Analysing hybrid drive system topologies

In this thesis a simulation model is presented that enables a comparison of different hybrid topologies, with respect to fuel consumption, emissions and performance. The obtained results stress the properties of the different topologies and form a foundation for the choice of hybrid topology. The simulation models included in this thesis are the result of collaboration with Petter Strandh at the Division of Combustion Engines, Department of Heat and Power Engineering, Lund University. The studied hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) are restricted to those with an internal combustion engine (ICE), an electrical energy storage and at least one electric machine in the driveline. The goal with the work presented in this thesis is to: # 1. Model hybrid topologies as comparable as possible regarding motor models, battery models, control laws, major energy converters and relevant limitations due to speed and torque. # 2. Compare the number of possible topologies, which increase drastically when adding more clutches, electric machines and other components. Therefore only four, however essential, topologies are chosen for the comparison. The four topologies that have been selected are series, parallel, strigear and power split hybrid. The hybrid topologies have been simulated in two different cycles, the demanding highway cycle US06 and the slower urban cycle ECE15 with its much smoother accelerations. The reference vehicle in the simulations has been a Toyota Prius, an electric hybrid family car, which is available on the market today. As input for the ICE, measured values from a SAAB naturally aspirated gasoline engine has been used, but scaled to better correspond to the ICE in the real Prius. There are many possible parameters in the simulation models, that are adjustable; vehicle chassis parameters, engine, electric machine(s) and battery size and types, losses models, charging strategies and driver behaviour etc. To investigate all of them is possibly interesting but not realistic in this survey. It is not the aim and the result flow would be overwhelming. Therefore six key parameters are chosen and thereafter adjusted one by one. The chosen ones are ICE dynamic response time constant, battery inner resistance, ICE charging gain, engine and motor sizes and finally maximum vehicle speed. The work presents a limited number of results. The results presented have been chosen to illustrate the impact the individual parameter has to the behaviour of the single topology. The results of the simulated topologies have been compared with measurements made by MTC in Sweden and EPA in USA on a Toyota Prius. The received results can be evaluated with the help of different criteria. Two different criteria are shown as an example of how the chosen criteria influence the results; the price of fuel consumption and produced emissions respectively a mutual comparison using weight factors. The results from the simulations made, show that the parallel topology is the most efficient alternative. It is also the topology with the lowest complexity. It should be observed that the differences between the strigear and the parallel hybrid do sometimes not exist or turn to be of advantage to the strigear. The parallel topology however turns to be the preferred choice due to its lower complexity

Control of Hybrid Electric Vehicles with Diesel Engines

This thesis is an approach to improve electric hybrid vehicles with respect to fuel consumption and to fulfil the future intended NOX emission regulations. It is based upon the conclusions made in the licentiate thesis Analysing Hybrid Drive System Topologies (Jonasson, 2002). The study in this thesis is restricted to a parallel hybrid vehicle equipped with a diesel engine, two electric machines and electrical energy storage and a model thereof is presented in the thesis. The choice to focus on the diesel engine is related to the high efficiency of this engine that also is the reason for the in later years increased market for diesel engines in conventional vehicles. Since one of the disadvantages, related to the diesel engine, are the nitrogen oxides (NOX) emissions, efforts is concentrated on reducing them, by means of the advantages of hybridisation. The reference vehicle in the simulations presented in this thesis is a Toyota Prius, an electric hybrid passenger car, which is available on the market today. As input for the combustion engine model, engine data from a diesel engine considered as state of the art 2004, has been used. The engine data is scaled to correspond to the engine size used in the Prius. It should be mentioned that the engine in the Toyota Prius is run on petrol. There are many possible parameters in the simulation model, which are adjustable; vehicle chassis parameters, engine, electric machine(s) and battery size and types, losses models, charging strategies and driver behaviour etc. A number of key parameters have been selected in this study: control strategy, NOX control by means of EGR (exhaust gas recirculation) and SCR (selective catalytic reduction), gear ratios and gearshift strategies and finally cylinder deactivation. The accuracy of the simulation model is ratified by means of measured data on the engine used in the simulation. Fuel consumption and NOX are determined by using look-up-tables based on measured data. The engine temperature, needed to determine the NOX conversion by means of SCR, is also received from a look-up-table. The simulation model is evaluated in the driving cycle ECE+EUDC. The results presented are chosen to illustrate the impact each individual parameter has on the behaviour of the hybrid vehicle, the fuel consumption and the emissions. The results from the simulations show that it is possible to pass the expected limit of the future Euro 5 NOX regulations, if NOX emission treatment with EGR and SCR is implemented. The price to pay for this action is to sacrifice some of the fuel savings that the hybridization brings. The result is nevertheless a vehicle with decreased fuel consumption compared with a conventional diesel powered vehicle, and a vehicle that passes the intended emission regulation

