Developing a risk analysis and decision making strategy for an offshore wind farm

The renewables sector and particularly offshore wind energy is a fast developing industry over the last few years. Especially activities related to the Installation,Operation and Maintenance (O&M) of offshore wind turbines becomes a challenging task with inherent risks. This paper assesses the risks related to the above stages of a wind farm lifecycle using the FMECA (Failure Mode, Effects and Criticality Analysis) and HAZID (Hazard Identification) methods. The full-scale offshore installation and O&M tasks are considered together with the wind turbine main components. An integrated risk analysis methodology is presented addressing personnel Safety (S), Environmental impact (E), Asset integrity (A) and Operation (O). The above is supplemented by a cost analysis with the aid of BBN(Bayesian Belief Networks) method in order to assist the decision making process related to installation and O&M tasks. All major risks and critical wind turbinecomponents are identified as well as measures are suggested in order to prevent or mitigate them. Moreover, a thorough inspection and maintenance plan can be elaborated for the mentioned activities

Alternative sweetener from curculigo fruits

This study gives an overview on the advantages of Curculigo Latifolia as an alternative sweetener and a health product. The purpose of this research is to provide another option to the people who suffer from diabetes. In this research, Curculigo Latifolia was chosen, due to its unique properties and widely known species in Malaysia. In order to obtain the sweet protein from the fruit, it must go through a couple of procedures. First we harvested the fruits from the Curculigo trees that grow wildly in the garden. Next, the Curculigo fruits were dried in the oven at 50 0C for 3 days. Finally, the dried fruits were blended in order to get a fine powder. Curculin is a sweet protein with a taste-modifying activity of converting sourness to sweetness. The curculin content from the sample shown are directly proportional to the mass of the Curculigo fine powder. While the FTIR result shows that the sample spectrum at peak 1634 cm–1 contains secondary amines. At peak 3307 cm–1 contains alkynes

Methodology for urban rail and construction technology research and development planning

A series of transit system visits, organized by the American Public Transit Association (APTA), was conducted in which the system operators identified the most pressing development needs. These varied by property and were reformulated into a series of potential projects. To assist in the evaluation, a data base useful for estimating the present capital and operating costs of various transit system elements was generated from published data. An evaluation model was developed which considered the rate of deployment of the research and development project, potential benefits, development time and cost. An outline of an evaluation methodology that considered benefits other than capital and operating cost savings was also presented. During the course of the study, five candidate projects were selected for detailed investigation; (1) air comfort systems; (2) solid state auxiliary power conditioners; (3) door systems; (4) escalators; and (5) fare collection systems. Application of the evaluation model to these five examples showed the usefulness of modeling deployment rates and indicated a need to increase the scope of the model to quantitatively consider reliability impacts

Aerospace Medicine and Biology: A continuing bibliography with indexes (supplement 272)

This bibliography lists 360 reports, articles, and other documents introduced into the NASA scientific and technical information system in May 1985

Proceedings of the Second FAROS Public Workshop, 30th September 2014, Espoo, Finland

FAROS is an EC FP7 funded, three year project to develop an approach to incorporate human factors into Risk-Based Design of ships. The project consortium consists of 12 members including industry, academia and research institutes. The second FAROS Public Workshop was held in Dipoli Congress Centre in Otaniemi, Espoo, Finland, on the 30th of September 2014. The workshop included keynotes from industry, papers on risk models for aspects such as collision and grounding, fire and the human element, descriptions of parametric ship models and the overall approach being adopted in the FAROS project

Towards the “Perfect” Weather Warning

This book is about making weather warnings more effective in saving lives, property, infrastructure and livelihoods, but the underlying theme of the book is partnership. The book represents the warning process as a pathway linking observations to weather forecasts to hazard forecasts to socio-economic impact forecasts to warning messages to the protective decision, via a set of five bridges that cross the divides between the relevant organisations and areas of expertise. Each bridge represents the communication, translation and interpretation of information as it passes from one area of expertise to another and ultimately to the decision maker, who may be a professional or a member of the public. The authors explore the partnerships upon which each bridge is built, assess the expertise and skills that each partner brings and the challenges of communication between them, and discuss the structures and methods of working that build effective partnerships. The book is ordered according to the “first mile” paradigm in which the decision maker comes first, and then the production chain through the warning and forecast to the observations is considered second. This approach emphasizes the importance of co-design and co-production throughout the warning process. The book is targeted at professionals and trainee professionals with a role in the warning chain, i.e. in weather services, emergency management agencies, disaster risk reduction agencies, risk management sections of infrastructure agencies. This is an open access book

