Operational Experience Research Articles

Learning to Fight Together: UN Peacekeeping Coalitions and Civilian Protection

Abstract Since the end of the Cold War, the United Nations has increasingly used peacekeeping operations (PKOs) to manage crises between and within states. The mandates of contemporary PKOs are demanding, calling on peacekeeping personnel to separate belligerent parties, enforce ceasefire agreements, and protect the physical security of civilians. The pursuit of these distinct objectives presents a unique challenge for the UN because it relies on member states to volunteer personnel for these missions. Therefore, the achievement of mandated goals depends on the ability of diverse national contingents to overcome coordination problems and function as a cohesive force. Integrating research of PKOs and international military coalitions, we argue that as national contingents share operational experience within a UN mission, they develop common institutional practices, and become more effective at protecting the civilian population. Using monthly data on UN PKOs from 1990 to 2019, we find that increasing operational experience within a peacekeeping coalition reduces civilian fatalities significantly.

Analysis of systems for cooling liquid injection in turbine engine gas flow duct

The subject of this article is a system for cooling liquid injection in gas flow duct of aviation gas-turbine engine (GTE). The goal is to soften the acuteness of contradictions between economic and ecological requirements; ecological requirements and technological limitations; marketing and service life requirements, due to the application of a system for cooling liquid injection in gas flow duct of GTE. The tasks to be solved are: development of a classification, revealing the advantages and drawbacks of various technologies of systems for cooling liquid injection in the gas flow duct of GTE, analysis of the investigation methods used for cooling liquid injection systems, and analysis of the system application experience in various aircraft (A/C) and A/C projects. The methods used are: search of corresponding information sources on the Internet and analysis based on operational experience in the aviation branch. The following results were obtained: in terms of found information sources, classification of systems for cooling liquid injection in the gas flow duct of GTE has been developed; advantages and drawbacks of various cooling liquid injection technologies have been formulated; it was revealed that, three types of methods (experimental, computational fluid dynamic, and analytical) are used for cooling liquid injection system investigation; results of available research are briefly presented; application of cooling liquid injection systems in A/C with the purpose of extending the airplane flight envelop, increasing of aviation GTE thrust/power, and decreasing emissions of nitrogen oxides during takeoff have been analyzed. Conclusions. The scientific novelty of the results obtained is as follows: 1) information from numerous sources of literature that clarifies classification, advantages and drawbacks of various technologies of cooling liquid injection in the gas flow duct, development of these system investigations by various methods, and experience of these systems application both in real A/C, and in A/C projects were collected in the review article; 2) necessity in development of transport category A/C design methodology taking into account installation of the system for cooling liquid injection in the gas flow duct of GTE has been revealed. The goal and challenges of the following research in this field are outlined.

ANALYSIS OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF GONDOLA CAR BODY STRUCTURES

The article is devoted to the analysis of promising directions for the development of gondola car body structures. It considers the history of the emergence of gondola cars as a separate type of railway rolling stock. The authors systemise the design of gondola cars and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of various designs. The study has shown that the manufacture of the two-axle gondola cars began in the second half of the 19th century. They were designed mainly for transporting coal and iron ore, with their bodies made of wood. Further design improvement led to the appearance of four-axle gondola cars with increased load capacity. Rolled metal began to be used in body structures to improve strength. Particular attention in the article goes to analysing the results of innovative design and technological solutions intended to enhance the efficiency and reliability of body structures. The research indicates that attempts to replace steel with aluminium alloys in manufacturing bodies did not yield results. The reason is the high cost of aluminium and the labour-intensive manufacturing. A promising direction is the use of low-alloy steels 10KhSND and 10KhNDP. For many years, there has been a trend in the railcar-building industry toward producing higher-load gondola cars. It requires increasing the axle load to 25 tons. However, implementing such cars necessitates a substantial restructuring of the railway infrastructure. We consider the design features of innovative domestic gondola cars in detail. The latest technical solutions for the body frame, efficient materials, and components with improved performance have doubled the overhaul mileage. The article analyses the North American experience of gondola car construction and operation. It shows that some models of American gondola cars use longitudinal cylindrical boxes to increase the body volume and reduce the car’s centre of mass. They are on both sides of the girder beam and occupy the space between the carts. Aluminium alloys are also widely used: the frame and lower part of the body are steel, and the side and end walls are aluminium alloy. Keywords: gondola car, body, girder beam, pivot beam, side walls, hatch cover, reliability.

