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Item Open Access Using discrete event simulation to investigate engineering product service strategies(2010-09-16) Ball, Peter D.; Alabdulkarim, Abdullah; Cuthbert, Rachel; Thorne, AlanAs companies develop business models based on service provision through engineering products the role of information becomes increasingly important to achieving high levels of service performance. One approach to achieving higher levels of service performance is to deploy sensing technology in the product to provide the service operation with diagnostic and prognostic information. Simulation modelling techniques are able to capture operational performance of complex systems involving product and information flows and are therefore appropriate to modelling such service provision. This paper documents work carried out in this area and demonstrates the application of simulation when providing a service through engineered products. It would seem logical that receiving increasing product performance information would enable higher levels of service performance to be achieved. The work here shows how performance can be captured and the circumstances in which diagnostic and prognostic information is beneficial as well as when it has little effect.Item Open Access Enablers and barriers to innovation activities in call centres(2009-06-15) Smith, Marisa K.; Ball, Peter D.; van der Meer, RobertCall centres have an operating model that aim to reduce costs - this has led to both customers and employees having issues with the current model. This has led to the view that contact centres are not entities in which innovation would occur. This paper identifies the barriers and enablers to innovation activities within call centres and discusses the implications of these to the wider service context.Item Open Access Simulation of oxy-combustion co-firing coal and biomass with ASU and steam turbine using Aspen Plus(International Centre for Sustainable Carbon, 2013-05) Jurado Pontes, Nelia; Gohari Darabkhani, Hamidreza; Oakey, JohnItem Open Access Zero carbon manufacturing through process flow modelling(2012-10-16) Despeisse, Melanie; Ball, Peter; Evans, Steve; Levers, AndyThe pressure on natural resources and emerging environmental legislation are leading manufacturers to adopt solutions to reduce their environmental impact, thereby becoming more sustainable, while enhancing competitiveness. Current approaches in this area are fragmented and clustered around technologies rather than around processes that link the technologies together. There is a need to better understand material, energy and waste (MEW) flows, as well as the interaction between processes in a manufacturing facility from a systemic viewpoint. This paper presents an approach using process flow modelling in order to help manufacturers to identify potential improvements to progress towards competitive sustainable manufacturing. Ultimately they could reach zero carbon manufacturing (ZCM) by having zero material resource degradation, zero net energy demand and zero waste across the system.Item Open Access Resilience to evolving drinking water contamination risks: a human error prevention perspective(Elsevier, 2013-06-21) Tang, Yanhong; Wu, Shaomin; Pollard, Simon J. T.; Hrudey, Steve E.Human error contributes to one of the major causes of the prevalence of drinking water contamination incidents. It has, however, attracted insufficient attention in the cleaner production management community. This paper analyzes human error appearing in each stage of the gestation of 40 drinking water incidents and their causes, proposes resilience-based mechanisms and tools within three groups: consumers, drinking water companies, and policy regulators. The mechanism analysis involves concepts and ideas from behavioral science, organizational culture, and incentive analysis. Determinants for realizing cleaner drinking water system are identified. Future efforts and direction for embedding resilience into drinking water risk management are suggested. This paper contributes to identifying a framework and determinants of resilience-oriented management mechanisms for cleaner drinking water supply, and, is essential for ensuring the successful practice of managing drinking water contamination risks. It harmonizes the two fields of risk management and resilience thinking, and provides a new insight for implementing effective actions in drinking water-related sectors.Item Open Access Plausible future scenarios for the UK food and feed system - 2015 and 2030. Report for the UK Food Standards Agency(Cranfield University, Institute for Environment, Health, Risk and Futures (IEHRF), 2014-06) Garnett, Kenisha; Delgado, João; Lickorish, Fiona; Medina-Vayá, Ángel; Magan, Naresh; Shaw, Hayley; Rathé, Anna; Chatterton, Julia; Prpich, George; Pollard, Simon; Terry, Leon A.The report describes the key drivers of the wider environment which informed the development of the scenarios. There are