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Countries and Regions A-Z List of Countries and Other Areas Africa (Sub-Sahara) East Asia and the Pacific Europe and Eurasia Near East (northern Africa, Middle East) South and...
Countries and Regions A-Z List of Countries and Other Areas Africa (Sub-Sahara) East Asia and the Pacific Europe and Eurasia Near East (northern Africa, Middle East) South and...
BackgroundChildhood is a high risk time for ultraviolet induced skin damage as this age group has more time and opportunity to be outdoors in the sun. Children in Africa with the...Full Text Available
This study examines the degree of price-integration of equity indices between the major markets of Africa, namely Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria, Namibia and SouthAfrica with the European markets of London and Paris. Vector Autoregressive and Autoregressive Distributed Lag methods reveal that African markets are largely price-segmented. The only markets that are price-integrated have shared economic and financial institutions, such as Namibia and SouthAfrica, and Egypt, Tunisia and France. The evidence suggests that development policy should be focussed on enhancing existing institutions rather than embarking prematurely on regional integration.
It has been widely assumed that SouthAfrica has achieved universal basic education. Through an analysis of the 2001 census and two national enrolment datasets rather than statistical projections, this study re-examines this assumption and provides new estimates of enrolment levels in primary, basic and secondary education. Using GER, NER, and ASER indicators, disaggregated by gender and province, the study shows that access to education in SouthAfrica is not as widespread as published sources note. While statistics show that national access levels are lower than prevailing estimates, the relatively high levels of access in some of the most disadvantaged provinces suggest the need to re-evaluate assumptions about targets for universal access for developing regions. In addition, the analysis reveals SouthAfrica's unexpected and provocative gendered patterns of ...
This paper discusses geology, coalfields, coal quality, seams and strata, coal reserves, mining methods, production, coal liquefaction, and research on spontaneous combustion and methane explosions.
BackgroundIn SouthAfrica, HIV prevalence among youth aged 15-24 is among the world's highest. Given the urgent need to identify effective HIV prevention approaches, this review...Full Text Available
BackgroundSouthAfrica has a high tuberculosis (TB)-human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) coinfection rate of 73%, yet only 46% of TB patients are tested for HIV. To date, relatively...Full Text Available
High levels of unemployment are a permanent feature in the urban areas of many developing countries. SouthAfrica is no exception in this regard. Poverty and hardship caused by unemployment force many participants in the labour market to venture into the urban informal economy in order to survive. The activities of the waste pickers fall within the urban informal economy. In spite of the fact that waste pickers are a common sight in the urban areas of Pretoria and other South African cities, remarkably little is known about them and scant attention is paid to them. The aim of the study was to establish a socio-economic profile of the street waste pickers in Pretoria and to describe the social interaction and relationship dynamics between the waste pickers and their families, each other, th...
BackgroundTo investigate the feasibility, the ease of implementation, and the extent to which community health workers with little experience of data collection could be trained...Full Text Available
BackgroundThe burden of non-communicable diseases, including type 2 diabetes, is growing in SouthAfrica. This country has a complex mix of over- and under-nutrition, especially...Full Text Available
This document is a discussion of a static electrification event in each of the 1050 MVA units installed at the Koeburg Nuclear Power Plant in SouthAfrica. Results of a tear-down inspection performed after the event are given, as is an analysis of the event. A number of photographs are included.
This investigation clearly demonstrates that through partial impregnation techniques wood-polymer composites can be formed from the Pinus species grown in SouthAfrica with a considerable saving in monomer costs without sacrificing the important physical properties of these materials.
BackgroundLoss to follow-up (LTF) challenges the reporting of antiretroviral treatment (ART) programmes, since it encompasses patients alive but lost to programme and deaths misclassified...Full Text Available
The reserves and the mine are described. Planned capacity is 27.5 million tonnes per year of coal for the Sasol II and Sasol III liquefaction plants. There will be 7 longwall faces, 15 entry workings with shotfiring, and 19 entries with continuous miners.
BackgroundTuberculosis (TB) is the most common opportunistic infection in HIV-infected adults in developing countries. Isoniazid (INH) is recommended for treatment of latent TB infection,...Full Text Available
The strategy for building SASOL plants reflects a commitment to long-range planning. The first plant, which represented a large investment for a moderate production capacity, was built to establish a technology for reducing SouthAfrica's dependence on imported motor fuels. After the success of the plant, SASOL made plans for a larger plant, which had to be justified solely on economic grounds. At that time, petroleum crude was cheap and plentiful, and the second plant was cancelled. But when OPEC formed and the price of petroleum crude was increased, the South African government reconsidered the plans for another SASOL plant. Furthermore, because the cost of fuels produced at Sasol I proved to be significantly insensitive to inflation and future OPEC price increases were expected, SASOL projected that a new, larger plant should make a profit within a few years after its initial operation. But OPEC prices and ...
The strategy for building SASOL plants reflects a commitment to long-range planning. The first plant, which represented a large investment for a moderate production capacity, was built to establish a technology for reducing SouthAfrica's dependence on imported motor fuels. After the success of the plant, SASOL made plans for a larger plant, which had to be justified solely on economic grounds. At that time, petroleum crude was cheap and plentiful, and the second plant was cancelled. But when OPEC formed and the price of petroleum crude was increased, the South African government reconsidered the plans for another SASOL plant. Furthermore, because the cost of fuels produced at Sasol I proved to be significantly insensitive to inflation and future OPEC price increases were expected, SASOL projected that a new, larger plant should make a profit within a few years after its initial operation. But OPEC prices and ...
A discussion of the Sasol I, II, and III coal liquefaction plants of the Republic of SouthAfrica was presented. The technology, capacity, and economics of these projects were included in the discussion. These plants utilize the Fischer-Tropsch process of indirect coal liquefaction and produce a barrel of synthetic crude for about $55 (or about $20 above current market prices). Outlines of the differences in indirect coal liquefaction and newer direct methods were presented. It was determined that the South African dedication to coal liquefaction was made more for the political aspects of energy independence than economics.
ObjectivesCoastal ecosystems in developing countries supply a diverse range of services to local communities and national economies, including fish production, protection against floods and storms and support to tourism. Multiple drivers of change are influencing the status of the ecosystems, most of which are anthropogenic (Brown et al., 2006). Managing coastal ecosystems requires recognition of the diverse range of uses and users, and coordination between structures and processes, many of which are curr [continued...]DescriptionCommitment to the management of coastal ecosystems through addressing both ecological and social objectives already exists in East and Southern Africa (Glavovic 2006; Gustavson et al. 2009). More understanding, however, of the ecosystem services of priority to the poor and to poverty alleviation would strengthen the capacity of these initiatives to deliver on poverty alleviation and resource sustainability. The coastal regions of Tanzania, ...
Abstract Aim- To explore whether the subspecific genetic entities of Acacia saligna occupy different bioclimatic niches in their native and introduced ranges and whether these niches are predictable using species distribution models (SDMs). Location- Australia, SouthAfrica and the Mediterranean Basin. Methods- Species distribution models were developed in MAXENT using six climatic variables to calculate the climatic suitability of the ranges of A.saligna. We assessed (1) the subspecific niche differences identified by SDMs using measures of niche overlap and model performance; (2) the ability of SDMs to predict the most likely subspecific genetic entities present in SouthAfrica based on comparisons to genetic data; and (3) the ability of SDMs to predict the most likely subspecific geneti...
Poaching of wildlife animals for subsistence and commercial purposes has lead to population declines in Africa. In forensic cases, a need exists to identify the species of origin of carcasses, meat or blood. In the study presented here, the mitochondrial COI gene was sequenced to determine the species of unknown samples in three suspect South African forensic wildlife cases. In two cases the unknown samples were identified as originating from domestic cattle (Bos taurus) and in the third case the sample was identified as common reedbuck (Redunca arundinum). This is the first report of the COI sequence of common reedbuck. The study highlights the need for accurate wildlife reference material from each country in order to convict wildlife cases.
...Events Archive Worldwide Africa Programme Arab Programme Asia and Pacific Programme Europe and NIS Programme Latin American and Caribbean Programme Least-Developed Countries South-South Cooperation Human Security Directory of Offices Research & Statistics Publications Research and Statistics Subsites Annual Report Evaluation Group Investment and Technology Promotion Policymaking Organs Legal Resources Goodwill Ambassadors Industrial Competitiveness and Trade Private Sector Development Environmental Management Energy and Climate Change Research and Statistics Financial Institutions Partnerships Thematic ...Events Archive Worldwide Africa Programme Arab Programme Asia and Pacific Programme Europe and NIS Programme Latin American and Caribbean Programme Least-Developed Countries South-South Cooperation Human Security Directory of Offices Research & Statistics Publications Research and Statistics ...
The results of an extensive, detailed geologic and geophysical evaluation of the offshoreSouth Florida basin show this area to have considerable hydrocarbon exploration potential. Geophysical mapping on six key horizons identified numerous structural closures at Dollar Bay through Bone Island mapping levels. Geologic evaluation indicated at least four viable potential reservoir horizons, including the Sunniland formation - the main producing unit onshore in what is called the Sunniland trend. Mature, organic rich carbonate source rocks are found in several stratigraphic intervals throughout the basin, and extensively developed seals consisting of micritic limestones and anhydrites are also common in the stratigraphic section. All the critical factors for hydrocarbon accumulation - source, reservoir, trap, and seal - appear to be present in the offshore Pulley ridge area of the South Florida basin. ...
The fact that SouthAfrica had no commercially significant deposits of crude oil necessitated the early development of production of gasoline from coal which was present in abundance in low to medium grade in thick seams, the development of the process since the early 1950s is discussed. Both the Fischer Tropsch and Lurgi processes are used, and three large plants named Sasol One, Two, and Three have been completed. A flow diagram for the Lurgi process as used in these plants is included. Typical products and their properties resulting from the Sasol-type Synthol operation are presented in tabular form. Marketing considerations and economics of production of the Sasol products are discussed briefly. (BLM)
The fact that SouthAfrica had no commercially significant deposits of crude oil necessitated the early development of production of gasoline from coal which was present in abundance in low to medium grade in thick seams, the development of the process since the early 1950s is discussed. Both the Fischer Tropsch and Lurgi processes are used, and three large plants named Sasol One, Two, and Three have been completed. A flow diagram for the Lurgi process as used in these plants is included. Typical products and their properties resulting from the Sasol-type Synthol operation are presented in tabular form. Marketing considerations and economics of production of the Sasol products are discussed briefly. (BLM)
Details are given of the Sasol operation in SouthAfrica. Flow sheets are provided for Sasol 1 and Sasol 2 and 3. The Sasol 1 plant produces waxes, liquid fuels, pipeline gas and chemicals; the Sasol 2 and 3 plants primarily produce ethylene, gasoline and diesel fuel. The versatility of the process is emphasized. The product selectivities of the fixed bed and Synthol reactors are shown and the properties of the products are compared. The influence of the catalyst on selectivity is examined.
There are a number of factors favoring synfuel production in SouthAfrica; (1) there are suitable coal fields in the immediate vicinity of our main industrial area.; (2) nature has given us relatively favorable geological conditions permitting highly mechanized extraction techniques so that coal can be delivered to the synfuel plants at Secunda at a cost - including return on capital - of less than $10.00 per ton, based on 1980 price levels; and (3) because the industry and its natural market are remote from the coast, it enjoys some transport protection against products refined from imported crude oil. Even more important we realized a long time ago that in trying to close the gap between the cost of synfuels and international oil prices, one is confronted with a moving target which can more effectively be attacked sooner rather than later. With such highly capital intensive projects, cash operating costs are relatively low. Product price ...
The four mines supplying the Sasol-2 plant at Secunda, SouthAfrica are approaching their full production potential of 29 million t/year. Current production is 27.7 million t/year of coal for gasification and steam raising. Three mining methods are employed: bord and pillar, longwall and continuous mining. Details are given of the mining operations and machinery. A 43 km overland conveyor transports the coal to the Sasol plant stockpile.
This extended article describes Sasol, the synthetic fuel producing plant in SouthAfrica. It produces other fuels in addition to synfuel, from local coal. A very thorough review covering all aspects of the plant is given. These include: economic; chemical and environmental. The chemistry of the processes involved, the Fischer-Tropsch synthesis and the Lurgi process are described in some detail. Consideration is also given to the establishment of new plants, research and development projects, marketing and available coal resources.
... All rickettsial diseases respond to treatment with antibiotics such as doxycycline and tetracycline As of 10 May, the Government of SouthAfrica has reported 186 confirmed cases of RVF in humans, including 18 deaths, in Free State Province, Eastern Cape Province, Northern Cape Province, Western Cape, and North West Province. RVF is a viral disease that primarily affects animals (such as cattle, buffalo, sheep, goats and camels). The disease can also affect humans. The main mode of transmission of RVF ...
References covering the years 1904-80 are listed under the following headings: cultivation and occurrence (India and Pakistan, Africa, South America, Pacific, Middle East); Taxonomy, morphology, variation and selection; Reference works and reviews; Ecology of Prosopis (General effects on surrounding soil and vegetation): Physiology (General, Roots, Growth, Hydrology, Saline tolerance); Control of mesquite: Propagation (Germination and other nursery techniques, Vegetative propagation): and Utilization (General, Chemical analyses, Food and Ethnobiology, Fodder, Wood, Charcoal, Gum, Paper). 141 references.
This article examines the potential threat of marine pollution caused by offshore oil and gas development activities in the disputed areas of the South China Sea (SCS) and the Spratly Islands. After addressing the potential threat of marine pollution, it discusses the legal obligations and political commitment of the SCS littoral states regarding the protection of the marine environment in the area. The role that Taiwan can play in these matters is also examined.
Abstract Interest in soy foods has increased with consumer awareness of its health benefits, especially with soy-related ingredients being utilized as one of the major sources of high-protein fortification. The aim of the present study was to assess South African (SA) consumers' opinion of soy and soy products through different statements on consumption, taste, protein value and healthiness. The respondents (n = 3001) for this randomized cross-sectional study were randomly selected from metropolitan and rural areas in SouthAfrica. Trained fieldworkers administered questionnaires by conducting face-to-face interviews. Fourteen statements from four sections of the questionnaire (consisting of 17 food-related topics in total), probing information on consumers' opinion on soy and soy products...
Summary We describe the initiation and establishment of The University of Zambia - University College London Medical School (UNZA-UCLMS) Research and Training Project, an entirely African scientist-led, south-north partnership. In its 16 year existence, the project, by successfully obtaining competitive grant funding, has transformed itself into one of Africa's most productive African-led R&D programmes with training and visible research outputs. The project serves as a role model and now networks R&D and training activities with six southern African (10 institutions) and six European countries. This project case study illustrates that deep commitment is essential for success and that the factors which facilitate success in R&D in Africa need to be evaluated. The long-term prospects for su...
The North-West Borneo Trough is bordered along its south-east margin by a melange wedge that has been the subject of disagreement with insufficient discussion. Offshore Palawan it has been interpreted as an accretionary prism that has been preserved in place when subduction ceased in the Middle Miocene. It is unconformably overlain by undeformed Upper Miocene to Holocene draping strata. Farther south-west along the Trough, the seismically identical melange wedge has been named a Major Thrust Sheet System, which was assumed to have been thrust as a nappe north-westwards over the autochthonous Dangerous Grounds terrane of attenuated continental crust of the South China Sea passive margin. The accretionary prism model is the simplest, resulting in interpretation of the North-West Borneo Troug...
Husky Oil Operations Ltd (Husky) is considering the development of the South White Rose Expansion (SWRX) area, located approximately 4 km south of the current Southern Glory Hole (SGH) in approximately 120 m of water. Within the new glory hole, one new drill centre will be constructed with wells tied back and into the SGH manifolds. The SWRX drill centre will comprise three horizontal production wells and two horizontal water injection wells with expansion capacity for eight wells. Husky is intending to submit a Development Plan Amendment to the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board (C-NLOPB) as part of the development. This document presented the results of a study that assessed the potential impact of the new development on existing White Rose safety studies. The study reviewed existing safety studies that were developed for the White Rose project to determine the potential impact of the new SWRX ...
Oil, in various forms, has been used for thousands of years and has even been recommended as a medicinal product. Starting in the mid-19. century, however, mineral oil production became an economic, political, social and scientific gold mine. Subterranean and offshore drilling rigs have created colossal fortunes among multinationals and made certain nations extremely wealthy. Starting in the 1920's, oil companies began to explore the possibilities of undersea drilling, but it was only in 1947 that the first offshore drilling rig was set up. With three-quarters of the planet covered by water, it was inevitable that oil companies would turn to offshore drilling - especially as sub-sea oil fields may cover as much as 84 million square kilometres. Drilling rigs now go deeper than ever and are able to operate in up to 3000 meters water depth. This paper will present the technical merits of two similar all-electric ...
In 1980, Congress passed the energy security act which created the United States Synthetic Fuels Corporation. This entity was created to serve as a catalyst for the development of synthetic fuels projects by the private sector. Then what happened. Increased exploration in the United States stimulated by relaxation of price controls on oil produced an increase in reserves of these resources. Fuel conservation, combined with a reduced energy demand caused by a recession, significantly reduced our overall energy consumption and curtailed our imports of foreign crude oil. All of these factors combined have reduced the enthusiasm to invest in synthetic fuels plants, in spite of the fact that the difference between surplus and shortage is frighteningly thin. SouthAfrica, compared to the U.S., is a small country. The Sasol Two and Sasol Three projects are equivalent to a U.S. investment of $400 billion, on a country size-by-size basis. It's ...
Summary Objective To evaluate the cost-effectiveness of an educational outreach intervention to improve primary respiratory care by South African nurses. Methods Cost-effectiveness analysis alongside a pragmatic cluster randomised controlled trial, with individual patient data. The intervention, the Practical Approach to Lung Health in SouthAfrica (PALSA), comprised educational outreach based on syndromic clinical practice guidelines for tuberculosis, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, pneumonia and other respiratory diseases. The study included 1999 patients aged 15 or over with cough or difficult breathing, attending 40 primary care clinics staffed by nurses in the Free State province. They were interviewed at first presentation, and 1856 (93%) were interviewed 3 months late...
Since several years, several manufacturers of circuit breakers from various countries (SouthAfrica, UK, The Netherlands, USA..) try to impose in accommodations a highly sensitive electronic-type of differential circuit-breaker initially devoted to industrial installations where qualified and experienced professionals are present. This technical paper presents first the principles of the classical electromechanical circuit breakers and of the electronic circuit breaker, and then compares their relative efficiency and level of safety in residential use conditions (grounding schemes, voltage drops, rupture of the neutral conductor, rupture of the phase conductor, overvoltages). (J.S.)
The mine dumps that arise from the gold mining operations in SouthAfrica are a potential source of high concentrations of radon (222"Rn). Studying the diffusion of radon and the emanation from the soil will help to deduce the radon flux from these dumps to identify the problem areas for rehabilitation. This study describes measurements of the emanation coefficient and the modelling of the depth profile of the radon activity concentration, which is compared to a depth profile that was measured on such a mine dump. Emanation coefficients ranging from 0.13 to 0.39 have been obtained.
In 1980 Sasol completed its very large coal conversion complex, Sasol Two and Three in SouthAfrica. This complex, the largest coal-to-liquids facility in the world, utilizes Sasol's proprietary Fischer-Tropsch technology, the Synthol Process. The two key elements of the Synthol Process are its catalyst and its unique fluidized bed reactor, the Synthol Circulating Fluidized Bed Reactor. Details on the catalytic aspects and reaction mechanism have been given elsewhere. In this paper, the history of the development of the reactor is discussed.
Recent organic geochemical studies differ radically in their interpretation of the origin of the Gulf coast oils. However all studies since (and including) Thompson, et al. 1989, emphasize the considerable geographic variation in genetic oil types and are in generalized agreement as to the genetic oil types present and their spatial and stratigraphic relationships. In particular it is accepted that the Gulf rim (both north and south) is encircled by a ring of Mesozoic carbonate-sourced oils and that there is also at least one major deep water trend of carbonate-sourced oils in the northern Gulf. It is also generally agreed that many of the Gulf rim oils are of Oxfordian-Kimmeridgian age, though some, like the Sunniland oils of Florida, are of lower Cretaceous origin. Major disagreement still occurs over the sources of the Louisiana offshore oils and onshore Wilcox reservoired oils. One {open_quotes}school of thought{close_quotes} assigns all ...
Reinterpretation of the South Florida basin reveals that it was a keep-up carbonate shelf during the Lower Cretaceous. Until the Cenomanian, it was connected to the Bahamas and the Cay Sal Bank north of Cuba. The Cenomanian sea level rise was at least partially responsible for the formation of the Florida Straits, isolating the platform. The combination of an abrupt worldwide rise in sea level and subsidence caused the South Florida platform to founder, ending shallow-water and evaporitic sedimentation over the majority of the shelf. The Cay Sal and Bahamian platforms remained as active shallow shelves separated by the Old Bahamas Channel. The Lower Cretaceous sediments are characterized by shallow shelf limestones, dolomites, and evaporites (mostly anhydrite). The evaporite-rich sections, originally thought to represent basinal facies, are reinterpreted as supratidal to shallow subtidal evaporites, based on examination of core and cuttings. ...
The difficult economic circumstances with which almost the whole world had to contend, brought serious financial crisis in many countries. SouthAfrica also had its own share of serious problems. Despite this situation, Transvaal Consolidated Land and Exploration Company, Limited, showed on increase in earnings of 24 per cent per share. The reason for this lies mainly in two areas. Firstly the company acquired the mining related business of Rand Mines, Limited. Included in the acquisition was a partfolio of shares mainly in the company's associated gold and uranium mining companies and additional shares in its listed coal mining subsidiaries. Secondly, the average gold price realised by producers in rand terms, was considerably higher than in the previous year. Consolidated profit attributable to members increased by 52 per cent to R82,6 million.
Taking the port city of Alicante the author outlines how numerous crossroads connect the northern and southern shores of the Mediterranean. Along the arc of Euro-Mediterranean trading centres lies the European continent as a whole, extending eastwards to the republics emerging from the disintegration of the Soviet Empire, and in the south to Francophone and Muslim Africa. This arc of trading towns includes Istanbul, Dubai, Naples, Antwerp, Hamburg, Marseilles and Alicante. The author traces the movements of individuals pursuing "suitcase trade" performed by means of face-to-face links, word of mouth, and verbal agreements. The author then traces this vast "choreographed movement" that originates from Europe's borders, and suggests that although reasons other than trade influence mobility a...
The article draws on interpretive frameworks from diffusion research and social network analysis to explore one particular "travelling reform"--outcomes-based education--that went global. The argument is made that by virtue of studying late adopters of a travelling reform one is examining globalisation. The cases in point for late adoption are Central Asian education systems (in particular Mongolia and Kyrgyz Republic) that borrowed outcomes-based education reforms at a time when the popularity of similar reforms were already in decline in other countries, notably in New Zealand, Australia and SouthAfrica. The emphasis of this study is on the timing of policy borrowing, and it is suggested that more attention is given to the economics of policy borrowing. (Contains 3 notes.)
The status of commercial technology for indirect liquefaction, as exemplified by SASOL facilities in SouthAfrica, is reviewed. The impact of substituting more advanced gasifiers and synthesis systems is then investigated. Slagging BGC/Lurgi, Texaco and Shell-Koppers gasifiers were substituted for the Dry Ash Lurgi units used at SASOL. SASOL SYNTHOL synthesis units were replaced by slurry phase Fischer-Tropsch units employing technology pioneered by Kolbel. The advanced systems were found to have a highly favorable impact on plant efficiency, product distribution and gasoline cost. If all the projected technical improvements can be realized for indirect liquefaction, the yields of refined transportation fuels per ton of coal will approach those anticipated for direct liquefaction processes.
Thirty-nine conference papers review practical and topical aspects of hydroelectric development, from planning and design to construction, operation and refurbishment. More than half of the papers deal with small-scale hydro, reflecting the continuing strong interest in this subject throughout the world. The planning and economic evaluation of large-scale hydro schemes and pumped-storage plants, and environmental aspects of hydroelectric developments are also discussed. A special session has also been included on hydro in Latin America, where some of the world's largest schemes are planned or under construction. The papers reproduced here draw on the expertise of engineers from eighteen countries in North and South America, Europe, Asia, Australasia and Africa. All the papers were selected and indexed separately.
In order to quantify the biomass burning emissions, the main atmospheric pollution source of tropical and subtropical regions, we carried out the analysis of ashes that are also formed during these fires. To this end, we developed analytical methods to characterize the composition of savannah grass burning ashes by using X-ray fluorescence for mineral elements and microanalysis for C, H, O and N. Samples used in this work have been collected during laboratory combustion experiments, with chemically well-defined natural savannah grasses from Ivory Coasts and SouthAfrica. The reproducibility and efficiency of different developed procedures have been studies. The analytical relative precision is generally better than 5%. This development has allowed to establish, for the first time, the global mass balance of ashes resulting from savannah grass burning. (authors). 16 refs., 3 figs., 8 tabs.
Previous studies with a limited number of strains have indicated that there are two genotypes of yellow fever (YF) virus in Africa, one in west Africa and the other in east and central Africa. We have...Full Text Available
The proceedings include the following lectures: Facing the challenges - new structures for electricity production. Renewable energies in Europe - chances and challenges. Nuclear outlook in the UK. Sustainable energy for Europe. Requirements of the market and the grid operator at the electricity production companies. Perspectives for the future energy production. Pumped storage plants - status and perspectives. Nuclear power/renewable energies -partners or opponents? New fossil fired power stations in Europe - status and perspectives. Nuclear energy: outlook for new build and lifetime extension in Europe. Biomass in the future European energy market - experiences for dong energy. Meeting the EU 20:20 renewable energy targets: the offshore challenges. DESERTEC: sustainable electricity for Europe, Middle East and North Africa. New power plants in Europe - a challenge for project and quality management. Consideration of safely in new build ...
The most significant lessons provided by these developments at SASOL are the importance of long-range planning and the need for establishing a commercialized technology base in synfuels. These are necessary to reduce our dependence on foreign energy sources and can be accomplished with suitable cooperation between government and private industry and between agencies within the government. The Fischer-Tropsch process is not the only method for producing gasoline from coal, but so far it is the only one commercially proven. Another process, which produces gasoline from methanol, has been considered for commercialization. The government of New Zealand decided in December 1979 to build a commercial-size plant using its abundant natural gas as the feedstock in a natural gas to methanol to gasoline process. Because methanol can also be produced from gasified coal, this process may be an attractive option for the production of gasoline from coal in the United States. ...
The most significant lessons provided by these developments at SASOL are the importance of long-range planning and the need for establishing a commercialized technology base in synfuels. These are necessary to reduce our dependence on foreign energy sources and can be accomplished with suitable cooperation between government and private industry and between agencies within the government. The Fischer-Tropsch process is not the only method for producing gasoline from coal, but so far it is the only one commercially proven. Another process, which produces gasoline from methanol, has been considered for commercialization. The government of New Zealand decided in December 1979 to build a commercial-size plant using its abundant natural gas as the feedstock in a natural gas to methanol to gasoline process. Because methanol can also be produced from gasified coal, this process may be an attractive option for the production of gasoline from coal in the United States. ...
Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material (N.O.R.M.) occurs in most soil and rock, and by mining and mineral processing, some of the radionuclides are significantly enhanced. An in-situ gamma-ray detector called M.E.D.U.S.A., has been used to produce a map of relative activity concentrations in a gold mine tailings dam on the Witwatersrand in SouthAfrica. A CsI(Na) scintillation detector is used in this system. M.E.D.U.S.A. spectra obtained from the survey were analyzed using the Full-Spectrum Analysis (F.S.A.) procedure to compute the {sup 40}K, {sup 238}U and {sup 232}Th activity concentrations. The activity concentrations are used with global positioning data (G.P.S.) to produce the concentration maps. A hyper-pure germanium gamma-ray detector (Hp Ge) was used to measure gamma-rays from the naturally occurring nuclides for soil samples taken at different points on the site to calibrate the M.E.D.U.S.A. system. Radon soil gas measurements ...
Magmatic sulfide deposits are the most significant source of platinum-group elements (PGE) in the world. Key to understanding their genesis is determining the processes and timing of sulfide saturation, metal enrichment and crustal contamination. In this study, we have identified droplets of magmatic sulfide from the Platreef, SouthAfrica, where droplets of sulfide have been trapped in the earliest crystallising phase, chromite. Due to their early entrapment at high temperatures, metal concentrations and ratios that they display are indicative of a very early-stage sulfide liquid in the system, as they will have cooled and fractionated within an essentially closed system, unlike interstitial blebs that crystallise in an open system as the magma cools. Analysis of these droplets in an opaque mineral like chromite by LA-ICP-MS is problematic as some of the fractionated inclusion is necessarily lost during cutting and polishing to initially ...
In January 2001, Husky Oil Operations Limited (Husky), in joint-venture with Petro-Canada submitted a Development Application (DA) to the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board (C-NLOPB) for the White Rose Development. This DA was prepared following the Canada-Newfoundland Atlantic Accord Implementation Act and the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Atlantic Accord Implementation Newfoundland and Labrador Act. In December 2001, the C-NLOPB approved the White Rose DA. This document outlined a proposed amendment to the original Development Plan involving an expansion of its White Rose Development in the Jeanne d'Arc Basin on the Grand Bank. The expansion will consist of a subsea tie-back to the Floating Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel through the existing Southern Glory Hole (SGH) and utilizing a new glory hole constructed approximately 4 km south of the SGH. The document presented an overview of the ...