Performance assessment of a newly developed non-invasive 2D beam profile monitor for high-intensity accelerators

In high-intensity accelerators, minimizing beam loss is paramount to avoid damages and activation of accelerator components. To achieve this, a reliable beam profile monitor is essential for assessing the beam center and spread. Additionally, the beam profile can be used to steer the beam during regular operation, thus reducing beam loss. In cases of irregular events, the monitor can initiate beam profile recording to identify and address any issues promptly. In this manuscript, we present a detailed description of a non-invasive 2D beam profile monitor, focusing on its components, operation, and most importantly, its reliability and failure modes. From operation experience, failure modes of the system and its effects were identified. Fault tree analysis was carried out. Failure rate of sheet generator was estimated using response surface method. Failure rates of components were used to estimate the failure rate of the system. From the target reliability, the required maximum repair time of the system was calculated.

Detectable Radius of Investigation for One Flow Period with Bourdet Derivative

Summary A new definition of the radius of investigation (ROI) is proposed to overcome the ambiguity present in the results from conventional ROI quantification methods. The term ROI is commonly used to quantify the minimum reservoir size or the distance to a potential boundary evaluated through pressure transient testing. However, the various methods available in the literature to quantify ROI often provide different answers stemming from varying assumptions and thus often lead to confusion in terms of the appropriate definition to choose. Although the ROI method developed by Van Poolen is well recognized in the industry, there is still debate about its general applicability because it is limited to a constant-rate flow period and is insensitive to flow rate, flow sequence, gauge resolution, and measurement noise level. This contrasts with operational experience, where a higher flow rate, higher gauge precision, and lower level of measurement noise lead to higher quality pressure transient testing data from which reservoir boundaries, or other features, can be identified farther away from the wellbore. In other words, higher flow rates, better gauges, and lower noise levels can lead to a larger achievable ROI. We propose a new definition of ROI, which is the detectable ROI for each drawdown or buildup flow period. The detectable ROI is derived from the actual pressure derivative response and not from a generic model assumption. By defining a derivative noise envelope, the new method clearly identifies the time when the derivative deviates from an unbounded model due to the presence of a boundary and thus provides an estimate of the detectable ROI for the analyzed period. This method overcomes the limitations of most conventional methods and provides ROI predictions that depend on flow rate and gauge noise while maintaining a consistent result with the current pressure transient interpretation. While detectable ROI is applicable for general drawdown/buildup pressure transient tests, the concept was developed with deep transient testing (DTT) in mind.

Operational experience and R&D results using the Google Cloud for High-Energy Physics in the ATLAS experiment

The ATLAS experiment at CERN relies on a Worldwide Distributed Computing Grid infrastructure to support its physics program at the Large Hadron Collider. ATLAS has integrated cloud computing resources to complement its Grid infrastructure and conducted an R&D program on Google Cloud Platform. These initiatives leverage key features of commercial cloud providers: lightweight configuration and operation, elasticity and availability of diverse infrastructures. This paper examines the seamless integration of cloud computing services as a conventional Grid site within the ATLAS workflow management and data management systems, while also offering new setups for interactive, parallel analysis. It underscores pivotal results that enhance the on-site computing model and outlines several R&D projects that have benefited from large-scale, elastic resource provisioning models. Furthermore, this study discusses the impact of cloud-enabled R&D projects in three domains: accelerators and AI/ML, ARM CPUs and columnar data analysis techniques.

