Finding fugitive emissions

The control and management of fugitive emissions is becoming even more important for safety compliance, and the techniques used to identify them are becoming more accurate. Sean Ottewell reports.

Cameras equipped with infrared (IR) technology are quickly becoming an essential tool in the chemical manufacturing and other industries in the detection of fugitive emissions - the leaks in pipe connections and seals that are difficult to detect.
Although use of the IR cameras is only just becoming a requirement of the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), LyondellBasell began using the technology in 2005. The initial results from their use in ground and aerial surveys at the Channelview and La Porte, Texas, plants and also at the plants in Morris and Tuscola, Illinois, were very promising and IR cameras are now an important part of plant equipment at the company's sites (Fig. 1).
The use of IR cameras enables the company to pinpoint the exact location of leaks that might have remained hidden using traditional fugitive monitoring techniques. In only minutes, an operator can aim, pan and zoom as far as several hundred feet away from an area and check for leaks without having to move. Traditional methods for identifying fugitive emissions required placement of an instrument probe directly on the component, which is a challenge for components high in a pipe rack.
Another advantage is the detection of particularly elusive emissions that leak from corrosion beneath insulation. These leaks have historically been a challenge and many times impossible to pinpoint because the vapours often exit at points a considerable distance from the source point. The IR camera can very easily detect the source of these leaks by simply following the trail of the hydrocarbon plume.

Law enforcement

The Dutch Environmental Protection Agency (DCMR) is using a FLIR GF320 optical gas imaging camera from French company FLIR Advanced Thermal Solutions to help with inspection and law enforcement in and around the port of Rotterdam where many chemical companies are located.

The tasks of the DCMR include regulation of all the industries in the area and monitoring and assisting authorities on developing environmental policy. The DCMR issues permits to virtually all of the 22,000 enterprises in the area and carries out more than 9000 inspections to monitor compliance with the permit conditions.

Earlier field studies found that emissions for volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the area were 3-4 times that reported by the industries present.

After comparing several techniques Rob van Doorn, technical manager of the DCMR and his colleagues opted for the FLIR GF320 optical gas imaging camera. "The external consultants we had hired previously utilised technologies like solar occultation flux (SOF) and differential absorption light detection and ranging (DIAL). Although these techniques are robust and can quantify the emissions these technologies are very expensive to purchase, they are unwieldy, requiring large trucks to carry the equipment, and also complicated to use, requiring a lot of training to be used effectively. In comparison the GF-Series camera is a much more affordable solution. It is also compact, lightweight, portable, and it is very easy to use, requiring very little training," he said.

So the initial focus for using the camera will be on inspecting storage tanks, vapour recovery units, and VOC handling activities of refineries and storage and handling facilities. The camera will be used to develop a standard and solid working method that can be used as a law enforcement tool.

The US National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) is using a range of techniques including near IR and thermal IR to detect and monitor fugitive emissions of carbon dioxide stored in geologic formations.

By providing an accurate accounting of stored carbon dioxide and a high level of confidence that the carbon dioxide will permanently remain in storage, these efforts can help ensure the technical soundness and economic viability of carbon sequestration, a technology that is critical to meeting the national goal of reduced greenhouse gas emissions.

Migration pathways

To identify possible carbon dioxide migration pathways, NETL scientists are investigating surface and near-surface characteristics by combining satellite and aerial photography with remote sensing, ground-penetrating radar, and ground-based measurements. In co-operation with regional sequestration partnerships, long- and short-term carbon dioxide monitoring is being conducted at depleted oil wells, saline aquifers, and coal-bed methane test sites.

For example, using ground-penetrating radar, NETL found extremely low levels of carbon dioxide leakage associated with subsurface thinning and faulting under the sandy soil at the West Pearl Queen, New Mexico, depleted oil well sequestration test site. NETL registered similar low levels of leakage using several techniques to monitor the Frio saline aquifer sequestration test site near Houston, Texas.

Tracer compounds

A novel technique NETL used at both the West Pearl Queen and Frio sites to monitor sequestered carbon dioxide is to add chemically inert perfluorocarbon tracer compounds to the carbon dioxide stream being sequestered, and then detect any resulting tracer emissions in soil-gas at extremely low concentrations. NETL developed the protocol for tracer detection and quantification, the soil sampling pump, and several sampling systems.

Other NETL-developed techniques are capable of monitoring fugitive emissions of non-carbon dioxide greenhouse gases such as methane.

Perfluorocarbon tracers in a syringe pump located in the back of the NETL van are being added to carbon dioxide as it is injected underground at the Frio saline aquifer sequestration test site near Houston, Texas.

Sustainable urban infrastructure key as African cities grow

African cities would grow nearly three times faster than the global average over the next three-and-a-half decades, highlighting the need for efficient, effective and environmentally sustainable urban infrastructure development.

More than 70 African cities would boast a population bigger than one-million people by 2050, financial services firm KPMG Global Center of Excellence for Cities leader David O’Brien said on Monday.

“In the developing world, the urban population is expected to jump by more than 1.3-billion over the next two decades, with each new entrant seeking better employment opportunities and a higher quality of living. This is most predominant in China, India and Africa.”

KPMG South African Center of Excellence for Cities leader Kobus Fourie noted that African cities would grow 267% by 2050, while global cities would expand 94%.

“We have issues that we really need to tackle now, before the significant growth starts,” he said at a media briefing in Johannesburg.

Fourie said KPMG would meet with executive mayors of the top six metropolitans in South Africa, National Treasury, academics and the Presidency to discuss rural and urban planning and development opportunities in the country.

O’Brien called for strong leadership from political and business leaders on urban development and the impact of cities on economic growth, social wellbeing, climate change and sustainability. “Future projects in city planning will not be successful if there is no political drive or will behind it. If there are strong leaders, who have the insight to manage their cities correctly, we will see thriving cities.”

KPMG’s ‘Infrastructure 100’ report has found that architects, planners, politicians and economists were now all working together to deliver spaces that promote better urban living for inhabitants.

