Upgrade Project Research Articles

Automatic Filter System Prevents Cooling Water Contamination

An upgrade project at the Acordis cellulose fibre factory in Spondon, Derby, UK, involved the installation of two new compressors on the filter tow and solvent recovery processing plants. In order to protect the new compressors each plants at the factory was fitted with a Boll automatic self-cleaning filter on the water feed line, which cools the machinery. The new filtration system provides filtration down to 400 microns and handles flow rates up to 82 m 3/h.

Centrifuge Upgrade Significantly Increases Chemical Throughput

A decanter upgrade and optimization project carried out by Thomas Broadbent & Sons Ltd, UK, for a major chemicals manufacturer in Spain, has increased the allowable throughput of two existing machines by as much as 40%, as well as reducing the maintenance requirements and improving the stability of the process.

International HARM precision navigation upgrade A GPS/INS missile upgrade that improves effectiveness and minimizes friendly-fire accidents

The high speed anti-radiation missile (HARM) is an air-to-surface tactical missile designed to seek and destroy enemy radar-equipped air defense systems. Unfortunately, the HARM is "no respecter of persons," and it has been known, most notably during the Gulf War, to attack "friendly" targets. The international HARM upgrade project is a tri-national missile technology project sponsored by the United States, Italian, and German governments. The HARM precision navigation upgrade (PNU) program has as its goal, the development and installation of a PNU into the HARM that will improve the weapon's effectiveness, while nearly eliminating the likelihood of fratricide. The precision navigation system consists of a modern selective availability anti-spoofing module (SAASM) based Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver, and an inertial measurement unit (IMU), consisting of state-of-the-art fiber optic gyros and a modern micro-machined accelerometer triad.

FEL research and development at the SLAC sub-picosecond photon source, SPPS

An upgrade project to the SLAC linac allows ultra-short electron bunches to be interleaved with the routine high-energy physics program operation, for use with an undulator to produce short-pulse, high-brightness X-rays. The linac upgrade comprises of the installation in the summer of 2002 of a bunch compressor chicane of similar design to the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) project. A final compression stage in the high-energy Final Focus Test Beam (FFTB) line compresses the 28GeV, 3.4nC electron bunch to 80fs FWHM, where a 5m section of undulator (K=4.45) will produce 1.5Å X-rays with 3×107 photons per pulse and a peak brightness of 4×1024 photons mm−2mrad−2s−1 (0.1% BW). The facility will allow us to test the dynamics and associated technology of bunch compression and gain valuable experience for the LCLS using the SLAC linac. New ultra-short electron bunch diagnostic techniques will be developed hand in hand with the same ultra-fast laser technology to be used for LCLS. Issues of high peak power (27GW) X-ray transport and optics can be addressed at this facility as well as pump-probe and ultra-fast laser timing and stability issues.

Benefits of upgrading paper mill generator protection

There are a number of functional protection areas on paper mill generators 20 years or older that have significant shortcomings when compared to current IEEE recommended generator-protection practices. This article identifies these protection areas and the risks of not addressing the shortcomings. It also points out the advantages of using multifunction digital relaying to upgrade generator protection as a technology that offers many advantages over older electromechanical relays. The completed upgrade project at MeadWestvaco's Luke Mill in Maryland provided a number of examples of these benefits in uncovering mill problems that, if they had gone undetected, could have resulted in costly mill shutdowns or damage to mill generators.

F306 BENEFITS FROM UPGRADING GENERATOR PROTECTION AT AN INDUSTRIAL PLANT - A CASE STUDY

Electrical generation at industrial plants is becoming an increasingly critical asset, and should be will protected from faults, system upsets and abnormal operating conditions. The loss of a major generating unit for an extended period would result in very costly replacement power and repair costs for any industrial facility. This paper presents the reasons why industrial generator owners should consider upgrading the electrical protection of their generators to meet today's standards. It specifically outlines the risks assumed in protection areas where 20 plus-year-old generator protection is inadequate. The paper relates the experience of a completed protection upgrade projects at a paper mill where 1960-vintage electromechanical relays were replaced with modern digital protection on two 40 MVA generators.

Community development projects in older city districts: User participation mechanisms in Egypt

Enabling local communities to participate actively in furthering their communal interests has become a well-established criterion for urban upgrading projects over the last three decades. Funding agencies (international agencies in particular) use this criterion as a prerequisite for funding projects. However, in many urban upgrade projects in less developed countries (LDCs), local community participation is problematic at both legislative and procedural levels. The willingness and ability of the local community to participate, the existence of a formal community enabling mechanism, and even the initial set-up of the project are three issues that are normally overlooked at these levels. Community participation is even more important in local development projects if the local urban heritage attracts national and international interest.This article discusses the theoretical structures of various management mechanisms for urban upgrade projects, considering both the basic conceptual phase and the execution p...

Polarisation measurements on e± beams

The current status of e ± -beam polarimetry at the HERA ep collider is reviewed, giving the performance achieved to date and the status of the various upgrade projects together with a summary of the expected performance. In addition, the polarimeter that has been proposed for the TESLA e + e − collider is described.

