Changes in fuel economy: An analysis of the Spanish car market

This paper estimates the role that technological change and car characteristics have played in the rate of fuel consumption of vehicles over time. Using data from the Spanish car market from 1988 to 2013, we estimate a reduced form equation that relates fuel consumption with a set of car characteristics. The results for the sales-weighted sample of vehicles show that energy efficiency would have improved by 30% and 42% for petrol and diesel cars respectively had car characteristics been held constant at 1988 values. However, the shift to bigger and more fuel-consuming cars reduced the gains from technological progress. Additionally, using the results of the fuel equation we show that, besides a natural growth rate of 1.1%, technological progress is affected by both the international price of oil and the adoption of mandatory emission standards. Moreover, according to our estimations, a 1% growth in GDP would modify car characteristics in such a way that fuel consumption would increase by around 0.23% for petrol cars and 0.35% for diesel cars.     

基于光电复合缆的水声信号采集发射传输系统

众所周知水下电磁环境复杂,在水下采用电缆传输电信号非常容易受到海洋电磁环境干扰,并且随着距离的增加,电信号受到干扰和衰减也就越大.因此水下中长距离的信号传输采用光电复合缆传输是一个比较好的选择,光纤用来传递水声信号,电缆用来传输电力.因此本文设计了一种基于光电复合缆的水声信号采集发射传输系统,能够很好地解决上述问题.本设计将要采集和发射的水声模拟信号在采集发射端和主机端转换成光信号,端到端之间的传输采用光信号,而采集发射端的供电则由光电复合缆的电缆提供.     

Influential vectors in fuel consumption by an urban bus operator: Bus route,driver behavior or vehicle type?

Energy costs account for an important share of the total costs of urban and suburban bus operators. The purpose of this paper is to expand empirical research on bus transit operation costs and identify the key factors that influence bus energy efficiency of the overall bus fleet of one operator and aid to the management of its resources.We estimate a set of multivariate regression models, using cross-section dataset of 488 bus drivers operating over 92 days in 2010, in 87 routes with different bus typologies, of a transit company operating in the Lisbon’s Metropolitan Area (LMA), Rodoviária de Lisboa, S.A.Our results confirm the existence of influential variables regarding energy efficiency and these are mainly: vehicle type, commercial speed, road grades over 5% and bus routes; and to a lesser extent driving events such as: sudden longitudinal decelerations and excessive engine rotation. The methodology proved to be useful for the bus operator as a decision-support tool for efficiency optimization purpose at the company level.     

船舶低硫柴油系统设计的分析与优化

就新辟航线首制船“汉亚直达”集装箱船的低硫柴油系统,叙述了船舶低硫柴油系统的设计经验,从当前国内外对船用燃油硫含量的要求、应对方案到船舶低硫柴油冷却方式选择、低硫柴油冷却系统设计、高/低硫柴油转换、使用低硫柴油风险分析及处理等方面进行详细叙述,为业内同行提供参考。     

桨-舵间距对其组合系统水动力性能的影响

本文通过CFD方法对敞水桨、桨-舵组合以及优化间距的桨-舵组合装置开展了数值仿真研究，分析了桨-舵间距对其组合系统的水动力性能影响。螺旋桨敞水工况的计算值与物理模型试验值吻合良好，验证了数值计算方法的可行性。通过对比桨-舵间距大于推荐值的三个工况，发现在较低进阶系数下系统的节能效率有稍许增加，然而随着间距的增大，节能效率呈现降低的趋势；在高进阶系数下，随间距增大节能效率逐步降低。适当减小桨-舵间距，在较低和中等进阶系数下，随间距减小节能效率呈现逐步升高的趋势，在间距减少10mm时，组合体的节能效率最大可增加1.937%；不过在高进阶系数下，随间距减小节能效率却有下降趋势。     

A driver advisory system with dynamic losses for passenger electric multiple units

Driver advisory systems, instructing the driver how to control the train in an energy efficient manner, is one the main tools for minimizing energy consumption in the railway sector. There are many driver advisory systems already available in the market, together with significant literature on the mathematical formulation of the problem. However, much less is published on the development of such mathematical formulations, their implementation in real systems, and on the empirical data from their deployment. Moreover, nearly all the designed driver advisory systems are designed as an additional hardware to be added in drivers’ cabin. This paper discusses the design of a mathematical formulation and optimization approach for such a system, together with its implementation into an Android-based prototype, the results from on-board practical experiments, and experiences from the implementation. The system is based on a more realistic train model where energy calculations take into account dynamic losses in different components of the propulsion system, contrary to previous approaches. The experimental evaluation shows a significant increase in accuracy, as compared to a previous approach. Tests on a double-track section of the Mälaren line in Sweden demonstrates a significant potential for energy saving.     

