contribution of human induced pollution to the dust. Findings also confirm the inevitability of size fractionation when soils or dusts are environmentally assessed, particularly in moderately to highly polluted areas. Otherwise, higher concentrations of certain pollutants in fine-sized particles might be overlooked leading to inappropriate decisions for environmental remediation.Este artículo fue financiado por las universidades Isfahan University of Technology y Shahrood University of Technology (Irán) a través de las estancias de los profesores Khademi y Abbaspour, así como por la Fundación Séneca de la Comunidad Autónoma de la Región de Murcia, con el proyecto de referencia 15380/PI/10

Provenance and environmental risk of windblown materials from mine tailing ponds, Murcia, Spain

Atmospheric particulates play a vital role in the transport of potentially toxic metals, being an important exposure pathways of people to toxic elements, which is faster and can occur in a much larger scale than water, soil and biota transport. Windblown materials in abandoned tailing ponds have not been well examined. The objectives of this investigation were: to study the major physical and geochemical properties of the materials eroded by wind inside the tailing ponds, and to understand the relative contribution of different sources to its heavy metals concentration. Study area is located in Cartagena-La Union mining district (SE Spain), where metallic mining of Fe, Pb and Zn has been developed for more than 2500 years. Wind-eroded particulates were monthly collected at 3 different heights (20, 50, and 80 cm) from the ground for a period of a full year using 4 dust collectors. Four tailing samples and 4 surface soil samples from the surrounding hills were also taken. Dust, soil, and tailing samples were examined for pH, particle size distribution, electrical conductivity, calcium carbonate content, Pb, Cu, Zn, Cd, Mn, Co, Ni, Ti and Zr concentrations. The results indicated that very coarse textured, slightly saline, and almost neutral wind-eroded deposits were generated with a very high temporal variability throughout the year. They also showed that the concentration of Cd, Mn, Pb and Zn, in the dust samples is extraordinarily high (18, 1254, 1831, and 5747 mg kg-1 respectively), whereas Co, Ni, and Cu had concentrations into the range of background concentrations found in the Earth’s crust (3.8, 12, and 60 mg kg-1 respectively). Besides, the concentration of both categories of heavy metals in the dust samples was higher than that in tailing and less than that of the soils. The barren surfaces of tailing ponds and also the surface soils of the surrounding area seem to be the major contributors to the dust collected. Therefore, abandoned mines as well as their tailing ponds should be rehabilitated by proper technologies and then well stabilized and /or covered by appropriate plant vegetation to control the transfer, particularly by air, of environmentally hazardous materials to other areas.Este artículo fue financiado por las universidades Isfahan University of Technology y Shahrood University of Technology (Irán) a través de las estancias de los profesores Khademi y Abbaspour, así como por la empresa propietaria de los terrenos donde se realizó el estudio. Este artículo se desarrolló en la zona de estudio del proyecto CP-IP 213968-2 IRIS, financiado por la European Union FP7, y la Dirección General de Industria, Energía y Minas de la Región de Murcia

Diversity, abundance, and presence of mosquito vectors of yellow fever in Northeast of Corrientes province

Yellow fever is currently increasing in importance in Argentina due to outbreaks in neighboring countries such as Brazil and Paraguay that cover a great part of the Misiones and Corrientes border. Due to several epizootic events in the south of Brazil between 2020 and 2021, in March and April 2021, we perform a mosquito survey to evaluate abundance and distributions of species vectors of Yellow fever virus (YFV) in several selvatic locations with presence of monkey Alouatta caraya in Northeast of Corrientes province: Las Marias, Tají Poty, Garabi, Garruchos, San Carlos, Colonia Liebig and near the Chimiray stream.Para acceder a la videoconferencia completa, hacer clic en "Enlace externo".Sociedad Latinoamericana de Ecología de Vectore