KPMG Global Center of Excellence for Cities chairperson Mick Allworth said developers and planners could learn a lot from Eastern countries, particularly China and Japan.

The report showcased Fujisawa Smart town in Japan, which would consist of 1 000 green homes, each equipped with solar power units and fuel cells, which would be connected to a smart grid to manage supply and demand, with an aim to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions by 70%, compared with a typical Japanese town.

Delta Property Fund sets Nov 2 listing date

Property loan stock company Delta Property Fund was expected to raise R980-million in a JSE listing on November 2.

The group, which would list up to 119.5-million shares at R8.20, secured several “precommittments” for an aggregate amount of R970-million, of which R850-million or 103.6-million linked units were accepted.

The commitments were sourced from Coronation Asset Management, Stanlib Asset Management, the Public Investment Corporation, Momentum Asset Management and Grindrod Asset Management.

Delta would use the net proceeds of the listing to fund a portion of its R2.1-billion portfolio, while reducing overall gearing levels.

The remainder of the cost of capital would be financed through bank debt, resulting in a loan-to-value ratio of approximately 40%, Delta said in a statement.

Delta’s portfolio comprises 20 buildings totalling a gross lettable area of 203 261 m², with 92% office space and an 8% retail component.

Video: MABEL Mimics Human Gait

Make way for MABEL, a new humanoid robot developed by university researchers that can walk and climb stairs like humans but which they claim is even more physically agile and energy efficient than its predecessor, Petman.

MABEL was developed by researchers from Oregon State University (OSU) and the University of Michigan, who took their cues from human locomotion to create a walking and running robot with a spring in its step -- literally, OSU assistant professor Jonathan Hurst, who led the robot’s mechanical design, said in an interview with Design News. Professor Jessy Grizzle at Michigan was in charge of MABEL’s control engineering.

“There are great big springs [in the robot’s leg joints] made of the fiberglass material used in an archery bow,” Hurst told us. “That nice big spring allows it to absorb energy and bounce on it… just like [human] tendons.”

Professor Jonathan Hurst, right, tinkers with MABEL, a humanoid robot that has a natural human gait.
MABEL can walk, run, and climb stairs using a natural spring in its joints.
(Source: Oregon State University)

Funded in part by a $4.7 million research grant from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) -- the same backers of Boston Dynamics' Petman robot, which also can run and walk up and down stairs -- MABEL runs on a lithium polymer battery rather than a gasoline-powered engine, like Petman. The National Science Foundation also financially backed the project.

In addition to this focus on energy efficiency, MABEL’s designers -- who recently won a 2012 World-Changing Innovation award from Popular Mechanics for the robot -- also made a concerted effort to create MABEL with a “human-like or animal-like gait that is just as agile but takes less energy to get around."

“It really looks human-like,” Hurst says. “It if walks up steps and stumbles, it then steps up again… It really looks like a person climbing stairs.” He told us one of the keys to this motion is that MABEL, like humans, is constantly performing a balancing act as it moves, making its movements appear more natural.

Powered by an offboard computer and energy source, MABEL will soon have a next-generation companion, ATRIAS, which will bring its artificial intelligence and power source onboard, Hurst told us. This will allow ATRIAS to “walk around outside,” as well as step sideways, something MABEL can’t do. It also will include more powerful motors yet be lighter than MABEL.

Hurst said he and his team are building three identical copies of ATRIAS that will be distributed among OSU, Michigan, and Carnegie Mellon University as part of ongoing research to create robots that move as naturally as humans do. He foresees a number of applications for this research, including the development of exoskeletons and robots to help people suffering from paralysis to walk, something companies like Ekso Bionics are doing.

Creating robots with a natural spring in their joints also will lend itself to future development of prosthetic limbs that give amputees a more natural gait and range of motion, as well as the ability to dynamically adjust their step. Additionally, the research is conducive to the creation of humanoid robots that can be used in disaster scenarios, such as those being designed as part of DARPA’s Robotics Challenge, Hurst said.

“Just having robots in the environment -- what we’re doing is very related,” he said, comparing it to the human movement of climbing a ladder, something that might be needed in a disaster-response scenario. “Once we can understand how that control works -- and we’ve just demonstrated that -- then people can be building systems that are better every year.”

New Standard Will Cut EV Charging Time

The Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) approved a revised standard last week that will let electrified vehicles charge their batteries much quicker -- in as little as 10 minutes for plug-in hybrids or 20 minutes for battery-electric cars. The standard brings new technology to public charging stations and parking garages, but not to homes.

"Before, it was a matter of hours to charge an electric vehicle battery," Andrew Smart, director ofSAE International, told us. "Now it will be a matter of minutes."

The J1772 standard calls for so-called DC fast charging, using voltages ranging from 200V to 500V and currents of up to 200A. Earlier versions described methods using voltages of 120V or 240V and currents of 15A or 80A. Using the new technology, plug-in hybrids will be able to go from 0 percent to 80 percent charge in 10 minutes; battery-electrics could go from 20 percent to 80 percent in 20 minutes.

GM's Spark EV could be the first to employ the new DC fast charging standard.
(Source: GM)

The standard calls for connectors and electrical interfaces with two extra pins on board. Electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids already on the road, such as the Chevy Volt, will not be able to use the new technology immediately, since they don't have the new hardware and software. However, Kevin Kelly, a spokesman for General Motors, told us its forthcoming Spark battery-electric vehicle will have the new connector, interface, and software. "It's less important to do this on the Chevy Volt, because the Volt already has extended range on board," he said. "But it makes a lot of sense for the Spark EV."

The J1772 standard was created in 1996. It was revised in 2001 for use with a paddle-type connector and again in 2010 with a continued focus on AC charging. The new version is the first to address DC fast charging and the first to describe voltages as high as 500V and currents as much as 200A.

