Search results for: HAZARD CONTROL
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Hazard Control in Industrial Environments: A Knowledge-Vision-Based Approach
PublicationThis paper proposes the integration of image processing techniques (such as image segmentation, feature extraction and selection) and a knowledge representation approach in a framework for the development of an automatic system able to identify, in real time, unsafe activities in industrial environments. In this framework, the visual information (feature extraction) acquired from video-camera images and other context based gathered...
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Visual Content Learning in a Cognitive Vision Platform for Hazard Control (CVP-HC)
PublicationThis work is part of an effort for the development of a Cognitive Vision Platform for Hazard Control (CVP-HC) for applications in industrial workplaces, adaptable to a wide range of environments. The paper focuses on hazards resulted from the nonuse of personal protective equipment (PPE). Given the results of previous analysis of supervised techniques for the problem of classification of a few PPE (boots, hard hats, and gloves...
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Towards Knowledge Formalization and Sharing in a Cognitive Vision Platform for Hazard Control (CVP-HC)
PublicationHazards are present in all workplaces and can result in serious injuries, short and long-term illnesses, or death. In this context, management of safety is essential to ensure the occupational health of workers. Aiming to assist the safety manage-ment process, especially in industrial environments, a Cognitive Vision Platform for Hazard Control (CVP-HC) has been proposed. The CVP-HC is a scalable yet adaptable system capable of...
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Stormwater and snowmelt runoff storage control and flash flood hazard forecasting in the urbanized coastal basin.
PublicationCity of Gdańsk is located in a coastal region where changing climatic conditions increase the frequency of extreme weather events. Developing urbanization affects the hydrology of natural basins by simplification of the drainage system and reduction of infiltration and base flow. Consequently greater runoff rates flow into storm water collection systems, reservoirs and surrounding water bodies. Not only infrastructures of urban...
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Computer System for Evaluation of Shock Hazard in Circuits with Non-sinusoidal Earth Currents
PublicationEffects of current on people are mainly considered for 50/60 Hz sinusoidal current and smooth direct current. However, modern low voltage circuits are very often equipped with power electronics converters – rectifiers, frequency converters, therefore non-sinusoidal earth currents (touch currents) occur. For non-sinusoidal currents safety criteria should be modified. This paper presents a computer system, based on LabVIEW environment,...
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Contextual Knowledge to Enhance Workplace Hazard Recognition and Interpretation in a Cognitive Vision Platform
PublicationThe combination of vision and sensor data together with the resulting necessity for formal representations builds a central component of an autonomous Cyber Physical System for detection and tracking of laborers in workplaces environments. This system must be adaptable and perceive the environment as automatically as possible, performing in a variety of plants and scenes without the necessity of recoding the application for each...
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Hazard prevention by forced time constraints
PublicationMinimalne Zbiory Przyczyn powstałe podczas analizy Drzew Błędów wskazują zdarzenia, które jeśli nastąpią razem, mogą doprowadzić do Hazardu. W niektórych zastosowaniach opis zdarzeń może zostać poszerzony o informację czasową, wtedy zdarzenia z MZP mogą doprowadzić do Hazardu tylko jeśli wystąpi pomiędzy nimi określona zależność czasowa. W tym artykule przedstawione zostało jak informacja czasowa może zostać wprowadzona do Drzew...
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Microbiological Hazard Analysis of Car Wash Wastewater
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Why are trees still such a major hazard to drivers in Poland?
PublicationRoadside trees are one of Poland's most serious road safety issues. Since 2009 more than 2800 people have been killed as a result of tree collisions; this represents about 15% of all of Poland's accident fatalities between 2009 and 2013. In some of the country's regions striking a tree caused more than 30% of all road accident fatalities. With no proper regulations, guidelines or examples of good practice, roadside environments...
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Towards Safety Case Integration with Hazard Analysis for Medical Devices
PublicationSafety case is one of system safety lifecycle products and should be consistent with other lifecycle products like hazard analysis results. In this paper we present a method of safety case integration with hazard tables based on the use of parametrized argument patterns. We describe a hazard table metamodel, a safety argument pattern and a mechanism of pattern instantiation using a linking table which represents references to system...
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Electric shock hazard in circuits with variable-speed drives
PublicationThe conventional approach to electrical safety under fault condition in typical power systems considers earth fault currents of sinusoidal waveform and frequency of 50/60 Hz. However, in circuits with variable-speed drives, there is earth fault current flow with harmonics, and these harmonics influence the threshold of ventricular fibrillation. The paper presents earth fault current waveforms in circuits with variable-speed drives...
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Evaluation of fire hazard in electrical installations due to unfavorable ambient thermal conditions
PublicationEvaluation of fire hazard caused by electrical installations is a difficult and important topic, and it limits the possibility of loss of life or health of people, as well as the occurrence of significant property damage. In particular, this hazard was caused by power cables and especially photovoltaic (PV) installations. The authors proved that power cables directly exposed to strong solar radiation are likely to exceed maximum...
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Influence of Operation Conditions on Temperature Hazard of Lithium-Iron-Phosphate (LiFePO4) Cells
PublicationThe article presents and discusses the results of research on hazard, especially temperature, for selected lithium-ion-phosphate cells operated in accordance with the manufacturer’s recommendations but used under onerous mining conditions. This applies to the performance of cells in battery sets without the application of any management system (BMS). On the basis of the obtained test results, first of all, the influence of the...
