U.Va. Aerospace Engineer Awarded $1.5 Million from Rolls-Royce and Commonwealth to Further Reduce Environmental Impact of Jet Engines

July 9, 2010 — Harsha Chelliah, a University of Virginia professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, recently secured a four-year research grant to better understand and, it is hoped, eliminate soot particle formation produced by gas turbine engines. The grant, seeded by Rolls-Royce, the Commonwealth of Virginia and other partners, totals roughly $1.5 million.

Working from a lab in U.Va.’s decommissioned nuclear reactor facility, Chelliah and his graduate and undergraduate student research team have built two model reactors to study how to reduce the production of soot particles. The first experimental reactor operates at normal atmospheric pressure and has allowed the team to fine-tune experimental tools and methods.

Testing will soon begin on a second reactor that can burn jet fuel at 40 to 50 atmospheric pressures, which is equivalent to real jet-engine flight conditions. This undertaking fills a void in research at such high-pressure conditions and will help aerospace engine manufacturers meet anticipated U.S. Federal Aviation Administration regulations on soot particle emissions.

“While the aerospace industry has taken significant steps to reduce soot particles, there is still work to be done,” Chelliah said. “A major reduction or complete elimination of particulate matter formation by gas turbine engines is possible, with advanced diagnostic techniques being developed around the world.

“This research is expected to improve air quality near major airports and also reduce contrail formation in the upper atmosphere,” he added.

Both laboratory reactors are outfitted with advanced diagnostic equipment to capture soot particles illuminated by lasers. The process allows the research team to quantify the presence of particles at different burn conditions. Data produced will be used to create more reliable computational models for development of next-generation jet engines.

The project is one in an array of research activities born of a partnership among Rolls-Royce, the commonwealth, the U.Va. Engineering School and the Virginia Tech College of Engineering, formed in 2007 when Rolls-Royce announced it would build a new aerospace facility in Prince George County. Construction is now under way.

Jet-fueled, gas turbine engines produce vapor trails, or contrails – short for condensation trails – made up of droplets that form around nanoscale soot particles. From the naked eye, these are observed as jet trails often crisscrossing the sky, appearing as merely white lines in the atmosphere. According to some studies, contrails formed in the upper atmosphere may cause shifts in the global energy balance by trapping heat that radiates from the Earth, while soot particles emitted near airports during landing and take-off may have implications for human health.

The project funding supports several graduate and undergraduate students and research staff. The U.Va research team is working in collaboration with the Chemical Kinetics and Modeling Group at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, where Chelliah spent a year of sabbatical leave in 2008.

— by Zak Richards; reposted from UVa Today, July 12, 2010

Anyone who watched the Tour coverage from today could clearly see Andy Schleck’s rear wheel hop off the ground after putting in an attack that left Alberto Contador in the dust. The hop was the result of a mechanical that Contador  - who was sitting 4 meters behind him – absolutely had to see. There was no question that Schleck was slowing and unclipping from his pedals when AC came around him on his counter. It was a move that garnered jeers and boos at the podium ceremony and it rightfully should have.

There has not been a more class-less move in recent racing memory. There is an etiquette among riders that you don’t attack when someone has a mechanical – and you absolutely don’t do it at the Tour when the guy with the mechanical is in the Yellow Jersey.

I’ll admit that I have never been a Contador fan. His rise to prominence was just too suspicious. One year he’s loosing 4 minutes in every time trial he does, the next he wins most of them. Does that sound odd to anyone else?

But today he firmly cemented himself as a rider that I will never respect. Of course he says he didn’t know about Schleck’s mechanical. But there is no question that he saw it from the video. He may win the Tour this year, he may win it by far more than the 39 seconds he gained today. But he will never be a deserving winner. This year’s race will always be the one where he disregarded the rules of the peleton and stole the yellow jersey from a much classier rider.

I never expected anything positive from AC, yet his actions today were truly disappointing.

And good on Andy for chasing back on the climb like he did. That was a display of absolute courage and defiance that I think everyone loved seeing. If he had been behind a motor like Sammy Sanchez on the descent, he probably could have caught Alberto.

