Truck Container Research Articles

Uses of an innovative ethylene-α-cyclodextrin inclusion complex powder for ripening of mango fruit

A novel ethylene-α-cyclodextrin (α-CD) inclusion complex (IC) powder was investigated to ripen Calypso mango fruit. Modulated release of ethylene gas from the IC powder was achieved by admixture with deliquescent salt CaCl2 at RHs of 75.5% and 93.6%. The IC powder was tested in the laboratory and for in-transit ripening of mango fruit over two seasons. In the laboratory experiment, ethylene gas started to release from the IC powder in 2h and complete release was achieved in 24h. Assessments of fruit colour and firmness showed that encapsulated ethylene and commercial grade ethylene from pressurised cylinder similarly shortened the ripening time to 9–10 days (after harvest) for treated fruit as compared with 15 days for untreated mango. Mango fruit treated in both ways with ethylene showed more uniform ripening than the control. For the in-transit ripening using the IC powder, ethylene was found to be between 4.9 and 10.5μLL−1 in the headspace of the truck containers over 48h. Mango fruit from the treated containers shortened the ripening time by 3–6 days as compared to the untreated control fruit. Thus, the safe and convenient IC powder has demonstrated promise for in-transit fruit ripening.

Improving transport container design to reduce broiler chicken PSE (pale, soft, exudative) meat in Brazil.

Throughout the chicken production chain, transport from farm to the commercial abattoir is one of the most critical sources of stress, particularly heat stress. The aim of this work was to describe the performance of a new prototype truck container designed to improve the microenvironment and reduce the incidence of pale, soft and exudative (PSE) meat and dead on arrival (DOA) occurrences. Experiments were carried out for four different conditions: regular and prototype truck, both with and without wetting loaded cages at the farm (for bird thermal stress relief) just before transporting. While there was no difference in the DOA index (P ≥ 0.05), the prototype truck caused a reduction (P < 0.05) in the occurrence of PSE meat by 66.3% and 49.6% with and without wetting, respectively. The results of this experiment clearly revealed a low-cost solution for transporting chickens that yields better animal welfare conditions and improves meat quality.

Application of Muon Tomography to Detect Radioactive Sources Hidden in Scrap Metal Containers

The accidental melting of radioactive sources hidden inside metal scrap containers can produce severe environmental harm. Modern melting facilities are equipped with portals measuring radiation levels. Nonetheless, sources can pass undiscovered when shielded inside shells of high density material, such as lead. From time to time indeed some radioactive sources pass undetected through the controls at foundries entrance. Once molten they caused enormous damages to the steel mills, contaminating all the production line. The muon tomography technique allows to discriminate high-Z materials measuring multiple scattering of cosmic ray muons inside matter. Therefore this technique can be used to analyse a truck container searching for high-density source shields. We report here the results about simulation studies of a muon tomography portal. Within the Mu-Steel European project we developed the prototype design, the three-dimensional images reconstruction software and the high density material identification algorithm. MonteCarlo simulation was validated with data from a large volume demonstrator (~11 m <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">3</sup> ) built using spare muon drift-time chambers of the CMS high energy physics experiment operating at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN.

MUON TOMOGRAPHY AS A TOOL TO DETECT RADIOACTIVE SOURCE SHIELDING IN SCRAP METAL CONTAINERS

Muon tomography was recently proposed as a tool to inspect large volumes with the purpose of recognizing high density materials immersed in lower density matrices. The MU-STEEL European project (RFCS-CT-2010-000033) studied the application of such a technique to detect radioactive source shielding in truck containers filled with scrap metals entering steel mill foundries. A description of the muon tomography technique, of the MU-STEEL project and of the obtained results will be presented.

Reduction effects of drag by a wind deflector attached on a truck container

Recently, reduction of CO2 emissions from automobiles is carried out in the world. The improvement in aerodynamics and reduced in CO2 emissions have been realized with passenger cars. However, there is still some room for improvement between trucks and trailers in aerodynamics. In this study, a wind deflector attached on the container of a truck was proposed to reduce the drag. To investigate the effects, the drag and flow patterns over a small-scale truck model were measured in a small wind tunnel. Furthermore, the drag, flow patterns, and pressure distributions of a full-scale truck model were examined at a highway driving condition by Computational Fluid Dynamics. It was found that the drag can be reduced without losing container space by the wind deflector attached on the container. The maximum decreasing ratio of drag was 3.4%. As the reason of the drag reduction, it was found that the wind deflector reduces size of wake flow and increases static pressure behind the vehicle.