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Hazard assessment of sediments from a wetland system for treatment of landfill leachate using bioassays
PublicationFour bioassays were used in this study for the hazard assessment of sediments from sediment traps and several ponds in a treatment wetland for landfill leachate at Atleverket, Sweden. In the 6-day solid phase microbiotest with the sediment-dwelling crustacean Heterocypris incongruens both acute and chronic effects were observed with a gradual decrease and loss of toxicity with treatment in the wetland system. Some samples showed...
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Evaluation of Fire Hazard in Electrical Installations Due to Unfavorable Ambient Thermal Conditions
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Algorithms for spatial analysis and interpolation of discrete sets of Critical Infrastructure hazard data
PublicationNowo opracowane zaawansowane narzędzia technologii informacyjnych i komunikacyjnych (TIK) ujawniają swoją przydatność do przewidywania różnego rodzaju zagrożeń oraz minimalizowania związanego z nimi potencjalnego ryzyka. Jednakże większość tych narzędzi operuje jedynie na niektórych typach infrastruktury i zaniedbuje ich przestrzenne interakcje z otoczeniem oraz innymi strukturami. Niniejszy artykuł zawiera propozycje kilku algorytmów...
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Geographic Information System for Flood Hazard Analysis and Early Warning Using Numerical Weather Predictions
PublicationFloods are a phenomenon which causes significant losses of lives as well as property damage, which in turn severely impact the local economy. The nature of a flooding has been well researched, and several methods of flood hazard simulation have been established over the last decades. The current legislation in the European Union requires the Member States to create, maintain and update flood risk and hazard maps, as well as identify...
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Weather Hazard Avoidance in Modeling Safety of Motor-Driven Ship for Multicriteria Weather Routing
PublicationWeather routing methods find the most suitable ocean?s route for a vessel, taking into account changeable weather conditions and navigational constraints. In the multicriteria approach based on the evolutionary SPEA algorithm one is able to consider a few constrained criteria simultaneously. The approach applied for a ship with hybrid propulsions has already been presented by one of the authors on previous TransNav?2009. This time...
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The Comparative Analysis of the Adaptability Level of Municipalities in the Nysa Kłodzka Sub-Basin to Flood Hazard
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Effects of Basalt and Carbon Fillers on Fire Hazard, Thermal, and Mechanical Properties of EPDM Rubber Composites
PublicationDue to growing restrictions on the use of halogenated flame retardant compounds, there is great research interest in the development of fillers that do not emit toxic compounds during thermal decomposition. Polymeric composite materials with reduced flammability are increasingly in demand. Here, we demonstrate that unmodified graphene and carbon nanotubes as well as basalt fibers or flakes can act as effective flame retardants...
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A Method of Risk and Safety Assessment During the Ship Salvage Using the Hazard, Release and Consequence Analysis
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INDICES FOR ASSESSING POTENTIAL ENVIRONMENTAL HAZARD FROM FUTURE SHIP SCRAPPING PROCESS, DETERMINABLE IN SHIP DESIGN STAGE
PublicationThis paper shortly presents the issue of utilization of ships after their withdrawal from service. Information on number of floating units liquidated in previous years was presented. Hazards to the environment , health and life of workers employed in the Far East ship scrapping yards operating on the beaches, were indicated. Then, the most important rules which have to make the ship recycling process safe were referred to. This...
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Evaluation of Health Hazard Due to Emission of Volatile Organic Compounds from Various Processing Units of Wastewater Treatment Plant
PublicationThe paper describes an attempt at health risk assessment and odour concentration determination in the most important units of a wastewater treatment plant. The cancer risk (CR) and hazard index (HI) parameters in selected measurement locations were calculated based on the results of chromatographic analyses (GCxGC-TOF-MS) and the United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) guidelines. No exceedance of the CR and HI acceptable...
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Chemical hazard in glacial melt? The glacial system as a secondary source of POPs (in the Northern Hemisphere). A systematic review
PublicationToxicity of compounds belonging to persistent organic pollutants (POPs) iswidely known, and their re-emission from glaciers has been conclusively demonstrated. However, the harmful effects associated with such secondary emissions have yet to be thoroughly understood, especially in the spatial and temporal context, as the existing literature has a clear sampling biaswith the best recognition of sites in the European Alps. In this...
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A performance-oriented risk-based method for assessment of safety of ships. Modelling uncertainties in hazard and risk analysis
PublicationW artykule podano informacje na temat alternatywnej metody oceny bezpieczeństwa statków, opartej na ocenie zachowania się statku i ocenie ryzyka. Zaproponowano użycie metody do projektowania statków w oparciu o ocenę ryzyka. W takim podejściu do projektowania bezpieczeństwo powinno być celem projektowym. Ocena bezpieczeństwa w proponowanej metodzie powinna być dokonywana na podstawie oceny ryzyka. Do oceny ryzyka zastosowano elementy...
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Procedure based functional safety and information security management of industrial automation and control systems on example of the oil port installations
PublicationThe approach addresses selected technical and organization aspects of risk mitigation in the oil port installations with regard to functional safety and security requirements specified in standards IEC 61508, IEC 61511 and IEC 62443. The procedure for functional safety management includes the hazard identification, risk analysis and assessment, specification of overall safety requirements and definition of...
