Energy efficiency in trawling operations

Diurnal variation in trawl catches and its influence on energy efficiency of trawler operations are discussed in this paper, based on data on landings of a Japanese factory trawler which operated in the Indian waters during 1992-93. The factory vessel equipped for stern trawling had a length overall of 110 m, GT of 5460 and installed engine power of 5700 hp. Operations were conducted off west coast of India between 31 and 278 m depth contours, using a 80.4 m high opening bottom trawl with an adjusted vertical opening of 7.60.9 m. The catch data was grouped according to the median towing hour, by the time of the day. CPUE obtained was 3713.4 kg.h-1 for day time operations and 1536.6 kg.h-1 for night-time operations. Mean daily catches were 31367 kg.day-1 (SE: 2743) for day time operations and 9430 kg.day-1 (SE: 966) for night-time operations. Fuel consumption were 0.399 and 0.982 kg fuel.kg fish-1, respectively for day and night-time operations. Total catch and catch components such as threadfin bream, bulls eye, hairtails, trevelly, lizard fish showed significant improvement during day-time operations while swarming crabs showed a significant improvement in the night-time operations. The difference in catch rates between day and night could be attributed to diurnal variation in the spatial distribution and schooling behaviour of the catch categories, their differential behaviour in the vicinity of trawl systems under varying light levels of day and night and consequent effect on catching efficiency and size selectivity at different stages in the capture process. The results obtained in addition to its importance in the operational planning of trawling in order to realise objectives of maximising catch per unit effort and minimising fuel consumption per unit volume of fish caught, has added significance in the use of bottom trawl surveys in stock abundance estimates.

Waste minimisation in fishing operations

Sources of wastes in fishing operations mainly include bycatch discards; processing wastes where catch is processed onboard; plastic wastes due to abandoned, lost and discarded fishing gear; bilges and other wastes from the vessel operations. Fishing systems in general have an associated catch of nontargeted organisms known as bycatch. Non-selective fishing gear that is not modified or equipped to exclude non-targeted organisms, may take a significant quantity of bycatch of non-targeted finfish, juvenile fish, benthic animals, marine mammals, marine birds and vulnerable or endangered species that are often discarded. Average annual global discards, has been estimated to be 7.3 million t, based on a weighted discard rate of 8%, during 1992-2001 period. Trawl fisheries for shrimp and demersal finfish account for over 50% of the total estimated global discards. Plastic materials are extensively used in fisheries, owing to their durability and other desirable properties, contributing to the efficiency and catchability of the fishing gear. However, plastics biodegrade at an extremely slow rate compared to other organic materials. Abandoned, lost or otherwise discarded fishing gear (ALDFG) and related marine debris have been recognized as a critical problem in the marine environment and for living marine resources. Prevention of excess fishing capacity by appropriate management measures could lead to enormous savings in terms of fuel consumption, emissions and bycatch discards from the excess fishing fleet, capital and operational investments and labour deployment in capture fisheries, with significant economic gains. In this paper, wastes originating from fishing operations are reviewed, along with their environmental impacts and possible mitigation measures

Neutralização compensatória de carbono: estudo de caso em uma indústria do setor metal-mecânico.

