Ash disposal – mine fires – environment: an Indian dilemma

 The paper discusses the problems of ash disposal from coal combustion in two large coal-mining regions in India. Compared with the United States, India produces some three times the amount of coal ash per million metric tonnes of domestically produced coal, 95% of which is sluiced into gigantic slurry ponds located near urban areas and occupying vast amounts of premium land. The Jharia Coalfield produces some 30 million tonnes/year of ash and contains the world's largest complex of underground coal-mine fires, occupying an aggregate surface area of about 10 km² above which the land surface is extremely degraded. Similarly, the Singrauli Coalfield suffers from the environmental effects of open-cast mining, spoil heaps and an enormous coal combustion ash disposal problem. Ash haulback is proposed as an efficient, cost-effective way of removing significant quantities of ash from the surface/pond disposal and placing it in open-cast and underground mines. In addition to contributing to the control of mine fires and subsidence, it is suggested that this would have numerous beneficial effects in terms of the reclamation of poor-quality/degraded land for sustainable, productive use and the reduction of harmful emissions and substances in populated areas. Received: 26 October 1999 · Accepted: 27 April 2000     

Effects of MgO as an additive in canola oil – an experimental study

ABSTRACT

As the technology is developing, many research works are conducted every day over alternate fuels, and it is very much necessary to preserve the existing petroleum resources for future generations. It is suggested to switch over to an alternate source of energy, which is easily available, renewable as well as environment-friendly. The main objective of this investigation is to describe the use of canola oil with magnesium oxide as nanoadditive and compare it with pure diesel in terms of its performance and emission characteristics. The canola oil biodiesel is produced by using transesterification reaction. The experiment was done by using four different blends (B10, B20, B30 and B40). The experimental results concluded that blend B20 gives good performance when compared to other blends. This study also resulted in another new alternative in the biodiesel category which is environment-friendly.     

Building performance in dam-break flow – an experimental study

The purpose of this study was to better understand the impacts of dam-break on houses. Physical model experiments were undertaken to reproduce the process of flood water flowing around and through a house. Measurements of water level were obtained using pressure gauges and ultrasonic wave gauges, with both of them being non-intrusive. The results showed that the water level upstream of the house increased rapidly and oscillated as the flood wave reached the house. Several scenarios were tested to investigate the impact of flood water on the house, including the orientation of the house and the distance between the dam-break site and the house. The impact of flood flow on the front door, caused by velocity-induced and pressure forces, was also investigated.     

Zhengzhou – Political economy of an emerging Chinese megacity

Zhengzhou is one of the fastest growing cities in China, but has attracted comparatively little international attention. This paper charts the contemporary transformation of Zhengzhou and highlights some of the challenges that arise from its recent growth. It demonstrates the rise of Zhengzhou from small town to megacity. This transformation has occurred in less than seven decades with Zhengzhou benefiting from its geographic importance and its position as a provincial capital in China's hierarchical system of government. While western accounts typically focus on the role of market forces and agglomeration economies in explaining the rise of megacities, we show the role of political decisions in explaining the growth of Zhengzhou as an international centre for manufacturing, commerce and logistics. The paper concludes that innovation and reform in regional governance, particularly to deal with emerging challenges, are necessary, if it is to develop a well-functioning megacity.     

Resilient urban drainage – Options of an optimized area-management

There is a need for an integrated approach for all involved stakeholders to adapt urban infrastructures to climate change effects and to take into account uncertainties of future developments. By integrating all relevant planning disciplines, a first step towards implementation of resilient technical and social infrastructures can be achieved. With the major goal of optimizing area-management as part of water sensitive urban design, the water sector and its area requirements build the main focus of this study. After identifying local flood hazards and potential surficial retention areas, the additional usage of decentralized stormwater management facilities for flood protection is tested in selected sectors. The results of the study confirm that the combined usage of decentralized facilities for pluvial flooding is a first step to protect urban infrastructure. It shows that decentralized facilities are more flexible than centralized facilities and, thus, have a higher adaptation capacity which is needed considering the various effects of climate change.     

