|Publication number||US7192517 B2|
|Application number||US 10/791,138|
|Publication date||Mar 20, 2007|
|Filing date||Mar 2, 2004|
|Priority date||Mar 6, 2003|
|Also published as||US20050109705|
|Publication number||10791138, 791138, US 7192517 B2, US 7192517B2, US-B2-7192517, US7192517 B2, US7192517B2|
|Original Assignee||So2 Solutions, Llc|
|Export Citation||BiBTeX, EndNote, RefMan|
|Patent Citations (12), Non-Patent Citations (2), Referenced by (6), Classifications (30), Legal Events (4)|
|External Links: USPTO, USPTO Assignment, Espacenet|
This application claims priority to co-pending U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/452,628 filed on Mar. 6, 2003.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the treatment of water from coal-bed-methane (hereinafter “CBM”) wells and, more particularly, to a CBM water treatment system which utilizes aqueous sulfurous acid produced by a solid sulfur-based sulfurous generator to treat the CBM water and an injection system to further treat the CBM water by increasing the level of calcium in the CBM water.
2. Description of the Prior Art
CBM wells are being developed in increasing numbers throughout the United States and other parts of the world. These wells are drilled into coal seams to withdraw ground water to reduce the hydrostatic pressure on the coal seam. The reduced pressure allows methane gas to migrate to the well bore where it moves to the surface and is collected. Where possible, operators prefer to discharge the produced water into nearby streams, rivers, or other surface water bodies. Depending on the chemical characteristics of the produced water, different levels of treatment are applied to the produced water before discharge. In some locations, produced water cannot be discharged and is injected, reused, or evaporated.
Problematic CBM water typically has an elevated pH and high levels of bicarbonates and sodium. It is not unusual to find CMB water with 300–2000 PPM of bicarbonates and 200–600 PPM of sodium. Water with these characteristics is detrimental to soil, crops and turf. High bicarbonate/high sodium water plugs soil pore spaces and prevents adequate moisture and nutrients from reaching the root structure of crops and grasses.
With water resources in the United States and other parts of the world becoming more scarce, an important environmental challenge is to economically treat and utilize problematic CBM. The most common method that is currently utilized is to irrigate land with CBM water and subsequently spread sulfur and gypsum on the land in an attempt to counteract the deleterious effects of bicarbonates and sodium.
This methodology has several drawbacks. It is difficult spread gypsum and sulfur to irrigated land in a uniform, consistent, and cost-effective basis, especially during austere weather conditions. Moreover, it is doubtful that this methodology effectively resolves the problems associated with high bicarbonates and sodium. Spreading sulfur on land that is irrigated with high bicarbonate water may do little to reduce the level of bicarbonates in soil on a consistent basis. Although much research supports the use of gypsum in leaching sodium through the soil profile, the benefit of gypsum is greatly lessened when high levels of bicarbonates are present. Adding calcium via gypsum to soil being irrigated with high-bicarbonate or high-carbonate water can create calcium carbonate. Not only does calcium carbonate further aggravate soil problems, but less calcium is available to displace sodium.
Thus, there remains a need for a new and improved methodology for treating CBM water, which utilizes aqueous sulfurous acid produced by a solid sulfur-based sulfurous generator to treat CBM water and an injection system that further treats CBM water by increasing the amount of calcium in CBM water, while, at the same time, includes a shut-off safety system to prevent leakage of molten sulfur from the sulfurous generator.
The present invention is directed to a water treatment system for treating CBM water. The CBM water treatment system includes a solid-based sulfurous generator for producing aqueous sulfurous acid and an injection system to increase calcium levels in CBM water. The sulfurous acid produced by the solid-based sulfurous generator reduces the pH and the amount of bicarbonates of the CBM water. Chemically, the reduction in bicarbonates is explained as follows:
Similarly, an injection system that increases the amount of calcium in CBM water improves it by counteracting the deleterious effects of sodium, which is often found in CBM water. According to available research, it is generally accepted that calcium helps leach sodium through the soil profile, thereby reducing the adverse effects of sodium. Consequently, when treated CBM water is used for irrigation purposes, calcium is already available in the water to displace the sodium. In one embodiment, soluble gypsum is injected into CBM water by a gypsum injector.
In one embodiment, the solid-based sulfurous generator includes a hydraulic air-inlet shut off valve safety system. Also, the water treatment system may include a control system that monitors the pH of water being treated to control the water flow rate through the generator to achieve the desired concentration of sulfurous acid in the water being treated.
In one embodiment, the CBM water treatment system may include a pump system that delivers CBM water from one or many CBM wells into a common reservoir. The pump system may also deliver CBM water from the reservoir to a solid-based sulfurous generator which adds sulfurous acid to the water and returns it to the reservoir. Treated CBM water in the reservoir is then discharged into an irrigation system or into a stream, river or other surface water body. One or many solid-based sulfurous generators could be used to treat the water in the reservoir, depending on the size of the reservoir and the flow rate of CMB water into and out of the reservoir. As the treated CBM water is pumped out of the reservoir, the CBM water can be further treated. One such method may be to use a gypsum injector to add calcium, via soluble gypsum, into the water to further enhance the water and mitigate the effects of sodium.
In one embodiment, the water from one or many CBM wells may be pumped into a common reservoir. However, several alternatives to using a reservoir are possible. The pump system could deliver the water into a holding tank where the water could be treated by a solid-based sulfurous generator before being delivered into an irrigation system or into a stream, river, or some other surface body of water. Likewise, the CBM water could be pumped directly into a single solid-based sulfurous generator or into a bank of solid-based sulfurous generators for treatment. The treated CBM water may then be pumped into a discharge system, which could be an irrigation system or a system that delivers water to a stream, river, or some other surface body of water.
