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 | Tank Cars for Oil or LNG Five 60 foot tanks cars are available to handle the oil or LNG: UP, Consolidated Oil, two CORX and a UTLX tanker. The cars use the Auran animated pipe action to load or unload. UP Tanker |
 | 66 Ft CELX Tank Cars for LNG This is the 66 foot LNG tank car, it can also handle the oil. This car has a special three axle bogey and is seen loading at the LNG point in the refinery. CELX Tank Car Download Links |
 | Operating Concept The oil rig is passenger enabled, and will interact with the tugboat james Hart. The crude oil (or LNG) is loaded from the offshore loader platform into the tankers. The platform laods oil on one side and LNG on the other. the tankers unload at the Refinery at separate locations for oil or LNG, on the one ship track. Oil, LNG or Diesel is loaded into train tank cars, on two tracks within the refinery. Each product loads from separate locations on the train tracks. All loading or unloading points are signed in the refinery or loader models. |
 | Placement of the Models in Surveyor
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 | Operations and Stopping Accuracy The ships will stop reasonably accurately at loading points, the rail tank cars use the animated pipe system which does not depend on accuracy. If the ships or helicopters tend to overshoot due to high approach speeds use the invisible speedboards as required. A 10kph speedsign (invisible in driver) placed at the centre of the loader track will interact as the bow of a ship passes, slowing the ship sufficently. Helicopters will require speed signs placed earlier than the oil rig or heliport landing areas. |
 | Heliport A separate model for a heliport that could be placed near any ocean or river based industry, and has night lighting and flashing lights. It accepts passengers at the deck level from helicopters, or at the lower wharf level for ships. As the landing area is small, triggers are placed close together near the center of the helipad. Excessive speed under AI operations can cause the helicopter to miss pickups due to over shoot. Use my invisible speedboards to control approach speeds. |
 | Helicopter, Tugboat and Oil Rig Three of the models in the oil loading system. The helicopter has an opening passenger door on the left side, for traveling in the direction shown. Should the helicopter approach from the opposite direction, it will load or unload but the door does not operate. |
SUPERCOMPUTERS SEE LIGHT Computer scientists say they've managed to more efficiently convert electrical signals into light pulses, paving the way for supercomputers to one day fit on a single chip.
Scientists from computer giant IBM say they have produced electro-optic modulators 100 to 1000 times smaller than comparable silicon photonics modulators and small enough to fit on a processor chip.
They publish their research in the journal Optics Express.
By connecting processing cores on a chip by light instead of wires, the researchers say that problems of high energy consumption and heat generated by multi-core chips could be bypassed, enabling leaps in computing power.
The researchers say they have connected hundreds or thousands of processing cores on a tiny chip. Using light rather than wires to connect processing cores on microchips will allow leaps in computer power, an industry scientist says. But that will be at least 10-15 years away(Source: iStockphoto)
By comparison, there are nine cores on the chips that power computer games consoles.
Dr Will Green, IBM's lead scientist on the project, says that using light instead of wires to send information between the cores could be as much as 100 times faster and use 10 times less power than wires.
Green says the company used standard industry processes and tools to make the tiny silicon electro-optic modulators.
That gave the research team confidence the process could be replicated commercially, although it would probably take at least a decade.
"We're looking at much more real-world applications in the time frame of 10-15 years or something like that," Green says.
He says in the future, tiny supercomputers on a chip could expend as little energy as a light bulb, paving the way for enormous reductions in cost, energy, heat and space required while increasing communications bandwidth.
Drastically shrinking the size and energy requirements of supercomputing could open up possibilities of powerful data analysis in remote locations or high-resolution 3D image rendering in real time, Green says.
The research team has been working on the project, partly funded by a US government defence research agency, for about five years. Green declined to comment on the project's budget.
Monday, September 21, 2009
Today’s microchips, while tiny, still use a fair ammount of power. This means that batteries have to be large and don’t usually last very long. But what if microchips were just a little bit more efficient? That’s what a team of engineers at MIT was thinking when they set out to redesign the microchip to make it even more efficient. The result is a microchip with a power consumption that is so low it can be recharged by your very own body heat.
