Impacts of Off-Road Vehicles (ORVs) on Macrobenthic Assemblages on Sandy Beaches

Sandy beaches are the prime sites for human recreation and underpin many coastal economies and developments. In many coastal areas worldwide, beach recreation relies on the use of off-road vehicles (ORVs) driven on the shore. Yet, the use of ORVs is not universally embraced due to social conflicts with other beach user groups and putative environmental consequences of vehicle traffic on sandy shores. Such ecological impacts of ORVs are, however, poorly understood for endobenthic invertebrates of the intertidal zone seawards of the dunes. Consequently, this study quantified the degree to which assemblages of intertidal beach invertebrates are affected by traffic. The study design comprised a series of temporally replicated spatial contrasts between two reference sites (no ORVs) and two beaches with heavy ORV traffic (in excess of 250,000 vehicles per year) located in South-East Queensland, Australia. Macrobenthic assemblages on ORV-impacted beaches had significantly fewer species at substantially reduced densities, resulting in marked shifts in community composition and structure. These shifts were particularly strong on the middle and upper shore where vehicle traffic was concentrated. Strong effects of ORVs were detectable in all seasons, but increased towards the summer months as a result of heavier traffic volumes. This study provides clear evidence that ORVs can have substantial impacts on sandy beach invertebrates that are manifested throughout the whole community. Demonstrating such an ecological impact caused by a single type of human use poses a formidable challenge to management, which needs to develop multi-faceted approaches to balance environmental, social, cultural, and economic arguments in the use of sandy shores, including management of “beach traffic.”     

基于远程数据的重型柴油车实际道路碳排放测算准确度

利用车载排放测试系统(PEMS),对3辆加装有车载诊断系统(OBD)远程监控设备的重型柴油车进行实际道路排放测试,以获取车辆实际道路基于电子控制器单元(ECU)的OBD远程油耗数据,分析碳排放结果的准确性及其影响因素.研究发现,基于碳平衡法获取的ECU油耗换算CO₂与车载排放测量系统(PEMS)直接测量的CO₂排放结果存在差异,二者偏差平均为2.06%.对影响ECU碳排放计算的关键因素(ECU油耗量和ECU行驶距离)的准确性进行了分析,发现ECU油耗的偏差均在3%以内,而ECU测量距离的平均偏差为2.41%.ECU油耗和行驶距离的准确度会受到车速、加速度和整个行程动态的影响.当车辆低速行驶时,其准确度较低.     

运用模拟方法解决步行街人车混流区问题

在分析城市步行街及其周边存在人车混行、人员密度高、通行效率低、潜在的危险大的基础上,笔者用计算机模拟方法研究了沈阳市中街步行街的一个人车混行的交叉路口,实际勘察了十字路口道路格局、车流、人流状况,测量、估计通过路口的人数、流量,根据获得的数据,对不设置交通信号灯、设置信号灯、建设过街天桥或地下通道等几种情况进行模拟,得到各种情况下的通行效率,并对不同的过街方案的优缺点进行比较。最终选择过街方案需要综合考虑影响安全和效率的多种因素,包括地域、人流量、路口宽度、周边交通等因素,用较小的经济投入取得最大的通行效率。文中的模拟采用EXODUS软件。     

Waste management of electric and electronic equipment: comparative analysis of end-of-life strategies

This article analyzes diverse aspects of the waste management of electronic and electric equipment. The scope of the study focuses on end-of-life strategies currently implemented in industrialized economies such as Japan, the United States, and the European Union. The objective is a comparative analysis of such strategies in order to identify logistic issues that may contribute to the further improvement of waste management policies. The results indicate that although all strategies follow the extended producer responsibility principle, in practice several logistic differences arise due to particular interpretations of the concept. In general, it was observed that a direct comparison is rather difficult since the strategies consider different legal frameworks, they cover different types and numbers of products, and the resultant mass flows and related operational costs are highly context-dependent variables. Therefore, it is not possible to indicate which strategy presents the highest overall efficiency. The study concludes that a little contribution is feasible if the advantages and weaknesses of the models depicted and discussed here are considered in further regulatory decisions.Extended version of the poster presentation A comparative analysis of end-of-life strategies for home appliances in Japan, America, and the European Union, accepted at the 31st Annual Meeting of Environmental Systems Research, Japan Society of Civil Engineers (JSCE), October 24–25, 2003, Kitakyushu, Japan     

交通来源颗粒物排放因子的研究

用谭裕沟隧道TSP,PM₁₀和PM_2.5的质量浓度和主要成分的分析结果,得到一定机动车流量和速度下交通来源不同粒径颗粒物质量浓度和主要成分的平均排放因子,可以基本代表北京市机动车行驶的综合排放因子,具有应用价值.还估算了北京市交通来源不同粒径颗粒物及其主要化学成分的排放量.      

