Technical Operability Research Articles

The Bayu-Undan liquid CO2 import facilities – finding an effective solution

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is widely considered to be one of the key enablers to decarbonising the economy. It is currently being implemented in a number of projects in gas, power, chemicals, cement, steel, and other industries. In the Asia–Pacific region, shipping of liquid carbon dioxide (LCO2) is widely seen as a key component of the CCS value chain. Shipping allows the emitters located in the industrial centres of Japan, Korea, and Singapore to access distant CO2 storage locations. The repurposing of the Bayu-Undan (BU) platforms and pipeline from gas production to CO2 injection presents a regional opportunity for the disposal of shipped CO2. Multiple LCO2 development concepts were assessed for unloading and storing the imported LCO2. Unloading can be carrier-to-shore, carrier-to-ship/barge, or carrier-to-platform; storage can be onshore, nearshore, offshore or no buffer storage at all with direct injection from carriers. These concepts required evaluation for technical functionality, maturity, complexity, operability, and availability. Imported LCO2 is too cold and low pressure to be transported or injected at the carrier transport conditions. The pressure needs to be boosted and temperature increased to meet the requirements of the injection system. This requires sources of power and heat. An evaluation of existing facilities, their condition, available space and spare capacity, and their constructability considerations revealed important opportunities and constraints. A study was carried out, which evaluated options for the BU LCO2 import using key evaluation criteria to select the most appropriate concept. This paper explores addressing the challenges involved.

Noninvasive Targeting System with Three-Dimensionally Printed Customized Device in Stereotactic Brain Biopsy

ObjectThree-dimensional (3D)-printed models are currently used in the medical field. This study aimed to evaluate the feasibility and safety of a 3D-printed guide plate for use in brain biopsy. MethodsTwelve patients with intracranial lesions were retrospectively reviewed to determine clinical outcomes and technical procedural operability. These patients underwent brain biopsy assisted with the 3D-printed guide plate. Post-operative computed tomography (CT) was performed to assess the accuracy and associated complications of this guide plate. ResultsAll patients received definite diagnoses assisted by this guide plate. The deviations of the entry and target points were 3.93 ± 0.96 mm and 2.59 ± 0.11 mm, respectively. The angle drift of the puncture path was 5.12 ± 0.14°, and the deviation of the puncture depth was 2.35 ± 1.13 mm. The operation time ranged from 38.5 min with local anesthesia to 76.2 min with general anesthesia. No patients experienced complications. ConclusionsThe 3D-printed guide plate was non-invasive and had acceptable accuracy and the flexibility of frameless systems. The economic and operative benefits of this device supported its status as a powerful tool for brain biopsy in medical facilities in economically disadvantaged areas or institutions without navigation systems.

A method of automating the process of calculating reliability indicators of software systems and their components

The existing means of calculating reliability indicators of software systems are analyzed. It has been established that to determine the reliability indicators of software systems, it is advisable to use the structural-logical analysis of reliability block diagrams, since it clearly and most adequately reflects the process of calculating the reliability indicators of the software system as a whole and its components in particular. Despite the external simplicity of such an analysis, conducting it is not a trivial task, because even building the condition of technical system operability is a difficult task, especially in the case of the presence of many elements with various connections between them, when solving which manually there is a very high probability human error. Also, the construction and visualization of the graph of states / transitions is a nontrivial task, since the number of possible states of the software system depending on the number of elements grows exponentially, and, in turn, increases the complexity of the system of differential equations, the solution of which makes it possible to calculate the necessary reliability indicators. It was determined that the process of reliability design of complex software systems in general, and their components in particular, requires automation of all its stages, starting from the compilation of the reliability block diagram (RBD), and ending with the visualization of the obtained results. A method of automating the process of calculating the reliability indicators of software systems and their components has been developed, which consists of eight steps and, unlike the existing ones, allows the designer to intuitively enter not only input data about the structure, but also the software architecture itself from the point of view of its reliability, and also automates all stages of calculating reliability indicators, from the stage of constructing a reliability block diagram to the stage of finding the distribution of probabilities of the software system being in all possible states. The proposed method makes it possible to use in various combinations the methods, lgorithms and software tools used for the reliability design of software systems and to choose from them the most adequate to the needs of the user in a specific situation. The use of the developed method makes it possible to reduce the influence of the human factor and the probability of making an error in the process of calculating reliability indicators of software systems at all stages of reliability design and to reduce its time by at least 21 %.