Imagine the possibilities of bodyheat powered microchips: pacemakers could be powered by the body’s warmth, mobile phones by just moving them, and remote sensors could get energy just by the ambientenergy around them. The key lies in the team’s ability to reduce the operating voltage of the device. Rather than operating at 1.0 volts, the new microchip operates at just 0.3 volts.
MIT’s prototype microchip is only a proof of concept and it will be five years before the chip can become commercially available. Among the challenges to solve is the manufacturing process involved in making the chips. The slightest error can cause variations in the voltage, thus making the chip unusable. “Designing the chip to minimize its vulnerability to such variations is a big part of our strategy,” said Anantha Chandrakasan leader of the MIT team.
+ Team develops energy-efficient microchip
used plastics as a metaphor to describe the dawning age of nanotechnology and how applied uses of the new science will sneak into our daily lives with little or no fanfare, as did plastic products. But little did I know when I wrote those words that plastics were still on the march too, particularly in the microchip industry. However, let me add that nanotechnology is behind this important development. So, there!
Many major companies and some upstarts are investing heavily to produce plastic polymer microchips, including Philips, Hitachi, Samsung, Lucent, and
Plastic Logic. Plastic Logic? This seven year-old British company has developed the world’s first working plastic microchip prototype. More on the company later in this article.
Why do we need plastic microchips? After all, silicon is basically sand so how expensive can silicon microchips be to produce? Why would companies spend millions from their R&D budgets on plastic microchips? To paraphrase a well-known line from The X-Files, because the future is out there.
Plastic chips will be less costly to manufacture. The cost savings are more related to manufacturing and scale than to the cost of raw materials. Silicon chips require very expensive and elaborate fabrication plants, which use high temperatures and vacuums in manufacturing and also produce large amounts of waste. Plastics chips can be produced much more cheaply. With plastic polymers, there is even the potential that we can use ink-jet printing technology to make chips in our homes. “Honey, I just printed a new circuit board for the refrigerator.”
Let’s take a quick look at the science. Until recently, plastic polymers conducted electricity too slowly to challenge silicon-based materials. But it is all about chemistry in the end. Change the chemical makeup of the plastic, and all bets are off. “I was there because there was chemistry.” Monica Lewinsky. Sorry…where did that quote come from?
Let me make this quick. Using nanotechnology, scientists have modified a plastic polymer by altering its molecular structure, creating a product that can more efficiently conduct a current. And there is more: You can dissolve this new polymer to produce a current-conducting ink and then apply the ink to most any surface, from paper to buildings.
Perhaps even more than the manufacturing cost savings, the increased number of industrial, medical, scientific, business, electronic, and consumer products that can use these plastic chips is incentive enough for many companies to invest. The possibilities appear endless.
Imagine your favorite newspaper or magazine displayed on e-paper with the most current news and articles downloaded over your wireless network. So, if you didn’t have time to check the news before work, toss the e-paper into your briefcase and read it on the train. Think also of billboards automated to change in an instant, allowing many companies to time-share a few choice billboards. Consider that hospitals will be able to use flexible plastic circuit boards as patient ID bracelets, which can contain the patients’ entire medical histories and display the information directly on the bracelet or remotely to a doctor catching a quick nine holes on a pretty day.
Eventually prices of many consumer electronics will plummet because of the new low cost technology. Devices such as computers, satellite receivers, televisions, digital recorders, mobile phones, global positioning devices, and game machines will be easier to afford and become more ubiquitous in our global village, thus allowing the information revolution to continue expanding into new markets.
Then there are the non-traditional products that the second wave of plastic microchips will invade, from clothing to food. With plastic threads and sensors woven into your clothes, you will have direct
access to telephone services and the Internet and have no need for bulky separate devices. Wish you had worn a different color jacket when you left home? Not to worry, just touch a sensor and the jacket changes appearance from red to blue in an instant. On your way home, stop at the market to buy a quick meal for your family, and the electronic cooking container instructs your smart microwave or oven how to cook it.
