Application of Computational Tools for Performance Prediction of Gasoline Engine Fuelled with Ethanol Gasoline Fuel Fractions

With faster depletion of natural sources of petroleum fuels, it becomes essential to use alternative fuels. Ethanol is growingly becoming best choice as fuel fraction to blend with gasoline. These fuel fractions are planning to be used with higher percentages of ethanol. It is highly required to find the best possible fuel fractions and performance of the engine under different operating conditions. The present study proposes applications of Minitab 17 and XLSTAT for establishing the relationship of dependent parameters with each independent parameter. Minitab 17 is used for multiple regression and provides mathematical equations for each dependent variable in terms of operating independent variables. Minitab 17 is also used for plotting the contour graphs, which shows the regions of best and poor levels of each dependent parameter on graph through contours and shaded areas. These applications of Minitab 17 are used for performance prediction and finding optimum conditions of engine. XLSTAT is add-on tool to be used in MS-Excel. It provides graphical tools for finding the errors in the model developed. It also gives the dominance of each operating parameter with engine output parameters. Both tools can be effectively used for developing customised mathematical relations. Semi-empirical mathematical relations are simple to form and accurate to predict the engine performance

Rewriting the History of the Native Mounted Police in Queensland

The Archaeology of the Native Mounted Police in Queensland project, jointly led by Nulungu research fellow Dr Lynley Wallis, is a long-overdue exploration into the nature of frontier invasion. Several of our team members have worked in Queensland for many decades and, in every Aboriginal community in which we’ve worked, stories are told about the ‘killing times’ or the ‘war’, as community members call the period when the Native Mounted Police (NMP, also referred to as the ‘Native Police’) were operating. Many community members have asked us over the years to record their stories about the massacres that took place, or have shown us places associated with the police camps or the massacre sites, and often told us that they would like to know more about what happened. These requests eventually led to the archaeologists on this project coming together, talking with key Aboriginal people and communities, and developing a research project to address their interests — the project described in this paper is the result.https://researchonline.nd.edu.au/nulungu_insights/1000/thumbnail.jp

Mass media effects on the production of information: Evidence from Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) Reports

The media report news that in turn influences behaviors. This news is drawn from a set of available information. In this paper, we study how the set of information is "exante" affected by anticipated media coverages. First, we take an exogenous but anticipated shock of media coverage: Olympic Games and FIFA World Cups. Then, we estimate the effect of this media coverage shock on the production of reports by a publicity-seeking actor: NGOs. We use a unique database that collects NGO reports on a sample of 572 firms in 140 countries between 2002 and 2010. Those reports deal with firm practices, and tone of the speech of these reports is classified as "good" or "bad" for the reputation of the firm. We find that these media coverage shocks significantly impact the production of information. More precisely, stories that are substitute to sport news (reports on host and participant countries) are significantly less reported by NGOs, while the number of reports on complement to sport news (practices of sponsors) significantly increases. Further, in both cases bad reports overreact compared to good ones

Economic analysis of trout feed production in Jammu and Kashmir, India

The Present study is an attempt to understand the economics of trout feed production in the state of Jammu and Kashmir. Trout feed production is capital intensive business which requires high initial capital investment. The results revealed that major fixed investment required in trout feed production was feed mill itself which accounted about 71.44 percent of the total investment. The cost and return analysis showed that the variable cost accounts 59.16 percent whereas fixed cost accounted 40.84 percent of the total cost respectively. Among the variable cost raw material was found out to be single most important factor which accounted about 56.37 percent of the total cost which was about 95.28 percent of the total variable cost. The average cost of production of trout feed was Rs.84.33/kg which ranged from Rs.78.45/kg in Kokarnag trout feed mill to Rs.90.2/kg in Manasbal trout feed mill but government has fixed selling price at Rs.73/Kg for the feed to maintain reasonable price level for private trout farmers. The availability and high price of raw material were found to be major constraints faced by feed producers. Economics analysis revealed that both the feed mills are operating at suboptimal level and there is need to utilize the feed mill to its full potential and export the surplus production to neighbouring state of Himachal Pradesh and other Himalayan states like Sikkim and Arunachal which will help the state fisheries department to generate extra income which can be used in other developmental activities

Absurdity and Revolt in the works of Georges Duhamel: A Camusian reading

A reading of the works of Duhamel in light of those of Camus suggests a strong influence on the latter by the former. By the time Camus began his literary career, Duhamel was already a well established and respected author, with whom most educated French people would have been familiar. This thesis posits the idea that, long before Camus named the absurd in 1942, Duhamel had already explored many of the themes that would form the subject matter for 'Le Mythe de Sisyphe' (1942) and 'L'Homme révolté' (1951). Not only are these two essays crucial in understanding the evolution of Camus' thought; they can be shown to be essential road maps for identifying themes of absurdity and revolt in the works of the earlier writer; Duhamel. Features common to the protagonists of both authors - the gratuitous acts committed by both Salavin and Meursault and their ambivalent responses - suggest a strong link between them. If Meursault's actions can be explained by 'Le Mythe de Sisyphe', then perhaps Duhamel's Salavin and Laudrel can be illuminated by the very same essay. If Duhamel's Laurent Pasquier embodies some of the qualities of Dr Rieux, then perhaps he might also be considered a rebel in what would become the 'Camusian' sense. Themes of absurdity and revolt permeate Duhamel's entire literary output; while Duhamel's Salavin and Camus' Meursault are quite different personalities, they both follow a path infused with a sense of the meaninglessness of existence, tinged with nihilism and which culminates in an ethical rebellion in the face of the certainty of death. It is these convergences, similarities and parallels which form the basis of this project and which, to date, have not been thoroughly explored by critics. In other words, there has been no detailed comparative analysis of the works of these two authors. It is this gap in the critical canon which this thesis seeks to rectify