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Safety assurance strategies for autonomous vehicles
PublicationAssuring safety of autonomous vehicles requires that the vehicle control system can perceive the situation in the environment and react to actions of other entities. One approach to vehicle safety assurance is based on the assumption that hazardous sequences of events should be identified during hazard analysis and then some means of hazard avoidance and mitigation, like barriers, should be designed and implemented. Another approach...
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Urban flash flood hazard identification and assessment applying geospatial techniques and hydrodynamic modeling; Erbil city case study, Kurdistan Region of Iraq
PublicationThis dissertation aims to investigate the factors behind flash flooding in Erbil's central district, located in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, and develop a methodology for assessing flood hazards in the city, despite limited data accessibility. In this thesis, each factor was investigated, including analyzing extreme precipitation events in the last two decades, including their spatial and temporal distribution of rainfall, intensity,...
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Current issues of functional safety and cybersecurity analysis of the industrial and critical infrastructures
PublicationThis article addresses some functional safety assessment procedures with cybersecurity aspects in critical industrial installations with regard to the functional safety requirements specified in standards IEC 61508 and IEC 61511. The functional safety management includes hazard identification, risk analysis and assessment, specification of overall safety requirements and definition of safety functions. Based on the risk assessment...
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Evaluation of the suitability of low hazard surfactants for the separation of phenols and carotenoids from red-flesh orange juice and olive mill wastewater using cloud point extraction
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Procedure based proactive functional safety management for the risk mitigation of hazardous events in the oil port installations including insurance aspects
PublicationThis article addresses selected technical and organization aspects of risk mitigation in the oil port installations with regard to functional safety requirements specified in standards IEC 61508 and IEC 61511. The procedure for functional safety management includes the hazard identification, risk analysis and assessment, specification of overall safety requirements and definition of safety functions. Based on risk assessment results...
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Knowledge-based functional safety management using ProSIL software
PublicationIn the article the ProSIL software for computer aided functional safety management is presented. The software consists of three modules for the determination of the required SIL level (ProSILen) and verification of the SIL level (ProSILver). In the ProSIL the calibrated knowledge-based risk graph method for determining the required safety integrity level (SIL) of the safety functions identified in hazard analysis is implemented....
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Determining required safety integrity level
PublicationOne of the most important stage of technical system functional safety analysis is defining the safety-related functions as well as determining safety integrity level (SIL) for each defined function. A properly carried out hazard identyfication process is the necessary condition for correct definition of the safety-related functions. Determining the safety integrity level (SIL) is based on risk assessment taking into account risk...
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Current trends in analytical strategies for determination of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in samples with different matrix compositions – Part 1.: Screening of new developments in sample preparation
PublicationPolybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are ubiquitous compounds in the environment. Restrictions on the use of PBDEs introduced at the beginning of the 21st century have not eliminated these highly persistent and bioaccumulative compounds from the environment. Despite many existing regulations to control and phase out, extensive research on PBDEs is still necessary to fully evaluate the hazard their create to the environment. In...
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Safety integrity level verification for safety-related functions with security aspects
PublicationThe article is devoted some important issues of the functional safety analysis, in particular the safetyintegrity level (SIL) verification of safety functions to be implemented within the distributed controland protection systems with regard to cyber security aspects. The procedure for functional safety man-agement includes hazard identification, risk analysis and assessment, specification of overall safetyrequirements and definition...
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Assessing the Effects of the Road Surface and Weather Conditions on Road Safety
PublicationWhen transport is analysed for its safe delivery the focus is mainly on assessing the safety of roads and the risk of undesired events. These include road accidents, an occurrence which is relatively rare and random. Randomness means that accidents depend on several factors which are partly deterministic (can be controlled) and partly stochastic (random and unpredictable). The set of crash contributing factors can be classified...
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Video Classification Technology in a Knowledge-Vision-Integration Platform for Personal Protective Equipment Detection: An Evaluation
PublicationThis work is part of an effort for the development of a Knowledge-Vision Integration Platform for Hazard Control (KVIP-HC) in industrial workplaces, adaptable to a wide range of industrial environments. This paper focuses on hazards resulted from the non-use of personal protective equipment (PPE), and examines a few supervised learning techniques to compose the proposed system for the purpose of recognition of three protective...
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Cognition and Decisional Experience to Support Safety Management in Workplaces
PublicationHazards are present in all workplaces and can result in serious injuries, short and long-term illnesses, or death. In this context, management of safety is essential to ensure the occupational health of workers. Aiming to assist the safety management process, especially in industrial environments, a Cognitive Vision Platform for Hazard Control (CVP-HC) is proposed. This platform is a Cyber Physical system, capable of identifying...
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Calculation of Induced Sheath Voltages in Power Cables – Single Circuit System versus Double Circuit System
PublicationThis paper presents comparison of values of induced sheath voltages in power cable metallic sheaths when one or two cables per phase are used. Calculation of voltages is performed for various phase sequences of the power cables. Three types of the sheaths bonding and earthing are considered. Shock hazard and voltage stress of non-metallic outer sheath of cables are evaluated. The proposed, optimal configuration of the power cable...
