Serious accidents related to marine transport of solid biomass known to the authors.
\r\n\tThe hope is that this book will include three main topics: threshold-based segmentation, clustering-based segmentation, and artificial neural networks based segmentation. But it is not limited to these topics in any specific way. This is a purely organizational division, seeking to present papers that describe the segmentation process through traditional, intermediate, and advanced approaches.
",isbn:"978-1-83881-906-4",printIsbn:"978-1-83881-113-6",pdfIsbn:"978-1-83881-907-1",doi:null,price:0,priceEur:0,priceUsd:0,slug:null,numberOfPages:0,isOpenForSubmission:!0,isSalesforceBook:!1,isNomenclature:!1,hash:"687a58dfbb2e544237cda3807153ff2c",bookSignature:"Dr. Paulo Eduardo Ambrosio",publishedDate:null,coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/11923.jpg",keywords:"Thresholding, Binarization, Threshold Determination, Thresholding Methods and Techniques, Clustering, Similarity, Segmentation by Regions, Clustering Methods and Techniques, Artificial Neural Networks, Deep Learning, Artificial Intelligence, AI Methods and Techniques",numberOfDownloads:null,numberOfWosCitations:0,numberOfCrossrefCitations:null,numberOfDimensionsCitations:null,numberOfTotalCitations:null,isAvailableForWebshopOrdering:!0,dateEndFirstStepPublish:"April 13th 2022",dateEndSecondStepPublish:"June 21st 2022",dateEndThirdStepPublish:"August 20th 2022",dateEndFourthStepPublish:"November 8th 2022",dateEndFifthStepPublish:"January 7th 2023",dateConfirmationOfParticipation:null,remainingDaysToSecondStep:"9 days",secondStepPassed:!0,areRegistrationsClosed:!1,currentStepOfPublishingProcess:3,editedByType:null,kuFlag:!1,biosketch:"Dr. Paulo E. Ambrósio is vice-director of the Center for Radiation Sciences and Technology (CPqCTR/UESC) and coordinates a Special Committee on Computing Applied to Health, Brazilian Computer Society. His research interests include applied computing, with an emphasis on health and biology, working mainly with pattern recognition, medical imaging, and computational modeling.",coeditorOneBiosketch:null,coeditorTwoBiosketch:null,coeditorThreeBiosketch:null,coeditorFourBiosketch:null,coeditorFiveBiosketch:null,editors:[{id:"256064",title:"Dr.",name:"Paulo",middleName:"Eduardo",surname:"Ambrosio",slug:"paulo-ambrosio",fullName:"Paulo Ambrosio",profilePictureURL:"https://mts.intechopen.com/storage/users/256064/images/system/256064.png",biography:"Paulo E. Ambrósio has a Ph.D. in Medical Sciences from the Medical School of Ribeirão Preto, University of São Paulo (FMRP/USP), Brazil. He is currently an associate professor in the Department of Exact and Technological Sciences, State University of Santa Cruz (UESC); vice-director of the Center for Radiation Sciences and Technology (CPqCTR/UESC); and coordinator of the Special Committee on Computing Applied to Health, Brazilian Computer Society. 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In its modern form, the key characteristics of this strategy are that past mishaps shall be recorded and analysed to extract lessons learned which in turn shall be disseminated through broad feedback loops in order to prevent future similar, and not just identical, accidents.
\nParaphrasing Petroski [1], the profession of accident prevention professionals is Janus-faced, looking always both backwards and forwards. The history of past accidents offers a repository of knowledge gained from painful experience. If heeded, the past thus provides caveats and lessons for future safe operations. If shunned, it will still haunt the future, always lurking in the shadows everyday work.
\nHaving paid the price of an accident, we should use the opportunity to learn from it. The benefits of such learning are obvious—to avoid repetition, and to share the lessons learned in order to minimize the number of times the same lessons have to be learned. What is not so obvious, however, is how to make this seemingly simple and straightforward idea work in practice [2]. This challenge is reflected in common aphorisms, such as Santanyana’s: Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.
\nThis paper examines three fatal accidents on marine vessels transporting sustainable, environmentally friendly and carbon-neutral wood pellets in bulk, in or near Danish waters, and argue that they share strikingly similar aetiologies, if not repetitive patterns—offering support to Sanatnyana’s dismal adage. The paper examines some of the barriers that impede the capacity to learn from accidents on marine vessels in this particular segment.
\nTo reduce global carbon dioxide emissions, Denmark has converted many coal-fired thermal power plants to burn green and sustainable solid biomass. Solid biomass refers to non-fossilized carbon-based solid materials derived from plants, typically wood, but also straw, and certain energy crops grown primarily for the purpose of fuel utilization. Because Denmark’s own woodlands are limited and covered by environmental protection policies, the domestic production of solid biomass is insignificant. Hence, essentially all biomass is imported, mostly from loggings in the Baltic countries and Russia, but also from North America and Africa [3].
\nThermal power plants consume very large amounts of fuel; a single block can easily burn half a million metric ton per year. In order for the logistics chain to handle such quantities in an efficient manner, the irregularly sized and bulky biomass is processed into uniformly sized pellets, typically about 8 mm in diameter and 20–25-mm length.
\nIn the production process, the wood is dried, milled to a fine powder and compacted in a pellet press that often employ die ring press and compression roller technology. The pellets are shipped in bulk in marine vessels to their final destination.
\nThe fire and explosion hazard profile of biomass pellets is much different from that of coal [3]. Pellets inevitably generate fine dust when handled in the logistics chain, e.g. in screw conveyors, band conveyors, cup elevators and when dumped into storage areas or hoppers. If made airborne and ignited, the wood dust is capable of producing severe dust explosions.
\nIn addition, this dust is prone to ignition, e.g. from overheated electric motors or conveyor bearings, or from mechanical friction heat between conveyer belts and accumulated pellets, fines and/or dust. Small pieces of smouldering material are difficult to detect and they may migrate in the band conveyor systems and start smouldering fires in the storage areas which may develop into massive storage fires. Smouldering fires are furthermore notorious for their capacity to generate flammable pyrolysis gasses that travel and accumulate, leading to flash fires or explosion hazards elsewhere in the system [4].
\nThe milling process, the compaction and extreme shear forces in the pellet press, cause plant cell walls to rupture. This exposes cell cytoplasm and chemically reactive compounds such as resins, oils and fatty acids to air making them available to chemical oxidation and other reactions. As a result, freshly produced wood pellets are probably best thought of as a chemically active material.
\nThe chemically active pellets may emit a range of gasses such as carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, methane and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that can accumulate in storage confinements and reach dangerous levels [5]. The release of the highly poisonous and odour-less carbon monoxide is of particular concern. In addition, the chemical reactions may deplete the atmosphere in storage confinements of the oxygen required to sustain life. The topic has been investigated in several recent publications, e.g. [6, 7] but the exact nature of the chemical processes at play do still not appear to be well-understood.
\nChemical oxidation may also explain why wood pellets can self-ignite. Heat loss is largely a surface-based phenomenon and because of the low surface-to-volume ratio of a large pile, any process that generates heat will slowly increase the temperature inside the pile. Pockets may form where the temperature of the contents can rise to the temperature necessary to produce spontaneous ignition. This produces an oxygen deficient smouldering fire deep inside the pile and the associated problems with flammable pyrolysis gasses that travel and accumulate, leading to flash fires or explosion hazards elsewhere in the system.
\nIt is true that some biomass feedstocks species rich in resins are desirable in the pellet production process. The mechanical stability of pellets is an important property as this limits the amount of dust generated when they are handled in the logistics chain. Pellet stability is enhanced if the mill feed composition includes some biomass species rich in resins, e.g. pine wood, which can act as a natural binder system. Naturally occurring oils and resins can have other beneficial properties during production, for instance acting as lubricants in the pellet press. It will probably be difficult to reduce the problem with chemical reactivity of wood pellets through substitution of resin-rich species in the feedstock unless, of course, non-bio but safer additives are tolerated by pellet consumers.
\nWhat is clear though is that the massive increase in wood pellets consumption entails novel risks—wood pellets have a much different hazard profile than fossil fuel cargoes.
\nThe ship AMIRANTE (IMO 7425334) was a general cargo ship enabling it to carry a variety of bulk and mixed cargos. It was built in 1978/1982 and had a gross tonnage of 4083 and a length of 82 m. The vessel was classed by DNV.
\nAt the time of the accident, the vessel had a crew of eight, seven from the Russian Federation and one from Belarus. The flag State was St. Vincent & The Grenadines. AMIRANTE was mainly in a coastal trade in northern Europe and the Mediterranean.
\nInformation on this accident is based on records from the Danish police [8] obtained through the Danish equivalent of a Freedom of Information Act unless otherwise noted.
\nOn 15 July 2009 at 0300 (all times are local time), AMIRANTE left the port of Riga, Latvia, after having loaded a cargo of 2600 t of wood pellets in bulk. The port of destination was Copenhagen, Denmark, were the cargo was to be unloaded at the Amagerværket power plant owned by Wattenfall, which had recently converted one of its coal fired blocks from coal to solid biomass. The shipper was Granul Invest in Tallinn, Estonia and the operator was Alga Chartering in Copenhagen.
\nOn the afternoon 15 July, during the passage of the Baltic Sea, four of the vessel’s crew, three able seamen and the motorman, worked on the deck readying new mooring ropes on the forward part of the ship.
\nShortly after 1800, the master was alerted by the ship’s cook that one of the able seamen and the motorman had not shown up for dinner and their whereabouts were unknown. A search was initiated and at 1835, a crew member spotted the missing crew members lying lifeless at the bottom of the stairwell to the forepeak compartment. The crew member did not attempt to reach them fearing for his own safety.
\nThe forepeak is a wedge-shaped stowage room at the bow of the ship, about 5 m deep, and a width ranging from 5 to 1.5 m. The room is reached from the deck through a stairwell climbing a narrow 18-m long fixed vertical steel ladder. The forepeak was used for stowing, e.g. paint containers, floor brushes, buckets, surplus wooden planks and mooring ropes.
\nThe master rushed to the forepeak and climbed down the steel ladder. Halfway down he began to experience laboured breathing. Upon reaching the forepeak floor his breathing had become so laboured that he realized the atmosphere might be dangerous. The motorman was lying about 1 m from the ladder and the able seaman was lying just at the foot of the ladder, as if he had attempted to climb it, still wearing work gloves. Froth could be seen from the corner of the mouth of both men. The master briefly tried to awaken them and then hurried up the ladder to the deck. The vessel was about 16 km north of Bornholm, a Danish island in the Baltic Sea about midway between Sweden and Poland. At 1845, the master radioed the Danish authorities requesting immediate medical assistance.
\nThe crew worked frantically to extract the two men from the forepeak compartment. They switched the room’s mechanical ventilation on and crew members climbed down the ladder to tie a rope around the chest of the victims. Hoisting the victims through the narrow stairwell proved difficult. When a doctor arrived by helicopter from the Danish Admiral Fleet, at 1945, one victim has been extracted and there was a work frenzy to hoist the other. The doctor could soon declare both men dead as they presented with livor mortis and beginning rigor mortis. The doctor estimated that death had occurred 2–3 h earlier.
\nThe vessel was redirected to the port of Rønne at Bornholm by Danish Admiral Fleet, where it arrived at 2300. The police was waiting at the quay and began a standard crime scene procedure, securing evidence and interviewing the crew. The forepeak was inspected by the fire and rescue services done full breathing protection at about 0100. At the time of the inspection, the compartment’s mechanical ventilation had been switched off for about 40 min upon request. Oxygen levels were normal, CO levels were 100 ppm. The inspection team noticed a pair of glasses which had been placed on some stowed construction timber and an unopened packet of cigarettes lying on the floor.
\nA door in the forepeak compartment allowed access to the front cargo hold. The door had three closing hinges but only two were engaged. It was speculated that gasses might travel from the cargo hold to the forepeak through a crevice in the door opening where the third hinge was not engaged (\nFigure 1\n).