The Sunoco Felda oil trend of the South Florida basin has been a prolific oil producer. All the oil is produced from the Cretaceous Sunniland formation, a leached limestone bioherm. Although the producing section has been considered reefal in the literature, petrographic and biostratigraphic analyses of various cores in producing fields have determined that these deposits are composed of particles of fragmented rudist and other fauna deposited in a tidal shoal. Atop this debris an algae and gastropod section has been deposited, typical of a mound deposited on a tidal mud flat. This model is exemplified in the Sunoco Felda and West Sunoco fields and was used in exploring the Sunoco Felda trend. From the petrological analysis of these two fields and from knowledge of other wells in the basin, biostratigraphic and lithologic trends can be determined and extended offshore into the eastern Gulf of Mexico. The author stresses petrology in exploring ...
The grey-black mudstones of the Sonehat Formation form part of the Middle Jurassic fill of the Jameson Land Basin in East Greenland. The formation is exposed in the southernmost part of the north south-trending, Mesozoic rift system in East Greenland that was part of the epeiric seaway betaveen East Greenland and Norway. Sedimentological observations of the Sortehat Formation indicate deposition in an offshore marine setting that was typically low energy and periodically oxygen-deficient but was influenced by storm currents on occasion. Detailed palynological studies of the Sortehat Formation have resulted in the definition of theee palynological assemblage zones recognised at four localities, namely Enhjoerningen Dal and Pelion (north Jameson Land), the type section at Sortehat (central Jameson Land) and Albuen at Neill Klinter along Hurry Inlet (south-east Jameson Land). In stratigraphic order, these zones are termed the ...
Husky Oil received approval from the government to begin development of its White Rose properties located in the Jean d'Arc Basin, 350 km east of St. John's, offshore Newfoundland and Labrador. First oil is expected by the end of 2005. The South Avalon Pool was discovered in 1988 and is estimated to contain approximately 200-250 million barrels of oil. Husky Oil and Petro-Canada filed a development application with the Canada-Newfoundland Offshore Petroleum Board in January 2001. Approval of the $2.35 billion project was received in December 2001. The development plan is based on a newly-built floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel. Initial development will focus on the South Avalon Pool that has been tested in excess of 5,000 barrels per day. The pool will be developed using eight production wells, 11 water injection wells and two gas injection wells. An estimated ...
AbstractMultiple HIV-1 subtypes and circulating recombinant forms (CRFs) are known to cocirculate in Africa. In West Africa, the high prevalence of CRF02_AG, and cocirculation of subtype...Full Text Available
The difficult economic circumstances with which almost the whole world had to contend, brought serious financial crisis in many countries. SouthAfrica also had its own share of serious problems. Despite this situation, Transvaal Consolidated Land and Exploration Company, Limited, showed on increase in earnings of 24 per cent per share. The reason for this lies mainly in two areas. Firstly the company acquired the mining related business of Rand Mines, Limited. Included in the acquisition was a partfolio of shares mainly in the company's associated gold and uranium mining companies and additional shares in its listed coal mining subsidiaries. Secondly, the average gold price realised by producers in rand terms, was considerably higher than in the previous year. Consolidated profit attributable to members increased by 52 per cent to R82,6 million.
ObjectivesThe SPIRIT V (A Clinical Evaluation of the XIENCE V Everolimus-Eluting Coronary Stent System in the Treatment of Patients With De Novo Coronary Artery Lesions) study is a post-market surveillance experience of the XIENCE V (Abbott Vascular, Santa Clara, California) everolimus-eluting stent (EES) in patients with higher-risk coronary anatomy. BackgroundPrevious pre-approval studies have shown the safety and efficacy of EES in highly selected groups of patients. MethodsThe SPIRIT V trial is a prospective, open label, single arm, multicenter study. Two thousand seven hundred patients with multiple de novo coronary artery lesions suitable for treatment with a planned maximum of 4 EES were enrolled at 93 centers in Europe, Asia Pacific, Canada, and SouthAfrica. Lesions had a referenc...
Results reported are for single dose exposures and refer to "6"0Co-#gamma#-irradiation. The RBE determined by V79 cell survival and based on the Do ratio was found to be 1.70#+-#0.4 ranging from 1.5 to 1.8. In the case of the regeneration of mouse jejunal crypts the RBE was calculated at ten cell curvival and was found to be 1.68. The maximum acute mouse skin reaction at a skin score of 2.0 was found to be 2.1 while the average skin reaction was 1.7. Growth retardation of Vicia faba bean roots measured at the level of 50% indicated an average RBE of 3.0 and a range of 2.7 to 3.7. The OER obtained for V79 cell survival was found to be 1.7 to 1.8. Comparison is made with the RBE and OER measurements for the neutron facilities at Clatterbridge, Fermilab and Louvain-la-Neuve which produce neutrons by the same nuclear reaction and whose physical specifications closely resemeble those of the Faure neutrons. This comparison indicates that the Faure beam shows no unusual biological features ...
The article reports the reserves of fossil resources. The world's total coal reserves and recoverable coal reserves the estimated at 8,400 billion tons and 728 billion tons, respectively. For oil, the verified reserves and reserve production ratio in the Middle East are 420.9 billion bbl and about 100 years, respectively. They are 141 billion bbl and about 20 years for North and South America, 81 billion bbl and about 18 years for the Soviet Union, 10.8 billion bbl and 34 years for China, 9.8 billion bbl and 26 years for Western Europe and 38.7 billion bbl and 42 years for Africa. The total reserves of natural gas in the world were shown to be 3,981.6 x 10/sup 12/ cf at the World Petroleum Congress in 1987. The amount of recoverable primitive oil sand resources in the world is 436 billion bbl, of which as much as about 70 percent is in Canada. The amount of ultimate primitive oil shale resources is 3,281 billion bbl, of which 2,002.4 ...
The American Natural Resources System has been attempting to obtain the financing commitments and regulatory approvals necessary to construct the nation's first commercial-scale coal-gasification plant. It would employ the same technology as Sasol plants of SouthAfrica and much of the same hardware as the Sasol II plant now approaching completion. But instead of converting the gas that comes out of the gasifier vessels into liquid hydrocarbons, the proposed plant would upgrade the gas to a Btu-content equivalent to that of natural gas. It could be mixed, transported, and utilized as a constituent part of the natural gas stream. The plant would be located in North Dakota and would utilize coal as the feedstock. North Dakota lignite gasifies very efficiently and, since the plant would be located at the mine mouth, the low-Btu quality of the coal is not a particularly adverse factor. The gas produced by the plant would be transported by ...
Macroinvertebrate communities in Rietvlei nature reserve wetland area and their relationship with water quality were studied with the aim to evaluate their use as potential indicators of pollution. Sampling locations were selected to include outlets from swage effluent, agricultural and informal residential runoff. A large increase in nutrient concentrations was observed downstream from discharged treated sewage with an associated decrease in species richness. Bioassays performed included: Daphnia magna, Hydra attenuate, Lactuca sativa, Allium cepa and Pyxicephalus adspersus. The highest percentage of lethality response to a screen (100% concentration) of sampled wetland water by test specimens were observed at the point source input of the Hartbeespoort treated sewage plant. Data generated from the AUSRIVAS method and multitrophic level bioassays revealed the deterioration of the wetland possibly due to factors such as increasing urbanization, industrialization, agriculture runoff and ...
More details about the construction of the Terra Nova floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel are provided. The vessel was built in the Daewoo shipyard in South Korea, and is now undergoing final fitting at Bull Arm, near St. John's, Newfoundland. When complete, the vessel will operate 350 km offshore, southeast of St. John's. It is 291 metres long and 45.5 metres wide and has a capacity of 960,000 barrels of oil. Although the FPSO will hold less than half of the last giant supertanker which sailed for Irving Oil, it has a crew of 81, four times the size of the supertanker, reflecting the technical uniqueness of the vessel and the intense pre-occupation with safety associated with the combination of winds, ice, waves, and shallow water around the Grand Banks. Also described is the alliance system of partnership between the oil companies and the main contractors. The deal stipulates that if the project ran ...
This bibliography deals with the foundation of offshore structures like drilling or working platforms (oil and gas exploitation) or offshore tanks. Different kinds of foundations, e.g. pile foundations or shallow foundations, are described. Aspects of soil-structure interaction, engineering geology and soil mechanics are also discussed. (orig.).
Sodium monofluoroacetate (1080) is a vertebrate pesticide widely used for possum control in New Zealand. Fluoroacetate is also a toxic component of poisonous plants found in Australia, SouthAfrica, South America, and India. Because of its importance and effectiveness in pest control and the highly toxic nature of this compound, its acute sub-lethal and target organ toxicity have been extensively studied. In relation to its use as a pesticide its environmental fate, persistence, non-target impacts and general toxicology have been and continue to be extensively studied. Toxic baits must be prepared and used with extreme care, otherwise humans, livestock, and non-target wildlife will be put at risk. The high risk of secondary poisoning of dogs is a cause for concern. 1080 acts by interfering with cellular energy production. Possums die from heart failure, usually within 6-18 h of eating baits. Long-term exposure to sub-lethal ...
Present and potential future changes to the global environment have important implications for marine pollution and for the air-sea exchange of both anthropogenic and natural substances. This report addresses three issues related to the potential impact of global change on the air-sea exchange of chemicals: Global change and the air-sea transfer of the nutrients nitrogen and iron. Global change and the air-sea exchange of gases. Oceanic responses to radiative and oxidative changes in the atmosphere. The deposition of atmospheric anthropogenic nitrogen has probably increased biological productivity in coastal regions along many continental margins. Atmospheric deposition of new nitrogen may also have increased productivity somewhat in mid-ocean regions. The projected future increases of nitrogen oxide emissions from Asia, Africa and South America will provide significant increases in the rate of deposition of oxidized nitrogen to the central ...
Calgary-based TAG Oil is an exploration company that manages 4.1 million acres of major producing oil and gas fields in New Zealand. The enormous Maui field, with 4 tcf of natural gas in place, has dominated the gas market in New Zealand by meeting nearly 90 per cent of the country's energy demand at costs much lower than world prices. However, the maturing field is in decline and will cease production by 2008. New gas field discoveries will only meet 60 per cent of the country's energy requirements for 5 additional years. Unless new large reserves of gas are discovered, the supply and demand situation will get worse. Lead time to place new production on-stream requires 5 to 10 years, which creates a large supply gap over the next decade. Public resistance to coal-fired power plants, new hydroelectric dams and nuclear power has left the country with no viable alternative to natural gas. TAG Oil has taken this unique opportunity to create value when gas demand is at its maximum and ...
In January 2001, Husky Oil Operations Limited (Husky), in joint-venture with Petro-Canada, submitted a Benefits Plan for the White Rose Development to the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board (C-NLOPB). It was prepared following the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Atlantic Accord Implementation Act and the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Atlantic Accord Implementation (Newfoundland) Act. In December 2001, the C-NLOPB approved the White Rose Benefits Plan. This document described the work that Husky proposes to undertake within its significant discovery license areas 1043 and 1044 for the development of the South White Rose Extension (SWRX) Tie-back to the White Rose Floating Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel as it will require an amendment to the original White Rose Development Plan and is subject to the review and approval of the C-NLOPB. The statutory requirements as well as the actual policies and ...
A brief overview is given of the developments in the Dutch offshore industry where new offshore sites appear to be retrofitted or recycled platforms and contractors take over the work from petroleum companies (e.g. as so-called Floating Production Storage Offloading or FPSO). It is expected that in ten years from now a large number of oil platforms will be disappeared or transported to the Chinese Bohai Sea where a new oil field will be explored.
... harassment, incidental to construction and operation of an offshore liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility. Under the Marine Mammal Protection ... ...
This book discusses problems and topics important for the design and construction of fixed offshore platforms used for drilling and producing petroleum from beneath the sea. A general description of offshore platforms serves as an introduction to the whole problem of offshore structures. A chapter on the hydrodynamic analysis of fixed offshore platforms gives the basis for the layout and construction of such structures. A guide to soil investigation methods essential for the geotechnical analysis of foundation designs for all types of offshore structures concentrates on the instrumentation equipment actually used. Detailed information is given on pile foundations with special emphasis on steel jacket platforms. The behaviour of gravity platforms during the final construction stage is analysed. The basis for the design of subsea pipelines and their stability is treated as well as the ...
Cholera outbreaks continue to occur regularly in Africa. Cholera has been associated with proximity to lakes in East Africa, and Vibrio cholerae has been found experimentally to concentrate...Full Text Available
The AVR experimental nuclear reactor was Professor Dr. Rudolf Schulten's brainchild. Visionary ideas led to the success of this technology: - Helium coolant because of the particularly high heat transfer coefficients; - an integrated primary system reactor concept as the basis of all safety considerations in the interest of maximum safety; - uranium-235 and thorium-232 fuel allowing new fuel to be bred; - high temperatures for electricity generation at maximum thermodynamic efficiencies, i.e. optimum fuel utilization; - the possibility to run chemical processes economically at high temperatures by means of nuclear fuels; - the inherent safety of the reactor, for a major accident accompanied by a complete loss of cooling cannot occur for nuclear physics reasons, as was tested twice in the AVR. The AVR attained its first criticality on August 28, 1968. It was operated for more than 20 years, until December 31, 1988, at approximately 67% time utilization, which is an excellent ...
The AVR experimental nuclear reactor was Professor Dr. Rudolf Schulten's brainchild. Visionary ideas led to the success of this technology: - Helium coolant because of the particularly high heat transfer coefficients; - an integrated primary system reactor concept as the basis of all safety considerations in the interest of maximum safety; - uranium-235 and thorium-232 fuel allowing new fuel to be bred; - high temperatures for electricity generation at maximum thermodynamic efficiencies, i.e. optimum fuel utilization; - the possibility to run chemical processes economically at high temperatures by means of nuclear fuels; - the inherent safety of the reactor, for a major accident accompanied by a complete loss of cooling cannot occur for nuclear physics reasons, as was tested twice in the AVR. The AVR attained its first criticality on August 28, 1968. It was operated for more than 20 years, until December 31, 1988, at approximately 67% time utilization, which is an excellent performance ...
Processes for the hydrogenation of carbon monoxide have had commercial importance since about 1920, when the commercial production of methanol and higher alcohols on oxide catalysts began. Soon thereafter Fischer and Tropsch discovered that liquid hydrocarbons could be synthesized from carbon monoxide and hydrogen over Group VIII metal catalysts. Following extensive catalyst and process development efforts, this technology provided Germany with a source of liquid fuels during World War II. The period following the war saw an acceleration in research and development on the Fischer-Tropsch process, but the only commercial application that was to emerge was the SASOL process in the Union of SouthAfrica. The oil crises of the 1970s have rekindled worldwide interest in indirect liquefaction technologies for the production of clean, high-quality motor fuels from coal. The development of more efficient coal gasification processes and the advent of ...
The aim of the present study was to describe the distribution and remobilization of plutonium (Pu) in the sediments off the Rhone river mouth. Most of the {sup 238}Pu and {sup 239,240}Pu isotopes introduced into the Rhone River were discharged by the liquid effluents released from the Marcoule reprocessing plant, located 120 km upstream the river mouth. Due to its high affinity for particles and its long half life, {sup 238}Pu is a promising tracer to follow the dispersion of particulate matter from the Rhone River to the Mediterranean Sea. During the 3 REMORA cruises, sediment samples were specifically collected in the Rhone pro-delta area and more offshore on the whole continental shelf of the Gulf of Lions. The measurements of alpha emitters gave a first detailed spatial distribution of Pu isotope concentrations in surface sediments off the Rhone mouth. Using {sup 137}Cs concentrations and their correlations with Pu isotopes, we were able to give a first ...
...Heinz Dahl: presenting offshore wind energy for Australia NexTgen Wind. Next month, Heinz L Dahl will speak about offshore wind energy and its prospects for Australia. Skip to the navigation. Skip to the content. Events Models Movements Opinion Policies Research SCRT Videos Seeking ... August guest speaker: Heinz Dahl, managing director, NexTgen Wind. Next month, Heinz L Dahl will speak about offshore wind energy and its prospects for Australia. Heinz is the managing director of NexTgen Wind, a leading edge company that is focused on the cost ...
In January 2001, Husky Oil Operations Limited (Husky), in joint-venture with Petro-Canada, submitted a Benefits Plan for the White Rose Development to the Canada- Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board (C-NLOPB). This revised document provided the case for requesting an increase in the facility maximum daily production rate and the average annual production rate for the White Rose field from 100,000 barrels per day (bpd) as stated in the approved White Rose Development Plan to 140,000 bpd. In order to determine the potential for increasing oil production through the Floating Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel, two things were considered, namely the proper reservoir management of the White Rose field to ensure optimum resource recovery, and the capacity of the FPSO topsides processing system and supporting utilities to accommodate increased production. This document presented a detailed review of all the implications of increased production ...
Oil exploration began in Florida in 1901, but no oil was found until 1943. In November of that year, Humble Oil and Refining Co. made a discovery near Sunniland in southern Florida. This field and the producing zone were called Sunniland. No further discoveries were made in southern Florida until 1954 when the Forty-Mile field was discovered by Gulf Oil Co. Ten years later, in 1964, the Sunoco Felda field was discovered by Sun Oil Co., followed by West Sunoco Felda field in 1968. The examination of numerous cores and thin sections of this formation, both from producing fields and wildcat wells, reveals a sequence of deposition in the Sunniland formation. It has been reported that tintinnids or calpionellids have been observed in the lower mud section, but investigation of many thin sections from this section revealed only ostracod particles. Above the mudstone, the section becomes increasingly plentiful in fragmented microbored rudist particles and forams such as Orbitolina texana, ...
There are at present 116 floating production systems and 60 storage vessels dotting the oceans involved in hydrocarbon exploration and production activities. Although concentrated mostly in the North Sea, they can be found also off the coast of Australia, eastern Canada, Brazil, some African nations and the Gulf of Mexico. They range from converted tankers to purpose built rigs. The most adaptable of the various systems is the floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel, first developed as a cost-effective means of developing fields in Brazil's very deep offshore areas. Still being tested and modified for work in widely different environments, FPSOs appear to have met all requirements in producing expenditure efficiencies, maximizing profits, and protecting workers. One of the most efficient and most technically advanced is a 292-metre long FPSO built for the Terra Nova Alliance by Daewoo Shipyards in South Korea. It ...
Canadian oilfields are a prime breeding ground for talent, technology and industrial management. This paper described how Canadian talent was recognized in 2001 for three major projects which included a cold-ocean production platform in the Sea of Okhotsk in Siberia, a mountain pipeline project in South America, and an in-situ underground extraction technology in the oilsands of Alberta. The cold-ocean production platform project was recruited by Sakhalin Energy Investment Co., an international consortium originally led by Marathon Oil Co which is now led by Royal Dutch Shell. The oil production platform is stationed 16 kilometres offshore of Sakhalin Island in the Sea of Okhotsk. Sakhalin Energy bought and converted the Molikpaq, an innovative platform made in the 1980s for the Beaufort Sea by Gulf Canada Resources Ltd. The second project included Calgary's Hydroconsult EN3 Services Ltd. which was responsible for the construction of ...
This book presents the papers given at a conference on offshore platforms. Topics considered in this book include risk assessment, crack propagation, fracture control, stress corrosion, the reliability of pile foundations, the thermal conductivity of offshore pipeline coating material, economic analysis, hydrodynamics, simulation, Arctic structure design, composite materials, buoys, deep water drilling, corrosion protection, pollution control equipment, and subsea exhaust gas compressors.
The EPA proposed effluent limitations guidelines and standards for the offshore segment of the oil and gas industry on August 26, 1985. On November 26, 1990, and March 13, 1991, the Agency reproposed effluent limitations guidelines and standards for both drilling and production wastes. The report is primarily concerned with the total annualized cost incurred by the offshore oil and gas industry in complying with the regulations.
A description of LOOP covers the single point mooring (SPM) system; the offshore pipelines connecting each SPM to the pumping platform; the offshore platform complex, a pumping platform and a control platform; the onshore pipelines; and the Clovelly Dome storage terminal.
This is a review of recently published literature on surgery in tropical Africa. It presents the current state of surgical need and surgical practice on the continent. We discuss the enormous burden of surgical pathology (as far as it is known) and the access to and acceptability of surgery. We also describe the available facilities in terms of equipment and manpower. The study looked at the effects of the human immunodeficiency virus, the role of traditional healers, anesthesia, and the economics of surgery. Medical training and research are discussed, as are medical migration out of Africa and the concept of task shifting, where surgical procedures are performed by others when surgeons are not available. It closes with recommendations for involvement and action in this area of great glob...
BackgroundLow back pain (LBP) is the most prevalent musculoskeletal condition and one the most common causes of disability in the developed nations. Anecdotally, there is a general...Full Text Available
Sinonasal malignancy is a cause of otorhinolaryngologic morbidity and mortality in West Africa. However, there is a dearth of information in the literature on its clinicopathologic presentation in West...Full Text Available
... Pollimyrus adspersus is only known from Boma and Matadi, Lower Congo River basin and from the Lilanda ... Africa: Pollimyrus adspersus is present at Boma and Matadi, Lower Congo River basin and in the L...
Baobab fruit are harvested and used throughout Africa as an important source of food and are sold to generate income. Commercial use is increasing rapidly as derivatives of the fruit such as baobab seed oil and fruit pulp are being exported to Europe and North America. The cash derived from the sale of fruit support thousands of rural people. This study examines baobab fruit yields in an area being harvested for commercial use. It represents baobab populations and harvesting scenarios typically found in Southern Africa and is the first study in Africa to combine demographic and production data in determining baobab fruit yields. Fruit production was examined across five land-use types (nature reserves, rocky outcrops, plains, fields and villages) and over three consecutive years. Factors a...
The presence of antibodies to Rickettsia prowazeki in domestic animals from several parts of Africa, and the isolation of this rickettsia from the blood of goats and sheep and from...Full Text Available
The South White Rose oilfield, offshore Newfoundland, owned jointly by Husky Oil (82.5 per cent ) and Petro-Canada (17.5 per cent) is being developed using a floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) system. Some industry stakeholders claim that the oil should be produced using a concrete gravity base system as used in the Hibernia Field. However, Husky Oil officials are confident that the choice of the FPSO is well justified, based on its cost effectiveness and economic viability. Several production facility options have been assessed, taking into account feasibility, deliverability, economic attributes. risk and safety . The assessment results clearly pointed to FPSO as the preferred system based on its commercial and technical flexibility, proven track record in harsh environments, its ability to produce both oil and gas in sequential development, its promise of production at full capacity earlier than a gravity base system, and ...
ObjectivesTo determine what biodiversity data is held by record centres for the South Downs Lifescapes pilot area and the format in which it is stored.
... Received: February 22, 2010; Accepted: August 17, 2010 Hygrophila polysperma (Roxb.) T. Anderson. (ACANTHACEAE) Berkeley County: central part ... This is the first report for South Carolina. Hygrophila...
This document gathers the available presentations (articles and transparencies) given at this annual meeting, the 2007 topic of which was the technological, geopolitical, economical, environmental, societal and development stakes of energy. 1 - technological stakes - which energies for the future: new energies, illusion or solution of the future; the Lorraine region, an energy land: strategies and stakes for a sustainable development; from China to Brazil: understanding the nuclear energy revival; hydroelectric power: renewable and sustainable energy; renewable energies and environment protection: the contribution of biofuels; wind power in Germany between success and contestation; 2 - geopolitical stakes - energy levier of power: the Gulf of Guinea hydrocarbons: between development and geopolitics; the complex evaluation of resources and reserves between technology, market and geopolitics; the new Bakou-Tbilissi-Ceyhan pipeline: what impacts for Turkey and the European Union; 3 - ...
BackgroundSeventy percent of urban populations in sub-Saharan Africa live in slums. Sustaining HIV patients in these high-risk and highly mobile settings is a major future challenge....Full Text Available
Authors already reported the integrated system so called SODAS (System Of Design and Assembling for Shipbuilding) which was based on product model concept. And products in shipbuilding industry today are not limited to ship structures alone. Therefore, it is desirable that a more global product model which can describe another products such as offshore structures should be considered. In this paper, a product model of offshore structures is discussed. Compared with the case of ship structures, the distinctive feature in the design stage of offshore structures lies in the initial design stage. Thus in this paper, some of the new model in initial design stage are introduced. Some of them are `Function Element Model` which expresses functional concept by designers. In the other design stage, product information such as `Room` and `Part` which were already introduced in SODAS are used effectively for a product model of ...
Floating Production, Offshore Storage and Offloading (FPSO) of hydrocarbons is not new. However, offshore crude oil development has to face the increasing need of the geopolitical interests to develop smaller or difficult reservoir in remote areas in deeper water and harsher environment. Such a trend can only be sustained if the offshore technology provides the right tools at the right time and at an acceptable price. This article will attempt to describe the relative merits of FPSO systems and discuss its main components. An overview of the present world situation shows the excellent performance of the FPSO with the type of development strategy undertaken in P.R.C.
The Maritime Transportation Security Act of 2002 amended the Deepwater Port Act of 1974 to permit the construction of offshore liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals. Terminals with environmentally destructive open-loop regasification systems were quickly approved in the Gulf of Mexico. This study analyzed the political methods of the George W. Bush administration to determine how it developed offshore LNG. Findings showed that the Bush administration worked closely with the energy industry to promote national energy security and limited the role of certain federal and state agencies through a centralized policy process.
The article presents briefly the plans of the British Petroleum Oil Company for a new hydrogen power plant that includes an offshore platform in the North Sea.
On April 20, 2010 the Deepwater Horizon offshore drilling rig located in the Gulf of Mexico experienced an explosion resulting in at least 11 deaths and creating ...
Safety in general and harmonization of International Maritime Organization rules on mobile offshore drilling rig operation in particular are discussed. The improvement of the industry's safety record is also discussed.
The offshore and inshore wave energy resource in Asturias (N Spain) is studied using wave buoy data and a hindcast dataset spanning 44 years (1958-2001). Offshore average wave power and annual wave energy values are found to exceed 30 kW/m and 250 MWh/m, respectively, at 7 of the 11 study sites. This substantial resource is characterised in terms of the sea states involved. Most of the energy is provided by IV quadrant waves with significant wave heights between 2 m and 5 m and energy periods between 11 s and 13 s. After analysing the offshore resource, numerical modelling is used to investigate the inshore wave patterns. A coastal wave model is validated with wave buoy data and applied to three case studies representative of storm, winter and summer conditions. Inshore wave energy concent...
Jan 12, 2010 ... Visual simulation of offshore liquefied natural gas (lng) terminals in a decision-making context. Baird, Brian E.; Sheppard, Stephen R. J.; ...
May 13, 2010 ... Abstract: On April 20, 2010, an explosion occurred on the semi-submersible offshore drilling rig Deepwater Horizon in the Gulf of Mexico, ...
Due to the advantages of the flexibility and economics in exploration and production of offshore liquefied natural gas (LNG), the floating production storage and offloading unit for liquefied natural gas (LNG-FPSO) has attracted wide attentions in recent years. The offloading system for LNG transportation from LNG-FPSO to LNG carrier is one of the most important parts in LNG-FPSO. The influences of the main parameters such as the mass flow rate and the height difference of the pipeline. on the performance of LNG offloading in offshore associated gas fields were investigated. A model based on a typical offshore LNG offloading system was first established and simulations were conducted. The governing equations were then used to evaluate the effects of parameters together with the simulation ...
ContextCost advantage has been one of the primary drivers of successful offshoring engagements of Indian software and services companies. However, the emphasis has shifted to the ability of the vendors to provide high quality over cost advantage in delivering software products and services. Meeting high quality requirements of the clients is a challenge due to the very nature of development and delivery of software through offshoring. ObjectiveThe objective of this research paper is to identify and evaluate the key determinants of quality in the case of software projects delivered through offshoring model. MethodA detailed survey was conducted among project managers/project leaders (leads) of a leading midsize Indian IT services company to evaluate the relationship of the determinants on t...
IntroductionFocusing on people and organizations, this paper aims to contribute to offshore safety assessment by proposing a methodology to model causal relationships.MethodThe methodology is proposed in a general sense that it will be capable of accommodating modeling of multiple risk factors considered in offshore operations and will have the ability to deal with different types of data that may come from different resources. Reason's ?Swiss cheese?? model is used to form a generic offshore safety assessment framework, and Bayesian Network (BN) is tailored to fit into the framework to construct a causal relationship model. The proposed framework uses a five-level-structure model to address latent failures within the causal sequence of events. The five levels include Root causes level, Tr...
Abstract The baobab tree, with more than 300 uses and commercial value in EU and United States, has been identified as one of the most important trees to be conserved and domesticated in Africa. A decline in baobab populations because of changes in climate could have a negative effect on African livelihoods. Therefore, it is important to study the potential future distribution of this species and determine strategies for conservation. We used Maxent, 480 geo-referenced records, present and future climatic and soil layers. Different general circulation models and scenarios were selected. Models were simulated for (i) All records, (ii) East Africa and (iii) West Africa species records. For each combination, the proportion of the present habitat that might remain suitable in the future was de...
The model was based on a SEDCO 700 series semi-submersible offshore drilling rig used for operations in the North Sea. This report supplements earlier work on wind-heeling moments which are required to establish stability criteria on semi-submersibles. Wi...
Wind-tunnel measurements were taken of the time-average aerodynamic forces and moments on a notional model of a semi-submersible offshore drilling rig at two heights and at various attitudes to the wind. Attempts were made to analyze the separate effects ...