Newsboy theory for real-time multi-source risk operation of reservoir group: A case study of Pearl River Basin

Operations of reservoir groups face significant challenges due to uncertainties in inflow and water demand arising from various risk factors, including extreme climate, demand fluctuations, and operational experience. Traditional risk operations have rarely addressed uncertainties from multiple sources over current and future periods comprehensively. This study innovatively applies economic Newsboy theory to reservoir risk operations to fill this gap. Specifically, taking the reservoir group in the Pearl River Basin as the research object and comprehensively considering multiple risk sources from inflow uncertainty and demand uncertainty in both current and subsequent operating periods, a Newsboy-based model of real-time risk operation is established, and the influence law of multiple risk sources on the real-time salty-tide risk process of reservoirs in this basin is then revealed. The results demonstrate that the optimized risk process, fluctuating between 0 and 0.053, offers increased stability and lower risk compared to the measured process, which fluctuates between 0 and 0.093. Under single risk source with uncertain inflow, the greater the runoff forecast error, the greater the risk of suppressing salt tide at Wuzhou section. Under single risk source with uncertain water demand, with the increase of inflow, opportunity risk of suppressing salty tide gradually changes into excess risk. And the inflow corresponding to the minimum risk is 2200 m3/s at Wuzhou section. Under multiple risk sources with uncertain inflow and demand, the risk increases significantly compared with single risk source, and the impact of demand uncertainty is more significant on risk. Specifically, multi-source risk is 1.78 times of the single-source risk with inflow uncertainty, and is 1.07 times of the single-source risk with demand uncertainty. The study findings advance real-time risk operation theories and methodologies for reservoirs.

The FIRE-IN project: Tsunami-risk related practitioner challenges and 3rd cycle overall results

This article summarizes the methodology for the identification of practitioners’ challenges, in the context of the H2020 funded project FIRE-IN (Fire and Rescue Innovation Network) activities. The project consisted of five thematic areas or “Thematic Working Groups”, as they are called, i.e., Search and Rescue Emergency Response, Structure Fires, Landscape Fires Crisis Mitigation, Natural Hazard Mitigation and Chemical Biological Radiological Nuclear and Explosives, and three iterations, each one including the identification of capability challenges, the screening for solutions, that can potentially address these challenges, and the request for ideas regarding future innovations that will complement already existing ones and will assist in covering capability gaps. This article focuses on the natural hazard mitigation working group and tsunamis in the Mediterranean region as a case study for the 3rd and last iteration of the project. The scenario of a tsunami occurrence in the Mediterranean is the basis for the FIRE-IN 3rd cycle workshop, as an indicative example of a high impact – low probability event, which aims to identify practitioners’ Future Common Capability Challenges in Europe. The current status of the tsunami hazard in Europe, national and international tsunami risk mitigation measures and procedures and operational experience from recent events are also discussed. Focus is provided on the natural hazard mitigation and tsunami related practitioners’ challenges, while results from the FIRE-IN request for ideas process and the interaction between practitioners, researchers and industry are also discussed. The aim is to present practitioners’ current and future capability challenges , one of the main outcomes of the FIRE-IN project, and to provide further guidelines to stakeholders of disaster management towards a safer Europe, mainly, through preparedness and adaptation for stronger and resilient societies.

ДОСВІД ЕКСПЛУАТАЦІЇ ТА ОСОБЛИВОСТІ РОБОТИ ВОДОПРОПУСКНИХ СПОРУД ІЗ МЕТАЛЕВИХ ГОФРОВАНИХ КОНСТРУКЦІЙ НА АВТОМОБІЛЬНИХ ДОРОГАХ

