Innertkirchen compensation basin outlets – Flap gate combined with small stilling basin

In the context of an update of their hydropower plants, the Hydroelectric Company KWO plans an adaption of their powerhouses Innertkirchen 1 and 2. One aim of the project is, among many others, an optimized restitution regime of the turbined water to the Aare River. Therefore, a compensation basin is planned to reduce the currently pronounced hydro-peaking. The basin is situated downstream of the Hasliaare and the Gadmerwasser confluence, next to the outlets of the two powerhouses. The spatial situation and the geology implicate strong restrictions regarding the volume of the compensation basin, allowing for a storage capacity of approximately 20’000 m3. This volume is more than doubled by a voluminous tailrace tunnel between the turbines and the basin. The regulation of the basin is assured by a flap gate and a radial gate. The basin intents to limit hydro peaking, and thereby ameliorates the ecology of the Aare River between the basin and Lake of Brienz. It will facilitate to access the Gadmerwasser for the fishes, which is known as excellent spawning ground. The efficiency and reliability of the basin regulation structures is a key item for the operation of the two powerhouses. The basin outlet gates were thus model-tested at the Laboratory of Hydraulic Constructions of EPFL, Switzerland, to assure an sufficient discharge capacity even for elevated water levels in the Aare River, to avoid unwanted erosion on the area, to avoid sedimentation of the structure by the bed load of the Aare River, and to generated acceptable conditions for fish passage along the Aare River. The modeled hydraulic perimeter covered the basin outlet structure, a length of some 250 m of the Aare River, as well as a part of the compensation basin. The model is set-up with a geometrical scale factor of 1:40 and operated under the similitude of Froude. In the experiments, the efficiency of the basin regulation gates is tested. Additionally, water levels, flow velocities and the erosion of the river bed are measured. The paper describes this particular case study with some optimization steps; finally leading to a solution with satisfies the principle requests. Given the importance of the ecological aspects and the Swiss legislation, the present compensation basin can provide ideas and concepts for similar structures to foresee in the near future

Revolutionizing Clinical Microbiology Laboratory Organization in Hospitals with In Situ Point-of-Care

BACKGROUND: Clinical microbiology may direct decisions regarding hospitalization, isolation and anti-infective therapy, but it is not effective at the time of early care. Point-of-care (POC) tests have been developed for this purpose. METHODS AND FINDINGS: One pilot POC-lab was located close to the core laboratory and emergency ward to test the proof of concept. A second POC-lab was located inside the emergency ward of a distant hospital without a microbiology laboratory. Twenty-three molecular and immuno-detection tests, which were technically undemanding, were progressively implemented, with results obtained in less than four hours. From 2008 to 2010, 51,179 tests yielded 6,244 diagnoses. The second POC-lab detected contagious pathogens in 982 patients who benefited from targeted isolation measures, including those undertaken during the influenza outbreak. POC tests prevented unnecessary treatment of patients with non-streptococcal tonsillitis (n = 1,844) and pregnant women negative for Streptococcus agalactiae carriage (n = 763). The cerebrospinal fluid culture remained sterile in 50% of the 49 patients with bacterial meningitis, therefore antibiotic treatment was guided by the molecular tests performed in the POC-labs. With regard to enterovirus meningitis, the mean length-of-stay of infected patients over 15 years old significantly decreased from 2008 to 2010 compared with 2005 when the POC was not in place (1.43±1.09 versus 2.91±2.31 days; p = 0.0009). Altogether, patients who received POC tests were immediately discharged nearly thrice as often as patients who underwent a conventional diagnostic procedure. CONCLUSIONS: The on-site POC-lab met physicians' needs and influenced the management of 8% of the patients that presented to emergency wards. This strategy might represent a major evolution of decision-making regarding the management of infectious diseases and patient care