In one embodiment, a pump system pumps CBM water into a reservoir, to the solid-based sulfurous generator, and into the discharge system. The pump system could be a single pump, a number of separate pumps, or a number of pumps grouped together.
In one embodiment, the aqueous sulfurous acid is produced by a solid-based sulfurous generator having a hydraulic air inlet shut off valve safety system for automatically reducing the combustion air to the generator when water is not delivered to the generator. In one embodiment, the solid-based sulfurous generator includes a solid sulfur supply, a burning chamber for burning the solid sulfur, an air inlet for providing combustion air to the burning chamber, a hotSO2 gas outlet, and a mixing and collection chamber.
The burning chamber may further include a water-cooled bottom plate for solidifying molten sulfur in the burning chamber to form a seal. The sealing bottom plate is removable for cleaning the burning chamber. The burning chamber may include an igniter, such as a cal-rod inserted into the burning chamber.
In one embodiment, a negative pressure source downstream from the hot SO2 gas outlet draws SO2 gas out of the burning chamber and combustion air into the burning chamber. The negative pressure source may be a venturi, an air amplifier, or a water aspirator. In one embodiment, the water inlet port on the aspirator may be offset to maximize the “swirling” effect of the water and the negative pressure created by the aspirator. In addition to creating negative pressure to remove SO2 gas from the burning chamber and to draw combustion air into the burning chamber, the introduction of water through the aspirator also serves to mix the SO2 gas with water and convert it into sulfurous acid (H2SO3).
Also, in one embodiment, a scrub tower may be located downstream from the hot SO2 gas outlet for capturing any residual SO2 gas that was not converted into sulfurous acid by the aspirator. The scrub tower includes a high surface area reaction surface and a supply of water for reacting with the residual SO2 gas. In one embodiment, high surface area reaction surface is a moisture-resistant material, such as rashing rings formed from plastic tubing. In one embodiment, the rashing rings have a length between about 0.5 and 1.5 inches and a diameter between about 0.5 and 1.5 inches. In addition, the flow rate of the water into the scrub tower may be greater than about 80 GPM at greater than about 20 PSI to optimize the conversion of residual SO2 gas into sulfurous acid. This is also referred to as optimum tail removal efficiency.
The scrub tower may further include a vapor recovery means. The vapor recovery means includes an air inlet for providing additional air into the scrub tower, an air mover for removing air and vapors from the scrub tower, and a percolation chamber for receiving and dissipating the air and vapors. In one embodiment, the air mover is a second water aspirator.
In one embodiment, the control system includes a pH sensor for sensing the pH of the water being treated. It also includes a controller connected to the pH sensor for receiving a signal representative of the pH, which it compares to the desired water pH. It then provides an output control signal to a flow control means connected to the controller for adjusting the water flow rate through the solid-based sulfurous generator to achieve the desired concentration of sulfurous acid in the water being. In one embodiment, the flow control means includes either a conventional water valve or a variable frequency drive (VFD). The VFD may control the flow rate of water delivered by a pump system by adjusting the pump speed, said pump being located between the solid-based sulfurous generator and the reservoir. As an alternative, the VFD may also adjust a valve opening to control the water flow rate through the valve, said valve being located between the solid-based sulfurous generator and the reservoir.
The control system may further include a feed load cell for determining the weight of sulfur being fed to the sulfurous generator and a timer circuit for calculating the feed burn rate based on the change in the output of the feed load cell over time. Also, the control system may further include a flow meter for measuring the flow rate of water through the solid-based sulfurous generator and a timer for selectively starting and stopping the solid-based sulfurous generator. In addition, the system may also include a residual chlorine analyzer, such as taught by U.S. Pat. No. 6,346,198, issued to Watson et al. located, for example, near the pH sensor.
Accordingly, one object of the present invention is to provide a CBM water treatment system for treating CBM water that includes a pump system for pumping water from CBM wells and a solid-based sulfurous generator downstream from the pump system for producing aqueous sulfurous acid for treatment of the CBM water.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an injection system for increasing the amount of calcium in CBM water. In one embodiment, the injection system is a gypsum injector that injects soluble gypsum into CBM water.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for producing aqueous sulfurous acid, that includes a solid-based sulfurous generator and a hydraulic air inlet shut off valve safety system for automatically reducing the combustion air to the sulfurous generator when water is not delivered to the sulfurous generator.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a CBM water treatment system for treating CBM water that includes: a pump system for pumping water from CBM wells into a common reservoir; a solid-based sulfurous generator downstream from the pump system for producing aqueous sulfurous acid for treatment of the water, in which the solid-based sulfurous generator includes a hydraulic air inlet shut off valve safety system for automatically reducing the combustion air to the sulfurous generator if water is not delivered to the sulfurous generator; a control system that monitors the pH of the water being treated to control the water flow rate through the solid-based sulfurous generator to achieve the desired concentration of sulfurous acid in the CBM water being treated; and an injection system that increases the amount of calcium in CBM water.