Pile foundations are extensively used to support off-shore and on-shore structures. Under dynamic loads, the behavior of single pile is well understood. However the soil-pile-soil interaction studies are confusing, on which account the analyses do not necessarily predict response of the systems which may match satisfactorily with the performances. In this paper, the nature of dynamic loads is described, and solutions for soil-pile and pile-soil-pile interaction solutions by several authors are presented and a critical evaluation is made.
The position paper will provide the basis for further strategies on offshore wind power development in consideration of ecological and conservation aspects. [German] Das Positionspapier des Bundesministeriums fuer Umwelt, Naturschutz und Reaktorsicherheit (BMU) einschliesslich des Umweltbundesamtes (UBA) und des Bundesamtes fuer Naturschutz (BfN) ist Ergebnis der Arbeiten der BMU-Projektgruppe 'Windenergienutzung im Offshore-Bereich im Hinblick auf die BMU-Anliegen'. Es beschreibt den derzeitigen Stand einer Strategie zur umwelt- und naturvertraeglichen Erschliessung der Windenergienutzung auf See (Offshore). Es bildet die Grundlage fuer die Weiterentwicklung dieser Strategie und dabei insbesondere zur Abstimmung mit den Anliegen anderer Bundesressorts und den Kuestenlaendern, sowie zur intensiveren Einbeziehung beteiligter Verbaende und Fachkreise. Vor dem Hintergrund der zur Genehmigung eingereichten ...
The invention deals with an offshore drilling or production platform in particular designed for quake-active areas. The platform rests on the sea bed with a low-gravitational weight and anchored to stabilized pile foundations absorbing the horizontal and vertical acting forces from earthquakes. The platform including pillars can be made of different materials, prestressed concrete in particular. 3 figs.
This book shows the severe environmental price we pay for offshore oil drilling, and shows how citizens can take action to protect the nation's shores. This is a handbook for anyone with a stake in the health of the environment. It includes alternatives for decreasing our reliance on offshore drilling, and guidelines for citizens who want to make their opposition heard.
Clastic sediments of Albian age provide hydrocarbon source rocks, reservoirs and seals. Major reservoirs occur in sandstones to the north, and have a limited reservoir potential in offshore Qatar. Distal shales are a major seal in offshore Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Oman. Local source-rock potential exists in the northern part of the Arabian Gulf and in the extreme SE of Saudi Arabia (in the Rub Al Khali Basin). (author)
The purpose of the invention is to simplify assembly and to reduce labor intensity. This is achieved by the fact that the assembly shaft is positioned in a hawser, while its wall which is turned towards the body of the installation is combined with the hawser wall, where a U shaped opening is made in the wall of the assembly shaft, along the edges of which there is a hermetically sealing device, while the bottom of the body of the offshore drilling rig is equipped with a rigid insert attached with the capability of adjoining it with the hermetically sealing device.
As its indigenous gas supplies decline, the UK will need to import more gas. In November 2006, the Department of Trade and Industry issued a consultation on revising the consent regime for offshore gas storage and offshore liquefied natural gas unloading. A total of 27 responses had been received by the closing date of 16 February 2007 from a variety of interest parties including developers and their representative organisations, consultants, environmental organisations, maritime organisations, heritage organisations and other public bodies. This report presents the Government's response to the views expressed by these respondents. The majority of respondents supported the Government's proposals to put in place new legislation to permit offshore gas storage activities. Many believed new legislation was necessary to provide the legal certainty necessary ro encourage offshore development ...
A modified boundary element approach was used to analyze the response of offshore piles subjected to external soil movements. The computer model employed to solve the pile-soil problem was able to model pile head and tip loading, and loading caused by lateral movement of soil. A nonlinear pile-soil interface element with the ability to represent a hardening or softening plastic response prior to reaching an ultimate state was incorporated. With the program, 4 failure modes can be determined: flow of the soil slide past an intact stationary pile; rotation of the pile with the soil at failure along the full pile length; translation of the pile with the sliding soil, resulting in failure of the supporting soil; and the long-pile mode, in which the maximum bending moment in the pile reaches the yield moment of the pile before complete development of the other 3 modes. Theoretical solutions for a realistic hypothetical offshore pile subjected to ...
National and international organizations have paid particular attention to the use of food irradiation as a method to reduce postharvest food losses, to ensure hygienic quality of foods-especially those of animal origin, and to overcome certain non-tariff barriers to trade for the following reasons: (1) The increasingly strict standards for quality and quarantine in food trade. (2) The increasingly restrictions and prohibitions of fumigants of food for health or environmental reasons. (3) The increasing awareness of foodborne diseases in both advanced and developing countries. (4) The high postharvest losses of foods in developing countries. (5) The increase liberalization of food trade after GATT Uruguay Round, and the need to maintain or increase export of food and agricultural commodities and to be competitive in the world market. Irradiated foods have been commercialized since 1973 when the first potato irradiator was established at the Shihoro Agricultural Cooperative, Hokkaido, ...
BackgroundIn Africa low birth weight (LBW) (<2500 g), is the strongest determinant of infant morbidity and mortality. The aim of this study was to quantify the effect of...Full Text Available
BackgroundDespite having the largest population in Africa, Nigeria has no accurate population based data to plan and evaluate eye care services. A national survey was undertaken...Full Text Available
BackgroundCharacterizing infectious disease burden in Africa is important for prioritizing and targeting limited resources for curative and preventive services and monitoring the...Full Text Available
BackgroundCholera has claimed many lives throughout history and it continues to be a global threat, especially in countries in Africa. The disease is listed as one of three internationally...Full Text Available
The pyrethroid knockdown resistance gene (kdr) has become widespread in Anopheles gambiae in West Africa. A trial to test the continuing efficacy of insecticide-treated...Full Text Available
Bartonella species are being recognized as important bacterial human and canine pathogens, and are associated with multiple arthropod vectors. Bartonella DNA extracted...Full Text Available
This paper summarizes the findings for the African Region of the WPA Task Force on Steps, Obstacles and Mistakes to Avoid in the Implementation of Community Mental Health Care. We present an overview...Full Text Available
Increasing attention has been given to human monkeypox since the achievement of global smallpox eradication. Monkeypox, which was first described in Central Africa in 1970, resembles smallpox clinically...Full Text Available
Background and AimsThe small leafy succulent shrub Halocnemum strobilaceum occurs in saline habitats from northern Africa and Mediterranean Europe to western Asia,...Full Text Available
BackgroundIn sub-Saharan Africa, Plasmodium falciparum malaria in pregnancy presents an enormous diagnostic challenge. The epidemiological and clinical relevance...Full Text Available
BackgroundTrypanosomosis is a major impediment to livestock farming in sub-Saharan Africa and limits the full potential of agricultural development in the 36 countries where it is...Full Text Available
AT AFRICA (O.F.) AIDO1 SYMMES CREEK AT AID ALLO1 MAHONING RIVER AT ALLIANCE ALZO1 ALEXANDRIA AMDO1 AMSTERDAM ARMO1 CAPTINA CREEK AT SR 148 AT ARMSTRONG MILLS ASVO1 WALNUT CREEK...
The occurrence of outbreaks of cholera in Africa in 1970 and in Latin America in 1991, mainly in coastal communities, and the appearance of the new serotype Vibrio cholerae O139 in...Full Text Available
Coercive experiences at sexual debut have been shown to be associated with other sexual risks throughout the life course. Using nationally representative surveys from 12–19 year old...Full Text Available
BackgroundIn malarious areas of the world, a higher proportion of the population has blood group O than in non-malarious areas. This is probably due to a survival advantage conferred...Full Text Available
ObjectiveThere has been much debate about the value of condoms in HIV/STI programming. This should be informed by evidence about intervention impact on condom use, but there is limited...Full Text Available
DescriptionRoot-knot nematodes (Meloidogyne spp.) are major nematode pests of most tropical crops, making roots less efficient at withdrawing nutrients and water from soil, sometimes causing the total failure of crops grown by resource-poor farmers in Africa. Nematicides are some of the most toxic products used in crop protection, and are inappropriate or too expensive for use on most crops in Africa and there is an urgent need for new methods of nematode management. The fungus Pochonia chlamydosporia is [continued...
ObjectiveTo investigate the associations between intimate partner violence, rape and HIV among South African men.DesignCross-sectional study involving...Full Text Available
... verges of a two-lane highway in continuous Jarrah Eucalyptus marginata forest of south-western Australia. Midway during this ... Birds were recorded from the beginning of continuous Jarrah Eucalyptus marg...
This document is a collection of spreadsheets detailing in a county by county manner the agricultural crop, agricultural wastes, municipal wastes, and industrial wastes of South Carolina that are potential biomass energy sources.
AimTo estimate the prevalence and causes of blindness and visual impairment in the population aged 40 years and over in Muyuka, a rural district in the South West Province...Full Text Available
BackgroundRecent advances in the understanding of the maternal and paternal heritage of south and southwest Asian populations have highlighted their role in the colonization of Eurasia...Full Text Available
BackgroundScorpion venom contains insect and mammal selective toxins. We investigated the venom of the South Indian red scorpion, Mesobuthus tamulus for the purpose...Full Text Available
Glossitis among U.S. military working dogs in South Vietnam was characterized by variable redness and loss of papillae on the anterodorsal third of the tongue; salivation, drooling, and inappetence were the principal clinical signs. Symptomatic treatment ...
We report on genetic identification of ‘whale meat’ purchased in sushi restaurants in Los Angeles, CA (USA) in October 2009 and in Seoul, South Korea in June and September 2009. Phylogenetic...Full Text Available
... east Nigeria) and has also been recorded from south west Cameroon. Only two records; that from Angola the locality ... east Nigeria) and has also been recorded from south-west Cameroon. It is inferred tha...
Multibeam backscatter imagery extracted from gridded bathymetry of Rose Island, American Samoa, South Pacific. These data provide coverage between 20 ... ...
... TTP tactics, techniques, and procedures UCP Unified ... be sold or transferred to Pakistan, pursuant to ... substantial amounts of those funds being spent ...
The Offshore Comet is a modern offshore drilling rig with a hydraulic-cylinder-actuated jacking (raising and lowering) system. Hydraulic-cylinder jacking provides a safe and efficient method for placing the rig at the desired height above the water and insuring that it can withstand the expected heavy loads imposed by machinery, supplies, and the ocean environment. The drilling rig consists of a steel-hulled barge that is floated to the site and then supported during drilling operations by four steel triangular-cross-section lattice legs. The legs are planted firmly on the ocean bottom by a procedure called preloading. Each leg with its integral footing weighs 657 tons. The barge with its deck load can weigh up to 9200 tons.
Background, Aim, and Scope The identification and assessment of environmental tradeoffs is a strongpoint of life cycle assessment (LCA). A tradeoff made in many product systems is the exchange of potential for occupational accidents with the additional use of energy and materials. Net benefits of safety measures with respect to human health are best illustrated if the consequences avoided and health impacts induced by additional emissions are assessed using commensurable metrics. Our aim is to develop a human health impact indicator for offshore crane lifts. Crane lifts are a major cause of accidents on offshore oil and gas (O & G) rigs, and health impacts from crane lift accidents should be included in comparative LCA of O & G technologies if the alternatives differ in the use of crane li...
The PARLOC Pipeline and Incident Databases provide the most complete information available on North Sea pipelines and risers from 1975. The database information enables the frequency of incidents which either result, or have a potential to result, in loss of containment to be related to the pipeline population as a whole or expressed as a function of particular pipeline characteristics. The importance of the PARLOC study in risk assessments of offshore pipelines is acknowledged worldwide and it is recognized as having contributed positively to their safer operation. Continuing improvements ensure that it remains a key reference in risk assessment studies. This paper describes the improvements which are being made to the study and shows how PARLOC is being used by the offshore industry in the consideration of pipeline safety. The rationalization of current arrangements for regulating pipeline safety presented in the new UK Pipeline Safety ...
Mobile offshore drilling rigs are used to drill, complete and workover wellbores in marine environments. The fleet that exists today consists of a wide variety of vessels built to various specifications over the past three decades, and because they operate in harsh, corrosive environments, they wear out structurally and require periodic maintenance. Rig designs have evolved with changes in operating requirements and new technology and rigs are frequently modified and upgraded, depending upon market conditions, operator preferences and other factors. The construction and replacement costs of offshore rigs are often used for management planning, financial valuation and insurance analysis, and because of the wide variety of designs, specifications and upgrades, cost estimates vary widely. In ...
Remote, offshore gas reserves have long been a challenging deepwater petroleum resource to tap. Natural gas in many offshore regions is plentiful, but lacks access to the market because of the logistical challenges and costs. Most large offshore gas discoveries are capped, and gas associated with oil production is re-injected into the reservoir or is flared. A more attractive option is to convert the gas into a liquid product on a floating production, storage, and offloading (FPSO) vessel. However, some conventional process technologies are not well suited for operation on floating vessels that are highly space and weight constrained and may challenge vessel stability during inclement weather. Microchannel process technology units under development offer intensified processes that are suit...
In 1982 the semi-submersible drilling unit Ocean Ranger capsized and sank off the Grand Banks, resulting in the loss of the entire 84-man crew. A Royal Commission was set up to conduct an enquiry into the incident, and to carry out a process of research and opinion-gathering towards providing recommendations to both federal and Newfoundland governments. The primary purpose of the Commission was to determine why the Ocean Ranger sank, why none of the crew were saved, and how to avoid similar disasters. A number of studies and seminars were held to focus expert knowledge and opinion in several key fields and to update studies and fill gaps in the data base. Summaries of selected study reports and the seminar proceedings are presented in the following areas: the environment, including ice, marine climatology, weather forecasting services, wave climatology, oceanographic information, and seabed information; design, including mobile offshore drilling rig design ...
Apr 25, 2010... oil per day were leaking from an oil well in the Gulf of Mexico in late April, following an explosion at an offshore drilling rig on April 20, 2010. ...
The first offshore wind farm in Sweden; Bockstigen, consists of five 500 kW stall controlled wind turbines on mono pile foundations. The main objectives of the technical evaluation are to verify the original design assumptions made for a load carrying mono pile and bedrock, investigate offshore power production versus onshore ditto as well as to determine park effects and analyse meteorological multi-mast statistics which serve as reference data to a newly developed computer code for offshore wind energy potential mapping. The 'main' measurement system has continuously been acquiring data at 1 and 20 Hz/channel since the summer of 1998. A 40 m meteorological mast was built within the wind farm in the summer of 1999 in order to acquire relatively undisturbed wind speed data from 'free' sectors as well as to enable wake measurements. The mono pile and tower of one of the turbines are ...
Oil and gas resources in the offshore areas of the US constitute a significant portion of US recoverable hydrocarbon resources. The exploration, development and production of these offshore resources in California, however, could have significant air quality implications for coastal air basins. This study was developed to address a problem that frequently arises with offshore air quality assessments. Typically, such assessments are performed for a specific activity scenario (e.g., a Federal OCS Lease Sale involving a projected number of drilling rigs, platforms, pipelines, etc.) and assume a projected (but uncertain) level of recoverable oil and gas resources. This study enables interested parties to estimate air emissions and impacts for a wide range of OCS-related development scenarios. The modular emission calculation procedure and the generic impact assessment provide for maximum flexibility in reassessing the emissions ...
Field campaigns were conducted in 1981 and 1982/83 on the Dutch coast near Egmond. Measurements were made of surface elevations, water velocities and sediment concentrations in 3 to 8 surf zone locations and 2 to 5 offshore locations simultaneously. A des...
Due to the advantages of the flexibility and economics in exploration and production of offshore liquefied natural gas (LNG), the floating production storage and offloading unit for liquefied natural gas (LNG-FPSO) has attracted wide attentions in recent years. The offloading system for LNG transportation from LNG-FPSO to LNG carrier is one of the most important parts in LNG-FPSO. The influences of the main parameters such as the mass flow rate and the height difference of the pipeline. on the performance of LNG offloading in offshore associated gas fields were investigated. A model based on a typical offshore LNG offloading system was first established and simulations were conducted. The governing equations were then used to evaluate the effects of parameters together with the simulation results. It was found that there was an economic mass flow rate for practical design on balance of the cost in pump head and BOG. The ...
Independent drilling contractors own all offshore drilling rigs, which they lease to oil and gas companies for use in their pursuit of their exploration and development plans. Oil and gas companies' demand for these rigs can vary quickly and dramatically in response to changes in the world market for oil and natural gas. As a result, drilling contractors often try to manage excess capacity by idling rigs (known in the industry as "stacking" a rig), reactivating them when demand recovers. This paper examines these decisions over the course of a price cycle in 1998-2000 to investigate the role of firm and rig heterogeneity in determining drillers' decisions about idling and reactivating capacity.
A shock absorber mechanism and method for use on the leg structure of a jack-up offshore drilling rig is described. It is mounted on the bottom of each existing leg of a drilling rig and comprises a pointed piston member which is positioned on the bottom of the leg structure and projects downwards through the can/footing of the rig leg. The piston member is held in place by a resilient tension member which is designed to absorb shock forces during vertical/axial impact of the leg structure when contact is made with the ocean floor. (author).
Procedures followed in designing for offshore production rigs in the Northeastern Areas of the Campos Basin are presented. Various advantages afforded by the mast in the performance of required tasks are analyzed, along with all calculation premises and methods for adequate sizing. Standards covering mast design, materials used in manufacture, and test routines are also examined. (author). 16 figs., 3 tabs., 11 refs
This paper describes the safety system and training for personnel on board the floating production storage and offloading (FPSO II) currently working in the Cadlao Field, offshore Palawan in the Philippine Islands. (See Figure 1). The crude oil being produced has wellstream hydrogen sulfide concentrations up to 6000 PPM. Concentrations of hydrogen sulfide at 700 PPM or higher can be immediately dangerous to life and every effort must be made to ensure personnel safety.
The Mittelplate oilfield is located in the Waddensea tidelands 8 km off the north sea coast and represents Germany's largest oilfield. Since Mittelplate oil production has started in 1987, RWE Dea AG being the operator in a 50/50 joint venture with Wintershall AG, has continually implemented and improved the sophisticated technology required to exploit natural resources by using safe and environmentally compatible means in the sensitive tideland environment of Mittelplate. Besides the sucessful offshore operations from the man-made Mittelplate Drilling and Production Island, further onshore development has started in 2000 by producing from high-tech ERD wells drilled from onshore locations. The offshore oil production had been transported so far by specially designed tug and tow barges and had been restricted by weather and tide. To overcome this bottleneck and to enable an accelerated offshore drilling and ...
ObjectivesIn the long term, we aim to improve understanding of the relationships between ecosystem services, water resources, food production and poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa. Specifically, we seek to understand how local communities deal with climate-related risk and uncertainty and the opportunities they have - or could have - in shaping adaptation planning around pro-poor, small-scale irrigation and to identify priorities for ecosystem management, particularly in terms of pro-poor water allocation. In [continued...]DescriptionIncreased food production is widely considered to be a fundamental step toward the reduction of poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Although the agricultural sector account for two-thirds of the labour force, SSA is the only region in the world where per capita food production declined over the latter half of the 20th century. It also remains highly vulnerable to extreme climate variability and future climate change ...
Local communities in southern Africa derive many benefits from marula [Sclerocarya birrea (A. Rich.) Hochst. subsp. caffra (Sond.) Kokwaro]. These include the contribution of this species towards health, nutrition, food security and conservation by sharing local skills and knowledge related to it. Marula fruits can be eaten fresh, squeezed to make juice, brewed in traditional beer or used to make jam and jelly. The kernels are also edible and can be pressed to extract oil for cooking and cosmetics, i.e., for skin and hair application. The bark, roots, seeds and leaves are exploited for traditional medicinal purposes. Marula has acquired significant commercial value since its fruits and other products have entered local, regional and international trade in southern Africa. To diversify frui...
This study revisits the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis for water pollution by using a recent dynamic technique, which is the generalized method of moments (GMM) approach, for a board sample of 97 countries during the period 1980-2001. On a global scale, as we cannot obtain the EKC relationship between real income and biological oxygen demand (BOD) emissions, this paper further classifies these countries into four regional groups - Africa, Asia and Oceania, America, and Europe - to explore whether the different regions have different ECK relationships. The empirical results show evidence of the inverted U-shaped EKC relationships' existence in America and Europe, but not in Africa and Asia and Oceania. Thus, the regional difference of EKC for water pollution is supported. Furthermore, the estimated turning points are, approximately, US$13,956 and US$38,221 for America and Europe, respectively.
This study revisits the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis for water pollution by using a recent dynamic technique, which is the generalized method of moments (GMM) approach, for a board sample of 97 countries during the period 1980-2001. On a global scale, as we cannot obtain the EKC relationship between real income and biological oxygen demand (BOD) emissions, this paper further classifies these countries into four regional groups - Africa, Asia and Oceania, America, and Europe - to explore whether the different regions have different ECK relationships. The empirical results show evidence of the inverted U-shaped EKC relationships' existence in America and Europe, but not in Africa and Asia and Oceania. Thus, the regional difference of EKC for water pollution is supported. Furthermore, the estimated turning points are, approximately, US$13,956 and US$38,221 for America and Europe, respectively.
This study revisits the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis for water pollution by using a recent dynamic technique, which is the generalized method of moments (GMM) approach, for a board sample of 97 countries during the period 1980-2001. On a global scale, as we cannot obtain the EKC relationship between real income and biological oxygen demand (BOD) emissions, this paper further classifies these countries into four regional groups - Africa, Asia and Oceania, America, and Europe - to explore whether the different regions have different ECK relationships. The empirical results show evidence of the inverted U-shaped EKC relationships' existence in America and Europe, but not in Africa and Asia and Oceania. Thus, the regional difference of EKC for water pollution is supported. Furthermore, the estimated turning points are, approximately, US$13,956 and US$38,221 for America and Europe, respectively. (author)
The benefits provided by underutilised fruit tree species such as baobab (Adansonia digitata L.) in combating increasing malnutrition and poverty become more apparent as awareness grows regarding concerns of climate change and food security. Due to its multiple uses, its high nutritional and medicinal value, drought tolerance and relatively easy cultivation, baobab has been identified as one of the most important edible forest trees to be conserved, domesticated and valued in Africa. In order to contribute towards the cultivation of the species, suitability of sites in Africa and worldwide was evaluated for potential cultivation using species? locality data and spatial environmental data in MAXENT modelling framework. A total of 450 geo-referenced records of the baobab tree were assembled ...
Sorghum is a good candidate crop for breeding to increase provitamin A, i.e., biofortification. Yellow endosperm sorghums contain carotenoids, including precursors of vitamin A, and sorghum is a major staple crop in areas of Asia and Africa where vitamin A deficiency is prevalent. Our objective was to collect and characterize yellow endosperm sorghums as a potential new source of genetic diversity to increase provitamin A content. A set of 164 landraces were collected from southern Niger and northern Nigeria. The most important use of these cultivars was as food. The endosperm exhibited a significant variation in yellow intensity. Lutein, zeaxanthin and ?-carotene were the most abundant carotenoids in the ten landraces with the most intense yellow color. Cluster analysis, principal coordin...
The state of exploration in the Terra Nova field offshore Newfoundland, and the progress in constructing the floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) at Bull Arm, the assembly site west of St. John's for the Terra Nova vessel, are described. Comparisons are made between the excitement created by the first production well at Leduc in Western Canada in 1947, and the offshore developments currently underway and accelerating offshore Newfoundland. It is estimated that exploration and development offshore had barely touched the surface, with only 160 wells of all types drilled to date, of which 48 exploration wells have uncovered 1.7 billion barrels of oil. The area is practically unexplored; the source rock is there, and the current estimate is that there are a number of basins in the offshore area that are several times the size of the Jeanne d'Arc Basin, ...
... Brewarrina Aboriginal Fish Traps (Baiame's Ngunnhu) - National Heritage - New South Wales http://www.environment.gov.au/heritage/places/...national/brewarrina/index.html Brewarrina Aboriginal Fish Traps (Baiame's Ngunnhu) - National Heritage - New South Wales Change text size Skip to ...Search You are here: Environment home »Heritage »Heritage places »National heritage places Brewarrina Aboriginal Fish Traps (Baiame's Ngunnhu), New South Wales ... The Brewarrina fish traps continue to be visible in the Darling River today and were included in the National Heritage List on 3 ...
In many industrialised societies, women remain underrepresented in the sciences, which can be predicted by the gender gap in math achievement at school. Using PISA 2006 data, we explore the role of family background and single-sex schooling in girls' disadvantage in maths in South Korea and Hong Kong. This disadvantage is found to be associated with single-sex schooling, but not with family background. Attending a girls' school confers a benefit only in South Korea, whereas the gendered curriculum counteracts the selectivity advantage of girls' schools in Hong Kong. We find that a gendered social structure prevalent in both societies.
The paper gives a detailed overview of the history of subsidence engineering in South African collieries. Surface displacements resulting from total-seam extraction are discussed, and the important role of local geology is highlighted. It is shown that the differences in subsidence behaviour between South African and European collieries can be attributed to the presence of competent strata in the overburden of South African coal seams. Criteria are given for the prediction of the most important subsidence parameters, and a new model for the simulation of surface subsidence above total-extraction panels is introduced. The final section of the paper deals with the damage to surface structures caused by total-seam extraction. A brief summary of the most important undermining experiments in South African collieries is given, and it is concluded that local experiences of damage compare with those in Europe. ...
although additional research is needed to corroborate such findings. Key words: Avicennia germinans; disturbance; downed wood; Everglades National Park; Hurricane Andrew;...
PurposeTo describe the prevalence of cataract in older people in 2 areas of north and south India.DesignPopulation-based, cross-sectional study.ParticipantsRandomly...Full Text Available
Health Iran Iraq Landmines Middle East Muslim Outreach Narcotics Nonproliferation North Korea Pakistan Piracy Reconstruction and Stabilization Sudan Trafficking in Persons War...
Shows the general distribution of Dall sheep in the Seldovia and Seward quadrangles. Data from Alaska Fish and Game Habitat Management maps of the South ... ...
... more so when that and he is leaving it with ... reminds me of the story about the sick man who ... fers based on industrial cooperation and the establish- ...
Description: Hurricane Hugo, which struck South Carolina in September of 1989, destroyed a significant proportion of the State's timber. Primary wood-products ...
... River at Ango Ango (4 km south of Matadi (upstream)), and the second on a small tributary ... proposal were to be adopted the site at Matadi would be lost. No conservation measures in place ...
measure meteorological variables and bulk water temper- ature. The locations of the buoys are given in Table 1. TB2 and TB3 were moved slightly farther south ...
Jan 25, 2006 ... Source positions are determined using matched-filter and centroiding .... The upper 1-sigma statistical error in the full-band counts. ...
... Stone, CR & Grover, CC Practice Readers ... Tolbert, M., Withers, S. & Watkins, HT, Good Workers All State Department of Education, Columbia, South ...
The Eiric Raude offshore drilling rig is a powerful machine that is suitable for drilling in harsh environments in ultra deep water. It has a total drilling depth of 8,200 to 10,000 metres and an operational displacement of 53,400 mt. The rig complies with the regulatory regimes of Norway, the United Kingdom and Canada. The Eiric Raude has drilled 5 deepwater wells offshore eastern Canada, 1 well offshore Cuba, 1 well west of Shetland, and 3 offshore Norway. The environmental criteria for extreme weather conditions consider wave, current and wind forces. The general operational guidelines were discussed along with key areas for prevention of environmental impact, including emissions from well testing, air emissions from diesel engines, cooling water, bunkering operations, discharges from drilling, accidental discharges, drain water, and domestic sewage. It was noted that the zero discharge philosophy is ...
The article surveys studies into the global warming which have found that the OECD countries are responsible for less than half of the total registered warming. Calculation and analysis methods for estimating the global contributions from the blocks of OECD, Africa/America/Middle East, Asia and former Soviet Union/Eastern Europe are presented. The results and some pollution abatement measures are discussed.
The ?new variant famine? hypothesis posits links between HIV/AIDS and new patterns of impoverishment, food insecurity and hunger, in southern and eastern Africa. This paper explores the relevance of the NVF hypothesis to understanding Swaziland?s recurrent food crises and high HIV prevalence. Evidence exists that all four markers of NVF are present in Swaziland. The national government and the international community will have to contend with this phenomenon in future planning for the wellbeing of Swazi citizens.
Pneumococcal disease in young children has not been as well characterized in East Africa as it has been in industrialized countries. Although pneumococci are likely to cause substantial mortality...Full Text Available
BackgroundWith 2.5 million new HIV infections per year, effective preventive methods against HIV are urgently needed, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. MDP301 is an ongoing trial...Full Text Available
The Hebron offshore drilling project in Atlantic Canada was discontinued in 2002 due to economic challenges. Chevron-Texaco has conducted small-scale studies to find ways to improve the project's viability. One of the main challenges facing this offshore drilling project is the issue of iceberg scour and its effect on seafloor equipment. This paper demonstrates how advances in ice engineering have resulted in new and cost-effective development concepts for: central gravity base structures; wellhead gravity base structures; floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) subsea facilities; and, long subsea tieback and trench optimization. New studies have provided a better understanding of ice contact pressures, drift velocities, iceberg management and interaction processes. New designs for gravity base structures can reduce wave loads. The selection of a new development concept is determined by economic viability, capital cost, ...
