Taming B.C. Hydro: Site C and the implementation of the B.C. Utilities Commission Act

Public policy making in resources management is greatly influenced by the institutional arrangements that arise out of the legal powers, administrative structures, and financial provisions of the decision system. In British Columbia, the institutional arrangements for energy planning in the province have been greatly altered by the passage of the Utilities Commission Act in 1980. This act redefines the policy implementation process for energy in British Columbia and provides for the regulation of the province's power utility, B.C. Hydro. This is the first time that the hitherto autonomous utility has been subject to regulation and the Utilities Commission Act represents a major reform in the institutional arrangements for energy planning in the province. The article evaluates the effectiveness of the 1980 B.C. Utilities Commission Act and assesses the impact of the legislation upon the institutional arrangements for energy planning in the province. Data for the article were derived from written sources and a series of personal interviews with key participants involved with energy planning in B.C.It is shown that the act represented a major departure in the management of energy resources in B.C. Moreover the implementation of the act's provisions, particularly in regard to B.C. Hydro, had a dramatic impact on the development of new energy projects in the province. It is suggested that while the political and economic climate during the period also favored restraint, the major influence on taming the utility was passage of the Utilities Commission Act. The article concludes by exploring the implications of policy changes that have occurred as a consequence of the act's impact on B.C. Hydro.     

略论高压水射流清洗效率的提高途径

目前,我国工业清洗发展很快,大型高压水射流多功能清洗设备的用量日渐增多,并在清洗行业中的作用越来越大。但是,在使用中,普遍存在着压力和流量不合理、高压水泵能量利用率低、高压管路压力损失过大、喷枪、喷头涡流严重等弊病,为解决上述问题进行了提高高压水射流清洗效率的研究工作。     

氧化铁粒径对固体推进剂火焰特征参数影响的试验研究

针对5-氨基四氮唑/硝酸锶固体推进剂在实际应用中存在的推进剂火焰偏大、容易在灭火装置喷口处形成外喷火焰的问题,选用了微米氧化铁和纳米氧化铁作为催化剂,分别从火焰形态、质量损失速率、热释放速率、无量纲火焰高度模型几个角度开展研究,对比了两种不同粒径的氧化铁对5-氨基四氮唑/硝酸锶固体推进剂燃烧火焰的优化效果。根据燃烧试验结果,发现不论是富氧燃烧还是贫氧燃烧,在降低推进剂燃烧时的火焰高度方面,微米氧化铁均明显优于纳米氧化铁;在提高质量损失速率方面,微米氧化铁的加速效果也要优于纳米氧化铁。基于传统的液态燃料油池火发展的火焰高度预测模型,将无量纲火焰高度与热释放速率的分析关系应用到固体推进剂燃烧领域,考虑使用无量纲火焰高度的分析方法,对固体推进剂燃烧过程中的火焰高度进行预测,建立了5-氨基四氮唑/硝酸锶固体推进剂的无量纲火焰高度模型,发现不含氧化铁和含有氧化铁的5-氨基四氮唑/硝酸锶固体推进剂燃烧时的火焰高度与热释放速率的n次方成正比,该无量纲拟合可以对固体推进剂火焰高度进行预测。最终,得出了微米氧化铁比纳米氧化铁更适合作为催化剂被用于5-氨基四氮唑/硝酸锶推进剂中,有利于提高固体推进式灭火装置的灭火效果。     

不同疏密度条件下纸堆燃烧特性研究

利用热释放速率测量平台,开展了纸堆燃烧特性的实验研究。其中纸堆体积为0.45m×0.45m×0.2m~0.45m×0.45m×0.6m,质量为0.3kg~2.7kg,疏密度为7.4kg/m3~22.2kg/m3。结果表明,当纸堆的密度变大时,纸堆的有效燃烧热值下降,未燃尽部分增多。在t平方增长火模型中,纸堆也不再总是适用于快速增长火,当纸堆疏密度变大,其火灾强度系数α减小,并拟合了疏密度与火灾强度系数的经验公式。     

