Heavy Industrial Structure Research Articles

Energy intensity convergence among Chinese provinces: a Theil index decomposition analysis

China, the world’s largest carbon emitter, has one of the most stringent provincial emissions reduction programs, incorporated into its Five-Year National Plan to reduce carbon emissions. However, the widening energy intensity gap between provinces poses a great challenge for carbon reduction. In this study, we analyze the convergence of Energy intensity (EIC), i.e., the time-dependent decrease of differences among regional energy intensity over time focusing on a data set of 30 Chinese provinces from 2000 to 2015. Our goal is to identify the provinces that are responsible for the observed divergence in energy intensity and identify the factors causing that divergence in each individual case. The Theil index is used to capture inter-provincial energy inequality. We use the LMDI decomposition analysis to identify the drivers of energy inequality (energy consumption structure, energy efficiency, and industrial structure). The results suggest that reducing energy intensity in Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang, and Hebei is the key to solving China's increasing energy intensity “gap” dilemma. The factors causing the energy intensity divergence in Inner Mongolia and Xinjiang are related to lagging economic growth and low energy efficiency, which impedes carbon emission reductions significantly. The factors causing the divergence of energy intensity in Hebei are rooted in its heavy industrial structure. Our findings are directly applicable to crafting regional energy policy with more targeted and practical emission reduction programs.

Measuring Zero-Waste City Performance of a Coal Resource-Based Area in China with MCDM Approach

The zero-waste city is one of the most visionary initiatives for solving waste problems by enhancing the life cycle solid waste management system. However, the development level of ZW city construction remains unclear. Resource-based areas tend to produce large amounts of industrial solid waste, and achieving a zero-waste city is difficult due to insufficient resource utilization capacity. This study proposed a practical integrated MCDM approach to assess the performance of the ZW city and applied the approach to a typical coal resource-based province in China. The spatiotemporal characteristics and factors influencing the performance of zero-waste cities in each city were further explored. The performance levels increased during the study period; however, the growth rate of most cities is slow. Spatially, the performance levels of zero-waste cities gradually decreased from south to north, showing a radiation pattern with Taiyuan at its core. Challenges toward zero-waste city development were further identified, including heavy industrial structure, widespread underutilization of industrial solid waste, inadequate management of hazardous solid waste, low rate of urban domestic waste classification, and ineffective treatment. The approach gives a holistic and broader picture of the zero-waste management performance, which enables us to identify the challenges in promoting zero-waste cities.

Performance Evaluation of Reducing Consumption of Energy in the Yangtze River Delta under the Background of Low‐Carbon Economy

With global climate change and rapid environmental degradation, reducing energy consumption has attracted widespread attention worldwide. The Yangtze River Delta is a major province in China in terms of energy consumption and pollutant emissions. After adopting a series of energy‐saving and emission‐reduction measures, the Yangtze River Delta has achieved certain results. However, at present, the Yangtze River Delta region has a serious heavy industrial structure and many “two high and one capital” industries, which play a huge role in driving GDP growth. This situation will inevitably aggravate the contradiction between the three systems of energy, environment, and economy. In this context, a scientific and reasonable evaluation of the performance of reducing energy consumption and further promoting the implementation of reducing energy consumption in the Yangtze River Delta. It is conducive to achieving low carbon and energy conservation in the Yangtze River Basin provinces. In order to comprehensively examine and evaluate the consumption reduction performance of the Yangtze River Basin provinces, promote the scientific management of consumption reduction performance, and promote consumption reduction, this paper integrates the concept of low‐carbon economy into the evaluation of consumption reduction performance of the Yangtze River Basin provinces. Combining the connotation of energy consumption reduction and low‐carbon economy, this paper constructs a comprehensive and scientific evaluation index system for energy consumption reduction performance in the Yangtze River Delta region from three aspects: economy, energy, and environment. At the same time, the TOPSIS method and the full alignment polygon graphical index method are used to evaluate the energy consumption reduction performance of the Yangtze River Delta region from 2010 to 2020. Through the analysis, the following conclusions can be drawn: the overall performance level of energy consumption reduction in the Yangtze River Delta region is average; the coordination between economy, energy, and environment is poor. Through the gray correlation analysis of energy consumption reduction performance, it is found that the current energy consumption structure plays a decisive role in reducing energy consumption; therefore, energy consumption coefficient, industrial structure, and government incentives also play a key role in reducing energy consumption.