Estudos têm mostrado que a intensificação do efeito estufa nos últimos anos vem ocasionando um aumento do aquecimento global com reflexos no clima que, por conseguinte, podem comprometer a vida no planeta. Tal intensificação se dá em função do acréscimo na concentração dos gases de efeito estufa proveniente de atividades antrópicas. Esta pesquisa visa quantificar a contribuição das emissões de gases do efeito estufa, lançados por uma empresa do setor metal-mecânico, situada no município do Rio de Janeiro RJ, além de propor cenários nos quais tais emissões podem ser compensadas. A quantificação foi concretizada através da utilização de metodologia elaborada pelo IPCC. A proposta de compensação das emissões se deu através da substituição de combustíveis utilizados em veículos, implantação de produção de energia por sistema fotovoltaico, biodigestão de efluentes domésticos e reflorestamento. A justificativa da pesquisa baseia-se na contribuição para a mitigação da intensificação do efeito estufa, do aquecimento global e das mudanças climáticas, o que conseqüentemente pode colaborar para a conservação da vida na Terra. Do total de emissões lançadas na atmosfera pela empresa em estudo, no ano de 2008, foi obtido um valor de 422 toneladas de CO2 equivalente, sendo 177 toneladas pelo consumo de combustíveis dos meios de transporte, 87 toneladas pelos resíduos gerados, 2,2 toneladas pelos efluentes gerados, 8,81 toneladas por consumo de energia elétrica e 148 toneladas por processos industriais internos. No cenário onde se contempla as medidas mitigadoras, tais emissões são reduzidas a 349 toneladas de CO2 equivalente. Caso seja empregado o reflorestamento como única forma de neutralização total de emissões da empresa em estudo, faz-se necessária a recuperação vegetal de uma área com 1,33 hectares de extensão. Esta alternativa pode se mostrar vantajosa em curto prazo por não acarretar maiores modificações na rotina dos processos industriais. No entanto, caso a Metal Master opte apenas pelo reflorestamento e mantenha o padrão de emissões semelhante ao ano de 2008, ao longo dos anos, será necessária uma vasta extensão de território reflorestado em relação aos valores pré-estabelecidos. Este fato denota a importância de modificações no ambiente industrial, de modo a permitir a neutralização em longo prazo.

Challenges in the Silent Aircraft engine design

The Silent Aircraft Initiative goal is to design an aircraft that is imperceptible above background noise outside the airport boundary. The aircraft that fulfils this objective must also be economically competitive with conventional aircraft of the future and therefore fuel consumption and mechanical reliability are key considerations for the design. To meet these ambitious targets, a multi-fan embedded turbofan engine with boundary layer ingestion has been proposed. This configuration includes several new technologies including a variable area nozzle, a complex high-power transmission system, a Low Pressure turbine designed for low-noise, an axial-radial HP compressor, advanced acoustic liners and a low-speed fan optimized for both cruise and off-design operation. These technologies, in combination, enable a low-noise and fuel efficient propulsion system but they also introduce significant challenges into the design. These challenges include difficulties in predicting the noise and performance of the new components but there are also challenges in reducing the design risks and proving that the new concepts are realizable. This paper presents the details of the engine configuration that has been developed for the Silent Aircraft application. It describes the design approach used for the critical components and discusses the benefits of the new technologies. The new technologies are expected to offer significant benefits in noise reduction without compromising fuel burn. However, more detailed design and further research are required to fully control the additional risks generated by the system complexity.

Contra-rotating open rotor operation for improved aerodynamics and noise at takeoff

The contra-rotating open rotor is, once again, being considered as an alternative to the advanced turbofan to address the growing pressure to cut aviation fuel consumption and carbon dioxide emissions. One of the key challenges is meeting community noise targets at takeoff. Previous open rotor designs are subject to poor efficiency at takeoff due to the presence of large regions of separated flow on the blades as a result of the high incidence needed to achieve the required thrust. This is a consequence of the fixed rotor rotational speed constraint typical of variable pitch propellers. Within the study described in this paper, an improved operation is proposed to improve performance and reduce rotorrotor interaction noise at takeoff. Three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics (CFD) calculations have been performed on an open rotor rig at a range of takeoff operating conditions. These have been complemented by analytical tone noise predictions to quantify the noise benefits of the approach. The results presented show that for a given thrust, a combination of reduced rotor pitch and increased rotor rotational speed can be used to reduce the incidence onto the front rotor blades. This is shown to eliminate regions of flow separation, reduce the front rotor tip loss and reduce the downstream stream tube contraction. The wakes from the front rotor are also made wider with lower velocity defect, which is found to lead to reduced interaction tone noise. Unfortunately, the necessary increase in blade speed leads to higher relative Mach numbers, which can increase rotor alone noise. In summary, the combined CFD and aero-acoustic analysis in this paper shows how careful operation of an open rotor at takeoff, with moderate levels of re-pitch and speed increase, can lead to improved front rotor efficiency as well as appreciably lower overall noise across all directivities. Copyright © 2011 by ASME.