The foregoing and other objects and features of the present invention will become more fully apparent from the following description and appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Understanding that these drawings depict only typical embodiments of the invention and are, therefore, not to be considered limiting of its scope, the invention will be described with additional specificity and detail through use of the accompanying drawings in which:
It will be readily understood that the components of the present invention, as generally described and illustrated in the Figures herein, could be arranged and designed in a wide variety of different configurations. Thus, the following more detailed description of the embodiments of the system and method of the present invention, as represented in
In the following description, like reference characters designate like or corresponding parts throughout the several views. Also in the following description, it is to be understood that terms such as “forward,” “rearward,” “left,” “right,” “upward,” “downward,” and the like are words of convenience and are not to be construed as limiting terms.
The CBM water treatment system generally will also include a discharge system 11 that delivers the treated CBM water from the reservoir 12 into an irrigation system or into a stream, river, or some other surface water body.
It should be understood that substances other than gypsum may be added by the injection system 15 to the treated water discharge system depending on the chemical make-up of the discharged water. For example, ground limestone, potassium sulfate, zinc sulfate, magnesium sulfate, ammonium sulfate, calcium nitrate, UAN-32, humic acid, and iron sulfate may be added individually or in selected combinations to treat, remedy, limit, or correct various, undesirable characteristics that may be found in the CBM water.
Although sulfurous acid (H2SO3) could be added to the CBM water by injecting compressed sulfur dioxide (SO2) into the water, in the present invention, aqueous sulfurous acid is added from a solid-based sulfurous generator 14. A solid-based system offers advantages in safety and cost effectiveness over using compressed SO2 gas.
As will be discussed in more detail subsequently, the production of aqueous sulfurous acid by the solid-based sulfurous generator 14 is controlled by control system 16. While discussed in more detail later, one example of a preferred embodiment of the control system 16 is shown in
The burning chamber 36 includes a water-cooled sealing plate 44, which forms the bottom of the burning chamber 36. The cooler temperature of the ring causes the molten sulfur formed in the burning chamber 36 to solidify and seal the bottom of burning chamber 36 during normal operation. However, this “gasket-free” seal also allows the bottom plate of the burning chamber 36 to be easily removed for cleaning and maintenance of the burning chamber 36. In one embodiment, the solid sulfur received in the burning chamber 36 from the solid sulfur supply 34 is initially ignited by an electrically powered igniter 46, such as a cal-rod.
As best seen in
Referring back to
In one embodiment (see
This aspirator 48, which removes SO2 gas from the burning chamber and draws air and oxygen into the burning chamber by creating a negative pressure source, can also be referred to as the “main aspirator” (to distinguish it from the vapor-recovery aspirator).
In one embodiment, the high surface area, reactive surface material 52 is a moisture-resistant material such as polyethylene plastic. These materials may be formed from a tube of plastic, which is cut into lengths of between about ½ and 1½ inches for a tube having a diameter between about ½ and 1½ inches to form “rashing” rings. In one embodiment, the rashing rings are formed from ¾ inch inner diameter PVC pipe cut into 1¼ inch lengths.
As best seen in
Referring back to
In one embodiment, the flow rate controller 74 may be a variable frequency drive (hereinafter “VFD”) for controlling the water flow rate that is delivered to the solid-based sulfurous generator 14. As an alternative, the VFD may adjust a valve opening to control the flow rate, said valve being located between the pump system 10 and the solid-based sulfurous generator 14.
In one embodiment, the control system 16 may further include a sulfur burn rate sensor 82, such as a feed load cell, which determines the weight of sulfur that is present in the sulfur storage bin. The microprocessor-based control system 16 may also include a timer circuit for calculating the feed burn rate based on the change in the output of the feed load cell over time. In addition, the control valve 74 may further include a flow meter for measuring the flow rate of water through the solid-based sulfurous generator 14. Finally, the control system 16 may include a timer for selectively starting and stopping the solid-based sulfurous generator 14.
In one embodiment, the microprocessor-based controller 16 is a single board microprocessor, such as those available from Motorola having a Motorola 68HC12, which includes an embedded microchip processor. This may provide a single chip solution, which includes onboard RAM, ROM and a real-time clock. Signal conditioning, relay drivers, keypad and display drivers are also on one board. In addition, a wireless data interface may be connected to a RF 32 port on the control system 16. The wireless data interface is then connected to a conventional third party wireless transmitter for transmitting the RF 32 signal to a remote receiver, such as a central PC (not shown). Similarly, the control system 16 also includes an infrared LED, which allows the operator to walk up with a PDA and download the data that are stored.
In operation, the outputs of the microprocessor-based controller 16 are used to actuate relay drivers. For example, relays may control a flow valve to and from the generator 14. Also, the VFD may get a low voltage signal to change the speed of a pump connected to the generator 14. The same outputs can also be used to control the igniter 46 in order to turn on the cal-rod for igniting the sulfur in the burning chamber. Other outputs could be used to turn on a light pole as an indicator that the generator is functioning, is in standby, or is defective. This type of indicator is particularly useful at sites where it is helpful to see the status of the system from afar so the operator could tell that the system is running because the green light is on, is in standby, is defective, or low on sulfur because the yellow light is on.
In one embodiment, controller 16 may have sixteen analog inputs so that up to sixteen different types of sensors can be monitored. The controller 16 may log the data from many different sensors by taking samples once a minute or some other time interval. The controller 16 may store the data in memory and provide downloads through a wireless data interface, a PDA interface, or to a display driver or LED.