Short and Long-Term Sensitivity of Lab-Scale Thermocline Based Thermal Storage to Flow Disturbances

Molten-salt thermocline-based systems are a low-cost option for single-tank thermal energy storage in concentrated solar power plants. Due to the high variability in solar energy availability, these energy storage devices are subject to transient heat loads during charging that can affect the storage efficiency. Numerical simulations were conducted to analyze the stability characteristics of a lab-scale thermocline tank subject to a flow disturbance during charging under different operating temperatures. The charging process was first simulated at a constant Reynolds number for three different Atwood numbers; a stably stratified fluid layer develops inside the storage tank in all cases. A flow disturbance was then introduced at the inlet of the stratified thermocline tank by inserting colder fluid for a short period of time. The disturbance interacts with the thermocline and causes oscillations and mixing. The thermocline oscillations are under-damped and lead to an increase in thermocline region thickness. The transient behavior of the thermocline and the decay rate in its oscillations were analyzed; the damping time depends on the Atwood number. The persistence of flow disturbance effects during long-term cyclical operation was also investigated. Several charge/discharge cycles were simulated at constant Reynolds number to obtain a time-periodic thermal response for each Atwood number. The characteristic flow disturbance was introduced at the inlet during a single charging process, and the thermocline region was observed during several subsequent charge/discharge cycles to assess the long-term temporal attenuation of the disturbance. The thermocline almost fully recovers to the time-periodic behavior after a single cycle

IntCal09 and Marine09 radiocarbon age calibration curves, 0-50,000yeats cal BP

The IntCal04 and Marine04 radiocarbon calibration curves have been updated from 12 cal kBP (cal kBP is here defined as thousands of calibrated years before AD 1950), and extended to 50 cal kBP, utilizing newly available data sets that meet the IntCal Working Group criteria for pristine corals and other carbonates and for quantification of uncertainty in both the 14C and calendar timescales as established in 2002. No change was made to the curves from 0–12 cal kBP. The curves were constructed using a Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) implementation of the random walk model used for IntCal04 and Marine04. The new curves were ratified at the 20th International Radiocarbon Conference in June 2009 and are available in the Supplemental Material at www.radiocarbon.org

Influence des conditions de mise en œuvre sur les propriétés de revêtements protecteurs: Application à la corrosion sur acier

Paints are conventionally used in the field of marine renewable energies to protect steel structures from corrosion. To improve the adhesion and therefore the durability of these coatings, surface treatments can be used. Usually, this is done by sandblasting.In this study innovative surface treatments were tested. The sol-gel and PVD technologies have shown good adhesion and durability properties in humid environments, making them attractive candidates for replacing the sandblasting step which mechanically weakens the paint system.In addition, an industrialization of these methods requires a perfect control of the processes. This is why the influence of the monitoring conditions on the sol-gel and PVD processes was studied. The sol-gel transition kinetics is affected by temperature and relative humidity which modify the properties of the gel formed. T and RH must therefore be measured to adjust the drying time. The growth of the PVD coating results in the formation of residual stresses that can be evaluated by a method detailed in this report. The study of these phenomena made it possible to make suggestions in view of improving the effectiveness of the coating. For example, the level and the sign of stresses can be modified by adjusting the thickness and bias voltage.Finally, many physicochemical characterization tests were used and the results obtained could be compared, that made it possible to evaluate the relevance of the various tests.Les peintures sont classiquement utilisées dans le domaine des énergies marines renouvelables pour protéger les structures acier de la corrosion. Afin d’améliorer l’adhérence et donc la durabilité de ces revêtements, des traitements de surface peuvent être employés. Habituellement, celui-ci est réalisé par sablage. Dans cette étude, des traitements de surface innovants ont été testés. Les technologies sol-gel et PVD HiPIMS ont montré de bonnes propriétés d’adhérence et de durabilité au vieillissement en milieu humide, ce qui en fait des candidats intéressants pour remplacer l’étape de sablage qui fragilise mécaniquement le système peinture.Par ailleurs, une industrialisation de ces méthodes nécessite une maîtrise parfaite des procédés. C’est pourquoi l’influence des paramètres de mise en oeuvre des revêtements par sol-gel et PVD a été étudiée. La cinétique de transition sol-gel est affectée par la température et l’humidité relative ce qui modifie les propriétés du gel formé. T et HR doivent donc être mesurées pour ajuster le temps de séchage. La croissance du revêtement PVD entraine la formation de contraintes résiduelles qui peuvent être évaluées par une méthode détaillée dans ce rapport. L’étude de ces phénomènes a permis de faire des suggestions en vue d’améliorer l’efficacité du revêtement. Par exemple, le niveau et le signe des contraintes pourront être modifiés en jouant sur l’épaisseur et la polarisation du porte-échantillon.Finalement, de nombreux tests de caractérisation physico-chimique ont été utilisés et les résultats obtenus ont pu être confrontés ce qui a permis d’évaluer de la pertinence des différents essais