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Assessing and Mitigating Ice-Jam Flood Hazards and Risks: A European Perspective
PublicationThe assessment and mapping of riverine flood hazards and risks is recognized by many countries as an important tool for characterizing floods and developing flood management plans. Often, however, these management plans give attention primarily to open-water floods, with ice-jam floods being mostly an afterthought once these plans have been drafted. In some Nordic regions, ice-jam floods can be more severe than open-water floods,...
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Analysis of explosion hazard on propane-butane liquid gas distribution stations during self tankage of vehicles Analiza zagrożeń wystąpienia wybuchu dla stacji dystrybucji gazu płynnego propan-butan podczas samodzielnego napełniania pojazdów
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Flexible Knowledge–Vision–Integration Platform for Personal Protective Equipment Detection and Classification Using Hierarchical Convolutional Neural Networks and Active Leaning
PublicationThis work is part of an effort to develop of a Knowledge-Vision Integration Platform for Hazard Control (KVIP-HC) in industrial workplaces, adaptable to a wide range of industrial environments. The paper focuses on hazards resulted from the non-use of personal protective equipment (PPE). The objective is to test the capability of the platform to adapt to different industrial environments by simulating the process of randomly selecting...
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A method of risk and safety assessment during the ship salvage using the hazard, release and consequence analysis = Metoda oceny ryzyka i bezpieczeństwa w czasie ratowania statku uszkodzonego przy użyciu analizy zagrożeń, uwolnień i konsekwencji wypadku
PublicationW pracy przedstawiono metody oceny bezpieczeństwa statków w stanie uszkodzonym proponowane przez IMO. Przedstawiono proponowaną metodę oceny bezpieczeństwa statku w stanie uszkodzonym. Opisano podstawowe elementy analizy ryzyka wraz z modelem ryzyka nieprzetrwania katastrofy przez statek.
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Visual content representation and retrieval for Cognitive Cyber Physical Systems
PublicationCognitive Cyber Physical Systems have gained significant attention from academia and industry during the past few decade. One of the main reasons behind this interest is the potential of such technologies to revolutionize human life since they intend to work robustly under complex visual scenes, which environmental conditions may vary, adapting to a comprehensive range of unforeseen changes, and exhibiting prospective behavior...
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Image Representation for Cognitive Systems Using SOEKS and DDNA: A Case Study for PPE Compliance
PublicationCognitive Vision Systems have gained significant interest from academia and industry during the past few decade, and one of the main reasons behind this is the potential of such technologies to revolutionize human life as they intend to work under complex visual scenes, adapting to a comprehensive range of unforeseen changes, and exhibiting prospective behavior. The combination of these properties aims to mimic the human capabilities...
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Stream Reasoning to Improve Decision-Making in Cognitive Systems
PublicationABSTRACT Cognitive Vision Systems have gained a lot of interest from industry and academia recently, due to their potential to revolutionize human life as they are designed to work under complex scenes, adapting to a range of unforeseen situations, changing accordingly to new scenarios and exhibiting prospective behavior. The combination of these properties aims to mimic the human capabilities and create more intelligent and efficient...
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Smart Knowledge Engineering for Cognitive Systems: A Brief Overview
PublicationCognition in computer sciences refers to the ability of a system to learn at scale, reason with purpose, and naturally interact with humans and other smart systems, such as humans do. To enhance intelligence, as well as to introduce cognitive functions into machines, recent studies have brought humans into the loop, turning the system into a human–AI hybrid. To effectively integrate and manipulate hybrid knowledge, suitable technologies...
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Visual Content Representation for Cognitive Systems: Towards Augmented Intelligence
PublicationCognitive Vision Systems have gained significant attention from academia and industry during the past few decades. One of the main reasons behind this interest is the potential of such technologies to revolutionize human life since they intend to work robustly under complex visual scenes (which environmental conditions may vary), adapting to a comprehensive range of unforeseen changes, and exhibiting prospective behavior. The combination...
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Induced Sheath Voltages In 110 Kv Power Cables – Case Study
PublicationThe paper considers shock hazard due to induced sheath voltages in 110 kV power cables. Various configurations of the metallic sheaths bonding and earthing (single-point bonding, both-ends bonding, cross-bonding) are analysed. Taking into account shock hazard and ability of the system to power transfer an optimal configuration is proposed.
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Road safety inspection as a tool for road safety management – the polish experience
PublicationIn Poland, road inspections were implemented in June 2014 on all national roads. Previously conducted traffic surveys mainly related to the technical condition of roads, signs and markings; other safety issues were overlooked. The main problem that occurs during inspection is an inspector’s subjective qualitative assessment which affects the classification of the sources of hazard on the road.. The paper presents an analysis of...
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LabVIEW-based intelligent system of protection against electric shock for photovoltaic installations
PublicationEvaluation of shock hazard in installations with photovoltaic sources of energy is more complicated than in a conventional low voltage system. In case of earth fault in photovoltaic generators, that are connected to the AC power public grid, a composite waveform of earth fault current in the installation may occur. For composite waveforms, the safety criteria should be modified. The paper considers the effect of the composite waveforms...
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Induced sheath voltages in 110 kV power cables – case study
PublicationThis paper considers electric shock hazard due to induced sheath voltages in 110 kV power cables. The purpose of this paper is to find an optimal configuration of the power cable system, taking into account electric shock hazard and ability of the system to transfer maximal power. A computer simulations on a computer model of the local power system, comprising high voltage power cables, were carried out. This model enables to analyse...
