Sähkönjakeluverkon komponenttien pitoajat

Suomessa sähkönjakeluverkkoyhtiöt toimivat verkkovastuualueillaan yksinoikeudella. Verkkovastuualuiden ominaispiirteet voivat olla hyvin erilaiset. Energiamarkkinavirasto valvoo sähkömarkkinalainsäädännön noudattamista jakeluverkkotoiminnassa. Jakeluverkonhaltijat on velvoitettu Energiamarkkinaviraston valvontamallin kautta määrittämään tiettyjen rajoitusten mukaisesti verkkokomponenteillensa sopivimmat teknistaloudelliset pitoajat. Nämä pitoajat vaikuttavat varsinkin verkkoyhtiön tuottomahdollisuuksiin ja asiakkaiden siirtohintoihin. Lisäksi huomioon on otettava jaettavan sähkön laatu, verkon käyttövarmuus sekä vaikutukset ympäristöön ja turvallisuuteen. Pitoaikojen matemaattinen mallintaminen on usein monimutkaista. Teknistaloudellinen pitoaika valitaankin monesti kokemuksen ja harkinnan perusteella. Tärkeimmät reunaehdot jakeluverkkokomponenttien teknistaloudellisten pitoaikojen valinnalle muodostavat verkkovastuualueen sähkönkulutuksen kasvun sekä infrastruktuurin muutoksen nopeudet. Hitaan muutoksen alueilla verkkokomponenttien teknistaloudelliset pitoajat lähenevät teknisiä pitoaikoja, joihin vaikuttavat voimakkaasti verkkovastuualueen maantieteelliset ja ilmastolliset ominaispiirteet. Yhtiöittäin vaihtelevat verkon rakennus- ja ylläpitomenetelmät tulee myös huomioida. Tässä diplomityössä keskitytään pääosin sähkönjakeluverkon komponenttien teknistaloudelliseen pitoaikaan verkon ja verkkovastuualueen ominaispiirteiden kautta. Aluksi määritellään jakeluverkon pitoaika usealla eri tavalla, sekä selvitetään pitoajan merkitystä nykytilanteessa. Lisäksi työn alkuosassa esitellään Energiamarkkinaviraston vuoden 2005 alusta käyttöönotettu jakeluverkkotoiminnan hinnoittelun kohtuullisuuden valvontamalli ja käydään läpi teknistaloudellisen pitoajan merkitys siinä. Sen jälkeen tarkastellaan jakeluverkkokomponenttien ja niiden osien tekniseen pitoaikaan vaikuttavia tekijöitä. Erityisesti puupylväisiin ja niihin liittyviin ajankohtaisiin asioihin kiinnitetään huomiota, koska puupylväät määräävät monesti koko ilmajohtorakenteen uusimisajankohdan. Lisäksi suolakyllästeiselle puupylväälle esitetään yleinen rappeutumismalli ja jakelumuuntajan rappeutumistapahtumaa tutkitaan. Lopuksi tarkastellaan Graninge Kainuu Oy:tä jakeluverkonhaltijana sekä määritetään sen verkkovastuualueelle ominaisia komponenttien teknisiä ja teknistaloudellisia pitoaikoja haastattelujen, tuoreimpien lähteiden, tutkimustulosten, vertailun ja harkinnan avulla.

Ammatillisen osaamisen tukeminen muuttuvissa toimintaympäristöissä : tutkimus ikääntyvien työntekijöiden näkökulmasta

