SAFEST TO TRAVEL BY BICYCLE,CAR, OR BIG TRUCK?

This study compares highway crash incidence, injuries, and costs by vehicle type. Annual crash and injury incidence were estimated using Crashworthiness Data System (1988-1991), National Automotive Sampling System (1982-1986), General Estimates System (1992-1993), and Fatal Analysis Reporting System (1993) data. Costs were computed based on restraint use, body region, and threat-to-life severity of the injury. Costs were then allocated between vehicle types using three different methods in order to answer comparative safety questions. Motor vehicle and bicycle crash costs total $389 billion annually; 75% resulting from passenger vehicles. Motorcycles and bicycles have the highest costs per 1000 vehicle and passenger miles; costs per victim are highest for pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorcyclists. Costs per vehicle mile for heavy trucks and passenger cars are comparable but exceed costs for light trucks. Passenger vehicle occupants are safest if a crash occurs. Light truck, other single truck, and bus occupants have the lowest cost per passenger mile, but higher costs than air and rail travelers. Motorcyclists face the greatest risks. Combination trucks may not impose an excess risk to other drivers, but their drivers face large risks.     

Combination of biodiesel-ethanol-diesel fuel blend and SCR catalyst assembly to reduce emissions from a heavy-duty diesel engine

In this study, the efforts to reduce NOx and particulate matter （PM） emissions from a diesel engine using both ethanol-selective catalytic reduction （SCR） of NOx over an Ag/Al2O3 catalyst and a biodiesel-ethanol-diesel fuel blend （BE-diesel） on an engine bench test are discussed. Compared with diesel fuel, use of BE-diesel increased PM emissions by 14% due to the increase in the soluble organic fraction （SOF） of PM, but it greatly reduced the Bosch smoke number by 60%-80% according to the results from 13-mode test of European Stationary Cycle （ESC） test. The SCR catalyst was effective in NOx reduction by ethanol, and the NOx conversion was approximately 73%. Total hydrocarbons （THC） and CO emissions increased significantly during the SCR of NOx process. Two diesel oxidation catalyst （DOC） assemblies were used after Ag/Al2O3 converter to remove CO and HC. Different oxidation catalyst showed opposite effect on PM emission. The PM composition analysis revealed that the net effect of oxidation catalyst on total PM was an integrative effect on SOF reduction and sulfate formation of PM. The engine bench test results indicated that the combination of BE-diesel and a SCR catalyst assembly could provide benefits for NOx and PM emissions control even without using diesel particle filters （DPFs）.     

Feasibility analysis of renewable hybrid energy supply options for Masirah Island

In this paper, the assessment and modelling of alternative renewable energy systems for Masirah Island is considered. The hybrid system that is simulated comprises various combinations of wind turbines and/or photovoltaic (PV) supplemented with diesel generators and short-term battery storage. It was found from the analysis that the PV–wind–diesel hybrid system, with battery unit, has the lowest cost values as compared to solar-only or wind–diesel hybrid systems. Furthermore, the study illustrates that for a given hybrid system the presence of battery storage will reduce diesel consumption. The decrease in carbon emission, the percentage of fuel savings, the cost of energy production and the effect of wind and PV penetration are also addressed in this paper. The PV–wind–diesel hybrid option is techno-economically viable for the electrification of the Masirah Island.     

Efficient energy management strategies for hybrid electric vehicles using shuffled frog-leaping algorithm

This paper proposes two novel approaches for the problem of energy management in hybrid electric vehicles. Shuffled frog-leaping algorithm (SFLA) is a recently proposed population-based optimization algorithm. This paper first formulates energy management as an optimization problem and optimizes the problem using SFLA. Then the paper makes use of SFLA as a training algorithm to train artificial neural network (ANN) and this SFLA-trained ANN is used for energy management. Interestingly, the proposed approaches of this paper are found to be robust and more efficient than contemporary approaches.     

Effects of EGR,swirl augmentation techniques on combustion of biodiesel/ethanol and their blends in a diesel engine

The diminishing resources and continuously increasing cost of petroleum in association with their alarming pollution levels from diesel engines have caused an interest in finding alternative fuels to diesel which are renewable and sustainable. Emission control and engine efficiency are two most important parameters in current engine design. The impending introduction of emission standards such as Euro IV and Euro V is forcing the research towards developing new technologies for combating engine emissions. The classification of Euro IV and V norms is applicable to heavy-duty engines in Europe, where as Euro 5 is applicable to light-duty engines. This paper presents the effects of exhaust gas recirculation (EGR), swirl augmentation techniques and ethanol addition on the combustion of Honge oil methyl ester (HOME) and its blends with ethanol in a diesel engine. From the experimental work conducted, it is found that the combustion of HOME plus up to 15% ethanol blend in a diesel engine operated with optimised parameters of injection timing 23° Before Top Dead Centre and compression ratio 17.5 results in acceptable combustion emissions and improved brake thermal efficiency (BTE). The addition of ethanol increased BTE with reduced hydrocarbons (HCs), CO and smoke emissions. However, NO _x emissions increased dramatically. Use of appropriate EGR reduces NO _x to acceptable levels. The implementation of swirl augmentation techniques further resulted in increased BTE and considerable reduction in tail pipe emissions such as smoke, HCs, CO and NO _x . The effect of swirl by providing grooves on the piston was taken into consideration to find the overall biodiesel engine performance, which gives scope for further studies.     