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Analysis of bisphenols and their derivatives in infant and toddler ready-to-feed milk and powdered milk by LC MS/MS
PublicationReady-to-feed milk and powdered milk packed in different types of packaging lined with resin are chosen as the primary or complementary diet for infants and toddlers. An HPLC–MS/MS method was established and validated for the determination of nineteen bisphenols and their derivatives in such samples. The recoveries were from 31% to 120%, while the values of limit of detection and quantification were in the range of 0.24–0.40 and...
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Conditions and capacity for implementing Poland’s vision zero
PublicationSince 1991 Poland has been systematically reducing its traffic hazard. Despite considerable progress Poland is still among the most dangerous countries in the European Union. The key types of actions that help to reduce fatalities include enhancement of pedestrian safety, reducing the number of speeding drivers and eliminating or reducing hazard on the road. The paper presents a brief diagnosis of the state of road safety in Poland...
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General concept of functional safety - standarisation and sector aspects
PublicationRozdział poświęcono koncepcji bezpieczeństwa funkcjonalnego. Bezpieczeństwo funkcjonalne jest częścią bezpieczeństwa całkowitego zależną od odpowiedniej odpowiedzi systemów sterowania i/lub zabezpieczeń na sygnały wejściowe podczas wystąpienia stanów nienormalnych maszyny, instalacji lub obiektu podwyższonego ryzyka. Koncepcja bezpieczeństwa funkcjonalnego przedstawiona w normie IEC 51508 stanowi przykład dobrej praktyki inżynierskiej...
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Radionuclides activity and effective doses referred to geological formations
PublicationNaturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM) are present in Earth’s crust and they caused natural background radiation, variable in different regions. Liquid, gas and solid radionuclides emit three types of radiation – alpha, beta and gamma. Fluctuations of natural radioactivity in different geological formations in the world and in Poland were compared in relation to radiological hazard. Also drilling cuttings from boreholes...
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Potential Toxic Effects of Airport Runoff Water Samples on the Environment
PublicationDespite the positive aspects of the intensive development of aviation, airports are considered large-scale polluters. Pollution caused by runoff water (stormwater) is one of the major problems related to airport operations. The aim of this study was to characterize the potential toxic impact on aquatic life from runoff water discharges from four international airports in Europe. Samples of stormwater were collected at airports...
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SafeCity – a GIS-based tool profiled for supporting decision making in urban development and infrastructure protection
PublicationThis paper presents a system for analysis of municipal Critical Infrastructures, which offers integrated tools for target analysis, hazard scenario simulations and spatial analysis within a remotely accessible Web-based Geographic Information System. The system has been applied to research conducted in the city of Gdansk with the aid of blast attack, chemical leakage and flood hazard scenarios, as well as a spatial density algorithm,...
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Studying road restraint systems to develop new guidelines
PublicationThe paper will present a proposed approach to such work along with preliminary results of numerical studies for selected problems using road safety devices such as safety barriers on horizontal curves, the effect of kerbs on bridges or the location of obstacles within the barrier’s working width. The paper will discuss assumptions to a methodology of numerical models, calculations and automated processing of data to help with assessing...
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PLANNING AND ANALYSIS OF EARTHQUAKE DISASTER RELIEF WORK IN ETHIOPIA
PublicationThis paper addresses dynamic planning and analysis of earthquake disaster relief work by analysis the disaster throughout the technical and procedural method. And combine this analysis as continues assessment for better input to investigating planning disaster for discontinuous economic growth. This implemented, considering the vulnerability and hazard analysis as a procedural analysis disaster to estimating acceptance risk leveling...
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Do You Know What You Drink? Comparative Research on the Contents of Radioisotopes and Heavy Metals in Different Types of Tea from Various Parts of the World
PublicationThe aim of this study was to assess the potential health risks of radioactive elements and heavy metals ingested through the consumption of various types of tea imported to the Polish market (black, green, red, oolong and white). The concentrations [Bq/kg] of radionuclides (40K, 137Cs, 226Ra, 210Pb and 228Th) in tea leaves before and after brewing were measured using γ-ray spectrometry with high-purity germanium (HPGe). The concentrations...
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Computer-aided Analysis of Induced Sheath Voltages in High Voltage Power Cable System
PublicationThis paper concerns the effect of configuration of high voltage power cables on induced voltages in their metallic sheaths. One, two or three cables per phase and phase sequence of the cables are considered. Computing of the voltages was performed for a normal operation and in case of earth fault. Various ways of the sheaths bonding are considered as well. Shock hazard and voltage stress of non-metallic outer sheath of cables are...
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Mapping of Flood-Prone Areas Utilizing GIS Techniques and Remote Sensing: A Case Study of Duhok, Kurdistan Region of Iraq
PublicationOne of the most common types of natural disaster, floods can happen anywhere on Earth, except in the polar regions. The severity of the damage caused by flooding can be reduced by putting proper management and protocols into place. Using remote sensing and a geospatial methodology, this study attempts to identify flood-vulnerable areas of the central district of Duhok, Iraq. The analytical hierarchy process (AHP) technique was...
