Requirements for a Computerised Rail Passenger Service Information System – Results of Surveys at Doncaster, Woking, Euston, Halifax and Gatwick

The backround, survey methodology of this research project, and the results of surveys at Leeds City station have been discussed in Working paper 206. In this Paper we put forward the result of surveys at Doncaster, Woking, Euston, Halifax and Gatwick. For the most part, the results are similar to those given for Leeds in the earlier paper. Notable differences, however, are the much greater proportion of 'other station to other station' enquiries at Woking (37%), Euston (22%) and Gatwick (33%). Enquiries at Woking and Gatwick took longer to answer than elsewhere. Conversely, Halifax, with a higher proportion of enquiries relating to local journeys, produced the fastest answers. A summary of results from all the surveys, together with discussion of a survey on the use of the Prestel terminals provided for passengers at Kings Cross and overall conclusions from the study will be reported in a separate paper (Working Paper 208)

Resistance of Cylindrical Sandwich Panels with Aluminum Foam under Blast Loading

In this research, cylindrical sandwich panels with aluminum foam core and aluminum face-sheets under explosive loading are simulated by Abaqus software. The Sandwich panel with aluminum foam core was laminated and simulated in seven cases with different densities by keeping the mass and total thickness constant. The displacement and energy results were evaluated. The results showed that the laminated foam core has a significant effect on the amount of energy absorption and displacement of the panel. The displacement of the model with the optimal laminated core was reduced by 59,8% compared to the model with an equal mass and thickness of core. It was found that reducing the density of the core along the thickness could produce higher explosive resistance. Also, the effect of parameters such as the thickness of the face-sheet and the curvature of the sandwich panel on energy absorption was investigated. According to the parametric study, it has been shown that with increasing the curvature and thickness of the face-sheet, the blast resistance of the sandwich panels increases

Modelling of Gas-condensate flow around horizontal and deviated wells and cleanup efficiency of hydraulically fractured wells.

Gas condensate reservoirs, when the pressure falls below dew point, are characterised by the appearance of condensate bank and exhibiting a complex phase and flow behaviour around the wellbore. The unique dependency of the gas and condensate relative permeability (kr) on the velocity and interfacial tension (IFT) complicates the well productivity calculations both in field simulation models and in simple engineering calculations, especially for complex well geometries such as horizontal or deviated or hydraulically fractured wells. The current research work has two parts. The first part is devoted to study the flow behaviour around horizontal wells (HWs) and deviated wells (DWs) in gas condensate reservoirs. Here, several in-house simulators have been developed for single-phase and two-phase gas condensate flows. The two phase in-house simulators accounts for the phase change and the dependency of relative permeability to interfacial tension and velocity, due to coupling (increase in kr by an increase in velocity or decrease in IFT) and inertia (a decrease in kr by an increase in velocity). The integrity of the in-house simulators has been verified by comparing some of its results with those obtained using the fine grid option of the ECLIPSE300 commercial reservoir simulator under the same flow conditions. Using the 3-D in-house simulator a large data bank has been generated covering a wide range of variations of pertinent geometrical and flow parameters. Then a general approach is proposed for estimation of an effective wellbore radius of an equivalent open-hole (EOH) radial 1-D system replicating flow around the 3-D HW system. The results of the proposed formulation, which benefits from suitable dimensionless numbers, has been tested against the simulator results not used in its development confirming the integrity of the approach. The proposed formulation, which is simple and easy to use, correctly converts to that suitable for single-phase non-Darcy (inertial) flow systems when total gas fractional flow (GTR) is unity. An extensive sensitivity study has also been conduct to highlight the limitations of current geometric skin formulations widely used in the petroleum industry for HW productivity calculations. The in-house improved geometric skin formulation is more efficient especially for anisotropy, partial penetration and location of HW in the vertical direction. The same exercises have been performed to study the flow behaviour around deviated wells. That is, the corresponding proposed mechanical and flow skin factors ii i are converted into an effective wellbore radius, before being applied in the pseudo-pressure calculation of the equivalent open hole system. Here due to the similarity of flow around HWs and DWs a simple relationship is proposed between the corresponding skin factors of these two well geometries. Therefore, in the proposed general method for modelling of the two-phase flow of gas and condensate around a DW, effective wellbore radius estimated for the HW with the same well length is converted to skin and then included in the proposed formulation before being converted to the effective wellbore radius of the equivalent open hole model replicating flow around 3-D flow geometry. Hydraulic fracturing is one of the most important stimulation techniques especially for tight gas reservoirs. The second part of this research work is devoted to conduct a parametric study to evaluate the impact of the pertinent parameters on the cleanup efficiency, as one of main reasons for poor performance of hydraulic fracturing operation, of gas and gas condensate reservoirs. This study has two parts. In the first part, a comprehensive sensitivity study conducted to evaluate the impact of pertinent parameters on the cleanup efficiency of a hydraulically (gas or gas-condensate) fractured well. Here the key parameters which have significant impact on the gas production loss (GPL) are identified. A new method is proposed to simulate a more realistic fracture fluid (FF) invasion into matrix and fracture, which proves to be one of the main reasons of the contradictory results found in the literature. However since none of such studies have embarked on a much needed extensive investigation of variation of all pertinent parameters, the second part of study is concentrated on a much more expanded study following statistical approaches. Here based on the results of the first part, key parameters have been identified. A 2-level full factorial statistical experimental design method has been used to sample a reasonably wide range of variation of pertinent parameters covering many practical cases for a total of 16 parameters. Since over 130000 simulation runs have been required, to cover the range of variation of all parameters the simulation process has been simplified and a computer code, which automatically links different stages of these simulations, has been developed. The analysis of the simulation runs using two response surface models (with and without interaction parameters) demonstrates the relative importance of the pertinent parameters after different periods