Biobjective optimisation of preliminary aircraft trajectories

The protection of the environment against pollutants produced by aviation is of great concern in the 21st century. Among the multiplicity of proposed solutions, modifying flight profiles for existing aircraft is a promising approach. The aim is to deliver and understand the trade-off between environmental impact and operating costs. This work will illustrate the optimisation process of aircraft trajectories by minimising fuel consumption and flight time for the climb phase of an aircraft that belongs to A320 category. To achieve this purpose a new variant of a multi-objective Tabu Search optimiser was evolved and integrated within a computational framework, called GATAC, that simulates flight profiles based on altitude and speed. © 2013 Springer-Verlag.

Effects of ethanol on vehicle energy efficiency and implications on ethanol life-cycle greenhouse gas analysis.

Bioethanol is the world's largest-produced alternative to petroleum-derived transportation fuels due to its compatibility within existing spark-ignition engines and its relatively mature production technology. Despite its success, questions remain over the greenhouse gas (GHG) implications of fuel ethanol use with many studies showing significant impacts of differences in land use, feedstock, and refinery operation. While most efforts to quantify life-cycle GHG impacts have focused on the production stage, a few recent studies have acknowledged the effect of ethanol on engine performance and incorporated these effects into the fuel life cycle. These studies have broadly asserted that vehicle efficiency increases with ethanol use to justify reducing the GHG impact of ethanol. These results seem to conflict with the general notion that ethanol decreases the fuel efficiency (or increases the fuel consumption) of vehicles due to the lower volumetric energy content of ethanol when compared to gasoline. Here we argue that due to the increased emphasis on alternative fuels with drastically differing energy densities, vehicle efficiency should be evaluated based on energy rather than volume. When done so, we show that efficiency of existing vehicles can be affected by ethanol content, but these impacts can serve to have both positive and negative effects and are highly uncertain (ranging from -15% to +24%). As a result, uncertainties in the net GHG effect of ethanol, particularly when used in a low-level blend with gasoline, are considerably larger than previously estimated (standard deviations increase by >10% and >200% when used in high and low blends, respectively). Technical options exist to improve vehicle efficiency through smarter use of ethanol though changes to the vehicle fleets and fuel infrastructure would be required. Future biofuel policies should promote synergies between the vehicle and fuel industries in order to maximize the society-wise benefits or minimize the risks of adverse impacts of ethanol.

Angle-of-attack effects on counter-rotating propellers at take-off

Due to their potential for significant fuel consumption savings, Counter-Rotating Open Rotors (CRORs) are currently being considered as an alternative to high-bypass turbofans. When CRORs are mounted on an aircraft, several 'installation effects' arise which are not present when the engine is operated in isolation. This paper investigates how flow features arising from one such effect - The angle-of-attack of the engine centre-line relative to the oncoming flow - can influence the design of CROR engines. Three-dimensional full-annulus unsteady CFD simulations are used to predict the time-varying flow field experienced by each rotor and emphasis is put on the interaction of the frontrotor wake and tip vortex with the rear-rotor. A parametric study is presented that quantifies the rotorrotor interaction as a function of the angle-of-attack. It is shown that angle-of-attack operation significantly changes the flow field and the unsteady lift on both rotors. In particular, a frequency analysis shows that the unsteady lift exhibits sidebands around the rotor-rotor interaction frequencies. Further, a non-linear increase in the total rear-rotor tip unsteadiness is observed for moderate and high angles-of-attack. The results presented in this paper demonstrate that common techniques used to mitigate CROR noise, such as modifying the rotor-rotor axial spacing and rear-rotor crop, can not be applied correctly unless angle-of-attack effects are taken into account. Copyright © 2012 by ASME.