Haier HAPM100 100 CADR HEPA Air Purifier with Mechanical Controls Reviews

Haier HAPM100 100 CADR HEPA Air Purifier with Mechanical Controls Features

• HEPA Filter
• Active Carbon Filter
• Mechanical Controls
• Filter Change Reminder
• 3 Fan Speeds

Haier HAPM100 100 CADR HEPA Air Purifier with Mechanical Controls Overview

Haier is one of America’s top three manufacturers of Home Comfort Products sold in North America, with a health oriented product portfolio that includes room air conditioners, portable air conditioners, dehumidifiers, and now air purifiers. Haier home comfort products are design engineered to provide long lasting quality and high performance for many years.

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Last week I reported on the new upcoming Raymond Weil mechanical watch collection called Maestro.

I now have the specifications: The case measures 39.5mm x 9mm.

Movements is the Swiss Sellita, their base caliber SW200, with 26 jewels, 28,800 vph and a power reserve of 38 hours.

Frigidaire FAA062P7A 6,000 BTU MSII Air Conditioner with Mechanical Controls Reviews

Click on image to Zooms / Other views

Even though this AC is specifically designed to fit in an overhang (vertical) window, I purchased it with the intent of placing it in a casement (horizontal) window in a master bedroom. I went to home depot and had a piece of wood cut to fill the remaining area above the AC to make it all air-tight. I added wood sealant so that it will not be weathered. Finally, I cut the insulation that came with the AC into smaller strips so that it would completely fill all areas needing insulation.

The result? A fully functional, inexpensive AC that keeps my room nice and cool — even on lower settings.

Frigidaire FAA062P7A 6,000 BTU MSII Air Conditioner with Mechanical Controls Feature

• 6,000 BTU cooling capacity
• Cools 216 square foot rooms
• Pleated quick mount window kit included for clean installation
• Filter Type: Rigid Mesh, Tilt out filter access
• Air Direction Control: 8-Way, Energy Efficiency Rating: 9.7

Frigidaire FAA062P7A 6,000 BTU MSII Air Conditioner with Mechanical Controls Overview

With a complete line of room air conditioners, portable air conditioners and dehumidifiers, Frigidaire technology is hard at work to enhance the comfort of your home. Offering a broad range of models and features like single-touch electronic controls, full-function remotes that double as thermostats, portable air conditioners that heat as well as cool and dehumidifies that operate in low temperatures, Frigidaire Home Comfort products are designed to provide you with easy-to-use, quiet, efficient and reliable service. This Frigidaire FAA062P7A Air Conditioner has a 6,000 BTU cooling capacity. It is perfect for small rooms or rooms where supplemental cooling is needed (Up to 216 Square Feet) It features an EER of 9.7. The Variable Speed Fan and 8-Way Air Direction along with an adjustable thermostat make it easy to operate and with LVC Technology (Low Voltage Compensation), proper operation of the unit is assured when voltage fluctuates below normal levels. Installing the unit is made easy with the Pleated Quick Mount Window Mounting Kit and Filter cleaning is a snap with the Tilt-Out Filter Access Feature. The FAX062P7A is 12 1/2- inches in height, 18 1/2-inches in width, and 15 1/2-inches in depth, weighs 48 pounds, and uses 115 Volts AC. It requires a window height of 14-inches and a width of 23 to 36-inch. Frigidaire provides one year full and five year sealed system warranty.

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Let’s assume you want to add an extra box when you’re doing your electrical. The other boxes were installed in the right places during wall construction, but somehow you forgot one. (This would never happen to professionals, of course. [cough])

Don’t worry, there’s an easy fix. What I do… [cough] or would do if this ever happened to me, is use ¼” steel rod to pin the box to the earthbags. Cut two 7” long pieces of steel rod. Pound the rod in at opposing angles so the box won’t pull loose. (See drawing.) For example, angle one pin up and one pin down. Bend over the last 1-1/4” so it’s flat against the back of the box. This creates a very secure box. Just remember to have the front edge of the box protrude about 1-1/4” beyond the earthbags to allow for plaster thickness. Now you’re ready to run your electrical wire.

