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Wind characteristics (e.g., mean wind speed, gust factor, turbulence intensity and integral scale, etc.) are quite scattered in different measurement conditions, especially during typhoon and/or hurricane processes, which results in the structural engineer ambiguously determining the wind parameters in wind-resistant design of buildings and structures in cyclone-prone regions. In tropical cyclones (including typhoons and hurricanes), the inconsistent wind characteristics may be in part ascribed to the complex flow structure with the coexistence of both mechanical and convective turbulence in the boundary layer of tropical cyclones. Another significant contribution to the scattered wind characteristics is due to various measurement conditions (e.g., terrain exposure and height) and data processing schemes (e.g., averaging time). The removal of the inconsistency in the field-measurement system may offer a more rational comparison of measured wind data from various observation platforms, and hence facilitates a better identification scheme of the wind characteristics to guide the urban planning design and wind-resistant design of buildings and structures. In this study, an analytical framework was firstly proposed to eliminate the potential observation-related effects in wind characteristics and then the wind characteristics of seven field measured tropical cyclones (four typhoons and three hurricanes) were comparatively investigated. Specifically, field measurements of wind characteristics were converted to a standard reference station with a roughness length of 0.03 m, observation duration of 10 min for mean wind and averaging time of 3 s for gusty wind at a 10 m height. The differences of the measured wind characteristics between the typhoons and hurricanes were highlighted. The standardized turbulent wind characteristics under the analytical framework for typhoons and hurricanes were compared with the corresponding recommendations in standard of American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE 7-10) and Architectural Institute of Japan Recommendations for Loads on Buildings (AIJ-RLB-2004).

This paper presents an analysis of the problem of reorientation of a riser pipe from an initially horizontal configuration during subsurface tow to the vertical position for installation. Front and rear barges support the pipe through cables. The orientation into a vertical configuration is accomplished by paying out the front cable. The pipe is treated as a Bernoulli-Euler beam with significant tension undergoing large angle deflections. A finite element procedure used state transfer matrices and successive linearization and the results show that the stress critical phase occurs when the pipe is going through the 60-deg angle to the horizontal direction.

A method is presented for calculating the electromagnetic forces on the end windings of turbine generators for both the steady state and transient modes of operation. Part 1 of this paper deals with the basic concepts of the force calculation and gives several examples of steady state forces and how they vary with load and power factor. PartII deals with several types of transient operation. The currents and fields which these transients produce are discussed and forces are found for various cases such as short circuits, synchronizing out of phase and transmission line switching.

The most severe failures in power grids are often characterized as cascading failures where an initial event triggers consequent failures all along the grid often leading to blackouts. Upon identifying a failure and its cascade potential, timely control actions should be performed by the grid operators to mitigate the effect of the cascade. These actions have to be delivered to one or more control devices, creating a dependency between the power grid and its control network. This paper examines the dependency of the operation of the power grid on the control network. Different from literature studies on failure control, our dependency model captures the impact of networking parameters. We formulate an algorithmic model that describes the impact of this dependency on cascade control. Based on this model, we propose an efficient cascade control algorithm using load shedding with consideration of delays in the communication network for power grids. Finally, we evaluate the impact of the power-communication network dependency with uncontrolled grids, ideal/simple control grids and our proposed control scheme. The results demonstrate that the proposed algorithm can significantly reduce the failure of power lines while sustaining larger power demand for users.

Abstract Transient thermal behaviors of ultra-supercritical steam turbine control valves during the cold start warm-up process of steam turbine systems were comprehensively studied using conjugate heat transfer (CHT) simulation. The geometrical configurations and boundary conditions used in simulation were identical to the field setup in a thermal power plant. The simulated temperature variations were first validated using measurements by the flush-mounted thermocouples inside the solid valve bodies. The CHT simulation implementing the shear stress transport (SST) turbulence model demonstrated good agreement with the field data, and the overall numerical errors were below 10%; however, the numerical errors of the simulation, which used empirical heat transfer coefficients at the fluid–solid interfaces, reached 40%. The determined temperature differences between the cold valve bodies with the hot steam flow decreased significantly. Specifically, the temperature differences along the inner wall surfaces of the valve bodies decreased to less than 50 °C. Further investigation of the transient heat flux distributions and Nusselt number distributions confirmed that the unsteady flow behaviors, such as the alternating oscillations of the annular wall-attached jet, the central reverse flow and the intermediate shear layer instabilities, enhanced the fluid–solid heat convection process and thus contributed to the warming up of the solid valve bodies.