BHP Petroleum (BHPP) has now operated the 164 tonne per day Methanol Research Plant (MRP) located on the outskirts of Melbourne, Australia for over one year. This plant was commissioned in 1994 making first methanol on 17th October and has operated since then, selling product by pipeline to two local customers, ICI Adhesives and Borden Australia. The plant is based on the Leading Concept Methanol technology (LCM) licensed from ICI Katalco. Since 1985 BHPP has been involved in the development of Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) technology for the production of oil and gas offshore. In order to utilize the gas associated with oil on remote offshore oil production facilities the combination of gas conversion to methanol and existing FPSO technology is being investigated. The LCM technology being commercialized at the MRP is part of the strategy to demonstrate and develop LCM technology such that it could be located on the deck of ...
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) conducted a cost-effectiveness (CE) analysis to estimate the incremental cost of complying with the proposed effluent limitation guidelines (ELGs) for the coastal oil and gas industry (EPA 1995a). EPA`s CE analysis calculates the pounds of each pollutant that would be removed if the chosen discharge option is selected. In 1993, EPA issued final ELGs for the offshore oil and gas industry and published an offshore CE analysis. The chemical characteristics of produced water from the offshore region are essentially the same as those of produced water from the coastal region. It was surprising, therefore, that EPA chose a much longer list of pollutants and generally stricter weighting factors for the coastal CE analysis. This report reviews the data, assumptions, and analyses used in EPA`s coastal CE analysis and identifies alternate data, assumptions, and analyses that could lead to ...
Before expanding on the development of the Terra Nova oilfield, the author discussed the overall business strategy of Petro-Canada and identified where the Terra Nova and offshore Newfoundland oil have their place within this strategy. The principal basins and oilfields offshore Newfoundland were reviewed, then the emphasis shifted to rest on the Terra Nova development project. A whole range of topics were brought up, including the Floating Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) facility, the modules layout, the FPSO located at Bull Arm, and the floating production systems. The physical environment of the Grand Banks was highlighted, and the next few sections were devoted to the Terra Nova FPSO, FPSO and drill centres, the Turret General Arrangement, and Spider buoy including the disconnect/reconnect. The last four sections dealt with the animation of riser movement, the wellhead protection animation, Henry Goodrich, and operations ...
This paper considers the technical progress in offshore pipeline construction with limitation to some general subjects covering pipeline design, installation and start-up. In future the use of limit state pipeline design philosophy, may be implemented as an alternative to the stress based design commonly used to day giving a potential for further optimisation of the pipeline design and consequently reduction of the initial investment. Comprehensive research and development efforts in Norway in the second half of the 1970`s, made it technically feasible to cross the deep water Norwegian Trench in the 1980`s. In addition, the development of several offshore pipeline systems until to day including gas distribution systems to the European continent, have brought Norway to the forefront of technical expertise
On ships, tankers and similar vessels structural defects such as cracks and corrosion damage are typically repaired by welding. However, welding is unwanted hotwork on floating offshore units (FOUs) such as floating, production, storage and offloading (FPSO) and floating, storage and offloading (FSO) vessels because it requires shutdown of parts of the vessel thus resulting in expensive production delays. Bonded fibre composite material patch repairs can be used as an alternative to overcome the hazards of hotwork associated with welding. The patches are bonded over the defect and the integrity of the original structure is hence restored. The patch repair technology can also be utilised to provide upgrades, such as life extensions and higher design requirements. A recommended practice (RP)...
The moderate earthquake of magnitude 5.2 was occurred at the offshore Uljin on the 29 May 2004. The magnitude of the event is the largest one which is equal to that of the Sokrisan earthquake on the 16 September 1978 since the beginning of the instrumental recording by the Korean Metrological Administration (KMA) in 1978. The magnitude of the event was large enough to be felt in a wide area of the southern Korea. It did not affect the safety of the Uljin nuclear power plant (NPP) site which is about 80 km away from the epicenter. In this article, we estimate source parameters of the event and evaluate preliminary seismic safety of the Uljin NPP site regarding the event as an empirical Green's function (EGF)
The phased field development of the Lion and Panthere fields, offshore the Ivory Coast, includes a small floating production, storage, and offloading (FPSO) tanker with minimal processing capability as an early oil production system (EPS). For the long-term production scheme, the FPSO will be replaced by a converted jack up mobile offshore production system (MOPS) with full process equipment. The development also includes guyed-caisson well platforms, pipeline export for natural gas to fuel an onshore power plant, and a floating storage and offloading (FSO) tanker for oil export. Pipeline export for oil is a future possibility. This array of innovative strategies and techniques seldom has been brought together in a single project. The paper describes the development plan, early oil, jack up MOPS, and transport and installation.
The use of Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessels to develop UK offshore oil fields looks certain to increase. Of the 64 new offshore fields due for development in the next few years, 15 are expected to use FPSO vessels for their production. Most of these are small, short-life fields in the central North Sea which would not justify investment in a fixed platform. Three, however, are large fields west of Shetland, and one, the Foinaven field, is scheduled to be the first commercial development in this area, perhaps setting a precedent. Floating production systems with substantial storage capacity can be the best option in deepwater locations which are remote from existing infrastructure, where the cost of an export pipeline would be prohibitive. (author)
The purpose of this rulemaking is to amend the effluent limitations guidelines and standards for the control of discharges of certain pollutants associated with the use of synthetic-based drilling fluids (SBFs) and other non-aqueous drilling fluids in portions of the Offshore Subcategory and Cook Inlet portion of the Coastal Subcategory of the Oil and Gas Extraction Point Source Category. These proposed limitations apply to discharges or effluent generated when oil and gas wells are drilled using SBFs or other non-aqueous drilling fluids (collectively referred to simply as SBFs) in coastal and offshore regions in locations where drilling wastes may be discharged.
The Jeanne d`Arc Basin is located 320 km offshore in the Grand Banks of Newfoundland. It is a Mesozoic failed-rift basin with recoverable oil reserves of about 2 billion barrels. Its huge Hibernia Field will be in production by late 1997. The basin has been reappraised using sequence stratigraphic concepts, and renewed exploration in the area is expected. The Upper Jurassic - Lower Cretaceous sedimentary accumulation in the Basin was formed by the extensional tectonics that created the North Atlantic Ocean. The sedimentary packages were placed in chronostratigraphic order by calibrating the biostratigraphy of the Oxfordian to Maastrichtian section to the detailed ammonite zonation from the North Sea.
ObjectivesThe practical exploitation of tidal stream energy is limited by man's activities in coastal waters: navigation, fishing and~%~leisure pursuits. It is important therefore to make the best use of the sites, which are available. The main objective of the~%~Proposed study is to assess the limits imposed by waves on the performance of tidal stream rotors, and to investigate way:~%~in which these limits might be related by refinements in rotor design and the control of operating conditions. Secondary~ [continued...]DescriptionHorizontal aids wind turbines have been recognised as one of the most successful renewable energy saving devices. The use of the similar concept as a 'tidy stream rotor' in offshore environment appears to be even more compelling. However, the application of this concept will require the confirmation of various operational and environmental limitations due to complexities of offshore environment compared to those of on ...
A historical review of floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) systems for marginal fields is presented. The areas in which such systems are operating, ranges of model tests, and current applicability of mooring systems are reviewed to present capabilities of these concepts. Limitations are reviewed to assess the applicability of these concepts to similar sites. Consideration of processing operations on floating vessels are identified. Particularly, the effects of vessel motion on the processing equipment, gas disposal, and crude offloading are addressed. It will be shown that operations are becoming well understood and routine. Future problem areas and solutions under development are identified. Specific examples are cited and design refinements are noted. While various floating production systems have been in operation for only a few years, their potential for solving the problems of producing small offshore fields and for achieving early production is ...
Various theories and examples of modelling, forecasting and optimization designing in the different parts of the petroleum and gas industries are presented, stochastic programming for long term planning in the refining industry, stochastic model for gasoline blending, feedstock optimization, location and sizing for offshore platforms, hydrocarbon exploration simulation rapid method, valuation of oil field development leases, economic models for petroleum allocation, models for oil supply market, trade embargo game theory, stochastic programming of gas contract portfolio management, scheduling transportation of oil and gas, strategic planning in an oil pipeline company, simulation of offshore oil terminal systems, hierarchical selection of oil and gas distribution systems.
Corrosion is said to be the most dominant factor which affects the physical life of ships and offshore structures. In order to secure the structural safety of ships and offshore structures, it is necessary to take measures to corrosion based on the prediction of condition of progressive corrosion. But such prediction is difficult because the behavior of corrosion`s progress is probabilistic. In this paper, probabilistic model, which could evaluate the degradation of coatings and the successive corrosion of steel members, was proposed in order to explain the tendency of the actual corrosion conditions of existing ships. Then, statistical inferences on the proposed model were made by applying the actual data on plate thickness measurements of Bulk Carriers` Cargo Hold. And validity of the proposed model was verified.
A procedure for lowering an offshore rig support block into water, one with water displacement elements, including transfering a structure ready for installation from construction supports onto the grillage that has been set up on the slide, and then lowering the structure together with the grillage into the water. With the goal of dereasing the volume of hydrotechnical operations, the slides have been extended only to the waterline, and the water-displacing elements of the support block are mounted or the structure in a manner whereby the following conditions are fulfilled: Msigmaless than or equal toM /SUB wi/ sigma-W/Lless than or equal toq where Msigma, M /SUB w/ - are the mass moments of the support block and bouyancy forces correspond to the threshhold; sigma and W - the weight force and bouyancy; L - the support length of the block on the grillage; q - the allowable linear load for the support block structure.
The South China Sea is an area of disputes on sovereignty and resource jurisdiction claims. As one of the six claimants, the Republic of China (Taiwan) has played an important role not only because it is the originator of the U-shaped lines, but also it has continuously occupied the largest island, Tai-Ping-Dao, in the Spratlys. This article reviews the ROC's position on the issues through an exploration of its maritime claims to the territorial sea, continental shelf, and exclusive economic zone.
This autumn, Nice welcomed the thirteen European photovoltaic conference. It was the occasion for the world of solar energy to measure technical progress which were carried out and the market which are still to win. If developing countries are a reserve of new markets, they are not solvent and programmes depend on North/South negotiations. (N.C.).
This paper will describe the application of power generation by the use of microturbine technology by Capstone Turbine Corporation throughout South America. The purpose of this paper is to describe the technology and the experience gained over the last six years. The microturbines are power generation systems that produce energy from a diverse range of liquid or gaseous fuels. The generator is driven by a small gas turbine with a common shaft for the rotors of the generator and the engine. (author)
Significant recent writings have suggested strong parallels and actual links between the historical legal architectures of Canadian Aboriginal policy and South African apartheid. This article's further probing of these claims shows them to be very doubtful. At the same time, some more limited legal parallels between the two systems shows the importance of undertaking further analysis of the transmission and exchange of legal ideas and norms within the Commonwealth order.
HOAI und Vergabe - erste Erfahrungen mit den Novellen 29. Stahlbauseminar INTAB+ Seminar 2010 Verbundbrucken mit integralen Widerlagern Hamburg Offshore Wind Conference 2010Perfect know-HOW Leichtbausysteme aus Stahl fur Dach und Fassade. Energie- und kosteneffiziente Losungen fur Neu- und Bestandsbau Lubecker Bautag
An integrated multiwell floating production, storage, and offloading (FPSO) facility was successfully installed at the Tazerka field offshore Tunisia in 1982. Because there is good reason to believe that the installation techniques developed for the Tazerka FPSO can be applied to even larger systems in deeper waters, this paper presents the design and step-by-step installation procedures developed at Tazerka.
An atlas series about the offshore northern Gulf of Mexico will group gas and oil reservoirs into subregional plays and will display reservoir data on a computerized geographical information system. The atlas series will provide critically compiled reservoir engineering data to help the private sector explore and develop hydrocarbons and to help the public sector analyze the hydrocarbon endowment in this basin. In this report, we cover aspects of the play-analysis procedure and provide specific examples of lower Miocene plays from the upper Texas coast and Federal Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). Play analysis emphasizes using broad classes of structural style, depositional style and environments, and defining attributes to group reservoirs into plays. To date, we have identified 4 Oligocene and 25 Miocene plays in Texas State offshore waters and 115 plays in the Federal OCS. Texas State offshore plays are gas prone ...
This book provides discusses recent developments in oil pollution control instrumentation. Some of the topics covered are as follows: 1. Technical requirements of the IMCO International Performance and Test Specification A393x concerning oil content meters; and 2. Oil in water detection; and 3. Methods for the disposal of recovered oil and oily sludge; and 4. Oil content monitoring at ballast water treatment facilities and offshore production platforms.
CETCO Oilfield Services, suppliers of environmental systems, have undertaken a project to treat contaminated water returns on a Floating, Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) facility in the North Sea. The solution sees fluids treated during oil well clean-up operations, reducing the potential for overboard oil discharges, and resulting production upsets.
Separate abstracts were prepared for 20 papers in this conference report and includes all papers in the ''engineering'' section (program E). Ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC), moorings, cables, corrosion protection, corrosion testing, coatings, offshore platforms, pipelines, OTEC models and pilot plants, and energy transfer are topics discussed.
In 1994, after four years of preparation, the first off-shore wind farm in the Netherlands was erected. The ``Lely`` wind farm comprises four NedWind 500 kW wind turbines, of rotor diameter 40.77 m. The turbines are placed on unique single-pile foundations. An interesting engineering aspect of the project is the interaction between the foundations and the turbine. (author)
A case study of a hypothetical offshore production fixed leg platform facility is presented. The purpose of the case study is to demonstrate the advantages offered by modern, fuel efficient large gas turbines in central power generation service for offshore production. The case study was presented using the Rolls- Royce RB211 large gas turbine with facility production of approximately 240,000 BPD of oil and 540 MMSCFD of associated gas. The gas was subjected to three stages of separation for removal of hydrocarbon liquids and water. The liquids, natural gas, and crude oil were exported from the production platform to an onshore receiving terminal. Gas compression is the service that requires the greatest amount of power for any given production facility. For this case study, gas compression represented approximately 70 per cent of the power load with the remainder represented by the liquid export pumps (16 per cent), and by general utilities ...
The use of an SCR-controlled power system on an offshore drilling rig has lead to an increased acceptance of high technology equipment. Such equipment increases drilling productivity, reduces maintenance, and improves reliability. Most new rigs now have AC squirrel cage motors, brushless AC generators, silicon controlled rectifiers, DC motors, and swtichgear and motor starters. Several opportunities for cost reductions in SCR systems, such as improving the power factor, are studied in this paper.
Explosives have been used in the removal of offshore wellhead devices for a number of years. In 1975, the first liquid explosives were run to remove wellheads and have proved to be a safe and reliable method of severing and salvaging the wellhead equipment from most depths of water. Methods of explosive wellhead removal and the areas of safety, reliability, and economics are discussed.
This report describes outer continental shelf oil and gas activities in the Atlantic Region. This edition of the Atlantic Update includes an overview of the Mid-Atlantic Planning Area and a summary of the Manteo Prospect off-shore North Carolina. 6 figs., 8 tabs.
Seismic records, combined with dredged samples and a core, indicate that the Spratly Islands of the Dangerous Ground Province are constructed of presently active carbonate build-ups, known to extend back continuously at least to the Pleistocene and presumed to have initiated in the Miocene, most likely upon the crests of sea-floor cuestas that trend north-east-south-west parallel to the sea-floor spreading magnetic anomalies of the contiguous abyssal plain of the southern part of the South China Sea. The cuestas range from spectacular to subdued, constructed of Triassic and Cretaceous strata and no older rocks have been identified from dredges. The cuesta axes plunge towards the south-west away from the islands, suggesting that the reefs began colonising their more elevated parts, but the ...
To study the causes of agricultural declines in south-west Sweden, a multi-proxy study including pollen analysis, bog surface wetness indicators and aeolian sediment influx reconstructions was carried out on the Store Mosse Bog, situated on the coastal plain of Halland. Patterns of agricultural changes during the past 6,000?years from this study were compared to one additional site on the coastal plain (Undarsmosse Bog) and to four sites in the forested upland region. First, we compared land use activity on the coastal plain and in upland regions of south-west Sweden. Three periods with reduced agricultural activities were observed, primarily in records from the coastal plain. Next, the causes for these declines were studied by comparing land use indicators in the pollen records from the S...
BACKGROUND: Since the identification of xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related virus (XMRV) in prostate cancer patients in 2006 and in chronic fatigue syndrome patients in 2009, conflicting findings have been reported regarding its etiologic role in human diseases and prevalence in general populations. In this study, we screened both plasma and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMNCs) collected in Africa from blood donors and human immunodeficiency virus Type 1 (HIV-1)-infected individuals to gain evidence of XMRV infection in this geographic region. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: A total of 199 plasma samples, 19 PBMNC samples, and 50 culture supernatants from PBMNCs of blood donors from Cameroon found to be infected with HIV-1 and HIV-1 patients from Uganda were screened for XMRV infecti...
... (restricted)] 251-260 Revisiting new variant famine: the case of Swaziland by Scott Naysmith & Alex Waal & Alan Whiteside [Downloadable! (restricted)] 261-269 Food prices and the HIV response: findings from rapid regional assessments in eastern and southern Africa in 2008[InlineMediaObject not available: see fulltext.][InlineMediaObject not available: see fulltext.] by Stuart Gillespie & Paul Jere & John Msuya & Scott Drimie [Downloadable! (restricted)] 271-289 Declining global per capita agricultural production and warming oceans ...
This report describes the Forum on Flexible Education: Reaching Nomadic Populations in Africa, which was held in Garissa, Kenya, from 20-23 June 2006. The objectives of the Forum were to share experiences and best practices, create linkages and encourage collaboration in order to make education more accessible to nomadic communities. Representatives from the Kenyan MOE, COL, ComSec and UNICEF provided remarks at the Opening Session of the Forum. They stressed the need to find ways to include nomadic children in the education process and the importance of developing alternative channels for the delivery of education and training. There were two keynote addresses. The first, from Professor Gidado Tahir, Executive Secretary of the Universal Basic Education Commission in Nigeria--presented by his colleague, Dr Salihu Bakari--focused on the realities of the nomadic lifestyle and educational strategies that have been effective. The second, by Dr. Nafisa Muhammad and ...
Objective To establish current practice in the use of Read codes for diabetes.Design Cross sectional study.Setting 17 practices in the Battersea...Full Text Available
BackgroundWhile the gene flow in some organisms is strongly affected by physical barriers and geographical distance, other highly mobile species are able to overcome such constraints....Full Text Available
OPERATE AT SOUTH POLE WINTER AMBIENTS, GIVEN THE PROJECT'S BUDGET AND TIME LINES . ... 17 MAXIMUM ELECTRICAL LENGHT CONSTRAINED BY Ku-BAND AT 50 FT. ... A MAXIMUM LENGTH OF 50 FEET HAS BEEN SPECIFIED BY THE SYSTEM LINK CALCULATIONS TO ...
Background: In North America and Europe, 80% of invasive skin cancers are basal cell carcinoma while 20% are squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). In contrast, African studies reveal a preponderance...Full Text Available
The status of the South American Geocentric reference System (SIRGAS) Project is presented, including the project goals, objectives and tasks already carried out by the Working Groups. (author). 2 refs., 1 fig., 1 tab
Ross River virus (RRV) is a fascinating, important arbovirus that is endemic and enzootic in Australia and Papua New Guinea and was epidemic in the South Pacific in 1979 and 1980. Infection with RRV...Full Text Available
... Zeitschrift fur SaugetierkundeOnline publication date: 16-Sep-2010.DANIEL J. THOMPSON, DOROTHY M. FECSKE, JONATHAN A. JENKS, and ANGELA ... Hillscougarlong-distance dispersalmountain lionOklahomaPuma conc...
ObjectivesThe aims of this study were to evaluate the prevalence of otolaryngologic diseases in Korea.MethodsWe obtained data from the 2008 Korea...Full Text Available
To resolve the phylogeny of the autochthonous mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) haplogroups of India and determine the relationship between the Indian and western Eurasian mtDNA pools more precisely, a diverse...Full Text Available
Field experiments were conducted in the south Texas and Texas High Plains area in 2005 and 2006 to evaluate peanut variety tolerance to carfentrazone-ethyl and pyraflufen-ethyl. Lactofen was used as the standard. Carfentrazone-ethyl at 0.03 and 0.04kgai/ha, pyraflufen-ethyl at 0.003 and 0.004kgai/ha, and lactofen at 0.22kgai/ha were applied 35 days after planting (DAP) in south Texas and 51-56 DAP in the High Plains area in weed-free plots. Peanut cultivars selected for evaluation were those normally used in each area. In south Texas, Tamrun 96, Tamrun OL 01, and Tamrun OL 02 were evaluated while in the High Plains area, Flavor Runner 458, GP-1, and Tamrun OL 02 were evaluated. No peanut cultivar by herbicide interaction was observed in south Texas but an interaction did occur in the High ...
... in an incinerating toilet; and, resulting ash would be retrograded from Antarctica via McMurdo ... toilet would be used with resultant ash retrograded from Antarctica. 11. Would the proposed activity ...
BackgroundMalaria is a major public health problem in Cameroon. Unlike in the southern forested areas where the epidemiology of malaria has been better studied prior to the implementation...Full Text Available
... is known as "reproductive cloning." The Link to Stem Cell Research Stem cell research and research cloning are closely linked. Scientists in ... to arrive at a position on cloning and stem cell research. Many nations, including the UK, China, and South ...
The alternative to the use of deeper wells through temperature amplification of the geothermal resource by electric heat pumps is explored. Systems in Ephrata, Washington and Chamberlain, South Dakota are explored. (MHR)
Southern tick-associated rash illness (STARI) is a Lyme disease-like infection described in patients in the southeastern and south-central United States, where classic Lyme disease is relatively rare....Full Text Available
800.872.8723 Domestic Offices International Offices FAQ Blog Connect Home > South Korea Home Local Time: Print | E-mail Page Korea Korea Home Doing Business in Korea Market...
We investigated the effects of wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) discharge on the ecology of bacterial communities in the sediment of a small, low-gradient stream in South Australia. The quantification...Full Text Available
BackgroundStudies conducted in developed countries using economic models show that individual- and household- level variables are important determinants of health insurance ownership....Full Text Available
Objective To compare the efficacy and safety of three polyspecific antivenoms for bites by pit vipers.Design Randomised double blind comparative trial of three antivenoms.Setting...Full Text Available
BackgroundThe continued depletion of tropical rainforests and fragmentation of natural habitats has led to significant ecological changes which place most top carnivores under heavy...Full Text Available
This table contains point-source catalogs for the ~2 Ms exposure of the Chandra Deep ... Source positions are determined using centroid and matched-filter techniques; .... The 1-sigma upper statistical error (Gehrels 1986, ApJ, 303, ...
A remarkable range of variation has been demonstrated in the biting habits of A. darlingi in South America. At the centre of its area of distribution, the species comprises both anthropo-endophilic...Full Text Available
The model of `ecological forestry' has evolved as a part of the development of the concept of ecosystem management. `Ecological forestry' emphasises that manipulation of a forest ecosystem should consider, and as far as practicable work within the limits of, natural disturbance patterns prior to extensive human alteration of the landscape. This paper evaluates the extent to which forest management practices in jarrah (Eucalyptus marginata) and karri (Eucalyptus diversicolor) forests of south-western Australia align with this view of the characteristics and appropriate silviculture of `ecological forestry'. Characteristics and appropriate silviculture of `ecological forestry' are evaluated in relation to (i) the stand level decisions of stand structure and harvest timing and (ii) the landsc...
In recent years the feedstock base of the coking plants in the South has been significantly degraded: the charges contain an increased quantity of gas coal and coal from coalfields in the East are being included. Certain plants in the Ukraine receive coal from the Kuznetsk, Pechora and Karaganda coalfields. Addition of these coal types in the charges of plants in the South is expected to continue in the future. Their efficient utilization requires careful investigation of the new charges in order to determine the optimal composition and to produce blast furnace coke meeting modern specifications.
The methodology for studying the behaviour of the toxic pollutant metals (Hg, Pb, Cd, Cr) in the South Shetland region is presented here, toxic pollutants are caused by the urban and industrial activity at the Southern hemisphere and they are pressured to be incorporated to the region though atmospheric transport processes the Cs 137 (refI) was used as a tracing element, which was freed and dispersed in the atmosphere as a result of nuclear bombs testing. During the austral summer samples from ground, sediments, atmospheric and glacier were extracted.
The Sundsta granite is a reddish, acidic granite, situated in the Western Pregothian mega-unit in Vaermland, south-western Sweden. Its Rb-Sr whole-rock age is 1566+-39 Ma with an initial ratio 0f 0.705 +-0.003. The region is dominated by grey, migmatized granitoids presumably belonging to the Aamaal-I group which has ages of 1650-1700 Ma. The marked difference in degree of migmatization between these two rock-units may indicate that the intrusion of the Sundsta granite post-dates the main migmatization phase of the Aamaal-I granitoid in this region.
This report summarises work done on the SUCON Project during 1996-1999 (European Commission Contract No. FI4C-CT95-0001). The project has focused on three major objectives: 1) An assessment of the radiological consequences of the contamination of the South Urals and the Ob river system from the production of plutonium at 'Mayak', 2) The development of models to calculate doses to individuals and populations in the South Urals using environmental data, and 3) The intercomparison, harmonisation and standardisation of techniques used in dose reconstruction and specification of good practice in particular with regard to remedial measures. (au)
Subsurface conditions at sites in the coastal plains region of South Carolina were investigated using standard penetration and mechanical quasi-static cone penetration tests. The penetration test results are compared with measured static axial pile capacity. The cone penetration test results are compared with stratigraphy and soil types encountered at each site. Results show that with certain limitations, cone penetration test results can be used to assess general stratigraphy and soil type and predict static axial pile capacity with reasonable accuracy.
This article examines the interplay between globalising and localising forces occurring in a child welfare reform project in South Korea. Focusing especially on care and education services for children and families provided by the Korean 'Dream Start' programme, which provides comprehensive health, parental involvement and welfare services to low-income children and their families, I discuss its involvement in the process of 'glocalisation'. Drawing on Foucaultian ideas, I conducted a critical discourse analysis of the policy documents of Dream Start. The article concludes by discussing local resistance to the creation of a cosmopolitan child and the dual qualities of inclusion/exclusion inscribed in the Dream Start project.
This article presents a linear-analytical case study on the development of ICT within the educational systems of Chile and South Korea. Through a comprehensive meta-data analysis and bibliographic review, we collected information on both educational systems and their ICT adoption policies. Key differences necessary to understand how both countries have developed their educational systems by integrating ICT were analyzed, including the educational system structure, the organization of state entities responsible for educational ICT, cultural characteristics, the creation of policies regarding ICT in education, and the effectiveness of such policies for the expansion of infrastructure and the ICT curriculum integration. We analyze these key differences in order to understand two cases of ICT ...
The study investigated the impact of the Universal Basic Education (UBE) programme on the phenomenon of female trafficking in South-South Nigeria. To this end, six research questions were raised. These revolved around: (i) resource situation and adequacy of training provided for repatriated trafficked victims in the service provider centre; (ii) efforts in the formal education sector of the UBE to curb female trafficking; and (iii) parents and female students' disposition toward female trafficking. The design of the study was descriptive survey. The sample was 420 female students and their parents as well as 100 teachers in the formal segment of the UBE programme and 130 repatriated trafficked victims in a service provider centre. Four sets of instruments were utilised to generate data for the study. The first was quantitative designed to elicit information on the resource situation of the service provider centre and the adequacy of the training given to the ...
The work reported here encompasses analyses of specific potential spill scenarios for oil exploration activity planned offshore of Namibia. The analyses are carried out with the SINTEF Oil Spill Contingency and Response (OSCAR) 3-dimensional model systems. A spill scenario using 150 m{sup 3} of marine diesel demonstrates the rapidity with which such a spill will dissipate naturally, even in light winds. Vertical and horizontal mixing bring subsurface hydrocarbon concentrations to background levels within a few days. A hypothetical 10 day blowout scenario releasing 11,000 bbl per day of light crude oil is investigated in terms of the potential for delivering oil to selected bird and marine mammal areas along the Namibian coast. Worst case scenarios are selected to investigate the potential mitigating effects of planned oil spill response actions. Mechanical recovery significantly reduces, and in some cases eliminates, potential environmental consequences of these ...
This review updates a previous review entitled ''Impact of Oil on the Marine Environment''. It covers oil and individual hydrocarbons, used lubricating oils, chemical control agents for oil spills, and wastes from offshore petroleum operations. It considers all major knowledge generated since the mid-1970s. The review covers its topics comprehensively, from a consideration of the composition, sources and inputs of oil to its ecological and human health effects and its effects on man's use of the sea. The review addresses several key questions on the present levels of contamination, the impact of hydrocarbons and related chemicals on marine biota, the recovery potential of marine ecosystems exposed to these contaminants, the degree of protection required for marine ecosystems known to be vulnerable and sensitive, and recommended research and other actions to fill gaps in knowledge. The review describes the hazards of marine oil pollution and associated chemicals and ...
This Health and Safety (HSE) document offers technical information on the design of foundations for supports in offshore installations, and relates particularly to the North Sea. It is based largely on guidance offered earlier in Section 20 of the Fourth Edition of the Health and Safety Executive's 'Offshore Installations; Guidance on Design, Construction and Certification', which was withdrawn in 1998. The document contains a general section on foundations and the rest of the document comprises sections on: (a) piled foundations (planning, problems, pile make-up, steel stresses, design of pile foundations, axial pile capacity, factors of safety for piled foundations, load-deflection of piles, and piles for tethered buoyant structures); (b) foundations for gravity structures (foundation types, loads and reactions during installation, operating loads and reactions, foundation problems, cyclic load failure, factors of ...
