Assessment of Industrial Risks Related to Steam Production in a Thermal Production Service: Case of the Ouaga North of Burkina Faso Thermal Production Service

In this work, we have focused on the risks emanating from the steam production process in a thermal production department with a view to reducing the occurrence of unwanted events. The practical aspect of this study is to ensure the well-being of production actors and the surrounding population. Subsequently, we opted for fault tree analysis and HAZOP, which are tools for studying the probabilities of occurrence of unwanted events in the operation of industrial thermal installations. In addition, in the process of steam production, it emerges that pressure and temperature remain the most important parameters to monitor in order to reduce the risks associated with chemicals but especially with steam circuits.

New Basle Capital Agreement and Risk Management of China＇s Banking Industry

Adjustment of Basle Capital Agreement will influence the risk management and capital arrangement demand of the banks with different scales, operation level and environment. It will have widespread and profound effect on the competition strength of every country＇s banks in the global market. Starting with illustration of the present cond（tion of risk management in China＇s banks, the paper analyzes the major problems existing in the risk management system of China＇s banking industry, then puts forward some clues and suggestions to improve and better the risk management system of China＇s banking industry.

Rapid Price Hike and Tumble of Cocoon Risks in Chinese Silk Industry

Back to 1994, a transient price hike of cocoon silk eventually led to a predicament for Chinese silk industry in the following years. A decade later, is that slump going to happen again?

Asymmetry in Value Relevance of Environmental Performance （EP） Information： Contingency Effects of Size and Industry

Contemporary research documents a positive but weak price premium from environmental performance （EP）. The specific circumstances of pricing EP of large and small companies and in polluting and clean industries have not, however, been investigated. This study predicts that financial markets price EP beyond financial fundamentals differently, depending on company size and the environmental risk of the industry and provides evidence relying on a set of the Sweden Stock Market 300 （SIX 300） companies listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange （OMX Stockholm）. Applying a value relevance model, the average results are in line with previous findings that EP adds value beyond the book value of equity and earnings. The asymmetry in EP is, however, driven by company size and the environmental risk of the industry. This study suggests that large companies in low-risk industries obtain strong price premiums from being environmental industry leaders. In contrast, small companies and also companies in high-risk industries do not necessarily accrue the same market benefits.

Spatial Industrial Accident Exposure and Social Vulnerability Assessment of Hazardous Material Sites,Chemical Parks,and Nuclear Power Plants in Germany

Industrial accidents have shown that many people can be affected,such as in Seveso,Italy,in 1976.Industrial accidents in nuclear power plants have also led to fatalities and evacuations.To better guide preparedness against and mitigation of industrial accidents,an assessment is necessary to evaluate hazard exposure and the type of potentially vulnerable social groups that need to be taken into account.This study conducted a spatial assessment of three types of industrial facilities in Germany:facilities registered under the Seveso Directive,chemical parks,and nuclear power plants.The method consisted of a spatial assessment using a Geographic Information System of exposure around hazardous sites registered under the S eveso Directive in Germany and of census data to analyze social vulnerability.Hazards analyzed included industrial accidents and earthquakes.The results revealed that most industrial sites are in urban areas and that population density,the numbers of foreigners,and smaller housing unit sizes are higher in close proximity to these sites.The buffer zones analyzed in circles between 1 and 40 km show a decreasing vulnerability with more distance.This can guide emergency management planners and other stakeholders to better prepare for major accidents and better devise disaster risk reduction strategies specifically for different social groups.

China's ETS pilots: Program design, industry risk, and long-term investment

The emissions trading scheme(ETS)is considered an effective policy tool for achieving emission reductions.At present,China's ETS pilots have completed several compliance periods and provided rich experience for a national ETS.Taking advantage of the variations in the regional ETS pilots across regions and sectors and over time,this study used a difference-in-difference-in-differences(DDD)model to examine the effects of ETS pilots and differential program design on industry risk and the impacts of risk on future investment horizon.First,we found that the ETS pilots significa ntly increase profit variability(total risk)in China's industry;that is,ETS in duces greater uncertainty in the covered sectors.In terms of industry heterogeneity,non-eleclricily sectors(specifically ferrous metal)engage in higher levels of risk taking.Second,the influence of such program features as the allowance allocation(total amounts and approaches),China Certification Emission Reduction(CCER)trading volumes,and penalties are heterogeneous.Finally,during the period around the treatment,industry risk can significantly encourage longer rather than shorter investment.In particular,the punishment mechanism and benchmarking allocation play a positive role in regulating the risk-investment relationship.

Heavy Metal Release from Some Industrial Wastes: Influence of Organic and Inorganic Acids, Clay Minerals, and Nanoparticles

Knowledge about heavy metal release from industrial solid wastes(ISWs) is crucial for better management of their environmental risks. This study was conducted to investigate the effect of organic and inorganic acids, clay minerals, and nanoparticles(NPs) on the release of heavy metals from sugar factory waste, ceramic factory waste, leather factory waste, and stone cutting waste. The influence of the extractants on heavy metal release from these ISWs was in the following descending order: citric acid > oxalic acid > nitric acid≥ sulfuric acid > Ca Cl2. Addition of clay minerals and NPs as adsorbents decreased heavy metal release, which was significantly lower in NP-treated wastes than in the clay mineral-treated wastes. On the other hand, the presence of organic and inorganic acids increased heavy metal adsorption by NPs and clay minerals. These results suggest that NPs can be applied successfully in waste remediation,and organic and inorganic acids play an important role in the removal of heavy metals from the studied adsorbents.

Characteristics of particulate-bound polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons emitted from industrial grade biomass boilers

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons（PAHs） are carcinogenic or mutagenic and are important toxic pollutants in the flue gas of boilers. Two industrial grade biomass boilers were selected to investigate the characteristics of particulate-bound PAHs： one biomass boiler retro-fitted from an oil boiler（BB1） and one specially designed（BB2） biomass boiler. One coal-fired boiler was also selected for comparison. By using a dilution tunnel system, particulate samples from boilers were collected and 10 PAH species were analyzed by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry（GC–MS）. The total emission factors（EFs） of PAHs ranged from 0.0064 to0.0380 mg/kg, with an average of 0.0225 mg/kg, for the biomass boiler emission samples. The total PAH EFs for the tested coal-fired boiler were 1.8 times lower than the average value of the biomass boilers. The PAH diagnostic ratios for wood pellets and straw pellets were similar.The ratio of indeno（1,2,3-cd）pyrene/[indeno（1,2,3-cd）pyrene ＋ benzo（g,h,i）perylene] for the two biomass boilers was lower than those of the reference data for other burning devices, which can probably be used as an indicator to distinguish the emission of biomass boilers from that of industrial coal-fired boilers and residential stoves. The toxic potential of the emission from wood pellet burning was higher than that from straw pellet burning, however both of them were much lower than residential stove exhausts.