The standard reflects a consensus of 190 global experts representing makers of automobiles and charging equipment, as well as utilities, national labs, and municipalities. The experts had to consider the effects of temperature, humidity, and moisture, as well as mechanical aspects.

"You have people who are constantly plugging and unplugging it," Smart said. "You need to know everything, including the fatigue levels of the wires, connectors, and plastics. You also need to get input from people on the infrastructure side -- you've got people who write building codes, and you've got municipalities. It's not just the automakers."

Automakers say the technology could have a profound effect on the sale of pure electric vehicles, many of which require eight or more hours of charging. "This is a standard that everyone was waiting for," Smart said. "Everyone wanted it to be done quickly. But when it comes to developing a consensus between 190 technical specialists, it takes time."

Mechanical Engineering Is on the Rise

During a childhood visit to the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., Margaret Anderson caught the space-travel bug. She knew then and there she wanted to work for NASA.

It wasn't just a passing fancy. Now 21, Anderson is a student at the Rochester Institute of Technology, working simultaneously on her master's and bachelor's degrees in mechanical engineering. And she's living her dream. Anderson is employed at the space agency through a student co-op program and is working on hybrid rockets—experimental power plants that combine solid and liquid fuel technologies to find a cheaper, safer way into space.

If it sounds counterintuitive that a fledgling rocket scientist is earning degrees in mechanical engineering, it seemed that way to Anderson at first. She admits she was initially "disappointed" that RIT has made aerospace engineering part of its mechanical engineering program. Now, though, she's "really glad I decided to do it." Mechanical engineering, she says, has given her a wider understanding of engineering, and that has helped her grapple with the myriad issues involved in rocket technology.

Rocket science. Mechanical engineering is all about designing, building, and maintaining machines of all types and sizes. It's an engineering classic, dating to the early days of the industrial revolution, when engineering know-how was needed to harness the potential of the steam engine. But despite its 19th-century pedigree, M.E. is today at the heart of many cutting-edge technologies.

That makes it a hot choice for students. It's by far the most popular undergraduate degree in engineering; according to the American Society for Engineering Education, 16,063 undergrad degrees were awarded in 2006. At the graduate level, it's the third-most-popular discipline among engineering master's and is back in first place among doctorates.

Why the demand? M.E. students have to master key elements of chemical, civil, and electrical engineering, as well as physics and advanced mathematics, particularly calculus. "The breadth of mechanical engineering is unique," explains Larry Silverberg, the associate head of the mechanical and aerospace engineering program at North Carolina State University. "And, no question, that's a selling point."

That's particularly true for M.E. students who go to graduate school, with its focus on a narrow area of study. The broadness of the degree means they have a wide array of possibilities to choose from. Traditionally, many mechanical engineers headed for automotive and aerospace, but energy, robotics, and bioengineering are growth areas, too, as is nanotechnology—which is, after all, the manipulation of particles at the nano-level to build microsize machines.

Silverberg singles out three sectors critical to America's future: energy, security and defense, and healthcare. "Mechanical engineering plays a big role in all three of those," he says.

Ewan Pritchard, who is completing his Ph.D. in mechanical engineering at North Carolina State, is head of the hybrid program at Advanced Energy, a company that recently unveiled the first commercially available plug-in hybrid vehicle, a school bus. He's passionate about developing alternative-fuel vehicles, which is why M.E. was his choice.

"The coming decade is going to be the decade of energy, and when you think energy, you think mechanical engineering," says Pritchard, 35. That's because, as Iowa State University M.E. Prof. Robert C. Brown explains, mechanical engineers are not only experts in thermodynamics—the study and uses of energy—they know how to apply its laws to bring machines to life.

There are four main subdisciplines within M.E.—thermodynamics and fluids, solid mechanics, dynamics and controls, and manufacturing—so students learn early on to work on interdisciplinary teams. And cross-disciplinary research dominates both academia and industry today. "Most of the best research is at the edges of disciplines," where they abut one another, says Joseph Beaman, chairman of the M.E. department at the University of Texas-Austin. Many M.E. departments also encourage students to take biology and business classes to enhance their multidisciplinary capacity.

We're No. 1. The range of skills common to mechanical engineering graduates also goes over well in the job market. At Austin, many M.E. students are top prospects on the wish lists of companies scouting prospective hires. Edward Hensel, head of mechanical engineering at rit, says "there's a powerful, pent-up demand in industry for mechanical engineers. In more than 20 years as a teacher, I've not seen the like of it before."

The Future for Financial Engineering?

Financial engineering has been blamed for its role in triggering each and every one of the most notable disasters that have occurred in international financial markets since the Black Monday crash of October 19^th 1987.  Synthetic portfolio insurance programmes were central in triggering the stock market crash of October 1987.  Not to forget the influence of human psychology, hubris and greed in particular, it was the excess and easy availability of leverage combined with supposedly ‘low risk’ arbitrage trading that contributed to the collapse of the Long Term Capital Management hedge fund in the Fall of 1998.  Again it was derivatives based innovations which underlay the collapse of Enron in late 2001.  More recently, it was the widespread adoption of the Gaussian-Copula ‘magic formula’ in fuelling the massive growth in CDS and CDO markets which led to the dual credit cum liquidity global financial crisis of late 2008-2009.  In each of these cases, financial engineers and derivatives traders have been to the forefront of the financial innovations which, for a while at least, brought huge profits to the financial institutions involved, and a supposedly more controlled if not benign risk environment for the clients of those institutions.

