Energy from waste: reuse of compost heat as a source of renewable energy

An in-vessel tunnel composting facility in Scotland was used to investigate the potential for collection and reuse of compost heat as a source of renewable energy. The amount of energy offered by the compost was calculated and seasonal variations analysed. A heat exchanger was designed in order to collect and transfer the heat. This allowed heated water of 47.3oC to be obtained. The temperature could be further increased to above 60oC by passing it through multiple tunnels in series. Estimated costs for installing and running the system were calculated. In order to analyse these costs alternative solar thermal and ground source heat pump systems were also designed. The levels of supply and economic performance were then compared. A capital cost of £11,662 and operating cost of £1,039 per year were estimated, resulting in a cost of £0.50 per kWh for domestic water and £0.10 per kWh for spatial heat. Using the heat of the compost was found to provide the most reliable level of supply at a similar price to its rivals

Structural Cost Optimisation of Warships

This thesis describes the development of a structural optimisation model for warships designed to the MoD (N) NES 110 structural design code based on total relative fabrication cost. Total relative fabrication cost is evaluated for a representative portion of the midship section of a typical Royal Navy frigate and attempts to take into account the costs associated with material purchase, subassembly, assembly and erection of ship's structural components. The inherent work content associated with modern day warship-building techniques are estimated by generating construction task algorithms. Each construction task algorithm can be regarded as a sequential activity list of elemental tasks which must be undertaken to effect the completion of the overall task. Every individual elemental task has an associated manhour value, this value having been derived by work study methods. Thus incorporated in the program SHBPCOST is an appropriate database of cost elements representing warship-building fabrication techniques, for the subassembly and assembly of the major structural components, namely orthogonally stiffened flat and curved panels. The formulations used for longitudinal structural design embody the current MoD (N) structural design code for surface steel ships while those for the transverse structure are based on DnV Classification Society Rules. These "first principles" and "Rules based" design methods are combined within the program FRIGATE to offer the designer an opportunity to investigate the possibilities of optimising both longitudinal and transverse warship structure with respect to total steel relative fabrication cost. Three individual studies were undertaken to investigate a basis model structure for least relative fabrication costs. Two of these studies investigated orthogonally stiffened flat panels deck structures while the third dealt with a typical frigate's double bottom structure. The results of the flat panel studies, constrained to have constant transverse panel section area together with either constant or varying transverse structure and spacing, indicate that labour costs generally increase with a corresponding increase in longitudinal stiffener numbers and decrease with transverse spacing. In addition, when the Tee bar stiffeners of the basis model flat deck panel are replaced by commercially available OBP and flat bar sections, savings of 9.0% and 10.2 % respectively, are predicted. The results from the double bottom study, when also constrained by constant sectional area, indicate that savings can be made on the total relative fabrication cost of the basis model by varying the plate thicknesses in relation to both section type and numbers. It is also demonstrated that the fabrication sequence of elemental tasks adopted in the construction of a double bottom has an important bearing on the manhours needed to complete this particular structural component. These results further demonstrate that labour cost dominates in the total relative fabrication cost relationship. This is highlighted by one option that indicates a 40% saving in material cost but only achieves a 14% saving in total relative fabrication cost. As with the flat deck panel studies, savings on the relative fabrication cost can be achieved by replacing the basis model Tee bar stiffeners by OBP and flat bar sections. This thesis describes a basic working package of two independent computer programs developed for the evaluation of alternative structural variants to a general frigate arrangement. A limiting factor applying to the studies described has been the fixed position of midship section neutral axis by virtue of a simplifying constant sectional area constraint. It is reasonable to assume, that on removal of this constraint, different structural optima would be obtained. Further investigation is required both to demonstrate this and explore the full range of possible structural cost savings resulting from variations in the vertical position of the neutral axis of the midship section even though the neutral axis is not usually a free variable in structural design. A present limitation of SHIPCOST is an inability to allow variations in the construction task algorithms applied to the fabrication of any of the structural components. Complete flexibility in this area would render SHIPCOST unwieldy, cumbersome and time consuming - unwanted attributes of a preliminary design tool. The basis of a useful preliminary design evaluation tool has been developed and demonstrated. However, further effort is required to fully generalise the models to suit any warship structural configuration

The acrolect in Jamaica: The architecture of phonological variation

An ability to speak Jamaican Standard English is the stated requirement for any managerial or frontline position in corporate Jamaica. This research looks at the phonological variation that occurs in the formal speech of this type of employee, and focuses on the specific cohort chosen to represent Jamaica in interactions with local and international clients. The variation that does emerge, shows both the presence of some features traditionally characterized as Creole and a clear avoidance of other features found in basilectal and mesolectal Jamaican. Some phonological items are prerequisites for “good English” - variables that define the user as someone who speaks English - even if other Creole variants are present. The ideologies of language and language use that Jamaican speakers hold about “good English” clearly reflect the centuries-old coexistence of English and Creole, and suggest local norms must be our starting point for discussing the acrolect

Experts in self-isolation? Monastic outreach during lockdown

This paper draws on digital ethnography to examine the experience of a Catholic English Benedictine monastery in the context of restrictions on religious gatherings during the global COVID-19 pandemic. As the monks expand their digital presence and social media involvement, it is their experience of social withdrawal and apparent expertise in self-isolation that provides the grounding for their public engagement. While Max Weber depicts the monk as world-transcending ‘virtuoso’, in a time of lockdown this separation from the world provides a point of connection with the experience of wider society.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

