Decision Support System for Design and Evaluation of Pipeline Projects

Petronet India Limited (PIL) was created to give impetus to investments in pipeline projects for transportation of petroleum products in the country. Since these projects have a long life and require large investments, correct assessment of location, capacity and financial viability are of critical importance. This paper is based on the study undertaken for PIL to evaluate a few of their pipeline projects. The study resulted in creation of a comprehensive software package that is capable of operational and financial evaluation of pipeline projects based on countrywide view on production and distribution of petroleum products. The core of the package is an LP based optimization model. The package is capable of performing sensitivity analysis to investigate the impact of uncertainty on the proposed project due to from changes in the values of key factors including distribution network and capacities, refining capacities and pattern of demand. •A model is developed for identification of viable pipeline projects, taking into account the demand and capacity additions to production and distribution network for petroleum products in the future. •The model can be used for financial evaluation of such projects based on appropriate assumptions to forecast the investments required as well as the net cash flows from the project. •The solution procedure is implemented for the models developed in the form of a software package that would allow the decision maker to experiment with assumption and generate solutions with ease and with little manual intervention. •The software package developed above is further embellished so that it also provides additional information to the decision maker in the form of reports that contain details of movement of products and the mode combinations used for the movements.

Kruskal coordinates as canonical variables for Schwarzschild black holes

We derive a transformation from the usual ADM metric-extrinsic curvature variables on the phase space of Schwarzschild black holes, to new canonical variables which have the interpretation of Kruskal coordinates. We explicitly show that this transformation is non-singular, even at the horizon. The constraints of the theory simplify in terms of the new canonical variables and are equivalent to the vanishing of the canonical momenta. Our work is based on earlier seminal work by Kuchar in which he reconstructed curvature coordinates and a mass function from spherically symmetric canonical data. The key feature in our construction of a nonsingular canonical transformation to Kruskal variables, is the scaling of the curvature coordinate variables by the mass function rather than by the mass at left spatial infinity.Comment: 18 pages, no figure

Classical and quantum geometrodynamics of 2d vacuum dilatonic black holes

We perform a canonical analysis of the system of 2d vacuum dilatonic black holes. Our basic variables are closely tied to the spacetime geometry and we do not make the field redefinitions which have been made by other authors. We present a careful discssion of asymptotics in this canonical formalism. Canonical transformations are made to variables which (on shell) have a clear spacetime significance. We are able to deduce the location of the horizon on the spatial slice (on shell) from the vanishing of a combination of canonical data. The constraints dramatically simplify in terms of the new canonical variables and quantization is easy. The physical interpretation of the variable conjugate to the ADM mass is clarified. This work closely parallels that done by Kucha{\v r} for the vacuum Schwarzschild black holes and is a starting point for a similar analysis, now in progress, for the case of a massless scalar field conformally coupled to a 2d dilatonic black hole.Comment: 21 pages, latex fil

Russia in theTwenty-first Century

Russia’s position in the world is determined by her relations with the US, with both the Democrats and the Communists expecting some form of parity. But the US has not defeated Russia in the Cold War to concede parity. The US unilaterally withdrew from the ABM Treaty in 2001; the START negotiations have lost meaning; NATO has been steadily expanded over Russian objections; and Russia has accepted US bases in Central Asia. Russia can seek solace in the NMD not yet being technologically convincing, in NATO being too flabby for action and Russia herself being a part of NATO, in the terrorist threat of the Taliban being eliminated, and in the absence of direct confrontation with the US. Therefore Russia has turned her attention to conventional capability to beat off threats like the Chechen insurgency and to reforming the army. Russia’s dealing with Libya, Iraq, Iran, and North Korea have more to do with commercial calculations than challenges to the US. Her special relationships with China and India, the ones that are genuinely independent of US, are likewise driven by the commercial issue of large scale arms sales rather than strategic considerations, although the latter are always kept in view in case they have to be activated