case studies of three representative food types, which illustrate how the scenarios may be used to explore triggers for change in food production and supply in the next 20 years, and what the emerging food safety implications might be under each scenario.Item Open Access Assessment of land cover change in north eastern Nigeria 1986 to 2005(Canadian Center of Science and Education, 2013-11-22) Garba, Samuel; Brewer, Timothy R.Environmental disturbance such as drought, overgrazing, and increase in population in north eastern Nigeriaover the years has led to degradation, shortage of land and water resources and sometimes violent conflict amongcommunities. Land cover change provides a vital means of understanding and managing these problems. Thusthis research provided an assessment of how tree, shrub grass, bare ground and urban land cover changed from1986 to 2005. NigeriaSat-1 and Landsat images were used with data obtained from field survey for the landcover classifications. Change in the land covers were analysed according to persistence, swapping, net loss andgain. Uncertainties were analysed by confusion matrices. The overall accuracies of the classifications used forthe analysis are between 60% and 75%. The transition and change accuracies are between 45% and 60%.Approximately 60% of the area of study remained unchanged during the period. Of the remainder,approximately 11% of the area interchanged between shrub grass and bare ground. The most unstable categorywas shrub grass and was also the source of misclassification. The changes in general concurred with theperception of change in the area and gave some insight on the change that occurred.Item Open Access Renewable energy, landfill gas and EfW: now, next and future(C I W M Business Services Ltd, 2010-02) Adu-Gyamfi, K. A.; Villa, Raffaella; Coulon, FredericThe United Kingdom (UK) has traditionally used landfill disposal as the predominant method of waste management. However, landfilling is unsustainable due to its harmful effects on the environment and public health. Under the Euorpean Union (EU) landfill directive, member nations are now required to divert biodegradable municipal waste (BMW) from landfills. The UK has also committed to the EU Renewable Energy Directive, which binds it to sourcing at least 15% of its energy mix from renewables by 2020. To meet these targets, the UK has to support alternative waste management options whilst achievingconsiderable deployment of renewables. This research considers the development of energy from waste (EfW) technologies and their potential contribution to UK's renewable energy targets. This study identifies the use of biomethane as road transport fuel and small-scale EfW deployment at community level as applications with huge potential benefits for the UK. These two options are easily Implemetable and could provide substantial savings in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This study concludes that, depending on the pace of investment and availability of suitable feedstock, EfW technologies can contribute up to 50% of UK renewables target by 2020.Item Open Access Highly linear, compact and cost-effective sensor probes for displacement measurements using range-resolved interferometry(EUSPEN, 2021-06-10) Kissinger, Thomas; Wiseman, Kieran B.; Tatam, Ralph P.We demonstrate a novel approach for interferometric displacement and vibration sensing using range-resolved interferometry (RRI). The concept exploits the ability of RRI to reject the signal contributions due to multiple reflections that would otherwise lead to high levels of periodic non-linearity errors, allowing the use of very compact and cost-effective sensor heads based on gradient index (GRIN) lenses, with the presented approach thought to be widely applicable across many precision engineering applications.Item Open Access Controlled porosity alumina structures for ultra-precision hydrostatic journal bearings(American Ceramic Society, 2010-11-04) Durazo-Cardenas, Isidro; Stephenson, D. J.; Corbett, JohnA series of fine grade alumina powders has been used in combination with maize starch granules to produce porous structures for porous hydrostatic journal bearing applications. A comprehensive series of tests was conducted to characterize porosity in terms of density, pore size and permeability. Successful processing of quality journal bearing components has been demonstrated for preferred combinations of alumina size and starch content, using fixed processing parameters. The new porous ceramic bearings showed consistent and reproducible properties and are suitable for a wide range of higher precision engineering applications. The porous ceramic bearing processing route has also proved to be low cost and environmentally sound.Item Open Access Climate change and the changing water cycle: new Indian and UK-India collaborative research initiatives(OMICS International, 2012-05-21) Remesan, RenjiThe possible effects of climate change on India’s surface and ground water