The impact of trunk route deployment changes on pollutant emissions in international container shipping after Panama Canal expansion

2016 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 335-352 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hui-Huang Tai ◽  
Dung-Ying Lin

Purpose – The expansion of the Panama Canal that is completed in 2016 provides container carriers with new opportunities to redeploy global oceangoing trunk routes. The purpose of this paper is to examine the cargo sources and geographical locations of three trunk routes, the departure points of which are all in East Asia. Design/methodology/approach – The operating conditions of various shipping practices were used to simulate trunk route deployment after canal expansion. Subsequently, a clean-line strategy featuring liquefied natural gas (LNG) as a replacement for heavy oil is proposed to explore the effects that container carriers have on energy savings and emission reductions. Findings – The results showed that the unit emissions of ships traveling trunk routes in East Coast North America and East Coast South America did not differ significantly regardless of whether the container carrier employed a conventional method or the new deployment plan following the expansion of the Panama Canal. By contrast, the adoption of a new method for sailing through the canal yields significant emission reductions for Far East/Europe routes. In addition, the slow-steam strategy adopted by carriers and the more costly clean-line strategy of LNG-fueled ships are both effective when applied to trunk routes. Originality/value – The results of this study provide a reference to container carriers deploying route structures and the International Maritime Organization when promoting emission-reduction policies.

2018 ◽  
Vol 90 (2) ◽  
pp. 344-350 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yasin Şöhret ◽  
T. Hikmet Karakoc

Purpose It is essential to develop more environment-friendly energy systems to prevent climate change and minimize environmental impact. Within this scope, many studies are performed on performance and environmental assessments of many types of energy systems. This paper, different from previous studies, aims to prove exergy performance of a low-emission combustor of an aero-engine. Design/methodology/approach It is a well-known fact that, with respect to previous exergy analysis, highest exergy destruction occurs in the combustor component of the engine. For this reason, it is required to evaluate a low-emission aero-engine combustor thermodynamically to understand the state of the art according to the authors’ best of knowledge. In this framework, combustor has been operated at numerous conditions (variable engine load) and evaluated. Findings As a conclusion of the study, the impact of emission reduction on performance improvement of the aero-engine combustors exergetically is presented. It is stated that exergy efficiency of the low-emission aero-engine combustor is found to be 64.69, 61.95 and 71.97 per cent under various operating conditions. Practical implications Results obtained in this paper may be beneficial for researchers who are interested in combustion and propulsion technology and thermal sciences. Originality/value Different from former studies, the impact of operating conditions on performance of a combustor is examined from the viewpoint of thermodynamics.


Author(s):  
Amin Akbari ◽  
Vincent McDonell ◽  
Scott Samuelsen

Co firing of natural gas with renewable fuels such as hydrogen can reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and meet other sustainability considerations. At the same time, adding hydrogen to natural gas alters combustion properties, such as burning speeds, heating values, flammability limits, and chemical characteristics. It is important to identify how combustion stability relates to fuel mixture composition in industrial gas turbines and burners and correlate such behavior to fuel properties or operating conditions. Ultimately, it is desired to predict and prevent operability issues when designing a fuel flexible gas turbine combustor. Fuel interchangeability is used to describe the ability of a substitute fuel composition to replace a baseline fuel without significantly altering performance and operation. Any substitute fuel, while maintaining the same heating load as the baseline fuel, must also provide stable combustion with low pollutant emissions. Interchangeability indices try to predict the impact of fuel composition on lean blowoff and flashback. Correlations for operability limits have been reported, though results are more consistent for blowoff compared to flashback. Yet, even for blowoff, some disagreement regarding fuel composition effects are evident. In the present work, promising correlations and parameters for lean blow off and flashback in a swirl stabilized lean premixed combustor are evaluated. Measurements are conducted for fuel compositions ranging from pure natural gas to pure hydrogen under different levels of preheat and air flow rates. The results are used to evaluate the ability of existing approaches to predict blowoff and flashback. The results show that, while a Damköhler number approach for blowoff is promising, important considerations are required in applying the method. For flashback, the quench constant parameter suggested for combustion induced vortex breakdown was applied and found to have limited success for predicting flashback in the present configuration.


