Article
Environmental Studies
Avi Bar-Massada
Summary: The Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) refers to the area where human settlements border or intermingle with undeveloped land, and mapping the WUI is essential for identifying areas-at-risk. Two main mapping methods, point-based and zonal-based, have different data requirements and produce varying maps. A study comparing these methods in California found that the point-based approach estimated a larger WUI area, and the spatial correspondence between maps was influenced by building numbers and arrangement. This suggests that WUI maps are not directly comparable and should serve different practical purposes.
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Hyejeong Park, Kihun Nam, Hyungduk Lim
Summary: Global climate change and unplanned urbanization have led to industrial encroachment on wildlands, resulting in increased wildfire risks and the potential for Natech accidents. This case study in South Korea demonstrates the importance of intensive risk and emergency management in protecting critical energy infrastructure from wildfires. The findings emphasize the need for integrated wildfire-specific Natech risk management that includes all stakeholders and enhances resilience in wildland-industrial and -urban interface areas.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF DISASTER RISK REDUCTION
(2023)
Article
Environmental Studies
H. Anu Kramer, Van Butsic, Miranda H. Mockrin, Carlos Ramirez-Reyes, Patricia M. Alexandre, Volker C. Radeloff
Summary: The study found that rebuilding and new constructions in California after wildfires did not show adaptation to lower risk areas. Although rebuilding was common post-fire, long-term data revealed that new constructions either did not significantly change in risk level or increased over time.
Article
Forestry
Adelia N. Nunes, Albano Figueiredo, Carlos Pinto, Luciano Lourenco
Summary: In Portugal, the rapid growth in housing in and near wildland-urban interfaces (WUIs) increases the wildfire risk. The goal of the study was to assess wildfire hazard in the Central Region of Portugal and the contact areas of the 60,373 km of WUIs. The assessment was based on land use/land cover analysis, topography, and historical incidence of burnt area. The results show that wildfire hazard is high or very high in over half of the Central Region, but most WUIs are in contact with low or very low hazard classes.
Review
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Shahab Mohammad Beyki, Aldina Santiago, Luis Laim, Helder D. Craveiro
Summary: Wildfires have become a growing threat to people's lives and assets, particularly in communities near wildlands or wildland-urban interfaces (WUI). In order to ensure a safe evacuation during wildfires, it is necessary to understand human behavior, evacuation modeling, and traffic simulations. This paper reviews past and recent research on evacuation, human behavior in wildfires, evacuation modeling, and traffic simulation, highlighting the gaps and challenges in obtaining an effective evacuation model.
APPLIED SCIENCES-BASEL
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Industrial
Lorenzo Rossi, Valeria Casson Moreno, Gabriele Landucci
Summary: This study proposes a vulnerability model for process pipelines impacted by floods in industrial areas, and applies it to an industrial case-study to assess the failure probability of pipelines during flooding scenarios.
RELIABILITY ENGINEERING & SYSTEM SAFETY
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Ruth C. Heindel, Sheila F. Murphy, Deborah A. Repert, Gregory A. Wetherbee, Alexander E. Liethen, David W. Clow, Toby A. Halamka
Summary: As human activities increasingly dominate the nitrogen cycle, ammonium deposition, one of the main components of nitrogen deposition, remains high in the Rocky Mountains, despite efforts to reduce emissions. Previous spatial models have underestimated the contribution of urban and agricultural emissions to ammonium deposition in adjacent ecosystems. Through field measurements, this study found elevated wet ammonium deposition in urban and foothill areas, and lower deposition in montane and subalpine regions. Ammonium accounted for the majority of nitrogen deposition, particularly in spring when air masses from the plains transport ammonium to the mountains. The results highlight the importance of considering urban and agricultural sources in nitrogen deposition models and suggest that fire-prone forested foothills receive even greater ammonium deposition than higher elevations, posing a risk to water supplies and ecosystems.
Article
Agronomy
Jeffrey M. Kane
Summary: The study found significant effects of stand conditions on dead surface fuel moisture within Oregon white oak ecosystems, with thinned stands consistently having warmer and drier conditions than encroached stands. Differences in fuel moisture were most pronounced in late spring and early fall.
AGRICULTURAL AND FOREST METEOROLOGY
(2021)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Federica Ricci, Valeria Casson Moreno, Valerio Cozzani
Summary: This study presents a comprehensive analysis of 9100 past accidents over the last 70 years, revealing trends, geographical distribution, triggers, and consequences of Natech events. Meteorological events were found to be the main trigger of Natech scenarios, with an increasing number of occurrences observed over time.
