Search results for: busy railway stations

Authors: Tam Viet Hoang

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With a plethora of new mobility services and payment systems found in our cities and across modern public transportation systems, several cities globally have turned to common ticketing systems to help navigate this complexity. Helping to create time and space-differentiated fare structures and tariff schemes, common ticketing systems can optimize transport utilization rates, achieve cost efficiencies, and provide key incentives to specific target groups. However, not all cities and transportation systems have enjoyed a smooth journey towards the adoption, roll-out, and servicing of common ticketing systems, with both the experiences of success and failure being attributed to a wide variety of critical factors. Using case study research as a methodology and cities as the main unit of analysis, this research will seek to address the fundamental question of “what are the critical factors for the success and failure of common ticketing systems?” Using rail/train systems as the entry point for this study will start by providing a background to the evolution of transport ticketing and justify the improvements in operational efficiency that can be achieved through common ticketing systems. Examining the socio-economic benefits of common ticketing, the research will also help to articulate the value derived for different key identified stakeholder groups. By reviewing case studies of the implementation of common ticketing systems in different cities, the research will explore lessons learned from cities with the aim to elicit factors to ensure seamless connectivity integrated e-ticketing platforms. In an increasingly digital age and where cities are now coming online, this paper seeks to unpack these critical factors, undertaking case study research drawing from literature and lived experiences. Offering us a better understanding of the enabling environment and ideal mixture of ingredients to facilitate the successful roll-out of a common ticketing system, interviews will be conducted with transport operators from several selected cities to better appreciate the challenges and strategies employed to overcome those challenges in relation to common ticketing systems. Meanwhile, as we begin to see the introduction of new mobile applications and user interfaces to facilitate ticketing and payment as part of the transport journey, we take stock of numerous policy challenges ahead and implications on city-wide and system-wide urban planning. It is hoped that this study will help to identify the critical factors for the success and failure of common ticketing systems for cities set to embark on their implementation while serving to fine-tune processes in those cities where common ticketing systems are already in place. Outcomes from the study will help to facilitate an improved understanding of common pitfalls and essential milestones towards the roll-out of a common ticketing system for railway systems, especially for emerging countries where mass rapid transit transport systems are being considered or in the process of construction.

Keywords: common ticketing, public transport, urban strategies, Bangkok, Fukuoka, Sydney

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Authors: Gwo-Hwa Wan, Tai-Ho Hung, Fen-Fang Chung, Wan-Ying Lee, Hui-Ching Yang

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Air pollutant exposure results in elevated concentrations of oxidative stress and inflammatory biomarkers in general populations. Increased concentrations of inflammatory biomarkers in pregnant women would be associated with preterm labor and low birth weight. To our best knowledge, the associations between air pollutants exposure and inflammation in pregnant women and fetuses are unknown, as well as their effects on fetal growth. This study aimed to evaluate the influences of outdoor air pollutants in northern Taiwan areas on the inflammatory biomarker (high sensitivity C-reactive protein, hs-CRP) concentration in the blood of healthy pregnant women and how the biomarker impacts fetal growth. In this study, 38 healthy pregnant women who are in their first trimester and live in northern Taiwan area were recruited from the Taipei Chang Gung Memorial Hospital. Personal characteristics and prenatal examination data (e.g., blood pressure) were obtained from recruited subjects. The concentrations of inflammatory mediators, hs-CRP, in the blood of healthy pregnant women were analyzed. Additionally, hourly data of air pollutants (PM10, SO2, NO2, O3, CO) concentrations were obtained from air quality monitoring stations in Taipei area, established by the Taiwan Environmental Protection Administration. The definition of lag 0 and lag 01 are the exposure to air pollutants on the day of blood withdrawal, and the average exposure to air pollutants one day before and on the day of blood withdrawal, respectively. The statistical analyses were conducted using SPSS software version 22.0 (SPSS, Inc., Chicago, IL, USA). This analytical result indicates that the healthy pregnant women aged between 28 and 42 years old. The body mass index before pregnancy averaged 21.51 (sd = 2.51) kg/m2. Around 90% of the pregnant women had never smoking habit, and 28.95% of them had allergic diseases. Approximately around 84% and 5.26% of the pregnant women worked at indoor and outdoor environments, respectively. The mean hematocrit level of the pregnant women was 37.10%, and the hemoglobin levels were ranged between 10.1 and 14.7 g/dL with 12.47 g/dL of mean value. The blood hs-CRP concentrations of healthy pregnant women in the first trimester ranged between 0.32 and 32.5 mg/L with 2.83 (sd = 5.69) mg/L of mean value. The blood hs-CRP concentrations were positively associated with ozone concentrations at lag 0-14 (r = 0.481, p = 0.017) in healthy pregnant women. Significant lag effects were identified in ozone at lag 0-14 with a positive excess concentration of blood hs-CRP.

Keywords: air pollutant, hs-CRP, pregnant woman, ozone, first trimester

Procedia PDF Downloads 237

Authors: Geminne Manzano, Clairecynth Yu, Lilibeth Salvador-Reyes, Viviene Santiago, Porfirio AliñO

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The distribution and abundance patterns of many marine sessile organisms such as sponges vary among and within reefs. Determining the factors affecting its distribution is essential especially for organisms that produce secondary metabolites with pharmaceutical importance. In this study, the small-scale distribution patterns of the Philippine blue sponge, Xestospongia sp. in relation to some ecological factors were examined. The relationship between the renieramycin-M production and their benthic attributes were also determined. Ecological surveys were conducted on two stations with varying depth and exposure located in Oriental Mindoro, Philippines. Three 30 by 6m belt transect were used to assess the sponge abundance at each station. The substratum of the sponges was also characterized. Fish visual census observations were also taken together with the photo transect methods benthic surveys. Sponge samples were also collected for the extraction of Renieramycin-M and for further chemical analysis. Varying distribution patterns were observed to be attributed to the combination of different ecological and environmental factors. The amount of Renieramycin-production also varied in each station. The common substratum for blue sponges includes hard and soft corals, as well as, dead coral with algal patches. Blue sponges from exposed habitat frequently grow associated with massive and branching corals, Porites sp., while the most frequent substrate found on sheltered habitats is the coral Pavona sp. Exploring the influence of ecological and environmental parameters on the abundance and distribution of sponge assemblages provide ecological insights and their potential applications to pharmaceutical studies. The results of this study provide further impetus in pursuing studies into patterns and processes of the Philippine blue sponge, Xestospongia sp. distribution in relation to the chemical ecology of its secondary metabolites.

Keywords: distribution patterns, Porifera, Renieramycin-M, sponge assemblages, Xestospongia sp.

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Authors: Mohamed Abdalla, Ruixue Cheng, Jianyong Zhang

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In pneumatic conveying, the solids are mixed with air or gas. In industries such as coal fired power stations, blast furnaces for iron making, cement and flour processing, the mass flow rate of solids needs to be monitored or controlled. However the current gas-solids two-phase flow measurement techniques are not as accurate as the flow meters available for the single phase flow. One of the problems that the multi-phase flow meters to face is that the flow profiles vary with measurement locations and conditions of pipe routing, bends, elbows and other restriction devices in conveying system as well as conveying velocity and concentration. To measure solids flow rate or concentration with non-even distribution of solids in gas, a uniform spatial sensitivity is required for a multi-phase flow meter. However, there are not many meters inherently have such property. The circular electrostatic meter is a popular choice for gas-solids flow measurement with its high sensitivity to flow, robust construction, low cost for installation and non-intrusive nature. However such meters have the inherent non-uniform spatial sensitivity. This paper first analyses the spatial sensitivity of circular electrostatic meter in general and then by combining the effect of the sensitivity to a single particle and the sensing volume for a given electrode geometry, the paper reveals first time how a circular electrostatic meter responds to a roping flow stream, which is much more complex than what is believed at present. The paper will provide the recent research findings on spatial sensitivity investigation at the University of Tees side based on Finite element analysis using Ansys Fluent software, including time and frequency domain characteristics and the effect of electrode geometry. The simulation results will be compared tothe experimental results obtained on a large scale (14” diameter) rig. The purpose of this research is paving a way to achieve a uniform spatial sensitivity for the circular electrostatic sensor by mean of compensation so as to improve overall accuracy of gas-solids flow measurement.