Introduction. Road culverts made of metal corrugated structures despite of more than a hundred years of application history, in Ukraine they are a fairly new type of construction and are widely used in transport construction as an alternative to traditional steel or concrete bridge structures. The well-known advantages that justify the choice of such a solution are mainly a short term and relatively low cost of construction, construction provided that the appropriate technological regime is followed and does not cause any particular problems. However, the modern process of design and construction of road culverts from metal corrugated structures is imperfect and is constantly being improved. Therefore, there is a need to conduct an analysis conditions of operation and features of the operation of road culverts from the metal corrugated structures with the determination of approaches to improving design and construction to further increase the durability of the structure as a whole. Problems. From the literature analysis, it was established that road culverts are in difficult operating conditions, which causes their premature destruction. Goal. It consists in the analysis of operating experience and features of the operation of culverts made of metal corrugated structures on highways with the installation of measures to increase durability.

International scientific cooperation in public health: A performance measurement framework based on the “Syphilis No!” Project in Brazil

In this article, we aim to propose indicators to evaluate the performance of international scientific cooperation in public health, based on the operation experience in Brazil’s “Syphilis No!” Project. This is an action research project, based upon Kaplan and Norton’s Balanced Scorecard Method, developed in five stages: (i) Reorganization of the indicators, (ii) validation of the new indicators, (iii) construction of the dimensions of the indicators, (iv) data collection for the indicators, (v) development of the framework for the “Syphilis No!” Project. The metrics and 34 indicators are presented and grouped into four dimensions: technical-scientific, investment, products, and impact. The cooperation that emerged from the project has built an international research network that has the potential to transcend syphilis research. The framework demonstrated that international scientific cooperations, focused on research and product development, have contributed to the promotion of public health policies and have enabled the exchange of knowledge, techniques, experiences, and technologies, fundamental to the international scientific cooperation of Brazilian universities. This contribution will have implications for studies in the field of international relations in health and education.

ПРОБЛЕМЫ И МЕТОДЫ СОВЕРШЕНСТВОВАНИЯ АВТОСЦЕПНОГО УСТРОЙСТВА ГРУЗОВЫХ ВАГОНОВ С УЧЕТОМ ОСОБЕННОСТЕЙ ЭКСПЛУАТАЦИИ

The problems to operate the automatic coupling device are considered, taking into account significant changes in the operating conditions of freight cars. The operation experience of freight car automatic coupling devices of domestic railways and the United States of America is analyzed; common problematic issues are identified. Approaches to the study of modes of longitudinal-dynamic impact of cars are defined, a simplified model is given. There is a need to change the design of the automatic coupling device of freight cars by using two sequentially arranged blocks with working elements, as well as improving the properties of the working material of absorbing devices, especially in operating conditions over a wide temperature range.

Dual Frequency Enhancement of the Supernanogan Multi-Charged Ion Source at TRIUMF ISAC Facility

In 2008, a Supernanogan ECR ion source from PANTECHNIK was introduced in addition to an in-house developed microwave ion source and a surface ion source to complement the TRIUMF Offline Ion Source (OLIS) facility to provide highly charged ions to ISAC experiments. Originally, it employed a 400 W Travelling Wave Tube Amplifier (TWTA) for RF heating, but less than 50 W was enough to produce all the multi-charged beams required by the experiments. A 50 W solid-state amplifier was added for redundancy purposes, but we found a significant improvement when both were switched on at the same time. When properly optimized for the dual frequency, less than ten times the total power is needed to produce a similar charge state distribution with more current than the single frequency. The beam stability and the ability to extract higher charged ions also improved with the dual frequency enhancement. The simulation studies, operational experience, and results are discussed in this paper.

Spallation Neutron Source Hydrogen Relief Analysis for the Cryogenic Moderator System

The Spallation Neutron Source at Oak Ridge National Laboratory operates the Cryogenic Moderator System (CMS) which provides hydrogen cooling at 20K to three neutron moderators. Each hydrogen loop is protected by multiple burst discs and reclosing relief valves. As a result of the Proton Power Upgrade project, the CMS moderator loops will hold more hydrogen and thus require piping modifications. Operational experience has demonstrated that transient pressure increases in these hydrogen loops occasionally result in the rupture of the burst discs. The causes for pressure transients in the system that might lead to hydrogen venting are varied and complex, for example loss of vacuum or cooling. Dynamic simulation and analysis of the parameters considered as the worst-case relief venting scenario were performed and will be presented.