Completion of the ATLAS ECR-I ion source upgrade project

A new 10 GHz electron cyclotron resonance ion source (ECRIS) has been constructed and commissioned for the ATLAS accelerator. This new source replaces the original ATLAS ECRIS that has been in operations since 1987. The goal of this upgrade project was to significantly improve the source performance while maintaining maximum operational flexibility for solid material feeds. The new source design includes a large magnetic-field gradient, aluminum plasma chamber, and bias disk following modern ECRIS design concepts. Eight solenoid coils from the original source along with a new iron yoke form the magnetic mirror. Hall Probe measurements showed the axial B field to be within 1% of the POISSON design model calculated at 400 A per coil. The injection and extraction mirror ratios are approximately 4.4 and 2.9, respectively, with a minimum field of 3.0 kG. A new aluminum plasma chamber houses the NdFeB hexapole magnets, which are encased in austenitic stainless steel to allow for direct water cooling. An open hexapole configuration provides six radial access ports, 1.7 cm×4.1 cm, to the plasma chamber for solid material feeds and vacuum pumping at an estimated rate of 20 l/s per radial port. Measurements of the hexapole field near the plasma chamber wall, 4 cm in radius, were within 13% of the designed B field of 9.3 and 5.7 kG along the poles and pole gaps, respectively. The first plasma in the new source was obtained on October 10, 2000. Already it has exceeded the best O6+16 beam current obtained from the original ECR-I by a factor of roughly 2.3, achieving 140 e μA with a biased disk. The source is back in regular operation and ATLAS experiment runs have been performed with He, O, Ar, Kr, Ni, and Zr.

Use of Vessel Freight Data to Forecast Heavy Truck Movements at Seaports

Ports are primary generators of truck traffic in the United States. Seaport operations will require operational and infrastructure changes to maintain the growth of international cargo operations. Truck trip generation models will provide transportation planners and public agencies with valuable information necessary for prioritizing funds for roadway upgrade projects and port infrastructure modifications. A new methodology is presented that combines backpropagation neural networks (BPN) and time series to forecast inbound and outbound heavy truck movements at seaports. The new method uses vessel freight data to identify which parameters are relevant for use as model input in predicting truck traffic at seaports. The method is successfully applied to five ports in Florida—Miami, Tampa, Palm Beach, Jacksonville, and Everglades—thus demonstrating its transferability. Details are provided for the Port of Everglades. The commodities at this port are classified into tons, barrels, and containers. It was found that the primary factors affecting truck traffic are imported containers, imported tonnage, imported barrels, exported containers, exported tonnage, and the particular weekday of operation. Separate BPN models were developed for inbound and outbound truck traffic at the ports. The new method forecasts that the Port of Everglades will have a 33% increase in average daily inbound heavy trucks and a 30% increase in average daily outbound heavy trucks by 2005 (2000 is the base year). The accuracy of the inbound and the outbound truck models is 93% and 92%, respectively.

Efforts to restore habitat connectivity for an upland tropical rainforest fauna: A trial of underpasses below roads

Summary Four large underpasses, specifically designed for movements by fauna, form part of a major road upgrade project on the Atherton Tablelands in northeast Queensland, Australia. We describe the design and rationale of a project to test their effectiveness in restoring habitat continuity for tropical rainforest fauna. The large blocks of upland rainforest divided by the road are recognized for their high faunal conservation significance, forming habitat for many rare or threatened species. Ecologists, road engineers and the Atherton Tablelands conservation community have united with a common conservation goal: to design the ‘furniture’ within the underpasses and accomplish rainforest revegetation to provide protective cover and attract fauna to underpass entrances. Prior to construction, small mammals were trapped weekly for several months in habitats close to the road upgrade. The small mammal community comprised grassland species in abandoned pasture and differed significantly from the rainforest specialists found in three closed canopy habitats: rainforest edge, rainforest interior and Lantana shrubland. Rainforest restoration works designed to restore connectivity for rainforest fauna across this abandoned pastureland (via the underpasses to major rainforest blocks to the north and south of the road) are currently in progress. Monitoring of the effectiveness of the underpasses in allowing faunal movements will involve the use of infra‐red‐triggered cameras within the underpasses and near underpass entrances, and a survey of road‐killed fauna both prior to and postconstruction. Further examination of small mammal community structure and movements, with respect to both the new road and the underpasses, will be undertaken once rainforest plantings have become established. This evaluation should provide insights for further road‐associated restoration projects in rainforest regions.

Comparison of Two Approaches for Modeling Freight Movement at Seaports

Seaports host international cargo operations and are primary generators of freight traffic in the United States. Truck/rail trip generation and modal split models provide public agencies with valuable information necessary to prioritize funds for roadway upgrade projects and port infrastructure modifications. This paper presents two approaches for developing freight trip generation models: regression analysis and backpropagation neural networks (BPN). These models are used for predicting the levels of cargo truck traffic moving inbound and outbound at seaports. Based on the Port of Miami case, it was found that the BPN model is more accurate than the regression model. However, the BPN model requires a sizable database. Using the BPN approach, the paper presents a new combined truck trip generation and truck-rail modal split model for the Port of Jacksonville. It was found that the primary factors affecting truck-rail volume are the amount and direction of cargo vessel freight, commodity type, and the particular weekday of operation. In summary, the neural network model results were found significantly accurate for both Florida ports.