Requirements for a Computerised Rail Passenger Service Information System – Introduction and Results of the Leeds Data.

This paper discusses a research project designed to contribute to the development of a computerised rail travel information system by providing information on the range and mix of inquiries made at railway stations, and on the effectiveness with which these inquiries are currently handled. Results are given from a series of surveys undertaken at various times of the week and year at the inquiry office and telephone inquiry bureaux at Leeds station. A total of 576 inquiries from the former and 579 from the latter were analysed. Of these, the biggest single category related to train times, but nearly half wanted fares information as well or instead of this. Most passengers were inquiring about a relatively simple journey - two thirds of the answers involved no change of train and only 1.5% more than two changes. The mean time taken to answer an inquiry was less than a minute. Further papers will analyse surveys undertaken at Euston, Woking, Doncaster, Gatwick Airport and Halifax, as well as a survey of users of the Prestel terminals at Kings Cross, and present overall conclusions from the project

Requirements for a Computerised Rail Passenger Service Information System – Summary of Results and Conclusions from the Project.

This paper consists of three main sections. In the first, we summarise the results of surveys of enquiries made at railway stations and telephone enquiry bureaux. These have been presented in detail in Working Papers 206 and 207. Then we consider the accuracy of the replies given to enquiries in a sample of 252 cases. There appear to be 9 clear errors, with a number of possible futher ones. By contrast, the pilot computerised system developed on behalf of 8R made 4 mistakes, of which 3 appear to be explicable as database errors or lack of walk links. The following section gives details of a survey of users of the Prestel terminals provided for direct use by the public at Kings Cross. Most users were able to find the information they required, although there was some criticism on grounds of slow response and complexity. Users tended to be male and on average younger than enquirers at the information desk; some if the latter were resistant to the idea of obtaining information from a computer rather than from a person. Finally, we present our overall conclusions from the project. It appears to us that the benefits of a computerised system are limited because of the simplicity of a large proportion of enquiries, and the speed and accuracy with which they are answered. Neverthe- less, computerised systems do afford the possibility of providing faster, more accurate and more complete information at reduced cost in terms of manpower. These advantages would be greatest for a system which was sufficiently user friendly to be accessed directly by passengers, although for the forseeable future the proportion of people undertaking transactions that are not readily computerised or who prefer to ask someone means that this could only be a way of reducing demand on the information desk rather than of replacing it entirely