Urban single-lane roundabouts: A new analytical approach using multi-criteria and simultaneous multi-objective optimization of geometry design,efficiency and safety

Building safe and effective roundabouts requires optimizing traffic (operational) efficiency (TE) and traffic safety (TS) while taking into account geometric factors, traffic characteristics and local constraints. Most existing simulation-based optimization models do not simultaneously optimize all these factors. To capture the relationship among geometry, efficiency and safety, we put forward a model formulation in this paper. We present a new multi-criteria and simultaneous multi-objective optimization (MOO) model approach to optimize geometry, TE and TS of urban unsignalized single-lane roundabouts. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first model that uses the multi-criteria decision-making method known as analytic hierarchy process to evaluate and rank traffic parameters and geometric elements of urban single-lane roundabouts. The model was built based on comprehensive review of the research literature and existing roundabout simulation software, a field survey of 61 civil and traffic expert engineers in Croatia, and field studies of roundabouts in the Croatian capital city of Zagreb. We started from the basis of Kimber’s capacity model, HCM2010 serviceability model, and Maycock and Hall's accident prediction model, which we extended by adding sensitivity analysis and powerful MOO procedures of the bounded objective function method and interactive optimization. Preliminary validation of the model was achieved by identifying the optimal and most robust of three geometric alternatives (V.1-V.3) for an unsignalized single-lane roundabout in Zagreb, Croatia. The geometric parameters in variant V.1 had significantly higher values than in the existing design V.0, while approaches 1 and 3 in variant V.2 were enlarged as much as possible within allowed spatial limits and Croatian guidelines, reflecting their higher traffic demand. Sensitivity analysis indicated that variant V.2 showed the overall highest TE and TS across the entire range of traffic flow demand and pedestrian crossing flow demand at approaches. At the same time, the number of predicted traffic accidents was similar for all three variants, although it was lowest overall for V.2. The similarity in predicted accident frequency for the three variants suggests that V.2 provides the greatest safety within the predefined constraints and parameter ranges explored in our study. These preliminary results suggest that the proposed model can optimize geometry, TE and TS of urban single-lane roundabouts.     

LED灯具在高速列车照明系统中的应用

随着我国高速铁路事业的发展,旅客对车内照明环境品质的要求越来越高,在我国高速列车照明设计中广泛采用LED灯具作为光源。通过对高速动车组车载灯具与25T型列车传统车载灯具的测试对比,总结出LED灯具在发光效率等方面相对于传统灯具的优势,为高速动车组室内照明设计提供依据。     

Integrated vehicle and powertrain optimization for passenger vehicles with vehicle-infrastructure communication

This research proposes an optimal controller to improve fuel efficiency for a vehicle equipped with automatic transmission traveling on rolling terrain without the presence of a close preceding vehicle. Vehicle acceleration and transmission gear position are optimized simultaneously to achieve a better fuel efficiency. This research leverages the emerging Connected Vehicle technology and utilizes present and future information—such as real-time dynamic speed limit, vehicle speed, location and road topography—as optimization input. The optimal control is obtained using the Relaxed Pontryagin’s Minimum Principle. The benefit of the proposed optimal controller is significant compared to the regular cruise control and other eco-drive systems. It varies with the hill length, grade, and the number of available gear positions. It ranges from an increased fuel saving of 18–28% for vehicles with four-speed transmission and 25–45% for vehicles with six-speed transmission. The computational time for the optimization is 1.0–2.1 s for the four-speed vehicle and 1.8–3.9 s for the six-speed vehicle, given a 50 s optimization time horizon and 0.1 s time step. The proposed controller can potentially be used in real-time.