Influence of the material composition SMD diodes on their environmental impact

The influence of the material composition of surface-mount device (SMD) diodes on the environment has been analysed in this research. This impact assessment has been performed by means of an environmental impact calculation through a life cycle assessment (LCA), in which the EcoInvent dataset has been updated and customised, generating a more precise environmental impact analysis by considering the exact material composition provided by several suppliers of diodes and also recycling during the production stage. Considering the EcoInvent diode dataset as a reference, variations from nearly 1640% to only 8.5% of the environmental impact have been achieved. For example, the impact per 1 g of SMD diodes can change the global warming potential from 292 g CO2 eq up to 354 g CO2 eq, whereas for abiotic depletion, values can change from 9.9 × 10-7 up to 1.9 × 10-4 kg Sb eq. The presence of critical raw materials such as antimony, cobalt, or magnesium, together with precious metals as gold or silver, highly influences the environmental impact values obtained, demonstrating the considerable influence on the environmental impact of the material composition of the SMD diodes analysed. © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland

Improving Basic Cadet Training for Changing Environment: Case Study at the Korea Air Force Academy

Increasing uncertainty, such as Covid-19 and weather changes, threatens BCT (Basic Cadet Training) at ROKAFA (Republic of Korea Air Force Academy). In preparation for the changing and adverse environment, this study carried out the following steps to propose a system improvement utilizing LVC (Live, Virtual, Constructive) in BCT system at ROKAFA; 1) Researching the examples of BCT and LVC by advanced countries, 2) Analyzing BCT (ROKAFA) through systems approach (document analysis, survey of 140 cadets and officers, written interviews with military experts), 3) Applying LVC to BCT. BCT is a vital step in the transition from civilian to military status (ROKAFA, 2022), which has significant components such as the environment, its plan, the motivation of trainees, and training instructors. A review of BCT systems of the United States, Japan, the United Kingdom, and Sweden revealed that South Korea and the United States are the most similar. After analyzing BCT through the systems approach, it was identified that BCT has no alternative training despite time constraints (4 weeks). Besides, 87.9% of trainees and instructors experienced changes in BCT plan, and 4.86 ( \u3e 4: Neutral) agreed with improvement in BCT. There was a significant correlation between negative emotions when changing training plans and the desire to improve BCT; the correlation coefficient (r) is 0.317 (p-value \u3c 0.001). Respondents provided positive feedback ( \u3e 4: Neutral) on nine of the 14 LVC training cases that would be applied to BCT, with Q25 (formerly Eagle training, not conducted since 2002) being ranked as the most needed training with a score of 4.74. Military experts advised considering the training development needed for Korea Air Force Academy cadets, system development through a long-term plan, and cost-effectiveness when applying LVC to BCT. The application of LVC in military training is inevitable because it is a proactive alternative training to prepare for the future and guide the way forward, and many advanced countries have already recognized the importance of LVC and are using it for the future military. In addition, LVC enables the accumulation of data to personalize the training data of Korea Air Force cadets even after enrollment. There are limitations of this study that need to be overcome, such as increasing the awareness of LVC among participants, performing Heuristic decision analysis when choosing alternative plans (Blanchard, 2014), and confirming the actual effect of LVC before and after its application

Effect of time interval variations on RTK derived distances

The research problem statement was to determine if the time elapsed between observing the first and second point when using Real-Time Kinematic (RTK) Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) affected the accuracy and precision of a derived distance between the two points. In particular, this paper focussed on the Queensland cadastral system and RTK derived distances which are to be used on cadastral survey plans. Several days of RTK GNSS (GPS and GLONASS only) data was collected under laboratory type conditions. Several processing strategies and mathematical models were developed to work in conjunction with the zero-distance baseline method to determine distances and produce the results. The results revealed the one minute data for the latitude distance error at 95% C.I. achieved ± 4.6mm at the 3 minute window and gradually decreased to ± 7.2mm at the 720 minute window and the longitude distance error achieved ± 4.7mm to ± 8.8mm respectively. The five second data ranged from ± 6.9mm to ± 8.6mm for latitude at the 95% C.I. from the 3 minute window to the 720 minute window and the longitude achieved ± 6.4mm to ± 9.0mm respectively. The five second and one minute data results revealed that there are improvements to accuracy if points can be observed in quick succession. Waiting a pre-determined time between observing the same two points does not improve the accuracy of a derived distance when using a single-base RTK system and the GPS and GLONASS constellations. In conclusion, the results achieved in this paper is the first step in determining what effects time has on RTK results that the practitioner would realise in their real-life field environment. This first step is vital in not only understanding, the time component of RTK at the field level but to aid in ensuring all economic benefits are realised in an ever-demanding environment and to provide the practitioner with necessary confidence to know the survey being undertaken complies with the survey standards. Further research using different satellite constellations is required for the profession to realise some economic benefit. If the practitioner can re-observe the same point while still located close then there are travel time savings, especially, in rural surveys

