Inter-cycle variability of ignition delay in an ethanol fumigated common rail diesel engine

An experimental study has been performed to investigate the ignition delay of a modern heavy-duty common-rail diesel engine run with fumigated ethanol substitutions up to 40% on an energy basis. The ignition delay was determined through the use of statistical modelling in a Bayesian framework this framework allows for the accurate determination of the start of combustion from single consecutive cycles and does not require any differentiation of the in-cylinder pressure signal. At full load the ignition delay has been shown to decrease with increasing ethanol substitutions and evidence of combustion with high ethanol substitutions prior to diesel injection have also been shown experimentally and by modelling. Whereas, at half load increasing ethanol substitutions have increased the ignition delay. A threshold absolute air to fuel ratio (mole basis) of above ~110 for consistent operation has been determined from the inter-cycle variability of the ignition delay, a result that agrees well with previous research of other in-cylinder parameters and further highlights the correlation between the air to fuel ratio and inter-cycle variability. Numerical modelling to investigate the sensitivity of ethanol combustion has also been performed. It has been shown that ethanol combustion is sensitive to the initial air temperature around the feasible operating conditions of the engine. Moreover, a negative temperature coefficient region of approximately 900{1050 K (the approximate temperature at fuel injection) has been shown with for n-heptane and n-heptane/ethanol blends in the numerical modelling. A consequence of this is that the dominate effect influencing the ignition delay under increasing ethanol substitutions may rather be from an increase in chemical reactions and not from in-cylinder temperature. Further investigation revealed that the chemical reactions at low ethanol substitutions are different compared to the high (> 20%) ethanol substitutions.

Accessibility impact of proposed Australian high speed rail

High speed rail (also commonly known as HSR) is highly regarded as one of the most significant innovation for mass passenger transportation to travellers willing to pay for reduced travel impediments (shorter travel time, convenience, safety, security, comfort, reliability, flexibility, uniqueness and attractiveness). The transport policy in Australia has until now focused primarily on private passenger car transport and air transportation to the degree that State and Federal Governments’ commitments and actions of rail-oriented mass transportation system still remains sketchy in spite of occasional political and public attentions into it. This has resulted in a limited use of passenger rail as a regional transport system. Using one of the several alternative HSR alignments proposed for the South-Eastern Coast of Australia connecting Melbourne, Canberra, Sydney and Brisbane, this study assesses the regional accessibility impacts of Australian HSR system by means of four indicators: location accessibility, economic potential accessibility, daily accessibility and commuting accessibility. These indicators are commonly used in transport geography literature and they offer different concepts of changes in regional accessibility conditions due to a long distance transport system. The results provide an understanding of differential effects on regional accessibility based on the geographical location and size of urban areas along HSR corridor.

Suicide among male road and rail drivers in Australia: A retrospective mortality study

Objectives: This paper aims to describe the epidemiology of suicide among males employed in driving occupations (road and rail) compared to other male occupations in Australia. Methods: Suicide cases among road and rail drivers were extracted from a national dataset of occupationally coded suicide cases for the period 2001 to 2010. Suicide rates per 100 000 were calculated and standardised using the Australian standard population (2001). Incidence rate ratios (IRR) with 95% confidence intervals were calculated using Mantell Haenszel rates and compared to all employed suicide cases. Results: The majority of suicides in this occupational category occurred in truck drivers, followed by road and rail drivers. 98% of these suicides were among males; hence only males were included in further analyses. The age-standardised rate of male suicide among Road and Rail drivers over the period 2001 to 2010 was 22.6 per 100 000 (95% CI 19.2 to 25.9). The IRR of suicide in this occupational group compared to other male occupations was 1.42 (95% CI 1.26 to1.60). Conclusions: Suicide among Road and Rail drivers is higher than in the other male occupations. Suicide prevention initiatives addressing these risk factors, while also providing access to treatment for those at risk, are clearly needed.

Inter-cycle variability of in-cylinder pressure parameters in an ethanol fumigated common rail diesel engine

The effects of ethanol fumigation on the inter-cycle variability of key in-cylinder pressure parameters in a modern common rail diesel engine have been investigated. Specifically, maximum rate of pressure rise, peak pressure, peak pressure timing and ignition delay were investigated. A new methodology for investigating the start of combustion was also proposed and demonstrated—which is particularly useful with noisy in-cylinder pressure data as it can have a significant effect on the calculation of an accurate net rate of heat release indicator diagram. Inter-cycle variability has been traditionally investigated using the coefficient of variation. However, deeper insight into engine operation is given by presenting the results as kernel density estimates; hence, allowing investigation of otherwise unnoticed phenomena, including: multi-modal and skewed behaviour. This study has found that operation of a common rail diesel engine with high ethanol substitutions (>20% at full load, >30% at three quarter load) results in a significant reduction in ignition delay. Further, this study also concluded that if the engine is operated with absolute air to fuel ratios (mole basis) less than 80, the inter-cycle variability is substantially increased compared to normal operation.