An unmanned aerial vehicle called RAVEN, said to be capable of remote tracking of onshore and offshore oil and gas facilities, has been developed by a group of graduate students from Memorial University of Newfoundland. RAVEN is claimed to be capable of performing a number of tasks under its own control without the need for human intervention, including checking onshore pipelines for damage, or scouting the path of hazardous icebergs offshore. The RAVEN was created to meet the need for real time iceberg tracking and early hazard detection, supplementing or replacing the present method of RADARSAT images and tracking by manned aircraft. The RAVEN can be launched from any platform; it can fly under conditions that would be too dangerous for a manned aircraft. Currently in the prototype stage, the first trial flight for the RAVEN is expected to take place in September 2002. The first flight will consist of five GPS waypoints set relatively close ...
A method is described for testing a diverter system on an offshore drilling rig of a type having a marine riser assembly extending to a subsea well, the diverter system having a packer element and at least one port located below the packer element for the passage of drilling fluid flowing upward from the marine riser assembly during drilling. The method consists of connecting a tubular member to the upper end of a packer having an elastomeric expansive seal element; placing the packer in an upper portion of the marine riser assembly below the diverter system and expanding the seal element against the interior of the upper portion; closing the packer element of the diverter system around the tubular member; and finally applying fluid pressure in the space between the packer element of the diverter system and the seal element of the packer to determine if any leakage in the diverter system exists. The patent also describes an offshore drilling ...
A system and method for installing a fluid flow controller and telescoping spools beneath an offshore bottom supported drilling rig rotary table is disclosed. Upper and lower telescoping spools are provided for initially connecting a Diverter/BOP convertible fluid flow controller between structural casing in the well and a permanent housing beneath the drilling rig rotary table. Clamp means are provided for clamping the rig vent line to an opening in the housing wall of the fluid flow controller during drilling of the borehole through the structural casing in preparation for setting and cementing the conductor casing. In that mode, the system is adapted as a diverter system. After the well is drilled for the conductor casing and the conductor casing is cemented and cut off at its top, a mandrel is fitted at the top of the conductor casing to which the lower end of the lower spool may be connected. The system may be used in this configuration as a diverter system, ...
An offshore drilling rig is described for use in drilling into a formation below a body of water comprising a barge hull having a drilling slot extending inwardly from the peripheral boundary of the barge hull, means for supporting the barge hull in a position above the water, a cantilever structure mounted on the barge hull and movable horizontally with respect to such barge hull, the cantilever structure being so located relative to the drilling slot as to be movable horizontally into a position in vertical alignment with the drilling slot, a derrick and drilling machinery mounted to the cantilever structure and movable into a position above the drilling slot whereby well drilling operations may be conducted through the drilling slot, the cantilever structure also being movable horizontally to a position which locates the derrick and the drilling machinery outboard of the peripheral boundary of the barge hull, whereby a drilling operations may be conducted ...
Objectives~%~~%~The practical exploitation of tidal stream energy is limited by man's activities in coastal waters: navigation, fishing and~%~leisure pursuits. It is important therefore to make the best use of the sites, which are available. The main objective of the~%~Proposed study is to assess the limits imposed by waves on the performance of tidal stream rotors, and to investigate way:~%~in which these limits might be related by refinements in rotor design and the control of openiting conditions. S~%~ [continued...]DescriptionHorizontal aids wind turbines have been recognised as one of the most successful renewable energy saving devices. The use of the similar concept as a 'tidy~%~~%~stream rotor' in offshore environment appears to be even more compelling. However, the application of this concept will require the confirmation of various operational and environmental limitations due to complexities o ...
Voestalpine AG (Linz, Austria) produces heavy steel for steam turbines, compressors for the promotion of oil and gas as well as for the chemical industry, mechanical engineering and for the offshore technology. A weight range between 1 and 200 tons can be covered. The author of the contribution under consideration is limited to characteristics which have to be managed by a large steel foundry within the range of the steam power plants. This is described on the basis of produced steam turbines for power stations in the highest performance segment (1,600 MW).
The Marine Technology Society 1994 conference was held in Washington, D.C., September 7-9, 1994. Titled Challenges and Opportunities in the Marine Environment, the conference offered a wide variety of presentations. State-of-the-art technology, government policies and regulations, and environmental concerns were addressed. Offshore mining, coastal zone management, marine engineering, oceanographic research, educational issues, and global climate change were also well represented in the presentations. The conference proceedings are organized around the daily sessions and roughly 70% of the papers are included.
The marine ram-type blowout preventer deployed from an offshore drilling rig has one serious disadvantage, its inaccessibility. A development to promote reliability of the subsea ram-type preventer and reduce the excess running and pulling to charge out rams, is the variable bare ram (VBR). Unlike the standard ram, the VBR has the ability to pack off a range of pipe sizes. Interest in VBR's has been revived and research and development in this equipment goes on at each of three manufacturer's facilities in Houston.
ObjectivesObjectives Not AvailableDescriptionThis proposal seeks to extend what is currently the most comprehensive offshore environmental data collection programme at a platform on the UKGS involving continuous collection of wave height and direction, wind speed and direction, current and wave particle kinematics. Data has been collected with this system since 1994 and the proposal is to extend this until 1999 thus providing an extensive set of storm data collected at 5Hz which will allow examination of the joint behaviour of wave, wind [continued...
Foinaven and Schiehallion/Loyal are the first oilfields West of Shetland (WoS). They were developed using Floating Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) technology in water depths of between 350m and 550m and arguably the harshest environmental conditions yet experienced offshore. Traditional project time scales were halved by shortening and overlapping the reservoir and facilities developments. This paper describes some of the challenges faced by the geotechnical engineers working on these projects and summarises lessons learnt from site investigations and the design and installation of foundations. (author)
The development of the Aasgard field complex off mid Norway represents one of the largest technical and economic challenges yet faced by the Norwegian offshore industry. The article deals briefly with this development. The project comprises a floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel for the oil production, and a large semisubmersible for the gas phase. More than 60 subsea completed wells for production and injection on 15 seabed templates are planned, with some 300 km of seabed pipelines also to be installed on the field which will produce for 30 years. The total investment will be NOK 31 billion. 1 fig.
The problem of pile groups subjected to lateral loads is of interest particularly in offshore and coastal regions. An understanding of pile-soil interaction is essential in designing such pile foundations. In this paper, a simplified finite element analysis in conjunction with Yegian and Wright approach has been presented to study the behavior of pile groups under lateral loads. The pile is treated as a shear beam and the soil media is assumed to be linear elastic. The results of the analysis are used to estimate: (1) Lateral Group Efficiency and (2) Extent of stress influence around the pile. The results obtained from the theoretical predictions are found to be reasonably in good agreement with the published literature.
A new highly alloyed (Cr, Mo, W, N) super austenitic grade has been developed. This grade offers high mechanical properties combined with excellent corrosion resistance in chloride acid media. This grade is particularly designed for applications in chloride, oxidizing acid media encountered in the chemical, transportation, pollution control, offshore and pulp and paper industries. Mechanical properties, corrosion resistance and weldability of this grade are presented and compared to that of other stainless steels and nickel base alloys.
Organizational risk indicators are proposed as a tool for risk control during operation of offshore installations, as a complement to QRA-based indicators. An organizational factor framework is developed based on a review of existing organizational factor frameworks, research on safety performance indicators, and previous work on QRA-based indicators. The results comprise a qualitative organizational model, proposed organizational risk indicators, and a quantification methodology for assessing the impact of the organization on risk. The risk indicators, when validated, will aid in a frequent control of the risk in the periods between the updating of the quantitative risk assessments.
The Cambro-Ordovician platform was formed along the margin of the old super-continent of Laurentia approximately 470 million years ago, and is a prolific producer of hydrocarbons. This presentation provided a geological review of the region as well as estimates of the amounts of oil in place. A simplified geological cross-section of the formation was presented, as well as a chart of the Anticosti Basin of western Newfoundland. Details of exploration wells targeting the Cambro-Ordovician carbonate platform and current west coast land holdings were provided. An outline of the area's petroleum system included details of source rock, reservoirs, traps and seals and migration and timing. Offshore prospects for the platform were estimated to be in the region of 100 to 200 million barrels. Onshore prospects were estimated to be in the region of 30 million to 150 million barrels. It was noted that limited coverage by onshore seismic data may mean that larger ...
The Northeast Gateway Energy Bridge Deepwater Port project was commissioned in 2005 and is based on a proprietary energy bridge shipboard regasification technology. The offshore liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility will be located in federal waters 13 miles southeast of Gloucester and was designed to cope with the extreme weather of the Massachusetts Bay. A dual-buoy system will be capable of ensuring continuous delivery of natural gas. Throughput capacity will range from 400 to over 800 MMcf/d. Vessels used at the port have capacities of 138,000 m{sup 3} and 150,900 m{sup 3} with peak sendout rates of 600 MMcf/d. The vessels have the capacity to rapidly increase and decrease their delivery rates. During periods of peak demand, 2 vessels can be simultaneously accommodated at the port, which has been designed to accommodate larger vessels to maximize future throughput. This presentation presented details of the port's design phases and the review processes ...
A discussion covers the LOOP project to construct an offshore pipeline system, which will connect with onshore facilities at Fourchon, La., and two onshore pipelines (26 mi 48 in. Clovelly line and 53 mi 48 in. LOCAP line) connecting Fourchon with the existing Capline system at St. James, La.; the three-phase construction schedule, the first phase due to begin in the third quarter of 1978 with, e.g., onshore pipeline and salt dome storage facility construction which will yield an expected initial throughput of 1.4 million bbl/day; the marine terminal complex, consisting of control and pumping platforms, and three 7000 hp pumps to operate the system at 45,000-100,000 bbl/hr; the offshore lines, including lines between single-point mooring units and the pumping platform, the 21 mi 48 in. pipe to Fourchon, and corrosion protection of lines by an asphalt-sand mixture or a semiplasticized coal-tar enamel; the onshore system, including the Fourchon ...
Calls for containers to transport compressed natural gas, and a ship or barge to house some 200 employees in the Terra Nova offshore oilfield while the oil field's floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) system is undergoing a major overhaul, are attracting attention on Canada's east coast offshore oilpatch. The FPSO is located offshore, 350 km east of St. John's, Newfoundland. Petro-Canada, operators of the FPSO anticipate that by having all required personnel nearby, the total shutdown time for the overhaul could be minimized. The CNG container was designed by Trans Ocean Gas Inc. in response to an invitation by Husky Oil and Petro-Canada, the White Rose field partners. Trans Ocean Gas strongly believes that CNG will become the technology of choice for getting natural gas ashore and to markets from stranded hydrocarbon pools in Atlantic Canada and the rest of the world where pipeline ...
There are over 4,500 petroleum platforms in the north-central Gulf of Mexico. Explosives are commonly used to remove platforms and have the potential to kill nearby sea turtles. From June 1988-June 1990, the authors used aerial surveys to study turtle density and the spatial relationship between turtles and platforms offshore of Louisiana. They sighted 316 turtles most of which (92%) were loggerheads. Seventy-eight percent were sighted just east of the Mississippi River offshore of the Chandeleur Islands. East of the river, turtle densities ranged from 0.92 (winter) to 4.83 turtles/100 sq km (spring). West of the river, annual densities ranged from 0.11-0.50 turtles/100 sq km. East of the river, three statistical tests indicated that turtles were generally closer to platforms than expected by chance alone. West of the river, turtles were randomly located with respect to platform locations. Before explosives are used, current mitigation measures ...
Greenland is the world's largest island, with an area of 2.2 million square kilometres, 80 % of which is covered by the ice sheet. The climate is Arctic, but as Greenland stretches 2600 km from north to south, there is a huge variability in climate, with temperature decreasing from south to north. Due to the influence of oceanic currents, the west coast is slightly warmer than the east coast. Precipitation also decreases strongly from the south to the north, and also with distance from the coast. Kangerlussuaq is located in the dry, continental area of central west Greenland. The bedrock of Greenland is dominated by Precambrian gneisses, with sedimentary rocks occurring in some areas of East and North Greenland, and smaller areas of basalts. All of Greenland has been glaciated several times and has thus been eroded and shaped by the ice, as it still is at the ice margin. Soils are generally thin, and especially in the ...
Canada's offshore Atlantic petroleum industry is celebrating its tenth anniversary in 2001. This article chronicles the development of the industry discussing the many challenges and setbacks and the eventual triumphs that accompanied the industry's development over the years. Highlights discussed include shipping first oil from the Cohasset Field in July 1992; the financial crisis caused by the withdrawal of Gulf Oil from the Hibernia consortium in the same year; new funding and the beginning of the gravity-based structure construction at Bulls Arm in 1993; striking oil in the Hibernia Field in 1994; the start of exploration and development of the Terra Nova field by Petro-Canada in the same year, based on the floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) system, which heralded a new era of offshore development in eastern Canada. Approval by the Nova Scotia government of the third and final phase of the Sable ...
The European Commission recently authorized the import of baobab (Adansonia digitata L.) fruit pulp as a novel food. In rural West Africa the multipurpose baobab is used extensively for subsistence. Three hundred traditional uses of the baobab were documented in Benin, Mali, and Senegal across 11 ethnic groups and 4 agroecological zones. Baobab fruits and leaves are consumed throughout the year. The export of baobab fruits could negatively influence livelihoods, including reduced nutritional intake, change of power relations, and access rights. Capacity building and certification could encourage a sustainable and ethical trade of baobab fruits without neglecting baobab use in subsistence.
Individuals with sickle cell disease (SCD) demonstrate an increased susceptibility to invasive bacterial infections (IBI). The most common organisms causing IBI are Streptococcus pneumoniae, nontyphi Salmonella species and Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib). IBI are the most common causes of death in children below 5 years of age with SCD. Increased susceptibility to IBI is because of several factors including dysfunctional antibody production and opsonophagocytosis as well as defective splenic clearance. Early diagnosis of Hib and pneumococcal infections combined with antibiotic prophylaxis and immunization programs, could lead to significant improvements in mortality, especially in Africa. Pediatr Blood Cancer. 2010;55:401-406. Copyright 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Abstract: Some conservationists argue for a focused effort to protect the most critically endangered species, and others suggest a large-scale endeavor to safeguard common species across large areas. Similar arguments are applicable to the distribution of scientific effort among species. Should conservation scientists focus research efforts on threatened species, common species, or do all species deserve equal attention? We assessed the scientific equity among 1909 mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians of southern Africa by relating the number of papers written about each species to their status on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List. Threatened large mammals and reptiles had more papers written about them than their nonthreatened counterparts, whereas threatened...
Homidium bromide and isometamidium chloride are used extensively in the treatment of bovine trypanosomiasis in Africa, but no specific and sensitive method to detect the drug in plasma has been published yet. Comparing the methods of other investigators it was found that they could not overcome the protein binding of these drugs which reduced the available and determined drug to 10% of the real concentrations. These techniques overcome the protein binding by enzyme digestion and an alteration of the pH before adding the sample directly on clean-up columns. Drug recover rates above 80% were obtained. For the detection, the HPLC was employed using a C18 reversed phase analytical column and UV detection, determining both drugs as intact molecules. (author).
An assessment was undertaken of the risk of liver cancer in the USA associated with aflatoxin ingestion from peanuts. Both laboratory-animal data and epidemiological data collected from the scientific literature and several prominent mathematical extrapolation techniques were used. Risk estimates differed by a factor of greater than 1000 when the extrapolated results of three selected animal studies were analysed. Dose-response data for the male Fischer rat, the most sensitive mammalian species studied, produced an estimate of 158 cases of liver cancer per year in the USA at current levels of aflatoxin exposure. An estimate of 58 annual cases was predicted on the basis of epidemiological data of populations in Africa and Thailand.
Electricity generation from wind turbines is now cost competitive for grid and off-grid applications in many developing regions, and close to competitive in others. Wind resources could generate thousands of megawatts of badly-needed power in Asia, North Africa, and Latin America. Barriers to penetrating power generation markets remain, however, including unequal access to investment capital, energy price and other market distortions, and often weak institutions for commercializing new technologies. Recognizing the potential economic and environmental benefits of wind power, bilateral and multilateral assistance organizations have for several years offered financial and technical assistance to promote its diffusion. Based on this experience and assistance for other renewable electric technologies, lessons and recommendations can be drawn regarding how assistance could more effectively overcome persistent market and policy barriers, especially in light of the ...
Summary Objective- To evaluate the role of prophylactic trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (co-trimoxazole) antibacterial prophylaxis in reducing morbidity and mortality in HIV-infected post-natal women in southern Africa. Methods- Double-blind placebo-controlled trial. HIV-infected women with WHO stage 2 or 3 HIV disease who had recently delivered in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the University Teaching Hospital, Lusaka, Zambia were randomised to receive daily co-trimoxazole (cotox) or matched placebo daily for the duration of the trial. Participants were followed up for a minimum of 1-year. Primary outcome measures were mortality from any cause or hospital admission and serious adverse events. Results- Of 600 women randomised, follow-up information was available from 355 (18...
Several studies have shown that migratory birds play an important role in the ecology, circulation and dissemination of pathogenic organisms. In October 2006, a health status evaluation was performed on a large population of migratory birds passing through the territory of Ustica (Italy), an island located on the migration route of many species of birds to Africa, and various laboratory tests were conducted. In total, 218 faecal swabs and the internal organs of 21 subjects found dead in nets were collected for bacteriological and virological examination, including avian influenza and Newcastle disease. In addition, 19 pooled fresh faecal samples were collected for mycological examination. The bacteriological analysis produced 183 strains belonging to 28 different species of the Enterobacte...
A multiphase origin of the Cu-Co ores in the western part of the Lufilian fold-and-thrust belt in Central Africa is proposed based on literature, satellite image interpretations and petrographic and fluid inclusion analyses on samples from the stratiform mineralization of Kamoto and Musonoi (DR Congo). The various mineral occurrences in the Katanga Copperbelt can be classified in distinct categories: stratiform, supergene enrichment and vein-type. The stratiform mineralization form the largest group and can be found mainly in Lower Roan (R-2) rocks, which can be identified as ridges on satellite imagery. Ore deposits outside the R-2 occur along lineaments and result often from supergene enrichment.The main phase of the stratiform mineralization in the Katanga Copperbelt occurred during dia...
A section of the northern margin of the Guineo-Congolian rain forest of the Central African Republic is studied to determine to what extent deforestation is evolving. Three sites are presented to highlight the diversity in local environmental settings at the northern margin of the closed equatorial rain forest: the contiguous equatorial rain forest, the boundary between the closed rain forest and the grasslands, and a predominantly secondary grassland environment. Proven image processing procedures for determining land cover and vegetation vigor were applied to Landsat MSS data to determine land cover characteristics and identify alterations in land cover that indicate potentially degraded forest environments. Land cover was independently assessed using spectral signatures determined from a statistical clustering routine. The images presented and image analyses contribute insights and information to an ongoing effort to determine more reliable data on the status of global tropical rain ...
The history of the North German Mission Society (established 1836 in Hamburg) and its activity on the West African coast (from 1847 onwards among the Ewe, in what is now Ghana and Togo where it was and still is known as the 'Bremen Mission') mirrors neatly the various phases of the idea of 'mission': its composite motivation (Enlightenment, humanism and Pietism); the rejection of a narrow denominationalism (though the management of the mission was from 1850 onwards in the hands of the society's Bremen branch which belonged to the Reformed tradition); the entanglement of mission and overseas trade; the ambivalent attitude towards imperialism; the shaping of the missionary process as a profoundly educational one; the growing independence of the African church when the German missionaries wer...
The report presents an overview of A.I.D. efforts, which encompass a wide range of environmental issues and support environmental training, research, and institutional development. The report's opening section details A.I.D.'s efforts to enlist host-country support for environmental programs, with specific emphasis on improving natural resource management (especially in Africa), encouraging policy change, strengthening the private sector's environmental role, and preparing environmental profiles of host countries and helping them develop conservation strategies. The ensuing sections recount A.I.D. efforts in particular topics of environmental concern (biological diversity and environmental health and safety), critical ecological areas (coastal areas and forests and fragile lands), and specific country programs (reforestation in Haiti). A brief history of the evolution of the Agency's environmental strategy since 1976 is included.
Mycoplasma infections of small ruminants are known to exist in the Mediterranean region, Asia, Africa and cause significant economic impacts but little is known of the Mycoplasma spp. in sheep and goats in the Middle East. During the period of 2002-2003, 104 flocks of local sheep and goats (17 sheep, 27 goat and 60 mixed flocks) were surveyed for the occurrence of mycoplasma infections in Northern Jordan. The clinical signs seen in the studied flocks were, to varying degrees, mastitis in sheep and goats, arthritis, mainly in kids, and pneumonia in both sheep and goats of most age groups. Small ruminant farms were sampled and pooled milk samples and nasal swabs were collected for culture and isolation of mycoplasma. Mycoplasmas were isolated from 17 (26%) of the 62 milk samples and 12 (3.9%...
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is considered to be one of the most common malignancies worldwide, and the most common one in Africa and Asia. Over the last decade, a rising incidence of up to 10-15/100,000 per population has been seen in the Western world, with an estimate of 250,000 deaths and more than a million worldwide per year. By the year 2010, the World Health Organization expects that HCC will be the leading cause of cancer mortality surpassing lung cancer. This increasing incidence is most likely related to an increasing prevalence of chronic hepatitis C (HC) and B (HB) virus infections and other diseases inducing chronic inflammation (Befeler and Di Bisceglie 2002; Llovet et al. 2003).
Wood usage for cooking and heating is still very relevant in most developing countries especially those of sub-Saharan Africa and many parts of Asia. Therefore, sustainable means of generating it for this and other purposes are necessary bearing in mind the influence of indigenous knowledge/users perspective on any production method regarding success and sustenance. In conformity with this view, questionnaires were administered on 240 respondents in 8 rural communities of Akinyele and Ido Local Government Areas (LGAs) of Oyo State, Nigeria, to elicit information on species that can be used as fuelwood, preferred by the respondents for incorporation into and/or retention in agroforestry plots, out of which 179 (i.e. 75% of the total number of questionnaires administered) were successfully r...
Summary Background There is a need for new artemisinin-based combination therapies that are convenient, effective, and safe. We compared the efficacy and safety of pyronaridine-artesunate with that of artemether-lumefantrine for treatment of uncomplicated P falciparum malaria. Methods This phase 3, parallel-group, double-blind, randomised, non-inferiority trial was undertaken in seven sites in Africa and three sites in southeast Asia. In a double-dummy design, patients aged 3-60 years with uncomplicated P falciparum malaria were randomly assigned in a 2:1 ratio to receive pyronaridine-artesunate once a day or artemether-lumefantrine twice a day, orally for 3 days, plus respective placebo. Randomisation was done by computer-generated randomisation sequence in blocks of nine by study centre....
Summary The steadily growing epidemic of diabetes mellitus poses a threat for global tuberculosis (TB) control. Previous studies have identified an important association between diabetes mellitus and TB. However, these studies have limitations: very few were carried out in low-income countries, with none in Africa, raising uncertainty about the strength of the diabetes mellitus-TB association in these settings, and many critical questions remain unanswered. An expert meeting was held in November 2009 to discuss where there was sufficient evidence to make firm recommendations about joint management of both diseases, to address research gaps and to develop a research agenda. Ten key research questions were identified, of which 4 were selected as high priority: (i) whether, when and how to sc...
Abstract. Malaria vector control targeting the larval stages of mosquitoes was applied successfully against many species of Anopheles (Diptera: Culicidae) in malarious countries until the mid-20th Century. Since the introduction of DDT in the 1940s and the associated development of indoor residual spraying (IRS), which usually has a more powerful impact than larval control on vectorial capacity, the focus of malaria prevention programmes has shifted to the control of adult vectors. In the Afrotropical Region, where malaria is transmitted mainly by Anopheles funestus Giles and members of the Anopheles gambiae Giles complex, gaps in information on larval ecology and the ability of An. gambiae sensu lato to exploit a wide variety of larval habitats have discouraged efforts to develop and impl...
The Baobab tree (Adansonia digitata L.) is a key multipurpose species for the African region. In the recent years there has been an extended commercial interest for different A. digitata products. As a spectacular African key species there has been a growing interest from NGO?s and various research groups. A research group, focussing on the following countries Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, has participated in a concerted research action with cross counter disciplinary cooperation between plant physiology, population genetics, tree breeding, food science, and socioeconomics. This paper presents a review and the way knowledge gaps are being addressed using the above mentioned approach. The overall work was initiated in 2005?2006 when a large collection of A. digitata seeds was carried out in...
WIPP, intended for underground permanent disposal of defense transuranic waste, is located 40 km east of Carlsbad at a depth of 655 m in the salt beds of the 600-m thick Permian Salado Formation. It will consist of 56 ``rooms`` each 91.5 m long, 10 m wide, and 4 m high, grouped in 8 ``panels`` of 7 rooms each. About 7.5 km of access drifts will also be provided. Excavation began in 1982 and surface/access/test facilities and one panel were completed by 1988, many years before it could be used. Current plans are to start emplacing waste in WIPP in 1998 and continue for 35 years. The north- south drift E140 is the widest (25 ft) of the four main north-south drifts and is the main north-south passage. Plans to conduct experiments with waste in 1993 were abandoned, and the plan now is to use panel 1 for permanent disposal of waste starting in 1998. The stability evaluation resulted in the conclusion that, while it would be ...
Increasing economic and recreational opportunities, attractive scenery and a perception of a better quality of life are luring people to the coast. Unfortunately, these activities together with the commensurate increase in population in the area inevitably result in pollution of coastal waters with excessive microorganisms and other pollutants. Microbial pollutants not only contaminate the coastal water but also aquatic food sources, thus posing a health risk to consumers. Fish is a major source of protein in Cameroon, especially in the coastal areas. In this study, we investigated the microbiological quality of fish from the Limbe and Tiko beaches in South West Cameroon from May to October 2007. We isolated human pathogenic bacteria from three anatomic sites (skin, gills, intestine) of 50 fish (150 specimens) and investigated their susceptibility patterns to a battery of antibiotics. Data were analyzed statistically using chi2 with significance set at p ...
An innovative horizontal drilling system was used to install two horizontal wells as part of an integrated demonstration project at the Savannah River Site (SRS), Aiken, South Carolina. The SRS is located in south-central South Carolina in the upper Coastal Plain physiographic province. The demonstration site is located near the A/M Area, and is currently known as the Integated Demonstration Site. The Department of Energy's Office of Technology Development initiated an integrated demonstration of innovative technologies for cleanup of volatile organic compounds (VOCS) in soils and groundwater at the SRS in 1989. The overall goal of the program is to demonstrate, at a single location, multiple technologies in the fields of drilling, characterization, monitoring, and remediation. Innovative technologies are compared to one another and to baseline technologies in terms of technical performance and cost effectiveness. ...
An innovative horizontal drilling system was used to install two horizontal wells as part of an integrated demonstration project at the Savannah River Site (SRS), Aiken, South Carolina. The SRS is located in south-central South Carolina in the upper Coastal Plain physiographic province. The demonstration site is located near the A/M Area, and is currently known as the Integated Demonstration Site. The Department of Energy`s Office of Technology Development initiated an integrated demonstration of innovative technologies for cleanup of volatile organic compounds (VOCS) in soils and groundwater at the SRS in 1989. The overall goal of the program is to demonstrate, at a single location, multiple technologies in the fields of drilling, characterization, monitoring, and remediation. Innovative technologies are compared to one another and to baseline technologies in terms of technical performance and cost effectiveness. Transfer ...
The first 750 MW block of the new South Humber Bank gas-fired combined cycle power plant, sited about 300 km north from London, was officially commissioned in September 12th 1997. The project has been a major success story for Imatran Voima Oy (IVO), which developed the concept and managed the project and owns 22.5 % of the plant; and ABB Power Plants Limited, responsible for the turnkey delivery. IVO Generation Services (UK) is responsible for the running and maintenance of the facility. IVO also manages two other existing plants in Britain, at Brigg (240 MW) and Peterborough (360 MW)
The first 750 MW block of the new South Humber Bank gas-fired combined cycle power plant, sited about 300 km north from London, was officially commissioned in September 12th 1997. The project has been a major success story for Imatran Voima Oy (IVO), which developed the concept and managed the project and owns 22.5 % of the plant; and ABB Power Plants Limited, responsible for the turnkey delivery. IVO Generation Services (UK) is responsible for the running and maintenance of the facility. IVO also manages two other existing plants in Britain, at Brigg (240 MW) and Peterborough (360 MW).
The Spratly Islands are developing into a flashpoint in the South China Sea region. Geological surveys conducted underneath the seabed of these islands following the oil crisis in the 1970s shows an enormous potential of oil and gas reserves. Moreover, with the adoption of the new International Law of the Sea concept there are overlapping claims by contending countries. Unless these claimant countries reconcile their differences and come to terms, the conflict is bound to escalate. This thesis is an in depth study of the disputes over the Spratlys and examines four cases of islands based territorial disputes that could be used as a model in resolving these tensions. This thesis argues that a military option will only create division and in-flame longstanding animosities. Instead, a peaceful solution is recommended as quickly as possible so that regional nations will realize the full potential of these islands. Spratly Islands in the South China ...
The paper presents cloud structure models for Jupiter's Great Red Spot, Equatorial and North Tropical Zones, North and South Temperate Zones, and North and South Polar Regions. The models are based on images of Jupiter in three methane bands and nearby continuum radiative transfer calculations include multiple scattering and absorption from three aerosol layers. The model results include the transition in the upper-cloud altitude to 3 km lower altitude from the tropical zones to temperate zones and polar regions, a N/S asymmetry in cloud thickness in the tropical and temperature zones, and the presence of aerosols up to about 0.3 bar in the Great Red Spot and Equatorial Zone. It is concluded that polarization data are sensitive to aerosols in and above the upper cloud layer but insensitive to deeper cloud structure.