ELECTROCHEMICAL RECLAMATION OF WASTEWATER RESULTED FROM PETROLEUM TANKER TRUCK CLEANING

Petroleum tanker trucks are integral vehicles for delivering fuel and other petrochemical products from place to place and must be cleaned regularly. Pressure washing with hot or cold water serving to remove oil and filth from the tanker truck container, produces oily waste water with an oil concentration of about 300-500 mg L -1 which, according to environmental standards and regulations worldwide, must be disposed of and treated properly. In the present paper an integrated electrochemical treatment for oily wastewater reclamation is presented comprising a) the electrocoagulation process with sacrificial iron and aluminum electrodes, b) the electrooxidation process with platinized titanium (Ti/Pt) and boron doped diamond (BDD) electrodes and c) the electro-Fenton process with iron electrodes and added hydrogen hydroxide. A simulated oil tanker truck washing wastewater was prepared by mixing heating oil with fresh water and separating the aqueous from the oily phase in a separation funnel. The COD of the obtained oily wastewater was 456 mg L -1 . The effect of crucial parameters on oil removal, such as pH, applied current density, initial oil concentration and electro-processing time was explored. During the electrocoagulation treatment at the current density of 5 mA cm 2 using iron and aluminum electrodes, COD was only partially removed by 8 and 11% respectively. The COD removal could drastically be increased exceeding 80 % by performing the electrocoagulation process after initial addition of the surfactant sodium dodecyle sulfate. The electro-oxidation process with platinized titanium (Ti/Pt) and boron doped diamond (BDD) electrodes at the applied current density of 20 mA/cm 2 reduces COD to 15 and 36 % at 25 0 C and to 28 and >98 % at 60 0 C respectively. Finally the electro-Fenton process with Fe electrodes and supplied H 2O2 in acidic solution at the applied current densities of 5 and 10 mA cm 2 , led to a COD reduction beyond 90% in only a few minutes of electro-processing time.

Wood biomass supply costs and potential for biomass energy plants in Japan

Abstract Wood biomass supply costs were estimated and the supply potential was analyzed to determine the optimum amount for suppliers and wood biomass energy plants. First, supply costs, consisting of harvesting and transportation costs, were estimated for the components of wood biomass based on transportation distances. Two types of costs were determined: one based on the current harvesting and transportation system in Japan (CC), the other based on an improved system for harvesting and transporting commonly used in several European countries, with more efficient forestry machines and larger truck container capacity (IC). Second, supply models were created for all target municipalities to estimate marginal costs (MC) and average costs (AC). Third, the amount of wood biomass was estimated when MC and AC were set at 14,000 yen t −1 (100 yen ≈ 1 USD), an expense appropriate under current Japanese forestry conditions. Due to improving forestry machines and truck container capacity, approximately 25% of the cost was reduced for pre-commercial thinning, 32% for final cutting and commercial thinning (including bark, leaves and branches, and low-quality timber), 25% for bark (in mills), 16% for sawdust, and 10% for chip. When MC and AC were set at 14,000 yen t −1 , only Regions 7 and 9 could supply by 0.1 Mt using CC. IC clearly increased the wood biomass supply, particularly for Regions 2, 7, and 9.

Impact of Truck Arrival Information on System Efficiency at Container Terminals

This paper quantifies the benefits to drayage trucks and container terminals from a data-sharing strategy designed to improve operations at the drayage truck–container terminal interface. This paper proposes a simple rule for using truck information to reduce container rehandling work and suggests a method for evaluating yard crane productivity and truck transaction time. Various scenarios with different levels of information quality are considered to explore how information quality affects system efficiency (i.e., truck wait time and yard crane productivity). Different block configurations and truck arrival rates are also investigated to evaluate the effectiveness of truck information under various system configurations. The research demonstrates that a small amount of truck information can significantly improve crane productivity and reduce truck delay, especially for those terminals operating near capacity or using intensive container stacking, and that complete truck arrival sequence information is not necessary for system improvement.