The controller 16 may contain a battery-operated, real-time clock chip on the circuit board that stores the time and day whether the unit has power or not-preventing a loss of data during a power failure. Various settings such as targeted pH, generator run times, and start and stop times may be stored in a non-volatile flash memory. These parameters may be permanently stored in memory and saved even during power loss. The numeric values for the different sensors may be displayed on the seven segment displays.
The software may perform three different functions. First, there may be a timer, which is an event sequencer that knows the time of day and certain events at certain times. The operator interface allows the user to establish set-up functionalities such as the time of day, the start time, the end time, the generator run time, and the igniter configurations and burn time. Second, the controller 16 has three different modes which affect the sulfurous generator. The stop mode prevents it from running, the manual mode runs it for a certain amount of time or indefinitely, and finally, the auto-mode uses the time of day to determine when to start and stop running.
For example, auto-mode may be set to start the sulfurous generator at 11:00 AM. Automode may go through a start-up sequence. It may check the time of day, start the pump, start the igniter 46, burn the igniter 46 for the specified time period (15 seconds for example), check the flow rate and adjust the pump to establish the optimal flow rate. Finally, it may check some parameters to make sure that the temperature in the burning chamber 36 is sufficient for proper combustion. To shut down, it may turn off the flow of water. The hydraulic air inlet valve 47 may then close, cutting off oxygen to the burning chamber which causes combustion to cease. Automode may then re-sets itself to start and stop at another pre-determined time.
The controller 16 may also control an injection system for adding nutrients, such as solution-grade gypsum, into the water. This system includes a tank having a solution of materials or fertilizers, which can be injected into the CBM water. There also may be other basic timer controller events (such as aeration or circulation), which use the time of day to start and stop some other device that aerates or circulates the water in a holding tank or pond.
Certain modifications and improvements may occur to those skilled in the art upon a reading of the foregoing description. By way of example, while single sulfurous generators according to the present invention may be used in most applications, in some applications it may be advantageous to gang several generators together. This could be advantageous for creating redundancy and additional capacity.
Another modification may be to utilize a large, central storage device to feed sulfur into a single generator or into multiple generators. Also, while the control system may further include a feed-load cell for determining the weight of sulfur, the mass flow of the sulfur could also be determined by ultrasonic or capacitance sensors. These data could then be used to calculate the actual volume of material inside the chamber, to estimate the burn rate and to predict when the sulfur will run out.
In one embodiment, a control system 16 may sense the pH of the treated water and provide feedback to adjust the flow rate of water through the generator 14 so the pH of the water being treated increases, decreases, or stays the same. The control system 16 may also sense the flow rate of water into the reservoir 12 and provide feedback to adjust the generator 14 output to reduce, increase or maintain the concentration of sulfurous acid in the water being treated. These parameters could also be manually measured and adjusted. It should be understood that there are many modifications and improvements within the scope of the present invention.
The present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from its spirit or essential characteristics. The described embodiments are to be considered in all respects only as illustrative, and not restrictive. All changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are to be embraced within their scope.
|Cited Patent||Filing date||Publication date||Applicant||Title|
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|US6080368||Aug 7, 1998||Jun 27, 2000||Jackson; Edward||Open system sulfurous acid generator|
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|US6689326||Oct 27, 2000||Feb 10, 2004||Aapa Trust||Method and apparatus for introducing sulphur dioxide into aqueous solutions|
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|US20050011820 *||Mar 2, 2004||Jan 20, 2005||James Webb||Wastewater treatment system|
|1||Assembly Drawings and Part Detail Drawings of Harmon Devices on sale at least as early as Mar. 5, 2002, pp. 1-38.|
|2||Installation Instructions for Harmon Devices on sale at least as early as Mar. 5, 2002, pp. 1-13.|
|Citing Patent||Filing date||Publication date||Applicant||Title|
|US7320559 *||Jul 14, 2005||Jan 22, 2008||Beneterra, Llc||System and method for dispersing of coal bed sodic water|
|US7648348||Jun 28, 2007||Jan 19, 2010||Scallen Richard E||Dewatering apparatus|
|US20070012609 *||Jul 14, 2005||Jan 18, 2007||Beneterra, Llc||System and method for dispersing of coal bed sodic water|
|US20080000840 *||Sep 13, 2007||Jan 3, 2008||Beneterra, Llc||System And Method For Dispersing Of Coal Bed Sodic Water|
|US20080003121 *||Jun 28, 2007||Jan 3, 2008||Scallen Richard E||Dewatering apparatus|
|CN103995547A *||May 23, 2014||Aug 20, 2014||中国石油化工股份有限公司江汉油田分公司采油工艺研究院||Reacted acid online processing system and method in oil-gas well large-scale acid fracturing flow back process|
|U.S. Classification||210/85, 210/138, 210/198.1, 210/103, 210/418, 210/416.1, 210/96.2, 210/170.01, 210/199, 210/192, 422/161, 210/87|
|International Classification||C02F1/00, C02F1/74, C02F103/10, C02F1/66, C02F9/00|
|Cooperative Classification||C02F9/00, C02F1/008, C02F2103/10, C02F2301/063, C02F1/66, C02F2209/40, C02F2209/06, C02F2209/008, C02F1/74, C02F2103/06|
|European Classification||C02F1/66, C02F1/74, C02F1/00T|
|Dec 20, 2006||AS||Assignment|
Owner name: S02 SOLUTIONS, LLC, NEVADA
Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNOR:WEBB, JAMES;REEL/FRAME:018678/0727
Effective date: 20061218
|Oct 25, 2010||REMI||Maintenance fee reminder mailed|
|Mar 20, 2011||LAPS||Lapse for failure to pay maintenance fees|
|May 10, 2011||FP||Expired due to failure to pay maintenance fee|
Effective date: 20110320


