Waste is one of the biggest problems in every European country. Formation of waste reveals technological level of a country and creates costs to a society from the economical and ecological point of view. In Europe waste is usually collected and loaded in dumps. Recently, amounts of waste burning are increasing. The effects of waste burning and dumps are obvious: during burning the pollution spreads to an environment, affecting global climate warming; also extremely toxic pollutants (dioxins and furans) and their volatile derivatives form. At present the major part of waste in Lithuania is taken to dumps. Most of dumps in the country do not satisfy even the environmental and sanitary-hygienic requirements. Stiffening the ecological requirements, applying directives of European Union, most dumps will be closed. The waste at the moment ending in dumps may be processed and recycled in future. The integrated application of local raw materials together with various wastes may solve many environmental problems in Lithuania and may affect positively the European ecological balance. To investigate the possibilities to apply the waste, causing the most problems in our country, to the production of building ceramics made of local easily fusible hydro-micous clays. To determine the most optimal quantities of additives such as oil industry waste (used catalyst of GP534 grade, Russia) and shredded rubber of auto tyres, to select the most suitable burning regimes, to analyse the... [to full text]

A deficient safety culture has been implicated in a number of organisational accidents from a range of high hazard industries. Despite its implications for safety, many questions about safety culture remain unanswered. In order to contribute to the literature on this topic, this thesis set out to investigate the role of trust in safety culture. The oil and gas industry was chosen as the context for study due to the hazardous nature of its work, the industry’s focus on continuous improvement in safety performance and the interest shown by oil companies in participating in safety research. Leading models of safety culture have stressed the importance of trust in developing and maintaining patterns of safe behaviours at work. This thesis proposed a new model of safety culture based on dual attitudes about trust. This model states that explicit attitudes about trust are part of safety climate and that implicit attitudes about trust comprise some of the basic underlying assumptions that are the deepest level of safety culture. In order to test this model, this thesis developed a method to measure implicit attitudes about trust in an industrial setting. Using this method, two studies of dual attitudes about trust were conducted at different UK gas plants. In both of these studies, different patterns of results were found for measures of explicit and implicit attitudes about trust for workmates, supervisors and the plant leadership, respectively. These findings support the proposed model suggest that explicit and implicit attitudes about trust are separate constructs that may influence different types of safety behaviours.  Positive relationships were found between measures of explicit attitudes about trust and self-report items about safety behaviours like reporting incidents and challenging unsafe acts.  These findings were taken as a step toward validating the proposed model.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1975. / Typescript. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 163-167).

Thesis (M.A.)--Carleton University, 1992. / Also available in electronic format on the Internet.

This study investigates the corporate social responsibility (CSR) exercised by the multinational oil companies (MNOCs) operating in the Niger Delta, and its impact on sustainable development (SD) in this important region of Nigeria. Particular focus is given to sustainable improvement in well-being and enhancement of socio-economic development for the local communities. To investigate these, archival from newspapers, magazines documents on CSR in Niger Delta from NGOs, documents from oil company’s websites and interview data from forty participants from the local communities, stakeholders and senior managers from the MNOCs were obtained. The MNOCs’ CSR and SD policies and practices were also inspected from the company’s website and photographs of the local environment around the MNOCs extraction suites and plant were also collected. These data were then analysed using: photo voice, document analysis, constructivist grounded theory, website-based content analysis, and covert participant observation. The study identified discrepancies between the MNOCs declared online CSR and SD policies and practices and those in operation in the Niger Delta region. Our findings also show that local communities are marginalised. To address this, it is argued that Ruggie’s frameworks, Sen’s capability approach for a full life, and Bowen’s list of social goals should be used as guiding principles by the MNOCs in the Niger Delta region. The study offers theoretical, empirical and methodological contributions to the studies of business ethics, international management and international business by offering new insights into CSR and SD.

