Connecting people to their resource consumption through real-time data visualisations

Combining human-computer interaction and urban informatics, this design research developed and tested novel interfaces offering users real-time feedback on their paper and energy consumption. Findings from deploying these interfaces in both domestic and office environments in Australia, the UK, and Ireland, will innovate future generations of resource monitoring technologies. The study draws conclusions with implications for government policy, the energy industry, and sustainability researchers.

Management of a high grade pan stage schedule to reduce the steam consumption

MOST PAN stages in Australian factories use only five or six batch pans for the high grade massecuite production and operate these in a fairly rigid repeating production schedule. It is common that some of the pans are of large dropping capacity e.g. 150 to 240 t. Because of the relatively small number and large sizes of the pans, steam consumption varies widely through the schedule, often by ±30% about the mean value. Large fluctuations in steam consumption have implications for the steam generation/condensate management of the factory and the evaporators when bleed vapour is used. One of the objectives of a project to develop a supervisory control system for a pan stage is to (a) reduce the average steam consumption and (b) reduce the variation in the steam consumption. The operation of each of the high grade pans within the schedule at Macknade Mill was analysed to determine the idle (or buffer) time, time allocations for essential but unproductive operations (e.g. pan turn round, charging, slow ramping up of steam rates on pan start etc.), and productive time i.e. the time during boil-on of liquor and molasses feed. Empirical models were developed for each high grade pan on the stage to define the interdependence of the production rate and the evaporation rate for the different phases of each pan’s cycle. The data were analysed in a spreadsheet model to try to reduce and smooth the total steam consumption. This paper reports on the methodology developed in the model and the results of the investigations for the pan stage at Macknade Mill. It was found that the operation of the schedule severely restricted the ability to reduce the average steam consumption and smooth the steam flows. While longer cycle times provide increased flexibility the steam consumption profile was changed only slightly. The ability to cut massecuite on the run among pans, or the use of a high grade seed vessel, would assist in reducing the average steam consumption and the magnitude of the variations in steam flow.

Influence of the diesel fuel sulfur content on the formation of nanoparticles

In recent years fine and ultra fine particles emitted from internal combustion engines have attracted an increasing level of attention. This attention has arisen from epidemiological studies conducted by a number of research groups and pointing to the health effects resulting from inhalation of fine particles. Previous studies on the influence of fuel sulfur level on diesel vehicle emissions were mainly concentrated on particle mass emissions. This study aims at investigating the influence of the reduction of diesel fuel sulfur level on the emission and formation of nanoparticles

A comparative investigation of C6-C15 hydrocarbons emitted from a passenger car powered by unleaded petrol and 10% ethanol fuel

Twenty-three non-methane hydrocarbons were captured from the exhaust of a car operating on unleaded petrol (ULP) and 10% ethanol fuels at steady speed on a chassis dynamometer. The compounds were identified and quantified by GC/MS/FID and their emission concentrations at 60 km/h, 80km/h and idle speed were evaluated. The most abundant compounds in the exhaust included n-hexane, n-heptane, benzene, toluene, ethyl benzene, m- and p-xylenes, and methylcyclopentane. Because of the large number of compounds involved, no attempt was made to compare the emission concentrations of the compounds. Rather the sum of the emission concentrations for the suite of compounds identified was compared when the car was powered by ULP and 10% ethanol fuel. It was evident from the results that the emission concentrations and factors were generally higher with ULP than with 10% ethanol fuel. The total emission concentrations with the ULP fuel were 2.8, 4.2 and 2.6 times the corresponding values for the 10% ethanol fuel at 60km/h, 80km/h and idle speed, respectively. The implications of the results on the environment are discussed in the paper.

Willingness-to-pay for infrastructure investments for alternative fuel vehicles

This study investigates potential demand for infrastructure investment for alternative fuel vehicles by applying stated preference methods to a Japanese sample. The potential demand is estimated on the basis of how much people are willing to pay for alternative fuel vehicles under various refueling scenarios. Using the estimated parameters, the economic efficiency of establishing battery-exchange stations for electric vehicles is examined. The results indicate that infrastructural development of battery-exchange stations can be efficient when electric vehicle sales exceed 5.63% of all new vehicle sales. Further, we find a complementary relationship between the cruising ranges of alternative fuel vehicles and the infrastructure established.

Issues associated with using trash as a cogeneration fuel

Considerable work has been undertaken to determine an economical process to provide sugarcane trash as a fuel for cogeneration. This paper reviews efforts to provide that trash fuel by harvesting, transporting and processing the trash with the cane. Harvesting trash with the cane has the advantage that cane that would otherwise be lost by extracting it with the trash is captured and sugar can be produced from that cane. Transporting trash with the cane significantly reduces the bulk density of the cane, requiring substantial changes and costs to cane transport. Shredding the trash at the harvester and compacting the cane in the bin prior to transport are possible methods to increase the bulk density but both have considerable cost. Processing trash through the sugar factory with the cane significantly reduces sugar recovery and sugar quality. Although considerable knowledge has been gained of these effects and further analysis has provided insights into their causes, much more work is required before whole crop harvesting and transport is an economically viable means of trash recovery.