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A solvent selection guide based on chemometrics and multicriteria decision analysis
PublicationThe selection of suitable solvents is a crucially important subject in a wide range of chemical processes. This study presents a solvent selection guide where 151 solvents were assessed, including a significant number of recently reported bio-based solvents. The assessment procedure involves grouping of solvents according to their physicochemical parameters and ranking within clusters according to their toxicological and hazard...
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System of protection against electric shock for circuits with power electronics converters
PublicationModern low voltage circuits are very often equipped with power electronics converters, therefore in these circuits non-sinusoidal earth currents (touch currents) may occur. For non-sinusoidal currents safety criteria should be modified. This paper presents these modified criteria and a computer system of protection against electric shock which can be implemented in circuits with power electronics converters. The system is based...
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The 12 principles of green analytical chemistry and the SIGNIFICANCE mnemonic of green analytical practices
PublicationThe current rapid development of green analytical chemistry (GAC) requires clear, concise guidelines in the form of GAC principles that will be helpful in greening laboratory practices. The existing principles of green chemistry and green engineering need revision for their use in GAC because they do not fully meet the needs of analytical chemistry. In this article we propose a set of 12 principles consisting of known concepts...
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Modification of the operating point of residual current transformers for high frequency earth fault currents detection
PublicationFor protection against electric shock in low voltage systems residual current devices are commonly used. However, their proper operation can be interfered when earth fault current with high frequency components occurs. Serious hazard of electrocution exists then. One of the most important element of residual current devices is a residual current transformer with iron core. Tripping characteristic of residual current devices strictly...
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Potential changes in an electric field and electrolytic corrosion.
PublicationSources have been described of corrosively hazardous electric fields and methods of determination of the corrosion hazard to metal structures caused by electrolytic corrosion. Results of potential and impedance investigations in the field of stray currents flowing out of a tram traction and in the presence of a defined electric field of low frequency have been presented. Uncertainties have been indicated relating to the generally...
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Protection of bridges against stray current corrosion
PublicationA case study of Siennicki Bridge stray current corrosion hazard is presented. A corrosion risk was caused by incorrectly designed tram line traction which goes over the bridge. No dielectric insulation between running rails and bridge steel construction was used. A variety of protection methods against stray currents are described. Characteristics of the endangered bridge were described. Impressed current cathodic protection system...
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Improving sensitivity of residual current transformers to high frequency earth fault currents
PublicationFor protection against electric shock in low voltage systems residual current devices are commonly used. However, their proper operation can be interfered when high frequency earth fault current occurs. Serious hazard of electrocution exists then. In order to detect such a current, it is necessary to modify parameters of residual current devices, especially the operating point of their current transformer. The authors proposed...
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The effect of Ag, Au, Pt, and Pd on the surface properties, photocatalytic activity and toxicity of multicomponent TiO2-based nanomaterials
PublicationMulticomponent TiO2-based nanomaterials (MC-NMs) show better physicochemical properties than their individual components or bulk materials. However, the same unique properties that offer innovative applications might also pose unknown risks to human health and the environment. In this context, TiO2- based nanomaterials with a mixture of noble metal precursors (Ag, Au, Pt, and Pd) for large-scale technological applications in air...
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Flood risk assessment for office and services building Alchemia II at Al. Grunwaldzka 409 in Gdansk.
PublicationThe aim of the study is to assess the risk of flood from natural meteorological and hy-drological phenomena, for office and services building Alchemia II in Gdansk at Al. Grun-waldzka 409. The project includes the analysis of potential sources of floods in Gdansk re-garding the Baltic Sea and the Gulf of Gdansk, the Vistula River basin and excessive rainfall and snowmelt waters being a significant element of hydrological processes...
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Fibrillar aggregates in powdered milk
PublicationThis research paper addresses the hypothesis that powdered milk may contain amyloid fibrils. Amyloids are fibrillar aggregates of proteins. Up to this time, research on the presence of amyloids in food products are scarce. To check the hypothesis we performed thioflavin T fluorescence assay, X-ray powder diffraction, atomic force microscopy and fluorescence microscopy imaging. Our preliminary results show that commercially available...
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Development of tools for road infrastructure safety management for the provinces (voivodeships) in Poland
PublicationThe development of modern tools for road infrastructure safety management will help to reduce the number of fatalities and serious injuries as one of the main objectives adopted in 2013 in the National Road Safety Programme 2014-2020 and the new Road Safety Programme 2011-2020 in the EU. Risk Management in Highway Engineering can be applied in developing tools essential in the process of safety management. Risk Management in Highway...
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A Framework of A Ship Domain-Based Near-Miss Detection Method Using Mamdani Neuro-Fuzzy Classification
PublicationSafety analysis of navigation over a given area may cover application of various risk measures for ship collisions. One of them is percentage of the so called near- miss situations (potential collision situations). In this article a method of automatic detection of such situations based on the data from Automatic Identification System (AIS), is proposed. The method utilizes input parameters such as: collision risk measure based...
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Safety issues referred to induced sheath voltages in high-voltage power cables – case study
PublicationLoad currents and short-circuit currents in high-voltage power cable lines are sources of the induced voltages in the power cables’ concentric metallic sheaths. When power cables operate with single-point bonding, which is the simplest bonding arrangement, these induced voltages may introduce an electric shock hazard or may lead to damage of the cables’ outer non-metallic sheaths at the unearthed end of the power cable line. To...
