Fires investigating causes

The second part of this follow-up activity involved review and update of all of the engineering drawings to ensure that the miscellaneous vents, drains, sample points, and similar attachments are documented. The fire investigation team also directed attention to the piping inspection program to assure that all lines that could cause an immediate fire in case of failure were inspected regularly. Chapter 10 covers inspection programs. 

Infer Scientists often make inferences based on their observations. An inference is an attempt to explain observations or to indicate a cause. An inference is not a fact, but a logical conclusion that needs further investigation. For example, you may infer that a fire has caused smoke. Until you investigate, however, you do not know for sure. 

This study investigated risks to the public from serious accidents which could occur at the industrial facilities in this part of Essex, U.K. Results are expressed as risk to an individual and societal risk from both existing and proposed installations. Risk indices were also determined for modified versions of the facilities to quantify the risk reduction from recommendations in the report. Nine industrial plants were analyzed along with hazardous material transport by water, road, rail and pipeline. The potential toxic, fire and explosion hazards were assessed for flammable liquids, ammonia, LPG, LNG, and hydrogen fluoride (HE). The 24 appendices to the report cover various aspects of the risk analysis. These include causes and effects of unconfined... 

The violent polymerisation of acryl acid caused a violent fire on a boat that was transporting it. The investigation showed that this acid contained ethylidene norbornene, which is a very oxidisable compound that forms a peroxide in air, which caused the acid polymerisation. 

At this point the location of the control panel(s) should be decided. Usually this should be a central location. This permits those watching the control panels to quickly investigate and determine the cause of any problems that might arise. As plants become more automated, it may be desirable to have two or more processes controlled from one location this could reduce the number of operators required. In this case the control room should be located in a relatively unexposed area near the edge of the processing area, but away from fired heaters.4 This is to protect both the employees and the equipment. 

Both clinical and experimental studies have provided evidence that 5-HT can also regulate dopamine turnover. Thus several investigators have shown that a positive correlation exists in depressed patients between the homovaniUic acid (HVA), a major metabolite of dopamine, and 5-HIAA concentrations in the CSF. In experimental studies, stimulation of the 5-HT cell bodies in the median raphe causes reduced firing of the substantia nigra where dopamine is the main neurotransmitter. There is thus convincing evidence that 5-HT plays an important role in modulating dopaminergic... 

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