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Condition monitoring of wind turbines
No full textThe use of fossil fuels is becoming a past event in the coming age with the use of renewable energy becoming a rapidly growing sector all across Europe and the rest of the World. The use of Wind Turbines has become a vast sector in Ireland with its potential wind resource being of the highest standard and amongst the best resource in the world. The purpose of the dissertation is to describe the operation and maintenance of Wind Turbines and the theory behind them. There are issues with component and other failures in Wind Turbines. This dissertation will examine whether these failures could have been predicted in advance thus preventing failure and preventing possible loss of power. It will involve receiving real SCADA data from the DkIT 850 kW Wind Turbine and processing this data on MATLAB. The main components of the Wind Turbine will be investigated including the gearbox bearing and oil temperatures. It will also be investigated how the turbine is performing by investigating the power curve and the power coe cients. This paper concludes that the prediction of a failure in a Wind Turbine can be possible, provided there is an operative monitoring the condition of the wind turbine constantly. This means that it will reduce the losses involved with wind turbine power efficiency
A Difference Calculus for Structured Data
Get PDFTraditional software configuration management tools employ existing Diff tools to identify the difference between intermediate versions of a document such as a source code file. When any new data structure arises, developers have to create a version control tool for this specific structure. This paper introduces a universal approach to the creation of a version control tool for artifacts of any structured data. The approach taken is to develop a difference calculus for arbitrary objects based on their types. This calculus is built on a type system in which types are nested. By constructing types recursively, more structured data can be modelled and the difference between successive versions of objects can be identified
The Ideal Voting Interface: Classifying Usability
No full textThis work presents a feature-oriented taxonomy for commercial electronic voting machines, which focuses on
usability aspects. Based on this analysis, we propose a ‘Just-Like-Paper’ (JLP) classification method which identifies five broad categories of eVoting interface. We extend the classification to investigate its application as an indicator of voting efficiency and identify a universal ten-step process encompassing all possible voting steps spanning the twenty-six machines studied. Our analysis concludes that multi-functional and progressive interfaces are likely to be more efficient versus multi-modal voter-activated machines
Defects associated with Georgian period architecture
No full textThe reason for this choice of topic for this dissertation stemmed from an interest in architecture and conservation and a Georgian building dictated the choice of building for the project. The focus of this dissertation is in the area of defects associated with Georgian period architecture. This dissertation aims to prove that the defects in Georgian buildings are similar to each other. How conservation and policies dictate how the work is governed in regards to Georgian buildings and that specialists involved must have knowledge of these building types. The main conclusion through the literature study and the case study found that the defects associated with these types of buildings were similar to one another due to the nature of the construction and the methods that have been used to rectify the problems
The application of mechanical ventilation with heat recovery in today's construction industry
No full textIn recent years a larger emphasis has grown around the area of sustainable development and ‘green’ building technology. It has come obvious that changes must be made. As a result of this, buildings are becoming more energy efficient in order to cut down CO2 emissions and help the environment. Another issue for building owners is the rising energy prices and running costs of a building. These costs are not welcome at a time when our country is coming out of a harsh economic downturn. As a result new materials and technologies have been developed to act as a catalyst to get the construction industry back on its feet. One of these technologies is Mechanical Ventilation with Heat Recovery. This dissertation aims to understand how these systems work, their impact on the environment and their cost beneficiaries. A case study is undertaken to show the process of installing an M.V.H.R. unit to a commercial building. This dissertation finds that once a building has a sufficient level of air tightness it will allow an M.V.H.R. system to work most efficiently. These factors will also contribute to a return on the system in just a few years as well as minimal environmental impact
Identification and assessment of asbestos cement roof sheeting
No full textIn Ireland, Asbestos Containing materials were used throughout the 20 th Century. Asbestos cement roof sheeting was widely used from the 1950’s up until the late 1970’s (Hastie Insulation Ltd, 2011). Much of this roof sheeting remains in place to this day. AC roof sheeting has an average life expectancy of between 30 and 40 years. As a result, much of this sheeting is now reaching the end of its effective life. This has implications for building surveyors as it is likely they will encounter this material during the course of their work. This dissertation aims to highlight two integral areas of dealing with AC roof sheeting. These areas are the identification of the material, and the assessment of the condition of the material. Several different methods for both identification and assessment are discussed in order to discover the best practice for building surveyors dealing with the material. The methodology adopted was a literature review to examine the different methods which are in use both in Ireland and internationally. Case studies were also carried out on two buildings which have AC roof sheeting. This was undertaken in order to apply the theory discussed, and to compare different methods outlined. The key findings of this dissertation is that when identifying AC roof sheeting, a presumption is often made as it is well known for corrugated cement sheeting from the late 20th century to contain asbestos. Another finding is that the assessment method which the HSA recommend is not adequate to assess the condition of AC roof sheeting. The method which provided the most accurate report on condition during the case study was a method developed in Italy referred to as Method Two (Tuscan Region)