Keywords: spatial sensitivity, electrostatic sensor, pneumatic conveying, Ansys Fluent software

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Authors: Ali Razmi, Saeed Golian

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Climate change is known to have the potential to impact adversely hydrologic patterns for variables such as rainfall, maximum and minimum temperature and sea level rise. Long-term average of these climate variables could possibly change over time due to climate change impacts. In this study, trend analysis was performed on rainfall, maximum and minimum temperature and water level data of a coastal area in Manhattan, New York City, Central Park and Battery Park stations to investigate if there is a significant change in the data mean. Partial Man-Kendall test was used for trend analysis. Frequency analysis was then performed on data using common probability distribution functions such as Generalized Extreme Value (GEV), normal, log-normal and log-Pearson. Goodness of fit tests such as Kolmogorov-Smirnov are used to determine the most appropriate distributions. In flood frequency analysis, rainfall and water level data are often separately investigated. However, in determining flood zones, simultaneous consideration of rainfall and water level in frequency analysis could have considerable effect on floodplain delineation (flood extent and depth). The present study aims to perform flood frequency analysis considering joint probability distribution for rainfall and storm surge. First, correlation between the considered variables was investigated. Joint probability distribution of extreme water level and temperature was also investigated to examine how global warming could affect sea level flooding impacts. Copula functions were fitted to data and joint probability of water level with rainfall and temperature for different recurrence intervals of 2, 5, 25, 50, 100, 200, 500, 600 and 1000 was determined and compared with the severity of individual events. Results for trend analysis showed increase in long-term average of data that could be attributed to climate change impacts. GEV distribution was found as the most appropriate function to be fitted to the extreme climate variables. The results for joint probability distribution analysis confirmed the necessity for incorporation of both rainfall and water level data in flood frequency analysis.

Keywords: climate change, climate variables, copula, joint probability

Procedia PDF Downloads 332

Authors: John Olorunfemi Abe, Olawale Muhammed Popoola, Abimbola Patricia Idowu Popoola

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Hydrogen is an appealing alternative to fossil fuels because of its abundance, low weight, high energy density, and relative lack of contaminants. However, its low density presents a number of storage challenges. Therefore, this work studies the influence of refractory nitride additives consisting of 5 wt. % each of hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN), titanium nitride (TiN), and aluminum nitride (AlN) on hydrogen storage and electrochemical characteristics of Ti6Al4V-based materials produced by spark plasma sintering. The microstructure and phase constituents of the sintered materials were characterized using scanning electron microscopy (in conjunction with energy-dispersive spectroscopy) and X-ray diffraction, respectively. Pressure-composition-temperature (PCT) measurements were used to assess the hydrogen absorption/desorption behavior, kinetics, and storage capacities of the sintered materials, respectively. The pure Ti6Al4V alloy displayed a two-phase (α+β) microstructure, while the modified composites exhibited apparent microstructural modifications with the appearance of nitride-rich secondary phases. It is found that the diffusion process controls the kinetics of the hydrogen absorption. Thus, a faster rate of hydrogen absorption at elevated temperatures ensued. The additives acted as catalysts, lowered the activation energy and accelerated the rate of hydrogen sorption in the composites relative to the monolithic alloy. Ti6Al4V-5 wt. % h-BN appears to be the most promising candidate for hydrogen storage (2.28 wt. %), followed by Ti6Al4V-5 wt. % TiN (2.09 wt. %), whereas Ti6Al4V-5 wt. % AlN shows the least hydrogen storage performance (1.35 wt. %). Accordingly, the developed hydride system (Ti6Al4V-5h-BN) may be competitive for use in applications involving short-range continuous vehicles (~50-100km) as well as stationary applications such as electrochemical devices, large-scale storage cylinders in hydrogen production locations, and hydrogen filling stations.

Keywords: hydrogen storage, Ti6Al4V hydride system, pressure-composition-temperature measurements, refractory nitride additives, spark plasma sintering, Ti6Al4V-based materials

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Authors: Md. Refat Jahan Rakiba, M. Belal Hossaina, Rakesh Kumarc, Md. Akram Ullaha, Sultan Al Nahiand, Nazmun Naher Rimaa, Tasrina Rabia Choudhury, Samia Islam Libaf, Jimmy Yub, Mayeen Uddin Khandakerg, Abdelmoneim Suliemanh, Mohamed Mahmoud Sayedi

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Microplastics (MPs) have become an emerging global pollutant due to their wide spread and dispersion and potential threats to marine ecosystems. However, studies on MPs of estuarine and coastal ecosystems of Bangladesh are very limited or not available. In this study, we conducted the first study on the abundance, distribution, characteristics and potential risk assessment of microplastics in the sediment of Karnaphuli River estuary, Bangladesh. Microplastic particles were extracted from sediments of 30 stations along the estuary by density separation, and then enumerated and characterize by using steromicroscope and Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy. In the collected sediment, the number of MPs varied from 22.29 - 59.5 items kg−1 of dry weight (DW) with an average of 1177 particles kg−1 DW. The mean abundance was higher in the downstream and left bank of estuary where the predominant shape, colour, and size of MPs were films (35%), white (19%), and >5000 μm (19%), respectively. The main polymer types were polyethylene terephthalate, polystyrene, polyethylene, cellulose, and nylon. MPs were found to pose risks (low to high) in the sediment of the estuary, with the highest risk occuring at one station near a sewage outlet, according to the results of risk analyses using the pollution risk index (PRI), polymer risk index (H), contamination factors (CFs), and pollution load index (PLI). The single value index, PLI clearly demonastated that all sampling sites were considerably polluted (as PLI >1) with microplastics. H values showed toxic polymers even in lower proportions possess higher polymeric hazard scores and vice versa. This investigation uncovered new insights on the status of MPs in the sediments of Karnaphuli River estuary, laying the groundwork for future research and control of microplastic pollution and management.

Keywords: microplastics, polymers, pollution risk assessment, Karnaphuli esttuary

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Authors: G. W. Greubel, A. Kalam

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South Africa finds itself at a confluence of forces where the national electricity supply system is constrained with under-supply primarily from old and failing coal-fired power stations and congested and inadequate transmission and distribution systems. Simultaneously the country attempts to meet carbon reduction targets driven by both an alignment with international goals and a consumer-driven requirement. The constrained electricity system is an aspect of an economy characterized by very low economic growth, high unemployment, and frequent and significant load shedding. The fiscus does not have the funding to build new generation capacity or strengthen the grid. The under-supply is increasingly alleviated by the penetration of wind and solar generation capacity and embedded roof-top solar. However, this increased penetration results in less inertia, less synchronous generation, and less capability for fast frequency response, with resultant instability. The renewable energy facilities assist in solving the under-supply issues, but merely ‘kick the can down the road’ by not contributing to grid stability or by substituting the lost inertia, thus creating an expanding issue for the grid to manage. By technically balancing its electricity demand and supply a company with facilities located across the country can be spared the effects of load shedding, and thus ensure financial and production performance, protect jobs, and contribute meaningfully to the economy. By treating the company’s load (across the country) and its various distributed generation facilities as a ‘virtual grid’ which by design will provide ancillary services to the grid one is able to create a win-win situation for both the company and the grid. This paper provides a review of the technical problems facing the South African electricity system and discusses a hypothetical ‘virtual grid’ concept that may assist in solving the problems. The proposed solution has potential application across emerging markets with constrained power infrastructure or for companies who wish to be entirely powered by renewable energy.

