Benefit of speed reduction for ships in different weather conditions

Currently, the shipping industry is facing a great challenge of reducing emissions. Reducing ship speeds will reduce the emissions in the immediate future with no additional infrastructure. However, a detailed investigation is required to verify the claim that a 10% speed reduction would lead to 19% fuel savings (Faber et al., 2012).This paper investigates fuel savings due to speed reduction using detailed modeling of ship performance. Three container ships, two bulk carriers, and one tanker, representative of the shipping fleet, have been designed. Voyages have been simulated by modeling calm water resistance, wave resistance, propulsion efficiency, and engine limits. Six ships have been simulated in various weather conditions at different speeds. Potential fuel savings have been estimated for a range of speed reductions in realistic weather.It is concluded that the common assumption of cubic speed-power relation can cause a significant error in the estimation of bunker consumption. Simulations in different seasons have revealed that fuel savings due to speed reduction are highly weather dependent. Therefore, a simple way to include the effect of weather in shipping transport models has been proposed.Speed reduction can lead to an increase in the number of ships to fulfill the transport demand. Therefore, the emission reduction potential of speed reduction strategy, after accounting for the additional ships, has been studied. Surprisingly, when the speed is reduced by 30%, fuel savings vary from 2% to 45% depending on ship type, size and weather conditions. Fuel savings further reduce when the auxiliary engines are considered.     

Using GPS-data to determine optimum electric vehicle ranges: A Michigan case study

Fuel-switching personal transportation from gasoline to electricity offers many advantages, including lower noise, zero local air pollution, and petroleum-independence. But alleviations of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are more nuanced, due to many factors, including the car’s battery range. We use GPS-based trip data to determine use type-specific, GHG-optimized ranges. The dataset comprises 412 cars and 384,869 individual trips in Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA. We use previously developed algorithms to determine driver types, such as using the car to commute or not. Calibrating an existing life cycle GHG model to a forecast, low-carbon grid for Ann Arbor, we find that the optimum range varies not only with the drive train architecture (plugin-hybrid versus battery-only) and charging technology (fast versus slow) but also with the driver type. Across the 108 scenarios we investigated, the range that yields lowest GHG varies from 65 km (55+ year old drivers, ultrafast charging, plugin-hybrid) to 158 km (16–34 year old drivers, overnight charging, battery-only). The optimum GHG reduction that electric cars offer – here conservatively measured versus gasoline-only hybrid cars – is fairly stable, between 29% (16–34 year old drivers, overnight charging, battery-only) and 46% (commuters, ultrafast charging, plugin-hybrid). The electrification of total distances is between 66% and 86%. However, if cars do not have the optimum range, these metrics drop substantially. We conclude that matching the range to drivers’ typical trip distances, charging technology, and drivetrain is a crucial pre-requisite for electric vehicles to achieve their highest potential to reduce GHG emissions in personal transportation.     

套筒式收发球在天然气管道内检测中的应用

为解决特殊清管器和检测器以及有特殊结构收发球筒的管道难以实施内检测的问题,以某天然气管道为例,详细介绍了在多节检测器安装困难、收发球筒尺寸过短、附件安装位置不合适等限制条件下,采用套筒式收发球方式对管道进行收发球作业,安全顺利完成了管道内检测。结论认为套筒式收发球能够在不进行收发球筒改造的前提下,完成带有特殊结构收发球筒的管道内检测作业。     

