International Journal of Environmentally Conscious Design & Manufacturing 

Volume 12, Number 3, 2004

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Contents
Contents 

AIR POLLUTION FROM IGNITED AND UNIGNITED ACID GAS FLARES IN QATAR , by O. BADR, R. AL-KUWARI, AND A. ABDEL-SATTAR

    Qatar, one of the Gulf States, possesses one of the world’s largest non-associated gas fields. Most of the country’s development plans are based on the preparation of natural gas for export and local use.
Under normal operation of gas processing plants, the residual, H₂S-rich Acid Gas is treated in a sulfur recovery unit to produce pure sulfur. However, under abnormal situations, the acid gas is burned in incinerators or flares releasing SO₂–rich combustion products. Under severe weather conditions, such a flare may get extinguished and the acid gas is released unignited into the atmosphere. This paper studies the environmental hazards due to the release of such dangerous gases. Dispersion models developed by the US EPA have been used to determine the size and map location of the dangerous zones. 
For ignited acid gas, the results indicated the possible formation of SO₂-toxic clouds extending to 110 km in the downwind direction from the flare location and 210 m above ground level. For the less common case of releasing unignited acid gas, the H₂S-toxic cloud may extend to 20 km and 110 m in the downwind and vertical directions, respectively. A parametric study has been conducted to consider the effects of some meteorological conditions (wind speed and atmospheric stability) as well as the number of operating trains in a typical gas processing plant.
Keywords: Risk assessment, Environmental impact, Gas processing plants, Hazardous gases, Toxic clouds, Health and safety.

THE DEVELOPMENT AND ANALYSIS OF AN ENVIRONMENT FRIENDLY MACHINING FLUID APPLICATION SYSTEM , by Richard N. Callahan, Kevin M. Hubbard

    Compliance with environmental regulations is becoming more and more costly for manufacturers as government scrutiny and global trade agreements become more stringent. Metalcutting fluid use and disposal is a major concern as these environmental issues become more prominent. A new method for cooling and lubricating machining processes using very small amounts of a vegetable oil based fluid transported by air stream is currently being developed. This new method will allow a dramatic reduction in hazardous waste management costs for machine shops. Shops employing this new method will greatly reduce, and in some cases nearly eliminate the hazardous waste management costs associated with the use of cutting fluids in machining.
   This paper deals with the development and performance analysis of the new application system. In this system a high subsonic air stream carries the cutting fluid directly to the cutting zone. A discussion of the development, heat transfer, and lubricating characteristics of the system is provided. The performance of the system is then evaluated using metalcutting tests. Results obtained using the new cooling/lubricating system are markedly superior to those obtained with dry cutting. These results are at approximately the same levels as those obtained using traditional flood type coolants/lubricants, but at much lower cost.