You might well ask – given the consequences for the stability of global financial markets, is the ‘computationally scientific’ discipline of Financial Engineering (like it’s not too distant computationally scientific relation Nuclear Engineering) an inherently negative or potentially destructive knowledge domain ?  Should the financial innovation genie be firmly put back in its box, to be forgotten about but possibly left to be re-discovered by some unsuspecting future generation ?  The answers to each of these questions are firmly in the negative.  Lessons have to be, and are being, learned by the incumbent generation.  With stricter and hopefully better informed financial regulation coming quickly down the tracks in the form of Dodd-Frank, Basel III, Mifid II (Markets in Financial Instruments Directive) and Emir (European Market Infrastructure Regulation), the brakes may be well and truly applied to the financial engineering arms race that has typified the surge in financial innovation that has occurred in the international financial markets of the last 25 years or so.  However, this will not signal the death knell of financial innovation.  This author believes that a more controlled and better understood form of financial engineering will continue to thrive.  Investors will continue to demand innovative wealth-management products which better balance their tolerance for risk, expectations for return and needs for liquidity.  The aviation industry, and in particular the aviation leasing sector, for example represents an end user likely to benefit from this more controlled and better understood form of financial innovation and risk management.  This author is actively collaborating with industry partners to bring the ‘best parts’ of financial engineering best-practice to bear in the creation of structured hedges which will significantly mitigate the operating cost uncertainties faced by airlines, and add shareholder value as a result.

Financial engineering will also continue to be taught in leading business schools – but of necessity through a more interactive and experiential delivery mechanism by academics, who themselves must become more industry facing, relevant and connected in their research.  Finance students – the financial engineers, traders, risk managers and regulators of tomorrow – are already being taught how to apply financial engineering insights and knowledge, adapting and refining their insights using the feedback signals provided by market simulators, potential future exposure stress-tests, and strategy back-testing using the ever more extensive back-filled financial databases which are now available from suppliers such as Bloomberg.  Behavioural Finance theorists will play an increasingly important role in the development, refinement and application of Finance theory.  In short, the international financial services industry will continue to demand that Finance graduates combine a quantitatively-founded understanding of market dynamics and financial risk, but will equally expect that these graduates possess the added ability to de-mystify and apply complex financial models with a mix of common sense and keen intuition.

No engineering shortage until infrastructure plan materialises

A shortage of engineers in South Africa would only come into play when government’s planned infrastructure investment plan materialised, Consulting Engineers South Africa (Cesa) CEO Graham Pirie said on Tuesday, adding that an engineering skills scarcity was not yet apparent at the current volumes of work.

“There is not a shortage of engineers, the main reason for this is that 60% of our work comes from the public sector, which is not firing on all cylinders,” he told Engineering News Online.

But Pirie said that action would be needed to step up skills development to deliver on South Africa’s planned infrastructure investments of R3.2-trillion by 2020.

While South Africa was losing fewer engineers to other countries as developed economies slowed down, he stated that the country would have to deal with supply-side issues and policy instability to ensure it had enough qualified people to deliver the new build projects going forward.

In South Africa, there is currently one engineer for every 3 100 people, compared to one engineer for every 200 people in Germany and one for every 310 persons in the UK, the US and Japan.

“This must change,” Pirie noted.

The head of Cesa attributed the slow start of public sector projects in South Africa to long project lead times and the government’s shortage of technical capacity.

“The public sector is faced with severe capacity constraints…they do not have sufficient qualified people with experience to handle the infrastructure delivery process and this is particularly problematic at local authority level.”

Cesa’s latest biannual economic and capacity analysis, for January to June 2012 period, showed that the local construction industry was running below capacity and that only about 80% of the country’s consulting engineers were used on projects.

The survey found that confidence in the consulting engineering sector generally lagged business sentiment, which deteriorated again in the second quarter after improving in the first quarter of 2012. This was mainly owing to growing concerns over the global economy and the widespread downward revision of South Africa’s growth outlook.

Project postponements and delays also affected confidence in the contracting fraternity, with civil contractors’ confidence remaining well below levels experienced between 2005 and 2008.

Pirie stated that public–private partnerships were central to delivering on projects, as the private sector operated below capacity, while the public sector lacked sufficient capacity.

He commended the National Planning Commission and the National Development Plan 2030. “We are very good at planning in this place, but we are not good at delivery.”

Pirie also warned that the slow implementation of projects was warding off foreign companies.

“Our members are frustrated, their businesses are not doing so well in South Africa post 2010 and they are looking north of our border, saying it is easier to work in the rest of Africa,” Pirie indicated.

DoE confirms new renewables bid schedule after window-one delays

Following delays to achieving financial close on the first 28 wind and solar projects, which advanced to the preferred-bidder stage in December last year under South Africa’s Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Programme (REIPPP), the Department of Energy (DoE) has confirmed a postponement to the third bid submission date.

It has also revised the financial-close schedule of the 19 second-round preferred bidders to between March 18 and 28, 2013, from an initial date of December 2012.

In a note to bidders, the DoE outlined a new third-window submission date of May 7, 2013, having previously indicated that it intended sticking with the October 1, 2012, deadline – this, notwithstanding the fact that the window-one projects had not closed in June as initially scheduled.

The DoE indicated that the postponements followed representations from bidders, which were currently focused on the window-one and -two financial-close processes.

The department had been unable to move to financial close on the window-one projects in June, owing primarily to internal authorisation processes within government, including the firming up of government guarantees for Eskom, which would be the buyer of the power over a 20-year horizon.

It gave no indication as to when these projects would close, some bidders having indicated that the process could be concluded by the end of September.

In a statement, the DoE stressed that it had finalised all the necessary approvals required to enter into the implementation agreements with the preferred bidders.

“The government-support framework has been concluded, giving assurance to Eskom that government will support Eskom in relation to the financial implication resulting from signing of the power purchase agreement,” the department said.

It also acknowledged that the approvals processes had taken longer than anticipated and apologised to those inconvenienced by the decision to delay the process.

“Given the limited resources, it is imperative for the department to give more attention to financial close for windows one and two,” the DoE said, adding that it remained committed to closing window-one projects despite the delays.

Besides focus on financial closure for the first 47 projects, the DoE would also use the extension to update the request for proposals, and finalise the new determination for additional capacity.

Self-powered devices could help people monitor health

North Carolina State University is leading a nanotechnology research effort to create self-powered health monitoring sensors and devices to help people monitor their health and understand how the surrounding environment affects it.