3D modeling of drill string and well used for directional drilling

TCC(graduação) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina. Centro Tecnológico. Engenharia de Controle e Automação.The motivation for directional drilling research are primarily economic, however it also provided other environmental and technical benefits, it has contributed to the reclamation and preservation of thousands of ecologically sensitive acres while allowing a more efficient use of natural resources. In offshore applications helped increasing substantially the production rates, in environmentally sensitive regions and others challenges engineering scenarios. Different planning techniques and steerable tools enables the well to be drilled as close as possible to the planned path and achieve the target correctly. The purpose of this work is to research existing directional drilling techniques and applications to develop a 3D model of drill string and wellpath calculations to facilitate Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) testing of automated intelligent drilling systems when directional drilling is needed. The intension is to introduces the concepts of well dynamics as well as the procedures to use a Rotary Steerable Systems (RSS), their applications and the implications on enhanced well production. Using a simplified modeling of a RSS tool applied for directional, a HIL Directional Drilling simulator was developed in order to be employed in commercial HIL testing Directional Drilling systems. The simulator implementation was accomplished using Matlab/Simulink development platform. The HIL Directional Drilling simulator was evaluated against Ullrigg well U2 real testing data provided by Statoil. The comparison between real measurement and simulated data shows the performance of the simulator. The simulator has presented satisfactory results and may potentially be employed in commercial HIL testing. The thesis was developed at Marine Cybernetics from January 2012 to July 2012 in Trondheim, Norway.A motivação para a pesquisa de perfuração direcional é primeiramente econômica, no entanto, ela também fornece outros benefícios ambientais e técnicos, tem contribuído para a recuperação e preservação de milhares de hectares ecologicamente sensíveis, permitindo uma utilização mais eficiente dos recursos naturais. Em aplicações offshore ajudou a aumentar substancialmente as taxas de produção. Diferentes técnicas de planejamento e ferramentas de perfuração direcionáveis permitem que o poço seja perfurado tão próximo quanto possível do caminho pré-determiado e alcance o alvo corretamente O objetivo deste trabalho é pesquisar as técnicas existentes de perfuração direcional e suas aplicações, a fim de desenvolver um modelo tridimensional da coluna de perfuração, junto a isso testar diferentes métodos matemáticos voltados para obter o melhor caminho do poço a seguir. Para assim, facilitar o Hardware-in-the-Loop teste (HIL) de sistemas automatizados de perfuração inteligentes. A intenção é introduzir os conceitos de dinâmica do poço, como também os procedimentos para utilizar um Sistema Rotativo Dirigível (RSS), suas aplicações e as implicações sobre a produção do poço. Utilizando uma modelagem simplificada, um simulador HIL foi desenvolvido neste trabalho com o objetivo de ser empregado em programas comercias de testes HIL de sistemas de perfuração direcional. A implementação do simulador foi realizada usando a plataforma de desenvolvimento Matlab/Simulink e a plataforma de criação de testes HIL desenvolvida pela Marine Cybernetics, o CyberSea. O simulador HIL foi avaliado usando dados reais de testes realizados pela Statoil no poço U2 do centro de pesquisa Ullrigg do International Research Institute of Stavanger (IRIS), na Noruega. A comparação entre as medições reais e os dados simulados mostraram o desempenho do simulador. O simulador HIL desenvolvido apresentou portando desempenho satisfatórios e pode potencialmente ser utilizado em testes comerciais de HIL. O Projeto Final do Curso (PFC) foi desenvolvido na sede da Marine Cybernetics, de janeiro de 2012 a julho de 2012 em Trondheim, Norueg

Fifty shades of green – What pales the final colour of green solutions?