\nThe door in the forepeak compartment, which led the front cargo hold. The door had three closing hinges but only two were engaged. Gasses travelled from the cargo hold to the forepeak through a crevice where the third hinge was not engaged. (AMIRANTE). Source: Police photo file #13 [
The deceased presented no signs of violence or trauma and there was no other evidence to suggest criminal actions, e.g. if they should have been pushed while standing in the door opening on the deck and then fallen the 18 m down the forepeak stairwell. There was briefly some speculation if red stains on the floor of the forepeak were bloodstains but they turned out to be red paint. Follow-up interviews with the master and other crew members were carried out in the afternoon to resolve some inconsistencies in reported times and observations, this time with the assistance of a certified interpreter. Only the master spoke some English, and he had acted as interpreter during the first interviews.
\nA sample of the wood pellets was sent for chemical analysis which found 150 ppm CO in the headspace of the specimen jar. The actual concentration is likely much higher, however, as 150 ppm simply appears to be the upper range of the measuring instrument. An autopsy confirmed death by CO poisoning, COHb blood saturation levels were measured at 52% (the motorman) and 60% (the able seaman). Tests for cyanide (blood) and alcohol (lacrimal fluid) were negative.
\nThe crew was at pains to explain why the two seamen would go down the forepeak. They had no business down there whatsoever. It was suggested that they might want to check if there was sufficient room for stowage of the old mooring ropes.
\nThe two deceased were experienced seamen. The motorman was born in 1981 in Russia, the able seaman in 1971 in Belarus. Records showed that both seamen had duly complied with regulations concerning rest and work time. Both seamen had received the proper safety instruction for working in enclosed rooms in 2008 (July 8 and April 20, respectively) and they were not newcomers to the ship. Police records state that they should have known that full breathing protection was required before entering a compartment such as the forepeak. In the absence of evidence of the contrary, the police ruled the two deaths an unfortunate workplace accident and the crime scene investigation was closed.
\nThe direct cause of the accident is probably simple and understandable. Working new and bulky mooring ropes, often weighing several 100 kg, is a laborious and tedious task. According to the weather data from Rønne airport, the afternoon weather conditions were mostly cloudy, temperature 17–19°C, light winds about 3 m/s and occasional rain showers and light rains. While such ambient weather conditions definitely are tolerable to seasoned seamen, it is easy to imagine that the nearby forepeak might offer a convenient refuge for a clandestine cigarette break, in particular during a rain shower.
\nImportant questions aimed at understanding
Was information about the hazardous nature of the cargo available to the crew? The question too was never raised and although the answer is uncertain it is probably negative. The manifest of cargo simply stated: “Wood Pellets in bulk—Cargo Status C—European Community Cargo” and the “Dangerous” field on the manifest form was left blank.
\nThe criminal investigation was satisfied that the two seamen had received the proper safety instruction for working in enclosed rooms and concluded that they should have known that full breathing protection was required before entering a compartment such as the forepeak. The question was never raised, however, if the seamen, or the rest of crew for that matter, would consider the forepeak “an enclosed room”. The police interrogation reports state that the practice on board the vessel was to lock open the door on the deck that provided access to the stairwell to the forepeak. The door was only closed during bad weather. The reason for this practice is unexplained. But in the absence of specific precautionary instructions or warnings, the crew may well have assumed that a room with a door locked open is not “enclosed”.
\nThe local news media at Bornholm briefly covered the event, reporting that a coaster with two dead sailors had arrived at the port of Rønne. At the time of media reporting the cause had not yet been determined, and the media speculated that CO poisoning or oxygen deficiency in an enclosed room might be responsible for a workplace accident. The vessel’s cargo was correctly identified as wood pellets, but there is nothing in the media coverage to suggest that there might be a causal link between the type of cargo and the presence of toxic gasses. For an accident prevention professional, the media coverage is worthless.
\nBecause the police opened the case as a crime scene investigation, the case was technically registered as a criminal case. Criminal cases are kept confidential in order to protect the privacy of the individuals concerned. To date, very little information, if any, relevant to accident prevention professionals is available in open sources. The source material for this paper could only be obtained through persistent requests and the Danish equivalent of a Freedom of Information Act.
\nIt is true that there is sporadic and passing mention of the AMIRANTE accident in the wood pellet literature, e.g. [9, 10] but descriptions are hazy and basic facts are corrupted. This is also true for the papers produced by authors in Denmark. For example [11] states that the seamen entered the cargo hold, which they did not, and [12] states that they died from asphyxia, which is also incorrect.
\nBecause proper sharing of correct information about an accident is a basic precondition for learning, we conclude that learning processes were derailed at a very early stage. Therefore, it may be expected that repeat accidents will take place. As we will argue shortly, this is precisely what happened. Lamentably, the broader accident history reveals that the AMIRANTE accident was no first, but only one in a string of previous similar accidents with similar aetiologies.
\nThe ship LADY IRINA (IMO 9137038) was a general cargo ship with capacity to carry containers enabling it to carry a variety of bulk and general cargo. LADY IRINA was built in 1997 with a gross tonnage of 3323 and a length of 88 m. The vessel was classed by Lloyd’s Register. At the time of the accident, the vessel had a crew of seven. The flag state was The Netherlands.
\nInformation on this accident is based on a report from the Dutch Safety Board [13] unless otherwise noted.
\nOn 5 July 2014, LADY IRINA departed from the Port of Arkhangelsk, Russia, with a cargo of wood pellets in bulk which was to be unloaded in Kolding, Denmark. Arkhangelsk is LADY IRINA’s permanent loading port for this type of cargo, and it has a dozen discharge ports in Europe, of which Kolding is one.
\nOn the evening of 13 July 2014, the crew prepared for LADY IRINA’s arrival in the Port of Kolding. At about 1900, the chief engineer met with the chief officer and decided to drain the anchor chain locker compartment before LADY IRINA expected arrival at about 2400 h. The anchor chain locker is located in the forward part of the ship. Access to the anchor chain locker is from the deck, entering the forecastle compartment, opening a door and climbing a vertical steel ladder in a stairwell to the bow thruster room, located directly beneath the forecastle room.
\nThe forecastle compartment holds maintenance and safety equipment and other frequently used items such as tools, paint and brushes. The door to the forecastle room is therefore normally open throughout the day and only closed at the end of work, typically at about 1700, to secure the watertight integrity of the ship while the crew were off duty.
\nOn 13 July, sometime after 1900, the chief engineer went to the engine room to start the pump draining the anchor chain locker and then went to the bow thruster room, probably to check if the draining operation was complete. The door to the forecastle had been closed since end of work Saturday, i.e. for at least 26 h.
\nAt 2145, the chief officer went looking for the chief engineer. The door to the forecastle room was open and he found the chief engineer lifeless on the floor of the deck lower, on the floor of the bow thruster room. He examined the chief engineer and found that he was not breathing and had no heartbeat.
\nThe chief officer rushed to the bridge to alert the master, who had the watch, and to summon assistance. The second mate, who happened to be on the bridge was ordered to go to the accident site with a stretcher. The master immediately decided to divert to the nearby port of Fredericia (Denmark), only 4 nautical miles away, and requested emergency assistance to be ready at the quay.
\nThe chief officer went to the crew accommodation to alert the rest of the crew and directed them to the bow thruster room. Probably at about 2215, all crew members except the master were involved in the rescue operation in the bow thruster room. They first worked to resuscitate the chief engineer and then attempted to evacuate him through the stairwell on the stretcher, which proved unsuccessful as he was a heavily built man. The rescue involved six crew members: the first and second mates, the apprentice engineer, the cook and two seamen. They did not use the breathing apparatus that they had taken with them because they thought that the chief engineer had fallen from the ladder and that air quality was not a problem.
\nAround 2245, the vessel arrived in the Port of Frederica and the apprentice engineer and a seaman left the bow thruster room to assist with berthing the vessel. The bow thruster was required for berthing and had to be operated from the engine room. The second mate also left the room to collect a neck brace because the crew still thought that the chief engineer had fallen from the ladder, and an oxygen kit because the chief engineer was not breathing.
\nUpon returning to the forecastle room, a few minutes later, the second mate saw the chief officer unconscious, a crew member trying to carry him away and another crew member walking around as if drunk. The second mate climbed down ladder to the bow thruster room, placed a breathing apparatus over the mouth of the chief officer and urged the two other crew members to leave the room. He then left the bow thruster room and forecastle himself because he did not feel well. Before leaving the forecastle, he opened the medical oxygen kit and lowered it down the bow thruster room with a rope, in order to generate extra oxygen there.
\nThe vessel berthed at 2250 and the local fire and rescue services evacuated the chief engineer and the chief officer from the bow thruster room. The other two crew members had managed to climb the ladder and get outside by themselves but were much weakened. The chief officer was given oxygen and regained consciousness on deck.
\nThe chief officer and the two seamen were admitted to hospital and were diagnosed with carbon monoxide poisoning. The chief engineer had died from carbon monoxide poisoning. Danish news media [14] report that four, not three, seamen were admitted to hospital and two of them were treated in a hyperbaric oxygen therapy chamber. All crew appear to be of Russian nationality.
\nThe local fire and rescue services ventilated the forecastle and bow thruster room with electrical ventilators for 1½ h and then took CO measurements. CO levels in the forecastle were measured at 80 ppm, bow thruster room at 20 ppm. After having the forecastle and bow thruster rooms closed for 36 h, the measurements were 690 and 555 ppm, respectively. The LADY IRINA is equipped with a fixed CO₂ system, which can inject carbon dioxide in the cargo hold for fire-fighting purposes. CO concentrations in the neighbouring carbon dioxide storage room, which had not been ventilated, were in excess of 2000 ppm, the upper limit of the measuring device.
\nThe investigation by the Dutch Safety Board [13] concluded that carbon monoxide generated by the wood pellets in the unventilated cargo hold could potentially have reached the bow area in several ways, e.g. via piping or ventilations ducts:
\nThe CO₂ room, forecastle and bow thruster room are adjacent to each other and gasses might travel from one room to another through a number of connecting conduits. The shipping company contracted the classification society to investigate how carbon monoxide could have travelled from the cargo hold to the bow area. The investigation identified a minor gap in a section of the rim of an inspection cover on a ventilation duct that runs from the cargo hold through the forecastle as the most likely route (\nFigure 2\n).
\nThe inspection hatch on a ventilation duct that ran from the cargo hold through the forecastle. A minor gap in a section of the rim (knife blade inserted) allowed gasses to travel from the cargo hold to the bow area. (LADY IRINA). Source: [
The atmosphere in the bow area had been identified as potentially unsafe and warning signs on the forecastle access door stated: “DANGER. Low Oxygen Level”. The bow area had no mechanical ventilation. In principle, according the rulebook, the bow area should probably be considered a confined space. At LADY IRINA, however, the daily work practice had evolved and adapted to the need to enter the room on a routinely and daily basis. The crew simply opened the door for 15–20 min to allow natural ventilation before entering and they would normally leave the door open.
\nIn response to the fatal accident, the shipping company acquired multi-gas meters and introduced a new work procedure mandating that the person making “First Entry” must carry an operational multi-gas meter. New warning placards with the instruction “ATTENTION—No first entry without use of multi-gas meter” were been put up on access doors.
\nThe investigation report states that: “
The most striking feature of this accident is probably that the
The Dutch investigation observes that the relevant International Maritime Solid Bulk Cargoes (IMSBC) Code for wood pellets at the time of the accident stated that: “
Was information about the hazardous nature of the cargo available in a form that made the crew aware of the risk? The investigation does not clearly address this issue. The investigation simply states that the crew “
We conclude that the answer probably is negative: information was not available to the crew. In any case, their actions demonstrate that they were clueless of breathing hazards of any kind, be it oxygen depletion, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, etc.
\nFor a safety professional working with industrial accident prevention (onshore), it is unusual that rooms routinely entered on a daily basis are, first, identified and labelled as having a potentially unsafe atmosphere, and second, do not have mechanical ventilation. The absence of mechanical ventilation would appear to be a weakness in design, which ought to be eliminated in future designs and retrofitted in existing designs wherever possible. Mechanical ventilation is a
The accident has been investigated and the findings exhaustively communicated by the Dutch Safety Board [13]. The coverage in Danish new media correctly identifies the generation of CO from wood pellets as the culprit and has no factual errors [14]. A Maritime Merchant Periodical with international coverage [15] carried an article that summarized the findings of Dutch Safety Board’s accident report, highlighting that other crew members could have been killed in the rescue attempt. The article is without factual errors. The information provided is sufficiently detailed to permit safety professionals elsewhere to prevent recurrence.