As I promised, let’s take a look at Plastic Logic, the apparent leading company in this new plastic world. Since securing about $100 million in investment capital, this small British company is constructing a manufacturing complex in Dresden, Germany. The facility is expected to mass manufacture e-paper that is both portable and durable enough for everyday use and possessing a battery life long enough for you to read War and Peace. But with the Web 2.0 convergence of voice, text, and video, the e-paper has perhaps even greater possibilities. You may be watching bits of the film along with listening to the audio book. That would make War and Peace a bit more pleasant.
Plastic Logic expects to produce its first commercial e-paper for sale next year. Wow!
As a technical writer, I can only imagine the possibilities for delivering user and training information. How about instantly refreshing deployed user guides all at once to fix the typo on page four or rewrite the
wrong instruction on page 50. If we ignore these emerging technologies, it is at our own peril. Get ready. Time is short.
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Thursday, September 17, 2009
The National Renewable Energy Lab and U.S. Department of Energy have launched a mapping tool on alternative fuels and vehicles.
Employing Google Maps, TransAtlas plots geographical locations of things like specific types of fuel stations and concentrations where certain types of alternative fuel vehicles are owned in abundance.
It plots points where production facilities and other infrastructure for alternative fuel transportation exist, as well as separate icons identifying projects under development.
The comprehensive tool allows users to turn layers on and off by checking boxes in a legend. It includes alternative fuels like hydrogen, liquefied natural gas, propane, compressed natural gas, E85, biodiesel, andelectric charging stations
Layers are also used to see vehicle density for flex fuel, diesel, and hybrid electric vehicles, as well as productionfacilities for hydrogen and ethanol.
The TransAtlas lets you ask a specific site for more detailed information by hitting the query button and then clicking on a point of interest. One click can tell you the town where an ethanol production facility is located, what capacity it's operating at, and what kind of biomass it uses.
The tool's development was sponsored by the DOE's Vehicle Technologies Program, which includes the Clean Cities initiative, a program to encourage alternative fuel development and public/private partnerships on alternative fuel projects.
National Renewable Energy Lab's map showing hydrogen production facilities in the U.S.
(Credit: Google Maps)
While its tech is quite different, an Air Products hydrogen fueling station is built to look like a typical gas station.
(Credit: Air Products)Hempstead, N.Y., a small town on Long Island, is installing the island's first hydrogen fueling station.
Hempstead Supervisor Kate Murray made the announcement at the groundbreaking ceremony in conjunction with the New York State Energy Research Development Authority (NYSERDA) and the electric utility National Grid on Wednesday.
The station will actually pump three options: pure hydrogen, hydrogen with compressed natural gas, and natural gas. Air Products is contributing to the station design, build, and maintenance.
While that station will cost about $2 million to build, it will be subsidized with $1 million from NYSERDA, $55,000 in the form of a grant from National Grid, and additional tax credits.
As with the electric charging stations being installed in San Francisco, the pilot station in the town of Hempstead is being used to promote and educate the public about alternative fuel options for cars.
National Grid will own the station for the first three years, after which it will be handed over to the town. The station will be networked with others under the New York State Hydrogen Energy Roadmap.
"While it's gratifying to be at the forefront of 'green energy' initiatives, it's more important to contribute in a meaningful way toward the goals of reducing our reliance on fossil fuels and reducing environmental pollutants. This effort is an important step toward achieving those priorities," Murray said in a statement to the press.
Jet engines are very simple devices, at least in principle. Every jet engine has three main parts, the Compressor, Combustion Chamber, and Turbines. The diagram below shows a simple axial-flow jet turbine. Air from the intake is fed through a rotating compressor stage, where a series of fan blades reduces the air volume while increasing the pressure. The pressure may increase by as much as 30 times. This compressed air flows into the combustion chamber, where fuel is being continuously injected. The resulting combustion creates a flow of hot, expanding gases. These gases flow over a turbine with a set of fan blades. Since the turbine is connected to the compressor by an axle, part of the power of the exhaust gases is used to drive the compressor. The shaft may be used to drive a machine or generate electricity. For some engines, there may be a free wheeling turbine stage on its own coaxial shaft, driving a front-mounted fan (turbofan) or propeller (turboprop).