The US National Science Foundation (NSF) Nanosystems Engineering Research Center for Advanced Self-Powered Systems of Integrated Sensors and Technologies (ASSIST) is a joint effort between NC State and partner institutions Florida International University, Pennsylvania State University and the University of Virginia.

The centre, funded by an initial five-year $18.5m (£11.5m) grant from NSF, also includes five affiliated universities and approximately 30 industry partners in its global research consortium.

ASSIST researchers will develop sensors that could be worn on the chest or wrist, as a cap that fits over a tooth, or in other ways depending on the biological system that’s being monitored.

According to NC State, wireless health monitoring is a fast-growing industry, but the self-powered technology being developed by ASSIST means that changing and recharging batteries on current devices could be eradicated.

By using nanomaterials and nanostructures, and thermoelectric and piezoelectric materials that use body heat and motion, respectively, as power sources, ASSIST researchers want to make devices that operate on the smallest amounts of energy.

‘Currently there are many devices out there that monitor health in different ways,’ said Dr Veena Misra, the centre’s director and professor of electrical and computer engineering at NC State. ‘What’s unique about our technologies is the fact that they are powered by the human body, so they don’t require battery charging.’

The centre’s headquarters will be housed in the Larry K Monteith Engineering Research Center on NC State’s Centennial Campus. There, ASSIST researchers will develop thermoelectric materials that harvest body heat and new nanosensors that gather health information from the body such as heart rates, oxygen levels and respiration data. In addition, the researchers will find ways to package the technology developed by the centre into wearable devices.

Researchers at partner institution Penn State will create new piezoelectric materials and energy-efficient transistors. The team from the University of Virginia will develop ways to make the systems work on very small amounts of power, while the group from Florida International University will create sensors that gather biochemical signals from the body, such as stress levels.

The results of that work, coupled with low-power radios developed by the University of Michigan, will be used to process and transmit health data gathered by the sensors to computers and consumer devices, such as mobile phones.

3D Systems Acquires Paramount Industries

3D Systems Corporation has acquired Paramount Industries, one of the world's most experienced direct manufacturing and product development solutions providers for aerospace and medical device applications.

3D Systems plans to integrate Paramount's state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities and advanced tooling and assembly operations with its growing on-demand direct manufacturing services. Paramount Industries maintains AS9100C and ISO 9001:2008 certifications along with an ITAR registration.

"We are honored to become part of 3D Systems, the recognized global 3D content-to-print leader," said Jim Williams, president and CEO of Paramount Industries. "We expanded our reach into the growing aerospace and medical device industries with 3D Systems' SLS production printers. Together, we can deliver the full impact of direct manufacturing capabilities to our aerospace and medical device customers all over the world."                                  

Abe Reichental, president and CEO of 3D Systems. "With Jim Williams' continued leadership, we are extremely well positioned to expand our aerospace and healthcare manufacturing activities and build the required infrastructure to support these significant customers."

Power Engineer - Engines Turbines

 

Construction completes on wind turbine blade test facility

A new facility that will enable the UK to lead the World in the testing of offshore wind turbine blades has been completed by national contractor Shepherd Construction.

The contractor this week handed over the 5,700m² steel frame structure to the National Renewable Energy Centre (Narec) in Blyth, Northumberland. The project is the second of three structures to be completed at Blyth as part of a £80 million + investment by Narec in world-class facilities for the accelerated testing of offshore renewable energy technologies.

The new Blade Test Facility will be the largest in the world and has been designed to test the longer blades being developed for larger offshore turbines. It will add significantly to Narec’s existing capability for testing blades up to 50 metres in length.

Constructing the building, which is 123 metres in length (slightly shorter than Gateshead’s Millennium Bridge at 126 metres), has itself been a complex engineering feat.  The project, however, has also involved building the test hub that will support the blades during testing.

Shepherd Construction has worked extremely closely with Narec and the project team to find an engineered solution that would withstand the forces applied during testing and the vibrations that will be created.

The result is a test hub comprising a 15-metre high concrete superstructure with two huge rings.  The top ring of 8m diameter is designed to accommodate the testing of blades up to 100m. The smaller bottom ring will accommodate blades of smaller root diameter.  The hub arm includes substantial foundations.

To achieve the exact position of the rings within the concrete structure 216 post-tensioned bars have been cast in to extremely tight tolerances of ±3mm.  Special winches fixed to 132 circular steel rings in the floor have also been manufactured and will be used to flex the blades during testing.

Andrew Constantine, commercial director for Shepherd Construction commented: “As there are currently no other facilities of this scale in operation, the project team has had to come up with a unique solution necessitating precisely calculated tolerances that will enable the structure to withstand the rigours of testing. This makes it all the more worthwhile to see the blade test facility handed over and on its way to helping the UK further advance the offshore renewable energy.”

The new facility will provide an independent and confidential environment to accelerate the development of new blade designs before they are taken offshore.

Andrew Mill, CEO of Narec, said: “This is a unique facility which can accommodate the largest blades being developed for the offshore wind industry.  Shepherd Construction has worked with contractors and our own blade specialists to deliver a bespoke solution.  Narec will now commission the new facility ready for commercial operations at the start of next year.”

Turner & Townsend provided both project management and cost management services, and were employed by the design team.

Jonathan Lunn, Associate Director at Turner & Townsend, added: “We are extremely pleased to have successfully managed the completion of the blade test facility. The unique nature and physical magnitude of the facility has required an extensive mix of both precision engineering and traditional construction expertise.”

Design Engineer - Drilling

 

 

Tool system creates synergy between 20kW rock drills and 45mm drill bits

A 30 to 80 per cent increase in rod life, more accurate collaring and straighter blast-holes are the main benefits of Alpha 330, a brand new tool system developed by Sandvik. Designed to exploit the power of 20kW drifters to drill small-diameter holes faster, Alpha 330 signals a new era of rock-tool economy.

