Development and evaluation of NatureServe’s multi-metric ecological integrity assessment method for wetland ecosystems

2019 ◽  
Vol 104 ◽  
pp. 764-775 ◽  
Author(s):  
Don Faber-Langendoen ◽  
Joanna Lemly ◽  
William Nichols ◽  
Joe Rocchio ◽  
Kathleen Walz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ecological Integrity ◽  
Assessment Method ◽  
Wetland Ecosystems ◽  
Integrity Assessment

scholarly journals A Framework for Wetlands' Ecological Integrity Assessment in Rwanda

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean Paul Kubwimana ◽  
Sam Kanyamibwa
Keyword(s):  
Planning Process ◽  
Wetland Management ◽  
Natural Habitat ◽  
Ecological Integrity ◽  
Social Economy ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Information Management System ◽  
Wetland Ecosystems ◽  
Integrity Assessment ◽  
And Function

Wetland's Ecological Integrity Assessment refers to "an assessment approaches that measures overall wetland condition with an emphasis on the structure, composition, and function of an ecosystem in reference to a natural habitat of the region" It provides government agencies, and key stakeholders with critical information on factors that may be degrading, maintaining or helping to restore an ecosystem, therefore supporting decision making. With continued degradation of protected areas over the last four decades, wetland ecosystems served as soft edges for biodiversity and genetic resources in Rwanda. However, there is no holistic framework to assess the ecological integrity of these important ecosystems, and the little and incomplete information collected is scattered, hence difficult to access. Consequently, wetlands are under continued overexploitation, reclamation pollution, biodiversity and ecological functions loss (Singh et al. 2015). Throughout a six months period, with a participatory planning process that involved individual expert consultations and workshops, supported with a robust literature review and the established multidisciplinary technical team, we came up with a holistic and Integrated Framework for Wetlands' Ecological Integrity Assessemnt. The framework is cost-effective and was designed to collect and analyse data on the structure (soil, hydrology), composition (biota), and functions (Ecosystem services mapping and valuation) as well as the social economy status within and around wetland landscapes in the region. In addition, the ARCOS Biodiversity Information Management System (ARBIMS), an online platform for data sharing, was developed and upgraded. The developed assessment framework will help to mobilize and integrate biodiversity data into relevant documents to inform wetland management plans and support other investment decisions in Rwanda.

Integrity Assessment of Non-Piggable Pipeline Through Direct Assessment

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jai Prakash Sah ◽  
Mohammad Tanweer Akhter
Keyword(s):  
Hydrostatic Pressure ◽  
Natural Gas ◽  
Stress Corrosion ◽  
Health Assessment ◽  
Assessment Method ◽  
Pipeline System ◽  
Internal Corrosion ◽  
Integrity Assessment ◽  
Direct Assessment ◽  
External Corrosion