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Hazards of a flooding event in the city of Gdansk and possible forms of preventing the phenomenon – case study
PublicationThe main objective is to examine the urban flood hazard in the city of Gdansk and to determine the possibilities of preventing this phenomenon. Hydrological and hydraulic modeling was used for the case study analysis of urban flood in Strzyża basin, applying the HEC-HMS and HEC-RAS systems. The result of modeling with the assumption of torrential rainfall with a duration of t = 1 h (from 35 to 58 mm) is the probability of pluvial...
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Computer-Aided Calculations of Earth Potential Rise in High Voltage Overhead Lines
PublicationHigh voltage overhead power lines with earth wires comprise towers made of conductive material. Some towers are in locations where people can be expected to be either for a long time or for a short time but very frequently. Evaluation of shock hazard near such towers requires calculation of line-to-earth short-circuit current, earth current and especially earth potential rise. Number of towers in high voltage power lines can exceed...
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Environmental risk- based ranking of solvents by the combination of multimedia model and multi-criteria decision analysis
PublicationA novel procedure for assessing the environmental risk related to solvents emissions has been developed. The assessment of risk is based on hazard and exposure detailed investigations. The potential exposure related to different environmental phases is calculated with basic multimedia model, that gives the percentage distribution of solvent in environmental compartments as a result. Specific hazards– toxicological, environmental...
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Sources and Fate of PAHs and PCBs in the Marine Environment
PublicationThe assessment of a hazard resulting from the pollution of the environment by chemical compounds is in principle limited to the determination of their concentrations in its various compartments. But for solving many problems in this context, knowledge of the emission sources, transport pathways, and sites of deposition is of great benefit. By far the largest amounts of pollutants, regardless of where they were discharged, end up...
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Towards the Development of a Risk Model for Unmanned Vessels Design and Operations
PublicationAn unmanned merchant vessel seems to be escaping from the stage of idea exploration. Once the concept proofs its safety, it may become a part of maritime reality. Although the safety aspect of such a ship has been addressed by a handful of scholars, the problem remains open. This is mainly due to lack of knowledge regarding actual operational circumstances and design of unmanned ships, which are yet to be developed. In the...
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Modeling of traffic safety indictors on Polish national road network
PublicationAlthough decreased from 2001 to 2013, Poland’s road deaths improved at a slower rate than the rest of the EU, leaving Poland as one of the worst road safety performing countries in the EU. The national road network in Poland, despite the dynamic transformation and development, still does not conform to the EU safety standards. Similar situation exists in other EU countries, particularly those in Central and Eastern Europe. Safety...
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Effect of the Road Environment on Road Safety in Poland
PublicationRun-off-road accidents tend to be very severe because when a vehicle leaves the road, it will often crash into a solid obstacle (tree, pole, supports, front wall of a culvert, barrier). A statistical analysis of the data shows that Poland's main roadside hazard is trees and the severity of vehicles striking a tree in a run-off-road crash. The risks are particularly high in north-west Poland with many of the roads lined up with...
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Extraction and Analysis of Bisphenols and Their Derivatives in Infant and Toddler Ready-to-feed Meals by Ultrasound-assisted Membrane Extraction Followed by LC MS/MS
PublicationThis research developed an ultrasound-assisted membrane extraction coupled with liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method for the determination of nineteen bisphenols and their derivatives in infant and toddler ready-to-feed meals. The calibration curves for all analytes were linear in the tested range, and the limit of detection and limit of quantitation were in the range 0.27 to 0.79 ng/g and 0.80 to 2.4 ng/g, respectively....
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ROAD SAFETY MANAGEMENT TOOLS FOR COUNTRY STRATEGIC LEVEL
PublicationStrategic road safety programmes setting out long-term visions and road infrastructure development plans must be based on road safety forecasts and an understanding of the long-term impact of different measures on road safety. The objective of this paper is to discuss a concept of road safety management for an area of a selected country because there are no simple tools of road safety management for the development and implementation...
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Identification of safety hazards and their sources in tram transport
PublicationBoth in Poland and in most countries of the European Union, the tram infrastructure is extensively expanding. Contemporary low-floor trams are constructed according to different technical assumptions than typical railway vehicles or high floor trams. In Poland such vehicles rides often on lines designed according to standards developed to the classical vehicles. At the same time, the intensity of road traffic and the number of...
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How green are ionic liquids? – A multicriteria decision analysis approach
PublicationDue to various desirable physicochemical properties, ionic liquids (ILs) are still gaining in popularity. ILs have been recurrently considered green solvents. However, environmental, health and safety assessments of ILs have raised certain doubts about their benignness, and their greenness status is currently unclear. To clarify the situation on their greenness, we perform a comprehensive assessment of more than 300 commercially...
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Speciation of heavy metal compounds in samples of biota from marine ecosystems
PublicationIt has become increasingly evident that the toxicity, mobility, bioavailability and bioaccumulation of metals are dependent on the particular physico-chemical form in which the element occurs in the environment. Special attention is paid to metals, which are essential for the proper functioning of organisms if present in appropriate amounts but are toxic if in excess (i.e. Se, Cr, Zn), and also to non-essential elements (i.e. Hg,...