Even an amateur knows it is no good using a big hammer to drive a small nail. The same principle applies in percussive rock-drilling, which is why manufacturers go to great lengths to match the strength of the drilling tools with the impact energy of the rock drill.

But what happens when market forces demand both a big hammer and a small nail?

The analogy reflects what has happened in drifting and tunnelling with cross-sections up to 50m2. In a nutshell, mining and civil engineers are keen to exploit the power and speed of 20kW rock drills in order to raise productivity, yet insist on keeping the bit diameter small – 45mm to be precise.

The snag is that the conventional R32 thread at the front of drifter rods for 45mm bits – nominally the biggest thread possible – is not quite man enough for the punishment meted out by 20kW machines, especially when the predominant rock resistance presents itself to the drill bit obliquely, causing the rod to bend.

Breakages occur typically at the gooseneck between the full rod-section and the R32 thread. With Alpha 330, which has a much more robust connection between the rod and bit, the frequency of such breakages is a thing of the past. The resultant tool economy, together with more accurate collaring and straighter holes that give better fragmentation and improved profile-control, brings down the overall cost of drifting and tunnelling yet again.

Design Engineer - Motors And Drives

 

 

PROFINET interface for distributed and control cabinet inverters

NORD Drivesystems supplies technology boxes for the integration of frequency inverters into PROFINET environments. Modular units for cabinet-installed SK 500E inverters are available from the second quarter of 2011. In the fourth quarter of this year, a version for distributed SK 200E-type inverters will follow.

The new PROFINET box from NORD cost-efficiently connects a large number of inverters to a single bus line, since there is no need for repeaters or additional bus master interfaces. The technology box supports real-time data transfer and features an integrated Ethernet switch, an integrated web server, and a PROFINET status display. Optionally, fibre optic lines are also supported.

The bus module can be mounted either directly on the inverter’s interface unit or separately from the inverter by means of an optional wall mounting kit. The PROFINET bus line is connected to the box via an RJ45 plug connector. Optionally, for distributed installation, the bus can be connected via an M12 circular connector. In addition, the decentralized box features eight integrated 24V inputs and two 24V outputs. Thanks to gateway functionality, a single PROFINET technology box can address up to four inverters. An integrated RS232/RS485 interface allows for on-the-spot access to the parameters of the connected bus module and inverters by means of the SK PAR manual control unit or via NORDCON PC software. The decentralized modules have a standard protection rating of IP55, and can be supplied for IP66 on request.

Process Engineer - Process Equipment

Distributed inverter series covers universal application range

SK 200E series frequency inverters from NORD DRIVESYSTEMS provide solutions with adaptable functions for any application within a distributed automation concept where cost-efficient drives with a performance between 0.25 and 22 kW are required.   
 
Available for installation near the motor or as motor-integrated models, various types cover all typical distributed applications. 

Frequency inverters from the SK 2x0E line, for instance, are equipped with a process and PI controller, and qualify for use with fans and pumps through their internal 24 V power supply and two analogue inputs. 

By contrast, the SK 2X5E line is tailored for the needs of conveyor technology. Inverters from this series are equipped with a brake controller and two integrated potentiometers which allow for easy adaptation to the requirements of any drive task. 

Thanks to standard features such as speed feedback (servo mode) and a positioning function (POSICON), these inverters can also independently and precisely control positioning and lifting tasks. 

The units are performance-graded and can be fitted with various optional add-on functions, allowing users to choose suitable compact devices with the exact feature range for any given task, thereby optimising resource use. The feature list of all basic models includes sensorless current vector control, a brake chopper, incremental encoder evaluation, POSICON positioning control, and energy saving functions. 

A plug-in memory module (EEPROM) enables users to quickly and easily exchange parameter sets with other units of the same type. In addition to standard fieldbus options, the inverters are also available with an integrated AS interface as well as the STO Safe Torque Off and SS1 Safe Stop 1 safety functions certified by German testing authority TÜV. The inverters are primarily designed for direct installation on the terminal box of geared motors. NORD provides additional services, pre-configuring these fully integrated drive units for operation in the field with the required protection class (optional: ATEX zone 22 / 3D). The robust, reliable and economic drive units are available in sizes 1 to 4 with a maximum output of 22 kW.

Tungsten carbide coatings for extreme abrasion resistance

 

Patrice Fournier outlines the benefits of a new generation of tungsten carbide coatings

The oil and gas industry continuously faces dilemmas regarding its operation efficiency. Contractors are more demanding of extreme performance coating materials that offer exceptional performance, reduce plant downtime and increase service intervals - all with constant respect of the environmental constraints.
Deep drilling exploration and oil sand exploitation are two of the more challenging applications which require innovative coating solutions for longer operating times which are under more severe abrasive and corrosive environments and at higher pressures than regular drilling.

Problems of abrasion
Exploitation techniques often requires separation of the water from oil. During operation, huge problems of abrasion occur thus reducing the life of pipes, elbows, pumps, separators, casings, etc.
Downhole tools for drilling are subject to combined stresses such as abrasion, erosion, impact, corrosion and contact pressure. Because their non-sufficient fracture toughness, the traditional 'commodity' tungsten carbide coatings can't withstand all of these stresses simultaneously.
Constant research and development efforts conducted thermal sprayed coatings and hard-faced overlays to become more and more complex with feature enhancements allowing for more severe operating conditions as well as coating life improvement.
The improvement has been achieved with important innovations by alloying proprietary powders with tungsten carbide/metal powders, nano WC/Co, macro WC and/or superfine WC/Co materials. They are mixed with hard and tough metal matrixes which offer exceptional hardness, abrasion/erosion wear resistance and corrosion resistance - and consequently with improved fracture toughness. These grains can be used as powder or converted into electrodes, flexicords and tungsten carbide ropes. These new materials can be sprayed, PTA cladded or brazed with a flame welding torch.
The Hardkarb flexicord or high velocity thermal spray processes allow to produce high abrasion and erosion resistant WC coating with improved fracture toughness. The metal matrix can be chosen from Cobalt, Cobalt-Chrome, Nickel or Ni-Cr-Mo alloys if petrochemical corrosion is present. The usual thickness of these coatings ranges from 0.3mm to 1mm (0.01-in to 0.04-in).
In regards to hard-facing techniques, versus arc welding, the flame welding (brazing) technique is still the best suited technique to avoid decomposition of WC tungsten carbide and allows to produce tungsten carbides welded overlays that contain the lowest content of brittle W2C phases. The usual thickness of these hard-faced overlays ranges from 1.5mm to 1mm (0.06-in to 0.2-in).The brazed overlays combine abrasion resistance, contact pressure resistance as well as rupture toughness in the final coating.