Using IEC80001-1 to assess a hospital’s Medical IT- Network risk management practice
No full textMedical device interoperability has been identified as a key way of decreasing healthcare costs while improving patient care [1]. This has lead to a shift towards placing more medical devices onto IT networks. However, placing medical devices onto an IT network may lead to additional risks to the safety, effectiveness and security. IEC 80001-1 addresses the roles, responsibilities and activities that need to be carried out when managing these risks. In this article, we describe an exercise undertaken to assess a Clinical Information Systems level of compliance with the IEC 80001-1 standard using an assessment framework developed by the Regulated Software Research Centre (RSRC). The purpose of this exercise was, to test and inform the development of an assessment method which is part of the assessment framework for this standard, and also, to identify how the management of such an existing Clinical Information Systems (CIS) project meets the requirements of IEC 80001-1
The Development and Validation of a Traceability Assessment Model
Get PDFRegulation normally requires critical systems to be certified before entering service. This involves submission of a safety case - a reasoned argument and supporting evidence that stringent requirements have been met and that the system is acceptably safe. A good safety case encompasses an effective risk mitigation process which is highly dependent on requirements traceability. However despite its many benefits and regulatory requirements, most existing software systems lack explicit traceability links between artefacts. Reasons for the lack of traceability include cost, complexity and lack of guidance on how to implement traceability.
To assist medical device organisations in addressing the lack of guidance on how to implement effective traceability, this paper aims to present the development and validation of a traceability process assessment model and the actions to be taken as a result of the validation. The process assessment model will allow organisations to identify strengths and weaknesses in their existing traceability process and pinpoint areas for improvement
The sustainability of concrete
No full textWhile Ireland has many deposits for the manufacture of concrete products there is increasing pressure and concern about the environmental impact of emissions from the concrete industry in particular the production of cement the main constituent of concrete. The Irish construction industry has obviously seen an abrupt decline in new developments, which has resulted in a sharp decline of secondary materials such as cement. The market will rebound so CO2 emissions must still be kept at the forefront for the industry to compete and also help Ireland to a more sustainable future. The EPA has reported recently of there been an 18% rise in CO2 emissions in 2012 compared to the 2011 from the cement industry within Ireland which shows this subject is still relevant now. This dissertation reports mainly on the use of substitution materials within cement. “Cement typically contributes some 90 per cent of the carbon footprint of concrete”. (Ecocem, 2013). Research was carried out into the process of making cement more sustainable and also into recently developed materials that will put the industry on the right path to reducing CO2 emissions. Companies in Ireland will also be examined to determine if they are progressing towards a more sustainable choice in the reduction of emissions and also in terms of the overall sustainable sense. Ireland was examined for its current trend in cement production and also the changes that have been and will be made in industry to reach the European targets for sustainable development. This Dissertation was compiled from an extensive review of the relevant literature and by contacting personnel within the concrete and cement production industries. This Dissertation concludes that the construction industry in Ireland needs to move towards a more sustainable future from various changes that will and are taken place in the industry to help towards the 2050 roadmap of between 80 and 95% Greenhouse gas emissions compared to 1990. More R & D must be carried out as many studies show that the current measures can only take CO2 reduction so far
The repair of historic brickwork
No full textA review of historic brickwork repair techniques in use today shows they are not consistently implemented in practice. The primary techniques which will be referred to in this study are wig pointing and tuck pointing. These methods involve the use of coloured mortar to repair the damaged arises of individual bricks whilst also creating the illusion of finely jointed brickwork. The aim of this thesis is to investigate the common defects found in historic brickwork from the Georgian period in Dublin and to demonstrate that current repair guidelines are not being adhered to in practice. The correct use of wig and tuck pointing has been examined in detail through reference to a case study. The dissertation was compiled from an extensive review of present literature on existing best practices and by carrying out a case study. The case study involved obtaining and reviewing pre-restoration documents and subsequently determining the results of the works carried out on the case study building. The paper finds that, while recommended practices are advised and demanded on the design side of the project, these ideals are not carried forward to the end of the project. The results showed that the pointing techniques are not always carried out appropriately in practice, even on architecturally important buildings such as the case study. A key finding of the study was that there appears to be a degree of confusion with regard to the differences in wig pointing and tuck pointing. This confusion may also be an explanation for the lack of efficient communication across all persons involved in the repair process. However, this paper also concedes that as the inappropriate repairs on historic brickwork may also be as a result of a lack of relevant skills on behalf of the bricklayers. With this in mind, it is concluded that more on-site supervision is required by competent professionals, who will also improve communication