The Offshore Wind Power Debate: Views from Cape Cod

Wind power resources on the eastern U.S. continental shelf are estimated to be over 400 GW, several times the electricity used by U.S. eastern coastal states. The first U.S. developer proposes to build 130 large (40 story tall) wind turbines in Nantucket Sound, just outside Massachusetts state waters. These would provide 420 MW at market prices, enough electricity for most of Cape Cod. The project is opposed by a vigorous and well-financed coalition. Polling shows local public opinion on the project almost equally divided. This article draws on semistructured interviews with residents of Cape Cod to analyze values, beliefs, and logic of supporters and opponents. For example, one value found to lead to opposition is that the ocean is a special place that should be kept natural and free of human intrusion. One line of argument found to lead to support is: The war in Iraq is problematic, this war is “really” over petroleum, Cape Cod generates electricity from oil, therefore, the wind project would improve U.S. security. Based on analysis of the values and reasoning behind our interview data, we identify four issues that are relevant but not currently part of the debate.     

Ocean Citizenship: An Emergent Geographical Concept

Ocean citizenship describes a relationship between our everyday lives and the health of the coastal and marine environment. Through our everyday lives we affect, and are affected by, the marine and coastal environment in numerous ways. As such, individuals have a responsibility to make informed lifestyle choices to minimize this impact. In doing so, the actions of individuals can contribute to the amelioration of large-scale and seemingly insurmountable geographical problems. This article outlines the concept of ocean citizenship within the context of the public understanding of marine environmental issues. The article draws heavily on the experience of the National Maritime Museum as an important contributor to the development of ocean citizenship in the United Kingdom. Specifically, the Planet Ocean initiative will be examined, in which the Museum has adopted a multimodal approach to public engagement through exhibitions, educational resources, and specific research publications. The article concludes by highlighting the importance of geography in the development and sustainability of ocean citizenship.     

Synergies between Adjacent Beach-Nourishing Communities in a Morpho-Economic Coupled Coastline Model

Beach “nourishment” consists of placing sand on an eroding beach. The widened beach provides increased storm protection to adjacent structures and improved recreational benefits, but is most often transient, requiring on-going, repeated nourishment episodes. Numerical models of beach nourishment typically address such questions as how long a widened beach will last; economic models compare the benefits and costs of preserving a stretch of beach without regard to its geomorphic evolution. Neither have addressed the physical nor economic interactions between adjacent nourishing communities. Here, we couple a numerical model of coastline evolution and a cost-benefit model of beach nourishment, allowing adjacent communities to make dynamic nourishment decisions. Beach nourishment benefits adjacent communities both “updrift” and “downdrift.” The total amount of money spent on nourishment activities can decrease by as much as 25% when adjacent communities both conduct on-going nourishment projects, as opposed to the case where each community nourishes in isolation.     

双通线加热的热力学及实验分析(英文)

The present investigation deals with process analysis of oxy-acetylene flame assisted double pass line heating for varying plate thickness. oxy-acetylene flame as the heat source for multi pass line heating to achieve 3-D bending of plates with varying thicknesses was studied. The oxy-acetylene flame was modeled as the moving heat source in the FEM analysis. The transient thermal histories were predicted taking into account the temperature dependent thermo-mechanical properties. A comparative study between single pass and double pass line heating residual deformation was also carried out. The temperature distribution and residual deformations predicted by the numerical model developed in the present work compared fairly well with those of the experimental ones.     

Generation of cyclonic eddies in the Eastern Gotland Basin of the Baltic Sea following dense water inflows: numerical experiments

A sigma (σ)-coordinate ocean model by Blumberg and Mellor (POM) is applied to study the formation processes of mesoscale cyclones observed in the Eastern Gotland Basin following the dense water inflows. The initial conditions simulate a situation when the Arkona and Bornholm basins and partially the Slupsk Furrow are already filled with the inflow water of the North Sea origin, while the Eastern Gotland and Gdansk basins still contain the old water of pre-inflow stratification. Model runs with constant and time-dependent winds, changing the buoyancy forcing, grid geometry and bottom topography display the following. Entering the Eastern Gotland Basin from the Slupsk Furrow, the bottom intrusion of saline inflow water splits in two: one goes northeast towards the Gotland Deep, and second moves southeast towards the Gulf of Gdansk. An intensive mesoscale cyclonic eddy carrying the inflow water is generated just east of the Slupsk Furrow with the inflow pulse. A number of smaller cyclones with boluses of the inflow water are formed in the permanent halocline along the saline intrusion pathway to the Gotland Deep. Following Spall and Price [J. Phys. Oceanogr. 28 (1998) 1598], the cyclones are suggested to form by the adjustment of the high potential vorticity inflow water column to a low potential vorticity environment.     