Changes in cell density and cyst flux of Alexandrium tamarense, paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP) toxin contents in shellfishes, and environmental parameters were measured in two stations in Daya Bay, South China Sea from March 2005 to July 2006. Vegetative cells of A. tamarense occurred sporadically; however, they presented abundantly during the winter months. Meanwhile, cyst flux reached its maximum level just following the peak abundance of motile cells. The PSP contents in shellfish were generally low, but higher in winter with the maximum of 14,015 @mg STX equiv./kg. The majority of toxins were found in digestive glands, with a maximum of 66,227 @mg STX equiv./kg. There were significant positive relationships between toxin level and vegetative cell density and cyst flux. This indica...
Supplement 2 to the Safety Evaluation Report for Mississippi Power and Light Company, et. al, joint application for licenses to operate the Grand Gulf Nuclear Station, Units 1 and 2, located on the east bank of the Mississippi River near Port Gibson, in Claiborne County, Mississippi, has been prepared by the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission. This supplement reports the status of certain items that had not been resolved at the time of publication of the Safety Evaluation Report.
This article explores the extent to which and how non-formal education (NFE) contributes to the development of a more diversified basic education system and thus to the achievement of EFA. It outlines the current nature of NFE, the frameworks provided by the EFA movement, and the evolution of reflection, policies and practices in NFE in relation to basic education as a whole. Based on significant developments in various countries across the South, the article also discusses some key challenges that ministries of education and their partners need to face in moving towards relevant and equitable diversity in education. The article posits that, despite the many problems faced by NFE, there is justification for building on its experiences and integrating these within a larger policy and system...
Bank sediments along a 40km reach of the South River, downstream of Waynesboro, VA, store mercury from historical contamination as a result of textile manufacturing. Knowledge of the rate at which contaminated sediment is released to the stream channel through bank erosion is required to implement restoration programs designed, for example, to minimize its ecological impact and to reduce risk to human health. Digitized stream channel boundaries based on visual interpretations of georeferenced aerial imagery from 1937 and 2005 were compared to calculate a minimum estimate of the total area of bank sediment eroded between Waynesboro and Port Republic, Virginia. Estimates of riverbank height were extracted from aerial LIDAR data, allowing areal estimates of bank retreat to be converted to vol...
ERDMANN A.L., DE ANDRADE S.R., FERREIRA DE MELLO A.L., KLOCK P., DO NASCIMENTO K.C., SANTOS KOERICH M. & STEIN BACKES D. (2011) Practices for caring in nursing: Brazilian research groups. International Nursing Review58, 379-385 Background:- The present study considers the production of knowledge and the interactions in the environment of research and their relationships in the system of caring in nursing and health. Aim:- To elaborate a theoretical model of the organization of the practices used for caring, based on the experiences made by the research groups of administration and management in nursing, in Brazil. Methods:- The study is based on grounded theory. Twelve leaders of research groups, working as professors in public universities in the south and the south-east of Brazil, distri...
Samples of two seawater farmed fish (crimson snapper (Lutjanus erythopterus) and snubnose pompano (Trachinotus blochii)), water, air, sediment, fish feed, macroalgae and phytoplankton were collected from two estuarine bays (Daya Bay and Hailing Bay) in South China. The concentrations of persistent halogenated compounds (PHCs) including polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), organochlorine pesticides and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) varied widely with the different sample matrices under investigation. The compositional patterns in fish, fish feed, macroalgae and phytoplankton, as well as the good correlations between the abundances of p,pprime-DDT and BDE-209 and their metabolites (i.e., p,pprime-DDD and p,pprime-DDE for p,pprime-DDT and BDE-47 for BDE-209) in fish indicated the occurr...
Author.The geochemical and isotopic study, based on the analysis of twenty water samples from well in the coastal plain of Sarafand (South-Lebanon), permit to eliminate the hypothesis of marine intrusion in this aquifer. The increase of salinity observed in certain wells is due to the contamination of cretaceous aquifer water by the quaternary formations. The two poles of mixing are respectively characterized: by weak tritium contents (between 2 and 3 UT) and a value of stable isotopes (-5,9<0,18<-5,5) corresponding to the appearance of cretaceous formation area; by the high tritium contents and enrichment relative to heavy isotope in the mineralized water of superficial formations. On the other hand, the isotope contents permit the set a rapid renewal of the cretaceous aquifer water due to quick circulation in the Karstic system
In 1946, the Philippines raised claims in the South China Sea over an area already known as Spratly Islands. This claim advanced through peculiar stages, starting when Thomas Cloma allegedly discovered islands in 1946, later named as Freedomland, and maturing to some extent in 1978 by the governments claim over the so-called Kalayaan Island Group. Considered as an oceanic expansion of its frontiers, this paper reviews the basis of the claim, first over the nature of Clomas activities, and secondly over the measures the Philippine government took as a reaction of Clomas claim of discovery of an area already known in western cartography as the Spratlys. Eventually, what is the nature of the link between the 1978 Kalayaan Islands Groups official claim and 1956 Clomas private one?
Meiji (Mischief) coral atoll, in Nansha (Spratly) Islands, South China Sea, consists of an annular reef rim surrounding a central lagoon. On the atoll rim there are either protuberant ?motu? (small coral patch reefs on the rim of atoll) islets or lower sandy cays that contain modern microbialite deposits on the corals in pinnacles and surrounding bottoms of the atoll. Microbialites, including villiform, hairy, and thin spine growth forms, as well as gelatinous masses, mats and encrustation, developed on coral colonies and atoll rim sediments between 0 and 15 m deep-water settings. The microbialites were produced by natural populations of filamentous cyanobacteria and grew on (1) bulbous corals together with Acropora sp., (2) on massive colonies of Galaxea fascicularis, (3) on dead Montipor...
Regular fuel reduction burning is an important management strategy for reducing the scale and intensity of wildfires in south-west Australian native forests, but the long term effects of this on tree and stand growth are not well understood. Five fire treatments, including application of frequent and infrequent low intensity burns, and 25?years of fire exclusion, were applied to small (4?ha) experimental plots in a low rainfall mixed jarrah (Eucalyptus marginata) and marri (Corymbia calophylla) forest to investigate the effects of these treatments on tree stem diameter growth, stand basal area increment and tree mortality. Mean tree stem growth measured over 20?years was lowest in the long unburnt treatment compared with the burn treatments, although surface soil nutrient levels were gener...
This study estimates the electricity demand function for the residential sector of South Korea with the aim of examining the effects of improved energy efficiency, structural factors and household lifestyles on electricity consumption. In the study, time series data for the period from 1973 to 2007 is used in a structural time series model to estimate the long-term price and income elasticities and annual growth of underlying energy demand trend (UEDT) at the end of the estimation period. The result shows a long-term income elasticity of 1.33 and a long-term price elasticity of -0.27% with -0.93% as the percentage growth of UEDT at the end of the estimation period. This result suggests that, in order to encourage energy efficiency in the residential sector, the government should complement the market based pricing policies with non-market policies such as minimum energy efficiency standards and public enlightenment.
This study estimates the electricity demand function for the residential sector of South Korea with the aim of examining the effects of improved energy efficiency, structural factors and household lifestyles on electricity consumption. In the study, time series data for the period from 1973 to 2007 is used in a structural time series model to estimate the long-term price and income elasticities and annual growth of underlying energy demand trend (UEDT) at the end of the estimation period. The result shows a long-term income elasticity of 1.33 and a long-term price elasticity of -0.27% with -0.93% as the percentage growth of UEDT at the end of the estimation period. This result suggests that, in order to encourage energy efficiency in the residential sector, the government should complement the market based pricing policies with non-market policies such as minimum energy efficiency standards and public enlightenment. (author)
This study estimates the electricity demand function for the residential sector of South Korea with the aim of examining the effects of improved energy efficiency, structural factors and household lifestyles on electricity consumption. In the study, time series data for the period from 1973 to 2007 is used in a structural time series model to estimate the long-term price and income elasticities and annual growth of underlying energy demand trend (UEDT) at the end of the estimation period. The result shows a long-term income elasticity of 1.33 and a long-term price elasticity of -0.27% with -0.93% as the percentage growth of UEDT at the end of the estimation period. This result suggests that, in order to encourage energy efficiency in the residential sector, the government should complement...
Wheat is the second major staple crop, after rice, in India and Pakistan and is also gaining similar importance in Nepal and Bangladesh. Wheat production in South Asia has increased from 15?mt in 1960s to 95.5?mt during 2004?2005. It still needs to grow at the rate of 2?2.5% annually until the middle of 21st century. However, for India, recent estimations have shown a growth requirement of about 1.1%. Although the wheat improvement programs in these countries, with the active collaboration of national agricultural research centers (NARS) and CIMMYT, has made a significant progress, it is a matter of significant concern that wheat production has stagnated for last few years. Since there is little scope for increasing land area under wheat, the major challenge will be to break the yield barr...
Abstract: The basement of the South China Sea (SCS) and adjacent areas can be divided into six divisions (regions) - Paleozoic Erathem graben-faulted basement division in Beibu Gulf, Paleozoic Erathem strike-slip pull-apart in Yinggehai waters, Paleozoic Erathem faulted-depression in eastern Hainan, Paleozoic Erathem rifted in northern Xisha (Paracel), Paleozoic Erathem strike-slip extending in southern Xisha, and Paleozoic-Mesozoic Erathem extending in Nansha Islands (Spratly) waters. The Pre-Cenozoic basement in the SCS and Yunkai continental area are coeval within the Tethyan tectonic domain in the Pre-Cenozoic Period. They are formed on the background of the Paleo-Tethyan tectonic domain, and are important components of the Eastern Tethyan multi-island-ocean system. Three branches of t...
Major forecast errors on the background error covariance from initial conditions, atmospheric forcing, model open boundary conditions, and the river discharges are examined in a coastal model of northern South China Sea. The analysis of background error covariance matrix produced by model ensemble shows that the perturbations of the initial conditions and atmospheric forcing play major roles in producing and maintaining the amplitude of ensemble spread except for the sea surface height (SSH) field. The perturbation of model open boundary conditions can influence ensemble spread of all variables and covariance between temperature and velocity or between temperature and SSH. The perturbation of river discharge mainly affects the covariance of salinity in river estuary. A data assimilation ex...
The Taiwan Strait is an important channel in the west Pacific Ocean transporting water and chemical constituents between the East China Sea and the South China Sea. Due to its complex bottom topography, alternating monsoon forcing and conjunction of several current systems [such as the Zhejiang-Fujian (Zhe-Min) Coastal Current, the Kuroshio intrusion and the extension of the South China Sea Warm Current], the physical and biogeochemical processes and ecosystem dynamics in the Taiwan Strait vary significantly both in space and in time. Our recent interdisciplinary studies, combining in situ and remote sensing observations with numerical modeling, allow us to address several important issues concerning the Taiwan Strait. The temporal and spatial variation of circulation in the Taiwan Strait ...
A study on the distribution of "1"3"7Cs in coastal waters up to a distance of 15 km was undertaken for a decade (1995-2004) and observed that the activity has reduced by 15-20 fold. Statistical and trend analysis was carried out to resolve the contribution of different facilities at a distance of 5 km (north and south) from the discharge point by log normal probability analysis and found that at 5 km south, the median value of "1"3"7Cs due to TAPS and FRP discharges were 3.7 mBq/l and 1.50 mBq/l respectively. The observed levels of "1"3"7Cs are of no consequences from the point of view of dose to members of the public. (author)
Tanzania has recently developed a comprehensive environmental policy which has put high priority on several specific environmental issues. One of the issues is the quality of waste water. A special priority is given to the pollution from the sisal industry. The East-African agro-industries generate very large quantities of organic residues from production and processing of different crops. These residues form a major contribution to the pollution of air, soil and waterways, but, at the same time they constitute a large potential for production of bioenergy through anaerobic digestion as well as potential substrate for other biological fermentation processes. Generally, these residues are regarded as having no or very little value and the different disposal methods are mainly a matter of getting rid of the waste. The generation of residues are very often concentrated on few large units, which makes the exploitation of these resources feasible in large scale biogas systems. Typically the ...
Climate change and limited primary energy resources require indigenous renewable electricity generation options to change the current coal-dominated power source matrix in China. The wind power is such a solution for the above challenges, and it still has large space for improvement in China. In this paper several critical factors related to Chinese wind power were studied in details, including the wind resources, the wind turbine industry and the policies from the Chinese government. Based on the study, the perspective of wind power in China was discussed. With outstanding advantages, the offshore wind power has a bright future in China, so its main characteristics are discussed. Based on the discussions, suggestions were given to improve the development of Chinese wind power, and the gov...
Climate change and limited primary energy resources require indigenous renewable electricity generation options to change the current coal-dominated power source matrix in China. The wind power is such a solution for the above challenges, and it still has large space for improvement in China. In this paper several critical factors related to Chinese wind power were studied in details, including the wind resources, the wind turbine industry and the policies from the Chinese government. Based on the study, the perspective of wind power in China was discussed. With outstanding advantages, the offshore wind power has a bright future in China, so its main characteristics are discussed. Based on the discussions, suggestions were given to improve the development of Chinese wind power, and the government's further measures are also recommended. (author)
The discovery of large reserves of oil has resulted in a proliferation of drilling and production platforms in the North Sea, and other offshore areas around the UK will probably be developed. The exploitation of marginal oil fields, particularly in those developing countries which have only limited energy resources, has been made possible by the development of a floating production, storage and offloading (f.p.s.o.) unit consisting of a large tonnage oil tanker converted for the purpose and moored. The increased electrical power demands imposed by the addition of process plant, extra accommodation, and so on, usually necessitate additions to onboard generation and distribution systems, which must of course be integrated with the existing equipment.
Abstract Ecosystem processes function at many scales, and capturing these processes is a challenge for ecosystem models. Nevertheless, it is a necessary step for considering many management issues pertaining to shelf and coastal systems. In this paper, we explore one method of modeling large areas with a focus at a range of scales. We develop an ecosystem model that can be used for strategic management decision support by modeling the waters off southeastern Australia using a polygon telescoping approach, which incorporates fine-scale detail at the coastal zone, increasing in scale to a very coarse scale in the offshore areas. This telescoping technique is a useful tool for incorporating a wide range of habitats at different scales into a single model.
This paper addresses the unique structural requirements for successful conversion of tankers for floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) or floating storage and offloading (FSO) service. A description is given of the steps undertaken during two recent and very different conversions of a highly optimized 1980s VLCC to FPSO service, and a typical robust 1970s ULCC to FSO service. The paper describes the steps needed for ensuring the FPSO or FSO requirements are successfully met during conversion of the two tankers - each having its own history, e.g. date of build, original design, material choices, class society, voyage history and repairs. Firstly, the paper describes the procedure and results of an early initial structural assessment procedure on the basis of an American Bureau o...
Pipelines are normally made in low-alloyed steels and the design is based on technical and economical criteria. For the transportation of corrosive fluids, a corrosion evaluation will determine what materials can be used. In the event that stainless steel must be used, investment costs will increase significantly. Use of life cycle cost evaluation may also apply, but we may question how often that is used properly. One must, furthermore, differ between onshore and offshore pipelines, because of differences in pipe laying conditions and in maintenance and repair costs. The consequences of a rupture may differ dramatically between onshore pipelines, too, i.e. a large gas pipeline in a populated area and a small oil pipeline in a nonpopulated area. (author)
The paper seeks to illuminate everyday work practices in the economic spaces of Malaysia's business process outsourcing (BPO) industry. It draws upon empirical evidence from call centre staff and promotes analytical sensitivity to the experience of labour and spatiotemporal relations within the offshore back offices of multinational corporations located in Cyberjaya, Malaysia. The analysis provides an empirical snapshot of how IT-facilitated work practices in the global information economy are embedded and socially reproduced in everyday settings. To this end, the paper engages anthropologically with BPO labour, and critiques -globalist- representations of economic and social transformation frequently articulated through an abstract, dehumanized space of networks and flows often seen to wa...
Tiered response is a basic approach to emergency plans, including oil spill response (OSR). This paper delineates a huge set of accidental scenarios within a certain tier of response generated by a computer during risk assessment. Parameters such as the amount of oil spilled, duration of discharge and types of losses should be provided in OSR scenarios. Examples of applications include offshore installations, sub sea or onshore pipelines, and localized onshore facilities. The paper demonstrates how to use risk analysis results for delineating all likely spills into groups that need a specific tier response. The best world practices and Russian regulatory approaches were outlined and compared. Corresponding algorithms were developed and their application in pipelines was presented. The algorithm combines expert's skills and spill trajectory modeling with the net environmental benefit analysis principle into the incident specific emergency response planning. ...
In order to improve the working conditions for the operators of drilling rigs, the work area for handling of pipes and tubes is arranged on a main deck convered by a drill deck, which has openings closable by hatch cover panels. The derrick is enclosed in a cover, from which tunnels extend out over the drill deck and comprises lifting means for handling of pipes and tubes between the decks. The tunnels are connected to the cover of the derrick by raised enclosures permitting the swinging of pipes from a horizontal position in the tunnel to a vertical position in the derrick, and vice versa. There is a door, at least at one of the enclosures, permitting handling of especially long objects. Basically, the handling of pipes and tubes can be performed within areas fully protected from the weather.
There is a clear incentive, therefore, for early consideration of the measures required to meet noise and vibration standards. The platform or rig owner and the operator are jointly responsible for agreeing a noise and vibration control policy and approach at the conceptual design stage, and for then passing on their requirements to the engineering design teams. The engineering design teams and acoustic and vibration specialists for their part need to use all their skill and judgement to apply that policy to the intensely complex job of designing and fabricating topsides facilities. With these concerns as background, UEG started, and has nearly completed, a two-phase study to provide detailed guidance to project managers and designers to assist them to develop appropriate policy and procedures and to help them put those procedures into practice. This paper describes the development of UEG's study, its application and benefits.
Maldives comprise some of the most characteristic and significant atoll systems, but the meiobenthic assemblages of these islands are still largely unknown. A study on meiofauna was conducted on three Maldivian sandy back-reef platforms differently exposed to stronger westerly monsoons. Clear high energy effects of the waves causing currents and erosions were observed at the completely exposed and isolated offshore reef of Thoddoo Island. Wave energy of medium intensity was confirmed at Rasdhoo by depositional structures (finolhu), while a medium to low energy level was recorded at Gulhi on the basis of the presence of a low sandy bar. The meiofaunal assemblage counted 17 major taxa. Copepods and nematodes were dominant, followed by platyhelminthes and polychaetes. The nematode assemblage ...
Man's wastes are polluting the oceans from various sources and delivered by various routes. The result has been the loss of habitat and the irreversible altering of marine ecosystems. Development in the coastal zones and offshore activities that disrupt biologically sensitive areas have led to international negotiations to regulate these impacts and develop a law of the sea. Basic to international cooperation, however, is the need to develop answers to questions about the ecological consequences of development programs and the carrying capacity of the oceans. Current information does not demonstrate long-term global impacts, making it difficult to detect and predict incremental changes and causal relationships. Society needs to determine how much environmental damage it will accept and then to develop appropriate technology, such as biomonitoring. Society also needs to reexamine its positions on technology-based regulatory controls to see if the effects of ...
Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to explain some tax management complications for onshore and offshore hedge funds posed by US FIN 48, Uncertain Tax Positions, and to emphasize the hedge fund manager's responsibility for careful tax planning and compliance. Design/methodology/approach - The paper discusses a hedge fund's objective to deliver tax-efficient results to investors, explains the background of FIN 48, and illustrates five types of situations in which conservative auditors following FIN 48 may raise "red flags." Findings - With the advent of FIN 48's standards careful tax planning and compliance are more important than ever for a hedge fund. Significant complications may arise from unwise, tardy, or missed tax elections; filing an IRS Form 8275, Disclosure Statement, stating...
Often oil/gas and other hydrocarbons discovered and produced offshore are transported to onshore facilities via submarine pipelines. The route of such pipelines traverses through coastal/shore approach regions. For a rational/economic design, safe installation and subsequent operation it is of utmost importance to review, evaluate and finalize various environmental hazard such as winds, waves, currents, seabed topography, seabed and sub-bottom soils, seabed erosion and soil accretion. This paper addresses the above described environmental hazards, their assessment and techniques to prepare design parameters which must be used for stability analysis, installation methods, long term operation and maintenance for the shore approaches. Additionally, various proven pipeline installation and stabilization techniques for the shore approach region are detailed. As case histories, three approaches installed in the Dutch North Sea are described.
Abstract We provide the first firm-level evidence of the impact of the trade in producer services (-offshoring-) on the labour market. Using a new data set from the UK that measures trade in services at the firm level, we find no evidence that importing intermediate services is associated with job losses or greater worker turnover. Using regression to control for observable differences between firms that import service inputs and those that do not, we show that firms that start importing intermediate services experience faster employment growth than equivalent firms that do not. This seems likely to be the result of positive demand shocks, which cause a simultaneous increase in employment, output, and use of imported service inputs.
Hydrous pyrolysis of immature Monterey Phosphatic or Siliceous rock at progressively higher temperatures causes systematic changes in biomarker thermal maturity parameters of the generated hydrocarbons. Biomarker ratios based on proposed carbon-carbon cracking or aromatization reactions increase during hydrous pyrolysis along similar pathways for both Siliceous and Phosphatic members. An increase in these biomarker ratios is also observed for oils of increasing thermal maturity from the offshore Santa Maria Basin, although the rates of changes for each parameter differ between the hydrous pyrolysis and natural samples. Changes in some cracking parameters during maturation appear to result from differential thermal stability of the compounds rather than conversion of precursors to products. (author).
Development drilling from Chevron-operated Platform Hermosa, located on OCS-P 0316 of the Point Arguello field, began on January 30, 1987. To date, seven development wells have been drilled in to the northwest-southeast-trending, doubly plunging anticlinal structure. The results from drilling have confirmed the presence of intense folding and fracturing in the targeted Monterey Formation. Over 700 ft of conventional core were recovered from the B-2 well in the lower Sisquoc and Monterey Formations. Analysis of the core material has yielded important information on lithologic variations and fracture patterns in the productive Monterey Formation. Initial results of core studies, DST data, and wireline studies indicate a correlation between rock type and fracturing. Fracture trends and directional permeability suggested by drill-stem testing may affect future drilling patterns in the field.
The total amount of uranium dissolved in seawater at a uniform concentration of 3 mg U/m{sup 3} in the world's oceans is 4.5 billion tons. An adsorption method using polymeric adsorbents capable of specifically recovering uranium from seawater is reported to be economically feasible. A uranium-specific nonwoven fabric was used as the adsorbent packed in an adsorption cage 16 m{sup 2} in cross-sectional area and 16 cm in height. We submerged three adsorption cages in the Pacific Ocean at a depth of 20 m at 7 km offshore of Japan. The three adsorption cages consisted of stacks of 52 000 sheets of the uranium-specific non-woven fabric with a total mass of 350 kg. The total amount of uranium recovered by the nonwoven fabric was >1 kg in terms of yellow cake during a total submersion time of 240 days in the ocean.
The total amount of uranium dissolved in seawater at a uniform concentration of 3 mg U/m3 in the world's oceans is 4.5 billion tons. An adsorption method using polymeric adsorbents capable of specifically recovering uranium from seawater is reported to be economically feasible. A uranium-specific nonwoven fabric was used as the adsorbent packed in an adsorption cage 16 m2 in cross-sectional area and 16 cm in height. We submerged three adsorption cages in the Pacific Ocean at a depth of 20 m at 7 km offshore of Japan. The three adsorption cages consisted of stacks of 52 000 sheets of the uranium-specific non-woven fabric with a total mass of 350 kg. The total amount of uranium recovered by the nonwoven fabric was >1 kg in terms of yellow cake during a total submersion time of 240 days in the ocean.
In recent years, offshore reservoirs have been developed in deeper and deeper water environments. Steel catenary risers (SCRs) are being considered in deepwater development such as Northern North Sea. SCRs used in conjunction with a semi-submersible or floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) in deepwater harsh environments present significant design challenges. The large vertical motions at the semi or FPSO induce severe riser response, which results in difficulty meeting strength and fatigue criteria at the hang off and touch down point locations. To improve the understanding of SCR behaviour and increase the confidence in the design of such systems in deepwater harsh environments, a parametric study on a SCR connected to a semi-submersible was carried out in this paper to deal...
A new semi-submersible floating structure is proposed on which three wind turbine towers are installed. This paper presents a basic characteristic of the wave-induced motion of this semi-submersible floating structure via. numerical computations and 1/150 scaled rigid model experiments in a wave tank. In the numerical computations, nonlinear damping effect due to drag forces modeled by the Morison's formula is considered in the equation of motion, where the linear hydrodynamic forces are obtained from the Green's function model. As a result, the response characteristics around the resonant frequency region were successfully improved. In addition to such basic examination, major results of feasibility studies, including the structural stability for severe wave conditions and the long-term fatigue limit state, are presented for a realistic situation.
A reduced grid model of a transmission system with a number of central power plants, consumption centers, local wind turbines and a large offshore wind farm is developed and implemented in the simulation tool PowerFactory (DIgSILENT). The reduced grid model is given by Energinet.dk, Transmission System Operator of Denmark (TSO) for Natural Gas and Electricity, to the Danish Universities and the Risoe National Laboratory. Its intended usage is education and studying of interaction between electricity-producing wind turbines and a realistic transmission system. Focus in these studies is on voltage stability issues and on the ride-through capability of different wind turbine concepts, equipped with advanced controllers, developed by the Risoe National Laboratory.
The passive continental margin in the northern South China Sea is a weakly active area. It has been found to be favorable for large gas field development and also to be profitable for gas hydrate. The active faults, diapir structure, slump deposits, faults break of slopes, gas chimneys and sandstone of submarine fan, control the concentration of gas hydrate. Gas chimneys are widely distributed in the northern South China Sea. They supply the pathway for migration of deeper gas to gas hydrate stability zones especially in the basin of tectonic inactive zone. This paper discussed the geological structures of gas hydrate occurrence in gas fields and presented a detailed analysis of gas chimneys within the northern slope of the South China Sea. The paper described the geological setting of the Qiongdongnan Basin and provided information on the data description and processing. Two multichannel seismic (MCS) reflection profiles ...
Extracts from Helichrysum caespititium were found to have antimicrobial activity. Structure elucidation of the active compound, 2-(4-methylpentanoyl)-4-(3-methylbuten-2-yl)-phloroglucinol (caespitin), by means of spectroscopic and X-ray crystallographic analyses, is described.
BackgroundMalaria is one of the leading causes of mortality and morbidity in Nigeria. It is not known how user fees introduced under the Bamako Initiative (BI) system affect healthcare...Full Text Available
The consumption of food products obtained in areas subjected to radioactive contamination as a consequence of a radiation accident appears to be the most significant source of irradiation for the population. At the same time, this route can be regulated very effectively. The regularities of contamination of agricultural production, peculiar features of internal dose formation in the population and the effectiveness of countermeasures in agriculture have been analysed using the experience of two major accidents in the former USSR - in the South Urals (Kyshtym accident) in 1957, and at the Chernobyl NPP in 1986. (Author).
Description is given of how the design challenges were met in commissioning the Sasol Two plant in 1980, a larger plant than Sasol One, and devoted to producing liquid fuels. The design parameters included treating South African coals of poor quality with high ash contents, and rapidity in building the plant.
A research program has been undertaken to characterize oil sand deposits. Studies include delination of reservoir architecture; petrophysical attributes; and petrography and core analysis.
BackgroundThe 516G > T polymorphism in exon 4 of the CYP2B6 gene has been associated with increased plasma Efavirenz (EFV) concentrations. EFV concentrations...Full Text Available
...as agro forestry subject matter specialist, eastern supervisor, conservation and GIS officer with the Ministry of Agriculture and WWF-Korup national park project, respectively, in south west Cameroon . Peter holds joint Honours BSc in Forestry & Soil Science (WALES-UK) and MSc Resource Management (Edinburgh-UK)....
A primary and basic question prevails in the methanol industry - What will be the global demand for methanol, for the expanded production of methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE), during the next few years This article attempts to answer the question by discussing the global market; supply and demand factors; the market in North America, Western Europe, Far East and Asia, South America, and other regions; and the uncertainties that remain.
The purpose of this project is to demonstrate targeted infill and extension drilling opportunities, better determinations of oil-in-place, methods for improved completion efficiency and the suitability of waterflooding in certain shallow-shelf carbonate reservoirs in the Williston Basin, Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota. Results of seismic surveys are presented.
Glossitis, known clinically as "redtongue," was studied in tissues from 34 military working dogs (MWD) in the Republic of Vietnam. This condition was manifested grossly by loss of lingual papillae on the dorsal margins of the rostral third of the tongue. Microscopically, the principal lesions consisted of loss of filiform papillae, hemorrhage and edema in the lamina propria, acanthosis, and cellular infiltration. The cause of glossitis remains unknown at this time. PMID:1137213
A total of 172 persons from nine South Amerindian, three African and one Eskimo populations were studied in relation to the Paired box gene 9 (PAX9) exon 3 (138 base...Full Text Available
Korea Electric Power Corporation (Kepco) of South Korea has awarded Asea Brown Boveri Switzerland, a member of the ABB Group, a contract to supply the main equipment for two gas-fired combined-cycle power stations. News of the contract followed an announcement last year that Kepco will build a series of gas-fired power stations in the early 1990s to supply electricity to new housing and commercial areas being built in the Seoul-Incheon connurbation. (author).