resources would impart huge pressure on existing water management strategies in coming decades and so. Recent studies shows that the per capita annual water availability in India has considerably reduced from 1820 m3 (2001 statistics) to 1703.6 m3 (2005 statistics) in a limited periods; and this value is very close to the water stress threshold value of 1700 m3 [1]. India is the largest ground water user in world (230 cubic kilometers per year; which is more than quarter of the global total) which covers more than 85% of drinking water supplies and more than 60% of agriculture water are depending on the ground water reserve [2]. As some of the recent studies have highlighted the fact that nearly 29 percent of groundwater blocks in the country fall under the semi-critical, critical, or overexploited categories, the Planning Commission of India has constitute an expert group to identify sustainable management strategies for groundwater use and to provide technical support to enhance outcomes management interventions.Item Open Access Understanding the implications of service contracting in product-service businesses(The Operational Research Society, 2012-12) Phumbua, Sarocha; Tjahjono, BennyService contracting has been adopted in several industries especially for high value assets with long life time. Such a contract typically specifies asset usage information, availability or capability of the contracted assets required by customers, and the scope of services the manufacturers are obliged to support the assets. Consequently, such a contract imposes major risks to the manufacturers. This paper aims to explore approaches that be used to assist manufacturers to model service contracts in order to understand the risk and reward prior to committing a contract with customer. The work described in the paper involves the development of a simulation model from a case of the ship building industry. The use of the model in aiding contracting decisions is demonstrated through three experiments conducted at the case company. The outcomes have demonstrated the potential of the approaches in practice and contributed to the Product-Service Systems modelling paradigm.Item Open Access Towards a harmonisation of the soil map of Africa at the continental scale(Elsevier, 2013-12-31T00:00:00Z) Dewitte, Olivier; Jones, Arwyn; Spaargaren, Otto; Breuning-Madsen, Henrik; Brossard, Michel; Dampha, Almami; Deckers, Jozef; Gallali, Tahar; Hallett, Stephen H.; Jones, Robert J. A.; Kilasara, Method; LeRoux, Pieter; Michéli, Erika; Montanarella, Luca; Thiombiano, Lamourdia; van Ranst, Eric; Yemefack, Martin; Zougmore, RobertIn the context of major global environmental challenges such as food security, climate change, fresh water scarcity and biodiversity loss, the protection and the sustainable management of soil resources in Africa are of paramount importance. To raise the awareness of the general public, stakeholders, policy makers and the science community to the importance of soil in Africa, the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission has produced the Soil Atlas of Africa. To that end, a new harmonised soil map at the continental scale has been produced. The steps of the construction of the new area-class map are presented, the basic information being derived from the Harmonized World Soil Database (HWSD). We show how the original data were updated and modified according to the World Reference Base for Soil Resources classification system. The corrections concerned boundary issues, areas with no information, soil patterns, river and drainage networks, and dynamic features such as sand dunes, water bodies and coastlines. In comparison to the initial map derived from HWSD, the new map represents a correction of 13% of the soil data for the continent. The map is available for downloading.Item Open Access Improving changeover time: a tailored SMED approach for welding cells(Elsevier BV, 2013-06-24T00:00:00Z) Guzmán, Ferradás P; Salonitis, KonstantinosShort changeover times have always been critical in manufacturing business. Set-up duration reduction initiatives have been associated with Shingós ‘Single Minute Exchange of Die' (SMED) method. Although a great number of companies have initiated SMED, some failed on implementation. The main reason is that strict application of Shingós SMED methodology is not the most efficient way to reduce set-up times in all situations. In the present study a tailored methodology is presented that has been developed specifically for an automotive supplier. The validation of the proposed method was done through implementation on an industrial welding cell for a period of four months. The main finding is that in addition to SMED tailored methodology, appropriate strategy definition and preparatory activities are key enablers for success. That includes project targets and timescale definition, selection of the appropriate team and coordinator, allocation of specific roles and responsibilities to each team member, training