The purpose of the study was to describe the experiences of received support of aging employees and their work related self-image in changing working environments. Firstly, theaim was to discover how the support from organisations and leaders was verified. Secondly, the aim was to get answers how employees experienced themselves as workers and as learners in the current work context. Thirdly, the aim was to compare different knowledge information stages and company cultures and how they have influenced the experiences of professional competence development among aging employees. In addition the education- and career backgrounds were investigated to gain more understanding of their role in experiencing support and relation to the occupational self-image. The theoretical frame of reference of this researchis multidisciplinary. The theoretical part focuses on the meaning of work for human being from a sociological, late-modern perspective. On the other hand it examines the ageing process from a physiological and also from a perspective of age discrimination and life control. The occupational selfimage and the strength of motivation has an effect on learning in working life which is crucial and firmpart individual trajectories. According to the theoretical review company culture, leadership and especially the managers' role as a creator of a learning atmosphere are increasingly critical for aging adults' learning when the role of informal work-based learning is increasing. The empirical data was collected with aquestionnaire and interviews, which were carried out in May to October 2001. The data consists of 263 respondents of which further eight persons were interviewed. All respondents were over the age of 45 and represented all levels of their organisations in an IT-technology firm and a chemical industry plant. The central findings in this research show that the aging adults have experienced that theemployers do care about the development of their occupational skills. On the other hand there are fewer concrete activities to reveal this support. There is anobvious disproportion between the expressed aims and the realisation of the activities. Signs of age discrimination are few. The style of management has becomemore supporting for self directed activities which are seen to support adults learning. Higher education and individual activity to seek possibilities to learnwere encouraging the development of occupational skills. Age itself was not a crucial aspect when comparing the experiences among younger (45-54 years) and older (55-64 years) groups. Job satisfaction and professional self esteem seemed tobe considerably strong. The individual characteristics were more important elements in developing occupational skills than the age. The degree of anxiety at work was low. In addition among the older group the strong feeling of coherence and the occupational self image were significant for supporting the professional competence. The motivation to learn was also stable. Among the seniors there was some slight evidence of declining motivation. In the IT-firm the support was experienced stronger for aging employees than in the chemical industry plant. Thosewho had experienced support in the chemical industry plant had higher educational background than the others. In IT-firm they also experienced more support from the manager than in the chemical industry plant. The results show that it is more likely that the differences are caused mostly by the stage of information intensity and the character of company culture which is determined by the activities. IT-business demands constantly accommodation to changes and the chemical industry plant which is representing more traditional business field, where the atmosphere of learning is determined by the traditions of company culture, the changes are carried out slowly.

Regenerated cellulose ultrafiltration membranes in the treatment of pulp and paper mill process waters

Ultrafiltration (UF) is widely applied in different separation processes in the pulp and paper industry. The growing need to protect the environment, a lack of pure water and an interest in producing high-value chemicals from compounds present in process waters will probably lead to an increase in the use of UF in the pulp and paper industry. The efficiency and cost-effectiveness of a UF process depends on the applied membrane. The membrane should have a high and stable filtration capacity, a particular selectivity and a long operational lifetime. To meet these requirements a membrane should have a low fouling tendency. In addition, it should withstand the prevailing operational and chemical conditions. This thesis evaluates the performance and applicability of the regenerated cellulose (RC) membranes 00030T and C2 in the treatment of pulp and paper mill process waters based on the requirements above. The results demonstrated that both the tested RC membranes fulfilled well the requirement of high filtration capacity. In addition, in the filtration of a paper mill clear filtrate (CF) the RC membranes were not as greatly affected by variations in the CF quality as a polysulphone membrane. Furthermore, due to their extreme hydrophilicity and weak charge the fouling tendency of the membranes can be expected to be low in pulp and paper mill filtration applications. It is, however, known that fouling cannot be totally avoided even when the membrane is chosen very carefully. This study indicated that carbohydrates influenced negatively on permeability and caused fouling in the filtration of groundwood mill circulation water. Thus, a pre-treatment effectively reducing the amount of carbohydrates might help to maintain a stable capacity. However, the results of the thesis also showed that the removal of some of the possible foulants might just increase the harmful effect of others. Multivariate examination was useful in the understanding of the complicated factors causing the unstable capacity. The thesis also revealed that the 00030T and C2 membranes can be used at high pressure (max. tested pressure 12 bar). The C2 membrane, having a sponge-like substructure, was more pressure resistant, and its performance was more stable at high pressure compared to the UCO30T membrane containing macrovoids in its substructure. Both tested membranes can, according to the results, also be used at temperatures as high as 70°C in acidic, neutral and alkaline conditions. However, the use at extreme conditions might cause faster ageing of the membranes compared to ageing in neutral conditions. The thesis proved that both the tested RC membranes are very suitable for pulp and paper mill applications and that the membranes can be utilised in processes operating in challenging conditions. Thus, they could be used in more demanding applications than supposed earlier.