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“Finishing Well” Podcast
Retirement planning involves a lot more than just managing your money. “Finishing Well,” Cardinal’s weekly radio show and podcast, examines both biblical and experiential wisdom to help families finish well in retirement.
Hosts Hans Scheil and Robby Dilmore discuss a new topic every week, ranging from Social Security and Medicare to IRAs and taxes. They talk about current events and policy changes and go over real client stories and product prices, giving you information to make the best decisions in your retirement.
If you are just starting to think about retirement or have been retired for several years, this show gives you new tools to make your finances in retirement better.

domain: finance


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But he laгgely appeared tο close tһe saga that began in Mɑʏ, just dayѕ after he fired Comey, then the head of an investigation into Trump associates’ ties trove flux tо Russian officials. Ꭲhɑt left օpen the possibility tһаt recordings ᴡere made without his knowledge or by someone else. Trump һas disputed Comey’s version of a Januɑry dinner ⅾuring which the director sɑid tһe president һad аsked for a pledge of loyalty.
“Exactly – so it has to be fines now which is virtually free money because we already have the courts set-up and all it takes is another new rule for us to break. – bus lanes have been doing well for them lately”.
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump declared Тhursday he never madе and doesn’t havе recordings οf һis private conversations wіth ousted foгmer FBI Director James Comey, еnding a month-long guessing game that he ѕtarted wіth a cryptic tweet and tһat ensnared һis administration іn yet more controversy.
“Hang on” I ѕaid – tһe no-blame ethos dictates ԝe Ԁon’t blame tһeir ⅼittle cotton socks foг that eіther”. Joe had been like a bulldog chewing on wasps for the duration of dinner. he looked rather cross.
One woman, a female executive at Intel who had led a program to support women in the video game business, found that her Social Security number had been stolen and used in an attempt to fraudulently open a bank account, the FBI wrote in its file. Other victims were doxxed, which involves having personally identifiable information published on the internet. Some changed their phone numbers after the numbers were published widely to hostile web forums.
Just imagine if every MP took their job very seriously and made every effort to deliver their promises or else make sure that the PM delivered his promises. No that’s a rhetorical question. What has he promised exactly? It’s just a question of looking at the facts that’s all. Just imagine if the blame game did not exist then there would be no ‘hot potato to pass down the corridor to someone else’s office”. FACT hе’ѕ taking wages in consideration f᧐r wһɑt?
“What’s the reason we can’t park on our highways anyway ? – if you think about it the original reason was to stop traffic jams – then it turned out to be a way of getting a lot of money into government coffers – there was no looking back after that”.
and Ԁⲟn’t ｙօu tһink thаt’s a bit of a generalization – I mean mʏ MP iѕ a reallү committed һard working person and I can’t see how it’ѕ һis fault? “Wouldn’t you say that calling our government ineffectual is blaming them for not being effective? ” ventured Annie who һad ѕaid ⅼittle all evening.
I һappened to stand іn the worst рossible spot ᴡhere I cⲟuldn’t ցet а good eyeful ᧐f Rocket, Ƅut Ι knew he was “there” speaking to the crowd аnd thаt was a reallｙ nice touch fߋr younger kids ԝho love the raccoon.
All of th᧐se worries faded ᴡhen I lеft tһe ride grinning witһ whɑt I could only deѕcribe as nerd tears running ⅾown my face. I couldn’t wait tߋ gо on it agаіn. І ԝas actսally a bit sad І opted for thе FastPass on trove farming flux tһe ride so early in thе morning when I could һave waited in a 45-minute ⅼine (I’ll explain). People cheered ɑnd ｅven laughed аround me the entire timе aѕ we skyrocketed սp ɑnd down the transformed ride.
Ꭲhiѕ isn’t a foolproof plan, Ьut a ⅼot of parkgoers head tо Disneyland and California Adventure’s nighttime ѕhows when іt starts ցetting dark. — foｒ a shorter wait time. I uѕed this trick afteｒ sеeing Disneyland’s revamped Fantasmic tо jump ｒight onto Pirates ᧐f the Caribbean afterward. It might ƅe the perfect timｅ tⲟ head ߋver to some օf the busier attractions — including Mission: Breakout!
Ꮃһat – get rid ߋf blame? They wuld not understand. Ƭhis article is a conversation whеre аn attempt is mɑdе to work out the conundrum ɑnd аn ordinary dinner party somеwһere in tһe UK. Thеy’d say ‘what’s water? ‘ Blame іs ѕo deep in ߋur culture tһat wｅ woulⅾ have a hard timе sorting this ᧐ne oᥙt. Tһat’s lіke telling a fish that they are gettіng rid of water.

domain: news


text:
You're viewing an archived version of this project. Please visit the new Big Give site to find current fundraising campaigns.
A whole genome search for risk genes in myasthenia gravis
Myasthenia gravis (MG) has a complex aetiology where both environmental triggers and genetic risk factors contribute to disease susceptibility, progression and heterogeneity. In addition to the known genetic risk factor of HLA it is likely that other genes are involved in MG.
One approach to identifying such factors has been to examine known genes that possibly have a role in MG, suspected from their documented biological role. This “candidate” gene based approach compares gene polymorphism in affected cases versus unaffected controls One problem with this approach is that only known genes can be tested and given there are over 20,000 genes in the human genome this has until recently not been financially or practically possible. The alternative approach of using genetic linkage analysis of families with multiple cases of MG is also problematic as it is not possible to collect sufficient multicase families to take this forward.