\nThe basic preconditions for learning: broad sharing of relevant and factually correct information; are met. As we will argue later, this is a necessary, but not a sufficient precondition, for learning to take place. The information must also be delivered locally in a manner so its importance is recognized and it must be acted upon.
\nM/V CORINA (IMO 8908545) was a general cargo vessel with capacity to carry containers enabling it to carry a variety of bulk and general cargo, length 115 m, gross tonnage 5796. The vessel was built in 1990 and classed by Germanischer Lloyd. At the time of the accident, the vessel had a crew of eleven, all of Polish nationality. The flag state was Poland.
\nInformation on this accident is based on a report from the Polish State Maritime Accident Investigation Commission [16], and records from the Danish police [17] and the Danish Working Environment Authority [18], both obtained through the Freedom of Information Act.
\nBetween 11 April and 20 April 2015, CORINA loaded 6744 t of wood pellets in the Port of Arkhangelsk (Russia). On the 28 April, the vessel arrived at Hanstholm, Denmark, to unload 1921 t before proceeding to The Netherlands.
\nCompany policy required the visible presence of a watchman near the access gangway at all times while at port and an able seaman had the watch from 1600 h. The cook expected him for dinner at about 1700 and eventually informed the chief officer that the able seaman had not shown up. The chief officer searched the ship twice and noticed that the door to the bosun store under forecastle deck was open. Inside, he noticed that the hatch cover to a lashing equipment room at a lower deck in the forepeak was open. He went down and found the seamen there, unconscious. He radioed for help and shortly after, at 1754, the master contacted the port in broken English and requested medical assistance to a heart attack victim.
\nWithin about 15 min a bosun, an electrician and another seaman had come to the accident site to assist and taking turns with cardiac pulmonary resuscitation believing that the unconscious seaman, born in 1947 and overweight at 120 kg, had suffered a heart attack. At about 1810, the port officer arrived at the site with a defibrillator. The port officer soon did not feel well and asked the crew if the air was ok, which was confirmed. After some time one of the crew members, probably the chief officer, attempted to climb the ladder but fell down and received a blow to the head and had to sit down. The first ambulance arrived at 1813 and one of the paramedics soon arrived at the site and began administering oxygen to the able seaman. Six persons were now present in the room. After some time, the paramedic asked the crew if the air was ok, which was confirmed. Shortly after the port officer radioed, the master asking if the air was ok. Only then was the mechanical ventilation switched on. The paramedic ordered everybody out of the room because the air was not ok. Two crew members were unable to climb the ladder and had to be left behind with the unconscious seaman while the other four managed to move up the forepeak and reach the deck, some only with great difficulty.
\nExact times are not available, but the on-scene commander arrived at 1845 at which four ambulances and three vehicles from the emergency services were at the site. A doctor arrived by helicopter at 1855. Fire fighters donned full respiratory protection extracted the two unconscious crew members who regained consciousness on the deck. At the entry door to the forepeak, CO levels were measured at 66 ppm. Further down 366 ppm were reported. It should be noted that these measurements were taken after mechanical ventilation had been switched on. The able seaman was difficult to extract through the narrow hatch because of his heavy build. He was declared dead at 1940. An autopsy confirmed CO poisoning with COHb measured at 60%. Four crew members and the port officer were admitted to hospital.
\nCORINA was general cargo multipurpose vessel adapted to transport of containers. Containers must be lashed, and in order to ease the handling and movement of lashing gear, the vessel was designed with a 2100 mm × 1150 mm opening in the forward bulkhead of cargo hold no. 1. The opening allowed easy access to the neighbouring storage room, where chains, stacking cones and other lashing equipment for containers were kept (\nFigure 3\n). When carrying bulk cargo, the opening was closed with planks inserted into guide bars. This barrier was not gas tight and gasses from the cargo hold could therefore travel to the forecastle (\nFigure 4\n).
\nAn opening in the front cargo hold allowed easy access to the lashing equipment room. When carrying bulk cargo, the opening was closed with planks of wood inserted into guide bars (CORINA). Source: [
The plank barrier seen from the lashing equipment room. Wood pellets in the cargo hold are visible are visible between planks 10 and 11. The barrier is evidently not gastight. (CORINA). Source: Police photo file #23 [
The consumption of wood pellets in Denmark has risen dramatically over the last 15 years.
The crew was at pains to explain why the able seaman would enter the lashing equipment room. He had no business down there whatsoever and had not requested permission or informed anybody of his intention to go there. He was supposed to be on watch near the gangway.
\nIn line with the International Maritime Solid Bulk Cargoes (IMSBC) Code, the shipper had declared the hazardous nature the cargo. The wood pellets were declared as a group B cargo and marked as Materials Hazardous only in Bulk (MHB), which covers materials that may possess chemical hazards when carried in bulk. The shipper had provided several safety recommendations, only allowing entry to the cargo hold after 2 h of natural ventilation and measurements of oxygen content and dangerous gasses, carbon monoxide included.
\nThe Polish investigation concluded, however, that crew members likely were unaware of the risks associated with the cargo. Points of entry to hazardous or confined spaces were not marked with warning signs and potential access doors had not been locked to prevent inadvertent entry [16]. To the Danish police, the master explained that he knew that wood pellets could “
In this recent accident, the hazards associated with wood pellets and preventive measures are clearly stated in the cargo documents. The extent to which this information is fully grasped by the master can be questioned. Seemingly, air quality hazards only became apparent to him after the port officer radioed and asked if the air in the forepeak was ok. Only then did he arrange for the mechanical ventilation to be switched on. Information trickle down from the master to the rest of the crew is obviously doubtful. Again, the actions of the crew demonstrate that they were truly oblivious of the danger. And so were the Danish port officer, the paramedic and probably many more.
\nLanguage issues may also have played a role. In particular, the ability of seamen from Eastern Europe with limited proficiency in English to understand hazard codes and guidelines in English, even more so for Russian seamen who may have a preference for information printed in Cyrillic letters.
\nThe accident was investigated and the findings exhaustively communicated by the Polish State Maritime Accident Investigation Commission [16]. The coverage in Danish media mainly paid attention to the irony that the would-be rescuers succumbed to gasses and themselves became victims but is otherwise riddled with misleading factual errors. For example, the accident is stated to have taken place in the cargo hold because of oxygen depletion, both facts are plain wrong. The source of the hazard, the wood pellets, is correctly identified, however.
\nLamentably, strikingly similar serious accidents related to marine transport of solid biomass continue to take place. Publicly available information on these incidents is often scant, however, and as the AMIRANTE case shows, at times incorrect or misleading. The list below (Table 1) has been compiled from various sources and does not claim to be exhaustive. But, it is evident that the release of hazardous gasses from wood pellets in bulk qualifies as an emerging risk for which proper control strategies have yet to be developed.
\nYear | \nVessel name, location, accident | \nFatal | \nInjured | \nSource | \n
---|---|---|---|---|
2002 | \nVEAWER ARROW, Rotterdam (NL), entry into cargo hold with wood pellets | \n1 | \n\n | [10] | \n
2005 | \nEKEN, Gruvön (SE), entry into cargo hold with pulp logs | \n1 | \n\n | [10] | \n
2005 | \nSAGA FOREST CARRIER, Wilmington (US), working in open cargo hold with green lumber, oxygen depletion | \n1 | \n\n | [16, 19] | \n
2006 | \nSAGA SPRAY, Helsingborg (SE), entry into cargo hold with wood pellets | \n1 | \nSeveral | \n[10] | \n
2006 | \nNOREN, Skelleftehamn (SE), entry into cargo hold with wood chips | \n1 | \n\n | [10] | \n
2007 | \nFEMBRIA, Timrå (SE), entry into cargo hold with timber | \n2 | \n\n | [10] | \n
2009 | \nAMIRANTE, Bornholm (DK), entry intro room adjacent to the cargo hold with wood pellets | \n2 | \n0 | \n[8] | \n
2010 | \nTPC WELLINGTON, New Zealand, entry into cargo hold with timber | \n2 | \n\n | [20] | \n
2014 | \nLADY IRINA, Fredericia (DK), entry intro room adjacent to the cargo hold with wood pellets | \n1 | \n3 | \n[13] | \n
2015 | \nCORINA, Hanstholm (DK), entry intro room adjacent to the cargo hold with wood pellets | \n1 | \n5 | \n[17, 16] | \n
Serious accidents related to marine transport of solid biomass known to the authors.
The three Danish cases have strikingly similar accident aetiologies:
\nthe accidents take place in compartments adjacent to the cargo hold
the compartments are likely covered by IMO’s technical definition of an “enclosed room” but the crew does perceive the rooms as being “enclosed”
dangerous gasses from the cargo hold travel unexpectedly through minor crevices and small gaps unknown to the crew
the crew appear oblivious of the hazardous properties of the cargo
would-be rescuers subject themselves to grave danger
victims in rooms only accessible using a vertical ladder can only be extracted with great difficulties, in particular if the victim is of heavy build
We are of the opinion that similar accident aetiologies apply to many of the other accidents in the list above though scant publicly available information (and time constraints) prevents a rigorous demonstration of this claim.
\nThe Danish accidents illustrate how the explanatory framework for unsafe atmosphere accidents is based on a discourse that certain rooms are considered confined or enclosed. By implication, the hazard is perceived as being a property of the compartment and not a property of the atmosphere itself or the cargo.
\nThis is particularly evident in the recently revised industry recommendations for entering enclosed spaced aboard ships issued by IMO [21]. The resolution’s overall definition of an enclosed space is so broad that it can potentially apply to any space on the ship. However, the examples provided of enclosed spaces are characterized by being spaces that are not part of the normal workspace of the seaman, e.g. fuel tanks, ballast tanks, cargo pump rooms (used on e.g. chemical tankers), etc.
\nIn the Danish cases, the accidents took place in spaces that were part of the normal working areas of the ship and were routinely accessed. The doors were kept open for practical purposes or convenience. If such rooms are labelled “enclosed” and warning signs posted, as in the LADY IRINA case, the crew may become desensitized and dulled to what is dangerous, because the warnings signs are inconsistent with daily routine and local sense-making.
\nAn accident investigation is a tremendously challenging task. The identification of accident causes is often subjective and guided by the tool box of the analyst rather than the nature of the accident. We subscribe to the ideas of Jens Rasmussen that there is a tendency to see what you expect to find [22], and his proposition [23] that this is a simple reflection of the nature of causal analysis and the fact that no objective “stop rule” exists to terminate the causal back tracking in search of a root cause.
\nIn the AMIRANTE case, the stop rule was from what Jens Rasmussen has termed the “prosecutor’s perspective”—the investigation was closed when it was not possible to find somebody to punish. In the LADY IRINA case, the stop rule was from the “therapist’s perspective”—the search for causes stopped when a cure known to the analyst was identified (a new procedure and larger warning signs with more text).
\nThe CORINA case was a hybrid, the search stopped when violations were identified (no warning signs and insufficient crew safety instructions) which conveniently also pointed to the cure: improve work procedures and safety training. The accident investigation outcomes above align well with the constructivist thinking of Donald Schön, that the moment we name the things to which we will attend we also frame the context in which we will attend to them [24].
\nWe are of the opinion that it is important to be cognizant of such stop rules. In particular, we note that enhanced proceduralization of work may have limited impact on actual workplace safety. The use of administrative risk controls like procedures may from a managerial perspective be perceived as a time- and cost-effective tool to manage risk, but the actual impact on daily safety can be greatly limited when crew members face multiple and sometimes conflicting goals in their everyday work.
\nWood pellets are imported to Denmark on two types of ships: Small tonnage coastal ships (coasters) able to navigate in the shallow and narrow Danish waters calling smaller commercial ports, and larger bulk carriers used for transporting larger quantities to larger ports.
\nContrary to coal, wood pellets do not tolerate moisture and cannot be stored in outdoor piles. Wood pellets must be handled under roof or in silos and storage capacity comes at a price. Former coal-fired power plants therefore often face storage capacity limitations. Wood pellets’ energy content per unit volume is anywhere from half to one-third of that of coal, which furthermore aggravates storage capacity limitations [3]. The limitations call for frequent arrivals of relatively small cargo sizes, a market well-suited for the small coaster segment.