of team and shop floor staff on the new methodology and changeover standards. By implementing the new tailored SMED improvement programme, the company achieved 33% reduction on changeover time.Item Open Access Establishing an agenda for social studies research in marine renewable energy(Elsevier Science B.V., Amsterdam., 2014-02-12T00:00:00Z) Kerr, S.; Watts, L.; Colton, J.; Conway, F.; Hull, A.; Johnson, K.; Jude, Simon R.; Kannen, A.; MacDougall, S.; McLachlan, C.; Potts, T.; Vergunst, J.To date, academic research relating to Marine Renewable Energy (MRE) has largely focused on resource assessment, technical viability and environmental impact. Experiences from onshore renewable energy tell us that social acceptability is equally critical to project success. However, the specific nature of the marine environment, patterns of resource distribution and governance means experiences from onshore may not be directly applicable to MRE and the marine environment. This paper sets out an agenda for social studies research linked to MRE, identifying key topics for future research: (i) economic impacts; (ii) wealth distribution and community benefits; (iii) communication and knowledge flow; (iv) consultation processes; (v) dealing with uncertainty; (vi) public attitudes; and (vii) planning processes. This agenda is based on the findings of the first workshop of ISSMER, an international research network of social scientists with interests in marine renewable energy. Importantly, this research agenda has been informed by the experiences of developers, regulators and community groups in Orkney. The Orkney archipelago, off the north coast of Scotland, is home to the most intense cluster of MRE research, development and deployment activity in the world today.Item Open Access Carbon capture and biogas enhancement by carbon dioxide enrichment of anaerobic digesters treating sewage sludge or food waste(Elsevier Science B.V., Amsterdam., 2014-05-01T00:00:00Z) Bajón Fernández, Yadira; Soares, Ana; Villa, Raffaella; Vale, P.; Cartmell, EliseThe increasing concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere and the stringent greenhouse gases (GHG) reduction targets, require the development of CO2 sequestration technologies applicable for the waste and wastewater sector. This study addressed the reduction of CO2 emissions and enhancement of biogas production associated with CO2 enrichment of anaerobic digesters (ADs). The benefits of CO2 enrichment were examined by injecting CO2 at 0, 0.3, 0.6 and 0.9M fractions into batch ADs treating food waste or sewage sludge. Daily specific methane (CH4) production increased 11-16% for food waste and 96-138% for sewage sludge over the first 24h. Potential CO2 reductions of 8-34% for sewage sludge and 3-11% for food waste were estimated. The capacity of ADs to utilise additional CO2 was demonstrated, which could provide a potential solution for onsite sequestration of CO2 streams while enhancing renewable energy production.Item Open Access On-line measurement of soil properties without direct spectral response in near infrared spectral range(Elsevier Science B.V., Amsterdam., 2013-08-01T00:00:00Z) Marin-González, O.; Kuang, Boyan Y.; Quraishi, M. Z.; Munoz-Garcia, M. A.; Mouazen, Abdul MounemSo far, the majority of reports on on-line measurement considered soil properties with direct spectral responses in near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS). This work reports on the results of on-line measurement of soil properties with indirect spectral responses, e.g. pH, cation exchange capacity (CEC), exchangeable calcium (Ca-ex) and exchangeable magnesium (Mg-ex) in one field in Bedfordshire in the UK. The on-line sensor consisted of a subsoiler coupled with an AgroSpec mobile, fibre type, visible and near infrared (vis-NIR) spectrophotometer (tec5 Technology for Spectroscopy, Germany), with a measurement range 305-2200 nm to acquire soil spectra in diffuse reflectance mode. General calibration models for the studied soil properties were developed with a partial least squares regression (PLSR) with one-leave-out cross validation, using spectra measured under non-mobile laboratory conditions of 160 soil samples collected from different fields in four farms in Europe, namely, Czech Republic, Denmark, Netherland and UK. A group of 25 samples independent from the calibration set was used as independent validation set. Higher accuracy was obtained for laboratory scanning as compared to on-line scanning of the 25 independent samples. The prediction accuracy for the laboratory and on-line measurements was classified as excellent/very good for pH (RPD = 2.69 and 2.14 and r(2) = 0.86 and 0.78, respectively), and moderately good for CEC (RPD = 1.77 and 1.61 and r(2) = 0.68 and 0.62, respectively) and Mg-ex (RPD = 1.72 and 1.49 and r(2) = 0.66 and 0.67, respectively). For Ca-ex, very good accuracy was calculated for laboratory method (RPD = 2.19 and r(2) = 0.86), as compared to the poor accuracy reported