A Diagnostic System for Remote Real-Time Monitoring of Marine Diesel-Electric Propulsion Systems

An innovative diesel-electric power supply and propulsion system is a highly integrated electric system consisting of power generation, power distribution, and electrical drives. Every component of this system constantly produces operating data, which is read and evaluated by several programmable logic controllers, which in turn produce control signals. This thesis presents a diagnostic system that collects the operating data and control signals from all power supply, propulsion, and control components on board, saves them to a hard drive, and enables an engineer to view the data remotely over the internet, in real-time as well as in retrospect. An industrial computer, certified for on-board use, is embedded into the ship’s control unit, autonomously running the software that retrieves the data via an industrial Ethernet connection and makes it available to a remote user through a web interface or a database connection

Green Nanotechnology in Nordic Construction - Eco-innovation strategies and Dynamics in nordic Window Chains

This project analyzes Nordic trends in the development and industrial uptake of green nanotechno-logy in construction. The project applies an evolutionary economic perspective in analyzing the innovation dynamics and firm strategies in the window value chains in three Nordic countries, Denmark, Finland and Sweden. Hence the project investigates two pervasive parallel market trends: The emergence of the green market and the emergence of nanotechnology. The analysis investigates how a traditional economic sector such as the construction sector reacts to such major trends.Conclusions are multiple, but among the most important are: Eco-innovation has become the perhaps most important driver for innovation in the construction sector. Search into eco-innovative business opportunities is intense among all companies along the three analyzed Nordic window chains. While we generally find a low uptake of nanotechnology in the construction sector in the Nordic countries we do find quite a high number of nanotech applications in the Nordic window chains. Eco-innovation is influencing strongly on the nanotech development. We see several examples of nano-enabled smart, multifunctional green solutions in the Nordic window chains already or about to having a commercial impact. Currently, it seems the greening of markets is beginning to affect the roles different companies play in the chain. We see a marked shift towards more sys-temic, smart eco-innovative solutions which fit well with nanotech opportunities. Overall, the recent greening of the market seems to be opening a window of opportunity for nanotechnology in the Nordic countries but the widespread discreet firm strategizing towards nanotechnology may reduce the exploitation of these