Examining the effects of balloon control ring on ring spinning

The ring spinning process has been used to produce fine and high quality staple fibre yarns. The stability of the rotating yarn loop (i.e. balloon) between the yarn-guide and the traveller-ring is crucial to the success and economics of this process. Balloon control rings are used to contain the yarn-loop, by reducing the yarn tension and decreasing the balloon flutter instability. Flutter instability here refers to the uncontrolled changes in a ballooning yarn under dynamic forces, including the air drag. Due to the significant variation in the length and radius of the balloon during the bobbin filling process, the optimal location for the balloon control ring is not easily determined. In order to address this difficulty, this study investigates the variation in the radius of a free balloon and examines the effect of balloon control rings of various diameters at different locations on yarn tension and balloon flutter stability. The results indicate that the maximum radius of a free balloon and its corresponding position depend not only on the yarn-length to balloon-height ratio, but also on yarn type and count. A control ring of suitable radius and position can significantly reduce yarn tension and decrease flutter instability of free single-loop balloons. While the balloon control rings are usually fixed to, and move in sinc with, the ring frame, results reported in this study suggest that theoretically, a balloon control ring that always remains approximately half way between the yarn-guide and the ring rail during spinning can lead to significant reduction in yarn tension.

Examination of the "all hazards" approach to disaster management as applied to field disaster management and pre-hospital care in Australia

Disasters, emergencies, incidents, and major incidents - they all come back to the same thing regardless of what they are called. The common denominator is that there is loss of life, injury to people and animals and damage and destruction of property. The management of such events relies on four phases: 1. Prevention 2. Preparation 3. Response 4. Recovery Each of these phases is managed in a different way and often by different teams. Here, concentration has been given to phases 2 and 3, with particular emphasis on phase 3, Response. The words used to describe such events are often related to legislation. The terminology is detailed later. However, whatever the description, whenever prevention is not possible, or fails, then the need is to respond. Response is always better when the responders are prepared. Training is a major part of response preparation and this book is designed to assist those in the health industry who need to be ready when something happens. One of the training packages for responders is the Major Incident Medical Management and Support (MIMMS) Course and this work was designed to supplement the manual prepared by Hodgetts and Macway-Jones(87) in the UK. Included is what the health services responder, who may be sent to an event in which the main concern is trauma, should know. Concentration is on the initial response and does not deal in any detail with hospital reaction, the public health aspects, or the mental health support that provides psychological help to victims and responders, and which are also essential parts of disaster management. People, in times of disaster, have always been quick to offer assistance. It is now well recognised however, that the 'enthusiastic amateur', whilst being a well meaning volunteer, isn't always what is needed. All too often such people have made things worse and have sometimes ended up as victims themselves. There is a place now for volunteers and there probably always will be. The big difference is that these people must be well informed, well trained and well practiced if they are to be effective. Fortunately such people and organisations do exist. Without the work of the St John Ambulance, the State Emergency Service, the Rural Fire Service the Red Cross and the Volunteer Rescue Association, to mention only a few, our response to disasters would be far less effective. There is a strong history of individuals being available to help the community in times of crisis. Mostly these people were volunteers but there has also always been the need for a core of professional support. In the recent past, professional support mechanisms have been developed from lessons learned, particularly to situations that need a rapid and well organised response. As lessons are learned from an analysis of events, philosophy and methods have changed. Our present system is not perfect and perhaps never will be. The need for an 'all-hazards approach' makes detailed planning very difficult and so there will probably always be criticisms about the way an event was handled. Hindsight is a wonderful thing, provided we learn from it. That means that this text is certainly not the 'last word' and revisions as we learn from experience will be inevitable. Because the author works primarily in New South Wales, many of the explanations and examples are specific to that state. In Australia disaster response is a State, rather than a Commonwealth, responsibility and consequently, and inevitably, there are differences in management between the states and territories within Australia. With the influence of Emergency Management Australia, these differences are being reduced. This means that across state and territory boundaries, assistance is common and interstate teams can be deployed and assimilated into the response rapidly, safely, effectively and with minimum explanation. This text sets out to increase the understanding of what is required, what is in place and how the processes of response are managed. By way of introduction and background, examples are given of those situations that have occurred, or could happen. Man Made Disasters has been divided into two distinct sections. Those which are related to structures or transport and those related directly to people. The first section, Chapter 3, includes: • Transport accidents involving land, rail, sea or air vehicles. • Collapse of buildings for reasons other than earthquakes or storms. • Industrial accidents, including the release of hazardous substances and nuclear events. A second section dealing with the consequences of the direct actions of people is separated as Chapter 4, entitled 'People Disasters'. Included are: • Crowd incidents involving sports and entertainment venues. • Terrorism From Chapter 4 on, the emphasis is on the Response phase and deals with organisation and response techniques in detail. Finally there is a section on terminology and abbreviations. An appendix details a typical disaster pack content. War, the greatest of all man made disasters is not considered in this text.