After the devastating natural disasters that have hit China recently, another crisis is looming, Drought, pollution and heavy usage in the fast-developing megacities have resulted in a shortage of water. A huge construction effort is underway to divert water from the south to the north. But experts warn that it will not solve China's structural water problems.
This issue of Exploratorium Magazine focuses on Antarctica. Antarctica has one of the most extreme climates in the world with an untouched environment inviting researchers with great opportunities for study. This issue describes the journey of four Exploratorium staff members to frozen Antarctica. Chapters include: (1) "Life at the Bottom of the World"; (2) "Try This! Dress the Scientist"; (3) "South Pole Astronomy"; and (4) "Ground Truth." (YDS)
BackgroundIn Nigeria ACT use at the community level has not been evaluated and the use of antimalarial drugs (commonly chloroquine (CQ)) at home has been shown to be largely incorrect....Full Text Available
In order to conserve vaccines in hot countries a solar refrigerator has been made by a French university. It is a photothermal refrigerator without batteries. It uses two gases: ammonia and calcium chloride. The refrigerator is autonomous and can work eleven days without sun. (N.C.)
...ER14AU08.000 (6) Unit 2: North Baldwin Meadow, San Bernardino County, California...and ARUR 12. Gold Mountain and North Baldwin Lake, San Bernardino County, California...ER26DE07.007(13) Unit ARUR 15. South Baldwin Ridge/Erwin Lake, San Bernardino...
Throughout the 1990's to year 2000, energy integration, and particularly natural gas integration, was seen as a major goal in the southern cone of South America. The regional perspective for energy was related to an even more challenging objective - Latin American economic integration, which was quickly moving forward by the constitution of Mercosur, the free trade zone built by Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay, and also having Bolivia and Chile as special partners. Mercosur was getting stronger and becoming a successful political project. Trade conflicts existed, but they were considered normal and nobody would disagree about the viability of Mercosur. By the beginning of the 21. century, the economic integration process in South America was already advancing timidly as compared to the impetus from the beginning of 1990's. Mercosur started facing complex and almost insurmountable challenges after the numerous global financial crises ...
The development of new steels is always a challenge for the manufacturer of filler metals. In many cases it is obvious that some properties of the base metal cannot be fulfilled with matching filler metals. In some cases, dissimilar filler metals can solve the problem in some cases, there is no chance to meet the requirements of the base metal (for example yield strengths of new ultra high strength steels). This paper deals with different kinds of new steels and the requirements for the weld metal with examples from motor car industry (Mangan Austenite), crane (Ultra high strength steels), earthmoving machinery (Wear-resistant steels) and offshore (Supermartensitic steels). Specific problems will be discussed and best solutions will be highlighted. These examples make clear that the success of new kinds of steels in the market depends on solving the joining problems of these steels. (Abstract Copyright [2007], Wiley Periodicals, Inc.) [German] Die Entwicklung von ...
In the last two decades the performance of numerical wind-wave models has improved considerably. Several models have been routinely producing good quality wave estimates globally since the mid-1980s. The verifications of wind-wave models have mainly focused on the evaluation of the error of the significant wave height H{sub s} estimates. However, for wave energy purposes, the main parameters to be assessed are the wave power P{sub w} and the mean (energy) period T{sub e}. Since P{sub w} is proportional to H{sub s}{sup 2}T{sub e}, its expected error is much larger than for the single-wave parameters. This paper summarizes the intercomparison of two wind-wave models against buoy data in the North Atlantic and the Mediterranean Sea to select the most suitable one for the construction of an Atlas of the wave energy resource in European waters. A full verification in the two basins of the selected model--the WAM model, implemented in the routine operation of the European Centre for ...
Many features from the background for an intensified application of fracture mechanics concepts in many industries world-wide. These include requirements for a permanent increase of the level of performance of technical components and structures by the introduction of new materials, joining technologies and design principles, the problem of ageing components and life extension, an increased emphasis on non-destructive in-service inspection combined with improved NDT techniques, and also a number of failure events caused by fatigue and fracture The aim of the present paper is to give a brief state-of-the-art review on how fracture mechanics is applied in different industrial branches today. This is based on standards and guidelines in the aerospace industry, in the nuclear and fossil power generation, in the chemical and petrochemical and the pipeline industry, in civil engineering, offshore technique and other fields. Based on the review an outlook is given on a ...
This spring, Newfoundland will send off a floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel to the offshore Terra Nova field. The Terra Nova will proceed southeast through Bull Arm, then northeast out of Trinity Bay, then heads southeast to the Jeanne d'Arc Basin on the Grand Banks. The Terra Nova is expected to produce 115,000 barrels of oil per day for six years, when it reaches full capacity. The consortium, headed by Petro-Canada as senior ownership partner and operator, built an environment protection program into every aspect of the project. Some of the features of the environment protection program include glory holes excavated on the ocean floor for the protection of production equipment from icebergs, to a flare stack on the platform, which has four legs to provide stability in rough seas. The FPSO was designed to withstand sea ice, icebergs, and severe winter storms. Flow lines are also protected, and in the event that a line is damaged, ...
Part I of this thesis is on long-term iceberg collision-risk assessment methods for fixed offshore structures. Estimates for the long-term probability that an iceberg will hit a fixed offshore structure are based on estimates of the total volume of produced iceberg, a model for the size distribution of icebergs and a description of how iceberg trajectories ``fill`` the plane (the ocean`s surface). Part II of the thesis discusses methods for analysis of low resolution data in the sense that the size of the area covered by each pixel is not small compared to the dominating floes. Still, this type of data can provide estimates of the ice extent (and hence the ice edge) and ice concentration. The estimates of the ice edge (at least) seem to be physically significant in the sense that ``in some way`` they can reflect ice drift in an image time sequence. A priori this is far from obvious. A central idea is that the ``ice edge`` is close to a ...
Amoco Trinidad Oil Company produces 60,000 bbl/d of oil from the Trinidadian offshore. The oil is pipelined ashore where it is processed and returned offshore to a buoy mooring for transport up Trinidad's east coast. Amoco Trinidad has developed comprehensive oil spill contingency plans, starting from computer models of spill scenarios. The models used initially assumed that the oils would emulsify quickly and the spills would become highly viscous and persistent, reaching the shoreline in 15-24 h. Such behavior would render ineffective the use of dispersants as a spill countermeasure. Studies showed a poor potential capability of physical recovery systems for spills off the Trinidad east coast due to high sea states, strong winds, and other factors. These results led to questioning of the spill model's assumptions, and laboratory tests were conducted to study the actual behavior of the crude oils. It was found that the oil was difficult to ...
In August 1989, representatives from the Alberta Oil Sands Technology and Research Authority (AOSTRA) were the guests of the USSR Interbranch Scientific Technological Complex, Oil Recovery Institute (MNTK) in an extensive visit to heavy oil and gas fields and to various research institutes. Observations made during this tour concerning developments in the USSR heavy oil/bitumen industry, enhanced oil recovery, research programs, proposals for joint ventures, and technological developments are reported. It is noted that oil production in the USSR seems to have peaked and is in a state of decline, indicating the vital importance of enhanced recovery projects in reversing this trend. The areas visited included the Yarega field, where underground thermal recovery methods are used; the Sakhalin Island area, where successful thermal methods are used and where the USSR's largest offshore drilling rig is located; the Krasnodar/Black Sea area, where MNTK's ...
Friede and Goldman Ltd. of New Orleans, Louisiana has a successful drilling rig, the L-780 jack-up series. The triangular-shaped drilling vessel measures 180 x 176 ft. and is equipped with three 352 ft legs including spud cans. It is designed to work in up to 250 ft waters and drill to 20,000 ft depths. The unit is scheduled to begin initial drilling operations in the Gulf of Mexico for Arco. Design features are included for the unit. Davie Shipbuilding Ltd. has entered the Mexican offshore market with the signing of a $40,000,000 Canadian contract for a jack-up to work in 300 ft water depths. Baker Marine Corporation has contracted with the People's Republic of China for construction of two self-elevating jack-ups. The units will be built for Magnum Marine, headquartered in Houston. Details for the two rigs are given. Santa Fe International Corporation has ordered a new jack-up rig to work initially in the Gulf of Suez. The newly ordered unit, Rig 136, ...
Field studies were conducted May 28-June 1, 1979, to determine the chemical composition and physical behavior of discharges from an offshore gas drilling rig in the central basin of Lake Erie. The drilling operation was observed for four days, from rig jackup to the circulation of mud through the borehole after drilling had been completed. Resuspension studies using nephelometry, supplemented with chemical analyses, indicated little resuspension of lake bottom materials or release of metals to the water column during rig jack-up. Portions of the turbidity plumes generated during drilling were buoyant. Three surface turbidity plumes were mapped with nephelometry to a point at which particulate concentrations reached background levels in the Lake. Detectable plumes were approx. 400 to 1500 m in length and had maximum widths < 230 m. A chemical survey conducted in the plume during early gas shows indicated that discharged inorganic chemical species were rapidly ...
The main businesses of the Aker Group were outlined. The Aker Group has an operating revenue of 51.7 billion with operational experience in deepwater floaters, subsea infrastructure, onshore oil and gas plants, fixed offshore platforms, petrochemical refining, power generation, pulping, and mining. The company plans and executes capital projects, provides technology solutions and life-cycle operations, service and maintenance. The Aker Group owns 50 per cent of the Aker Kvaener offshore drilling rig located in the North Sea. This presentation outlined the challenges of working in a harsh environment. The area is characterized by a short productive season, low temperatures and limited sunlight. The direct environmental issues include spills and the impact of oil and gas infrastructure. Indirect issues include lowering the entry barriers for other kinds of resource exploitation. Other challenges of field development in Arctic areas include ice ...
The Oklo natural fossil fission reactors in Gabon, Equatorial Africa, have been studied as a natural analogue for spent nuclear fuel in a geological environment. For these studies, it is important to know what has happened to these reactors since they formed. This review is focussed on existing geological and geochronological information concerning the Oklo reactors and the surrounding ore. A sequence of geological and geochemical events in the Oklo area, as described in the literature, is given. The data and the studies behind this established geochronology are discussed and evaluated. Of the regional geology, special attention is given to the dating of the Francevillian sediments, and the intrusion of a dolerite dyke swarm. The processes that led to the mineralisation at Oklo, the subsequent formation of the nuclear reactors and later migration of fission products are described. Further discussion concerns the studies of the dolerite dyke swarm, since this ...
In previous molecular phylogenetic analyses of the freshwater mussel family Unionidae (Bivalvia: Unionoida), the Afrotropical genus Coelatura had been recovered in various positions, generally indicating a paraphyletic Unionidae. However that result was typically poorly supported and in conflict with morphology-based analyses. We set out to test the phylogenetic position of Coelatura by sampling tropical lineages omitted from previous studies. Forty-one partial 28S nuclear rDNA and partial COI mtDNA sequences (1130 total aligned nucleotides) were analyzed separately and in combination under both maximum parsimony and likelihood, as well as Bayesian inference. There was significant phylogenetic incongruence between the character sets (partition homogeneity test, p<0.01), but a novel heuristic for comparing bootstrap values among character sets analyzed separately and in combination illustrated that the observed conflict was due to homoplasy rather than separate gene histories. ...
Renewable energy systems have been suggested as appropriate technologies for developing countries for many years. But they are less attractive to low-income rural and urban populations for reasons of risk and initial capital outlay, and market penetration is usually small as a result. Technology transfer by outside intervention appears unlikely to deliver to enough people in Africa; only self propagating technologies have managed that to date. Unfortunately target populations in developing countries have little capital and are understandably reluctant to take risks. Outside interests see little likelihood of profit and have already demonstrated reluctance to invest in many developing countries. Benefit from technology relies on continued use after purchase and is rightly associated with reliability and availability. Mean time to repair may be a better measure of appropriateness than mean time between failures. Technology based on the idea of `advanced simplicity` - ...
Emissions of nitric oxide from soils of equatorial rain forest were measured in the Dimonika Natural Park (4 degrees 30'S, 12 degrees 30'E) in the Mayombe Forest in Congo. Three research campaigns were carried out in June and July 1991 and in February 1992. Fluxes were measured by dynamic chamber techniques using a chemiluminescence instrument Scintrex LMA3. NO fluxes measured on natural soils are in between 5 and 17x10[sup 9] molecules cm[sup -2]s[sup -1]; they are of the same order of magnitude as those observed in similar tropical forest media. Soil treatment experiments show that the auto-decomposition of HNO[sub 2] in these acid soils (pH 4) (chemodenitrification) is a potentially important cause of nitric oxide production in this type of ecosystem. Nitrous acid comes from autotrophic nitrification all the year around, and also from biological denitrification, shown by N[sub 2]O emissions, during the rainy season. The regulation of NO release from soils is linked ...
Under the auspices of the Mine Environment Neutral Drainage (MEND) Program, several waste rock piles were monitored and characterized. Acid rock drainage (ARD) became a mechanism better understood based on the data acquired during these projects. Numerical simulation was used to better comprehend the quantitative issues associated with the characterization of three specific sites for the purpose of this study. The sites selected were the south waste rock pile of the Doyon Mine in Quebec, the Northdale of the mining district of Ronnenberg in Germany, and the waste rock pile of the Sugar Shack South of the Questa mine in New Mexico. The observed and simulated conditions were very distinct from one mine to another, even if the same mechanisms were involved. The dominant oxygen and heat transfer mechanisms displayed the most varied behavior between the sites. ARD control or site rehabilitation decisions were based on the quantitative understanding ...
Preliminary results from a large-scale testbed of advanced lighting control technologies at the Phillip Burton Federal Building at 450 Golden Gate Ave. in San Francisco are presented. The first year objective of this project is to determine the sustainable energy savings and cost-effectiveness of different lighting control technologies compared to a portion of the building where only minimal controls are installed. The paper presents the analyzed results from six months of tests focused on accurately characterizing the energy savings potential of one type of daylight-linked lighting controls compared to the lighting in similar open-planned areas without dimming controls. After analyzing a half year;s data, we determined that the annual energy savings for this type of daylight- linked controls was 41% and 30% for the outer rows of lights on the South and North sides of the building, respectively. The annual energy savings dropped to 22% and 16% for the second row of ...
The information in this Final Environmental Statement is the second assessment of the environmental impacts associated with the construction and operation of the Grand Gulf Nuclear Station, Units 1 and 2, located on the Mississippi River in Claiborne County, Mississippi. The Draft Environmental Statement was issued in May 1981. The first assessment was the Final Environmental Statement related to construction, which was issued in August 1973 prior to issuance of the Grand Gulf Nuclear Station construction permits. In September 1981 Grand Gulf Unit 1 was 92% complete and Unit 2 was 22% complete. Fuel loading for Unit 1 is scheduled for December 1981. The present assessment is the result of the NRC staff review of the activities associated with the proposed operation of the Station, and includes the staff responses to comments on the Draft Environmental Statement.
A new lactone, 1,8-dihydroxy-10-methoxy-3-methyldibenzo[b,e]oxepine-6,11-dione (1), and two new xanthones, 1-hydroxy-8-(hydroxymethyl)-6-methoxy-3-methyl-9H-xanthen-9-one (2) and 1-hydroxy-8-(hydroxymethyl)-3-methoxy-6-methyl-9H-xanthen-9-one (3), were isolated from a mangrove endophytic fungus Phoma sp. SK3RW1M collected from the South China Sea. This is the first report on xanthone derivatives isolated as secondary metabolites from Phoma species. Their structures were elucidated by spectroscopic methods, mainly 1D- and 2D-NMR techniques, and the structure of compound 2 was confirmed by X-ray crystallography. Cytotoxicity assays showed that compounds 1-3 were inactive against KB and KBv200 cells.
At-site and regional frequency analyses of annual maximum 1-, 2-, and 3-days rainfall in Han River basin was performed and compared based on the regional L-moments algorithm. To perform regional frequency analysis, Han River basin was subdivided into 3 sub-basins such as South Han River, North Han River, and downstream regions. For each sub-basin, the discordancy and homogeneity tests were performed. As the results of goodness of fit tests, lognormal model was selected as an appropriate probability distribution for both South Han River and downstream regions and gamma-3 model for North Han River region. From Monte Carlo simulation, RBIAS and RRMSE of the estimated quantiles from regional frequency analysis and at-site frequency analysis were calculated and compared each other. Regional frequency analysis shows less RRMSE of the estimated quantiles than at-sites frequency analysis in overall return periods. The differences of RRMSE between two ...
In accordance with Department of Energy (DOE) Regulations surveys for wetland presence or absence were conducted in September 1996 on the DWI-1630 site (Witherspoon Landfill) located in South Knoxville, Knox County, Tennessee. The DWI-1630 site includes a closed, capped landfill area, areas of past disturbance adjacent to the capped area, and patches of hardwood forest. Wetlands were identified on the landfill cap and in a small bottomland that was formerly used for a retention pond in the southwest corner of the DWI-1630 site. The wetlands identified on the cap are man-induced, atypical situation wetlands. These areas have hydrophytic vegetation and wetland hydrology, but the soils do not have hydric characteristics. Wetland development appears to be due to a combination of the grading or subsidence of the clay landfill cap, the low permeability of the clay fill soil, and the absence of surface drainage outlets from the depressions. These atypical situation ...
The effects of temperature and different forms of nutrients on Chattonella marina growth have been investigated in strains isolated from the Daya Bay, the South China Sea. The strain of C. marina preferred high temperatures, with an optimal temperature of 25?C, and 18?C was the minimum for its survival. Higher cell number and growth rate were obtained in high nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations (500 ?g/L, 74 ?g/L) than under nutrient limitation. Nitrogen influenced the growth most, as the specific growth rate and maximum cell density were lower in nitrogenlimited cultures than noted under phosphorus limitation or under limitation from both. C. marina was capable of using many kinds of organic nitrogen sources including L-serine (L-Ser), glycine (Gly), alanine (Ala), L-threonine (L-Thr),...
Discordant U-Pb zircon isotopic data from amphibolite facies orthogneisses of the Charleston Metamorphic Group, western South Island, New Zealand, define a lower intercept age of 114#+-#18 m.y. that is interpreted as the crystallization age of the orthogneiss magmas. The upper intercept age of 1026#+-#97 m.y. reflects inherited components of Precambrian zircon derived from the source region of the magmas. The age, and whole rock chemical characteristics, indicate that the orthogneisses are part of the same phase of Early cretaceous magmatic activity that produced voluminous arc-related calc-alkaline plutonic rocks throughout western South Island. Previously published K-Ar and Rb-Sr mineral ages indicate uplift and cooling of the Charleston Metamorphic Group to less than 400deg C by 110-90 m.y. This uplift occurred as a consequence of low-angle normal faulting related to the Late Cretaceous breakup of Gondwana, and suggests that regional ...
California's pacific coast stretches roughly over 11.5 latitudinal degrees, extending from about 32.5{sup o}N to 44{sup o}N. There is nearly 900nm of California coastline offering superior opportunity for wave energy use. The longitudinal position of the coast shifts eastward at two distinct locations: Punta Gorda just south of Cape Mendecino in the north and Point Conception in the south. The change in longitudinal orientation in southern California also coincides with significant change in California's bathymetry. The tilts in the longitudinal coastal lines at the two points also define California wave zones into three areas: the short coastal line north of Punta Gorda, the long north and middle line between the two points, and the short line of the heavily populated southern coast. The northern and central zones are characterized by high waves of relatively low frequency; the southern coast is characterized by low waves of ...
We explore a possibility that the daily sea-level pressure (SLP) over South Korea responds to the high-speed solar wind event. This is of interest in two aspects: First, if there is a statistical association this can be another piece of evidence showing that various meteorological observables indeed respond to variations in the interplanetary environment. Second, this can be a very crucial observational constraint since most models proposed so far are expected to preferentially work in higher latitude regions than the low latitude region studied here. We have examined daily solar wind speed ${\\rm V}$, daily SLP difference ${\\rm \\Delta SLP}$, and daily ${\\rm \\log(BV^{2})}$ using the superposed epoch analysis in which the key date is set such that the daily solar wind speed exceeds 800 ${\\rm kms^{-1}}$. We find that the daily ${\\rm \\Delta SLP}$ averaged out of 12 events reaches its peak at day +1 and gradually decreases back to its normal level. The amount of ...
The CAMDU 6 reactor has an international reputation as one of the world's best performing and safe reactors. CANDU 6 reactors are consistently ranked in the world's top 10 for annual and lifetime performance. Six CANDU 6 units are currently in operation in four continents; in Quebec, New Brunswick, South Korea, Argentina and Romania. There are another two CANDU 6 units currently under construction at wolsong, in Korea which ore scheduled to go into service in 1998 and 1999 respectively. A second CANDU 6 unit is currently being considered for Romania. The construction of two CANDU 6 units at Qinshan, in China, is now underway. The performance of the four first-generation CANDU 6 plants, which have now been in service for 15 years, continue to show very good performance, with capacity factors on average since in-service of over 85%. The annual capacity factor of 10.21% during 1997 has been achieved by the Wolsong-1 unit in South Korea. These high ...
Concentrations of trace metals were determined in water, sediment, fish feed and two species of farmed fish, pompano and snapper, collected from Daya Bay and Hailing Bay of South China in July 2007 and January 2008. Total average concentrations of Cu, Pb, Zn, Cd, Cr, Hg and As were 1.6, 2.7, 27.3, 0.025, 0.62, 0.18 and 0.59?g/gdrywt in pompano and 1.5, 2.6, 23.6, 0.020, 0.55, 0.22 and 0.53?g/gdrywt in snapper. In general, the concentrations of all target metals except Hg were positively correlated with lipid contents whereas negative correlations were observed between the metal concentrations and fish body weights. Model calculation indicated that dietary uptake of Zn and Cd predominate their accumulation in snapper, accounting for 99.9% and 98.2% of the total inputs. Risk ...
For many years, the Lower Cretaceous Sunniland oil-producing fields have been interpreted as reef deposits. Petrologic evidence from cores from field and wildcat wells strongly indicates on the basis of faunal composition and character, that the fields are producing from moundlike shoals. These shoals are considered to have been deposited in a mudflat environment similar to that of present-day Florida Bay. This present-day Florida Bay analog is used to determine the various environmental subzones and controls on the deposition of the Sunniland Formation. This concept of using a model together with a modern analog can be a powerful tool in the exploration of stratigraphic traps. A petrologic and petrophysical study of the Sunniland Formation in the wells that have been drilled in the Florida Bay and Keys areas was made to extend the model and its application throughout the South Florida basin. The evaluation of these wells has produced new insights into the ...
This analysis defines and evaluates the surface water supply system from the existing J-13 well to the North Portal. This system includes the pipe running from J-13 to a proposed Booster Pump Station at the intersection of H Road and the North Portal access road. Contained herein is an analysis of the proposed Booster Pump Station with a brief description of the system that could be installed to the South Portal and the optional shaft. The tanks that supply the water to the North Portal are sized, and the supply system to the North Portal facilities and up to Topopah Spring North Ramp is defined.
The literature is littered with reports presenting the proportion of patients admitted with ischaemic stroke receiving thrombolysis. This gives some measure of activity and the efficiency of prehospital and hospital triage. Some stroke centres have reported rates of thrombolysis as high as 20%, but without knowing the population that such services serve, these proportions do not indicate how well or equitably the treatment is being delivered. Here, we explore various metrics to monitor our efforts to provide equitable access to stroke thrombolysis in Lothian, a region in the South East of Scotland. PMID:21086712
... Thursday: South Brisbane Sailing Club, Orleigh Park Hill End Terrace, West End. Friday: Booroodabin Bowls Club, 126 Breakfast Creek Road, Newstead. Related Photos Ros Capeness and Jeff Shearin: six months on (Emma Sykes - ABC Local) Map Fig Tree Pocket 4069 Subscribe/RSS Subscribe to ABC Brisbane videos Subscribe to all ABC Local videos Topics: floods, people Locations: brisbane-4000,...
... Thursday: South Brisbane Sailing Club, Orleigh Park Hill End Terrace, West End. Friday: Booroodabin Bowls Club, 126 Breakfast Creek Road, Newstead. Related Photos Six months on: Kerrin Quinn's Story (Emma Sykes - ABC Local) Map Fernvale 4306 Subscribe/RSS Subscribe to ABC Brisbane videos Subscribe to all ABC Local videos Topics: disasters-and-accidents, floods Locations: brisbane-4000, fernvale-4306 Print page ...
Surveys for interior wetland birds at mine-associated emergent wetlands on coal surface mines in southern Illinois detected one state threatened and two state endangered species. Breeding by least bittern (Ixobrychus exilis) and common moorhen (Gallinula chloropus) was confirmed. Regional assessment of potential wetland bird habitat south of Illinois Interstate 64 identified a total of 8,109 ha of emergent stable water wetlands; 10% were associated with mining. Mine-associated wetlands with persistent hydrology and large expanses of emergent vegetation provide habitat that could potentially compensate for loss of natural wetlands in Illinois.
This paper presents a survey on public preferences in SE England for the use of wind, biomass and nuclear power in electricity generation. Using a labelled CE the perceived importance (value) to the public of distance and the energy options' impacts on biodiversity, emissions, land occupation and household cost was explored. Results suggest that impacts, technology name, demographic characteristics, attitudes towards the environment, knowledge and experience with the technologies were significant choice determinants. Considering the current debate about the development of nuclear power and biomass in UK and worldwide, this survey provides an insight into the factors affecting public acceptability
During 2009, the Hilton M. Briggs Library, South Dakota State University, went live with MetaLib, a federated search engine from Ex Libris. This paper presents the implementation process, addresses resource accessibility issues, and suggests a number of resources that can be consulted about these issues. Readers can apply similar strategies to projects involving federated search systems, as many implementation projects involve the same basic considerations presented here. The author did not find any studies specifically focused on configurations of MetaLib resources, so this content should be singularly useful.
National Power is building its first gas turbine combined cycle power station at Killingholme, situated to the south of the River Humber in the East of England. NEI ABB Gas Turbines Limited was awarded the turnkey contract in July 1990 to build a nominal 650 MW combined cycle power station based around three Asea Brown Boveri GT13E gas turbines. The project is outlined in this article. The plant is due for completion in July 1993. (author)
This study examines the effects of blasting on waste dumps at open pit mining operations. Of specific concern were mining operations at the base of a five hundred foot high waste dump such as the operation at the South Pit of the Smoky-River Coal Ltd. property near Grande Cache, Alberta. An assessment of waste dump stability including factors such as quasi-static deformation behaviour, historical dump deformation behaviours and potential blasting effects was undertaken. It is concluded that safe blasting may be carried out in proximity to waste dumps, but monitoring of dump behaviour is recommended to ensure operational safety. 22 refs., 4 apps.
This work deals with the development of wind maps in the Venezuelan coastal zones (South America). The Navier-Stokes equations for real viscous incompressible flow are discretized via the finite element method and they are applied to a full 3D numerical model. Two regions were analyzed: the Margarita island and the Paraguana peninsula, both of them located in the Caribbean Sea at the North of Venezuela. These regions were modeled by using a three dimensional control volume, discretized through hexaedric eight-noded finite elements. Some wind maps obtained in this research are presented and discussed. (author)
The first objective is to utilize reservoir characterization and advanced technologies to optimize the design of a carbon dioxide (CO{sub 2}) project for the South Cowden Unit (SCU) located in Ector County, Texas. The SCU is a mature, relatively small, shallow shelf carbonate unit nearing, waterflood depletion. The second objective is to demonstrate the performance and economic viability of the project in the field. This report includes work on the reservoir characterization and project design objective and the demonstration project objective.
Denison Mines Limited is completing two final feasibility studies on the Coalspur thermal coal property in northwestern Alberta and the Belcourt property south of Dawson Creek, B.C. Denison is also carrying out a geological field program on a promising metallurgical coal property, Wildhay, west of Hinton, Alberta. Fording Coal Ltd. will close its Fording River mine for at least the second half of December. Site preparation has started at the Obed-Marsh thermal coal project northeast of Hinton.
The COsmic ray Research and Education Array (COREA) collaboration has installed an array of six detector stations at two high schools in and near Seoul, Korea for measurement of air-shower events from high-energy cosmic rays. Three stations are installed at each site, where each station consists of four plastic scintillation detectors covering an area of 2m2. In this presentation, we report the currenst status of the COREA project, describing the experimental equipment and measurement of coincident events.
Structural complexities reduce the homogeneity necessary for a site characterization model to an unacceptable level for performance assessment for radioactive waste disposal sites. The proposed site lies between the northern, stable Diablo platform and the southern, mobile Mesozoic Chihuahua tectonic belt. Structural movement along this interface has been active for the past 14,000 years. In addition, the area lies along the northern margin of the Permian Marfa basin and the northeastern margin of the deeply faulted Hueco bolson segment of the late Cenozoic Rio Grande rift system. Recent seismic activity with extensive surface rupture in Quitman Canyon (30 mi southeast of the site) is also documented from the 1931 Valentine, Texas, earthquake (6.4 Richter scale). The site is underlain by either a thrust fault or the complex terminus of a Mesozoic thrust fault. This fault is a segment of the continuous thrust sheet extending from exposures in the Sierra Blanc area, 30 mi east (Devil ...