Keywords: load shedding, renewable energy integration, smart grid, virtual grid

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Authors: Jin Sheng

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This paper addresses a promising area of insurance sector to develop in Asia. Captive insurance, which provides risk-mitigation services for its parent company, has great potentials to develop in energy, infrastructure, agriculture, logistics, catastrophe, and alternative risk transfer (ART), and will greatly affect the framework of insurance industry. However, the Asian captive insurance market only takes a small proportion in the global market. The recent supply chain interruption case of Hanjin Shipping indicates the significance of risk management for an Asian company’s sustainability and resilience. China has substantial needs and great potentials to develop captive insurance, on account of the currency volatility, enterprises’ credit risks, and legal and operational risks of the Belt and Road initiative. Up to date, Mainland Chinese enterprises only have four offshore captives incorporated by CNOOC, Sinopec, Lenovo and CGN Power), three onshore captive insurance companies incorporated by CNPC, China Railway, and COSCO, as well as one industrial captive insurance organization - China Ship-owners Mutual Assurance Association. Its captive market grows slowly with one or two captive insurers licensed yearly after September 2011. As an international financial center, Hong Kong has comparative advantages in taxation, professionals, market access and well-established financial infrastructure to develop a functional captive insurance market. For example, Hong Kong’s income tax for an insurance company is 16.5%; while China's income tax for an insurance company is 25% plus business tax of 5%. Furthermore, restrictions on market entry and operations of China’s onshore captives make establishing offshore captives in international or regional captive insurance centers such as Singapore, Hong Kong, and other overseas jurisdictions to become attractive options. Thus, there are abundant business opportunities in this area. Using methodology of comparative studies and case analysis, this paper discusses the incorporation, regulatory issues, taxation and prospect of captive insurance market in Hong Kong, China and Singapore. Hong Kong and Singapore are both international financial centers with prominent advantages in tax concessions, technology, implementation, professional services, and well-functioning legal system. Singapore, as the domicile of 71 active captives, has been the largest captive insurance hub in Asia, as well as an established reinsurance hub. Hong Kong is an emerging captive insurance hub with 5 to 10 newly licensed captives each year, according to the Hong Kong Financial Services Development Council. It is predicted that Hong Kong will become a domicile for 50 captive insurers by 2025. This paper also compares the formation of a captive in Singapore with other jurisdictions such as Bermuda and Vermont.

Keywords: Alternative Risk Transfer (ART), captive insurance company, offshore captives, risk management, reinsurance, self-insurance fund

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Authors: Mike Chia-Yu Huang

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China’s port facility construction projects in the Indian Ocean (IO) region, Gwadar Port and Djibouti Port projects in particular, have led to a heated debate among both Chinese and Western strategists over whether the country has literally been carrying out its “string of pearls” strategy, an alleged Chinese plan to challenge America’s military predominance in South Asia. Even though the Chinese government repeatedly denied the existence of such a strategy and highlighted the civilian/commercial nature of its port projects, it has significantly enhanced its strategic cooperation with littoral countries in the IO region since the “One Belt One Road” initiative was introduced by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013. Whether China does have a plan to expand its sphere of military influence westward concerns the balance of power in the IO region. If the answer is positive, the security environment there will be changed drastically. This paper argues that rather than simply copying the U.S. model of developing overseas military bases along the IO periphery, Beijing has been deliberating a more sophisticated plan for its physical presence there: creating a new set of “overseas strategic pivots.” These “pivots,” semi-military and semi-commercial in nature, are designed to help Beijing sustain its anti-piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden and serve as forward stations for the transportation of China’s imported energy and merchandise. They can support the Chinese Navy’s operations overseas but are not supposed to undertake face-to-face combat missions. This upgraded Chinese scheme can be identified as “string of pearls” strategy 2.0. Moreover, it is expected to help China deepen its roots in the IO region, implying that Beijing has to a large extent scratched its old diplomatic philosophy which highlighted the merits of non-interference and nonalignment. While a full-scale maritime confrontation between China and the U.S.-India security alliance is unlikely to be witnessed in the near future, an ambitious Chinese plan to step into the global maritime domain has been evidently shown.

Keywords: Chinese navy, Djibouti, Gwadar, Indian Ocean, string of pearls strategy

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Authors: A. Burakowska, M. Piotrowski, M. Kubicki, H. Trzaskowska, R. Sosnowiec, B. Myslek-Laurikainen

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The most important source of atmospheric radioactivity are radionuclides generated as a result of the impact of primary and secondary cosmic radiation, with the nuclei of nitrogen oxygen and carbon in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere. This creates about thirty radioisotopes of more than twenty elements. For organisms, the four of them are most important: ³H, ⁷Be, ²²Na, ¹⁴C. The natural radionuclides, which are present in Earth crust, also settle on dust and particles of water vapor. By this means, the derivatives of uranium and thorium, and long-life 40K get into the air. ¹³⁷Cs is the most widespread isotope, that is implemented by humans into the environment. To determine the concentration of radionuclides in the atmosphere, high volume air samplers were used, where the aerosol collection took place on a special filter fabric (Petrianov filter tissue FPP-15-1.5). In 2002 the high volume air sampler AZA-1000 was installed at the Polish Polar Observatory of the Polish Academy of Science in Hornsund, Spitsbergen (77°00’N, 15°33’E), designed to operate in all weather conditions of the cold polar region. Since 1991 (with short breaks) the ASS-500 air sampler has been working, which is located in Swider at the Kalinowski Geophysical Observatory of Geophysics Institute of the Polish Academy of Science (52°07’N, 21°15’E). The following results of radionuclides concentrations were obtained from both stations using gamma spectroscopy analysis: ⁷Be, ¹³⁷Cs, ¹³⁴Cs, ²¹⁰Pb, ⁴⁰K. For gamma spectroscopy analysis HPGe (High Purity Germanium) detector were used. These data were compared with each other. The preliminary results gave evidence that radioactivity measured in aerosols is not proportional to the amount of dust for both studied regions. Furthermore, the results indicate annual variability (seasonal fluctuations) as well as a decrease in the average activity of ⁷Be with increasing latitude. The content of ⁷Be in surface air also indicates the relationship with solar activity cycles.