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Numerical Simulation of Catastrophic Flood: the Case Study of Hypothetical Failure of the Bielkowo Hydro–Power Plant Reservoir
PublicationThe numerical modeling of flood wave propagation following the hypo-thetical breaks of the embankments of the Bielkowo hydro–power plant storage reservoir (Kolbudy II Reservoir) on the Radunia River in Poland have been presented. The results of computations were used to estimate the parameters of the flood waves, which are indispensable for the flood zone determination and mapping and then for the flood risk analysis. When estimating...
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Machine learning approach to packaging compatibility testing in the new product development process
PublicationThe paper compares the effectiveness of selected machine learning methods as modelling tools supporting the selection of a packaging type in new product development process. The main goal of the developed model is to reduce the risk of failure in compatibility tests which are preformed to ensure safety, durability, and efficacy of the finished product for the entire period of its shelf life and consumer use. This kind of testing...
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Wavelet transform-based approach to defect identification in railway carbon contact strips.
PublicationPantographs of electric rail vehicles are fitted with carbon contact strips, which slide along the contact wire of catenary to provide constant electrical contact. Contact strips are exposed to wear and damages. Using damaged contact strips significantly increases the risk of catenary rupture. Therefore, their technical condition has to be inspected frequently. In previous work a 3D laser scanning system was proposed for recording...
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Mercury content in beetroot and beetroot-based dietary supplements
PublicationTotal mercury (THg) concentrations in fifty-four beetroot-based DSs and seven lots of conventional and organic beetroots (divided into unpeeled, peeled, and skins) were determined by direct thermal decomposition-gold amalgamation cold vapour atomic absorption spectrometry. The analytical procedure was optimised and validated. The recovery (%) for Hg was 101.9 and 92.73 in BCR-463 and DOLT 4, respectively. The intermediate precision...
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Functionalized nanodiamonds as a perspective green carbo-catalyst for removal of emerging organic pollutants
PublicationRapid industrial and urban development jointly with rising global population strongly affect the large-scale issues with drinking, groundwater, and surface water pollution. Concerns are not limited to environmental issues but also human health impact becoming serious global aspect. Organic pollution becomes a primarily serious hazard, therefore, the novel sophisticated approaches to treat them are thoroughly investigated. Among...
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Determination of Heavy Metals Concentration in Water and Soil at Various Locations in Lahore and their Harmful Impacts on Human and Plants life
PublicationHeavy metals poisoning of soil and water has resulted from industrial expansion in Lahore, Pakistan, creating a significant environmental hazard. As a result, monitoring the contamination of soil and water around industrial sites is critical. The fact that higher concentrations of heavy metals have a negative influence on both plants and human life and this cannot be ignored. Higher heavy metal concentrations have a direct impact...
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Optimum shapes and dimensions of rubber bumpers in order to reduce structural pounding during seismic excitations
PublicationLarge displacement of structures observed during seismic excitations may lead to collisions between two adjacent, insufficiently-separated buildings and may result in major damages of both of them. In many building codes, appropriate equations or approximately recommended distances between structures in order to avoid pounding hazard have been introduced. Unfortunately, further, more detailed considerations show that safety situation...
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Machine learning-based seismic fragility and seismic vulnerability assessment of reinforced concrete structures
PublicationMany studies have been performed to put quantifying uncertainties into the seismic risk assessment of reinforced concrete (RC) buildings. This paper provides a risk-assessment support tool for purpose of retrofitting and potential design strategies of RC buildings. Machine Learning (ML) algorithms were developed in Python software by innovative methods of hyperparameter optimization, such as halving search, grid search, random...
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Trophic Transfer of Mercury in a Temperate Marine Food Web, Southern Baltic Sea
PublicationMercury (Hg) is considered to be one of the most dangerous global environmental pollutants. The toxicity and bioavailabilityof Hg depend on its chemical form, and the greatest hazard is posed by the organomercurial compounds. Hg is introduced into the human body primarily through the consumption of fish and seafood. Despite numerous studies on Hg in marine organisms, there is still a gap in the knowledge on Hg uptake and...
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A Robust Random Forest Model for Classifying the Severity of Partial Discharges in Dielectrics
PublicationPartial Discharges (PDs) are a common source of degradation in electrical assets. It is essential that the extent of the deterioration level of insulating medium is correctly identified, to optimize maintenance schedules and prevent abrupt power outages. Temporal PD signals received from damaged insulation, collected through the IEC-60270 method is the gold standard for PD detection. Temporal signals may be transformed to the frequency...
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Innovative Research Into Road Restraint Systems
PublicationKey to understanding the needs and building road infrastructure management tools to prevent and mitigate run-off-road accidents is to identify hazards and their sources which are a result of wrong design, construction, installation and maintenance of road restraint systems [1]. Building such tools requires advanced studies with field tests, simulations and models to demonstrate the effects of selected parameters on road user safety...
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Electrodes criticality: the impact of CRMs in the leachate electrochemical oxidation
Publication. Landfill leachate possesses high concentrations of ammonia, micropollutants, and heavy metals, and are characterised for low biodegradability. For this reason, conventional treatment technologies may result ineffective for complete pollutant removal. Electrochemical oxidation allows most of the of recalcitrant pollutants to be oxidised effectively within an easy operational and acceptable retention time, without the need to provide...