Activity as indicator of disease in calves in group systems

Since long, Sweden has had exceptionally low calf mortality compared to most other countries. The tradition has been to keep calves in individual pens. With increasing number of cows per herd there is now a larger interest in more efficient and economical group systems for housing calves. However it has been noticed that bigger herds have more health problems and higher calf mortality than smaller herds. The early signs of disease are harder to detect when the animals are not fed manually. Studies show that the health of the calves influences how productive and healthy they become as cows. The health of calves has therefore become more important and there is a need for systems that can help detecting diseases among calves. Respiratory diseases are often difficult to detect in calves. In Kvigprojektet ("the heifer project") only half of the cases of pneumonia confirmed by veterinarians had been detected by the farmers. In a group system it is not easy to identify which one of the calves that suffers from diarrhoea. Diarrhoea among calves is rarely caused by bacterial infections and should therefore not be treated with antibiotics but with oral electrolyte therapy. In a pilot study it has been shown that the number of visits where the calf was not allowed milk in an automatic milk feeder decreased when the calf had an infection. This is an example of information from automatic systems that is not used. The aim of this study was to investigate the possibility of using activity measures as indicators of disease among calves in group housing systems. Up until now activity measuring has only been used as an instrument for research. If activity measuring could be developed to help identify disease among calves in group systems this could be a valuable help for farmers, in trying to detect calves in an earlier stage of illness. This in turn could help avoiding unnecessary use of antibiotics and also increase the growth rate of the calves. The material used in this study consisted of 113 calves, of which 31 were considered to be healthy and 82 calves were considered as ill at some point during the time in the group pens. All calves got a pedometer (Icetag analycer) fastened to one of their hind legs before entering the pens. The pedometer measured the activity of the calves in percent per 24 hour period. The classification of calves as healthy or ill was based on criteria from clinical examinations performed by veterinarians 3-4 times per week. Of the 82 sick calves a comparison of sick and healthy periods were made within each calf. There was a significant difference in activity, where the sick calves had lower level of activity than healthy calves (t=4,52, p<0,01). When only comparing healthy and sick periods for calves with diarrhoea, calves were less active during the sick periods (t=3,53, p<0,01). 41 calves had respiratory disease and also here a significant difference in activity was found (t=2,51, p<0,01). 