Keywords: aerosols, air filters, atmospheric beryllium, environmental radionuclides, gamma spectroscopy, mid-latitude regions radionuclides, polar regions radionuclides, solar cycles

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Authors: Maryam Sayadi, Rana Sedighpour, Hossein Rezaie

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In this study, in order to evaluate water quality of Gamasiab and Gharehsoo rivers located in Kermanshah province, the information of a 5-year statistical period during the years 2014-2018 was used. To evaluate the hydrochemistry of water, first the type and hydrogeochemical facies of river water were determined using Stiff and Piper diagrams. Then, based on Gibbs diagram and combination diagrams, the factors controlling the chemical parameters of the two rivers were identified. Saturation indices were used to predict the possibility of dissolution and deposition of some minerals. Then, in order to classify water in different sections, fourteen water quality indicators for different uses along with WHO standard were used. Finally, factor analysis was used to determine the processes affecting the hydrochemistry of the two rivers. The results of this study showed that in both rivers, the predominant type and facies are bicarbonate of calcite. Also, the main factor in changing the chemical quality of water in both Gamasiab and Gharehsoo rivers is the water-rock reaction. According to the results of factor analysis in both rivers, two factors have the greatest impact on water quality in the region. Among the parameters of Gamasiab river in the first factor, HCO3-, Na+ and Cl-, respectively, had the highest factor loads, and in the second factor, SO42- and Mg2+ were selected as the main parameters. The parameters Ca2+, Cl- and Na have the highest factor loads in the first factor and in the second factor Mg2+ and SO42- have the highest factor loads in Gharehsoo river. The dissolution of carbonate formations due to their abundance and expansion in the two basins has a more significant effect on changing water chemistry. It has saturated the water of rivers with aragonite, calcite and dolomite. Due to the low contribution of the second factor in changing the chemical parameters, the water of both rivers is saturated with respect to evaporative minerals such as gypsum, halite and anhydrite in all stations. Based on Schoeller diagrams, Wilcox and other quality indicators in these two sections, the amount of main physicochemical parameters are in the desired range for drinking and agriculture. The results of Langelier, Ryznar, Larson-Skold and Puckorius indices showed that water is corrosive in industry.

Keywords: factor analysis, hydrochemical, saturation index, surface water quality

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Authors: Hemendra Singh Rathod

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Frequency is, among other factors, one of the governing parameters for maintaining electrical grid stability. The quality of an electrical transmission and supply system is mainly described by the stability of the grid frequency. Over the past few decades, energy generation by intermittent sustainable sources like wind and solar has seen a significant increase globally. Consequently, controlling the associated deviations in grid frequency within safe limits has been gaining momentum so that the balance between demand and supply can be maintained. Lithium-ion battery energy storage system (Li-Ion BESS) has been a promising technology to tackle the challenges associated with grid instability. BESS is, therefore, an effective response to the ongoing debate whether it is feasible to have an electrical grid constantly functioning on a hundred percent renewable power in the near future. In recent years, large-scale manufacturing and capital investment into battery production processes have made the Li-ion battery systems cost-effective and increasingly efficient. The Li-ion systems require very low maintenance and are also independent of geographical constraints while being easily scalable. The paper highlights the use of stationary and moving BESS for balancing electrical energy, thereby maintaining grid frequency at a rapid rate. Moving BESS technology, as implemented in the selected railway network in Germany, is here considered as an exemplary concept for demonstrating the same functionality in the electrical grid system. Further, using certain applications of Li-ion batteries, such as self-consumption of wind and solar parks or their ancillary services, wind and solar energy storage during low demand, black start, island operation, residential home storage, etc. offers a solution to effectively integrate the renewables and support Europe’s future smart grid. EMT software tool DIgSILENT PowerFactory has been utilised to model an electrical transmission system with 100% renewable energy penetration. The stability of such a transmission system has been evaluated together with BESS within a defined frequency band. The transmission system operators (TSO) have the superordinate responsibility for system stability and must also coordinate with the other European transmission system operators. Frequency control is implemented by TSO by maintaining a balance between electricity generation and consumption. Li-ion battery systems are here seen as flexible, controllable loads and flexible, controllable generation for balancing energy pools. Thus using Li-ion battery storage solution, frequency-dependent load shedding, i.e., automatic gradual disconnection of loads from the grid, and frequency-dependent electricity generation, i.e., automatic gradual connection of BESS to the grid, is used as a perfect security measure to maintain grid stability in any case scenario. The paper emphasizes the use of stationary and moving Li-ion battery storage for meeting the demands of maintaining grid frequency and stability for near future operations.

Keywords: frequency control, grid stability, li-ion battery storage, smart grid

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Authors: Engineer Dilnawaz Shah

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Solid Waste Management (SWM) is perhaps one of the most important elements constituting the environmental health and sanitation of the urban developing sector. The management system has several components that are integrated as well as interdependent; thus, the efficiency and effectiveness of the entire system are affected when any of its functional components fails or does not perform up to the level mark of operation. Sindh Solid Waste Management Board (SSWMB) is responsible for the management of solid waste in the entire city. There is a need to adopt the engineered approach in the redesigning of the existing system. In most towns, street sweeping operations have been mechanized and done by machinery operated by vehicles. Construction of Garbage Transfer Stations (GTS) at a number of locations within the city will cut the cost of transportation of waste to disposal sites. Material processing, recovery of recyclables, compaction, volume reduction, and increase in density will enable transportation of waste to disposal sites/landfills via long vehicles (bulk transport), minimizing transport/traffic and environmental pollution-related issues. Development of disposal sites into proper sanitary landfill sites is mandatory. The transportation mechanism is through garbage vehicles using either hauled or fixed container systems employing crew for mechanical or manual loading. The number of garbage vehicles is inadequate, and due to comparatively long haulage to disposal sites, there are certain problems of frequent vehicular maintenance and high fuel costs. Foreign investors have shown interest in enterprising improvement schemes and proposed operating a solid waste management system in Karachi. The waste to Energy option is being considered to provide a practical answer to be adopted to generate power and reduce waste load – a two-pronged solution for the increasing environmental problem. The paper presents results and analysis of a recent study into waste generation and characterization probing into waste-to-energy options for Karachi City.

Keywords: waste to energy option, integrated approach, solid waste management, physical and chemical composition of waste in Karachi

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Authors: Alemayehu Muluneh, Saskia Keesstra, Leo Stroosnijder, Woldeamlak Bewket, Ashenafi Burka

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There are some scientific evidences and a belief by many that forests attract rain and deforestation contributes to a decline of rainfall. However, there is still a lack of concrete scientific evidence on the role of forests in rainfall amount. In this paper, we investigate the forest-rainfall relationships in the environmentally hot spot area of the Central Rift Valley (CRV) of Ethiopia. Specifically, we evaluate long term (1970-2009) rainfall variability and its relationship with historical forest cover and the relationship between existing forest cover and topographical variables and rainfall distribution. The study used 16 long term and 15 short term rainfall stations. The Mann-Kendall test, bi variate and multiple regression models were used. The results show forest and wood land cover continuously declined over the 40 years period (1970-2009), but annual rainfall in the rift valley floor increased by 6.42 mm/year. But, on the escarpment and highlands, annual rainfall decreased by 2.48 mm/year. The increase in annual rainfall in the rift valley floor is partly attributable to the increase in evaporation as a result of increasing temperatures from the 4 existing lakes in the rift valley floor. Though, annual rainfall is decreasing on the escarpment and highlands, there was no significant correlation between this rainfall decrease and forest and wood land decline and also rainfall variability in the region was not explained by forest cover. Hence, the decrease in annual rainfall on the escarpment and highlands is likely related to the global warming of the atmosphere and the surface waters of the Indian Ocean. Spatial variability of number of rainy days from systematically observed two-year’s rainfall data (2012-2013) was significantly (R2=-0.63) explained by forest cover (distance from forest). But, forest cover was not a significant variable (R2=-0.40) in explaining annual rainfall amount. Generally, past deforestation and existing forest cover showed very little effect on long term and short term rainfall distribution, but a significant effect on number of rainy days in the CRV of Ethiopia.