PROCESS SAFETY AND ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
(2021)
Article
Ecology
Alan A. Ager, Cody R. Evers, Michelle A. Day, Fermin J. Alcasena, Rachel Houtman
Summary: The study modeled an accelerated forest and fuel management scenario for 76 western US national forests, targeting wildfire exposure to developed areas. The research found that over 20% of simulated fires overlapped with fuel treatments once fully implemented, and approximately 20% of projects were burned prior to implementation.
LANDSCAPE AND URBAN PLANNING
(2021)
Article
Engineering, Industrial
Vincenzo Caratozzolo, Alessio Misuri, Valerio Cozzani
Summary: This study fills the gap in current equipment vulnerability models by proposing a generalized vulnerability model applicable to the chemical and process industry. The model allows for the assessment of structural damage caused by floods and includes a screening method to identify the most vulnerable equipment.
RELIABILITY ENGINEERING & SYSTEM SAFETY
(2022)
Review
Environmental Sciences
M. J. Paul, S. D. LeDuc, M. G. Lassiter, L. C. Moorhead, P. D. Noyes, S. G. Leibowitz
Summary: Wildfires have increased in frequency and have significant impacts on water quality, including physical, chemical, and biological changes. These effects typically last less than 5 years, but can extend up to 15 years or more in certain cases. Studies on pollutants mobilized from wildfires in urban areas are limited.
WATER RESOURCES RESEARCH
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Alan A. Ager, Michelle A. Day, Fermin J. Alcasena, Cody R. Evers, Karen C. Short, Isaac Grenfell
Summary: The 2018 Camp fire in Paradise, California was the worst wildfire disaster in US history, resulting in 82 fatalities. Future disasters of similar or greater magnitude are inevitable due to predicted climate change, but their location and timing remain highly uncertain. Simulation models are vital for mapping risk and designing prevention strategies, yet current risk assessments focus more on mean values rather than predicting extreme events that are increasingly becoming a reality worldwide.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2021)
Article
Forestry
S. L. Wilkinson, A. K. Furukawa, B. M. Wotton, J. M. Waddington
Summary: Treed peatlands in the Boreal Plains of Alberta, Canada exhibit varying degrees of smouldering potential, with areas closer to roads having a higher potential. The study suggests incorporating peatland-wildfire interactions into wildfire management operations and using similar frameworks in other peatland dominated regions for smouldering fire risk assessments.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF WILDLAND FIRE
(2021)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Bruno A. Aparicio, Jose M. C. Pereira, Francisco C. Santos, Chiara Bruni, Ana C. L. Sa
Summary: This study quantifies the influence of fuel spatial arrangement on fire spread connectivity and proposes network metrics for assessing wildfire hazard and fuel management plans. It shows that network metrics can identify important areas of wildfire connectivity and that fuelbreak construction can reduce overall connectivity and ground-based suppression opportunities. However, fuelbreaks may not be sufficient under extreme weather conditions to contain fire spread.
ECOLOGICAL INDICATORS
(2022)
Article
Engineering, Industrial
Pascale Vacca, Eulalia Planas, Christian Mata, Juan Antonio Munoz, Frederic Heymes, Elsa Pastor
Summary: The combustion of artificial fuels at Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) homeowner scale is a significant contributor to fire spread through a property, posing major safety issues at the community level. Real-scale burning tests were conducted to gather quantitative data on these fuels and evaluate vulnerabilities of WUI properties through Performance-Based Design methodologies, with results indicating that certain fuel packs are more hazardous than others.
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Mariasole Cipolletta, Marco D'Ambrosio, Valeria Casson Moreno, Valerio Cozzani
Summary: This study proposes an inherent safety methodology for assessing the safety performance of biodiesel production processes and selecting the safest and most sustainable design option. Comparative assessment of major biodiesel production technologies enhances the understanding of safety-critical aspects of novel processes.
JOURNAL OF CLEANER PRODUCTION
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Dina Guglielmi, Alessio Paolucci, Valerio Cozzani, Marco Giovanni Mariani, Luca Pietrantoni, Federico Fraboni
Summary: Human reliability analysis is a major concern for organizations, but existing methods often neglect the impact of human factors. This study introduces a new evaluation method that treats human factors as safety barriers against errors. A test case demonstrates the significant role of human factors in reducing error probability.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH
(2022)
Article
Engineering, Industrial
Xiaoxue Guo, Long Ding, Jie Ji, Valerio Cozzani
Summary: The allocation strategy of safety measures in the domino effect is often subjective and uncertain. This study proposes a cost-effective risk reduction optimization model that relates risk to economic cost through mathematical functions, enabling objective allocation of safety investment.