\nThe coasters are usually general cargo ships, i.e. they are designed to carry many different kinds of cargo, e.g. goods on pallets, machinery and various bulk cargoes such as grain, coal and pellets. The high variability of the type of cargo sets limits to the degree of specialization and cargo domain safety knowledge that can be achieved in the small coaster segment.
\nIn addition, coastal ships have, as most ships in international trade, crews of mixed nationality with varying background in training and experience, often from low-wage countries, and sometimes from Russia accustomed to the Cyrillic alphabet. We argue that cargo documents and safety recommendations in English may not be readily absorbed by this group and the work culture may have an oral rather than a written tradition.
\nEnvironmental interventions may be undertaken with insufficient attention paid to the environment of the workers. The concept of “media shifting” refers to a suboptimal situation which occurs if the “resolution” of a problem within the environmental domain gives rise to new, and unforeseen, problems within other domains, specifically the workplace safety domain [25].
\nExamples of insufficient attention to workplace safety are sometimes apparent in green reporting and environmental statements, if they omit or misrepresent sections covering occupational health and safety. For example, a study examined “Green Statements” of a biomass pellet facility certified to ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001—a type of reporting which aims to demonstrate commitments towards sustainability performance. Fire station turnout statistics showed that fires at the facility were frequent. In the sustainability reporting, however, fire and explosion risks were only ranked 11 out of 14, long after more benign, if not trivial issues such as bad acoustics, psychosocial issues and indoor environment problems such as drafts, cold spots and radiant heat [3].
\nIn recent years, critical studies that examine the general topic of balancing safety with sustainability have begun to emerge, see, e.g. [12, 26].
\nDenmark’s climate change policy is very ambitious and comprises the conversion of coal-fired thermal power plants to solid biomass fuel in order to reduce carbon dioxide emissions [3]. This chapter points to evidence of media shifting of this climate change intervention that the transport of unprecedented quantities of wood pellets has created new workplace hazards in the marine transportation sector. We argue that the release of hazardous gasses from wood pellets in bulk present as an emerging risk for which proper control strategies have yet to be developed.
\nThe domestic production of wood pellets in Denmark is limited (Figure 5), and more than 95% are imported and arrive by ship (Table 2). For the period 2001–2015, both years included, we have estimated the domestic production, imports and total consumption 2015 using simple linear inter-/extrapolation, all quantities in SI ton (t). For the same period, we have knowledge of three serious accidents on board marine vessel during the import voyage, which resulted in four fatalities and eight persons hospitalized after having been exposed to grave danger. For the domestic production, we have knowledge of one fatal accident and five persons hospitalized (at least) after having been exposed to grave danger due to fire and explosion, details cannot be disclosed, however, because of confidentiality agreements.
\nYear | \nDomestic | \nImport | \nConsumption | \n
---|---|---|---|
2001 | \n173,073 | \n200,871 | \n401,291 | \n
2004 | \n187,458 | \n470,588 | \n731,134 | \n
2006 | \n137,080 | \n841,132 | \n895,796 | \n
2008 | \n134,280 | \n925,401 | \n1,059,519 | \n
2010 | \n137,622 | \n1,568,952 | \n1,718,976 | \n
2012 | \n99,930 | \n1,898,143 | \n1,914,048 | \n
2014 | \n106,000 | \n2,118,750 | \n2,113,908 | \n
2001-2015 (est.) | \n2,100,650 | \n17,452,647 | \n19,191,795 | \n
Danish domestic production, imports and consumption (t) of wood pellets for select years 2001–2014.
Numbers do not sum due to stockpile changes and (small) exports (Data source: [27]). We estimate the total quantities (t) for 2001–2015.
The numbers allow a crude estimation of the accident rate for imports and domestic production of wood pellets (Table 3). The numbers are not comparable because the import figure only comprises accidents (known to us) during the final leg of the marine voyage—excluding for example accidents during biomass harvest, land transport, wood pellet production in the country of origin and loading at the export port.
\n\n | Accident rate per Mt wood pellets | \n|
---|---|---|
\n | Fatal | \nGrave danger | \n
Produced domestically | \n0.48 | \n2.38 | \n
During marine voyage (import) | \n0.23 | \n0.46 | \n
The accident rate per million t wood pellets for accidents with fatal outcome and accidents where an individual is in grave danger, for wood pellets produced domestically and imports (final leg of marine voyage only).
Common sense tells us that having paid the hefty price of a serious accident, we should use every opportunity to learn from it and prevent recurrence. In the case of the fatal accident on AMIRANTE in 2009, such opportunities were wholly missed. The accident was investigated as a criminal case and the legal system is so designed that findings are kept confidential and out of reach of safety professionals and the general public. This approach has been criticized at an earlier occasion as being entirely misplaced in an accident prevention context [4]. It is a systemic deficiency by design—the bureaucratic judiciary system did not malfunction, it worked precisely as intended. The flag state, St. Vincent & The Grenadines, did not investigate. As a direct consequence, there was no learning.
\nPredictably, the accident recurred, at first not in Denmark, but elsewhere. In fact, it would turn out that similar accidents had happened before the AMIRANTE, but lessons learned had not been effectively shared and the crew at AMIRANTE were ignorant of the dangers of wood pellets in bulk.
\nAfter AMIRANTE, evidence slowly began to accumulate that wood pellets in bulk present chemical off-gassing hazards that qualify as an emerging risk. It is difficult not to mention the early work, foresight and leadership of the Canadian Wood Pellet association in shedding light on this novel issue [28].
\nBy 2015, there is a comprehensive body of the literature describing the off-gassing hazards and the IMO has launched initiatives and revised the guidelines for management of entry into confined spaces. Unfortunately, very serious repeat accidents continue to recur. That implies that accidents can no longer be attributed to lack of knowledge but a failure to disseminate and use the knowledge available
\nThe general cargo coaster segment appears difficult to reach. Because of the wide range of cargoes carried, there is little specialization and little accumulation of specific cargo safety knowledge.
\nWe doubt if the recently revised IMO guidelines for management of entry into enclosed spaces will be effective. The guidelines are broad and their implementation will likely result in compartments—that are part of the normal working areas of the crew and routinely accessed—being labelled as potentially confined spaces. The crew may become desensitized and dulled to danger, because the hazard warnings are inconsistent with local sense-making. The accident history supports this prediction—confined space accidents routinely take place in rooms that are not considered confined spaces by the crew.
\nIn addition, coasters generally have crews of mixed nationality, often from low-wage countries, and sometimes from countries accustomed to the Cyrillic alphabet. We are concerned that cargo documents and written safety recommendations in the English language may not be readily absorbed by this group and the work culture may have an oral rather than a written tradition. An entirely new approach must be sought. More research into this issue and into the existing legal and institutional barriers to learning is required.
\nThe situation is special and delicate because the dramatic increase in the consumption of wood pellets arises out of an ambition to do good—to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and prevent climate change and global warming—often at steep costs to society [3]. It is morally problematic, if climate change environmental interventions are pursued so narrow-mindedly that sight is lost of the environment of the workers, and if workplace safety issues are starved of resources.
\nUtmost care should be taken to avoid media shifting—that the resolution of a problem within one domain, the environmental, creates a new problem in another, the workplace safety domain.
\nThis article has been produced as voluntary work. Opinions expressed are those of the authors, not their employers or organizations. We are thankful to COWI for covering publication expenses.
None of the contributing authors have conflicts of interest to declare.
\nIn recent years, people have focused on forest preservation and finding a rational way to use agricultural and forest residues. This trend is caused by the rapid increase in consumption of wood fiber-based products, which may result in an illegal logging activity due to decreasing permitted wood resources. Additionally, the use of cellulose fiber from the forest and agricultural residues has many advantages, such as environmental friendliness, recyclability, and low cost or even free raw material. Statistically, the annual production of lignocellulose fiber from crops in the world was about 4 billion tons (i.e., 60% agricultural produce and 40% forest produce). Compared to other major commodities, the global annual production of steel was only 0.7 billon tons, while that of plastic was only 0.1 billion tons [1]. These data show us the high opportunity for the utilization of cellulose fiber.
\nBanana plants, which belong to the family of Musaceae, are native to the Malaysia-Indonesian region of South-East Asia. Bananas are widely produced and abundant natural resources in tropical and subtropical countries in the world [1, 2, 3]. The banana plants are considered as one of the world’s most useful plants. Almost all the parts of this plant, for example, fruit, peel, leaf, pseudo-stem, stalk, and inflorescence (flower), can be utilized [3, 4]. They are used in several food and non-food-related applications, for example, as thickener, colorant and flavoring, macro- and micro-nutrient source, livestock feed, fibers, bioactive compound source, and organic fertilizers [4]. The banana leaf is frequently used in food processing (in some countries, e.g., Indonesia), food esthetic, food packaging, etc. The banana fruit itself is one of the most popular fruits and important diet due to its high nutritional content [5], thus it becomes a valuable commodity all around the world. The banana pseudo-stem has also been considered for use as pulp and paper raw material, fiber for textiles, and filler or structural reinforcement in composites materials [6, 7, 8, 9, 10]. Additionally, all parts of the banana plant have some medical added values, such as the flower can be cooked and consumed by diabetics, bronchitis, dysentery, and ulcer patients. The banana pseudo-stem sap can be orally taken or externally applied for stings and bites. The young leaf can be used for skin irritations (as a poultice). The roots, ashes of leaves, peels, and seeds also can be used for medicinal purposes in some countries [11]. In recent years, banana fruits have been the fourth most important fruit crop produced in the world. Approximately, 72.5 million tons of banana fruit are produced yearly in the world [2]. The fruit can be consumed directly (after ripe) or processed into other products, for example, dried fruit, smoothie, flour, ice-cream bread, etc. [5]. The flower bud can also be processed into a dish.
\nThe most widely known banana plant species for its fiber is Abaca (
Several parts of banana tree (photos were taken on August 17, 2018).
The pseudo-stem is a part of the banana plant that looks like a trunk, which consists of a soft central core and tightly wrapped up to 25 leaf sheaths. These leaf sheaths unwrap from the stem and transform to recognizable banana leaves when they have matured. The height of banana plant can reach approximately 7.5 m and since the leaf sheaths grow from the base of the plant, some of the leaves, on the inner side, have approximately the same length of the tree. Whereas the outer side leaves, which grow later, are shorter. The width of the banana leaves can reach approximately 30 cm [14].
\n\nThe pseudo-stem fiber of banana plant is like the pineapple leaf, sisal, and other hard fibers, though the pseudo-steam fiber is a little more elastic. The major uses of banana pseudo-stem fiber are in making specialized and high-quality sanitary products such as baby pampers, textiles, and papers such as banknotes. The banana pseudo-stem fiber can also be used for ropes such as marine rope since this fiber has good resistance to sea water and has buoyancy properties. Other uses of this fiber are for making coffee and tea bags, filter cloths, as reinforcement fibers for plaster, disposable fabrics, and light-density woven fabrics. According to the literature, the production of Abaca (
Percentage data of banana production across the world in 2010 [
The banana plant has a shallow rooting system in which the pseudo-stems sprout vertically. As it develops, a single plant may produce about 25 of these pseudo-stems, which mature at different times. When the plants are 18–24 months old, the outer pseudo-stems are already mature and ready to be harvested. Then, about three or four pseudo-stems are stripped at a period of 6–12 months based on the rate of growth of the pseudo-stem. When the flower is out, the pseudo-stems are completely ready for harvesting. Furthermore, the shaft is cut off below the inflorescence with a knife or sickle attached to a long pole and then the pseudo-stems are cut at their base. Based on the extraction methods, the pseudo-stems can be either stripped/extracted of their fibers in situ or by using a decorticating machine [14]. The leaves are variable in length, the outer side leaves are shorter than the inner side. Figure 3 shows the cross section of banana pseudo-stem and its parts.