Metallurgy

Status: Commissioned
Promoter: Utkarsh Galva Limited
Project Name: Galvanized Sheet Manufacturing Unit
Capacity: 5000 TPM
Location: Hooghly, West Bengal
Current Status: As of July 2010, project was commissioned.

I always found a great admiration for the way the Birlas had maintained Pilani with little cost. We always complained as students that the Birlas had stopped investing in Pilani as now they have Goa, Hyderabad and Dubai to play with. People in the new management focused by the 2012 and 2020 vision have definitely pushed forward the agenda of making BITS into yet another IIT.

I welcome the change, but it has been too drastic. No longer can you see the flaking walls and blue-whitewashed corridors. They have been replaced by White Cement. One would wonder how they got all that cement from. Remember the Birla empire is vast. ($ 28 billion)

At present people are working in shifts to complete the massive overhaul. Definitely the campus is looking tidier. Workers are working tirelessly to white-wash the whole system.

As a famous ex-Dean commented, this is more like “chuna-lagana“. With mascara, they are trying to hide the real problems. I welcome the change anyway, but next time you are out on a sunny day, make sure you have a pair of goggles with you. White reflects more.

The fees increased by  Rs.1000 for hostel fees this time around and tuition fees by around Rs.10,000. New students currently pay around Rs.55,000. In a way it is bad, but let me reveal the positive effects of this. If the management is really keen into putting all the new dough into use, then it will improve faculty and facilities in and around the campus.

I had chanced upon this book named “Improbable Achievement” in the library, a few days earlier while doing some work for the Placements Division. The Placements Division is thrusting forward the name, history and legend of BITS-Pilani to recruiting companies, and for that they needed some research.

The facts are a bit mouldy, from the 1990s, but still you can see the disparity.

IITs spend around Rs. 80,000 per student per year, IIScs spend around Rs. 1,20,000 per student per year. BITS-Pilani has a spending of around Rs. 9000 per student per year. (The figures are from 1990, remember Globalization hapened in another 2 years, the rupee depreciated only after that.)

Still the difference is too huge, not to take into account. I am not complaining, but the Birlas have been extremely generous in providing thousands of bright students like us with some quality education. But the quality has never incresed over the ages. The courses remain the same.

After the halt of funding from the Ford Foundation and assistance from MIT, Pilani went on a budget crisis and the concerted efforts of the then Chancellor Dr.KK Birla and faculty we were able to bring down costs. Previously 2.5% of the budget came from fees. In 1990, about 35% came from fees, 30% were paid by our generous donors, the Birlas and the rest came from a fund which was accumulated over the ages to provide money for the daily functioning of the institute.

I am no one to advise anybody on how they should run the institute. I am just a student. The management is very powerful in a private institute and I have to watch my words. But I certainly agree that our course structure and equipment training severely lacks purpose and thrust.

As a Mechanical Engineer who has 1 more year left, I can certainly second the fact, that most of us are unsatisfied with what we are being taught. A student in a NIT can beat us in technical prowess quite easily. There is no  substitute for proper training. Faculty and facilities have been used to their maximum.

Everybody who has been to the Workshop knows that 95% of the machines come from the 1950s to 1970s era. This was the time when the Ford Foundation was still interested in investing in Pilani. The funny fact is around 30 to 40% are from West Germany, a country which no longer exists. Most of the spare parts may not available.

I am still not complaining, the Workshop has offered me some of the best opportunities to learn at BITS Pilani. But as a Mechanical student, unlike other universities, I have never gone under a car, nor have I dismantled or seen inside a fridge. Yes, I know how to use AutoCAD and ANSYS. But wait they didn’t teach that properly too, did they? As of now there is no course on teaching software packages to Mechanical Students. Students are by nature mostly lazy. Instead of feeding them unnecessary courses maybe this should be looked into more carefully. I therefore think I can’t put the blame entirely on me for ending up with this CGPA. Nobody is interested in doing anything hands-on. It is all about solving stupid problems in a limited time-frame which will have little consequence in the future. Why would I need to solve anything like that, in a time-frame?