Putin's strategy: stabilization through subordination to the US

La posició de Rússia en el món ve determinada per les seves relacions amb els Estats Units. Després de la seva derrota a la guerra freda, tant els demòcrates com els comunistes esperen alguna forma de paritat, però els Estats Units no havien derrotat Rússia per concedir la paritat. Els Estats Units es van retirar unilateralment del Tractat ABMel 2001, l'inici de les negociacions va perdre el seu sentit, l'OTAN s'ha expandit gradualment malgrat les objeccions de Rússia i Rússia ha acceptat les bases dels Estats Units a l'Àsia Central. Rússia pot buscar consol en el fet que el NMD no és tecnològicament convincent, que l'OTAN és massa feble per a l'acció—Rússia també forma part de l'OTAN—, en l'eliminació de l'amenaça terrorista talibana i en l'absència d'un enfrontament directe amb els Estats Units. Per tal de protegir-se de les amenaces com la insurgència txetxena, Rússia ha fixat la seva atenció a reformar l'exèrcit i en la capacitat convencional. Avui els tractes de Rússia amb Líbia, l'Iraq, l'Iran i Corea del Nord tenen més a veure amb càlculs comercials que no pas amb desafiaments als Estats Units. Les seves relacions especials amb la Xina i l'Índia—que són realment independents dels Estats Units—també tenen motius comercials, com ara la venda d'armes a gran escala, i no motius estratègics, tot i que aquests últims sempre es mantenen a la reserva per si són necessaris.Russia’s position in the world is determined by its relations with the US. After its defeat in the ColdWar, both democrats and communists hoped for some form of parity but the US had not defeated Russia to concede parity. The US unilaterally withdrew from the ABM Treaty in 2001, the START negotiations lost all meaning, NATO has steadily expanded despite Russia’s objections and Russia has accepted US bases in Central Asia. Russia can seek solace in the NMD not being technologically convincing, in NATO being too flabby for action (and Russia itself being a part of NATO), in the terrorist threat of the Taliban being eliminated, and in the absence of direct confrontation with the US. In order to ward off threats like the Chechen insurgency, Russia has turned its attention to reforming the army and to conventional capability. Today, Russia’s dealings with Libya, Iraq, Iran, and North Korea have more to do with commercial calculations than challenges to the US. Its special relationships with China and India – that are genuinely independent of the US – are likewise driven by commercial issues, such as large scale arms sales, rather than strategic considerations, although the latter are always kept in reserve should they be needed

Inverse and variable structure trajectory control of a flexible robotic manipulator

This thesis introduces two schemes that control the end effector trajectory and stabilize a two-link flexible robotic arm. They are (i) The Inverse Trajectory Control scheme and (ii) The Variable Structure System (VSS) scheme; The Inverse Trajectory Control scheme develops a control law based on the inversion of an input-output map. The stable maneuver of the arm depends on the stability of the zero dynamics of the system. A linear stabilizer is designed for the final capture of the terminal state and stabilization of the elastic modes; The second scheme incorporates a Variable Structure Control law which includes robustness in its design. A discontinuous output control law is derived which accomplishes the desired trajectory tracking of the output. This control scheme involves two phases, the \u27reaching phase\u27 and the \u27sliding phase\u27; Simulation results are presented to show that large maneuvers can be performed in the presence of payload uncertainty. (Abstract shortened with permission of author.)

Indian Convertible Bonds with Unspecified Terms: An Empirical Study

Indian convertible bonds have two peculiar features that make them possibly unique in the world: a) the bonds are compulsorily converted into equity without any option, and b) the conversion terms are not specified at the time of issue but are left to be determined subsequently by the Controller of Capital Issues (CCI) who is the government functionary regulating capital issues in India. A naive model would say that the market simply forms an estimate of the likely conversion terms and then values the bond as if these terms were prespecified. This paper examines the market prices of one of the largest issues of Indian convertible bonds with unspecified terms. The empirical investigation convincingly rejects the naive model and demonstrates that changes in the markets expectation of the conversion terms are a significant factor affecting the pricing relationship. These changes are significantly correlated with the stock price itself. We do not, however, find any evidence that the market expects the CCI to adjust the conversion terms on the basis of the actual market price to protect the bondholder. But, there is strong evidence that changes in expected conversion terms affect the share price through the dilution effect. Since the unspecified terms have only added to the uncertainty of the bondholders without giving them any perceived benefits we recommend that this system should be abolished. In a companion paper, Barua and Varma (1991) present a theoretical valuation model for the Indian convertible bonds with unspecified terms. The empirical results in this paper confirm the predictions of that model.

Detecting phase transitions in community structures using big data analysis of the engineering education research landscape: a European perspective

Comunicação apresentada na 44th SEFI Conference, 12-­15 September 2016, Tampere, Finlan

Distress — Cause and Effect: A Diagnostic Study

Detailed site investigation, rigorous analysis and smart design of any engineering project prove to offer a successful product provided Quality Control and Quality Assurance are enforced during the construction phase. Failure to comply with QA/QC led to premature distress and extensive damage. A typical case, where negligence to address extenuating problems that arose during the construction stage resulted in severe damage is investigated and reported. Post-construction diagnostic study to unravel the cause and effect is presented