Multidisciplinary Approach to Chronic Thromboembolic Pulmonary Hypertension: Role of Radiologists

Management of chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) should be determined by a multidisciplinary team, ideally at a specialized CTEPH referral center. Radiologists contribute to this multidisciplinary process by helping to confirm the diagnosis of CTEPH and delineating the extent of disease, both of which help determine a treatment decision. Preoperative assessment of CTEPH usually employs multiple imaging modalities, including ventilation-perfusion (V/Q) scanning, echocardiography, CT pulmonary angiography (CTPA), and right heart catheterization with pulmonary angiography. Accurate diagnosis or exclusion of CTEPH at imaging is imperative, as this remains the only form of pulmonary hypertension that is curative with surgery. Unfortunately, CTEPH is often misdiagnosed at CTPA, which can be due to technical factors, patient-related factors, radiologist-related factors, as well as a host of disease mimics including acute pulmonary embolism, in situ thrombus, vasculitis, pulmonary artery sarcoma, and fibrosing mediastinitis. Although V/Q scanning is thought to be substantially more sensitive for CTEPH compared with CTPA, this is likely due to lack of recognition of CTEPH findings rather than a modality limitation. Preoperative evaluation for pulmonary thromboendarterectomy (PTE) includes assessment of technical operability and surgical risk stratification. While the definitive therapy for CTEPH is PTE, other minimally invasive or noninvasive therapies also lead to clinical improvements including greater survival. Complications of PTE that can be identified at postoperative imaging include infection, reperfusion edema or injury, pulmonary hemorrhage, pericardial effusion or hemopericardium, and rethrombosis. ©RSNA, 2022 Online supplemental material is available for this article.

Image defogging system and algorithm research based on MATLAB platform

Since the Reform and Opening up, the characteristics of China’s high-quality economic development have become more distinctive, the adjustment of economic and social structure has been continuously optimized, the kinetic energy has been continuously enhanced, and the degree of industrialization has been significantly improved. However, it has also caused some environmental problems, and haze pollution is one of them. The haze weather with low visibility has a certain impact on people’s daily travel, transportation and navigation. Because the images taken under the haze condition will be degraded to varying degrees and the image details will be lost, the effect of identifying and processing the degraded images in the later stage will be reduced. Therefore, in order to clear and restore the degraded image, we developed a defogging system based on MATLAB software. The system mainly uses histogram equalization, MSR and dark channel a priori defogging algorithms to restore fog degraded images. The results indicate that various defogging algorithms are able to enhance the clarity of the picture to varying degrees. The successful implementation of the defogging system lays a theoretical foundation for the in-depth research and application of fog image defogging processing technology, and has good technical operability.

Clinical acceptance of advanced visualization methods: a comparison study of 3D-print, virtual reality glasses, and 3D-display

BackgroundTo compare different methods of three-dimensional representations, namely 3D-Print, Virtual Reality (VR)-Glasses and 3D-Display regarding the understanding of the pathology, accuracy of details, quality of the anatomical representation and technical operability and assessment of possible change in treatment in different disciplines and levels of professional experience.MethodsInterviews were conducted with twenty physicians from the disciplines of cardiology, oral and maxillofacial surgery, orthopedic surgery, and radiology between 2018 and 2020 at the University Hospital of Basel. They were all presented with three different three-dimensional clinical cases derived from CT data from their area of expertise, one case for each method. During this, the physicians were asked for their feedback written down on a pencil and paper questionnaire.ResultsConcerning the understanding of the pathology and quality of the anatomical representation, VR-Glasses were rated best in three out of four disciplines and two out of three levels of professional experience. Regarding the accuracy of details, 3D-Display was rated best in three out of four disciplines and all levels of professional experience. As to operability, 3D-Display was consistently rated best in all levels of professional experience and all disciplines. Possible change in treatment was reported using 3D-Print in 33%, VR-Glasses in 44%, and 3D-Display in 33% of participants. Physicians with a professional experience of more than ten years reported no change in treatment using any method.Conclusions3D-Print, VR-Glasses, and 3D-Displays are very well accepted, and a relevant percentage of participants with less than ten years of professional work experience could imagine a possible change in treatment using any of these three-dimensional methods. Our findings challenge scientists, technicians, and physicians to further develop these methods to improve the three-dimensional understanding of pathologies and to add value to the education of young and inexperienced physicians.