2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 93-111 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rihab Grassa

Purpose This paper aims to examine the effect of the concentration of ownership concentration and the deposits structure on the link between income structure and insolvency risk in Islamic banks operating in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. Design/methodology/approach Using data for 43 GCC Islamic banks over the period from 2005 to 2012, this paper specifies a three-stage least-squares model in which the impact of the concentration of ownership concentration and the deposits structure on income diversification and insolvency risk is jointly analyzed to address the problem of endogeneity. Findings The findings show that the income structure influences the insolvency risk in Islamic banks with a concentrated ownership structure. This is because the deposits structure and large shareholders influence strategic decisions. Research limitations/implications This paper is, also, subject to a number of limitations. First, this study focuses exclusively on the GCC context and excludes the other Middle East and Far East countries. Second, the paper does not take into consideration banking regulation. Practical implications The paper findings shed light on the ongoing debate about the benefits of revenue diversification and also provide valuable insights for market participants, regulators and supervisors about what drives performance in Islamic banks. Originality/value The paper fills the gap in the existing literature on insolvency risk in Islamic banks. It is expected to provide useful information for policy makers and Islamic bankers to develop a sound Islamic banking industry in the GCC region. In addition, the link identified between ownership concentration, deposits structure and revenue diversification is a novel way of analyzing the impact of the latter on insolvency risk in Islamic banks.


1999 ◽  
Vol 121 (3) ◽  
pp. 225-230
Author(s):  
S. Gouli ◽  
A. Serdari ◽  
S. Stournas ◽  
E. Lois

The adoption of oxygenates in gasoline was originally spurred by the oil crises of the 1970s. In more recent years, public awareness of the environmental issues constituted the main reason for the spreading of oxygenated compounds in the transportation fuels sector. This paper describes the effects of novel nitrogen compounds in gasoline and diesel fuel on ignition quality and on pollutant emissions. Our intention is to investigate the antiknock quality, as gaged by octane and cetane determinations, of organic chemical structures mostly derivable from biomass, in combination with their effectiveness in reducing exhaust emissions under various operating conditions.


2017 ◽  
Vol 24 (6) ◽  
pp. 1675-1689 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maqsood Sandhu ◽  
Asadullah Khan

Purpose The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to investigate project management dimensions while constructing the Panama Canal from the end of ninetieth century to the start of twentieth century and then benchmarking against the Palm Diera Island at the lapse of a century. Second, to highlight issues of project management, specially the risk management with its economic, social and political domains at the construction site and in France and America. Design/methodology/approach The case study research method of qualitative research has been adopted when comparing two mega projects executed in different time and space. For the Panama Canal project documentation investigation was performed. However, a semi-structured interview data collection method was adopted for the Palm Diera Island project. A comparative study of two projects helps in deeper understanding of cross-project management dimensions. Findings The research reveals that the French team failed to complete the Panama Canal construction project due to inadequate planning, inappropriate design, lack of risk management, health and safety of the staff and non-availability of finances. However, the Americans successfully completed construction of the canal within budget and time and this was due to the support of change in the purpose of the canal construction adding to achieve its commercial objectives and at the same time strengthen its naval presence. American took its construction as a national objective than the individual enterprise as executed by the French team. Research limitations/implications Data collection for the Panama Canal was limited to only historical data available from the literature as documentary investigation. The researchers visited the canal to get in-depth understanding of the construction practices and the scale of construction. However, for the Palm Diera project, data collection was limited to three key personnel interviews. Practical implications The Americans were successful in completing the canal due to the US Government control on management and finances of the canal construction and lessons learned during the French construction period. The paper serves as a benchmark for project management dimension in two different regions in different times. The paper bears economic implications for the construction of the mega projects both in South America and the Middle East. Cost overrun construction of the Panama Canal during the French period influenced political spectrum in France resulting into the defeat of the government. During the American period of construction first time out of country visit by the sitting president of the USA reflects its economic and social importance. The valley of death was converted into the valley comfort during the American period resulting into social welfare of the workers. Completion of the canal by the Americans helped them secure operations of the Panama Canal for the next 100 years, contributing to its economic and naval strength. Social implications The paper reveals that safety and social implications for the work place in two different regions and at two different times. The impact of safe and improved working conditions at Palm Diera Island resulted into no injury or loss of life, however, during the Panama Canal construction more than 30,000 workers died affecting not only families of the respective workers but their nations as well. The impacts of both the projects on the society were also significant. The public opinion against the construction of the canal during the French period of construction was so significant that they had to abandon their construction equipment at the site. On the contrary, completion of construction of the Panama Canal during the French period helped secured political mileage for President Roosevelt and his party. Originality/value The paper benchmarks two different mega projects with different scope executed in two different regions at the lapse of a century. No such research work was found to have compared project management dimensions of two mega projects at the lapse of a century and in two different regions.