Thermal analysis of an electric power transformer inside an enclosure – a case study

Electric transformer inside an enclosure is used in the medium power transmission lines. It reduces the power losses more than other transformers in the transmission lines. In this study, thermal performance of a transformer inside an enclosure was investigated numerically and experimentally under different operating conditions. The experimental data were collected while the transformer was working in real operating conditions. The 3D numerical analysis was conducted and then verified with the experimental data. The results of this study show that despite lower power loss of the transformer, compared to the conventional transformers which are commonly installed on the overhead power line towers, the enclosure of the transformer has a serious problem of poor ventilation and it causes the transformer to run at higher temperature condition and this consequently decreases the transformer's efficiency. However, this problem can be fixed by implementing some changes in the enclosure's air vents and also by adding a fan on the roof of the enclosure.     

Assessing the implementation of BIM – an information systems approach

Much attention has been paid to measuring the perceived benefits of Building Information Modelling (BIM). Yet despite an increase its adoption throughout the construction industry, important links between implementation, support and benefits are yet to be explored. We examine the constitutive elements of the BIM implementation process of two case studies implementing and using BIM: the first is a large urban regeneration project, and the second is a healthcare project. A well-recognised model of system success is mobilized from the field of information systems (ISs) to reveal that irrespective of project size and type, BIM benefits are confined to technically discrete productivity and efficiency gains when there is limited focus on the organizational aspects of BIM adoption. This paper focuses on the disconnections between organizational and project level BIM implementation using the DeLone and McLean Model as an analytical framework to systematically examine the benefits of BIM to each project in relation to the implementation approach employed. This study highlights the significance of these interdependencies and argues for a more comprehensive approach to BIM benefits capture that recognises this to usefully inform implementation strategy development.     

CyDER – an FMI-based co-simulation platform for distributed energy resources

The increased integration of distributed energy resources (DERs) is bringing a number of challenges to the power grid. These include reverse power flows in distribution systems and potentially transmission systems and grid stability. So far, specialized tools have been developed to capture some of the impact of DERs at the distribution level. However, distribution system operators lack visibility into the overall system conditions. Furthermore, the impact of increasing DERs is not limited to the distribution level but also influences the transmission grid. To support the planning and operation of the grid, we developed a co-simulation platform called CyDER (A Cyber Physical Co-simulation Platform for Distributed Energy Resources in Smart Grids) that integrates various domain-specific simulation tools. CyDER is based on the functional mock-up interface standard. This paper gives an overview of CyDER and demonstrates its use based on two applications.     

Bestimmung der Schadstofffrachten an Kontrollebenen mithilfe von Punktkonzentrationsmessungen und Immissionspumpversuchen – ein Vergleich

The quantification of contaminant mass flow rates at control planes is an essential prerequisite for assessing contaminated sites and for providing evidence of natural attenuation. Two different investigation approaches are usually implemented: mass flow estimation based on interpolation of point scale concentration measurements, and integral pumping tests. Point scale concentration measurements have the crucial disadvantage that in general, only a sufficiently dense monitoring network can ensure that the plume is completely covered. On the other hand, integral pumping tests may require expensive groundwater treatment and disposal and are only applicable in sufficiently conductive aquifers. A comparison of results from the application of both approaches can help with respect to the selection of a subsurface investigation method. A former gasworks site was chosen to compare the results of four integral pumping tests and measurements obtained from 13 direct-push-wells, which were installed at a relatively close spacing. The comparison shows that the correlation of the two methods depends strongly on the heterogeneity of the contaminant distribution within the aquifer. The study suggests that especially in the case of heterogeneous settings, integral pumping tests should be chosen for subsurface investigations, as interpolated point scale concentration measurements, even if densely spaced, can still bear a prohibitively high degree of uncertainty.     

