ABSTRACT Biodiesel emulsion fuel is reported as one of the most feasible options capable of generating lower NOx emission than that from fossil fuels. However, oil and water in the emulsion fuel are easily separated and unstable. The aim of the present study is to consider the production and stability of biodiesel emulsion fuel by using tetraglycerin ester (CR-310), i.e., one of lipophilic surfactant, polyglycerol polyricinoleate (PGPR) and biodiesel, i.e., Waste cooking Oil Methyl Ester (WOME) produced based on waste cooking oil. The corresponding heat rate, water content, and viscosity are measured. Emphasis is placed on the effects of water content and surfactant on biodiesel emulsions. It is found that: (i) stable emulsion fuel is obtained by adding at least 2.0% of CR-310 and is maintained over 1 month, (ii) there is no effect of water content on stable emulsion fuel if CR-310 is used over 2.0%, and (iii) the viscosity of emulsion fuels is higher than that of the biodiesel fuel and is gradually increased with an increase in the water content. 相似文献
The Canadian Forest Fire Danger Rating System (CFFDRS) is used daily across Canada for evaluating forest fire danger. Fuel-type information is one of the inputs required by the models used in the CFFDRS. In this project, three fuel-type maps with a 25 m resolution were produced for a pilot study area located in Alberta using land cover only; land cover and biomass; and, land cover, biomass and leaf area index data derived from satellite imagery. The relationships between inputs and fuel types were determined mainly by the opinions of forest fire scientists and incorporated into a computer program using fuzzy set methodology. Not all the CFFDRS fuel types could be distinguished using these inputs; three of the coniferous types had to be grouped into one common fuel type. Overall accuracy was between 74 and 83% based on ground-truth comparisons. The most accurate map resulted from land cover and biomass data. Detailed accuracy assessment indicated that the overall accuracy increased up to 86% if ambiguous fuel type identification was considered. No combination of inputs was able to define a fuel type with absolute certainty, which is a reflection of differing expert opinions and the small number of inputs used to produce the maps. 相似文献
Urban trees serve important environmental, social and economic functions, but similar to other natural endowments they are
not customarily depicted in monetary terms. The needs to augment protection, funding and community support for urban greening
call for proper valuation. Heritage trees (HTs), the cream of urban-tree stock, deserve special attention. Existing assessment
methods do not give justice to outstanding trees in compact cities deficient in high-caliber greenery, and to their social-cultural-historical
importance. They artificially separate evaluation from valuation, which should be a natural progression from the former. Review
of tree valuation methods suggested the formula approach to be more suitable than contingent valuation and hedonic pricing,
and provided hints on their strengths and weaknesses. This study develops an alternative formulaic expert method (FEM) that
integrates evaluation and valuation, maximizes objectivity, broadly encompasses the key tree, tree-environment and tree-human
traits, and accords realistic monetary value to HTs. Six primary criteria (dimension, species, tree, condition, location,
and outstanding consideration) branched into 45 secondary criteria, each allocated numerical marks. Each primary criterion
was standardized to carry equal weight, and a tree's maximum aggregate score is capped at 100. A Monetary Assignment Factor
(MAF) to consign dollar value to each score unit was derived from three-year average per m2 sale price of medium-sized residential flats. The applicability of FEM was tested on selected HTs in compact Hong Kong. The
aggregate score of a tree multiplied by MAF yielded monetary value, which was on average 66 times higher than the result from
the commonly-adopted Council of Tree and Landscape Appraisers method. The computed tree values could be publicized together
with multiple tree benefits to raise understanding and awareness and rally support to protect HTs. The property-linked FEM
could be flexibly applied to other cities, especially to assess HTs in compact developing cities. 相似文献
Objective: The objective of this article is to provide empirical evidence for safe speed limits that will meet the objectives of the Safe System by examining the relationship between speed limit and injury severity for different crash types, using police-reported crash data.
Method: Police-reported crashes from 2 Australian jurisdictions were used to calculate a fatal crash rate by speed limit and crash type. Example safe speed limits were defined using threshold risk levels.
Results: A positive exponential relationship between speed limit and fatality rate was found. For an example fatality rate threshold of 1 in 100 crashes it was found that safe speed limits are 40 km/h for pedestrian crashes; 50 km/h for head-on crashes; 60 km/h for hit fixed object crashes; 80 km/h for right angle, right turn, and left road/rollover crashes; and 110 km/h or more for rear-end crashes.
Conclusions: The positive exponential relationship between speed limit and fatal crash rate is consistent with prior research into speed and crash risk. The results indicate that speed zones of 100 km/h or more only meet the objectives of the Safe System, with regard to fatal crashes, where all crash types except rear-end crashes are exceedingly rare, such as on a high standard restricted access highway with a safe roadside design. 相似文献
Objective: The objective of this study was to identify and quantify the motorcycle crash population that would be potential beneficiaries of 3 crash avoidance technologies recently available on passenger vehicles.
Methods: Two-vehicle crashes between a motorcycle and a passenger vehicle that occurred in the United States during 2011–2015 were classified by type, with consideration of the functionality of 3 classes of passenger vehicle crash avoidance technologies: frontal crash prevention, lane maintenance, and blind spot detection. Results were expressed as the percentage of crashes potentially preventable by each type of technology, based on all known types of 2-vehicle crashes and based on all crashes involving motorcycles.
Results: Frontal crash prevention had the largest potential to prevent 2-vehicle motorcycle crashes with passenger vehicles. The 3 technologies in sum had the potential to prevent 10% of fatal 2-vehicle crashes and 23% of police-reported crashes. However, because 2-vehicle crashes with a passenger vehicle represent fewer than half of all motorcycle crashes, these technologies represent a potential to avoid 4% of all fatal motorcycle crashes and 10% of all police-reported motorcycle crashes.
Discussion: Refining the ability of passenger vehicle crash avoidance systems to detect motorcycles represents an opportunity to improve motorcycle safety. Expanding the capabilities of these technologies represents an even greater opportunity. However, even fully realizing these opportunities can affect only a minority of motorcycle crashes and does not change the need for other motorcycle safety countermeasures such as helmets, universal helmet laws, and antilock braking systems. 相似文献