Intelligent power supply management of an autonomous hybrid energy generator

ABSTRACT

This work deals with the optimization of an hybrid energy system used to supply an isolated site. The proposed system combines a wind turbine, a photovoltaic panel, a diesel generator and a battery bank to electrify atypical home. An energy cost-effectiveness approach is adopted in accordance with meteorological data, time profile of energy consumption, and the cost of different alternative systems. A variety of performances is obtained through simulations within the Homer Pro environment. The selection of an optimal combination is based on the maximum integration of renewable energy in the suggested system with a minimum of gas emission. According to the obtained results, the overall cost of the selected installation is about 72,900 €, with 0.415€ the unit cost of a kWh electric energy provided with a contribution of renewable energy of around 86%. Simulations show a technical and financial benefits of the different configurations obtained to supply the target site. To control the proposed hybrid energy system, a supervision algorithm is developed and implemented on TMS320F28027 DSP platform. The proposed energy system aims to take advantages of renewable energy sources and shift to conventional sources only when necessary in order to ensure source autonomy and service continuity.     

Optimization of the recovery of plastics for recycling by density media separation cyclones

Material recovery processes are presented as the optimum option for recycling plastic wastes as a means of recovering hydrocarbon resources. There exist a large variety of automated material recovery processes for recycling of such wastes but each with significant limitations. Of these, the separation based on differences in densities is advocated as the optimum process either for producing recycled products or preparing wastes for subsequent recovery processing.Density separation processes based on cyclone type density media separation (DMS) is presented as an important, potential method for increasing plastics recycling process capacities. It is demonstrated to have the capacity to separate a significantly larger range of particle sizes than those presently processed industrially. The mathematical relationship for the prediction of quality of typical LARCODEMS type density media separations by particle size and density as expressed by the Ecart Probable is presented.A proposed device configuration is presented for density media separation to optimize the recovery and purity of both density fractions produced. It is also suggested that to be economically viable, a large scale of operation is required for industrial plastics recycling operations recovering and producing a number of different plastics with a purity to be used as a substitute for virgin material.     

Giving green to get green? Incentives and consumer adoption of hybrid vehicle technology

Federal, state, and local governments use a variety of incentives to induce consumer adoption of hybrid-electric vehicles. We study the relative efficacy of state sales tax waivers, income tax credits, and non-tax incentives and find that the type of tax incentive offered is as important as the generosity of the incentive. Conditional on value, sales tax waivers are associated with more than a ten-fold increase in hybrid sales relative to income tax credits. In addition, we examine how adoption varies with fuel prices. Rising gasoline prices are associated with greater hybrid vehicle sales, but this effect operates almost entirely through high fuel-economy vehicles. By comparing consumer response to sales tax waivers and estimated future fuel savings, we estimate an implicit discount rate of 14.6% on future fuel savings.     

EGR率对农用单缸柴油机燃用生物柴油的NOx与PM排放特性影响分析

单缸柴油机作为小型农用机械不可或缺的动力源,在使用过程中会产生大量污染物.其中氮氧化合物（NO_x）和颗粒（PM）是气溶胶的主要组成部分,对大气环境造成了严重污染.为有效改善农用单缸柴油机NO_x和PM排放,本研究通过添加生物柴油对柴油进行改质以及采用机内EGR净化技术两种方案,测量了柴油机分别燃用柴油B0,生物柴油调合燃料B20、B50在不同EGR率下的NO_x和PM排放.结果表明,采用EGR技术能够明显改善柴油机的NO_x排放,但同时会引起碳烟排放的增加.通过在柴油中添加生物柴油能够在一定程度上降低碳烟排放,其中高负荷、大EGR率条件下的改善最为明显.在2000 r·min^-1、75%负荷,EGR率为30%时,燃用B50的碳烟排放与燃用B0相比降低了47.3%.总体上柴油中添加生物柴油与EGR技术共同作用能够有效降低柴油机高负荷工况时的颗粒排放总数量.     

利用IVE模型进行公交车尾气排放分析

介绍了IVE尾气排放模型并与MOBILE模型进行了比较分析。使用GPS对上海市公交车多条运行线路进行了实时运行速度测量,得到上海公交车运行模式的BIN分布,对上海市CNG公交车和柴油公交车的尾气排放进行了模拟计算。结果表明使用CNG公交车代替柴油公交车后,NOX和PM的排放均有显著的降低,但采用不同技术的CNG公交车尾气排放仍有很大的差异,无催化转化和尾气再循环的CNG公交车的CO排放量远高于同类型柴油公交车的排放量。认为IVE模型的模拟结果具有较好的可靠性,其计算模式适用于我国机动车尾气排放清单分析的研究。