Keywords: elevation, forest cover, rainfall, slope

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Authors: N. B. Ikenweiwe, A. A. Alimi, N. A. Bamidele, A. O. Ewumi, J. Dairo, I. A. Akinnubi, S. O. Otubusin

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A study on the physical, chemical and biological parameters of the lower course of Ogun River, Isheri-Olofin was carried out between January and December 2014 in order to determine the effects of the anthropogenic activities of the Kara abattoir and domestic waste depositions on the quality of the water. Water samples were taken twice each month at three selected stations A, B and C (based on characteristic features or activity levels) along the water course. Samples were analysed using standard methods for chemical and biological parameters the same day in the laboratory while physical parameters were determined in-situ with water parameters kit. Generally, results of Transparency, Dissolved Oxygen, Nitrates, TDS and Alkalinity fall below the permissible limits of WHO and FEPA standards for drinking and fish production. Results of phosphates, lead and cadmium were also low but still within the permissible limit. Only Temperature and pH were within limit. Low plankton community, (phytoplankton, zooplankton), which ranges from 3, 5 to 40, 23 were as a result of low levels of DO, transparency and phosphate. The presence of coliform bacteria of public health importance like Escherichia coli, Proteus vulgaris, Aeromonas sp., Shigella sp, Enterobacter aerogenes as well as gram negative bacteria Proteus morganii are mainly indicators of faecal pollution. Fish and other resources obtained from this water stand the risk of being contaminated with these organisms and man is at the receiving end. The results of the physical, chemical and some biological parameters of Isheri, Ogun River, according to this study showed that the live forms of aquatic and fisheries resources there are dwelling under stress as a result of deposition of bones, horns, faecal components, slurry of suspended solids, fat and blood into the water. Government should therefore establish good monitoring system against illegal waste depositions and create education programmes that will enlighten the community on the social, ecological and economic values of the river.

Keywords: water parameters, Isheri Ogun river, anthropogenic activities, Kara abattoir

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Authors: Najih Amina

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Our study focuses on monitoring the spatial evolution of a number of physico-chemical parameters of wells waters located at different distances from the discharge of the city of Khouribga (S0 upstream station, S1, S2 et S3 are respectively located at 5.5, 7.5, 11 Km away from solid waste discharge of the city). The absence of a source of drinking water in this region involves the population to feeding on its groundwater wells. Through the results, we note that most of the analyzed parameters exceed the potable water standards from S1. At this source of water, we find that the conductivity (1290 μmScm-1; Standard 1000 μmScm-1), Total Hardness TH (67.2°F/ Standard 50° F), Ca2 + (146 mg l-1 standard 60 mg l-1), Cl- (369 mg l-1 standard 150 mg l-1), NaCl (609 mgl-1), Methyl orange alakanity “M. alk” (280 mg l-1) greatly exceed the drinking water standards. By following these parameters, it is obvious that some values have decreased in the downstream stations, while others become important. We find that the conductivity is always higher than 950 μmScm-1; the TH registers 72°F in S3; Ca 2+ is in the range of 153 mg l-1 in S3, Cl- and NaCl- reached 426 mg l-1 and 702 mg l-1 respectively in S2, M alk becomes higher and reaches 430 to 350 in S3. At the wells S2, we found that the nitrites are well beyond the standard 1.05 mg l-1. Whereas, at the control station S0, the values are lower or at the limit of drinking water standards: conductivity (452 μmScm-1), TH (34 F°), Ca2+ (68 mg l-1), Cl- (157 mg l-1), NaCl- (258 mg l-1), M alk (220 mg l-1). Thus, the diagnosis reveals the presence of a high pollution caused by the leachates of the household waste discharge and by the effluents of the sewage waste water plant (SWWP). The phenomenon of the water hardness could, also, be generated by the processes of erosion, leaching and soil infiltration in the region (phosphate layers, intercalated layers of marl and limestone), phenomenons also caused by the acidity due to this surrounding pollution. The source S1 is the nearest surrounding site of the discharge and the most affected by the phenomenon of pollution, especially, it is near to a superficial water source S’1 polluted by the effluents coming from the sewage waste water plant of the city. In the light of these data, we can deduce that the consumption of this water from S1 does not conform the standards of drinking waters, and could affect the human health.

Keywords: physico-chemical parameters, ground water wells, infiltration, leaching, pollution, leachate discharge effluent SWWP, human health.

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Authors: Olalekan Lawrence Ojo

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Designing microwave terrestrial propagation networks requires a thorough evaluation of the severity of multipath fading, especially at frequencies below 10 GHz. In nations like Nigeria, without a large enough databases to support the existing empirical models, the mistakes in the prediction technique intended for the evaluation may be severe. The need for higher bandwidth for various satellite applications makes the investigation of the effects of radio refractivity, fading due to multipath, and Geoclimatic factors on satellite propagation links more important. One of the key elements to take into account for the best functioning of microwave frequencies is the clear air effects. This work has taken into account the geographical distribution of radio refractivity and fades depth over a number of stations in Nigeria. Data from five locations in Nigeria—Akure, Enugu, Jos, Minna, and Sokoto—based on five-year (2017–2021) measurement methods of atmospheric pressure, relative, and humidity temperature—at two levels (ground surface and 100 m heights)—are studied to deduced their effects on signals propagated through a µwave communication links. The assessments included considerations for µwave communication systems as well as the impacts of the dry and wet components of radio refractivity, the effects of the fade depth at various frequencies, and a 20 km link distance. The results demonstrate that the percentage occurrence of the dry terms dominated the radio refractivity constituent at the surface level, contributing a minimum of about 78% and a maximum of about 92%, while at heights of 100 meters, the percentage occurrence of the dry terms dominated the radio refractivity constituent, contributing a minimum of about 79% and a maximum of about 92%. The spatial distribution reveals that, regardless of height, the country's tropical rainforest (TRF) and freshwater swampy mangrove (FWSM) regions reported the greatest values of radio refractivity. The statistical estimate shows that fading values can differ by as much as 1.5 dB, especially near the TRF and FWSM coastlines, even during clear air conditions. The current findings will be helpful for budgeting Earth-space microwave links, particularly for the rollout of Nigeria's 5G and 6G projected microcellular networks.

Keywords: fade depth, geoclimatic factor, refractivity, refractivity gradient

Procedia PDF Downloads 55

Authors: Ji-yang Yu, Dan Huang, Guo-ping Feng, Xin Li, Lu-yuan Wang

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The navigation satellite network, especially the Beidou MEO Constellation, can relay data effectively with wide coverage and is applied in navigation, detection, and position widely. But the constellation has not been completed, and the amount of satellites on-board is not enough to cover the earth, which makes the data-relay disrupted or delayed in the transition process. The data-relay function needs to tolerant the delay or disruption in some extension, which make the Beidou MEO Constellation a delay/disruption-tolerant network (DTN). The traditional DTN designs mainly employ the relay table as the basic of data path schedule computing. But in practical application, especially in critical condition, such as the war-time or the infliction heavy losses on the constellation, parts of the nodes may become invalid, then the traditional DTN design could be useless. Furthermore, when transmitting the critical message in the navigation system, the maximum priority strategy is used, but the nodes still inquiry the relay table to design the path, which makes the delay more than minutes. Under this circumstances, it needs a function which could compute the optimum data path on-board in real-time according to the constellation states. The on-board critical message transmission design for navigation satellite delay/disruption-tolerant network (DTN) is proposed, according to the characteristics of navigation satellite network. With the real-time computation of parameters in the network link, the least-delay transition path is deduced to retransmit the critical message in urgent conditions. First, the DTN model for constellation is established based on the time-varying matrix (TVM) instead of the time-varying graph (TVG); then, the least transition delay data path is deduced with the parameters of the current node; at last, the critical message transits to the next best node. For the on-board real-time computing, the time delay and misjudges of constellation states in ground stations are eliminated, and the residual information channel for each node can be used flexibly. Compare with the minute’s delay of traditional DTN; the proposed transmits the critical message in seconds, which improves the re-transition efficiency. The hardware is implemented in FPGA based on the proposed model, and the tests prove the validity.