RELIABILITY ENGINEERING & SYSTEM SAFETY
(2022)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Francesco Zanobetti, Gianmaria Pio, Sepideh Jafarzadeh, Miguel Munoz Ortiz, Valerio Cozzani
Summary: The urgent need to reduce harmful pollutants in maritime transport led to the development of alternative propulsion systems based on clean fuels or carbon-neutral energy vectors. However, these alternative solutions present safety concerns. An innovative methodology was developed to assess the inherent safety performance of alternative systems during early design stages. A case study of long-distance maritime transportation was conducted comparing the inherent safety performances of LNG, LH2, and LNH3 systems to the benchmark MGO. Uncertainty and robustness of the safety ranking were tested using a Monte Carlo analysis, revealing similar safety performances for LNG technologies, limitations in LH2 safety due to immature storage technologies, and safety issues related to the toxicity of LNH3.
PROCESS SAFETY AND ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
(2023)
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Federica Ricci, Valeria Casson Moreno, Valerio Cozzani
Summary: Natech accidents are becoming more important due to their increasing occurrence and severe consequences, which are intensified by climate change and global warming. This study focuses on Natech accidents triggered by heat waves and analyzes past accidents to identify key factors and lessons learned for preventing and mitigating future incidents.
Article
Engineering, Civil
Pascale Vacca, Alba Agueda, Eulalia Planas, David Caballero, Elsa Pastor
Summary: This paper presents a quantitative methodology for assessing the vulnerability of WUI settlements based on 10 indicators and other factors. It not only provides a Structural Vulnerability Index (SVI) for the analyzed area, but also allows for comparison between different settlements or neighborhoods. A case study in Barcelona, Spain, demonstrates the application of the methodology and prioritizes vulnerability reduction measures.
FIRE SAFETY JOURNAL
(2023)
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Francesco Zanobetti, Sergey Martynov, Valerio Cozzani, Haroun Mahgerefteh
Summary: A methodology based on multi-objective optimization is proposed to support the preliminary design of CO2 transport pipelines for Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) systems. The proposed method considers economic and environmental aspects and determines Pareto optimal design solutions using Level Diagrams and Nominal Pipe Size as a decision variable. The results show that the multi-objective method outperforms single-objective indicators and effectively considers environmental sustainability constraints, contributing to 46% of the overall performance measure.
JOURNAL OF CLEANER PRODUCTION
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Industrial
Alessio Misuri, Federica Ricci, Riccardo Sorichetti, Valerio Cozzani
Summary: The study proposes a novel methodology for the quantitative risk assessment of Natech scenarios caused by natural hazards, considering the depletion of safety barrier performance. A multi-level approach is used to assess the performance modification of safety systems, and an innovative procedure is proposed for the quantitative assessment of these scenarios, accounting for depleted barrier performance. A case study demonstrates a significant increase in risk compared to baseline performance, highlighting the importance of a comprehensive assessment for Natech events.
RELIABILITY ENGINEERING & SYSTEM SAFETY
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Alessandro Dal Pozzo, Sarah Capecci, Valerio Cozzani
Summary: Acid gas removal is a major cost driver in waste-to-energy (WtE) plants and complying with lower emission limit values is crucial. The options of intensification, retrofitting, or revamping must be evaluated to find the most cost-effective solution. The study found that retrofitting with furnace sorbent injection is competitive, while revamping to wet scrubbing is only cost-effective when flue gas temperature constraints are absent.
Article
Forestry
Alba Agueda, Pascale Vacca, Eulalia Planas, Elsa Pastor
Summary: A tool was developed to help Mediterranean wildland-urban interface residents identify vulnerabilities on their properties and reduce the risk of fires igniting dwellings.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF WILDLAND FIRE
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Industrial
Md. Tanjin Amin, Giordano Emrys Scarponi, Valerio Cozzani, Faisal Khan
Summary: This article examines the effectiveness and accuracy of threshold-based and probit-based methods in assessing domino effects. The results indicate that threshold-based methods are not suitable for quantitative assessment, and there are limitations in probit-based methods for time-dependent domino effect assessment. By utilizing site-specific structural response data and data analytics, a new improved time to failure prediction model is proposed, which demonstrates better performance compared to existing models.
RELIABILITY ENGINEERING & SYSTEM SAFETY
(2024)
Article
Engineering, Civil
Eulalia Planas, Ronan Paugam, Alba Agueda, Pascale Vacca, Elsa Pastor
Summary: In recent years, wildfires have become an increasingly serious problem globally, especially in the context of climate change. Apart from posing a threat to wildland-urban interface (WUI) communities, wildfires also have the potential to harm industrial facilities. This study analyzes the issue of the wildland-industrial interface (WII) and provides WII maps for Europe and Asia. Additionally, the study discusses how to consider wildfire-triggered industrial accidents in conducting risk assessments for industrial sites.