ES12.01 Defining Operability

ES12.01 Defining Operability

Life Cycle Modeling for Utility Infrastructure in Municipal Entities

The current development stage of utility infrastructure is characterized by structural changes resulting from the existing property rights, as well as institutional, organizational, economic, concessional, innovative, and resource-saving mechanisms, the accelerated introduction of new technologies and materials, and the implementation of actions aimed at the reduction of physical and functional depreciation of facilities. The key objectives of managing the reconstruction, upgrade, and repairs of the public utility sector (PUS) facilities include the sustainable development, update, and operation of the housing stock and utility infrastructure (UI), preservation, and technical operability of structures and utility systems. Therefore, the public utility services currently require new strategic planning methods for the social and economic development of the PUS as a key element of municipal entities based on the use of reproduction policy tools throughout the utility infrastructure life cycles and the improvement of project and program approaches necessary to ensure the investment in the sector and facilitate the interactions between the municipal entities, business community, and residents. This article deals with the methodological approach to the life cycle modeling for utility infrastructure in municipal entities based on balancing the phases and innovation activities concerning the features of utility service production and consumption and the necessity to use digital and smart-city technologies to maintain proper operational modes and parameters throughout the life cycles of utility infrastructure units. This requires accelerating reproduction processes, maintaining the best proportion of capital and current costs, expected profitability, and management risks for utility property portfolio.

Probabilistic approach of reliability evaluation for the tubular elements of the chemical equipment according to technical state changing

During the operation of chemical equipment, its technical condition, operating modes and operability change. Such phenomena are typical for the main element of chemical equipment - tubular elements, which must have the required strength, ensure the transportation of the working medium and the transfer of heat between the working medium. During the operation of tubular elements the wall thickness decreases, deposits appear on them, the wall roughness and the flow area change. The parameters that affect the change in the technical state are probabilistic in nature and can vary over a wide range. As a result, the operability of both tubular elements and the equipment in which they are installed decreases.To evaluate the performance of tubular elements under conditions of changes in their technical state, it is proposed to use three functioning criteria: strength, temperature and hydraulic. The strength criterion has the following meaning: the internal working pressure must not exceed the tolerance one; temperature criterion – the temperature of the working medium inside the tubular element must be within the specified range; hydraulic criterion – the pressure drop must not exceed the tolerance value. It has been developed a probabilistic mathematical model that allows one to determine the criterion parameters under the assumption that the influencing factors have a normal distribution law and are described by their mathematical expectation and standard deviation.The proposed method allows, with a given level of reliability, to substantiate the design parameters of tubular elements during their design taking into account changes in the technical state during operation.

Methods of remote monitoring of operability of mechanical systems

Mechanical systems are widely used in various industries as products of mechanical engineering. Timely identification of the reasons and types of failures is crucial for reliability assurance and safety of the car (machine). The questions of remote monitoring of technical condition of mechanical systems are considered in the paper. Remote monitoring of technical condition and operability of mechanical systems provides possibility of preventing refusals, planning terms and volumes of maintenance operation, repair, and forecasting reliability of cars (machines).

Analysis and research on the heating principle and causes of over-temperature of wind power converter

In view of the frequent over-temperature faults of ABB wind power converter in the process of using, this paper makes an in-depth study and detailed analysis on the over-temperature faults and solutions and effects of the converter through the analysis of the converter heating principle, technical transformation test, thermal simulation analysis, etc.It is found that there are three main reasons for the converter over-temperature fault which are high operating environment temperature, insufficient ventilation and increased thermal resistance coefficient. The three main causes of the over-temperature fault of the converter are analyzed and the technical modification scheme and operability analysis are put forward. In order to verify the technical modification effect, the operation temperature data of the technical modification unit and adjacent units were collected and compared with FLOTHERM software to simulate the heat change trend of the tower cylinder, and the influence of the scheme on the effect and other parts of the unit was judged. The results showed that the scheme could effectively solve the over-temperature problem of the converter and would not affect the normal operation of the wind turbine.

