Environmental impact assessment on a plant located inside a lagoon

Coral reefs are very important as they provide a foundation habitat for many aquatic species. Corals are marine invertebrates that exist as communities of polyps. Occasionally when corals experience physical stresses, the polyps expel their symbiotic zooxanthellae resulting in a white appearance. This is commonly described as “coral bleaching”. The Arabian Gulf is well known as one of the most extreme environments in which zooxanthellate coral reef communities occur. A combination of both extremely high and low temperatures as well as high salinities, combined with shallow profile of the coastal waters (high luminosity) imply high stress for coral physiology that may explain much of the coral bleaching and mortality events observed during the last decade. We initiated a series of laboratory experiments (microcosms: ecosystems under controlled conditions) to understand the impact of specific environmental parameters on Qatari coral health under controlled lab conditions. To draw a conclusion about optimum conditions and tolerance range for corals in Qatari waters, Porites sp. nubbins, collected from natural coral reefs North of Qatar, were cultured in pre-acclimatized laboratory aquaria. Orthogonal experiments were conducted to test the physiological response of corals under 3 stress stimuli: salinity, light intensity and temperature. Imaging-Pulse Amplitude Modulation Fluorometry (Imaging-PAM) and buoyant weight were utilized during experiment to measure photosynthetic performance and growth of the corals. Results revealed that elevated levels of temperature and salinity have a statistically significant effect on Symbiodinium photosynthetic activity; while light intensity did not. High level of salinity (50 psu) affected the corals’ photosynthetic efficiency. As a result, corals’ weight dropped down causing partial bleaching which was noticed at day 10 of the experiment with faded spots that covered the corals’ body and allowing other algae to overgrow. The decrease in photosynthetic activities of the in-hospite Symbiodinium under acute salinities and temperature levels were effectively observed through Imaging-PAM only after the 6th day of exposure. This suggests that in-hospite Symbiodinium of Porites sp. are affected only in relatively prolonged extreme conditions. A fast and comprehensive recovery of Porites sp. health could; therefore, be possible for short exposure to extreme temperature or salinity conditions. These results are very important to address the coral mortality and bleaching events occurring in Qatari coastal waters and may help establish guidelines for coral relocation efforts in Qatar marine environment or the identification of potential impacts of thermal pollution on coral reefs in Qatari waters due to industrial discharges from power or desalination plants.

The existing water distribution network in Abu Dhabi Island has been constructed in the last 35 years. Operation and maintenance reports indicate that the condition of the older sections of the existing network is deteriorating and pipelines may need to be rehabilitated or replaced. There has, therefore, been a growing need for the Abu Dhabi Distribution Company (ADDC) to develop a renewal plan due to more stringent service levels enforced by the regulator (Regulation and Supervision Bureau), namely, more stringent water quality requirements, increases in water demand due to new developments, and increased accountability towards the public. In order to address this issue, ADDC commissioned MWH in April 2010, to undertake a Condition Assessment of the Abu Dhabi water distribution network on Abu Dhabi Island within 52 of 152 sectors.

Environmental impact assessment of off shore oil spill on desalination plant

This article, written by JPT Technology Editor Chris Carpenter, contains highlights of paper SPE 171836, “ICD Well History and Future Use in Giant Offshore Field, Abu Dhabi,” by Graham Edmonstone, Curtis Kofoed, Alfred Jackson, Shardul Parihar, Adriana Alvarez, Saad Mumtaz, and Ghassan Abdouche, Zakum Development Company, and Chris Shuchart, Christian Mayer, and Andrey Troshko, ExxonMobil, prepared for the 2014 Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference, Abu Dhabi, 10–13 November. The paper has not been peer reviewed. As part of a project that involves the use of four artificial islands to drill and complete more than 300 extended-reach-drilling (ERD) wells in a giant offshore oil field, several completion designs have been piloted for brownfield development. One well design incorporated the use of inflow-control devices (ICDs) and swell packers, which was the operator’s first use of such technology in a production well. The technology was installed in the pilot well to test inflow control and to manage future water production. Introduction The giant 1200-km2 offshore oil field is located 84 km northwest off Abu Dhabi Island and consists of a layered carbonate formation that was discovered in 1963. It has still only produced a small percentage of original oil in place, with water cut (WC) less than 15%. There have been almost 500 wells drilled in the field since field discovery. Development was based on pattern producer/injector wells, with each well using a dry tree on a wellhead platform tower. To achieve the strategic goal of increasing the production rate by approximately 40% and maintaining a plateau for up to 25 years, a brownfield development plan (UZ-750) has been generated that will use four artificial islands (Fig. 1) with large 3,000-hp land drilling rigs. The aforementioned island arrangement will allow the drilling of approximately 360 wells that will use ERD to drill horizontal laterals approximately 10,000 ft in length at measured depths up to 35,000 ft. The brownfield development plan calls for a parallel line drive for producer/injector-well pairs, to provide optimum sweep of the reservoir. The well-completion type is determined by geologically defined areas, which are differentiated by High- and low-permeability regions Faulted and fractured regions Transition regions Current (predicted) oil-water-saturation profiles The well-design process takes these into account along with sector modeling to determine well-completion design for the life of the well. Typically, wells in the crest of the field will have an ICD liner, in the near west of the field will have a predrilled liner, and in the west/ far northwest of the field will have a stimulation liner.