Hybrid power supply solutions for off-grid green wireless networks

Increasing deployment of cellular networks across the globe is pushing the energy consumption in cellular networks at an exceptional rate. The integration of renewable energy (RE) harvesting technology into future mobile networks has the potential to positively cope with environmental contamination and ensure self-energy sustainability as a means to decrease fossil fuel consumption. Diesel generator (DG) in conjunction with on-site RE harvester has emerged as an economic and extent efficient option where commercial grid supply is not viable. This paper is focused on the cost aware energy management framework addressing to least net present cost (NPC) for the envisioned hybrid powered green cellular base stations (BSs) considering tempo-spatial traffic dynamics. In such wireless networks, solar photovoltaic modules are considered as a primary energy source, while the DG and energy storage device are kept as the standby supply in case of inadequate solar energy to ensure zero outage. A comprehensive simulation-based investigation is carried out in the context of downlink Long-Term Evolution (LTE) cellular networks for evaluating cost-efficiency and reliability performance under a wide range of network settings. Particularly, this paper examines the energy yield, greenhouse gas emissions, and cost analysis based on the optimal architecture of Remote Radio Head-enabled LTE BS. Moreover, wireless network performance in terms of throughput, energy efficiency gain, and radio efficiency is thoroughly investigated using Monte Carlo simulations. Numerical results demonstrate a substantial reduction of carbon footprints with minimum NPC while satisfying the quality of service requirements.     

Steam cavity and explosion intensity of molten copper column interaction with water

The steam explosion is one of the most serious accidents in the metallurgical industry. In this paper, an experimental study on the interaction of molten copper column with cooling water was carried out using high-speed camera and transient pressure measurement system. The effects of temperature, falling height, diameter and mass of molten copper column on the interaction were investigated. The steam cavity phenomenon was observed in the interaction and the percentage of steam cavity volume affects the probability of fragmentation of molten copper column. The maximum percentage of steam cavity volume increases firstly and then decreases with the increase of temperature and falling height. It increases with the increase of diameter of molten copper column, but the mass has a weak effect. The pressure wave generated by the interaction of molten copper column with cooling water gradually increases with an increase in the temperature of molten copper column. The energy conversion rate in the interaction of molten copper column with cooling water was calculated. The rate of energy conversion from the thermal energy of molten copper column to the energy of pressure wave is low because most of the thermal energy is dissipated into the cooling water by heat transfer.     

An economic and environmental framework for analyzing globally sourced auto parts packaging system

Competitive forces are driving US domestic manufacturers to source parts globally, which significantly extends their supply chain and introduces new sustainability concerns. This paper addresses the situation from an operating division manager's perspective. We present an approach to packaging system assessment which considers the division manager's span of control, addresses the design of packaging and the corresponding logistics processes, and incorporates both cost and environmental impacts. A construct familiar to operations managers, the value stream map, is adapted to model material flow of both parts and packages, and an integrated material flow analysis is used as the common basis for cost analysis, a modified life cycle environmental impact analysis, and an energy consumption analysis. The framework is illustrated using a case study of a major US automaker.     

城市污水处理厂鼓风曝气阶段的节能降耗研究

近几年我国建成并运行的污水处理厂越来越多,许多污水处理厂因为无法解决巨额的运行费用而不能正常运转,因此对污水处理厂运行进行优化管理,节约能源费用,降低处理成本是保障污水处理厂正常运行的重要手段。本文通过对城市污水厂中的“最耗能段”一鼓风曝气阶段的节能措施进行能耗分析与评价,提出此工艺段的节能措施。     

大气二氧化硫两种分析方法对测定结果的影响

对甲醛缓冲溶液吸收－盐酸副玫瑰胺测定大气中ＳＯ２的两种分析方法进行了对比实验表明，由于实验条件和试剂浓度不同，造成测定结果有一定差异，（空气和废气监测分析方法）法略高于（环境监测技术规范）法。     

清洁能源实施效果评价

2001年11月启动的中国国家"十五"攻关重大专项"清洁能源行动"涉及17个试点示范城市,经过3年多的探索与实施,取得了明显成效.着重从污染物排放、空气质量、清洁能源消费、人均能耗和万元产值能耗等环境效益方面对清洁能源实施效果进行科学评价,为推广试点示范城市的先进经验和城市可持续发展提供依据.