Regional Heterogeneity of Carbon Emissions and Peaking Path of Carbon Emissions in the Bohai Rim Region

Taking the Bohai Rim region as the research object and based on the relevant data of energy consumption, GDP, and energy structure from 2000 to 2019, the total carbon emissions of the provinces and cities from 2020 to 2050 were predicted. The carbon peak situation of each province and municipality in the Bohai Rim region was also analyzed. A comparative analysis of the peaks among the provinces and cities has been carried out. The results show the following: (1) it is predicted that Beijing will reach its carbon peak before 2025. Tianjin is predicted to reach its carbon peak before 2030. Renewable energy development and utilization technologies in the two municipalities are crucial to achieving carbon peaks when energy intensity is already low. (2) Shandong and Shanxi have a heavy energy structure, are coal-minded, and have high energy intensity, while the replacement rate of renewable energy is relatively low. Shandong and Shanxi are predicted to reach carbon peaks around 2030. Liaoning also has the problem of heavy industrial structure, and it is predicted to reach the carbon peak before 2027. (3) Hebei itself relies on Beijing, and its renewable energy utilization technology is relatively advanced. It is predicted to reach the carbon peak before 2026. The energy intensity of Inner Mongolia has decreased rapidly, and it is predicted to reach the carbon peak before 2029. Therefore, according to the forecast results and the analysis of the similarities and differences among the provinces and cities, some specific suggestions for the optimization of the energy structure and the development of renewable energy in each province and city have been proposed in order to promote the comprehensive realization of the regional carbon peak goal in the Bohai Rim region.

Characteristics of heavy air pollution in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei and the surrounding areas during autumn and winter and policy recommendations

Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei and its surrounding areas is the most polluted region in China. Autumn and winter are the most heavily polluted seasons. It is essential to reduce the PM2.5 pollution in autumn and winter in this region for winning the blue sky defense war. The characteristics of PM2.5 pollution during autumn and winter in this region were analysed and crucial issues in atmospheric pollution prevention were identified from the perspectives of time, space and pollution sources, using a combination of techniques including air quality observation, emission inventory, PM2.5 source apportionment and air quality model simulation. The results showed that average PM2.5 concentrations in autumn and winter were twice that in spring and summer, and frequent heavy pollution elevated PM2.5 concentration significantly. Six cities including Handan, Xingtai, Shijiazhuang, Xinxiang, Anyang and Baoding, located along the south-western transport channel in the region, have great effects on regional air quality. The severe PM2.5 pollution in this region could be attributed to heavy industrial structure, large NOx emissions from mobile sources, re-burn of loose coal, insufficient dust control and impacts from cities out of the region. Suggestions for air pollution control in autumn and winter in this region were proposed. More efforts should be devoted to the most vulnerable links in the key cities.

Improved Canadian seismic provisions for steel braced frames in heavy industrial structures

The seismic provisions of the Canadian CSA S16-14 standard for steel structures for heavy industrial steel structures are reviewed and applied for a 65.4 m tall concentrically braced frames (CBFs) for an industrial application in Vancouver, BC. Two approaches are examined: a capacity design method in accordance with CSA S16 Annex M and a simpler, non-capacity design approach for the structures of the Conventional Construction (Type CC) category. Nonlinear response history analyses are performed to examine and compare the seismic response of the structures. Modifications are proposed to mobilize higher brace inelastic response, mitigate storey drift concentrations, and ensure that the columns can safely resist the seismic induced axial and flexural demands. The modified provisions are validated for additional structures having heights varying from 43 to 80 m and two different vertical distribution of the seismic weights. The robustness of the structures against excessive storey drifts and column buckling limit states is verified through incremental dynamic analysis. Both Annex M and Type CC design approaches, as modified in this study, represent two practical options to achieve cost-effective designs resulting in satisfactory seismic response. Three-dimensional nonlinear response history analysis is used to compare the 100%–100% and 100%–30% combination rules to predict the axial load demand on columns part of two orthogonal CBFs. For the structure studied, the results showed that the latter would give more realistic force estimates.

Emission Inventory of Anthropogenic VOCs and Its Contribution to Ozone Formation in Shanxi Province

Based on the activity levels, emission factors and composition characteristics of VOCs, which was obtained in statistic data and references, the emission amount of anthropogenic VOCs in Shanxi province in 2013 was calculated, and the ozone formation potential of VOCs was studied in this study. The results showed that the emission amount of anthropogenic VOCs in Shanxi province in 2013 was 723700 t, with the major sector of the industrial emission and vehicle emission, accounting for 36.47% and 24.28% of total emission amount, respectively. Coke and chemicals production, the major emission source of VOCs in industrial emission, emitting 190600 t and 38800 t VOCs in 2013, accounting for 72.22% and 14.72% of industrial emission, respectively. The emission amount of ozone precursor VOCs was 435900 t, and the total amount of ozone formation potential in Shanxi province in 2013 was 1769900 t. The sources of the greatest contribution to total ozone were vehicle emission, combustion sources and industrial emission. The results indicated that industrial emission was the major source of VOCs emission, which showed the simplification and heavy industrial structure. The increasing numbers of vehicles led to the huge emission of VOCs in recent years. In conclusion, the main measure of controlling the ozone pollution caused by VOCs emissions was controlling the VOCs emission from industrial emission and vehicle emission.