Six years’ experience of the XFEL 2K operation

The European X-Ray Free Electron laser (XFEL) has successfully been operated for more than 5 years. The superconducting cavities and magnets being key components of the cryomodules constituting the XFEL linac and injector are operated at 2 K in a liquid helium bath. A four stages cold compressor system is used to return the vapor to the XFEL helium refrigerator with the capability of pumping up to 110 g/s for compensating static and dynamic heat losses at 2 K.In this paper technical challenges with regard to the cold compressor system such as availability, 2K pressure stability and contamination of the 2K circuit are summarized. Influence of hydrostatic head on operation of all cooling circuits is analyzed. Issues related to the use of some kinds of instrumentation as pressure transmitters, flow meters and level sensors are discussed. The experiment regarding the future XFEL project as doubling of safety valves is described.

Status update of the ATLAS ECR ion sources at Argonne National Laboratory

The Argonne Tandem Linac Accelerator System (ATLAS) at Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) typically operates 24/7 with weekly ion beam changes and an annual 1 month maintenance period. Due to recent installations and upgrades at ATLAS, user demands for new beams and higher intensities have expanded an already diverse operational envelope of both electron cyclotron resonance ion sources (ECRIS), ECR2 and ECR3. A variety of material introduction techniques including sputter, oven, reduction and gas feed were used to meet the challenge of an intense run schedule. With two ECRIS available to feed the accelerator, beam development and preparation were able to occur concurrently with ATLAS programmatic activities. Highlights of operational experiences and improvements with ECR2 and ECR3 over the last 2 years are presented.

Commissioning and Initial Operational Experience of 2 MVA AC/DC Power Converter at IPR for Neutral Beam Injector Applications

Commissioning and Initial Operational Experience of 2 MVA AC/DC Power Converter at IPR for Neutral Beam Injector Applications

AIseed Simulation: A seed simulation sorting software for rapidly determining seed processing procedures and parameters

Seed processing is a crucial measure for improving seed quality after harvest. However, traditional seed processing procedures and parameter settings have largely depended on technicians' operational experience. To enhance the digitization of the seed processing procedures, AIseed Simulation software was developed and incorporates ''Simulated sorting'' and ''One-click sorting'' based on RGB images of seeds and impurities. Based on the sorting principles of current main seed sorting equipment, length, width, thickness, specific gravity, and color features (R, G, B, R/G, R/B, G/B) are selected. Through Spearman correlation analysis and probability density distribution plots, the sorting features and parameters are determined. By repeatedly comparing precision, recall, and F1 values of different sorting combinations, simulation sorting on a computer is achieved. The ''One-click sorting'' function has been integrated into the above procedures, facilitating automation and making the determination of optimal seed processing procedures and parameters easier and more rapid. The AIseed Simulation was individually validated on five crop seeds—Astragalus membranaceus, Perilla frutescens, Scutellaria baicalensis, Bupleurum chinense, and Platycodon grandiflorus—and the processing procedures and parameters established for each seed type were validated with actual processing equipment. The results validated that AIseed Simulation is a stand-alone, automated RGB image processing platform suitable for seed processing and parameter setting. Furthermore, the AIseed Simulation software exhibits versatility in a range of seed processing scenarios, suitable for both large-scale seed processing facilities and the demands of scientific research and education. These findings contribute significantly to enhancing seed quality and facilitate the intelligent development of the seed processing industry.