Transforming Brussels into an international city – Reflections on ‘Brusselization’

The paper illustrates the transformation of Brussels since the 1960s with a special focus on ‘Brusselization’, and evaluates its consequences for the capital of Belgium today. ‘Brusselization’, defined as a destruction of certain areas of Brussels’ urban tissue, became apparent during the 1960s and 1970s, mainly as a result of the Belgian Town and Country Planning Act approved in 1962. This article describes the significance of that document for the redevelopment of Brussels and introduces the reader to the typology of the main actors in the city’s urban changes. As a leading political city in Europe, Brussels is currently in dramatic need of a new urban vision that would overcome the negative aspects of its former alteration. Detailed explanation of the cases presented in this essay, especially those of the Northern Quarter and the Leopold Quarter, may facilitate a better understanding the process of Brussels’ transformation since the 1960s and inform appropriate urban government policy development in the future.     

Surrealistic Exuberance – Dark Matters

For Neil Spiller, there is a current vacuum in much of contemporary parametric design. It is devoid of embodied cultural experience and character. Much can be learnt by rediscovering the dark matter of Baroque and Surrealistic art and architecture, which through repressed eroticism optimised on the simultaneous presence of the secular and the profane - the heaving physicality of the everyday world and the repressed strictures of the Catholic church. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

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Beyond The City-State – Metropolitan Canberra

Industrial organisation has received considerable attention over time in both political and scholarly arenas focusing on industry generally and on specific economic sectors like media, telecommunications, food retailing and air transport. Real estate development is a large industry and major shaper of the built environment whose structure has implications for the form and structure of cities, for sustainability and for power relations with industry regulators. Yet, there has been remarkably little interest in, and little is known about, the industry's structure, and little exists of a quantitative nature to describe that structure. Drawing on evidence, existing literature and case study material, this article investigates the nature of the development industry structure and suggests that it is not necessarily competitive and, in some instances, can be highly oligopolistic. It discusses factors, including industry regulation (planning), that may shape structure. This discussion further suggests that the industry is not competitive and that it is likely to concentrate further.

     

Handymasten im Baurecht – neueste Entwicklungen

Anfang 2003 wurden die Rechtsfragen rund um Handymasten im Baurecht erstmals n?her untersucht. In der Zwischenzeit hat sich die Rechtslage in einigen Bundesl?ndern ge?ndert und es sind zahlreiche Entscheidungen der Gerichth?fe ?ffentlichen Rechts zu dieser Frage ergangen. Der folgende Beitrag verfolgt daher in erster Linie das Ziel, einen aktuellen überblick über die baurechtlichen Regelungen betreffend Handymasten in allen Bundesl?ndern unter Berücksichtigung der Judikatur aus den letzten Jahren zu geben. Darüber hinaus wird das Erkenntnis des VfGH zum Verbot von Handymasten per Gemeindeverordnung in Vorarlberg n?her besprochen.     

Is construction an industry?

There has been a frequent misconception in analyses of construction sectors of the national economy: the tendency to describe these activities as ‘an industry’ or a small and stable set of ‘industries’. This has led to confusion. Construction was inappropriately assimilated to various forms of manufacturing industry. Characteristics of the construction process were treated as ‘problems’, to whose solution substantial energies were unnecessarily diverted. There has been muddle about the extent to which macro-level planning is appropriate, notably on R&D strategies and innovation for improved industrial efficiency. Construction projects increasingly use unfamiliar technological bases, comparable to ‘technology fusion’ in other sectors. A more fruitful emphasis may be to regard construction as organized as agglomerations of projects - rather than as a discrete industry or a fixed constellation of firms. The idea of the ‘demand chain’ is introduced.

The paper concludes that a ‘technological paradigm’ should replace the ‘industry paradigm’ and that an enduring question remains to explore what is meant by construction ‘capacity’.