18 calves had diarrhoea and respiratory disease simultaneously, however in these no significant difference could be found (t=1,66, n.s.). The conclusion from this study is that activity level can be used as an indicator of disease in calves in group housing systems. More research is needed to identify and establish activity levels which are applicable in the practical situation to indicate early stages of disease.Sverige har länge haft ovanligt låg kalvdödlighet jämfört med andra länder. Det har varit tradition att hålla kalvar i enkalvsboxar. I takt med att storleken på mjölkkobesättningarna blir större har intresset för att hålla kalvarna i mer arbetseffektiva och ekonomiska gruppsystem ökat. Man har dock sett att i större besättningar försämras kalvhälsan och kalvdödligheten ökar. Studier pekar på att kalvens hälsa påverkar hur produktiv och välmående den blir som ko. Därigenom har kalvhälsofrågorna också blivit viktigare och det finns ett behov av system som kan underlätta sjukdomsövervakningen av kalvar. Luftvägssjukdomar på kalvar kommer ofta smygande och kan vara mycket svåra att upptäcka. I Kvigprojektet såg man att bara hälften av fallen av lunginflammation som påträffades av veterinär vid klinisk undersökning av kalvarna, hade upptäckts av djurägarna. Diarrésjukdom på kalv beror sällan på bakterieinfektion och bör därför inte rutinmässigt behandlas med antibiotika utan i första hand med elektrolytlösning. Man har i en pilotstudie sett att besöken utan rätt till mjölk i transponderstyrda mjölkautomater minskar när kalven insjuknar. Detta är ett exempel på idag outnyttjad information man får av automatiserade system. Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka om aktivitetsmätning går att använda som sjukdomsmarkör på kalvar i gruppsystem. Aktivitetsmätning har hittills endast används som ett forskningsinstrument. Om man kan utveckla användning av aktivitetsmätning för att tidigare identifiera de kalvar som insjuknar i ett gruppsystem skulle detta kunna vara ett värdefullt hjälpmedel för djurägaren att tidigare behandla dessa kalvar med rätt behandling, undvika onödigt antibiotikabruk och även få bättre tillväxt. Totalt ingick 113 kalvar i studien varav 31 kalvar räknades som friska hela tiden i gruppboxarna och 82 kalvar som sjuka under tiden i gruppboxarna. Alla kalvar fick en pedometer (Icetag analycer) fastsatt på ett bakben vid insättandet i gruppbox som registrerade aktivitet mätt i procent per dygn. Resultaten togs fram utifrån kriterier för frisk- och sjukperioder som ställts upp efter kliniska undersökningar utförda av veterinär 3 – 4 gånger per vecka. Av de 82 sjuka kalvarna gjordes en jämförelse inom varje kalv mellan friskperioder och sjukperioder och då kunde en signifikant skillnad i aktivitet ses (t= 4,52, p<0,01). Det var en sänkning av aktiviteten från frisk- till sjukperioderna. Vid en jämförelse av de 47 kalvar som bara hade diarrésjukdom var det en minskad aktivitet vid sjukdom (t= 3,53, p<0,01,). 41 kalvar hade respiratorisk sjukdom och även på dessa fann jag en lägre aktivitet vid sjukdomsperioder (t=2,51, p<0,01). Hos de 18 kalvar som hade både diarrésjukdom och respiratorisk sjukdom samtidigt fann jag ingen signifikant skillnad mellan friskperiod och sjukperiod(t= 1,66, n.s.). Det kan bero på att materialet var för litet. Slutsatsen som kan dras är att aktivitetsmätning går att använda som sjukdomsmarkör på kalvar i gruppsystem men att det behövs mer forskning för att hitta gränsvärden som går att använda praktiskt för att upptäcka kalvar i ett tidigt stadium av sjukdom