A Systems Approach to Assessing, Interpreting and Applying Human Error Mishap Data to Mitigate Risk of Future Incidents in a Space Exploration Ground Processing Operations Environment

Research results have shown that more than half of aviation, aerospace and aeronautics mishaps/incidents are attributed to human error. Although many existing incident report systems have been beneficial for identifying engineering failures, most of them are not designed around a theoretical framework of human error, thus failing to address core issues and causes of the mishaps. Therefore, it is imperative to develop a human error assessment framework to identify these causes. This research focused on identifying causes of human error and leading contributors to historical Launch Vehicle Ground Processing Operations mishaps based on past mishaps, near mishaps, and close calls. Three hypotheses were discussed. The first hypothesis addressed the impact Human Factor Analysis and Classification System (HFACS) contributing factors (unsafe acts of operators, preconditions for unsafe acts, unsafe supervision, and/or organizational influences) have on human error events (i.e. mishaps, close calls, incident or accidents) in NASA Ground Processing Operations. The second hypothesis focused on determining if the HFACS framework conceptual model could be proven to be a viable analysis and classification system to help classify both latent and active underlying contributors and causes of human error in ground processing operations. Lastly, the third hypothesis focused on determining if the development of a model using the Human Error Assessment and Reduction Technique (HEART) could be used as a tool to help determine the probability of human error occurrence in ground processing operations. A model to analyze and classify contributing factors to mishaps or incidents, and generate predicted Human Error Probabilities (HEPs) of future occurrence was developed using the HEART and HFACS tools. The research methodology was applied (retrospectively) to six Ground Processing Operations (GPO) Scenarios and 30 years of Launch Vehicle Related Mishap Data. Surveys were used to provide Subject Matter Experts\u27 (SMEs) subjective assessments of the impact Error Producing Conditions (EPC) had on specific tasks. In this research a Logistic Binary Regression model, which identified the four most significant contributing HFACS human error factors was generated. This model provided predicted probabilities of future occurrence of mishaps when these contributing factors are present. The results showed that the HEART and HFACS methods, when modified, can be used as an analysis tool to identify contributing factors, their impact on human error events, and predict the potential probability of future human error occurrence. This methodology and framework was validated through consistency and comparison to other related research. A contribution methodology for other space operations and similar complex operations to follow was provided from this research. Future research should involve broadening the scope to explore and identify other existing models of human error management systems to integrate into complex space systems beyond what was conducted in this research

Advances in Computational Intelligence Applications in the Mining Industry

This book captures advancements in the applications of computational intelligence (artificial intelligence, machine learning, etc.) to problems in the mineral and mining industries. The papers present the state of the art in four broad categories: mine operations, mine planning, mine safety, and advances in the sciences, primarily in image processing applications. Authors in the book include both researchers and industry practitioners

Aerospace Medicine and Biology: A continuing bibliography with indexes, supplement 187

This supplement to Aerospace Medicine and Biology lists 247 reports, articles and other documents announced during November 1978 in Scientific and Technical Aerospace Reports (STAR) or in International Aerospace Abstracts (IAA). In its subject coverage, Aerospace Medicine and Biology concentrates on the biological, physiological, psychological, and environmental effects to which man is subjected during and following simulated or actual flight in the earth's atmosphere or in interplanetary space. References describing similar effects of biological organisms of lower order are also included. Emphasis is placed on applied research, but reference to fundamental studies and theoretical principles related to experimental development also qualify for inclusion. Each entry in the bibliography consists of a bibliographic citation accompanied in most cases by an abstract