基于贝叶斯概率估计的智能电动车动态目标避障算法

为了实现智能电动车在中汽中心智能网联示范基地内的动态避障,首先将直角坐标系与曲线坐标系进行转换,构建以参考路径的弧长s为横坐标,横向偏移距离q为纵坐标的曲线坐标系;其次,在曲线坐标系中利用三次多项式生成满足初始位姿与子目标点位姿的候选路径,同时对标准化常量的似然函数进行定义,在此基础上利用贝叶斯定理对每条候选路径的危险等级进行概率估计;在动态避障过程中,借鉴速度障碍法对碰撞威胁进行实时检测,并建立最短避障时间和安全距离的数学模型来实现高效的动态避障,最后对行人占用车道行走与横穿马路2种典型场景进行动态避障试验。研究结果表明：在曲线坐标系中,通过横向偏移距离能够便捷地建立起一系列候选路径,克服在直角坐标系中寻找移动子目标点这个难题;在寻找安全路径方面,由于智能电动车工作环境的不确定性,利用贝叶斯定理对候选路径危险等级进行概率计算的方法可靠性更高,速度障碍法与避障数学模型的结合满足碰撞危险检测的实时性和动态避障的高效性要求。试验结果表明：采用曲线坐标系中的动态避障算法对行人占用车道和横穿马路2种场景进行了有效的避障,在路径选择上符合实际驾驶习惯,达到了智能网联示范基地动态避障的要求。     

The Alternative Motor Fuels Act, alternative-fuel vehicles, and greenhouse gas emissions

The corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) standard is the major policy tool to improve the fleet average miles per gallon of automobile manufacturers in the US. The Alternative Motor Fuels Act (AMFA) provides special treatment in calculating the fuel economy of alternative-fuel vehicles to give manufacturers CAFE incentives to produce more alternative-fuel vehicles. AMFA has as its goals an increase in the production of alternative-fuel vehicles and a decrease in gasoline consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. This paper examines theoretically the effects of the program set up under AMFA. It finds that, under some conditions, this program may actually increase the production of fuel-inefficient gasoline vehicles, gasoline consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.     

输气管道置换优化研究

置换是输气管道投产试运过程中的重要工艺环节,是复杂的扩散、对流过程。文中介绍了输气管道投产前用氮气置换空气的几种方法,阐述了它们的工作原理与实施步骤,对比分析了它们的优缺点,优选了置换方式,并采用Fluent流体模拟软件建立了输气管道氮气置换数学模型,进行了三维稳态和非稳态数值计算,研究了置换过程中混气段长度随管径、管长、流速变化规律,将理论推导、数值计算和现场数据进行了对比,验证了理论结果的正确性,为现场施工提供了科学依据。     

管道内防腐层补口技术研究进展

管道内衬或内防腐涂层现场施焊时,焊缝两侧的防腐层会由于高温作用而破坏,使环焊缝处不能得到有效的保护,内补口技术也成为影响管道质量的主要瓶颈。文中介绍了国内外主要的内补口技术,如内补口机法、内衬保护套（管）焊接法、不锈钢接头法、机械连接法等,并指出各方法的特点。文中还就内补口技术的质量控制和研究方向等提出了建议。     

Airline energy efficiency measures using the Virtual Frontier Network RAM with weak disposability

In this paper, airline energy efficiency is divided into three stages: the operations stage, the services stage and the sales stage. Greenhouse gas emissions are treated as an undesirable output of the services stage. This new three-stage strategic operating framework is a modification of existing models. A new model, Virtual Frontier Network Range Adjusted Measure with weak disposability, is proposed to evaluate the efficiencies of 22 international airlines, from 2008 to 2012. The results show that the new model can establish more reasonable rankings and confirm new benchmarking airlines and that inclusion in the European Union’s Emissions Trading Scheme has had little influence on the improvement of airline energy efficiency.     

利用SPS模拟川气东送管道压气站失效问题

为研究压气站失效与单台机组失效对输气管道的影响程度,采用SPS软件对压气站失效和单台机组失效进行了详细模拟。模拟结果显示:压气站失效与单台机组失效相比对管输系统影响较大;对于压气站失效,越靠近末站的压气站失效对管输系统影响越大;对于单台机组失效,越靠近首站的压缩机失效对管输系统影响越大。分析结果可为事故状态下的供气和抢修提供参考。     

封堵三通卡球原因分析及封堵设备改进设计

文中简述了某天然气管道A站-B站段内检测通球过程中封堵三通处出现的卡堵问题,结合通球、封堵等工程实践,对卡球原因进行了分析,发现了塞堵的设计缺陷,通过理论计算提出了塞堵的优化设计,解决了塞堵无旋转限位的问题,并对优化设计后期实践应用可能存在的问题提出了解决办法,对天然气管道带压封堵、通球,提高输气效率等具有参考意义。