A Study of Advanced High-Loaded Transonic Turbine Airfoils

The development of high performance turbine airfoils has been investigated under the condition of a supersonic exit Mach number. In order to obtain a new aerodynamic design concept for a high loaded turbine rotor blade, we employed an evolutionary algorithm for numerical optimization. The target of the optimization method, which is called evolution strategy (ES), was the minimization of the total pressure loss and the deviation angle. The optimization process includes the representation of the airfoil geometry, the generation of the grid for a blade-to-blade CFD analysis, and a 2D Navier-Stokes solver with a low-Re k-eps turbulence model in order to evaluate the performance. Some interesting aspects, for example, a double shock system and an early transition observed in the optimized airfoil are discussed. The increased performance of the optimized blade has been confirmed by detailed experimental investigation, using conventional probes, hot films and L2F system

The future European standard to determine odour in ambient air by using field inspection

peer reviewedThis paper presents the methodologies to determine odour in ambient air by field inspection that will be a new European standard. The objective is to characterize the odour in a defined area. Without making a link with potential annoyance due to the presence of odours, the described methods propose the way to characterize an exposed environment. Two approaches are defined in the new standard: the grid method and the plume method. The grid method can be used determine the exposure to ambient odours in a defined area of study, using direct observation of recognizable odours in the field by human panel members. This method must be applied over a sufficiently long period of time (6 or 12 months) to be representative for the meteorological conditions of that location. The result is the distribution of the frequency of exposure to odours within the assessment area. The plume method can be used to determine the extent of detectable and recognizable odours from a specific source using direct observation in the field by human panel members under specific meteorological conditions

Lösungspfade aus der Systemforschung – Pfade für das Gesamtsystem und Modellierungsansätze

Ziel der Energiesystemanalyse ist es, technische, ökonomische und politische Entscheidungen im Energiesystem wissens- und informationsbasiert zu unterstützen. Die Energiesystemanalyse beschäftigt sich mit der künftigen Gestaltung des Energiesystems und nutzt Detailinformationen aus allen Bereichen des Energiesystems, um Zusammenhänge und Wechselwirkungen zu analysieren. Mit Hilfe von meist komplexen Modellen werden diese Zusammenhänge quantifiziert und gegenläufige Abhängigkeiten (trade-offs), aber auch win-win-Situationen identifiziert. Die Ergebnisse sollen dazu beitragen, das Energiesystem über die Summe aller Einzelperspektiven hinaus zu verbessern und mögliche Transformationspfade aufzuzeigen

Lösungspfade aus der Systemforschung - Pfade für das Gesamtsystem und Modellierungsansätze

Ziel der Energiesystemanalyse ist es, technische, ökonomische und politische Entscheidungen im Energiesystem wissens- und informationsbasiert zu unterstützen. Die Energiesystemanalyse beschäftigt sich mit der künftigen Gestaltung des Energiesystems und nutzt Detailinformationen aus allen Bereichen des Energiesystems, um Zusammenhänge und Wechselwirkungen zu analysieren. Mit Hilfe von meist komplexen Modellen werden diese Zusammenhänge quantifiziert und gegenläufige Abhängigkeiten (trade-offs), aber auch win-win-Situationen identifiziert. Die Ergebnisse sollen dazu beitragen, das Energiesystem über die Summe aller Einzelperspektiven hinaus zu verbessern und mögliche Transformationspfade aufzuzeigen

Deutschland auf dem Weg aus der Gaskrise – Wie sich Klimaschutz und Energiesouveränität vereinen lassen

Von kurzfristigen Interventionen für die Energiesicherheit bis hin zu längerfristigen Weichenstellungen für den Kurs auf Klimaneutralität sind in den Sektoren Gebäude, Industrie und Energiewirtschaft massive Einsparungen beim Gasverbrauch unerlässlich. Ariadne-Fachleute buchstabieren erstmals im Modell- und Szenarienvergleich aus, welche Stellschrauben und Spielräume zur Verfügung stehen