2007~2013年山西省产业结构演变分析

本文运用偏离–份额方法，采用行业数据资料，对山西省2007~2013年的产业结构进行分析。研究表明：① 山西省的产业结构发展不均衡。2007~2008年和2009~2010年这两个时期，山西省的经济增长快，产业结构优化，大部分产业部门属于朝阳产业，且在市场中具有很强的竞争力。② 山西省第一产业，农业发展最快，受气候影响，经济发展不稳定；③ 山西省第二产业中煤炭开采和洗选业是主导产业，由于产业缺乏创新，导致竞争力水平低下，产业结构优势下降；④ 山西省第三产业中，金融业、房地产业和其他服务业发展较快，有利于改善山西省以重工业为主的产业结构，推动山西省经济持续快速发展。 Taking the shift-share method and using industry‘s data, the paper anglicized 2007-2013 industrial structure in Shanxi Province. These conclusions are as follows: ① The development of industrial structure is imbalanced in Shanxi. Between 2007-2008 and 2009-2010, Shanxi has a rapid economic growth; the industrial structure is also in optimization; most industries are full of hoping and also have a strong competitive edge in the market. ② The agriculture is the primary industry in Shanxi, which is of the fastest growing, however, it is affected by climate resulting in the development of economic instability; ③ secondary industry in Shanxi, containing coal mining and washing industry, which is the leading industry, lacks industrial innovation, which leads to the low level of competitiveness; industrial structural advantages decrease; ④ During the tertiary industry in Shanxi, finance, real estate and other service industries develop rapidly, which is in favor of improving the heavy industrial structure in Shanxi Province, promoting the sustainable and rapid economic development in Shanxi Province.

Energy consumption and CO2 emissions in Eastern and Central China: A temporal and a cross-regional decomposition analysis

With heavy industrial structure moving westward, to make out the difference of low-carbon development between eastern and central China seems important. For this purpose, this paper compares several representative indicators about energy-related CO2 emissions among nine typical regions from 1990 to 2010. Then two forms of carbon intensity, namely, CO2 emissions per unit of GDP and CO2 emissions per capita are decomposed with a temporal and a cross-regional Logarithmic Mean Divisia Index technique. Thus the roles of driving forces for the changes in carbon intensity are analyzed by region during five study periods, and the main causes for the variation in carbon intensity between eastern and central China in 2010 are also compared. The analysis results show that central China has a challenge to keep the relative lower levels of these two forms of carbon intensity compared with that of eastern China, economic growth in central China needs to choose a low-carbon development road. In terms of eastern China, growth mode of Beijing and its surrounding areas should be integrally planned from the viewpoint of regional coordination. Finally, high-efficient utilization of coal should be promoted in heavy industrial sector for the mitigation of CO2 emissions in central and eastern China.

Policy design of the Hubei ETS pilot in China

Of seven pilot emissions trading schemes (ETS) being run in China, the ETS in Hubei province is the only provincial pilot in the central and western regions of the country with a high GDP growth rate and heavy industrial structure. As such, it is quite representative of China as a whole and its ETS will therefore be reasonably characteristic of a future nationwide market. This paper describes the policy design of the Hubei ETS, including aspects of coverage, cap, allowance allocation, transactions, compliance and penalties. Then, after making a comparison with the other Chinese pilots and emissions trading schemes in the European Union (EU) and California, the paper offers a summary of several distinct features of the Hubei ETS. First, the small numbers of entities that are covered by the scheme produce a considerable proportion of the emissions. This makes Hubei the world׳s third largest carbon market. Second, the Hubei ETS applies several mechanisms to deal with the province’s rapid growth rate. Third, the scheme׳s policy design emphasizes liquidity. In addition to these unique features, the Hubei ETS also shares some common features with all the pilots in China.

Research on the Regional Low-Carbon Industrial Development: A Case of Tianjin Binhai New Area

Energy consumption induced by industry sector is the main source of carbon emission. So it is important to the policy making that research on the low-carbon industrial development, which is aiming to establish an industry system with low-carbon character. There are four restrictive factors on low-carbon industrial development in Tianjin Binhai New Area of China: the rather large scale of the secondary industry, the heavy industrial structure which strongly caused the increasing energy consumption, the high-carbon energy structure of industrial sector, and the lower industrial energy efficiency which has certain gap compared with other regions. Several countermeasures are proposed to reduce carbon emission induced by industrial sector, such as improving energy efficiency, optimizing energy structure, establishing multiple-access financing mechanism to encourage R&D on low-carbon technology, enhancing the development of low carbon industry, participating in the international cooperation actively, and making strategic plan of low-carbon industrial development.