The acrolect in Jamaica: The architecture of phonological variation

An ability to speak Jamaican Standard English is the stated requirement for any managerial or frontline position in corporate Jamaica. This research looks at the phonological variation that occurs in the formal speech of this type of employee, and focuses on the specific cohort chosen to represent Jamaica in interactions with local and international clients. The variation that does emerge, shows both the presence of some features traditionally characterized as Creole and a clear avoidance of other features found in basilectal and mesolectal Jamaican. Some phonological items are prerequisites for “good English” - variables that define the user as someone who speaks English - even if other Creole variants are present. The ideologies of language and language use that Jamaican speakers hold about “good English” clearly reflect the centuries-old coexistence of English and Creole, and suggest local norms must be our starting point for discussing the acrolect

The acrolect in Jamaica: The architecture of phonological variation

An ability to speak Jamaican Standard English is the stated requirement for any managerial or frontline position in corporate Jamaica. This research looks at the phonological variation that occurs in the formal speech of this type of employee, and focuses on the specific cohort chosen to represent Jamaica in interactions with local and international clients. The variation that does emerge, shows both the presence of some features traditionally characterized as Creole and a clear avoidance of other features found in basilectal and mesolectal Jamaican. Some phonological items are prerequisites for “good English” - variables that define the user as someone who speaks English - even if other Creole variants are present. The ideologies of language and language use that Jamaican speakers hold about “good English” clearly reflect the centuries-old coexistence of English and Creole, and suggest local norms must be our starting point for discussing the acrolect

The acrolect in Jamaica: The architecture of phonological variation

An ability to speak Jamaican Standard English is the stated requirement for any managerial or frontline position in corporate Jamaica. This research looks at the phonological variation that occurs in the formal speech of this type of employee, and focuses on the specific cohort chosen to represent Jamaica in interactions with local and international clients. The variation that does emerge, shows both the presence of some features traditionally characterized as Creole and a clear avoidance of other features found in basilectal and mesolectal Jamaican. Some phonological items are prerequisites for “good English” - variables that define the user as someone who speaks English - even if other Creole variants are present. The ideologies of language and language use that Jamaican speakers hold about “good English” clearly reflect the centuries-old coexistence of English and Creole, and suggest local norms must be our starting point for discussing the acrolect

The acrolect in Jamaica: The architecture of phonological variation

An ability to speak Jamaican Standard English is the stated requirement for any managerial or frontline position in corporate Jamaica. This research looks at the phonological variation that occurs in the formal speech of this type of employee, and focuses on the specific cohort chosen to represent Jamaica in interactions with local and international clients. The variation that does emerge, shows both the presence of some features traditionally characterized as Creole and a clear avoidance of other features found in basilectal and mesolectal Jamaican. Some phonological items are prerequisites for “good English” - variables that define the user as someone who speaks English - even if other Creole variants are present. The ideologies of language and language use that Jamaican speakers hold about “good English” clearly reflect the centuries-old coexistence of English and Creole, and suggest local norms must be our starting point for discussing the acrolect

Viscoelastic properties of green wood across the grain measured by harmonic tests in the range of 0\degree C to 95\degree C. Hardwood vs. softwood and normal wood vs. reaction wood

The viscoelastic properties of wood have been investigated with a dynamic mechanical analyser (DMA) specifically conceived for wooden materials, the WAVET device (environmental vibration analyser for wood). Measurements were carried out on four wood species in the temperature range of 0\degree C to 100\degree C at frequencies varying between 5 mHz and 10 Hz. Wood samples were tested in water-saturated conditions, in radial and tangential directions. As expected, the radial direction always revealed a higher storage modulus than the tangential direction. Great differences were also observed in the loss factor. The tan\delta peak and the internal friction are higher in tangential direction than in radial direction. This behaviour is attributed to the fact that anatomical elements act depending on the direction. Viscoelastic behaviour of reaction wood differs from that of normal or opposite wood. Compression wood of spruce, which has higher lignin content, is denser and stiffer in transverse directions than normal wood, and has lower softening temperature (Tg). In tension wood, the G-layer is weakly attached to the rest of the wall layers. This may explain why the storage modulus and the softening temperature of tension wood are lower than those for the opposite wood. In this work, we also point out that the time-temperature equivalence fits only around the transition region, i.e. between Tg and Tg + 30\degree C. Apart from these regions, the wood response combines the effect of all constitutive polymers, so that the equivalence is not valid anymore

Jumble Java Byte Code to Measure the Effectiveness of Unit Tests

Jumble is a byte code level mutation testing tool for Java which inter-operates with JUnit. It has been designed to operate in an industrial setting with large projects. Heuristics have been included to speed the checking of mutations, for example, noting which test fails for each mutation and running this first in subsequent mutation checks. Significant effort has been put into ensuring that it can test code which uses custom class loading and reflection. This requires careful attention to class path handling and coexistence with foreign class-loaders. Jumble is currently used on a continuous basis within an agile programming environment with approximately 370,000 lines of Java code under source control. This checks out project code every fifteen minutes and runs an incremental set of unit tests and mutation tests for modified classes. Jumble is being made available as open source