活性炭纤维在机动车尾气净化中的研究与应用展望

机动车尾气净化控制的一个难点在于冷启动阶段,此时由于温度较低,催化剂尚未完全起作用,导致排出的污染物浓度较高。阐述了活性炭纤维的基本特性,特别是其低温吸附与催化性能对NO和CO的转化作用,讨论了活性炭纤维作为机动车尾气净化材料所需的改性及方法,并展望了其应用前景。     

Research on an Online Identification Algorithm for a Thevenin Battery Model by an Experimental Approach

To improve the estimation accuracy of battery’s inner state for battery management system, an online parameters identification algorithm for Thevenin battery model is researched. The Thevenin model and parameters identification algorithm based on recursive least square adaptive filter algorithm was built with the Simulink/xPC Target. The results of hardware-in-loop experiment, which uses Federal Urban Driving Schedule test to verify the parameters identification approach, show the proposed approach can accurately identify the model parameters within 1% maximum terminal voltage estimation error, and the State of Charge error which calculated by the open circuit voltage estimates can be efficiently reduced to 4%.     

Research on ammonia emissions characteristics from light-duty gasoline vehicles

In this study, ammonia emissions characteristics of typical light-duty gasoline vehicles were obtained through laboratory vehicle bench test and combined with New European Driving Cycle (NEDC) condition and Worldwide Harmonized Light Vehicles Test Cycle (WLTC) condition. The influence of ambient temperature on ammonia emissions is mainly concentrated in the cold start stage. The influence of ambient temperature on ammonia emission is shown that the ammonia emissions of light-duty gasoline vehicles under ambient temperature conditions (14 and 23°C) are lower than those under low ambient temperature conditions (?7°C) and high ambient temperature conditions (35 and 40°C). The influence of TWC on ammonia emission is shown that ammonia is a by-product of the catalytic reduction reaction of conventional gas pollutants in the exhaust gas in the TWC. Under NEDC operating conditions and WLTC operating conditions, ammonia emissions after the catalyst are 45 times and 72 times that before the catalyst, respectively. In terms of ammonia emissions control strategy research, Pd/Rh combination can reduce NH₃ formation more effectively than catalyst with a single Pd formula. Precise control of the engine's air-fuel ratio and combination with the optimized matched precious metal ratio TWC can effectively reduce ammonia emissions.     

A future perspective on lithium-ion battery waste flows from electric vehicles

As a proactive step towards understanding future waste management challenges, this paper presents a future oriented material flow analysis (MFA) used to estimate the volume of lithium-ion battery (LIB) wastes to be potentially generated in the United States due to electric vehicle (EV) deployment in the near and long term future. Because future adoption of LIB and EV technology is uncertain, a set of scenarios was developed to bound the parameters most influential to the MFA model and to forecast “low,” “baseline,” and “high” projections of future end-of-life battery outflows from years 2015 to 2040. These models were implemented using technology forecasts, technical literature, and bench-scale data characterizing battery material composition. Considering the range from the most conservative to most extreme estimates, a cumulative outflow between 0.33 million metric tons and 4 million metric tons of lithium-ion cells could be generated between 2015 and 2040. Of this waste stream, only 42% of the expected materials (by weight) is currently recycled in the U.S., including metals such as aluminum, cobalt, copper, nickel, and steel. Another 10% of the projected EV battery waste stream (by weight) includes two high value materials that are currently not recycled at a significant rate: lithium and manganese. The remaining fraction of this waste stream will include materials with low recycling potential, for which safe disposal routes must be identified. Results also indicate that because of the potential “lifespan mismatch” between battery packs and the vehicles in which they are used, batteries with high reuse potential may also be entering the waste stream. As such, a robust end-of-life battery management system must include an increase in reuse avenues, expanded recycling capacity, and ultimate disposal routes that minimize risk to human and environmental health.     

Incorporation of neural network analysis into a technique for automatically sorting lightweight metal scrap generated by ELV shredder facilities

In an attempt to improve the technique of automatic sorting of lightweight metal scrap by sensing apparent density and three-dimensional shape, realized by the combination of a three-dimensional (3D) imaging camera and a meter to weigh a moving object on a conveyor belt, neural network analysis was integrated into the scrap identification algorithm, and its effect on the sorting accuracy of this technique was examined using approximately 1750 pieces of scrap sampled at three different end-of-life vehicle (ELV) shredder facilities. As a result, the newly developed algorithm, in which an unknown fragment is identified by passing through two discriminant analyses and one neural network analysis, was demonstrated to greatly decrease the time required for data analysis to prepare the identification algorithm without reducing the sorting accuracy. The average sorting accuracy for a mixture of three types of lightweight metal fragments was found to be 85%, based on the fact that the fist-sized fragments of cast aluminum, wrought aluminum, and magnesium sampled at the three ELV shredder facilities had similar apparent densities and 3D shapes. It was also suggested that still higher sorting performance is possible by repeating the procedure of modifying the database and re-learning of the neural network in the identification algorithm.