\n(a) Banana pseudo-stem trunk cross section and its parts: (b) outer parts; (c) middle parts; (d) inner parts; and (e) core parts [
Fibers from the banana pseudo-stem leaves can be extracted by a decorticator machine. It is a machine used to strip bark, skin, wood, stalk, and grain. The extraction process is conducted as soon as the pseudo-stem’s leaves are cut. The common method in practice is a combination of water retting and scraping. The first step, called tuxing, is separating the fiber bundles from the remaining parts. Tuxing can be done either manually or mechanically using machine [17]. The leaves are stripped from the cut pseudo-stems. Afterward, a knife is put at the butt end between the outer and middle layers of the leaf shaft, and then the outer part is held firmly and pulled out. The width of fiber bundles that resulted from this tuxing process is approximately 5–8 cm and is the same as the length of the leaf. The second step is to remove the gum or non-fibrous and any residual components contained in the fibers after the tuxing process [14]. Furthermore, the fibers are then thoroughly washed and dried. These processes demand considerable skill and patience. In general, only 11 exterior leaf sheaths in the banana pseudo-stem that can be extracted for its fibers. The fibers inside the interior sheaths have poor strength, and peeling of these fibers is found to be difficult due to their brittleness and poor strength [18].
\nOne of the authors (A. Subagyo) has developed a decorticator machine, which could be used effectively by an average village artisan or an agriculturist for the extraction of fiber from banana pseudo-stem. The schematic diagram of the decorticator machine developed by Subagyo is shown in Figure 4. The decorticator machine consists of a rotating drum mounted on a shaft. On the circumference of the drum are mounted several blades which create a beating action as the drum is rotated by an electrical drive. As the drum rotates, the pseudo-stem is fed between the drum and backing plate or feeding roller. Owing to the crushing, beating, and pulling action, the pulpy material is removed when it is half way through. The pseudo-stems are slowly pushed from the drum and fall out to the conveyer belt, and eventually, the fibers are collected on the bucket. The next step is the degumming process of the fibers to remove foreign matter that are then washed and dried at room temperature of approximately 27–32°C. This machine can handle approximately two tons of dry fiber/day.
\nPseudo-stem fiber extraction machine.
Retting of banana fiber is defined as the separation of the fiber bundles from the cortex or wood, which effects on partial digestion of the cementing material (such as lignin and hemicellulose) between the fibers in the bundles. This loosening of the fiber bundles is also due to the removal of various cementing tissue components. The retting of banana fiber is analogous to the general retting process, where two stages occur. The first stage is the physical stage in which the water is absorbed; then swelling happens, and some of the soluble substances are extracted. The second stage is the microbial stage, either aerobic or anaerobic by the action of fungi or bacteria, respectively.
\nSince retting process is basically a microorganism process, several factors such as: microbiological agents (bacteria or fungi), nature of retting water, aeration, and macro-nutrients. Microbial growth on plant fibers usually results in tenacity loss, odor release, and various types of strains on the fiber substrates. Sometimes, a specific microorganism can grow on a living plant stem and produce brownish stains on the fiber, which are usually known as rust. According to Subagyo [19], the factors like temperature, length of retting time, type of chemical additives (e.g., magnesium oxide), and pure culture of microorganisms such as pectin-decomposing bacteria in the retting liquor can reduce the retting time by approximately 78%. The pseudo-stem retting time of 28 h was found to be quite sufficient, and the process was effective at a controlled pH between 6.8 and 7.4 with sodium carbonate, and at room temperature.
\nRetting is carried out to increase the mechanical properties of natural fiber, such as banana pseudo-stem fiber [20]. Fiber tenacity tests indicated that the extractive removal of pectin from pseudo-stem fiber through retting did not cause any significant change in the tenacity of the fiber except when over-retting had begun. Furthermore, analysis of decorticated and retted pseudo-steam fibers indicated that retting can significantly reduce hemicellulose and lignin that are present in the pseudo-stem fiber. It has been reported that the pulping process of retted natural fibers gave pulps with better strength and chemical properties compared to those of the unretted fibers [21].
\nBanana pseudo-stem fiber produced by decorticator machine contains a quite large percentage of gum and non-fibrous cell or parenchyma (approx. 30–35%). These gums and cells are mostly not soluble in water and must be extracted before the fiber is mechanically spun into fine yarn count. It is a numerical expression which indicates whether the yarn is fine or coarse, and thick or thin. The unit of count is mass per unit length or length per unit mass of the yarn. These gums basically consist of arabans and xylans, which are soluble in the alkaline solutions. The basic degumming process steps are as follows: boiling the fibers couple of times in aqueous alkaline solution with/without agitation and pressure, and with/without reducing agents; second, washing the fibers with water for neutralizing; third, fiber bleaching with dilute hydrogen peroxide or hypochlorite; and fourth, fiber washing with water for neutralizing and oiling with a sulfonated hydrocarbon. Most of the processes involve caustic soda to treat the residual pectin, lignin, and gum. Although pseudo-stem fibers are commonly degummed by chemicals, there are also promising alternatives in retting (microbial degumming). Additionally, several literature studies have reported that the use of ultrasonic vibrations could speed up the degumming process [22].
\nOptical microscopy examination of pseudo-stem fiber of banana plant revealed that it is a multicellular fiber, like other vegetable fibers. The cells in this fiber have a diameter of approximately 10 μm and an average length of 4.5 μm with L/D ratio of 450. The cell wall thickness of banana fiber was found to be 8.3 μm, which lies between that of sisal (about 12.8 μm) and ramie (about 11.5 μm). The structural and fracture morphology of raw and chemically treated banana pseudo-stem fiber has been investigated using scanning electron microscopy after coating with a thin layer of gold or iridium [19]. Banana pseudo-stem fiber has a scaly and cellular structure with vegetable matter intact, as shown in Figure 5a and b. The horizontal marks on the fiber surface are attributed to the bundle structure of the fibers, in which each bundle consists of several fibrils. The transverse section of the pseudo-stem fiber is shown in Figure 5c and d, which confirms the multi-cellular structure, whereas the structure of the raw fiber is shown in Figure 5e and f. As seen in the figure, the lumen is clearly seen in the cross section (indicated by arrow no. 2), as well as the fiber-cell walls (indicated by arrow no. 1).
\nSEM images of banana pseudo-stem fiber.
The hollow structure of the banana pseudo-stem suggests that the fiber will have good insulation and absorbance properties. Treating the fiber with either alkali or acid may result in good quality of fibers. For example, the treatment of pseudo-stem fiber with different concentrations of NaOH has indicated that the surface morphology of the 5% NaOH-treated fibers was not much different from that of the raw fibers. The surface looked clearer due to the removal of some impurities and debris, though the fiber is not clearly visible. The fibers and their fibrils are clearly visible when the pseudo-stem fiber is treated with 10% NaOH.
\nBanana pseudo-stem fibers have physical and chemical characteristics and other properties that make them good quality fiber. In terms of physical properties, it has been reported in the literature that the banana pseudo-stem fiber has good modulus of elasticity, tensile strength, and stiffness, which makes it a promising fiber material [1]. The appearance of banana pseudo-stem fiber is quite like ramie and bamboo fiber, but its spin ability and fineness are much better than that of ramie and bamboo. It has average fineness of 2400 Nm. It is a strong fiber and has lower strain at break. Its appearance is quite shiny, which depends on the extraction and spinning processes. It has low density and strong moisture absorption quality. Its absorbance and release of moisture are quite fast. Table 1 shows the physical and mechanical properties of banana pseudo-stem fiber in comparison with other types of plant/natural fibers. Additionally, studies of X-ray indicate that banana pseudo-stem fiber has a high degree of crystallinity with a spiral angle of about 15°. In the crystalline region, the molecules are packed more tightly. The acid and alkali-treated banana pseudo-stem fibers showed greater amorphous region than the untreated fiber.
\nFibers | \nWidth or diameter (μm) | \nDensity (kg/m3) | \nCell L/D ratio | \nMicrofibrillar angle (degree) | \nInitial modulus (GPa) | \nTensile strength (MPa) | \nElongation (%) | \n
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Banana pseudo-stem | \n80–250 | \n1350 | \n150 | \n10 ± 1 | \n7.7–20.0 | \n54–754 | \n10.35 | \n
Coir | \n100–450 | \n1150 | \n35 | \n30–40 | \n4–6 | \n106–175 | \n17–47 | \n
Pineapple leaf | \n20–80 | \n1440 | \n450 | \n8–14 | \n34.5–82.5 | \n413–1627 | \n0.8–1 | \n
Sisal | \n50–200 | \n1450 | \n100 | \n10–22 | \n9.4–15.8 | \n568–640 | \n3–7 | \n
Palmyra | \n70–1300 | \n1090 | \n43 | \n29–32 | \n4.4–6.1 | \n180–215 | \n7–15 | \n
Studies on the durability of banana pseudo-stem fiber have been carried out at the Center of Study for Natural Fiber and Natural Dyes (CSNFD) at the Department of Chemical Engineering, Concentration Textile Engineering, Universitas Islam Indonesia (UII). The studies showed that the durability of banana pseudo-stem fiber can stay up to 3 months of storage. However, if the storage period of the fiber is longer than 3 months, the strength of the fiber is considerably decreased. Furthermore, banana pseudo-stem fibers are biodegradable, and thus can be categorized as environmentally friendly. Banana pseudo-stem fiber can be spun using almost any method of spinning, such as open-end spinning, ring-spinning, bast fiber spinning, and semi-worsted spinning.
\nThe study of biodegradability of the banana pseudo-stem fiber can be done by burying the fiber in the ground. While buried in the ground, the growth of microorganisms plays a major role during the degradation process of fiber cellulose by secretion of enzyme cellulose, which results in the loss of tenacity. Based on the soil burial test, it was found that the banana pseudo-stem fiber loses strength rapidly when buried in the ground. The decrease of tensile strength after soil burial for 3 days is only approximately 21.8%, compared to that of sisal and jute, which is approximately 65.8 and 78%, respectively. Banana pseudo-stem fibers also lose strength and elongation conditions, the loss of fiber strength could be ascribed to the penetration of water molecules in the multicellular lignocellulose fibers. Swelling up of the fibers and, to some extent, loosening of the binding of the ultimate cells result in cell slippage when load is applied. Under wetting conditions, extension of untreated and degummed fibers is reduced by 6 and 11%, respectively.
\nThermogravimetric analysis (TGA) is carried out to analyze the heat stability or thermal degradation of banana pseudo-stem fiber. The TGA analyzer records the weight loss as a function of temperature with a resolution of 0.1 mg. The fiber samples (about 3–6 mg) were accurately weighed and randomly distributed in the sample pan. A small amount of sample was used to ensure the uniformity or reproducibility of the TGA result. The following is an example of TGA of banana pseudo-stem. The thermal degradation of the fiber started at a temperature of 25–700°C in N2 environment at a constant heating rate of 10°C/min. Thermal degradation of the banana pseudo-stem fiber occurred in three stages.
\nThe first stage of degradation was evaporation of moisture at a temperature range of 30–144°C [26]. As the fiber was continuously heated, the weight of the fiber decreased by releasing moisture and some volatile extractives. This is a common phenomenon that occurs in plant fibers, which makes the fibers become more flexible and collapse easily, and increases heat transfer [27]. Nevertheless, the moisture contained in the fiber cannot be completely removed due to structural resistance from the fiber and the hydrophilic nature of the fiber. In this first stage, the weight loss of the fiber was in the range of 5–10 wt%. The second stage was the degradation of hemicellulose. For banana pseudo-stem fiber, the hemicellulose started to decompose at a temperature of approximately 178°C [26]. The lower stability of the hemicellulose is likely due to the presence of acetyl groups, which make the hemicellulose degrade much more quickly than the other components, for example, lignin and cellulose. The third stage was the degradation of cellulose, which occurred at a temperature of approximately 296°C. The last stage (that is, fourth stage) is the decomposition of lignin. Lignin is more difficult to decompose compared to other components. Generally, for any plant fiber, the decomposition of lignin occurred slowly in all ranges of temperature up to 700°C.
\nNevertheless, for banana pseudo-stem fiber, there was a considerable lignin degradation peak that reached maximum degradation temperature of 501°C [20]. This was a result of broken protolignin bonds present in the fibers. This confirmed that the degradation of lignin happened in a wider range of temperature as compared to other components (e.g., hemicellulose, cellulose, and moisture) [28]. Figure 6a shows the TGA curve of banana pseudo-stem fiber. Moreover, Figure 6b shows the differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) thermogram of banana pseudo-stem fiber. According to the literature, the trend of DSC thermogram of the banana pseudo-stem is quite similar to that of other lignocellulosic fibers. The peak shown in the DSC (approximately 50–150°C) can be attributed to the heat required by the fiber to evaporate the moisture contained in the fiber. The range of temperature is in agreement with the TGA results, in which the first stage of degradation was evaporation of moisture at a temperature range of 30–144°C. Additionally, thermal conductivity of banana pseudo-stem fiber is found to be quite low at 0.0253 W/m2 K, which suggests that these fibers could be used as good thermal insulations.