Dynamic interaction of parallel moving ships in close proximity

Nowadays,there are many studies conducted in the field of marine hydrodynamics which focus on two vessels traveling and floating in sufficiently close proximity to experience significant interactions.The hydrodynamic behavior of parallel moving ships in waves is an interesting and important topic of late.A numerical investigation has been carried out for the prediction of wave exciting forces and motion responses of parallel moving ships in regular waves.The numerical solution was based on 3D distribution technique and using the linear wave theory to determine the exciting forces and ship＇s motion.The speed effects have been considered in the Green function for more realistic results.The numerical computations of wave exciting forces and motion responses were carried out for a Mariner and Series 60 for the purpose of discovering different Froude numbers and different separation distances in head sea conditions.Based on the numerical computations,it was revealed that the sway,roll and yaw have a significant effect due to hydrodynamic interaction.     

矩形槽道采用不同冷却介质的传热与阻力特性分析(英文)

Several industrial applications such as electronic devices,heat exchangers,gas turbine blades,etc.need cooling processes.The internal cooling technique is proper for some applications.In the present work,computational simulations were made using ANSYS CFX to predict the improvements of internal heat transfer in the rectangular ribbed channel using different coolants.Several coolants such as air,steam,air/mist and steam/mist were investigated.The shear stress transport model(SST)is selected by comparing the standard k-ωand Omega Reynolds Stress(ωRS)turbulence models with experimental results.The results indicate that the heat transfer coefficients are enhanced in the ribbed channel while injecting small amounts of mist.The heat transfer coefficients of air/mist,steam and steam/mist increase by 12.5%,49.5%and 107%over that of air,respectively.Furthermore,in comparison to air,the air/mist heat transfer coefficient enhances by about 1.05 to 1.14 times when the mist mass fraction increases from 2%to 8%,respectively.The steam/mist heat transfer coefficient increases by about 1.12 to 1.27 times higher than that of steam over the considered range of mist mass fraction.     

Enabling a viable technique for the optimization of LNG carrier cargo operations

In this study, we optimize the loading and discharging operations of the Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) carrier. First, we identify the required precautions for LNG carrier cargo operations. Next, we prioritize these precautions using the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and experts’ judgments, in order to optimize the operational loading and discharging exercises of the LNG carrier, prevent system failure and human error, and reduce the risk of marine accidents. Thus, the objective of our study is to increase the level of safety during cargo operations.     

Biogeography-based combinatorial strategy for efficient autonomous underwater vehicle motion planning and task-time management

Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) are capable of spending long periods of time for carrying out various underwater missions and marine tasks. In this paper, a novel conflict-free motion planning framework is introduced to enhance underwater vehicle’s mission performance by completing maximum number of highest priority tasks in a limited time through a large scale waypoint cluttered operating field, and ensuring safe deployment during the mission. The proposed combinatorial route-path planner model takes the advantages of the Biogeography-Based Optimization (BBO) algorithm toward satisfying objectives of both higher-lower level motion planners and guarantees maximization of the mission productivity for a single vehicle operation. The performance of the model is investigated under different scenarios including the particular cost constraints in time-varying operating fields. To show the reliability of the proposed model, performance of each motion planner assessed separately and then statistical analysis is undertaken to evaluate the total performance of the entire model. The simulation results indicate the stability of the contributed model and its feasible application for real experiments.     

自主水下航行器发展概述

自主水下航行器（AUVs）因其应用于海洋勘探而逐渐成为一个有趣的研究对象。波浪滑翔机是一种行驶于波浪表面的无人滑行器（SUV）,它借助海洋能来推动自己,这对于典型的AUVs所采用的电机供能以及昂贵的锚链系统浮标供
　　能来说,是一种技术上的重大跨越。该文讨论了最有效率的AUVs类型。第一部分为每一种类型的发展历程,第二部分为它们各自的技术特点。此外,波浪滑翔机作为应用于海洋部门的一种新型水下机器人,文中简要地给出它的过去,现在以及未来的发展概述。研究波浪滑翔机的意义在于证明它的效率以及实用性,进而取代诸多的AUVs来实现各种实际应用。而研究结果也表明波浪滑翔机确实可以应用于众多领域。对于海洋检测而言,相比于其他AUVs,波浪滑翔机提供了更廉价,更经济,更环保的作业模式,同时也不需要缆绳、船舶等海上作业服务。