Coral ecosystems are very important as they provide a foundation habitat to many aquatic species. Laboratory experiments (microcosms: ecosystems under controlled conditions) were initiated to understand Qatari corals physiology. Coral samples were collected and nubbins were cultured in pre-acclimatized laboratory aquaria. Acute orthogonal experiments for two weeks were conducted to test the health of the corals under 3 stress stimuli: salinity, light intensity and temperature. Imaging-Pulse Amplitude Modulation Fluorometry (Imaging-PAM) and buoyant weight were utilized during experiment to measure photosynthetic performance and growth of the corals. We were able to detect biological responses of the corals to stress stimuli using Imaging-PAM parameters Maximum Quantum Yield (Fv/Fm), Electronic Transfer Rate (ETR) and Non-Photochemical Quenching (NPQ). High levels of temperature and salinity caused damages to the corals, while light intensity did not have negative impact on the photosynthetic activity. OBJECTIVE To establish corals culture under laboratory controlled conditions and detect biological (growth)/ physiological (photosynthesis) responses in corals to different levels of stress stimuli: salinity, light intensity and temperature using Imaging-PAM and buoyant weight. METHODOLOGY Corals samples were collected from mother colonies from different location in Qatar (Umm Al-Arshan and Fuwayirt). Acclimatization process started immediately after reception at laboratory by adding collected corals gradually into pre-acclimatized laboratory aquarium. Corals were stressed for 12 days under 3 stress stimuli (separately): salinity, light intensity and temperature. PAM measurements were taken every 3 days until the end of the experiment. Weight of individual corals was measured at the beginning and at the end. RESULTS & DISCUSSION Results revealed that elevated levels of temperature and salinity have statistically significant effect on Symbidonuim photosynthetic activity; while light intensity did not. High level of salinity (50 psu) affected the corals photosynthetic efficiency (Fv/ Fm) by causing a drop to a very low range (0.28). As a result, corals weight dropped down too. In contrary to salinity, elevated light intensities showed normal regime of efficiency in ETR. Photoadaptive mechanisms of corals (NPQ) allowed them to cope with available light; these mechanisms allowed many coral species to maintain metabolic functions over a broad light rang. The growth rate on the other hand increased with increasing lights. Finally, Porites Symbidonuim are highly sensitive to increases in temperature up to 38°C, where they exhibited complete death bleached and PAM parameters Fv/Fm, ETR and NPQ dropped to zero value. CONCLUSION Salinity, light intensity and temperature are considered the most important ecological factors for corals growth. Using high-resolution fluorescence Imaging-PAM combined with its derived detailed image and gain percentage allowed us to identify the stress that is caused by elevated levels of these parameters. High salinities (50 psu) and temperatures (38°C) affect the photosynthetic activities of the in hospite Symbidonuim of Porites. Photosynthetic activity is completely shutoff under 38°C temperatures and an exposure of more than 6 days, damage was detected by PAM. FUTURE WORK PAM associated to genetic identification tools (transcriptomics) by correlating species tolerance to different stress stimuli sounds to be very promising to better understand coral response mechanism.

Following the World Health Organization statement 'Health for all', family medicine is a specialty that provides continuing, comprehensive healthcare to individuals and their families. Despite that, it is still not yet utilized to its full potential by the developing Middle-Eastern community. The aim of our study is to assess the perception and utilization of family medicine services among Abu Dhabi Island's community. A cross-sectional study was conducted targeting Abu Dhabi Island's community. A representative sample with 95% confidence level and 5% margin of error was calculated taking into consideration the latest report by the Abu Dhabi Statistics Center. A total of 395 adult participants were included in the study, who were asked to fill in an electronic-based validated questionnaire. SPSS software was then used for data analysis. Majority of participants were UAE nationals (81%) and married (71.1%), with almost equal male (50.4%) to female ratio (49.6%). Participants had positive experiences in primary healthcare (PHC) overall, regardless of their gender, nationality and marital status. Positive experience percentages dropped with higher age and educational level (P-value <0.05). A better understanding was noticed among ≥50 years of age with the rightful destination for emergency symptoms (P-value <0.05). Participants overall agreed on PHC being the preferred allocation for treatment of fever, body aches and sore throat. Primary healthcare centres were chosen as preferred destinations for emergency and non-emergency cases, as the vast majority had positive experiences when attending them.