FIRE SAFETY JOURNAL
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Xingxing Hu, Lingjie Liu, Yanmeng Bi, Lu Li, Chunsheng Qiu, Jingjie Yu, Shaopo Wang
Summary: In this study, the impact of exogenous folate on the start-up process of single-stage partial nitritation-anammox (SPNA) was evaluated using two lab-scale reactors. The results showed that folate addition can enhance nitrogen removal rate, extracellular polymeric substances production, hydrazine oxidase and dehydrogenase activity, as well as the relative abundance of Candidatus Brocadia.
PROCESS SAFETY AND ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
(2024)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Shaocang He, Tingting Shen, Jing Sun, Haoqi Pan, Chenxu Sun, Tianpeng Li, Runyao Li, Enshan Zhang
Summary: A novel process of acid leaching neutralization was developed for the preparation of inorganic polymeric composite ferric aluminum silicate coagulant (CFAS) using solid waste coal gasification coarse slag (CGCS). The optimized preparation process was determined through single-factor experiment and the performance of CFAS was evaluated for domestic sewage treatment. The results showed that CFAS exhibited excellent coagulation ability and achieved significant removal efficiency for turbidity, ammonia nitrogen, and chemical oxygen demand.
PROCESS SAFETY AND ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
(2024)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Kinga Szatmari, Sandor Nemeth, Alex Kummer
Summary: In this article, a resilience-based reinforcement learning approach is proposed to address the potential thermal runaway issue in batch reactors. By calculating the resilience metric for reactors and utilizing Deep Q-learning to decide when to intervene in the system, resilient-based mitigation systems can be effectively developed.
PROCESS SAFETY AND ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
(2024)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Bingyou Jiang, Qi Yao, Mingqing Su, Jingjing Li, Kunlun Lu, Dawei Ding, Han Hong
Summary: This study investigates the inhibitory characteristics and mechanisms of ABC powder on coal powder explosion. The addition of ABC powder significantly decreases the maximum explosion pressure and can completely suppress coal dust explosions. The study also reveals the thermal decomposition characteristics and reaction kinetics of the mixed system.
PROCESS SAFETY AND ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
(2024)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Kubilay Bayramoglu, Mustafa Nuran
Summary: This study examines the feasibility of using pyrolytic oil from waste tires as fuel in diesel engines, and evaluates its energy, exergy, and sustainability. The results indicate that pyrolytic oil has potential as a renewable fuel source with relatively high thermal efficiency.
PROCESS SAFETY AND ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
(2024)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Xinru Duan, Yejia Lv, Jiaxing Hong, Jianzhong Wu, Jia Zhang, Yang Yue, Guangren Qian
Summary: This study successfully prepared a tube reactor with optimized catalyst formula, which showed good performance in removing dioxins and other pollutants in the experiments.
PROCESS SAFETY AND ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
(2024)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Jiaoyang Du, Xueming Dang, Xiaorong Gan, Xin Cui, Huimin Zhao
Summary: In this study, a photocatalyst-enzyme hybrid system was constructed, which solved the issue of enzyme inactivation caused by high concentration of H2O2 through photocatalytic in-situ H2O2 production, and improved the stability and catalytic efficiency of the enzyme. The effectiveness of the system in treating phenolic EDCs was confirmed through experiments.
PROCESS SAFETY AND ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
(2024)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Fu-Rong Xiu, Longsheng Zhan, Yingying Qi, Xinyue Lei, Jiali Wang, Haipeng Zhou, Wenting Shao
Summary: This study developed a synergetic and high-efficiency treatment of waste tantalum capacitors (WTCs) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) using subcritical water process. The treatment significantly reduced the temperature and reaction time for metal tantalum recovery from WTCs, and improved the dechlorination efficiency of PVC. The optimized conditions resulted in 100% resin conversion efficiency of WTCs and 97.39% dechlorination efficiency of PVC. The interaction between decomposition products of WTCs and PVC produced a high level of benzoic acid.
PROCESS SAFETY AND ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
(2024)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Bingda Li, Jiaming Song, Yuting Li, Chaoying Meng, Shuxian Wang, Linghao Zong, Honggang Ye, Yishuai Jing, Feng Teng, Peng Hu, Haibo Fan, Guangde Chen, Xin Zhao
Summary: CdPS3 nanosheets, especially those exfoliated by sodium cholate, have shown highly efficient photocatalytic degradation performance. The strong dark adsorption and dye-sensitized photocatalytic properties of CdPS3 nanosheets contribute to high degradation efficiencies of various pollutants.
PROCESS SAFETY AND ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
(2024)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Dongxu Ouyang, Yimei Pang, Bo Liu, Zhirong Wang
Summary: This study investigates the thermal runaway features of lithium-ion cells under tunnel conditions, considering different states of charge and tunnel ceilings. The results show that the tunnel visibility is affected by the smoke generated during thermal runaway, and the shape of the tunnel ceiling influences the temperature rise differently.
PROCESS SAFETY AND ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
(2024)