Coming back to the changes the institute has undergone, we have lost the redis. Those little snack shops littered around the campus providing comfort, quality time and public space to deprived souls, they are gone. Evicted without justified reason, the redi-wallahs will now have to live off other means.

How they are going to manage the huge humanitarian crisis caused by the lack of proper food sources is out of my creative imagination. For example, if all students from a single bhavan end up hungry and want to have food, what will they do? If those 250 odd people, all come to Sky/ Institute Canteen / Food King, we all know how much chaos will occur.

ANC is in itself a slight reminder. Since the redis are closed after day, messes after 8:30, Pilani folks are used to run to ANC or Food King to have a hunger-filler at night. But thanks to the droves of hungry-zombies, waiting times have increased to 30 minutes etc for certain food ites. The workers are over-worked, there is no proper ventilation nor waste-disposal. ANC looks a 100 times dirtier than any redi-shop.

For a small read on how clean and good-minded the redi-wallahs are, one must glance through Rishabh Kaul’s post, Marketing Stratergies.

The lack of public installations and places has always been the problem with BITS-Pilani. If one needs to sit down and have a small bit some time, there is no place such here. The Birlas definitely may not like the redis, but they also have never had tea from a glass, samosa-chat, or even nimbu pani. How can people who haven’t seen or experienced Pilani feel the impact?

Redis are places where people socialize and reach their comfort zone. If you are in LTC, and had 3 classes in a row, or were in Workshop for 2 straight hours, where will you go have lunch?

Food King, that’s too far away and they donot open in the afternoon.

ANC doesnt open till 7. It is utterly dirty.

Institute canteen? Have you had their Masala Dosa, tea or noodles? Don’t you know how bad it is?

I guess you will just have to drink cold water, which has copious amounts of calcium and magnesium deposits in it to quench your hunger.

Please visit the Facebook Page : Allow Redis Back and show your support. (Courtesy : Ajay Rungta)

By starvation and compulsory attendance the Management has decided to increase the standards. I hope they succeed.

Compulsory Attendance  (70 to 80%)has always been in the talks for a long time. Every batch is scared every semester when they start hearing rumours regarding it. Majority of the population doesn’t want it. It will leave us little time to do other things like waste time on the internet or on DC. Also club/department activities will be severely affected. As Pilani is so far away from civilisation, this will be a very successful deterrent from preventing people from attending cultural festivals or competitions in other places.

Pilani will lose its identity in a few days time.

I welcome change. I seriously do. I sincerely hope all these new changes would have come a bit sooner, it would have made this transition easier for me. I am in love with how Pilani looked before. All dingy, dirty walls, flaking lime, flushes that never work, hot weather, air coolers that do not work, over-priced food items in C’Not, no avenues for recreation, huge disparity in male-female population, CDCs, boring classes, lack lustre environments, Oasis and Apogee which just spell more work-more tension to me.

Bye Bye Pilani

This post has been written not to offend anybody. I am just being a positive critic. I welcome the changes.

I hope the changes don’t change themselves.

Contrary to most rumours, the Clock Tower has still not been painted white. This photo was taken at 1300 hours on 17th July 2010.

Latest Information

The administration is seeking alternatives to counter the food crisis. Rumours suggest that new shops will be opened. Also the compulsory attendance thing is again bogus. You can still cut classes.

Well, eventually I’ll be college bound.  I stopped in to fill out the initial paperwork to enroll at Purdue!  I’m glad to be taking the steps to go back and finish up my mechanical engineering degree!

This is one goal that I’m determined to see through.  For too many years I begged the ex to let me go back….only to be met with harsh criticism and belittling words.  There was some underlying reason he didn’t want me to go back, but I never could figure out what it was.  Personally, I think it intimidates him, but that’s merely just a guess.

I’m proud of me today.  The Ex can go suck a dick.

Radiant barrier for the attic

Question
I am debating whether to purchase a radiant heat foil barrier or buy $1,200 of additional attic insulation. I am told that my current attic insulation is only 4 inches thick and it is a two story home. I have two power attic fans installed. Which product gives the most bang for the buck?

Answer: I found this video which should help you out a lot! Especially with your radiant barrier question!