for the on-line method (RPD = 1.30 and r(2) = 0.61). The ability of collecting large number of data points per field area (about 12,800 point per 21 ha) and the simultaneous analysis of several soil properties without direct spectral response in the NIR range at relatively high operational speed and appreciable accuracy, encourage the recommendation of the on-line measurement system for site specific fertilisationItem Open Access Central role of dynamic tidal biofilms dominated by aerobic hydrocarbonoclastic bacteria and diatoms in the biodegradation of hydrocarbons in coastal mudflats(American Society for Microbiology, 2012-05-31T00:00:00Z) Coulon, Frederic; Chronopoulou, P-M; Fahy, A; Païssé, S; Goñi-Urriza, M; Peperzak, L; Acuña, Alvarez L; McKew, BA; Brussaard, CPD; Underwood, GJC; Timmis, KN; Duran, R; McGenity, Terry J.Mudflats and salt marshes are habitats at the interface of aquatic and terrestrial systems that provide valuable services to ecosys- tems. Therefore, it is important to determine how catastrophic incidents, such as oil spills, influence the microbial communities in sediment that are pivotal to the function of the ecosystem and to identify the oil-degrading microbes that mitigate damage to the ecosystem. In this study, an oil spill was simulated by use of a tidal chamber containing intact diatom-dominated sediment cores from a temperate mudflat. Changes in the composition of bacteria and diatoms from both the sediment and tidal biofilms that had detached from the sediment surface were monitored as a function of hydrocarbon removal. The hydrocarbon concen- tration in the upper 1.5 cm of sediments decreased by 78% over 21 days, with at least 60% being attributed to biodegradation. Most phylotypes were minimally perturbed by the addition of oil, but at day 21, there was a 10-fold increase in the amount of cyanobacteria in the oiled sediment. Throughout the experiment, phylotypes associated with the aerobic degradation of hydro- carbons, including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) (Cycloclasticus) and alkanes (Alcanivorax, Oleibacter, and Oceano- spirillales strain ME113), substantively increased in oiled mesocosms, collectively representing 2% of the pyrosequences in the oiled sediments at day 21. Tidal biofilms from oiled cores at day 22, however, consisted mostly of phylotypes related to Alcaniv- orax borkumensis (49% of clones), Oceanospirillales strain ME113 (11% of clones), and diatoms (14% of clones). Thus, aerobic hydrocarbon biodegradation is most likely to be the main mechanism of attenuation of crude oil in the early weeks of an oil spill, with tidal biofilms representing zones of high hydrocarbon-degrading activity.Item Open Access The emergence of sustainable manufacturing practices(Taylor & Francis, 2012-05-01T00:00:00Z) Despeisse, Melanie; Mbaye, F.; Ball, Peter D.; Levers, A.Sustainable manufacturing appears to be a rapidly developing field and it would be expected that there is a growing body of knowledge in this area. Initial examination of the literature shows evidence of sustainable work in the areas of product design, supply chain, production technology and waste avoidance activities. Manufacturers publish metrics showing significant improvements in environmental performance at high level but information on how these improvements are achieved is sparse. Examining peer-reviewed publications focused on production operations there are few cases reporting details and there has been little prior analysis of published sustainable manufacturing activity. Moreover, the mismatch between academic and practitioner language leads to challenges in interpretation. This article captures and analyses the types of sustainable manufacturing activities through literature review. In turn, this can help manufacturers to access examples of good practice and help academics identify areas for future research.Item Open Access A novel framework to link prognostics and health management and product-service systems using online simulation(Elsevier Science B.V., Amsterdam., 2012-09-01T00:00:00Z) Teixeira, ELS; Tjahjono, Benny; Alfaro, SCAProduct-Service Systems (PSS) and Prognostics and Health Management (PHM) have so far been researched individually in different domains and as unrelated research theme. However, to guarantee the availability of the asset, which is a typical demand in some PSS contracts, it is fundamental for PSS providers to be able to properly manage the asset's lifetime variability in order to avoid unscheduled downtimes and contract penalties. This paper describes part of a research project to investigate how PHM can support more effective fulfilment of some PSS contracts. In particular, this paper aims to present a novel framework to link PHM and PSS using online simulation. The paper also presents a prototype of the online simulation model and three experimental cases comparing the outcomes of the online simulation model against those obtained from the traditional simulation model.