Impact of Heavy Industrialization on the Carbon Emissions: An Empirical Study of China

Abstract In recent years, the boom of China's heavy industry has made our industrial structure becoming heavier, which has greatly increased the consumption of the energy as well as the carbon emissions. In order to deeply dig into the severe impact on china's carbon emission from the heavy change, the paper established the error correction model of china's carbon emissions under the condition of the heavy industrial structure (HIS). We found that the formation and development of HIS has a positive effect in promoting china's carbon emissions, the concrete embodiment lies: with a growth of 1 percent in heavy industrial output, the long - term effects show a growth of 0.278141 percent in our country's carbon emissions, and immediate effect shows an increase of 0.146636 percent in carbon emissions. Finally, we come up with some related policy suggestions on three aspects----to reform the traditional energy structure, to improve the energy efficiency and to promote a new industrialization.

Why did China’s energy intensity increase during 1998–2006: Decomposition and policy analysis

Despite the fact that China’s energy intensity has continuously decreased during the 1980s and mostly 1990s, the decreasing trend has reversed since 1998 and the past few years have witnessed rapid increase in China’s energy intensity. We firstly conduct an index decomposition analysis to identify the key forces behind the increase. It is found that: (1) the high energy demand in industrial sectors is mainly attributed to expansion of production scale, especially in energy-intensive industries; (2) energy saving mainly comes from efficiency improvement, with energy-intensive sectors making the largest contribution; and (3) a heavier industrial structure also contributes to the increase. This study also makes the first attempt to bridge the quantitative decomposition analysis with qualitative policy analyses and fill the gap between decomposition results and policy relevance in previous work. We argue that: (1) energy efficiency improvement in energy-intensive sectors is mainly due to the industrial policies that have been implemented in the past few years; (2) low energy prices have directly contributed to high industrial energy consumption and indirectly to the heavy industrial structure. We provide policy suggestions in the end.

Reply: Design of crane runway girders for top running and underruning cranes and monorails

This paper contains a review of crane characteristics such as speed, wheel loads, and runway tolerances. A review of the rails and fastening is made. The paper presents the design of runway girders and a discussion on the selection of various sections or built-up members. A comparison is made between various specifications for impact and fatigue loading. Deflection tolerances and long spans are discussed. Details of supports at columns are presented and discussed, in particular, poor details causing failure as well as those that have performed well over many years. This paper is useful for structural engineers designing heavy industrial structures. Key words: crane characteristics, runway girder design and supports.

Design of crane runway girders for top running and underrunning cranes and monorails

This paper contains a review of crane characteristics such as speed, wheel loads, and runway tolerances. A review of the rails and fastening is made. The paper presents the design of runway girders and a discussion on the selection of various sections or built-up members. A comparison is made between various specifications for impact and fatigue loading. Deflection tolerances and long spans are discussed. Details of supports at columns are presented and discussed, in particular, poor details causing failure as well as those that have performed well over many years. This paper is useful for structural engineers designing heavy industrial structures. Key words: crane characteristics, runway girder design and supports.

Foundation of heavy industrial structures on soils improved by deep vibratory techniques (In German)

Foundation of heavy industrial structures on soils improved by deep vibratory techniques (In German)

Tests of Full‐Size Gusset Plate Connections

The paper presents an evaluation of the behavior and strength of gusset plates on the basis of an experimental investigation of full‐scale diagonal bracing connections. Sugh connections commonly occur in heavy industrial structures, for example. The evaluations are based on analyses of load and deformation data that were generated during the tests, including the failure patterns for the plates. A total of six tests were run, using three bracing member orientation angles. The results are correlated with analytical studies, with special emphasis on recent finite element work. The results are found to be in reasonable agreement Current design practices are discussed briefly; some of the methods are shown to be in acceptable agreement with the tests. It is shown that plate boundaries, plate buckling, and related out‐of‐plane bending phenomena have significant effects on the plate behavior. Recommendations for additional work are also made.

Tips for Avoiding Crane Runway Problems

Mill and heavy industrial type buildings are usually designed with two main functions in mind: to provide a sheltered work area and to support lifting devices which serve to move loads from one location to another. Providing shelter involves fairly routine design procedures, utilizing well-known and tested guidelines. But supporting the transporting device, or crane system, is a more complicated and intricate task and efforts in this regard have not always been successful. In fact, many otherwise sound heavy industrial structures are plagued with problems which stem from the method of supporting the crane system. There are several different types of cranes: overhead traveling, underslung, jib, gantry, and monorail are among the most common. A building may contain one or several of the above, either singly or in various combinations.