domain: medical


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A young woman with autism and other learning disabilities using a laptop for remote learning.
Although 90 percent of U.S.-based companies claim to prioritize diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), only 4 percent consider disability as part of those initiatives. With more than 1 billion people globally living with a disability, that’s a costly disconnect, argues Dannie Lynn Fountain, an author, DEI expert and human resources staffer at Google.
“Companies are incentivized by financial outcomes, and research shows that the more diverse a workforce is, the more innovative the ideas are, the better the financial outcomes are for the company,” Fountain told TriplePundit. “Plain and simple, it makes business sense.”
For employees, increased diversity helps generate a more positive and productive workplace. “If you only have one employee who identifies as a particular marginalized identity, there's a tremendous amount of tokenization and burden that happens for that employee,” Fountain said. “By having a good cohort of individuals who come from each marginalized background, there’s a sense of community that gets created, there’s better employee engagement and there’s likely to be higher retention.”
Fountain’s latest book, Ending Checkbox Diversity: Rewriting the Story of Performative Allyship in Corporate America, explores the absence of disability in diversity priorities and how businesses can better support people with disabilities.
“Performative allyship,” Fountain told TriplePundit, is when companies and individuals support or seek to ally themselves with marginalized identities “purely for the way it appears, purely for the performance of it.”
From Fountain’s perspective, announcing diversity programs or internal resources for people with disabilities isn’t going far enough.
“It can be a company having a disability employee resource group or having a program specifically for higher autistic individuals or something like that, but their interview processes are not inclusive and their accommodation process requires more documentation than the [Americans with Disabilities Act] actually legally requires,” she added.
Companies looking to attract people with disabilities can start by reexamining their outreach to potential job candidates, Fountain advised. “So many organizations, when they get an application in or even when they are cold sourcing for candidates, the first step is to jump on the phone with the recruiter, let's have a quick 15-minute chat,” she said. “First of all, even if you're not neurodiverse, if you're introverted, if you get nervous, if you get anxious, that phone call isn't going to be the best way to sell yourself.”
It’s better to offer different ways to engage, she said, perhaps by sharing a few questions by email that candidates can reply to, or simply asking the candidates to share a little bit about themselves. “Basically, offering anything other than the default, 15-minute phone call is a great start,” Fountain explained.
Current interview processes are biased toward candidates who can think on their feet, quickly synthesize information, and provide a well-thought-out response within 30 to 60 seconds of hearing a question, she claimed. “There’s nothing wrong with that," she said. "There certainly is something to be said for the talent of being able to synthesize data quickly and articulate a response."
However, the majority of neurodiverse candidates are not able to highlight their best selves in a setting like that. Providing those initial questions in advance helps neurodiverse candidates present themselves better. Follow-up questions will also help to determine whether a candidate got improper assistance help or cheated, Fountain noted.
Whatever the setting in which she speaks or is making a presentation, Fountain makes a point of revealing her contributing identities as a queer, plus-sized Latina with ADHD to underscore that hers is not the perspective of a straight, white, neurotypical person. “I find myself often in conversations where people are unaware of the marginalized identities I hold and they say things that, were they aware of those identities, they probably would have kept in their minds instead of speaking out loud,” she said.
She considers how and when in the conversation she reveals her identities to allow for things to be said “to actually uncover what's really going on.”
“When I speak up, there is often an assumption that I'm speaking from the perspective of an ally,” she told us. “Allyship is powerful. Allyship is phenomenal, but companies, unfortunately, often don't value an ally voice as much as they do the actual marginalized person’s voice.”
Revealing her contributing identities forces people to listen to what she’s saying more closely, because she’s just said, ‘Hey, I hold this identity, fight me,” which she told us puts more weight behind what she is saying.
Fountain recognizes that how and when someone reveals their identities is a difficult, highly personal decision that weighs how much someone knows about a company, what they think the reaction might be, and how much of someone’s invisible marginalized identity will show in the interview process or at work.
Depending upon where someone lives and the industry they work in, they may choose not to disclose invisible marginalized identities for the sake of getting a job, Fountain said. Then they have to decide, once they’ve been hired, whether to identify them.
“If, for example, it’s ADHD or autism or chronic illness, are you factoring in how your performance is going to be measured without the knowledge of how you’re actually starting four steps behind everyone,” Fountain explained. “That individual choice has economic considerations, mental health considerations, because the reality is, at the end of the day, we all need a job. We all need money to live.”
Image credit: Alexander Grey via Unsplash
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domain: sociology


According to the Student Monitor, a private student market research company based in New Jersey, about 5 percent of all textbooks acquired in the autumn in the United States were digital textbooks. That is more than double the 2.1 percent of the spring semester.
Simba Information, a research company specializing in publishing, estimates that electronic textbooks will generate $267.3 million this year in sales in the United States. That is a rise of 44.3 percent over last year. The American Association of Publishers estimates that the college textbooks industry generated a total of $4.58 billion in sales last year.
То есть в следующем году будет процентов 10–15. ОК


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Barcelona Wine Bar in West Hartford, my favorite restaurant for events lately, set my excitement at a whole new level when they added a whiskey tasting class to their calendar for Monday, April 8. I was subsequently devastated when the class was cancelled due to a staffing shortage (I understand the need to staff the bar for all customers above the class) but said devastation lasted but a few seconds because when Exec Chef Alex Feldman informed me of the cancellation, he followed up with an invitation to come in on the same night, sit at the bar, and engage in a private whiskey and tapas tasting with one of the restaurant’s best bartenders, Emily!!! That way she could still work the bar AND I’d still get to do a tasting. Alex is a genius, both culinary and logistical!
The Manhattan which served as the grand finale…but I’ll get there.
My dad had never been to Barcelona (my mom still hasn’t been) believe it or not, and I adore showing my parents new restaurants that I already know I love, so I asked him to join me. I got my love of whiskey (my favorite spirit) from him after all, so he seemed an appropriate dining companion!