Thermal spray equipment
Improving the coating materials would only be the halfway to the objective, if equipment improvements have not been made. Traditional coating equipment provides limited effectiveness because it is primarily intended for external surfaces and not internal ones. New thermal spray equipment is available for applying coatings to internal diameters. Thermal spray equipment is capable of applying internal coatings down to ~ 6 inches with expected lengths of up to 12 feet.
With a large emphasis on coating performance, the thermal spray industry accomplishes innovative solutions and contributes to create and bring new and highly differentiated products to the market in a cost-effective and efficient time frame.

Carlson Software for Civil Engineering, Surveying, Mining and.

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Construction Engineering Business Plan

According to its construction engineering sample business plan Indonesia EEC, a subsidiary company of United States Energy Engineering & Construction, provides cost effective electric energy services of the best quality. Its construction engineering business plan includes an increased sales-revenue objective for the next five years. Due to the positive cash flow, the company can expand without increasing its financial leverage. Indonesia EEC is planning to construct a joint venture company specialized in EPC works of power projects, that will lead to obtaining great IRR for 25 years, and with it a number of various new jobs. By following the main lines of its business planing, Indonesia EEC expects to be able to obtain projects in all areas of EEC and lower the prices of engineering in Indonesia at a lower lever than those offered by the U.S. office.

OTHER FINANCIALLY ENGINEERED INSTRUMENTS

There are a myriad of other examples of new financial instruments or contracts. Many of these instruments are new and trade infrequently. They are often referred to as "exotics." For example, it is possible to use combinations of puts and calls on interest rate instruments to create caps, floors, and collars on interest payments. A cap represents the maximum rate that a floating interest rate position can obtain, a floor is the minimum rate, and a collar is the combination of a cap and a floor. Another unusual option feature is the lookback option. A call option with the lookback feature allows the holder to purchase the asset at the most favorable (lowest) price that prevailed over the life of the option. A put option with this feature allows the holder to sell the asset at the highest price over the option's life. These options set the exercise price at the end of the option's life rather than at the beginning. Closely related are Asian, or average-rate options. These options set the exercise price at expiration as the average asset price during the option's life span. Barrier options are options that are activated, canceled, or exercised if a particular price condition is met. For example, a "down and out" option is canceled if the asset price falls below the exercise price, while a "down and in" option is activated if the same price trigger is breached. Conversely, "up and out" and "up and in" options are canceled or activated when the exercise price is exceeded. Since these options are inert for large ranges of their underlying asset's price, they are less expensive than ordinary options and have generated interest among hedgers and speculators.

In summary, financial engineering is the design and construction of new financial contracts. These contracts are typically assembled from a modest number of basic financial instruments and indexes including stocks, bonds, options, forward contracts, and futures contracts. The need for properly engineered financial contracts is motivated by the client's interest in reducing risk, reducing costs associated with foreign exchange or other market transactions, and to provide the potential to enhance returns. Many financial intermediaries have developed specialized services in the area of financial engineering. As they have done so, the markets where elaborate and specialized contracts can trade efficiently have expanded and are likely to continue to do so.

COMPLEX FINANCIAL ENGINEERING CONTRACTS

PORTFOLIO INSURANCE.

One prominent example of financial engineering to meet the needs of clients is portfolio insurance. Portfolio insurance is essentially a strategy of hedging, stabilizing, or reducing the downside risk associated with the market value of a portfolio of financial assets such as stocks and bonds. There are a variety of techniques to protect the value of such a portfolio.

As an example, suppose a portfolio manager wants to build a floor under the current value of a well-diversified portfolio. Furthermore, suppose that this portfolio is currently valued at $1,594,000, and its changes in value closely correspond with changes in the Standard & Poor's 500 (S&P 500) index. Ideally, the manager would like to reap the benefits of further increases in portfolio value, but wants to assure investors that the value will not fall below a certain, specific level. One solution is to purchase put options on the S&P 500 index. These options are heavily traded at a variety of exercise prices. If the current level of the S&P 500 index is 1,225.50 and the manager wants to ensure that the value of his portfolio does not fall by more than 10 percent, put contracts with an exercise price of 1,110 (approximately 10 percent below the current level) can be purchased. The manager must purchase enough put option contracts so that the underlying value of the optioned asset is equal to the value of the portfolio. In this example, the portfolio value is approximately 1,300 times the current value of the S&P 500 index. Therefore, if the manager could buy puts on 1,300 "units" of the index, the position could be fully hedged. In reality, a single S&P 500 put contract represents 500 units of the index. So, the manager would purchase three put contracts. Subsequent to the purchase, if the S&P 500 index (and the portfolio) rises in value, the manager will not exercise the put. Gains to the portfolio will be reduced by the modest amount of the put premium that was paid. On the other hand, if the index and the portfolio dropped in value by 20 percent, the put could be exercised at a significant profit that would generate a combined net loss for the position of approximately 10 percent. If the index value fell even lower, the profit from the put would be even greater and always provide a net loss of 10 percent.