Hybrid-electric propulsion for aircraft

Against a background of increasing energy demand and rising fuel prices, hybrid-electric propulsion systems (HEPS) have the potential to significantly reduce fuel consumption in the aviation industry, particularly in the lighter sectors. By taking advantage of both Electric Motor (EM) and Internal Combustion Engine (ICE), HEPS provide not only a benefit in fuel saving but also a reduction in take-off noise and the emission levels. This research considers the design and sizing process of a hybrid-electric propulsion system for a single-seat demonstrator aircraft, the experimental derivation of the ICE map and the EM parameters. In addition to the experimental data, a novel modeling approach including several linked desktop PC software packages is presented to analyze and optimize hybrid-electric technology for aircraft. Further to the analysis of a parallel hybrid-electric, mid-scale aircraft, this paper also presents a scaling approach for a 20 kg UAV and a 50 tonne inter-city airliner. At the smaller scale, two different mission profiles are analyzed: an ISR mission profile, where the simulation routine optimizes the component size of the hybrid-electric propulsion system with respect to fuel saving, and a maximum duration profile; where the flight endurance is determined as a function of payload weight. At the larger scale, the performance of a 50 tonne inter-city airliner is modeled, based on a hybrid-electric gas-turbine, assuming a range of electric boost powers and battery masses.

Computational engineering design for micro-scale combustion devices: A thermally improved configuration

A multi-objective design optimisation study has been carried out with the objectives to improve the overall efficiency of the device and to reduce the fuel consumption for the proposed micro-scale combustor design configuration. In a previous study we identified the topology of the combustion chamber that produced improved behaviour of the device in terms of the above design criteria. We now extend our design approach, and we propose a new configuration by the addition of a micro-cooling channel that will improve the thermal behaviour of the design as previously suggested in literature. Our initial numerical results revealed an improvement of 2.6% in the combustion efficiency when we applied the micro-cooling channel to an optimum design configuration we identified from our earlier multi-objective optimisation study, and under the same operating conditions. The computational modelling of the combustion process is implemented in the commercial computational fluid dynamics package ANSYS-CFX using Finite Rate Chemistry and a single step hydrogen-air reaction. With this model we try to balance good accuracy of the combustion solution and at the same time practicality within the context of an optimisation process. The whole design system comprises also the ANSYS-ICEM CFD package for the automatic geometry and mesh generation and the Multi-Objective Tabu Search algorithm for the design space exploration. We model the design problem with 5 geometrical parameters and 3 operational parameters subject to 5 design constraints that secure practicality and feasibility of the new optimum design configurations. The final results demonstrate the reliability and efficiency of the developed computational design system and most importantly we assess the practicality and manufacturability of the revealed optimum design configurations of micro-combustor devices. Copyright © 2013 by ASME.

Cost-effectiveness of alternative powertrains for reduced energy use and CO2 emissions in passenger vehicles

This work analysed the cost-effectiveness of avoiding carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions using advanced internal combustion engines, hybrids, plug-in hybrids, fuel cell vehicles and electric vehicles across the nine UK passenger vehicles segments. Across all vehicle types and powertrain groups, minimum installed motive power was dependent most on the time to accelerate from zero to 96.6km/h (60mph). Hybridising the powertrain reduced the difference in energy use between vehicles with slow (t z - 60 > 8 s) and fast acceleration (t z - 60 < 8 s) times. The cost premium associated with advanced powertrains was dependent most on the powertrain chosen, rather than the performance required. Improving non-powertrain components reduced vehicle road load and allowed total motive capacity to decrease by 17%, energy use by 11%, manufacturing cost premiums by 13% and CO2 emissions abatement costs by 15%. All vehicles with advanced internal combustion engines, most hybrid and plug-in hybrid powertrains reduced net CO2 emissions and had lower lifetime operating costs than the respective segment reference vehicle. Most powertrains using fuel cells and all electric vehicles had positive CO2 emissions abatement costs. However, only vehicles using advanced internal combustion engines and parallel hybrid vehicles may be attractive to consumers by the fuel savings offsetting increases in vehicle cost within two years. This work demonstrates that fuel savings are possible relative to today's fleet, but indicates that the most cost-effective way of reducing fuel consumption and CO2 emissions is by advanced combustion technologies and hybridisation with a parallel topology. © 2014 Elsevier Ltd.