Copyright©2005 RC Airplane Advisor
While this type of engine is simple in principle, the demands on the structures and materials are enormous. This is perhaps why such a long period of time elapsed from the world's first jet aircraft flight (Hans von Ohain, the Heinkel He 178, in 1939), to the world's first rc jet airplane flight (Jerry Jackman, 1983).
Consider for example one of the model turbine engines produced by AMT, the Pegasus HP. This engine has a diameter of 4.7 inches, length 10.4 in, and weight 5.9 lb (the full system). This machine produces 35 lb thrust with max rpm 120,000. The idle speed is 37,000 rpm, larger than the top speed of most two-stroke glow engines! The normal exhaust gas temperature is a toasty 1,110 degrees F.
Another example is the JetCat P-70, which is 3-3/4" in diameter, weighs just 2.6 pounds and produces 16.4 Lbs of thrust.
To start the engine, compressed air or an electric motor may be used. Fuel is propane gas at lower rpm, followed by kerosene for higher exhaust temperature and rpm. All of the functions can be controlled electronically.
These engines sound just like the turbines on modern jet airplanes, and can propel models to speeds well in excess of 200 mph. An rc jet airplane is definitely a high-performance aircraft. These engines are often used in very realistic, larger scale military and commercial jet rc models. While this type of model was virtually unheard of a couple decades ago, now there are many engines, models and even flying events dedicated to jets. Some of the vendors and manufacturers include: Jet Model Products, BVMjets, AMT and JetCat.
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Trimble SPS751 and SPS851 Modular GPS ReceiversTrimble® SPS751 and SPS851 Modular GPS Receivers are ideal for semi-permanent or permanent setups, marine-based applications, as well as construction rover applications. The antennas can also be mounted in a marine vessel or on a site supervisor's vehicle.
The Trimble SPS751 and SPS851 receivers combine the radio and GPS receiver in a single housing. This allows contractors to secure the majority of their investment inside a site trailer or carrying case, protected from the elements and/or theft, leaving only the antennas outside.
Available in a range of options to suit your individual applications, flexibility and performance requirements, versatile Trimble GPS receivers are a future-proof investment. The receivers are designed to use all currently available satellite signals including L1, L2 and the GPS modernized L2C code. The SPS851 receiver can be upgraded with GLONASS and L5 GPS signals to optimize performance in areas of tough GPS-only conditions and maximize your investment well into the future.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
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| Pride in accuracy Surveyors take great pride in accuracy. The Leica TS30 delivers impressive performance in individual disciplines. But most importantly it is a champion in perfectly combining angle measurement, distance measurement, automatic target recognition and motorisation. The accuracy of the Leica TS30 is in a league of its own, a true companion for surveyors with pride. Leica TS30 accuracy - the facts:
Performance that counts
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A new level of versatility and speed in laser scanning. High definition laser scanning has become integral to surveying, much like GPS. DGA has purchased a Leica ScanStation, the newest member of the Leica Geosystems HDS product family. The Leica HDS ScanStation adds backsight, re-section and traverse capabilities to the industry's most popular scanner platform for accurate, cost-effective topographic and as-built surveys.
As the first instrument to combine these four fundamental total station features into one scanner, Leica ScanStation defines a new category of laser scanner:
Full 360°x270° field-of-view Survey-grade dual-axis (tilt) compensation for back-sight, re-section & traverse Survey-grade accuracy for each measurement 50,000 points/sec maximum instantaneous scan rate, Excellent practical, useful range - up to 300m for 90% surface reflectivity combines with narrow beam and ultra-fine scanning.
Create 3D models of historic buildings, archaeological sites, and complex structures.
The features and virtues of this new technology manifest themselves in many ways, including improved project cost performance, schedule reductions, deliverable quality, and safety.
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