Keywords: critical message, DTN, navigation satellite, on-board, real-time

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Authors: V. Markogianni, D. Kalivas, G. Petropoulos, E. Dimitriou

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Lake water quality monitoring in combination with the use of earth observation products constitutes a major component in many water quality monitoring programs. Landsat 8 images of Trichonis Lake (Greece) acquired on 30/10/2013 and 30/08/2014 were used in order to explore the possibility of Landsat 8 to estimate water quality parameters and particularly CDOM absorption at specific wavelengths, chlorophyll-a and nutrient concentrations in this oligotrophic freshwater body, characterized by inexistent quantitative, temporal and spatial variability. Water samples have been collected at 22 different stations, on late August of 2014 and the satellite image of the same date was used to statistically correlate the in-situ measurements with various combinations of Landsat 8 bands in order to develop algorithms that best describe those relationships and calculate accurately the aforementioned water quality components. Optimal models were applied to the image of late October of 2013 and the validation of the results was conducted through their comparison with the respective available in-situ data of 2013. Initial results indicated the limited ability of the Landsat 8 sensor to accurately estimate water quality components in an oligotrophic waterbody. As resulted by the validation process, ammonium concentrations were proved to be the most accurately estimated component (R = 0.7), followed by chl-a concentration (R = 0.5) and the CDOM absorption at 420 nm (R = 0.3). In-situ nitrate, nitrite, phosphate and total nitrogen concentrations of 2014 were measured as lower than the detection limit of the instrument used, hence no statistical elaboration was conducted. On the other hand, multiple linear regression among reflectance measures and total phosphorus concentrations resulted in low and statistical insignificant correlations. Our results were concurrent with other studies in international literature, indicating that estimations for eutrophic and mesotrophic lakes are more accurate than oligotrophic, owing to the lack of suspended particles that are detectable by satellite sensors. Nevertheless, although those predictive models, developed and applied to Trichonis oligotrophic lake are less accurate, may still be useful indicators of its water quality deterioration.

Keywords: landsat 8, oligotrophic lake, remote sensing, water quality

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Authors: Daniel Sava, Dragos Gudovan, Iulia Alexandra Gudovan, Ioana Ardelean, Maria Sonmez, Denisa Ficai, Laurentia Alexandrescu, Ecaterina Andronescu

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Graphene and graphene oxide have been intensively studied due to the very good properties, which are intrinsic to the material or come from the easy doping of those with other functional groups. Graphene and graphene oxide have known a broad band of useful applications, in electronic devices, drug delivery systems, medical devices, sensors and opto-electronics, coating materials, sorbents of different agents for environmental applications, etc. The board range of applications does not come only from the use of graphene or graphene oxide alone, or by its prior functionalization with different moieties, but also it is a building block and an important component in many composite devices, its addition coming with new functionalities on the final composite or strengthening the ones that are already existent on the parent product. An attempt to improve the mechanical properties of polyamide elastomers by compounding with graphene oxide in the parent polymer composition was attempted. The addition of the graphene oxide contributes to the properties of the final product, improving the hardness and aging resistance. Graphene oxide has a lower hardness and textile strength, and if the amount of graphene oxide in the final product is not correctly estimated, it can lead to mechanical properties which are comparable to the starting material or even worse, the graphene oxide agglomerates becoming a tearing point in the final material if the amount added is too high (in a value greater than 3% towards the parent material measured in mass percentages). Two different types of tests were done on the obtained materials, the hardness standard test and the tensile strength standard test, and they were made on the obtained materials before and after the aging process. For the aging process, an accelerated aging was used in order to simulate the effect of natural aging over a long period of time. The accelerated aging was made in extreme heat. For all materials, FT-IR spectra were recorded using FT-IR spectroscopy. From the FT-IR spectra only the bands corresponding to the polyamide were intense, while the characteristic bands for graphene oxide were very small in comparison due to the very small amounts introduced in the final composite along with the low absorptivity of the graphene backbone and limited number of functional groups. In conclusion, some compositions showed very promising results, both in tensile strength test and in hardness tests. The best ratio of graphene to elastomer was between 0.6 and 0.8%, this addition extending the life of the product. Acknowledgements: The present work was possible due to the EU-funding grant POSCCE-A2O2.2.1-2013-1, Project No. 638/12.03.2014, code SMIS-CSNR 48652. The financial contribution received from the national project ‘New nanostructured polymeric composites for centre pivot liners, centre plate and other components for the railway industry (RONERANANOSTRUCT)’, No: 18 PTE (PN-III-P2-2.1-PTE-2016-0146) is also acknowledged.

Keywords: graphene, graphene oxide, mechanical properties, dopping effect

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Authors: A. Er-Raki, D. Hartmann, J. P. Belaud, S. Negny

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This paper has a double purpose: firstly, a literature review of the life cycle analysis (LCA) and secondly a comparison between conventional (static) LCA and multi-level dynamic LCA on the following items: (i) inventories evolution with time (ii) temporal evolution of the databases. The first part of the paper summarizes the state of the art of the static LCA approach. The different static LCA limits have been identified and especially the non-consideration of the spatial and temporal evolution in the inventory, for the characterization factors (FCs) and into the databases. Then a description of the different levels of integration of the notion of temporality in life cycle analysis studies was made. In the second part, the dynamic inventory has been evaluated firstly for a single nuclear plant and secondly for the entire French nuclear power fleet by taking into account the construction durations of all the plants. In addition, the databases have been adapted by integrating the temporal variability of the French energy mix. Several iterations were used to converge towards the real environmental impact of the energy mix. Another adaptation of the databases to take into account the temporal evolution of the market data of the raw material was made. An identification of the energy mix of the time studied was based on an extrapolation of the production reference values of each means of production. An application to the construction of the French nuclear power plants from 1971 to 2000 has been performed, in which a dynamic inventory of raw material has been evaluated. Then the impacts were characterized by the ILCD 2011 characterization method. In order to compare with a purely static approach, a static impact assessment was made with the V 3.4 Ecoinvent data sheets without adaptation and a static inventory considering that all the power stations would have been built at the same time. Finally, a comparison between static and dynamic LCA approaches was set up to determine the gap between them for each of the two levels of integration. The results were analyzed to identify the contribution of the evolving nuclear power fleet construction to the total environmental impacts of the French energy mix during the same period. An equivalent strategy using a dynamic approach will further be applied to identify the environmental impacts that different scenarios of the energy transition could bring, allowing to choose the best energy mix from an environmental viewpoint.

Keywords: LCA, static, dynamic, inventory, construction, nuclear energy, energy mix, energy transition

Procedia PDF Downloads 83

Authors: Yun Chen, Qihang Liu, Catherine Ticehurst, Chandrama Sarker, Fazlul Karim, Dave Penton, Ashmita Sengupta

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The application of ICESAT-2 altimetry data in river hydrology critically depends on the accuracy of the mean water surface elevation (WSE) at a virtual station (VS) where satellite observations intersect with water. The ICESAT-2 track generates multiple VSs as it crosses the different water bodies. The difficulties are particularly pronounced in large river basins where there are many tributaries and meanders often adjacent to each other. One challenge is to split photon segments along a beam to accurately partition them to extract only the true representative water height for individual elements. As far as we can establish, there is no automated procedure to make this distinction. Earlier studies have relied on human intervention or river masks. Both approaches are unsatisfactory solutions where the number of intersections is large, and river width/extent changes over time. We describe here an automated approach called “auto-segmentation”. The accuracy of our method was assessed by comparison with river water level observations at 10 different stations on 37 different dates along the Lower Murray River, Australia. The congruence is very high and without detectable bias. In addition, we compared different outlier removal methods on the mean WSE calculation at VSs post the auto-segmentation process. All four outlier removal methods perform almost equally well with the same R2 value (0.998) and only subtle variations in RMSE (0.181–0.189m) and MAE (0.130–0.142m). Overall, the auto-segmentation method developed here is an effective and efficient approach to deriving accurate mean WSE at river VSs. It provides a much better way of facilitating the application of ICESAT-2 ATL13 altimetry to rivers compared to previously reported studies. Therefore, the findings of our study will make a significant contribution towards the retrieval of hydraulic parameters, such as water surface slope along the river, water depth at cross sections, and river channel bathymetry for calculating flow velocity and discharge from remotely sensed imagery at large spatial scales.