The Effects of Savory (Satureja khuzistanica) Extract on Performance, Organ Weight, Blood Parameters and Immune Function in Heat Stressed Broilers

An experiment was conducted to study the effect of savory (Satureja khuzistanica) extract on the performance, organ weight, immune response and hepatic enzymes in broiler chickens. 320 day-old Ross chickens were assigned to four distinct treatments in a completely randomized design. Each treatment was administered to four replicates of twenty birds. The variables were heat stress (34 ± 2 ˚C for 8 hours) and savory extract (0.4 ml/L) in drinking water. Feed intake (FI), weight gain (WG) and feed conversion ratio (FCR) were measured in successive weeks of the trial. The relative weights of different organs (dressing, breast, thigh, liver, heart, spleen and bursa of Fabricius) determined at 42 days. The serum glucose and blood plasma content of aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) were measured by blood sampling at 42 days. Plasma IgG were quantified on days 21, 28, 35 and 42. The savory extract did not affect FCR, or the relative weights of different organs (P>0.05). BW and FI increased with savory oil inclusion (P<0.05). Further, the savory extract reduced plasma glucose, AST and ALT in heat stressed broilers significantly (P0.05). Blood IgG in heat stressed broilers, increased in every case of treatment with savory extract (P<0.05). In conclusion, in conditions of heat stress, 0.4 ml/L of savory extract improves economic proficiency in broiler flocks due to the accumulation of minute advantages in increased WG, FI, improved IG and reduced hepatic enzymes

Ether Bond Formation in Waste Biomass–Derived, Value-Added Technical Hardwood Kraft Lignin Using Glycolic Acid

Ether bond formation in technical hardwood kraft lignin (THKL) by crosslinking using glycolic acid was investigated for bio-adhesive applications. Industrial hardwood kraft black liquor was used to extract the THKL utilized by acidification. Chemical and thermal properties of the THKL with and without crosslinking were analyzed by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, solid-state 13C cross-polarization/magic angle spinning nuclear magnetic resonance (13C CP/MAS NMR) spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), gel permeation chromatography (GPC), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). FTIR results revealed a new peak corresponding to the ether bond and hemiacetal formation due to crosslinking at 1075 cm-1 and 1324 cm-1. 13C CP/MAS NMR spectra revealed the presence of a higher number of ether bonds due to the reduced aromatic and aliphatic hydroxyl groups in THKL and new bonds formed at 62-64 ppm and 168-191 ppm due to crosslinking. XPS results revealed that new bonds were formed between glycolic acid and THKL, leading to increased atomic oxygen percentage and carbon–oxygen bonds in crosslinked THKL detected by peak intensity changes at 287.7 and 288.8 related to O–C–O and O–C=O. Also, the oxygen content increased from 14.88% to 31.76% due to bond formation. GPC confirmed a higher molecular weight and broader molecular-weight distribution of THKL. DSC and TGA curves of crosslinked THKL revealed exothermic behavior, high thermal stability, and low thermal degradation rate. Owing to a significant amount of kraft black liquor being generated by wood pulp industries and attractive chemical properties of THKL, THKL demonstrates promise as a raw material to produce green, sustainable bio-adhesives via the crosslinking of its different hydroxyl groups using glycolic acid