Study of the composition of the KCl – AlCl<sub>3</sub> – ZrCl<sub>4</sub> – HfCl<sub>4</sub> melt in relation to extractive rectification of zirconium and hafnium chlorides

In 2021, Chepetsk Mechanical Plant SC put into operation the production of a zirconium sponge of nuclear purity for the production of nuclear fuel components. The purification of zirconium from hafnium is carried out by extractive rectification in a KCl–AlCl3 melt. The experience of the plant operation has shown that the elemental analysis of the melt for the content of K, Al, Zr, Hf is not enough to determine its operational properties. During the operation of the plant at various points of the technological scheme, the composition of the melt KCl–AlCl3–ZrCl4–HfCl4 was studied by a complex of independent methods using specially developed methods. The content of the phases ZrCl4, K2ZrCl6 and AlCl3 against the background of the matrix phase KAlCl4 was studied in frozen melts by X-ray diffractometry. The regularities of changes in the content of ZrCl4, AlCl3 and K2ZrCl6 according to the technological scheme of the installation are established. The content of the X-ray amorphous component, which contains up to 1.5 wt% aluminum and up to 3.5 wt% zirconium, has been established in frozen melts. By the method of reducing melting in the presence of carbon in frozen melts, the oxygen content of up to 1.8 wt% was determined, which is part of the X-ray amorphous component, presumably consisting of AlOCl and ZrOCl2. A method for determining the AlCl3/KCl ratio based on the difference in the physicochemical properties of the melt components has been developed. Based on the results obtained, the melt composition was adjusted during the operation of the zirconium and hafnium chloride separation unit at ChMP JSC.

Design and production practice of large fluidized roasting furnace

With the expansion of the scale of zinc smelting enterprises and the progress of new equipment and technology, 152 m2 fluidized roasting furnace has been developed and applied to industrial production, with a single unit capacity of 150,000 to 170,000 tons of electrolytic zinc per year. This paper analyzes and introduces an engineering example of zinc concentrate treatment by a dual-series fluidized roasting furnace. The project was designed by China ENFI Engineering Corporation and put into operation in Hunan province of China in 2018. This paper firstly describes the process flow and main equipment of the preparation system, roasting furnace system, waste heat utilization system, dust collection system from a design perspective. Then, based on production practice, it analyzes and compares aspects such as furnace operation, actual production data, major technical and economic indicators, and the characteristics and optimization of the roasting system equipment. Finally, it is concluded that the dual-series large-scale fluidized roasting furnace has stable production, good product quality, less investment, and fewer labor requirements, which brings good economic benefits to the enterprise. Its operational experience has accumulated parameters and experience for the development of larger roasting furnaces in the future.

Measuring the Level of Fidelity Required for Transfer of Learning in Simulation-Based Learning Exercises for Novice and Experienced Practitioners

Background An acknowledged conundrum which exists for designers of simulation-based learning exercises centres on how much fidelity is required to aid transfer of learning from the classroom to the field of application and what is the influence of the learner’s practitioner experience. This article presents the findings from a study which explored the way in which fidelity influences the sense of immersion and learning transfer experienced by novice and experienced practitioners in technology-assisted simulation-based learning exercises. Methods Two different technology-assisted simulation-based learning exercises were explored employing participant surveys and interviews. The central aim of the exercises, conducted by an Australian police agency was the development of decision-making skills for high-risk and high-stakes situations. Case one centred on public order management for highly experienced senior police and Case Two was a judgmental use-of-force simulation for novice police recruits with limited or nil operational experience. Results The findings indicate experienced practitioners did not suggest a need to actually see a replicated site of the incident with the human and environmental elements and sounds. They relied on their policing experience to build their own visualization of the situation. It is the combination of this personal visualization with the psychological factors of the simulated incident which created a realistic environment for these experienced practitioners. For the novice practitioners – they relied on the simulation exercise and environmental features to be as realistic and extensive as possible in order to experience immersion and presence. Conclusion This study supports the suggestion that measuring how much fidelity is enough or too much is complex, and a unit of measurement could reasonably be identified as determining the balance of physical and psychological fidelity, informed by the field-based experience of the participants, which will support learning transfer from the classroom (or simulated environment) to the field of operation.