Innovations of ageing and societal transition : Dynamics of change of the socio-technical regime of ageing

The purpose of this dissertation is to examine the dynamics of the socio-technical system in the field of ageing. The study stems from the notion that the ageing of the population as a powerful megatrend has wide societal effects, and is not just a matter for the social and health sector. The central topic in the study is change: not only the age structures and structures of society are changing, but also at the same time there is constant development, for instance, in technologies, infrastructures and cultural perceptions. The changing concept of innovation has widened the understanding of innovations related to ageing from medical and assistive technological innovations to service and social innovations, as well as systemic innovations at different levels, which means the intertwined and co-evolutionary change in technologies, structures, services and thinking models. By the same token, the perceptions of older people and old age are becoming more multi-faceted: old age is no longer equated to illnesses and decline, but visions of active ageing and a third age have emerged, which are framed by choices, opportunities, resources and consumption in later life. The research task in this study is to open up the processes and mechanisms of change in the field of ageing, which are studied as a complex, multi-level and interrelated socio-technical system. The question is about co-effective elements consisting of macro-level landscape changes, the existing socio-technical regime (the rule system, practices and structures) and bottom-up niche-innovations. Societal transitions do not account for the things inside the regime alone, or for the long-term changes in the landscape, nor for the radical innovations, but for the interplay between all these levels. The research problem is studied through five research articles, which offer micro-level case studies to macro-level phenomenon. Each of the articles focus on different aspects related to ageing and change, and utilise various datasets. The framework of this study leans on the studies of socio-technical systems and multi-level perspective on transitions mainly developed by Frank Geels. Essential factors in transition from one socio-technological regime to another are the co-evolutionary processes between landscape changes, regime level and experimental niches. Landscape level changes, like the ageing of the population, destabilise the regime in the forms of coming pressures. This destabilization offers windows for opportunity to niche-innovations outside or at fringe of the regime, which, through their breakthrough, accelerate the transition process. However, the change is not easy because of various kinds of lock-ins and inertia, which tend to maintain the stability of the regime. In this dissertation, a constructionist approach of society is applied leaning mainly to the ideas of Anthony Giddens’ theory of structuration, with the dual nature of structures. The change is taking place in the interplay between actors and structures: structures shape people’s practices, but at the same time these practices constitute and reproduce social systems. Technology and other material aspects, as part of socio-technical systems, and the use of them, also take part in the structuration process. The findings of the study point out that co-evolutionary and co-effective relationships between economic, cultural, technological and institutional fields, as well as relationships between landscape changes, changes in the local and regime-level practices and rule systems, are a very complex and multi-level dynamic socio-technical phenomenon. At the landscape level of ageing, which creates the pressures and triggers to the regime change, there are three remarkable megatrends: demographic change, changes in the global economy and the development of technologies. These exert pressures to the socio-technical regime, which as a rule system is experiencing changes in the form of new markets and consumer habits, new ways of perceiving ageing, new models of organising the health care and other services and as new ways of considering innovation and innovativeness. There are also inner dynamics in the relationships between these aspects within the regime. These are interrelated and coconstructed: the prevailing perceptions of ageing and innovation, for instance, reflect the ageing policies, innovation policies, societal structures, organising models, technology and scientific discussion, and vice versa. Technology is part of the inner dynamics of the sociotechnological regime. Physical properties of the artefacts set limitations and opportunities with regard to their functions and uses. The use of and discussion about technology, contributes producing and reproducing the perceptions of old age. For societal transition, micro-level changes are also needed, in form of niche-innovations, for instance new services, organisational models or new technologies, Regimes, as stabilitystriven systems, tend to generate incremental innovations, but radically new innovations are generated in experimental niches protected from ‘normal’ market selection. The windows of opportunity for radical novelties may be opened if the circumstances are favourable for instance by tensions in the socio-technical regime affected by landscape level changes. This dissertation indicates that a change is taking place, firstly, in the dynamic interactionbetween levels, as a result of purposive action and governance to some extent. Breaking the inertia and using the window of opportunity for change and innovation offered by dynamics between levels, presupposes the actors’ special capabilities and actions such as dynamic capabilities and distance management. Secondly, the change is taking place the socio-technological negotiations inside the regime: interaction between technological and social, which is embodied in the use of technology. The use of technology includes small-level contextual scripts that also participate in forming broader societal scripts (for instance defining old age at the society level), which in their turn affect the formation of policies for innovation and ageing. Thirdly, the change is taking place by the means of active formation of the multi-actor innovation networks, where the role of distance management is crucial to facilitate the communication between actors coming from different backgrounds as well as to help the niches born outside the regime to utilise the window of opportunity offered by regime destabilisation. This dissertation has both theoretical and practical contributions. This study participates in the discussion of action-oriented view on transition by opening up of the socio-technological, coevolutionary processes of the multi-faceted phenomenon of ageing, which has lacked systematic analyses. The focus of this study, however, is not on the large-scale coordination and governance, but rather on opening up the incremental elements and structuration processes, which contribute to the transition little by little, and which can be affected to. This increases the practical importance of this dissertation, by highlighting the importance of very tiny, everyday elements in the change processes in the long run.