“Introduction to the Canadian Oil Sands”, “Canada’s Oil Sand Industry: An Overview”, “Heavy Oil Technologies”, and so many other topics about heavy oil have become the hotcakes in the oil industry. A number of new projects are in Execute phase for the development of heavy oil assets. This clearly shows the increasing demand for heavy oil. An oil industry is working hard to meet the world oil demand by developing deep water, HPHT, heavy oil, shale sands and all other non-conventional reservoirs but the main challenge is to develop and operate them in a risk free environment. Understanding the reservoir and fluid properties and developing new technologies help the industry to reduce the risk in developing non-conventional fields. A major problem in heavy oil field is to understand the behaviour of heavy oil. The viscous oil flows sluggishly in the formations and hence it is difficult to transport through unconsolidated formations and is very difficult to produce by conventional methods. Viscous oil recovery entails neatly designed enhanced oil recovery processes like Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage and the success of such technologies are critically dependent on accurate knowledge of reservoir, well and fluid properties of oil under variety of pressure and temperature conditions. This research project has provided some solutions to the challenges in heavy oil field development and can help the oil industry to optimise heavy oil production. Detailed experimental understanding of PVT properties has allowed this project to contribute to the knowledge. Reservoir, well and fluid properties were studied thoroughly and demonstrated the criticality of each parameter on the efficiency of Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage. An user friendly SAGD simulator is a big output of this research which allows the user to optimise the heavy oil recovery and enables to do risk assessments quickly during design phase of SAGD. A SAGD simulator is developed.

p. 1 - 160 / Submitted by Santiago Fabio (fabio.ssantiago@hotmail.com) on 2013-01-22T18:45:37Z No. of bitstreams: 1 44444.pdf: 1312370 bytes, checksum: 2b6317257682750c6c76e29b1bd97f76 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2013-01-22T18:45:37Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 44444.pdf: 1312370 bytes, checksum: 2b6317257682750c6c76e29b1bd97f76 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2008 / A realização de paradas programadas de manutenção de plantas industriais é uma atividade que influencia de forma significativa o resultado do negócio de uma refinaria de petróleo. Assim sendo, a gestão de paradas deve ser analisada sob o enfoque estratégico. Dentre as atividades de manutenção que são realizadas durante uma parada, destacam-se as atividades de caldeiraria, que tipicamente representam a maior parcela de dispêndio de recursos financeiros. Estas atividades são realizadas por empresas terceirizadas e o seu desempenho afeta diretamente os resultados de uma parada. Portanto, é do interesse das refinarias conhecerem, de forma mais profunda, os fatores que afetam o desempenho destas empresas neste tipo de obra. O presente trabalho apresenta o resultado de uma pesquisa sobre os fatores que influenciam o desempenho de empresas contratadas de serviços de caldeiraria, no resultado das paradas das unidades de processo da refinaria Landulpho Alves UN RLAM – PETROBRAS, no período entre janeiro de 2005 e agosto de 2006. A pesquisa revelou uma série de fatores que influenciam estes resultados e sugere recomendações a serem adotadas pela refinaria e pelas empresas em busca por um melhor desempenho nas obras realizadas durante paradas programadas de manutenção de plantas industriais. / Salvador