Biološka trajnost i tehnička svojstva toplinski modificirane topolovine

Abstract The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of brown rot fungus Coniophora puteana activity on physical and mechanical properties as well as biological resistance of heat-treated poplar wood. Two poplar wood species (Populus deltoids and Populus nigra) were heat-treated by thermo-wood (Thermo-D) method. Control and heat-treated specimens were exposed to brown rot fungus C. puteana for 16 weeks. Physical and mechanical characteristics of specimens including density, compression strength parallel to the grain and impact strength were evaluated before and after exposure to fungus. Mass loss of specimens caused by fungal activity (MLF) was also calculated. In addition, the effect of thermal modification on laccase production by C. puteana was assayed. The highest mass loss due to fungal deterioration was observed in control specimens, coinciding with the highest substrate-enzyme interactions and constant decrease in detectable laccase levels. According to the results, thermal modification can be used effectively to protect poplar wood against brown rot fungus attack.Cilj ovog istraživanja bio je procijeniti utjecaj gljive smeđe truleži Coniophora puteana na fizička i mehanička svojstva te na biološku otpornost toplinski modificirane topolovine. Dvije vrste topolovine (Populus deltoids i Populus nigra) toplinski su modificirane postupkom thermo wood (Thermo D). Kontrolni i toplinski modificirani uzorci bili su izloženi 16 tjedana gljivi smeđe truleži C. puteana. Prije i nakon izlaganja gljivama određena su fizička i mehanička svojstva uzoraka uključujući gustoću, čvrstoću na tlak paralelno s vlakancima i čvrstoću na udarac. Također je izračunan gubitak mase uzoraka kao posljedica aktivnosti gljiva (MLF). Osim toga, ispitan je utjecaj toplinske modifikacije na stvaranje lakaze zbog djelovanja gljive C. puteana. Najveći gubitak mase, tj. najveća razgradnja nastala djelovanjem gljive zabilježena je na kontrolnim uzorcima, a to se podudara s najjačim međusobnim djelovanjem supstrata i enzima te s konstantnim smanjenjem detektirane razine lakaze. Prema dobivenim rezultatima, toplinska se modifikacija može učinkovito iskoristiti za zaštitu topolovine od napada gljiva smeđe truleži

NON-DESTRUCTIVE TESTING FOR QUALITY ASSURANCE OF CONCRETE & PERFORMANCE PREDICTION OF BRIDGE DECKS WITH MACHINE LEARNING

Non-destructive testing (NDT) methods are particularly valuable in the quality assurance (QA) process since they do not interfere with production of concrete and reduce testing time and cost. NDTs can provide early warnings in meeting strength requirements at early ages of concrete as well as long term strength. NDTs are also valuable in providing evaluation of health of in-service infrastructures such as bridge and pavement. The results of this study can be used for potential adoption of an NDT-based QA plan. Their adoption in QA will provide the opportunity to test a larger portion of concrete during assessment without a significant increase in QA cost and testing time. To achieve that purpose, the selected NDTs should be fast, accurate, reliable and simple to run. The NDT methods explored in this study included infrared thermography, ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV), fundamental resonance frequency, rebound hammer, ground penetrating radar (GPR), and ultrasonic pulse echo (UPE). Different sets of NDTs were selected in each experimental study undertaken in this dissertation appropriate to the research objectives and goals in each case. For strength gain monitoring, (i.e., maturity modeling during early ages of hydration), the suggested NDTs need to provide an assessment of the mechanical properties of concrete. To assess the concrete quality during production and/or construction the selected NDTs should rapidly identify potential issues concerning uniformity and/or the presence of production and placement defects. For evaluating the condition of concrete bridge decks with asphalt overlays, GPR response was used to detect layer thickness and concrete quality and to evaluate reinforcement condition. For addressing the transition from lab to field results, machine learning modeling was used to predict the structure condition. Therefore, two artificial neural network (ANN) models were proposed and assessed in this study to predict the condition of bridge decks in Maryland and Massachusetts. Thus, the objectives of this research were to identify and assess alternative NDT methods that can be used in: i) monitoring and/or estimating strength gain (i.e., maturity modeling) in concrete; ii) evaluating concrete uniformity and production quality; iii) detecting and measuring the extent of delamination in concrete slab representing small scale field conditions; iv) evaluating GPR in assessing the condition of pavement layers, concrete quality and reinforcement in bridge decks; and v) employing machine learning modeling to predict the condition of bridge decks.