Managing the integrity of pipeline system is the primary goal of every pipeline operator. To ensure the integrity of pipeline system, its health assessment is very important and critical for ensuring safety of environment, human resources and its assets. In long term, managing pipeline integrity is an investment to asset protection which ultimately results in cost saving. Typically, the health assessment to managing the integrity of pipeline system is a function of operational experience and corporate philosophy. There is no single approach that can provide the best solution for all pipeline system. Only a comprehensive, systematic and integrated integrity management program provides the means to improve the safety of pipeline systems. Such programme provides the information for an operator to effectively allocate resources for appropriate prevention, detection and mitigation activities that will result in improved safety and a reduction in the number of incidents. Presently GAIL (INDIA) LTD. is operating & maintaining approximately 10,000Kms of natural gas/RLNG/LPG pipeline and HVJ Pipeline is the largest pipeline network of India which transports more than 50% of total gas being consumed in this country. HVJ pipeline system consists of more than 4500 Kms of pipeline having diameter range from 04” to 48”, which consist of piggable as well as non-piggable pipeline. Though, lengthwise non-piggable pipeline is very less but their importance cannot be ignored in to the totality because of their critical nature. Typically, pipeline with small length & connected to dispatch terminal are non-piggable and these pipelines are used to feed the gas to the consumer. Today pipeline industries are having three different types of inspection techniques available for inspection of the pipeline. 1. Inline inspection 2. Hydrostatic pressure testing 3. Direct assessment (DA) Inline inspection is possible only for piggable pipeline i.e. pipeline with facilities of pig launching & receiving and hydrostatic pressure testing is not possible for the pipeline under continuous operation. Thus we are left with direct assessment method to assess health of the non-piggable pipelines. Basically, direct assessment is a structured multi-step evaluation method to examine and identify the potential problem areas relating to internal corrosion, external corrosion, and stress corrosion cracking using ICDA (Internal Corrosion Direct Assessment), ECDA (External Corrosion Direct Assessment) and SCCDA (Stress Corrosion Direct Assessment). All the above DA is four steps iterative method & consist of following steps; a. Pre assessment b. Indirect assessment c. Direct assessment d. Post assessment Considering the importance of non-piggable pipeline, integrity assessment of following non piggable pipeline has done through direct assessment method. 1. 30 inch dia pipeline of length 0.6 km and handling 18.4 MMSCMD of natural gas 2. 18 inch dia pipeline of length 3.65 km and handling 4.0 MMSCMD of natural gas 3. 12 inch dia pipeline of length 2.08 km and handling 3.4 MMSCMD of natural gas In addition to ICDA, ECDA & SCCDA, Long Range Ultrasonic Thickness (LRUT-a guided wave technology) has also been carried out to detect the metal loss at excavated locations observed by ICDA & ECDA. Direct assessment survey for above pipelines has been conducted and based on the survey; high consequence areas have been identified. All the high consequence area has been excavated and inspected. No appreciable corrosion and thickness loss have observed at any area. However, pipeline segments have been identified which are most vulnerable and may have corrosion in future.

Integrity Assessment of Pressure Components With Local Hot Spots

2005 ◽  
Vol 127 (2) ◽  
pp. 137-142 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Seshadri
Keyword(s):  
Hot Spots ◽  
Structural Integrity ◽  
Refractory Lining ◽  
Assessment Method ◽  
Pressure Vessels ◽  
Industrial Processes ◽  
Integrity Assessment ◽  
Piping Systems ◽  
Further Development ◽  
Level 2

Local hot spots can occur in some pressure vessels and piping systems used in industrial processes. The hot spots could be a result of, for instance, localized loss of refractory lining on the inside of pressure components or due to a maldistribution of process flow within vessels containing catalysts. The consequences of these hot spots on the structural integrity of pressure components are of considerable importance to plant operators. The paper addresses structural integrity issues in the context of codes and standards design framework. Interaction of hot spots, as is the case when multiple hot spots occur, is addressed. An assessment method, suitable for further development of a Level 2 “Fitness-for-Service” methodology, is discussed and applied to a commonly used pressure component configuration.

Aquatic ecological integrity assessment of four large lakes in the middle-to-lower reaches of the Yangtze River, China

2016 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
黄琪 HUANG Qi ◽  
高俊峰 GAO Junfeng ◽  
张艳会 ZHANG Yanhui ◽  
闫人华 YAN Renhua ◽  
王雁 WANG Yan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Yangtze River ◽  
Ecological Integrity ◽  
The Yangtze River ◽  
Large Lakes ◽  
Integrity Assessment

Dynamic Stress Analysis of Exposed Pipes Subjected to Moving In-Line Inspection Tool

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hamid Mostaghimi ◽  
Mohsen Hassani ◽  
Deli Yu ◽  
Ron Hugo ◽  
Simon Park
Keyword(s):  
Degrees Of Freedom ◽  
Dynamic Stress ◽  
Equations Of Motion ◽  
Excitation Frequency ◽  
Beam Theory ◽  
Assessment Method ◽  
Integrity Assessment ◽  
Defect Assessment ◽  
Proposed Model ◽  
Assessment And Monitoring

