Report on visit to four North American airlines

The object of the visits was to discuss the current state-of-the-art with the Engineering Departments of several North American airlines which were known to be leading the field in the application of certain advanced techniques. In the limited time available it was decided to confine the talks mainly to those topics on which the chosen operators were known to have had unique experience. This note is presented in chronological sequence and is only intended to be a record of the information gathered; no derivations, or comparisons with other operators, are made. United Air Lines were visited first and reliability programmes are detailed, although the application of critical path techniques to aircraft and engine overhaul is summarised. Continental Air Lines are noted for their use of the continuous maintenance philosophy, and this is reported next. The third visit was to Air Canada where talks ranged from the applications of operations research and electronic data processing (EDP) techniques to aircraft evaluation procedures. Finally the PanAm aircraft system reliability programme is reviewed, together with a note on their general LDP engineering and maintenance activities. A bibliography is given, although it should be appreciated that some of the items listed contain information which may be commercially secure

Advanced technology applications for second and third general coal gasification systems

The historical background of coal conversion is reviewed and the programmatic status (operational, construction, design, proposed) of coal gasification processes is tabulated for both commercial and demonstration projects as well as for large and small pilot plants. Both second and third generation processes typically operate at higher temperatures and pressures than first generation methods. Much of the equipment that has been tested has failed. The most difficult problems are in process control. The mechanics of three-phase flow are not fully understood. Companies participating in coal conversion projects are ordering duplicates of failure prone units. No real solutions to any of the significant problems in technology development have been developed in recent years

Cold Pavement and Two People

In lieu of an abstract, below is the essay\u27s first paragraph. On that brisk February evening Elizabeth and I stood side by side on the Greyhound station waiting platform. It was so cold I thought my feet and fingertips would freeze. I could see no reason why everyone had to wait so long to board the bus. Although I wasn\u27t enjoying it at all, it didn\u27t seem to bother Elizabeth; she seemed very comfortable as she held tightly onto my arm. It struck me as if zero, waiting, and our coming separation weren\u27t in her mind at all; I knew she was trying not to think of them. I felt bad that I would be back home in fifteen minutes and she had a twelve-hour bus ride ahead of her. In spite of being very cold and impatient, I thought of these things. I knew my love for her was as cold as the pavement and empty air around us. This was the reason that I shivered heavily underneath my coat and gloves. I knew why she did not shiver as she stood so straight in her high heels. I knew why she held my arm more tightly and that she was probably looking at me and smiling. I just couldn\u27t look in her eyes very long. Everytime l did her love seemed to come forth in that look, and I knew it must return injured; it had never met what it had itself

A Real Options Analysis of Automatic Milking Systems

Automatic, or robotic, milking systems have the potential to significantly change the way milk is produced on U.S. dairy farms. However, there is a high degree of uncertainty associated with adoption of this new technology. A real options approach is used to analyze the decision to replace an operational milking system with an automatic milking system. The most important source of uncertainty is shown to be the length of the technology's useful life. Under our assumptions, the automatic system is always an optimal investment if it is certain that it will last longer than the operational system being replaced.Livestock Production/Industries,

Method of measuring thermal conductivity of high performance insulation

Method accurately measures the thermal conductivity of high-performance sheet insulation as a discrete function of temperature. It permits measurements to be made at temperature drops of approximately 10 degrees F across the insulation and ensures measurement accuracy by minimizing longitudinal heat losses in the system

A REAL OPTIONS APPROACH TO INVESTMENT ANALYSIS OF AUTOMATIC MILKING SYSTEMS

Automatic, or robotic, milking systems are beginning to be introduced to U.S. dairy farmers. This paper employs an ex ante approach to real options investment analysis of automatic milking systems.Livestock Production/Industries,

Modeling Agglomeration of Dust Particles in Plasma

The charge on an aggregate immersed in a plasma environment distributes itself over the aggregate's surface; this can be approximated theoretically by assuming a multipole distribution. The dipole-dipole (or higher order) charge interactions between fractal aggregates lead to rotations of the grains as they interact. Other properties of the dust grains also influence the agglomeration process, such as the monomer shape (spherical or ellipsoidal) or the presence of magnetic material. Finally, the plasma and grain properties also determine the morphology of the resultant aggregates. Porous and fluffy aggregates are more strongly coupled to the gas, leading to reduced collisional velocities, and greater collisional cross sections. These factors in turn can determine the growth rate of the aggregates and evolution of the dust cloud. This paper gives an overview of the numerical and experimental methods used to study dust agglomeration at CASPER and highlights some recent results