2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (7) ◽  
pp. 1220-1238 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Bull ◽  
Joanna Romanowicz ◽  
Neil Jennings ◽  
Marina Laskari ◽  
Graeme Stuart ◽  
...  

PurposeThis paper aims to present findings from an EU-funded international student-led energy saving competition (SAVES) on a scale previously unseen. There are multiple accounts of short-term projects and energy saving competitions encouraging pro-environmental behaviour change amongst students in university dormitories, but the purpose of this research is to provide evidence of consistent and sustained energy savings from student-led energy savings competitions, underpinned by practical action.Design/methodology/approachA mixed-methods approach (pre- and post-intervention surveys, focus groups and analysis of energy meter data) was used to determine the level of energy savings and quantifiable behaviour change delivered by students across participating university dormitories.FindingsThis research has provided further insight into the potential for savings and behaviour change in university dormitories through relatively simple actions. Whilst other interventions have shown greater savings, this project provided consistent savings over two years of 7 per cent across a large number of university dormitories in five countries through simple behaviour changes.Research limitations/implicationsAn energy dashboard displaying near a real-time leaderboard was added to the engagement in the second year of the project. Whilst students were optimistic about the role that energy dashboards could play, the evidence is not here to quantify the impact of dashboards. Further research is required to understand the potential of dashboards to contribute to behavioural change savings and in constructing competitions between people and dormitories that are known to each other.Social implicationsSAVES provided engagement with students, enabling, empowering and motivating them to save energy – focusing specifically on the last stage of the “Awareness, Interest, Desire, Action” framework. Automated meter reading data was used in the majority of participating dormitories to run near real-time energy challenges through an energy dashboard that informed students how much energy they saved compared to a target, and encouraged peer-to-peer learning and international cooperation through a virtual twinning scheme.Originality/valueFindings from energy saving competitions in universities are typically from small-scale and short-term interventions. SAVES was an energy-saving competition in university dormitories facilitated by the UK National Union of Students in five countries reaching over 50,000 students over two academic years (incorporating dormitories at 17 universities). As such it provides clear and important evidence of the real-world long-term potential efficiency savings of such interventions.


2018 ◽  
Vol 141 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Mazzei ◽  
S. Puggelli ◽  
D. Bertini ◽  
A. Andreini ◽  
B. Facchini ◽  
...  

Lean burn combustion is increasing its popularity in the aeronautical framework due to its potential in reducing drastically pollutant emissions (NOx and soot in particular). Its implementation, however, involves significant issues related to the increased amount of air dedicated to the combustion process, demanding the redesign of injection and cooling systems. Also, the conditions at the combustor exit are a concern, as high turbulence, residual swirl, and the impossibility to adjust the temperature profile with dilution holes determine a harsher environment for nozzle guide vanes. This work describes the final stages of the design of an aeronautical effusion-cooled lean burn combustor. Full annular tests were carried out to measure temperature profiles and emissions (CO and NOx) at the combustor exit. Different operating conditions of the ICAO cycle were tested, considering Idle, Cruise, Approach, and Take-off. Scale-adaptive simulations with the flamelet generated manifold (FGM) combustion model were performed to extend the validation of the employed computational fluid dynamics (CFD) methodology and to reproduce the experimental data in terms of radial temperature distribution factor (RTDF)/overall temperature distribution factor (OTDF) profiles as well as emission indexes (EIs). The satisfactory agreement paved the way to an exploitation of the methodology to provide a deeper understanding of the flow physics within the combustion chamber, highlighting the impact of the different operating conditions on flame, spray evolution, and pollutant formation.