LIFE CIRCLE INCREASE OF SCRAPER CRYSTALLIZER TEE BEARINGS OF OIL DEWAXING UNIT

The efficiency and productivity of the oil dewaxing unit depend not only on the physicochemical properties of the raw materials, but also on the equipment technical operability. Since complex apparatuses are used for crystallization processes, increasing life circle with the aim of preventing equipment failures and taking preventive maintenance to repair according to the schedule is currently important for many oil refineries in Russia. As practice has shown, the most vulnerable point of the scraper molds are tee bearings, the premature wear of which in most cases causes the failure of this equipment. The results of the study showed that the textolite is the most wear-resistant material for sliding sleeves of a tee bearing. The wear resistance of textolite is more than two times higher than that of bronze. The use of textolite as liners for tee bearings will increase the durability of tee bearings of the scraper shafts of the mold.

Agent-Based Coordinated Operation Strategy for Active Distribution Network With Distributed Energy Resources

With the development of distributed energy resources (DERs) and the increasing flexibility in active distribution networks (ADNs), the economic operation of ADN coordinating both generation and demand sides is required to be studied. In this paper, considering the electricity price response of DER, a coordinated operation strategy for ADN is presented based on a bi-level agent framework. The DER agent makes their own response based on the technical operability and economic consideration, while the ADN agent will finally coordinate each participant by using the interactive benefit prioritization (IBP) principle. The simulation results indicate that the proposed strategy cannot only reduce the power imbalance but also improve the economic operation of ADN. Moreover, consumption of renewable energy is ameliorated as well.

Interdisciplinary multimodality management of stage III nonsmall celllung cancer.

Stage III nonsmall cell lung cancer (NSCLC) comprises about one-third of NSCLC patients and is very heterogeneous with varying and mostly poor prognosis. It is also called "locoregionally or locally advanced disease". Due to its heterogeneity a general schematic management approach is not appropriate. Usually a combination of local therapy (surgery or radiotherapy, depending on functional, technical and oncological operability) with systemic platinum-based doublet chemotherapy and, recently, followed by immune therapy is used. A more aggressive approach of triple agent chemotherapy or two local therapies (surgery and radiotherapy, except for specific indications) has no benefit for overall survival. Until now tumour stage and the general condition of the patient are the most relevant prognostic factors. Characterising the tumour molecularly and immunologically may lead to a more personalised and effective approach. At the moment, after an exact staging and functional evaluation, an interdisciplinary discussion amongst the tumour board is warranted and offers the best management strategy.

Extrakorporale Membranoxygenierung in der Thoraxchirurgie: Etablierung funktioneller und technischer Operabilität

Functional and technical operability has to be evaluated and defined prior to thoracic surgical procedures. Sometimes patients assigned to thoracic surgery procedures have to be declared inoperable due to functional und technical limitations. Extracorporeal lung support is an important tool to establish functional and technical operability in patients undergoing thoracic surgical procedures. This ensures perioperative safety and minimises the risk during extended lung resection.

Integrating granular activated carbon in the post-treatment of membrane and settler effluents to improve organic micropollutants removal

Granular activated carbon (GAC) is applied as post-treatment technology in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in order to increase the elimination of organic micropollutants (OMPs). However, the efficiency and life-time of GAC depend on several parameters, such as the quality of the effluent to be treated or the type of GAC. In the present paper, two types of GAC, based on bituminous carbon (BC-GAC) and coconut shell (CS-GAC), were assessed from a technical, economic and environmental point of view to further remove OMPs present in two secondary effluents, coming from integrated biological systems with a membrane or a settler, respectively. Although all GAC filters were efficient in removing selected OMPs, the quality of the secondary effluent had a strong influence on the lifespan of adsorbent material and the technical operability of the filtration systems. While GAC filters treating membrane effluent were highly effective to remove recalcitrant compounds, such as carbamazepine and diazepam (>80%), even after 430 d of operation (>30,800 BV), the efficiency of GAC filters treating settler effluent quickly lowered to 50% after 100 d of operation (<7200 BV). Both types of GAC showed similar adsorption capacities and only slight differences were found in terms of costs (2.4 €/kg vs 2.7 €/kg). However, CS-GAC has a lower carbon footprint than BC-GAC, mainly due to the more environmentally friendly production process of CS-GAC.

The use of smart technologies in enabling construction components reuse: A viable method or a problem creating solution?