Today-acquisition-cost for the district heating facilities of Jämtkraft

Fjärrvärme är en uppvärmningsform som ökar och utvecklas över hela Sverige idag. Diskussionen kring att reglera fjärrvärmemarknaden på liknande sätt som elnätet reglerats är aktiv, eftersom de kunder som är anslutna till ett fjärrvärmenät idag kan anses vara i beroendeställning gentemot fjärrvärmeföretaget. Det är troligt att en reglering kommer att införas för att begränsa fjärrvärmeföretagens möjliga intäkter från fjärrvärmen. En sådan reglering kommer troligtvis att kräva att distributionen och produktionen av fjärrvärme redovisas separat av varje fjärrvärmeföretag. Utifrån ett beräknat värde på distributionsnätet kommer troligtvis ett intäktstak bestämmas genom att tillåta intäkterna att vara en procentsats på värdet av nätet. Syftet med examensarbetet har varit att räkna ut värdet av Jämtkrafts fjärrvärmeanläggningar genom att beräkna nuanskaffningskostnaden (NUAK) för anläggningarna. NUAK är ett mått på hur mycket en anläggning skulle kosta att skaffa ny idag. För företagets del kan NUAK även användas till att beräkna behovet av reinvesteringar för att hålla systemet med den prestanda som det har idag. (genom att dividera NUAK med den genomsnittliga tekniska livslängden och därmed få fram det årliga reinvesteringsbehovet.) Resultatet har redovisats för varje enskilt nät för sig. För distributionsnätet har en kulvertkostnadskatalog från Svensk fjärrvärme använts, kostnadskatalogen som utgavs 2007 indexuppräknades till augusti 2011, det index som användes var entreprenadindex E84 som utges av SCB. I kulvertkostnadskatalogen anges priset för fjärrvärmeledningar per meter ledning. Uppgifter om ledningsnätet har hämtats från Jämtkrafts anläggningsregister. Indelning av Östersundsnätet gjordes i tre klasser, parkmark, ytterområde och innerstad. I distributionsnätet ingår även ventiler och pumpstationer, ventiler värderas med hjälp av en prislista från tillverkare. Pumpstationer har värderats genom att använda byggkostnaden för den pumpstation som Jämtkraft byggde 2010. Produktionsanläggningarna har delats upp i tre kategorier, pannor med en effekt mindre än 5 MW, större än 5 MW och kraftvärmeverket. De mindre anläggningarna har värderats genom jämförelser med budgetofferter från tillverkare. Anläggningar större än 5 MW har värderats genom nyckeltal och genom jämförelse med nybyggda liknande anläggningar. Kraftvärmeverket har jämförts med det kraftvärmeverk som byggdes av Kalmar Energi i Moskogen. Det kraftvärmeverket är relativt likt Jämtkrafts fjärrvärmeverk och är relativt nybyggt. Den totala nuanskaffningskostnaden för hela Jämtkrafts fjärrvärmeanläggningar är 4 017 miljoner SEK. Anläggningarna i Östersund står för 3 645 miljoner SEK av det totala NUAK. Kraftvärmeverket står för 1 423 miljoner SEK av Östersunds NUAK. Produktionsanläggningar står för 2 023 MSEK och distributionsanläggningar står för 1 995 MSEK.During the past years there has been a debate about district heating. One of the issues has been the strong dependency between the customer and the producer of district heat. Regulations of the market have been investigated by Statens offentliga utredningar (SOU). This thesis has been written in cooperation with Jämtkraft who is an actor in the district heating business. Jämtkraft believes that it is likely that a regulation will be put in place in the near future. This thesis is supposed to prepare Jämtkraft for the possible impacts a regulation would have on their district heating business. A regulation are likely to contain an income framework that are based on today-acquisition-cost (NUAK). NUAK is a measurement on how much something would cost if you would purchase it brand new today. The object of this thesis is to calculate the (NUAK) for Jämtkrafts district heating facilities. The survey is divided into two major sections, distribution and production. This sectioning was made because it’s likely that the regulation only will affect the distribution. At present Jämtkraft doesn’t separate production and distribution in book-keeping or in other aspects. Distribution has been valued by using calculated construction costs for the pipe network. Construction cost data comes from Svensk Fjärrvärmes Kulvertkostnadskatalog from 2007. It has been indexed to august 2011 with E84 an index from Statistiska central byrån (SCB). The construction costs are presented as costs per meter. Information of how much district heating pipes there is in Jämtkrafts systems comes from their holding register. Valves that are used for regulating the system and pumps that are used to pump the water in the system has also been valued. Production facilities have been divided into three different categories which have different valuation methods. Boilers with an effect less than 5 MW have been valuated by comparison with financial quotes from different manufacturers. Boilers with an effect greater than 5 MW have been valuated by using data from Värmeforsk. The combined heat and powerplant (CHP) were valued by comparison with a CHP that was built in Kalmar 2010. The two CHPs have many similarities but an adjustment for difference in size was made. NUAK for distribution is in total 1 995 MSEK. NUAK for production is 2 023 MSEK. The facilities in Östersund account for 3 645 MSEK of the total NUAK and the other district heating systems accounts for the rest. The CHP is the single facility that account for a large share of the total NUAK, in total 1 423 MSEK. The factor that affects the result the most and are the least secure were the factor that were used for adjusting the CHP for size. Because of the large share of the total NUAK that the CHP accounts for the adjustment factor gets a large impact on the result. Large oil-fired boilers are probably undervalued due to the used valuation method

An equine pain face

AbstractObjectiveThe objective of this study was to investigate the existence of an equine pain face and to describe this in detail.Study designSemi-randomized, controlled, crossover trial.AnimalsSix adult horses.MethodsPain was induced with two noxious stimuli, a tourniquet on the antebrachium and topical application of capsaicin. All horses participated in two control trials and received both noxious stimuli twice, once with and once without an observer present. During all sessions their pain state was scored. The horses were filmed and the close-up video recordings of the faces were analysed for alterations in behaviour and facial expressions. Still images from the trials were evaluated for the presence of each of the specific pain face features identified from the video analysis.ResultsBoth noxious challenges were effective in producing a pain response resulting in significantly increased pain scores. Alterations in facial expressions were observed in all horses during all noxious stimulations. The number of pain face features present on the still images from the noxious challenges were significantly higher than for the control trial (p = 0.0001). Facial expressions representative for control and pain trials were condensed into explanatory illustrations. During pain sessions with an observer present, the horses increased their contact-seeking behavior.Conclusions and clinical relevanceAn equine pain face comprising ‘low’ and/or ‘asymmetrical’ ears, an angled appearance of the eyes, a withdrawn and/or tense stare, mediolaterally dilated nostrils and tension of the lips, chin and certain facial muscles can be recognized in horses during induced acute pain. This description of an equine pain face may be useful for improving tools for pain recognition in horses with mild to moderate pain