\n(a) TGA curve and (b) DSC thermogram of banana pseudo-stem fiber [
In the past, many researchers were interested in the chemical constituents of plant fibers. It was found that plant fibers contain some of the following components [31]:
Fat and waxes, which are mostly found on the surface of the plants and can be extracted using benzene.
Pectin, which exists in water-soluble form as calcium and magnesium from galacturonic acid. These substances are converted into butyric and acetic acids during biological retting.
Hemicelluloses, which are amorphous short-chain polysaccharides and polyuronides. The polysaccharide hemicelluloses are chemically partly linked or intermingled with cellulose molecules.
Cellulose, which is the major constituent of the fiber.
Lignin, which is a short-chain isotropic and non-crystalline polymer made up of units derived from phenyl propane.
Ash content.
Aqueous extract, which is extracted by boiling the dewaxed fibers in water.
Table 2 shows the composition of constituents of banana pseudo-stem based on different literatures [17]. As shown in both of the tables, the banana pseudo-stem mostly consists of cellulose. Cellulose fiber can be considered as the most available natural, biodegradable, and renewable polymer that can be used in many applications (reinforcing materials, textiles, polymer matrix, and raw materials for paper) [32].
\nSample | \nCellulose (%) | \nHemicellulose (%) | \nLignin (%) | \nExtractives (%) | \nAsh content (%) | \nMoisture content (%) | \nRef. | \n
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | \n63.20 | \n18.60 | \n5.10 | \n1.40 | \n1.02 | \n10.00 | \n[31] | \n
2 | \n31.27 | \n14.98 | \n15.07 | \n4.46 | \n8.65 | \n9.74 | \n[33] | \n
3 | \n63.9 | \n1.3 | \n18.6 | \n10.6 | \n1.5 | \n— | \n[34] | \n
4 | \n31.26 | \n14.98 | \n15.07 | \n4.45 | \n8.64 | \n9.74 | \n[7] | \n
5 | \n57 | \n10.33 | \n15.55 | \n— | \n— | \n20.23 | \n[35] | \n
Average | \n49.33 | \n12.04 | \n13.88 | \n5.23 | \n4.95 | \n12.43 | \n\n |
Components’ composition of banana pseudo-stem (based on different literatures).
Additionally, there was a method reported in the literature [3] that showed the steps to deconstruct the banana pseudo-stem fiber to know the chemical composition of the fiber. The detailed steps of this method are exhibited in Figure 7. Step 1 is the determination of lipo-soluble extractive (LSE) content. Step 2 is determination of water-soluble extract (WSE) content. Step 3 is determination of pectin content. Step 4 is the determination of lignin content. Step 5 is the separation of cellulose-hemicellulose. The details about the determination procedure of these components have been explained in the literature [3].
\nSeveral steps of chemical deconstruction of banana pseudo-stem fiber [
Several methods can be used to extract cellulose fibers from their biomass sources, which are steam explosion treatment, alkali treatment, enzyme treatment, and liquefaction [24]. The focus of this chapter is the alkali treatment method. The properties of alkali-treated banana pseudo-stem fiber have been studied. The treatment of the fiber with 18% NaOH has enhanced the breaking elongation of fiber. This caustic treatment also resulted in length shrinkage, with the maximum shrinkage found to occur within 20 min of the alkali-treatment, after which there was only very little shrinkage. The length shrinkage has been found to be proportional to the weight loss. The weight loss is mainly due to the removal by caustic treatment of hemicellulose component and other substances. However, with an alkali-treatment, the banana pseudo-stem fiber also experienced a decrease in dynamic modulus. This decrease can be related to structural change caused by alkali treatment. The diameter of the fiber increased by the caustic treatment by 15–100%, which resulted in bundle fiber bulk improvement.
\nThe main problem to be encountered during wet processing of banana pseudo-stem fiber is the removal of lignin, residual gum, and other cementing materials, which interferes with the absorption property and thus leads to poor scouring, bleaching, and dyeing of the fiber. The exact structure of lignin is not clearly revealed, although it is generally regarded as a three-dimensional polycondensate of dehydrogeneration products of hydroxy and methoxy cinnamyl alcohols. Lignin is mainly composed of methoxyl, hydroxyl, and carbonyl groups.
\nAdditionally, the physico-chemical properties of the banana pseudo-stem fiber were also studied. Infrared (IR) spectroscopy is probably one of the most widely used instrumental methods for investigating physico-chemical properties of textile materials. When a sample of organic compound is passed by infrared, certain frequencies are absorbed while others are transmitted through the sample. The IR spectrum is obtained by plotting the percentage of absorbance or percentage transmittance values against the frequencies. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) was used to study the absorption peaks of banana pseudo-stem fiber. Figure 8a–c shows the FTIR spectrum of untreated, acid-treated, and alkali-treated pseudo-stem banana fiber, respectively. The appearance of absorption peaks was due to the presence of some functional groups.
\nFTIR spectrum of banana pseudo-stem fiber: (a) untreated banana; (b) acid-treated; and (c) alkali-treated.
Banana and banana pseudo-stem contain pathogenesis proteins, which possess antimicrobial properties [39]. The antibacterial activity of the banana pseudo-stem fiber can be analyzed using a shake flask test, according to Standard of Textiles Evaluation for antibacterial activity Part 3: Shake flask method, GB/T 20944.3-2008. Analysis of the effect of banana pseudo-stem fiber physical state on its antibacterial properties can be done as follows. Untreated/raw cotton was used as the control sample, and the antibacterial/treated cotton was used as the test sample. The antimicrobial properties were determined by calculating the bacteriostatic rate using Eq. (1).
\nwhere
where
The microorganisms that can be used for the antibacterial test are
Plant fibers | \nMoisture regain (%) | \n
---|---|
Banana pseudo-stem fiber | \n9.8–12 | \n
Cotton fiber | \n7.75–9.50 | \n
Flax fiber | \n9.24–10.50 | \n
Ramie fiber | \n6.81–9.80 | \n
Moisture regain of textile fiber.
As previously explained in the beginning, banana pseudo-stem usually becomes biomass waste once the harvest time of banana fruit is finished. Its disposal has become a major problem due to the amount of the waste. Therefore, researchers have started to extract the fibers and other components from the stem and used them to produce various value-added products. One of the most common banana pseudo-stem fiber products produced today is rope and cordage. The seawater resistance of the pseudo-stem fiber and its natural buoyancy characteristic have made a market for this fiber in the shipping cable manufacture. This fiber is also used to produce fishing nets, other types of cordage, mats, packaging, sheets, etc. Figure 9 shows some value-added products made of banana pseudo-stem fiber. Additionally, in the Edo period of Japan (1600–1868), banana pseudo-stem fiber was used to make traditional dresses such as kimono and kamishimo. This fiber is usually used due to its light weight and comfort. Furthermore, banana pseudo-stem fiber is also utilized to produce cushion cover, bag, table cloth, curtain, and others [38]. Additionally, there are some potential uses of banana fibers, such as: to be used as natural absorbent, for production of mushroom, arts/handicrafts, string thread, paper cardboard, tea bag and high-quality textiles/fabric materials, currency note paper, and many other products. The use of banana fiber as natural absorbent also has promising potential to absorb oil spilling in oil refinery. It also can be used as absorbent in colored wastewater from the dyes of textile industry [39, 40]. Banana and banana pseudo-stem contain pathogenesis proteins, which possess antimicrobial properties [39]. The pseudo-stem can also be converted into bio-fertilizer [41]. It also contains high amount of cellulose and starch, and thus it can be utilized as feed for cattle [15]. Moreover, there have been numerous research studies that reported the use of banana pseudo-stem fiber in fabrication of polymer/fiber composites [17, 42].
\nValue-added products made from banana pseudo-stem fiber: (a) banana fiber package; (b) banana fiber mat; (c) banana sheets; and (d) banana fiber textile/shirt.
Cellulosic cotton textile very easily catches flame, and it is very difficult to be extinguished. This problem of course poses a dangerous risk to life of human beings and textile products. Therefore, major efforts have been made in the past years to improve the flame retardancy of the cotton textile material by using many synthetic chemicals, which are available commercially. Phosphorous-based flame retardancy agents together with nitrogen-based compounds are the most effective combination that have been reported so far. However, there are some drawbacks such as high cost and not environmentally friendly [43]. Hence, there is a growing trend that focuses on more cost-effective, environmentally friendly methods, and sustainable fire-retardant products. Several literature studies have been reported on providing fire retardancy to the cotton textile material by using natural products. One of them is using the waste banana pseudo-stem sap (BPS) [36]. Banana pseudo-stem sap (BPS) is a liquid that is extracted from the banana pseudo-stem. Additionally, there are many more potential applications of banana pseudo-stem components. Figure 10 shows several value-added products made of components, which are derived from the banana pseudo-stem.
\nPotential applications of components from the banana pseudo-stem.
Banana plants are considered as one of the world’s most useful plants. Almost all of the parts of this plant, for example, fruit, peel, leaf, pseudo-stem, stalk, and inflorescence, can be utilized. The banana fruit itself is one of the most popular fruits that is a valuable commodity all around the world. Nevertheless, banana pseudo-stem usually becomes biomass waste once the harvest time of banana fruit is finished. Therefore, researchers have started to extract the fibers and other components from the stem and used them to produce various value-added products. The fibers from the banana pseudo-stem can be extracted by a decorticator machine. The next processes are retting and degumming of the fibers. The fibers derived from the banana pseudo-stem can be made into several value-added products, such as rope, cordage, fishing net, mat, packaging material, paper sheets, textile fabrics, bag, table cloth, handicrafts, absorbent, polymer/fiber composites, etc. Additionally, other components derived from the banana pseudo-stem can also be used. The central core can be used for making pickle, candy, and soft drink, whereas banana pseudo-stem sap (BPS) can be used for mordant for fixing a color and organic liquid fertilizer, while the scutcher can be used for making compost and vermi-compost.
\n"Open access contributes to scientific excellence and integrity. It opens up research results to wider analysis. It allows research results to be reused for new discoveries. And it enables the multi-disciplinary research that is needed to solve global 21st century problems. Open access connects science with society. It allows the public to engage with research. To go behind the headlines. And look at the scientific evidence. And it enables policy makers to draw on innovative solutions to societal challenges".
\n\nCarlos Moedas, the European Commissioner for Research Science and Innovation at the STM Annual Frankfurt Conference, October 2016.
",metaTitle:"About Open Access",metaDescription:"Open access contributes to scientific excellence and integrity. It opens up research results to wider analysis. It allows research results to be reused for new discoveries. And it enables the multi-disciplinary research that is needed to solve global 21st century problems. Open access connects science with society. It allows the public to engage with research. To go behind the headlines. And look at the scientific evidence. And it enables policy makers to draw on innovative solutions to societal challenges.\n\nCarlos Moedas, the European Commissioner for Research Science and Innovation at the STM Annual Frankfurt Conference, October 2016.",metaKeywords:null,canonicalURL:"about-open-access",contentRaw:'[{"type":"htmlEditorComponent","content":"The Open Access publishing movement started in the early 2000s when academic leaders from around the world participated in the formation of the Budapest Initiative. They developed recommendations for an Open Access publishing process, “which has worked for the past decade to provide the public with unrestricted, free access to scholarly research—much of which is publicly funded. Making the research publicly available to everyone—free of charge and without most copyright and licensing restrictions—will accelerate scientific research efforts and allow authors to reach a larger number of readers” (reference: http://www.budapestopenaccessinitiative.org)
\\n\\nIntechOpen’s co-founders, both scientists themselves, created the company while undertaking research in robotics at Vienna University. Their goal was to spread research freely “for scientists, by scientists’ to the rest of the world via the Open Access publishing model. The company soon became a signatory of the Budapest Initiative, which currently has more than 1000 supporting organizations worldwide, ranging from universities to funders.