Corrosion experience data bank system for desalination and power plants (corex)

This study aims to enhance aquaculture efficiency by evaluating the interactive effects of salinity and temperature on hatching success in two Artemia species: Artemia salina, collected from the Libyan Zwara salt flats, and Artemia franciscana, imported from the United States. Experimental trials were conducted using 1.6 g of dry cysts per species, exposed to seven salinity levels (20–40 g/L) and three temperature conditions (25°C, 28°C, and 32°C).Results indicated that A. salina achieved a maximum hatching rate of 62.5% at 28°C and 25 g/L after 48 hours, while A. franciscana reached a peak of 96.8% at 25°C and 25 g/L after 36 hours. These findings underscore distinct interspecific differences in hatching efficiency and environmental tolerance. A. franciscana exhibited greater resilience to elevated salinity and temperature levels, maintaining high hatching success even at 32°C. In contrast, A. salina showed a marked decline in hatching rates under the same thermal condition.Two-way Anova analysis revealed statistically significant interactions between salinity and temperature, emphasizing the importance of optimizing these parameters to improve cyst hatchability in hatchery settings.

Minimize the negative impact of oil contamination on Abu Dhabi power and desalination plants

An environmental impact assessment is an assessment of the possible positive or negative impact that a proposed project may have on the environment, together consisting of the natural, social and economic aspects. Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) of Masjid-I-Sulaiman desalination and operating unit’s project in the southern of Iran using Rapid Impact Assessment Matrix (RIAM) method is presented. The field is located between 32° 06' 53.60'' North and 40° 10' 54.18'' East, in the Masjid-I-Sulaiman area. It is planned to produce rate of 55,000 oil barrels per day. In this study, an attempt was made to identify and assess the likely key impacts of desalination and operating units in two phases: Construction and Operation. In the evaluation process, positive and negative environmental impacts of Masjid-I-Sulaiman desalination and operating units were assessed based on the results of multi-disciplinary team approach and the field survey data using RIAM method. In this regard, given that in today’s world for a closer look at the environmental impact of development projects and achieve a safer reply, using new implementation methods such as MCDM can be appropriate. The results of assessment reveal that the percent volumetric positive effects in alternative 1is more than percent volumetric negative impact on the second alternative, therefore the implementation of the project with some mitigation plans and monitoring program for the alternative 1 was chosen as a best option is accepted. Then on the basis of current evaluation suggest monitoring program and mitigation plans.

National law, National Oil Companies (NOC) codes of practice and environmental authority Health, Safety, Environmental Impact Assessment (HSEIA) Instruction stipulate the requirement for waste management, physical environmental damage limitation and anti-pollution procedures. These requirements are well known within the oil and gas industry regardless of geographical location. Emirate of Abu Dhabi National law exists for the protection of the environment and the species therein (Abu Dhabi 1999a &amp; b). There also exists the Environment Agency - Abu Dhabi (EAD), established in 1996 for the protection of the environment in the Emirate (Abu Dhabi 1993; Abu Dhabi 2005). The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) has comprehensive, rigorous, and established Codes of Practice (CoP), as substantially revised in 2014. All quality geophysical and seismic acquisition contractors have robust health, safety and environment management systems (HSEMS) which bridge with mandated legislation and client CoPs. Historically, the Emirate's existing marine mammal environmental mitigation used for offshore seismic surveys were loosely based on third party HSEIA requirements and stipulated Joint National Conservation Council (JNCC) guidelines; applicable to deep-water towed streamer operations. The extensive transition zone areas of Abu Dhabi cannot accommodate towed streamer acquisition inside 100+km of the shoreline due to shallow water, islands and shoals. Our opinion was; where mitigation instruction is only partially applicable then contract and HSE complications were likely and this was found to be the case. We hypothesised that thorough and rigorous analysis of environmental data collection, specific mitigation instructions better suited to the acquisition could be formed and made relevant to the survey areas. Further, data collection used for progressive mitigation purposes and used as proof of effect could also enhance environmental knowledge known to be data deficient (Marsh 2015). From 2014 to 2017, 3D transition zone seismic surveys were conducted in the Marawah Marine Protected Area; a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Area, which hosts several environmental sensitivities and protected species. These include the second largest, known population of Dugong (Dugong dugon), nesting sites of the Hawksbill turtle (Eretmochelys imbricate), and approximately 10% to 12% of the world population of Socotra Cormorant (Phalacrocorax nigrogularis). Each of those species appear on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List. We approached the marine environmental mitigation issue to improve existing instruction such that mitigation was applicable, robust, and in a final form could be used as Technical Guidance Notes (TGN) for future shallow water seismic surveys in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. We suggest the value of environmental monitoring during seismic acquisition can extend further than pure compliance and observation of required mitigation. We show the design and application of a comprehensive environmental monitoring program in association with an obliging seismic contractor can bring specific and substantial environmental benefits, extends working relationships with environment agencies and other offshore stakeholders, and brings a heightened environmental awareness within the industry and environmental community.