Abstract This study sought to quantify and characterize cassava waste as fuel. The wastes from three cultivars were collected to study and were divided into three distinct parts of the cassava plant: seed stem, thick stalks, and thin stalks. Physical and chemical analyzes were carried out to determine the elemental composition of the waste: volatile matter; fixed carbon; ash; moisture; lignin; cellulose; hemicellulose; ash composition and higher heating value were determined. We conducted a thermogravimetric analysis in oxidizing and inert atmospheres to study the behavior of the waste as fuel. The root productivity obtained ranged from 7.7 to 13.0 t ha−1 yr−1 on a dry basis (db), and the ratio between waste and roots varied from 0.36 to 0.91. The physical and chemical properties of cassava waste are analogous to those of woody biomass regarding the elemental composition, the higher heating value, and thermogravimetric analysis. Ash content varied from 2.5% to 3.5%, reaching around 6.0% in samples unwashed. Approximately 60% of the ashes are alkali oxides, especially P2O5, K2O, and CaO, which have low melting points. The alkali index calculated suggests that there is a strong tendency that the combustion process leads to ash fouling and the formation of ash deposits.

Abstract Microorganisms used in syngas fermentation require nutrients to grow and convert syngas (CO, H2 and CO2) into various products. Many of the essential nutrients can be provided by biochar. Poultry litter biochar (PLBC) contains minerals and trace metals and has a high pH buffering capacity, making it suitable as a nutrient supplement. The effects of PLBC loadings from 1 to 20 g L−1 on syngas fermentation were determined in 250 ml bottle assays. Results showed that 10 and 20 g L−1 PLBC significantly increased ethanol production compared to standard yeast extract (YE) medium. Fermentations in a 3L continuous stirred tank reactor (CSTR) with 10 g L−1 PLBC with and without 4-morpholineethanesulfonic acid (MES) showed 64% and 36% more ethanol production, respectively, than standard medium. The acetic acid accumulated at the beginning of fermentation was completely converted to ethanol in all media tested in the CSTR. These results demonstrate the feasibility of using PLBC medium without costly MES in the CSTR to enhance ethanol production from syngas for potential use at commercial scale.

The rapid development of advanced metering infrastructure provides a new data source—building electrical load profiles with high temporal resolution. Electric load profile characterization can generate useful information to enhance building energy modeling and provide metrics to represent patterns and variability of load profiles. Such characterizations can be used to identify changes to building electricity demand due to operations or faulty equipment and controls. In this study, we proposed a two-path approach to analyze high temporal resolution building electrical load profiles: (1) time-domain analysis and (2) frequency-domain analysis. The commonly adopted time-domain analysis can extract and quantify the distribution of key parameters characterizing load shape such as peak-base load ratio and morning rise time, while a frequency-domain analysis can identify major periodic fluctuations and quantify load variability. We implemented and evaluated both paths using whole-year 15-minute interval smart meter data of 188 commercial office building in Northern California. The results from these two paths are consistent with each other and complementary to represent full dynamics of load profiles. The time- and frequency-domain analyses can be used to enhance building energy modeling by: (1) providing more realistic assumptions about building operation schedules, and (2) validating the simulated electric load profiles using the developed variability metrics against the real building load data.

AbstractShipbuilding is an energy-intensive industrial sector that produces a significant amount of waste, pollution and air emissions. However, the International Maritime Organization concentrates only on reducing emissions during the operational phase. In order to completely phase out emissions from the shipping industry, a life-cycle approach must be taken. The study implemented the proposed transdisciplinary energy management framework in a Bangladeshi shipyard. The framework aims to support shipyard decision makers in making rational and optimized decisions to make shipyards sustainable, while maintaining good product quality and reducing relative cost. This is achieved by applying the Fuzzy Analytical Hierarchy Process and Fuzzy Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution methods to identify optimal solutions. In addition to making shipyards more sustainable, the framework can enhance both the business and socio-economic prospects of the shipyard and promote the reputation of the shipyard and improve its competitiveness and, in line with this, lead to the promotion of nationally determined contributions under the Paris Agreement for States. The implementation of the framework shows that the political and legal discipline, the social criteria and the implementation of ISO 14001 and cyber security were the most important criteria and options for the yard's decision makers.