Abstract In-line inspection is a non-destructive assessment method commonly used for defect assessment and monitoring of pipelines. The passage of an ILI tool through an excavated or exposed section of a pipe during an integrity assessment can excite vibrations and exert substantial forces, stress, and deflections on the pipe due to the weight and speed of the ILI tool. When the excitation frequency due to the ILI tool movement is close to the natural frequency of the overall structure, the dynamic stress generated within the pipe can be large enough to the extent that it imposes integrity concern on the line. This research aims to study effects of the ILI tool passage through floating and partially supported pipes under a variety of boundary and loading conditions. A finite element method is used to model the pipe with moving ILI tool. The model is developed based on Timoshenko beam theory with planar degrees-of-freedom and the differential equations of motion are solved numerically to predict displacement, strain, stress, and frequency responses of the pipe. The model is further validated using a lab-scale experimental setup. The comparison of the simulation to experimental results show how the proposed model is capable of predicting pipe dynamics, effectively.

Probabilistic Integrity Assessment of Axial Flaw in CANDU Pressure Tube Due to the Diameter and Thickness Variation

2002 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sang-Log Kwak ◽  
Joon-Seong Lee ◽  
Young-Jin Kim ◽  
Youn-Won Park
Keyword(s):  
Nuclear Reactor ◽  
Reactor Core ◽  
Assessment Method ◽  
Pressure Tube ◽  
Thickness Variation ◽  
Initial Surface ◽  
Size Change ◽  
Integrity Assessment ◽  
Pressure Tubes ◽  
Failure Probabilities

In the CANDU nuclear reactor, pressure tubes of cold-worked Zr-2.5Nb material are used in the reactor core to contain the fuel bundles and heavy water coolant. The pressure tubes are installed horizontally inside the reactors and only selected samples are periodically examined during In-Service Inspection (ISI) due to numerous numbers of tubes. Also, these tubes gradually pick up deuterium, as such are susceptible to a crack initiation and propagation process called delayed hydride cracking (DHC). If undetected, such a cracking mechanism could lead to unstable rupture of the pressure tube. Up to this time, integrity evaluations are performed using conventional deterministic approaches. So it is expected that the results obtained are too conservative to perform a rational evaluation of lifetime. In this respect, a probabilistic safety assessment method is more appropriate for the assessment of overall pressure tube safety. This paper describes probabilistic fracture mechanics analyses of the pressure tubes in consideration of the diameter and thickness variation. Initial hydrogen concentration, the depth and aspect ratio of an initial surface crack, the DHC velocity and fracture toughness are considered as probabilistic variables. In all the analyses, failure probabilities are calculated using the Monte Carlo (MC) simulation. It is clearly demonstrated from these analyses that failure probabilities are somewhat sensitive in size change of the pressure tube and the hydride precipitation temperature.

Application of the Linear Matching Method to the Integrity Assessment for the High Temperature Response of Structures

2003 ◽  
Author(s):  
Haofeng Chen ◽  
Alan R. S. Ponter
Keyword(s):  
Residual Stress ◽  
Stress Field ◽  
Temperature Response ◽  
Assessment Method ◽  
Life Assessment ◽  
Residual Stress Field ◽  
Matching Method ◽  
Integrity Assessment ◽  
Linear Matching Method

The paper describes a first attempt to produce a complete system of calculations that cover the entire range of assessments required in the Life Assessment method R5 based on a new programming method, the Linear Matching Method, and using shakedown and related concepts. We show that two solutions types are possible, the first assuming a constant residual stress field that provides shakedown and related limits. The second method involves the evaluation of the amplitude of the changing residual stress field. This provides the first stage for the ratchet limit and the amplitude of plastic strain. By adaptation the elastic follow-up factor corresponding to creep dwell periods may also be evaluated.

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