Status of the D0 Detector Upgrade for Run II

The status of the D0 upgrade project is summarized, including a discussion of all subdetectors, the trigger system as well as plans for further upgrades in view of the Tevatron high luminosity phase Run IIb.

Gas distribution network in the UK upgraded

The UK has one of the largest gas pipeline distribution networks in the world with many houses and businesses supplied direct from an extensive national grid primarily run by ex-state-owned entity Transco (formerly British Gas). Control valves designed and manufactured by Severn Glocon are currently at the centre of a major upgrade project on this network, much of it originally built in the 19th century.

Cornell Electron Storage Ring phase-III interaction region vacuum chamber

Two 115 in. long copper ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) chambers for the Cornell Electron Storage Ring (CESR) interaction region were fabricated. These chambers are a part of the phase-III upgrade project for the CESR storage ring. They incorporate several novel features including a remotely engaging differentially pumped Viton O ring sealed UHV flange, two rf shielded bellows joints, and inner stepped masking for synchrotron radiation. The fabrication of these chambers incorporates multistage electron beam welding to maintain the strict tolerance required for installation through superconducting and permanent quadrupole magnets. Before final welding, a series of electron beam welding setup tests were done to work out a welding procedure for optimizing the welding parameters and avoiding contamination in the weld zone. In this article we will describe the design, fabrication, welding, leak checking, and final UHV performance testing of these chambers.

Beam-line systems for pump-probe photoelectron spectroscopy using SR and laser

Combined systems for photoelectron spectroscopy using synchrotron radiation (SR) and laser have been constructed at BL5A and BL6A2 in the UVSOR facility, Okazaki. The systems consist of photoelectron spectrometers with high performance, mode-locked lasers, and timing electronic circuits. The laser pulses with repetition frequency of 90 MHz are synchronized with the SR pulses. An upgrade project to install a micro-ESCA at BL6A2, which is now in progress, is also reported.

Which Method Is Better for Developing Freight Planning Models at Seaports—Neural Networks or Multiple Regression?

Ports are the primary generators of freight traffic in the United States. Seaport operations will require operational and infrastructure changes to maintain the growth of international cargo operations. Truck and rail trip generation and modal split models will provide transportation planners and public agencies with valuable information for prioritizing funds for roadway upgrade projects and port infrastructure modifications. Two methods are presented for developing freight trip generation models—regression analysis and back-propagation neural networks. These models are applied in predicting the levels of cargo truck traffic moving inbound and outbound at seaports. For the Port of Miami, the back-propagation neural network model was more accurate than the regression analysis model. However, the neural network model requires a sizable database. A second application of the back-propagation neural networks approach developed a truck trip generation model and a truck-rail modal split model for the Port of Jacksonville. The primary factors affecting truck and rail volume were found to be the amount and direction of cargo vessel freight, commodity type (bulk, break bulk, or liquid bulk), and weekday of operation. In summary, the neural network model results were found significantly accurate for both Florida ports.

The vacuum system for the upgraded HERA interaction regions

DESY pursues a luminosity upgrade project for the HERA electron–proton collider that foresees an increase of the luminosity by nearly a factor of 5. This is achieved mainly by a completely new layout of the interaction region. The new scheme involves a very early separation of the colliding beams by means of superconducting magnets that are installed inside the experimental detectors. The early beam separation allows the final focus quadrupoles to be located closer to the interaction point (IP), which in turn leads to smaller beam spot-sizes and higher luminosity. The HERA upgrade requires the whole vacuum system in the interaction regions of the machine to be rebuilt. This amounts to about 400 m length of new electron, proton and common vacuum system. The requirements for the vacuum quality were raised in comparison to the present machine, because electrons that lost energy due to beam–gas interactions will be mainly deflected into the detector beam pipes by the superconducting separation magnets. At all possible locations we have foreseen to install NEG pumps. Another critical point is the safe handling of about 30 kW synchrotron radiation power, produced by the separation magnets in the detectors. An overview on the project is presented and some critical issues are discussed with emphasis.

Intermediate silicon layers detector for the CDF experiment

The Intermediate Silicon Layers (ISL) detector is currently being built as part of the CDF II detector upgrade project. The ISL detector will significantly improve tracking in the central region and, together with the Silicon Vertex detector, provide stand-alone 3D track information in the forward/backward regions. In this article, we present the quality of the production sensors manufactured by Hamamatsu Photonics, which account for roughly half of the silicon sensors used in the ISL detector.

The status of the DØ silicon tracker upgrade project

The current status of the silicon tracker for the DØ upgrade project for Run II at the Tevatron is presented. After reviewing the design considerations the status of delivery and testing of the different silicon sensors is presented. The ladder production and assembly process is also discussed.