The exploitation of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) for tracking and archiving the properties of structural construction components could be a potentially innovative disruption for the construction sector. This is because RFID can stimulate the reuse of construction components and reduce their wastage, hence addressing sustainability issues in the construction sector. To test the plausibility of that idea, this study explores the potential pre-conditions for RFID to facilitate construction components reuse, and develops a guidance for promoting their redistribution back to the supply chain. It also looks at how integrating RFID with Building Information Modelling (BIM) can possibly be a valuable extension of its capabilities, providing the opportunity for tracked components to be incorporated into new structures in an informed, sound way. A preliminary assessment of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of the RFID technology is presented in order to depict its current and future potential in promoting construction components' sustainable lifecycle management, while emphasis has been laid on capturing their technical, environmental, economic and social value. Findings suggest that the collection of the right amount of information at the design-construction-deconstruction-reuse-disposal stage is crucial for RFID to become a successful innovation in the construction sector. Although a number of limitations related to the technical operability and recycling of RFID tags seem to currently hinder its uptake for structural components' lifecycle management, future technological innovations could provide solutions that would enable it to become a mainstream practice. Taken together these proposals advocate that the use of RFID and its integration with BIM can create the right environment for the development of new business models focused on sustainable resource management. These models may then unlock multiple values that are otherwise dissipated in the system. If the rapid technological development of RFID capability can be allied to policy interventions that control and manage its uptake along the supply chain, the sustainable lifecycle management of construction components could be radically enhanced.

Escherichia coli HGT: Engineered for high glucose throughput even under slowly growing or resting conditions

Aerobic production-scale processes are constrained by the technical limitations of maximum oxygen transfer and heat removal. Consequently, microbial activity is often controlled via limited nutrient feeding to maintain it within technical operability. Here, we present an alternative approach based on a newly engineered Escherichia coli strain. This E. coli HGT (high glucose throughput) strain was engineered by modulating the stringent response regulation program and decreasing the activity of pyruvate dehydrogenase. The strain offers about three-fold higher rates of cell-specific glucose uptake under nitrogen-limitation (0.6gGlc gCDW−1h−1) compared to that of wild type, with a maximum glucose uptake rate of about 1.8gGlc gCDW−1h−1 already at a 0.3h−1 specific growth rate. The surplus of imported glucose is almost completely available via pyruvate and is used to fuel pyruvate and lactate formation. Thus, E. coli HGT represents a novel chassis as a host for pyruvate-derived products.

Blurring the boundaries between frame-based and frameless stereotaxy: feasibility study for brain biopsies performed with the use of a head-mounted robot.

Frame-based stereotactic interventions are considered the gold standard for brain biopsies, but they have limitations with regard to flexibility and patient comfort because of the bulky head ring attached to the patient. Frameless image guidance systems that use scalp fiducial markers offer more flexibility and patient comfort but provide less stability and accuracy during drilling and biopsy needle positioning. Head-mounted robot-guided biopsies could provide the advantages of these 2 techniques without the downsides. The goal of this study was to evaluate the feasibility and safety of a robotic guidance device, affixed to the patient's skull through a small mounting platform, for use in brain biopsy procedures. This was a retrospective study of 37 consecutive patients who presented with supratentorial lesions and underwent brain biopsy procedures in which a surgical guidance robot was used to determine clinical outcomes and technical procedural operability. The portable head-mounted device was well tolerated by the patients and enabled stable drilling and needle positioning during surgery. Flexible adjustments of predefined paths and selection of new trajectories were successfully performed intraoperatively without the need for manual settings and fixations. The patients experienced no permanent deficits or infections after surgery. The head-mounted robot-guided approach presented here combines the stability of a bone-mounted set-up with the flexibility and tolerability of frameless systems. By reducing human interference (i.e., manual parameter settings, calibrations, and adjustments), this technology might be particularly useful in neurosurgical interventions that necessitate multiple trajectories.

Robust exponential stability of T-S fuzzy delayed systems with nonlinear perturbations

This paper deals with a class of uncertain Takagi–Sugeno fuzzy delayed systems with nonlinear perturbations. Based on the Gronwall–Bellman inequality, we present the norm equivalent conditions of robust exponential stability for such systems. Namely, if the delay terms and the nonlinear terms can be controlled by the norm of system states, then the robust exponential stability can be achieved. Finally, an example is provided to verify technical feasibility and operability of the developed results.