domain: hobby


text:
England coach Hodgson: 2006 Germany can be our inspiration
England coach Roy Hodgson feels they can follow Germany's lead after being eliminated from the Euros on Sunday.
Hodgson recalls the difficulties Germany were in prior to the 2006 World Cup, and how much progress they have made since then, as evidence to prove the speed with which fortunes can change.
"Germany went into that tournament unfancied, with a new coach, a lot of new players we didn't know much about and older ones who had failed in previous tournaments," he said.
"We have seen how well they have kicked on since 2006 and have to take heart from that."

domain: sports


text:
crowd in a auditorium while watching a sporting event. Recorded with an HDR recorder and a shotgun mic.
Recorded with Sony HXR-MC50U Camcorder with an audience of about 40.
Yeah, I know Syna-max already made a remix of scarbelly's whip, slap, belt, punch.wav, but I just thought I'd have ...
A cosy pool bar in the middle of the night.
Sounds like a human being punched.
Various cartoony "swish" and "whoosh" sounds. I recorded these to use for my web series, A Quick Buck, available for ...
A quick and low "whoosh" or "hit" sound for cinema.
whoosh, sound of a punch being thrown but missing the target
A sweeping aircraft or rocket type whoosh.
Mixed crowd during party meeting, rec by zoom H2
Military marching drums 120 bpm. Created with reFX Nexus and Miroslav Philharmonik. Mastered with Korg MDE-X and enhanced with Warbeats ...

domain: entertainment


Botswana Minister of Environment, Wildlife and Tourism Tshekedi Khama said he was surprised that the US and EU decided on Monday not to support a proposal to list all African elephants on a commercial trade ban list.
A co-proposal by 13 counties to list the elephant populations of Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe to Appendix I failed to get a two-third majority at the 17th Conference of the Parties to Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (Cites). All other elephants in Africa are listed on Appendix I.
The move was fiercely opposed by SA, Namibia and Zimbabwe for not meeting the scientific requirements of Cites but Botswana came out in support of the proposal, to applause of delegates. Botswana hosts the world’s largest population of elephants.
Currently the elephant populations of Botswana, Namibia, SA and Zimbabwe are all listed on Appendix II of Cites, which allows certain countries to trade elephants and the commercial products of the animal such as the hide, hair and as trophies, depending on the laws of each country. Trade of ivory is banned under Cites, with only few controlled exceptions.
The proposal to list the elephant on Appendix I was made by Benin, Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Chad, Ethiopia, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, the Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sri Lanka and Uganda.
Khama said that the Great Elephant Census, a Botswana-led survey, showed that in 15 countries the savanna elephant population declined by 30% within seven years, which is about 144,000 elephants.
He said that in 10 years, poaching could wipe out 50% of Africa’s elephant population and the current situation needed to be brought under control. Khama said that there was a need to stem the demand of ivory internationally, protect the remaining herds and secure habitats, and for that reason Botswana supported the proposal.
Khama said the decline was in such free-fall that if something was not done and countries waited too long, they might be unable to stop it.
Khama said there could not be two different listings for African elephants when the animals crossed borders between countries so frequently.
“When an elephant crosses a border does its Appendix situation change? That can’t be right, we have to be consistent,” said Khama.
In a media briefing, Khama questioned the motivation of countries that voted against the proposal, in particular the US and EU. He said their interest in hunting wildlife could have played a role in them supporting the rejection of the proposal. Khama said if the US and EU wanted to turn down the proposal they needed to offer support to countries that were battling poaching.
During the debate on the proposal, the EU said the proposal failed to meet the scientific requirement need to be passed and the population of elephants in those countries were strong.
Khama said that Botswana’s aim was to change from a consumptive reliance on elephants to nonconsumptive reliance, where communities were more reliant on the animal being alive, such as in tourism, than what they could get from it being dead.
Khama said that they would try again — Botswana could make a proposal on October 5, the last day of the conference to have the decision revisited.
On Monday, Cites rejected two other elephant listing proposals. Namibia and Zimbabwe proposed to open international trade in their ivory.
World Wildlife Fund head of delegation to Cites Ginette Hemley said that decisions closed all potential avenues to a resumption in international ivory trade, paving the way for the world to unite behind efforts to crack down on the illegal ivory trade.
He said rather than vote to resume trade, countries at Cites rightly chose to reinforce the existing global ban on ivory trade by calling for the closure of domestic ivory markets and the strengthening of national ivory action plan processes.
“These are critical actions for securing the future of Africa’s elephants. None of these proposals would have offered elephant populations any greater protection from the poachers. Indeed, the proposal to uplist four southern African populations to Appendix I could well have opened a back door to legal international trade,” Hemley said.
Namibia stated during the debate on moving its elephant population to Appendix I that it would have no option but to enter a reservation if the proposal had been accepted. This would have exempted it from Cites regulations regarding elephants and allowed it to legally trade ivory without any Cites oversight.-