The purpose of the paper is to explain the widely-observed phenomenon that the benefits of some apparently environmentally friendly solutions are much smaller than predicted. The applied research method is a systematic review of papers belonging to the ‘business and environment’ and ‘environmental science and technology’ literatures. Qualitative and interpretive research is used to support our propositions. Five key concepts accounting for the pitfalls associated with environmental sustainability-oriented (ESO) interventions have been identified and illustrated with reallife examples. Overlooked (1) interconnections among resources and environmental impacts, e.g. trade-offs, reveal that (2) system boundaries are often ill-defined, which can easily result in (3) problem shifting from one aspect of corporate environmental performance to another or from one stage in the life cycle to another. Additionally, false (4) assumptions and a strong (5) contextuality of best practices also overshadow the outcomes of ESO interventions. The relation among these general concepts is analysed and a graphic representation is provided

The Unbearable Lightness of International Relations : Technological Innovations, Creative Destruction and Assemblages

How could one oversee the monumental modern landscape that has been created by over 250 years of continuous technological innovations? Notwithstanding a few students of international relations who have insisted in taking notice, technology has remained an exotic subject matter in International Relations theory (IR). While the interest in technologies is recently growing most IR scholarship remains silent: the fact that we live in a fully integrated and interconnected technological world is absent from textbooks and introductions to IR. Neither exists theoretical approaches and paradigmatic debates that are concerned with technologies; nor a specific intra-disciplinary subfield. Against this background, this book explores how technological innovations could be theorized and integrated into IR theories. Revisiting the inroads of theoretical approaches to technologies, it highlights the lightness of IR scholarship. I argue that the general framework of IR is untenable because it looks at the world as if there were no materials or rather, as if the pervasive presence of artifacts and infrastructures would have no theoretical relevance for conceptualizing and examining world politics. Drawing on ontological and epistemological understandings from anthropology, innovation economics, and science and technology studies, I take issue with the philosophical foundations of the discipline. The notions, concepts and practices, which ultimately sustain and legitimize this lightness, are interrogated. It is shown that the neglect of technological innovation does not merely result from coincidental intellectual moves. It is rather the result of the “Cartesian complex” – the foundational commitment that renders IR a purely social science that deliberately excludes non-humans and hybrid material modes of agency. A radical refashioning is therefore required to the extent to which IR theory aims to accommodate the highly complex and elusive subject matter of technological innovations. This conceptual catharsis does not primarily touch upon epistemological concerns. What is at stake is the limitation of ontological parameters that sustain IR theories. To make sense of the messy technological landscapes, the material agency, and the technologically mediated practices, the prevailing logocentric wisdom needs to be transcended. Against premature metaphysical closure, this book thus contributes to the task of ontological expansion. Firstly, it develops an alternative meta-theoretical foundation coined “explorative realism”. A new meta-theoretical matrix is proposed that renders wider ontological parameters intelligible. Especially, the “double-mixed” zone encourages ontological expansion via notions of heterogeneous agency and process philosophy. This implies that IR scholars avoid treating time, space, knowledge, artificial objects, and built environments as constants but as always croproduced. A coproductive commitment opens up new empirical issues and concerns as well as radically different theoretical puzzles. It also implies overcoming Cartesian dualism, abandoning intentionality-based notions of agency, and forgetting the “level of analysis” assumption. Secondly, this book advances a theoretical toolbox consisting of the interrelated concepts of “assemblages” and “creative destruction”. The former term signifies actor-networks entailing both humans and non-humans. The latter captures the ways in which technological innovations alter or destabilize assemblages across all levels through a process of translation. This theoretical vocabulary also reconceptualizes the meaning of “power”, “authority” with reference to technological innovations. Three open-ended classifications and three models of creative destruction enable the mapping of magnitudes of translations, the changing size and topologies of assemblages and the shifting power and authority. These efforts to theorize technological innovations, then, support empirical research on global transformations and processes of emergence with a set of conceptual tools that allows locating and systematizing cases, puzzles, and scales in relation to assemblages. The study of technological innovations is productive and challenging. It leads to the discovery of novel empirical landscapes and inspires a creative questioning of IR’s foundations. As such, while responding to the stunning absence of theoretical approaches in IR that make sense of technological innovations, this study contributes to the articulation of both a post-international and post-Cartesian version of IR