Organic Food and Agriculture - Ethics

Organic food is produced without the use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides. Four further exclusions in organic production are: genetically modified organisms (GMOs), irradiation, prophylactic antibiotics, and engineered nanoparticles. These six exclusions differentiate organic agriculture from chemical agriculture. Agriculture and food harvesting and production date back millennia, and until about a century ago that history is de facto organic. The Industrial Revolution ushered in an era of novel production strategies. Agriculture was not immune to new views of industrialization and reductionism. Advances in chemistry enabled some implementation of such views. Early in the diffusion of chemical farming practices, the Austrian mystic Rudolf Steiner (1865–1924) called for a differentiated agriculture free of these new synthetic chemical inputs. The terminology, theory, and practices of biodynamic agriculture evolved (in the 1920s and 1930s) from Steiner’s Agriculture Course of 1924. It was a guided evolution, coordinated by Ehrenfried Pfeiffer (1899–1961) in Switzerland. The UK agriculturist, Lord Northbourne (1896–1982), invited Pfeiffer to lead a conference on biodynamics at his farm in Kent (in 1939). The following year Northbourne published his manifesto of organic farming, “Look to the Land.” In that book, he coined the term “organic farming” and wrote of a contest of “organic versus chemical farming”.The ideas and ideals of organic farming quickly proliferated internationally off the back of Northbourne’s 1940 book. Organic farming is now practiced in at least 179 countries, accounts for 50.9 million agricultural hectares, and a market value of US$ 81.6 billion (€75 billion)

Noise diffraction patterns eliminated in coherent optical systems

Lens rotation technique of noise diffraction pattern elimination spreads diffracted energy, normally concentrated over small area of image, over much larger annular area. Technique advantages include simplified lens selecting process, reduced clean room requirements, and low cost equipment requirements

Scramjet sidewall burning: Preliminary shock tunnel results

Experiments performed with a two dimensional model scramjet with particular emphasis on the effect of fuel injection from a wall are reported. Air low with a nominal Mach number of 3.5 and varied enthalpies was produced. It was found that neither hydrogen injection angle nor combustor divergence angle had any appreciable effect on thrust values while increased combustor length appeared to increase thrust levels. Specific impulse was observed to peak when hydrogen was injected at an equivalence ratio of about 2. Lowering the Mach number of the injected hydrogen at low equivalence ratios, less than 4, appeared to benefit specific impulse while hydrogen Mach number had little effect at higher equivalence ratios. When a 1:1 mixture by volume of nitrogen and oxygen is used instead of air as a test gas, it is found that hydrogen combustion is enhanced but only at high enthalpies

Further shock tunnel studies of scramjet phenomena

Scramjet phenomena were studied using the shock tunnel T3 at the Australian National University. Simple two dimensional models were used with a combination of wall and central injectors. Silane as an additive to hydrogen fuel was studied over a range of temperatures and pressures to evaluate its effect as an ignition aid. The film cooling effect of surface injected hydrogen was measured over a wide range of equivalence. Heat transfer measurements without injection were repeated to confirm previous indications of heating rates lower than simple flat plate predictions for laminar boundary layers in equilibrium flow. The previous results were reproduced and the discrepancies are discussed in terms of the model geometry and departures of the flow from equilibrium. In the thrust producing mode, attempts were made to increase specific impulse with wall injection. Some preliminary tests were also performed on shock induced ignition, to investigate the possibility in flight of injecting fuel upstream of the combustion chamber, where it could mix but not burn

Elimination of coherent noise in a coherent light imaging system

Optical imaging systems using coherent light introduce objectionable noise into the output image plane. Dust and bubbles on and in lenses cause most of the noise in the output image. This noise usually appears as bull's-eye diffraction patterns in the image. By rotating the lens about the optical axis these diffraction patterns can be essentially eliminated. The technique does not destroy the spatial coherence of the light and permits spatial filtering of the input plane

Shock tunnel studies of scramjet phenomena

Commissioning of the new T4 shock tunnel at the University of Queensland implied that it was no longer necessary to focus the work of the research group about an annual test series conducted in the T3 shock tunnel in Canberra. Therefore, it has been possible to organize a group for work to proceed along lines such that particular personnel are associated with particular project areas. The format of this report consists of a series of reports on specific project areas, with a brief general introduction commenting on each report. The introduction is structured by project areas, with the title of the relevant report stated under the project area heading. The reports themselves follow in the order of the project area headings

Preliminary calibration of a generic scramjet combustor

The results of a preliminary investigation of the combustion of hydrogen fuel at hypersonic flow conditions are provided. The tests were performed in a generic, constant-area combustor model with test gas supplied by a free-piston-driven reflected-shock tunnel. Static pressure measurements along the combustor wall indicated that burning did occur for combustor inlet conditions of P(static) approximately equal to 19kPa, T(static) approximately equal to 1080 K, and U approximately equal to 3630 m/s with a fuel equivalence ratio approximately equal to 0.9. These inlet conditions were obtained by operating the tunnel with stagnation enthalpy approximately equal to 8.1 MJ/kg, stagnation pressure approximately equal to 52 MPa, and a contoured nozzle with a nominal exit Mach number of 5.5

Shock tunnel studies of scramjet phenomena, supplement 6

Reports by the staff of the University of Queensland on various research studies related to the advancement of scramjet technology are presented. These reports document the tests conducted in the reflected shock tunnel T4 and supporting research facilities that have been used to study the injection, mixing, and combustion of hydrogen fuel in generic scramjets at flow conditions typical of hypersonic flight. In addition, topics include the development of instrumentation and measurement technology, such as combustor wall shear and stream composition in pulse facilities, and numerical studies and analyses of the scramjet combustor process and the test facility operation

Shock Tunnel Studies of Scramjet Phenomena 1994

Reports by the research staff and graduate students of the Mechanical Engineering Department at the University of Queensland are collected and presented. These reports cover various studies related to the advancement of scramjet technology and the operation of advanced hypervelocity shock-expansion tubes. The report topics include the experimental studies of mixing and combustion in a scramjet flow path, the measurement of integrated thrust and skin friction, and the development of a free-piston-driven expansion tunnel capable of delivering a test gas at superorbital velocities