2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 277-297 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abimelech Paye Gbatu ◽  
Zhen Wang ◽  
Presley K. Wesseh ◽  
Vamuyan A. Sesay

Purpose The degradation of the natural habitat at the expense of economic development is a harmful growth that warrants environmental policy actions. For instance, the economic impacts of environmental pollution are quite visible in developed and developing economies, where human health is compromised by rapid economic growth and energy induced pollution. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of CO2 emissions on economic development. Design/methodology/approach This paper investigates the correlation between pollutant emissions and key economic variables within the economic community of West African states (ECOWAS) region by applying fixed effects model to unbalanced time-series panel data for the period 1980-2014. This paper examines the full ECOWAS panel and sub-panels with export-and-import-dependent countries. Findings The authors argue that energy consumption (EC) and real output exert causal influences on CO2 emissions for the full ECOWAS panel and the sub-panels with export-and-import-dependent countries. Practical implications The results imply that increase in EC is the main factor that promotes economic growth in the region. Additionally, growth in EC and real output stimulates CO2 emissions growth. Originality/value Therefore, it is argued that technological innovations that increase energy efficiency through new carbon-free technologies that minimize CO2 emissions growth without impairing economic growth and development must be introduced in the region.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (13) ◽  
pp. 6035
Author(s):  
Luigi Teodosio ◽  
Luca Marchitto ◽  
Cinzia Tornatore ◽  
Fabio Bozza ◽  
Gerardo Valentino

Combustion stability, engine efficiency and emissions in a multi-cylinder spark-ignition internal combustion engines can be improved through the advanced control and optimization of individual cylinder operation. In this work, experimental and numerical analyses were carried out on a twin-cylinder turbocharged port fuel injection (PFI) spark-ignition engine to evaluate the influence of cylinder-by-cylinder variation on performance and pollutant emissions. In a first stage, experimental tests are performed on the engine at different speed/load points and exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) rates, covering operating conditions typical of Worldwide harmonized Light-duty vehicles Test Cycle (WLTC). Measurements highlighted relevant differences in combustion evolution between cylinders, mainly due to non-uniform effective in-cylinder air/fuel ratio. Experimental data are utilized to validate a one-dimensional (1D) engine model, enhanced with user-defined sub-models of turbulence, combustion, heat transfer and noxious emissions. The model shows a satisfactory accuracy in reproducing the combustion evolution in each cylinder and the temperature of exhaust gases at turbine inlet. The pollutant species (HC, CO and NOx) predicted by the model show a good agreement with the ones measured at engine exhaust. Furthermore, the impact of cylinder-by-cylinder variation on gaseous emissions is also satisfactorily reproduced. The novel contribution of present work mainly consists in the extended numerical/experimental analysis on the effects of cylinder-by-cylinder variation on performance and emissions of spark-ignition engines. The proposed numerical methodology represents a valuable tool to support the engine design and calibration, with the aim to improve both performance and emissions.


2019 ◽  
Vol 45 (7) ◽  
pp. 950-965 ◽  
Author(s):  
Praveen Kumar ◽  
Mohammad Firoz

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyze the relationship between Certified Emission Reductions (CERs) information and a firm’s stock prices. Design/methodology/approach The present study is based on 193 CERs announcements by Indian firms over a 13-year period 2005–2017. The event study methodology is used to examine the impact of CERs announcements on a firm’s share prices. Findings The study suggests that the issuance of CERs did not produce any significant abnormal return. More specifically, the outcomes of event study shows that over a two-day event window from the event day to the day after the event (i.e. days 0 to 1), the mean and median of AARs are −0.25 and −0.34 percent, respectively. The abnormal returns on day 1 are not statistically significant as per the t-test. Moreover, the mean and median of abnormal returns after one day (−1) are negative, indicating that investors react negatively to CERs announcements. However, the mean and median of CAARs over both the two-day (i.e. days −1 to 0 and days 0 to +1) and three-day (i.e. days −1 to +1) event windows are positive, but not statistically significant based on the t-test. Research limitations/implications The findings of the study are quite comprehensive, relatively used only market-based criteria of a firm’s financial performance, e.g., share price, at times, inhibits generalizing the results. Originality/value To the best of the author’s knowledge, the present study is a first of its kind to investigate the relationship between the CERs information and a firm’s stock prices.


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