&lt;p&gt;The carbonate and physicochemical characteristics of the surface microlayer and upper mixed layer of a tropical coastal lagoon were investigated. Data on the physicochemical parameters generally indicated a moderately polluted ecosystem. The influence of the ocean environment over the Lagoon system was evident by elevated salinity levels. The mean total dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) for the surface microlayer (SML) and subsurface water (SSW) samples were 2626.6 and 2550.9 &amp;micro;mol/kg SW respectively. The dominant inorganic form of DIC in the lagoon water samples was HCO&lt;sub&gt;3&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;sup&gt;-&lt;/sup&gt; with a calculated average abundance &amp;gt;95.4% in the SML and &amp;gt;94% in the SSW. The bicarbonate species derived abundance varied between 1.6% (SML) and 8.4% (SSW), while the aqueous carbon dioxide were generally low in percentages ranging from 0.4 in SSW to 1.5 in SML water samples. In general, the occurrence of the carbonate species was in the order HCO&lt;sub&gt;3&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;sup&gt;-&lt;/sup&gt; &amp;gt; CO&lt;sub&gt;3&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;sup&gt;2-&lt;/sup&gt; &amp;gt; CO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt;. Results showed that total alkalinity (A&lt;sub&gt;T&lt;/sub&gt;) was relatively greater than the DIC. Long term monitoring studies in the coastal lagoon systems is needed to understand the coastal water chemistry and pollution status.&lt;/p&gt;

Alternative approach for assessment and limitation of environmental impacts from desalination plant water discharges by substitution of the „mixing zone” by a „minimum dilution volume”

The Arabian Gulf is well known as being probably the most extreme environment in which zooxanthellate coral reef communities occur. A combination of both extremely high and low temperatures as well as high salinities, combined with shallow profile of the coastal waters (high luminosity) imply high stress for coral physiology that may explain much of the coral bleaching events observed during the last decade. We proposed to investigate corals Symbiodinium response to different levels of those three elements. Among the different available methods; fluorescence technique (Imaging Pulse Amplitude Modulation - PAM) and buoyant weight were used to assess photosynthetic activity and health stress. Porites sp. samples were collected from two Qatari marine areas and exposed to high levels of the three essential elements in controlled laboratory conditions. Our results suggested that Imaging-PAM parameters (Maximum Quantum Yield Fv/Fm, Electronic Transfer Rate ETR, and Non-Photochemical Quenching NPQ) and growth gain percentage provided useful routine tools to detect stress situation in hospite Symbiodinium in Porites sp. Moreover, the high resolution images derived from PAM were able to capture the stress before it become visible to observer eyes. Elevated levels of temperature (38 °C) and salinity (50 psu) negatively influenced corals health and caused death events. Coral bleaching started after the sixth day of exposure suggesting that coral are affected only when extreme conditions persists for more than one week. With regards to raised light intensity, no stress was detected; in contrary growth and photosynthetic efficiency increased.

Objectives: The aim of the study is to measure the percentage of patients receiving health education services regarding diagnosis, treatment, prevention, health promotion, and its relation to the satisfaction level in primary healthcare (PHC) centers in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Patients and Methods: This is a cross-sectional study using a questionnaire targeting the population aged 18 and above who attend PHC centers in Abu Dhabi Island. A total number of 333 participants were enrolled in this study. Results: About 89.6% of participants reported receiving health education regarding diagnosis, treatment, prevention, and health promotion. 81% of health education was delivered by the physician using verbal methods, 94.4% of the participants reported it to be the most preferred method. A relationship was found between health education and satisfaction level (P = 0.000). 86.4% were satisfied with the health education service they received. The main reasons of satisfaction included provider medical knowledge 43.6% and good communication skills 41.2% (P = 0.045). A correlation was found between patient satisfaction and the continuity of care of participants as 88.2% who are satisfied reported will revisit the same physician (P = 0.000). Conclusions: Majority of the patients received health education about diagnosis, treatment, prevention, and health promotion. Most of them preferred a verbal method to be delivered by a physician. Moreover, participants who received health education found to be more satisfied and complaint with their follow-up as well as recommend the physician to others. The main reason for dissatisfaction was the provider's poor medical knowledge and poor communication skills. Therefore, physicians may need training courses to achieve better communication skills and to improve medical knowledge delivered to patients.