Successful Ageing -symposium Jyväskylässä

Symposiumin järjesti Suomen gerontologian tutkimuskeskus 4.-5.6.1999

The effect of storage ageing and spring sprouting of seed tubers on the yield of three potato varieties in the Finnish Lapland : Research Note

Selostus: Siemenmukuloiden varastointiaikaisen lämpökäsittelyn ja kevätidätyksen vaikutus kolmen perunalajikkeen satoon Lapissa

Regeneration process from seed crop to saplings : a case study in uneven-aged Norway spruce-dominated stands in southern Finland

Abstract

Scheduling forest road maintenance using the analytic hierarchy process and heuristics

Abstract

Software Process Modeling with Eclipse Process Framework

The software development industry is constantly evolving. The rise of the agile methodologies in the late 1990s, and new development tools and technologies require growing attention for everybody working within this industry. The organizations have, however, had a mixture of various processes and different process languages since a standard software development process language has not been available. A promising process meta-model called Software & Systems Process Engineering Meta- Model (SPEM) 2.0 has been released recently. This is applied by tools such as Eclipse Process Framework Composer, which is designed for implementing and maintaining processes and method content. Its aim is to support a broad variety of project types and development styles. This thesis presents the concepts of software processes, models, traditional and agile approaches, method engineering, and software process improvement. Some of the most well-known methodologies (RUP, OpenUP, OpenMethod, XP and Scrum) are also introduced with a comparison provided between them. The main focus is on the Eclipse Process Framework and SPEM 2.0, their capabilities, usage and modeling. As a proof of concept, I present a case study of modeling OpenMethod with EPF Composer and SPEM 2.0. The results show that the new meta-model and tool have made it possible to easily manage method content, publish versions with customized content, and connect project tools (such as MS Project) with the process content. The software process modeling also acts as a process improvement activity.

Management of Metals in the Pulping Process

Diplomityön tarkoituksena oli löytää keino korkean mangaanipitoisuuden hallintaan ECF-valkaisussa. Kirjallisuusosassa käsiteltiin eri metallien ja kuidun vuorovaikutuksia sekä niiden vaikutuksia prosessiin. Lisäksi käytiin läpi sellunvalmituksen yleisimpiä metallienhallintamenetelmiä. Työn kokeellisessa osassa tehtiin esikokeina laboratoriokokeita, jotta löydettiin oikeat kelatointistrategiat tehdasmittakaavan koeajoille. Laboratoriovalkaisut suoritettiin kuudella eri kemikaalilla käyttäen DD3-pesurin jälkeistä massaa ja samanlaisia parametrejä kuin tehdasvalkaisussa. Kolmesta eri valkaisusekvenssistä paras tulos saavutettiin D0-QEP-sekvenssillä. Tehdasmittakaavan koeajojen tavoitteena oli saavuttaa alle 1 mg/kg jäännösmangaanipitoisuus valkaistussa massassa ja korkeampi vaaleus EOP-vaiheessa pienemmällä klooridioksidin kulutuksella. Koeajoissa käytettiinDTPA:ta ja EDTA:ta kahdeksassa eri koepisteessä. Pienimpiin jäännöspitoisuuksiin päästiin koepisteissä, joissa kelatointiaine annosteltiin ennen valkaisun viimeistä pesuvaihetta tai sen jälkeen. Samanlaisia tuloksia saavutettiin koepisteissä, joissa kelatointiaine lisättiin suoraan EOP-vaiheeseen. Tällöin kelatointiaineen käyttö johti myös korkeampaan vaaleuteen EOP-vaiheessa pienemmällä kappakertoimella kuin referenssissä. Säästöt klooridioksidin kulutuksessa eivät olleet kuitenkaan tarpeeksi suuret kattaakseen kelatointiaineiden käytön kustannuksia. Kustannustehokkain tapa kontrolloida jäännösmangaanipitoisuutta oli EDTA:n annostelu D2 DD-pesurin jälkeen. Haittapuolena tälläisessä kelatoinnissa oli metallikompleksien palautuminen valkaisuun kuivauskoneen kiertoveden mukana. Tärkeimmät onnistuneeseen kelatointiin vaikuttavat parametrit olivat lajittelussa käytetyn rikkihapon annos, D0-vaiheen pH ja D0 DD-pesurin pesutehokkuus.