This paper reports that some regions have prepared for these days of disposal shortage with comprehensive waste plans that include a strong WTE presence. Witness Broward County, Florida's program, 12 years in planning by public and private entities, Broward is the second most populated county in the state, with 1.3 million residents and a heavy tourist population, which, together, produce 1.6 million tons of waste annually. The disposal program includes Waste Management, Inc.'s expansion of a 400-acre Central Disposal Sanitary Landfill, the county's new 588-acre landfill, composting, and curbside pickup for recyclables. And, this south Florida plan would not be complete without the two brand new combustion plants. Clean Air and Water Acts notwithstanding, the Florida Department of Environmental Regulation can induce standards stricter than the federal government's due to the sensitive South Florida ecology. ...
In association with excavation of the No. 135 steam producing well in the Onikubi geothermal power plant in Miyagi Prefecture, shapes of production zones and drilling-induced fracture (DIF) were acquired from the borehole televiewer (BHTV) data. The BHTV logging shoots sound waves onto well walls of wells filled with fluid and detects the reflection waves to investigate the state of the well walls. Vertical fracture with opening lengths from 2 to 3 m were found at depths of about 1232 m and 1312 m. Water run-off has occurred at a depth of about 1312 m during the excavation, to which these vertical fractures might have contributed possibly. In depths of about 1232 m and 1312 m, fractures inclining toward north-east direction and south-west direction are predominant. Some fractures in the depth of about 1333 m incline toward east-south-east direction and west-north-west direction. Fracture inclination azimuth in all of the present logging ...
This report surveys potential impacts of ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) on inter-ASEAN affairs and its external relations when ASEAN will enlarge its members to include all nations in South East Asia, and thus fully represent the region. For this purpose, the survey was conducted on Vietnam, Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia, which joined in 1995, from the viewpoint of their economic and political system, and their relations with other member countries. The nature of ASEAN has gradually transformed, in which all the countries in the region have increased and internal economic issues have been tackled. It has an aim to stimulate inter-ASEAN trade and induce foreign direct investment into ASEAN as a whole by reducing import duties on intra-ASEAN trade. Underlying in these, new development is a concern about growing economic and military power of China. ASEAN solidarity will work an leverage against China should change toward worse, and ...
Provenance and paleocurrent data from synorogenic fluvial sandstones can be used to constrain theories about the timing and structural style of Laramide foreland uplifts and associated basins. The Green River basin of southwestern Wyoming is a large ellipsoidal basin bounded by uplifts with diverse orientations and basement rock compositions. Sandstone from the main body of the Eocene Wasatch Formation in the Green River basin was sampled along the south and west flanks of the Rock Springs uplift. Petrographic examination and paleocurrent measurements reveal two main facies. The first facies is rich in feldspar and metamorphic rock fragments derived from the Wind River Mountains to the north. The second facies is dominated by quartz and sedimentary rock fragments, reflecting a source in the Uinta Mountains to the south. Distribution of these facies indicates that a sediment lobe extends 15 km into the basin from the Uinta Mountains. Another ...
A geochemical survey to assess and evaluate the Devonian oil shale resources of north Alabama, northwest Georgia, and south-central Tennessee has been performed. Information is provided on the location and extent of the more favorable kerogen-bearing Devonian shale, oil and uranium content of the shale, trace metal and standard rock analyses for shale, data on the physical properties of the shale rock, mineralogy of the shale, chemical properties of the oil, and other pertinent data deemed necessary for resource development. The results indicate that the oil yield from areas underlain by Chattanooga Shale can be divided into areas having greater than 7 g/t and areas having less than 7 g/t. In general, the oil yield by Fischer assay of samples from the folded Appalachian Valley and Ridge and the Appalachian Plateaus provinces is poor, all having less than 5 g/t and most samples closer to 0 g/t. The extreme variance of Fischer assay values in the Chattanooga Shale ...
Timing and geometry of Maastrichtian third-order sequences and systems tracts of south-central Wyoming were mostly controlled by rapid basin subsidence resulting from thrust loading of foreland basin crust. The basement of the Red Desert/Washakie basin was affected by thrusting in the Sevier belt to the west and by thrusting along the edge of the Wind River Mountains and Granite Mountains. A transgressive systems tract consists of the youngest Ericson Formation above a regional unconformity, backstepping Almond Formation nearshore and nonmarine facies, and shelfal mudstones of the lower Lewis Shale. Regionally, the onset of transgression is younger from east to west, beginning at 71.5 Ma in eastern Wyoming and at 70.5-71 Ma in south-central Wyoming. The transgression culminated in a condensed shale section evident on gamma-ray logs that occurs throughout the basin. Above the gamma-ray zone, the highstand systems tract of the middle and upper ...
This paper reports that more than 800 miles of pipeline will come into service on the U.K. continental shelf during 1993, surpassing by 75% the previous record set in 1977. About 3,500 miles of pipeline is in place. Commissioning of the Miller natural gas pipeline and Scottish Area Gas Evacuation (SAGE) network this year and start-up of the Central Area Transmission System (CATS) next year will bring more than 600 miles of pipeline into use during 1993. The projects are part of a recent development boom in the central North Sea. In a review of U.K. offshore pipeline, analyst County Natwest Woodmac reported that projects totaling about 1,250 miles of pipeline have been sanctioned but are not yet operating. Two thirds of this total is gas pipeline, while 60s made up of main lines from shore to platform. County Natwest says that in most cases spur lines will be used to connect new fields with existing infrastructure. The analyst sees 57 development projects likely to ...
Beyond a great number of applications in mineral process, the hydrocyclone separation has been used recently in an increasing number of fields, such as: environmental engineering, petrochemical engineering, food engineering, electrochemical engineering, pulp bioengineering, processes and paper industries, among others. Nowadays, the produced water is treated and then reinjected in the surface and also in return to the formation. In the offshore platforms, the produced water can be directly discarded in the ocean, since the dispersed phase concentration (oil) is according to Brazilian regulating agency limits. The basic principle used in hydrocyclone separation is the centrifugal sedimentation machine: the suspended particles are submitted to centrifugal acceleration, which separates them from the fluid. The basic geometry of a hydrocyclone consists of four parts: a cylindrical section for feeding, a conical section for swirling, an overflow and an under flow. The ...
At the Huizhou oil field in China the FPSO Munin of Bluewater completely relies on five computer controlled propulsion screws to position itself, a so-called Dynamic Positioning (DP) system. In this article report is given of training given to the crew of the FPSO Munin. A floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) unit is a floating vessel used by the offshore industry for the processing and storage of oil and gas. [Dutch] Op het Huizhou oileveld in China vertrouwt de FPSO (floating production, storage and offloading unit) Munin van Bluewater uitsluitend op een vijftal computergestuurde voorstuwingsschroeven om zichzelf in positie te houden, een zogenaamd Dynamisch Positionering (DP) systeem. In dit artikel wordt verslag gedaan van en uitleg gegeven over trainingen die zijn gegeven aan de bemanning van de FPSO Munin.
The deep water parts of the Moere and Southern Voering Basins are large frontier areas, which are considered to contain significant undiscovered hydrocarbon resources, within Cretaceous and Paleogene reservoirs. PGS Reservoir AS have evaluated the Cretaceous and Paleogene successions of the shallow and deep water areas offshore Mid-Norway using high-resolution sequence stratigraphic techniques. The successions have been subdivided into about 20 stratigraphic sequences. The results are: (1) A more acurate and higher resolution stratigraphy, (2) Greater constraints on basin palaeoenvironmental and palaeogeographic reconstructions, (4) Fully integrated sandstone fairway models, with increased ability to reservoir and seal quality and continuity, (5) In addition to several obvious giant domal traps, subtler yet significant structural and stratigraphic leads and prospects can be identified, (6) The timing, volume and phase of hydrocarbon generation may be estimated more ...
The National Survey and Cadastre - Denmark (KMS) has for several years produced gravity anomaly maps over the oceans derived from satellite altimetry. During the last four years, KMS has also conducted airborne gravity surveys along the coast of Greenland dedicated to complement the existing onshore gravity coverage and fill in new data in the very-near coastal area, where altimetry data may contain gross errors. The airborne surveys extend from the coastline to approximately 100 km offshore, along 6000 km of coastline. An adequate merging of these different data sources is important for the use of gravity data especially, when computing geoid models in coastal regions. The presence of reliable marine gravity data for independent control offers an opportunity to study procedures for the merging of airborne and satellite data around Greenland. Two different merging techniques, both based on collocation, are investigated in this paper. Collocation offers a way of ...
The report outlines the role of the IEA Greenhouse Gas R and D Programme, gives details of participants and of publications and summarises achievements of 1998. A successful conference on Greenhouse Gas Control Technologies was held in Interlaken, Switzerland. Technical studies reported include novel power generation concepts for removing carbon dioxide prior to or after combustion, using seawater for CO{sub 2} capture, investigating carbon dioxide sequestration in conjunction with enhanced coalbed methane recovery and applying retrofitting to power plants and to offshore oil and gas platforms. Systems studies taking a broader view include investigating the potential for combined energy systems (power generation with district heating, power with district cooling etc.) to reduce CO{sub 2} abatement cost, studies on the LNG/power generation fuel cycle, assessing the potential of methanol as an energy carrier investigating methods of making natural gas usable by the ...
High-resolution sequence stratigraphy concepts are applied to Erema, a Miocene onshore field of the Niger delta. The field's production is decreasing and an up-to-date geological model is essential to monitor the production. We aim to show an approach, using subsurface data and sequence stratigraphic concepts, which results in a time-line (Maximum Flooding Surfaces) correlation scheme. This scheme is based upon a facies model and is destined to guide the study of the characterization of reservoir heterogeneities. Using the cored well as a reference point, the facies model consists of shoreface dunes (planar tabular cross-stratified sandstones) changing landward into fluvial distributary deposits (through cross-stratified sandstones) via a tide-influenced coastal plain facies. The stacking pattern of genetic units shows a seaward stepping phase at the reservoir scale (sixty metres thick) with an abrupt deepening at the top of the reservoir. The proposed geological scheme, at ...
The Department of Energy (DOE) has prepared an environmental assessment (EA), DOE/EA-0804, for the proposed replacement of a deteriorated brine disposal pipeline from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) Bryan Mound storage facility in Brazoria County, Texas, into the Gulf of Mexico. In addition, the ocean discharge outfall would be moved shoreward by locating the brine diffuser at the end of the pipeline 3.5 miles offshore at a minimum depth of 30 feet. The action would occur in a floodplain and wetlands; therefore, a floodplain/wetlands assessment has been prepared in conjunction with this EA. Based on the analyses in the EA, DOE has determined that the proposed action is not a major Federal action significantly affecting the quality of the human environment within the meaning of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969 (42 USC. 4321, et seg.). Therefore, the preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) is not required, and the Department ...
The success in developing of the oil industry operating in offshore-onshore terminals, connected by pipelines with the facilities of the coastal zone, can be attributed partially to the beach morpho dynamic monitoring. This study represents a solution to the concerns of the technical operations in coastal zones because it minimizes the impact of the petroleum production and it assures the environmental protection associated to the risks of the pipelines breaking. This impact type results mainly of the vertical and horizontal displacements of the beach, from the coastal dunes to the shore face. The mobility of the profile is associated to the magnitude of the sedimentary processes, which reproduce naturally or not, in scale of time that can vary among few days, years or decades. For the monitoring and interpretation of the beach profile mobility the following methods are recommended: calculation of the closure depth with base in the wave data; bathymetric survey ...
A project on the title is a special study of TRC (Technology Research Center) Japan National Oil Corporation, which aims at developing a system collecting many data near well bottom while drilling. The project is a 3-year project from 1993 to 1995 succeeding to results of a project on real-time drilling control technology which was finished in fiscal 1992. This paper is a record in fiscal 1993. In 1993, the first year, TRC starts a joint study with relational enterprises aiming at utilizing an EM-MWD (electromagnetic-measurement while drilling) system practically. Based on the past fruit of the study, the EM-MWD system was applied to an highly inclined well or a horizontal well. A total system was constructed, which improved electromagnetic radiation transmission efficiency, and reliability, and workability. An electromagnetic radiation receiver system for an offshore drilling rig was developed. A well bottom tools of 6-3/4 inches outer diameter was developed. An ...
This patent describes a system adapted for alternative use as a diverter or a blowout preventer for a bottom supported drilling rig and adapted for positioning beneath a rotary table of the drilling rig, the system comprising: a fluid flow controller having a controller housing with a lower opening and an upper opening and a vertical flow path therebetween and an outlet passage provided in its housing wall, and at least two bases. A method is described for installing a system adapted for alternative connection as a diverter or a blowout preventer for a bottom supported drilling rig positioned beneath a rotary table of the drilling rig after structural casing has been set in a borehole. The method comprises: positioning a first telescoping spool having a lower end and an upper end below the rotary table, the first spool having a first base disposed at its upper end, the first base having a port disposed in its wall; aligning a fluid flow controller having a controller housing wall ...
The performance of more than 3,000 offshore platforms in the Gulf of Mexico was observed during the passage of Hurricane Andrew in August 1992. This event provided an opportunity to test the procedures used for platform analysis and design. A global bias was inferred for overall platform capacity and loads in the Andrew Joint Industry Project (JIP) Phase 1. It was predicted that the pile foundations of several platforms should have failed, but did not. These results indicated that the biases specific to foundation failure modes may be higher than those of jacket failure modes. The biases in predictions of foundation failure modes were therefore investigated further in this study. The work included capacity analysis and calibration of predictions with the observed behavior for 3 jacket platforms and 3 caissons using Bayesian updating. Bias factors for two foundation failure modes, lateral shear and overturning, were determined for each structure. Foundation capacity ...
Recent data from the northwest Gulf of Alaska reveal a coastal current which flows westward along the Kenai Peninsula (mainly within 30 km of shore), enters Shelifof Strait, and exits to the southwest of Kodiak Island. This flow, which we call the Kenai Current, has a large seasonal variation in baroclinic transport and maximum surface speed; transport is typically about 0.3 x 10/sup 6/ m/sup 3//s but exceeds 1.0 x 10/sup 6/ m/sup 3//s in fall, with concurrent speed increases from 15--30 cm/s to over 100 cm/s. The coastal flow is clearly distinct from the offshore Alaskan Stream; its seasonal signal is mainly related to a cross-shelf pressure gradient, which responds to an annual hydrological cycle. Current records from Shelikof Srait substantiante the presence of an annual signal and indicate that wind forcing has maximum effect from December through February, but it does not appear to augment flow at other times.
The ruptured offshore oil well 80 miles from Mexican town of Ciudad del Carmen, which poured 8000 barrels of light oil a day into the Gulf of Mexico, provided marine scientists with the opportunity to monitor the spill and see what happens to petroleum hydrocarbons in sea water. Scientists followed changes in viscosity, surface tension, and buoyancy of individual oil globs as they moved through the water and interacted with the surface slick. Using gas chromatography and mass spectroscopy, chemists are gaining an understanding of the unique characteristics of the oil. Computer-generated models projected the slick's movement in the Gulf in response to wind and wave pressures, but the sophisticated system did not give an accurate daily prediction. Immediate damage to fish, turtles, and sea birds was documented by tagging. Long-term effects will take longer to ascertain since 25 years is generally required to flush oil out of sediments. Fishermen do not agree ...
Pile foundations in several coastal and offshore structures are subjected to significant amounts of lateral loads due to wave action. Usually batter piles are adopted to resist large lateral loads. In this investigation an attempt has been made to study the behavior of batter pile in clayey soils through an experimental program carried out on instrumented model aluminium piles of 26 mm diameter in a test tank of size, 1,200 mm x 800mm x 1,100 mm. The pile was instrumented with electrical resistance type strain gauges to determine the bending moment variations along the depth of embedment of pile. Bending moment vis depth relationships were used to determine the Soil reaction (p) and lateral displacement (y) along the length of the pile for the applied load. From the bending moment vs depth curves it is found that depth of maximum bending moment is greater for negative batter pile than for vertical and positive batter pile. The data of soil reaction and lateral ...
The White Rose Oil Project, located in the Jeanne d'Arc Basin 350 km east of St. John's, is reported to continue paying benefits for the oil and gas industry in eastern Canada. The operator, Husky Energy, is said to be on target and expects first oil from the project in late 2005 or early 2006. Peak production for the White Rose Field is projected at 100,000 bbl/d. The project has a total capital cost of $2.35 billion. The first phase of the project, comprised of four wells, including an oil producer, was completed in July. The estimated productive capacity of this well is between 25,000 and 35,000 bbl/d. Other major milestones achieved at the White Rose project include movement of the topside modules onto the Sea Rose floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel, consisting of 17 lifts during the seven-week program. Individual lifts up to 1,250 tons were carried by the Lampson 2600 Trans-lift crane at the Cow Head Fabrication Facility in Marystown. ...
The Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission (IOGCC) engaged in numerous projects outlined under the scope of work discussed in the United States Department of Energy (DOE) grant number DE-FG26-01BC15336 awarded to the IOGCC. Numerous projects were completed that were extremely valuable to state oil and gas agencies as a result of work performed utilizing resources provided by the grant. There are numerous areas in which state agencies still need assistance. This additional assistance will need to be addressed under another grant because funding resources have been exhausted under The scope of work objectives for the eight projects covered under this grant is as follows: (1) Improve uniformity within state oil and gas data management efforts. (2) Conduct environmental compliance workshops and related educational projects on natural gas and oil exploration and production. (3) Improve regulatory efficiency through partnering opportunities provided by the Appalachian Illinois Basin ...
...and welcome to ...lab also known as berkeley lab my name is jeff miller and ...and a public affairs i'd like to ? ...but space is science center and ...berkeley albany high school science department and berkeley high school science department and oakland high school science ...be a q. and ...here please use and because we wanna make sure that your questions are here ...heard of also for the latest developments on science and technology ...guy we're going to be any more and more new features i hope ...and change ...thank you ? much and thank you for coming on the welcome to my world of and mayotte science journalist and what i've done for the last almost thirty years ...people about things about which there passionate and national religion tonight and ...people to explain the science and and i asking the question so what ...and ...worldwide and what it does best ? uh ...bench science and turn it into reality what do you scientists and ...uh they take scientific theory and they turn ...
A meeting was held on October 15, 16, 17, 1990 to discuss the state of tritium safety and environmental effects. The meeting was organized with the help of the International Energy Agency planning committee consisting of K. Steinmetz, Y. Seki, G. Nardella, and G. Vivian. Representative of tritium production facilities and heavy water reactor power production were also involved. The meeting was organized to address seven topics in tritium safety that were thought to require further work. The topics were: (1) materials science, (2) environmental models, (3) environmental model validation, (4) tritiated organic compounds, (5) human dosimetry, (6) tritium sampling and measurement, and (7) long-term environmental databases.
Government facilities such as the US Department of Energy's Savannah River Plant (SRP) near Aiken, South Carolina, often use remote sensing data to assist in environmental management. Airborne multispectral scanner (MSS) data have been acquired at SRP since 1981. Various types of remote sensing data have been used to map and characterize wetlands. Regional Landsat MSS and TM satellite data have been used for wetlands mapping by various government agencies and private organizations. Furthermore, SPOT MSS data are becoming available and provide opportunities for increased spacial resolution and temporal coverage for wetlands mapping. This paper summarizes the initial results from using five dates of SPOT MSS data from April through October, 1987, as a means to monitor seasonal wetland changes in freshwater wetlands of the SRP. 11 refs., 4 figs.
Separation of the bulk soluble chemical salts from the insoluble metal hydroxides and radionuclides is central to the strategy of disposing Hanford tank waste. Sludge washing and caustic leaching have been selected as the primary methods for processing the 230 million L (61,000,000 gal) of Hanford tank waste. These processes are very similar to those selected for processing waste at the West Valley Site in New York and the Savannah River Site in South Carolina. The purpose of sludge washing is to dissolve and remove the soluble salts in the waste. Leaching of the insoluble solids with caustic will be used to dissolve aluminum hydroxide and chromium hydroxide, and convert insoluble bismuth phosphate to soluble phosphate. The waste will be separated into a high-level solids fraction and a liquid fraction that can be disposed of as low-level waste after cesium removal. The washing and leaching operations involve batchwise mixing, settling, and decanting within the ...
This work aims to contribute to the understanding of the influence of the ionospheric layer height (ILH) on the thin layer ionospheric model (TLIM) used to retrieve ionospheric information from the GNSS observations. Particular attention is paid to the errors caused on the estimation of the vertical total electron content (vTEC) and the GNSS satellites and receivers inter-frequency biases (IFB), by the use of an inappropriate ILH. The work relies upon numerical simulations performed with an empirical model of the Earth?s ionosphere: the model is used to create realistic but controlled ionospheric scenarios and the errors are evaluated after recovering those scenarios with the TLIM. The error assessment is performed in the Central and the northern part of the South American continents, a re...
... Home Our work Conservation Advice Land management for nightjars Land management for nightjars Nightjars are masters of camouflage The nightjar is now a scarce breeding bird of lowland heathland, forest clearings and clearfells on suitable light soils throughout Britain, north to southern Scotland, and in coppice woodland in south-east England. Nightjars were once much more numerous and widespread than today, but now appear to be recovering.... This offers shelter, camouflage and seclusion from potential predators. Scattered trees are used to sing from and to roost in. In conifer forest clearings, clear-fells and restocks, especially on former heathland, the vegetation structure is like that of heathland, augmented with lying brash, which provides added concealment. Restocked clearings are abandoned as the tree canopy closes over the open ground around seven to ...
This paper reports the use of molecular methods to characterize the coprophilous fungal communities (CFC) that inhabit the dung of four species of mammalian herbivores at two sites, Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge (SNWR) in New Mexico and Wind Cave National Park (WCNP) in South Dakota. Results reveal that CFC from domesticated cattle (Bos taurus) at SNWR, and bison (Bison bison) and black-tailed prairie dogs (Cynomys ludovicianus) at WCNP were diverse but dominated primarily by members within eight taxonomic orders, including the rarely cultured and anaerobic order Neocallimastigales. In addition, 7.7% (138 of 1,788) of the sequences obtained from all dung samples were at least 97% similar to root-associated fungal (RAF) sequences previously described from blue grama (Bouteloua gracilis...
Abstract Mercury (Hg) is a toxic metal that is found in aquatic food webs and is hazardous to humans. An emerging conceptual model predicts that the areas of the landscape that have the potential to contain food webs with elevated concentrations of Hg are those that receive high amounts of Hg and sulfate deposition and have high coverage of forests and wetlands and low coverage of agriculture. The objective of the present study was to test this conceptual model using concentrations of Hg in largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) from 145 reservoirs in four ecoregions of North Texas. The highest level of Hg contamination in fish was in the South Central Plains, the ecoregion that receives the highest levels of Hg and sulfate deposition and contains extensive forest and wetland habitat and ...
Various SST indices in the Indo-Pacific region have been proposed in the literature in light of a long-range seasonal forecasting of the Indian Summer Monsoon (ISM). However, the dynamics associated with these different indices have never been compared in detail. To this end, the present work re-examines the variabilities of ISM rainfall, onset and withdrawal dates at interannual timescales and explores their relationships with El Ni?o-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and various modes of coupled variability in the Indian Ocean. Based on recent findings in the literature, five SST indices are considered here: Ni?o3.4 SST index in December?January both preceding [Nino(?1)] and following the ISM [Nino(0)], South East Indian Ocean (SEIO) SST in February?March, the Indian Ocean Basin (IOB) mode in ...
In recent years, increased attention has been focused on the use of lasers in different fabrication steps of solar cells, in particular laser doping to form emitter and/or selective emitter. In this method the laser energy is used to melt silicon, allowing the diffusion of dopant atoms to occur in the liquid phase. The main advantage of this method is the localised nature of the laser beam, which melts and diffuses a limited area without heating the bulk, therefore reducing the possible degradation associated with high temperature processes. At the University of New South Wales a novel laser doping method was developed, which combines the formation of the selective emitter with a self-aligned metallisation pattern. Despite achieving high efficiencies, concerns arose regarding the adhesion ...
The purpose of this project is to demonstrate targeted infill and extension drilling opportunities, better determinations of oil-in-place, methods for improved completion efficiency and the suitability of waterflooding in Red River and Ratcliffe shallow-shelf carbonate reservoirs in the Williston Basin, Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota. Improved reservoir characterization utilizing three-dimensional and multi-component seismic are being investigated for identification of structural and stratigraphic reservoir compartments. These seismic characterization tools are integrated with geological and engineering studies. Improved completion efficiency is being tested with extended-reach jetting lance and other ultra-short-radius lateral technologies. Improved completion efficiency, additional wells at closer spacing and better estimates of oil in place will result in additional oil recovery by primary and enhanced recovery processes.
The purpose of this project is to demonstrate targeted infill and extension drilling opportunities, better determination of oil-in-place, methods for improved completion efficiency and the suitability of waterflooding in certain shallow-shelf carbonate reservoirs in the Williston Basin, Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota. Improved reservoir characterization utilizing 3-dimensional (3D) is being investigated for identification of structural and stratigraphic reservoir compartments. These seismic characterization tools are integrated with geological and engineering studies. Improved completion efficiency is being tested with short lateral and horizontal drilling technologies. Improved completion efficiency, additional wells at closer spacing and better estimates of oil-in- place will result in additional oil production by primary and enhanced recovery processes.
Abstract Few butterflies are pests of economic significance, but some may be locally destructive, such as the papilionid Graphium agamemnon Linnaeus, which is known to feed on the commercially important soursop (Annona muricata Linnaeus) in Vietnam. This paper documents the life history and ecology ofG. agamemnon and investigates commonly used control measures in south-east Vietnam. A novel method of controlling G. agamemnon infestation is described. If soursop basal rootstock (Annona glabra Linnaeus) is encouraged to shoot during times of peak butterfly activity, ovipositing G. agamemnon females are preferentially attracted to the new growth where the resulting early stages may be easily detected and removed by hand.
The risks from mining and processing of ores is reviewed on a generic basis with particular reference to some of the confusions which can arise due to lack of consistency or common logic in the use of exclusion, exemption and clearance. The difference in exclusion and exemption are challenged by comparing doses received in high background radiation areas and the doses received from a mining practice. The common principle of risk to the human species is not applied consistently. The differences between IAEA recommendations and local regulatory conditions are compared, and the use of exemption levels as clearance levels is considered. A case study on management of mine tailings is presented with special focus on the use of clearance levels. In all areas of review the interpretation of regulation is subject to confusion resulting from inconsistencies which can distort free market economics. (author).
A seasonal forecasting technique to produce probabilistic and deterministic streamflow forecasts for 23 basins in Norway and northern Sweden is developed in this work. Large scale circulation and moisture fields, forecasted by the ECHAM4.5 model 4 months in advance, are used to forecast spring flows. The technique includes model output statistics (MOS) based on a non-linear Neural Network (NN) approach. Results show that streamflow forecasts from Global Circulation Model (GCM) predictions, for the Scandinavia region are viable and highest skill values were found for basins located in south-western Norway. The physical interpretation of the forecasting skill is that stations close to the Norwegian coast are directly exposed to prevailing winds from the Atlantic ocean, which constitute the principal source of predictive information from the atmosphere on the seasonal timescale.
BackgroundAlthough self-expandable metal stent (SEMS) insertion is widely used for relief of malignant colorectal obstructions, the immediate technical and clinical failure rates of SEMSs and the associated risk factors remain largely unknown. ObjectiveTo identify rates and factors predictive of technical and clinical failure of SEMSs when their use is attempted for the decompression of malignant colorectal obstruction. DesignRetrospective chart review. SettingA tertiary-care academic medical center in South Korea. PatientsThis study involved a total of 412 patients with malignant colorectal obstruction in whom SEMS insertion was attempted. InterventionPlacement of colonic SEMSs. Main Outcome MeasurementsTechnical success and immediate and long-term clinical success rates. ResultsTechnical...
Here we present a revision of the fossil record of chitons (Mollusca, Polyplacophora) of Late Pleistocene and Holocene marine deposits of Uruguay and discuss their potential for palaeoenvironmental reconstruction. Chitons were recorded as isolated valves in bivalve- and gastropod-rich assemblages. They are represented by the species Chaetopleura angulata (Spengler), C. isabellei (d'Orbigny), C. asperrima (Gould) and Ischnochiton striolatus (Gray). The last two species are recorded for the first time as fossils not only in Uruguay but also in South America. Exclusively recorded for the Late Pleistocene is the warm water species I. striolatus, whose current southern range limit is located in Santa Catarina, Brazil. Higher temperatures than at present are inferred for the Uruguayan coast duri...
Biodynamic parameters of the ragworm Nereis diversicolor from southern Spain and south England were experimentally derived to assess the inter-population variability of physiological parameters of the bioaccumulation of Ag, Cd and Zn from water and sediment. Although there were some limited variations, these were not consistent with the local metal bioavailability nor with temperature changes. Incorporating the biodynamic parameters into a defined biodynamic model, confirmed that sediment is the predominant source of Cd and Zn accumulated by the worms, accounting in each case for 99% of the overall accumulated metals, whereas the contribution of dissolved Ag to the total accumulated by the worm increased from about 27 to about 53% with increasing dissolved Ag concentration. Standardised va...
From the COMBO-17 digital sky survey data, 1,231 faint blue galaxies with photometric redshifts of 0.1South) are selected as the sample. We have studied the distributions of the photometric redshifts of these sample galaxies, in the conditions that the photometric redshifts are obtained respectively by using only optical data and by using both optical and near-infrared data. The results indicate that there are 183 galaxies whose photometric redshifts derived from both optical and infrared data are greater than 1.2, that the rms error of the derived photometric redshifts is 0.046, and that to increase the photometric SNR is also helpful for discriminating those misjudged low-redshift galaxies by using only the optical data. We have studied a...