Effects of longer heavy vehicles on traffic congestion

Two-lane, "microscopic" (vehicle-by-vehicle) simulations of motorway traffic are developed using existing models and validated using measured data from the M25 motorway. An energy consumption model is also built in, which takes the logged trajectories of simulated vehicles as drive-cycles. The simulations are used to investigate the effects on motorway congestion and fuel consumption if "longer and/or heavier vehicles" (LHVs) were to be permitted in the UK. Baseline scenarios are simulated with traffic composed of cars, light goods vehicles and standard heavy goods vehicles (HGVs). A proportion of conventional articulated HGVs is then replaced by a smaller number of LHVs carrying the same total payload mass and volume. Four LHV configurations are investigated: an 18.75 m, 46 t longer semi-trailer (LST); 25.25 m, 50 t and 60 t B-doubles and a 34 m, 82 t A-double. Metrics for congestion, freight fleet energy consumption and car energy consumption are defined for comparing the scenarios. Finally, variation of take-up level and LHV engine power for the LST and A-double are investigated. It is concluded that: (a) LHVs should reduce congestion particularly in dense traffic, however, a low mean proportion of freight traffic on UK roads and low take-up levels will limit this effect to be almost negligible; (b) LHVs can significantly improve the energy efficiency of freight fleets, giving up to a 23% reduction in fleet energy consumption at high take-up levels; (c) the small reduction in congestion caused by LHVs could improve the fuel consumption of other road users by up to 3% in dense traffic, however in free-flowing traffic an opposite effect occurs due to higher vehicle speeds and aerodynamic losses; and (d) underpowered LHVs have potential to generate severe congestion, however current manufacturers' recommendations appear suitable. © 2013 IMechE.

Design and Operation of A 5.5 MWe Biomass Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle Demonstration Plant

The design and operation of a 5.5 MWe biomass integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) demonstration plant, which is located in Xinghua, Jiangsu Province of China, are introduced. It is the largest complete biomass gasification power plant that uses rice husk and other agricultural wastes as fuel in Asia. It mainly consists of a 20 MWt atmospheric circulating fluidized-bed gasifier, a gas-purifying system, 10 sets of 450 kW(e) gas engines, a waste heat boiler, a 1.5 MWe steam turbine, a wastewater treatment system, etc. The demonstration plant has been operating since the end of 2005, and its overall efficiency reaches 26-28%. Its capital cost is less than 1200 USD/kW, and its running cost is about 0.079 USD/kWh based on the biomass price of 35.7 USD/ton. There is a 20% increment on capital cost and 35% decrease on the fuel consumption compared to that of a 1 MW system without a combined cycle. Because only part of the project has been performed, many of the tests still remain and, accordingly, must be reported at a later opportunity.

Near-Space Wide-Swath Radar Imaging With Multiaperture Antenna

Near-space, defined as the altitude region between 20 and 100 km, offers many capabilities that are not accessible for low Earth-orbit (LEO) satellites or airplanes because it is above storm and not constrained by orbital mechanics and high fuel consumption. Hence, a high flying speed can be obtained for the maneuvering vehicles operating in near-space. This offers a promising solution to simultaneous high-resolution and wide-swath synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imaging. As such, one near-space wide-swath SAR imaging technique is presented in this letter. The system configuration, signal model, and imaging scheme are described. An example near-space SAR system is designed, and its imaging performance is analyzed. Simulation results show that near-space maneuvering vehicle SAR indeed seems to be a promising solution to wide-swath SAR imaging.

Constructal dendritic configuration for the radiation heating of a solid stream

Here we show that the configuration of a slender enclosure can be optimized such that the radiation heating of a stream of solid is performed with minimal fuel consumption at the global level. The solid moves longitudinally at constant rate through the enclosure. The enclosure is heated by gas burners distributed arbitrarily, in a manner that is to be determined. The total contact area for heat transfer between the hot enclosure and the cold solid is fixed. We find that minimal global fuel consumption is achieved when the longitudinal distribution of heaters is nonuniform, with more heaters near the exit than the entrance. The reduction in fuel consumption relative to when the heaters are distributed uniformly is of order 10%. Tapering the plan view (the floor) of the heating area yields an additional reduction in overall fuel consumption. The best shape is when the floor area is a slender triangle on which the cold solid enters by crossing the base. These architectural features recommend the proposal to organize the flow of the solid as a dendritic design, which enters as several branches, and exits as a single hot stream of prescribed temperature. The thermodynamics of heating is presented in modern terms in the Sec. (exergy destruction, entropy generation). The contribution is that to optimize "thermodynamically" is the same as reducing the consumption of fuel. © 2010 American Institute of Physics.