Identification des variables du système d'élevage influençant la santé des vaches laitières en exploitations agrobiologiques européennes

OBJECTIF - Identification des variables qui influencent la santé des vaches laitières en élevage agrobiologique, par une approche globale et systématique des élevages, comme première étape dans l’application de l’Impact Matrix

Lymphocyte Subpopulations in Lymph Nodes and Peripheral Blood: A Comparison between Patients with Stable Angina and Acute Coronary Syndrome

Objective: Atherosclerosis is characterized by a chronic inflammatory response involving activated T cells and impairment of natural killer (NK) cells. An increased T cell activity has been associated with plaque instability and risk of acute cardiac events. Lymphocyte analyses in blood are widely used to evaluate the immune status. However, peripheral blood contains only a minor proportion of lymphocytes. In this study, we hypothesized that thoracic lymph nodes from patients with stable angina (SA) and acute coronary syndrome (ACS) might add information to peripheral blood analyses. less thanbrgreater than less thanbrgreater thanMethods: Peripheral blood and lymph nodes were collected during coronary by-pass surgery in 13 patients with SA and 13 patients with ACS. Lymphocyte subpopulations were assessed by flow cytometry using antibodies against CD3, CD4, CD8, CD19, CD16/56, CD25, Foxp3, CD69, HLA-DR, IL-18 receptor (R) and CCR4. less thanbrgreater than less thanbrgreater thanResults: Lymph nodes revealed a lymphocyte subpopulation profile substantially differing from that in blood including a higher proportion of B cells, lower proportions of CD8(+) T cells and NK cells and a 2-fold higher CD4/CD8 ratio. CD4(+)CD69(+) cells as well as Foxp3(+) regulatory T cells were markedly enriched in lymph nodes (p andlt; 0.001) while T helper 1-like (CD4(+)IL-18R(+)) cells were more frequent in blood (p andlt; 0.001). The only significant differences between ACS and SA patients involved NK cells that were reduced in the ACS group. However, despite being reduced, the NK cell fraction in ACS patients contained a significantly higher proportion of IL-18R(+) cells compared with SA patients (p andlt; 0.05). less thanbrgreater than less thanbrgreater thanConclusion: There were several differences in lymphocyte subpopulations between blood and lymph nodes. However, the lymphocyte perturbations in peripheral blood of ACS patients compared with SA patients were not mirrored in lymph nodes. The findings indicate that lymph node analyses in multivessel coronary artery disease may not reveal any major changes in the immune response that are not detectable in blood.Funding Agencies|Swedish Heart-Lung Foundation|20090489|Swedish Research Council|2008-2282

Retrospective evaluation of whole exome and genome mutation calls in 746 cancer samples

Funder: NCI U24CA211006Abstract: The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC) curated consensus somatic mutation calls using whole exome sequencing (WES) and whole genome sequencing (WGS), respectively. Here, as part of the ICGC/TCGA Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) Consortium, which aggregated whole genome sequencing data from 2,658 cancers across 38 tumour types, we compare WES and WGS side-by-side from 746 TCGA samples, finding that ~80% of mutations overlap in covered exonic regions. We estimate that low variant allele fraction (VAF < 15%) and clonal heterogeneity contribute up to 68% of private WGS mutations and 71% of private WES mutations. We observe that ~30% of private WGS mutations trace to mutations identified by a single variant caller in WES consensus efforts. WGS captures both ~50% more variation in exonic regions and un-observed mutations in loci with variable GC-content. Together, our analysis highlights technological divergences between two reproducible somatic variant detection efforts

Man lever så mycket man hinner : en studie om att leva med hemodialys

Bakgrund: Varje år insjuknar flera hundra patienter i njursvikt i Sverige och i början av 2011 var det cirka 3000 patienten i hemodialys. Tidigare forskning visar att dialysen påverkar patienten på många olika sätt bland annat genom kroppsliga besvär så som trötthet och nutritionsbesvär som leder till begränsningar, det har framkommit att det är viktigt att patienten får känna sig delaktig och har en kunskap om sin sjukdom. Syfte: Studiens syfte har varit att beskriva livsförändringar för njursviktspatienter som genomgår hemodialys. Metod: Examensarbetet är ett kvalitativ deskriptivt arbete, baserad på 9 intervjuer med njursviktspatienter som behandlas med hemodialys och i analysen användes en kvalitativ innehållsanalys. Resultat: Resultatet visar att livet i hemodialys upplevs som fångenskap att livet är begränsat både i form av tid men även den egna kroppens begränsningar. När en tid har gått infinner det sig ett lugn, en stund att vara för att sedan komma vidare innan tacksamhet och acceptans till det nya kan infinna sig. Teman som framkom var; från frihet till fångenskap, övergång till det nya livet och det nya livet. Slutsats: Patienten upplever att dialysen styr deras vardag istället för att patienten kan styra sin dag med hemodialys

Riskhantering i stora anläggningsprojekt : En fallstudie av projekt Kiruna Ny Järnväg