This thesis explores two themes on upstream oil and gas economics centred on offshore safety economics and third party access to infrastructure in the United Kingdom Continental Shelf (UKCS). The first part involves work that explores the nexus between the offshore safety regime and safety outcomes. It contributes to the literature by explaining the post-Piper Alpha safety regime changes with regard to our understanding, framing of safety decision making and benchmarking of safety outcomes. The second part investigates third party access to infrastructure issues in the UKCS. It contributes to our understanding of how different third party access to infrastructure arrangements can be utilised to maximise economic recovery. Each chapter addresses fundamental issues of North Sea oil and gas operations through the application of microeconomic, operations research and econometric methods within a formal analytical framework. The results provide insights into decision-making complexities in the upstream oil and gas industry by guiding policy makers. Specifically, part one of this thesis looks at safety performance in the post-Piper Alpha era in the UKCS. It investigates ways through which a more comprehensive and theoretically informed framework can be used to understand the linkages that arise when dealing with safety regulations and their impacts on the offshore oil and gas industry. Our objective is to empirically ascertain the determinants of offshore hydrocarbon releases within the context of the post-Piper Alpha offshore safety regime regulations. This is done using an observed number of hydrocarbon releases linked to a population denominator data of the number of the installations present in the UKCS. Three research problems are examined: (1) the transmission mechanisms through which safety regulation influence firm and industry productivity; (2) the assessment methods utilised in measuring and benchmarking regulatory outcomes in terms of safety compliance; and (3) the extent to which safety policies contribute to enhancing safety levels in the oil and gas industry. We initially review the background and literature on offshore safety with a particular emphasis on the UKCS in Chapter 2. We also frame our research questions and underlying hypothesis here. In Chapter 3, we present our underlying empirical framework and model specifications followed by some descriptive analysis of the hydrocarbon releases data. The results of the various econometric model specifications are analysed in Chapter 4. The second part of the thesis explores how possible different ownership patterns (including access arrangements) might affect the economic viability of exploiting remaining resources in the UKCS. This section attempts to answer two critical questions namely how the impact of the separation of infrastructure and field ownership affect economic recovery and the impact of taxation on field and hub economics in a mature oil basin. We explore how possible different ownership structures and access arrangements might affect the economic viability of remaining UKCS reserves. We apply a mixed integer programming (MIP) model to field data from the Northern North Sea. Specifically, we examine how the unbundling of infrastructure and field ownership, as well as different cost sharing and tariff arrangements, affect the long-term economics of hubs and their user fields. Regarding the layout, Chapter 5 talks about access to infrastructure issues in the UKCS namely the regulatory framework for access and related legislation. It leads to the development of a conceptual framework and model based upon which extractions are made to capture the various potential market outcomes. In Chapter 6, the empirical model, which utilises the mixed integer programming approach, is discussed. The data sources and characterization, as well as the presentation of the results from the Baseline Model, are presented in Chapter 7. The analysis of the Tax Model and the Cost Sharing plus Tax Model including structure and simulated results with underlying assumptions are presented in Chapter 8. Finally, Chapter 9 leads to a thorough discussion of the results followed by conclusions and policy recommendations.

A pesquisa tem por objetivo investigar as implicações da atividade petrolífera em Macaé-RJ. A instalação de empresas e a geração de empregos modificou a dinâmica populacional do município e região, atraindo migrantes e aumentando a urbanização e sua orientação. O aumento financeiro do orçamento municipal a partir das atividades petrolíferas reestruturou a economia, que antes era baseada nas atividades sucroalcooleira, agropecuária, pesca e comércio, para atividades industriais e prestação de serviços, comércio, turismo de negócios. Essas mudanças tornaram o município dependente da atividade petrolífera. As transformações ocorreram não apenas no distrito sede de Macaé, mas também nos outros distritos, que tiveram um aumento populacional, diminuição da atividade agrícola, intensificação das relações campo-cidade. A potencialidade turística da região serrana de Macaé é grande, mas pouco aproveitada, exceto no Sana. A pesquisa analisa essa potencialidade como forma de fortalecimento do rural. O trabalho é apresentado a partir de análise bibliográfica e trabalho de campo. Por fim, a dissertação considera que as implicações da atividade petrolífera em Macaé atingiram primeiramente e intensamente o distrito sede, expandindo-se também para os outros distritos e sua área rural, provocando transformações no setor agrário em direção a um novo rural ou de urbanidades no rural / This research aims to investigate the implications of oil activity in Macaé-RJ. The installation of companies and job creation modified the population dynamics of the city and region, attracting migrants and increasing urbanization and its orientation. The financial increase in the municipal budget from oil activities restructured the economy, which was formerly based on sugarcane activities, agriculture, fishing, trade, into industrial activities and services, trade, business tourism, etc. These changes have made the city dependent on the oil activity. The changes occurred not only in the district headquarters of Macaé, but also in other districts, which had population increase, decrease in agricultural activity, intensification of rural-urban relationship, etc. The tourism potential of the mountain region of Macaé is great, but little exploited, except in Sana. The research analyzes that capability as a means of strengthening rural activity. This work is presented from literature review and fieldwork. Finally, the dissertation considers that the implications of oil activity in Macaé reached first and intensely the district headquarters, expanding also to other districts and their rural area, causing changes in the agricultural sector towards a new rural or "urbanities in rural"