Keywords: lidar sensor, virtual station, cross section, mean water surface elevation, beam/track segmentation

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Authors: Eronini Iheanyi Umez-Eronini

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Most studies and existing implementations of compressed air energy storage (CAES) coupled with a wind farm to overcome intermittency and variability of wind power are based on bulk or centralized CAES plants. A dynamic model of a hybrid wind farm with wind turbines and distributed CAES, consisting of air storage tanks and compressor and expander trains at each wind turbine station, is developed and simulated in MATLAB. An ad hoc supervisory controller, in which the wind turbines are simply operated under classical power optimizing region control while scheduling power production by the expanders and air storage by the compressors, including modulation of the compressor power levels within a control range, is used to regulate overall farm power production to track minute-scale (3-minutes sampling period) TSO absolute power reference signal, over an eight-hour period. Simulation results for real wind data input with a simple wake field model applied to a hybrid plant composed of ten 5-MW wind turbines in a row and ten compatibly sized and configured Diabatic CAES stations show the plant controller is able to track the power demand signal within an error band size on the order of the electrical power rating of a single expander. This performance suggests that much improved results should be anticipated when the global D-CAES control is combined with power regulation for the individual wind turbines using available approaches for wind farm active power control. For standalone power plant fuel electrical efficiency estimate of up to 60%, the round trip electrical storage efficiency computed for the distributed CAES wherein heat generated by running compressors is utilized in the preheat stage of running high pressure expanders while fuel is introduced and combusted before the low pressure expanders, was comparable to reported round trip storage electrical efficiencies for bulk Adiabatic CAES.

Keywords: hybrid wind farm, distributed CAES, diabatic CAES, active power control, dynamic modeling and simulation

Procedia PDF Downloads 51

Authors: Fikru Fentaw Abera

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Climate changes alter regional hydrologic conditions and results in a variety of impacts on water resource systems. Such hydrologic changes will affect almost every aspect of human well-being. The goal of this paper is to assess the impact of climate change on the hydrology of Upper Guder catchment located in northwest of Ethiopia. The GCM derived scenarios (HadCM3 A2a & B2a SRES emission scenarios) experiments were used for the climate projection. The statistical downscaling model (SDSM) was used to generate future possible local meteorological variables in the study area. The down-scaled data were then used as input to the soil and water assessment tool (SWAT) model to simulate the corresponding future stream flow regime in Upper Guder catchment of the Abay River Basin. A semi distributed hydrological model, SWAT was developed and Generalized Likelihood Uncertainty Estimation (GLUE) was utilized for uncertainty analysis. GLUE is linked with SWAT in the Calibration and Uncertainty Program known as SWAT-CUP. Three benchmark periods simulated for this study were 2020s, 2050s and 2080s. The time series generated by GCM of HadCM3 A2a and B2a and Statistical Downscaling Model (SDSM) indicate a significant increasing trend in maximum and minimum temperature values and a slight increasing trend in precipitation for both A2a and B2a emission scenarios in both Gedo and Tikur Inch stations for all three bench mark periods. The hydrologic impact analysis made with the downscaled temperature and precipitation time series as input to the hydrological model SWAT suggested for both A2a and B2a emission scenarios. The model output shows that there may be an annual increase in flow volume up to 35% for both emission scenarios in three benchmark periods in the future. All seasons show an increase in flow volume for both A2a and B2a emission scenarios for all time horizons. Potential evapotranspiration in the catchment also will increase annually on average 3-15% for the 2020s and 7-25% for the 2050s and 2080s for both A2a and B2a emissions scenarios.

Keywords: climate change, Guder sub-basin, GCM, SDSM, SWAT, SWAT-CUP, GLUE

Procedia PDF Downloads 335

Authors: Mohanad Al-Behadili, Xiang Song, Djamila Ouelhadj, Alex Fraess-Ehrfeld

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In off-shore wind farms, turbine blade inspection accessibility under various sea states is very challenging and greatly affects the downtime of wind turbines. Maintenance of any offshore system is not an easy task due to the restricted logistics and accessibility. The multirotor unmanned helicopter is of increasing interest in inspection applications due to its manoeuvrability and payload capacity. These advantages increase when many of them are deployed simultaneously in a swarm. Hence this paper proposes a drone swarm framework for inspecting offshore wind turbine blades and nacelles so as to reduce downtime. One of the big challenges of this task is that when operating a drone swarm, an individual drone may not have enough power to fly and communicate during missions and it has no capability of refueling due to its small size. Once the drone power is drained, there are no signals transmitted and the links become intermittent. Vessels equipped with 5G masts and small power units are utilised as platforms for drones to recharge/swap batteries. The research work aims at designing a smart energy management system, which provides automated vessel and drone routing and recharging plans. To achieve this goal, a novel mathematical optimisation model is developed with the main objective of minimising the number of drones and vessels, which carry the charging stations, and the downtime of the wind turbines. There are a number of constraints to be considered, such as each wind turbine must be inspected once and only once by one drone; each drone can inspect at most one wind turbine after recharging, then fly back to the charging station; collision should be avoided during the drone flying; all wind turbines in the wind farm should be inspected within the given time window. We have developed a real-time Ant Colony Optimisation (ACO) algorithm to generate real-time and near-optimal solutions to the drone swarm routing problem. The schedule will generate efficient and real-time solutions to indicate the inspection tasks, time windows, and the optimal routes of the drones to access the turbines. Experiments are conducted to evaluate the quality of the solutions generated by ACO.

Keywords: drone swarm, routing, scheduling, optimisation model, ant colony optimisation

Procedia PDF Downloads 230

Authors: Dustin Schöder

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The potential benefits of the utilization of highly automated and autonomous trucks in logistics operations are the subject of interest to the entire logistics industry. The benefits of the use of these new technologies were scientifically investigated and implemented in roadmaps. So far, reliable data and experiences from real life use cases are still limited. A German research consortium of both academics and industry developed a highly automated (SAE level 4) vehicle for yard operations at railports and container depots. After development and testing, a several month field test at the DUSS Terminal in Ulm-Dornstadt (Germany) and the nearby DB Intermodal Services Container Depot in Ulm-Dornstadt was conducted. The truck was piloted in a shuttle service between both sites. In a holistic automation approach, the vehicle was integrated into a digital communication platform so that the truck could move autonomously without a driver and his manual interactions with a wide variety of stakeholders. The main goal is to investigate the effects of highly automated trucks in the key processes of container loading, unloading and container relocation on holistic railport yard operation. The field test data were used to investigate changes in process efficiency of key processes of railport and container yard operations. Moreover, effects on the capacity utilization and potentials for smothering peak workloads were analyzed. The results state that process efficiency in the piloted use case was significantly higher. The reason for that could be found in the digitalized data exchange and automated dispatch. However, the field test has shown that the effect is greatly varying depending on the ratio of highly automated and manual trucks in the yard as well as on the congestion level in the loading area. Furthermore, the data confirmed that under the right conditions, the capacity utilization of highly automated trucks could be increased. In regard to the potential for smothering peak workloads, no significant findings could be made based on the limited requirements and regulations of railway operation in Germany. In addition, an empirical survey among railport managers, operational supervisors, innovation managers and strategists (n=15) within the logistics industry in Germany was conducted. The goal was to identify key characteristics of future railports and terminals as well as requirements that railports will have to meet in the future. Furthermore, the railport processes where automation and autonomization make the greatest impact, as well as hurdles and challenges in the introduction of new technologies, have been surveyed. Hence, further potential use cases of highly automated and autonomous applications could be identified, and expectations have been mapped. As a result, a highly detailed and practice-based roadmap towards a ‘terminal 4.0’ was developed.