Risk Management is an important competence, and one of the main subjects in research regarding Project Management. The Risk Management process consists of three basic steps: Risk identification, Risk analysis and evaluation and Risk treatment. Risk Management is of extra great importance in construction projects and projects that includes multiple organizations or contractors. This is due to the fact that uncertainty, in areas such as allocation of liability, communication, coordination and control, increases in projects with multiple parties. Formalized Risk Management processes are unusual and further research is needed to develop Best practice in Risk Management and to adapt methods within Project Management to different types of projects. The iron ore company, LKAB, has realized many and often large construction projects during a long period of time. Trafikverket (The Swedish traffic board) realizes countless numbers of projects every year, from small maintenance projects to large complex construction projects. In both organizations, it is common that projects include multiple contractors and external organizations, as in Kiruna Ny Järnväg (KNJ, Kiruna New Railway). This is a large construction project, whose main purpose is to build a new railway west of Kiruna city and the iron ore mine. The project is conducted in a joint project by LKAB and Trafikverket, where Trafikverket is the project owner, while LKAB is financing the whole project. KNJ is estimated to cost four billion Swedish kronor. Riskhandboken (the Risk Manual) has been compiled to ensure a well implemented Risk Management in KNJ. Riskhandboken describes how the Risk Management Process within KNJ should be conducted: from planning of the process, to descriptions of the Risk identification, analysis, evaluation, treatment and control. The purpose of the study is to examine how risk is managed in large construction projects, in theory and practice, to develop a suggestion for Best practice. The master thesis includes a literary review that has resulted in a reference model of how Risk Management is conducted in large construction projects. Furthermore a case study has been conducted within KNJ, which includes interviews and observations within the project. A general conclusion is that the Risk Management within KNJ works well and results in positive effects on the project. There are always possibilities for continuous improvements and the study has also resulted in some recommendations about how Riskhandboken, and the Risk Management in KNJ, could be improved. These have been generated by a comparison between the theoretical reference model and the result from the case study. The reference model has also been completed with results and recommendation from the empirical study. This has resulted in a model for Best practice for Risk Management in construction projects.Validerat; 20110616 (anonymous

Gränskronotopen och upplösningen av formens värld : En studie av gränstematiken i Kerstin Ekmans trilogi Vargskinnet (1999–2003)

I avhandlingen Gränskronotopen och upplösningen av formens värld undersöks hur upprätthållande, överskridande och upplösning av gränser skildras i trilogin Vargskinnet. Moderniseringen av Sverige, liksom de båda världskrigen, bildar bakgrund till trilogins berättelser om människorna vid den fiktiva sjön Svartvattnet. Dessa skeenden medför stora förändringar av människans livsvillkor. Trilogins karaktärer ställs också inför utmaningar och konflikter grundade i just samhällsförändringar. Det är bland annat dessa inslag som analyseras och diskuteras i studien. Avhandlingen visar på vissa särdrag i det sätt på vilket gränsproblematiken framställs i romanerna. Gränskronotopen är ett utrymme som i romantexten byggs upp av en mängd uppgifter om tid och rum samt vissa motiv. Där konfronteras och synliggörs sedan olika världsbilder, genom möten mellan karaktärer, vilket destabiliserar deras respektive anspråk på sanning. Studien rör också frågan om litteraturens och läsningens betydelse. Kan skönlitteratur sägas oss något om den materiella världen, om den verklighet vi lever i? Den innehåller i alla fall avspeglingar av människans syn på denna verklighet, menade litteraturteoretikern Michail Bachtin, och fiktion kan därmed kasta ljus över våra föreställningar om tillvaron. Kerstin Ekmans trilogi Vargskinnet rymmer mer än så: där problematiseras olika bilder av världen, olika livshållningar, och där prövas också alternativa förhållningssätt. I den fiktiva världen kan den typen av möten iscensättas och få oss att se något annat än det invanda, något Ekmans romaner är ett kraftfullt exempel på. Att människans föreställningar om världen påverkar hennes viktigaste livsval och hennes sätt att agera i svåra situationer blir tydligt genom Vargskinnets karaktärer. De fattar beslut som får både positiva och negativa konsekvenser. En av avhandlingens slutsatser är att gränstematiken i trilogin på ett övergripande plan handlar om en kamp: människans kamp om makten över tiden och rummet