\\n\\nAt IntechOpen today, we are still as committed to working with organizations and people who care about scientific discovery, to putting the academic needs of the scientific community first, and to providing an Open Access environment where scientists can maximize their contribution to scientific advancement. By opening up access to the world’s scientific research articles and book chapters, we aim to facilitate greater opportunity for collaboration, scientific discovery and progress. We subscribe wholeheartedly to the Open Access definition:
\\n\\n“By “open access” to [peer-reviewed research literature], we mean its free availability on the public internet, permitting any users to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of these articles, crawl them for indexing, pass them as data to software, or use them for any other lawful purpose, without financial, legal, or technical barriers other than those inseparable from gaining access to the internet itself. The only constraint on reproduction and distribution, and the only role for copyright in this domain, should be to give authors control over the integrity of their work and the right to be properly acknowledged and cited” (reference: http://www.budapestopenaccessinitiative.org)
\\n\\nOAI-PMH
\\n\\nAs a firm believer in the wider dissemination of knowledge, IntechOpen supports the Open Access Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting (OAI-PMH Version 2.0). Read more
\\n\\nLicense
\\n\\nBook chapters published in edited volumes are distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License (CC BY 3.0). IntechOpen upholds a very flexible Copyright Policy. There is no copyright transfer to the publisher and Authors retain exclusive copyright to their work. All Monographs/Compacts are distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0). Read more
\\n\\nPeer Review Policies
\\n\\nAll scientific works are Peer Reviewed prior to publishing. Read more
\\n\\nOA Publishing Fees
\\n\\nThe Open Access publishing model employed by IntechOpen eliminates subscription charges and pay-per-view fees, enabling readers to access research at no cost. In order to sustain operations and keep our publications freely accessible we levy an Open Access Publishing Fee for manuscripts, which helps us cover the costs of editorial work and the production of books. Read more
\\n\\nDigital Archiving Policy
\\n\\nIntechOpen is committed to ensuring the long-term preservation and the availability of all scholarly research we publish. We employ a variety of means to enable us to deliver on our commitments to the scientific community. Apart from preservation by the Croatian National Library (for publications prior to April 18, 2018) and the British Library (for publications after April 18, 2018), our entire catalogue is preserved in the CLOCKSS archive.
\\n\\nOpen Science is transparent and accessible knowledge that is shared and developed through collaborative networks.
\\n\\nOpen Science is about increased rigour, accountability, and reproducibility for research. It is based on the principles of inclusion, fairness, equity, and sharing, and ultimately seeks to change the way research is done, who is involved and how it is valued. It aims to make research more open to participation, review/refutation, improvement and (re)use for the world to benefit.
\\n\\nOpen Science refers to doing traditional science with more transparency involved at various stages, for example by openly sharing code and data. It implies a growing set of practices - within different disciplines - aiming at:
\\n\\nWe aim at improving the quality and availability of scholarly communication by promoting and practicing:
\\n\\n\\n"}]'},components:[{type:"htmlEditorComponent",content:'
The Open Access publishing movement started in the early 2000s when academic leaders from around the world participated in the formation of the Budapest Initiative. They developed recommendations for an Open Access publishing process, “which has worked for the past decade to provide the public with unrestricted, free access to scholarly research—much of which is publicly funded. Making the research publicly available to everyone—free of charge and without most copyright and licensing restrictions—will accelerate scientific research efforts and allow authors to reach a larger number of readers” (reference: http://www.budapestopenaccessinitiative.org)
\n\nIntechOpen’s co-founders, both scientists themselves, created the company while undertaking research in robotics at Vienna University. Their goal was to spread research freely “for scientists, by scientists’ to the rest of the world via the Open Access publishing model. The company soon became a signatory of the Budapest Initiative, which currently has more than 1000 supporting organizations worldwide, ranging from universities to funders.
\n\nAt IntechOpen today, we are still as committed to working with organizations and people who care about scientific discovery, to putting the academic needs of the scientific community first, and to providing an Open Access environment where scientists can maximize their contribution to scientific advancement. By opening up access to the world’s scientific research articles and book chapters, we aim to facilitate greater opportunity for collaboration, scientific discovery and progress. We subscribe wholeheartedly to the Open Access definition:
\n\n“By “open access” to [peer-reviewed research literature], we mean its free availability on the public internet, permitting any users to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of these articles, crawl them for indexing, pass them as data to software, or use them for any other lawful purpose, without financial, legal, or technical barriers other than those inseparable from gaining access to the internet itself. The only constraint on reproduction and distribution, and the only role for copyright in this domain, should be to give authors control over the integrity of their work and the right to be properly acknowledged and cited” (reference: http://www.budapestopenaccessinitiative.org)
\n\nOAI-PMH
\n\nAs a firm believer in the wider dissemination of knowledge, IntechOpen supports the Open Access Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting (OAI-PMH Version 2.0). Read more
\n\nLicense
\n\nBook chapters published in edited volumes are distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License (CC BY 3.0). IntechOpen upholds a very flexible Copyright Policy. There is no copyright transfer to the publisher and Authors retain exclusive copyright to their work. All Monographs/Compacts are distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0). Read more
\n\nPeer Review Policies
\n\nAll scientific works are Peer Reviewed prior to publishing. Read more
\n\nOA Publishing Fees
\n\nThe Open Access publishing model employed by IntechOpen eliminates subscription charges and pay-per-view fees, enabling readers to access research at no cost. In order to sustain operations and keep our publications freely accessible we levy an Open Access Publishing Fee for manuscripts, which helps us cover the costs of editorial work and the production of books. Read more
\n\nDigital Archiving Policy
\n\nIntechOpen is committed to ensuring the long-term preservation and the availability of all scholarly research we publish. We employ a variety of means to enable us to deliver on our commitments to the scientific community. Apart from preservation by the Croatian National Library (for publications prior to April 18, 2018) and the British Library (for publications after April 18, 2018), our entire catalogue is preserved in the CLOCKSS archive.
\n\nOpen Science is transparent and accessible knowledge that is shared and developed through collaborative networks.
\n\nOpen Science is about increased rigour, accountability, and reproducibility for research. It is based on the principles of inclusion, fairness, equity, and sharing, and ultimately seeks to change the way research is done, who is involved and how it is valued. It aims to make research more open to participation, review/refutation, improvement and (re)use for the world to benefit.
\n\nOpen Science refers to doing traditional science with more transparency involved at various stages, for example by openly sharing code and data. It implies a growing set of practices - within different disciplines - aiming at:
\n\nWe aim at improving the quality and availability of scholarly communication by promoting and practicing:
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Since the regulatory requirements and management strategies are required to be established and complied, sources of impurities shall be carefully classified prior to take subsequent steps such as development of analytical methods and acceptance criteria. Current international regulatory requirements for the management of impurities in pharmaceuticals were reviewed. Procedures for the identification of DPIs in pharmaceuticals, i.e., ethyl cysteinate dimer, (R)-N-methyl-3-(2-bromophenoxy)-3-phenylpropanamine, sestamibi, etc., using high-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) were studied. Scheme for the establishment of analytical methods and acceptance criteria of process-related impurities (PRIs) and DRIs in accordance with the requirements of International Council for Harmonization (ICH) and algorithm to perform the identification of DPIs by using LC-MS/MS has been proposed. Practice of kinetic study to distinguish PRIs and DRIs, determination of the potential core fragments coupled with a predicted list of relevant transformations for conducting MS/MS scans, applications of stable isotope distribution patterns or natural abundances, practice of mass balance, etc., have been well demonstrated to justify the reliabilities of identification results.",book:{id:"7710",slug:"quality-management-and-quality-control-new-trends-and-developments",title:"Quality Management and Quality Control",fullTitle:"Quality Management and Quality Control - New Trends and Developments"},signatures:"Kung-Tien Liu and Chien-Hsin Chen",authors:[{id:"36122",title:"PhD.",name:"Kung-Tien",middleName:null,surname:"Liu",slug:"kung-tien-liu",fullName:"Kung-Tien Liu"},{id:"153497",title:"Dr.",name:"Chien-Hsin",middleName:null,surname:"Chen",slug:"chien-hsin-chen",fullName:"Chien-Hsin Chen"}]},{id:"58966",title:"Quality Management Systems for Laboratories and External Quality Assurance Programs",slug:"quality-management-systems-for-laboratories-and-external-quality-assurance-programs",totalDownloads:4617,totalCrossrefCites:2,totalDimensionsCites:5,abstract:"A quality management system (QMS) plans, controls, and improves the elements that impact on the achievement of the desired results by the laboratory and on the satisfaction of the users. There are different standards that establish requirements for the implementation of a quality management system for laboratories, and a cross comparison between them is shown. Additionally, external quality assurance or assessment (EQA) programs offer multiple benefits to laboratories: method validation, comparing of results with other laboratories, testing problem identification, accreditation requirement compliance, and credibility. In order to control the quality of the procedures, these programs are a tool to keep the laboratory procedures and every variable involved in (staff, equipment, and method) well controlled. In the frame of a quality management system, benefits from external quality assurance programs are discussed, and different available designs are reviewed. On the other hand, previous benefits will be real only if reported results for each program are analyzed in detail. Because additional advantages are achieved when the EQA results are integrated in the quality management system of the laboratory, a procedure is proposed. In addition, results from external quality assurance programs corroborate the usefulness of internal controls implemented by the laboratory as part of its quality management system.",book:{id:"6325",slug:"quality-control-in-laboratory",title:"Quality Control in Laboratory",fullTitle:"Quality Control in Laboratory"},signatures:"Verónica Valdivieso-Gómez and Rocío Aguilar-Quesada",authors:[{id:"217457",title:"Ph.D.",name:"Rocio",middleName:null,surname:"Aguilar-Quesada",slug:"rocio-aguilar-quesada",fullName:"Rocio Aguilar-Quesada"},{id:"217467",title:"Ms.",name:"Veronica",middleName:null,surname:"Valdivieso-Gomez",slug:"veronica-valdivieso-gomez",fullName:"Veronica Valdivieso-Gomez"}]},{id:"41063",title:"Cosmetics’ Quality Control",slug:"cosmetics-quality-control",totalDownloads:12664,totalCrossrefCites:2,totalDimensionsCites:12,abstract:null,book:{id:"3276",slug:"latest-research-into-quality-control",title:"Latest Research into Quality Control",fullTitle:"Latest Research into Quality Control"},signatures:"Bruna Galdorfini Chiari, Maria Gabriela José de Almeida, Marcos Antonio Corrêa and Vera Lucia Borges Isaac",authors:[{id:"35801",title:"Dr.",name:"Vera",middleName:null,surname:"Isaac",slug:"vera-isaac",fullName:"Vera Isaac"},{id:"56070",title:"MSc.",name:"Bruna",middleName:null,surname:"Chiari",slug:"bruna-chiari",fullName:"Bruna Chiari"},{id:"56072",title:"Dr.",name:"Marcos Antonio",middleName:null,surname:"Corręa",slug:"marcos-antonio-correa",fullName:"Marcos Antonio Corręa"},{id:"154324",title:"BSc.",name:"Maria Gabriela José De",middleName:null,surname:"Almeida",slug:"maria-gabriela-jose-de-almeida",fullName:"Maria Gabriela José De Almeida"}]},{id:"58071",title:"Systematic Error Detection in Laboratory Medicine",slug:"systematic-error-detection-in-laboratory-medicine",totalDownloads:1752,totalCrossrefCites:4,totalDimensionsCites:4,abstract:"Measurements in laboratory medicine have a degree of uncertainty; this uncertainty is often called “error” and refers to imprecisions and inaccuracies in measurement. This measurement error refers to the difference between the true value of the measured sample and the measured value. One of the types of error is systematic error, also called bias, because these errors errors are reproducible and skew the results consistently in the same direction. A common approach to identify systematic error is to use control samples with a method comparison approach. An alternative is use of statistical methods that analyze actual patient values either as an “Average of Normals” or a “Moving Patient Averages.” Fundamental questions should be decided before a quality control method is used: how are weights assigned to the results? Is preference given to more recent samples or to the older samples? How sensitive should the model be? In this chapter, we will expand the fundamental notion of systematic error and explain why it is difficult to identify and measure and current statistical methods that are used to detect systematic error or bias.",book:{id:"6325",slug:"quality-control-in-laboratory",title:"Quality Control in Laboratory",fullTitle:"Quality Control in Laboratory"},signatures:"Amir Momeni-Boroujeni and Matthew R. 