The relationship between Fiji Sugar Corporation's profitability and sugarcane production: an empirical assessment

The Fiji Government's inability to resolve the differences over land leases is widely seen as a major contributor to the difficulties experienced by the sugar industry. In this paper, however, a different perspective is provided on the industry's problems. In examining the relationship between the profitability of the Fiji Sugar Corporation and sugarcane production, it is found that profitability has had a statistically significant negative effect on sugarcane production, leading to the conclusion that the Fiji Sugar Corporation has been inefficient in the management of the mills, the rail transport system, and sugarcane research.

Brennan torpedo, monorail and helicopter : a study of innovative activity in the process of forming three related military weapons

In the context of nineteenth-century British defence planning Actor-network theory is used to examine technological and social activity in the development and operation of a secret, successful military weapon, the Brennan torpedo. Also in two subsequent inventions the continuity and development of a core innovative concept, gyroscopy, is traced.

Crash investigation of side intrusion beam during high and low pressure tube hydroforming

Advanced high strength steels (AHSS), in particular, are an attractive group materials, offering higher strength for improved energy absorption and the opportunity to reduce weight through the use of thinner gauges. High pressure tube hydroforming (HPTH) has been used to produce safety components for these steels, but it is expensive. Low pressure tube hydroforming (LPTH) is a lower cost alternative to form the safety components in the car. The side intrusion beam is the second most critical part after front rail in the car structure for passenger safety during crash. The forming as well as crash behaviour of a square side intrusion beam from both processes was investigated using numerical simulation. This paper investigated the interaction between the forming and crash response of these materials in order to evaluate their potential for use in vehicle design for crashworthiness. The energy absorption characteristics of the different tubes were calculated and the results from the numerical analyses compared for both hydroforming process.

Infrastructure development using alliances : lessons and observations

This research provides a deeper insight into the performance of Alliances for the construction of road, rail and water projects. The results review 18 public infrastructure projects across Australia that utilized the Alliance form of procurement. The results were based on interviews which addressed the most important management issues impacting on the performance of Alliances. The respondents were selected from a sample of members of the Alliance Leadership Teams (ALT) and the Alliance Management Teams (AMT) that had recently completed a range of infrastructure projects. Results revealed that communication and trust between the ALT and AMT teams was a major issue that impacted on the effectiveness of the Alliance. Further, the research identified several factors that are necessary preconditions for the Alliance to be successful. The study reported on the perceived performance of Alliances to deliver in the key areas that was identified by the client organizations prior to commencement of the project. There are an increasing number of international organizations contemplating construction projects using “Alliancing”. The results of this paper will assist clients in making more informed decisions about the possibility that this form of procurement will be effective in meeting the needs of the project and its stakeholders.

Energy efficiency methods in electrified railways based on recovery of regenerated power

Various attempts have been made to minimise energy consumption of rail vehicles by means of regenerative power from electric braking of traction motors. This paper describes energy efficiency methods in electrified railways based on recovery of energy. Direct recovery methods that return regenerative power to electrified networks, and recovery methods based on energy storage systems are elaborated. The benefits of developing recovery methods and advantages of energy storage systems are discussed.

Developing infrastructure projects using alliances

This research provides a deeper insight into the performance of alliances for the construction of road, rail and water projects. The principle objective of alliances is to align team member expectations so that they work together for the benefit of the project. To date, this has been a challenge, and as such this makes alliances an innovative approach to procurement of infrastructure. The paper reports on a survey of 18 public infrastructure projects across Australia that utilized the alliance form of procurement. The results were based on alliance team interviews, which addressed the most critical management issues impacting on the performance of process. The research identified a sample of stakeholders form alliance leadership teams (ALT) and the alliance management teams (AMT) that had recently completed a major infrastructure projects. Results revealed that communication and trust between the ALT and AMT teams was a major issue that impacted on the effectiveness of the alliance. Furthermore, the research identifies several key factors that were necessary preconditions for successful alliances.