Experimental and numerical study of fence effects on dust emission into atmosphere from open storage piles

The results obtained from the research on the behaviour of fences (solid and porous) in the protection against particulated material emission to the atmosphere from open storage piles,are presented. This research was carried out through computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation by software Ansys CFX-10.0 in 3D,with K-epsilon being considered in the turbulence model. The efficiency of the use of porous fences as a protection against the wind flow,which interacts with an open storage pile,is shown. The use of these fences (when porosity is ε=30%) allows the reduction of wind flow velocity which interacts with the pile in comparison with the case of no use of fences (when porosity is 100%). In addition,the use of porous fences makes the velocity vortex,which is formed between the solid fence (ε=0%) and the pile,disappear,reducing the particle emission to the atmosphere by 78%.

Storage Assignment Optimization in a Multi-tier Shuttle Warehousing System

The current mathematical models for the storage assignment problem are generally established based on the traveling salesman problem（TSP）,which has been widely applied in the conventional automated storage and retrieval system（AS/RS）.However,the previous mathematical models in conventional AS/RS do not match multi-tier shuttle warehousing systems（MSWS） because the characteristics of parallel retrieval in multiple tiers and progressive vertical movement destroy the foundation of TSP.In this study,a two-stage open queuing network model in which shuttles and a lift are regarded as servers at different stages is proposed to analyze system performance in the terms of shuttle waiting period（SWP） and lift idle period（LIP） during transaction cycle time.A mean arrival time difference matrix for pairwise stock keeping units（SKUs） is presented to determine the mean waiting time and queue length to optimize the storage assignment problem on the basis of SKU correlation.The decomposition method is applied to analyze the interactions among outbound task time,SWP,and LIP.The ant colony clustering algorithm is designed to determine storage partitions using clustering items.In addition,goods are assigned for storage according to the rearranging permutation and the combination of storage partitions in a 2D plane.This combination is derived based on the analysis results of the queuing network model and on three basic principles.The storage assignment method and its entire optimization algorithm method as applied in a MSWS are verified through a practical engineering project conducted in the tobacco industry.The applying results show that the total SWP and LIP can be reduced effectively to improve the utilization rates of all devices and to increase the throughput of the distribution center.

Multi-stage expansion planning of energy storage integrated soft open points considering tie-line reconstruction

With the rapid development of flexible interconnection technology in active distribution networks(ADNs),many power electronic devices have been employed to improve system operational performance.As a novel fully-con-trolled power electronic device,energy storage integrated soft open point(ESOP)is gradually replacing traditional switches.This can significantly enhance the controllability of ADNs.To facilitate the utilization of ESOP,device loca-tions and capacities should be configured optimally.Thus,this paper proposes a multi-stage expansion planning method of ESOP with the consideration of tie-line reconstruction.First,based on multi-terminal modular design characteristics,the ESOP planning model is established.A multi-stage planning framework of ESOP is then presented,in which the evolutionary relationship among different planning schemes is analyzed.Based on this framework,a multi-stage planning method of ESOP with consideration of tie-line reconstruction is subsequently proposed.Finally,case studies are conducted on a modified practical distribution network,and the cost-benefit analysis of device and multiple impact factors are given to prove the effectiveness of the proposed method.

RESEARCH ON STABILITY OF OPEN BOTTOM STORAGE PLATFORM

In this paper, we present a new type of offshore structure, open bottomstorage platform, and its theoretical and experimental studies of its stability. In order tooptimize the design of column length and storage tank of the open bottom storage platform, we discuss the effect of air chamber length and storage on the stability of open bottom storage platform.