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Biochemistry examines macromolecules - proteins, nucleic acids, carbohydrates, and lipids – and their building blocks, structures, functions, and interactions. Much of biochemistry is devoted to enzymes, proteins that catalyze chemical reactions, enzyme structures, mechanisms of action and their roles within cells. Biochemistry also studies small signaling molecules, coenzymes, inhibitors, vitamins, and hormones, which play roles in life processes. Biochemical experimentation, besides coopting classical chemistry methods, e.g., chromatography, adopted new techniques, e.g., X-ray diffraction, electron microscopy, NMR, radioisotopes, and developed sophisticated microbial genetic tools, e.g., auxotroph mutants and their revertants, fermentation, etc. More recently, biochemistry embraced the ‘big data’ omics systems. Initial biochemical studies have been exclusively analytic: dissecting, purifying, and examining individual components of a biological system; in the apt words of Efraim Racker (1913 –1991), “Don’t waste clean thinking on dirty enzymes.” Today, however, biochemistry is becoming more agglomerative and comprehensive, setting out to integrate and describe entirely particular biological systems. The ‘big data’ metabolomics can define the complement of small molecules, e.g., in a soil or biofilm sample; proteomics can distinguish all the comprising proteins, e.g., serum; metagenomics can identify all the genes in a complex environment, e.g., the bovine rumen. This Biochemistry Series will address the current research on biomolecules and the emerging trends with great promise.",coverUrl:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/series/covers/11.jpg",latestPublicationDate:"June 29th, 2022",hasOnlineFirst:!0,numberOfPublishedBooks:32,editor:{id:"31610",title:"Dr.",name:"Miroslav",middleName:null,surname:"Blumenberg",slug:"miroslav-blumenberg",fullName:"Miroslav Blumenberg",profilePictureURL:"https://mts.intechopen.com/storage/users/31610/images/system/31610.jpg",biography:"Miroslav Blumenberg, Ph.D., was born in Subotica and received his BSc in Belgrade, Yugoslavia. He completed his Ph.D. at MIT in Organic Chemistry; he followed up his Ph.D. with two postdoctoral study periods at Stanford University. Since 1983, he has been a faculty member of the RO Perelman Department of Dermatology, NYU School of Medicine, where he is codirector of a training grant in cutaneous biology. Dr. Blumenberg’s research is focused on the epidermis, expression of keratin genes, transcription profiling, keratinocyte differentiation, inflammatory diseases and cancers, and most recently the effects of the microbiome on the skin. He has published more than 100 peer-reviewed research articles and graduated numerous Ph.D. and postdoctoral students.",institutionString:null,institution:{name:"New York University Langone Medical Center",institutionURL:null,country:{name:"United States of America"}}},editorTwo:null,editorThree:null},subseries:{paginationCount:4,paginationItems:[{id:"38",title:"Pollution",coverUrl:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/series_topics/covers/38.jpg",isOpenForSubmission:!0,editor:{id:"110740",title:"Dr.",name:"Ismail M.M.",middleName:null,surname:"Rahman",slug:"ismail-m.m.-rahman",fullName:"Ismail M.M. Rahman",profilePictureURL:"https://mts.intechopen.com/storage/users/110740/images/2319_n.jpg",biography:"Ismail Md. Mofizur Rahman (Ismail M. M. Rahman) assumed his current responsibilities as an Associate Professor at the Institute of Environmental Radioactivity, Fukushima University, Japan, in Oct 2015. He also has an honorary appointment to serve as a Collaborative Professor at Kanazawa University, Japan, from Mar 2015 to the present. \nFormerly, Dr. Rahman was a faculty member of the University of Chittagong, Bangladesh, affiliated with the Department of Chemistry (Oct 2002 to Mar 2012) and the Department of Applied Chemistry and Chemical Engineering (Mar 2012 to Sep 2015). Dr. Rahman was also adjunctly attached with Kanazawa University, Japan (Visiting Research Professor, Dec 2014 to Mar 2015; JSPS Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Apr 2012 to Mar 2014), and Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan (TokyoTech-UNESCO Research Fellow, Oct 2004–Sep 2005). \nHe received his Ph.D. degree in Environmental Analytical Chemistry from Kanazawa University, Japan (2011). He also achieved a Diploma in Environment from the Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan (2005). Besides, he has an M.Sc. degree in Applied Chemistry and a B.Sc. degree in Chemistry, all from the University of Chittagong, Bangladesh. \nDr. Rahman’s research interest includes the study of the fate and behavior of environmental pollutants in the biosphere; design of low energy and low burden environmental improvement (remediation) technology; implementation of sustainable waste management practices for treatment, handling, reuse, and ultimate residual disposition of solid wastes; nature and type of interactions in organic liquid mixtures for process engineering design applications.",institutionString:null,institution:{name:"Fukushima University",institutionURL:null,country:{name:"Japan"}}},editorTwo:{id:"201020",title:"Dr.",name:"Zinnat Ara",middleName:null,surname:"Begum",slug:"zinnat-ara-begum",fullName:"Zinnat Ara Begum",profilePictureURL:"https://mts.intechopen.com/storage/users/201020/images/system/201020.jpeg",biography:"Zinnat A. Begum received her Ph.D. in Environmental Analytical Chemistry from Kanazawa University in 2012. She achieved her Master of Science (M.Sc.) degree with a major in Applied Chemistry and a Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) in Chemistry, all from the University of Chittagong, Bangladesh. Her work affiliations include Fukushima University, Japan (Visiting Research Fellow, Institute of Environmental Radioactivity: Mar 2016 to present), Southern University Bangladesh (Assistant Professor, Department of Civil Engineering: Jan 2015 to present), and Kanazawa University, Japan (Postdoctoral Fellow, Institute of Science and Engineering: Oct 2012 to Mar 2014; Research fellow, Venture Business Laboratory, Advanced Science and Social Co-Creation Promotion Organization: Apr 2018 to Mar 2021). The research focus of Dr. Zinnat includes the effect of the relative stability of metal-chelator complexes in the environmental remediation process designs and the development of eco-friendly soil washing techniques using biodegradable chelators.",institutionString:null,institution:{name:"Fukushima University",institutionURL:null,country:{name:"Japan"}}},editorThree:null},{id:"39",title:"Environmental Resilience and Management",coverUrl:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/series_topics/covers/39.jpg",isOpenForSubmission:!0,editor:{id:"137040",title:"Prof.",name:"Jose",middleName:null,surname:"Navarro-Pedreño",slug:"jose-navarro-pedreno",fullName:"Jose Navarro-Pedreño",profilePictureURL:"https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/intech-files/0030O00002bRAXrQAO/Profile_Picture_2022-03-09T15:50:19.jpg",biography:"Full professor at University Miguel Hernández of Elche, Spain, previously working at the University of Alicante, Autonomous University of Madrid and Polytechnic University of Valencia. Graduate in Sciences (Chemist), graduate in Geography and History (Geography), master in Water Management, Treatment, master in Fertilizers and Environment and master in Environmental Management; Ph.D. in Environmental Sciences. His research is focused on soil-water and waste-environment relations, mainly on soil-water and soil-waste interactions under different management and waste reuse. His work is reflected in more than 230 communications presented in national and international conferences and congresses, 29 invited lectures from universities, associations and government agencies. Prof. Navarro-Pedreño is also a director of the Ph.D. Program Environment and Sustainability (2012-present) and a member of several societies among which are the Spanish Society of Soil Science, International Union of Soil Sciences, European Society for Soil Conservation, DessertNet and the Spanish Royal Society of Chemistry.",institutionString:"Miguel Hernández University of Elche, Spain",institution:null},editorTwo:null,editorThree:null},{id:"40",title:"Ecosystems and Biodiversity",coverUrl:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/series_topics/covers/40.jpg",isOpenForSubmission:!0,editor:{id:"209149",title:"Prof.",name:"Salustiano",middleName:null,surname:"Mato",slug:"salustiano-mato",fullName:"Salustiano Mato",profilePictureURL:"https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/intech-files/0030O00002bRLREQA4/Profile_Picture_2022-03-31T10:23:50.png",biography:"Salustiano Mato de la Iglesia (Santiago de Compostela, 1960) is a doctor in biology from the University of Santiago and a Professor of zoology at the Department of Ecology and Animal Biology at the University of Vigo. He has developed his research activity in the fields of fauna and soil ecology, and in the treatment of organic waste, having been the founder and principal investigator of the Environmental Biotechnology Group of the University of Vigo.\r\nHis research activity in the field of Environmental Biotechnology has been focused on the development of novel organic waste treatment systems through composting. 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She has focused her research activity on the taxonomy, fauna and ecology of aquatic beetles, in addition to other lines of research such as the conservation of biodiversity in freshwater ecosystems; conservation of protected areas (Red Natura 2000) and assessment of the effectiveness of wetlands as priority areas for the conservation of aquatic invertebrates; studies of water quality in freshwater ecosystems through biological indicators and physicochemical parameters; surveillance and research of vector arthropods and invasive alien species.",institutionString:null,institution:{name:"University of Vigo",institutionURL:null,country:{name:"Spain"}}},editorThree:{id:"464288",title:"Dr.",name:"Francisco",middleName:null,surname:"Ramil",slug:"francisco-ramil",fullName:"Francisco Ramil",profilePictureURL:"https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/intech-files/0033Y00003RI7lHQAT/Profile_Picture_2022-03-31T10:15:35.png",biography:"Fran Ramil Blanco (Porto de Espasante, A Coruña, 1960), is a doctor in biology from the University of Santiago de Compostela and a Professor of Zoology at the Department of Ecology and Animal Biology at the University of Vigo. His research activity is linked to the taxonomy, fauna and ecology of marine benthic invertebrates and especially the Cnidarian group. Since 2004, he has been part of the EcoAfrik project, aimed at the study, protection and conservation of biodiversity and benthic habitats in West Africa. He also participated in the study of vulnerable marine ecosystems associated with seamounts in the South Atlantic and is involved in training young African researchers in the field of marine research.",institutionString:null,institution:{name:"University of Vigo",institutionURL:null,country:{name:"Spain"}}}},{id:"41",title:"Water Science",coverUrl:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/series_topics/covers/41.jpg",isOpenForSubmission:!0,editor:{id:"349630",title:"Dr.",name:"Yizi",middleName:null,surname:"Shang",slug:"yizi-shang",fullName:"Yizi Shang",profilePictureURL:"https://mts.intechopen.com/storage/users/349630/images/system/349630.jpg",biography:"Prof. Dr. Yizi Shang is a pioneering researcher in hydrology and water resources who has devoted his research career to promoting the conservation and protection of water resources for sustainable development. He is presently associate editor of Water International (official journal of the International Water Resources Association). He was also invited to serve as an associate editor for special issues of the Journal of the American Water Resources Association. He has served as an editorial member for international journals such as Hydrology, Journal of Ecology & Natural Resources, and Hydro Science & Marine Engineering, among others. He has chaired or acted as a technical committee member for twenty-five international forums (conferences). Dr. Shang graduated from Tsinghua University, China, in 2010 with a Ph.D. in Engineering. Prior to that, he worked as a research fellow at Harvard University from 2008 to 2009. 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He received his Ph.D. in Environmental Analytical Chemistry from Assiut University, Egypt, in 1989. His research interest is in analytical and environmental chemistry with special emphasis on: (1) monitoring and assessing biological trace elements and toxic metals in human blood, urine, water, crops, vegetables, and medicinal plants; (2) relationships between environmental heavy metals and human diseases; (3) uses of biological indicators for monitoring water pollution; (4) environmental chemistry of lakes, rivers, and well water; (5) water and wastewater treatment by adsorption and photocatalysis techniques; (6) soil and water pollution monitoring, control, and treatment; and (7) advanced oxidation treatment. Prof. Rashed has supervised several MSc and Ph.D. theses in the field of analytical and environmental chemistry. He served as an examiner for several Ph.D. theses in analytical chemistry in India, Kazakhstan, and Botswana. He has published about ninety scientific papers in peer-reviewed international journals and several papers in national and international conferences. He participated as an invited speaker at thirty international conferences. Prof. Rashed is the editor-in-chief and an editorial board member for several international journals in the fields of chemistry and environment. He is a member of several national and international societies. He received the Egyptian State Award for Environmental Research in 2001 and the Aswan University Merit Award for Basic Science in 2020. 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