Keywords: highly automated driving, autonomous driving, SAE level 4, railport operations, container depot, intermodal logistics, potentials of autonomization

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Authors: G. Cinelli, T. Tollefsen, P. Bossew, V. Gruber, R. Braga, M. A. Hernández-Ceballos, M. De Cort

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In 2006, the Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the European Commission started the project of the 'European Atlas of Natural Radiation'. The Atlas aims at preparing a collection of maps of Europe displaying the levels of natural radioactivity caused by different sources (indoor and outdoor radon, cosmic radiation, terrestrial radionuclides, terrestrial gamma radiation, etc). The overall goal of the project is to estimate, in geographical resolution, the annual dose that the public may receive from natural radioactivity, combining all the information from the different radiation components. The first map which has been developed is the European map of indoor radon (Rn) since in most cases Rn is the most important contribution to exposure. New versions of the map are realised when new countries join the project or when already participating countries send new data. We show the latest status of this map which currently includes 25 European countries. Second, the JRC has undertaken to map a variable which measures 'what earth delivers' in terms of Rn. The corresponding quantity is called geogenic radon potential (RP). Due to the heterogeneity of data sources across the Europe there is need to develop a harmonized quantity which at the one hand adequately measures or classifies the RP, and on the other hand is suited to accommodate the variety of input data used to estimate this target quantity. Candidates for input quantities which may serve as predictors of the RP, and for which data are available across Europe, to different extent, are Uranium (U) concentration in rocks and soils, soil gas radon and soil permeability, terrestrial gamma dose rate, geological information and indoor data from ground floor. The European Geogenic Radon Map gives the possibility to characterize areas, on European geographical scale, for radon hazard where indoor radon measurements are not available. Parallel to ongoing work on the European Indoor Radon, Geogenic Radon and Cosmic Radiation Maps, we made progress in the development of maps of terrestrial gamma radiation and U, Th and K concentrations in soil and bedrock. We show the first, preliminary map of the terrestrial gamma dose rate, estimated using the data of ambient dose equivalent rate available from the EURDEP system (about 5000 fixed monitoring stations across Europe). Also, the first maps of U, Th, and K concentrations in soil and bedrock are shown in the present work.

Keywords: Europe, natural radiation, mapping, indoor radon

Procedia PDF Downloads 273

Authors: Shih Yu Pan, Pao Chen Hung, Chuan Yao Lin, Charles C.-K. Chou, Yu Chi Lin, Kai Hsien Chi

Abstract:

This study analyzed 16 atmospheric PAHs species which were controlled by USEPA and IARC. To measure the concentration of PAHs, four rural sampling sites and two urban sampling sites were selected in Central Taiwan during spring and summer. In central Taiwan, the rural sampling stations were located in the downstream of Da-An River, Da-Jang River, Wu River and Chuo-shui River. On the other hand, the urban sampling sites were located in Taichung district and close to the roadside. Ambient air samples of both vapor phase and particle phase of PAHs compounds were collected using high volume sampling trains (Analitica). The sampling media were polyurethane foam (PUF) with XAD2 and quartz fiber filters. Diagnostic ratio, Principal component analysis (PCA), Positive Matrix Factorization (PMF) models were used to evaluate the apportionment of PAHs in the atmosphere and speculate the relative contribution of various emission sources. Because of the high temperature and low wind speed, high PAHs concentration in the atmosphere was observed. The total PAHs concentration, especially in vapor phase, had significant change during summer. During the sampling periods the total PAHs concentration of atmospheric at four rural and two urban sampling sites in spring and summer were 3.70±0.40 ng/m3,3.40±0.63 ng/m3,5.22±1.24 ng/m3,7.23±0.37 ng/m3,7.46±2.36 ng/m3,6.21±0.55 ng/m3　; 15.0± 0.14 ng/m3,18.8±8.05 ng/m3,20.2±8.58 ng/m3,16.1±3.75 ng/m3,29.8±10.4 ng/m3,35.3±11.8 ng/m3, respectively. In order to identify PAHs sources, we used diagnostic ratio to classify the emission sources. The potential sources were diesel combustion and gasoline combustion in spring and summer, respectively. According to the principal component analysis (PCA), the PC1 and PC2 had 23.8%, 20.4% variance and 21.3%, 17.1% variance in spring and summer, respectively. Especially high molecular weight PAHs (BaP, IND, BghiP, Flu, Phe, Flt, Pyr) were dominated in spring when low molecular weight PAHs (AcPy, Ant, Acp, Flu) because of the dominating high temperatures were dominated in the summer. Analysis by using PMF model found the sources of PAHs in spring were stationary sources (34%), vehicle emissions (24%), coal combustion (23%) and petrochemical fuel gas (19%), while in summer the emission sources were petrochemical fuel gas (34%), the natural environment of volatile organic compounds (29%), coal combustion (19%) and stationary sources (18%).

Keywords: PAHs, source identification, diagnostic ratio, principal component analysis, positive matrix factorization

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Authors: Krystof Kryniski, Asa Kassman Rudolphi, Su Zhao, Per Lindholm

Abstract:

ABB offers range of turbochargers from 500 kW to 80+ MW diesel and gas engines. Those operate on ships, power stations, generator-sets, diesel locomotives and large, off-highway vehicles. The units need to sustain harsh operating conditions, exposure to high speeds, temperatures and varying loads. They are expected to work at over-critical speeds damping effectively any transients and encountered resonances. Components are often connected via friction joints. Designs of those interfaces need to account for surface roughness, texture, pre-stress, etc. to sustain against fretting fatigue. The experience from field contributed with valuable input on components performance in hash sea environment and their exposure to high temperature, speed and load conditions. Study of tribological interactions of oxide formations provided an insight into dynamic activities occurring between the surfaces. Oxidation was recognized as the dominant factor of a wear. Microscopic inspections of fatigue cracks on turbine indicated insufficient damping and unrestrained structural stress leading to catastrophic failure, if not prevented in time. The contact interface exhibits strongly non-linear mechanism and to describe it the piecewise approach was used. Set of samples representing the combinations of materials, texture, surface and heat treatment were tested on a friction rig under range of loads, frequencies and excitation amplitudes. Developed numerical technique extracted the friction coefficient, tangential contact stiffness and damping. Vast amount of experimental data was processed with the multi-harmonics balance (MHB) method to categorize the components subjected to the periodic excitations. At the pre-defined excitation level both force and displacement formed semi-elliptical hysteresis curves having the same area and secant as the actual ones. By cross-correlating the terms remaining in the phase and out of the phase, respectively it was possible to separate an elastic energy from dissipation and derive the stiffness and damping characteristics.

Keywords: contact interface, fatigue, rotor-dynamics, torsional resonances

Procedia PDF Downloads 355