Other techniques of portfolio insurance use futures contracts on stock and other market indexes. In the previous example, the manager could "synthetically" sell some or all of the portfolio by selling futures contracts on the S&P 500 index. If the portfolio subsequently fell in value along with the S&P 500 index, the futures position would generate prohits that would partially or entirely offset the loss. If market prices rose, the portfolio would rise in value but the futures position would generate a loss that would tend to offset the gain. Note that this technique not only stabilizes the value of the stock portfolio, but also allows the manager to create a position with profits and losses that is equivalent to a smaller stock portfolio. This lower risk position is achieved without the significant expense of actually selling a portion of each individual stock position within the portfolio. Technically, this is an example of hedging, or maintaining a particular market value for a period rather than ensuring a minimum value while retaining the opportunity for upside gains. It is possible, however, to sell the proper number of S&P 500 index futures in order to mimic the overall profits of the put insured portfolio described above. This would require periodic adjustment to the hedge, or the number of futures contracts sold, as prices changed and the time to expiration of the contracts diminished.

SWAPS.

Another broad category of contracts that result from financial engineering are referred to as swaps. Swaps represent exchanges of cash flows generated by distinct sets of assets or tied to distinct measures of value. An early example of an engineered swap is the currency swap. In this example, consider two firms in different countries each having continuing financial obligations in the other's country. More specifically, consider a French firm with a U.S. subsidiary that requires dollars to operate and a U.S. firm with a French subsidiary that has need for French francs. One alternative is to borrow the funds in the home country and exchange them for the foreign currency needed by the subsidiary. Another alternative is for the subsidiary to borrow the needed funds in the local currency. This second alternative will provide needed funds for the subsidiary and avoid the costs associated with foreign exchange transactions. It is also likely, however, that the subsidiary is at a disadvantage when negotiating the rate on a loan in the local currency. For example, the U.S.-based subsidiary of a French corporation may not have the perceived creditworthiness of a U.S. corporation with foreign subsidiaries and as a result will be forced to pay a higher rate of interest on the dollar-denominated loan.

If each firm becomes aware of the other's needs, they can do the following. First, each parent corporation should borrow an equivalent amount in their home currencies. These amounts will be equal based on the current exchange rate between dollars and francs. Second, they will simultaneously transfer the proceeds of the loan to the other firm's subsidiary (i.e., the French parent will transfer the borrowed francs to the U.S. firm's French subsidiary, and the U.S. parent will transfer the borrowed dollars to the French firm's U.S. subsidiary). As interest payments become due, the French-based subsidiary pays the French parent and the U.S.-based subsidiary pays the U.S. parent. Finally, when the term of the loans expires, each subsidiary will repay the other's parent. Note that this financially engineered contract has (I) effectively exploited each firm's ability to borrow at more favorable rates in its home country and (2) avoided all need for foreign currency exchange.

Obviously, the crucial factor in the formation of such a mutually advantageous contract is the identification of two parties with offsetting needs. In recent years, many financial intermediaries have developed services to fill this need. Swap dealers and brokers have developed the expertise to serve a broad variety of needs by matching the interests of counterparties and by engineering contracts that are mutually advantageous to the contracting parties and profitable for the intermediary.

A second common swap agreement is the interest rate swap. This typically takes the form of an exchange of a fixed-rate interest payment for a floating-rate interest payment. Suppose a bank has made a large number of loans at a fixed rate, but most of its liabilities are floating-rate obligations. If interests rise materially, its expenses will rise but its revenues are fixed. Profitability will suffer. If the bank can swap its 9-percent fixed-rate loans for a comparable amount of floating-rate obligations that generate the yield on 30-year U.S. Treasury bonds plus 4 percent, it has materially reduced the influence of interest rate fluctuations on its profitability. In this example, once the bank has found a willing swap partner, the parties will agree to a notional principal amount. That is, the counterparties will agree on the amount of interest-generating capital that will be used to design the agreement. Typically, the parties will not exchange these notional amounts because they are identical. As time elapses, the bank will swap interest payments with its counterparty. For example, if the Treasury bond rate is 6 percent during a particular period, the agreement mandates that the bank receive 10 percent while it pays 9 percent. The swap agreement will require only that the net difference be exchanged, I percent paid to the bank in this case. If the Treasury bond rate drops to 4.5 percent, then the bank is obligated to pay the net difference between 8.5 percent (or 4.5 percent + 4 percent) and 9 percent, or 0.5 percent to the counterparty. If the Treasury bond rate remains at 5 percent, the fixed and floating rates are equivalent and no cash exchange would be necessary. Since there was no need for an actual exchange of the identical principal amounts at the beginning of the swap, none is required to close the positions at expiration of the agreement.

More complex swaps could involve trades of fixed- and floating-rate payments denominated in different currencies. Others could involve swaps of the income from debt instruments for the income generated by an equity investment in a specific portfolio such as the S&P 500. Swaps can also provide the basis for engineering a more efficient method of diversifying risk or allocating assets across asset classes. Consider this well-documented example. A chief executive officer (CEO) of a major corporation has accumulated a significant equity stake in his firm. While the CEO has other investments, he is not effectively diversified since he has an enormous amount of his own firm's stock. The CEO can contact a swap dealer who will arrange to swap the cash flows generated from the CEO's stock (capital gains and/or dividends) for a cash flow generated by an identically valued investment in a broadly diversified portfolio or market index. In this example, the CEO has (1) avoided the cost of selling his stock and any capital gains taxes that may result from the sale; (2) retained the voting rights of his stock; and (3) created a "synthetic" portfolio that is much less sensitive to the fluctuations in value of any particular company.

The swap can be engineered to provide immediate international diversification. Suppose two portfolio managers, one in the United States and another in Japan, manage purely domestic portfolios. They may agree to swap notional values that would generate returns on their own managed portfolios or generate cash flows commensurate with an investment in a market index. For example, the U.S. manager may agree to provide the cash flow generated by a $100 million investment in the S&P 500 in exchange for returns generated from a similar-sized investment in the Nikkei 225 index. This would provide instant international diversification without the sizable cost of purchasing a large number of individual foreign securities. In addition, many countries impose fees or taxes on returns to foreign owners. A properly engineered swap agreement can avoid most or all of these expenses.