Made available in DSpace on 2016-06-02T19:51:51Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 3820.pdf: 3699560 bytes, checksum: 4015fc6d4e05d4dfaf92839f0980b2a7 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011-03-03 / The restructuring of production processes throughout the entire petrochemical chain brought impacts on the labor division, resulting in a series of new demands for knowledge and skills, which are added to old ones, in order to maintain the stability and reliability of the production system, under their responsibility. The objective of this thesis is to build a theoretical framework on human reliability and ergonomics as well as the observation and analysis of an oil refinery production system. It aims to identify conflicts and gaps between the strategies and actions developed by the operators as system reliability maintainance agents in their work daily routine, and the organizational managerial approach for human reliability in the company. In order to achieve these goals, the research approach adopted has the characteristics of literature review that encompasses bibliometrics and content analysis, mixing action research methodology and Ergonomic Workplace Analysis in field research. The literature review identified 304 articles about "human reliability in the ISI Web of Knowledge scientific basis, of which only 50 items are classified in the field of ergonomics (16%). The major research stream on human reliability focuses on nominal scenarios, and therefore, in the ergonomics point of view, focuses on the task, i.e., the prescribed work. Another research stream focus on the real work analysis. The Company studied has classical and a mechanistic point of view focuses on the errors identification and construction barriers through procedures, checklists and other prescription alternatives to improve performance in reliability area. It was evident the fundamental role of the worker as an agent of maintenance and construction of system reliability. There are several strategies adopted by operators to mitigate in practice the gap between prescribed and real work. / A reestruturação dos processos produtivos ao longo de toda a cadeia petroquímica trouxe impactos sobre a divisão do trabalho resultando em uma série de novas demandas por conhecimentos e habilidades, que se agregaram as antigas já construídas pelos trabalhadores, para a manutenção da estabilidade e confiabilidade do sistema produtivo sob sua responsabilidade. O objetivo desta dissertação é construir um quadro teórico sobre confiabilidade humana e ergonomia, bem como a observação e análise de um sistema produtivo de uma refinaria de petróleo. Pretende-se identificar os conflitos e lacunas existentes entre as estratégias e ações elaboradas pelos operadores como agentes na manutenção da confiabilidade do sistema em sua rotina de trabalho, e o tipo de opção gerencial de confiabilidade humana implantado pela empresa. Para atingir os objetivos estabelecidos para este trabalho, a abordagem de pesquisa adotada tem características de pesquisa bibliográfica com técnica de bibliometria e análise de conteúdo, mesclando na pesquisa de campo as metodologias de pesquisa-ação e Análise Ergonômica do Trabalho (AET). A revisão de literatura identificou 304 artigos sobre confiabilidade humana na base científica ISI Web of Knowledge, dos quais apenas 50 artigos são classificados na área de ergonomia (16%). Boa parte dessa literatura tem o foco central em cenários nominais, e, portanto, na perspectiva da ergonomia, foca na tarefa, no trabalho prescrito. Menor espaço nas bases científicas é ocupado por trabalhos, cuja preocupação com a confiabilidade humana é centrada no trabalho real. A Empresa estudada apresenta uma visão mecanicista clássica e foca a atuação na área de confiabilidade na identificação dos erros e construção de barreiras através de procedimentos, checklists e outras alternativas de prescrição. Evidenciou-se o papel fundamental do trabalhador como um agente de manutenção e de construção de elementos de confiabilidade do sistema. São muitas as estratégias adotadas pelos operadores para mitigar na prática as lacunas entre o trabalho prescrito e o real.