The psychological and economic factors that influence energy consumption habits of low-income earners

Social marketers and governments have often targeted hard to reach or vulnerable groups (Gordon et al., 2006) such as young adults and low income earners. Past research has shown that low-income earners are often at risk of poor health outcomes and diminished lifestyle (Hampson et al., 2009; Scott et al., 2012). Young adults (aged 18 to 35) are in a transition phase of their life where lifestyle preferences are still being formed and are thus a useful target for long-term sustainable change. An area of focus for all levels of government is the use of energy with an aim to reduce consumption. There is little research to date that combines both of these groups and in particular in the context of household energy usage. Research into financially disadvantaged consumers is challenging the notion that that low income consumer purchasing and usage of products and services is based upon economic status (Sharma et al., 2012). Prior research shows higher income earners view items such as televisions and computers as necessities rather than non-essential (Karlsson et al., 2004). Consistent with this is growing evidence that low income earners purchase non-essential, energy intensive electronic appliances such as multiple big screen TV sets and additional refrigerators. With this in mind, there is a need for knowledge about how psychological and economic factors influence the energy consumption habits (e.g. appliances on standby power, leaving appliances turned on, running multiple devices at one time) of low income earners. Thus, our study sought to address the research question of: What are the factors that influence young adult low-income earners energy habits?

Porous versus porthole fuel injection in a radical farming scramjet: A numerical analysis

Numerically computed engine performance of a nominally two-dimensional radical farming scramjet with porous (permeable C/C ceramic) and porthole fuel injection is presented. Inflow conditions with Mach number, stagnation pressure, and enthalpy of 6.44, 40.2MPa, and 4.31 MJ/kg respectively, and fuel/air equivalence ratio of 0.44 were maintained, along with engine geometry. Hydrogen fuel was injected at an axial location of 92.33mm downstream of the leading edge for each investigated injection method. Results from this study show that porous fuel injection results in enhanced mixing and combustion compared to porthole fuel injection. This is particularly evident within the first half of the combustion chamber where porous fuel injection resulted in mixing and combustion efficiencies of 76% and 63% respectively. At the same location, porthole fuel injection resulted in efficiencies respectively of 58% and 46%. Key mechanisms contributing to the observed improved performance were the formation of an attached oblique fuel injection shock and associated stronger shock-expansion train ingested by the engine, enhanced spreading of the fuel in all directions and a more rapidly growing mixing layer.

Porous fuel injection with oxygen enrichment in a viable scramjet engine

Oxygen enriched, porous fuel injection has been numerically investigated in this study with the aim of understanding mixing and combustion enhancements achievable in a viable scramjet engine. Four injection configurations were studied: a fuel only case, a pre-mixed case and two staged injection cases where fuel and oxidiser were injected independently. All simulations were performed on a flight scale vehicle at Mach 8 flow conditions. Results show that the addition of oxygen with the fuel increases the mixing efficiency of the engine, however, is less sensitive to the method of oxygen addition: premixed versus staged. When the fuel-oxidiser-air mixture was allowed to combust, the method of additional oxygen delivery had a more significant impact. For pre-mixed fuel and oxidiser, the engine was found to choke, whereas in contrast, in the staged enrichment cases the engine failed to ignite. This result indicates that there exists an optimised configuration between pre-mixed and staged oxygen enrichment which results in a started, and combusting engine.

Numerical investigation of upstream fuel injection through porous media for scramjet engines via surrogate-assisted evolutionary algorithms

A multi-objective design optimization study has been conducted for upstream fuel injection through porous media applied to the first ramp of a two-dimensional scramjet intake. The optimization has been performed by coupling evolutionary algorithms assisted by surrogate modeling and computational fluid dynamics with respect to three design criteria, that is, the maximization of the absolute mixing quantity, total pressure saving, and fuel penetration. A distinct Pareto optimal front has been obtained, highlighting the counteracting behavior of the total pressure against the mixing efficiency and fuel penetration. The injector location and size have been identified as the key design parameters as a result of a sensitivity analysis, with negligible influence of the porous properties in the configurations and conditions considered in the present study. Flowfield visualization has revealed the underlying physics associated with the effects of these dominant parameters on the shock structure and intensity.

Higher fuel prices are associated with lower air pollution levels

Air pollution is a persistent problem in urban areas, and traffic emissions are a major cause of poor air quality. Policies to curb pollution levels often involve raising the price of using private vehicles, for example, congestion charges. We were interested in whether higher fuel prices were associated with decreased air pollution levels. We examined an association between diesel and petrol prices and four traffic-related pollutants in Brisbane from 2010 to 2013. We used a regression model and examined pollution levels up to 16 days after the price change. Higher diesel prices were associated with statistically significant short-term reductions in carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides. Changes in petrol prices had no impact on air pollution. Raising diesel taxes in Australia could be justified as a public health measure. As raising taxes is politically unpopular, an alternative political approach would be to remove schemes that put a downward pressure on fuel prices, such as industry subsidies and shopping vouchers that give fuel discounts.