Point/Counterpoint

POINT: AOP Will See Widespread Adoption Adrian Colyer, Rob Harrop, Rod Johnson, and Alexandre Vasseur AOP offers both the short--and long-term return on investment needed to ensure its widespread adoption. COUNTERPOINT: AOP Has Yet to Prove Its Value Danio Beuche and Cédric Beust Where is the proof that nonhierarchical modularization into aspects makes systems development cheaper or better?     

Long-term testing and applications of high-stress MV EPR cables

High-stress design 35-kV ethylene propylene rubber (EPR)-insulated cables with 1.14-mm (45-mil) wall reduction have been in service for more than ten years. In the mid 1990s, an extensive cable testing program was initiated to demonstrate that high-stress designs up to 4 kV/mm (101.6 V/mil) exhibit a significant electrical and mechanical safety margin to operate on typical utility network systems. Investigations were also undertaken to demonstrate the suitability of accessories for high-stress designs. This paper will present the results of six-year, long-term wet electrical testing conducted to demonstrate that with proper design, the aging performance of standard wall and high-stress design cables provide satisfactory results and suitable performance for the intended application. Additionally, utility field experience is presented on 35- and 15-kV cables operating at high stress. The experience for these 15-kV medium-voltage EPR cable designs employ the highest recommended stress for cables of this class, as well as taking into account the complete system performance.     

Removal efficiency of subsurface vertical flow constructed wetlands for different organic loads.

Using subsurface vertical flow constructed wetlands (SSVFCWs) with intermittent loading it is possible to fulfil the stringent Austrian effluent standards regarding nitrification. For small plants (less than 500 persons) standards for ammonia nitrogen concentration have to be met at water temperatures higher than 12 degrees C, effluent concentrations and treatment efficiencies for organic matter have to be met the whole year around. According to the Austrian design standards the required surface area for SSVFCWs treating wastewater was 5 m2 per person. Within the first part of an Austrian research project the goal was to optimise, i.e. minimise the surface area requirement of vertical flow beds. Therefore, three SSVFCWs with a surface area of 20 m2 each have been operated in parallel. The organic loads applied were 20, 27 and 40 g COD/m2/d, which corresponds to a specific surface area requirement of 4, 3 and 2 m2 per PE, respectively. The paper compares the effluent concentrations and elimination efficiencies of the three parallel operated beds. It could be shown that a specific area demand of 4 m2 per person is suitable to be included in the revision of the Austrian design standard. Additionally it could be shown that during the warmer seasons (May-October) when the temperature of the effluent is higher than 12 degrees C the specific surface area might be further reduced; even 2 m2 per person has been proven to be adequate.     

The beneficial effects of storage on the quality of wastewater for irrigation: a case study in Sicily.

Although the main function of reservoirs in agriculture is to allow the storage and temporal shifting of large volumes of waters, further benefits emerge from their application in wastewater reuse systems. In fact, as observed in several other studies carried out on such complex natural systems, the storage period, under proper conditions, can lead to a significant improvement of the water quality for irrigation thanks to concurrent physical, chemical and biological processes. In order to investigate the reservoir dynamics, an experimental research was carried out in a farm reservoir (volume of 11,000 m3, maximum depth of 6.3 m and mean depth of about 5 m), receiving treated wastewater and subject to scheduled highly variable input to volume ratios, in order to observe the broadest range of behaviour responses. Specifically, over a monitoring period lasted 4 months, the reservoir was operated as a standard batch reactor in the first and third phases and as a continuous flow reactor in the second one. Based on correlation analysis between the chemical, physical and biological water parameters and operational ones, a new operative index is proposed which integrates the morphological characteristics of the tank and the management ones, and shows a significant correlation with the qualitative characteristics of the stored water.     

Energy pricing policies in developing countries

Government energy pricing policies have multiple and often conflicting objectives: economic efficiency, government revenues (for both parastatal supply companies and the treasury), maintenance or improvement of income distribution, promotion of particular sectors (such as industrial exporters and local resource development) demand management and security of supply. It is important to examine the impacts on and the trade-offs between these objectives resulting from alternative policies in order to assist in policy selection. This article discusses the more important objectives and their conflicts and outlines an approach for the quantitative examination of alternative policies.     

On the structure of the flow due to the collision of opposed,vertical, free convection,boundary layers

Preliminary experimental results are reported for the structure of the flow due to the collision of a pair of boundary layers driven towards each other by buoyant forces along a vertical wall. Of the possible parameters characterizing the flow, a Rayleigh number ratio, R, and a dimensionless temperature difference, n, emerge as important. When 0.6 < R 2.0: if n < 0.20, the approaching streams merge in a two-dimensional streamlined manner; if n > 0.20 “fingering” of fluid between the streams and cross-stream secondary flows occur.     

Stoichiometric dye-binding procedure for the determination of the reactive lysine content of soya bean protein

A new analytical method has been developed for the determination of the reactive lysine content of soya bean protein. The method is based on the reaction of the free basic groups of the protein with 1-phenylazo-2 naphthol-6,8 disulphonic acid. With regard to the stoichiometry of the procedure, it has been proved, contrary to earlier reports, that the basic amino acids, histidine, arginine and lysine, each combine with one mole of the dye. After acylation with propionic anhydride lysine alone loses its dye reactivity. The usefulness of the proposed method has been demonstrated by the determination of the reactive lysine content of several untreated, heat-treated and acid-treated soya bean samples. The results show that heat damage of about 5% in reactive lysine content can be measured in 1·5 h with good reproducibility.     

Use of lactose in the pharmaceutical and chemical industry

Lactose is used in the pharmaceutical industry for tabletting. For this purpose it must be purified to pharmaceutical grade. Many of the properties of crystallized lactose make it suitable for tabletting, but further research is needed into the mechanisms involved in the prom. Lactose can also be used as a basis for the production of lactulose lactitol and lactobionic acid. These processes are described, and possible commercial applications for the products are discussed.