After-sales services optimisation through dynamic opportunistic maintenance: a wind energy case study

After-sales maintenance services can be a very profitable source of incomes for original equipment manufacturers (OEM) due to the increasing interest of assets’ users on performance-based contracts. However, when it concerns the product value-adding process, OEM have traditionally been more focused on improving their production processes, rather than on complementing their products by offering after-sales services; consequently leading to difficulties in offering them efficiently. Furthermore, both due to the high uncertainty of the assets’ behaviour and the inherent challenges of managing the maintenance process (e.g. maintenance strategy to be followed or resources to be deployed), it is complex to make business out of the provision of after-sales services. With the aim of helping the business and maintenance decision makers at this point, this paper proposes a framework for optimising the incomes of after-sales maintenance services through: 1) implementing advanced multi-objective opportunistic maintenance strategies that sistematically consider the assets’ operational context in order to perform preventive maintenance during most favourable conditions, 2) considering the specific OEMs’ and users’ needs, and 3) assessing both internal and external uncertainties that might condition the after-sales services’ success. The developed case study for the wind energy sector demonstrates the suitability of the presented framework for optimising the after-sales services.EU Framework Programme Horizon 2020, MSCA-RISE-2014: Marie Skłodowska-Curie Research and Innovation Staff Exchange (RISE) (grant agreement number 645733- Sustain-Owner-H2020-MSCA-RISE-2014) and the EmaitekPlus 2016-2017 Program of the Basque Government

Eurashe - Conferência do 10º Aniversário "Pan Metro Ariston"

Foi nos passados dias 26 e 27 de Maio, em Chania (Creta, Grécia), no âmbito da 10ª Conferência da Eurashe (European Association for Higher Education – uma associação europeia de instituições de ensino superior não universitário), que tive o prazer de, pela primeira vez, ouvir Sócrates Kaplanis, uma figura sui generis, de quem tinha já ouvido falar por diversas vezes, conhecida pela sua saudável irreverência e perturbante personalidade. Professor no Technological Educational Institute de Patras (Grécia), e membro fundador da Eurashe, Sócrates tem sido uma presença constante nas conferências anuais desta Associação e um elemento indispensável no reavivamento dos ensinamentos clássicos (ao mesmo tempo tão contemporâneos), não fosse ele um verdadeiro grego, até mesmo de semblante. Assim, só poderia ter iniciado a sua intervenção (tarde mas não tardia) com alguns diálogos de Platão e tê-la intitulado PAN METRON ARISTON

Galactic magnetic fields and the large-scale anisotropy at MILAGRO

The air-shower observatory Milagro has detected a large-scale anisotropy of unknown origin in the flux of TeV cosmic rays. We propose that this anisotropy is caused by galactic magnetic fields, in particular, that it results from the combined effects of the regular and the turbulent (fluctuating) magnetic fields in our vicinity. Instead of a diffusion equation, we integrate Boltzmann's equation to show that the turbulence may define a preferred direction in the cosmic-ray propagation that is orthogonal to the local regular magnetic field. The approximate dipole anisotropy that we obtain explains well Milagro's data.Comment: 12 pages, version to appear in ApJ

Obesity, metabolic syndrome and diabetes: cardiovascular implications and therapy

Obesity, metabolic syndrome, and type-2 diabetes mellitus are 3 interrelated conditions that share a number of pathophysiological mechanisms and that are frequently observed to lead, in succession, to cardiovascular complications. The fact that their prevalence is increasing alarmingly should prompt all healthcare professionals urgently to implement measures to prevent these complications. The most effective, though also the least adopted, are those related to lifestyle modification. Drug treatment targeted at controlling risk factors (eg, hypertension, dyslipidemia, and thrombophilia), metabolic abnormalities, and excess weight is also necessary

Identificación de fitopatógenos asociados a las principales enfermedades del cultivo de sábila en los municipios de Agua de Dios y Ricaurte (Cundinamarca)

During 2015 the research group Technology and Pro­ductivity, Undertakes Rural SENA program of the Cen­ter for Design Technology and Business Productivity - SENA Girardot, the Colombian Agricultural Institute with its divisions Plant Health, Epidemiology and Phy­tosanitary Surveillance, the Cundinamarca branch and the Agriculture Minister and Rural Development with the National Chain of Aloe, worked hand in hand in the characterization of the major diseases of aloe and identification of pathogens that affect the crop in Agua de Dios and Ricaurte municipalities, Cundinamarca department.As a result of the research obtain the characterizacion of three most limiting diseases and an initial diagnosis of the causative agents is achieved by identifying Fusarium sp., Penicillium sp. and Erwinia sp.Durante el 2015, el grupo de investigación Tecnolo­gía y Productividad, el programa SENA Emprende Rural (SER) del Centro de la Tecnología del Diseño y la Productividad Empresarial del SENA Girardot, el ICA, con las dependencias de Sanidad Vegetal, Epidemiología y Vigilancia Fitosanitaria, la seccional Cundinamarca y el Ministerio de Agricultura y Desarrollo Rural con la Cadena Nacional de la sábila, trabajaron conjuntamente en la caracterización de las principales enfermedades de la sábila e identificación de los microorganismos patógenos que afectan al cultivo en los municipios de Agua de Dios y Ricaur­te, departamento de Cundinamarca.Como resultado de la investigación se caracteriza­ron las tres sintomatologías (enfermedades) principa­les más limitantes y se obtuvo un diagnóstico inicial de los agentes causales identificando Fusarium sp., Penicillium sp. y Erwinia sp

A dynamic opportunistic maintenance model to maximize energy-based availability while reducing the life cycle cost of wind farms

Operations and maintenance costs of the wind power generation systems can be reduced through the implementation of opportunistic maintenance policies at suitable indenture and maintenance levels. These maintenance policies take advantage of the economic dependence among the wind turbines and their systems, performing preventive maintenance tasks in running systems when some other maintenance tasks have to be undertaken in the wind farm. The existing opportunistic maintenance models for the wind energy sector follow a static decision making process, regardless of the operational and environmental context. At the same time, on some occasions policies do not refer to practical indenture and maintenance levels. In this paper, a maintenance policy based on variable reliability thresholds is presented. This dynamic nature of the reliability thresholds, which vary according to the weather conditions, provides flexibility to the decision making process. Within the presented model, multi-level maintenance, capacity constraints and multiple failure modes per system have been considered. A comparative study, based on real operation, maintenance and weather data, demonstrates that the dynamic opportunistic maintenance policy significantly outperforms traditional corrective and static opportunistic maintenance strategies, both in terms of the overall wind farm energy production and the Life Cycle Cost.Unión Europea H2020-MSCA-RISE-2014 64573

Two new supramolecular assemblies obtained by reaction between saccharin and long-chain diamines

The crystal structures of heptamethylenediammonium bis(saccharinate) monohydrate, [H3N-(CH2)7-NH3J(sac) 2-H2O(1) and octamethylenediammonium bis(saccharinate) hemihydrate, [H3N-(CH2)8-NH3J(sac) 2-0.5H2O(2), were determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction methods. Compound 1 crystallizes in the triclinic space group PI with 2 molecules per unit cell, and 2 in the mono-clinic space group P2 1/a with Z = 4. The saccharinate moiety is planar in both compounds presenting bonding characteristics comparable to those found in other saccharinate salts. The ionic crystals are fürther stabilized by an extensive H-bonding network, which links the anions and cations into an infinite three-dimensional supramolecular assembly. The FTIR spectra of the adducts are briefly discussed in comparison with those of the constituent molecules.Facultad de Ciencias ExactasCentro de Química Inorgánic