Designed to fly to space multiple times a day, the Mk-II is the latest suborbital vehicle in Dawn’s orbital launcher program. Capable of flying out of any airport with a 900m-sealed runway, it works by integrating with commercial airspace – just like any other plane. This capability is said to replace entire rocket factories and dedicated launch sites.
“We are working to demonstrate true reusability and a sustainable method of getting to space,” said Stefan Powell, Dawn Aerospace CTO.
The number of satellites launched is predicted to increase from hundreds to tens of thousands per annum within the next decade. Single-use rockets have already led to an increase in ocean contamination and debris. Increasing production rates to meet demand could present a significant environmental problem.
In 2018, Dawn demonstrated their capability of flying multiple times per day with their rocket-powered Mk-I vehicle. “We flew the same rocket powered vehicle five times in a single afternoon,” said Powell; “This type of repeatability is unprecedented in the world of aerospace.”
Dawn will offer research organisations and scientists the chance to fly payloads to 100km altitude three or four times per day, for as many days as needed. Starting with 3U payloads of 4 kg, each would see 180 s microgravity experiment time. This will increase as vehicle performance and flight altitude increase. Scientific payloads can be retrieved from the point-of-launch, enabling rapid development and experimentation according to customer needs.
“We’re opening up a whole new realm of research opportunities”, said Joshua Rea, Business Development at Dawn. “We are excited to see how the world’s researchers and payload designers want to use this abundant new resource. We want to hear from potential users about their applications and requirements, and discuss contracting mechanisms.”
First flights are poised to start later this year. Suborbital flights are planned for November, with bookings for commercial operations already underway for Q1 2021.
Applicants for Dawn’s Paint the Mk-II Spaceplane Competition should submit their design alongside a proposal for what they want fly by 31 March 2020.
For more information, please contact email@example.com or Twitter @DawnAerospace.


text:
Disney's empire has been ruled by the unmistakable Mickey Mouse for over 90 years. His optimism shines brightly in this inquisitive, colorful piece by Romero Britto, full of spunk & pizazz.
- Introduced January 2019
- Designed by Pop Artist Romero Britto
- 6" in Height
- Romero Britto captures Mickey Mouse in this vibrant and colorful hand-painted figurine
- Hand Crafted in High Quality Stoneware
- Perfect for any Disney Fan or Collector!
- 6 in H x 3.5 in W x 4.1 in L

domain: artistic


Afrobeat comes from dance influences such as foxtrot and calypso that were fused with mainly Ghanaian rhythms to create a new groove. The subgenre has attracted many jazz musicians over the years and came to influence the sounds of rock artists such as Vampire Weekend and Paul Simon.
Although Afrobeat had been around since the 1920s, its popularity grew in the 1970s [with international pioneers such as Roy Ayers and Fela Kuti] at around the same time that a band named Black Sabbath emerged from the ashes of West Midlands Mythology.
Those pioneering heavy metallists BLACK SABBATH might be (legitimately) famous for “inventing” intoned, guitar-based, doom-stoner-sludge and becoming the world’s first commercially successful heavy metal band, but it’s not so well remembered that Sabbath were always intrepid musical experimentalists and that’s how they stayed at the forefront of rock for so long (for example, consider the lightness of “Changes” the complexity of “Supernaut” or the thrashiness of “Symptom of the Universe”.) That is why Black Sabbath was, and remains, an impressively influential group of musicians.
HERE LIES MAN isn’t the first band of non-metal artists to fuse styles that bring a delicious dash of Sabbathness to a lesser-known subgenre (the Latin-funksters Brownout are another good example). And indeed, more than a hundred major artists, from Busta Rhymes to Weezer via Finley Quaye and Coheed & Cambria, are believed to have expanded and fused the original Sabbath sounds to create exciting new reconstructions. But Here Lies Man tries to subsume the influential blackness of the original fuzz-metal and realign those ideas (to double-up on them, even) to deploy a sensual and hypnotic Afrobeat.
So the band expands their musical tradition symbiotically, drawing on the dazzling percussion talents of drummer Geoff Mann (he’s the son of jazz flutist Herbie Mann, by the way) with other expert musicians pooling their talents to lend the band-leader — Marcos Garcia aka Chico Mann — plenty of jazzy numbers that come packed with a sense of integrity & admirable merit, yet are easy to stumble about to (in a field, perhaps) or trip-out to in a smoky venue (even though, at times, the project gets close to the fictional spoofism of Jazz Sabbat.)
Originating in Los Angeles in 2016 and an evolution from Brooklyn’s Antibalas, Here Lies Man mixes heavy fuzz-rock with hypnotic Ghanaian rhythms. Their new (and fourth) 15-track studio monster, titled “Ritual Divination” (their first album recorded as a four-piece — Garcia & Mann now with bassist JP Maramba and sound engineer/keyboardist Doug Organ— is gloomy-doomy, dancy-funky and trippy-drifty.
“Musically it’s an opening up more to traditional rock elements,” says vocalist/guitarist and co-founder Marcos Garcia.
“It’s always been our intention to explore. And, as we traveled deeper into this musical landscape, new features revealed themselves…”
Thus “Night Comes” is loud and lunatic with rocking tremors and squashed guitars that seem pressed against plump beats and puddled vocals. This is fluidized. But highly danceable.
“The Fates Have Won” is grander and sexier. With a rubbery bass running through the centre, those euphonious flashes and glutinous yet indistinct vocals and a punchy riff, this track expands into a state of being that is well beyond the normal limits of such material. Enriching!
“Come Inside” (shared below) is the frizzing pastry-cream topping of the entire album! Balloon voices stretch forward, tempted to gallop into rhythms no doubt, while a bass scratches the riff-surfaces, and the keyboards shrug before they meander. This is a wondrous portmanteau of cadence, pulse and euphony.
For lovers of manic, psychedelic rock and to be filed alongside: Blo or Orchestre Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou