EEED

RECENTADVANCESinENERGY,
ENVIRONMENT,ECOSYSTEMSand
DEVELOPMENT
Proceedingsofthe2013InternationalConferenceonEnergy,
Environment,EcosystemsandDevelopment
(EEED2013)
RhodesIsland,Greece
July1619,2013

DEVELOPMENT
(EEED2013)
RhodesIsland,Greece
July1619,2013
Copyright2013,bytheeditors
Allthecopyrightofthepresentbookbelongstotheeditors.Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthispublication
maybereproduced,storedinaretrievalsystem,ortransmittedinanyformorbyanymeans,electronic,
mechanical,photocopying,recording,orotherwise,withoutthepriorwrittenpermissionoftheeditors.
All papers of the present volume were peer reviewed by no less that two independent reviewers.
Acceptancewasgrantedwhenbothreviewers'recommendationswerepositive.
ISBN:9781618042026

DEVELOPMENT
(EEED2013)
RhodesIsland,Greece
July1619,2013

OrganizingCommittee
GeneralChairs(EDITORS)
ProfessorCharlesA.Long
ProfessorEmeritus
UniversityofWisconsin
StevensPoint,Wisconsin,USA
ProfessorNikosE.Mastorakis
MilitaryInstitutesofUniversityEducation(ASEI)
HellenicNavalAcademy
SectorofElectricalEngineeringandComputerScience
Piraeus,Greece
alsowith
TechnicalUniversityofSofia
1000Sofia,Bulgaria
ProfessorValeriMladenov
TechnicalUniversityofSofia
1000Sofia,Bulgaria
SeniorProgramChair
ProfessorPhilippeDondon
ENSEIRB
RueASchweitzer33400Talence
France
ProgramChairs
ProfessorFilippoNeri
DipartimentodiInformaticaeSistemistica
UniversityofNaples"FedericoII"
Naples,Italy
ProfessorHamidRezaKarimi
DepartmentofEngineering
FacultyofEngineeringandScience
UniversityofAgder,N4898Grimstad
Norway
ProfessorSandraSendra
InstitutodeInv.paralaGestinIntegradadeZonasCosteras(IGIC)
UniversidadPolitcnicadeValencia
Spain
TutorialsChair
ProfessorPradipMajumdar
DepartmentofMechanicalEngineering
NorthernIllinoisUniversity
Dekalb,Illinois,USA
SpecialSessionChair
ProfessorPavelVaracha
TomasBataUniversityinZlin
FacultyofAppliedInformatics
DepartmentofInformaticsandArtificialIntelligence
Zlin,CzechRepublic

WorkshopsChair
ProfessorRyszardS.Choras
InstituteofTelecommunications
UniversityofTechnology&LifeSciences
Bydgoszcz,Poland
LocalOrganizingChair
AssistantProfessorKlimisNtalianis,
Tech.Educ.Inst.ofAthens(TEI),Athens,Greece
PublicationChair
ProfessorGenQiXu
DepartmentofMathematics
TianjinUniversity
Tianjin,China
PublicityCommittee
ProfessorReinhardNeck
DepartmentofEconomics
KlagenfurtUniversity
Klagenfurt,Austria
ProfessorMyriamLazard
InstitutSuperieurd'IngenieriedelaConception
SaintDie,France
InternationalLiaisons
ProfessorKaLokNg
DepartmentofBioinformatics
AsiaUniversity
Taichung,Taiwan
ProfessorOlgaMartin
AppliedSciencesFaculty
PolitehnicaUniversityofBucharest
Romania
ProfessorVincenzoNiola
DepartementofMechanicalEngineeringforEnergetics
UniversityofNaples"FedericoII"
Naples,Italy
ProfessorEduardoMarioDias
ElectricalEnergyandAutomation
EngineeringDepartment
EscolaPolitecnicadaUniversidadedeSaoPaulo
Brazil
SteeringCommittee
ProfessorAidaBulucea,UniversityofCraiova,Romania
ProfessorDanaSimian,Univ.ofSibiu,Sibiu,Romania
ProfessorZoranBojkovic,Univ.ofBelgrade,Serbia
ProfessorMetinDemiralp,IstanbulTechnicalUniversity,Turkey
ProfessorF.V.Topalis,Nat.Tech.Univ.ofAthens,Greece
ProfessorImreRudas,ObudaUniversity,Budapest,Hungary

ProgramCommittee
Prof.LotfiZadeh(IEEEFellow,UniversityofBerkeley,USA)
Prof.LeonChua(IEEEFellow,UniversityofBerkeley,USA)
Prof.MichioSugeno(RIKENBrainScienceInstitute(RIKENBSI),Japan)
Prof.DimitriBertsekas(IEEEFellow,MIT,USA)
Prof.DemetriTerzopoulos(IEEEFellow,ACMFellow,UCLA,USA)
Prof.GeorgiosB.Giannakis(IEEEFellow,UniversityofMinnesota,USA)
Prof.GeorgeVachtsevanos(GeorgiaInstituteofTechnology,USA)
Prof.AbrahamBers(IEEEFellow,MIT,USA)
Prof.DavidStaelin(IEEEFellow,MIT,USA)
Prof.BrianBarsky(IEEEFellow,UniversityofBerkeley,USA)
Prof.AggelosKatsaggelos(IEEEFellow,NorthwesternUniversity,USA)
Prof.JosefSifakis(TuringAward2007,CNRS/Verimag,France)
Prof.HisashiKobayashi(PrincetonUniversity,USA)
Prof.Kinshuk(FellowIEEE,MasseyUniv.NewZeland),
Prof.LeonidKazovsky(StanfordUniversity,USA)
Prof.NarsinghDeo(IEEEFellow,ACMFellow,UniversityofCentralFlorida,USA)
Prof.KamisettyRao(FellowIEEE,Univ.ofTexasatArlington,USA)
Prof.AnastassiosVenetsanopoulos(FellowIEEE,UniversityofToronto,Canada)
Prof.StevenCollicott(PurdueUniversity,WestLafayette,IN,USA)
Prof.NikolaosParagios(EcoleCentraleParis,France)
Prof.NikolaosG.Bourbakis(IEEEFellow,WrightStateUniversity,USA)
Prof.StamatiosKartalopoulos(IEEEFellow,UniversityofOklahoma,USA)
Prof.IrwinSandberg(IEEEFellow,UniversityofTexasatAustin,USA),
Prof.MichaelSebek(IEEEFellow,CzechTechnicalUniversityinPrague,CzechRepublic)
Prof.HashemAkbari(UniversityofCalifornia,Berkeley,USA)
Prof.YuriyS.Shmaliy,(IEEEFellow,TheUniversityofGuanajuato,Mexico)
Prof.LeiXu(IEEEFellow,ChineseUniversityofHongKong,HongKong)
Prof.PaulE.Dimotakis(CaliforniaInstituteofTechnologyPasadena,USA)
Prof.M.Pelikan(UMSL,USA)
Prof.PatrickWang(MIT,USA)
Prof.WasfyBMikhael(IEEEFellow,UniversityofCentralFloridaOrlando,USA)
Prof.SunilDas(IEEEFellow,UniversityofOttawa,Canada)
Prof.PanosPardalos(UniversityofFlorida,USA)
Prof.NikolaosD.Katopodes(UniversityofMichigan,USA)
Prof.BimalK.Bose(LifeFellowofIEEE,UniversityofTennessee,Knoxville,USA)
Prof.JanuszKacprzyk(IEEEFellow,PolishAcademyofSciences,Poland)
Prof.SidneyBurrus(IEEEFellow,RiceUniversity,USA)
Prof.BiswaN.Datta(IEEEFellow,NorthernIllinoisUniversity,USA)
Prof.MihaiPutinar(UniversityofCaliforniaatSantaBarbara,USA)
Prof.WlodzislawDuch(NicolausCopernicusUniversity,Poland)
Prof.TadeuszKaczorek(IEEEFellow,WarsawUniversityofTehcnology,Poland)
Prof.MichaelN.Katehakis(Rutgers,TheStateUniversityofNewJersey,USA)
Prof.PanAgathoklis(Univ.ofVictoria,Canada)
Prof.P.Demokritou(HarvardUniversity,USA)
Prof.P.Razelos(ColumbiaUniversity,USA)
Dr.SubhasC.Misra(HarvardUniversity,USA)
Prof.MartinvandenToorn(DelftUniversityofTechnology,TheNetherlands)
Prof.MalcolmJ.Crocker(DistinguishedUniversityProf.,AuburnUniversity,USA)
Prof.S.Dafermos(BrownUniversity,USA)
Prof.UrszulaLedzewicz,SouthernIllinoisUniversity,USA.
Prof.DimitriKazakos,Dean,(TexasSouthernUniversity,USA)
Prof.RonaldYager(IonaCollege,USA)
Prof.AthanassiosManikas(ImperialCollege,London,UK)

Prof.KeithL.Clark(ImperialCollege,London,UK)
Prof.ArgyrisVaronides(Univ.ofScranton,USA)
Prof.S.Furfari(DirectionGeneraleEnergieetTransports,Brussels,EU)
Prof.ConstantinUdriste,UniversityPolitehnicaofBucharest,ROMANIA
Dr.MichelleLuke(Univ.Berkeley,USA)
Prof.PatriceBrault(Univ.Parissud,France)
Dr.ChristosE.Vasios(MIT,USA)
Prof.JimCunningham(ImperialCollegeLondon,UK)
Prof.PhilippeBenAbdallah(EcolePolytechniquedel'UniversitedeNantes,France)
Prof.PhotiosAnninos(MedicalSchoolofThrace,Greece)
Prof.IchiroHagiwara,(TokyoInstituteofTechnology,Japan)
Prof.MetinDemiralp(IstanbulTechnicalUniversity/TurkishAcademyofSciences,Istanbul,Turkey)
Prof.AndrisBuikis(LatvianAcademyofScience.Latvia)
Prof.AkshaiAggarwal(UniversityofWindsor,Canada)
Prof.GeorgeVachtsevanos(GeorgiaInstituteofTechnology,USA)
Prof.UlrichAlbrecht(AuburnUniversity,USA)
Prof.ImreJ.Rudas(ObudaUniversity,Hungary)
Prof.AlexeyLSadovski(IEEEFellow,TexasA&MUniversity,USA)
Prof.AmedeoAndreotti(UniversityofNaples,Italy)
Prof.RyszardS.Choras(UniversityofTechnologyandLifeSciencesBydgoszcz,Poland)
Prof.RemiLeandre(UniversitedeBourgogne,Dijon,France)
Prof.MoustaphaDiaby(UniversityofConnecticut,USA)
Prof.BrianMcCartin(NewYorkUniversity,USA)
Prof.EliasC.Aifantis(AristotleUniv.ofThessaloniki,Greece)
Prof.AnastasiosLyrintzis(PurdueUniversity,USA)
Prof.CharlesLong(Prof.EmeritusUniversityofWisconsin,USA)
Prof.MarvinGoldstein(NASAGlennResearchCenter,USA)
Prof.CostinCepisca(UniversityPOLITEHNICAofBucharest,Romania)
Prof.KleanthisPsarris(UniversityofTexasatSanAntonio,USA)
Prof.RonGoldman(RiceUniversity,USA)
Prof.IoannisA.Kakadiaris(UniversityofHouston,USA)
Prof.RichardTapia(RiceUniversity,USA)
Prof.F.K.Benra(UniversityofDuisburgEssen,Germany)
Prof.MilivojeM.Kostic(NorthernIllinoisUniversity,USA)
Prof.HelmutJaberg(UniversityofTechnologyGraz,Austria)
Prof.ArdeshirAnjomani(TheUniversityofTexasatArlington,USA)
Prof.HeinzUlbrich(TechnicalUniversityMunich,Germany)
Prof.ReinhardLeithner(TechnicalUniversityBraunschweig,Germany)
Prof.ElbrousM.Jafarov(IstanbulTechnicalUniversity,Turkey)
Prof.M.Ehsani(TexasA&MUniversity,USA)
Prof.SeshCommuri(UniversityofOklahoma,USA)
Prof.NicolasGalanis(UniversitedeSherbrooke,Canada)
Prof.S.H.Sohrab(NorthwesternUniversity,USA)
Prof.RuiJ.P.deFigueiredo(UniversityofCalifornia,USA)
Prof.ValeriMladenov(TechnicalUniversityofSofia,Bulgaria)
Prof.HiroshiSakaki(MeiseiUniversity,Tokyo,Japan)
Prof.ZoranS.Bojkovic(TechnicalUniversityofBelgrade,Serbia)
Prof.K.D.Klaes,(HeadoftheEPSSupportScienceTeamintheMETDivisionatEUMETSAT,France)
Prof.EmiraMaljevic(TechnicalUniversityofBelgrade,Serbia)
Prof.KazuhikoTsuda(UniversityofTsukuba,Tokyo,Japan)
Prof.MilanStork(UniversityofWestBohemia,CzechRepublic)
Prof.C.G.Helmis(UniversityofAthens,Greece)
Prof.LajosBarna(BudapestUniversityofTechnologyandEconomics,Hungary)
Prof.NobuokiMano(MeiseiUniversity,Tokyo,Japan)

Prof.NobuoNakajima(TheUniversityofElectroCommunications,Tokyo,Japan)
Prof.VictorEmilNeagoe(PolytechnicUniversityofBucharest,Romania)
Prof.E.Protonotarios(NationalTechnicalUniversityofAthens,Greece)
Prof.P.Vanderstraeten(BrusselsInstituteforEnvironmentalManagement,Belgium)
Prof.AnnalieseBischoff(UniversityofMassachusetts,Amherst,USA)
Prof.VirgilTiponut(PolitehnicaUniversityofTimisoara,Romania)
Prof.AndreiKolyshkin(RigaTechnicalUniversity,Latvia)
Prof.FumiakiImado(ShinshuUniversity,Japan)
Prof.SotiriosG.Ziavras(NewJerseyInstituteofTechnology,USA)
Prof.ConstantinVolosencu(PolitehnicaUniversityofTimisoara,Romania)
Prof.MarcA.Rosen(UniversityofOntarioInstituteofTechnology,Canada)
Prof.AlexanderZemliak(PueblaAutonomousUniversity,Mexico)
Prof.ThomasM.Gatton(NationalUniversity,SanDiego,USA)
Prof.LeonardoPagnotta(UniversityofCalabria,Italy)
Prof.YanWu(GeorgiaSouthernUniversity,USA)
Prof.DanielN.Riahi(UniversityofTexasPanAmerican,USA)
Prof.AlexanderGrebennikov(AutonomousUniversityofPuebla,Mexico)
Prof.BennieF.L.Ward(BaylorUniversity,TX,USA)
Prof.GuennadiA.Kouzaev(NorwegianUniversityofScienceandTechnology,Norway)
Prof.EugeneKindler(UniversityofOstrava,CzechRepublic)
Prof.GeoffSkinner(TheUniversityofNewcastle,Australia)
Prof.HamidoFujita(IwatePrefecturalUniversity(IPU),Japan)
Prof.FrancescoMuzi(UniversityofL'Aquila,Italy)
Prof.LesM.Sztandera(PhiladelphiaUniversity,USA)
Prof.ClaudioRossi(UniversityofSiena,Italy)
Prof.ChristopherJ.Koroneos(AristotleUniversityofThessaloniki,Greece)
Prof.SergeyB.Leonov(JointInstituteforHighTemperatureRussianAcademyofScience,Russia)
Prof.ArpadA.Fay(UniversityofMiskolc,Hungary)
Prof.LiliHe(SanJoseStateUniversity,USA)
Prof.M.NassehTabrizi(EastCarolinaUniversity,USA)
Prof.AlaaEldinFahmy(UniversityOfCalgary,Canada)
Prof.IonCarstea(UniversityofCraiova,Romania)
Prof.PaulDanCristea(University"Politehnica"ofBucharest,Romania)
Prof.Gh.Pascovici(UniversityofKoeln,Germany)
Prof.PierPaoloDelsanto(PolitecnicoofTorino,Italy)
Prof.RaduMunteanu(RectoroftheTechnicalUniversityofClujNapoca,Romania)
Prof.IoanDumitrache(PolitehnicaUniversityofBucharest,Romania)
Prof.CorneliuLazar(TechnicalUniversityGh.AsachiIasi,Romania)
Prof.NicolaPitrone(UniversitadegliStudiCatania,Italia)
Prof.MiquelSalgot(UniversityofBarcelona,Spain)
Prof.AmauryA.Caballero(FloridaInternationalUniversity,USA)
Prof.MariaI.GarciaPlanas(UniversitatPolitecnicadeCatalunya,Spain)
Prof.PetarPopivanov(BulgarianAcademyofSciences,Bulgaria)
Prof.AlexanderGegov(UniversityofPortsmouth,UK)
Prof.LinFeng(NanyangTechnologicalUniversity,Singapore)
Prof.ColinFyfe(UniversityoftheWestofScotland,UK)
Prof.ZhaohuiLuo(UnivofLondon,UK)
Prof.MikhailItskov(RWTHAachenUniversity,Germany)
Prof.GeorgeG.Tsypkin(RussianAcademyofSciences,Russia)
Prof.WolfgangWenzel(InstituteforNanotechnology,Germany)
Prof.WeilianSu(NavalPostgraduateSchool,USA)
Prof.PhillipG.Bradford(TheUniversityofAlabama,USA)
Prof.RayHefferlin(SouthernAdventistUniversity,TN,USA)
Prof.GabriellaBognar(UniversityofMiskolc,Hungary)

Prof.HamidAbachi(MonashUniversity,Australia)
Prof.KarlheinzSpindler(FachhochschuleWiesbaden,Germany)
Prof.JosefBoercsoek(UniversitatKassel,Germany)
Prof.EyadH.Abed(UniversityofMaryland,Maryland,USA)
Prof.F.Castanie(TeSA,Toulouse,France)
Prof.RobertK.L.Gay(NanyangTechnologicalUniversity,Singapore)
Prof.AndrzejOrdys(KingstonUniversity,UK)
Prof.HarrisCatrakis(UnivofCaliforniaIrvine,USA)
Prof.TBott(TheUniversityofBirmingham,UK)
Prof.PetrFilip(InstituteofHydrodynamics,Prague,CzechRepublic)
Prof.T.W.Lee(ArizonaStateUniversity,AZ,USA)
Prof.LeYiWang(WayneStateUniversity,Detroit,USA)
Prof.GeorgeStavrakakis(TechnicalUniversityofCrete,Greece)
Prof.JohnK.Galiotos(HoustonCommunityCollege,USA)
Prof.M.Petrakis(NationalObservatoryofAthens,Greece)
Prof.PhilippeDondon(ENSEIRB,Talence,France)
Prof.DaliborBiolek(BrnoUniversityofTechnology,CzechRepublic)
Prof.OleksanderMarkovskyy(NationalTechnicalUniversityofUkraine,Ukraine)
Prof.SureshP.Sethi(UniversityofTexasatDallas,USA)
Prof.HartmutHillmer(UniversityofKassel,Germany)
Prof.BramVanPutten(WageningenUniversity,TheNetherlands)
Prof.AlexanderIomin(TechnionIsraelInstituteofTechnology,Israel)
Prof.RobertoSanJose(TechnicalUniversityofMadrid,Spain)
Prof.MinvydasRagulskis(KaunasUniversityofTechnology,Lithuania)
Prof.ArunKulkarni(TheUniversityofTexasatTyler,USA)
Prof.JoydeepMitra(NewMexicoStateUniversity,USA)
Prof.VincenzoNiola(UniversityofNaplesFedericoII,Italy)
Prof.IonChryssoverghi(NationalTechnicalUniversityofAthens,Greece)
Prof.Dr.AydinAkan(IstanbulUniversity,Turkey)
Prof.SarkaNecasova(AcademyofSciences,Prague,CzechRepublic)
Prof.C.D.Memos(NationalTechnicalUniversityofAthens,Greece)
Prof.S.Y.Chen,(ZhejiangUniversityofTechnology,ChinaandUniversityofHamburg,Germany)
Prof.DucNguyen(OldDominionUniversity,Norfolk,USA)
Prof.TuanPham(JamesCookUniversity,Townsville,Australia)
Prof.HabilM.Patzold(AgderUniversityCollege,Norway)
Prof.JiriKlima(TechnicalFacultyofCZUinPrague,CzechRepublic)
Prof.RossellaCancelliere(UniversityofTorino,Italy)
Prof.L.Kohout(FloridaStateUniversity,Tallahassee,Florida,USA)
Prof.D'Attelis(Univ.BuenosAyres,Argentina)
Prof.DrEng.ChristianBouquegneau(FacultyPolytechniquedeMons,Belgium)
Prof.WladyslawMielczarski(TechnicalUniversityofLodz,Poland)
Prof.IbrahimHassan(ConcordiaUniversity,Montreal,Quebec,Canada)
Prof.StavrosJ.Baloyannis(MedicalSchool,AristotleUniversityofThessaloniki,Greece)
Prof.JamesF.Frenzel(UniversityofIdaho,USA)
Prof.MirkoNovak(CzechTechnicalUniversityinPrague,CzechRepublic)
Prof.ZdenekVotruba(CzechTechnicalUniversityinPrague,CzechRepublic)
Prof.VilemSrovnal,(TechnicalUniversityofOstrava,CzechRepublic)
Prof.J.M.GironSierra(UniversidadComplutensedeMadrid,Spain)
Prof.ZeljkoPanian(UniversityofZagreb,Croatia)
Prof.WalterDosch(UniversityofLuebeck,Germany)
Prof.RudolfFreund(ViennaUniversityofTechnology,Austria)
Prof.ErichSchmidt(ViennaUniversityofTechnology,Austria)
Prof.AlessandroGenco(UniversityofPalermo,Italy)
Prof.MartinLopezMorales(TechnicalUniversityofMonterey,Mexico)

Prof.RalphW.ObersteVorth(MarshallUniversity,USA)
Prof.VladimirDamgov(BulgarianAcademyofSciences,Bulgaria)
Prof.MenelaosKaranasos(BrunelUniversity,UK)
Prof.P.Borne(EcoleCentraldeLille,France)
AdditionalReviewers
VaclavSkala
AhmadAzarnik
KeffalaMohamedRochdi
ValentineBaranov
HugoRodrigues
DumitruCazacu
CorneliaAidaBulucea
JiriHrebicek
SanjibKumarDatta
MariaDobritoiu
UmerAsgher
AnnaAdamik
JorgeMagalhaesMendes
GilbertoPerezLechuga
JelenaVasiljevic
DeolindaDiasRasteiro
OzlemTurkerBayrak
AhmedElKashlan
NajatOuaaline
ArmandoSilvaAfonso
KlimisNtalianis
IgorAstrov
FilippoNeri
ValeriuPrepelita
MihaielaIliescu
CalinCiufudean
MilanStork
AnelTanovic
IoannisGonos
LambertoTronchin
DanLacrama
SudhirDawra
KalaOuarda
ShahramJavadi
BabakBashariRad
YilunShang
AlinaBadulescu
CorinaCarranca
ChristosVolos
ElenaZaitseva
DanielaLitan
FarhadMehran
AhmetErtek
FernandoReinaldoRibeiro
AymanBatisha
MadalinaXeniaCalbureanuPopescu
CorneliaGyorodi
DzenanaDonko
DarioFerreira
AnabelaGomes
AndreyN.Dmitriev
GabrielBadescu
CatalinPopescu
VassilikiT.Kontargyri
H.Kijima

TableofContents
KeynoteLecture1:ShiftingtheExpansionPointinDirectPowerSeriesofMultivaried
Functions
16
MetinDemiralp
PlenaryLecture1:IntelligentPredictionofVehicleDynamicsUsingStructuredNeural
Networks
18
StratisKanarachos
PlenaryLecture2:MultitimeSolitonsandTheirMapleAnimation 19
ConstantinUdriste
PlenaryLecture3:InvariantSubspacesandStructuralPropertiesof2DControlSystems 21
ValeriuPrepelita
Tutorial1:ProjectiveGeometryandDualityforGraphics,GamesandVisualization 23
VaclavSkala
Tutorial2:NonlinearDistortioninWirelessTransmitters 24
D.Budimir
DevelopmentAgainstPoverty:ASystemicModelDesignbasedonEmpiricalEvidence 27
HeribertoE.CuanaloDeLaCerda
TheApplicationofSmallScaleandLargeScaleWindTurbinesinKerman,Iran;ACase
Study
35
IghballBaniasadAskari,LinaBaniasadAskari,MohammadMehdiKaykhah
AnApproachtotheQualityofDrinkingWaterasaMatterofMulticriterialDecision 43
AmeliaBucur,JosL.LpezBonilla
StudyofVariousConfigurationsofHybridPV/TSystem 51
H.BenCheikhElHocine,M.MarirBenabbas
NoiseReductionattheFanOutlet 59
KarelAdmek,JanKol,PetrPlpn,MartinPustka
TheAnalysisofTotalAmountofEnergyConsumptionandStructureinChina 63
LiuHua,GuanYeQing
NonlinearFrictionandResistance,GeneratingSourcesofOptimalPointsintheEnergy
FieldofAgriculturalAggregatesWorkingProcess
70
PetruCrdei,AlexandrosAlexiou,MirceaBdescu,ValentinVladu,NicolaeConstantin,
EugenMarin
Proceedings of the 2013 International Conference on Energy, Environment, Ecosystems and Development
13

EconomicAnalysisofaPumpedStorageProjectforIranGeneratingSystembasedona
DynamicModeling
75
A.R.Sohrabi
AnaerobicDegradationofDairyWastewaterinIntermittentUASBReactors:Influenceof
EffluentRecirculation
80
A.Silva,I.Capela,L.Arroja,H.Nadais
BiologicalPotentialitytoRemoveOrganicSolventsfromExhaustedAirEmissions 87
GiovanniCortella,MarcelloCivilini
EnvironmentalPerformanceImprovementsandExternalStakeholderPressuresin
CompanieswithCertifiedEnvironmentalManagementSystem
93
TiberioDaddi,SaraTessitore,FrancescoTesta,FabioIraldo
DevelopmentofOrganicAgriculture:CaseofLatvia 101
TatjanaTambovceva,AndrejsTambovcevs
DevelopmentofSmartMonitoringSystemforWindEnergySystem 109
ApapolMahaveera,SanyaPasuk
CityRhythmsofCommuterTrafficDecarbonisationofCommutinginVienna 112
GerdaHartl
TheEffectofPyrolysisTemperatureonCoPyrolysisofLigniteandPistachioSeedina
FixedBedReactor
119
zlemOnay
PredictionofRoomNoiseCausedbyVibrationofHighPowerElevatorTractionMachine 123
ShinichiNoda,YoshitakeKamijo,SueyoshiMizuno,MakotoMatsushita
RecentCaseLawoftheRomanianCourtsofLawandtheEuropeanCourtofJustice
RelatedtotheObjectiveEnvironmentalLiability
128
CristianMare,ConstantaMtusescu
OnSteadyStateVoltageStabilityAnalysisPerformanceinMATLABEnvironment 134
JanVeleba,TomNestorovi
WindEnergyVersusNaturalGasinLatvia:PolicyEvaluationwithaSystemDynamic
Simulation
141
A.Skujevska,F.Romagnoli,T.Zoss,I.Laicane,D.Blumberga
TheCaseStudyoftheBigLatvianEnergyCompaniesCompliancewiththePrinciplesof
SustainableDevelopment
149
RajaKoanova,InetaGeipele,KrlisKetners
14

RoadRailIntermodalityandtheCleanDevelopmentMechanismOpportunitiesand
ObstaclesFocusingBrazil
154
RodrigoGalbieri,AndrFelipeSimes
EnergyEfficiencyofDHSystemwithWoodChipsBoilerHousesandFlueGasCondensing
Unit
161
irtsVgants,GundarsGalindoms,IvarsVeidenbergs,DagnijaBlumberga
FiveSimplifiedMethodsofBuildingtheLandscapeArchitectureExperimentTeaching
System
165
HaoWang,RongChen
InfluenceoftheHeatLossonthePerformanceofaTwoStageGasificationReactor 173
MartinoPaolucci,CarloBorgianni,SoniaPanzieri,BenedettadeCaprariis,PaoloDeFilippis
AnIntroductiontotheHLanDataProject:aStepForwardintheHarmonizationofSpatial
InformationthroughoutEurope
176
SarmiteBarvika,LigaJankava
AuthorsIndex 183
15
KeynoteLecture1
ShiftingtheExpansionPointinDirectPowerSeriesofMultivariedFunctions
ProfessorMetinDemiralp
IstanbulTechnicalUniversity
TURKEY
Email:metin.demiralp@be.itu.edu.tr
Abstract: Taylor series play an important role in the representation of the analytic functions.
Theyareinfactcertaininfinitelinearcombinationsofsomepowerfunctionswhicharelinearly
independent despite their functional dependence. This series are valid not only for univariate
functions, their multivariate versions are also capable of representing the target function.
However, the expressions of multivariate functions become complicated because of the high
numberoftermswhenthenumberoftheindependentvariablesincreases.Wegenerallyneed
to use high number of indices and multiple sums for the representation. This may necessitate
themultivariatealgebraanditstools.Ontheotherhandtheuseofthedirectpowersbasedon
direct product, or Kronecker product at the remembrance of the relevant scientist, then
everythingcanbehandledjustbyusingtheordinarylinearalgebraanditstoolsinaoneindex
notation.
The direct power series of a function of n independent variables, x
1
,..., x
n
can be given as
follows
where the vector x has the elements from x

1
to x
n
inclusive while F
j
stands for a constant
rectangularmatrixofnn type.TheelementsofF
j
j
arerelatedtothepartialderivativesofthe
lefthandsidefunctionf.Thesymbol isforthedirectpowerwhichcanberecursivelydefined
asfollows
To initialize this recursion we take the zeroth direct power of a vector just as the scalar 1 by
following the wellknown convention of algebra. This produces the vector x at the first direct
power and therefore contains n elements. The number of the elements in the direct product
increases as the degree of the direct product increases. Hence, x
2
, in other words, the direct
square of the vector x, is composed of all possible binary products of the elements of x by
considering different ordering of the same product factors separately even though they are
same because of the commutativity. The number of the elements in this case is n
2
. These

16

considerationscanbeextendedtothecaseofgeneraldirectproductwith,say,jthdegree.Then
all possible jfactor products of the elements of x form the resulting vector whose number of
elementsisn
j
.
The coefficient matrices F
j
s are not unique because of theexistence of same jfactor products
as the elements residing at different locations in the jth direct power of x. There are certain
rectangularmatricesundertheactionofwhichthejthdirectpowerofxvanishes.Thisbrings
the possibility of introducing certain flexibility parameters to the co efficient matrices. These
flexibilitiescanbeusedtogivecertainspecificnaturestothecoefficientmatrices.
The replacement of x by (y + a) in (1) and the rearrangement of the resulting ex pression in
direct power series of the variable vector y produces another repreresentation for the same
original function. However, now, all coefficient matrices become the function of the constant
vector a. All derivatives now should be somehow related to the partial derivatives of the
original function evaluated at not origin but the point characterized by a. This is apparently a
shift of the expansion point and the construction is not so straight forward as maybe
considered as the very first glance because of the multivariate structure of the direct product
operation. The noncommutativity in the representation may produce certain complications.
Howevertheycanbehandledbyusingsomepermutationmatrices.Presentationwillfocuson
theseissuesincertaindetailasmuchaspossible.
Brief Biography of the Speaker: Metin Demiralp was born in Turkiye (Turkey) on 4 May 1948.
His education from elementary school to university was entirely in Turkey. He got his BS, MS
degrees and PhD from the same institution, Istanbul Technical University. He was originally
chemical engineer, however, through theoretical chemistry, applied mathematics, and
computational science years he was mostly working on methodology for computational
sciences and he is continuing to do so. He has a group (Group for Science and Methods of
Computing) in Informatics Institute of Istanbul Technical University (he is the founder of this
institute).HecollaboratedwiththeProf.HerschelA.Rabitz'sgroupatPrincetonUniversity(NJ,
USA) at summer and winter semester breaks during the period 19852003 after his 14 month
longpostdoctoralvisittothesamegroupin19791980.Hewasalso(andstillis)incollaboration
withaneurosciencegroupatthePsychologyDepartmentintheUniversityofMichiganatAnn
Arbourinlastthreeyears(withcertainpublicationsinjournalsandproceedings).
Metin Demiralp has more than 100 papers in well known and prestigious scientific journals,
and,morethan230contributionstogetherwithvariouskeynote,plenary,and,tutorialtalksto
the proceedings of various international conferences. He gave many invited talks in various
prestigiousscientificmeetingsandacademicinstitutions.Hehasagoodscientificreputationin
his country and he was one of the principal members of Turkish Academy of Sciences since
1994. He has resigned on June 2012 because of the governmental decree changing the
structure of the academy and putting politicial influence possibility by bringing a member
assignation system. Metin Demiralp is also a member of European Mathematical Society. He
hasalsotwoimportantawardsofturkishscientificestablishments.Theimportantrecentfociin
research areas of Metin Demiralp can be roughly listed as follows: Probabilistic Evolution
Method in Explicit ODE Solutions and in Quantum and Liouville Mechanics, Fluctuation
Expansions in Matrix Representations, High Dimensional Model Representations, Space
Extension Methods, Data Processing via Multivariate Analytical Tools, Multivariate Numerical
Integration via New Efficient Approaches, Matrix Decompositions, Multiway Array
Decompositions,EnhancedMultivariateProductRepresentations,QuantumOptimalControl.
17

PlenaryLecture1
IntelligentPredictionofVehicleDynamicsUsingStructuredNeuralNetworks
ProfessorStratisKanarachos,
FrederickUniversity
DepartmentofMechanicalEngineering
Lemesos,Cyprus
Email:stratoskan@yahoo.gr
Abstract: The majority of traffic accidents today are caused by human errors in judgment and
driving reaction. With the advance of microelectronics driver assistance systems (DAS) have
been developed and became one of the principal priorities for most vehicle manufacturers.
Obstacle avoidance or collision avoidance systems fall into this category and have naturally
addressed the interest of many researchers during the last decade. These systems warn the
driver or intervene using the braking/steering system based on the output of a decision
algorithm. This algorithm calculates at each time instant a threat factor which represents the
probabilitytogetinvolvedinacrashinthenearfuture.Thispaperisfocusedontheintelligent
prediction of the vehicle dynamics in the near future using a structured neural network
approach.Anonlinearvehiclemodelwithfourdegreeshasbeenutilized.Aswillbeshown,by
meansofsimulationinMatlab,itispossibletopredicttheresponseofthevehiclewithminimal
computational burden. Therefore, the threat assessment can be enhanced and the
performance of the decision algorithm improved. False alarms which determine the driver
acceptanceaswellasliabilityissuesarelargelydependentonitsperformance.
Brief Biography of the Speaker: Dr S. Kanarachos holds a Diploma (5 years) and a PhD in
Mechanical Engineering (2004) from the National Technical University of Athens (Hellas). He
has worked as a consultant on product development (20012005) and researcher at the
Mechanical Engineering Department of NTUA. From 20052007, he served the Department of
Mechanical Engineering at Frederick Institute of Technology (Cyprus) as a Lecturer and from
20072012theDepartment
ofMechanicalEngineeringatFrederickUniversity(Cyprus)asAssistantProfessorspecializingin
the fields of Computational Dynamics & Numerical Optimization. From 2012 and onwards he
worksattheIntegratedVehicleSafetyexpertisegroupofTNO(TheNetherlands)andfrom2013
heistheheadoftheVehicleDynamicsgroup.Hisresearchinterestsinclude:flexiblemultibody
dynamics,finiteelement&multibodydynamicscodecoupling,metamodelingusingstructured
neural networks and model reduction. He is the author of15 publications in highly rated ISI
journals and 50 in conference proceedings (of IEEE, WSEAS, etc.). He has participated as the
principalresearcher,coordinatororscientificsupervisorinmorethantwentyresearchprojects
fundedbyNationalorEuropeanFrameworkProgrammes(GSRT,RPF,FP6,FP7).Heservesasa
reviewerinseveralScientificjournalsandconferencesandheismemberoftheeditorialboard
of the International Journal of Vehicle Systems Modelling and Testing. He has served as an
evaluatorofresearchprojectsforNational&EuropeanFrameworkProgrammes.
18
PlenaryLecture2
MultitimeSolitonsandTheirMapleAnimation
ProfessorConstantinUdriste
UniversityPolitehnicaofBucharest
DepartmentofMathematicsInformatics
Romania
Email:udriste@mathem.pub.ro
Abstract: The development of multitime PDE concepts is now in vogue in physics ( multitime
Maxwell PDEs), in electronics (widelyseparated time scales, differencefrequency time scales,
etc) and in mathematics (multitime solitons, introduced and analyzed in our research group).
Indeed, to handle frequencymodulation effectively, it is necessary to use a novel concept,
known as warped time, within a multitime partial differential equation framework. Generally,
the purpose of a multidimensional model is to represent efficiently phenomena including
widely separated time scales (for example, control of composite systems via the multi time
scaleapproach).Anmsolitonisaspecialwavewhosetemporalevolutionismdimensional.Of
course, a multitime simulation requires special integrators and animations. For a twotime
soliton,weprefertoadoptMapleAnimationin3d,creatingspectacularevolutions.
BriefBiographyoftheSpeaker:
Important Career Positions: Emeritus Professor, Consultant Professor, Dean, Director, Chair,
Full Professor 1990, University Politehnica of Bucharest, Department of Mathematics
Informatics.
NumberofPhDStudents:25induetimeand21DoctorsinMathematics.
Membership of Associations: AMS, 1987; Tensor Society, 1985; Balkan Society of Geometers,
President,1994;
Publications:over50books;300papers;300communications.
Honors: D. Hurmuzescu Prize, Romanian Academy, 1985; Award MEI, 1988; Correspondent
Member,AcademiaPeloritana,Messina,1997;PrizeCOPIRO2000forExactSciences;Premio
Anassiloos International 2002, Arte Cultura Scienze, Italy; Titular Member, Academy of
Romanian Scientists, 2007; Honorary Member, World Scientific and Engineering Academy and
Society,2008;StefanHepitesPrize,AcademyofRomania,2010.
Organizer: ChairCommittee: American Conference on Applied Mathematics (Math '08) and
Management, Marketing and Finances (MMF '08), Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, March 24
26, 2008. International Program Committee: The Applied Computing Conference (ACC08),
Istanbul, Turkey, May 2730, 2008; The International Conference of Differential Geometry and
Dynamical Systems (DGDS2009), October 8 11, 2009, University Politehnica of Bucharest,
Bucharest,Romania;EuropeanComputingConference(ECC09),115119,Tbilisi,Georgia,June

19

2628, 2009; The International Conference of Differential Geometry and Dynamical Systems (
DGDS2010),2528August2010,UniversityPolitehnicaofBucharest,Romania.
Fields of Interest: Differential Geometry, Optimizations on Riemannian Manifolds, Magnetic
DynamicalSystems,GeometricDynamics.
20
PlenaryLecture3
InvariantSubspacesandStructuralPropertiesof2DControlSystems
ProfessorValeriuPrepelita
UniversityPolitehnicaofBucharest
DepartmentofMathematicsInformatics
Romania
Email:vprepelita@mathem.pub.ro
Abstract: Since its birth about sixty years ago, Systems Theory has developed into a scientific
andengineeringdisciplineconnectedwithallaspectsofmodernsociety.Atthebeginningitwas
studied as Control Theory by mathematicians and engineers, but soon Systems Theory
extended to the study and the applications of various domains such as economics, business,
politicalscience,sociology,medicine,biology,psychology,ecologyetc.Thepastthreedecades
haveseenacontinuallygrowinginterestofmanyresearchersinthetheoryoftwodimensional
(2D), which became a distinct and important branch of the Systems Theory. Twodimensional
models were developed in a series of papers by Roesser [15], Fornasini and Marchesini [4],
Attasi [1], Eising [3] and others [6], [7], [12], [13] . The reasons for the interest in this domain
are on one side the richness in potential application fields and on the other side the richness
and significance of the theoretical approaches. The application fields include circuits, control
and signal processing, image processing (which is the core of this approach), computer
tomography,seismology,controlofmultipassprocesses[16],[17],iterativelearningcontrol[8]
etc.
The invariant subspaces with respect to linear transformations represent the fundamentals of
theGeometricApproach,whichisoneofthemaintrendsinSystemsandControlTheory.
Geometric Approach provides a very clear concept of minimality and explicit geometric
conditions for controllability, observability, constructibility, pole assignability, tracking or
regulation etc. These concepts are used to obtain efficient and elegant solutions of important
problems of controller synthesis such as decoupling and poleassignment problems or the
compensator and regulator synthesis for linear timeinvariant multivariable systems. The
history of the Geometric Approach starts in 1969 when Basile and Marro [2] introduced and
studied the basic geometric tools named by them controlled and conditioned invariant
subspaces. They applied these techniques to disturbance rejection or unknown input
observability.In1970WonhamandMorse[18]appliedamaximalcontrolledinvariantmethod
todecouplingandnoninteractingcontrolproblemsandlateronWonham'sbook[19]imposed
the name of "(A,B)invariant" instead of "(A,B)controlled invariant". Basile and Marro opened
new prospects to many applications (disturbance rejection, noninteraction etc.) by the robust
controlled invariant and the emphasis of the duality [2]. The Maros monograph [11] presents
thevariousaspectsoftheGeometricApproach,fromthefundamentalconcepts,thestructure
of the linear systems, invariant subspaces, up to applications to the regulator problem,

21

noninteraction, feedback and robustness etc. The LQ problem was studied in a geometric
frameworkbySilverman,HautusandWillems.Animportantseriesofresearchersamongwhich
Anderson,Akashi,Bhattacharyya,Kucera,Malabre,Molinari,Pearson,FrancisandSchumacher
developed the theory and applications of the Geometric Approach. The range of the
applicationsoftheGeometricApproachwasextendedtovariousareas,including,forinstance,
Markovian representations (Lindquist, Picci and Ruckebusch [10]) or modeling and estimation
oflinearstochasticsystems[9]).Allthesebooksandpapersreferstothe'classical'1Dsystems.
In the present lecture some aspects of the Geometric Approach are extended to a class of 2D
systems described by a partial differential state equation. The state space representation of
thesesystemsischaracterizedbyfivematrices:twodriftmatricesand,aninputstatematrix,a
stateoutput matrix and a inputoutput matrix . These systems represent the continuous
counterpart of Attasi's 2D discretetime model. The behavior of these 2D systems is described
and their general response formula is obtained. The concepts of complete controllability and
completeobservabilityareintroducedandtheyarecharacterizedbymeansoftwosuitable2D
controllabilityandobservabilityGramians.Inthecaseoftimeinvariant2Dsomecontrollability
and observability criteria are derived. The controllability and observability matrices are
constructed(byextendingtheusual1Dones).Thefirstisusedtocharacterizethespaceofthe
controlablestatesastheminimalinvariantsubspacewhichcontainsthecolumnsofthematrix
B and to obtain necessary and sufficient conditions of controlability for 2D systems. An
algorithm is presented which compute the minimal invariant subspace included in , (i.e. the
subspace of the controllable states of the system ) and which extends the 1D algorithm from
[9]. The observability Gramian and the observability matrix are employed to obtain the
descriptionofthespaceofnonobservablestatesasthemaximalinvariantsubspacecontained
in and to derive some observability criteria. An algorithm is proposed which compute this
invariant subspace. These invariant subspaces can be used to obtain the Kalman canonical
decompositionofthestatespaceandtoreducethesystemtoaminimalrealization.
Brief Biography of the Speaker: Prof. Valeriu Prepelita graduated from the Faculty of
MathematicsMechanics of the University of Bucharest in 1964. He obtained Ph.D. in
MathematicsattheUniversityofBucharestin1974.HeiscurrentlyProfessorattheFacultyof
Applied Sciences, the University Politehnica of Bucharest, Director of the Department
Mathematics Informatics. His research and teaching activities have covered a large area of
domains such as Systems Theory and Control, Multidimensional Systems, Functions of a
Complex Variables, Linear and Multilinear Algebra, Special Functions, Ordinary Differential
Equations, Partial Differential Equations, Operational Calculus, Probability Theory and
Stochastic Processes, Operational Research, Mathematical Programming, Mathematics of
Finance. Professor Valeriu Prepelita is author of more than 110 published papers in refereed
journalsorconferenceproceedingsandauthororcoauthorof15books.Hehasparticipatedin
manynationalandinternationalGrants.HeismemberoftheEditorialBoardofsomejournals,
member in the Organizing Committee and the Scientific Committee of several international
conferences, keynote lecturer or chairman of some sections of these conferences. He is a
reviewer for five international journals. He received the Award for Distinguished Didactic and
ScientificActivityoftheMinistryofEducationandInstructionofRomania.
22
Tutorial1
ProjectiveGeometryandDualityforGraphics,GamesandVisualization
ProfessorVaclavSkala
UniversityofWestBohemia,Plzen
andVSBTechnicalUniversity,Ostrava
CzechRepublic
URL:http://www.VaclavSkala.eu
Summary:Thetutorialgivesapracticaloverviewofprojectivegeometryanditsapplicationsin
geometry, GPU computations and games. It will show how typical geometrical and
computational problems can be solved easily if reformulated using the projective geometry.
Presentedalgorithmsareeasytounderstand,implementandtheyarerobustaswell.
Brief Biography of the Tutor: Prof. Vaclav Skala is a professor at the University of West
BohemiainPlzenwhereheestablishedcomputergraphicslabsandheiscurrentlythedirector
of the Center of Computer Graphics and Visualization (http://Graphics.zcu.cz). He is also a
professorattheVSBTechnicalUniversityinOstrava.Heisconcentratedmostlyonfundamental
algorithms for computer graphics and visualization. In 2009, prof.Skala he became a Fellow of
EurographicsAssociation.

23
Tutorial2
NonlinearDistortioninWirelessTransmitters
Dr.D.Budimir
WirelessCommunicationsResearchGroup
FacultyofScienceandTechnology
UniversityofWestminster
London,UK
Email:d.budimir@wmin.ac.uk
Summary: The aim of this tutorial is to provide a thorough understanding of principles,

techniques and the stateofart of the compensation of nonlinear distortion in RF and
microwave circuits and transmitters for mobile and wireless applications such as such as IEEE
802.11ac, 3G, 3.5G, 3.9G (LTE) and 4G (LTEA). During the tutorial attendees will be aware of
the strengths and limitations of commercial available circuit and subsystem design tools and
haveafullyunderstandingoftheproblemsandissuesinvolvedintheirapplications.Attheend
of the tutorial attendees will also be able to assess rigorously both the theoretical and
commercialvariabilityofusingvarioussimulators,circuitandsystemdesigntools.
Brief Biography of the Tutor: D. Budimir (M93, SM02)received a Ph.D. degree in Electronic
and Electrical Engineering, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK. In March 1994, he joined the
Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering at Kings College London, University of
London.SinceJanuary1997,hehasbeenwiththeSchoolofElectronicsandComputerScience,
UniversityofWestminster,London,UK,whereisnowaReaderofwirelesscommunicationsand
leadstheWirelessCommunicationsResearchGroup.Hisresearchinterestsincludeanalysisand
design of hybrid and monolithic microwave integrated circuits, the design of amplifiers, filters
and multiplexing networks for RF, microwave and millimetrewave applications and RF and
microwave wireless system design. Dr Budimir authored or coauthored over 250 journal and
conference papers in the field ofRF, microwave, and millimeterwave wireless systems and
technologies. He is author of the book Generalized Filter Design by Computer Optimization
(Artech House, 1998) and Software and Users ManualEPFILWaveguide Eplane Filter Design
(ArtechHouse,2000),andachapterinEncyclopaediaofRFandMicrowaveEngineering(Wiley,
2005). He is a Memberof the EPSRCPeerReviewCollege, asenior Member of IEEE. He is also a
regular referee for IET Electronic Letters, IET Microwaves, Antennas, and Propagation, IEEE
Microwave and Wireless Components Letters, IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and
Techniques, IEEE Antennas and Wireless Propagation Letters, IEEE Transactions on Antennas
andPropagation,IEEETransactionsonCircuitsandSystemsIIandProceedingsoftheIEEE,and
Proceedings of the IEEE, and International Journal of RF and Microwave Computer Aided

24

Engineering. He is a member of several International conference Technical Program
Committees. He has given more than 18 invited presentations at workshops, conferences and
seminars.Hehassupervised13PhDresearchstudentsasmainsupervisor/directorofstudiesto
asuccessfulcompletionandiscurrentlysupervising7PhDstudentsasthemainsupervisor.He
haswonawardsforhisjournalpapers.
25

26
Development against poverty: A systemic model
design based on empirical evidence

Heriberto E. Cuanalo de la Cerda
Human Ecology. Cinvestav. Mrida Unit
Mrida, Yucatn. Mxico
cuanalo@mda.cinvestav.mx

AbstractThe worlds poor numbered almost 2.8 billion in
2001, and 2.5 billion in 2005. During a decade of participatory
research in a village in Yucatan, Mexico, we built a systemic
model of transition from poverty to wellbeing. Households are
the basic units because they are the source of human biological
and cultural reproduction. Poverty is characterized by low levels
of basic needs (i.e. education, health, income and capital). We
applied a strategy of innovation and multiple goals, and exploited
interaction between variables, in successive approaches within
time cycles. Model application improved child nutrition,
investment and savings, and credits levels
KeywordsSocial development; poverty; households; basic
needs; Maya; Yucatan.
I. INTRODUCTION
Of the estimated 2001 world population of 6 billion, about
2.8 billion (almost half) lived on less than USD $2 a day and
1.2 billion (a fifth) lived on less than USD$ 1 a day [1]. A
large portion of the worlds population suffers intense poverty
while another portion enjoys the luxury of plenty. After four
years of continued population growth, this proportion
remained constant despite spectacular economic growth in
China and Southeast Asia and perhaps partially due to
minimal growth in many other areas, particularly sub-Saharan
Africa. Using a more current and realistic poverty threshold of
USD $2 a day, those in extreme poverty increased to 2.5
billion [2]. Reference [3] estimated that 47% of households in
Mexico are poor. Different sources agree that poverty in the
world and Mexico is a serious problem. The challenge of
poverty continues to grow in Mexico with increases from
2006 to 2008 of 44.7 to 50.6 million Mexicans in patrimony
poverty and 14.4 to 19.5 million without enough income to eat
[4]. In 2010, there were 52.0 million Mexicans in poverty and
11.7 million in extreme poverty [5]. The World Bank [1] and
the Mexican government [6] implement poverty alleviation
programs, although these are defined at a macro-economic
level and are rarely reflected in concrete actions aimed at
ameliorating the causes of household poverty.
References [7] and [8] propose a shift in development by
first acknowledging that development is a dynamic, often
cyclical open-ended process driven by a large number of
variables. Interactions between these variables generate a
stable organization that cannot be imposed by external agents.
Other studies highlight the complexity of rural transformation
in the Philippines and Africa [9]; [10].
Here I describe construction of a conceptual systemic
model of development against poverty based on participatory
(action) research [11], in a poor Maya community in Yucatan
state, Mexico. The qualitative results behave as a complex
system [12], [13] and I present them as such.
II. METHODOLOGY
Based on previous research [14], the village of Yaxcab
was chosen for this analysis because it is in the poorest region
of the state of Yucatan, on the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico.
Yaxcab village is located approximately 120 km east of the
state capitol of Merida and about 20 km west of Chichen Itza.
Its population has remained near 3000 during the last ten years
[15]. Birth rates are relatively high in Yaxcab, with an
average of six children per family, but its population has not
increased, mainly due to emigration of young adults. The
population is distributed in about 500 households, most of
which consist of nuclear families in poverty. Like many other
villages in the region, the inhabitants of Yaxcaba are of ethnic
Maya and Spanish descent, and speak Yucatec Maya as their
first language and Spanish as a second language.
Regional climate is sub-humid tropical with mean annual
temperature of 26 C (temperatures below 5 C are extremely
rare) and average annual rainfall of 1200 mm with a distinct
six-month dry season. The landscape is a limestone platform
with elevations varying from 3 to 10 m. Elevated areas
account for approximately 70% of the surface and have rocky
soils, while the bottoms are flat areas smaller than 1 hectare
with deep, red clay soils. Soil distribution limits the use of
medium-size mechanical equipment and machinery. The
region lacks flowing surface water because rainfall quickly
filters through the porous limestone bedrock to the aquifer at a
depth of about 23 m. Dissolution of the bedrock forms caverns
which eventually collapse, forming sinkholes (locally known
as cenotes) that provide access to the aquifer. For millennia,
settlements have been established near sinkholes to take
advantage of year round access to water, although most
modern settlements now have municipal water systems
supplied by deep wells. Agriculture in the area is
predominantly slash-and-burn, although small irrigated areas
are planted with oranges, lemons and other tropical fruit trees
[16], [17].
A. Communities, households and poverty
Homo sapiens is a social species that naturally forms
communities. Human communities have developed
27
simultaneously with human culture, and now manifest
significant sub-communities formed around aspects such as
social status, religion, science and ideology. Each of these
sub-communities often has a different leader and a distinct
structure. A given individual may belong to different social
status, religious and/or game-sport sub-communities, each
with its own leader and structure. Within the social class
structure, the poor are usually considered the lowest status
sub-community.
Humans also group themselves in households or domestic
groups [18], commonly consisting of a family. A household is
a subsystem within a system of households. It is the basis for
biological, economic and cultural reproduction and
maintenance of the human species, and therefore constitutes
the most basic unit of social development against poverty. It is
in the household that humans manifest poverty and wellbeing.
Development is a process by which people move from poverty
to wellbeing or vice versa, that is, it can be negative or
positive. Poverty is the development condition in which
people have access to barely enough means to exist; it is the
inter-phase between lack of the indispensable means for
existence and household disintegration or migration.
Wellbeing is understood as the condition in which human
needs are met, in which one can act logically to meet personal
goals and enjoy a satisfactory quality of life [19]. The study of
development against poverty is a schema focused on providing
people the opportunity to acquire the means necessary to exit
the condition. For the present purposes, wellbeing is defined
as the condition in which people partially or totally cover their
basic needs. Peoples basic needs are many, but we have
grouped them in five categories: education (self-esteem and
leadership); physical and mental health (diet, disease
prevention and treatment); income (for subsistence,
productivity and employment); and capital (vulnerability,
savings, credit and subsidies).
Unlike the concept proposed by many economists, poverty
is not a chronic lack of income. If this were the case, it could
be remediated merely by providing direct subsidies in
emergency situations, the most common approach employed
in government programs. These programs frequently help
households to subsist but simultaneously increase their
poverty by making them dependent on these subsidies. In
reality, poverty is discouragement and ignorance, disease,
insufficient production (income) to meet needs and high
vulnerability (persistent low capital and income). As stated,
wellbeing is a condition in which households meet their basic
educational, health, income and safety needs.
B. Participatory approach
The project included joint activities between community
members (households, leaders, government representatives)
and researchers. This approach is known as participatory
(action) research and has been used widely in community
research [11], [20]. The participatory approach has largely
replaced the positivist focus, which has been rejected for its
insistence on clearly distinguishing between the object of
research and the researcher (people are now viewed as
research subjects rather than objects), and its assumption that
science is an objective structure free from human values [21].
Reference [22] defined three basic assumptions which
distinguish the participatory (action) research focus from the
positivist: i) science is a social construct subject to
interpretations, revisions and enrichment, with the main
objective of generating knowledge useful to the problem of
interest; ii) the objective of knowledge is to improve practice
within the praxis/theory dialectic such that the researcher can
become directly involved in and insert her/himself into the
social process, thus revealing and establishing the truth
through testimony, logic and direct observation; iii)
researcher(s) and subject(s) are thinking people with feelings
whose different points of view must be considered respectfully
and with mutual appreciation, and data collected from
collective encounters and group discussions are more
interesting and trustworthy, and produce results with multiple
references. Reference [23] also stated that participatory
(action) research integrates the production and use of
knowledge with the purpose of promoting learning among
individuals and groups, normally characterized for being
unique, uncertain and unstable.
In the present case, a series of interviews, training sessions
and experimental actions were held with individuals and
groups, building communities of learning and inquiry within
communities of practice [23], [24]. This allowed us to build
theories of action, combining interpretation with rigorous
testing of these theories.
The participatory questions were formulated based largely
on [23]. (i) What is the problem? That is, how do agents and
researchers perceive the problem and what results do they hope
to achieve. (ii) What do we know about the problem? Agents
and researchers compare their knowledge. (iii) What can we
do? A list is made of the different possible strategies to be
followed. (iv) What are we going to do? Select and implement
one or more strategies, based on available resources. (v) What
results have we obtained so far? The actual outcome of these
strategies as described mainly by the researchers and
interpreted jointly by agents and researchers. (vi) What
changes need to be made? And finally, (vii) how are we going
to implement these changes? That is, what are agents and
researchers going to do to modify the strategies? These
questions were implemented in feedback cycles, eventually
returning to What is the problem? The actions generated
experimental results which helped answer a number of the
questions. The study focus adopted here is that of Freire [33],
who proposed that the creation process of social reality must
consider the concrete, as well as perceptions of the concrete
C. Model construction
The project which generated the data used to build the
model was begun in 1995. At the beginning of the project, the
research team provided a detailed explanation to the municipal
authorities of Yaxcaba of project intent and work
methodology. It was clearly stated that the researchers would
function as advisors on production matters and the people
28
would define the research themes. We assumed at first that the
fight against poverty was essentially a matter of improving
production technology, training producers in technological
innovations and applying available subsidies. This approach
functioned well in improving existing production systems.
Training was provided in apiculture, and participative research
conducted on the milpa agricultural system (combined
cultivation of corn, beans and squash), irrigation agriculture
and backyard vegetable and animal production. Treatments
and experimental parcel sizes were agreed to among the
producers and researchers, the producers carried out the work
and the researchers recorded and analyzed the results;
interpretation was done jointly [25], [26]. This process led to
successful innovations in production systems for milpa crops,
honey, orange, lemon, cucumber, habanero chili, poultry and
swine. These innovations were expressed as cost/benefit ratios
and the results presented by the producers to other community
members and their authorities [16]. In 1996, the producers
applied innovations using small subsidies from the Ministry of
Social Development (Secretara de Desarrollo Social -
SEDESOL). After two years of work, in 1997, the production
and productivity of the most important food- and cash-
generating processes was raised through technological
adaptation, participatory research, training and subsidies.
Unfortunately, it was quite obvious that the extra income was
used largely to buy luxury goods such as beer and bottled soft
drinks. Expenditures on nutrition, savings and investment in
productive processes were rare. This highlighted the fact that
an effective strategy in the fight against poverty would require
far more than merely innovation, training and subsidies aimed
at increasing production and productivity [27].
In 1996, we promoted the creation of a community of
inquiry within a community of practice [24] to make a
diagnosis of poverty. This community consisted of 31
households, members of which regularly attended two-hour
weekly meetings for three months We began with the
question: What are the main drawbacks limiting their
wellbeing?. The community then began identifying the
principal causes of their problems and some possible
solutions. It soon became evident that to improve their
wellbeing they needed greater income (i.e. production and
productivity) and better health (prevention of illnesses and
malnutrition) which could be attained through education
(participatory training) and investments (subsidies, loans and
savings).
By 1998, the number of households participating in the
project had increased from 31 to 69, and the results used to
produce the present model were generated from 63 to 69
households. From 1998 to 1999, a nutritionist gave training
workshops on the criteria for estimating individual nutritional
status, types of food and their effects in nutrition, the
nutritional requirements of children and pregnant women, and
the effects of junk food in nutrition.
In 1997 and 1998, the Regional Fund of the National
Indigenous Institute (Instituto Nacional Indigenista - INI)
granted loans for no-burn milpa agriculture and backyard
livestock production. In 1997, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation
donated USD$ 45,000 for use in loans for self-employment in
the implementation of innovations.
Changes in household investment were evaluated by
estimating household investment levels (at constant 1997
prices) in 1997, 1998 and 1999 [27]. Investment levels were
estimated based on local prices (considering state of
deterioration) for construction, land, production infrastructure,
equipment and household tools. Using date of birth, sex,
weight and height, nutrition level percentages for children
under five years of age were estimated from 1996 to 1999 for
the 63 to 69 participating households. Weight and height for
age tables were used to calculate Z values [28], and children
with Z values less than 2 qualified as undernourished.
In 1999, a group of housewives began a savings fund
called the Community Bank (Banco Comunitario) to mitigate
household vulnerability using a simple savings and loan
scheme [29]. Through training, this innovation was transferred
to other development projects with financial backing from the
W.K. Kellogg Foundation. The Community Bank made loans
to micro-companies such as a corn-lying mill, a stationary
store, a seamstress and household poultry and swine
producers.
The W.K Kellogg donations ended in late 2004. As a result,
research assistant salaries and expenses could no longer be
covered by the project, although CINVESTAV-Merida
continued to finance the project coordinator, allowing for
weekly visits to Yaxcab as an advisor to the cooperative
III. RESULTS
A. Development, poverty, wellbeing and households
Participatory diagnosis of the population of Yaxcab
showed that their poverty manifested in many ways, but could
be grouped in terms of 1) low self-esteem and leadership; 2)
malnourishment and high disease incidence; 3) low production
and productivity, low or no salary (low income); and 4) high
household vulnerability due to scarcity of financial resources
(low capital and savings, also expensive loans). As defined
above, wellbeing is a condition in which these elements of
poverty have been remediated: people can cover their basic
needs in education (self-esteem and leadership), physical and
mental health (diet, disease prevention and treatment), income
(production for subsistence, productivity and employment)
and capital (low vulnerability, savings, loans and subsidies).
Participatory inquiry has revealed that the household, or
domestic group, is the basic element of social development
against poverty. A household principally consists of a family,
the basic biological reproductive unit of the human species.
Among groups of people, the household is also the basic unit
of material survival and cultural transmission. It provides the
environment required for children to grow and learn. It is
where family members come to sleep at night and/or recover
from injuries or disease. In a general sense, it can be seen as a
system focused on meeting the needs of its members. A
29
household has no clear physical limits since it can include
members who send money from afar or adults who only spend
weekends at home but contribute to maintaining the overall
household. A person belongs to a household if she or he shares
in its resources and acknowledges the presence of a leader or
head of household. Household members are dynamic entities,
linked by a network of relationships including affection,
interdependence and hierarchy, and as such may be seen as
systems.
Additionally, participatory inquiry has shown that
households exist and are conditioned by the surrounding
environment in which they thrive. Households form parts of a
community, which can be seen as elements in a larger system.
As such, existing households are dynamic, balanced systems in
equilibrium with the surrounding environment. The household
system is internally organized by its members, but is open to
the environment from which it draws its needs; therefore, it is
subject to availability of goods from the physical, biological,
economic, social and political facets of the environment where
it is located. The bonds between household members exhibit
network relationship patterns similar to neuronal networks. A
neuronal network pattern imposes non-linear (i.e. complex)
interactions (or synergies) on to household behavior. A
community of households consists of a group of interrelated
households which also follows a neuronal network pattern.
Both the household and the community therefore operate like
complex social systems. The development against poverty
system is a complex system because it exhibits properties
analogous to the general properties of all complex systems
[30]. In these systems, the values of certain variables and
parameters generate attraction spaces (i.e. attractors) which are
informally understood as states in which the system attains a
dynamic equilibrium or collapses. Poverty and resource
accumulation are attraction sites, that is, places within the
development system which manifest a dynamic, stable
condition.
B. Households as agents within the system
Households are treated as agents within the social
development against poverty system. A households
development level is conditioned by its members level of
satisfaction in terms of education, health, income and capital.
These variables are continuously changing with time and also
interrelate, which creates interactions or synergies.
The social, economic, physical and biological facets in
which households are immersed define system environment
variables. At a local level, biological and physical variables
remain relatively constant, with occasional disturbances due to
events such as disease (e.g. cholera) and meteorological
phenomena (e.g. hurricanes and drought). The economic and
social variables which affect development include education
(schools) and health structures (public health, clinics), income
(markets) and the savings and credit structure (financing). The
increase in poverty levels reported in official sources [5] are
due mainly to changes in social and economic variables since
physical and biological variables have experienced only minor
changes.
C. Development against poverty as a system
Development against poverty treats a community of
households as a group of agents. Each household is different
and thus has different values for the variables. In a poor
community, most of the households are poor and only a few
have attained wellbeing; its frequency distribution has a lower
end mode, meaning the poorest form the majority (Table 1).
Under these circumstances, the strategy to fight against
poverty needs to be focused on the poorest households in the
community but with access for all households. This approach
helps to produce a distribution with a mode in the middle,
which is a middle class. No household wants to be poor and
those that are poor use all their available resources to rise out
of poverty. The only alternative these kinds of households
have to rise out of poverty is the injection of external
resources redirected from households with more resources.
Programs against poverty need to consider all household
members, both heads (executives) and dependents
(consumers), since all interact in the development process.
Household members are organized by division of labor and
any change in the parts affects the household as a whole. On
the one hand are negative interactions; for example, if a
member is sick they require care from another member, which
affects income. On the other are positive interactions; for
example, if a member increases her/his income this is
commonly used to improve household conditions (e.g. treating
sickness). When compared to the individual effect of a single
variable, positive interactions are the most effective in fighting
against poverty. In this project, any advance was celebrated
with the community to boost their self-esteem and leadership
capacity.
A graphic representation of the development against
poverty process helps to better understand it (Figure 1). In
Figure 1, a large oval represents the household, characterized
by the variables education level, health status, income and
investment level. Within the household, double-ended arrows
express the relationships and interactions between these
variables. The environment in which the household is
immersed consists of the education system (schools), a health
system (public health), access to income (market system) and
a financial system (banks). Large arrows represent the energy
flows from this environment into the household.
The household variables interact in cycles (inside oval),
and external dynamic variables (outside oval) are part of the
surrounding environment. Household needs occur in cycles
such as eating, rest, sickness, milpa and honey production. In
the project, emphasis was placed on what had been learned
during one cycle and how to incorporate it into the next cycle.
Each cycle conditions household status for the following cycle
such that effects become causes. Household crises occur in
response to change, both in internal and environmental
variables. Innovations that have been proposed to improve
household conditions should therefore be analyzed and tested
by those who are going to use them to eliminate the risk of a
household entering crisis. It should also be taken into account
that the poverty of some households results in short-term
30
benefits for richer households (e.g. payment of lower wages).
The internal and environmental variables present at any given
moment determine household function; development requires
changes in the values of these variables. To face this
challenge, household members require motivation, although
this can result in conflict. Any development project therefore
needs to be explained in detail to the applicable authorities and
community leaders to prevent misunderstanding.

Figure 1. The social development against poverty system.
D. Project impact
The Project impact was estimated using three household
parameters: changes in income level; changes in
undernourishment in children less than 5 years of age; and
changes in savings and credit levels.
Table 1. Proportion (%) of households in different capital
ranges in the years 1997, 1998 and 1999 (at constant 1997
prices).
Investment
Ranges.
5,000-
10,000
10,000-
15,000
15,000-
20,000
20,000-
25,000
25,000
30,000 >30,000
1997 43.5% 27.5% 11.6% 10.1% 2.9% 4.3%
1998 23.8% 17.5% 23.8% 14.3% 4.8% 15.9%
1999 14.3% 12.7% 11.1% 25.4% 14.3% 22.2%
Capital level among poor households exhibited a balance
between income and expenses used to meet immediate needs
since any surplus was used to improve the dwelling or
production unit (Table 1). Among a total of 62 households, the
largest proportion (43.5%) of investment in 1997 was in the
lowest range (5,000-10,000 pesos). In 1999, this range
included only 14.3% of households whereas 25.4% were in a
higher range (20,00025,000 pesos). The distribution of
household investments in 1998 was between those of 1997 and
1999. This pattern shows a transition from a log-normal
distribution towards a normal distribution
Changes in health condition were evaluated using the
proportion (%) of children (<5 years of age) with
undernutrition; that is, values less than -2 Z for chronic
malnutrition (height-for-age) and acute malnutrition (weight-
for-age), [31], (Figure 2). No clear changes were observed in
chronic malnutrition, although a slight decrease in acute
malnutrition occurred. We now know that it is extremely
difficult to improve the nutritional condition of children older
than 2 years of age [31],[32], meaning a more sensitive
indicator would be the nutritional level of children younger
than 2 years.
Figure 2. Changes in the percentages of children under 5 years
of age with chronic or acute malnutrition
Poor households experience alternating cycles of stress
and relative comfort. Capital (savings) is therefore a
fundamental need since any unforeseen event (e.g. sickness)
can become a crisis that threatens the life of a household
member, or the household itself. Availability of savings and
credit decreases household vulnerability. In the present case,
household safety level was estimated based on the levels of
savings and credit granted in the Community Bank. Changes
in the number of savers, total amount of savings and total
credit granted from February 1999 to July 2003 showed a
clear increase in all three parameters, representing a decrease
in household vulnerability (Figure 3).
E. Qualitative analysis of the model.
(i) Poverty as steady dynamic state.
The condition of poverty in households is a state of stable
dynamic equilibrium in and outside the household. In
Yaxcab, the dynamic internal household variables exhibit
low wellbeing values. They are, in other words, on the verge
of collapse, or household disintegration.
(ii) Education.
The life conditions of the poor vis--vis those of other
social groups make the former feel near worthless, fomenting
in them a perception of low self-esteem, and a lack of
initiative and leadership. The poor also often do not have the
knowledge needed to improve their health, productivity and
vulnerability, an outgrowth of their very condition.
Households, communities and societies reproduce themselves
through education [33]. Poverty is a characteristic of a society
and is therefore reproduced, indeed, it can even be inherited:
Income
Education
Health Capital

SCHOOLS
MARKETS
P
u
b
l
i
c

H
e
a
l
t
h

B
a
n
k
S
s
Parameters Effect Interacting variables

Legend
31
in the United States, being born poor greatly increases the
probability of being poor in the future [34].

Figure 3. Number of savers, total savings and credit
granted by Community Bank from February 1999 to July
2002.
(iv) Income (production and productivity).
The poor generally use obsolete means of production, so
their products do not have competitive pricing in markets.
They also do not have access to well-paying jobs, either
because employers are not located in the area or they lack
training. Obsolete methods and lack of training place them at a
disadvantage when competing against other households.
(v) Access to capital.
The poor have limited access to capital resources such as
savings and financing for use in adversity. Therefore, the
smallest unforeseen circumstance can plunge a household into
a crisis that can lead to its disintegration. The sudden and high
cost of paying for medical treatment or recovering from a
drought or hurricane frequently cannot be covered by their
scant savings. The poor do have access to local financing
systems but these are generally expensive and inefficient.
(vi) Interaction among variables.
Poverty is a self-perpetuating, dynamic and stable
condition, in other words, a vicious cycle. All the variables in
household cycles exhibit interactions that produce a greater
impact than any single variable alone. It is therefore vital to
consider these interactions in addition to the condition of
individual variables. This reciprocal effect among variable
values occurs in myriad forms. Low education values limit the
knowledge the poor have of health care, reduce income and
consequently limit access to capital. These conditions, in turn,
limit household investment made in education of children and
young people. Malnutrition makes the poor more susceptible
to sickness, preventing them from dedicating more time to
work and representing a potential drain on their already
meager resources. Low production and productivity have a
direct effect on product competitiveness and consequently on
investment levels.

F. The development process
Assuming that poor households try to improve their level
of wellbeing but are in a state of stable dynamic equilibrium,
this state can be modified by changing the physical,
biological, social and political environmental variables of the
system which condition both poverty and community
development. Household variable levels are linked to
environmental parameters through the income obtained from
production and the market, and directly linked to the social
services of education, health and financing (including
subsidies).
When the fight against poverty is focused on all
households, those with higher levels of education, health,
capital, production and productivity, and greater access to jobs
or financing will take greater advantage of opportunities to
improve their wellbeing. This is why changes need to be
focused on the poorest households in a process that begins by
using words to build the expectation of improved wellbeing in
poor households followed by application of participatory
research to implement innovations in the productive processes
with which household members are familiar. Participatory
research generates the type of innovations that are most
applicable in the social and economic conditions in which
poor households are immersed, as well as being a way of
promoting innovations in other poor households.
Another aspect to consider is that any innovation requires
investment in materials, equipment and/or labor. Given that
poor households exist on the verge of collapse, they do not
have the means to adopt innovations and are usually reluctant
to take on the risks of change since it means putting their very
existence in jeopardy. This investment therefore needs to be
planned for through subsidies. Well implemented participatory
research generates innovations that increase both in-kind and
cash income for use in improving wellbeing rather than
spending on luxury expenses. Avoiding unwise use of this
new income requires participatory training in the community
of poor households to counteract their educational deficiencies
in values and attitudes, as well as knowledge. This also
functions to neutralize or counteract the effects of adverse
advertising, particularly for items such as soft drinks and junk
food which have an especially damaging effect on poor
households. Existence of a surplus offers the opportunity to
save to cover unforeseen expenses such as treating an illness.
Poor households have a greater need for these kinds of savings
than those with greater wellbeing because an unforeseen
expense can affect food availability. All poor households
already have some savings systems, but they are very
inefficient and costly. Their lack of sufficient resources to
improve their wellbeing means that poor households initially
require subsidies to cover the expenses of the participatory
research that will help them to address their educational
deficiencies, particularly in terms of self-esteem, diet and
disease prevention.
In a village level system such as Yaxcab, households
exist in an environment with physical, biological, socio-
political and economic parameters. Unless there are large
32
investments such as a large irrigation project, the physical and
biological parameters remain relatively constant with sporadic
disturbances (e.g. hurricanes, drought, cholera, dengue fever).
In contrast, economic and sociopolitical parameters can be
modified through a social development process. In Yaxcab,
and probably in much of Mexico, household income is limited
by a chronic lack of employment and uncompetitive product
costs. Formal education is focused on forming workers rather
than innovators/entrepreneurs since it is oriented toward mere
instruction and not strengthening a change in attitudes and
values to build self-esteem and leadership skills. Health care is
focused mainly on curing diseases, a costly venture which
benefits pharmaceutical companies, while little emphasis is
placed on preventing malnourishment and disease. Support for
the productive process is focused on large companies mainly
via stimuli for export markets rather than development of local
markets and production for subsistence. Financial systems are
oriented towards credit with nonexistent or very inefficient
savings schemes; the much higher credit vs. savings rates
testifies to this. The values of these social and economic
parameters are intended to generate profit from households
with the highest levels of wellbeing, thereby reinforcing
inequality, rather than produce greater wellbeing for all
households in a society. Development must overcome these
limitations in cycles by applying innovation to more
efficiently meet the needs of poor households in key areas:
education, by improving their values and attitudes; health by
prevention of malnutrition and disease; production, by
improving their traditional production systems and increasing
their productivity; and financial, by reducing vulnerability
through accessible savings and credit instruments and
stimulating production. The complex systems approach
predicts that when faced with collapse, a social system either
enters into chaos and restructures itself or disappears.
A version of this conceptual model was successfully
simulated by a dynamic mathematical model [35]. The results
showed that changes only in income increase household
capital in richer households, but leave it almost unchanged in
poorer ones, thereby exacerbating socio-economic differences.
Improving only health care increases income in poorer
households although average household income remains
constant, since the income contrast between households is
reduced. The model also showed that effectively fighting
poverty requires improvements in education, health, income
and subsided loans. Overall, the greater the improvements in
environmental parameters the more effective the poverty
mitigation strategy will be.
IV DISCUSSION.
Comtes positivism with components including
reduction, repetition and refutation, has dominated poverty
research. Its approach of treating poverty merely as the result
of low income is a disservice to the fight against poverty.
Participatory research into poverty provides a better
understanding of the limitations the poor must overcome. It
also has shown that effects become causes through cycles
which generate non-linear (i.e. complex) interactions between
variables, and that households are organized internally but are
open to the environment from which they obtain their needs.
Households are in a state of constant flux in which their
members are closely related and learn. Finally, they are
grouped into communities. These are the properties of a
complex system, and they need to be applied to the fight
against poverty. Acceptance of its complexity will help the
fight against poverty and enable the application of five
principal points: 1) creation of programs focused on the
poorest but open to all; 2) use of a completely participatory
scheme that considers all members of poor households as
beings in possession of knowledge relevant to attaining their
wellbeing; 3) participatory generation of innovations that
ideally address education, production, health and financing
with the purpose of optimizing interaction between these
variables; 4) participatory use of cycles to improve processes
by testing, analyzing and implementing changes; and 5)
acceptance of continuous change in the surrounding social and
economic environments as well as in internal household
conditions.
To fight poverty effectively, efforts need to be focused on
improving basic public education, health, production and
productivity, and finances. Education methodologies need to
improve self-esteem and combat inadequate eating habits.
Public health care should emphasize illness prevention rather
than treatment since it is less expensive and less time
consuming, especially for the poor. Improvements in
production and productivity can begin by applying
participatory processes to improve traditional production
technologies, since these are adapted to the local physic, biotic
and social environment; products should be marketed locally
first and second in other markets. Public financial systems
need to increase savings, particularly those of the poor, to
reduce their vulnerability, and provide low-cost loans to raise
production and productivity.
V. CONCLUSIONS
Development against poverty as a complex system concept
attained through participatory research proposes a new
conceptualization of poverty, a participatory and dynamic
process, and a focus on multiple goals. It operates through
application of successive approximations. Poverty is a
condition of the household which involves deficiencies in self-
esteem and leadership capacity, disease prevention and
treatment, competitive ways of earning income, and low
investment levels which create vulnerability in unforeseen
circumstances. A development against poverty process
considers all of these aspects. Households are dynamic social
structures immersed in a changing environment with social,
economic, biological and physical facets. The fight against
poverty therefore must begin in the specific situation in which
households exist and apply a flexible strategy that can adapt to
households changing needs. Finally, increasing the efficiency
and relevance of programs against poverty requires that the
poor as a group lead these programs. They will be affected by
actions within the programs and should therefore participate in
decision making, with experts acting as facilitators and
33
advisors. Federal outlays for development have been
enormous but poverty continues to increase; this could begin
to change for the better if poor households became the drive
behind development in Mexico.
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Cabrera A.2009. (200) La prevencin de la desnutricin y la educacin.
MEMORIAS CD. Con. Intr. Educacin Popular de las Amricas Siglo XXI.
Valladolid, Yucatn, Mxico.
[32] Rivera D and M. T. Ruel 1997. Growth retardation starts in the
first three months of life among rural Guatemalan children. Eur J Clin Nutr.
51:92-96.
[33] Freire P. 1970 Pedagoga del Oprimido. Siglo XXI. Mxico, D.F.,
Mexico.
[34] Radcliffe C. and S. McKernan. 2010. Child poverty persistence:
Facts and consequences. Urban Institute. Research of records.
http://www.urban.org/uploadedpdf/412126-child-poverty-persistence.pdf
Last accessed Mach 8, 2013
[35] Murrieta H. G. and Cuanalo de la C. H. E.(2011). Development
against poverty: A dynamic simulation model. 14
th
. Conference. Latest Trends
on Systems. WSEAS. Greece. 2010. Vol. II pp 501-509.
http://www.wseas.us/e-
library/conferences/2010/Corfu/SYSTEMS/SYSTEMS2-25.pdf Last
accessed March 11, 2013.

34
The Application of Small-Scale and Large-Scale Wind
Turbines in Kerman, Iran; A Case Study

Ighball Baniasad Askari
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University
of Zabol, Iran.
Eghball_baniasad@yahoo.com

Lina Baniasad Askari
Faculty of Engineering, University of Economic Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Linabaniasad@yahoo.com

Mohammad Mehdi Kaykhah
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University
of Zabol, Iran.
mm_kaykha@yahoo.com

Abstract Wind data collected of the three
synoptic sites for the period of Jul 2006 to Jun
2008 at the height of 40 m has been used to study
the wind characteristics, monthly and annual
wind energy potential for three agricultural
districts in Kerman ( E 58 56 N, 15 30
/ /
), Iran. Two
statistical methods (Meteorological and Weibull)
have been applied to determine the wind
characteristics. Wind energy density, mean wind
speeds and wind speed directions have been
investigated. A technical assessment has been
done and the electricity generation from five
different wind turbines having capacity of (26
kW, 100 kW, 300 kW, 600 kW and 660 kW) has
been calculated. The results show that all the
locations studied are not suitable for electric
wind application in a large-scale.
Keywords Wind turbine, wind characteristics,
Weibull parameters, Wind directions, Technical
assessment

1. Introduction
There are many remote or off-grid locations around
the world, especially in developing countries that rely
on diesel generators for their power supply.
However, this conventional generation depends on
the availability of fossil fuel and it doesnt
environmentally friendly. Therefore, the renewable
energy systems can be used as an alternative to get
rid of these economic and environmental problems to
supply the energy demands for those particular areas
in a sustainable way.
Wind energy is a clean energy which has the
potential to meet a significant proportion of the
worlds energy requirements. A remarkably rapid
growth in the wind energy has been recorded over
the past two decades; expanding at annual rate of

between 25 to 35% [1]. The fast pace of wind turbine
technology developments is the main factor due
which wind energy has become competitive with
other fuel based generation resources. Since the cost
of wind turbine generators (WTGs) has been reduced
to a great extent, installation of WTGs, as fuel savers,
is going to be environmentally friendly and
economically justified especially in the countries with
high fuel prices. Presently, thousands of renewable
energy systems exist worldwide, providing power to
small, remote grid-independent or stand-alone
applications. Using this alternative source of energy
reduces the need for combustion of fossil fuels and
the consequent
2
CO emission which is the principal
cause of the greenhouse effect and global warming.
Renewable energy systems consisting of different
energy sources (solar, wind, etc) are the only way to
generate electricity in some regions of developing
countries [1, 2].
Hannes Weigt [3] investigated the extent to which
wind energy can replace fossil capacities in Germany.
In that work, the potential savings due to wind
energy was also assessed. The German market was
modeled with and without wind input to estimate the
net savings of fossil fuels in a typical time Period.
From the results of that survey it was found that the
cost-saving potential for electricity production is
quite significant and exceeds the subsidies. Aynur
and Figen [4] analyzed the wind characteristics to
evaluate the wind energy potential of six locations in
Turkey. Their study presents the maximum value of
monthly mean wind speed, mean annual value of
Weibull parameters, the most windward directions
and the annual mean specific wind power densities
for that six locations. A wind energy potential
assessment in Naxos Island, Greece has been done by
Fyrippis et al [5]. In that work, the wind
characteristics were statistically analyzed using the
35
Weibull and Rayleigh distribution functions. Finally,
the site they have considered was found to have a
very pronounced wind potential. Wind energy
potential of the capital of Iran, Tehran has been
investigated by Keyhani et al. [6] using the statistical
data of eleven years wind speed measurements. Two
statistical methods of meteorological and Weibull
were assessed to evaluate the wind energy potential.
Sahin et al. [7] have been investigated the wind
energy potential of the eastern Mediterranean region
using hourly wind data. They have identified the
mean power density of the different areas of their
region of study and finally they have determined the
best locations in terms of wind power generation.
The wind power potentials of the Pearl River Delta
(PRD) region (China) have been statistically analyzed
based on the hourly measured wind speed data in
four islands by Zhou et al. [8]. In that study the wind
power and operating possibilities of these locations
have been investigated based on the Weibull
function. Because the wind power at those different
sites varied significantly, a careful attention to the
wind conditions as well as the site terrains in
choosing the wind farm sites was suggested as the
result of that study.
Because the fuel price is highly subsidized in Iran, for
many years electrical energy has been produced
using diesel generation systems, especially for
agricultural consumptions. But lately, the
government has decided to eliminate the fuel price
subsidies, and this is expected to increases the cost of
the diesel generation systems. The increasing
consumption and, consequently, the cost of
conventional fuels coupled with environmental
considerations have led to the development of
renewable energy resources in Iran. According to the
previous investigations, Iran enjoys only a moderate
supply of wind power, with some regions having
continuous air flows with sufficient energy to
produce electricity (the average wind velocity in such
regions is measured at about 5 m/s). The potential
capacity of wind power is figured at about 6500MW
for the country, mostly in the eastern sections [9].
In the present paper, three agriculturally fertile
districts of the largest province of Iran Kerman
Province have been chosen as the study area. The
three regions described are Rafsanjan ( E 54 55 N, 25 30
/ /
),
Shahre-Babak ( E 8 55 N, 6 30
/ /
) and Orzuye
( E 20 56 N, 23 28
/ /
), which are known as three
agricultural poles of Kerman in the productions like
pistachio, grain, wheat and having the vast farms of
cotton and watermelon. For many years, diesel and
electrical water pumps have been used as the water
pumping systems. Besides, a great deal of fuel and
electricity has been consumed as the energy sources
of pistachio and corn dryer systems. But, Iran has
decided to remove its fuel price subsidies. So, the
application of renewable energy systems is the best
alternative to reduce the energy generation expenses.

2. Methodology and materials
2.2 wind data
For three locations of the present study, wind data
were obtained from the Iran renewable energy
organization (SANA). The anemometer height was
40m, from the July of 2006 to Jun of 2008, recorded
at the time intervals of 10min. The three locations
investigated are Rafsanjan ( E 54 5 5 N, 25 30
/ /
, 1600m),
Shahre-Babak ( E 8 5 5 N, 6 30
/ /
, 1700m), and Orzuye
( E 20 6 5 N, 23 28
/ /
, 1800m). Table.1 shows the seasonal
mean wind speeds of three study areas. Generally,
Rafsanjan in all four seasons of year had the most
strong wind speeds as compare to those another two
locations. In contrast, Orzuye had the poorest wind
speed records during the year. It can be seen that
Rafsanjan in spring had higher mean wind speeds,
peaking in March and its winter had the lower mean
wind speeds of 5.05 m/s. Both spring and summer
months had a higher prevalence of stronger wind
speeds, with lower wind speeds recorded in fall for
Shahr-Babak. As for the Orzuye, The highest and
lowest wind speeds occurred in spring (4m/s) and
winter (3.13m/s), respectively.

Table. 1
Seasonal
1
mean wind speeds (m/s)

Location Winter Spring Summer Fall
Rafsanjan
Shahr-
Babak
Orzuye
5.05
3.96
3.13
5.95
4.76
4.01
5.37
4.75
3.70
5.24
3.78
3.24
An investigation has been done to calculate the
daily variation of mean wind speeds of the study
regions. Figs. 1 to 3 show the mean wind speeds of
the study areas for three typical months of the year.
As can be seen from Figs.1 to 3, Rafsanjan, had a
regular variation in mean wind speeds during the

a
Winter is defined as January, February, and December; Spring as March, April, and May,
Summer as June, July, and August; Fall as September, October, November

36
day-times. Unlike Rafsanjan, Shahr-Babak had a steep
fall and rise in wind speeds. Shahrbabak, on the
whole, had an increase in mean wind speeds from
hour 8 AM to 18 PM. The results have been shown
that during the months June to August, Orzuye had
the most variations in the mean wind speeds; from
1.55 to 7.22 m/s for August.

Fig.1. Mean wind speed) for three study area, January

Fig.2. Mean wind speed) for three study area, April

Fig.3. Mean wind speed) for three study area, July

2.3. Weibull distribution of wind speed

If wind speed distribution in any location is known,
the power density belonging to the site can be easily
obtained. To explain the stochastic behavior of a wide
range wind speed, it is necessary to have a few key
parameters. Statistical functions are usually used to
describe the wind speed variations. The simplest and
most common method for the procedure is to use a
probability distribution function. There are several
probability density functions, which can be used to
describe the wind speed frequency curve. The
Weibull distribution function is one of the normally
used functions to illustrate the wind speed
distributions:

(
(
|
.
|
\
|
|
.
|
\
|
|
.
|
\
|
=
k 1 k
c
exp .
c c
k
f(v)
v v
(1)
where f(v) is the distribution probability of wind
speed v, c and k are the Weibull scale and shape
parameter, respectively, which can provide great
flexibility of fitting the distribution function to the
measured values with different behaviors. The
dimensionless shape parameter of k shows how the
wind distribution peaked is, and c is the
dimensionless scale parameter that shows how
windy a wind site under consideration is.
The following equations are used to calculate the
Weibull parameters:

10) (1 )
(
1.086
s s =

k
v
k
(2)
)
k
1
(1
c
+
=
v
(3)
where the average wind speed, v and the
variance,
2
o , of wind velocity are calculated using
equations (6) and (7), respectively.
=
=
N
1 i
i
n
1
v v
(4)

(
(
=

=
N
1 i
2 2
) (
1 n
1
v v
i
(5)
In addition, the characteristic speeds of the studied
site (
mp
and
E Max,
) are calculated by the following
relations:
1/k
mp
)
k
1
(1 c = (6)
k
1
E Max,
)
k
2
(1 c + = (7)
where
mp
v is the most probable wind speed and
E Max,
v is wind speed carrying the maximum energy.
The average wind power density of site based on Weibull
probability density function can be expressed as:
( )
2 3
W/m )
k
3
(1 . .c
2
1
A
P
+ =
(8)

37

2.4. Meteorological Method

The specific power available in a cross-sectional
area (A) perpendicular to the wind stream moving at
speed V (m/s) is calculated by using the following
equation: [10]
3
V
2
1
p =
(9)
where is the standard air density at sea level with a
mean temperature of C 15
and a pressure of 1 atm

(1.225 kg/m3) and V is the mean wind speed (m/s).
/km 6.5 , and
2
m/s 9.81 g = is the gravitational
acceleration.

3. Results and discussions

3.1. Probability density functions
The average annual variation of observed and
Weibull wind speed frequencies for three locations of
the study have been determined using the two years
wind speed data. As a sample the results of the
calculations for Rafsanjan has been depicted inFig.4.
It can be clearly seen that Weibull function fits the
observed distribution reasonably well in the relevant
wind range. According to the figure, for Rafsanjan the
peak frequencies of 14.85 and 13.5 % occurred at
wind speeds of 4 and 5m/s, respectively.
Additionally, the frequency of wind speeds of less
than and equal 3 m/s are approximately 26% for
Rafsanjan. However, the results of the study show
that this value is 43 and 53 % for Shahr-Babak and
Orzuye, respectively. For both Shahr-Babak and
Orzuye, peak frequencies stood at wind speeds of 4
and 3m/s, respectively.

Fig.4. Observed and calculated wind speed frequencies

3.2. Wind power density and energy
The wind speed data for three locations (Rafsanjan,
Shahr-Babak and Orzuye) have been analyzed taking
into account the monthly and annual variations. For
Rafsanjan, the variation of Weibull parameters (k and
c), mean wind speeds, and wind energy during the
period of Jun 2006 to Jul 2008 is listed in Tables 2.
Table 2 shows that for Rafsanjan Weibull shape
parameter k varies between 2.14 and 3.66, while
scale parameter c varies between 5.00 and 6.80 m/s.
The maximum and minimum value of the monthly
mean speed at 40m is 6.23 and 4.43 m/s,
respectively.
The results of two other regions of the study have
shown that the shape parameter k has a minimum
value of 2.04 at Shahr-Babak in February and it has a
maximum value in June. The highest and lowest of
values of C are found in July and November,
respectively, for Shahr-Babak. As for Orzuye it was
found that this region has a yearly average of 4.88
m/s for C; having a minimum in November and a
maximum in July. Also, among three locations of the
study, Orzuye with an annual average value of 34.03
2
m Wh k
has the minimum wind energy.

Table. 2
Monthly variation of Weibull parameters and characteristic speeds
(at 40 m height) and wind power energy in Rafsanjan
Weibull Meteorological
Month k ) / ( s m c

mean
v

Energy
(
2
kWh/m )
Energy
(
2
kWh/m )
Jan 2.14 5.01 4.43 71.05 68.72
Feb 2.50 6.33 5.61 115.02 113.43
Mar 2.84 7.06 6.23 160.23 161.61
Apr 2.97 6.79 6.06 138.64 139.69
May 3.27 6.09 5.46 99.61 97.65
Jun 3.66 6.11 5.51 94.23 92.82
Jul 2.58 5.87 5.22 113.15 101.59
Aug 2.65 6.27 5.57 116.47 117.22
Sep 3.40 6.18 5.55 99.49 98.40
Oct 3.10 5.80 5.17 84.38 86.19
Nov 2.13 5.49 4.89 83.40 88.72
Dec 2.93 5.35 4.77 76.29 71.55
Ave 2.85 6.03 5.37 104.33 103.13

Wind energy potential, calculated by EQ (8), and
mean wind speeds of the three locations at height of
40m are shown in Figs 5 and 6, respectively. It is
clearly evidence (Fig. 5) that Rafsanjan for all months
had the highest amount of wind energy potential as
compare to those two other areas. Compared to
Rafsanjan and Shahr-Babak, Orzuye had a poor wind
energy potential pattern of less than 80 W/m2 for all
38
months of the year. Besides, for Rafsanjan the wind
energy potential rose sharply from January to March;
hitting a peak of 215 W/m2. However, for next two
months (May and June), wind energy potential
declined steeply, reaching values of 133 W/m2. This
was followed by a 50% drop in energy density
between the months Aug and Dec for Rafsanjan.
Although, Shahr-babak energy density was much
lower, it was very similar to that of the Rafsanjan,
declining or increasing almost at a same trend. As for
Shahr-babak, there was a sudden increase in wind
energy potential; rising from 50 W/m2 in January to
more than 120 W/m2 in April. However, this
followed by a decrease of 47% for next two months.
Furthermore, Shahr-babak wind energy density had a
sharp increase of 60% from Jun to July, remained
steady to Aug and followed by a steep decline in
October. As for Orzuye, the wind energy potential had
no considerable fluctuations; varied between 19.60
W/m2 in January and 75.46 W/m2 in June. Generally,
except June, its summer and spring wind energy
density was higher than other two cold seasons.

Fig.5. Wind power density at height of 40m

Fig.6. Mean wind speed at height of 40m

3.4. Wind direction
A wind rose is a diagram that shows the
distribution of wind directions and speeds at a
specific location over a specified time period. The
prediction of wind direction is important because of
the several reasons; to conduct wind energy
researches, displays the impact of geographical
features on the wind, to make proper and technically
justified decisions when planning the installation and
the micrositting of a wind turbine or a wind farm.
The wind direction is illustrated in polar diagrams
and is measured clockwise in degrees. The circle
(360
), which represents the cardinal points, is

divided in 36 sectors and each of them covers an arc
of 10
. The annual wind rose based on time and

energy (The duration of the stillness as a fraction of
time and energy) during the period Jun 2006 to Jul
2008 at the three locations of the study is shown in
figures 7 to 9. Fig.7 shows that the highest percentages
of the available wind energy for wind speeds of more
than and equal to 3m/s at Rafsanjan were 12% and 11%
blowing from 150 and 230
, which correspond to the

South-South-East and South-West, respectively.
A similar analysis has been done to determine the
percentage of calm conditions, where the wind speed is
less than or equal to 3 m/s. As for Rafsanjan, the results
shown that the high percentage of calm conditions is
found at the directions between 240 to 320
which
correspond to the West-South-West and West-North-
West, respectively. Also, it is noticeable that the
minimum percentage of low condition is occurred at
150
; the direction with highest percentages of the

available wind energy.
Figure8 correspond to the percentages of the available
wind energy for Shahr-Babak, respectively. As can be
seen from this figure, directions with the high
percentages of available wind energy are 260 and 80
.
The results show that these two directions with the high
percentages of available wind energy (260 and 80
)
have a low percentage of calm conditions; 3 and 2.25%,
respectively. As for Shahr-Babak, the high percentage of
calm conditions is obtained between the directions of
100 and 140
(East-South-East and South-East).

The wind rose diagram of available wind energy for
Orzuye is shown in Fig.9. As can be seen from this
figure, the highest percentage of available wind energy is
occurred at the directions of 20 and 220
. The results of
investigation on the Orzuye calm conditions shows that
the high percentage of calm conditions with wind speeds
of less than 3 m/s is found at those directions with
39
highest percentage of available wind energy (20 and
220
). It is worthy of notice since we can come into this

conclusion that the scatter in distribution of wind speed
(sudden decreases in the wind speeds) in Orzuye is high
as compared to those other two locations of the study.

Fig.7. Rafsanjan annual wind rose based on energy

Fig.8. Shahr-Babak annual wind rose based on energy

Fig.9. Orzuye annual wind rose based on energy
3.3. Energy output from selected wind turbines

A technical assessment has been done in order to
determine the annual average wind energy produced
by five different commercial wind turbines, one of
which is made in Iran (S-47 660 kW). The main
characteristics of wind turbines have been
represented in Table. 3. As can be seen the rated
powers of wind turbines are 26 kW, 100 kW, 300 kW,
600 kW and 660 kW; with two different cut in speeds
of 3 and 4 m/s.

Table. 3
Characteristics of five different commercial wind
turbines
Characteristic
Rated
power
(kW)
Cut in
speed
(m/s)
Rated
speed
(m/s)
Cut
off
speed
(m/s)
Rotor
Diameter(m)
Energie PGE
(PGE26)
26 4 11 15 11
Fuhrlaende
(FL100)
100 3 14 25 21
Bonus
(300 MKII)
300 4 14 25 33
De-Wind
(DW600-46)
600 3 12 22 46
S-47 660 kW 660 4 15 25 47

The Mean output power, annual energy production,
capacity factor and operation hours of each selected
five wind turbines has been calculated for three
locations of the study at hub height of 40 m (Table.4).
As it might have been expected Rafsanjan and Orzuye
had the maximum and minimum wind energy for
each wind turbine, respectively.
Capacity factor is the average power output of a
wind turbine divided by the total wind turbine
capacity. Table.4 reveals that among five selected
wind turbines, Energie PGE (PGE 26) has the highest
capacity factor. Because of the poor wind speeds,
wind turbines with high rated power have not been
capable to produced power for many times of the
year. So, for three locations of the study wind
turbines with high rated powers had low capacity
factors. The effect of wind turbine cut in speeds on
their operation hours is one of the other outcomes.
Table.4 shows that the difference between the yearly
operation hours of wind turbines with cut wind
speed of 3 m/s and 4 m/s are approximately 14%,
33% and 39% for Rafsanjan, Shahr-Babak and
Orzuye, respectively. A comparison between the
Iranian wind turbine of S-47 660 kW and De-Wind
40
600 kW (Fig.15) shows that for the wind speeds of
between 3 and 13m/s, S-47 660 kW generates less
energy than De-Wind 600 kW. This results in total
yearly wind energy produced by S-47 660 kW, which
for three locations of the study; this wind turbine has
generated less wind energy as compared to De-Wind
600 kW.

Table.4
Mean output power, annual energy production, capacity factor
and operation hours of four different wind turbines for three
locations
Wind
turbine
Location Mean
output
power
(kW)
Capacity
factor
(%)
Annual
production
(kWh/yr)
Hours of
operation
(hr/yr)
PGE26
kW
Raf 10.6 40.8 93,006 7,197

Sh-B 6.6 25.2 57,389 5,148
Orz 4.1 15.8 36,093 4,767
FL100
kW
Raf 22 21.9 191,912 8,204

Shr-B 13 13.2 115,747 6,847
Orz 7 6.61 57,893 6,620
B-300
kW
Raf 60 20 526,380 7,197

Sh-B 36 12 314,904 5,148
Orz 18 5.91 155,355 4,767
DeW600
kW
Raf 117 19.5 1,026,070 8,199

Sh-B 71 11.9 625,488 6,847
Orz 37 6.17 324,508 6,620
S-47
660 kW
Rafs 116 17.6 1,016,995 7,136

Sh-B 70 10.5 606,856 5,114
Orz 33 5.07 293,328 4,757

4. Conclusion

Two statistical methods (Meteorological and
Weibull) have been applied to determine the monthly
wind energy and density of three agricultural
districts in Kerman, Iran . The main outcomes drawn
from this investigation into the wind characteristics
can be summarized as follows:

- Among three locations, Rafsanjan had the lowest
number of hours with poor wind speeds of less
than 3 or 4m/s. And Orzuye with 5800 hours
with wind speeds of less than 3 m/s had the
higher number of poor wind speeds during the
year.
- The frequency of wind speeds of less than and
equal to 3 m/s are approximately 26%, 43 and
53 % for Rafsanjan, Shahr-Babak and Orzuye,
respectively.
- All three areas of the study have their maximum
value of mean wind speeds in spring.
- The maximum value of monthly mean wind
speed is determined as 6.23 m/s at Rafsanjan in
March and a minimum value of 2.71 m/s is
occurred at Orzuye in Jan. The values of annual
mean wind speed is obtained 5.4, 4.32 and
3.52m/s at Rafsanjan, Shahr-Babak and Orzuye,
respectively.
- The annual highest values of Weibull shape
parameter k and scale parameter c are found at
Rafsanjan and the inverse is true for Orzuye.
- The highest percentages of the available wind
energy for wind speeds of more than and equal
to 3m/s are calculated at South-South-East (SSE)
and South-West (SW) for Rafsanjan. As for Shahr-
Babak, the most probable wind directions of
East-South-East (ESE) and South-East (SE) are
obtained as directions with highest percentages of
the available wind energy.
- As for Orzuye, the high percentage of calm
conditions with wind speeds of less than 3 m/s is
found at those directions with highest percentage of
available wind energy. This reveals the scatter in
distribution of wind speed (sudden decreases in the
wind speeds) in Orzuye.
- Among five selected wind turbines, a wind
turbine (PGE 26) with the minimum rated power
has the highest capacity factor. Because of the
poor wind speeds, wind turbines with high rated
power have not been capable to produced power
for many times of the year.
- The difference between the yearly operation
hours of wind turbines with cut wind speed of 3
m/s and 4 m/s has been calculated as
approximately 14%, 33% and 39% for Rafsanjan,
Shahr-Babak and Orzuye, respectively.

Generally, because the chances of having wind
speeds less than 3 m/s are high and the wind speed
range for electricity generation is within 2.716.28
m/s, all the locations studied are not suitable for
electric wind application in a large-scale. Besides, it
could be predicted that because of the scatter in wind
speeds, the required storage capacity and
consequently the investment costs will be high if a
stand-alone wind/bat system would be chosen at
three locations of the study. Since, another option
which worth to study about could be a grid-
connected wind energy system without storage.

41

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[7] Sahin. B, Bilgili. M and Akilli. H, The wind power
potential of the eastern Mediterranean region of
Turkey, Journal of Wind Engineering and Industrial
Aerodynamics, 2005, Vol.93, pp. 171183.
[8] Zhoua.W, Yanga. H and Fang.Zh, Wind power
potential and characteristic analysis of the Pearl
River Delta region, China, Renewable Energy, 2006,
Vol. 31, pp.739753.
[9] Maaghooli D, An investigation on wind power
and solar energy in Iran, Irans atomic energy agency
(New sources of energy), 1992.
[10]Wolde.G. W, Wind energy survey in Ethiopia,
Solar and Wind Technology, 1988, 5(4):34151.

42
An Approach to the Quality of Drinking Water as
a Matter of Multicriterial Decision

Amelia Bucur
Department of Mathematics and Informatics
Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu, Romania,
amelia.bucur@ulbsibiu.ro

Jos L.Lpez-Bonilla
ESIME-Zacatenco, National Polytechnic Institute,Anexo Edif. 5, Col. Lindavista CO 07738 Mexico city
jlopezb@ipn.mx

Abstract: The aim of the present paper is to approach the matter of water quality by resorting to the metod of
multicriterial mathematical programming. MicrosoftExcel enables the simulation of a mathematical model.
Furthermore, we have also created a file in the C++ software, in view of the simulation process, applicable to
numberless properties of water quality. The case study presents the simulation of a multicriterial analysis of
water quality in Sibiu county. This particular study shows the means of obtaining more information about water
quality, subsequent to the analysis of its characteristics resorting to statistical analysis-specific software, e.g.
SPSS 16 software. Given the increase of drinking water worldwide by tens of percentage points in cca two
decades, the author(s) consider(s) that an approach to the quality management of drinking water should represent
a key priority of society.

Keywords: quality of drinking water, multicriterial modeling, simulation

1.INTRODUCTION

Contemporary society has evinced, at national
and international level, a consistent preoccupation for
the continuous quality improvement of drinking water
(e.g. Cude, C.G., 2001; Gurzau, A.E., Popovici, E.,
Pintea, A., Popa, O., Pop, C. & Dumitrascu, I., 2010;
Gler, C., Thyne, G.D., McCray, J.E. & Turner, A.K.,
2002; Oprean, L., Poplcean, M., Georgescu, N.,
2004,2005; Sanchez, E., Colmenarejo, M.F., Vicente,
J., Rubio,A., Garca, M.G., Travieso, L. & Borja, R.,
2007; Singha, K.P., Malika, A., Mohana, D. & Sinhab,
S., 2004). Certain West-European countries are
monitoring 45 indicators regarding water quality,
whereas the European Economic Commission
regulations, approved in 1980, recommend a constant
monitoring of 62 characteristics of drinking water.
There is a constant preoccupation in all developed
countries for controlling water pollution, since the
quality of drinking water contributes significantly to
the health of a nation. There are special law, in our
country as well, meant to fight against water pollution.
On the other hand, in certain countries the current
consumption of drinking water per capita is very high,
therefore specialists recommend a more rational use of
water as well as warning about the danger of water
resource depletion and pollution in the future. It si
estimated that the demand of drinking water shall
increase by tens of percentage points in approximately
two decades and thus billions of people might suffer
from thirst or live in precarious conditions, therefore
the interest in the quality management of drinking
water is fully justified and should represent a key
priority of societies.
The present paper aims to approach the topic of
drinking water as a matter of multicriterial decision,
considering that multicriteriral mathematical modeling
enables numberless applications to management and
decision theory. According to specialized literature
(Resteanu, 2006), the decision-making process in the
field of drinking water quality represents a set of
activities that rely on the awareness of the multitude
possibilities to act at any given time, analysis of their
consequences in relation to a specific goal, selection
and implementation of the axiologically optimal action.
In this respect, one may resort to the Multi-Attribute
Decision-Making (MADM) able to solve the Optimal
Choice Problem (OCP).
Multicriterial programming represents a
significant chapter of mathematical optimization, and
implicitly of operational research; its significance in
decision-problem solving is increasing since the
specific methods for this branch of mathematical
programming is applicable to a wide array of practical
problems, incluing those related to quality
management.
Should there be more objective functions, the
optimal solution for a function may not be optimal for
43
other functions, hence we introduce the notion of
solution achieving the best compromise known as
non-dominant solution, effective solution, PARET-
defined optimal solution, etc. The multicriterial
problem or multi-function objective nowadays
represents a self-standing chapter of the multiple
criteria decision theory.
2.MATHEMATICAL MULTICRITERIAL
MODELING OF THE QUALITY OF DRINKING
WATER

In view of taking into account as many decision criteria
as possible, we have designed and developed a specific
application for the multi-criteria decision situation in
the field of classifying various types of drinking water,
selected from various sources, according to the quality
properties of water. In order to solve the multi-criterial
problem, we have started from the decision matrix
available in specialized literature in keeping with the
model in Table 1:

Table 1. Decision matrix for a multi-criterial problem

where: V
i
= i alternative , for i=1,2,3......m;
S
h
objective situation h, for h=1,2,3......s;
C
j
- j criterion for j =1,2,3......n;
k
j
- significance criterion (j criterion weight)
for j=1,2,3...n;
a
ijh
i alternative consequence (performance)
for the j criterion under h objective circumstances
(under the provision of the h situation).
There may be:
1. Let us mention potential situations:
S
1
= using relevant materials for performing
water quality analysis;
S
2
employing qualified staff, experienced for data
analysis and interpretation;
S
3
failure of raising funds for performing
analysis.
The problem of multi-criterial decision shall be
solved is the above-mentioned situations (S
1
, S
2
, S
3
)
have the following occurrence probabilities: p(S
1
)=0,4,
p(S
2
)=0,5, p(S
3
)=0,1.
2.The criteria related to the types of water are:
C
1
= pH;
C
2
cost;
C
3
chlorine concentration;
C
4
calcium concentration;
C
5
magnesium concentration.
3. The significance criteria coefficients are: k
1
=0,3,
k
2
=0,2, k
3
=0,2, k
4
=0,15, k
5
=0,15.
4.Types of water may be:
V
1
= Avrig tap water(Sibiu area,Romania);
V
2
Sibiu tap water (Calea Dumbravii from Sibu area,
Romania);
V
3
bottled water DORNA(still water, Romania);
V
4
spring water (Sadu area, from Sibiu, Romania);
V
5
bottled water QLARIVIA (immaculate water,
Romania);
V
6
bottled water BORSEC (still water, Romania);
V
7
Cisnadie tap water(Sibiu area, Romania).
The a
ijh
elements inside the matrices in table 1 represent
a product among the values assigned to the C
j
criterion
on a Likert scale from 1 to 5, i.e. N
i
(C
j
) of the k
j
significance coefficient and the p(S
h
) situation
occurrence probabilities. This product is calculated by
the formula:
a
ijh
= N
i
(C
j
)k
j
p(S
h
) (1)
where i =1,2,3,4,5, j=1,2,3, h=1,2,3.
This is a subjective estimation of values and relies
on the prior experience of those involved in the process
of water sample analysis.

Table 2. Levels of N
i
(C
j
) values assigned to the C
j

criteria on a Likert scale form 1 to 5

According to formula (1), all a
ijh
elements are
automatically calculated and displayed:

Table 2. The decision matrix for the proposed
multicriterial problem

Based on the decision matrices in Tables 1 and 2,
several decision methods and criteria may be applied,
such as: the mathematical hope method (whenever
the S
i
occurrence probabilities are known) which we
have chosen to use in the present paper.
The application of the aforementioned method
requires that all criteria should be assessed by the same
measurement unit on the Likert scale. Therefore:
first, let us proceed to transforming all consequences
in significances, according to the mathematical model:

U
ijh
= (a
ijh
- a
jh
)/ (a
ijh
- a
jh
) (2)

44
where: U
ijh
relevance of the i version consequences,
for the j criterion given the h(a
ijh
) objective
circumstances (situation);
a
j
- the most favourable consequence for the j criterion
given the h objective circumstances;
a
j
- the least favourable consequence for the same j
criterion given the h objective circumstances:

Table 3. Relevance matrices for the proposed

for each i decision alternative and for each status of
the h objective circumstances, we have calculated the
synthetic relevance (multiplying by the relevance
coefficient for each criterion):
u
Sih
= k
j
u
ijk
(3)
Table 4. The synthetic relevance matrix for the
proposed multicriterial problem
V
1
0,55 0,23 0,39
V
2
1,21 0,38 0,33
V
3
0,89 1,54 0,56
V
4
0,86 1,29 1,04
V
5
1,00 2,19 2,42
V
6
0,56 1,17 2,25
V
7
0,00 0,00 1,75

based on the synthetic relevance, we ahve drawn up a
new matrix including the decision variable on the rows
and the potential objective situations on the columns.
Thus changed, the problem may be aproached like any
other unicriterial decision problem. Taking into
account the occurrence probability for the objective
circumstances (S
i
situations), one may choose the
decision option with the highest mathematical
hope:
V
opt
= u
Sih
p
h
(4)
where: p
h
=p(S
h
) represents the occurrence possibility
for the h objective situation:

Table 5. Levels assigned to the variables (types of
water) for the proposed multicriterial problem

To conclude, one may notice in the final column the
following hierarchy of types of water (alternatives):
1)V
5
bottled water - QLARIVIA (immaculate water) =
optimum version;
2)V
6
drinking water - BORSEC (still water);
3)V
4
spring water (Sadu area, Sibiu county Romania);
4)V
3
bottled water - DORNA (still water);
5)V
2
tap water from Sibiu, Sibiu county Romania
(area - Calea Dumbrvii street);
6)V
7
tap water from Cisnadie, Sibiu county
Romania;
7)V
1
tap water from Avrig, Sibiu county Romania.

3.SIMULATING THE MULTICRITERIAL
DECISION PROBLEM IN THE HIERARCHY OF
TYPES OF WATER, BY MEANS OF
MICROSOFT EXCEL

Figure 1. Application in Microsoft Excel
The result is that the V
5
version is optimum, thus the
QLARIVIA bottled water is the highest quality
drinking water, considering that the managerial
expertise of specialists in water analysis played an
important part in the selection of a
ijh
initial elements:
1) V5 2)V6 3)V4 4)V3
5)V2 4)V7 5)V1
Should the value levels assigned to the V
i
i=
1,..,5 alternatives on a Likert scale form 1 to 5, in
relation to the C
j
criterion, i.e. Ni(C
j
), the k
j
relevance
coefficients and the occurrence probabilities of the
p(S
h
) situation, then the optimum alternative selected
by means of the multicriterial decision would be
different.

Therefore, its identification depends on
estimates and the managerial expertise in interpreting
the problem data.

4. SIMULATING THE MULTICRITERIAL
DECISION PROBLEM IN THE HIERARCHY OF
TYPES OF WATER, BY MEANS OF THE C++
SOFTWARE

In this respect, we have designed by means of the C++
language the following software:

#include<iostream.h>
#include<conio.h>
void main()
V
1
0,55 0,23 0,39 0,29
V
2
1,21 0,38 0,33 0,50
V
3
0,89 1,54 0,56 0,69
V
4
0,86 1,29 1,04 0,73
V
5
1,00 2,19 2,42 1,22
V
6
0,56 1,17 2,25 0,85
V
7
0,00 0,00 1,75 0,35
45
{float
a1[10][10],a2[10][10],a3[10][10],U1[10][10],U2[10
][10],U3[10][10],
p[10][10],B[10],N[10][10],S1,S2,S3,k[10],min,max;
int i,j,n,m,t;
cout<<"Introduceti n=";cin>>n;//nr de v
cout<<"Introduceti m=";cin>>m;//nr de c
for(j=1;j<=m;j++)
{cout<<"Introduceti k["<<j<<"]=";cin>>k[j];}
//Pentru prima matrice introducem datele
cout<<"Dati probabilitatea situatiei S1=";cin>>S1;
for(j=1;j<=m;j++)
for(i=1;i<=n;i++)
{cout<<"Introduceti
N["<<i<<"]["<<j<<"]=";cin>>N[i][j];}
for(i=1;i<=n;i++)
for(j=1;j<=m;j++)
a1[i][j]=N[i][j]*k[j]*S1;
for(i=1;i<=n;i++)
for(j=1;j<=m;j++)
cout<<"a1["<<i<<"]["<<j<<"]="<<a1[i][j]<<endl
;
//Pentru matricea a 2-a introducem datele
for(j=1;j<=m;j++)
for(i=1;i<=n;i++)
{cout<<"Introduceti
N["<<i<<"]["<<j<<"]=";cin>>N[i][j];}
for(i=1;i<=n;i++)
for(j=1;j<=m;j++)
a2[i][j]=N[i][j]*k[j]*S2;
for(i=1;i<=n;i++)
for(j=1;j<=m;j++)
cout<<"a2["<<i<<"]["<<j<<"]="<<a2[i][j]<<endl
;
//Pentru matricea a 3-a introducem datele
for(j=1;j<=m;j++)
for(i=1;i<=n;i++)
{cout<<"Introduceti
N["<<i<<"]["<<j<<"]=";cin>>N[i][j];}
for(i=1;i<=n;i++)
for(j=1;j<=m;j++)
a3[i][j]=N[i][j]*k[j]*S3;
for(i=1;i<=n;i++)
for(j=1;j<=m;j++)
cout<<"a3["<<i<<"]["<<j<<"]="<<a3[i][j]<<endl
;
//Trecem la matricea U1
for(j=1;j<=m;j++)
{min=10000;max=0;
for(i=1;i<=n;i++)
{if(a1[i][j]<min)min=a1[i][j];
if(a1[i][j]>max)max=a1[i][j];}
t=1;
while(t<=n)
{U1[t][j]=(a1[t][j]-min)/(max-min);
t++;}
}
/*
//Afisam matricea U1
for(i=1;i<=n;i++)
for(j=1;j<=m;j++)
cout<<"U1["<<i<<"]["<<j<<"]="<<U1[i][j]<<en
dl; */
for(j=1;j<=m;j++)
{min=10000;max=0;
for(i=1;i<=n;i++)
if(a2[i][j]>max)max=a2[i][j]; }
t=1;
while(t<=n)
t++;}
}
/*
for(i=1;i<=n;i++)
for(j=1;j<=m;j++)
cout<<"U2["<<i<<"]["<<j<<"]="<<U2[i][j]<<en
dl; */
for(j=1;j<=m;j++)
{min=10000;max=0;
for(i=1;i<=n;i++)
if(a3[i][j]>max)max=a3[i][j]; }
t=1;
while(t<=n)
t++;}
}
/*
for(i=1;i<=n;i++)
for(j=1;j<=m;j++)
cout<<"U3["<<i<<"]["<<j<<"]="<<U3[i][j]<<en
dl; */
for(i=1;i<=n;i++)
{for(j=1;j<=m;j++)
p[i][1]=U1[i][j]*k[j]+p[i][1];}
/* for(i=1;i<=n;i++)
cout<<"p["<<i<<"][1]="<<p[i][1]<<endl; */
for(i=1;i<=n;i++)
{for(j=1;j<=m;j++)
p[i][2]=p[i][2]+U2[i][j]*k[j];}
/* for(i=1;i<=n;i++)
cout<<"p["<<i<<"][2]="<<p[i][2]<<endl; */
for(i=1;i<=n;i++)
{for(j=1;j<=m;j++)
p[i][3]=p[i][3]+U3[i][j]*k[j];}
/* for(i=1;i<=n;i++)
cout<<"p["<<i<<"][3]="<<p[i][3]<<endl; */
for(i=1;i<=n;i++)
B[i]=p[i][1]*S1+p[i][2]*S2+p[i][3]*S3 ;
for(i=1;i<=n;i++)
cout<<"B["<<i<<"]="<<B[i]<<endl;
max=0;
for(i=1;i<=n;i++)
46
if(B[i]>max)max=B[i];
cout<<"Maximul este="<<max;
getch()
Similar to the Excel simulation process, should one
change the levels of values assigned to the V
i
i= 1,..,n
alternatives on a Likert scale form 1 to 5, in relation to
the in relation to the C
j
j
), the k
j

relevance coefficients and the occurrence probabilities
of the p(S
h
) situation, then the optimum alternative
selected by means of the multicriterial decision would
be different. Therefore, its identification depends on
estimates and the managerial expertise in interpreting
the problem data.

5.QUALITY OF DRINKING WATER IN
SIBIU COUNTY

A. According to the analysis results, for the quality
of the drinking water, available on the website of the
S.C. Ap Canal S.A. Sibiu-Romania, here is the total
amount of calcium and magnesium, pH, turbidity,
nitrite concentration, colour, for the water provided by
the Chlorination Stations in Sibiu county, throughout
the year 2010:

Table 6. Types of drinking water in Sibiu county

A comparative graphic analysis performed in fig. 2
shows that the drinking water provided by the Avrig
Water Treatment Station has the highest calcium and
magnesium concentration, therefore it is preferred by
those people lacking these minerals, and highly
recommended compared to the ones included in table 6
for those suffering from hepatobiliar diseases, thyroid
insufficiency, neurosis, hyperacid gastritis, peptic
ulcer, rickets, osteomalacia, osteoporosis, muscle
cramps, palpitations:

Figure 2. Calcium and magnesium concentration

The calcium and magnesium deficit as well as
the low value sof drinking water hardness represent
risk factors in cases of morbidity entailed by
cardiovascular diseases.
Likewise, the comparative graphic analysis in
fig.3 shows that the drinking water provided by the
Avrig Water Treatment Station has the highest level of
pH, and therefore the most alkaline of all types of
water included in table 6 and thus preferred by those
consumers who wish to maintain a low level of acidity
in their body, since a high acidity may also cause
various types of cancer:

Figure 3. pH values

Chlorinated water provided to the consumer by
Cisnadie Water Treatment Station has the highest level
of turbidity of all types of drinking water included in
table 6, therefore the highest concentration of fine
particles that may not be easily noticed, which however
may diffuse and reflect light when they are in
suspension; thus this type of drinking water has a
poorer quality than other types of water in the table:

Figure 4. Turbidity of drinking water samples

Chlorinated water from provided ot the consumer by
Cisnadie Water Treatment Station has the highest level
of nitrites of all types of drinking water included in
table 6, therefore it also has the highest toxicity
compared to the other ones. Consequently, this
reinforces the idea that this type of drinking water is
poorer that other types of water in the table:
47

Figure 5. Nitrites concentration
According to specialized studies, high concentrations
of chlorine entail organoleptic changes. Any deviation
of organoleptic indicators from health norms has
serious implications of consumers` psyche, whereas
water consumption free of any satisfaction will not
quench thirst.
Of all types of drinking water included in table 6,
the one provided by Cisnadie Water Treatment Station
has the highest level of residual chlorine, which makes
it poor in quality, as shown in fig. 6 and 7.

Figure 6. Residual chlorine concentration

Figure 7. Drinking water sample colour

An analysis the correlation among various quality
indicators of drinking water will provide details about
the quality of drinking water. Thus, according to table
7, the correlation coefficient between the indicators
calcium and magnesium concentration and residual
chlorine is -0.235 which indicates a negative
correlation, of low intensity, among the two indicators.
The increase of one indicators entails a diminishing of
the other one.

Table 7. Correlation coefficient between the indicators
calcium and magnesium concentration and residual
chlorine

According to table 8, the correlation coefficient
between residual chlorine and nitrites
concentration is 0.880 which shows a positive
correlation, of high intensity, between the two
indicators. The increase of one indicators entails, to a
great extent, an increase of the other one.
Table 8. Correlation coefficient between residual
chlorine and nitrites indicators

According to table 9, the correlation coefficient
between colour and turbidity indicators is 0.488
which shows a positive correlation, of moderate
intensity, between the two indicators. The increase of
one indicators entails a moderate impact on the
increase of the other one.
Table 9. Correlation coefficient between colour and
turbidity coefficients

48
B. Let us further proceed to approach the quality of
drinking water in table 6, by means of the multicriterial
optimization method. A multicriterial analysis enables
us to have a unified perspective of all types of drinking
water in Sibiu county, instead of a fragmented one,
distinct for the quality of each type of drinkig water.
1. We have selected the following criteria for the
types of drinking water:
C
1
= calcium and magnesium
concentration (DH
0
);
C
2
= pH(units);
C
3
= turbidity (NTU);
C
4
= nitrites (mg/l);
C
5
= residual chlorine (mg/l);
C
6
= colour (m
-1
).
2.We assume that the criteria relevance coefficients
are: k
1
=0,1, k
2
=0,3, k
3
=0,2, k
4
=0,2, k
5
=0,2, k
6
=0,1.
3.The types of drinking water subject to quality
multicriterial analysis are:
V
1
= chlorinated water provided to the consumer by
Cisnadie Water Treatment Station;
V
2
chlorinated water provided to the consumer by
Lunca Stezii Water Treatment Station;
V
3
Dumbrava Water Treatment Station;
V
4
Avrig Water Treatment Station.
The a
ij
inside the matrices in table 1 represent here a
product of the values assigned to the C
j
criterion on a
Likert scale from 1 to 5, i.e. N
i
(C
j
) and the k
j
relevance
coefficients. This product is calculated by the formula:
a
ij
= N
i
(C
j
)k
j
(5)
where i =1,2,3,4,5, j=1,2,3.
This is a subjective assessment of values and it is
determined by the expertise of the specialists in charge
of drinking water quality:

Table 10. Levels of N
i
(C
j
) values assigned to the C
j

criteria on a Likert scale from 1 to 5

The a
ij
elements are automatically calculated and
displayed byt he MicrosoftExcel software (fig.7):

Table 11.Decision matrix for the proposed

Based on decsion matrices in Tables 10 and 11, several
decision methods and criteria may be applied, scuh as
the mathematical hopemethod from utility theory,
which we have also employed in the present paper (see
also section 2).
In this respect, let us proceed to change all
consequences in utilities, in keeping with formula (2)
resulting in the data in table 12 by means of the
MicrosoftExcel software:

Table 12. Utility matrices for the proposed

We have calculated the synthetic utility for each type
of drinkig water, according to the formula (3), and
further to the synthetic utilities we have designed a new
matrix by means of MicrosoftExcel:
Table 13. Levels associated to the types of water in the
proposed multicriterial problem

To conclude, the final column shows that the
qualitative hierarchy of drinking water is:
1) V
4
chlorinated water provided to the
consumer by Avrig Water Treatment Station =
optimum version;
2) V
2
chlorinated water provided to the consumer
by Lunca tezii Water Treatment Station;
3) V
3
by Dumbrava Water Treatment Station;
4) V
1
by Cisndie Water Treatment Station;
49
We have applied the utility theory, similarly to section
2, and performed the model simulation by means of
MicrosoftExcel, in order to obtain the results given in
figure 7:

Figure 7. Simulation in MicrosoftExcel

The concluding remark shows that the V
4
alternative is
the optimum one, hence the V
4
type of drinking water
has the highest quality, given the circumstances that the
selection of a
ij
initial elements has been influenced by
the assessment and expertise of managers and
organizers.
1) V
4
2)V
2
3)V
3
4)V1
Should the value levels assigned to the V
i
i= 1,..,5
alternatives on a Likert scale form 1 to 5, in relation to
the C
j
j
), the k
j
relevance coefficients
and the occurrence probabilities of the p(S
h
) situation,
then the optimum alternative selected by means of the
multicriterial decision would be different.

Therefore,
its identification depends on estimates and the
managerial expertise in interpreting the problem data.
REFERENCES

[1]Cude, C.G., Oregon Water Quality Index A Tool
For Evaluating Water Quality Management
Effectiveness, Journal of the American Water
Resources Association, 37, 1,2001, pp. 125-137.
[2]Gurzau, A.E., Popovici, E., Pintea, A., Popa, O.,
Pop, C. & Dumitrascu, I., Quality of
Surface Water Sources from a Central
Transylvanian Area as a Possible Problem for
Human Security and PublicHealth, Carpathian
Journal of Earth and Environmental Sciences, 5,
2,2010, pp.119-126.
[3]Gler, C., Thyne, G.D., McCray, J.E. & Turner,
A.K., Evaluation of graphical and
multivariate statistical methods for
classification of water chemistry data,
Hydrogeology Journal, 10, 2002, pp.455474.
[4]Oprean, L., Poplcean, M., Georgescu, N.,
Monitorizarea nivelului de poluare
microbiologic a surselor de alimentare cu ap
ale municipiului Sibiu, Analele Societii
Naionale de Biologie Celular, Editura
Risoprint Cluj-Napoca, IX, 2, 2004, pp.333-338.
[5]Oprean, L., Poplcean, M., Georgescu, N.,
Monitorizarea bacteriologic a apei din
sursele de alimentare cu ap ale mun.Sibiu,
Analele Societii Naionale de Biologie
Celular, Editura Risoprint, Cluj-Napoca, X,
2005, pp.266-274
[6]Resteanu, C., MADM. Teorie i practic, ICI
Publishing Press, 2006,Bucureti(in romanian)
[7]Sanchez, E., Colmenarejo, M.F., Vicente, J.,
Rubio, A., Garca, M.G., Travieso, L. & Borja, R.,
Use of the water quality index and
dissolved oxygen deficit as simple indicators of
watersheds pollution, Ecological Indicators, 7,
2007, pp.315 328.
[8]Singha, K.P., Malika, A., Mohana, D.&Sinhab,
S., Multivariate statistical techniques for the
evaluation of spatial and temporal variations in
water quality of Gomti River (India)a case
study,Water Research, 38, 2004, pp.3980
3992.

50
Study of various configurations of hybrid PV/T
system

H. BEN CHEIKH EL HOCINE, M.MARIR-BENABBAS
Laboratory Modeling Renewable Energy Devices and Nanometric, Department of ELECTRONIC,
University CONSTANTINE 1, ALGERIA
Email: hanene_012009@hotmail.fr

Abstract in this study, an attempt has been made to evaluate
the theoretical performance and evaluation of a hybrid
PV/thermal (PV/T) collector based on dual heat extraction
operation a function of climatic and design parameters. On the
first hand, the different configurations of hybrid collectors are
considered for the present study which are defined as unglazed
PV/T air heaters, with and without tedlar, PVT hybrid water
collector, in the second hand two configurations with dual
extraction operation (water and air as heat removal fluid) are
presented which are defined as dual PV/T model with tedlar,
dual hybrid PV/T without tedlar. Analytical expressions for the
temperatures of solar cells, back surface of the module, outlet air,
and outlet water of those configurations have been derived.
Numerical computations have been carried out for composite
climate and the results for different configurations have been
compared. Our results clearly show the direct impact of various
parameters, in particular the solar radiation, ambient
temperature, mass flow rate on the variation of outlet and solar
cell of the collector.
Keywords- Hybrid solar system; solar photovoltaic thermal
(PV/T) collector; thermal performance; Performance analysis;
simulation.
I. INTRODUCTION
Recent hike in oil prices has resulted in strong stimulation
of research into renewable energy because such research can
make major contributions to the diversity and security of
energy supply, to the economic development and to the clean
local environment.
Renewable energy technologies currently supply 13.3% of
the worlds primary energy needs [1] and their future potential
depends on exploiting the resources that are available locally
and on overcoming the environmental challenges as well as
winning public acceptance. Various forms of renewable
energy depend primarily on incoming solar radiation, which
totals about 3.8 million EJ per year.
To improve the electrical performance of photovoltaic PV
generator, it was brought to recover the heat dissipated by
convection and conduction and when operating in a state of
'hot spots' and / or normal state [2], this led us to consider the
use of a conventional hybrid collector in order to operate an
electrical and thermal performance for both occupied the same
space.
A photovoltaic/thermal hybrid solar system (or PVT
system for simplicity) is a combination of photovoltaic (PV)
and solar thermal components/systems which produce both
electricity and heat from one integrated component or system.
The basic device of a PV system is the PV cell. Cells may be
grouped to form panels or arrays.
In the solar thermal system, external electrical energy is
required to circulate the working fluid through the system. On
the other hand, in the PV system, the electrical efficiency of
the system decreases rapidly as the PV module temperature
increases. Therefore, in order to achieve higher electrical
efficiency, the PV module should be cooled by removing the
heat in some way. In order to eliminate an external electrical
source and to cool the PV module, the PV module should be
combined with the solar air/water heater collector. This type
of system is called solar photovoltaic thermal (PV/T)
collector. The PV/T collector produces thermal and electrical
energy simultaneously.
A number of theoretical as well as experimental studies
have been made on (PV/T) systems with air and liquid as
working fluid. Kern and Russell [3] are the first who give
main concept of PV/T collector using water or air as the heat
removal fluid. Hendrie and Raghuraman [4] have made a
comparative experimental study on photovoltaic thermal
collectors with liquid and air as working fluid.
Tiwari and al. [5] have evaluated an overall thermal
efficiency of four configurations of PV/T solar air heating
systems. The methodology adopted for analyzing the unglazed
hybrid PV/T solar air collector by Tiwari et al. [6] has been
considered.
Nayak and al. [7] have studied the effect of evaporative
and conductive losses from the plant and floor respectively has
been considered to predict the performance of a particular
greenhouse in terms of various design and climatic
parameters. It have observed that the plant room air
temperatures are higher in the case of photovoltaic thermal
(PV/T) without airflow due to direct transfer of thermal energy
into the greenhouse. However, the overall thermal efficiency
of a hybrid photovoltaic thermal (PV/T) air collector is higher
due to low operating temperature.
Anand and al. [8] have studied the exergy efficiency of
unglazed PV/T air heating module for the cold and cloudy
51
condition of Srinagar. In his analysis an increase of about 2
3% exergy due to thermal energy in addition to its 12%
electrical outputs from PV/T system, this makes an overall
electrical efficiency of about 1415% of PV/T system.
Dubey and al. [9] have gives the detailed analysis of
overall annual energy and exergy gain from hybrid PV/T solar
water heating system. This system will increase the total
carbon emission reduction and overall carbon credit earned as
per the norms of Kyoto Protocol if it is integrated in a
building. They have derived the expression for temperature
dependent electrical efficiency considering glass to glass and
glass to tedlar type PV modules [10].
Dubey and al. [11] have derived the analytical
expressions for N hybrid photovoltaic/thermal (PV/T) air
collectors connected in series. The performance of collectors
is evaluated by considering the two different cases. Shows the
detailed analysis of energy, exergy and electrical energy by
varying the number of collectors and air velocity considering
four weather conditions and five different cities. It is found
that the collectors fully covered by PV module and air flows
below the absorber plate gives better results in terms of
thermal energy, electrical energy and exergy gain. Physical
implementation of BIPV system has also been evaluated.
Chow [12] has done a review on PV/T hybrid solar
technology especially PV/T air collector systems. His article
gives a review of the trend of development of the technology,
in particular the advancements in recent years and the future
work required.
Sarhaddi and al. [13] have studied the performance
evaluation of a PV/T air collector was carried out. A detailed
thermal and electrical model was developed to calculate the
thermal and electrical parameters of a typical PV/T air
collector. Some corrections were done on heat loss
coefficients in order to improve the thermal model of a PV/T
air collector and a better electrical model was used to increase
the calculations precision of PV/T air collector electrical
parameters.
Adnan and al. [14] have presented the state-of-the-art on
flat plate PV/T collector classification, design and
performance evaluation of water, air and combination of water
and/or air based. This review also covers the future
development of flat plate PV/T solar collector on building
integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) and building integrated
photovoltaic/thermal (BIPVT) applications. Different designs
feature and performance of flat plate PV/T solar collectors
have been compared and discussed.
Recently, Zondag [15] has carried out rigorous review on
PVthermal collector systems, carried out by various scientists
till 2006. His review included the history and importance of
photovoltaic hybrid system and its application in various
sectors. It also includes characteristics equations, study of
design parameters, and marketing, etc.
Teo and al. [16] have presented the comparison of the
electrical efficiency of the PV module with and without
cooling. By varying the air flow rate through the duct, the
electrical performance will also be investigated. In addition, a
simulation model is developed to examine the actual
temperature profile of Photovoltaic cell during operation.
Without active cooling, the temperature of the module was
high and solar cells can only achieve an efficiency of 89%.
However, when the module was operated under active cooling
condition, the temperature dropped significantly leading to an
increase in efficiency of solar cells to between 12% and 14%.
In this paper, an attempt has been made to evaluate the
performance of following configuration of hybrid PV/T
systems:
Unglazed hybrid PV/T air collector with tedlar,
(Model I), Fig. 1(i),
Unglazed hybrid PV/T air collector without tedlar,
(Model II), Fig. 1(ii),
PVT hybrid water collector, Fig. 2.
Dual PV/T model with tedlar, (Model III), Fig. 3(i
1
),
Dual hybrid PV/T without tedlar, (Model IV), Fig. 3(i
2
)

II. THERMAL ANALYSIS OF PV/T AIR COLLECTOR
Fig. 1 shows the cross-sectional view of a PV/T air
collector for two configurations. its equivalent thermal
resistant circuit and the energy balance equation for each
component of a PV/T air collector gives the thermal
parameters and thermal efficiency of a PV/T air collector are
developed by [5,13]

Figure 1. (i) The cross-sectional view of a PV/T air collector with tedlar
(Model I), (ii) without tedlar (Model II).
A. For the case of PV/T with Tedlar
The energy balance for a PV panel under a steady state
condition can be given as:
(1)
The energy balance for absorber can be written as:
(2)
The outlet temperature is calculated by

(3)
()
eff
is the effective transmittance , it was calculated by
(4)
52
The value of the transmissionabsorption factor is inserted
into the corresponding thermal-yield model.
The useful collected heat of the air flow is given by the
Equation:

(5)
Where and C
air
, are respectively, the mass flow rate and
specific heat capacity of the coolant, (wL) the collector
aperture area, T
fin
and T
fout
the coolant temperatures at the
inlet and outlet, U
L
is the overall heat loss coefficient, itmay
be computed by using the concept of thermal network and is
given by [13].
With
(6)
The cell efficiency represented as a function of the module
temperature. [17]
(7)
Where the
0
is the reference efficiency of the solar cell at
T
ref
=25C which is in our study 12%.
Replacing equations (2), (4) in equation (1), and
substituting it in (7), the temperature of the photovoltaic panel
may be written as :
(8)
Where

The expressions for X
1
, X
2
, X
3
, and X
4
suggest that these
should be constant. It can be noted that a linear relationship
exists between the temperature of the PV panel (T
cell
) and
electrical efficiency (
el
). For constant value of solar radiation
(G), the electrical efficiency of the system can be expressed
as:
(9)
If Y
1
, Y
2
are constant values, then the variation of electrical
efficiency (
el
) of the system with T
a
and T
fi
should give a
plane.
B. For the case of PV/T without Tedlar:
In the case of PV/T without Tedlar the energy balance for a
PV panel under a steady state condition can be given as:
(10)
The effective transmittance in the case of PV/T without
Tedlar is defined as follows:
(11)
The useful collected heat of the air flow in this case is the
same as that given by equation (5).
With
(12)
The value of U
L
in this case is given by [5].
The temperature of the photovoltaic panel in this case is
similar as wrinting in equation (8).
with :

C. PV/T hybrid water collector
The concept of hybrid photovoltaic-thermal collector
consists of superimposing both electrical and thermal energy
functions. It is characterized by a combination sandwich
between air and water. The lower face is isolated and does not
absorber.
Figure 2 presents a description of a PV-T collector using
water as coolant.

Fig. 2. Descriptive scheme for a solar photovoltaic thermal (PV/T) water
collector
The set of equations constituting the balance of power is
presented in the as follows, taking into account energy losses
by conduction, convection, and radiation:
(13
(14)
(15)
(16)

53
Using flow relations Released fluid / temperature [18], and
the calculation of the flow of convective heat Q
water
, one
exchanged between the internal glass at T
gi
working fluid at
T
f,water
on the hand , and the flux Q
water
, exchanged between the
module PV at T
cell
and the working fluid (water) on the other
hand, one can derive the temperature profile of the fluid in the
collector.

(17)

The sum of these two fluxes gives the amount of useful
energy recovered by the fluid in this case water.

x
(18)
The efficiency is defined as the amount of useful energy
produced divided by the amount of solar energy received by
the collector.
(19)
Details of the calculation of transfer coefficients in the
different layers will be repeating in the next section.
(20)
Between the glass/panel PV and water [19], the convective
heat transfer coefficient h
f,water
is calculated according to the
flow regime and the Nusselt number, was chosen Nu2=5.385
[20].
D. Hybrid PV/T system with dual extraction operation
In this section we will combine the two collectors studied
previously for a new hybrid PV/T with dual heat extraction
operation
In the present paper we propose a new PV/T system design
based on dual heat extraction operation, an attempt has been
made to evaluate an overall thermal and electrical efficiency
of two configurations ; hybrid PV/T with and without tedlar.
Fig. 3 shows the cross-sectional view of a dual PV/T model
for the two configurations. The thermal circuit diagram of
each model has been show in fig. 4.

Figure. 3. (i1) The cross-sectional view for dual PV/T model with tedlar
(Model III), (i2) without tedlar (Model IV).

Figure. 4. Thermal resistance circuit diagramfor dual PV/T collector
(Model III).

The network determines the losses of the collector as
convection and radiation. The top is represents the ambient
with a temperature T
a
. The second temperature is the cover
temperature; there is radiative loss due to the temperature
difference between the cover and ambient and convection due
to wind. Losses from glass internal to cover external is
through expressed as the sum of the convective losses due to
the radiation and natural convection. A radiative loss exists
from the cell to the cover. The conductive resistance term
L
si
/K
si
has been added to conductive heat transfer coefficient
from solar cell to flowing air through tedlar. The convective
heat transfer coefficient inside the air duct (h
f,air
) and inside the
water duct (h
f,water
) are calculated according to flow regime
and its Nusselt number. The back plate of the collector has a
temperature T
bp ,
this causes convection and conduction that
depends on the thickness and quality of the isolation lossed to
the ambient T
a
.
54
In this research the overall heat transfer coefficient is
variable. It includes all of conduction, convection and
radiation losses from the dual PV/T collector to the
atmosphere.
1 ) Thermal balance:
The PVTh is a complex system that involves coupling of
heat transfer between the various elements constituting it.
Balance equations show the parameters that describe the
geometry of the system, the nature of the flow of the water and
the ambient air, losses by convection and radiation. The
accuracy of the model depends strongly of these parameters.
The thermal energy balance equations for the different
nodes of this collector are as follows:

(21)
(22)
(23
(24)
(25)
Solving this system of equations we can reach value of
different temperature: T
ge
, T
gi
, T
fout,water
, T
cell
, T
abs
, T
fout,air
,
this resolution allows us to characterize the prototype power.
The radiative heat transfer coefficient term (h
rad,ve-sky
) has
been added to overall heat transfer coefficient from glass
external to ambient (U
1
). Further, the corresponding
coefficient of convective loss caused by the wind can be
calculated from equation (h
c,wind
).
(26)

(27)
(28)
Where V
w
is wind speed on the top surface of PV/T collector.
The effective temperature of the sky (T
sky
) is calculated from
the following empirical relation [21]:
(29)
rad,ge-gi
) has been
added to convective heat transfer coefficient between glass
external and glass internal (U
2
).
(30)
(31)
Natural convection heat transfer coefficient between glass
external and glass internal is given by the expression
(32)
The Nusselt number Nu calculated by using the following
correlation [21].
(33)
(34)
Otherwise (35)
G
r
is the Grashof number defined by
(36)
: is being the thermal dilatation, for the air
w
air:
duct depth of air .
T : Temperature difference between the two plans.
rad,gi-cell
) is given
by:
(37)
The conductive resistance term L
si
/K
si
has been added to
conductive heat transfer coefficient from solar cell to flowing
air through tedlar (U
T
).
(38)
The convective heat transfer coefficient inside the air duct
(h
f,air
) has been assumed as constant factor.
For air:
The convective heat flux exchanged between the plate
absorber at T
abs
and airflow at T
f,air
is defined as
(39)
The convective heat flux exchanged between the bottom of
the collector at Ta and airflow at T
f,air
has been calculated by:
(40)
The bottom loss coefficient is calculated by:
(41)
The useful collected heat of the air flow is given by [18]:
(42)
For water:
Heat flux transferred by convection to the working water
from the internal glass is defined as
(43)
The heat flux transferred by convection to the working
water from the photovoltaic module.
(44)
55
The outlet temperature and the useful collected heat of the
water flow are calculated by equation (17) and equation (18)
respectively.
In this way, a thermal efficiency is defined:
(45)
(46)
The electrical efficiency of solar cell depends on solar cell
temperature. First, is assumed equal to the electrical efficiency
at the reference conditions (
el
=
el,ref
=0.12). Then, the value
of T
ge
, T
gi
, T
cell
, T
fout,water
and T
f,out,air
are calculated from Eqs.
(21) (25), respectively. After finding the value of those
temperatures the electrical efficiency must be updated. The
electrical efficiency is updated by solving the electrical model
with T
cell
, T
a
and G as input data to the model. Iteration is
continued until the difference of electrical efficiency in two
successive iteration to be less than predefined tolerance.
III. PARAMETRIC STUDIES
The values of climatic, operating and design parameters in
the parametric studies of PV/T dual collector and the
parameters needed to plot the following figures have been
summarized given in Table 1.
The typical results of computer simulation program under the
sample conditions of Table 1, T
fin
=T
a
=300 K, V
in
=1 m/s, G
=1000 W/m
2
has been given in Table 2.
Table1. Ambient conditions and design used in simulations
Solar PV/T collector parameters Value
The solar radiation intensity at the reference
conditions, Gref
The ambient temperature at reference conditions,
Tamb,ref
The solar cell temperature at reference conditions,
Tcell,ref
The electrical efficiency at the reference conditions,
el,ref
The thickness of glass cover, Lg
The conductivity of glass cover, g
The transmittivity of glass cover, g
The absorptivity of glass, g
The emissivity of glass, v
The emissivity of cell, module, cell
The transmittivity of cell, module, cell
The absorptivity of cell, module, c
The thickness of silicon solar cell, Lsi
The conductivity of silicon solar cell, si
The absorptivity of tedlar, T
The thickness of tedlar, LT
The conductivity of tedlar, T
The thickness of back insulation, Li
The conductivity of back insulation, i
The length of duct, L
The width of PV/T collector, w
The packing factor of solar cell, c
The wind speed, Vw
water flow,

Collecteur angle,

The duct depth, air, wair
The duct depth, water, weau
1000 W/m
2

298 K

298 K

0.12

0.003 m
0.04 W/mK
0.9
0.066
0.88
0.95
0.87
0.9
300 x10
-6
m
0.039 W/mK
0.5
0.0005 m
0.033 W/mK
0.05 m
0.035 W/mK
1.22 m
0.855 m
0.83
1 m/s
76 m
3
/h
36
0.01 m
0.01 m
IV. RESULTAT AND DISCUSSION
Solving the system of equations governing the heat transfer
in the prototype allows estimate the thermal and electrical
performance of the prototype.
Eqs (21)-(25) of the thermal energy balance have been
computed by the Matlab program for the external temperature
of cover (T
ge
), internal temperature of glad (T
gi
), outlet water
temperature (T
f,water
), back surface of module (T
abs
), solar cell
(T
cell
) temperature and outlet air temperature (T
f,air
) in the
PV/T dual collector.
Increasing the solar radiation intensity, the solar cell and
outlet temperature of the various PVT-panels increases
initially and then decreases after attaining solar radiation
intensity of about a maximum point. The Hourly variation of
solar cell temperature, outlet air temperature and outlet water
temperature with time are displayed in Fig. 5, and Fig. 6. The
solar cell temperature and outlet air temperature in module
PV/T air with tedlar (Model I) is higher than the value for
(Model II) without tedlar.
Fig. 7 shows thermal efficiency variation at various PVT-
panels, these results are referred to thermal efficiency of water
th/w
in the mode of water heat exchanger, and air
th/a
heat
extraction for (model I) and (Model II), regarding the ration
T/G (KW
-1
m) is the reduced temperature, with T =T
i
-T
a

(K). The PV/T air collector without tedlar is obviously
performing poorest at zero reduced temperature and PVT
water collector represents a higher value.
From the presented results of Fig. 8 we can see that the
mode with water heat exchanger, presented a higher value
than the value for two other model. As the solar cell
temperature in the case of PV/T with tedlar is higher than the
value for (model II) consequently the electrical efficiency in
model without tedlar is higher than for (model I), because in
this case all the radiation is absorbed by the tedlar and then
heat is carried away by the conduction. So that the temperature
of the solar cell is higher, result in decrease in efficiency of
module.
The outlet temperature is linearly proportional to the
irradiation and ambient temperature, and it is displayed in Fig.
9 and Fig. 10. It seen that the outlet water temperature (T
f,water
)
is significantly higher than the outlet air temperature. The
outlet water temperature in Model III is higher than the value
for model IV.
The temperatures of solar cell for the two configurations of
dual PV/T collector are linearly proportional to the solar
radiation, as shown in Fig.11. It value is higher in the Model
III. The higher temperature occurs at solar cell, this is
attributed to the high absorption of solar irradiation in silicon
cell. Temperature of tedlar is higher than top glass.
The Fig. 12, Fig. 13 and Fig. 14 show the effect of
radiation intensity on the outlet temperature at various flow
rates, in two configuration of dual PVT model. The outlet
temperature is proportional to the radiation intensity at a
specific mass flow rate. It can see that at same solar radiation
the collector which operates at low flow rate will experience
high outlet temperature. It can see also that Model III presents
the high outlet temperature at low rate than the value for
Model IV.
56
8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
time hr
T
e
m
p
e
r
a
t
u
r
e

(
C
)

Tcell (Model I)
Tcell (Model II)
Tcell (water PVT)

Fig. 5. Hourly variation of solar cell temperature with time
8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17
25
30
35
40
45
50
55
60
T
e
m
p
e
r
a
t
u
r
e

(
C
)

Tfout (Model I)
Tfout (Model II)
Tfout (water PVT)

Fig. 6. Hourly variation of outlet temperature with time
0 0.005 0.01 0.015 0.02 0.025 0.03 0.035 0.04 0.045 0.05
0.1
0.15
0.2
0.25
0.3
0.35
0.4
0.45
0.5
0.55
0.6
[Tfin-Ta]/G
T
h
e
r
m
a
l
e
f
f
ic
ie
n
c
y

Model I
Model II
water PVT

Fig. 7. Thermal efficiency for the case of the various PVT-panels.
0 0.005 0.01 0.015 0.02 0.025 0.03 0.035 0.04 0.045 0.05
0.075
0.08
0.085
0.09
0.095
0.1
0.105
0.11
0.115
0.12
[Tfin-Ta]/G
E
le
c
t
r
ic
a
l
e
f
f
ic
ie
n
c
y

Model I
Model II
water PVT

Fig. 8. Electrical efficiency for the case of the various PVT-panels.
200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000
25
30
35
40
Irradiation (W/m)
T
e
m
p
e
r
a
t
u
r
e

(
C
)

Tfo-water(dual PV/T-Model IV)
Tfo-air(dual PV/T-Model IV)
Tfo-water(dual PV/T-Model III)
Tfo-air(dual PV/T-Model III)

Fig. 9. Variation of outlet temperatureof dual PV/T systems
with solar radiation
295 300 305 310 315 320 325 330 335
25
30
35
40
45
50
55
60
65
70
75
Ambient temperature (K)
T
e
m
p
e
r
a
t
u
r
e

(
C
)

Tfo-water(dual PV/T-Model IV)
Tfo-air(dual PV/T-Model IV)
Tfo-water(dual PV/T-Model III)
Tfo-air(dual PV/T-Model III)

Fig. 10. Variation of outlet temperature of dual PV/T system
with ambient temperature
200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
Irradiation (W/m)
T
e
m
p
e
r
a
t
u
r
e

(
C
)

Tcell(dual PV/T-Model IV)
Tcell(dual PV/T-Model III)

Fig. 11. Variation of solar cell temperature of dual PV/T system
with solar radiation
350 400 450 500 550 600 650 700 750
27
27.5
28
28.5
29
29.5
30
Irradiation (W/m)
T
f
o
-
w
a
t
e
r
(
d
u
a
l
P
V
/
T
-
M
o
d
e
l
I
V
)
(
C
)

0.05 kg/s
0.1 kg/s
0.15 kg/s
0.2 kg/s

Fig. 12. The effect of solar radiation on the water outlet temperature
of dual PV/T (Model IV) at various mass flow rate of water.
350 400 450 500 550 600 650 700 750
27
27.5
28
28.5
29
29.5
30
Irradiation (W/m)
T
f
o
-
w
a
t
e
r
(
d
u
a
l
P
V
/
T
-
M
o
d
e
l
I
I
I
)
(
C
)

0.05 kg/s
0.1 kg/s
0.15 kg/s
0.2 kg/s

of dual PV/T (Model III) at various mass flow rate of water.
57
350 400 450 500 550 600 650 700 750
27
27.5
28
28.5
29
29.5
30
Irradiation (W/m)
w
a
t
e
r

o
u
t
le
t

t
e
m
p
e
r
a
t
u
r
e

(
C
)

0.05kg/s (Model IV)
0.05kg/s (Model III)
0.2kg/s (Model IV)
0.2kg/s (Model III)

of two dual PV/T collector (Model III-Model IV)
at various mass flow rate of water
V. CONCLUSION
We have presented the different configurations of hybrid
collectors which are defined as unglazed PV/T air heaters,
with and without tedlar, PVT hybrid water collector. Further,
the two configurations with dual extraction operations (water
and air as heat removal fluid) are presented as dual PV/T
model with tedlar, dual hybrid PV/T without tedlar. The
simulation model can predict the system performance such
T
f,water ,
T
f,air ,
T
cell
for different solar radiation , different
ambient temperatures and different mass flow rates.
The results of different configurations have been
compared; these clearly show the direct impact of various
parameters, in particular the solar radiation, ambient
temperature, mass flow rate on the variation of outlet and solar
cell of the collector.
Both air and water can be used as the coolant in a PV
module to low down the solar cell operating temperature and
hence to improve the electricity conversion performance.
Comparatively, the water-based products are more effective
than those air-based because of the favourable thermal
properties of water.
The gotten results permit to say that the photovoltaic panel
is a calorific energy generator that can be exploited to heat
water or for the preheating of the space or again to associate it
with a heat pump for the air-conditioning.
REFERENCES
[1] Nobuyuki H. Renewable energy: RD & D priorities: insights fromIEA
technology programmes; 2006.
[2] H.Benis, M.Marir- Benabbas, Hot Spot Phenomena in Solar Modules,
International Review of Physics (IREPHY), ISSN 1971-680X, Vol.6 N.1
February 2012.
[3] Kern, E.C. and Russell, MC. Combined photovoltaic and thermal hybrid
collector system. Proceedings of 13
th
IEEE Photovoltaic Specialist. pp.
1153-1157. 1978.
[4] Hendrie S.D. and Raghuaraman P. Comparison of theory and experimental
for photovoltaic thermal performance Proceedings of 14
th
IEEE
Photovoltaic Specialist conference, San Diego. 1980.
[5] Arvind Tiwari, M.S. Sodha, Parametric study of various configurations of
hybrid PV/thermal air collector: Experimental validation of theoretical
model, Solar Energy Materials & Solar Cells 91 (2007) 17-28.
[6] Tiwari, M.S. Sodha, A. Chandra, J .C. J oshi, Sol. Energy Master. Sol.
Cells 90 (2) (2006) 175.
[7] Sujata Nayak and Arvind Tiwari , Performance Evaluation of an Integrated
Hybrid Photovoltaic Thermal (PV/T) Greenhouse System, International
J ournal of Agricultural Research 2(3):211-226,2007.
[8] Anand S.J oshi, Arvind Tiwari, Energy and exergy efficiencies of a hybrid
photovoltaic-thermal (PV/T) air collector, Renewable Energy 32 (2007)
2223-2241.
[9] Swapnil Dubey and G.N. Tiwari. Life Cycle Cost Analysis and Carbon
Credit Earned by Hybrid PV/T Solar Water Heater for Delhi Climatic
Conditions. OpenEnvironmental Sciences, 2008,2,15-25.
[10] Dubey S, Sandhu GS, Tiwari GN. Analytical expression for electrical
efficiency of PV/T hybrid air collector. Appl Energy 2009; 86(5):697
705.
[11] Swapnil Dubey, S.C. Solanki, Arvind Tiwari. Energy and exergy analysis
of PV/T air collectors connected in series. Energy and Buildings
41(2009)863-870.
[12] TT Chow. A review on photovoltaic/thermal hybrid solar technology.
Appl Energy 2010; 87: 36579.

[13] F. Sarhaddi, S. Farahat, H. Ajam, A. Behzadmehr, M. Mahdavi Adeli, An
improved thermal and electrical model for a solar photovoltaic thermal
(PV/T) air collector, Applied Energy 87 (2010) 23282339.
[14] Adnan Ibrahim, Mohd Yusof Othman, Mohd Hafidz Ruslan, Sohif Mat,
Kamaruzzaman Sopian, Recent advances in flat plate
photovoltaic/thermal (PV/T) solar collectors, Renewable and Sustainable
Energy Reviews 15 (2011) 352365.
[15] H.A. Zondag, Flat-plate PVThermal collectors and systems A review,
Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 12 (4) (2008) 891959.
[16] H.G. Teo , P.S. Lee, M.N.A. Hawlader, An active cooling system for
photovoltaic modules, Applied Energy 90 (2012) 309315.
[17] Florschuetz LW, on heat rejection fromterrestrial solar cell arrays with
sunlight concentration, IEEE Photovolt Spec Conf Rec Mater 1975:318
26.
[18] Yves J ANNOT, THERMIQUE SOLAIRE, 2011.
[19]Rapport de Stage, Pr-tude dun systme coupl
Photovoltaque/Thermique, Universite J oseph Fourier,2010.
[20] H.A. Zondaga , D.W. de Vriesa, W.G.J . van Heldenb, R.J .C. van
Zolingenc, a A.A. van Steenhoven, The yield of different combined PV-
thermal collector Designs, Solar Energy 74 (2003) 253269.
[21] J acques BERNARDS, Energie solaire Calculs et optimisation, Edition
Ellipses, Aot 2004 France.

58
Noise Reduction at the Fan Outlet
Karel Admek
1
, Jan Kol
1
, Petr Plpn
2
, Martin Pustka
2

1
Dept. of Simulations,
2
Dept. of Measuring
VUTS
Liberec, the Czech Republic

Abstract - The paper deals with numerical flow simulation in
the fan outlet of a large painting shop. The received results of
pressure fluctuations in numerical models are evaluated using
both frequency analysis of pressure fluctuations and measuring
and evaluation of a really operating system. From the conclusion
there is defined the hypothesis of noise origin and more, it is
proposed a more suitable design of the system without creation of
pressure fluctuations. The system is ready for implementation.
Keywords noise reduction; fan outlet; numerical flow
simulation;
I. INTRODUCTION
The paper deals with numerical flow simulation in the
outlet system of a large painting shop. The increased noise
level is spread into the surroundings. Several models were
used for the identification of noise sources.
The relatively simple geometry of the large volume of
about 100 m
3
consists from rectangular volumes made from
thin metallic sheets with a cylindrical outlet, see following
Fig. 1, 2, 3. Due to the high and quick volume flow, the walls
of the channel are vibrating and thundering, mostly in the
central horizontal part of the observed system. The aim of the
numerical flow modeling is to survey the pressure / velocity
fields in the system and to define the source of the noise.
II. RESOLUTION
A. Numerical model in general
The simple three-dimensional (3D) geometry is evident
from the following Fig. 1 to Fig. 3, where the longitudinal
plane of symmetry can be used. The rectangular inlet is
situated on the right side from below; the cylindrical outlet is
situated on the left side upwards. Both parts are connected by
a horizontal prismatic part. The defined pressure difference of
1000 Pa creates the inlet velocity, which corresponds well
with the real air flow of 58 m
3
/s in the real size of inlet cross-
section. The k- used standard commercial code for
incompressible ideal gas and model of turbulence.

B. Steady 3D solution - results
On both pressure and velocity fields, see Fig. 1 and Fig. 2, it is
visible that in the system with the rectangular changes of both
cross-sections and flow direction, there are present intensive
pressure and velocity gradients, the large areas of flow
separation with backflows etc., which could be the reason of
the pressure forces, causing the vibrations of the relative thin
structure of
Fig. 1 Pressure field steady 3D solution
Fig. 2 Velocity field steady 3D solution
Fig. 3 Streamlines steady 3D solution

59
air channels. Another view on the uneven flow field, there are
the streamlines in Fig. 3. Generally said, the cross-section of
the model volume is not fully filled by air flow.
The idealized evaluation of the results leads to significant
force effects the inlet velocity of 22 m/s represents the
momentum of about 1500 N and the impact power of such
flow reaches a value of about 30 kW respectively, idealized as
full impact effect. Of course, real flow is not fully stopped, so
such excessive values are the theoretically possible maximum,
only.

C. Unsteady solution harmonic analysis
From the following unsteady simulation, some pressure
fluctuations were detected in the selected points. Fig. 4 shows
pressure fluctuations, recorded in the centre on the wall of the
horizontal part of the system (the geometry see the previous
Fig. 1 to 3).
Fig. 4 Detected pressure fluctuations (time step of 2 ms)
The result of the frequency analysis of the recorded
pressure fluctuations is presented in Fig. 5. It is visible the
highest amplitude of 0,5 Pa approx. at the frequency of about
5 Hz, but it is not any audible frequency. Simply calculated,
on the large wall surface of 12 m
2
, made from a thin metallic
sheet, there acts the total pressure force of 6,5 N approx.
Excessively said, it looks like when on this sheet surface a 0,6
kg hammer is falling 5 times per second. It should be a really
intense noise! Of course, due to real stiffening by the channel
frame, the real force effect would be smaller.
Fig. 5 Frequency analysis of recorded pressure fluctuations
Fig. 6 Deformation of the thin sheet by constant pressure
The possible deformation of such a thin rectangular sheet,
loaded by uniform pressure, is shown in Fig. 6 boundary
conditions simplified as two sides free, two sides fixed and at
constant pressure value.
From the above presented results, the hypothesis was
determined that such primary low frequencies (pressure
fluctuations) of the flow, separated from walls of the
rectangular channel, could cause any secondary audible
vibrations of the thin metallic sheets, which could be further
amplified in the following outlet volume as in any trumpet.

D. A planar (2D) model with fine mesh
To be sure that the above observed pressure fluctuations
are not caused maybe by the relatively coarse mesh, used
in this large model, the next model was created in 2D, only,
but with the refined mesh and with boundary layers, too. The
results are very similar so that in Fig. 7 similar to Fig. 2, it is
presented the velocity field, only, as an example. Thus the
reason of the detected pressure fluctuations and subsequently
of generated sound frequencies, too, could be the flow
separation from the walls in the sharp changes of the flow
direction.
Fig. 7 Velocity field in the 2D model, fine mesh
Fig. 8 Pressure field around the rotating flap at the inlet

E. Simulation of the rotating fan rotor influence
The rotating blade wheel of the exhaust fan creates other
pressure fluctuations in the observed system. The generation
of such fluctuations was simply simulated as a flap, rotating in
the inlet cross-section of the previous model. As an

60
illustration, in Fig. 8 there is the pressure field around such
rotating flap in any random position.
The recorded pressure fluctuations are presented in Fig. 9
and the relevant result of the frequency analysis in Fig. 10.
The maximum amplitude at the frequency of 4,5 Hz approx.
remains the same as above (see Fig. 5), the next local
amplitude maximum at the frequency of about 43 Hz
corresponds with the fourth harmonic frequency of the
rotating blade wheel.
Fig. 9 Pressure fluctuations after the rotating flap (time step of 1 ms)
Fig. 10 Frequency analysis of pressure fluctuations after the rotating flap
Of course, the real rotating blade wheel could be
simulated, too, but for the representation of periodical inlet
excitations of the flow field the elementary rotating flap is
sufficient.

F. Field measurements
The results of the field measurements on the site [1] are
very similar to the above presented results of numerical flow
simulations. Measured in the air flow, the frequencies of 2,6
3,5 4,5 Hz were detected, depending on the actual position
of the measuring point. The measured values are very similar
to the above mentioned simulated values. It is hardly to get
any better coincidence because the exact fixation of the
pressure sensor in the strong air flow is difficult. And more,
the next detected frequencies are very expressive harmonic
multiples of the basic frequency 11,5 Hz of the rotating blade
wheel.
As an illustration, only, Fig. 11 presents the result of
harmonic analysis in one position of the pressure detector,
where the first amplitude maximum at the frequency of 4,5 Hz
corresponds with the basic pressure fluctuations found by
numeric simulation and the second amplitude maximum at the
frequency of 92,2 Hz is the eighth harmonic of the fan
rotation frequency etc. Other local amplitude maximums are
situated at frequencies approx. 45 66 - 88 Hz, corresponding
to other harmonic multiples of the basic rotational frequency
of 11 Hz.

III. NEW DESIGN
It is clear that for suppressing the above identified pressure
fluctuations it should be to improve the flow field in the
system. In other words, it is necessary to design and to use a
better shape of the exhaust channel, which complies better
with the natural image of the simulated flow field. In the
former channel of rectangular both cross-section and changes
of the flow direction, the flow fills only a part of the whole
cross-section, due to the large areas of the flow separation
from the wall just behind each of rectangular bends.
Fig. 12 Pressure field smooth shape
Fig. 13 Velocity field smooth shape
Fig. 14 Streamlines smooth shape
Using a smaller and circular cross-section, designed after

Fig. 11. Field measurement - record of frequency analysis

61
results of above presented simulations, the flow field becomes
smoother, practically without flow separation there are not
any sharp changes of the flow direction. For comparison with
Fig. 1 to Fig. 3, here, there are presented analogous Fig. 12 to
Fig. 14 the pressure field with typical maximum at the outer
diameter of the channel bend and minimum at the inner
diameter of each bend, the velocity field with typically inverse
values after the Bernoullis equation (maximum value at the
minimum radius and minimum value at the maximum radius)
and the streamlines, differed by color, well following the
channel shape without separation.
After the start-up period of simulation, the observed
pressure fluctuations are going practically to zero, see Fig. 15.
So it is possible to expect the flow field without pressure
fluctuations, given by the above mentioned strong flow
separation.
Fig. 15 Pressure fluctuations smooth shape (time step of 2 ms)

IV. CONCLUSION
The used standard method of numerical flow simulation,
here together with verification of results by frequency analysis
of recorded pressure fluctuations, gives a suitable guide how
to suppress the noise level spreading from the outlet of a fan in
the surroundings.
The results of the flow simulation show the possible
primary reason of the pressure fluctuations in the air flow,
probably subsequently modified into vibrations of thin
metallic structure, which are the secondary source of the noise,
spread into the surroundings. Pressure fluctuations of the air
flow, recorded in numerical models, are verified by real in situ
measurements. From the following data analysis it is evident a
good coincidence of both methods.
On the basis of the results of numerical flow modeling,
there are proposed some arrangements of the geometry
rounded transitions of cross-sections instead of former
rectangular ones. The resulting flow field does not show so
large pressure fluctuations, which are usually the source of the
increased noise level, particularly of the induced noise,
generated by the interaction of such disturbed flow with thin
metallic walls.
The presented study conserves the actual shape of the
system. On the basis of next survey it is clear that significant
shape modifications could be made, too, as for instance after
Fig. 16. An absolutely straight (vertical) duct, equipped by a
noise silencer at the outlet end, is designed as a labyrinth
and/or louvers and made as walls resistant to vibrations. Due
to the radial (horizontal) flowing in such a silencer, the
velocity value is decreasing so that the outlet value is a
fraction, only, of the inlet one.
Such solution is not only ecologic reduced noise level,
but economic, too simple shape. Generally said, an ecologic
solution without economic effect is not the right solution.

Fig. 16 Labyrinth as a noise silencer
In general, firstly, it should be used a pure technical
solution, presented in this paper. The used better shape could
suppress or remove the actual reason of the increased noise
level. And secondly, only, it should be used any additional
noise insulation of the existing system, in principle
characterized by some operational defects, leading to
increased noise level, as presented above.

REFERENCES
[1] M. Pustka and P. Plpn, Noise Emissions Reductions at the Outlet from
Painting Shop, report VTS Liberec, 2012, unpublished

62
Liu Hua is with college of Economics and Management, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and
Astronautics, Nanjing, China (e-mail: liuhua802901@nuaa.edu.cn)
Guan Ye-qing is now with college of Economics and Management, Nanjing University of
Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing, China (e-mail: nuaaynx@nuaa.edu.cn)
The analysis of total amount of energy
consumption and structure in China
Liu Hua, Guan Ye-qing
(School of Economics and Management
Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Nanjing 210016, China
liuhua802901@nuaa.edu.cn)
Abstract This paper built up GM(1,1) models
for energy production and consumption in China.
Then predicted and analyzed total amount of
energy production and consumption in China as
well as the structure of energy. The study
showed that GM(1,1) model can simulate and
predict the trend of the total amount of energy
consumption and the structure well. In the future,
the structure of energy consumption will be
optimized. The proportion of coal and oil will
decrease and the proportion of gas and
renewable energy sources will increase in order
to fill the gap.
Key Words energy; consumption structure;
GM(1,1)
I. INTRODUCTION
Energy is the fundamental material of
importance in human society. Each major
progress in human civilization accompanied with
improvement and replacement of energy. History
has proved that the reasonability of the structure
of energy consumption is a very important index
when measuring the development of economy in
one country or district. For a long time, the main
energy in China is coal and this results in some
problems such as greenhouse effect, acid rain
and other environment problems. So, on the
premise of keeping a rapid economic growth, it
is very important to adjust the structure of
energy consumption.
Researches on energy consumption at
home and abroad mainly focus on checking the
relationship of energy consumption and
economic development. Yu and Jin used the two
step E~G method put forward by Engle and
Granger, proving that there is not an obvious
long-term balanced co-integration relationship
with American quarterly data from 1974 to
1990[1]. Stern used co-integration equation of
static analysis and multivariate dynamic
co-integration analysis, finding that energy has a
notable effect in the change of GDP. Besides that,
he determined that there is an obvious long-term
co-integration equilibrium relationship of GDP,
capital, manpower and energy[2,3]. Wu studied
the change of the energy consumption in the
progress of urbanization in China[4].Lu built up
a complex system and studied energy
consumption in China using a combined
model[5]. Qi and Luo analyzed the economic
development and energy consumption in some
area, encouraged and guided that each area
should cooperate with each other according to
their main energy and energy efficiency and take
an energy saving sustainable balanced growth
way[6].Zhao studied the relationship of energy
consumption and carbon emission in
Shanghai[7].Wang used co-integration theory
and causality test to study the co-integration and
casual relationship of economic development
and electricity consumption[8].Guan used
structural dynamic model to study the rule of the
structure of energy consumption from 1990 to
2003[9].These above researches provided many
discussions for us to study how to improve the
structure of energy consumption. But there is
63
Liu Hua is with college of Economics and Management, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and
Astronautics, Nanjing, China (e-mail: liuhua802901@nuaa.edu.cn)
Guan Ye-qing is now with college of Economics and Management, Nanjing University of
Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing, China (e-mail: nuaaynx@nuaa.edu.cn)
few research that focuses on predicting the energy consumption and total amount from the
angle of numerical modeling. This paper used
grey model to predict total amount of energy
consumption and structure in China in order to
provide some references to the government.
II CURRENT SITUATION OF PRODUCTION
AND CONSUMPTION OF ENERGY IN
CHINA
As early as in 2004, China had become the
second largest energy consumer in the world,
accounting for about 11% of total world energy
consumption, second only to America. In 2008,
the total energy production in China has reached
2.6 billion tons of standard coal and China had
become the world's largest energy producer.
According to the latest statistics, China has
already surpassed America as the world's largest
emitter, about 21% of the world's emissions.
A. Large energy consumption, can't
self-sufficient
From 2004 to 2011, the amount of energy
production and consumption in China showed a
trend of slow growth. In 2011, the amount of
energy production reached 317987 ten thousand
tons of standard coal; the amount of energy
consumption reached 348002 ten thousand tons
of standard coal. And there is a gap in the energy
production and energy consumption, meaning
that China can't autarky. Table 1 provided the
total amount of energy production and energy
consumption in China from 2004 to 2011.
Table 1 Total amount of energy production and energy consumption in China from 2004 to 2011
(unit: ten thousand tons of standard coal)
Year 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
Energy
consumption
213456 235997 258676 280508 291448 306647 324939 348002
Energy
production
196648 216219 232167 247279 260552 274619 296916 317987
Analyze from economic development in
China from 2004 to 2011 we can find that the
growth of energy consumption and economic
development in China maintains highly
consistent on the whole. Correlation analysis
shows that the correlation coefficient of total
energy consumption and economic growth in
China is 96.97% from 2004 to 2011 (Seen in
Picture 1). We can find that economic
development pushes the demand of energy and
energy with an average of 7.26% growth prop up
an average of 16.86% economic growth in
China.
64

Picture 1 Relationship of energy consumption and economic development in China (2004-2011)
B. Low levels of energy consumption structure
Table 2 provided the structure of energy
consumption in China. From Table 2 we can see
that coal is the main energy in China, about 70%
these years. Oil accounts for about 20%. Coal
and oil account for about 90% of total energy
consumption and the proportion is decreasing. In
2004, they accounted for 90.8% and in 2011
87%; gas and other energies (mainly renewable
energies) accounted for a small proportion and
the proportion is increasing these years.
Table 2 Structure of energy consumption in China
Year 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
Coal 69.5 70.8 71.1 71.1 70.3 70.4 68 68.4
Oil 21.3 19.8 19.3 18.8 18.3 17.9 19 18.6
Gas 2.5 2.6 2.9 3.3 3.7 3.9 4.4 5
Other energies 6.7 6.8 6.7 6.8 7.7 7.8 8.6 8
C. Prospects for development of renewable
energy
Since the 1980s, wind power, solar energy,
biomass energy and such other technologies and
industries have been developing steadily with
the support of government. Small hydro, solar
water heater, small wind power and other
renewable energies technologies and industries
have been walking in the forefront of the world.
In addition, China has an abundant reserve of
renewable energy resources. More than
two-thirds of the total land area has rich solar
energy, radiation more than 600000 joules per
square centimeter, each year the earth's surface
absorbs solar energy equal to about 1.7 trillion
tons of standard coal of energy. Wind energy
resources in China is about 0.7~1.2 billion
kilowatt, and the wind energy can be developed
mainly focus on the land with land capacity
reach 1.4~2.4 trillion kilowatt hours. Current
available biomass resources are about 290
million tons, mainly is agricultural organic waste.
Hydropower resources that can be developed are
very rich, about 600 million kilowatt. The
exploitable hydropower that can be developed
are at least 500 million kilowatt or more and the
power can provide 2.5 trillion kilowatt hour.
Therefore, China has the conditions and
technology potential to develop the large scale of
renewable energy resource and this can provide
enough energy for the future development of
society and protection. We can do a lot to
develop and use renewable energy.
III PREDICTION OF ENERGY
CONSUMPTION IN CHINA
A. Progress of solving GM(1,1) model
65

Step 1: Sequence data acquisition; acquire
the nonnegative sequence
(0) (0) (0) (0)
( (1), (2), , ( )) X x x x n = ,
and
(0)
( ) 0, 1, 2, , x k k n = ;
Step 2: Sequence data accumulation
generation; accumulate
(0)
X and then we get
the accumulation generation
(1)
X
:
(1) (1) (1) (1)
( (1), (2), , ( )) X x x x n = ,
and
(1) (0)
1
( ) ( ), 1, 2, ,
k
i
x k x i k n
=
= =
;
Step 3: Mean sequence generation;
according to
(1)
X ; get its mean sequence
(1)
Z :

(1) (1) (1) (1)
( (2), (3), , ( )) Z z z z n = , and

(1) (1) (1)
1
( ) ( ( ) ( 1))
2
z k x k x k = + ,
2, 3, , k n =
Step 4: Parameter solution; if ( , )
T
a a b =
is parameter column, and
(0) (1)
(0) (1)
(0) (1)
(2) (2) 1
(3) (3) 1
,
( ) ( ) 1
x z
x z
Y B
x n z n

= =

Then the least squares estimate parameter
of GM(1,1) model
(0) (1)
( ) ( ) x k az k b + =
satisfies
1
( )
T T
a B B B Y
= .
Step 5: Time response function; according
to the result of step 1 to 4, solve the
winterization equation
(1)
(1)
d
d
x
ax b
t
+ = and
then we can get the time response function
(1) (1)
( ) ( (1) )e
at
b b
x t x
a a
= +
Step 6: Time response sequence; according
to step 5, we can get the time response sequence
(1) (0)
( 1) ( (1) )e
ak
b b
x k x
a a
+ = + ,
1, 2, , k n =
Step 7: Simulate and predict; according to
the result in step 6; we can get the simulation
function:
(0) (0)
( 1) (1 e )( (1) )e
a ak
b
x k x
a

+ = ,
1, 2, , k n =
B. Prediction of energy production and
consumption in China
Because total amount of energy
consumption in China and its increase are
influenced by economic development, structure
of energy, structure of industry and some other
factors while some factors are determined with
some undetermined, we can see it as a grey
system. We can build up the GM(1,1) model by
some data and grasp the change trend and rule of
the system, avoiding the defect of the lack of
data as well as the influence of personal
experience, cognition and preference. So, we can
use the method to predict total amount of energy
consumption in the future in China.
According to total amount of energy
consumption in China from 2004 to 2011 (seen
in Table 1), we build up the GM(1,1) model, and
then get 0.06 a = , 222087 b = .As a result,
we get the simulation function
66

(0) 0.06
( 1) 228008.86e
k
x k + = ,
1, 2, , k n =
Simulation result for detail can be seen in Table
3. And the average relative error is 0.95%.
Table 3 Simulation result of total amount of energy consumption in China (unit: ten thousand tons of
standard coal)
Year Original value Simulation value Relative error
2004 213456 213456 0
2005 235997 242165 2.61%
2006 258676 257201 0.57%
2007 280508 273170 2.62%
2008 291448 290130 0.45%
2009 306647 308144 0.49%
2010 324939 327276 0.72%
2011 348002 347596 0.12%
According to total amount of energy production in China from 2004 to 2011 (seen in
Table 1), we build up the GM(1,1) model,
and then get 0.063 a = , 197351 b = . As a
result, we get the simulation function
(0) 0.063
( 1) 203266.26e
k
x k + = ,
1, 2, , k n =
Simulation result for detail can be seen in Table 4. And the average relative error is 0.51%.
Table 4 Simulation result of total amount of energy production in China (unit: ten thousand tons of
standard coal)
Year Original value Simulation value Relative error
2004 196648 196648 0
2005 216219 216475 0.12%
2006 232167 230542 0.70%
2007 247279 245523 0.71%
2008 260552 261477 0.36%
2009 274619 278468 1.40%
2010 296916 296564 0.12%
2011 317987 315835 0.68%
According to the simulation result, the
average relative errors of energy consumption
and production are separately 0.95% and 0.51%,
showing that the simulation results are well. We
can predict based on this, the total amount of
energy consumption in China will keep
increasing, the amount will reach 442299 ten
thousand tons of standard coal in 2015. In the
same time, the total amount of energy production
will also keep increasing and will reach 406282
ten thousand tons of standard coal in 2015.
IV PREDICTION OF ENERGY STRUCTURE
IN CHINA
According to the proportion of energy
structure in Table 2, we can build up GM(1,1)
models for coal, oil ,gas and other energies and
get their time sequence response function:
(0) 0.0072
( 1) 72.034e ; 1, 2, ,
k
x k k n + = =
(0) 0.0098
( 1) 19.5657e ; 1, 2, ,
k
x k k n + = =
67

(0) 0.1055
( 1) 2.3611e ; 1, 2, ,
k
x k k n + = =

(0) 0.0399
( 1) 6.3609e ; 1, 2, ,
k
x k k n + = =

According to the functions, we can predict
the proportions of the energies from 2012 to
2015, Table 5 provides this for detail.
Table 5 Proportions of energies from 2012 to 2015
energy
year
coal oil gas other energies
2012 66.11% 17.39% 5.50% 10.27%
2013 65.64% 17.22% 6.10% 10.68%
2014 65.17% 17.05% 6.80% 11.12%
2015 64.71% 16.88% 7.50% 11.57%
68

From the result, we can see that the
proportions of coal and oil are decreasing while
gas and other energies are increasing, showing
China is developing clear energy vigorously.
V CONCLUSIONS AND DISCUSSIONS
(1) This paper builds up GM(1,1) models
for energy production and consumption in China
and then use the models to simulate and predict.
The study shows GM(1,1) models can simulate
and predict the total amount of energy
production and consumption in China well.
(2) This paper builds up GM(1,1) model for
the proportion of each energy, and then predict
the change trend of the proportion of energy
consumption. In the future, the proportions of
coal and oil will keep decreasing while gas and
other energy will increase.
(3) In order to realize the prediction result
and improve the structure of energy consumption,
China should implement energy conservation
and emissions reduction and sustainable
development actively, and develop gas and
renewable energies while decreasing the
proportion of coal and oil.
REFERENCES
[1] Yu Eden S, Jang C. Jin, Co integration Tests
of Energy Consumption, Income and
employment. Resources and Energy, 1992, 14(3):
259-266.
[2] Stern D.I., Energy Use and Economic
Growth in the USA: a Multivariate Approach,
Energy Economics, 1993, 15(1): 137-150.
[3] Stern D.I., A Multivariate Co integration
Analysis of the Role of Energy in the US Macro
economy, Energy Economics, 2000, 22(2):
267-283.
[4] Q.S. Wu, J.H. Cheng, H. Wang, Change of
Energy Consumption with the Process of
Industrialization in China [J].China Industrial
Economy, 2005,(04):30-37.
[5] Lu Q, Gu P L, Qiu S M. The Construction
and Application of Combination Forecasting
Model in Chinese Energy Consumption System
[J]. Systems Engineering-Theory & Practice,
2003,23(03):24-30.
[6] Lu Q, Gu P L, Qiu S M. The Construction
and Application of Combination Forecasting
Model in Chinese Energy Consumption System
[J]. Systems Engineering-Theory & Practice,
2003,23(03):24-30.
[7] Zhao M, Zhang W G, Yu L Z. Carbon
Emissions from Energy Consumption in
Shanghai City [J]. Research of Environmental
Sciences, 2009,22(08):984-989.
[8] Wang H P, Tian P, Jin P. The Study of the
Relationship Between China's Energy
Consumption and Economics Growth Based on
Time Varying Parameter Model [J].Application
of Statistics and Management,
2006,25(3):253-258.
[9] Guan W H, Gu C L, Lin Z S. Study on the
Change of Energy Consumption Structure in
China [J]. Journal of Natural Resources, 2006,
21(3):401-407.

69
Nonlinear Friction and Resistance, Generating
Sources of Optimal Points in the Energy Field of
Agricultural Aggregates Working Process

Petru Crdei
Computer engineering
INMA
Bucharest, Romania
petru_cardei@yahoo.com
Alexandros Alexiou
Faculty of Mechanics
University of Craiova
Craiova, Romania
alexiou72@gmail.com
Mircea Bdescu
Faculty of Mechanics
University of Craiova
Craiova, Romania
badescu.mircea@gmail.com
Valentin Vladu
Scientific Director
INMA
Bucharest, Romania
valentin_vladut@yahoo.com
Nicolae Constantin
Soil Laboratory
INMA
Bucharest, Romania
nicu.constantin@yahoo.com
Eugen Marin
Soil Laboratory
INMA
Bucharest, Romania
marin_43@yahoo.com

Abstract The paper presents a point of view on the main
sources that can generate some optimal points in the energy field
of the agricultural machines working processes. It looks like a
possible source of the existence of optimal points in the energetic
field of work processes of agricultural machinery and equipment,
are the coefficients of friction and specific resistance to
deformation of soil. In the news models these coefficients became
nonlinear functions. Similar forms are given for all three
coefficients and is shown the existence of optimal points. They
make some considerations about this method and include results
obtained using it.
Keywords- Optimization, Energy Field, Nonlinear
Frictions, Nonlinear Resistances
I. INTRODUCTION
The problem of optimal calculation of the energy of
agriculture aggregates working process is a problem addressed
since the first half of the twentieth century. The problem is
even more in actuality, the more energy resources crisis has
deepened and overlapped over the environmental crisis
(environmental pollution caused by emissions generated by
the fossil fuel consumption and mechanical pollution of the
soil), and financial.
Saving energy and financial resources have become major
objectives in the context of the demand for agricultural
products increases, taking in consideration global population
growth.
According to [6], the energy balance sheet is a balance
sheet regarding to the sources and energy consumption,
including losses in a system or a power plant. The power
balance sheet, after [6] is an equilibrium relation developed to
the motor shaft of a vehicle, tractor, etc.. and the amount of
powers consumed for displacement, performing useful
mechanical work and covering the losses.
Another important balance sheet is the traction balance
sheet, that, after [6] is an equilibrium relation of the external
forces which acting on the tractor or other traction vehicle,
designed on the rolling track surface. The traction balance
sheet allows the determination of the tractor working
conditions for the various areas and use conditions, as shown
in [5].
In [5], is also shows that, the traction balance sheet
analysis, both practically and theoretically points of view have
a great importance for optimization of the agricultural tractors
exploitation. In [1] it is shown that, the energy consumption in
agricultural works directly depends on the aggregates working
capacity.
For this reason, the ability to work comes in optimization
models of the agricultural aggregates working processes.
Besides, [1] is entirely dedicated to optimization problems
of energy consumption, but this consumption cannot be
70
optimized effectively, without taking into account a series of
problems strictly related to it and the needs of agricultural
exploitations: rational use of traction parameters of
agricultural tractors, rational forming of agricultural
aggregates, optimization of movement methods of agricultural
aggregates, correlation of mechanization technologies with
energy saving requirements, the introduction of automation in
the agricultural aggregates driving, optimization of parameters
regarding the agricultural machines and aggregates design.
Although, the problem of the agricultural aggregates
energy optimization has a considerable age, solutions
remained at the level of the optimal elementary calculus,
whose foundations were laid in the first decades of the second
half of the last century [1], [3], [4].
At this level, the introduction of some nonlinear
components in the structure of the traction resistance forces is
motivated only by getting some working speed functions, that
allow obtaining optimal points in the strict sense (either by
cancelling the first order derivatives, or by the method of
Lagranges multipliers).
From physical point of view, any interpretation of the new
nonlinear coefficients introduced has not been given, in order
to define the nonlinear terms (mostly second-degree terms in
travel speed). Against this background, our research comes to
fill this gap by introducing nonlinearities naturally, starting
from empirical motivations.
II. THE BASIC IDEA
The proposed idea is the innovative one in relation to the
literature studied. The point of view exposed starts from two
sources. The first source is supplied by the bibliography, that
address the part of aggregates energy optimization, [1], [3],
[4], which introduces, in order to find some optimal points in
the strict sense for the working process of the aggregates
designed for soil tillage, dependencies of the head resistance
of the second-degree terms in travel speed. The introduction of
these terms is made in the friction forces with the ground or
the composite ground with vegetal material (the composite
material) (stubble). The second source is [2], that largely
analyses the head resistance from theoretically and
experimentally points of view and is one of the few sources
that assert the presence of the second-degree terms in the
formula for the head resistance calculation.
There are many generalizations in the literature dedicated to
the phenomena of friction and resistance to deformation.
These generalizations are common in the bodys movement
physics in the air, e.g., [8].
Our comments and solutions are related less to the first source,
and are intimately related to the profound structure of the drag
forces proposed in [2] and accepted in most literature in the
field. Solidity of the assertions in [2] is based on experimental
facts, that the author mentions them. However, in [2] slips a
small inconsistency between the analytical structure of the
drag formula (formula (24'') :

2
( )
t m
F G kab abv = + + , (1)
and the graphical representation of Fig. 64 from the same
source [2]. The author [2] mentions that, the "formula (24'')
shows that, by varying the speed and keeping other factors
constant, the traction force required increases after a parabolic
law. In formula (1) F
t
is the resistance force due to machine,
is the coefficient of sliding friction of the machine to the
ground, G
m
is the towed vehicle weight, k is a coefficient
characterizing specific resistance to deformation of the soil, a
and b are the depth and the width of the towed farm
machinery, is a coefficient that depends on the active
surface of the body working, is the soil bulk density and v is
the aggregate velocity. Traction force necessary to move the
tractor's own is:

a t
F fG = , (2)

where F
a
is the force necessary for tractor move, f is the
friction coefficient tractor wheels running on the ground and
G
t
is tractor weight.
Multiple determinations of the traction force made by
Goreacikin also confirm in principle this situation, as
evidenced by the data represented in Fig. 64, which shows the
variation of the F
t
force according to speed, in case has
ploughed at the same depth a field with (k) specific resistance
constant to different speeds. It is true that, this increase is quite
low, indicating a low value of the last term of the relation
(24''), compared with values of other terms.

The small inadvertence I have mentioned it between the
formula (1), respectively (24'') from [2] and the graph in Fig.
64 from the same [2], consists in that, some parabolas from the
graphic representation have the point of minimum for a
positive speed, while the formula (1) has the point of
minimum exactly for the null value of the speed.
Therefore, the shape (1) of the drag force is susceptible to
improvements, if the data in Fig. 1 represents the experimental
data.
As inspiration source in order to improve the formula [2], it
seems at least, an important solution, a suggestion that comes
from the study of the friction forces from the source [7].

Fig. 1 Drag force dependence of speed, after [2].
71

Fig. 2 Friction force speed dependence, after [12].

Schematic shapes of the speed dependence of the friction
forces occur in [7] and are presented by this paper in Fig. 2.
What will be new in this paper is the generalization of the
dependence of working speed, both of the wheels rolling
friction force on the ground (encouraged by [7]) and the
resistance coefficient at soil deformation, which thus becomes
a function of speed of the working body in the soil. Other
sources in support of the proposed changes are: [9], [10], [11],
[12], [13], [14]. Therefore, it proposes the following
dependence formula for the friction coefficients:

2 2
0 1 2 0 1 2
( ) , ( ) f v f f v f v v v v = + + = + + , (3)
respectively, for the resistance coefficient to the soil
deformation:

2
0 1 2
( ) k v k k v k v = + + , (4)
Coefficients of quadratic functions (3) and (4) relate to the
important points on the charts and become:

2 1 0 0 1
0 2
2 1 0 0 1
0 2
2 1 0 0 1
0 2
( ) 2 ,
( ) 2 ,
( ) 2
f f
k k
f f f f
f v f v v
v v
v v v
v v
k k k k
k v k v v
v v

= + +

= + +

= + +
(5)
where f
0
, f
1
, v
f
,
0
,
1
, v
, k
0
, k
1
, v
k
, are coefficients of friction
and resistance functions.
If it is known experimental data, the newly introduced
coefficients can be calculated using interpolation methods, e.g.
the method of the least squares.
With the relations (5) the general shape of the drag force to
traction (hook force) from a machine to seedbed preparation or
soil tillage, generally becomes:

2
( ) ( ) ( )
t m
F v v G k v ab abv = + + , (6)
or explaining the relations (5):
0 0
1 0 1 0
2 0 1 0 1
2 2
( )
2
t m
m
k
m
k
F v G k ab
k k
G ab v
v v
k k
G ab ab v
v v
= + +
| |

+ + + |
|
\
| |

|
+ + +
|
\
, (7)

Fig. 3. The variations with speed of the friction
coefficients, the resistance coefficient to
deformation and the traction resistance force.

Similarly, adding to (7) the necessary force for the tractor self
displacement, (2), it obtains the total force consumed by the
tractor in order to displacement in work of the aggregate.
0 0 0
1 0 1 0 1 0
2 0 1 0 1 0 1
2 2 2
( )
2
T t m
t m
f k
t m
f k
F v f G G k ab
f f k k
G G ab v
v v v
f f k k
G G ab ab v
v v v
= + + +
| |

| + + + +
|
\
| |

|
+ + + +
|
|
\
,(8)
It is noted that, if f
1
=f
0
=f,
1
=
0
=, k
1
=k
0
=k, we obtain the law
(1). Also, if the speeds of the points of minimum of the three
coefficients depending on the v variable are very high, even if
the equalities mentioned before do not occur, but these
72
differences are negligible in comparison with the speeds of the
points of minimum, the law (8) is reduced to (1).
One can advance the hypothesis that all or at least a part of
the coefficients involved in defining the functions (3) - (5) may
depend on other soil characteristics: moisture, chemical
composition, content of gravel, sand, etc.
III. MINIMIZING TOTAL FORCE NECESSARY WORKFLOW
The total force needed is a component of aggregate dynamics
intimately involved in energy unit. Starting from this force is
calculated required power, then energy to the aggregate
carrying workflow. Is found by simply differentiating with
respect to speed, the force necessary to conduct the trial, (8),
has a minimum point with coordinates:

( )
1 0 1 0 1 0
,
min
0 1 0 1 0 1
2 2 2
0 1 0 1 0 1
min
2 2 2
2
1 0 1 0 1 0
0 0 0
0 1
f f k k
G G ab
t m
v v v
f k
v
f f k k
G G ab ab
t m
v v v
f k
f f k k
F G G ab ab
T t m
v v v
f k
f f k k
f G G k ab G G ab
t m t m
v v v
f k
f f
v
f

+ +
=

+ + +
| |
|
= + + +
|
|
\
(
| |

(
| + + + +
(
|
( \

1
0 1 0 1
2 2 2
k k
G G ab ab
t m
v v
k
| |

|
+ + +
|
|
\
, (9)

The existence of the minimum point of the force is
transferred power and energy. Optimal coordinates of the
power and energy may differ from the force.
IV. MINIMIZING ENERGY
Starting from total drag force, (8), and the aggregate
velocity is calculated the required power for the working
process. Power is integrated over time and obtains the energy
needed to get the process. This calculation, simplified (consider
piecewise constant speed, working process, v, turning speed, v
i
,
idle speed, v
g
), is described in [16], [17], [18], [19] and [20]. In
this way is obtains, for example, a complex tillage aggregate,
the energy consumption following the next expression:
2
( , , ) ( ) ( ) ( )
1 ( )( ) 1 ( )( )
i g t m
i t m i g t m s
E v v v f v G k v ab v G abv
C C
L f v G G l f v G G L
b b
( = + + +

| | | | ( (
+ + + + + +
| |
( (
\ \

, (10)
where L and C are the plot length and width and b is the
operating width of the aggregate. In formula (10) the parameter
L
s
is the length of the of path that runs for repairing the
dislevelments. Thus, the energy consumed in the process
becomes a function of three variables: v, v
i
and v
g
. The
functions f, and k are given in (5). Then any energy
extremum points (10), are found by solving the system of
equations:
0, 0, 0
i g
E E E
v v v

= = =

. (11)
Performing derivatives, is obtains the system:
2 0,
0,
0.
t m
i
g
df dk d
G ab G abv
dv dv dv
df
dv
df
dv
+ + + =
=
=
, (12)
with the solution:

0 1 0 1 0 1
0 1 0 1 0 1
2 2 2
,
,
.
f k
t m
f k
opt
t m
iopt f
gopt f
f f k k
G ab G
v v v
v
f f k k
G ab G ab
v v v
v v
v v

+ +
=

+ + +
=
=

. (13)

(13) are the coordinates of the optimal point that minimize the
energy. To obtain a measure of the energy performance
independent of the surface worked, is can to work with the
energy consumed per unit of area:

( , , )
( , , )
1
i g
s i g
E v v v
E v v v
C
Lb
b
=
| | (
+
|
(
\
. (14)

Optimal energy point coordinates (14) are the same as the
energy (13). Only the optimal energy value is changes.
For example, in the case of A 1800 tractor BI-PLAN 700
combiner unit, characterized by the constants: =0.1193
(tractor slip), k
0
=31500 Pa, k
1
=30500, v
k
= 1.5 m/s, =1000
kg/m
3
, f
0
=0.2, f
1
=0.17, v
f
=1.78,
0
=0.5,
1
= 0.4, v
=1.7 m/s,
=2, m
m
=3950 kg (roller), m
t
=10200 kg,
tr
=0.98, c=0.85,
a=0.18 m, b=7.0 m, P
e
=147.2 kW, is obtains the next optimum
coordinates points: v= 1.018 m/s, v
i
= 1.78 m/s, v
g
= 1.78 m/s. In
these condition the productivity is W= 1.956 ha per hour.
The specific surface energy variation (14) around the optimal
working point, depending on v and the v
i
, is represented in fig.
4.
73

V. CONCLUSIONS
Research conducted in the obtaining of possible physical
causes of optimal working points in the agricultural machinery
business processes whose results are described in this article
marks a border area.
Now the physical causes of the existence of optimal points in
these work processes are at least partially substantiated. Other
versions may differ only in the form of linear laws, not by
physical fundamentals that define (i.e. coefficients of friction
and resistance involved in the process).
The existence of optimal points is not ensured by the idea
used. Nonlinear coefficients laws that define dependence
variables involved in the nonlinear terms in speed, depending
on the soil characteristics. One of the main soil characteristics
involved in the process, is moisture. Depending on the soil
characteristics, optimal working points may exist or not, or it
is possible to transform the points of minimum in point of
maximum. Optimal points coordinates can be slightly
modified depending on the physical characteristics of the soil.
The connection between the nonlinear coefficients law and the
soil physical characteristics remains a challenge at this level.
We have no experimental data to formulate these laws and
their formulation cannot be done without a considerable
amount of experience.
Research developed based on the results presented in this
article has allowed obtaining optimal working processes of
agricultural aggregates. Energy domain of these processes is
the space defined by energy consumption, fuel and working
capacity. All results presented in this article, including the
aforementioned consequences will be considered true only
after experimental confirmation. Therefore the results
presented in this article are only the beginning of a long and
difficult road, which should clarify not only in agricultural
aggregates optimize work processes, but also the physical
relations between variables involved in this process.

REFERENCES
[1] A. Sandru, M. Badescu, L. Sandru, Reducing energy consumption
through rational use of agricultural aggregates, Romanian Writing
Publishing, Craiova, 1982.
[2] N. N. Letosnev, Agricultural Machinery, State Agro-Forestry Publishing
House, Bucharest, 1959.
[3] C. Dobrescu, Optimization of parameters of the agricultural aggregates
to reduce energy consumption, Editorial propaganda agricultural
machinery, Bucharest, 1981.
[4] A. Sandru, S. Popescu, I. Cristea, V. Neculiasa, Exploitation of
agricultural machinery, Didactic and Pedagogic Publishing House,
Bucharest, 1983.
[5] D. Toma, T. Neagu, I. Florescu, S. Lepi, Agricultural Tractors,
Didactic and Pedagogic Publishing House, Bucharest, 1978.
[6] . Cproiu, V. Scripnic, M. Segrceanu, D. Toma & all, Dictionary of
agricultural mechanics, CERES Publishing House, Bucharest 1972.
[7] F., J. Elmer, Nonlinear dynamics of dry friction, J. Phys. A:Math. Gen.
30 (1997) 6057-6063.
[8] M. Rdoi, E. Deciu, Mechanics, . Didactic and Pedagogic Publishing
House, Bucharest, 1981.
[9] M. Urbakh, J. Klafter, D. Gourdon and J. Israelachvili, The nonlinear
nature of friction, Nature, vol. 430, 2004 , pp. 525-528.
[10] M. Vaishya and R. Singh, Sliding friction-induced non-linearity and
parametric effects in gear dynamics, Journal of Sound and Vibration,
248(4), 2001, pp. 671-694.
[11] L.,R.Ray, Nonlinear Tire Force Estimation and Road Friction
Identification: Simulation and Experiments, Automatica, vo. 33, issue
10, 1997, pp. 1819-1833.
[12] C. Makkar, Nonlinear modelling, identification, and compensation for
frictional disturbances, A thesis presented to the graduate school of the
University of Florida in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the
degree of master of science, University of Florida, 2006.
[13] T., A. Shugar, Numerical modelling of steady-state plo/soil interaction,
Technical Report TR-2081-SHR, Naval Facilitiues Engineering Service,
Port Hueneme, California 93043-4370, 1997.
[14] W., R. Gill, Soil Dynamics in Tillage and Traction, Agricultural
Research Service USDA, 1968.
[15] U. A. Rosa, D. Wulfsohn, Constitutive model for high speed tillage
using narrow tools, Journal of Terramechanics 36, pp. 221-234, 1999.
[16] V. A. Meca, P. Crdei, Studies and Researches for Unifying the
Resistance Expression of machines Designed to Soil Tillage With
Applications in the Working Regime Optimisation, INMATEH, vol. 36,
pp. 21-26, 1/2012.
[17] P. Crdei, A. Meca, G. Kostandinov, Soil farm machinery mode of
operation:from the optimisation to the basis (1), INMATEH, vol. 37,
pp.13-20, 2012.
[18] P. Crdei, G. Kostandinov, Soil farm machinery mode of operation:from
the optimisation to the basis (2), INMATEH, vol. 37, pp. 21-30, 2012;
[19] P. Cardei, R. Sfru , I. Pirn, M. Bdescu, S. Boruz, S. Lazar, Studies
and researches on energetic optimisation of fodder harvesting
combines-unidimensional models, INMATEH, vol. 38, pp. 5-14, 2012.
[20] P. Cardei, R. Sfru , I. Pirn, M. Bdescu, S. Boruz, At. Atanasov,
Studies and researches on energetic optimisation of fodder harvesting
combines-two idimensional models, INMATEH, vol. 38, pp. 15-22,
2012.

Fig. 4 The variation of the specific surface energy of the
A1800- BI-PLAN 700 combiner aggregate, on v and v
i

around the optimal point.
74
ECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF A PUMPED STORAGE PROJECT FOR IRAN
GENERATING SYSTEM BASED ON A DYNAMIC MODELING

A.R. Sohrabi
Tavanir Co.Iran

Abstract-This paper proposes a dynamic model for
evaluation of a Pumped Storage Project (PSP) . The
optimal expansion policy is determined by considering
different alternatives (Types of units: Rodbar
PSP(RPSP), Steam Turbine , 2 types of Gas Turbine
and a Combined Cycle) . Based on this model dynamic
assessment of different alternatives (over a 20 years
period and with a target Loss Of Load Probability
(LOLP)) provides economic justification for RPSP.

Key words : Pumped Storage - Generating System -
Economic Analysis

I. INTRODUCTION

A new Dam construction Program in Rodbar-e-
Lorestan area raised a series of questions: mainly is
there an economic justification for construction of a
PSP in The mentioned area ? If the answer is positive
then what capacity is an optimal choice,?

Two types of assessment is carried out:
1. Dynamic assessment , 2. Static assessment .
In this paper only results of dynamic assessment is
presented. Dynamic programming has many advantages
over the enumeration scheme, the chief advantage being
reduction in the dimensionality of the problem [1] .In
dynamic assessment, PSP is evaluated accounting for
total generating system . Then it is necessary to
determine not only PSP and other candidate units
parameters but also parameters of other units within the
total generating system . On the other hand an accurate
load forecasting for study period (20 years) must be
done and necessary constraints as LOLP rate , fuel
limitations(natural gas) for thermal units in cold season ,
limitations on dams seasonal energy , and so on also are
taken in to consideration .

Three different categories of units are considered in this
assessment : existing , under construction and finally
candidate units .
Only candidate units based on optimal procedure will be
selected (in type and quantity) by model , excluding
RPSP that is unique in each case .

There is no other hydroelectric alternative candidate
(Excluding RPSP) this is because these types of units
are not selectable as unlimited numbers and existences
of these units depend on topology of country and each
one must be evaluated separately ( like RPSP) .
Nine cases are generated for 9 steps of RPSP capacity
(0,250,500,.,2000 Mw) it is because as a final
assessment we need also to determine optimal RPSP
capacity .

As mentioned before other selectable candidates are
defined for model as below:

1. Steam Turbine 325Mw , 2. Base Gas Turbine
130Mw, 3. Peak Gas Turbine 130Mw , 4. Combined
Cycle 400Mw .

II. INPUT DATA PREPARATION

The dynamic modeling is performed by using WASP
IV (Wien Automatic System Planning )[2], This model
consists of six following main modules :

Loadsy Fixsys -Varsys Congen Mersim - Dynpro
(Dynamic Programming optimization )
In fact dynamic programming finally performed by last
module and almost others act as input data preparation
for this block .

In this section all necessary data , mathematical
relations and a brief descriptions of calculation
procedure is presented in short .

In first step based on the historical load data , peak load
values are forecasted for the period of time under
study.It is also assumed that Load Duration Curves
(LDCs) have the same shape for similar seasons .

A sample of Normalized Load Duration Curve (NLDC)
with 31 points for each season is shown in Table 1 .
Model uses a fourier approximation for LDC to
calculate necessary energy of system in each period .In
next step data for fixed generating system consisting of
existing , under construction and also for candidate
units are determined .
75

The data depending on unit type have a wide variety ,
for example :

Power capacity , Fixed and variable operating and
maintenance cost are determined based on Ref [3].

Force Outage Rate (FOR) is calculated based on Ref[4].

Base Load Heat Rate (BLHR) (or Heat rate at minimum
operating level) for thermal units can be driven based
on following formula:

BLHR =
e1
8 . 859
[kcal/kwh] (1)

And for Full Load Heat Rate ( FLHR) we have :

FLHR =
e2
8 . 859
[kcal/kwh] (2)

Then Average Incremental Heat Rate (AIHR) can be
calculated as below :

AIHR =
P P
P P
base full
base full
BLHR FLHR
* *
(3)

Where
e1
,
e2
,
Pbase
,
Pfull
respectively are unit
efficiencies and power capacities at minimum and
maximum operating levels .

See Table.2 for existing and Table.3 for candidate units'
data.

following abbreviations are used :
Min Operating Level (MOL),Max Generating Capacity
(MGC) , Force Outage Rate (FOR) , Scheduled
Maintenance (SM) , Foreign Fuel Cost (FFC) , Fixed
O&M Cost (FOMC) , Variable O&M Cost (VOMC) ,
Table .1 : Sample of NLDC points for
Year 2004 period 2: Summer (part of data)
NO Load Duration
1 1.0000 0.0000
2 0.9851 0.0077
3 0.9701 0.0158

26 0.6266 0.9181
27 0.6117 0.9410
28 0.5967 0.9594
29 0.5818 0.9747
30 0.5668 0.9881
31 0.5519 1.0000
Table .2
Sample of existing units main data
No 1
Power Plant Name Tabs
Type ST
Number of Units 2
MOL[Mw] 225
MGC[Mw] 300
Fuel Type 3
BLHR[kcal/kwh] 2235
AIHR[kcal/kwh] 2271
FOR[%] 17.1
SM[ Days/Year] 59
FFC[C/million kcals] 546
FOMC[$/kw-month] 0.125
VOMC[$/Mwh] 0.213
Table .3
Candidate units main data
No 1 2 3 4
Candidate Name S325 G13P G13B CC40
Type ST GT GT CC
MOL[Mw] 163 0.1 65 200
MGC[Mw] 325 130 130 400
Fuel Type 3 4 4 4
BLHR[kcal/kwh] 2330 2507 3140 1857
AIHR[kcal/kwh] 2137 2507 1875 1583
FOR[%] 7.8 6.12 6.12 6.74
SM[ Days /Year] 56 40 40 43
FFC[C/million kcals] 546 621 621 621
FOMC[$/kw-month] 0.3034 0.0892 0.0892 0.1392
VOMC[$/Mwh] 0.3935 0.8773 0.8773 0.6134
DCC:1.Domestic[$/Kw], 230.3 137.7 137.7 198.8
2.Foreign[$/Kw] 501.2 200.2 200.2 316.2
IDCC [%] 19.21 15 15 30
Plant Life[years] 30 15 15 30
CT[years] 5 2 2 4

Description Fuel Type:
Heavy Fuel Oil(HFO) 1
Gas Oil 2
5+1 3
5+2 4
Natural Gas(NG) 5
76
Depreciable Capital Cost (DCC),Interest During
Construction included in capital Cost (IDCC)
Construction Time(CT) , Steam( ST),Gas Turbine(GT) ,
Combined Cycle (CC)

DCC is divided in two parts : 1. Domestic DCC, 2.
Foreign DCC.

Transmission line losses and Transfer costs for RPSP
also are included in model .

Inflow energy is determined for hydro plants as
seasonally . An annual target for LOLP equal 1 day per
year is selected . For RPSP we have also following
exclusive parameters :

Cycle efficiency , Pumping capacity and Max feasible
energy[5] that are given in Table .4 .

III. DYNAMIC MODELING

Basically this dynamic model is designed to find
economically optimal expansion policy for an electric
utility system within user specified constrains . Model
searches for the optimal scheme by using the forward
dynamic programming algorithms . When some of the
configuration schemes have been ruled out as infeasible
with respect to reliability indices , model search for the
minimum cost path in the rest of the schemes from the
planning start year to the level year . Suppose that there
are 100 feasible configuration schemes in the final year
of planning . Model finds the minimum cost in the 100
minimum cost paths . The searching process is shown in
Fig .1 .

Some of the feasible schemes in year K and year k+1
are shown in this figure . The cost of every scheme is
determined by the minimum cost path from the
beginning to the end of the planning year . when
calculating the cost from the feasible scheme B in year
k to the feasible scheme A in year k+1 , discount
conversion should be made on the investment from B to
A and the operational cost of A and add on to the cost
of B . The same method is used for the other schemes
C,D,E,F to A . Thus the minimum cost path to scheme
A is found and retained while the other paths to A are
waived since the other paths cannot form the optimal
scheme according to the basic principles of dynamic
programming . When the same principle is applied to all
the feasible schemes in the year k+1 and the minimum
cost path is found , the computation turns from the year
k+1 to the year k+2 . The optimal planning scheme is
then the one with the minimum cost in all feasible
schemes' minimum cost paths in the final planning year
[6] .
Model utilizes probabilistic estimation of system
production costs, un served energy cost, and reliability,
linear programming technique for determining optimal
dispatch policy satisfying exogenous constraints on
environmental emissions, fuel availability and
electricity generation by some plants, and the dynamic
method of optimization for comparing the costs of
alternative system expansion policies.
The first step in apply the dynamic programming
method is to define the cost objective criteria[7] . Each
possible sequence of power units added to the system
(expansion plan or expansion policy) meeting the
constraints is evaluated by means of a cost function (the
objective function) which is composed of :
Capital investment costs (I), Salvage value of
investment costs (S), Fuel costs (F), Fuel inventory
costs (L), Non-fuel operation and maintenance costs
Table .4
RPSP Data (part of data)
MGC[Mw] 250 500 ----- 1750 2000
FOMC[$/kw-month] 0.39 0.39 ----- 0.39 0.39
Cycle Efficiency[%] 80 80 ----- 80 80
Max.Feasible
energy[Gwh]
137 237 ----- 958 1095
Plant Life[Years] 50 50 ----- 50 50
DCC: 1.Domestic[$/Kw] 229 237 ----- 256 271
2.Foreign [$/Kw] 118 120 ----- 127 134
CT[years] 4 4.5 ----- 7 7.5
B
C

D
E
F
A
Step K Step K+1
Fig.1 : Solution process of dynamic
programming
77
(M), Cost of the energy not served (O) , The cost
function to be evaluated by WASP can be represented
by the following expression[2]:

(4)

Where:

Bj is the objective function attached to the expansion
plan j, t is the time in years (1, 2, ... , T), T is the length
of the study period (total number of years), and the bar
over the symbols has the meaning of discounted values
to a reference date at a given discount rate i. The
optimal expansion plan is defined by: Minimum Bj
among all j [2] .

IV. MODELING RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS

A dynamic method has been proposed which can be
used to evaluate a PSP. Model is executed for 9 cases .
This is because there are 9 steps for RPSP capacity .
Results for case 8 (Capacity 1750 Mw) are given in
Tables 5, 6 .

As shown in Table .5 , firstly (1+) means model
is selected RPSP in first year of its availability ( 2011 )
and for achieving to a target LOLP ( 1 days per year =
0274% ) in an optimal expansion planning many units
from two other candidates also are selected ( Peak Gas
Turbine 13 and combined cycle 9 units in year 2011 )
and secondly (1+) defines that not only this type of
candidate is an economic unit but also model try to
select more than one unit but remember that PSP is
Unique in each one of cases .
Two other candidates ( Steam Turbine , Base Gas
Turbine) are rejected by model .

In Table .6 cost main quantities are shown . Table.7
shows all cases Cumulative Costs for last year of study
period (2023) .

A comparison has been made between the 9 mentioned
cases .With attention to Table.7 and also Fig.2 it can be
seen that without RPSP we have Maximum system
Cumulative Cost and for capacity of 1750 Mw system
Cumulative Cost will be at the lowest level . That means
this is optimal capacity for RPSP .
A sensitivity analysis on RPSP economic justification
with respect to its DCC shows that RPSP(1750 Mw)
uneconomic behavior begins at DCC# 520 [$/Kw] .

Table .5
Final results for case8 (RPSP Capacity=1750Mw)
Part I
Year LOLP ST
Peak
GT
CC
Base
GT
RPSP
%
325
MW
130
MW
400
MW
130
MW
1750
MW
2023 0.27 0 271 171 0 1+
2022 0.27 0 234 154 0 1+
2021 0.26 0 213 134 0 1+
2020 0.27 0 178 120 0 1+
2019 0.26 0 130 112 0 1+
2018 0.27 0 104 100 0 1+
2017 0.27 0 99 81 0 1+
2016 0.26 0 96 64 0 1+
2015 0.27 0 90 48 0 1+
2014 0.27 0 50 42 0 1+
2013 0.26 0 32 32 0 1+
2012 0.27 0 23 20 0 1+
2011 0.26 0 13 9 0 1+
2010 0.26 0 9 5 0 0
2009 0.11 0 0 0 0 0
2008 0.02 0 0 0 0 0
2007 0.01 0 0 0 0 0
2006 3.87 0 0 0 0 0
2005 6.73 0 0 0 0 0
2004 8.23 0 0 0 0 0
Table .6
Final results for case8 (RPSP Capacity =1750 Mw)
Part II
Year Construction Operating ENS Total Cumulative
costs Costs Costs Costs Costs
2023 838.4 1398.7 1.39 1487.0 43989.5
2022 906.9 1431.9 1.03 1607.2 42502.4
2021 874.8 1468.9 0.65 1719.6 40895.3
2020 817.5 1497.7 0.33 1809.8 39175.7
2019 865.2 1520.4 0.33 1894.9 37365.9
2018 1088.5 1554.9 0.66 2064.8 35470.9
2017 1052.6 1592.3 1.16 2141.8 33406.1
2016 1134.2 1635.3 1.75 2290.3 31264.3
2015 1049.1 1682.3 2.31 2415.6 28974.0
2014 1099.1 1694.3 2.43 2460.7 26558.4
2013 1216.0 1726.4 2.04 2593.9 24097.8
2012 1262.0 1753.4 1.21 2702.3 21503.8
2011 856.8 1781.7 1.03 2431.9 18801.6
2010 804.6 1807.8 1.45 2479.7 16369.7
2009 0.0 1838.3 0.73 1839.0 13890.0
2008 0.0 1938.5 0.23 1938.7 12051.0
2007 0.0 1972.7 0.14 1972.9 10112.3
2006 0.0 1964.0 321.41 2285.4 8139.4
2005 0.0 1952.0 809.03 2761.1 5854.0
2004 0.0 1986.4 1106.55 3093.0 3093.0
Cost unit : Million US $
] [
, , , , , ,
1
O M L F S I B t j t j t j t j t j t j
T
t
j
+ + + + =
=
78

As secondary results these conclusions can be found in
model output : Total consumption energy, Load factor,
Peak and minimum load, Annual system generated
energy based of fuel types and also by Hydro units
,Expected costs of operation & maintenance and Energy
Not Served (ENS) ,Capital cash flow summery of
candidates .
VI. REFERENCES

[1] Allen J.Wood , Bruce F.Wollenberg ,Power
Generation Operation & Control ,John Wiley &
Sons,1996,p121
[2] Wien Automatic System Planning (WASP) Package,
Version IV Users Manual , International Atomic
Energy Agency , 2000
[3] Economic information of Iran power plants, Tavanir
production planning Dep , 2004
[4] IEEE Standard definition for use in Reporting
Electric Generating Unit Reliability , Availability, and
Productivity , ANSI/IEEE 762 , 1987, p.15
[5] Technical report for Rodbar Pumped Storage
Project, ghodsniroo Consulting engineer Co, 2005
[6] X.Wang , J.R.McDonald , Modern Power System
Planning , McGraw-Hill Book Co., 1994, p.337
[7] Harry. G . Stoll , LeastCost electric Utility
Planning , john willy & sons inc , 1989 , p516

V. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors gratefully acknowledge The IAEA planning
and economic studies section for their useful
suggestions .

VII. BIOGRAPHY

Alireza Sohrabi was born in Iran in 1966 , he received
his B.Sc degree in Electrical Engineering (Power course
) from The Tehran University Faculty of Engineering in
1989 . He joined Iran Ministry of Energy in 1991 , at
present he is as production planning engineer in Tavanir
Co ( affiliated with Ministry of Energy ) .
His areas of interest are Power System Planning and
Reliability analysis .The author can be contacted at:
VallyAsr St , Higher than Vanak Sq ,Rashid Yasami St ,
Tavanir Blg 4 , production planning Dep ,Tehran , Iran ,
Tele: 0098-21-27935416 ,Fax: 0098-21-88644968
Email: sohrabi@Tavanir.org.ir

43960
43980
44000
44020
44040
44060
0 250 500 750 1000 1250 1500 1750 2000
Rodbar Pumped Storage Cap.
Fig .2 .Total Cumulative System Costs
M
i
l
l
i
o
n

$

Table .7
Cumulative System Costs for 9 steps of RPSP
Capacity
RPSP Cumulative System Cost for
Capacity [Mw] Year 2023[MillionUS $]
0 44046.0
250 44031.6
500 44025.5
750 44007.8
1000 44005.9
1250 44003.4
1500 43991.9
1750 43989.5
2000 43995.7
79
Anaerobic degradation of dairy wastewater in
intermittent UASB reactors: influence of effluent
recirculation

A. Silva, I. Capela, L. Arroja, H. Nadais*
CESAM & Environmental and Planning Department
University of Aveiro
3810-193-Aveiro, Portugal
nadais@ua.pt

Abstract This work studied the influence of effluent
recirculation upon the kinetics of anaerobic degradation of dairy
wastewater in intermittent UASB (Upflow Anaerobic Sludge
Bed) reactors. Several laboratory-scale tests were performed with
different organic loads in a UASB reactor inoculated with
flocculent sludge from an industrial wastewater treatment plant.
The data obtained were used for determination of specific
substrate removal rates and specific methane production rates
and adjusted to kinetic models. A high initial substrate removal
was observed in all tests due to adsorption of organic matter onto
the anaerobic biomass which was not accompanied by biological
substrate degradation as measured by methane production.
Initial methane production was about 45% of initial soluble and
colloidal substrate removal rate. This discrepancy was observed
mainly in the first day of all experiments and was attenuated in
the second day. Effluent recirculation raised significantly the rate
of removal of soluble and colloidal substrate and methane
productivity as compared to literature results for batch assays
without recirculation.
Keywords UASB reactor; dairy wastewater; feedless period;
effluent recirculation; kinetics
I. INTRODUCTION (Heading 1)
Presently Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Bed (UASB) reactors
face significant challenges in what concerns their applicability
for the treatment of complex lipid-rich wastewater of which
dairy wastewater is an example. As an option to overcome
operating problems verified in continuous systems studies
have been developed on the intermittent operation of UASB
reactors used for treating dairy wastewater [1, 2] or for
treating proteinaceous wastewater [3], slaughterhouse
wastewater [4], domestic wastewater [5] or olive mill
wastewater [6]. The beneficial effects of discontinuous
feeding of fatty substrates on anaerobic systems have also
been confirmed by Palatsi et al. [7]. The intermittent operation
is composed of a succession of feed and feedless periods
where a feed period followed by a feedless period forms an
intermittent cycle. During the feed periods high substrate
removal rates are achieved which are not accompanied by the
expected methane production, leading to heavy non degraded
substrate accumulation onto the biological biomass that
constitutes the UASB sludge bed. The feedless period is
crucial for the degradation of the complex substrates (fats and
long chain fatty acids LCFA) that accumulate in the biomass
during the feed period, mainly by adsorption mechanisms [1,
2, 6]. During the feed periods the intermittent UASB reactor
works as a continuous reactor and during the feedless periods
it works as a batch reactor. It has been shown that effluent
recirculation during the feedless periods of intermittent
operation are very beneficial for reactor performance
especially in terms of methane production [8].
Insights on what happens during the feedless periods are
important to understand the functioning of the intermittent
UASB systems. Literature presents several results for the
degradation of dairy wastewater in batch reactors. Yet if
effluent recirculation is applied during the feedless periods the
hydrodynamic conditions may significantly alter the COD
(Chemical Oxygen Demand) removal mechanisms and
subsequent biological degradation observed in feedless periods
of intermittent systems. The importance of the hydrodynamic
conditions is related to mass transfer mechanisms [9] and to
adsorption phenomena responsible for the major percentage of
initial COD removal from complex wastewaters in anaerobic
systems [10, 11]. In this framework this investigation aimed at
evaluating the influence of effluent recirculation on the kinetics
of dairy wastewater degradation in the feedless periods of
intermittent UASB operation.
II. MATERIALS AND METHODS
In this work a lab-scale UASB reactor was used with a
working volume of 6 litres topped with a gas-solid-liquid
separator and operated at mesophilic temperature (351 C) by
means of a water jacket connected to a thermostatic bath. The
UASB reactor is shown in Fig. 1. At the beginning of each test
the reactor was seeded with approximately 4 litres of
flocculent biomass adapted to dairy wastewater from an
industrial wastewater treatment plant.

80

Fig. 1. Laboratory-scale UASB reactor used in this work.

The feed was prepared from dilution of semi-skimmed milk
and supplementing with nutrients and alkalinity [1]. Table I
presents the composition of the milk used for preparing the
feed.

TABLE I. CHARACTERIZATION OF THE MILK USED FOR FEED
Parameter (g/L) Value
Proteins 32
Carbon hydrates 48
Total lipids 16
Saturated lipids 10
Calcium 1.2
COD 147.47
COD = Chemical Oxygen Demand.

The reactor was operated in a discontinuous mode where
the feed was pumped into the reactor and then the produced
effluent was recirculated, without any extra feeding, at
volumetric flow of 0.5 L/h. Table II presents the experimental
conditions for the five tests performed in this work.
TABLE II. EXPERIMENTAL SET-UP
Test Organic load
(g COD/L)
Biomass
(gVSS/L)
1 0.333 4.763
2 0.666 4.763
3 4.460 4.456
4 8.910 5.127
5 17.270 4.317

After recirculation started the monitoring plan was
implemented consisting of daily analysis of total COD, paper
filtered COD (CODpf), membrane filtered COD (CODmf),
total and volatile suspended solids (TSS and VSS), pH and
volatile fatty acids (VFA). Paper filtered COD samples
(CODpf) were prepared using paper filters with a pore
diameter of 1,2 m (Whatman Inc. Reeve Angel, grade 403,
4,7 cm). Membrane filtered COD samples (CODmf) were
prepared with membrane filters with a pore diameter of 0,45
m (Schleicher & Schuel Purabind, 4,7 cm). Membrane
filtered COD represents the soluble COD fraction whilst the
paper filtered COD represents the soluble and colloidal COD
fraction [4].
The produced biogas was measured by a water
displacement system. Methane content in biogas was
monitored using a gas chromatograph Shimadzu GC 9a,
equipped with a Supleco Molcular Sieve 5 A column and a
Thermal Conductivity Detector (T=100C). Injection
temperature was 45C and Helium was used as carrier gas
(P=4.4 kg/cm
2
). Volatile fatty acids determination was carried
out in a gas chromatograph Chrompack CP 9001 equipped with
a Chrompack CP sil5 CB column and a Flame Ionization
Detector (T=300C). The injection temperature was 270 C and
Helium was used as carrier gas with a volumetric flow of 8
ml/min.

III. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The profiles of CODpf, cumulative methane production,
removal of CODpf and methanization of removed CODpf
were obtained for all the tests performed. Figs. 2 to 5 present
results for the two higher loads tested (8.91 g/L and 17.27 g
COD/L).

0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
0 2 4 6 8 10
C
u
m
u
l
a
t
i
v
e

C
H
4

(
g
C
O
D
)
C
O
D
c
o
l
l
+
s
o
l

(
g
/
L
)
Time (days)
CODsol (g/L)
CODcoll+sol (g/L)
Cumulative CH4 (gCOD)

Fig. 2. COD and CH4 profile for test 4 (8.91 g COD/L).
81
0
50
100
150
200
250
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
20
0 5 10
C
u
m
u
l
a
t
i
v
e

C
H
4

(
g

C
O
D
)
C
O
D

(
g
/
L
)
Time (days)
CODsol (g/L)
CODcoll+sol (g/L)
Cumulative CH4 (gCOD)

Fig. 3. COD and CH4 profile for test 5 (17.27 g COD/L).
For all the organic loads tested a significant decrease in
CODpf was observed during the first day of the tests with 75%
- 90% CODpf removal for all the tests except the higher load
(only 43% CODpf removal in the first day). From the second
day onwards the CODpf values are approximately constant in
time except for the test with the higher load (17.27 g
COD/L.d) in which an important decrease of CODpf was
observed in the second day (Fig. 3). The values of volumetric
methane production present a tendency towards stabilization
only from the third day onwards for all the tests except for the
lower load (0.33 g COD/L.d, data not shown). With this lower
load the tendency to diminish the methane production was
observed only from the fifth day of the test (data not shown).

0
20
40
60
80
100
0 5 10
E
f
f
i
c
i
e
n
c
y

(
%
)
Time (days)
COD removal
Methanization

Fig. 4. COD removal and methanization efficiencies for test 4 (8.91 g
COD/L).
0
20
40
60
80
100
0 5 10
E
f
f
i
c
i
e
n
c
y

(
%
)
Time (days)
COD removal
Methanization

Fig. 5. COD removal and methanization efficiencies for test 5 (17.27 g
COD/L).
The evolution of the CODpf removal as a function of the
applied load (Fig. 6) shows that in the first and second days
the COD removal is very similar with exception of the higher
load. The additional COD removal in the second day is very
small in comparison with what was observed in the first day.
For the higher load by comparing the percentage removal
attained in the first and the second days it is possible to see
that not all the substrate is removed in the first day.
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
0 5 10 15 20
C
O
D

r
e
m
o
v
a
l

(
%
)
Load (g COD/L)
CODremoval (day1)
CODremoval (day1+day2)

Fig. 6. Evolution of COD removal with applied load..
A linear relation was found between the applied load and the
volumetric methane production obtained in the first day (Fig.
7) except for the higher load were a decrease in the relation
CH
4
/load was observed. This discrepancy is due to the fact
that not all the organic matter is available for the
microorganisms to degrade since it is adsorbed onto the
biomass particles, causing a lower methane production than
would be expected from the observed COD removal. These
results confirm the rapid adsorption of organic substrate onto
the biological sludge reported by Hwu [10] and by Nadais et
82
i
s
max
K
S
S
K
1
q
q
+ +
=
S K
s
+
=
max
q
q
al. [11]. Yet when correlating the total volume of CH
4

produced in the first and second days with the applied loads a
linear correlation is observed. Fig. 8 presents the values of
methanization percentage of the removed CODpf attained in
the first and in the second days of the tests as functions of the
applied loads. The differences observed in the methanization
of the removed substrate between the first and the second days
indicate that a part of the COD removed during the first day is
methanized only in the second day. This result is in
accordance of the proposed duration of two days for the
feedless period of intermittent operation of UASB reactors
treating dairy wastewater [1].
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
0 5 10 15 20
C
u
m
u
l
a
t
i
v
e

C
H
4

(
L
)
Load (gCOD/L)
CH4 (day1)
CH4 (day1+day2)

Fig. 7. Correlation between applied load and methane production .
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
0 5 10 15 20
M
e
t
h
a
n
i
z
a
t
i
o
n

(
%
)
Load (g COD/L)
Methanization (day1)
Methanization (day1+day2)

Fig. 8. Evolution of methane production with applied load.
The methane content in the produced biogas varied from 50%
to 90% for all the tests being higher by the end of each test.
The soluble COD fraction (CODmf) is the fraction available
for microorganism metabolism and is around 20% to 40% of
the CODpf (colloidal + soluble COD) in the beginning of tests
(see Figs. 2 and 3). In all the tests the average pH values
varied between 7 and 8 the lowest value reached being 6.5.
The VFA concentrations determined in all the tests never
surpassed 2 mg HAc/L, always being under the threshold
toxicity limit of 3 g HAc/L suggested by Malina and Pohland
[12]. As an example Fig. 9 presents the VFA profile for test 4
(load of 8.91 g COD/L), where it can be seen that a significant
percentage of the produced VFA is butyric acid, an
intermediate substrate related to the degradation of fatty
matter and LCFA in anaerobic systems [13].

0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
900
1000
1 2 3 6 7 8
A
c
i
d

(
m
g

C
O
D
/
L
)
Time (days)
N-caproic N-valeric
I-valeric N-butyric
I-butyric Propionic
Acetic

Fig. 9. VFA profile for test 4.
The specific CODcolloidal+soluble removal rates (qCODpf)
and the specific methane production rates (qCH
4
) were
obtained by the initial velocity method (t = 1 day) and were
adjusted to the Monod model (1) and to the uncompetitive
inhibition model or Haldane model (2), both described in [14].
The least squares method was applied and commercial
software, Scientist version 2.0 1994, was used, with an
integration method based on the Powell algorithm and initial
values search by the double simplex method. The quality of
the fitting was assessed by the coefficient of determination r
2
,
see Fig. 10 and Table III.

(1)

(2)

where: q is the specific substrate removal rate (g COD/g
VSS.d); q
max
is the maximum substrate specific removal rate
(g COD/g VSS.d); K
s
is the half-velocity constant (g/L), K
i
is
the Haldane inhibition constant (g/L) and S is the substrate
concentration (g/L).
According to the values of r
2
the model that provided a better
fit of the experimental data was the Monod model. The
specific rate of methane production (qCH
4
) is approximately
45% of the specific CODpf removal rate (see Fig. 11) which is
83
justified by the fact that this rates were calculated using the
initial velocity method (t = 1 day) and there is a lag between
initial COD removal and methane production.

0,0
0,2
0,4
0,6
0,8
1,0
1,2
1,4
1,6
1,8
2,0
0 5 10 15 20
q

(
g
C
O
D
/
g
V
S
S
.
d
)
Load (gCOD/L)
qCH4 (experimental) qCODpf (experimental)
qCH4-Monod qCODpf-Monod

Fig. 10. Fitting of experimental data to the Monod model.
y = 0,4518x + 0,0053
R = 0,9899
0
0,1
0,2
0,3
0,4
0,5
0,6
0,7
0,8
0,9
1
0 0,5 1 1,5 2
q
C
H
4

(
g
/
g
.
d
)
qCODcoll+sol (g/g.d)

Fig. 11. Relation between specific COD removal rate and specific methane
production rate..
TABLE III. KINETIC PARAMETRES
Parameter CODpf
1)
CH
4

1)
CODpf
2)

q
max
3.044 1.1750 2.4
K
s
9.9323 6.7140 9.6
r
2
0.9941 0.9866 0.9974
1) This work; 2) Reference [15].

Fig. 12 and Table III present a comparison of the specific
COD removal rates obtained in this work and those obtained
in batch reactors with no recirculation with a biomass content
of 5 g VSS/L [15]. It can be seen that for loads above 5 g
COD/L recirculation improves the COD removal rate in about
30% for tests performed with the same VSS content compared
to the results with no recirculation. This means that the
recirculation of the treated effluent and the hydrodynamic
conditions have a significant beneficial influence upon the
kinetics of the degradation process in discontinuous anaerobic
systems.
0,00
0,50
1,00
1,50
2,00
0 5 10 15 20 25
q
C
O
D

(
g
/
g
.
d
)
Load (g COD/L)
qCOD (this work)
qCOD (5 g VSS/L)[15]

Fig. 12. Comparison of data from this work and from literature [15].
Figs. 13 and 14 present the COD balances for tests 4 (organic
load of 8.91 g COD/L) and for a test performed in similar
conditions but with no effluent recirculation performed with
an organic load of 9 g COD/L and 5 g VSS/L, [1].
Surprisingly it can be seen that methane production is more
rapid in the test with no recirculation. Yet initial adsorption
(retained COD) is more pronounced in the test with effluent
recirculation probably due to a more complete contact
between the substrate and the biomass. Although initial
adsorption is higher with effluent recirculation also the
substrate degradation is higher for this condition leading to
higher methanization efficiency.
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
C
O
D

(
%
)
Time (days)
Retained
Coll+SNA
VFA
Methane

Fig. 13. COD balance for test 4 (8.91 g COD/L); coll = colloidal, SNA =
soluble not acidified.
84
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
C
O
D

(
%
)
Time (days)
Retained
Coll+SNA
VFA
Methane

Fig. 14. COD balance for a batch test without recirculation with a load of 9 g
COD/L and 5 g VSS/L (adapted from [15]); coll = colloidal, SNA = soluble
not acidified.
These results are in agreement with what was reported
by Nadais et al. [8], that observed an improvement of
intermittent UASB reactor performance when effluent
recirculation was applied during the feedless periods.
(methanization raised to 95% as compared to 80-88% attained
with no effluent recirculation).
The results obtained in this work also suggest that for
organic loads above 10 g COD/L the feedless periods of
intermittent operation should be longer than the feed periods as
has been suggested by Coelho et al. [2]. On the other hand it
was observed that the monitoring of high rate reactors treating
complex fat containing wastewater based on the COD of the
produced effluent may be misleading in what concerns the real
biological degradation [16, 17].
IV. CONCLUSIONS
In laboratory experiments of UASB reactors with total effluent
recirculation treating dairy wastewater there is a rapid COD
removal in the first day of the tests, evidenced by the decrease
in CODcolloidal+soluble, which removal is not followed by a
biological degradation evidenced by CH
4
production. This is
due to adsorption of the organic matter onto the surface of the
biological sludge since adsorption is faster than biological
degradation. The CH
4
specific production rate, calculated by
the initial velocity method (t=1 day) was about 45% of the
specific CODcolloidal+soluble removal rate. This confirms
that the monitoring of high rate reactors based on the COD of
the liquid phase may be misleading [16, 17]. The discrepancy
between the initial COD removal and the CH
4
production was
observed mostly in the first day of the tests fading on the
second day which suggests that a period for intermittency in
UASB reactors should be higher than one day and possible
two days.
In what concerns the influence of the hydrodynamic
conditions upon the behavior of high rate reactors treating
milk wastewaters it can be said that effluent recirculation
during feedless periods improved significantly (up to 30%) the
specific CODcolloidal+soluble removal rate in comparison to
what was observed in classical batch reactors with no
recirculation. A more complete substrate degradation was also
observed with effluent recirculation.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
This work was performed with funding from FCT-Fundao
para a Cincia e Tecnologia, Portugal
(PTDC/AMB/65025/2006).

REFERENCES

[1] H. Nadais, I. Capela, L. Arroja, A. Duarte, Optimum cycle time for
intermittent UASB reactors treating dairy wastewater, Water Research,
vol. 39, no. 8, pp. 1511-1518, 2005.
[2] N. Coelho, A. Rodrigues, L. Arroja, I. Capela, Effect of non-feeding
period length on the intermittent operation of UASB reactors treating
dairy effluents. Biotechnology Bioengineering, vol. 96, no 2, pp. 244
249, 2007.
[3] M. Vias, C. Galain, M. Lois, Treatment of proteic wastewater in
continuous and intermittent UASB reactors,. VI International
Symposium on Anaerobic Digestion, So Paulo, Brazil, vol. 1, pp. 321-
327, 1991.
[4] S. Sayed, Anaerobic treatment of slaughterhouse wastewater using the
UASB process, Ph.D Thesis, Agricultural University of Wageningen,
Wageningen, The Netherlands, 1987.
[5] S. Sayed, and M. Fergala, Two-stage UASB concept for treatment of
domestic sewage including sludge stabilisation process, Water Science
and Technology, vol. 32, no 11, pp. 5563, 1995.
[6] M.R. Gonalves, J.C. Costa, I.P. Marques, M.M. Alves, Strategies for
lipids and phenolics degradation in the anaerobic treatment of olive mill
wastewater, Water Research, vol. 46, no 6, pp. 16841692, 2012.
[7] J. Palatsi, M. Laureni, M.V. Andrs, X. Flotats, H.B. Nielsen, I.
Angelidaki, Recovery strategies from long-chain fatty acids inhibition
in anaerobic thermophilic digestion of manure, Bioresource
Technology, vol. 100, no 20, pp. 45884596, 2009.
[8] H. Nadais, I. Capela, L. Arroja, Intermittent vs continuous operation of
upflow anaerobic sludge bed reactors for dairy wastewater and related
microbial changes, Water Sci. Technol., vol. 54, no 2, pp. 103109,
2006.
[9] M.A. Pereira, O.C. Pires, M, Mota, M.M., Alves, Anaerobic
biodegradation of oleic and palmytic acids: evidence of mass transfer
limitations caused by long chain fatty acid accumulation onto the
anaerobic sludge. Biotechnol. Bioeng., vol. 92, no 1, 15-23, 2005.
[10] C.S. Hwu, Enhancing anaerobic treatment of wastewaters containing
oleic acid, PhD thesis, Agricultural University of Wageningen,
Wageningen, The Netherlands, 1997.
[11] H. Nadais, I. Capela, L. Arroja, A. Duarte, Biosorption of milk
substrates onto anaerobic flocculent and granular sludge, Biotechnol.
Prog., vol. 19, pp. 10531055, 2003.
[12] J.E. Malina and F. Pohland, Design of anaerobic processes for the
treatment of industrial and municipal wastes, Technomic Publishing
Company, Inc. Lancaster, Pennsylvania, USA, 1992.
[13] G. Silvestre, A. Rodrguez-Abalde, B. Fernndez, X. Flotats, A.
Bonmat, Biomass adaptation over anaerobic co-digestion of sewage
sludge and trapped grease waste,Bioresource and Technology, vol. 102,
pp. 68306836, 2011.
[14] B. Desjardins and P. Lessard, Modlisation du procd de digestion
anarobie, Sciences et Techniques de L'eau, vol. 25, no 2, pp. 119-136,
1992.
[15] H. Nadais, I. Capela, L. Arroja, A.. Duarte, Kinetic analysis of
anaerobic degradation of dairy wastewater, Proc. 9
th
World Congress
on Anaerobic Digestion-2001, Antwerp, Belgium, 2-5 September, 203-
208, 2001.
[16] H. Nadais, Dairy wastewater treatment with intermittent UASB
reactors, Ph.D Thesis, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal, 2002 (in
portuguese).
85
[17] J. Jeganathan, G. Nakhla, A. Bassi, Long-term performance of high-
rate anaerobic reactors for the treatment of oily wastewater, Environ.
Sci. Technol., vol. 40, pp. 64666472, 2006

86
Biological potentiality to remove organic solvents
from exhausted air emissions

Giovanni Cortella
DIEG Dipartimento di Ingegneria Elettrica,
Gestionale e Meccanica
Universit degli Studi di Udine
Udine, Italy

Marcello Civilini
DIAL - Dipartimento di Scienze degli Alimenti
Universit degli Studi di Udine
Udine, Italy
marcello.civilini@uniud.it

Abstract The performance of an industrial prototype of a
biological system was investigated during more than two years,
for the treatment of exhaust gas from air emission of wooden
painting activities. Two different type of VOCs mixture were
treated at different weather conditions. Removal efficiencies were
sufficiently high to maintain the outlet emissions within the legal
thresholds. Particularly low costs for management were
experienced, confirming the biofiltration a sustainable
technology.
Keywordsbiofiltration; painting; solvent; microorganisms,
environment
I. INTRODUCTION
The biodegradation of those compounds better defined as
solvents is well known and reported in the open literature. The
most documented applications are performed at lab scale, or in
small pilot plants, and good performance of biological
processes in removing solvents from contaminated air streams
is reported. Only a few applications are described at industrial
level, and biological processes are usually not involved [1, 2].
This may depend upon the biodegradation rate which is not as
quick as the applications requires, or difficulties can be
encountered when complex mixtures of solvents are involved.
Of course, if the biological process suffers technical limits, the
factory management may opt for physical or chemical
technologies as an alternative [3]. Biological processes may
have success in those fields where physical or chemical
treatments have low economic sustainability. In fact, in most
cases the biological technology involves low capital and
management costs, especially when compared to alternative
techniques.
From our experience with an industrial pilot plant,
biological technologies for the removal of solvents from
contaminated emissions are favorable when they are
considered as a part of a strategy for the reduction of emissions
in the whole factory. In order to comply with laws and
directives stating limits for the emission of VOCs, industry has
to target a number of different categories of VOC sources.
Improving the painting process, increasing the dry residue in
the paint, using water based paints are the first steps that should
accompany the biological technologies in order to achieve the
goals of the solvent management plan. In this context, two
most important purposes have been pursued: the respect of
rules and the economical sustainability of the biological
process.
The effectiveness of biodegradation is someway
proportional to the volume of the filter, thus it can be hard to
respect the emission limits imposed by the Directive
2004/42/CE in the case there is not enough free room in the
factory to allocate the plant. However the biofilter can be seen
as a fundamental step in the management plan for the reduction
of VOC emissions. From this point of view, reaching the
maximum effectiveness is not the only goal, because other
aspects like stability, ease of management and durability of
performance have great importance.
II. WOOD INDUSTRIAL DISTRICT
Our project was started many years ago and several
difficulties have been overcome during the scaling up. This
initiative was born from a pool of entrepreneurs of the Friuli
Venezia Giulia Region that were well aware of the regional and
national VOC emission levels. For some of them, post
combustion plants could have been the solution, because the
VOC concentration in their off gas would be high enough to
make this technology affordable. At the same time, there was
interest to find a solution for small companies, where the
combustion technology is not economically feasible. For such
reasons, in the past some small companies tried to investigate
the reduction of emissions by applying biological processes, as
a possible technology to apply in the regional and national
wood sectors.
In this general context, several steps were programmed to
scale up our previous lab experiments [4].
The solvent management plan of three out of six companies
was investigated with the purpose of a thorough knowledge of
their solvent mass balance, and to check the possible similarity
among the painting processes, in order to extend the results
obtained from the first prototype of the biofilter [5].
In the factories under investigation, painting is performed
through spraying techniques involving an anthropomorphic
robotic sprayer and surface painting. Painted wood is then
moved to a withering area.
87
The typical compositions of paints consist of a mixture of
solvents, including hydrophobic aromatics (e.g. toluene and
xylenes), acetates, aldehydes and ketones, alcohols and other
hydrophilic compounds. The emissions from the withering
zone were chosen to feed the biological treatment plant. The
steady and moderately high concentration of these VOCs
emissions are helpful for the research activity in the first start
up period.
Withering processes typically result in air emissions
characterized by relatively low concentration of solvents and
high air flow rates, thus making extremely expensive the
treatment of such emissions by thermal or physical-chemical
processes (Figure 1).
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
450
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180
Time(hr)
p
p
m

Fig. 1. Weekly VOCs concentration of withering zone emissions
III. BIOLOGICAL TREATMENTS
Vapor-phase biotreatments have been classified as Best
Available Technologies for the abatement of VOC in air from
various chemical industries by the European IPPC Bureau [6].
When recovery is not feasible, waste gas end-of-pipe treatment
should give preference to low energy techniques.
Among abatement techniques for VOC compounds, three
principal technologies are available: biofiltration, bioscrubbing,
biotrickling.
Biofiltration has large applications treating odours. The
waste gas stream is passed through a bed of organic material or
some inert material such as clay, charcoal or polyurethane,
where it is biologically oxidised by naturally occurring micro-
organisms into carbon dioxide, water and biomass. Generally,
the plants are organized as open biofilters, but enclosed
biofilters may optimize the control of the process. The
effectiveness of biofiltration is related to the chemical
constituents and concentration, to the residence time, to the
biofilter medium and its humidity and pH.
Bioscrubbing combines wet gas scrubbing (absorption) and
biodegradation. The scrubbing water contains a microbe
community suitable to oxidise the noxious gas components.
The microbes are suspended in water. The conditions to use
bioscrubbers depend upon contaminant properties. The process
should be able to wash out contaminants and the washed-out
constituents must be biodegradable under aerobic conditions.
Biotrickling works with similar conditions to bioscrubbing
where an aqueous phase is continuously circulated through a
bed of inert material. In contrast to bioscrubbing, the microbes
are fixed on supporting elements. The surface properties should
be such that the biofilm adheres firmly. The pollutants in the
waste gas and the oxygen are absorbed by the water phase and
transported to the biofilm, where the biological transformation
takes place. Performance of reactors depends essentially on the
mass transfer, and the prevention of clogging and exceeding
salt formation is crucial.
IV. THE APPLICATION INVESTIGATED
A. The plant
For our investigations a combined process including all the
three technologies was chosen, with the aim of energy saving
and reduction of water and sludge disposal.
The prototype was built to control a fraction of the
withering emissions from the factory. It has a working volume
of 25 m
3
and a max capacity to treat 16000 m
3
/h of exhausted
air. A system of pipes and valves on vent holes was designed to
allow for a possible reduction of the VOCs concentration at
the inlet of the prototype through dilution with clean air. Air
flow rate was imposed by regulation of the velocity of the air
extractor [7].
B. Chemical parameters measurement
CEE CEN 264 n.326 and UNI EN 13526 standards to
determine TOC, VOC and CH
4
in emissions were applied to
monitor continuously the biofilter performance. By means of
alternate (3 min
-1
) online sampling between inlet and outlet air
flows, air samples were continuously withdrawn ( 0.6 l/min) by
a F.I.D. analyzer (SIEMENS mod. FIDAMAT 6). In
discontinuous mode, coconut charcoal tubes (Anasorb CSC,
SKC Inc.) were positioned on the outlet pump flow for 30 min
to confirm VOC concentrations by gas-chromatographic (GC)
analysis [8].
C. Microbial parameters measurement
Detection and enumeration of microbial parameters were
made by selective and not selective media utilizing decimal
dilutions method of the specimen.
Plate-Count-Agar, was used for standard plate count of
heterotrophic bacteria at 30C [9].
Malt Extract Agar is a medium for the detection, isolation
and enumeration of yeasts and moulds. Bacteria may be
suppressed by the addition of 200 g /ml tetracycline.
Incubation was at 30C [10].
VOC degraders strains were carried out by suspending solid
or sludge samples collected from prototype in 50 mM
phosphate buffer at pH 7.0. The suspension was then shaken
(600 rpm) for 30 min. After dilutions, aliquots of these
suspensions were plated on a solid minimal salt basal medium
MSB (15 g l-1 Noble Agar, Difco, Detroit, MC, USA),
transferred in an atmosphere saturated with the same VOC and
incubated at 30C [11].
88

0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
M
e
t
h
o
x
y
p
r
o
p
y
l
a
c
e
t
a
t
e

o
-
X
y
l
e
n
e
m
-
X
y
l
e
n
e
p
-
X
y
l
e
n
e
E
t
h
y
l

b
e
n
z
e
n
e
B
u
t
y
l

a
c
e
t
a
t
e
T
o
l
u
e
n
e
I
s
o
b
u
t
y
l

a
c
e
t
a
t
e
M
e
t
h
y
l

a
c
e
t
a
t
e
M
e
t
h
y
l

i
s
o
b
u
t
y
l
k
e
t
o
n
e
M
e
t
h
y
l

e
t
h
y
l

k
e
t
o
n
A
c
e
t
o
n
e
D
i
a
c
e
t
o
n

a
l
c
o
h
o
l
(

%

)
First period
Second period

Fig. 2. VOC speciation of emissions in the first period (cold season) and in the second one (warm season)

MacConkey agar was used for the isolation of gram-
negative enteric bacteria and the differentiation of lactose
fermenting from lactose non-fermenting gram-negative
bacteria. Incubation were at 37 C and 42 C [12].
Mannitol Salt Agar is a selective and differential medium
for the detection and enumeration of staphylococci, incubation
was at 37 C [9].
V. RESULTS
The system start up was in July 2009. During the first
period, fluid dynamic parameters have been optimized.
Preliminary operation in the absence of any matrix was
performed to check the absence of dilution due to clean air
infiltration, and to optimize the equilibrium flow conditions
between the biological system, the blower and the line
connections to the drying room.
Considering that it would not have been possible to have a
parallel control during the operation, undesired dilution
phenomena were excluded, verifying the overlap of inlet and
outlet VOC traces when the apparatus was empty of any filling
material [13].
The start phase continued during the next four months, after
loading a quantity of matrix, consisting of a mixture of
inorganic and organic composted materials. The experiments
were performed especially devoted to the evaluation of
pressure drop in the material. As a starting parameter, a flow
rate of 6000 m
3
/h was chosen for all tests discussed here. In
this phase reduced contact times (3-5 s) were maintained in
order to evaluate the moisture content and pressure drop [13].
In the second period, a further quantity of prepared
substrate was loaded into the biofilter, to reach the total
working volume. The resulting empty bed residence time
generally was of 30 s, but ranged between 10 and 70 s.
Organic loads of VOCs during the observed period were
between 10 and 110 g C m
-3
h
-1
.
The temperature of both the material and the air was
continuously recorded at various points, showing good control
also in the occurrence of harsh weather conditions.
The operation of the biological system was extended over
two periods, characterized by two different compositions of the
emissions due to different varnish used for painting. The VOC
speciation is reported in Fig. 2, where amounts are expressed in
terms of average % value and standard deviation. The first
period corresponds to the colder environmental conditions
(matrix temperature range from 5 to 20 C, average value 11.4
C), whereas in the second period the matrix temperature is in
the range from 15 to 25 C (average value 19.1 C).
A thorough control of emissions from plants and their
reduction by filtration requires a continuous or very frequent
measurement of VOC concentration. Various methods for
VOC detection can be applied, with different ability to deal
with quick variations in composition and concentration which
can be encountered and actually lead to a misleading
interpretation of the results. For the purpose of comparing
some of such methods, for about two years the behavior of a
pilot plant has been monitored by on line FID and by
discontinuous sampling with sorbent tubes.
As mentioned above, fluctuations in the composition of the
mixture often encountered in plants showed to influence the
response factors of the instruments adopted to control VOC
emission [8]. For this reason, the results from some analysis of
samples taken discontinuously with sorbent tubes were
compared with on line measurements by FID and PID taken
during the sampling time (Fig. 3).
89
The comparison of concentrations at the inlet and outlet of
the prototype allows for the evaluation of the removal
efficiency as reported in Fig. 4, as a function of time and of the
kind of sampling (continuous/discontinuous). In Fig. 5 the
average values of the removal efficiency evaluated from
continuous sampling are reported as a function of the inlet
concentration. Standard deviations are also reported and the
number of samples n is given [14],

0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
450

2
7
/
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/
0
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/
1
3
[
V
O
C
]

m
g
C

N
m
-
3

IN GC Dis OUT GC Dis
IN FID Con OUT FID Con

Fig. 3. VOCs concentration in discontinuos mode - GC Dis (IN and OUT) and continuous mode - FID Con (IN and OUT)
A correct management of the retention time and of the
organic load at the inlet of the prototype was helpful to
guarantee the respect of a threshold value.
The VOCs reduction was estimated on the basis of both
the continuous and discontinuous VOCs measurements.
Within each period, the reduction was found to be dependent
on both the organic load and inlet VOCs concentration, but
not on the septum temperature (range between 7C and
25C).

0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80

2
7
/
1
0
/
0
9

0
4
/
1
1
/
0
9
0
3
/
0
3
/
1
0
2
6
/
0
4
/
1
0
2
0
/
0
7
/
1
0
2
0
/
0
7
/
1
0
2
7
/
0
9
/
1
0
0
6
/
1
0
/
1
0
1
1
/
1
0
/
1
0
2
3
/
0
5
/
1
1

2
2
/
0
6
/
1
1

2
6
/
0
7
/
1
1
3
0
/
0
5
/
1
2
1
3
/
0
6
/
1
2
1
7
/
1
2
/
1
2
3
1
/
0
1
/
1
3
R
e
m
o
v
a
l

E
f
f
i
c
ie
n
c
y

(
%
)
RE Dis RE Con

Fig. 4. Removal efficiency (%) at different interval times
90

0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
200
100-300 (mgCOV/m3) - 1st period
n =4630
300-500 (mgCOV/m3) - 1st period
n =1820
100-300 (mgCOV/m3) - 2nd period
n =5360
R
E

(
%
)
-500
-400
-300
-200
-100
0
100
200
300
400
500
C
o
n
c
e
n
t
r
a
t
i
o
n

(
m
g
C
O
V
/
m
3
)
Average RE % Average concentration

Fig. 5. Average removal efficiency (%) and inlet concentration at various concentration ranges and periods.
Standard deviations are evaluated, being n the number of samples

VI. MICROBIAL ENUMERATION OF DIFFERENT
FUNCTIONAL GROUPS
The research studied the main microbial populations
involved in contaminated air treatment at different time
intervals. In this case, a group of organisms that
demonstrates the efficacy of a process was chosen as
indicator.
The number of bacteria (ufc gr
-1
d.w.) varied by type
microbial indicators ranging from 1,96*10
9
to 3,30*10
6

heterotrophic bacteria, 2,4*10
7
to 2*10
5
yeast and moulds,
1,06*10
7
to 8*10
3
gram negative bacteria, 1,59*10
7
to
2,34*10
4
staphilococci bacteria, whereas degraders ranging
from 2,27*10
9
to 1,90*10
4
AB
+
,4,31*10
8
to 1,69*10
3
AC
+
,
3,85*10
8
to 1,13*10
4
AE
+
, 2,27*10
9
to 5,72*10
4
EPA
+
,
7,48*10
8
to 2,60*10
3
MEK
+
, 1,59*10
8
to 4,19*10
5
MIBK
+
,
9,07*10
8
to 1,75*10
3
NAFT
+
, 6,80*10
8
to 2,60*10
4
TOL
+
,
1,61*10
9
to 3,12*10
4
XYL
+
.
The behavior of microbial populations in the matrix of
the prototype (growth, survival, or death) was determined by
the properties of matrix and the operational conditions (e.g.,
temperature, relative humidity, and atmosphere). As a
general consideration, it was possible to observe a constant
microbial presence in all different sampling periods. This
quantitative study showed a reduced effects in microbial
populations and no correlation was found with variations of
the main parameters (e.g. temperature). Other techniques
should be implemented to follow the complex dynamics with
microbial community allowing to understand the microbial
ecology of the matrix.
VII. CONCLUSIONS
During two years of uninterrupted working period, the
prototype gave the performance expected. Adopting an
oligotrophic management it was also possible to maintain
low operating costs. The removal efficiency of complex
mixture of VOCs was considered good, with respect to the
retention time adopted. The results of this work allow to set
up some design rules for other VOCs abatement systems,
with particular regard to their effectiveness, which is crucial
when the area available for the plant is limited and the plant
itself is considered as a part of an integrated solvent
reduction management plan.
REFERENCES
[1] Popov O.V., Bezborodov M.A., Cavanagh M., Cross P. Evaluation
of industrial biotrickling filter at the flexographic printing facility,
Environmental Progress, vol.23, n.1, pp. 40-44, April 2004.
[2] Lafita C., Penya-Roja J.M., Gabaldn C., Martnez-Soria V. Full-
scale biotrickling filtration of VOC fromair emission of wooden
coating activities Biotechniques for Air Pollution Control IV
Biotechniques 2011, Proceedings of the 4th International Conference
on Biotechniques for Air Pollution Control, A Coruna, Spain, October
12-14, 2011, 385-392, 2011.
[3] F.I. Khan, A. Kr. Ghoshal Removal of Volatile Organic Compounds
from polluted air, Journal of Loss Prevention in the Process
Industries, vol. 13, pp. 527545, 2000.
[4] Civilini M. Multiple microbial activities for Volatile Organic
Compounds reduction by biofiltration J. Air & Waste Manage.
Assoc. 56:922-930, 2006.
[5] Civilini M., Lolini S. and Giacomello S. Predictive Applications of
Biofiltration on VOCs Industrial Emissions USC-UAM 2008
91
Conference on Biofiltration for Air Pollution Control, Long Beach,
CA. October 22-24, 2008, Proceedings: p. 119-128, 2008.
[6] European Commission. IPPC Reference Document on Best Available
Techniques in Common Waste Water and Gas
Treatment/Management System in the Chemical Sector. European
IPPC Bureau, Sevilla, Spain, 2003.
[7] Civilini, M. and Cortella, G.. Behaviour of Biofilter pilot plant at
low temperature treating VOCs pollution of industrial emissions",
Proc. 2010 Duke-UAM Conference on Biofiltration for the Air
Pollution Control, Washington DC (USA), 28-29 Oct. 2010, 317-321,
2010.
[8] Civilini M., Cortella G., VOCs monitoring of polluted air emissions
through biofiltration. Biotechniques for Air Pollution Control IV
Biotechniques 2011, Proceedings of the 4th International Conference
on Biotechniques for Air Pollution Control, A Coruna, Spain, October
12-14, 2011, 95-102, 2011.
[9] INAIL Accertamento Rischi e Prevenzione - LINEE GUIDA Il
monitoraggio microbiologico negli ambienti di lavoro
Campionamento e analisi. Edizione 2010 (ISBN 978-88-7484-162-2)
[10] DM Agricoltura 8 luglio 2002 Approvazione dei metodi ufficiali di
analisi microbiologica del suolo, Supplemento Ordinario n.156 alla
Gazzetta Ufficiale n. 179 del 1 agosto 2002 Serie generale
[11] Civilini M., Identification and characterization of bacteria isolated
under selective pressure of Volatile Organic Compounds J. Environ.
Biol. vol. 30(1), pp. 99-105, 2009.
[12] American Society Microbiology http://www.microbelibrary.org
/index.php/component/resource/laboratory-test/2855-macconkey-
agar-plates-protocols
[13] Civilini M., Cortella G., Biofilter pilot plant to reduce VOCs
pollution of industrial emissions, Proc. 3
rd
International Congress on
Biotechniques for Air Pollution Control, Delft (NL), 28-30 September
2009, pp. 28-30.
[14] Cumming G., Fidler F., Vaux D.L. Error bars in experimental
biology, The Journal of Cell Biology, vol. 177 (1), pp.7-11, 2007.

92
Environmental performance improvements and
external stakeholder pressures in companies with
certified Environmental Management System

Tiberio Daddi
Institute of Management
S. Anna School of Advanced Studies
Pisa, Italy
tiberio.daddi@sssup.it
Sara Tessitore
Pisa, Italy
sara.tessitore@sssup.it

Francesco Testa
Pisa, Italy
francesco.testa@sssup.it
Fabio Iraldo
Pisa, Italy
fabio.iraldo@sssup.it

AbstractThe relationship between environmental
performance and Environmental Management Systems has
been widely investigated by international researches. Despite
this, our paper adds new perspectives to the current literature
framework. First, it is focused on companies with an
Environmental Management System registered according to
EMAS Regulation, while many previous studies considered
also ISO14001 certified companies. Second, to achieve the
objectives of this paper, a wide sample of Italian companies
was considered, and the results of a questionnaire survey filled
out by 143 organizations are reported. In addition, this study
points out the relationship between environmental
performance and stakeholder pressures which have not been
thoroughly investigated in previous papers.
The results show that EMAS positively influences
performance on some environmental aspects such as water
consumption and emissions into the atmosphere, while this
positive influence is not confirmed for other aspects. The
Public Authorities represent the stakeholder identified by the
survey as the main external pressure to improve environmental
performance.

Keywords Environmental Management System;,
environmental performance, stakeholder pressures

I. INTRODUCTION
Environmental Management Systems such as the systems
implemented according to the ISO14001 standard or the
European Regulation 1221/2009 (EMAS) establish the
continuous improvement of environmental performance as a
mandatory requirement. The registered companies must
demonstrate improvements through specific planning and
monitoring actions and, in the case of EMAS, must provide
evidence of these improvements to the public through the
yearly publication of an Environmental Statement.
Considering the relevance of this theme, many debates have
been raised in the literature on how to monitor the real
achievement of continuous improvement. One of the main
issues is related to the presence of two kinds of improvements:
quantitative and intangible [8,10]. If the measurement of
quantitative improvements can be considered easier, the
intangible improvements are less discussed by authors.
This paper aims to present the results of a survey of a large
number of Italian EMAS registered companies. The research
was carried out by the authors in the year 2012 in the
framework of the activities of an EU Life+ co-funded project
called BRAVE (Better Regulation Aimed to Valorising
EMAS). The article investigated both the effects of EMAS
on the improvements of environmental performance and the
pressures of external stakeholders as a leverage to stimulate
these improvements.
The structure of the paper is the following: in the second
section we describe the most important already existent
studies related to the two topics of the article; in the third
section we present the research questions, the research method
and a description of the sample of the survey; in the fourth
section we report and discuss the results achieved. In the final
section we draw up the main conclusions, giving some
directives on how further research should be developed.
II. LITERATURE FRAMEWORK

93
A. Environmental Management Systems and environmental
performance
In recent years the adoption and application of environmental
management systems by businesses has inspired notable
interest from scholars and researchers, especially in
consideration of the increased popularity and spread of the
European standards of EMAS and ISO 14001. Much evidence
has been collected on the effects of EMAS on overall
environmental performance. We report a few of the most
recent and interesting data, according to the findings of studies
that have used an econometric approach.
Examining a sample of 7,899 businesses that were a part of
the group of production centers in the United States from
1995-2001, King et al. [1] found proof of the fact that the
adoption of the EMS brought about improvements in
environmental performance, measured as the logarithm of the
weighted sum of the toxicity of the elements present in the
Toxic Release Inventory. In another study, which used data
from Japanese volunteer plants in an OECD poll, Arimura et
al. [2] estimated the positive effects of ISO 14001 on the three
improvements in environmental impact.
However, a small amount of contrasting evidence has been
collected as well. The results of other studies show that the
official EMSs (for example ISO 14001 and EMAS) do not
substantially influence the environmental performance of
companies [3,4]. One of the most significant empirical studies,
which used a series of data from 37 cellulose and paper plants
in Quebec from 1997-2003, did not find any significant proof
of reduction of pollution since obtaining the ISO 14001
certification [5].
No quantitative proof exists yet on the long term impact of
EMAS on performance because of a lack of temporal series
data. However, researchers have attempted to evaluate if
EMAS helps to promote environmental innovations. In a study
of 1,277 German EMAS certified plants and 12 elaborations,
Renning et al. (2003) [6] revealed that the environmental
managers consider the execution of EMAS to be an important
contributor to the introduction of environmental innovations,
especially organizational ones. In a subsequent study related to
the production managers in 588 German plants, carried out to
evaluate the various integrated policy initiatives of products,
Rennings et al. (2004) [7] found a weak but meaningful
positive influence of ISO 14001 and EMAS on the
environmental innovations of the products in question.
On the other hand, Hertin et al. (2004) [8] carried out an
analysis of a chronological series of industrial companies on
European production sites that apply various EMS policies.
The principle result was that the connection between the
EMSs of a company and its environmental performance
(measured with indicators of eco-efficiency) is weak and
ambiguous: the companies with official EMSs had the best
results in particular indicators, but worse results in many
others, and only a small number of correlations were
statistically significant. Hertin et al. (2008), [9] in reporting
the results of a research project called MEPI, carried out on
the basis of the data of 274 companies and 400 production
sites in six productive sectors of six countries of the EU,
confirmed the weak connection between EMSs and
environmental performance.
The study by Daddi et al. (2011) [10] analyzed the trends in
environmental performance of a sample of 64 Italian
companies of six different industrial sectors that possessed the
EMAS registration for at least three years. In particular, the
authors analyzed the influence of the EMAS registration on
the improvement or worsening of environmental performance,
and therefore the ability of this tool to move forward
continuous improvement, which is a fundamental principle of
the systems of certifications of environmental management.
The data obtained indicate that in some cases EMAS causes
effective improvement in environmental performance, even in
short periods. Whether an EMS is useful or not can therefore
depend significantly on various factors. One of these factors
regards the fact that the company will need time to adopt the
specificities of an EMS. This means that in order to be
effective and achieve positive results in terms of
environmental improvement, a company must set goals and
plan management activities and technology investments. For
example, Iraldo et al. (2009) [11], using data from more than
100 EMAS registered organizations, demonstrated that the
number of years of application of the EMS has a positive
effect on the level of environmental performance of the same
organization. However, although this ratio is positive, the
effect of the period of adoption of the EMS is not very high.
This implies that the influence exerted over time by the EMS
on the ability to improve the environmental performance is
counterbalanced by other factors.
B. External stakeholders as pressure to stimulate
environmental improvement
As postulated by the stakeholder theory, the pressure exerted
by stakeholders significantly motivates companies to adopt
different environmental practices (Sarkis et al., 2010) [22].
Taking Freemans definition of stakeholders as a starting
point, this means any group or individual who can affect or is
affected by the achievement of the companys objectives
(Freeman, 1984) [23]. Clarkson (1995) [24] identified two
main groups of stakeholders according to their main interests:
the main group of stakeholders are those without whose
continued participation, the business could not survive. The
secondary group of stakeholders have an interest in the
company, but are not essential for its survival. Not all
stakeholders, however, have the same influence: Mitchell et al.
(1997) [25] argue that firms will take into account mainly the
stakeholders that are considered authoritative and legitimate.
In the literature, the analysis of the determining factors for the
adoption of environmental practices, such as an environmental
management system, focuses on the different sources of
"stimulus" that guide the development of these tools, which
will encourage the company to participate (Reed, 2008;
Blanco et al., 2009) [26-27].
DiMaggio and Powell (1983), [28], for example, argue that the
managerial decisions to adopt environmental initiatives can be
affected by three institutional mechanisms: regulatory,
coercive and mimetic.
94
Regulatory pressures, such as customer requirements, lead
companies to adapt in order to be perceived by the public as
more legitimate. Furthermore, the community, environmental
interest groups (Henriques & Sadorsky, 1996) [29] and
industry associations (Guler et al., 2002) [30] are able to exert
this kind of pressure, thereby encouraging managers to adopt
strategic actions oriented towards the supply chain, to increase
their reputation and enhance their image on the market.
The coercive pressure can be imposed by different external
stakeholders, depending on their authority. For example, by
means of strict environmental regulations, governing bodies
may force companies to adopt environmental practices
(Delmas, 2002) [31]. This pressure comes from the threat of
penalties and fines for non-compliance, or the request to
publish information on the environmental impact of the
company (Konar and Cohen, 1997). [32]
Henriques and Sadorsky (1999) [33] found that the pressure of
regulatory stakeholders (eg. governments, trade associations)
is higher in environmentally responsive firms, while the
pressure of organizational stakeholders (eg. customers,
suppliers, employees , shareholders) is higher in firms that are
proactive in the environmental field.
Various studies focused on specific types of stakeholders
found the positive influence of stakeholders including
consumers (Dasguptaet al. 2000) [34], shareholders
(Henriques and Sadorsky, 1996) [29], industry associations
(Jimenez, 2007) [35], environmental interest groups
(Henriques and Sadorsky, 1996) [29], public authorities
(Alberini and Segerson, 2002) [36] in motivating
environmental actions. Internal stakeholders also play a
significant role in the adoption of environmental practices:
employees, for example, are the source of competitive
advantage of a company, and a successful environmental
strategy requires their participation (Buzzelli, 1991) [37].
However, in order for a company to commit seriously to
environmental issues, employees must be supported by the
managerial leadership (Sarkis et al., 2010) [22].
In addition, managers can also be encouraged for strategic
reasons (Head and Iraldo, 2010). The environmental
management system, in fact, is able to provide a wide range of
benefits, such as public recognition (Alberini and Segerson,
2002) [36], which allows companies to increase their share of
the market or to ask higher prices for their products (Khanna,
2001) [38]. In an effort to increase resource productivity and
reduce costs, an EMS can be adopted to rationalize the use of
inputs (resources) such as energy and raw materials and at the
same time, reduce output such as waste (Khanna & Anton,
2002) [39]. Furthermore, the adoption of an EMS can improve
the reputation and image of a company and, therefore, its
relationships with customers, investors, local communities and
other stakeholders (Biondi et al., 2000. Bansal and Roth, 2000;
Khanna and Anton, 2002; Bansal and Hunter, 2003) [15-40-
39-41].
Research results have also demonstrated that the regulatory
obligations and other external pressures can stimulate
proactive behavior at the managerial level and bring about the
application of an EMS (Darnall et al 2008, Gavronski et al,
2008) [42,43]. In a recent study by Darnall et al. (2008) [42],
based on some aspects of the institutional theory and on a
vision of business based on resources, they stated that
institutional pressures (regulatory pressures, market and social
pressures), resources and abilities (that is the commitment of
the employees and environmental R&S) encourage a more
complete adoption of the EMS. Moreover, the overcoming of
the informative asymmetries (King et al. 2005) [44] and the
compliance with increasing regulatory requirements (Biondi et
al. 2000) [15] represent further specific determining factors.
III. RESEARCH QUESTION AND METHOD
This paper aims to contribute to the literature debate in the
field on the relationship between Environmental Management
Systems and improvements in environmental performance. In
addition, this paper investigated the opinions of the companies
on who the main external stakeholders are, which stimulate
the pursuing of the environmental improvements. This paper
aims to respond to two main research questions:

a. Can an EMAS registered Environmental
Management System lead to environmental
improvements? Which environmental aspects are
most significantly improved as an effect of EMAS?

b. Which are the main external stakeholders that
stimulate EMAS companies to pursue environmental
improvements?

A. Method

The methodological approach of the present study was
designed to gather feedback and suggestions from EMAS
organizations on the subject of administrative simplifications
and about the results pursued through the implementation of
an environmental management system. For this purpose, a
survey was conducted involving Italian EMAS registered
manufacturing companies.
To conduct the survey, the activities to be carried out were
divided into the following categories:

definition of the list of EMAS registered companies
to which the questionnaire shall be submitted;
preparation of the questionnaire;
data collection;
data analysis.

The first phase was dedicated to identifying the companies
that would make up the statistical reference population, being
the EMAS registered manufacturing companies operating in
Italy, which were found through consulting the EMAS registry
published on the ISPRA website and the registry of the
European Commission, found at the website
http://ec.europa.eu/environment/emas/register/. Through both
of these consultations it was possible to obtain the information
regarding the sector of the businesses considered. This
allowed the researchers, for example, to delete public
95
administrations from the list, since they do not benefit from
any form of simplification or incentive. The choice to
concentrate on the manufacturing sector (including the sector
of waste and other environmental services) has two
motivations. The first motivation is that the ability to define
different measures of simplification is certainly larger since
businesses in the manufacturing sector are subject to
additional obligations arising from environmental legislation.
The second is that the impact of environmental management
on the internal organizational model is certainly greater than
its impact on Public Administrations.
To achieve the objectives of the survey a questionnaire was
prepared, consisting of 29 multiple choice questions.
In order to facilitate the completion of the questionnaire the
online platform "Survey Monkey" was used, through which
organizations inserted their answers to the questions
themselves, without the need to produce paper documents.
The email addresses to which to send the questionnaire were
obtained from the EMAS registry of the European
Commission, which shows the details of the contact person for
each organization, who is responsible for the environmental
management system. The recipients of the survey were the
representatives of 907 companies operating in a variety of
industries and services, spread throughout all regions of Italy.
The total population of EMAS registered companies in Italy is
1,134. The first sending out of the email, with the instructions
for filling out the questionnaire with the Survey Monkey web
program, took place on July 20, 2012. The closing of the data
collection was on September 25, 2012.

B. Description of the sample

The questionnaire was sent only to the EMAS companies and
organizations operating in the various Italian regions,
excluding Public Administration (PA code NACE 84).
Overall, 143 organizations risponde, implying a survey
response rate of 16%. This rate is comparable with sample of
other surveys used by studies published in academic journals
(Paxson,1992) [45].The following table shows the national
geographic distribution of EMAS registrations and for each
region the percentage and number of organizations that
participated in this study is shown.
TABLE I. COMPANIES INVOLVED FOR EACH ITALIAN REGION
Regions
Data on companies
EMAS
companies
Companies
involved in
this study
%
Abruzzi 28 4 14%
Basilicata 13 0 0%
Calabria 7 0 0%
Campania 59 6 10%
Emilia
Romagna
170 19 11%
Friuli Venezia
Giulia
19 6 32%
Lazio 33 2 6%
Liguria 13 3 23%
Lombardy 137 23 17%
Marche 33 5 15%
Molise 10 0 0%
Piedmont 49 12 24%
Puglia 67 7 10%
Sardinia 16 1 6%
Sicily 24 4 17%
Tuscany 113 39 35%
Trentino Alto
Adige
37 3 8%
Umbria 27 3 11%
Valle d'Aosta 4 1 25%
Veneto 48 5 10%
Total 907

143 16%

48% of the feedback comes from organizations of northern
Italy, where EMAS registration is more common. 37% of the
sample comes from central Italy, and only 7% comes from the
south, where the certification is less common.
The manufacturing sectors in which this certification is most
common are those of waste management, and the energy and
food industries. Overall, the response rate was around 16% of
registered enterprises. The response rate is particularly
significant among organizations in the paper industry (50%),
and those in the transport (38%) and textile sectors (36%).
The following table introduces the sectorial distribution of
EMAS registrations, and for each sector it presents the data on
participation in this study.
TABLE II. EMAS REGISTERED COMPANIES BY MANUFACTURING
SECTOR AND RESPONSE RATE BY SECTOR
Manufacturing sector
Data on companies
EMAS
companies
Companies
involved in
this study
%
Agriculture, forestry, and
fishing
21 2 10%
Mining and quarrying 15 1 7%
Food industry 95 10 11%
Textile industry and
clothing packaging
14 5 36%
Leather production and
leather goods
5 1 20%
Wood and furniture industry 13 2 15%
Production of paper and
paper products
20 10 50%
Printing 2
Petrol products 6 1 17%
Chemical and
pharmaceutical industry
45 8 18%
Rubber and plastic products 25 4 16%
Glass working 29 1 3%
Metal working 50 13 26%
Electronics 27 1 4%
96
Mechanical industry 37 13 35%
Other industries 6 5 83%
Energy 128 12 9%
Waste management 175 33 19%
Construction 25 2 8%
Trade 13
Transport 8 3 38%
Hotels and restaurants 34 2 6%
Communication services 13
Other activities and services 71 12 17%
Total 877 141 16%

IV. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

A. Environmental Management Systems and
environmental performance
The results of this study confirm the evidence reported in the
relevant literature, being that the adoption of an environmental
management system does not always determine a constant
improvement of all aspects of environmental performance.
The survey carried out indicates, for example, that the
environmental aspects that experienced performance
improvements most frequently were emissions of pollutants
into the atmosphere (67% of those interviewed declared that
they had obtained at least a good improvement), waste
production (69%), water consumption (57%) and energy
consumption (60%). Improvements in terms of both efficiency
in the use of raw materials and of auxiliary materials in
production processes were shown to be quite limited.

Fig. 1. Environmental improvements in environmental aspects in reference to
unit of production since the date of implementation of the EMAS EMS
The following table shows the environmental aspects about
which the respondents expressed a positive judgment in terms
of improvements achieved (good or high). The manufacturing
sector declared good and high improvements particularly with
reference to waste production (22%) and to energy efficiency
and atmospheric emissions (21% respectively). The sector of
environmental services recorded an improvement in its
performance in reference to both waste production and
atmospheric emissions (26% respectively), while the
agricultural and food industry declares good and high
performance with reference to energy efficiency and
atmospheric emissions (25% respectively). The sector that
includes, on the other hand, various service fields records a
higher level of improvement in energy efficiency and waste
production (21% respectively).

TABLE III. PERCENTAGE OF ORGANIZATIONS THAT DECLARED THE
ACHIEVEMENT OF AT LEAST GOOD IMPROVEMENTS
Envrionmental
Aspect
Productive fields
Manufacturing
Environmental
and energy
services
Agriculture
and food
Other
services
Energy
efficiency
21% 20% 25% 21%
Material
efficiency
12% 7% 13% 13%
Water
consumption
20% 18% 22% 18%
Waste
production
22% 26% 16% 21%
Biodiversity 3% 4% 0% 13%
Atmospheric
emissions
21% 26% 25% 15%

The results shown above correlate to a series of variables of
controls listed below:

(1) Number of years since the registration was obtained (2)
age of the organization; (3) number of employees; (4) position
in the supply chain; (5) geographical dimension of the market;
(6) number of competitors; (7) price as a competitive factor;
(8) quality as a competitive factor; (9) reputation as a
competitive factor; (10) relationships with suppliers as a
competitive factor; (11) economic performance.
In the following table the data obtained through elaboration
with repect to these control variables are reported.
TABLE IV. CORRELATION MATRIX OF ENVIRONMENTAL
PERFORMANCE AND CONTROL VARIABLES (FROM VARIABLE 1 TO 5)

Aspects
Control variables
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5)
Energy
efficiency
.017 .012 .002 .041 .074
Material
efficiency
-.003 .039 .153 .004 .116
Water
consumption
.168* .052 .173** .047 .176**
Waste
production
.033 -.007 .072 .094 .064
97
Biodiversity -.167 -.249** -.132 .115 -.116
Atmospheric
emissions
.106 -.077 .050 .009 -.016
TABLE V. CORRELATION MATRIX OF ENVIRONMENTAL
PERFORMANCE AND CONTROL VARIABLES (FROM VARIABLE 6 TO 11)
Aspects
Control variables
(6) (7) (8) (9) (10) (11)
Energy
efficiency
.076 -.122 .201** .099 .137 .042
Material
efficiency
.108 -.080 .173* .172* .111 -.024
Water
consumption
.099 -0.167* .065 .012 .046 -.010
Waste
production
.070 -0.041 .047 .131 .196** -.068
Biodiversity .139 -0.131 .222** .212* .146 -.032
Atmospheric
emissions
.043 -0.004 .173** .217** .238*** -.063
***;**;* The correlation is meaningful for 99%; 95%; 90%
respectively.

The analysis of the interdependencies between improved
environmental performance and some control variables
showed some statistically significant relationships. For
example, it is shown that companies who claim that product
quality is a competitive factor of strategic importance also
found positive improvements on various environmental
aspects such as energy and material efficiency, biodiversity
and atmospheric emissions. Companies with competitive
strategies that focus on relationships along the supply chain
also declared that they had made significant improvements in
terms of reducing waste production and the quality of their
emissions into the atmosphere. As for the negative reports, it
emerges that the older companies state that they had more
difficulty in achieving improvements in the impact of their
production on biodiversity, while companies that base their
competitive strategy on the price of their products achieved
little improvement in the use of water resources.

B. Results: stakeholders as pressure to stimulate
environmental improvement

In order to evaluate the role of external stakeholders in the
actions of EMAS registered businesses, the interviewees were
asked about the level of influence of a few stakeholders on
their adoption of actions for environmental improvement.
The results of the survey confirmed a relevant role of the
public authority in stimulating actions for improvement. That
pressure must be, in our opinion, interpreted as having two
meanings: on the one hand, the pressure inherent in public
bodies at the local level can stimulate companies, for example,
to participate in local voluntary initiatives oriented towards the
adoption of a certain practice or technology. On the other
hand, the constantly high attention and severity of the
legislator through instruments of command and control is
indicated.
The results show that this pressure is felt more strongly by
young businesses and by those that do not make the quality of
their products or their relationships with suppliers a key
element of their competitive strategy.
The pressure by the stakeholders is perceived as very
important by almost one out of four businesses, while 18%
consider the influence of the commercial purchasers relevant
for the adoption of actions for environmental improvement, in
particular in companies that make their reputation a central
element of their strategy.
The stakeholders that provide the least amount of pressure
leading to actions for environmental improvement were shown
to be labor unions and banks. While for the former this result
is rather expected, the survey shows that financial institutions
still do not consider environmental risk to be a relevant
element to the financial risk analysis of an organization, and
they do not, in fact, have interest in stimulating improvements
in the environmental performance of businesses.

Fig. 2. Stakeholders that influenced the choice of the organization to take
actions for environmental improvement
Similarly to what was done for the table on environmental
performance, the table below shows the results of the study of
the correlations between stakeholders and the influence of the
control variables adopted.
TABLE VI. CORRELATION MATRIX OF THE INFLUENCE OF
STAKEHOLDERS AND CONTROL VARIABLES (FROM VARIABLES 1 TO 5)
Stakeholder
Control variables
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5)
Public authorities -.066 -.198** -.136 -.037 -.165*
Consumers .229** .047 .025
.297**
*
-.078
Commercial
purchasers
.116 -.005 .018 .057 .182*
Providers of goods
and services
-.018 -.194** -.203** -.029 -.112
Shareholders and
investors
.165 .008 .059 .072 .087
Banks and other
financial institutions
.185* .000 .176* -.043 .114
98
Labor unions .191* -.004 .197* .072 .133
Commercial
Industries or
Associations
.121 -.036 -.015 -.088 -.039
Environmentalist
groups
.022 -.102 -.097 -.130 -.053
Neighborhood
groups/community
.095 .020 .035 -.072 -.075
TABLE VII. CORRELATION MATRIX OF THE INFLUENCE OF
STAKEHOLDERS AND CONTROL VARIABLES (FROM VARIABLE 6 TO 11)
Stakeholder
Control variables
(6) (7) (8) (9) (10) (11)
Public
authorities
.102 .003
-
.248*
**
-.044
-
.233*
**
-.015
Consumers -.158 -.132 -.010 .106 -.043 -.193*
Commercial
purchasers
.074 .063 .102
.198*
*
.097 -.142
Providers of
goods and
services
-.088 -.069 .063 .176*
.288*
**
-.127
Shareholders
and investors
-.063 -.119 -.014 -.031 -.077 -.044
Banks and other
financial
institutions
.082 .164* .078 .049 -.060 .030
Labor unions -.100 .002 .158 .072 .108 -.188*
Commercial
Industries or
Associations
.017 .048 .068 -.041 .132 -.124
Environmentali
st groups
.101 -.058 -.055 .062 .010 -.109
Neighborhood
groups/commun
ity
-.067 -.003 .082 .095 .006 .007
***;**;* The correlation is meaningful for 99%; 95%; 90%
respectively

The analysis of the interdependencies between improving the
influence of external stakeholders and some control variables
showed some statistically significant relationships. For
example, it emerged that younger companies experience
greater pressure from suppliers and public authorities with
respect to companies that have already been operating for
several years. Companies of larger size appear to be more
responsive to requests from financial institutions and trade
unions , while companies that produce for the retail market are
obviously more sensitive to pressures from consumers. In
addition, companies with competitive strategies that focus on
relationships along the supply chain and on the quality of their
products are less influenced by public authorities, but make
significant considerations for their suppliers.

V. CONCLUSIONS
The results on the relationship between EMSs and
environmental improvements confirm the findings of previous
studies included in the literature. We cant affirm that this
relationship is strictly positive or negative; on the contrary it
presents ambiguous results. EMAS has positive influences on
certain environmental aspects such as air emissions, water
consumption and waste production. This positive influence is
not clearly confirmed for energy consumption. The
improvements linked with water consumption and waste
production can be justified by the monitoring requirements
imposed by the EMS. According to these requirements the
companies must collect and analyse several data and
performance indicators, which are not always verified before
the implementation of the EMS. This activity allows them to
identify possible improvement actions (e.g. the data can point
out opportunities to reduce or reuse waste, or the presence of
leaks in the water supply system) which were not previously
identifiable. On the contrary, taking into account the economic
relevance of energy consumption, the low effect on the
improvement of this aspect can be related to the few
improvement opportunities identified after EMAS registration.
Usually the companies, before the implementation of the
EMS, have already taken actions to increase the energy
efficiency of the plant in order to achieve economic savings.
For this reason, after obtaining EMAS certification,
improvements are harder to achieve.
The results obtained regarding the pressures exerted by the
external stakeholders were generally predictable. The Public
Authorities were shown to represent the main external
pressure, and this result can be linked with the nature of
EMAS registration. EMAS, unlike ISO14001, is an
environmental policy tool based on a public system. It was
established through public Regulation and its functioning is
based on a national public Committee (EMAS Committee).
For this reason the organizations that decide to move toward
EMAS registration identify the pressures of Public Authorities
as the main driver for EMAS adoption.
We invite scholars to further develop this research in two main
directions. First, it could be interesting to investigate the
influence of EMAS on the improvement of intangible aspects
of performance, such as a better capacity to manage
environmental emergencies or a better capacity to manage
legal compliance. Second, the part of this study related to the
external pressures could be elaborated by investigating the
main internal pressures that drive the implementation of EMSs
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100
Development of organic agriculture: case of Latvia
Tatjana Tambovceva
Faculty of Engineering Economics and Management
Riga Technical University
Riga, Latvia
tatjana.tambovceva@rtu.lv
Andrejs Tambovcevs
Faculty of Computer Science and Information Technology
Riga, Latvia
ata2000@inbox.lv

Abstract Agriculture is one of the main sectors which many
believe should be sustainable, that is, ecologically sound,
economically viable, and socially responsible. While conventional
agriculture is driven almost solely by productivity and profit,
sustainable agriculture integrates biological, chemical, physical,
ecological, economic and social sciences in a comprehensive way
to develop new farming practices that are safe and do not
degrade our environment. Sustainability in rural production
system can only be achieved if it can suitably satisfy the local
requirement as well as the outside demand with the changing
time. This paper reviews the concepts of organic agriculture and
examines its development in Latvia.
Keywords organic farming, organic agriculture, sustainable
agriculture, sustainable development, rural development
I. INTRODUCTION
The concept of sustainability, which originally referred to
environmental consequences of human activities, has been
widely discussed not only at the national but at the global level,
as well as in particular economic sectors. Agriculture is closely
connected with the development of the whole country,
especially rural regions and food production. Rural areas are a
source of the most important natural resources and ecosystem
services, and environment for work and recreation, and a
depository of the diversity of cultural and historical heritage.
Sustainability in the context of agriculture has a special
significance. Agriculture is one of the main sectors which
many believe should be sustainable, that is, ecologically sound,
economically viable, and socially responsible. This is so
because agriculture provides basic human needs, and in most
developing countries it is an important source of national
income, foreign trade and employment. Agriculture is also a
multi-functional sector which is closely related to the
environment. Agriculture is one of the biggest environmental
polluters and destroyers. Agricultural production systems
pollute soil and water with agro-chemicals, reduce biodiversity,
lead to degradation, desertication, erosion of soils and, in
many cases, result in poorly structured, monotonic agricultural
landscapes.
The image of agriculture and rural areas will be changed it
the future due the evolutionary nature of their development
caused by the need of adapting to a changing social and
economic reality [18]; [26]. Because of the close linkage of
agriculture to natural resources it is important to design such a
model for rural development and agriculture, which will
combine economic development in balance and harmony with
social expectations and requirements of natural environment
[3].
Agricultural sector has always been one of the important
sectors in Latvias economy constituting 1.6% of the Gross
Domestic Product on average or LVL 203 million in 2011.
They are a place of life and work for a large part of society,
which produces food and raw materials used in industry. The
aim of the research is to investigate the concepts of sustainable
agriculture and analyse trends of development of sustainable
agriculture in Latvia. In order to achieve the aim the authors
have set up the following tasks:
to analyse historical development of sustainable
agriculture from the political and economic aspects;
to analyse the current situation of sustainable
agriculture in Latvia.
The research is based on the recent theories of leading
scientists in the field of sustainable agriculture as well as on the
statistical data provided by EUROSTAT (Statistical Office of
the European Communities), IFOAM (International Federation
of Organic Agriculture Movements), Ministry of Agriculture of
Latvia (MA) and CSB (Central Statistical Bureau of Latvia).
Authors based the analysis of the development of the
sustainable agriculture in Latvia on the previous research held
in 2009 [30] and comparing with the nowadays situation.
II. RESULTS OF RESEARCH
A. Sustainability and sustainable agriculture
Sustainability has been an exceedingly popular word over
recent years, used for almost every activity in human life. The
term sustainable development was first defined in 1987 by
the Brundtland Commission, formally the World Commission
on Environment and Development. The Commission defined
sustainable development as: development that meets the needs
of the present without compromising the ability of future
generations to meet their own needs. This concept was then
enhanced by the United Nations Conference on Environment
and Development at the Earth Summit, Rio de Janeiro, in 1992.
From that time, sustainable development became a key issue in
political and scientific bodies. A comprehensive definition of
sustainability as the attempt to balance economic, social, and
environmental goals might be as follows: improving the
quality of human life while living within the carrying capacity
of the supporting ecosystem.
Ecological philosophy of agriculture has existed for
centuries, but the organic movement could begin only once an
alternative to them existed. Lack of food after the Second
World War motivated to look for new possibilities to increase
101
yields in agriculture, which stimulated industrialisation and
intensification of agricultural production [6].
Agricultural activities are often based on individual
producers decisions and on their attitudes, knowledge and
level of technology. They are however also based on political
and economic considerations, attitudes and opinions from the
society. Thus, continuously updated scientifically based
knowledge, both from an environmental, social and economic
view, need to be disseminated and applied with a much
increased ambition. Technological facts may be well known,
but still strong social and economic reasons and pressure from
outside to make short term profits hinders the appropriate
application of relevant measures.
Technologies used in agriculture have changed dramatically
in the 20th century: they became profitable to replace farm
labour with machinery, to protect harvest from pests with
chemical pesticides, and to increase soil fertility by chemical
fertilisers. New forms of agriculture brought some advantages:
labour and soil productivity increased, and food became
abundant and cheap for the consumer; the labour force which
left agriculture could be productive in other areas of society,
and thus increase the total wealth. But there were also problems
associated with these developments: in many cases modern
agricultural technologies had negative impact on the natural
environment, with the massive build-up of nutrient surpluses
and intensive use of pesticides; societies became very
concerned in respect of animal welfare in industrial production;
the loss of heritage landscapes, and biodiversity.
Sustainable agriculture could involve two approaches. The
first approach is that agriculture should sustain itself over a
long period of time by protecting its productive resources, e.g.
maintaining soil fertility, protecting groundwater, developing
renewable energies, and finding solutions to adapt farming
systems to climate change. This first approach considers the
farming system as a closed area. The second approach is to
consider that agriculture also has to contribute to the
sustainability of large territories and social communities.
Accordingly, agriculture should help urban areas to manage
wastes, e.g., by recycling urban sewage sludge, developing
rural employment, and offering a rural landscape for urban
people. This second approach has wider goals and does not
separate rural and urban areas. To conclude, the vagueness of
the concept of sustainable development and sustainable
agriculture is strength because it does not restrict the research
field too much, and, in turn gives freedom to scientists to
explore wide, unknown domains.
Sustainable agriculture is shown by many reports ([12];
[13]; [14]; [16]; [17]; [19]; [25]; [27]; [31] etc.). Much
knowledge has been acquired concerning the processes
involved in the conversion from conventional to organic
agriculture in various regions of the world (mainly Europe,
Australia, New Zealand, and North America). Many authors
and organisations worldwide give their own definition of
sustainable agriculture. Some authors consider sustainable
agriculture as a set of management strategies addressing the
main societal concerns about food quality or environment
protection [10]. Other authors focus on one main factor of
sustainability; for instance, flexibility, which is the adaptive
capacity of agriculture to adapt for future changes [11]. Other
authors focus on the ability of agricultural systems to maintain
crop productivity over the long term [15]. Overall, all authors
agree on the occurrence of three approaches to the concept of
sustainable agriculture: environmental, economic and social
approaches. In other words, agricultural systems are considered
to be sustainable if they sustain themselves over a long period
of time, that is, if they are economically viable,
environmentally safe and socially fair.
The farm is the smallest productive and economic entity in
agriculture. Influenced by the agricultural policy and market
conditions, the decisions on what to produce and how to
produce are made on the farm. Sustainable agriculture
describes one possible relationship between the use of natural
resources and the needs of the market and tries to balance
ecological capacities and economic interests.
A sustainable farm must achieve both economic and
environmental goals without losing sight of social aspects
(such as family quality of life, human health, relationships with
community, farmers education and skills, etc.) [4].
The new paradigm of sustainable development in
agriculture is based on respecting the following principles [28]:
The principle of health: Organic Agriculture should
sustain and enhance the health of soil, plant, animal,
human and planet as one and indivisible.
The principle of ecology: Organic Agriculture should
be based on living ecological systems and cycles, work
with them, emulate them and help sustain them.
The principle of fairness: Organic Agriculture should
build on relationships that ensure fairness with regard to
the common environment and life opportunities.
The principle of care: Organic Agriculture should be
managed in a precautionary and responsible manner to
protect the health and well-being of current and future
generations and the environment.
Unfortunately, many obstacles exist on the way to
achieving a more sustainable agriculture. Among them we can
mention:
the domination of short term (market and profit
oriented) interests instead of long-term ones;
export oriented economy instead of providing self-
sufficiency at the local level and exporting the extra
amount of products;
the globalization of the economy with the dominance of
transcontinental companies which are selling pesticides,
seeds, machines etc.;
the lack of the evaluation system for the cost of natural
resources in the modern market oriented economy.
But in the same time these obstacles and other factors
serves as incentives for a transition to a more sustainable
farming system:
102
high and increasing prices for non-renewable sources of
energy (natural gas, petrol, coal) and their derivates
synthesized in industrial conditions (mineral fertilizers,
pesticides) ;
the profit in permanent decrease for farmers because of
high prices for external inputs;
increased levels of degradation and pollution of the
environment;
higher risks for the health of producers and consumers.
Organic agriculture is an agricultural system that seeks to
provide consumers with fresh, tasty and authentic food while
respecting natural life-cycle systems. It means that organic
agriculture is a production system that sustains the health of
soils, ecosystems and people. It relies on ecological processes,
biodiversity and cycles adapted to local conditions, rather than
the use of inputs with adverse effects. Organic agriculture
combines tradition, innovation and science to benefit the shared
environment and promote fair relationships and a good quality
of life for all involved. [23]
To achieve this, organic agriculture relies on a number of
objectives and principles, as well as common practices
designed to minimise the human impact on the environment,
while ensuring the agricultural system operates as naturally as
possible.
Typical organic agriculture practices include:
wide crop rotation as a prerequisite for an efficient use
of on-site resources;
very strict limits on chemical synthetic pesticide and
synthetic fertiliser use, livestock antibiotics, food
additives and processing aids and other inputs;
absolute prohibition of the use of genetically modified
organisms;
taking advantage of on-site resources, such as livestock
manure for fertiliser or feed produced on the farm;
choosing plant and animal species that are resistant to
disease and adapted to local conditions;
raising livestock in free-range, open-air systems and
providing them with organic feed;
using animal husbandry practices appropriate to
different livestock species. [24]
Organically produced food products are obtained using
natural biological methods, avoiding the use of artificial
pesticides and fertilizers (save energy used for production,
avoid the use of chemicals in weed, pest and microorganism
control). The process is going on promoting natural feeding of
plants from the water, air and soil with the help of solar energy
and microorganisms.
Organic agriculture precondition is healthy soil, which is a
natural and living unit with diverse flora and fauna. Only
healthy soil can produce healthy plants resulting in healthy
food for humans and feed for animals.
Reduction in environmental pollution is achieved through
reduced cattle numbers and decreased application of farmyard
manure per unit of land area. For nature conservation, local
plant and animal breeds are recommended as they are best
compatible with the local microorganisms providing food most
suitable to local population.
Builds the social capital of rural areas, being knowledge
intensive, rather than capital and resource-intensive, it utilizes
traditional knowledge and promotes farmer-to-farmer
exchange. It provides tools for inspection and control, like
Internal Control and Participatory Guarantee Systems that
strengthen social organization and empower rural communities.
B. Organic agriculture and farming in Latvia: a background
Latvia has a rich history in agriculture and farming. Before
the beginning of World War II, its farmers had successfully
competed with European agro-producers. Karlis Ulmanis, the
first Prime Minister of Latvia, studied agriculture in
Switzerland, Germany and the U.S. and taught agriculture
briefly upon his return to the country. K. Ulmanis can be
credited with increased efficiency of the Latvian farms in those
days. In the late 1930s there were 16 regular steam-ship routes
from the Riga, Ventspils and Liepaja ports to major European
destinations, such as London, Bremen, Hamburg and
Stockholm. Latvian butter and bacon were the main exports to
the West, as well as to the Russian market.
During Soviet times the small individual farms were
replaced by the much larger state, or collective farms. By the
end of the 1950s the consolidation of independent homesteads
was almost complete, with over 90 percent of the farms turned
into the kolhozs. [5]
Intensive agriculture has different influence on environment
than organic farming. The most widespread impacts of
intensive agriculture on nature are soil degradation, pollution
and erosion on the local scale, fresh water shortage, problems
with food security and climate change on the global scale.
These problems motivated farmers to look for other ways of
farming.
After regaining the second independence in 1991,
agricultural output in Latvia decreased by 40% in the result of
land reform and structural changes in 2011 compared with
1990. However, we can see in Latvia also positive
development trends, as the agricultural industrys contribution
to gross domestic product (GDP) and the export of agricultural
products increased in the period since 2000. The share of
agriculture, hunting, and forestry in the total value added
reached 11% in 2011 compare with 2010. Labour productivity
in the agricultural industry slowly increases owing to
investments, it still lags behind other sectors of the national
economy. There were more than 83 thousand farms in 2011.
The majority are small farms in Latvia, the annual turnover of
which does not exceed EUR 15 thousand. The number of such
farms was more than 79 thousand or 95 % of their total
number. But usually these farms are not competitive in the
single European market.
Currently, the Latvian agricultural sector is fully private.
Farming is one of the main economic activities in the rural
103
areas. Many farms are owned and operated by a single family
that relies on agricultural output for all of its income.
The farming sector is largely composed of the small farms
cultivating grain, potatoes, rapeseed, fruits and berries as well
as producing milk, pork, poultry, veal and beef. The demand
for the domestically produced agricultural goods is constantly
growing. Many Latvians have fully embraced the global trend
of living healthier and greener, based on supporting natural
farming methods.
Organic farming is an agricultural system based on the
principles of minimizing the human impact on environment, at
the same time ensuring as natural as possible functioning of the
agricultural system. These principles have been defined in the
Council Regulation 2092/91 on organic production of
agricultural products and indications referring there to on
agricultural products and foodstuffs, Council Regulation
834/2007 on organic production and labelling of organic
products and repealing Regulation (EEC) No 2092/91.
Organic farming, one of the most promising export-oriented
industries in Latvia going forward, has experienced the
modernization of agricultural equipment that resulted in the
steady increase of farming productivity. The implementation of
EU-regulated quality inspection systems, as well as European
Union and Latvian government investments, have stimulated
the development of all agricultural sub-sectors including crop
and livestock production.
The additional funding which became available since
Latvia's accession to the EU in 2004 resulted in diversification
and modernization of farming methods and practices as well as
in the growth of Latvian agricultural exports. Main export
destinations, according to the Central Statistical Bureau of
Latvia, are Lithuania, Estonia, Russia and France for cheese
and curd, Estonia, Italy and Germany for butter. Since fostering
international contacts is the foundation of the modern business
development model, network-building activities cannot be
suspended, even in today's challenging economic conditions.
Though the impact of the global economic crisis has been felt
across every industry in the Baltic region, Latvian farmers are
focusing on maintaining their presence in the traditional
markets, as well as exploring new export destinations.
As a consequence, there has been an increase in the number
of farm markets and organic produce stores offering a variety
of quality products from the local farms and fields. There
typically is a higher cost associated with bio-farming: organic
feed for cattle and other livestock can cost twice as much as the
conventional feed, while limiting the use of agrochemicals and
relying on natural farming methods translates into lower
production outputs. Last year, the share of organically
cultivated land in Latvia was still less than 10 percent of the
total farming area, but the sector analysts forecast sustainable
development of this sector going forward. Over 4,000 organic
farms in the country have different levels of certification and a
large number of the Vides Veselbas Saimes (Nature Friendly
Households) are participating in the programs organized by the
Association of Latvian Organic Agriculture that was founded
in 1995. [5]
Even though the benefits of consuming organic versus
conventional is subject to debate, generally, many Latvians are
willing to pay premiums for the quality associated with the
natural-grown products. Smaller local markets have effective
quality control mechanisms that are benefiting the customers in
the long run. There is a really small community of farmers
here, and the customers know each and every one of them
personally. As soon as the quality goes down, people vote with
their feet, and since the news spreads really fast around here, I
have to make sure that my produce is top-notch every time.
C. Development of organic farming in Latvia
Agriculture is one of the most important economic sectors
in Latvia. Agricultural land occupies 39% of Latvia's territory.
It is the biggest user of agricultural land as well as the factor
determining the quality of the rural landscape and environment.
The development of the sector accelerates year-by-year, yet the
contribution of agriculture to the gross domestic product is
decreasing against the background of more rapidly growing
value added of other sectors.
Analysis of the number of employed persons in agriculture
shows increasing by 11 % in 2012 compare with 2011. In
Table 1 authors collected information about gross domestic
product in agriculture and its share in the structure of gross
domestic product in period from 2005 to 2011 years.
Organic farming is a uniform agricultural and food
production system that provides optimal healthy and
productive existence of inter-related elements of the ecosystem
- soil, plants, animals and people. Production techniques are
based on maintaining of a sustainable ecosystem, creating a
maximum closed production cycle, fully excluding use of
synthetically produced fertilizer and pesticide, minimizing the
potential for contamination of the environment. The result of
organic farming is not only healthy food, but also a sustainable
natural environment, which ensures high quality of life not
only humans but also plants and animals.
The development of organic farming in the country was
promoted substantially by rural development measures of the
Latvian government and the European Union after the
accession to the EU. First group of farmers began to work with
organic methods in the Liepja district, then in other parts of
Latvia (Csis, Ogre, Gulbene, etc.).
TABLE I. GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT IN AGRICULTURE AND ITS SHARE IN THE STRUCTURE OF GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT IN 2005-2011
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
GDP in actual prices, thous. LVL 9 000 348 11 126 574 14 720 651 16 084 678 13 070 448 12 784 137 14 275 231
Value added of agriculture and hunting at
actual prices, thous. LVL
198 514 215 948 250 651 248 205 205 045 215 732 203 245
Contribution of value added of agriculture
and hunting to GDP at current prices, %
2.2 1.9 1.7 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.6
prepared by authors using [32]
104
Organic farming in Latvia developed considerably since its
beginnings in 1989. Growth has been triggered by two
activities:
1. The implementation of an inspection system according to
EU regulation 2092/91 in 2001;
2. The implementation of an action plan in the country in
2003 that stimulated farmers interest in converting to the
organic system.
Local organic farming organizations cooperated and
established an association in 1995. In 2003, the government
accepted the Organic Farming Development Programme. Then,
the Latvian Organic Farming Organisation joined the
International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements
(IFOAM).
In 1998, the concept of organic farming was included in the
state legislation. From that time, organic farming started to
develop. Organic agriculture in Latvia is based on:
efficient use of resources available on the farm, for
instance, using of locally grown forage, effective
utilization of manure, etc;
selection of plant and animal varieties adaptable to the
local conditions, thus, being disease-resistant;
growing different kind of crops in pre- planned
succession for the most efficient usage of the available
resources;
strict limits on using chemically synthesized pesticides,
artificial fertilizers, antibiotics, feed nutrition
enhancers, processing aids and other raw materials;
prohibition of the use of genetically modified
organisms;
livestock farming system with the cattle grazing on
pastures and their provision with organic livestock feed;
livestock farming considering the needs of different
livestock breeds.
The objectives of organic farming are the following:
to ensure sustainable production of high-quality healthy
food (instead of concentrating on maximizing yield),
while maintaining crop and livestock diversity and
preserving the environment (including plants, animals,
soil, water and air);
to ensure the fulfilment of requirements for livestock
welfare (providing the animals with access to daylight,
air, clean water, natural pastures and sufficient space,
etc.);
to use direct solar energy more efficiently and, as much
as possible, to reduce use of fossil energy.
Opponents of organic farming declare that there is a threat
of famine in the world and organic farms with low yield
capacity cannot fight it. However, research shows that in many
unfavourable conditions organic farming is more successful
than intensive agriculture. Urs Niggli from the organic farms
certification organisation Research Institute of Organic
Agriculture FiBL, Switzerland, said that in the regions with
favourable conditions for agriculture the decrease of yield
might be from 0 till 20%, but in the regions with broken
humidity regime, productiveness grows for 116%. [22]
In Latvia there were 39 organic farms registered in 1998,
550 farms in 2003, 1043 in 2004. The number of organic
farms and the organic area increased rapidly in 2005 and 2006,
and between 2003 and 2004 it even almost doubled. At the
beginning of 2012, the number of farms engaged in organic
farming in Latvia decreased by 3% in comparison with the end
of 2010. Total number of organic farms in Latvia in period
from 1998 to 2011 is shown in Figure 1.
Despite the fact that the number of farms is large enough,
however, these are small companies and their number is not
sufficient.
Today approximately 4000 farms are managed with organic
methods. This number constitutes to 5% of the total number of
the farms in the country, and the organic farming covers 8% of
the agricultural lands. The largest number of organic farms is
located in districts Csis (330 farms), Madona (220 farms) and
Alksne (156 farms). Figure 2 depicts organic farming areas
size (ha).
39 63 78
219
352
550
1043
2873
4105 4120
4179
3977
3593
3484
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
3000
3500
4000
4500
1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
n
u
m
b
e
r
o
f

f
a
r
m
s

Fig. 1. Number of organic farms in 1998 2011 [prepared by authors using [32]]
105
0-20 ha
33%
21-100 ha
51%
101-150 ha
9%
151-250 ha
4%
>250 ha
3%

Fig. 2. Organic farming in Latvia - size of farms (ha) [prepared by authors
using [32]]
From the Figure 2 data can conclude that the biggest part
owned by small farms with the total area not more than 100
hectares (84%).
The total certified agricultural area increased in 2011,
reaching 10.7% of all agricultural land or 184 105 ha. From all
in 2011 certified farms 2866 companies were certified as
organic farming companies, 186 have received the transition to
organic farming certificate and 432 companies the transition
period had just started.
Difficulties in the processing of organically grown products
are associated with the production capacity, certification of
particular products and logistics, as majority of customers
concentrates in Rga, while farms are located in remote rural
areas. Other challenges for organic farmers include: unstable
investments and income; high agro-technical requirements; less
productive business; crop rotation, high requirements for
animal welfare; nutritive security; the small size of the farms
and weak cooperation; monitoring, traceability, control and
certification.
Organic farming sector is growing. Overall positive trend in
organic farming is increasingly growing consumers demand,
which gives farmers a lot of new opportunities. Being organic
farmers, the producers receive a certificate and obtain the right
to market their products under the label 'organic'. As a result,
healthy and natural product enters the market increasing the
competitiveness of producers. The market price for organic
products is higher because the consumer is willing to pay more
for qualitative food, animal welfare and environmental
protection. It is possible to get annual state aid for organic
products.
Organic farming includes many agricultural sectors:
crop cultivation
livestock breeding
beekeeping
rearing of aquaculture animals
wild animal breeding
mollusc growing
earthworm farming
product processing
fertilizer producing
The main production areas are crop production, including
cereals and vegetables, and dairy farming. Cereal farms
specialize in rye and wheat for bread baking, while oats and
barley are produced for fodder, thus securing the domestic
demand for organic feedstuffs. Consumer demand is highest
for vegetables and fruit. The main crops are potatoes, onions,
carrots and beet and, in terms of early vegetables from
greenhouses, cucumbers, tomatoes and sweet peppers. In the
past years there has also been a strong increase in the demand
for medicinal and aromatic plants. The main types of livestock
are dairy cows, beef, pigs and poultry. Different types of
honey, pollen and beeswax products are also popular.
Development of organic production in Latvia from 2007 to
2011 can see in Figure 3.
Outside Riga region (the capital of Latvia) the largest
numbers of enterprises per 1000 inhabitants are observed in
agriculture. The number of companies and farms engaged in
primary processing and processing of organic farming products
growing year by year. 16 companies were operational in 2007:
a bakery (elmni farm), three slaughterhouses (Zaubes
cooperative, rabbit slaughterhouses Svei and alkas Elvi),
four milk processing companies (eipenes piensaimnieku
sabiedrba, goat milk processing company Lci Ltd., Juri farm
and JSC Triktas siers), three tea manufacturers (Ozolii,
Ragres and Upmai farms), four fruit, berries, vegetables and
hemp processing companies (Prsla 2 Ltd., Meldri and
Sidrabi farms and Latvian Cooperative Society of Dairy
Farmers Latgales Ekoprodukti) and a honey processing
company (Vinnis Ltd.). Three grain storage facilities, two milk
collection companies as well as a packaging and sales
cooperative (Zaais grozs) were also involved in circulation of
organic farming products. Nowadays the number of such
companies increased. At the beginning of the 2013 there were
1266 certified organic farms in Latvia. [33]
0.2
1.6
2.6
2.7
3.2
23.7
41.7
0.1
0.6
2
1.4
2.4
18.6
41.5
57.1
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Honey
Eggs (th. pieces)
Vegetables
Fruits and berries
Meat
Potatoes
Cereals
Milk

Fig. 3. Organic production in Latvia [prepared by authors using [32]]
106
Certification of organic agricultural companies is
performed in accordance with the requirements of Council
Regulation (EC) No 834/2007 of June 28, 2007 on organic
production and labelling of organic products and repealing
Regulation (EEC) No 2092/91 and Commission Regulation
(EC) No 889/2008 of 5 September 2008 laying down detailed
rules for the implementation of Council Regulation (EC) No
834/2007 on organic production and labelling of organic
products with regard to organic production, labelling and
control" and their amendments, and national laws and
regulations on organic farming.
To become a producer of organic products in Latvia, an
application shall be submitted at State Ltd Certifying and
Testing Centre. For production enterprises until 1 April of
the current year, for processing companies throughout the
year!
Latvian Agricultural Consulting and Educational Support
Centre provide the course on organic farming (180 hours total)
for education of farmers.
In order to promote marketing of organic farming products,
national subsidies were granted in 2011 to support primary
processing and processing of those products as well as seed
farming development and establishment of a database of
vegetative propagation stock. Support for primary processing
and processing of products was received by farms developing
and implementing projects.
The import of all types of food and agricultural products
increased in 2012, amounting to more than LVL 1330 million.
The value of food and agricultural goods exported in 2011 was
LVL 1073.9 million and LVL 1158 million in 2012. In Latvia,
the largest part of goods was exported and imported from the
European Union countries. The most important export partners
for Latvia in 2007 were Lithuania and Estonia, while Germany
and Lithuania were the most important import partners.
The EU financially supports organic farming practices
through the agrienvironment payments under the European
Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD). The agri-
environment payments are generally implemented through
contracts between a public body in the Member States and a
beneficiary (farmer or land manager). These contracts commit
the beneficiary to apply specific farming practices. One of the
farming practices beneficiaries may opt for is organic farming.
By the end of 2010, public support commitment for organic
agriculture under the agri-environment measures amounted to
more than 690 million euro (EU-27). EAFRD support
represents 58 % of total public support while the remainder is
comprised of national contributions.
Organic production can also be supported indirectly
through other measures from the EAFRD (such as
modernisation of agricultural holdings, training etc.) or through
specific support. Certain Member States have prioritised giving
aid to holdings or projects developing organic production. [1]
Many farmers and their associations are interested in how
to access EU funds for their own farms. Many former
communist States have ample institutions, though some now
defunct; some of those still operative are reported to be of
rather poor quality, with limited material resources and there is
often a low rate of enterprise development arising from limited
research on entrepreneurship and a low degree of networking.
However, a variety of methods are used in most countries to
deliver technology transfer, including group visits to farms.
During recent years, the popularity of food products
produced in Latvias organic farms has grown. The customers
have also become more interested in visiting farms that offer an
insight into organic farming and a unique opportunity to
strengthen ones health and get some rest. Spend a weekend at
the organic farm, feed animals, taste herbal teas, enjoy a
bathhouse, learn to bake bread and do various other wonderful
activities, encourages the Association of Latvian Organic
Agriculture.
Most of the organic farms welcome and accommodate their
guests with open arms. City residents will find it interesting to
become familiar with life in the countryside and participate in
several rural activities helping farmers bake bread, gather
honey and take care of livestock. Gain new emotions, as we
offer you the opportunity to milk a cow, point out the owners
of Zemenu krastini Lodge. The guests are offered a steam
bath in a real countryside bathhouse. The farms also serve
meals that are prepared mostly from their own organic
products.
Latvian farms are surrounded by picturesque scenery,
encouraging guests to make use of the opportunity and observe
wild animals and hike on the most beautiful forest trails.
III. CONCLUSIONS
Organic agriculture is a model for rural development.
Organic agriculture is demonstrating with real-life examples
how to enhance economic, social and environmental
sustainability. Not only rural populations enjoy the fruits of
organic agriculture, urban citizens are better off as well.
Therefore: Governments at local and national levels should use
organic agriculture as a strategy for rural development,
involving rural communities and consumers in their decisions.
Local authorities can create positive conditions for developing
organic agriculture in their region. This can be achieved by:
1. Organizing daily and weekly farmers markets in cities.
2. Providing local and organic food in public canteens
(schools, hospitals, etc.).
3. Promoting the establishment of eco-agro tourism.
4. Educating younger generations on the close links
between agriculture, ecology and their daily food.
The development of organic agriculture in Latvia should be
based on the same principles on which are based organic
agriculture worldwide. Improvement of technologies isnt
enough for achieving a more sustainable development and
especially for organic farming systems. Changes for the whole
farming system are necessary which show the multifunctional
role of agriculture. We need to develop self-sufficient and self-
regulating production systems, which are less dependent from
artificial, industrial inputs, can use more efficiently local
resources and are friendly to the environment. But this isnt
enough also.
107
Researches have to be undertaken for the whole food
chain from crop breeding, primary production by farmers,
processing, marketing up to consumers. By saying this we
mean to take in consideration not only the production sector,
but also the environment and social sectors. In other words, the
whole link should be in the attention of researches from the
fork up to the table of consumers.
Educational work has a crucial role in this respect. Agro
ecology which is studding the ecology of the whole food chain
has to be studied in agricultural universities. Farmers have to
be involved in more on-farm researches for answering to direct
questions raised by them. For educational purposes more
model farms have to be founded where all farmers, but
especially conventional ones can change their mentality. More
public funds need to be allocated in doing researches education
and extension works at the national and international levels.
Cooperation between universities and research institutions at
the international level can play a very important role in
straitening the work on organic agriculture. All described
above only the first step toward a more sustainable agriculture
in Latvia.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The authors acknowledges the financial support provided by
the ERAF project Riga Technical University international
cooperation, projects and capacity development in science and
technology Nr. 2DP/2.1.1.2.0/10/APIA/VIAA/003 for this
research.
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108
Development of Smart Monitoring System for Wind
Energy System

Apapol Mahaveera
Faculty of Industry and Technology
Rajamangala University of Technology Isan,
Sakon-Nakhon Campus. THAILAND.
konggola.ma@gmail.com
Sanya Pasuk
Faculty of Engineering
Rajamangala University of Technology Srivijaya,
Srongkra. THAILAND.
Sanya.p@gmail.com

Abstract The paper presents the development of
monitoring system for a wind turbine prototype system. The
proposed monitoring system is developed by the Labview
computer programming. The system can connect to the wind
turbine via the internet as well as acquire monitored values and
upload values into memories. Meanwhile, the system will show
real-time values. Operating staffs can observe the wind turbine
using the monitoring system and can take any actions on-time, if
the wind turbine is not working properly. The results of the
monitoring system indicate that the monitoring system is able to
work properly and information can be used for investigation - the
wind turbine and system analysis. The investigation process is
very important for wind turbine operation in order to transmit
energy to destinations.

Keywords Wind Turbine, Monitoring system
I. INTRODUCTION
Renewable energy sources provide realistic
alternatives for electricity generation especially, in some
remote areas. One of the most promising applications of
renewable energy technology is the wind energy system.
Current, The wind turbine system is widely used. To retain the
wind system working reliably, it is necessary to have a
monitoring system to continuously monitor the wind system.
The goals of monitoring are normally to:
Ensure that the system is operating properly.
Assess the performance of system components, pinpoint
faulty devices.
Permit the calibration of tools.
Reveal improvement to the design and increase the
understanding of the designer.
In most monitoring systems, information is collected from
a remote station and sends information to master station.
Typically, systems in rural areas are supervised by yearly
visits in conjunction with a data logger, but this method leads
to the inefficiency of responding time for maintenance. There
are some monitoring systems that have been widely used for
example, Supervision Control and Data Acquisition: SCADA.
However, problems of methods are high investment cost, need
special software for client stations, and communication
difficulty. These disadvantages make the hybrid system
ineffective in economic performance

II. CONCEPT OF PROPOSED MONITORING SYSTEM

Fig. 1 The proposed monitoring system and the developed
wind turbine system.

In Fig.1, the monitoring system will be connected to
three points: wind turbine, PQ unit, and a converter which is
the output supply of the wind energy system. All monitored
data will be stored in a monitoring memory. Operators can
access the data at the monitoring system - as well as able to
observe the wind turbine by a visual display in Real-Time.
Moreover, the monitoring system can provide the monitored
data and send over the TCP/IP network or wireless network.
There is no need for any special software for viewing
the system. The proposed monitoring system is composed of a
monitoring unit (sensor unit), a data acquisition unit, and a
communication unit. The data acquisition unit will collect the
monitored data from the sensor unit and then stores the
monitored data into its memory. After the determination of
monitoring system, the system can be developed accordingly
to the design.

109
III. SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT

Data monitoring software is written by Lab View
programming tool.

Fig.2 Circuit of data monitoring in LabView program.

The monitoring unit must be able to work with the
developed hardware compatibly.Fig.3 shows the development
of whole prototype wind system including monitoring system.

Fig 3: Developed prototype wind system including monitoring
system

The prototype wind system as shown in Fig.3 is
developed according to the design diagram in Fig.1. The wind
speed simulator unit will simulate the wind situation and drive
the generator accordingly to wind speed profile from operator.
The PQ unit will control the power quality of wind turbine by
using STATCOM configuration. The power from wind energy
system will be connected to a developed converter, then
supply to simulating load. The monitoring system is a key of
whole system. All parameters will be observed by the
monitoring system. The operator can analyze and investigate
the wind energy system via the monitoring system. Therefore,
the monitoring system must work properly and provide real-
time data to operators.

IV. IMPLEMENTATION
The implementation of the system is simulated by a
selected wind profile. After inputting the profile to the
generator, the PQ unit will control the electric power quality
and supply to loads via a converter. The monitoring system
provides the visual display which can availably observe the
electric power quality of the system. The monitoring system
displays through the graphic user interface (GUI) for
operators. The graph will show at the point of monitoring. The
operator can open the program then the data will be
immediately displayed. The feature of monitoring system is
shown in Fig.4.

Fig 4. The monitoring system display

Fig.4 shows the test of the monitoring. The data analysis
can be started as soon as the operator runs the wind system via
real-time display. The operator can also point out at the values
which want to investigate by clicking to the area of monitoring
then the graph will be displayed as show in Fig. 5. The
monitored data are also stored to the main station. Data
analysis can be done on a routine basis, for example once a
day or a week. This will help the operator to make sure that
the system is working properly and when problems occur, the
operators can enable an immediate action to the system at the
right time.

Fig.5. Display of real-time monitoring investigation

110
As mentioned, the monitored data, which is stored can be
comfortably implemented with several programs such as Excel
program tool. The operator can download the monitored data
from the main station both directly and wirelessly. The
monitoring system provides a communication link. The
operator can access the data via internet, the operator need
only a password to enter the download area. This is very
useful for remote monitoring.
From the implantation as shown in Fig. 4,5 the results
show that the wind prototype is working properly and the
monitoring system can provide the correct data, the operator
can investigate the characteristic of the system in order to
analyze and for future applications.

V. CONCLUSION
The paper implemented the real-time internet web-
based technology for monitoring of wind energy system. The
concept of the proposed monitoring system is that the
monitored data is stored into main memory at the site. The
operators can access the monitored data directly or via
internet. The monitoring system allows the operator to
download the monitored data via internet. While at the station,
the operator can observe the system as real-time via graphic
display. The investigation can be done on time at the station.
Moreover, the operator can collect the monitored data for
future investigation. From the experiment, the results illustrate
that the developed LabView based monitoring system shows
itself to be a very suitable solution for wind energy monitoring
system.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The authors are grateful to the Faculty of Engineering,
Rajamangala University of Technology (RMUT)
Suvanabhumi (RMUTSB), Thanyaburi (RMUTT) and Phra
Nakhon (RMUTP), for the support in conducting this study.
Thanks friends for the helpful exchange of information.

REFERENCES
[1] B. Plangklang, An Embedded Interactive Monitoring System for PV-
Diesel Hybrid Plants in rural areas, EECON28, Phuket, Thailand, 2005.
[2] D. Thevenard, M. Ross, and G. Howell, A checklist for PV system
monitoring, Numerical Logics Inc. Waterloo, Ont. Canada 1998-15.
[3] S. Krauter, T. Depping, Monitoring of Remote PV-Systems by Satellite,
conference PV in Europe, 7-11 Oct. 2002, Rome Italy.
[4] Schmid J., Photovoltaic Systems Technology, Teaching Script, IEE-RE,
University of Kassel, Germany (2002).
[5] Ketjoy N., Photovoltaic-Diesel Generator Hybrid System at the Energy
Park, Naresuan University, Thailand (2001)
[6] B. Plangklang et al., Control Strategies for PV Hybrid System, EU-
PVSEC 2009, Hamburg, Germnay, 2009

111
City rhythms of commuter traffic
Decarbonisation of commuting in Vienna
Gerda Hartl
Institute of Architectural Sciences: Digital Architecture and Planning, Vienna University of Technology
Vienna, Austria
hartl@iemar.tuwien.ac.at

AbstractTodays distribution of residences and workplaces
is a result of availability of cheap oil combined with human
preferences for residence in low-density areas. Having reached
Peak-Oil nowadays, common motorised mobility is under
scrutiny: Not only its massive CO2 output but, most of all, its
future scarcity demands urban and regional planning to
anticipate the sustainable city of the future. In our work, we
have looked at the city of Vienna, in which we have researched
patterns of mobility regarding commuters. Our final goal is re-
densification as a means for transformation of the present state
into a walkable city. To make that possible, our analysis provides
insights into necessities of mode switching, according to the
distances from workplaces. The model which we present is
applicable not only to our research area, but to a variety of cities
that want to achieve a sustainable settlement structure.
Keywordscommuting; traffic; city rhythms; decarbonisation;
system theory; transport demand model; walkable cities;
sustainable settlement
I. INTRODUCTION
Cities can be considered dynamic systems consisting of
various synchronized processes happening in space-time [12].
Space uses including traffic can be viewed as stable processes
because they tend to return to their initial conditions and tend
to recover after disturbances. The daily intra-city commuting
rhythm, which exchanges basic day and night population, is
such a process. Its causes are that workplaces tend to
agglomerate while residences tend to disperse in functionally
differentiated societies [12].
Latest research utilising mobile telephone positioning data
elucidates that human trajectories show a high degree of
temporal and spatial regularity [14] and exhibit a significant
probability to return to few highly frequented locations (as
defined by using Zipfs law distribution for all visited
locations) in definite time spans [14]. Concluding, home
residence and workplace are basic anchor points for commuters
(home residence is also denoted as center of life in the
Austrian legal definition of primary residence), evoking the
more specific spatio-temporal rhythms in between them the
more distant they are located due to restricted time for
unplanned trips [16]. This new data source may substitute
scarce travel survey data mined on aggregate levels at intervals
of 5 or 10 years only [13].
Because time and space are a closely interlinked system,
wider reach due to higher speed as provided by motorised
modes with regard to constant travel time [21] has step-by-step
detached differentiated functions in space and forms a self-
reinforcing system of high external energy usage. Motorised
rush hour traffic in the cities is downgrading the quality of life
in terms of time and pollution.
In our research we focus on commuter traffic to elaborate
the implications of uneven densities, functional detachment and
variable accessibility throughout the city landscape. To cast a
light on todays commuter relations in Vienna, we build a
commuter model based on census data which we assign to the
street network of the transport model Vienna of the city of
Vienna. In doing so, we determine characteristics of travel
dimensions. Traffic densities on the street segments of the city
caused by pedestrian, bicyclist and private car commuters will
be shown as well.
II. BACKGROUND
Transport demand models try to solve the three-
dimensional problem of origins, destinations and mode choice
of paths undertaken by homogeneous groups of humans for
certain purposes. The area of interest is comprised of traffic
zones, which largely correspond to administrative zoning due
to data availability. The sorts of traffic to be considered by the
model are: internal traffic, originating traffic, terminating
traffic, through traffic. For the sake of completeness we may
also consider the inclusion or exclusion of traffic originating or
ending in the surrounding areas.
A transport demand model is essentially a closed system:
Whatever originates in a zone of the model has to terminate in
a zone of the same model, too. Demand and supply of
workplaces are modelled at the gravity points of zones, which
access the transport network via feeder links. Distances are
either approximated by line-of-light-flight lengths in
combination with detour-factors, or they are modelled as links
and nodes of a circulation system. The latter aspect can be
computed e.g. by using software like VISUM (PTV AG) [17].
Summarising, a main aim of such models is generating a
plausible image of the actual traffic volumes in a given area of
interest [18]. This is accomplished via comparison of the
models traffic density values obtained by assignment at traffic
counting points (e.g. private transport). Also, a traffic zones
outgoing volume can be compared to traffic surveys available
for the outgoing traffic of this specific traffic zone. If the model
is congruent with counting, the prediction of future traffic loads
due to changed conditions (establishment of new housing or
112
shopping facilities, breaking up of existing transport links or
addition of connections) becomes feasible. Yet, human
decisions are complex and traffic census data is remarkably
rare. For the case of Vienna, very few traffic-counting points
are observed (mechanically), while the purpose of travel is
obliterated completely [4]. This implies that a model of
Viennas commuter flows thus built and calibrated cannot
produce any valid results.
A transport model is normally subdivided into four steps:
traffic generation, traffic distribution, modal choice and traffic
assignment. Consumers (demand) are first distributed to
destinations using specific functions (e. g. gravity functions);
then, this demand is distributed to the available transport
modes using specific functions (e.g. Kirchhoffs law). In the
end, the achieved origin-destination matrices for the considered
transport modes are attributed to routes of the network, thus
visualising traffic density on links.
In literature, this approach was criticised due to the fact that
humans evaluate potential goals and how to reach them by the
available modes, before settling on a path [5]. Todays
simultaneous transport demand models like the generation-
distribution-mode choice model EVA [5] solve this
inconsistency by calculating consumer choice on destination
and transport modes at the same time. This simultaneous
distribution is based on separate accessibility matrices and is a
more realistic model of human choice behaviour; yet, it results
in immediate changes in destination and mode choice of
consumers, once accessibility values are altered. Thus, for our
needs, this kind of model is not appropriate because commuters
do not change their workplace in a short term if accessibility
worsens. For example, it is mentioned that decisions for
residence and workplace are processes [12], which happen at
an average timeframe of up to 5 years and more.
Returning to the description of the approach commonly
used, there is always a component that looks into the future.
For example, land-use transport models for urban regions are
used for simulating changes in space utilisation and transport
for periods of one to five years. Land use and transport are
closely intertwined; the change of either influences the other.
Such models intend to make future macroscopic developments
of these two entities tangible [8]. Comprising plenty of sub-
models and complex functions within and between them, they
are highly aggregate and necessarily based on many
assumptions.
We neither aim to construct a transport demand model nor
do we target at building a land-use transport model. The key
point of our approach is that we want to deal with census data
only, and, more importantly, we do not wish to model changes
in land use, transport or peoples decisions as a reaction to
varied circumstances. Rather, we are interested in the
decarbonisation solution space [10], looking at todays
distribution of commuters, workplaces and their inter-linkages
throughout the city of Vienna, as stated by our commuter
model. Opposing to the status quo, we aim to show scenarios
of reduced energy consumption. The underlying idea is that no
external energy is used, and therefore, no toxic emissions are
output.
III. MODEL OF COMMUTER RELATIONS IN VIENNA
A. Terms and extent
In our research, we focus on intra-city commuters
exclusively, who are employees residing and working in
Vienna. So-called non-commuters, employees who work from
their home residence are eliminated because they do not
commute to their workplace. In Vienna, statistical data [1]
comprises 591.000 intra-city commuters of which 41 %
(241.000) use private cars, 47% (280.000) public transport,
11% (63.000) walk and 2% (7.700) use a bicycle to reach their
workplace [23]. We assumed that commuters using a private
car do not take other commuters with them as passengers but
rather drive alone to their workplace. Thus, a commuter going
by private car always equals a car on the road. We agreed to
show morning rush hour traffic because characteristics of one-
way trips are easier to interpret. Evening traffic routes would
change but this is not essential for our purposes at the moment.
B. Transport Model (Verkehrsmodell Wien der Stadt Wien)
The transport model of the city of Vienna (so-called
Verkehrsmodell Wien der Stadt Wien, further abbreviated as
VMW), which we received from the MA 18 -
Stadtentwicklung und Stadtplanung, is implemented in PTV
AGs software VISUM [17] and consists of 281 traffic zones.
This zoning is in principle based on the administrational zones
established by Statistics Austria [20] for census counts. These
administrational zones are one level smaller than the 23
districts of Vienna, the so-called Bezirke (further abbreviated
as B). A district thus consists of few or many so-called
Zhlbezirke (further abbreviated as ZB), dependant on the
relative size of the district as compared to other districts of
Vienna. The districts Floridsdorf and Donaustadt (numbers
21 and 22 in Figure 1) which are located in the east of Vienna
on the other side of the Danube and the districts Hietzing and
Penzing (numbers 13 and 14 in Figure 1) in the far west of
the city containing big parts of forest are all much bigger than
the other more centrally located districts in proximity to the
core historic district, Innere Stadt (number 1 in Figure 1).
Thus, ZBs of these districts are usually more in number and
bigger due to less population and more open green space (see
Figure 1). A feature having complicated data interoperability
for us was that some ZB as defined by Statistics Austria have
been subdivided further in the VMW. This is a quite usual
approach since the builder of a transport model considers many
factors when deciding on a zoning strategy. Thus we adjusted
the data we retrieved from Statistics Austria to this different
zonal apportionment.

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Fig. 1. zonal model on ZB basis inclusive pedestrian network

The network model of the VMW consists of links, turns
and feeder links for all transport modes respectively
(pedestrian, bicyclist, public transport and private transport).
Metric lengths are incorporated in links; for the service-routes
of public transport travel times are known also because of the
fixed timetable of service. Feeder links are necessary to enable
routing to start and end at gravity points of traffic zones.
Feeder links incorporate metric lengths and times for passing
for all transport modes (pedestrian, bicyclist, public transport,
private transport). Turns only exhibit values of waiting times
after assignment calculation. All links are directed, restricted to
certain transport modes and to certain maximum speeds. Not
all streets and paths of Viennas real network are included due
to the fact that modelling such a detailed network with all its
inherent values is extremely time consuming.
As an addition to the VMW we used data on the
administrational level below the before mentioned ZB also,
which are the so-called Zhlgebiete (further abbreviated as
ZGEB). Building blocks, which form the administrational
level below the ZGEB constitute the end of further
downscaling (see Figure 2), were available as well [19]. We
elaborated our data structure to fit manifold purposes of
research on these levels of scale. Especially the spatial database
we built on the level of ZGEB will be very useful once we
perform the next step which considers how to re-allocate
commuters as to match our scenario of Vienna as a walkable
city.

Fig. 2. Zonal model on ZGEB basis inclusive building block zoning

C. Structural Data
We obtained quantitative data on residents, places of
employment, workplaces, households, residences, commuters
and mode choice of commuters from manifold sources. Places
of employment subsume workplaces; therefore workplaces
equal employees by this definition.
Data on commuters, workplaces and residents on the level
of ZB was provided in the VMW, therein called input data for
traffic generation purposes [2]. Data on residents, places of
employment, households, residences and secondary residences
was taken from [3]. The total of 591.000 intra-city commuters
of Vienna are available as a 23 x 23 matrix of commuters on
the level of B [1]. On the same level 23 x 23 matrices
containing the mode split of intra-city commuters to the
transport modes pedestrian, bicyclist, public transport and
private transport are available [23]. Thus it is clear, which
origin-destination paths commuters realise by which transport
mode.
We harmonised workplace and resident numbers on the
level of ZB from [2] to match data of 2009 workplaces
(NACE) [20] and 2011 (census) [20] on the level of B. This
we did via shares of ZB values [2] as parts of their sums
(which form B values).
To break down the commuter matrix from the level B to the
level ZB we first obtained ratios of workplaces on the level of
ZB [2] as compared to their sum on the B level. We performed
the same operation with regard to commuters on the level of
ZB [2]. Then, by the help of these ratios, we first distributed
commuters at residential locations on the level of B [1] to the
level of ZB. Next, we distributed these new numbers of
commuters at ZB origins to workplaces in the same fashion,
using ratios of workplaces on the level of ZB [2]. In doing so,
we obtained a 281 x 281 matrix of commuters on the level of
ZB. We merged this origin-destination matrix with the modal
split ratios on the level of B [23] whereas equal mode
apportionment as on the level of B was assumed. The global
mode split which results from these new ZB matrices of
commuter relations, reflects data on global mode choice of
commuters again [7].
114
The 281 x 281 matrix of commuters origins, destinations
and mode choice is our quantitative commuter model which we
next use for traffic assignment to visualise the daily impact of
commuting on the transport network (see Figures 3a, 3b, 3c,
3d).
D. Assignment Model
To broaden the scope of our commuter model we calculate
stochastic traffic assignment with VISUM to obtain data values
from all zones to all zones concerning travel distance, travel
time, line-of-light-flight lengths, velocity, resistance and route
choice for the transport modes pedestrian, bicyclist and private
car. To obtain these travel indicators we assign the basic
demand matrices (provided in the VMW, therein called basic
demand matrices) onto the network; actual travel time was
used as the basis for calculation of resistance and route-search,
for all indicators we assigned the value of 1 to the diagonal.
Stochastic assignment is useful for depicting that commuters
basically choose best connections in the available network,
but evaluate them differently due to incomplete or imperfect
information [17]. First, routes are mined algorithmically
between all zones on the chosen network (pedestrian, bicyclist,
private car). Different feeder link times and lengths for all
modes help to approximate the parts of routes leading from the
gravity points of zones to the network access points. Next
eliminating those that only marginally deviate from each other
reduces the mined routes. Once routes are thus limited, a
distribution function comes into play, which assigns the
commuters to the available routes. We used a Kirchhoff
function here, with a Beta value of 4. Using this distribution
function, also suboptimal routes are used by commuters,
which is more realistic than a strict application of Wardrops
principle [17].
The travel indicators achieved are the basis of evaluating
accessibility between zones for users of a certain mode. We
used these values to elaborate travel length distributions of the
pedestrian, bicyclist and private car commuters of our model.
It should be noted that not all links are available in the VMW;
especially for the pedestrian mode this circumstance implies
that accessibility values must be shorter in reality. Figure 4
shows a comparison of travel lengths as utilised by the
pedestrian and bicyclist commuters of our model. Graphic
representation of route choice visualised as traffic density on
street segments provoked by our commuters is displayed in
Figure 3a), Figure 3b), Figure 3c) and Figure 3d).

Fig. 3. Traffic density on respective street network as induced by intra-city
commuters way to work: a) cars on the street segments of the car-oriented
transport network b) detail of density of cars c) bicyclists on the street
segments of the bicycle-oriented street network d) pedestrians on the street
segments of the walkable street network

115

IV. MODE SWITCH SCENARIO
Evaluating the solution space for future walkability in the
field of commuter traffic naturally comprises examining
changes in transport mode choice, in present-day locations of
commuters or present-day locations of these commuters
workplaces. In our mode switch scenario we keep origins and
destinations fixed and rather assume transport mode choice to
change, being not as basic as a decision for an appropriate
residence or workplace. Literature states that users of private
transport are very attached to this mode of transport due to
body energy savings and temporal advantages of reach [6]. Yet
this preference can easily be put aside by restrictions on the
level of city governmental laws and orders. For example:
Vienna has recently introduced parking space management
which limits parking times for the Viennese population and
forbids parking for incoming commuters from Lower Austria
or Burgenland arriving by private car. Their number (also
based on census data [1]) equals 48% of commuters going by
private car in intra-city traffic of Vienna, thus this new sanction
is supporting decarbonisation in Vienna to big extents.
In our commuter model pedestrians and bicyclists are to
95% and to 89 % likely to travel a maximum of 5 kilometres,
the rest of them will only accept up to 9 kilometres of travel
length. 43% of commuters using a private car are likely to
accept a distance of 5 kilometres, 33% will accept a distance of
10 kilometres, and the rest of them will travel a maximum of
25 kilometres. On average, our intra-city commuters using a
private car drive 7 kilometres (weighed average user-based
value of average of distance class) whereas pedestrians and
bicyclists walk or ride 3 kilometres in this respect. 1995 data
shows that car users in Vienna drive 6,7 km on average for all
purposes [7]. In Lower Austria 50% of all paths driven by car
are below 6 km of distance. Looking at the distribution of
pedestrian and bicyclist commuters below a distance of 10
kilometres in Figure 4, we see that pedestrians and bicyclists
are in detail preferring distances below 3 and 5 kilometres
respectively.

Fig. 4. Travel length distribution of pedestrian and bicyclist commuters

The VMW incorporates a maximum distance of 40
kilometres between zones (and marginal counts of more than
that) on the car-oriented street network due to the directed
street network and its inherent detour distance. The maximum
zonal distance of pedestrian and bicyclist travel lengths is 25
kilometres, which is the diameter of the city.
Knowing the status-quo travel lengths of pedestrians and
bicyclists (see Figure 4), we firstly assume that commuters
using a private car will from now on walk to their workplace if
it is accessible within the travel length that is walked by the
pedestrian commuters of our model. Thus, if commuters going
by private car can reach their workplace within up to 3
kilometres using the pedestrian network instead, they will turn
into pedestrian commuters. Figure 4 shows that up to 3
kilometres are still acceptable for commuters walking to their
workplace whereas the preference for lower distances exhibits
almost exponential behaviour. These pedestrian distances
below 3 kilometres which are now walked by former car
drivers on the pedestrian network, are 2,1 kilometres long on
average. Because not all pedestrian links are part of the model,
this new average walking distance for mode switchers is likely
to be lower due to much higher connectivity for pedestrians in
reality. This new pedestrian commuting substitutes distances of
on average 2,4 kilometres that mode switching car drivers live
apart from their workplaces. The velocity of pedestrians in our
model is the commonly accepted value of 4 km/h. 2,1
kilometres can be walked in approximately 30 minutes. In
Vienna, 39% of commuters (all modes) travel 16 to 30 minutes
on their way to work, 23% travel less and 38 % more than that
[7]. For central regions in Lower Austria a mobility survey of
2008 states that pedestrian walks for all purposes are 1,4 km
long [22]. Although our new pedestrian commuting distance is
a bit longer, it is easy to see that for establishing a walkable
city a primary goal is that people walk more. Figure 5 shows
that this approach reduces the number of commuters going by
private car by 28%, travelled commuter-kilometres by car
reduce by 9 %.
To further confine the mass to be reallocated, we assume
that the beforehand-obtained amount of commuters still using
the private car will rather go by bicycle to their workplace if it
is accessible in the travel length travelled by bicyclist
commuters of our model. Thus, if the remaining commuters by
private car can reach their workplace within up to 5 kilometres
on the bicyclist network, they will turn into bicyclists. Figure 4
shows that up to 5 kilometres are still acceptable for
commuters using a bicycle. Here, 11 % of our bicyclists are
116
still traveling these 5 km whereas 13% of our pedestrians
would still walk the before stated 3 kilometres. These new
bicycled paths substitute distances of on average 4,9 kilometres
that car-driving commuters live apart from their workplace.
The mode switching car drivers now ride their bicycles for 4,5
kilometres on average. The average travel distance bicycled in
Vienna for all purposes is 4,5 km [15]. The velocity of
bicyclists in our model is 18 km/h, whereas 12 km/h is a
common value [18].
Figure 5 shows that second step of modal switch reduces
the number of commuters going by private car by another 18%
for travel lengths shorter or equal to 5 km on the bicyclist
network. Commuter-kilometres by car reduce by another 13%.
Hence, a total of 46% of commuters using the private car today
could switch to slow, sustainable modes by such premises
alone. These 110.500 commuters fewer reduce driven person-
kilometres by 20%. Accordingly, energy usage is reduced by
this number, as are toxic gases respectively. Energy usage of
6.020 GJ spent originally for paths to work (energy use per
private passenger vehicle kilometres [11]) with private cars
reduces by 13% in our mode switch scenario. The remaining
commuters still using private cars live on average 11,2 km
apart from their workplace. They will be considered for re-
allocation.
Fig. 5. Commuters using a private car switching to pedestrian or bicyclist
commuting

V. NEXT STEPS
Keeping commuters residences and workplace locations
fixed we obtained the critical mass of commuters to be
reallocated in the next step. In general, changing workplaces
seems less desirable since it brings about shifts in already
sustainable connections of commuters to their belonging
workplaces. Thus commuters will be assumed to change their
residence locations rather than the other way round. The
research aim is to obtain a spatial distribution of commuters,
which offers the option of using sustainable modes on a daily
basis. To design this scenario, we will focus on accessibility
dimensions and prospective locations for additional densities.
Furthermore we will visualise the temporal rhythm of
motorised private commuting using Agent-Based-Modelling.
VI. DISCUSSION
We have shown in our commuter model that travel lengths
for pedestrians, bicyclists and private car commuters need to be
looked at in a differentiated way: while travel lengths of
pedestrians and bicyclists are naturally limited due to body
energy savings travel lengths driven by private cars are
comparably short. Our scenario of mode switch exhibits that
there are options for 46 % of commuters going by private car to
change to sustainable modes even though time is scarce
nowadays, of course [9]. Altogether, the travel lengths output
by our commuter model fit well with traffic survey data.
Commuter traffic is a result of choices of residential
locations, workplace locations and mode choices available for
the human subject, all of them subject to change. Therefore, the
incentive today is to rethink allocation and interlinkages so that
the walkable city of the future can become a reality. We
believe that our on-going research will help to take an unbiased
look at our present-day settlement structure and its
corresponding travel dimensions. Our case study of Vienna can
exemplify which problems need to be faced by 2020 if
thoroughly thinking about a sustainable, liveable future without
dependency on oil.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
We want to thank the Magistrat der Stadt Wien, MA 18
Stadtentwicklung und Stadtplanung for the provision of the
Verkehrsmodell Wien der Stadt Wien. We want to thank the
PTV AG Karlsruhe for the provision of a research-license of
VISUM.
REFERENCES
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Erwerbsstatistik 2009, accessible via
www.statistik.at/web_de/frageboegen/abgestimmte_erwerbsstatistik/erg
ebnisse/index.html
[2] Magistrat der Stadt Wien MA 18 Stadtentwicklung und Stadtplanung,
Verkehrsmodell Wien der Stadt Wien Stand 2009 (VISUM Transport
Model, demand matrizes & input data for traffic generation modeling),
received in August, 2012, www.stadtentwicklung.wien.at
[3] Statistik Austria Bundesanstalt Statistik sterreich (ed.), Ortsverzeichnis
Wien 2001, Verlag sterreich GmbH, Wien, 2005, p. 1-138, accessed
via www.statistik.at
[4] Verkehrsplanung Kfer GmbH, Straenverkehrszhlung Wien 2010:
Auswertung Gemeindestraen A+B: Endbericht, August 2011, p. 1-176,
accessed via
www.wien.gv.at/stadtentwicklung/studien/pdf/b008200.html
[5] Lohse, D., Berechnung von Personenverkehrsstrmen, in: Wissenschaft
und Technik im Straenwesen, Heft 17, 1977
[6] Knoflacher, H., Grundlagen der Verkehrs- und Siedlungsplanung,
Bhlau Verlag Ges.m.b.H., Wien, Kln, Weimar, 2007
[7] Herry Consult GmbH, Vekehr in Zahlen sterreich Ausgabe 2011,
Bundesministerium fr Verkehr, Innovation und Technologie Abteilung
II/Infra 5 (ed.), July 2012, p. 1-286, accessible via
www.bmvit.gv.at/verkehr/gesamtverkehr/statistik/downloads/viz11/inde
x.html
[8] Wegener, M., Overview of land-use transport models, in: D. A. Hensher
& K. Button (eds.), Transport Geography and Spatial Systems,
Handbook in Transport, Handbook 5, Pergamon/Elsevier Science,
Kidlington, 2004, p.127-146
[9] G. Franck, Es wird eng mit der Zeit, p.38-39 in: Die Presse, July 2006
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urban space, in: Computational Engineering in Systems Applications,
Volume 2, IAASAT Press, July 2011 p. 26-30
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passenger transport systems: A study of 84 global cities, presented at:
International Third Conference of the Regional Government Network
for Sustainable Development, Notre Dame University Fremantle,
September 2003 p. 1-28
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[12] Franck, G., Wegener, M., Die Dynamik rumlicher Prozesse, in:
Dietrich Henckel & Matthias Eberling (ed.), Raumzeitpolitik, Leske &
Budrich, Opladen, 2002, p. 145-162
[13] Ahrens, G.-A., Lieke, F., Wittwer, R., Hubrich, S., Endbericht zur
Verkehrserhebung ,Mobilitt in Stdten SrV 2008 und Auswertungen
zum SrV-Stdtepegel, Technische Universitt Dresden, 2009, p. 1-157
[14] Gonzalez, M., Hidalgo, C., Barabsi, A., Understanding individual
human mobility patterns, in: Nature, Volume 453, Issue 7196, June
2008, p. 779-782
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(ed.), Radverkehrserhebung Wien, Entwicklungen, Merkmale und
Potenziale Stand 2010, Werkstattberichte Heft Nr. 114, 2011, p. 27
[16] Ahas, R., Aasa, A., Silm, S., Tiru, M., Daily rhythms of suburban
commuters movements in the Tallinn metropolitan area: Case study
with mobile positioning data, in: Transportation Research Part C,
Emerging Technologies, Volume 18, Issue 1, February 2010, p. 45-54
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2011, p. 356, accessed via educational license of VISUM 12, received in
March 2012
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der Verkehrsplanung: Band 2: Verkehrsplanung, DIN Deutsches Institut
fr Normung e.V. (ed.), Beuth Verlag, Berlin, Wien, Zrich;
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Transportation Research Part A, Volume 32, Issue 6, p. 455-477
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Mobilittsbefragung 2008, Amt der N Landesregierung, Abteilung
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Umwelt und Energie (eds.), Heft 26, 2008, accessible via www.noe.gv.at
[23] Statistik Austria Bundesanstalt Statistik sterreich, Volkszhlung 2001,
Daten zu Verkehrsmittelwahl der Berufspendler Wiens, not publicly
available.

118

Abstract Co-pyrolysis of lignite and pistachio seed (CPLPS)
under nitrogen gas was performed in a Heinze retort. The effect
of pyrolysis temperature on product distribution of CPLPS
investigated under heating rate of 10Cmin
-1
and blending ratio
of 50(wt)%. Biomass is higher yield to be pyrolyzed than lignite
and addition of biomass promotes the pyrolysis of lignite. In the
range of the experimental conditions investigated the yield of the
product is proportional to pyrolysis temperature. On the other
hand, considerable synergetic effects were observed during the
co-pyrolysis in a fixed bed reactor leading to increase in oil yield.
Maximum pyrolysis oil yield of 27.2% was obtained at pyrolysis
temperature of 550C. The obtained oils are characterized by GC,
and elemental analysis.

Keywords bio-fuel; co-pyrolysis; lignite; pistachio seed

I. INTRODUCTION

Great consumption of fossil fuels and the increasing
environmental concern because of air pollutant and CO
2

emissions has been promoting an urgent search for new and
cleaner energy. The pyrolysis of coal is a promising process
for useful liquid fuels and other chemicals, but the yields of
these products are limited because of the low H/C ratio in coal.
Accordingly, it is necessary to supply H
2
for coal from other
resources. The co-utilization of coal with hydrogen-rich
matters such as biomass has more oxygen and hydrogen and
less carbon compared to coal, offers a number of advantages.
The addition of the renewable biomass can contribute to the
reduction of CO
2
emissions as the same amount of CO
2
is
extracted from the atmosphere during the growth period of the
plants and reduce emissions of some pollutants, such as NO
x
,
SO
x
, PAH, and volatile organic compounds [1-4]. Co-
pyrolysis biomass with coal in fixed-bed reactors is a
promising alternative that leads to an economical and
environmentally friendly use of coals by reducing pollutant
emissions as well as to the utilization of biomass residue.
To explain the behavior during the coal/biomass co-
pyrolysis, an understanding of the devolatilisation processes
occurring during the initial pyrolysis of both individuals and
the blends is necessary. One of the main differences in
characteristics of biomass as compared to coal, is that biomass
generally releases much higher volatiles, which also contain a
large proportion of oxygenated species including water.
Biomass produced a large amount of water at around 220
350 C during the pyrolysis process, which can be expected to
react with coal particles during the co-pyrolysis. It has also
been suggested that biomass present in the coal/biomass
blends supplies hydrogen to the subsequent reaction with coal
[5].
Recently, interest in the co-pyrolysis of biomass/coal has
been growing significantly. A number of studies have carried
out pyrolysis of coal/biomass blends to examine the existence
of synergistic effects employing various pyrolysis conditions,
reactor types and fuel types [6-9].
Turkey has considerable amount of coal reserves of which
lignites constitutes major portion with a reserve of 11.8 billion
tonnes [10]. Lignites, includes high ash, sulphur, volatile
matter and lower heat values vary from 1100 to 4500 kcal kg
1

and therefore it mainly utilized conventionally for power
production and heating purposes and cause severe
environmental problem.
Lignite exploitation and utilization as a fuel provide large
fraction of the needs in Turkish energy system and present the
most important atmospheric pollution source. It is, therefore,
the objective of this work to study co-pyrolysis of one of
Turkish lignite with biomass.
In this study, the effects of various process parameters on
the efficiency of the co-pyrolysis process were investigated.
The effects of final pyrolysis temperature on the pyrolysis
products yield and mixture composition on the chemical
compositions of the oil have been investigated.

II. EXPERIMENTAL

The pistachio seed (Carthamus tinctorius L.) and lignite
sample investigated in this study has been taken from vicinity
of Batman, located in Southeast Anatolia and Kutahya-
Seyitmer region, was located in central Anatolia,
respectively. Prior to use, the sample was air dried, grounded
in a high-speed rotary cutting mill. Particle size range was
between 0.5-1.0 mm for lignite and pistachio seed. Some
The effect of pyrolysis temperature on co-
pyrolysis of lignite and pistachio seed in a
fixed-bed reactor
zlem ONAY
Anadolu University, Porsuk Meslek Yuksekokulu, Eskisehir, TURKEY
e-mail:oonay@anadolu.edu.tr

119

characteristics of the used pistachio seed and lignite are given
in Table1.

Pistachio seed, lignite and their mixtures were pyrolysed in
a Heinze retort and to determine the effect of pyrolysis
temperature on the product yields, 10 g of air-dried sample,
was placed in the reactor and the temperature was raised with
10C min
-1
to final temperature of either 400, 500, 550 or
700C and held for either a minimum of 30 min or until no
further significant release of gas was observed. The flow of
gas released was measured using a soap film for the duration
of the experiments. The liquid phase was collected in a glass
liner located in a cold trap maintained at about 0C. The liquid
phase consisted of aqueous and oil phases which were
separated and weighed. After pyrolysis, the solid char was
removed and weighed, and then the gas+water yield was
calculated by difference. For these experiments %50 blending
ratio of pistachio seed (weight of pistachio seed in the blend
expressed as a percentage of the total sample weight) was
used. All the yields were expressed on a dry, ash-free (daf)
basis.
The oils analyzed in this study have been obtained in the
experimental condition that has given maximum oil yield of
CPLPS. Elemental composition (C, H, N and S) and higher
heating value (HHV) of the sample were determined with an
elemental analyzer (LECO TruSpec CHN Elemental Analyzer)
and IKA C200 calorimeter.TG analysis was carried out in a
LINSEIS Thermowaage L81 thermo gravimetric analyzer
coupled with differential thermal analyzer (DTA). The initial
weight of the sample was close to 25 mg. The samples were
heated from room temperature to 800C with a heating rate of
40C min
-1
using N
2
as the carrier gas at a constant flow rate of
40mlmin
-1
.
Chemical class compositions of the oils were determined by
liquid column chromatographic fractionation. The oil was
separated into two fractions as n-pentane soluble and insoluble
compounds (asphaltenes) by using n-pentane. The n-pentane
soluble material was further separated on activated silica-gel
(70-230 mesh). The column was eluted successively with n-
pentane, toluene and methanol to produce aliphatic, aromatic
and polar fractions, respectively. Each fraction was dried and
weighed. The fractions were analyzed by Fourier transform
infrared spectroscopy to determine the efficient separation of
the chemical class. In addition, n-pentane fraction was
analyzed by GC/MS (HP 6890 GC/MS 30 m i.d; 0.25 mm i.d.;
0.25 m film thickness, HP-5MS column).

III: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The individual curves for each raw material and
coal/biomass blends are presented in Fig.1. Percent residual
mass decreased with increasing biomass content for blends of
coal/biomass. This trend is due to the high volatile content and
low fixed carbon content in biomass sample compared to the
coal. Biomass and coal are essentially degraded at different
ranges of temperature. An important amount of biomass char
has been already formed when the major part of coal is
decomposing. For pistachio seed, the devolatilization starts at
200C and the weight loss at the final pyrolysis temperature
(800C) is 80.8%. The coal tested start to devolatilize at
higher temperature compared with biomasses. The coal has a
peak between 340C and 530C. The global weight loss at the
final pyrolysis temperature of 800C is 36.2%.
Thermogravimetric analysis has been conducted also for the
%50 blending ratio of pistachio seed prepared. The
corresponding residual mass curves are reported in Fig.1 as a
function of temperature. The curve for blend lies between the
curves of the reference materials.

Fig.1. Percent residual mass versus temperature

TABLE I
MAIN CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SAFFLOWER SEED AND LIGNITE
Characteristics Lignite Pistachio seed
Proximate analysis
(wt.%,as received)

Moisture 11.2 6.4
Volatile 32.7 82.6
Fixed C 16.5 7.3
Ash 39.6 3.7

Elemental analysis
(wt%, daf.basis)

Carbon 35.6 60.4
Hydrogen 3.1 10.2
Nitrogen - 2.8
Sulphur 0.6 -
Oxygen
(by difference)
60.7 26.6

H/C molar ratio 1.05 2.03
O/C molar ratio 1.28 0.33
Calorific value (MJ/kg) 6.6 30.4

120

The influence of pyrolysis temperature on CPLPS products
yield was investigated at %50 blending ratio of pistachio seed
(weight of pistachio seed in the blend expressed as a
percentage of the total sample weight). The productions of
char, oil and gas yields were plotted against the pyrolysis
temperature in Fig.2. The main effect of temperature increase
is higher amounts of gas and oil, whilst the yields of char
continuously decrease. As shown in Fig.2, the char yield
significantly decreased as the final pyrolysis temperature was
raised from 400 to 700C, in other words, the pyrolysis
conversion increased. The decrease in the char yield with
increasing temperature could be due to greater decomposition
of the samples at higher temperatures. The oil yield increased
as the final pyrolysis temperature was raised from 400 to
500C, reaching a maximum at a pyrolysis temperature of
550C and decreased at the pyrolysis temperature of 700C. In
our case, the maximum yield of oil is obtained at pyrolysis
temperature of 550C. Clearly, the yield of oil is higher, as
compared to the expected ones (dashed line, Fig.2.) calculated
as the sum of oil fractions produced by pyrolysis of each
separated component. At pyrolysis temperature of 550C the
CPLPS leads to production of more than 8% (in mass) of oil
for 50% blending ratio of coal, whatever the origins of studied
raw materials.
400 500 600 700
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Char
Oil
Gas+Water
Oil Caculated
Y
i
e
l
d

(
%
)
Pyrolysis Temperature (
0
C)

Fig.2. Effects of pyrolysis temperature of CPLPS. The dashed line represents
the theoretical additive evolutions of the oils.

The properties of oils are given in Table 2. As it can be seen
in Table 1 and 2, oils contain less amounts of oxygen content
than that of the original feedstock. The significant decrease in
oxygen content of the oil compared to the original feedstock is
important, because the high oxygen content is not attractive for
the production of transport fuels. Further comparison of H/C
ratios with conventional fuels indicates that H/C ratios of the
oils obtained in this study lie between those of light and heavy
petroleum products.

TABLE 2.
THE ELEMENTAL COMPOSITIONS AND CALORIFIC VALUES OF
PYROLYSIS OILS

Component Coal Pistachio seed 50%coal
C 79.7 70.8 76.9
H 10.3 10.8 11.8
N 0.8 2.7 1.6
S 0.7 - 0.5
O
b
8.5 15.7 9.2
H/C molar ratio 1.55 1.83 1.84
Calorific value (MJkg
-1
) 40.3 36.7 41.4

The GC/MS analyses were conducted on the n-pentane
fractions to confirm n-alkane and n-alkene hydrocarbons (Fig.
3). The n-pentane fractions consist of normal alkanes, alkenes
and branched hydrocarbons. The straight chain n-alkanes
range from C
6
to C
24
in the pyrolysis oils.

Fig.3 GC/MS of the n-pentane fraction of pyrolysis oils

IV.CONCLUSION

In the present work, mixtures of pistachio seed and coal can be
radically converted to liquid products by pyrolysis under
nitrogen pyrolysis atmosphere in Heinze retort. The results
show that the pyrolysis temperature has a great influence on
pyrolytic oil. At pyrolysis temperature of 550C the maximum
yield of oil is watched. At this temperature, the yield of oil
goes to a maximum of about 27.2wt.% for 50% blending ratio
121

of coal in the experimental conditions used. The differences
between the experimental value and the calculated value
confirm that significant synergies can happen during co-
pyrolysis of waste tire and biomass, when pyrolytic vapor are
in close contact which are in favor of improving the oil quality.

REFERENCES

[1]W. Li-gang, Z.Li, X. Shao-ping, Effects of feedstock on co-pyrolysis of
biomass and coal in a free-fall reactor J. Fuel Chem Technol, 2011, 39(10),
pp. 728-734.

[2]L.L.Shang, S.Q. Cheng, H.Q.Zhang,B.Y.Yin, Investigation of the
characteristics of COS released from coal/ biomass blends during co-
pyrolysis Coal Conversion, 2007, 30(2), pp.1821.

[3]T. Sonobea, N.Worasuwannaraka, S. Pipatmanomaia, Synergies in co-
pyrolysis of Thai lignite and corncob Fuel Processing Technology, 8 9,
2008, pp.1371-1378.

[4]L. Zhang, S.P. Xu, W. Zhao, S.Q. Liu, Co-pyrolysis of biomass and coal
in a free fall reactor Fuel, 2007, 86 (3): pp.353359.

[5]A.H. Stiller, D.B. Dadyburjor, J. Wann, D. Tian, J.W. Zondlo, Co-
processing of agricultural with coal and biomass waste Fuel Process.
Technol. 49, 1996, pp.167175.

[6]L.L. Shang, S.Q. Cheng, H.Q. Zhang. Experimental study on pyrolysis
behaviors of coal and biomass blending. Acta Energiae Solaris Sinica,
28(8), 2006, pp. 852856.

[7]O. Onay, E. Bayram, O.M. Kockar, Copyrolysis of seyitomer-lignite and
safflower seed: influence of the blending
ratio and pyrolysis temperature on product yields and oil
characterization Energy Fuels, 2007, 21(5), pp.30493056.

[8]H.X.Wu, H.B. Li, Z.L. Zhao, Thermogravimetric analysis and pyrolytic
kinetic study on coal/ biomass blends. Journal of Fuel Chemistry and
Technology, 2009, 37(5), pp. 538545.

[9]D.K.Park, S.D. Kim, S.H.Lee, J.G. Lee, Co-pyrolysis
characteristics of sawdust and coal blend in TGA and a fixed bed reactor.
Bioresour Technol, 2010, 101 (15), pp. 61516156.

[10]ETKB/EGM, 2011, Updating the Study of Coal Reserves Report,
September 2011.

122

Sheave
Machine beam
Frame
Rotor
Stator
Elevator Traction Machine
Sheave
Machine beam
Frame
Rotor
Stator
Elevator Traction Machine
Prediction of Room Noise Caused by Vibration of
High Power Elevator Traction Machine
Shinichi Noda
Power and Industrial System R&D Center
Toshiba Corporation
Toshiba-Cho 1, Fuchu-Shi, Tokyo, 183-8511, J apan
Yoshitake Kamijo
Toshiba Corporation

Sueyoshi Mizuno
Toshiba Corporation

Makoto Matsushita
Toshiba Corporation

AbstractTotal simulation from vibration of elevator motor
to noise at sitting room with anti-vibration measures is confirmed
in design stage. This procedure also presents decrease of acoustic
noise in sitting room. In this simulation, FEM calculates wave
motion, such as wave phase, interference, diffraction and natural
frequency mode of sitting room wall. These procedures yield the
ration between vibration of elevator motor and acoustic noise in
sitting-room.
Keywordselevator motor;accoustic room noise; vibration
I. Introduction
Elevators are major means of transportation installed in various
facilities from skyscrapers to low-rise buildings to assist us in our
daily lives. In some cases, however, elevators may cause a
problem in that vibrations from the elevator traction machine
propagate to a living space near the machine room, generating
vibrations and noise in the living space. What is worse, an
increase in magnetic flux density resulting from the recent trend
towards more compact designs and a decrease in structural
rigidity resulting from the recent trend towards lightweight
designs are contributing to higher energy per unit volume
electromagnetic vibrations generated by the traction machine.
About vibrations from a high-power traction machine, e
electromagnetic force mode and vibration mode during g
operation have not been clarified sufficiently. Thus, if the
vibrations of a high-power traction machine can be estimated by
simulation, measures can be taken at the vibration source
propagation path, and noise emission location to effective reduce
the vibrations.
This simulation used Finite Element Method, which can
calculate any type of room shape. FEM models the form by y
meshed plane. Finite Difference method has some difficulty in
collaboration with vibration and acoustic noise. In Boundary
Element Method, it is hard to simulate propagation of vibration
from traction machine to the room.
Hitherto, estimation of acoustic noise inside of car has done,
but simulation of room of building by FEM has no papers.
In this paper, we (1) predicted a vibration response from
structure-electromagnetic analysis, (2) found that the vibration
mode during elevator operation depends not on the
electromagnetic force mode but on the structural natural
vibration mode, and (3) identified the location at which
vibrations can be prevented from transmitting to the motor leg
by discovering that the vibration mode during operation is not
a rotation vibration mode but a standing wave mode having
fixed vibration nodes. The verification process, analysis,
experiments, and finite element method (FEM) analysis will
be described.
II. Analysis Procedure
A. Procedure
Finite Element model of the traction machine, 200kW
motor, is shown in Fig.1. In this figure, traction machine,

Fig.1 Three dimensional FEM model

123

Fig.2 Procedure of FEM analysis

motor, frame of the motor, sheave, motor rotor and machine
beam are modeling.
Analysis procedure of the FEM simulation is shown in Fig.2.
In Fig.2, Step I provides vibration forces such as
electromagnetic forces, bearing vibration forces and rotational
unbalanced forces.
Step, building is modeled by three dimensions and its
natural frequency is calculated.
Step , room noise is calculated by FEM, considering wave
motion of the noise. Step, maximum and average sound
pressure are simulated.
As shown in Fig.3, electromagnetic forces are produced by
interaction of air-gap harmonic fluxes. These forces vibrate
the stator and the rotor. These vibrations yield acoustic noise
of the traction motor. Electromagnetic FEM calculate air-gap
flux distribution and electromagnetic forces.
These electromagnetic forces are de-composited each
frequencys components. Frequencys component is the
applied force in mechanical FEM. Logarithm damping factor
is 1.0percent from the experiments. This value affects
vibration response of the traction motor.
This procedure is the combined use of electromagnetic FEM
and mechanical FEM [1]-. [4].
B. Electromagnetic force analysis
Electromagnetic forces are produced by harmonic fluxes of
the stator and the rotor of the harmonic fluxes of the motor,
that is traction machine. Combination of these fluxes provides
electromagnetic forces in the air-gap.

Fig.3 Mechanism of electromagnetic vibration

124
As shown in Fig.3, stator and rotor of the motor produce
harmonic fluxes as well as fundamental flux in air-gap.
The stator m-th harmonic flux density bm is expressed as Eq.
(1).

b B t m
p
x
m m
=
|
\
|
.
| sin

1
(1)
The rotor n-th harmonic flux due to the stator m-th
harmonic flux bn is expressed as Eq. (2).

(
(
)
`

+ =
1
1 sin x
p
m t
p
m n
B b
n n
(2)

where bn,bm : n-th and m-th harmonic flux density, Bn , Bm
: maximum value of bn and bm, p : pair of pole (P/2), : pole
pitch, x1: stator coordinate ,P : pole, :angular frequency.

Inter action of these harmonic fluxes yields electromagnetic
force in the air-gap.
Radial electromagnetic force by these flux, fr is expressed
as Eq.(3).

|
.
|
\
|
+ + =
|
.
|
\
|
+ =

m n
n m
n
n
m
m
n
n
m
m r
b b b b
b b f
2
2
1
2
1
2 2
0
2
0
(3)

Electromagnetic force in radial direction produces vibration
of stator and rotor core. As a result, some of this vibration
emits acoustic noise in the air.
Electromagnetic FEM calculates flux distribution at
rotating permanent magnet motor by non-linear static
electromagnetic program. The calculated results produce
radial electromagnetic force in time and in space for each
frequency. These forces used as external force in mechanical
FEM to calculate vibration.

C. Noise source of radiation noise from vibration plate
Noise source due to vibration plane is confirmed as
follows.
Acoustic FEM yields acceleration of vibration on the room
surface. The normal direction of acceleration of vibration on
the wall is calculated at each frequency as shown in Fig.2.
Propagation of the sound in the air is obtained by FEM.
Boundary condition is specified by the distribution of
vibration acceleration.
In infinite baffle, the round piston with radius, a, vibrates at
normal direction velocity. Sound pressure is calculated from
distribution of vibration, as follows.
When area , S , on the baffle at 0-z vibrates like piston, the
sound pressure, p(x, y, z ; t) at outer point, (x, y, z) is obtained
by Eq.(4). Velocity component at each point is u=(x, y ; t) in
normal direction.

=
S
dS
R
c R t y x u
t z y x p
2
) / ; ' , ' (
) ; , , (
0
0

(4)

where R is the distance between inside point and
observed point.
When vibration is sinusoidal, U(t)=u
0
e
it
, Eq.(5) is
obtained.
dS
R
e e u ik
t z y x p
S
ikR t i

2
) ; , , (
0 0
(5)

where k=/Co

When vibrates with piston motion in radius , Eq.(6) is
obtained observed point r is assumed to be larger than radius.

) ( 1 0 0
sin
) sin (
kr t i
e
ka J
r
u ia
p

=

(6)

where J 1: first order Bessel Function.

J1 is composed of angle, against z-axis and radius, a. This
approximate equation is effective when the distance between
domain and observed point is large.
Noise power level, W, is expressed as Eq.(7).

)
) 2 (
1 (
2 1
0 0
2
rms
U
ka
ka J
c a W = (7)

where Urms : effective value of vibration velocity.

Fig.4 Room sound model of FEM

125

Fig.5 Electro-magnetic vibration mode on FEM analysis

Fig.6 Vibration model of FEM

Fig.7 Sound pressure distribution of room

Fig.8 Noise level with octave band

From wave length and radius confirms noise source by
approximate equation.
Bessel function is estimated by approximate equation with
series expansion Acoustic FEM model of the room is shown in
Fig.4. Eight hundred and forty red spheres stand for noise
source. Sound pressure distribution is calculated from
vibration of room wall in Fig.4

126
III. Discussion

Fig.5 shows vibration mode of the stator core due to the
electromagnetic forces.
The traction machine vibrates with the frequencies, such as
32Hz, which vibrates left and right, as a fallen mode, 67Hz,
which vibrates up and down, 118Hz, back and forth, and
254Hz, triangular mode.
Calculated results can predict these measured values within
3% errors.

These vibrations propagate through building construction
and move the wall of the room. These vibration patterns are
shown in Fig.6.
In the room, ceiling and wall vibrate by 32Hz as first
bending mode.
The 67Hz is second bending mode. The 118Hz and 254Hz
are third and fourth bending modes.
Acoustic analysis is shown in Fig.7, sound pressure in
central cross section at 1.5 m height above room floor. The
31.5Hz and 63Hz are the first bending vibration mode.
Therefore, the sound pressure at center is large.
The 118Hz and 25Hz vary sound pressure in the room.
However, these sounds are likely to increase at center of the
room.
At last stage, the sound level is assessed by NC(Noise
Criteria) curve, as shown in Fig.8.
According to the first analysis, sound level of 125Hz is larger
than expected value by 70dB in simulation. (Before points)
We reinforce the machine beam shown in Fig.1. The
sound at 118Hz, back and forth vibration, is reduced as shown
by NC carve in Fig.8. (After point)
These procedures confirm the synthetic simulation method
from motor, that is, traction machine, to room noise through
propagation of the building, at designing stage.

IV. Conclusions
We present synthetic sound simulation procedure at
designing stage. This includes traction machine vibration, ant-
vibration construction and room noise.
Following results are summarized.
(1)Vibration of the room wall is obtained for each frequency
of the vibration of traction motor.
This vibration communicates through the building
construction.
(2)Applied FEM can simulate wave motion caused by
vibration of room wall. This FEM yields vibration mode of
traction machine and of room wall. Sound distribution of
the room is also obtained.
(3)Sound level varies in the room dependent on the vibration
mode of room wall. Sound level is large at the center of
room.
(4)This procedure provides estimation of sound level in the
room. In the frequency range of large noise, Noise is
assessed using NC curves and effective measure is
proposed.

Here after, we will expand this process to other cases and
improve the precision. We also promote the noise reduction.

References
[1] Shinichi Noda, Fuminori Ishibashi, and Katsuki Ide, Vibration response
analysis of induction motor stator core, Transactions of the J apan
Society of Mechanical Engineers, Series C, Vol.59 No. 562 ,pp. 1650-
1656, June,1993,.
[2] Fuminori Ishibashi and Shinichi Noda, Frequencies and modes of
electromagnetic vibration of a small induction motor, IEEJ
Transactions on Electrical and Electronic Engineering D, Vol. 116 No.
11, pp. 1110-1115, August 1996.
[3] Fuminori Ishibashi and Shinichi Noda, Coopoerative analysis for
electromagnetic field-vibration and noise field of induction motor,
J ournal of the Japan Society of Applied Electromagnetics and
Mechanics, Vol. 7 No. 1, pp. 21-27, March 1999.
[4] Shinichi Noda, Fuminori Ishibashi, and Yoshitaka Kobayashi, Magnetic
flux mode analysis of induction motor, The J apan Society of Mechanical
Engineers, (No. 04-251), 16th symposium "Dynamics related to
electromagnetic forces", No. B311, 2004.

127
Recent Case Law Of The Romanian Courts Of Law
And The European Court Of Justice Related To The
Objective Environmental Liability

Lecturer Cristian Mare, PhD
Faculty of Law and Social - Political Sciences, Valahia
University of Trgovite
Attorney at law, Bucharest Bar Association
Bucharest, Romania
Senior Lecturer Constanta Mtusescu, PhD
Faculty of Law and Social - Political Sciences, Valahia
University of Trgovite
Trgovite, Romania

Abstract - Although the economic interests have played a
major political role in the recent period, in a number of
litigations the courts applied the polluter pays principle and
rendered favorably judgments to the claimants which suffered a
damage caused by pollution.
In this respect, it is worth analyzing the case law of the
European Court of Justice which has recently provided the
presumption of liability for pollution of the operators which
operates installations on land adjacent to a polluted area.
As the Romanian case law is concerned, given the novelty of
the framework of an objective environmental liability and the
low number of cases related to this issue, it is to be developed a
constant jurisprudence as the decision rendered by the
Romanian Court of Appeal as of March 9, 2009, which forced a
polluter to remedy totally and in kind the damage caused to an
individuals house.
Keywords - objective liability, precautionary principle, polluter
pays principle, prevention, remedying
I. INTRODUCTION
Considering that the guarantee of a high level of
environmental protection is a major objective and being
convinced that the existing systems of sanctions have not been
sufficient to achieve complete compliance with laws for the
protection of the environment, this paper intends to present the
most relevant recent case law of the Romanian courts of law
and of the European Court of Justice.
Romanian courts of law decided to force a polluter to
rebuild an individuals house on another site, in an unpolluted
area. According to this decision of the court, the right to a
healthy environment is included in the article 8 of the
European Convention of Human Rights (hereinafter the
European Convention), given that the serious environmental
damage can affect an individual who can be deprived of the
right to have a dwelling which guarantees his right to private
life, even if it does not endanger his health [1].
At European level, remedying the environmental damage
is usually considered as one of the lacunae in the European
Union environmental law. On March 9, 2010, the European
Court of Justice in Luxembourg ruled on the implementation
of the Directive 2004/35/CE on environmental liability with
regard to the prevention and remedying of environmental
damage (hereinafter Environmental Liability Directive) [2]
in the cases C-378/08, C-379/08 and C-380/08, opposing the
Italian economy ministry and a refinery company. The
European Court of Justice ruled that it is enough to establish
the liability of the charged company given that it used a
chemical that was also found at the damaged site.
The European Court of Justice decided that the national
authorities have the right to presume that there is a causal link
between operators and the pollution found close to their
premises in case of evidence which may justify such
presumption [3]. The case was handed over to the Court
following the contestations submitted by several companies in
the petrochemical and hydrocarbon sector against the orders for
cleaning up nearby pollution under the polluter pays
principle.
II. CASE STUDIES
A. Romanian case law
The Romanian courts recently ruled that the polluters
liability provided by the Government Emergency Ordinance
no. 195/2005 regarding the environmental protection, as
further amended and supplemented, is a particular form of the
tort liability and comes of the obligation of protecting the
environment imposed to all individuals and legal entities by
article 94 letter i) [4].
According to the reasons of the decision no. 322 of the
Court of Appeal of Craiova (hereinafter the Court of
Appeal), this Government Emergency Ordinance provides
that the polluter bears the cost for compensating the damage
and restores the resulted consequences. Given that the
environmental liability is objective, only the damage and the
causal link must be proven.
The activities within the coal depot totally modified the
environment and consequently the claimants house was
adversely affected, which was located at a distance of 50 m
from the warehouse.
In 1994, the European Court of Human Rights decided
for the first time that the right to a healthy environment is
included in article 8 of the European Convention which
128
provides everyones right to respect for his private and family
life [5].
In the case Lopez Ostra v. Spain, the European Court of
Human Rights considered that Spain did not succeed in
finding a balance between the general local interest of having
a waste-treatment plant and the applicants effective right to
respect for her home and her private and family life.
The European Court of Human Rights stated that serious
environmental pollution may affect a persons welfare and
deprive him/her from enjoying his/her homes in such a way as
to affect his/her private and family life even if it is not a severe
hazard to the deprived persons health.
The Court of Appeal also considered the case Ttar v.
Romania, where Romania was held responsible on the basis of
article 8 of the European Convention, because the right to a
healthy environment of both claimants was breached given the
environmental impact of a cyanide technology used for
exploitation of gold [6].
Following an accident which occurred in January 2000, a
gold mine located in the vicinity of the applicants home,
released about 100,000 m
3
of cyanide contaminated tailings
water into the environment and it did not stop its activity after
that accident. The applicants complained that (i) the mining
activity was a health hazard for the people living near the
mine; (ii) it posed a threat to the environment and (iii) it was
aggravating their sons asthma.
Although the European Court of Human Rights decided
that the applicants had failed to prove any causal link between
their sons medical condition and his exposure to cyanide, the
gold mine had breached the precautionary principle given that
it continued its industrial activity after the accident.
The European Court of Human Rights ascertained that
the Romanian authorities did not impose operating conditions
to a company in order to avoid the damage to the environment
and human health, breaching the precautionary principle
which could have requested a restriction of the activity, given
that there were serious doubts related to the safety of the
technological process. According to the precautionary
principle the absence of certainty regarding current scientific
and technical knowledge could not justify any delay of the
state in adopting proportionate and effective measures.
Another consideration of the Court of Appeal was that
the state must take all reasonable and appropriate measures in
order to protect the rights provided by the first paragraph of
article 8 of the European Convention and, moreover, the
obligation to create a legislative and administrative framework
capable to prevent efficiently the damage to the environment
and human health and, in case of hazardous activities, to
consider the potential or actual risks. Such obligation is
transposed in the authorization, the operation, the security and
the control of the respective activity and also in imposing
those who develop such activities the obligation to take all the
necessary measures in order to ensure the effective protection
of the citizens whose live risks to be affected by the specific
threats of the activity.
Considering the above mentioned provisions, case law
and the evidences produced in this litigation, the Romanian
Courts decided that the activities of the defendant breached the
claimants right to a healthy environment which is part of his
right to private life, a damage occurred and must be remedied.
Therefore, the Court of Appeal decided that the first
instance and the appeal Courts chose the correct remedial
measure of the damage (to force the polluter to rebuild the
individuals house on another site, in an unpolluted area), given
that the damage must be remedied totally and in kind (the
option of remedying by an equivalent is subsidiary).
B. European Court of Justice case law
In the case C-378/08, Tribunale amministrativo regionale
della Sicilia (Italy), by its decision of June 5, 2008, made a
reference in proceedings between Raffinerie Mediterranee
(ERG) SpA, Polimeri Europa SpA and Syndial SpA and
various national, regional and municipal authorities in Italy
concerning the measures for remedying environmental
damage adopted by those authorities in relation to the Augusta
roadstead (Italy), in the vicinity of which are located the
installations and/or land of those companies.
Tribunale amministrativo regionale della Sicilia referred
the following questions to the European Court of Justice for a
preliminary ruling:
If the polluter pays principle and the provisions of
the Environmental Liability Directive must be
interpreted as they prevent national legislation which
allows the public authorities to require private entities
to implement rehabilitation measures, irrespective of
any preliminary investigation identifying the party
responsible for the pollution?
If the polluter pays principle and the provisions of
the Environmental Liability Directive must be
interpreted as they prevent national legislation
allowing the public authorities to establish liability
for remedying the environmental damage to the
person who owns and/or carries on commercial
activities on the contaminated site without an
assessment whether there is a causal link between the
conduct of that person and the occurrence of the
contamination?
If the provisions of Community law and the
Environmental Liability Directive must be interpreted
as they prevent national legislation which allows the
public authorities to establish liability for remedying
the environmental damage to the person who owns
and/or operates an undertaking on the contaminated
site, without an assessment whether there is a causal
link between the conduct of that person and the
occurrence of the contamination or the subjective
requirement of intent or negligence?
On March 9, 2010, the European Court of Justice
decided as follows:
In case the Environmental Liability Directive does not
apply either ratione temporis and/or ratione materiae, an
environmental pollution case will be governed by national
law.
129
The Environmental Liability Directive does not prevent
national legislation which allows the competent authority to
operate on the presumption of a causal link between operators
and the pollution found, including also diffuse pollution, based
on the fact that the operators installations are located close to
the polluted area. Notwithstanding, based on the polluter
pays principle, in order to presume such a causal link the
authority must have evidence which may justify its
presumption. This evidence may refer to the location of the
operators installation closed to the pollution found and to a
similarity between the pollutants identified and the substances
used by the operator in carrying out his activities.
The competent authority can impose measures for
remedying environmental damage regardless of any fault of
operators whose activities cause the environmental damage
and they are provided by Annex III to the Environmental
Liability Directive. In this respect, the competent authority
must carry out a prior investigation into the origin of the
pollution found and must also establish a causal link between
the operators activities and the pollution.
In the cases C-379/08 and C-380/08, combined on
October 21, 2008, Tribunale amministrativo regionale della
Sicilia referred the following questions to the European Court
of Justice for a preliminary ruling:
If the Environmental Liability Directive (respectively
article 7 and Annex II) must be interpreted as it
prevents national legislation which allows public
authorities to require that actions be taken
concerning environmental matrices which are
different from and go further than those originally
chosen at the conclusion of an appropriate
investigation carried out on a consultative basis,
which have already been approved and put into effect
and are being implemented?
authorities to impose such requirements on its own
initiative, that is, without having assessed the site-
specific conditions, the costs of implementation of
the measures in relation to the reasonably foreseeable
benefits, the possible or probable collateral damage
and adverse effects on public health and safety, and
the necessary time scales for implementation?
authorities to impose such requirements on its own
initiative as conditions for authorization for the
lawful use of areas of land not directly affected by the
decontamination measures, in so far as they have
already been decontaminated or were not, in any
event, polluted, and situated within the confines of
the Priolo Site of National Interest?
On the same date as of the above mentioned case, C-
378/08, the European Court of Justice decided as follows:
The competent authority is allowed to alter substantially
measures for remedying environmental damage which were
chosen at the conclusion of a procedure carried out on a
consultative basis with the operators concerned and which
have already implemented or begun to be put into effect. In
this respect the authority:
must hear the operators on whom such measures are
imposed, excepting an urgent environmental situation
which requires immediate action on the part of the
competent authority;
must invite the persons on whose land those
measures are to be carried out to submit their
observations and to consider them; and
must take into account the criteria provided in
Section 1.3.1. of Annex II to the Environmental
Liability Directive and its decision must provide the
grounds of its choice, and, if the case, the grounds
justifying that there was no need for a detailed
examination based on those criteria or that it was not
possible to carry out such an examination.
The Environmental Liability Directive does not prevent
national legislation which allows the competent authority to
make the exercise by operators requested to take the
environmental recovery measures of the right to use their land
under the condition that they carry out the required works,
although that land is not affected by those measures given that
it has never been polluted or has already been decontaminated.
Such measure must be a justification of preventing a
deterioration of the environment in the area where those
measures are implemented or, based on the precautionary
principle, of preventing the occurrence or resurgence of
further environmental damage on the land which is adjacent to
the whole shoreline subject to those remedial measures.
III. RELEVANCE OF THE CASE LAW IN RELATION
TO THE OBJECTIVE ENVIRONMENTAL LIABILITY
In these three cases, for the first time, the European
Court of Justice decided on the implementation of the
Environmental Liability Directive.
The European Court of Justice ruled that a member state
may only establish a weak causal link between operators
activities and the environmental damage in order to force
payment.
In these cases, the liability of the company charged was
established on the basis of a chemical used that was also found
at the damaged site. Not only the refinery company but all
actors who owned land at the site were ordered to pay for
damages as well as for the preventative measure of
constructing barriers to prevent chemicals from entering the
sea.
In this context it is worth mentioning that in accordance
with the Report from the European Commission to the
Council, the European Parliament, the European Economic
and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions [7],
based on article 14 paragraph 2 of the Environmental Liability
Directive, the low number of this Directive cases may reflect
the preventive effect that the Environmental Liability
130
Directive is already having. Notwithstanding there is
insufficient data to draw reliable conclusions on the
effectiveness of the Environmental Liability Directive in terms
of actual remediation of environmental damage.
Although there is not significant available information
which could allow for an assessment about the effectiveness of
the Environmental Liability Directive in remedying
environmental damage, following the case law of the
European Court of Justice herein referred to, it is expectable a
more predictable and legally certain application of the
Environmental Liability Directive criteria by competent
authorities and operators when dealing with cases of damage
under this Directive.
In relation to the liability mechanism, the measures taken
in case of an imminent threat with an environmental damage
or after the occurrence of an accident or incident that may
produce an environmental damage should be considered, in
order to avoid its production or to diminish its effects [8]. The
decisions rendered by the European Court of Justice have
great signification not only concerning the liability, but also in
the application of the precaution principle, prevention and
polluter pay principles.
The precaution principle is the attitude which any
person must adopt that makes a decision on an activity about
which one may reasonably suppose to present a serious hazard
for the health of the present and future generations or for the
environment. These persons, especially the public authorities,
must give priority to health and security imperatives on
economic freedoms... and to reduce the risk to an acceptable
risk for a bearable economic cost [9].
The fundamental orientation of the precaution principle
is at first sight enough simple and direct. If an activity
threatens the environment or human health, precautions are
imposed, even if this threat is not evidenced from the scientific
point of view [10].
To a more close analysis, the principle is difficult to
understand, not offering but a basis which must be improved
in the national legal systems and at the European Union level.
However, there cannot be retained a prevention of any
scientific innovation, by applying the precaution principle.
Professors Kourilsky and Viney remind that there is no a
priori opposition between precaution and technological
progress. The precaution principle invites to a reflection upon
the conditions in which this progress is performed rather than
to an inhibition of any innovation.
The difference between the prevention and precaution
principles is based first of all on the risk knowledge degree. In
case of the prevention principle, the concept of risk refers to
those risks whose cause-effect relationship is known, while in
case of the precaution principle, the risks are unknown.
Prevention involves both the risk evaluation to avoid the
hazards, and the actions based on the knowledge of the present
situation, to prevent environmental degradation.
This principle supposes actions against the causes that
produce pollution or degradation and activities to limit the
destructive or noxious effects for the environmental factors
[11].
The case law of the European Court of Justice should be
analyzed considering that the Environmental Liability
Directive created two liability systems: (i) the objective
liability system and (ii) the fault liability system. The
Environmental Liability Directive provides that the liable
party is the operator who carries out occupational activities.
Operators who carry out certain hazardous activities, as
listed in Annex III of the Environmental Liability Directive,
are strictly liable (without fault) for environmental damage
affecting water, soil as well as those protecting species and
protected natural habitats.
Operators carrying professional activities other than
those listed in Appendix III are subject to the fault liability
system, being liable for any damage they cause to nature,
mainly when the imminent threat or damage concerns
protected species and natural habitats.
The two liability systems differ mainly from three points
of view: the operators involved, the type of liability and the
category of environmental damage covered [12].
Certain activities are, under any circumstance, excluded
from the Environmental Liability Directives field of
application: activities performed mainly in the interest of
national defense or international security, activities whose sole
purpose is to ensure protection against natural disasters and
activities in the nuclear domain.
Operators may benefit directly from certain exceptions
and defenses (for example force majeure, armed conflict, third
party intervention) and defenses introduces following the
transposition of the Environmental Liability Directive (for
example permit defense, state of the art defense).
Should there be an imminent threat of environmental
damage, the operators have to take preventive action, they
must remedy the environmental damage once it has occurred
and to bear the costs under the polluter pays principle. In
some cases where operators fail to act so, or are not
identifiable, or have invoked defenses, the competent authority
may step in and carry out the necessary preventive or remedial
measures.
Most procedural obligations in EC environmental law are
not accompanied by any express provisions regulating the
effect of non-compliance, and national courts will therefore
normally have to seek recourse to the aim and the purpose of
the obligation in order to determine whether the infringement
requires non-application of the contested act.
According to article 6 paragraphs 3-4 of Directive
92/43/EC on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild
fauna and flora [13] an environmental impact assessment
revealing that a project will have significant adverse effect on
the environment may only be granted for reasons of overriding
public interest and if compensatory measures are taken.
Should a project be granted without an environmental
impact assessment and without considering whether this is
justified by overriding public interest, the failure to carry out
an environmental impact assessment will lead to a material
infringement of Directive 92/43/EC and the act is therefore
illegal.
131
Notwithstanding, even if an environmental impact
assessment demonstrates that a certain project would have
significant adverse effects on the environment, Directive
85/337/EC on the assessment of the effects of certain public
and private projects on the environment [14] does not provide
any prohibition for authorities from approving the project.
Although the obligations provided by Directive 85/337/EC
intend to ensure that authorities dispose of proper scientific
grounds on which to base their decisions, they do not impose
restrictions in respect of the subsequent decision-making.
Article 2 paragraph 2 of Directive 85/337/EC nevertheless
requires that an environmental impact assessment is carried
out prior to the grant of a development consent in respect of
projects which are likely to have significant adverse effect on
the environment.
A common feature of environmental directives is that they
often require the member states to draw up plans and programs,
but the consequences attached to this obligation differ.
IV. CONCLUSIONS
The judgments of the European Court of Justice in these
cases are a useful guide to national authorities on the
interpretation of the Environmental Liability Directive and
their rights to impose remediation requirements on operators.
It is advisable that in the future the national courts will
consider the presumption of a causal link between operators
and the pollution found on account of the fact that the
operators installations are located close to the polluted area
provided by the judgments of the European Court of Justice
and will apply the objective environmental liability.
The European Court of Human Rights has clearly stated
the human right to a healthy environment and required the
state parties to the Convention to ensure its effectiveness, but
has also left the states the option to choose the necessary
measures to guarantee and/or limit it.
The best solution to respond to the present problems,
with regard to the reduction and, finally, elimination of the
negative impact of human activities upon the environment
consists in the combination of techniques and instruments with
preventive and precautionary character. It is necessary to grant
all the support to the process of research and innovation, to
find the best methods, means, mechanisms, techniques and
instruments to approach the environment protection problem.
The enforcement deficit regarding EC environmental law
on the national level resides in the form, drafting and
substance of environmental legislation. It is important that the
obligations of result, if not the forms and methods for attaining
those results, are clearly and unconditionally defined [15].
The Community needs to adopt environmental legislation
that accommodates effective enforcement as a discrete value
to a much higher degree than currently is the case.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
This paper was written within the Human Resources
Project, Project type: Research project to stimulate the
establishment of young independent research teams, PN II-RU
code 129/2010, The impact of the community norms over the
actions of the public local authorities, contract no.
28/12.08.2010.
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Bulletin of the Courts of Appeal no. 2/2009, (in
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Romania, 5, pp. 12-15.
[2] EC Directive, Directive 2004/35/CE on environmental
liability with regard to the prevention and remedying of
environmental damage, Official Journal of the European
Communities, L 143/56, April 30, 2004, Brussels.
[3] Case C-378/08, Official Journal of the European
Communities, C 113, May 01, 2010, Brussels.
[4] Government Emergency Ordinance no. 195/2005 regarding
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49
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Publishing House, Bucharest, 2007, p. 511.
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juridique de quelques principes du droit de
lenvironnement, Bruylant Publishing House, Bruxelles,
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lespace europen. Point de vue franco-belge, Bruylant
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A. Kiss, J.-P. Beurier, Droit international de
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132
[13] EC Directive, Directive 92/43/EC on the conservation of
natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora, Official
Journal of the European Communities, L 206, July 22,
1992, Brussels, pp. 7-50. 3. Any plan or project not
directly connected with or necessary to the management of
the site but likely to have a significant effect thereon, either
individually or in combination with other plans or projects,
shall be subject to appropriate assessment of its
implications for the site in view of the site's conservation
objectives. In the light of the conclusions of the assessment
of the implications for the site and subject to the provisions
of paragraph 4, the competent national authorities shall
agree to the plan or project only after having ascertained
that it will not adversely affect the integrity of the site
concerned and, if appropriate, after having obtained the
opinion of the general public.
4. If, in spite of a negative assessment of the implications
for the site and in the absence of alternative solutions, a
plan or project must nevertheless be carried out for
imperative reasons of overriding public interest, including
those of a social or economic nature, the Member State
shall take all compensatory measures necessary to ensure
that the overall coherence of Natura 2000 is protected. It
shall inform the Commission of the compensatory
measures adopted.
[14] EC Directive, Directive 85/337/EC on the assessment of
the effects of certain public and private projects on the
environment, Official Journal of the European
Communities, L 175, July 5, 1985, Brussels, pp. 40-48. 1.
Member States shall adopt all measures necessary to ensure
that, before consent is given, projects likely to have
significant effects on the environment by virtue inter alia,
of their nature, size or location are made subject to an
assessment with regard to their effects.
[15] P. Wenners, The enforcement of EC environmental
law, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2007, pp. 309-325.

133
On Steady-State Voltage Stability Analysis
Performance in MATLAB Environment

Jan Veleba
Regional Innovation Centre of Electrical Engineering
University of West Bohemia in Pilsen
Pilsen, Czech Republic
jveleba@rice.zcu.cz
Tom Nestorovi
New Technologies for the Information Society
University of West Bohemia in Pilsen
Pilsen, Czech Republic
nestorovic@ntis.zcu.cz

AbstractNowadays, electric power systems have been often
operated close to their limits due to increased electric power
consumptions, vast installments of renewable power sources and
deliberated power market policies. This poses a serious threat to
stable network operation and control. Therefore, voltage stability
is currently one of key topics worldwide for preventing related
black-out and islanding scenarios. In this paper, modelling and
simulations of steady-state voltage stability problems in
MATLAB environment are performed using author-developed
computational tool implementing both conventional and more
advanced numerical approaches. Their performance is compared
with Simulink-based library Power System Analysis Toolbox
(PSAT) in terms of solution accuracy, CPU time, and possible
limitations. Their use for both real-time and off-line monitoring
and assessment of system's voltage stability are also discussed.
Keywordssteady-state voltage stability; continuation load flow
analysis; predictor-corrector method; voltage stability margin;
voltage-power sensitivity; Power System Analysis Toolbox
I. INTRODUCTION
Steady-state voltage stability is defined as the capability of
the system to withstand a small disturbance (e.g. fault
occurrence, small change in parameters, topology modification,
etc.) without abandoning a stable operating point [1]-[5].
Voltage stability problems are generally bound with long
"electrical" distances between reactive power sources and
loads, low source voltages, severe changes in system topology,
and low level of var compensation. However, this does not
strictly mean that voltage instability is directly connected only
with low voltage scenarios. Voltage collapse can arise even
during normal operating conditions (e.g. for voltages above
nominal values). Moreover, variety of practical situations can
eventually lead to voltage collapse, e.g. tripping of parallelly
connected line during the fault, reaching the var limit of a
generator or a synchronous condenser, restoring low supply
voltage in induction motors after the fault. All of these cause
the reduction of delivered reactive power for supporting bus
voltages followed by increases of branch currents and further
voltage drops to even lower reactive power flow or line
tripping until the voltage collapse occurs. This entire process
may appear in time from seconds to even tens of minutes.
To prevent voltage collapse scenarios, several types of
compensation devices are massively used worldwide - both
shunt capacitors/inductors, series capacitors, SVCs,
synchronous condensers, STATCOMs, etc. To reduce voltage
profiles (in case of low demand), var consumptions must be
increased by switching in shunt reactors, disconnecting cable
lines (if possible), reducing voltage-independent MVAr outputs
from generators and synchronous condensers, etc. To increase
bus voltages, opposite corrective actions are to be taken. These
include reconfigurations (connecting parallel lines/cables/
transformers), power transfer limitations, and activations of
new generating units at most critical network areas.
Furthermore, under voltage load shedding of low-priority loads
(usually by 5, 10 or 20 % in total) is usually realized at
subtransmission substations using undervoltage relays. These
relays work similarly as on-load tap-changing (OLTC)
transformers. They are activated by long-term voltage dips (in
region between 0.8 and 0.9 pu) and as the result, they trip the
load feeders - typically in steps of 1 to 2 % of the load at any
given time (with time delays of 1-2 minutes after the voltage
dip). The larger voltage dip, the faster and larger response of
the relay [2].
Low voltage profiles are usually averted by actions of OLTC
transformers. However, each tap position corresponds to an
increase of the load which eventually leads to higher branch
losses and further voltage drops [1]-[2],[4]. Therefore, OLTC
transformers must be blocked during low voltage stability
events. Negative effects of OLTC actions during low voltage
conditions are presented in many studies with voltage stability
margin calculations from synchrophasor measurements [6]-[7].
The rest of the paper is organized as follows. Sections II
and III describe conventional Cycled Newton-Raphson (N-R)
and more robust Continuation Load Flow (CLF) methods for
voltage stability analysis, respectively. Independent tool -
Power System Analysis Toolbox (PSAT) - is briefly introduced
in Section IV. In Section V, key properties of both of author-
developed codes are discussed. Sections VI and VII show the
results of all approaches when solving broad variety of test
power systems. Finally, Section VIII evaluates each of the
techniques applied, and concludes with planned future work.
II. CONVENTIONAL NUMERICAL CALCULATION OF THE
VOLTAGE STABILITY PROBLEM
When increasing the loading (or loadability factor ) of the
system, its bus voltages slowly decrease due to the lack of
reactive power. At the singular point, characterized by
maximum loadability factor
max
and critical bus voltages, the
This paper was supported by Technology Agency of the Czech Republic (TACR), project No. TA01020865 and by student science project SGS-2012-047.
134
system starts to be unstable and voltage collapse appears. From
this point on, only lower loading with low voltage values lead
to the solution. The dependence between bus voltage
magnitudes and is graphically represented by the V-P curve,
sometimes also referred to as the nose curve. Unfortunately,
initial (base-case) position of the system operating point on the
V-P curve is not known along with its distance from the
voltage collapse (i.e. voltage stability margin). Thus, location
of the singular point must be found during the analysis.
Note: Values of
max
and critical voltages are rather
theoretical since they do not reflect voltage/flow limits of
network buses/branches. When incorporating these practical
restrictions, the real maximum loadability
max
*
can be found
for keeping all bus voltages and branch loadings within limits.
The traditional approach for finding the maximum system
loadability is to apply the standard N-R method [8] for the
base-case load flow calculation (i.e. for = 1.0). When
obtaining current position on the V-P curve, network loading
(i.e. loads/generations in selected network buses) is increased
in defined manner by a certain step and the load flow is
computed repetitively along with a new position on the V-P
curve. This process continues in an infinite loop until the
singular point is reached. However, total number of iterations
in each V-P step is gradually increasing so that when close to
the singular point, the N-R method fails to converge, i.e. no
solution is provided. This relates to the fact that Jacobian J
becomes singular (i.e. det J 0) and its inverse matrix cannot
be computed for successful numerical convergence.
To speed up the calculation, variable step change is applied.
Usually, a single step value is used. When obtaining the
divergence of the N-R method, the step size is simply divided
by two and the calculation for the current V-P point is repeated
until the convergence is achieved. When the current step size
value reaches the predefined minimum value, the calculation is
stopped. Despite of the relatively simple procedure, Cycled N-
R method enables the completion of the stable V-P curve only.
Unstable part including the singular point cannot be examined.
Also, high CPU requirements prevent this method from being
employed for larger power systems.
In this paper, Cycled N-R algorithm was developed and
further tested on wide range of test power systems.
III. CONTINUATION LOAD FLOW ANALYSIS
CLF analysis [1],[9] suitably modifies conventional load
flow equations to become stable also in the singular point.
Eventually, both upper/lower parts of the V-P curve can be
drawn. It uses a two-step predictor/corrector algorithm along
with the new unknown state variable called continuation
parameter (CP). Predictor (1) is a tangent extrapolation of the
current operation point estimating approximate position of the
new point on the V-P curve.
(
(
(
(
(
(
(
(
(
(
+
(
(
(
=
(
(
(
1
0
0
1
0
0
M
L L L L
M
M
M
k
e
K J
0
predicted

(1)

Vector K contains base-case power generations and loads.
Variables
0
, V
0
,
0
define the system state from the previous
corrector step. Vector e
k
is filled with zeros and certain
modifications (see [1],[9]) are implemented for selected CP in
each network bus k at the current point on the V-P curve.
Remaining elements in (1) are the newly computed Jacobian J
and step size of the CP.
Tangent predictor is relatively slow, anyway shows good
behaviour especially in steep parts of the V-P curve. Unlike
tangent predictor, secant predictor is simpler, computationally
faster and behaves well in flat parts of the V-P curve. In steep
parts (i.e. close to the singular point and at sharp corners when
a generator exceeds its var limit) it computes new predictions
too far from the exact solution. This may eventually lead to
serious convergence problems in the next corrector step. Thus,
tangent predictor is more recommended to be applied.
Corrector is a standard N-R algorithm for correcting state
variables from the predictor step to satisfy load flow equations.
Due to one extra parameter , additional condition (2) must be
included for keeping the value of the CP constant in the current
corrector step. This condition makes the final set of equations
non-singular even at the bifurcation point.
V V
x x x
is CP
CP

if
if
, 0
predicted
is
= =
k k

(2)
For the CP, state variable with the highest rate of change
must be chosen (i.e. and V in flat and steep parts of the V-P
curve, respectively). If the process diverges, parameter must
be halved or parameter CP switched from to V.
Difference between both types of predictors and the entire
process of the predictor/corrector algorithm is demonstrated in
Fig. 1. Horizontal/vertical corrections are performed with
respect to chosen CP type.

Fig. 1. Predictor/Corrector Mechanism for CLF Analysis [10].
135
Step size should be carefully increased to speed up the
calculation when far from the singular point, or decreased to
avoid convergence problems when close to the peak. Step size
modification based on the current position on the V-P curve
(i.e. as a function of the line slope for previous two corrected
points on the V-P curve) is recommended in [11]. This
approach belongs to so-called rule-based or adaptive step size
control algorithms.
In [10], several voltage stability margin indices (VSMI
i
,
VSMI
ik
) are presented along with relative var reserve
coefficient and voltage-load sensitivity factors (VSF
i
) for
comprehensive voltage stability analysis and location of weak
or sensitive system buses/branches/areas. In these regions,
preventive or remedial actions should be taken. Procedures for
allocating individual compensation devices and possible effects
are also discussed.
CLF analysis still remains very popular for high-speed
solving of voltage stability studies. Due to its reliable
numerical behaviour, it is often included into the N-R method
providing stable solutions even for ill-conditioned load flow
cases. Moreover, it is applied in foreign control centres for N-1
on-/off-line contingency studies with frequencies of 5 and 60
minutes [2], respectively.
IV. POWER SYSTEM ANALYSIS TOOLBOX (PSAT)
PSAT [12] is a Simulink-based open-source library for
electric power system analyses and simulations, distributed via
General Public License (GPL). It contains the tools for Power
Flow (busbars, lines, two-/three-winding transformers, slack
bus(es), shunt admittances, etc.), CLF and OPF data (power
supply/demand bids and limits, generator power reserves and
ramping data), Small Signal Stability Analysis and Time
Domain Simulations. Moreover, line faults and breakers,
various load types, machines, controls, OLTC transformers,
FACTS and other can be also modelled. User defined device
models can be added as well.
All studies must be formulated for one-line network diagram
only - either in input data *.m file in required format or in
graphical *.mdl file containing manually drawn network
scheme. For the former option, input data conversions from
and to various common formats are available (e.g. PSS/E,
DIgSILENT, IEEE cdf, NEPLAN, PowerWorld and others).
When compared to another MATLAB-based open-source
tool MATPOWER [13], PSAT is more efficient and highly
advanced by providing more analyses, problem variations,
possible outputs and other useful features in its user-friendly
graphical interface. MATPOWER does not support most of
advanced network devices, entirely omits CLF analysis and has
neither graphical user interface nor graphical network
construction ability. Also, it does not consider var limits in PV
buses completely. Incorrect interpretation of reactive power
branch losses can be also observed.
V. PROPERTIES OF AUTHOR-DEVELOPED CODES IN
MATLAB ENVIRONMENT
As shown in the previous section, there exists a MATLAB-
based aplication that meets the requirements for steady-state
voltage stability analysis of electric power systems. Due to
several limitations and CPU time restrictions (see Section VII),
our goal was to focus primarily on speed/precision
impromevements of voltage stability studies. Therefore, a
specialized tool in MATLAB environment was developed
using both Cycled N-R and CLF routines for providing
fundamental examination of medium-sized and larger power
systems in terms of steady-state voltage stability. Several key
aspects of these codes are discussed below.
1] Predictor: Despite of computationally more expensive
algorithm, tangent predictor was used for finding reliable
estimations of new V-P points especially around the singular
point. Applied in CLF algorithm only.
2] Corrector: First, corrector step is used at the start of the
CLF program to find the base-case point for further
calculations. Due to possible weak numerical stability at this
point (for badly-scaled power systems), the One-Shot Fast-
Decoupled (OSFD) procedure is implemented to the standard
N-R method for providing more stable solutions and thus
preventing numerical divergence. Moreover, voltage truncation
(SUT algorithm) is also included into the state update process
at every N-R's iteration. Both of these stability approaches
were introduced in [3] and further tuned and tested in [14].
Both were also applied to Cycled N-R algorithm to increase the
loading range for which the stable load flow solutions can be
obtained. Thus, closer proximity to singular point can be
reached.
3] Step size: Largest-load PQ network bus is chosen for
computing the angle between the horizontal and the line
interconnecting two adjacent V-P points. Based on this, step
size evaluation function (3) is applied - see Fig. 2.
otherwise
32
8
for
for
sin /
2
U
L
/
/

B A
+
= (3)
The upper and lower step limit constants
U
and
L
define
the step size for the flat part of the V-P curve and for close
vicinity to the singular point, respectively.

Fig. 2. Step size evaluation function [10].
For Cycled N-R algorithm, this is a rather too complex
concept of step size control. Therefore, only a single step size
136
is chosen at the start and a simple step-cutting technique
(dividing by 2) is applied in case of divergence.
4] Ending criterion: Only stable part of the V-P curve (incl.
exact singular point calculation) is computed by CLF code.
Thus, if the computed value of begins to decrease, the process
is stopped. For Cycled N-R code, the calculation is terminated
when the step size falls below a given small value (e.g. 110
-8
).
For each load flow case, maximum number of iterations and
permitted tolerance for convergence is set to 20 and 110
-8
,
respectively.
5] Calculation speed and accuracy: For excessively accurate
voltage stability solutions, values of 2.510
-2
and 6.2510
-4
are
used for constants
U
and
L
in CLF algorithm. Rather
compromise values of 510
-2
and 110
-2
are also used to obtain
fast and fairly accurate solutions for any of tested power
systems. For Cycled N-R algorithm, initial step size of 2.510
-2

seems to be sufficient enough.
6] Code versatility: Both Cycled N-R and CLF procedures
are programmed so that the user can directly specify an
arbitrary group of network buses for load/generation increase.
From this set of buses, only those non-slack buses with non-
zero active power loads/generations are involved into the
analysis. In each of studies performed, load/generation increase
in the entire network was considered, i.e. all network buses
were selected.
Two scenarios can be activated by the user. a) L scenario
increases both P/Q loads in selected PQ/PV buses with
constant power factor (i.e. with identical increase rate). b) L+G
scenario increases both P/Q loads in selected PQ/PV buses and
P generations in selected PV buses (with identical increase
rate).
7] Var limits: In both approaches, bus-type switching logics
are applied to iteratively computed reactive powers Q
Gi
in PV
buses when exceeding the var limit (4), or to relevant bus
voltages when returning the vars back inside the permitted var
region (5).
min
max
min
max
if
if
Gi Gi
Gi Gi
Gi
Gi
Gi
Q Q
Q Q

Q
Q
Q
<
>
= (4)
< =
> =
=
sp
i i Gi Gi
sp
i i Gi Gi
sp
i i
V V Q Q

V V Q Q
V V
AND
OR
AND
if
min
max
(5)
Variables Q
Gi max
and Q
Gi min
are the upper and lower var
limits, while V
i
sp
determines the specified value of voltage
magnitude for each PV bus.
8] Code limitations: a) With increased loading, lower/upper
var limits in PV buses should not be fixed but vary
proportionally to the generated active power. In both codes,
constant var limits are used for more pessimistic V/Q control.
b) Only identical increase rate is applied. However,
implementing user-defined increase rates for each generation/
load would not pose any serious problems.
9] Outputs: Theoretical value of
max
and V- data outputs
for V-P curves are computed and stored or graphically
projected. Respective values of for switching some of PV
buses permanently to PQ are also recorded. Voltage and power
flow limits were not considered for the evaluation of real
maximum loadability
max
*
.
10] Sparse programming: Sparsity techniques along with
smart vector/matrix programming are used in both Cycled N-R
and CLF codes to significantly decrease the CPU time needed
for each load flow case.
VI. TESTING CYCLED N-R AND CLF ALGORITHMS FOR
SOLVING VOLTAGE STABILITY LOAD FLOW PROBLEMS
Total number of 50 test power systems between 3 and 734
buses were analyzed using developed Cycled N-R and CLF
algorithms in MATLAB environment. Identical increase rate
was applied to all network buses (before filtering those with
non-zero active power loads or generations). For both L and
L+G scenarios, only stable part of the V-P curve was
calculated with var limits included. Settings of both codes are
as introduced in Section V, Paragraphs 4 and 5. In Table 1,
voltage stability solutions of several test cases are shown.
Presented results contain the maximum loadability, numbers of
stable V-P points and CPU times in seconds needed. For each
of the cases, the first two rows show the outputs of the CLF
code for excessive and compromise accuracy, respectively. As
the comparison, the third row provides the results of Cycled N-
R code.
As it can be seen, exact solutions of maximum loadability
were obtained for both of tested methods and each of the three
accuracy settings. The first setting was apparently too much
focused on producing exact results. Therefore, numbers of V-P
points and CPU times often exceeded 200 and 1 second,
respectively. When using fair compromise setting, the
maximum error for
max
from all 50 test power systems was
only 0.0185 percent, while numbers of points and CPU times
were decreased on average by 75.27 percent and 64.11 percent,
respectively.
TABLE I. VOLTAGE STABILITY SOLUTIONS USING CYCLED N-R AND
CLF ALGORITHMS - L AND L+G SCENARIOS
Case
Scenario L Scenario L+G
max [-] points time [s] max [-] points time [s]
IEEE9
1.302632 331 0.5616 1.162053 215 0.3900
1.302632 27 0.1404 1.162052 24 0.1248
1.302632 23 0.4056 1.162053 20 0.4212
IEEE14
1.760331 658 1.2012 1.777995 506 0.9360
1.760331 87 0.2340 1.777995 59 0.2028
1.760331 43 0.5460 1.777995 45 0.6396
IEEE30
1.536905 854 1.9500 1.546751 726 1.6536
1.536905 88 0.2808 1.546752 124 0.4212
1.536905 37 0.6396 1.546751 37 0.6552
IEEE57
1.406778 891 2.9016 1.616845 399 1.3884
1.406778 229 0.6864 1.616845 57 0.2652
1.406778 27 0.8112 1.616845 37 0.8112
IEEE162
1.079959 1640 12.9169 1.138996 1185 9.3913
1.079960 464 3.1044 1.138996 65 0.8112
1.079960 13 1.7628 1.138996 16 1.8408
IEEE300
1.024573 8457 103.8655 1.058820 311 4.0092
1.024573 529 7.0044 1.058819 94 1.4508
1.024573 16 2.4180 1.058820 17 2.5584
EPS734
3.104162 139 4.5864 3.104162 139 4.8360
3.104083 46 1.8720 3.104083 46 1.8408
3.104162 96 8.2369 3.104162 96 8.1745
137
Cycled N-R code obtains highly accurate results in terms of
solution accuracy. In majority of cases, it provides even better
solutions than CLF algorithm with compromise accuracy.
Surprisingly, it always computes slightly higher maximum
loadability values than the highly accurate CLF code. This
seems to be one of visible drawbacks of Cycled N-R method.
Only low numbers of V-P points are needed for reaching close
proximity to the singular point. These numbers are well
comparable to those needed for compromise CLF code.
Unfortunately, each divergence case (between 22 and 28)
significantly prolongs the entire computation process of Cycled
N-R method. Therefore, Cycled N-R code suffers from being
extremely time-dependent on computing each V-P point. When
compared to compromise CLF code, the CPU time needed by
Cycled N-R method is on average about 167 % higher.
Therefore, compromise CLF code seems to be the best method
for providing fast and highly accurate voltage stability results.
Stable V-P curves of the IEEE 30-bus power system (L+G
scenario) were computed using both Cycled N-R and CLF
methods, and they are shown in Figs. 3 and 4, respectively. For
CLF method, the V-P curves are extended to demonstrate
numerical stability of CLF algorithm around the singular point.
Extension of V-P curves in the unstable region is provided for
0.97
max
< <
max
.
1 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
1
V
o
l
t
a
g
e

M
a
g
n
i
t
u
d
e

[
p
u
]
Loadability Factor [-]

Fig. 3. V-P curves for the IEEE 30-bus system (Cycled N-R method).
1 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
1
V
o
l
t
a
g
e

M
a
g
n
i
t
u
d
e

[
p
u
]
Loadability Factor [-]

Fig. 4. Extended V-P curves for the IEEE 30-bus system (CLF method).
As Table 1 shows, applied version of CLF method is still not
applicable for real-time voltage stability monitoring, but it can
be useful for off-line reliability, evaluation or planning studies
of even larger networks.
VII. TESTING PSAT FOR SOLVING VOLTAGE STABILITY
LOAD FLOW PROBLEMS
Despite PSAT has many advantages, it also suffers from
several drawbacks. Four of them were spotted during the
testing stage when large number of load flow studies was
solved using PSAT and results were compared with author-
developed N-R code in MATLAB environment. First,
inefficient PV-PQ bus type switching logic is applied.
Probably, reverse switching logic (5) is not used and the need
for convergence is requested to activate forward switching
logic (4). As a result, unnecessarily more PV buses are being
switched permanently to PQ. Furthermore, switching logic
completely fails to switch PV buses to PQ for larger systems
with high numbers of PV buses. Second, nominal voltages
must be defined in the input data file otherwise the error
message 'Divergence - Singular Jacobian' is obtained during
the simulation. This seems to be entirely illogical since
nominal voltages should not be necessary for the 'in per units
defined' problem. Third, it seems that no advanced stability
techniques are applied for the N-R method in PSAT because of
severe numerical oscillations appearing in several studies.
Finally fourth, PSAT intentionally neglects transformer
susceptances and thus causes errors in final load flow results. A
column for shunt susceptances is available for power lines
only. For transformers, this column is reset to zero
automatically.
Under these limitations, load flow results show very good
congruity between author-developed N-R method and PSAT.
Higher total numbers of iterations are needed by PSAT due to
missing stability technique(s). Also, CPU times are higher in
PSAT due to combining the codes with other analyses and
related tool features.
As an example, load flow and voltage stability analysis of
the IEEE 14-bus system is accomplished by PSAT - see Figs.
5-9).

Fig. 5. GUI in PSAT for load flow analysis of IEEE 14-bus system.
138

Fig. 6. Final voltage magnitudes of IEEE 14-bus power system in PSAT.

Fig. 7. Final voltage angles of IEEE 14-bus power system in PSAT.

Fig. 8. Settings of CLF code for solving the IEEE 14-bus power system.

Fig. 9. Nose curves for all network buses of the IEEE 14-bus test system.
For voltage stability studies, PSAT contains the advanced
CLF algorithm combining contingency and OPF analyses.
Load flow data are extended by two matrices specifying the
sets of PQ/PV buses where the loads/generations are to be
increased (different increase rates are possible). CLF code is
then started via specialized window (Fig. 8). Calculation can be
adjusted by the user for better computational performance - e.g.
by setting more suitable step size, maximum number of V-P
points, or by checking the option for controlling voltage, flow
or var limits. PSAT offers two CLF methods - perpendicular
intersection (PI) and local parametrization (LP). Three stopping
criteria are available: Complete Nose Curve (computing both
stable/unstable parts of the V-P curve), Stop at Bifurcation
(when singular point exceeded) and Stop at Limit (when
voltage/flow/point limit reached).
CLF algorithm in PSAT is defined so that power increases
are realized by adding a power increment (loadability factor
multiplied by increase rate) to the base-case loading, i.e. initial
is zero. In author-developed Cycled N-R and CLF codes,
power increases are performed by multiplying the base-case
loading with . Therefore, maximum loadability in PSAT must
be increased by unity when comparing both codes. In Table 2,
voltage stability solutions for medium-sized IEEE test systems
are provided by the author-developed Cycled N-R and
compromise CLF codes when compared to those obtained by
PSAT (PI mode with step 0.025 and LP mode with default step
0.5). As the outputs, theoretical values of
max
, numbers of
stable V-P points and CPU times were stored. For all voltage
stability studies in PSAT, identical power increase rates (L+G
scenario) were applied with deactivated logics for var limits.
Both of PSAT modes showed only average accuracy with
satisfiable numbers of V-P points and lower computing speed.
LP mode was more time-consuming, but needed lower
numbers of V-P points and usually provided more accurate
results. Compromise CLF code provided the best combination
of solution accuracy and CPU times in each of the cases.
Although higher numbers of V-P points were needed, CPU
times were still rather smaller than those in PSAT due to
optimized sparse programming applied. Identical conclusions
can be made when mutually comparing CLF and Cycled N-R
codes.
139
TABLE II. VOLTAGE STABILITY ANALYSIS OF MEDIUM-SIZED IEEE TEST SYSTEMS (AUTHOR-DEVELOPED VS. PSAT ROUTINES)
Case
Author-developed routines PSAT routines
Cycled N-R code Compromise CLF code PSAT - PI mode PSAT - LP mode
max [-] points time [s] max [-] points time [s] max [-] points time [s] max [-] points time [s]
IEEE9 2.485393 74 0.5460 2.485382 84 0.2964 2.481220 7 0.2093 2.482000 13 0.3241
IEEE13 4.400579 148 0.6708 4.400577 112 0.3120 4.390420 13 0.3292 4.399570 20 0.4832
IEEE14 4.060253 137 0.8268 4.060252 92 0.3276 4.060100 18 0.4098 4.059420 19 0.4939
IEEE24 2.279398 61 0.6396 2.279398 58 0.2496 2.277550 10 0.2600 2.278670 16 0.4313
IEEE30 2.958815 88 0.8112 2.958814 57 0.2964 2.958550 16 0.8761 2.958250 20 1.5023
IEEE35 2.888962 91 0.6864 2.888950 107 0.3432 2.872940 16 1.1242 2.878420 10 0.2940
IEEE39 1.999203 57 0.7644 1.999202 30 0.2184 1.999110 11 0.2932 1.997840 12 0.3692
IEEE57 1.892091 47 0.8892 1.892089 92 0.4836 1.891920 12 0.9089 1.892090 26 3.9090
IEEE118 3.187128 100 1.6536 3.187128 66 0.5772 3.187100 613 19.1693 3.187120 82 19.7464

VIII. CONCLUSION
For solving voltage stability problems, both Cycled N-R
and CLF codes were implemented and thoroughly tested on a
broad range of test power systems in MATLAB environment.
Various stability techniques, step size approaches and
numerical settings were applied and used to upgrade their
performance in order to find the algorithm with fair
compromise between calculation speed and solution accuracy.
Their final results were compared to outputs obtained from
PSAT. The studies imply that the technique with the best
combination of precision level and CPU time requirements is
the CLF algorithm with compromise step size settings.
However, the resulting technique is the best to be used for
off-line planning and development studies of electric power
systems only. For real-time evaluations of system's voltage
stability, more robust algorithms with minimized numbers of
stable V-P points are to be developed. Therefore, follow-up
research activities will be concentrated especially on this area
of interest.
REFERENCES
[1] P. Kundur, Power System Stability and Control. McGraw-Hill, 1994.
[2] C. Canizares, A.J. Conejo and A.G. Exposito, Electric Energy Systems:
Analysis and Operation. CRC Press, 2008.
[3] V. Ajjarapu, Computational Techniques for Voltage Stability Assessment
and Control. Springer, 2006.
[4] I. Dobson, T.V. Cutsem, C. Vournas, C.L. DeMarco, M.
Venkatasubramanian, T. Overbye and C.A. Canizares, Voltage Stability
Assessment: Concepts, Practices and Tools, IEEE-PES, 2002.
[5] J.H. Chow, F.F. Wu and J.A. Momoh, Applied Mathematics for
Restructured Electric Power Systems - Optimization, Control and
Computational Intelligence. Springer, 2005.
[6] I. mon, M. Panto and F. Gubina, An improved voltage-collapse
protection algorithm based on local phasors, Electric Power Systems
Research 78 (2008), Vol. 78, 2008, pp. 434-440.
[7] Y. Gong and N. Schulz, Synchrophasor-Based Real-Time Voltage
Stability Index, Proceedings of PSCE conference, 2006, pp. 1029-1036.
[8] J.J. Grainger and W.D. Stevenson, Power System Analysis. McGraw-
Hill, 1994.
[9] M. Crow, Computational Methods for Electric Power Systems. CRC
Press, 2002.
[10] J. Veleba, Application of Continuation Load Flow Analysis for Voltage
Collapse Prevention, Journal Acta Technica, Vol. 57, 2012, pp. 143-163.
[11] P. Zhu, Performance Investigation of Voltage Stability Analysis Methods,
PhD. thesis. Brunel University of West London, 2008.
[12] Homepage of PSAT. [Online]. Available: http://www3.uclm.es/
profesorado/federico.milano/psat.htm. [Accessed: 3 Mar. 2013].
[13] Homepage of MATPOWER. [Online]. Available: www.pserc.cornell.edu/
matpower/. [Accessed: 23 Dec. 2012].
[14] J. Veleba, Acceleration and Stability Techniques for Conventional
Numerical Methods in Load Flow Analysis, Proceedings of
Elekroenergetika (ELEN) conference, 2010, pp. 1-10.

140
Wind energy versus natural gas in Latvia: policy
evaluation with a System Dynamic simulation

A. Skujevska, F. Romagnoli, T. Zoss, I. Laicane, D. Blumberga
Institute of Energy Systems and Environment
Riga, Latvia
Agnese.Skujevska@rtu.lv

Abstract To achieve national target proposed by the
Renewable Energy Source Directive 2009/28/EC, to also
accomplish to the CO2 emission reduction targets and to
decrease the energy dependency Latvian government is planning
to adopt different strategy policies such as feed-in tariffs (FITs)
and capital subsidies, in order to incentive investor to use
renewable based technology for power production
Neverthelss it is crucial to understand in long term
perspective the effect and the costs of a specific policy (made even
by the combination of different policy tools) applied to the energy
sector.
Using this model, or an extended version of it, a cost/benefit
analysis of a different set of policy scenarios can be carried out.
More in specific this study is driving its attention at a
situation where it is possible to increase the share of wind power
in the energy balance respect the use of natural gas as primary
energy for power generation.
Four political instruments are chosen in this model: subsidies
for construction of new wind-power facilities, information
package at all power supply levels for risk reduction and
reduction of maintenance costs through a learning effect.
The simulation period is from 2010 to 2110.
The analysis of policy instruments for development of
renewable energy resources in power system illustrates wide
potential of system dynamic modelling use for statement of
priorities on power diversification.
The policy instrument of use of subsidies is a crucial priority.
Feed-in tariff is not providing an evident. The reason of that can
be related to the key aspect on the way Latvia is organizing its
feed-in tariff policy.
Keywords Wind energy, Feed-in tariffs, Governament
subsidies, System dynamics.
I. INTRODUCTION
Sustainable development has always been an important
part of of human life. [1] In accordance with European Union
(EU) renewable energy resource strategy, which has been
developed to conceive unified standard for Renewable energy
resource usage and specify compulsory aims for end-use of
renewable resources in overall energy resource and
transportation fuel, increase of renewable energy resource
usage in different economic sectors is becoming more and
more important [2]. Directive states that 20% of energy
resources in EU up to year 2020 must be covered by
renewables [3]: wind power, solar power, geothermal, wave,
tidal, hydro power, biomass, landfill gas, gas from waste water
treatment plants and biogas [4, 5]. The target set for Latvia is
cover 42% of consumed energy with renewables till year 2020
[6]. Action plan to fulfil the target must be well thought and
economically justified. Models that represent actual situation
and possible scenarios are built for better understanding of
electric power system and renewable energy resources
integration possibilities [7, 8].
In Latvia renewable resource part in primary energy flow
on year 2010 was 33%. It means that it is necessary to define
policy, which can increase renewable resource usage
effectively to successfully achieve target, this is the aim of the
model described in this paper.
II. SYSTEM DYNAMIC MODELLING
Researches made on electric power system scenarios have
driven to the conclusion that the interaction of different energy
resources and their applications is more complex than using
nonlinear differential equation method that is commonly
known as a standard when analyzing this kind of problems [7].
Systematic thinking is a way to analyze situation by both:
looking at its general aspects and analyzing every part of
system separately. System dynamics is a research method for
complex system development which helps to solve such
complex systems as electric power system evolution [7,8,9].
System dynamics theory is based on research of relations
between system behaviour and structure of the system itself
[8,10]. The basis of system dynamics model is the
mathematical definition of stocks and flows in the system that
can be considered as internal or external variables identified
the structure of a specific complex. Almost every stock has
incoming and outgoing flows. One of the main advantages of
system dynamics model is its graphically designed structure
that can be easily understood. It is possible to include different
feedback links in the model, which is important in a research
of every process. Each action has its consequences and non-
linear effects can be identified, visualized and understood.
141
Hence System dynamics model is a way to represent
complex systems. Model can be adjusted for every problem,
difference between various models is input data which has to
be entered by user. Every element of system has to be
connected with affecting element using the most precise link
[8]. In this light a simulation using system dynamic modelling
represent a good tool to understand and evaluate how a system
is dynamically influenced by different policy scenarios.
For this reason a system dynamics model has been chosen
for the evaluation of different policy measures within the
Latvian electric power system development analyzing, at this
stage, the most effective policy scenario on a proposed initial
set for promoting the wind energy against usage of natural gas.
III. PROBLEM FORMULATION
The aim for Latvia which - stated by EU directive - is to
produce 42% of all energy consumed by end user from
renewables by year 2020, as it has been mentioned before.
One of the largest sectors that influence this division is
electrical power generation. Picture nr.1 shows that in year
2010 a large part of the electrical power was produced using
imported natural gas.
In order to gain more independence in power production
and produce electricity in environment friendly way it is
necessary to increase renewable energy resource usage in
electricity production.

Fig. 1. Energy sources distribution of electricity
production in 2010 (Latvia)
Hence the aim of the model is to find new policy
instruments which can increase renewable energy resource
usage in electricity sector and in the same time the National
costs for related to the implementation of a specific policy
scenario.
IV. IDENTIFICATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE PRINCIPAL
DYNAMIC HYPOTHESIS
The program Powersim Constructor was used to represent
concurrent situation in electricity production and to create the
model. Renewable energy resources are represented by wind
power which is opposed with electricity produced by natural
gas. Main elements in model are: installed wind power and
installed natural gas electricity production power [11]. Each
element has one incoming and one outgoing flow. Incoming
flow describes investment (GW/year), outgoing flow is
depreciation per year (GW/year). Picture nr.2 represents basic
structure of stock and flows related to each Installed capacity
for power generation (i.e. natural gas and wind).

Fig. 2. Primary Stock-flow diagram representing the
relationship between the stock of the total capacity of
installations against investment and depreciation flows [12].
Data is gathered from year 2010 (reference year in the
model), when the installed wind power was 0,03 GW and
installed natural gas electricity generation power was 0,95
GW. In order to change this situation new instruments that can
affect installed power size are introduced and implemented
into the model.
V. MODEL STRUCTURE AND ELEMENTS
The central element of the proposed model is mainly
related to the idea of stocks representing the installed power
capacity related to wind technologies and natural gas
technologies. This process is represented as a feedback link
from equipment wear out to total investment.
Within the model it was assumed that the capacity of
installed facilities is influenced by: investments and
depreciation of the equipment over the time that. Each of the
installed capacity stocks was linked with two flows
representing in-flows aiming to increase the capacity of
installed power facilities and out-flows representing the
depreciation (related to the life-span of the technology used)
that is reducing the value of total installed capacity.
Figure 2 represents the stock-flow structure using system
dynamics modeling elements valid for each type of installed
capacities. The installed capacity of each technology
represents the proportion of a particular used technology in the
power system considered. The larger the capacity is, the larger
becomes the investment flow (a positive reinforcing loop takes
place). But, also, the larger the capacity is, the larger becomes
the depreciation flow decreasing meantime the stock of the
installed capacity (a negative counteractive loop takes place).
This is the way how the nodal part of the model works. This
type of combination defined a typical S-shape dynamic
behavior that is possible to detect in the final results.
The installed capacity is influenced by the costs for power
energy production depending on the technology investment
and maintenance costs, the risks costs and the price and
quality of the fuel (only for natural gas).
In order to understand the behavior of switching to wind
based technologies over the time, the model was based on a
dynamic equilibrium principle. This means that the entire
142
installed capacity is assumed constant over time with a value
equal to 0.98GW.
It could be also assumed that the behavior of the observed
system in the reference mode was formed by the interaction of
the investment and depreciation flows, and the capacity stock.

Fig. 3. Casual loop diagram of the main structure of the
model reference to the total installed capacity.
In reference to the previous figure 3 the green casual loop
represents the total installed capacity of wind-based power.
These show that the larger the investments for wind
technology are the larger are the installed capacities and
consequently the shares of wind technology for power
generation. The central blue loop shows that an increase of the
total installed capacity for wind-energy defines a decreased in
the total installed capacity of natural gas installations in order
to guarantee the constant production of production that is the
assumption of the model. This reinforcing is the main reason
connected to the explanation of the tendency of the wind
technology to naturally increase over time.
Hence the main aim of the model is to create a suitable
mechanism which could show necessary investment for wind
generated power at defined year.
The general structure of the system dynamics model is
illustrated in Figure 4.
The stock wind capacity represents the installed capacity
of wind-power production. An element is given an initial
value to describe the current installed capacity of wind-based
energy and is dependent on the annual amount of power
produced; the initial share of wind is equal to 3%

Fig. 4. Structure of the model.

The impacts different policy instruments have been
analyzed within the proposed system dynamics model as well
as their combination. The following policy instruments were
considered:
Subsidies a policy instrument that provides subsidies for
replacement of natural gas installations with wind technology
(P
SUB
, reference to table 1).
Risk reduction a policy instrument that comprises an
initial short-term campaign to compensate risks related to the
use wind technology. The aim of the policy instrument is to
encourage the public to choose wind-fired technologies. It
indicates marketing or support measures to initiate the process
of disseminating positive experiences of wind-base power use
due to information flow (P
R
, reference to table 1).
Cost maintenance improvements i.e. R&D measures (P
,
reference to table 1).
Feed-in Tariff (FIT) application policy measure paid by
government to promote wind energy applied as percentage of
the total production costs of wind installation (P
FEED-IN
,
reference to table 1).
Risk reduction and cost maintenance improvement tools
have been simulated with a learning-effect on cumulating
experiences on using wind technologies in the society. The
effect of subsidies is introduced as a learning effect but in the
same directly acting on the total power production costs for
wind.
For precise definition of equipment depreciation the
following formula is used (formula nr.1):

Wear = P/T
eq.
(1)
Where:

Wear equipment depreciation (GW/year)
P Installed power (GW)
T eq. - actual equipment run time (years)

Policy instruments impact equipment run time which is
described with formula nr. 2:
T
eq.
= T
ref
Subs Feedineff (2)
T
eq
, - actual equipment run time (years)
T
ref
reference time of equipment run time. Normally it is
assumed to be 20 years, but it can vary in different regions and
systems.
Subs wind power subsidies effect on equipment run time.
Feedin
eff
Feed-in tariff effect on equipment run time

Since most of the produced energy is measured in MWh
and data for every region is defined in the same way it is
143
necessary to specify work hours per year. To avoid situation
when actual work hours could affect the model, they should be
specified in the same way for both electrical power generation
methods. One of possible solutions is to calculate overall
average in specified region from total work hour amount on
wind power generation equipment and natural gas power
generation equipment. Since total amount of produced energy
is fixed it is possible to derive work hours, for year 2010
average between these two numbers is 2443,82 hours.
Produced energy is calculated according to formula nr.3

E = P t (3)
E - produced energy (GWh/year)
P installed power (GW)
t work hours (h/year)

The total produced energy is a sum of power generated
from wind and that from natural gas. In this model it is
assumed that produced power is a constant and it is equal to
sum of power produced by natural gas and wind in year 2010.
In the model two factors that affect choice are deeply
analyzed, those are wind and natural gas electrical power
production tariffs. Both tariffs are affected by:
Capital costs (EUR/MWh);
Operating and maintenance costs (EUR/MWh);
Fuel costs (for wind power generation it is 0
EUR/MWh);
reference time of equipment run time (year);
production efficiency;
natural gas combustion heat (for natural gas electrical
power production tariff, MWh/1000m
3
);
Real interest rate.
VI. USE OF POLICY INSTRUMENTS
It is necessary to create policy instruments that affect
investment for power increasing to compare different
scenarios. All used instruments are created in a way that end
user can add or remove them from model according to his
needs. This function is necessary so that user can evaluate
impact and interaction of different policy instruments with
other policy instruments. There is a detailed explanation on
how every instrument is applied into model furthermore.
A. Instrument for risk reduction
Instrument for risk reduction is introduced to find out what
impact has experience of wind power usage to reduce risks.
Social campaigns have to be made to inform society according
to this instrument. Greater emphasis should be put to inform
businessman and potential power plant designers and builders.
Instrument for risk reduction predicts that by increase of wind
power generation, risks related to new wind power plant
building and operation will reduce.
It is necessary to create new stock wind power
consumption, to introduce this instrument. Initial size of this
stock is 0 GWh/year, because it is assumed that instrument for
risk reduction starts on reference year. Since incoming flow is
directly related to generated wind power this value will
increase with every produced GWh starting from reference
year. New component is introduced experience for risk
reduction, which is calculated according to formula nr.4:
EXP
R
= e
Eprod/(Einit
t
R
)
(4)
EXP
R
experience in risk reduction
E
prod
consumed wind power (GWh/year)
E
init
consumed wind power initial value (GWh/year)
t
R
time till 63% risk reduction. In this module it is
assumed to be 10 years.
Experience affect to risk reduction is linked with element
that can enable or disable policy instrument. This value can be
0 in a scenario when risk reduction instrument is not used or 1
when this instrument is used. For wind energy tariff this
instrument is connected as a separate complement.
B. Instrument for efficiency increasing
Instrument for efficiency increasing is a way to evaluate
experience effect on new technology development [13].
Efficiency of wind power generation equipment increases in
the course of time when this instrument is enabled. This
instrument is related with information flow. The faster
information about improvements in technology is given to
potential wind power plant designers and other society
members, the faster increases investment for wind generation
power enlargement. Another factor is power enlargement of
already existing wind power plants by use of new
technological solutions.
Instrument for efficiency increasing is related to wind
power consumption stock just like instrument for risk
reduction. Effect of experience on efficiency increase is
calculated according to formula nr.5.
EXP
Ef
= e
Eprod/(Einit
tef)
(5)
EXP
Ef
- experience effect on efficiency increase,
E
prod
consumed wind power (GWh/year)
E
init
consumed wind power initial value (GWh/year)
t
Ef
time till 63% efficiency increase. In this module it is
assumed to be 100 years. Period length is based on knowledge
that efficiency improvement is long lasting process and more
time is necessary than in risk reducing process.
It is necessary to calculate wind power generation
equipment efficiency to attach this instrument to the model.
Calculation can be seen in formula nr.6.
Ef
sum
= Ef
wind eq.
+ (1 - Ef
wind eq.
) (1 EXP
Ef
) Ef
INSTR
(6)
Ef
sum
wind generation equipment efficiency
144
Ef
wind eq
- wind generation equipment efficiency prognosis,
which is defined by S type trend line. This trend is used if
efficiency increasing instrument is disabled.
EXP
Ef
- experience effect on efficiency increase,
Ef
INSTR
Management variable for efficiency increasing
instrument. If value of this parameter is 0, instrument is not
used. Whereas instrument is used and all before mentioned
processes are in place if value is 1.
This instrument is connected as a separate complement in
wind energy tariff, maintenance and operation costs are
divided with wind generation equipment efficiency.
C. Subsidies instrument
Subsidies instrument is working as a finance instrument
which can attract interests for wind energy increase. Subsidies
instrument size that is used in the model can be regulated by
adjusting it to achieve necessary effect or in accordance to
available resources. Subsidies instrument gives certain input to
wind generated energy tariff. In model it is assumed to be
20%.
Two management components (enabling/disabling) are
added to model for subsidies instrument. First of them reacts
in tariff scheme and is included in formula nr.7 for subsidies
calculation.
SUB
Tar.
= Fin SUB
TarINSTR
(7)
SUB
Tar
. Subsidies which cover part of wind generation
power tariff.
Fin part of finances in wind generation power tariff
SUB
TarINSTR
- management variable for subsidies
instrument. If value of this parameter is 0, instrument is not
used. If SUBTarINSTR = 1 part of wind generation power
tariff is covered according to specified values.
Since usage of subsidies is related to knowledge of society
it is necessary to create additional management component
that is added to control wear-out speed, which reflects over-all
situation. This component is switching on and off according to
before mentioned variable. If value of this component is 0 no
subsidies for equipment change from natural gas power
generation equipment to wind power generation equipment are
given, if this value is 1 subsidy for equipment change are
given. Component is attached in model before calculation of
equipment life time, in this way it is possible to increase or
decrease each equipment life time.
D. Feed-in tariff instrument
There is fixed feed-in tariff for every kind of produced
electric power [10, 11]. For this reason it is necessary to
include feed-in tariff in model to see how it affects selection of
production solutions. Difference between feed-in tariff and
production costs is compared in the model. Production method
that has bigger difference is more attractive from economical
point of view and for investors. Relation of difference between
feed-in tariff and production costs and, for example, wind
energy production costs, is called return of investment [14].
By comparison of wind and natural gas energy return of
investment it is possible to model desire to use wind power
generation equipment against over-all desire to use electricity
generation equipment.

It can be seen from the picture nr.4 that desire to use wind
power generation equipment increases because of natural
causes, by year 30 to 40 starting from reference year desire to
use wind power generation equipment decreases rapidly. It can
be explained because according to MK law Nr. 221 combined
heat and power (CHP) procurement price energy component is
directly related to natural gas final trade tariff without added
value defined by market regulator in accordance to natural gas
consumption amounts and electrical power installed in CHP
plant [15].

Fig.4. Desire to use wind generated power against over-all
desire to use electricity generation equipment
Since price of natural gas is increasing, but feed-in tariff of
wind generated power is constant [16], it happens that in a
longer period feed-in tariff instrument increases power
generated by natural gas power plants.
VII. SCENARIO MODELING
By a variation of different policy instruments it is possible
to evaluate their impact to electric power production system.
Different development scenarios were produced in accordance
with various policy instruments. These scenarios are
summarized in table 1.
Development scenarios for Latvian electricity systems
changes

Scenarios Name of
tool
PR P PSUB PFEED-IN
1. Base scenario (business-
as-usual) no one policy
instrument used
BS 0 0 0 0
2. Only feed-in tariff is used SC1_FE
EDIN
0 0 0 1
3. Only subsidies are used SC2_SU
B
0 0 1 0
4. Only energy efficiency is
used
SC5_EFF 0 1 0 0
5. Only risk reduction is
used
SC6_RIS
K
1 0 0 0
6. Combination 1 of the
policy instruments
SC3_BE
ST2
1 0 1 0
145
.... i Combination of policy
instruments
SC.. .. .. .. ..
n. All policy instrument
implemented
SC4_all 1 1 1 1
VIII. POLICY STRATEGY EFFECTS: ANALYSIS OF RESULTS
Among all the possible combination of the policy tools for
the sake of visualizing have been selected 5 policy scenario.
Figure 1 summarizes the comparison among a set of the 5
different types of dynamic behaviors associated to specific
policy scenarios chosen for this section (BS, SC1_FEEDIN,
SC2_SUB, SC3_BEST2, SC4_all).

Fig.5. Comparison of installed capacity of wind-based electrical energy
production for different scenarios expressed in GW
Three different types of trends can be identified. The first
one defines a non-linear relationship related to the
implementation of the policy with a trend close to the base
scenario (BS) behaviour (line 2 in figure 5). The second one,
always with a non-linear tendency, reveals a moderate
increase of the wind sector respect the BS scenario (line 3 in
figure 5). The third one where there is an important non-linear
increase in the use of wind against the use of natural gas for
the electric energy production (lines 4 and 5 in figure 5).
From a general overview it can be seen that a positive
effect in terms of increase of the share of wind-power is
present also in the BS scenario where despite none of the
mechanism are implemented after 100 year the share of the
wind-energy respect natural gas-based electric energy
production reaches the level of circa 40%.
More in specific one can see that the effect of subsidies for
promoting the use of wind as wind as source for production of
electric energy (constant over time with a value of 20%) is the
most effective tool in a long term perspective (line 3 in figure
5).
Nevertheless from figure 5 it can be also understood that,
except for the scenario SC4_all, all the policy tools and the
combination of them implement in different policy scenarios
show a willingness of the Latvian operators to not invest in
wind-energy before 20 years. This aspect shows that even in
the light of a theoretical favourable condition for investments
in the wind energy sector (i.e. promotion of subsidies, feed-in
tariff and measures aiming on decrease of the investment risk)
there is a delay of the positive effects probably due to the so-
called inconvenience costs that keep still high the costs
related to a front-up investment in the wind sector (see figure
2).

Fig.6. Comparison of electric energy production costs for different scenarios
expressed in /MWh
Looking trough the outcomes from the figure 6 is possible
to determine form the model the learning curves in the wind
system for different policy scenarios. As it can be seen there
are 2 types of initial starting points of the wind-power
production costs, this is related to the application of subsidies.
The natural tendency of increasing the share of wind-power
investment in the base scenario is reflected in correspondent
decreasing of the costs for production that anyway only 70
years they are halved.
Moreover another important aspect outlined from the
results is reference to the scenario SC1_FEEDIN. As
described in the previous chapter for the Latvian legislation
[16] is foreseen feed-in tariffs for wind-power constant over
time according to a fixed price model within a market-
independent policy view [17] while the tariff for natural gas
operators presents a variable increasing value (see Figure 3).
This seems a contradiction in terms, in fact having
constant feed-in tariff and increasing tariff according to
Latvian Directive is not favourable for development of the
installed wind capacity, but from RES directive and in
reference to what is outcomes from other study [14,17] feed-in
tariff represent one of the main tool (together with subsidies
and rebates) to promote and incentive installation of RES-
based power stations. Consequently this is the reason why in
the analyzed case the effect of the feed-in tariff is neglected
for long term perspectives.

1 BS1
2 SC1_FEEDIN
3 SC2_SUB
4 SC3_BEST2
5 SC4_all

1 production costs natural gas
6 production costs BS1
7 production costs SC1_FEEDIN
8 production costs SC2_SUB
9 production costs SC3_BEST2
10 wind tariff SC4_all
146

Fig.7. Feed-in Tariff for wind-power and tariff for natural gas (/MWh)
Even though from figure 7 is possible to identify a
minimal beneficial effect on the willingness of investor to be
oriented on wind-energy (see figure 7 with reference to line 2
respect line 1) but as also previous mentioned in a long terms
perspective in the light of an higher value of the return of
investment (ROI) this effect is attenuated. This consequence is
basically justifying the dynamic output described in the
chapter Feed-in tariff instrument in figure 4.
IX. DISCUSSION
The use of a system dynamic modeling within the
evaluation of the Latvian energy strategy on promoting RES-
based power production is an appropriate method since is
providing a good tool for the evaluation of different policy
effects and the cost of their application.
In fact energy and economical analysis together with
energy sector modeling at Latvian State level use different
types of mathematical/economic models with different initial
data and/or assumptions. Within this aspect system dynamic
modeling represents a powerful flexible tool taking into
account variables from economic, policy, social and
environmental point of view.
In the Latvian context there is a lack of adequate longterm
state support scheme and very low perception of the real
beneficial environmental benefit on using renewable
technology from both investors and community. This aspect
could be crucial in the light of tackling climate change
processes. In this context is lying down the reason of a long
perspective analysis proposed in this study
Beside the target fixed in the EU RES Directive as well for
Latvia there is the main objective to increase the proportion of
renewable energy sources in the power generation sector with
the proper implementation of the best policy strategy. In this
light it is crucial the target related to reducing greenhouse gas
emissions with the theoretical minimal costs for the
community and guarantying a stronger fuel independency.
In regard to the results carried out within this study if the
key target for the Latvian power strategy is a fast
implementation of a bigger amount of wind-based installed
capacity the strategy has to implement at least subsidies.
In the other hand this solution can be the most economical
aggressive also for the National strategy with the
consequences on increasing the risk of massive investment in
only this direction.
An important comment should be devoted to the feed-in
tariff instrument. In fact as shown in the chapter of results this
tool is not providing evident effect in both short and long
terms perspective. The reason of that can be related to the key
aspect on the way Latvia is organizing its feed-in tariff policy.
In fact as mentioned wind-energy FIT in Latvia are
market-independent foreseeing a known as xed-price with a
xed price for electricity delivered to the grid. In this way the
xed price is independent from other economical variables.
In this light the all FIT strategy can be think to be organize
under two aspects: the first related to an evaluation of a
possible FIT system market-dependent and the second related
to the evaluation how the feed in are related and evaluated
respect the value on which tariff for natural gas-based power
is calculated.
Moreover in terms of optimizing the implementation of
subsidies together with feed-in tariff in the national energy
strategy a dependency of the FIT price based on the size of the
subsidies awarded can be established [9] (i.e. decreasing in
time)
In order to produce a positive effect, acting on reducing the
wind-power production costs based real or perceived negative
impacts, the accumulation of positive experiences is crucial
for reducing the risk perception of potential wind investors.
Although in this study authors present the changing share
among wind-power and natural gas-based power, it is possible
in further improve the modeling in the following points:
Integrating in the same type of structure of the model
the whole sources for power generation in Latvia both
RES and fossil based, taking into account as well
power imports;
Including other policy instruments and assessing their
impacts (i.e. effect of a CO2 taxation as well the
Emission Trading Scheme);
including sustainable criteria taking into account
resources available to Latvia;
Re-modulate a possible policy scenario where FIT is a
market-dependent variable and will foresee a
correlation with subsidies awarded [9];
Including a sensitivity analysis and validation of the
mode;
the attention should be also focused in relation to the
demand of energy in the future and could be think as an
external variable depending from different parameters.
At the moment the assumption have been taken to keep
constant over time.
Choosing an electric demand not constant over time.

147
X. CONCLUSIONS
As general outcomes:
The model proposed model has been applied to the
Latvian power system in reference to wind-power and
natural gas-based power generation. The aim of the
model is to evaluate which policy instrument can play a
prominent role in the switch to a wind-system and
more in general on RES power production system. The
model proposed an analysis within 100 years.
The policy instruments have been implemented in
terms of: i) subsidies ii) promoting and improving the
dissemination of best practices and campaigns for the
use of wind technology decreasing risk perception, and
iii) improvement of the learning curve for the
maintenance cost based on the increase of the installed
capacity; iv) feed-in tariff.
The analysis of policy instruments for development of
renewable energy resources in power system illustrates
wide potential of system dynamic modeling use for
statement of priorities on power diversification.
The model proposed is a reliable and valuable tool for
the comparison of different RES-source for electric
power in comparison with fossil based electric energy
by the application of various policy strategies.
From the model is possible to evaluate the cost of CO
2

emission reduction related to a certain implemented
strategy.
The tool is providing the possibility to evaluate as well
the economic cost for a State electric energy strategy.
The structure of model can be applied to a system
involving the whole Latvian gross electricity
production system (including as well the import) and/or
to a wider frame.
As specific outcomes:
The policy instrument of use of subsidies is a crucial
priority.
Feed-in tariff is not providing an evident. The reason of
that can be related to the key aspect on the way Latvia
is organizing its feed-in tariff policy.
At this stage the whole model has been based on the
comparison between the wind energy sector and the
natural-gas based electricity production system. The
total installed capacity (wind plus natural-gas) have
been consider constant and equal to 0.98 GW assuming
a consequently a constant demand.
Among the strategy implemented the investment cost
are still high defining important increase of the share of
wind-power only after 15 years.
The average electric power production can be seen as
benchmark tariffs.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
This work has been supported by the European Social
Fund within the project Support for the implementation of
doctoral studies at Riga Technical University and Nordic
Energy Research project NORSTRAT (project No 40007-
64).

REFERENCES

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317.
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Davidsen, P., Moxnes E. The Use of System Dynamics Approach for
Assessing the Impacts of Policy Measures and Strategies on Wood
Energy Market Development in Latvia in 3rd International Symposium
on Energy from Biomass and Waste. Italy, Venice, 2010.
[12] Romagnoli, F., Barisa, A., Blumberga, A., Blumberga, D., Dzene, I.,
Ro, M., Rochas C. Policy strategy effects for a sustainable improve
of a wood-based energy structure in Latvia: an integrated dynamic
model of the district heating system in 20th European Biomass
Conference and Exhibition. Italy, Milan, 2012.
[13] Snow R. Transitioning to a Renewable Energy Economy in 7th
WSEAS International Conference on energy and environment. Kos
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[14] Hsu C.W. Using a system dynamics model to assess the effects of
capital subsidies and feed-in tariffs on solar PV installations in Applied
Energy, issue 100, 2012, 205 217.
[15] The rules for electricity production and pricing, Cogeneration: Cabinet
of Ministers Regulations No.. 221, in Latvijas Vstnesis, issue 42, 2009.
[16] The rules for the production of electricity from renewable energy
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[17] Toby Couture, Yves Gagnon An analysis of feed-in tariff remuneration
models: Implications for renewable energy investment in Energy
Policy, issue 38, 2010, 955 965.

148
The case study of the big Latvian energy companies
compliance
with the principles of sustainable development

Raja Koanova, Ineta Geipele, Krlis Ketners
Faculty of Engineering Economics and Management
Riga, Latvia
ineta.geipele@rtu.lv, raja.kocanova@latvenergo.lv, karlis.ketners@rtu.lv

Abstract The rationale of the study is connected with the fact
that society has increasingly begun to discuss its responsibility to
the generation to come. Without economic aspects, social and
environmental issues have become increasingly apparent because
there is more and more relevant question whether the natural
system will be able to withstand the increasing loading associated
with human activities.
In Latvia there have been made attempts to promote the
principle of sustainable development, its adoption and
implementation. On the basis of the above stated rationale of the
subject, the objective of the study is to estimate the big Latvian
energy companies compliance with the principles of sustainable
development.
The reduction of energy sources and their capacity, greenhouse
gas emission caused by energy production, and features of the
energy market put forward branch enterprises in front of the
principle of sustainable development and the idea of its
implementation. To determine the big Latvian energy companies
contribution to sustainable development, in the survey of
representatives of the business environment there have been
included questions about the big Latvian energy companies
compliance with the principles of sustainable development. In the
research paper there have been used the statistical analysis of
data and the processing method.

Keywords sustainable development; business activity in
energy companies; principle of sustainable development; economic
sustainability; social sustainability; environmental sustainability

I. INTRODUCTION
The 21st century is characterised by significant change in
the situation, but organisations have to operate in such a way
to take advantage of the changes and move with changes into
the external environment. The new era has also created new
preconditions to the economy. The new economy is based on
knowledge and modern technologies which have become the
basis for the whole modern society. The new business activity
takes place in cyberspace, and that space is the electronic
intermediator which is not related to the geographic market.
Under these circumstances, there are changes both in
businesses, human perception and public liaison.
The rationale of the study is connected with the fact that at
the end of the 20th century society increasingly began to
discuss its responsibility to the generation to come. In
addition to the economic aspects, social and environmental
issues have become increasingly apparent because there is
more and more relevant question whether the natural system
will be able to withstand the increasing loading associated
with human activities.
To comply with the principle of equity and enable to meet
future generation needs, today it is urgent to understand what
form of the next generation interests should be taken into
account so that there could be welfare in the future.
In Latvia there have been made first attempts to promote
the principle of sustainable development, its adoption and
implementation. There have been developed different policy
documents which include the principles of sustainable
development. Solutions to environmental problems are also
included in other policy plans, strategies and regulations.
Both worldwide and in Latvia there are enough general
nature studies on sustainable development as an economic
category (The following studies have been undertaken in
Latvia: the Latvian energy policy, Towards a sustainable and
transparent energy sector, Riga city Sustainable Energy Action
Plan for 2010 2020, the Latvian strategy for sustainable
development till 2030), but the questions about how to
improve and develop the strategic management and to ensure
sustainable development have not been answered.
On the basis of the above stated rationale of the subject,
the objective of the study is to estimate the big Latvian energy
companies compliance with the principles of sustainable
development.
The target of the study is large enterprises whose number
of employees is above 250.
On the theoretical and methodological basis of the study
there are literature, scientific articles, publications issued in
the USA, the European Union and in other countries, and
Internet resources. The theoretical foundation of sustainable
development concept, its nature, role and structure has been
created using conclusions of the following scientists:
149
J.Forrester, L.Meadows, H.Daly, S.Brunel, R.Schubert,
E.Weizscker, A.Hasna, M.Weisheimer and etc.
The research methods. In the process of the research work
there were being used common economic scientific
quantitative and qualitative data analysis methods including
various methods of analysis for studying the elements of the
problem and the integrated parts of the process for later
synthesising interconnections or defining laws, induction and
deduction methods, mathematical modelling and statistical
data processing techniques. The authors used large and
medium-sized business leaders and specialists survey. The
interpretation of the results includes the analysis of the
questions in the questionnaire as well as the main conclusions
based on the information obtained from the research.

II. THEORETICAL AND METHODOLOGICAL
FRAMEWORK
In Latvia there have been made attempts to promote the
principle of sustainable development, its adoption and
implementation. In 2010 by calling of the Employers'
Confederation, which represents businesses and United
Nations Global Compact Latvian national network, together
with the Latvian Confederation of Free Trade Unions, which
represents employees, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of
Welfare, the Ministry of Environmental Protection and
Regional Development, the Saeima, the State Labour
Inspectorate and the Corruption Prevention and Combating
Bureau, which together represent the Latvian state, and the
World Wildlife Fund, the Society for transparency Delna,
the Society Latvian association for Quality, the Latvian
Association of Personnel Management, the Latvian
Association of Public Relations Professionals, the Latvian
Advertising Association, the Latvian Association of Press
Publishers, which together represent non-governmental
organizations, created the Platform on Corporate
Accountability and defined their understanding of social
responsibility principles by the joint memorandum.
In the document there are indicated the main definition,
priorities, generally defined relationship with the stakeholders
and provision of information to the public. But specific
companies which are the key enablers of the principle of
sustainable development and social responsibility have not
been engaged in the formulation of the document.
In Latvia there have been developed different policy
documents which include the principles of sustainable
development. Solutions to environmental protection problems
are also included in other policy plans, strategies and
regulations.
Compliance with the principles of sustainable development
and their demonstration have become the necessity for
enterprises operating or intending to operate on the
international market, exporting products or making
investments abroad, as well as for all who are interested in
raising new investments and increasing competitiveness.
The reduction of energy sources and their capacity,
greenhouse gas emission caused by energy production, and
features of the energy market put forward branch enterprises
in front of the principle of sustainable development and the
idea of its implementation. If in consequence of energy
production harm is done to the environment, the human
suffers as the main stakeholder.
From the point of view of social responsibility the energy
sector is the most essential. Compliance with the principles of
sustainable development and their demonstration have become
the necessity for enterprises operating or intending to operate
on the international market, exporting products or making
investments abroad, as well as for all who are interested in
raising new investments and increasing competitiveness.
In the 70s of the 20th century by the offer of the Club of
Rome J.Forrester [1, 167] carried out the research, as a result
of which it was stated that the future human development in
the Earth limited physical space would have led to ecological
disaster by the 20s of the following century.
In turn, environmental science researchers L.Meadows [2,
119] and H.Daly [3, 43] introduced the concept of the
economy in the balanced position, but to describe the
economy which was in the balance with the main
environmental systems; there was used the term
sustainability [4, 30].
In 1984, works in that direction were combined within the
World Commission on Environment and Development (the
chairwoman of so called the Brundtland Commission was
Prime Minister of Norway G.H.Brundtland), who offered the
concept of sustainable development [5].
Broadly defined the sustainable development strategy is
aimed at achieving harmony in relations between society and
nature. According to the definition of the Commission
sustainable development is the ability to meet the needs of
the present while contributing to the future generations
needs [5].

III. DATA AND RESULTS

To determine the Latvian big energy companies
contribution to sustainable development, the authors
conducted the survey of business representatives. The survey
included questions about the Latvian largest energy sector
companies, i.e. JSC Latvenergo, JSC Latvijas Gze and JSC
Rgas Siltums, compliance with the principles of sustainable
development.
150
Fig. 1. Applicability of social responsibility aspects in large energy
enterprises of Latvia

In the assessment of business environment representatives
all three enterprises JSC Latvenergo, JSC Latvijas Gze and
JSC Rgas Siltums mostly comply with different aspects of
economic sustainability. However, in the respondents
assessment JSC Latvenergo and JSC Latvijas Gze comply
with these aspects relatively more than JSC Rgas Siltums. In
the same way more than half of polled business managers and
owners have mentioned that all three companies JSC
Latvenergo, JSC Latvijas Gze and JSC Rgas Siltums comply
with social aspects of sustainability. Nevertheless, in the
respondents assessment JSC Latvenergo (70%) and JSC
Latvijas Gze (67%) comply with these aspects relatively
more than JSC Rgas Siltums (39%). Respectively 52%, 58%
and 39% business environment representatives have indicated
that JSC Latvenergo, JSC Latvijas Gze and JSC Rgas
Siltums comply with the environmental aspects of
sustainability. Relatively least in the respondents assessment
JSC Rgas Siltums comply with this aspect but relatively more
JSC Latvijas Gze does.
Thinking about compliance of electricity, gas and heating
supply companies with different aspects of sustainable
development, JSC Latvenergo complies with environmental
sustainability aspects mostly according to business managers
and owners whose companies annual turnover is over 7
million lats. In its turn JSC Latvijas Gze complies with social
aspects of sustainability more frequently according to the
respondents who represent companies with turnover up to 100
000 lats. About JSC Rgas Siltums social aspects of
compliance with sustainability, on average, there are more
confident business representatives who represent companies
with turnover over 7 million lats.
There is the tendency that JSC Latvenergo complies with
the environmental aspects of sustainability relatively more
frequently according to managers and owners of medium-
sized and large enterprises (50 or more employees).
About JSC Rgas Siltums social aspects of compliance with
sustainability relatively more frequently, on average, there are
confident managers and owners of medium-sized and large
enterprises (50 or more employees) (see Table 1.)

TABLE 1. THE COMPANIES COMPLIANCE WITH THE
PRINCIPLES OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: DIVISION
BY NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES

JSC
Latvenergo
JSC
Latvijas
Gze
JSC
Rgas
Siltums
Economic sustainability
(operate at a profit, pay
taxes, sustainable business
strategy, transparent
business)
82% 80% 68%
84% 79% 77%
Social sustainability
(responsible relationship
with all stakeholders
employees, customers,
suppliers, society;
sponsorship, principles
connected with
observance of labour
rights)
70% 67% 53%
65% 70% 65%
Environmental
sustainability (green
energy production,
environmentally friendly
technologies,
environmental
conservation,
environmental care)
52% 58% 39%
65% 55% 44%
It's hard to say.
4% 5% 15%
4% 8% 10%
___ All
____ Enterprises with 50 or more employees

The base: Business environment representatives who know and have an
opinion of the company
JSC Latvenergo: all, n=254; Enterprises with 50 or more employees,
n=37
JSC Latvijas Gze: all, n=254; Enterprises with 50 or more employees,
n=38
JSC Rgas Siltums: all, n=256; Enterprises with 50 or more employees,
n=49

The data obtained gives the opportunity to judge that the
Latvian business environment representatives are generally
aware of the main principles of sustainable development and
of the big energy companies practice in the field of
sustainable development. However, both the research data and
other information on the companies have shown that currently
in Latvia there are not science-based company ethical and
sustainable development management techniques and systems
of practical implementation. It is the authors opinion that it is
necessary and possible to develop these techniques and
systems on the basis of the conditions of the main
international standards providing the major priorities, i.e.
mutual interest and benefit of business and society.
The concept of sustainable development is directly linked
with the principles of social responsibility. All companies as
legal persons receive business licenses from society
receiving also rights and liabilities under the laws and
151
regulations. Liberalisation and globalisation affect companies
expansion of operations that allows them to significantly
increase their impact on society.
The authors characterise social responsibility as a
contemporary pragmatic business strategic management
element by the following basic factors:
- business top targets in the social context are sustainable
development and appreciation in the market value. In this case
the social function is minimally realized creating tangible and
intangible assets, maintaining or increasing the number of
jobs, realising fair business practices specified in the
legislation;
- a stable trend in the world: to expand business social
function over the statutory minimum obligations. The social
responsibility programme implementation, enhancement of
corporate management quality, congruence of interests with
other members of social dialogue are considered as important
strategy development elements;
- impact and pressure from the outside by increasing
internal and external group role in enterprise performance
(owners, shareholders, partners, staff, public at large,
consumers, public institutions, the media and etc.) as well as
the influence of competitors' initiative;
- usage of the international standards, rules (the code of
conduct) and mechanisms, as well as methodical
implementation guidelines and practical procedures of social
and ethical programmes in business processes;
- the social and ethical principles-based business
development strategy provides a good reputation, a high
market value, extends the availability of additional capital,
increases the impact of negotiations in relations with the state
and society. Interaction and impact of these factors are shown
in Figure 2.

Fig. 2. Impact of the factors [Developed by the authors using
6; 7]
The authors examined the possible business patterns of
behaviour in relation to the Social Responsibility matrix form
(see Figure 3).
T
h
e

c
o
m
p
a
n
y
s

i
n
t
e
r
e
s
t
H
i
g
h

Social
cooperation

2

Social
contribution

4
L
o
w

Social
obstruction

1

Social
obligations

3

Low High

Pressure of the stakeholders
Fig. 3. The Social Responsibility matrix of strategical management
[Developed by the authors using 6; 7]
In the situation of social obstruction companies do as little
as possible for solutions of social and environmental
problems. When there is exceeded the legal or ethical limit
which separates acceptable from unacceptable practice, a
typical reaction of the company is a denial and concealment of
its actions. This model is indifferent, and its supporters try
to redirect financial flows to the centre. Instead of paying
duties into regional and local budgets they drain small towns
dry without caring about prospects.
Social cooperation strategy is adopted by a company
which both complies with legal and ethical requirements and
exceeds these requirements. The company may on a voluntary
basis agree to take part in social programmes, but it has to be
convinced that these programmes are worth supporting.
Someone has to reach out to the company because it will not
show the initiative in searching possibilities. The supporters of
this model, e.g. large organisations, however, practise a
strategic approach to social responsibility. Social programmes
are considered as business projects, and in accordance with
this approach management is conducted: costs are minimized,
efficiency is required, and selection of initiatives is
competitive. Sometimes companies can help municipal
administrations to plan budgets or accept municipal managers
for practical training.
Social obligations strategy includes organisational
activities directed only to compliance with legislation.
Managers of such organizations are convinced that the
primary task is to make profits. Their behavioural strategy is
cooperation with non-commercial organisations and funds in
the field of social projects. This model determines the
organization's low interest, but the pressure of the stakeholders
is great. The company's interest is low, therefore it endeavours
to shift activities in the field of social responsibility on non-
profit/non-governmental organisations avoiding development,
planning and implementation of the principle of social
responsibility; it confines itself to funds transfer to non-
profit/non-governmental organisations, on the pretext that
these organisations can properly deal with money resources
obtained.
152
Social contribution is the strategy chosen by organizations
determined to implement the main social responsibility
requirements. These organizations cast themselves as public
citizens and show the initiative to contribute for the public
good. This model is socially oriented management concept. If
only five years ago companies gave priority to customer
care and increase of dividends to shareholders, today the
most important thing is credibility and the highest ethical
standards compliance. The main things are implementation
of future visions, formation of leadership team, social problem
solving and etc., confirmed by the fact that modern strategic
management from the total quality management concept
(TQM) is changing to total responsibility management
concept (TRM), which requires greater attention to the
requirements of various stakeholders and environmental
issues.
In strategic management problems of social responsibility
principles and requirements implementation are solved at
corporate and public levels. At the corporate level by acting in
accordance with the codes of ethics, increasing information
transparency and creating a dialogue with the stakeholders
there is obtained improvement of the strategic management
quality, which contributes to increasing stock market value of
a company. At the public level there are used initiatives and
standards (nonfinancial corporate social responsibility reports,
social audit and consolidated ethical programmes) which
contribute to the recognition of the companys social role.
Today social responsibility reporting is not just the tool of
image and reputation improvement and the annex to financial
statements; in assessment of the companys activity increasing
attention is paid to social responsibility of business, which is a
tool for sustainable development implementation and a new
element of strategic management.
At the international level there are various contracts,
agreements and conventions, but there is no code of
international rules to regulate business and its impact on
society, therefore, according to UNCTAD (United Nations
conference on trade and development) the increased
power of corporations must be balanced by a sense of ethical
business practices. [5].
In the energy sector the current economic development
model is not sustainable in the long-term perspective as leads
to the depletion of natural resources, causes loss and does
harm to society. As discussed, sustainable development is the
ability to meet the needs of the present while contributing to
the future generations needs. The concept of sustainable
development is based on three main components: protection of
the environment, provision of economic growth and ensuring
social equality. Also many definitions of social responsibility
determine companies responsibility for compliance with
social interests in the business strategy including ecological,
economic and social aspects, and satisfaction of the public and
other stakeholders expectations. Becoming a tool of
sustainable development concept ensuring, social
responsibility has to be observed in the strategic management
of any sized companies.

IV. CONCLUSIONS
The authors' results of the research have indicated that it is
practically no strategic management element that could
continue operating without improving, and the main changes
are to be carried out in the strategic planning and
implementation of the plan, but it requires a common
approach.
To integrate sustainable development principles in the
power industry, Latvia needs an active energy policy
discussion both in relation to energy problems in general and
the role of energy companies in the state system. The authors
believe that, in view of the experience of Scandinavia and
other foreign countries, in Latvia public attention should be
focused on the split of priorities between the content of the
energy policy and development of energy future quantitative
indicators. The fair pricing mechanism is administered by the
state; however, the national energy market participants are
aware of the need to create a basis for the fair price
mechanism that the problem of this mechanism in a long term
perspective could be solved. Therefore, in strategic
management there should be taken into account the need to
solve a practical task such as creating a reasonable idea of the
survival limit of activity and determination of strategic targets
in energy provision, despite the fact that there is not known
precise information for future development.

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[3] H.E. Daly Towards a Steady State Economy. San Francisco,
W.H.Freeman. 1973. - 332 p.
[4] T. Schmitt, H. Trabert Kokospalmen am Nordseestrand. 100 heimliche
Gewinner des Klimawandels. Ein Finanzbuch. Frankfurter Allgemeine
Buch. 2008. 240 p.
[5] Disclosure of the impact of corporations on society. Current trends and
issues. Report by the UNCTAD secretariat [online]. [accessed 2010-09-
04] Accessible:
http://doc.mmu.ac.uk/aric/eae/Sustainability/Older/Brundtland_Report.h
tml www.unctad.org/en/docs/c2isar20_en.pdf
[6] G. Johnson, K.Scholes, R.Whittington Exploring Corporate Strategy,
Pearson Education Limited, 2005. 789 p.
[7] ..-., . III.
. . 2007. 924 .

153
Road-rail intermodality and the Clean
Development Mechanism
Opportunities and obstacles focusing Brazil

Rodrigo Galbieri
Faculty of Mechanical Engineering of the State
University of Campinas
Unicamp
Campinas, Brazil
Email: galbieri9@yahoo.com.br
Andr Felipe Simes
School of Arts, Sciences and Humanities of the
University of So Paulo
USP
So Paulo, Brazil
Email: afsimoes@usp.br

Abstract - The approval of methodologies involving the
transportation sector confronts methodological concepts
that hinder the eligibility of such projects as Clean
Development Mechanism, mainly because it is a segment
whose emissions come from mobile sources. The
verification of additionality and monitoring of emissions,
in principle, can be regarded as some of the key barriers
to fit transportation sector projects into the CDM
framework. This paper discusses these issues and
examines, in particular, the road-rail intermodality. Since
the partial replacement of cargo transport via trucks by
wagon trains presents a great potential for mitigating
emissions of greenhouse gases, this paper also analyzes
the characteristics that a project involving road-rail
intermodality must possess in order to be approved by the
Executive Board of the United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change. It also analyzes the main
difficulties that such a project might face.

Keywords - Climate Change; Brazil; Transportation Sector;
Intermodality; CDM

I - INTRODUCTION
The transportation sector is crucial for
economic activity and has a growing demand in line
with population growth and GDP [1]. It is currently the
sector that has the highest growth rates of greenhouse
gases - GHG - emissions [2], contributing about 13.1%
of global emissions [1]. The trend is that its
participation continues to grow in coming decades,
reaching nearly 20% of global GHG emissions in 2030
[3]. The transportation sector, together with the service
sector, increased energy consumption by 37% between
1990 and 2005 [2]. In 2007, the transportation sector
accounted for 61.2% of world oil demand [4] and it is
projected that by 2020 its oil demand will reach 77%
[3].
There is no simple solution to combat the high
and increasing levels of GHG emissions from the
transportation sector worldwide. In order to achieve
substantial reductions in greenhouse gas emissions in
the transportation sector, many institutional and
infrastructure challenges must be overcome. Those
challenges include: low fuel price elasticity by owners
of passenger vehicles; ever-increasing demands for
personal travel, air travel and freight; difficulties to
make low-carbon fuels become economically viable
and also difficulties to the large-scale
commercialization of more efficient and lower volume
capacity engines [5] In the carriage of passengers,
where there is a predominance of the use of private
cars, the energy efficiency gains in fuel consumption is
neutralized by the number of miles traveled and the
increase in the number, size and weight of cars [6]. In
the road freight transportation (trucks), although the
average energy intensity per tonne-km decreased about
10% between 1990 and 2005 (below 1% per year), it
was also neutralized by higher growth rates of travel in
the same period [2].
Projects related to CDM in the transportation
sector can reduce greenhouse gases emissions, mainly
CO
2
, and can also bring other benefits in terms of
sustainability, such as the improvement of air quality
and health of people living in big cities, the reduction
of noise, the reduction of dependency on oil [7], and
depending on the type of project, it would also bring
improvements in the quality of transit [8] [9]. In the
specific case of projects involving a shift from the road
modal to the rail modal, the less intensive use of the
road system could retard the advance of traffic jams as
well as alleviate the existing ones [3]. Therefore, the
154
search for opportunities to implement projects of GHG
reductions in the transportation sector is crucial in
mitigating global climate change [1].
In face of that, it was expected that a large
number of projects to reduce GHG emissions from the
transportation sector would be underway within the
Clean Development Mechanism - CDM - and the United
Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change -
UNFCCC - frameworks. However, by December 2012,
only two projects involving the transportation sector
had passed, totaling only 0.25% of total projects by
sectoral scope [10].
CDM projects are a major incentive for action;
however, the methodological concepts hinder the
eligibility of CDM projects in the transportation sector,
mainly because of the difficulty to prove the
additionality of these projects. Among the few
methodologies and projects approved under the CDM
concerning the transportation sector, none involves the
change of modals, despite the large potential for energy
savings and GHG emissions mitigation that the partial
replacement of cargo transport via trucks by wagon
trains can provide [11] 12] [13].
In order to be approved under CDM
framework, a project must fulfill a series of
requirements. The reason for these criteria is to assure
that the project demonstrates the accomplishment of
the objectives of the CDM, which are: the reduction of
GHG emissions and / or the carbon sequestration
through activities that stimulate the sustainable
development of the host country of the project. In total,
there are four eligibility criteria: voluntary
participation; real, measurable and long-term benefits;
additionality; and sustainable development.
In the specific case of the transportation
sector, the proof of additionality, the quantification of
additionality and the monitoring of emissions have
been the hardest concepts to demonstrate within the
CDM process. This difficulty is related to the
establishment of limits of coverage, the influence of
public policies for the sector and especially the
definition of the level at which the additionality will be
established to define the baselines, since the transport
sector involves mobile sources for which monitoring is
difficult [6]. Another major hurdle for the
transportation sector is that the CDM Executive Board
(EB) does not approve projects carried out under
governmental programs. Hence Programmatic CDM
(or Programme of Activities - PoA) was created to
reduce the barriers for the implementation of small
projects under the umbrella of a larger governmental
program
1
.

1
Programmatic CDM or Programme of Activities (PoA) was
launched by the UN in 2007 as an option within the Clean
Development Mechanism (CDM) that facilitated the
registration of a group of small projects with the same
methodology, but at different times or places. There were
many expectations that at COP 15 (Copenhagen - 2009 -)
ways of encouraging and expanding the PoA would be
discussed, but discussions were dimmed due to the impasse
Programmatic CDM or Programme of
Activities (PoA) was launched by the UN in 2007 as an
option within the CDM that facilitated the registration
of a group of small projects with the same
methodology, but at different times or places. The rules
for approval of these projects are similar to traditional
CDM, but with the difference that the program as a
whole (aggregating the various projects) is submitted to
receive the registry of the United Nations. The major
advantage is that, over time, new projects can be
reviewed as part of the PoA previously approved.
The main difference between a CDM project
and a PoA project is that in the first an activity should
be clearly outlined in the Project Design Document
(PDD). Each PDD refers to a single activity, which is
closed after validation at the UN and no other
activity can be included in this project [14] [15]. The
PoA will act as if the PDD is open to the introduction
of new project activities that meet the definitions of the
project initially registered and which can be included
during the accreditation period. The major advantage is
that each new project will face simpler procedures in
order to become part of the Programmatic CDM
2
.
Therefore, Programmatic CDM appears as a
new option to increase the number of CDM projects,
mainly in the areas of energy efficiency and
transportation. Brazil has a potential for the
employment of CDM programs to generate project
activities, such as PROCONVE (Program for Control
of Air Pollution by Motor Vehicles), CONPET
(National Program for the Rationalization of the Use of
Oil and Natural Gas Derivates), the PNPB (National
Biodiesel Production and Use Program) and even a
resurgence of Pro-Alcohol (National Alcohol
Program)
3
.

between developed and developing nations to impose targets
on greenhouse gas emissions and due to the discussions on
REDD (Programme on Reducing Emissions from
Deforestation and Forest Degradation).

2
In the Programmatic CDM there are three documents to
register the program of activities, which are the PoADD form
(which contains all information regarding the methodology
and funding), the CPA model form (CDM Programme
Activity which contains all generic information about the
project) and a CPA complete form (which contains the details
of the CPA to be validated). Each project activity should have
a CPA which, in future, may be submitted to the UN without
validation and registration. The verification and additionality
does not need to be made in all CPAs, except on that
submitted as a model [14] [15].

3
PROCONVE main goal is the reduction of air pollution by
setting emission limits, inducing technological development
of the manufacturers and determining that vehicles and
engines meet the emission maximum limits on standardized
tests and fuels. CONPET offers free technical support to the
transportation industry - freight and passengers - in order to
rationalize the consumption of diesel and promote better air
quality, reducing the emission of black smoke from buses and
trucks. Pro-Alcohol is the Brazilian program of large-scale
substitution of oil derivatives. The effort was both in the
production of anhydrous ethanol for blending with gasoline,
155
In the specific case of a project involving a
modal shift from road to rail (called Intermodal Project
in this study), the partial displacement of freight
transportation from roads to railroads would not
happen simultaneously but over the years. In order to
have this project approved by the EB as a Clean
Development Mechanism, it would be imperative that
it fit into the Programmatic CDM, since each
company/carrier willing to use railroads instead of
highways could add into a single PDD, previously
approved, a new CPA concerning the new route.
This would reduce bureaucracy and costs of adoption
of this new route under the CDM framework, making
it economically viable and thus generating carbon
credits.
It is in this context that a policy focused on the
expansion of rail and intermodal terminals would be
suitable
4
. This policy could be held by the Brazilian
federal or state governments, or even by private
investments, with or without government assistance
(through a Public Private Partnership - PPP, for
example), so that it would involve the modernization of
the rail fleet and railways, and / or the construction of
new lines and / or the purchase new trains. After all, in
the Brazilian transportation sector, most of the freight
is transported on road (58% of ton per useful kilometer
- TKU), and thus the rail modal, accounting with 25%
of TKU, presents the greatest potential for expansion in
Brazil [16].
Such actions would result in the decrease in
cargo transportation by trucks in Brazil, and thus
causing the decrease in the use of diesel oil and CO
2

emissions. The carbon credits (CER's) would benefit
the government responsible for infrastructure works, or
the private sector (operators of the railway lines,
companies that have their cargo carried, or even the
company responsible for logistics and freight). Thus
companies that migrated from modal over time, i.e.
opted for the use of railroads to the detriment of
highways, could add a new CPA in the PDD
concerning the new route. Some private companies
are already acting as coordinators of PoA projects, thus
claiming the possible CER's [17].
In this article, the main goal is to analyze the
characteristics that a project involving the road-rail

and in the production of hydrated alcohol for use in the Otto
cycle vehicles powered exclusively by this fuel. PNPB is a
program of the Federal Government which aims to
implement the technically and economically sustainable
production and use of biodiesel originated from raw materials
such as vegetable oil, animal fat and plant disposal, replacing
fossil diesel, and focusing on social inclusion and regional
development, through the creation of jobs and the generation
of income.

4
It is noteworthy that Brazil still presents a large deficit in
the provision of transport services by road, rail, sea, inland
waterway and in the port system. The lack of investment in
the expansion, maintenance and upgrading of such services
causes a high impact on the economic activity, representing a
competitive disadvantage for Brazilian companies in relation
to its competitors in the international market.
intermodality (Intermodal Project) must have in order
to win approval by the Executive Board (EB) of
UNFCCC. In parallel, we report and discuss the major
difficulties that a project of this nature might face in
order to comply with the CDM framework.

II - INTERMODAL PROJECT

The Intermodal Project consists in increasing
the participation of the railway modal in the cargo
transportation array, in order to make it more efficient,
safer and cheaper than the previously adopted model
(centered on the road modal). The project would be a
result from a public-private partnership (PPP) in which
the public sector would be responsible for investments
in infrastructure (rails, stations, terminals, etc.), and the
private sector responsible for investments in fleet and
system operation. The coverage area of this
hypothetical project could be a state, one of the five
regions of Brazil or even Brazil as a whole.
Briefly, the main aspects that make up the
Project Intermodal consist of: (1) Expansion and
modernization of the railway infrastructure, especially
by building modern and efficient intermodal terminals
(CLIs, integrating the rail and the road modals,
allowing rapid operations of loading and unloading
cargo; (2) Purchase of new trains with larger load
capacity, hence yielding greater fuel efficiency per
TKU [18] [19], generating greater efficiency of freight
transportation and thereby reducing the level of
emissions per RTK transported when compared with
the situation of the absence of the project, and; (3)
Integrated fare among rail operators. In this context, the
Intermodal Project becomes attractive to customers
because of the lower cost, greater safety and greater
reliability, motivating its use instead of road transport
(trucks).

III - REQUIREMENTS OF THE EXECUTIVE
BOARD FOR THE APPROVAL OF CDM
PROJECTS

According to the Executive Board, a project
must necessarily satisfy several requirements to be
approved under CDM framework. One of these
requirements is that the project has to contribute to the
sustainable development of the host country. In this
respect, the Intermodal Project proposed here would
contribute to the sustainable development through the
reduction of CO
2
emissions, particulate matter and NO
x

by increasing the efficiency of freight transportation,
improving the quality of life, and reducing traffic jams,
noise and accidents. Besides these aspects, we should
mention the decrease in the incidence of respiratory
diseases, the creation of temporary jobs to perform the
works of infrastructure, and permanent jobs, especially
in intermodal ports (CLIs, all bringing macroeconomic
benefits to the state holding the project and Brazil.
156
Another requirement of the EB refers to the
effective reduction of GHG emissions (additionality).
In the case of the Intermodal Project, it brings more
balance to the freight transportation industry,
equalizing road and rail modals. It would lead to a
decrease in CO
2
emissions, and this would occur for
two reasons. First, the rail modal emits less CO
2
per
tonne-kilometer [12]. Second, mainly because the
lower consumption of diesel. Indirectly, the project
would also cause a reduction of vehicle emissions in
general since it contributes to the improvement of
traffic conditions in the areas of influence (this indirect
contribution in reducing emissions should not be
included in the project because it is difficult to
quantify).
According to another requirement of the EB,
the CDM project proponent needs to present a
document that expresses the environmental impact
caused by the project-related activities, including an
environmental impact report and the term of reference
for the environmental impact assessment. In Brazil this
requirement would be more easily fulfilled since
IBAMA (Brazilian Institute of Environment and
Renewable Natural Resources) already demands an
Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and an
Environmental Impact Report (RIMA) for all
infrastructure projects.
A clear and efficient monitoring plan
5
is also
one of the requirements of the Executive Board. The
monitoring of the Intermodal Project would consist in
collecting freight transportation data from rail
operators and from the many trucking companies or
companies that own or use trucks to ship their products
(i.e. the same method which is used to build the array
of cargo transportation published by governmental
agencies such as the Ministry of Transport). The
monitoring plan always has to follow the baseline
methodology previously established in the PDD of the
project.
In relation to the crediting period, there are
two possibilities for CDM projects: (1) Duration of
seven years, with the possibility of two renewals for
the same period, or; (2) Duration of ten years with no
renewal option. In both cases, the CERs crediting
period has to be specified. In the specific case of
Programmatic CDM, the project duration can extend
up to 28 years or four periods of seven years.
In order to evaluate the emissions from the
activities of the CDM project in focus (i.e. the
Intermodal Project), the methodology of calculation
must necessarily contain:

5
The monitoring plan includes the form of collection
and archiving all relevant data necessary for
calculating, according to the baseline methodology
established in the PDD, the reduction of emissions of
greenhouse gases that have occurred within and outside
the boundary of a CDM project activity, provided they
are attributable to the project activity and during the
crediting period.

a) The description of formulas used to calculate and
estimate anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases
of the CDM project activity, by sources, within the
project boundary; and the description of the formulas
used for the calculation and projection of leakage. The
result of these calculations represents the emissions
from the project activity under the CDM;

b) The description of formulas used for the calculation
and projection of the baseline anthropogenic emissions
of greenhouse gases, by sources, and the description of
the formulas used for the projection of leakage. The
result of these calculations represents the emissions
baseline.

The difference between the results obtained
from the calculations (b) and (a) represents the
emission reductions from the CDM project activities
(additionality).

IV - POSSIBLE BARRIERS THAT THE
INTERMODAL PROJECT WOULD HAVE TO
OVERCOME IN ORDER TO WIN EB APPROVAL

The obstacles for the implementation of PoA
projects in the transportation sector include the lack of
methodologies concerning leakage, free-riders,
baseline, double counting and monitoring [17]. The
following is an analysis of these issues, as well as their
importance in relation to the Intermodal Project.

Project boundary

For some Programmatic CDM projects, the
exact location of individual activities is known since its
inception. In other programs, the geographic coverage
of the program is known at the beginning, but not the
specific location of each program participants. In PoA,
the exact location of the actual emission reductions can
be determined later and it consists of the project
boundary. The boundary definition would not be a
barrier to the Intermodal Project, since the boundary
would be either a State, or a Region or even the whole
of Brazil.

Baseline
Before the approval of the Intermodal Project,
the EB has to approve a Programmatic methodology
concerning the intermodal exchange (trucks for trains).
As of the date of completion of the present study
(March, 21
th
, 2013) no methodology involving
intermodality had been approved; and judging by the
157
negative experience of Aracruz Celulose
6
in the
adoption of a methodology involving intermodality,
one can consider that the definition of a baseline is
currently the major impediment to the Intermodal
Project. The methodology is applicable is analyses of
alternative baselines demonstrate that the continuity of
the current system leads to a higher level of GHG
emissions in the absence of the project.

Additionality

The proof of environmental additionality (i.e.
GHG reductions from the Intermodal Project in relation
to baseline) depends mainly on the methodology to be
approved in advance by the EB. The determination of
the baseline would face difficulties because the data on
the cargo transportation are widespread among
operators of the rail system, among the many trucking
companies and among the companies that use trucks to
ship their products. Since the fuel adopted in the two
modals is the same (diesel oil
7
), the formulas for
calculating emissions would be somewhat simpler than
the formulas used in the methodology of
TransMilenio
8
, for example. One problem would be the

6
In 2005, Aracruz Celulose tried to develop a methodology
for modal shift in freight transportation. There would be a
shift form road transportation (trucks) to the waterway modal
(barges). Each barge would be able to carry a quantity of
wood equivalent to 100 truckloads of logs. According to the
final EB report, the main reasons for not approving the
methodology proposed by Aracruz were the errors in creating
the baseline and methodology, which should have been
worded more generally, but was worded to be very specific to
the project in question. The methodology also assumes no
leakage. According to the EB report, this case is problematic,
as it would allow projects that generate credits in the factories
by means of the reduction of production instead of increasing
efficiency provided by the modal shift in the transportation of
raw materials. There were also errors in the calculation of
CH
4
and N
2
O emissions generated from the fuel combustion
in the baseline and in the project [23].

7
There is a general decline in the use of electricity by
railroads in Brazil. In the State of So Paulo, for
example, which concentrates most of the railways in
the country, the electricity consumption by this modal
fell by 7.7 times between 1991 and 2004. In contrast,
the use of diesel oil grew 1.4 times in the same period
[24].

8
TransMilenio is an integrated bus rapid transit system
in Bogota (Colombia), which employs articulated buses
on segregated lanes with stops at modern stations
equipped with electronic turnstiles. Feeder buses depart
from neighborhoods to feed the main system. Its main
environmental aspect consists in a greater efficiency of
passenger transportation, reducing the emissions per
passenger when compared with the situation of the
absence of the project. The main aspects that make up
the project are: a new road infrastructure consisting of
exclusive lines for high-capacity buses for passenger
standardization of an average emission rate taking into
account the entire fleet of trucks that travel within the
project boundary, after all there are trucks of various
brands, sizes, ages (new, old, very old) and levels of
maintenance (proper, inadequate, or without
maintenance). This will certainly hamper the definition
of the baseline. The gradual replacement of the fleet of
older vehicles with new fuel-efficient vehicles should
also be taken into account in establishing the
methodology. The baseline of the methodology used at
TransMilenio simplified the calculation, since it
employed a constant average rate of annual
improvement in each category of vehicle. In the case of
the Intermodal Project there would be only the truck
category.
The most problematic issue is the show the
evidence of financial additionality, i.e.to show that the
Intermodal Project is not a business as usual case, since
the modal shift from road to rail modal transportation
of cargo is often economically beneficial by itself in
principle [20] [21] [18], not depending on the revenues
from CERs to make the Intermodal Project
economically viable. We must mention that the
revenue generated through the sales of CERs can be an
important incentive for the shift of paradigm in the
Brazilian transportation sector, particularly in the
freight industry. Notably because there are great
barriers to promote the modal shift from road to rail,
and the investments in infrastructure are high [22].
There is also the alternative in which the government
agency responsible for building the infrastructure
becomes the claimant of the carbon credits and, as
infrastructure expenditure is greater than the possible
values generated from the sales of CERs, this would
denote the project is not business as usual.

Free riders

The CPA must specify the approach used to
estimate emission reductions attributed to free riders
(projects that are not additional per se) as part of the
original proposal and the methodological follow-up.
From this, all other reductions of emissions will be
considered additional. It is also one of the great
difficulties of the Intermodal Project, as it would be
difficult to distinguish which participants would have
changed their transportation modal even without the
benefits of CERs. The fact that participants are not
known in advance also makes it difficult to choose the
methodology that will be used [17]. Another problem
concerning the free riders is that the project does not

transportation; centralized control of the fleet, allowing
monitoring, reporting and real-time responses for
contingencies, and; rationing the existing bus fleet,
reducing by more than one-third the current 9000
vehicles in operation in Bogota, avoiding the risk of
falling efficiency (occupancy) in the system remaining
[9].
158
include the companies that already used the rail modal
before the project implementation.

Rebound effect and repressed demand

The rebound effect refers to increased demand
for energy services when the cost of the services
decline as a result of technical improvements in energy
efficiency. The argument is that, due to lower cost,
consumers alter their behavior increasing consumption
[25] [26].
The rebound effect does not apply to the
Intermodal Project because it is not feasible for most
companies to use the freight service (which is paid) just
because it has become less expensive. The use of
freight services is directly related to the demand for
goods, which may even increase if the company
transfers that gain to its products; however this does
not fit the rebound effect.

Leakage

Leakage is defined as the net change of
greenhouse gases emissions which occurs outside the
project boundary, and which is measurable and
attributable to the CDM project activity. Regarding the
leakages of the Intermodal Project, due to the
emissions coming from the construction of the
infrastructure, from new trains and from the
transportation of fuel to the railway stations, the
measurement becomes more complicated but not
impossible.

Double accounting

Since there are many players involved in a
program, the risk of double accounting may be
amplified. Only the coordinating entity in charge of the
project should claim CERs. An adequate monitoring
would help in preventing this problem. In the case of
several execution entities which are potentially
interested in the ownership of CERs, the project
participants may sign an agreement not to claim the
CERs. The potential claimants may transfer their
credits to the project proponent in exchange for a share
of the CERs issued, or the equivalent value. This
agreement may be either a separate agreement or
settled in advance at registration [17]. Therefore the
double accounting is an obstacle that can be overcome
at the Intermodal Project without difficulty.

Monitoring and verification

Monitoring and verification are essential to
ensure that the CERs correspond to real reductions in
emissions [25]. Each Programmatic CDM project must
use an approved monitoring methodology that fits the
project. An accurate monitoring of the data that must
be collected for subsequent calculation of baseline
emissions, actual emissions and fugitive emissions is
essential. The monitoring specifies how the data must
be collected and archived, and also approaches the
uncertainty, the quality assurance and the procedures
control that will be used [17]. When the Programmatic
CDM project involves many small actions, such as the
proposed Intermodal Project, the methodology has to
provide adequate monitoring. Generally, the
monitoring is not applied in all places if a program
involves many participants. Instead, a sampling plan is
used to select the participants which are monitored and
the results are then extrapolated to the full program
with an acceptable level of statistical accuracy [17]. It
is noteworthy that sampling is already part of the
approved methodologies for some small scale projects.
Depending on the implemented measures, emission
reductions can be monitored by combinations of
measurements and calculations, by billing analysis,
and/or by employing mathematical and statistical
models [17].

V - CONCLUSIONS
The adoption of a methodology emerges as a
major challenge for projects involving modal shift. In
this context, we point out that until the final elaboration
of the present study (March, 21
th
, 2013) no
methodology involving intermodality had been
approved. A major obstacle is the demonstration that
projects involving a shift from road transportation to
rail transportation (even partially) are not business-as-
usual. The demonstration of additionality, the free
riders, the double accounting, the quantification of
leakage, and the monitoring and verification are also
obstacles to approving such projects. The
simplification of the eligibility criteria, carefully
avoiding free riders, can be an effective alternative to
leverage CDM projects involving the transportation
sector.

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(accessed on February, 24
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160
Energy efficiency of DH system with wood chips
boiler houses and flue gas condensing unit

irts Vgants, Gundars Galindoms, Ivars Veidenbergs, Dagnija Blumberga
Institute of Energy Systems and Environment
Riga, Latvia
girts.vigants@rtu.lv, gundars.galindoms@rtu.lv, ivars.veidenbergs@rtu.lv, dagnija.blumberga@rtu.lv

Abstract This study proposes a method for the evaluation
of the efficiency of a heat supply system based on a correlation
analysis of the data of the system's operations. The data from the
system's operations have been analysed and a correlation
equation has been applied to obtain the results of the analysis,
which are then used for further calculations. The data can be
divided into two groups: data characterising the condenser
operations in the boiler house, and data characterising heating
networks.
Keywords gas condenser; energy efficiency improvement;
chips fuelled boiler house; heat supply system; heating network;
climate technology
I. INTRODUCTION
The Latvian climate conditions impose particular
requirements on the heat energy supply. This especially
concerns district heating systems (DHS) the dominant
solution of supplying large cities with heat (~80% of the total
number of heat energy users). Large DHS accounts for 70% of
urban building heating in China. In North China, this
proportion is even higher [1]. This is economically cost
effective from many points of view, as it is possible to achieve
a higher efficiency of the energy production [2]. Another
advantage of compact DHS is the possibility to use the
wholesale trade principle, since all the expenses forming the
tariff per MWh produced in a large system are comparatively
lower. At the same time, socio-economic and ecological
reasons should also be taken into consideration, since they
could be associated with a rise in employment and reduction
in import, as well as with the possibility to mitigate
environmental pollution and the greenhouse gas (GHG)
emission effect [3, 4].
Currently, the Latvian energy sector faces a serious choice
in its progress: to encourage all municipalities and local
authorities to set based on the bottom-up method, short- and
long-term goals of DHS development.
The short-term goal is: to secure already now as cheap
heat supply as possible. In fact, this would force to choose
cheap and inefficient equipment, and, which occurs quite
often, to make an unjustified decision as to the liquidation of a
DHS.
The long-term goal is: to realize in the future a stable and
as low price as possible for heat energy that would be
independent of the supply policy pursued by the supplier of
imported fuel but dependent on the effectiveness of DHS
operation. This would mean that the dominating current
governmental policy has changed in the direction of
sustainable heat supply. Efficient heat supply systems based
on renewable energy sources are an important element of
future energy systems that do not depend on fossil fuels. There
is also important ecological aspect, because obtaining and
using of energy generally has mostly negative environment
impact [10]. End-use energy savings and the expansion of
district heating are often mentioned as measures to make the
heat supply sector in Denmark more sustainable [5]. Short and
long-term plans have been made to fully utilize the renewable
energy in municipal constructions, especially in Denmark,
where a city using 100% renewable energy is proposed [6, 7].
The technology choice is that which, currently and in the
future will be that which will dictate energy sector
development in the area of heat supply to public and
apartment houses. The installation and operation of an
economical, cost effective boiler-house unit is associated with
the necessity to reduce its operational cost in order to raise the
efficiency of its functioning. For example, the installation of
equipment for deep cooling at a boiler-house requires capital
investments that could be paid back in 3-10 years, depending
on the installed capacity and chosen type of equipment.
The operation of a chip-fuelled boiler house with installed
gas condenser depends on the functioning of the heat-supply
system as a whole. For example, the operation of the above
mentioned boiler house depends on the energy efficiency of
DHS users as well as on the water velocities and flows in all
the elements of a heat network, including heat exchangers at
the heat substations of the buildings [8]. To raise the amount
of heat derived from a gas condenser, it is necessary to reduce
the DHS returned water temperature [9]. This could be done
by the qualitative and quantitative regulation of the DHS
operating conditions and control over its functioning.
II. METHODOLOGY FOR ENERGY EFFICIENCY EVALUATION
This system evaluation model is intended for situations in
which a flue gas condenser has been installed in the boiler
161
house of a heat supply system, which helps to increase the total
energy efficiency of the system.
Experience has shown that a flue gas condenser increases
the efficiency of wood chip use by 10-20%. The efficiency of
such a system is influenced by various parameters of the
operations of the heat supply system. In order to determine
these parameters, an energy efficiency evaluation model
consisting of eight blocks has been developed. The algorithm
of the model is shown in Fig.1.

Fig.1. Algorithm for the model of evaluating the system
The parameters of the operation of a centralised heat supply
system are influenced by both internal and external factors. In
general, the system's efficiency is determined by multiplying
the heat source efficiency by the heating network efficiency:
sis
=
bh

net
, (1)
where
sis
total heat supply system efficiency;
bh
boiler house efficiency;
net
heating network efficiency.

Boiler house efficiency is determined with the help of a
direct balance:

bh
= Q
bh
/ B * Q
h
d
(2)
where
Q
bh
- thermal energy produced in boiler house, MWh/year;
B - fuel consumption, t/year;
Q
h
d
net heat value, MWh/t.

The efficiency of the heating network is determined with
the following equation:

net
= 1 - Q
hl
/ Q
bh
(3)
where
Q
hl
- heat loss in heating networks, MWh/year.

In the further analysis instead of the energy the capacity of
the units is used. The installation of an additional system in the
boiler house, namely, a fuel condenser, provides for a part of
the boiler house capacity. In such a case, boiler house capacity
can be expressed as:
N
cap
+ K
ef
.N
cap
= N
cap
.(1 + K
ef
), MW, (4)
where
N
cap
- boiler capacity, MW;
K
ef
- condenser efficiency.

Condenser efficiency is the relation of condenser capacity
to boiler capacity N
con
/N
cap
, and this can be expressed as either
a percentage or a fraction. Boiler house efficiency is then
determined by the expression:

bh
= (N
cap
.(1 + K
ef
))/Q
fuel
, (5)
where
Q
fuel
- capacity introduced with fuel, MW.

The installation of a condenser increases the boiler house
capacity or, in the case of a specific load, decreases the
necessary capacity of the boiler.
The correlation N
cap
/Q
fuel
is the efficiency of a boiler
without a condenser. In such a case, the boiler house efficiency
is determined as:

bh
=
cap.
(1 + K
ef
). (6)
Using correlation (3), the heating system efficiency can be
calculated with the following equation:

net
= 1 Q
hl
/(N
cap
.(1 + K
ef
)) (7)
Then the expression for the efficiency of a system that
includes a boiler house and heating networks is determined
thus:
sis
= ((N
cap
.(1 + K
ef
))/ Q
fuel
) (1 Q
hl
/(N
cap
.(1 + K
ef
))) = N
cap
.((1
+ K
ef
) Q
hl
/N
cap
)/Q
fuel
, (8)
or by inserting the expression for boiler efficiency:
sis
=
cap.
((1 + K
ef
) Q
hl
/N
cap
) (9)
If we assume that the efficiency of a boiler without a
condenser is a constant quantity, then the variable parameters,
for example, depending on the outdoor temperature, are K
ef
,
Q
hl
, and N
cap
. Empirical equations are obtained with the help of
a correlation analysis in order to evaluate such changes.
III. RESULTS OF THE EXPERIMENTS
The flue gas condenser set up in the boiler house of the
Ludza heating system has been operating for two years. The
condenser has increased the total energy efficiency of the
162
whole heating system. It is important to reach the maximum
efficiency the system can provide and sustain this for the
longest period possible.
A correlation analysis has been used to process the
experimental data from the heating system. This analysis
studies the interaction between several chance quantities and
determines the closeness of the correlation between these
quantities. The correlation coefficient determines how precise
are the empirical equations characterising the closeness of the
correlation. The squared values of the correlation coefficient
are shown in the respective figures.
Changes in the efficiency of the condenser depending on
outdoor temperature can be seen in Fig. 2.

Fig. 2. Changes in condenser efficiency depending on outdoor temperature.
The changes are characterised by the following equation:
K
ef
= 0.016.t
out
2
+ 0.721.t
out
+ 17.45 (10)
When the outdoor temperature increases, the temperature of
the return water decreases and deeper cooling of the flue gases
takes place in the condenser. It non-linearly increases the
efficiency of the condenser.
Changes in losses in the heating network depending on
outdoor temperature are shown in Fig. 3.

Fig. 3. Changes in losses in heating network depending on outdoor
temperature.
The resulting correlation for changes is:
Q
hl
= -2E-05. t
out
5
-0,0009. t
out
4
+0,0018. t
out
3
+0,3173. t
out
2
-
2,5985. t
out

+320,09 (11)
When the outdoor temperature increases, the temperatures
of the supply and return water decreases; as a result heat losses
in the network reduces non-linearly.
Changes in boiler capacity are shown in Fig. 4.

Fig. 4. Changes in boiler capacity depending on outdoor temperature.
The changes are determined by the following expression:
N
cap
= -0.003.t
out
2
0.299.t
out
+ 5.214 (12)
When the outdoor temperature lowers, consumer heat load
increases. To cover it, a bigger capacity of the boiler is
necessary.
IV. RESULTS
The empirical correlations (10), (11), and (12) with the
expression (9) have been used to calculate the changes in the
system's efficiency as the outdoor temperature changes. The
resulting data are shown in Fig. 5. A correlation analysis of the
obtained data results in equations that characterise the
efficiency of the system depending on whether or not a flue gas
condenser has been installed in the boiler house. The energy
efficiency of a heating system with a flue gas condenser after
the boiler is characterised by the following equation:
sis
= - 5E-07 t
out

4
- 2E-05 t
out
3
- 2E-04 t
out

2
+ 0.003t
out
+0.892
(13)
It is assumed that the efficiency of the boiler is constant and
equal to 80%. For comparison, the figure also shows the
change in a system's efficiency if a flue gas condenser has not
been installed or is not working. In such a case, changes in the
system's efficiency are determined by the following equation:
163
sis
= - 3E-07 t
out

4
- 1E-05 t
out

3
- 2E-04 t
out

2
- 0,002 t
out
+
0,753
(14)
By entering K
ef
= 0, expression (9) may also be used to
calculate changes in the system's efficiency.

Fig. 5. Changes in heating system efficiency depending on outdoor
temperature.
As seen from the obtained results, the efficiency of the
system depends on the outdoor temperature, and this
dependence is described by a fifth degree polynomial equation.
Two extremes are observed:
If deep cooling of the flue gases with vapour condensation
takes place in the boiler house, the heating system reaches its
maximum efficiency when the outdoor temperature is above
2C. As the equation (9) shows, the efficiency of the system is
determined by the efficiency of the condenser K
ef
, which is the
relation of the capacity of the condenser to the capacity of the
boiler N
con
/N
cap
, and the relation of the heat losses in the
network to the capacity of the boiler Q
hl
/N
cap
. The values are
reversely directed. Until the outdoor temperature of 2
0
C, the
changes in K
ef
are determining, and the efficiency of the
system increases. When the temperature increases exceeding 2
0
C, changes in the relation Q
hl
/N
cap
are more rapid.
When the outdoor temperature is very low, the efficiency of
the heating system is also low, and efficiency reaches its
minimum value when the outdoor temperature is -25C.
Both situations can be explained by the vaporisation and
condensation processes that take place in the condenser and
stimulate further study of this system in order to increase the
efficiency of the system over the entire course of its operations.
In situations without a condenser, the changes in the
efficiency of the system are smooth and without extremes.
Indicator values decrease as the outdoor temperature increases
and are lower than for a system with a condenser.
V. CONCLUSIONS
1. The study involves an authorised method for the
evaluation of the efficiency of a heating system that is
based on the empirical equations obtained as the result
of a correlation analysis of the experimental data of the
system, which determine changes in the variable
parameters of the system.
2. The efficiency of a heating system using a flue gas
condenser is higher than that of a system without a
condenser. The extremes observed in changes in
efficiency depending on outdoor temperature are
associated with the specific character of condenser
operations.
3. Based on experimental data from the boiler and
condenser in 2012-2013, a more in-depth study of the
vaporisation and condensation processes within the flue
gas condenser is being conducted in order to increase
the efficiency of the system over the entire course of its
operation.

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Denmark, 92, 2012, pp. 831842.
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Republic, 30, 2012, pp. 190 193.

164

AbstractThe main characteristics of landscape architecture
experiment system are complicated system, broad coverage and close
relationship with practice. The landscape architecture experiment
teaching system including perceptual rudiments, visualized landscape,
comprehensive material, scientific analysis and dynamic space (five
simplified methods). It is proposed to set up all items in the experiment
program systematically and re-organize and renew the fundamental
content of undergraduate experiment teaching. The five simplified
methods experiment teaching system of landscape architecture has
laid stress on basic landscape skills, emphasized the overall master of
landscape architecture science, with scientific spirit and innovative
ability as the focus and personalized molding as the feature.

Keywordslandscape architecture; five simplified methods;
experiment teaching system; build
I. INTRODUCTION
N traditional prospective, research of landscape architecture
experiment teaching is replenish of theoretical study, just a
step of the whole teaching process
[1]
. While in modern field
of vision, the marrow of the landscape architecture experiment
teaching research is: international vision, local act and modern
thought
[2]
. The development tendency of it is: transforming
from the inbound to export-oriented, from the function and
landscape based to scientific and ecological based, from
traditional techniques to modern technology and materials.
So the problems in the original experiment teaching system
become increasingly apparent, which include four aspects:
1. It is not conducive for the cultivation of skills of landscape
architecture if we construct experimental courses and pilot
projects based on the theoretical courses, especially when it lack
the comprehensive and research-oriented experiments, students
innovative capacity will be greatly suppressed.
2. The experiment teaching mostly aimed at imparting basic
knowledge and skills, which has little benefit to teach students
according to their aptitude and individual development, the
students will also lack enthusiasm for experiment.
3. Laboratory resources are fragmental, which go against for
sharing. And the low level of lab equipment also has

Manuscript received April 30, 2013
WANG Hao. College of Landscape Architecture, Nanjing Forestry
University. Professor, PHD. Engaged in teaching and researching of landscape
planning, landscape architecture design. 159 Longpan Road, 210037, Nanjing
(phone: 0086-138-0516-9757; fax:0086-25-8542-8539; e-mail: wh9816@
126.com)
disadvantages for students integrated into the scientific
frontiers.
4. The fast development of landscape architecture greatly
shortens the knowledge update cycle. Experimental method and
technology move forward with each passing day. It is obviously
that the original experimental teaching system can not adapt to
the development present situation of the garden. For instance,
the obsolete content in experimental teaching disconnect the
cutting-edge research of this discipline, and the teaching idea,
method and technology of experiment seriously lag behind, it is
short of systematic such as integral experiment and combined
training such as integrated application in different method. The
experiment teaching system is badly in need of modern
technology of landscape architecture and other discipline, such
as the network technique, computer simulation technology, etc.

In view of all the circumstances above and the demand of
high-quality applied talents, the author has built this new
experiment teaching system, which based on the knowledge
structure of landscape architecture and the integrity of
experiment skill. There are five simplified methods in this
system. They are perceptual rudiments, visualized landscape,
comprehensive material, scientific analysis and dynamic space.
With this new system, college can set all projects of landscape
architecture in different levels and multi-module. It can also
overall restructuring and update the basic content of
undergraduate experiment teaching, enhance opened,
comprehensive, research-oriented experiments.
II. PERCEPTUAL RUDIMENTS
Perceptual Rudiments is including the experimental
curriculum of drawing, introduction of landscape architecture,
Ornamental trees and plant physiology (Fig.1).
Five simplified methods of Building the
Landscape Architecture Experiment Teaching
System
WANG HaoCHEN Rong
I
165

Fig.1 Basic Content of Landscape experimental teaching system
(Copyright2012 Wang Hao, all rights reserved, used by
permission)

Professional guidance of a major is very important for
freshman who just steps into quality education in university
from exam-oriented education in high school. The purpose of
Perceptual Rudiments Education is to develop students'
cognitive structure. The main aim is to cultivate interests, form
professional basic concept, train design presentation skills and
cultivate the correct study habits and attitudes. Perceptual
experience can give freshman several state of feeling when
contact with it. For example, it can introduce the basic concept
of landscape architecture, space theory of all kinds of landscape
and the principle of formal beauty through drawing plants
cognition and all kinds of landscape photos, combine with the
analysis of the evolution of the landscape garden works (Fig.2).

Fig.2 Experimental Teaching of Landscape Drawing
permission)

With effective cognitive, let the students have multiple and
overlapping experience of feeling in the experiment. It can also
make the experience content not only useful, but interesting by
setting personalized use mode. It can be seen from the
Landscape painting experiment. One of the main purposes of it
is to cultivate students' space imagination and space
composition and spatial analysis ability. Students in the
experiment could express their ideas by modern techniques such
as render, chalk line, and surveying and mapping.
Make full use of landscape engineering to construct
laboratory, so that the students could gain perceptual knowledge
from the material, structure, space and construction by
personally participating in the construction process. They can
also be familiar with the characteristics of commonly used
materials, such as steel, aluminum, concrete, brick, wood etc
(Fig.3, Fig.4, Fig.5).

Fig.3 Experimental Teaching of Flooring Material
permission)

Fig.4 Experimental Teaching of Landscape Architecture
permission)

166

Fig.5 Experimental Teaching of Landscape Water
permission)
Experience space in experiment varied with different
curriculum in use. It is vital to make full use of the laboratory
conditions, encouraging students to know and experience the
problems in landscape architecture as much as possible. One
good method is to visit some masterpiece in the history of
garden through pictures, slide show and video data.
Furthermore, it is more important to cultivate students to
learn from the landscape around us. Try to let the students
choose some landscape works from life, not only the classic one,
but also the failures. Then try to investigate and analyze essence
of it and discuss with others about it. Although not all of these
works are perfect, but there is no denying that many of them has
its merit, which is what the student to learn.
III. VISUALIZED LANDSCAPE
Visualized Landscape is including flower arrangement and
bonsai, overall model, single structure model, Indoor Model
and component mode.
Blueprint expresses the main part of the design but not the
whole for a complex landscape architecture design. Visualized
Landscape Experiment is by no means simple profile
production. It is the combination of material, workmanship,
colors and ideas
[3]
. Landscape model is the professional
language for designers. It takes multi-faceted exploration and
development and improvement in function, form, structure,
structure, space, skin texture and color of landscape design
borrowing help on the three-dimensional model. Visualized
Landscape represents a development process of creative idea.
First of all, it transformed the 2 d image in the drawing into 3 d
stereo configuration through creative material combination.
Secondly, it generated a concave and convex surface by
manually material and mechanical process. In the end, produce
an artistic effect by using the surface treatment of physical and
chemical means. In order to create a consummated model, we
should use the right proportion in terms of landscape design,
moreover, research question is one of the main elements in
choose different proportion.
A. Review Stage
In overall model stage, the model is a kind of overall image
representation, which can visually display the future
development of green space in landscape and the urban
appearance. This kind of model mainly coordinate the
relationship between landscape overall structure and the road
and the surrounding environment, between the function and
form of building group or monomer. Through space change, add
and subtract of entity, overall model adjusted the scale,
proportion and contrapuntal relations of all the elements in
landscape design. Meanwhile, it can combine with dynamic
multimedia system of sound, light, electricity for dynamic
demonstration. In this way, Students can easily imagine the real
scale of the design space and its actual effect in the eyes of the
viewer (Fig.6).

Fig.6 Experimental Teaching of Overall Model
permission)
B. Single structure model
Single structure model is a miniature of the structure. It is the
important tools and carrier of deliver, explain and display
design project and its ideas. Model has the feature of visibility
and communication as well as conforms to the aesthetic
principle and its processing technology. The visualization of
single structure could help students have a clear understanding
of the whole structure from function and form, function and
structure, volume and volume, surface and surface, volume and
surface as well as all kinds of angle of it. It is helpful for people
to analyze and solve problems in multi-angle and multi-level
(Fig.7).

167

Fig.7 Experimental Teaching of Landscape Architecture Model
permission)
C. Component model
Landscape design is a very complicated process. There are
many complex structures in some construction sites during the
different stages of landscape design. It is not easy for students to
understand them only on the plan view and vertical view. Thus
need strong visibility stereoscopic structure to verify and
improve the landscape design concept. Some design proposal
need to exhibit to others directly through component model
according to different needs and requirements.
D. Water cycle model
In order to reflect the characteristics of water system and
water environment features more clearly, and predict spatial and
temporal variations of water quality, we can establish a
two-dimensional water quality-dynamics model to simulate the
water cycle and test the change of water quantity and the
pollutants concentration. The model can intuitively display
water system of landscape design and its water quality goals
(Fig.8).

Fig.8 Experimental Teaching of Model Environment
permission)
E. Virtual landscape model
Virtual reality technique is the product of the development of
computer technology. It could adapt to the diversification of
research needs. Virtual landscape has a real visual effect, which
bring authenticity to the research. If 3D data combined with
numerical control equipment directly, or control design and
manufacture, design and construction, furthermore, if 3D into
2D graphic expression of technology is perfect, it can fully
present stimuli that are related to the concept.
IV. COMPREHENSIVE MATERIAL
Comprehensive material (including the experimental
curriculum of nursery gardening, garden plant cultivation, urban
green space system planning, ect.)
The experiment system should make comprehensive
utilization of all subjects' materials, which including
architecture, botany, society, economy, environment,
psychology, history, art, forestry, ecology, ornamental
horticulture and so on, to strengthen the relevance among the
content, form and organizational of teaching, effectively control
the join and transition between different materials (Fig.9,
Fig.10).

Fig.9 Experimental Teaching of Landscape Architecture
permission)

Fig.10 Experimental Teaching of Small Site Design
permission)
To focus on extension and deepening of basic problems of
landscape design, we need to make full use of the materials of
all experiment courses, integrate the original completely
isolated individual elements together, such as topography,
168

rockery, road pavement and waterscape, plants, landscape

Fig.11 Experimental Teaching of Mini Garden Design
permission)
lighting and others. Besides to emphasize the specific material
technological means, this method also stress the concern for our
future and the environment. It is not only the different kinds of
environment (flat base and steep slopes, bare ground and lush
shrubbery, the natural and artificial environment ) that need
students' concern while doing design, but also a variety of
emerging technologies and concepts (green technology and the
concept of sustainable development). They should all be
integrated into the design to prompt students to design with the
concept of sustainable development and humanization. It can
also guide students to choose green environmental protection
material and the corresponding technology to improve the
ecological environment as far as possible (Fig.11, Fig.12).

Fig.12 Experimental Teaching of Mini Garden Design
permission)

Experimental curriculum should make full use of the web
materials. Web-based instruction could apply a new form for the
textbook compilation, the setting of teaching content, the
teaching methods and the interaction between teachers and
students. Moreover, it can spread knowledge and exchange
research achievement within a larger space, and even in the
borderless virtual space.
V. SCIENTIFIC ANALYSIS
Scientific Analysis is including the curriculum of
architectural design, virtual reality technique Regional Analysis
and Planning.
Nowadays, landscape education should not only let the
students know how to design and construct, but also need to
educate them the concept of energy conservation,
environmental protection and the whole life cycle of landscape
architecture, let them understand how to recycle materials.
Therefore, Scientific Analysis is obliged in landscape
architecture experiment (Fig.13, Fig14).

Fig.13 Experimental Analysis of Urban Greenland System
Planning
permission)

Fig.14 Experimental Analysis of Urban Greenland System
Planning
permission)

Virtual reality technology has the 3D characteristics of
real-time and interactive. It can provide new information
exchange interface which beyond comparison to the traditional
ways. Designers could edit landscape architecture elements and
adjust the 3D scene when experience the three dimensional
space at the same time. Virtual reality and its system
information integration technology provide a strong support for
169

the exhibit of project and its idea and feature. The VR has
several prominent features:
A. Design information analysis is scientific and
accurate
VR has a strong comprehensiveness as a high-tech
information technology. Its powerful application program
interface can be introduced into the model of complex systems.
It could provide designers with overall and objective analysis.
Such as the advanced optical capital system, atmospheric
analysis system and geographical information system (GIS) it
provide could make the analysis in design more scientific,
authentic and accurate.
B. Aided design throughout the whole journey
The VR system applied in design throughout the entire
process. VR can play its role from the beginning to the end.
Such as feasibility study, base condition analysis and conceptual
design in beginning, combination of space form, details and
integration with the environment in development phase, and till
the simulation in construction phase.
C. Systematic design information
In the process of design, people connected the landscape
architecture model in VR system with other digital media
information such as text, audio, picture, floor plan, model and
3D animation data, which allows a specific picture of VR to
contain key information. The information is the floor plan,
section, related constructs description, design content that
worthy of further scrutiny, etc. Through which, designers or the
audience can get related information to facilitate further
research and discussion (Fig.15, Fig16).

Fig.15 Experimental Analysis of Garden Greenland Planning
permission)

Fig.16 Experimental Analysis of Garden Greenland Planning
permission)
VI. DYNAMIC SPACE
Dynamic Space is geographic information system,
comprehensive design course virtual reality technique.
It takes 3D simulation technology as the core, committed to
the digital 3D landscape simulation and 3D visualization system.
It lets the students make full use of characteristics and
advantages of computer technology and help them to control
proportion more flexible and effectively in expressing
landscape design. It also lets students make full use of computer
network technology to discuss online design, finish design
research together with others and perform in media
demonstrate.
A. Feeling the landscape space in movement
Landscape design has a characteristic of the movement.
People are constantly moving in the landscape space. When
people come to feel a space or a street or a square, he changes
his viewing angle while moving. Then it could form a sequence
in this process. There are different kinds of view sequence in the
same space. People had different feelings in these sequences,
which is what the landscape architecture should research. With
the support of VR technology, the research of feelings when
moving in the landscape will become possible in

Fig.17 Imitate Landscape Space in Movement
permission)
the future (Fig.17).
170

B. Observe landscape in a particular point of view
The view in some particular perspective in the landscape is
the research emphasis of design. For example, overlooking the
city in the commanding heights, or feeling the future city at the
entrance of the city, the main landscape axis and the line of sight
corridor and the main city square and streets. The designer can
schedule a variety of perspectives or located directly in the
scene by mouse in future garden and convert to each other when
research. This ability greatly relieves the rigid control of
auxiliary tool for designers.
C. Compare different designing proposal in
current time
In the process of landscape design, designers are generally
put forward different design proposals in one object, and image
the landscape for the future of a variety of ideas. In the
three-dimensional virtual landscape, the designer can switch
different design proposal at any time to experience different
landscape image in the same observation points or sequence. It
is helpful for the designers to compare the advantages and
disadvantages in different proposals, and help them to make
decisions. Moreover, VR could modify some specific factors
such as the streets and square and compared it with the design
proposal in before (Fig.18).

Fig.18 Compare Different Designing Proposal in Current Time
permission)
D. Control building height in real time
Designers can change individual and whole block of
buildings in real-time, and observe the effect of the design from
different angles after the change of the height. Then they could
design the urban space system and the city's skyline and
commanding heights according to the changing effect. And
these changes in height can establish dynamic link with building
volumetric fraction. So as to achieve consistency with
Landscape design data and 3D image.
E. Edit landscape design elements in real-time
Designers could use the VR technology to study the space
forms, and decorate streets environment and architectural
sketch according to that in real-time. They can also use it to
changes tree species in urban-greening in real-time, and
simulate the cityscape after the flourishing of plants.
Furthermore, they can change the color and pattern of pavement
in the city square, and real-time decorate sculptures and
dynamically adjust its scale. It's simulation of astronomical
phenomena in season give the new meaning of urban entity
landscape (Fig.19).

Fig.19 Edit Landscape Design Elements in Real-time
permission)
VII. CONCLUSION
In addition to the above research and application, we need to
carry out the ecological environment of the computer
monitoring and its control technology as well as landscape
resources monitoring and evaluation. Using landscape design
theory and method to monitor and evaluate the landscape
resources and ecological environment of regions, cities and
scenic spot
[4]
. (Fig.20)

Fig.20 Message Communication of 3D Space
permission)

Research and development of landscape architecture
discipline is rooted in solid experimental basis. The
experimental teaching is the indispensable important segment
for the cultivation of technology talents in landscape
architecture. The Experimental teaching system with these five
methods above highlighted the basic skills of landscape,
emphasizing the overall understanding of landscape science.
171

This system can cultivate students' scientific spirit and
innovative ability and shape the student's individuation. It is
committed to cultivate high level and high quality innovative
talents who does not only understand academic frontier, be with
international competitiveness, but also understand China's
national conditions conforms to the national construction
requirement.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
Thanks for Dr. J.B. Burley. He gave author many helps and
useful suggestions. Thanks for all of the colleagues of AGRO
Campus of Angers, they all gave author sincere help during the
period in France. Thanks a lot!
REFERENCES
[1] Ou Baigang, Zheng Guosheng, Thinking on the Building and
Development of Chinese Landscape Architecture Discipline [J]. Chinese
Landscape architecture. 2006(8):3-8.
[2] Yang Shuanke, Ning Gaidi. Construction of a New Experiment Teaching
System Based on Ability Training [J]. Laboratory Research and
Exploration. 2002(2):3-5
[3] Han Dongqing, Zhao Chen. Teaching Experiment of Architectural
DesignEmphasizing Phase, Subject and Wholeness [J]. New
Architecture. 2003(4):61-64.
[4] Lu Jianguo, Su Tongxiang. Virtual Reality Application Technology on
Landscape Design[J]. Journal of Nanjing Forestry University (Natural
Sciences Edition).2007(6):139-141.

WANG Hao: Born in Taizhou, Jiangsu Province, China, in March, 1963,
Vice-president of Nanjing Forestry University, Professor. Studying in
Landscape Architecture Major in College of Landscape Architecture, and
awarded Bachelor's Degree from Nanjing Forestry University in 1983. Then
studying in Urban Design&Planning Major in College of Landscape
Architecture and awarded Master's Degree. Then Studying in Landscape
Ecology Major and awarded PH.D Degree from Nanjing Forestry University
He devoted to landscape architecture design and landscape planning design. He
did a lot of research and study on it. He is interested in the research of urban
landscape system planning and landscape education, and also takes great
importance to the influence of urban landscape design. And he published
several articles about the Urban Landscape Planning and Landscape Education

CHEN Rong: Born in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, China, in April, 1976.
Studying in Architecture Major in College of Architecture, and awarded
Bachelor's Degree from Nanjing University of Technology in 1994. Then
studying in Urban Design&Planning Major in College of Landscape
Architecture and awarded Master's Degree from Nanjing Forestry University in
2006. And then Studying in Garden Plants& Ornamental Gardening Major and
awarded PH.D Degree from Nanjing Forestry University in 2010.
She devoted to landscape architecture design and landscape planning design.
The topic of her doctoral thesis is <The establishment and expression of
landscape theme in urban park green space>, and she did a lot of research and
study on it. She is interested in the research of Chinese traditional houses and
the Ancient City Wall in Nanjing, and also takes great importance to the
influence of history and culture in urban landscape design. And she published
several articles about the Ancient City Wall of Nanjing.
172
Influence of the heat loss on the performance of a
two-stage gasification reactor

Martino Paolucci, Carlo Borgianni, Sonia Panzieri
SEAR sc. Parco Scientifico e Tecnologico di Tor Vergata,
Via della ricerca scientifica
Roma Italy
Benedetta de Caprariis, Paolo De Filippis
Dept. of Chemical Eng.

University of Rome La Sapienza
Via Eudossiana 18,
00184 Roma - Italy

Abstract This paper investigates the gasification efficiency
of a two stage gasifier, described in all detail in previous works,
as a function of the heat loss across the reactor walls. The
behaviour of the reactor was simulated using a simple
mathematical model already reported in previous papers.
The examined heat loss ranges from 0% of the heat produced
by the exothermic reactions into the reactor, up to 20%.
Calculations have been performed by keeping constant both
the injected total oxygen and its partition between the two stages,
while different feedstocks have been used, such as landfill gas,
municipal solid waste (MWS), willow and rice straw.
The results of calculation show that the gasification efficiency
at fixed oxygen injection is greatly influenced by the feedstock.
The elaboration of the obtained data indicates also that the trend
of the gasification efficiency vs. heat loss is a function of the high
heating value of the feedstock and of the ratio between the
oxygen present into the reactor (injected + the one of the
feedstock) and the stoichiometric oxygen necessary to transform
the feeding into carbon dioxide and steam.
Keywords gasifier, two-stage, efficiency, heat loss, walls,
syngas
I. INTRODUCTION
Gasification is claimed to represent the next evolution in
the thermal processing of wastes and residues [1-2]. However,
before gasification will became competitive with the more
conventional combustion processes it is necessary to develop
gasifiers capable to produce a raw syngas sufficiently clean for
power generation without the necessity of costly cleaning
facilities. To eliminate this drawback and to obtain a
sufficiently clean syngas, ready for a further use, a gasifier
consisting of two stages in series was developed [3-6].
Although the capability of the developed gasifier to produce a
sufficiently clean syngas was tested at lab scale with various
wastes, it is necessary to well understand the behaviour of the
gasifier under various conditions. In a previous paper [6] it was
shown a good agreement between the performed
thermodynamic calculations and experimental data in terms of
final temperature and chemical composition of the syngas,
making the models useful to predict the reactor behavior. On
these bases the influence of the feeding HHV (High Heating
Value), of the total amount of the injected oxygen and of its
partition function (OPR) between stage one and stage two of
the reactor was investigated.
Aim of this paper is to make thermodynamic predictions of
the influence of the heat loss across the wall of the reactor on
the gasifier efficiency by using the mathematical model already
reported [4].
II. MATHEMATICAL MODEL
The estimation of syngas composition is based on a heat
and mass balance carried out taking into account the chemical
equilibrium of the water-gas shift and reforming reactions [4].
The model assumes that feedstock and oxygen or an oxygen
water mixture are fed into stage one. The products flow into
stage two where the model allows an additional injection of
oxygen or a steamoxygen mixture. For examining the
influence of the heat loss across the reactor wall on the gasifier
efficiency, the heat loss is assumed, for each stage, to be
variable from 0% up to 20% of the produced heat. It is also
assumed that the ash leaves the reactor through a grate at the
bottom of stage one at the same temperature of this stage.
III. FEEDSTOCK AND GASIFIER CHARACTERISTICS
A. Feedstock
Municipal solid waste (MSW), willow, landfill gas, and
rice straw have been used as feedstock. Table 1 shows their
main characteristics. MSW here considered is characteristic of
a high income country and it is rich in paper and plastics while
the compostable fraction is relatively lower. Reference [7] is
the source of the data.
B. Gasifier
The gasifier, already described in previous works [3-6],
consists of two stages placed vertically. Stage one is an updraft
reactor where pyrolysis and gasification occur. Tar and gases
developed in this stage reach stage two where an additional
amount of oxidizing gas is injected. The increased temperature
promotes the further gasification of heavy tars and the
reforming of light products. In this stage a fixed bed, filled with
a first layer of granular alumina and a second layer of Ni
supported catalyst for promoting the reforming reactions, is
present.
173
TABLE I. FEEDSTOCK CHARACTERISTICS
Characteristics MSW Willow Landfill gas Rice
straw
C % mass 47,60 49,90 47,00 38,73
H % mass 6,00 6,20 11,00 3,58
N % mass 1,20 0,40 - 0,55
S % mass 0,30 0,10 - 0,06
O % mass 32,90 41,70 53,00 36,51
Ash % mass 12,00 1,70 0,00 20,57
HHV (MJ/kg) 19,87 18,49 28,20 14,24
The oxygen content is calculated b difference
IV. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Because the oxidizing gas is injected in both stages, first
calculations have been performed by keeping constant the total
amount of injected oxygen and its partition ratio between that
injected into stage one and the total injected oxygen (oxygen
partition ratio, OPR). The injected oxygen was considered to
be 0,426 Nm
3
/kg.
Fig. 1 reports the obtained results. As the figure shows the
efficiency of the reactor is greatly influenced by the HHV of
the feed, while the heat lost with the ash leaving the reactor has
only a negligible effect if compared to the effect of the heat lost
across the wall. MSW and willow have, in fact, similar HHV
and a large difference in their ash content, but the two curves
are quite similar. Fig. 1 shows also that the shape of the curves
changes with the feedstock.
The observed drop in the reactor efficiency, shown in the
case of MSW and willow, can be explained considering that
when the fraction of heat loss is 0,20, the outlet temperature of
the syngas is too low causing an increase of the methane
content till about 7%.

0.65
0.70
0.75
0.80
0.85
0.90
0.95
0 5 10 15 20
Fraction of the heat losses across the wall (%)
g
a
s
i
f
i
e
r

e
f
f
i
c
i
e
n
c
y
.

MSW
rice st rawa
landfill gas
willow

Fig. 1. Relationship between efficiency and heat loss
Different is the case where the fraction of heat loss is 0,10
or lower because the final temperature is higher than 800 C
and hence the methane content of syngas is greatly reduced. Of
course this makes unfavourable the overcoming a heat loss
higher than 10% of the developed heat. The different shape of
the reactor efficiency curves among landfill gas, rice straw and
MSW, and willow can not be attributed to the HHV only. In
fact, even if the rice straw and landfill gas have quite different
HHV the behaviour of gasifier efficiency as a function of the
heat loss is similar. This behavior can be attributed to a
different value of the quantity Q namely the ratio between the
oxygen present into the reactor (injected + the one of the
feedstock) and the stoichiometric one to transform the feeding
into carbon dioxide and steam. To clarify this aspect, new
calculations have been performed by keeping constant the
feedstock, and hence HHV, and the OPR value and by
changing Q from 0,738 down to 0,567. Rice straw has been
selected as a feedstock and four different Q were utilized.
Fig. 2 shows the results where rice straw a,b,c and d
indicated different tests performed at different selected Q
i.e.0,738, 0,619, 0,591 and 0,567 As reported in figure the
highest efficiency is obtained at the lowest Q namely at 0,567
when the heat loss is lower than 15%
0.65
0.70
0.75
0.80
0.85
0.90
0 5 10 15 20
Fraction of heat loss (%)
G
a
s
i
f
i
e
r

e
f
f
i
c
i
e
n
c
y
.
rice st rawa
rice st rawb
rice st rawc
rice st rawd

Fig. 2. Effect of Q on the trend of efficiency as a function of heat loss
Decreasing the value of Q, the difference in the reactor
efficiency is higher when the heat loss changes from 15% to
20% of the developed heat. This change has been defined as
slope.
Fig. 3 reports the trend of this slope as a function of Q.
The data suggest that this trend can be described by an
exponential equation, namely:
slope = exp[ - (b (Q - a) + c))] (1)
where:
c is a term representing the lowest value of slope and cannot
be equal to zero
a is a term that depends on the HHV
b is an empirical coefficient

174
0
0.02
0.04
0.06
0.08
0.1
0.12
0.14
0.40 0.45 0.50 0.55 0.60 0.65 0.70 0.75
Q ratio
"
s
l
o
p
e
"
landfill
landfill calc.
MSW
MSW calc.
willow
willowcalc.
rice straw
rice strawcalc.

Fig. 3. Trend of slope as a function of Q
Both b and c are independent of the HHV and b and a are
calculated by the last square analysis in the case of the data
related to the rice straw. The data of a, related to the others
feedstock, are of course, more approximate. Despite this, it is
possible obtain a linear trend between a and HHV with R
2
=
0.93, as Fig. 4 shows.

0.4
0.42
0.44
0.46
0.48
0.5
0.52
0.54
0.56
0.58
10.00 15.00 20.00 25.00 30.00
HHV (MJ/kg)
a

Fig. 4. Constant term a, as a function of HHV
The data shown in Fig. 3, 4, which are an elaboration of the
results reported in Fig. 2 indicate that the different trends of
Fig. 1 are function of Q and HHV. Therefore the shape of Fig.
1 is typical of the selected oxygen injection but it will be
different as Q or HHV or both change their value.

V. CONCLUDING REMARKS
Data reported in the paper show that the gasification
efficiency as a function of the heat loss across the reactor wall
at fixed oxygen injection is influenced by the feedstock. In
every examined case, to overcome 10% of the developed heat
may be favourable.
The elaboration of the reported data indicates that the
different trend of gasification efficiency vs. heat loss can be
correlated with the HHV of the feedstock and with the ratio
between the oxygen present into the reactor (injected + the one
of the feedstock) and the one necessary to transform the
feeding into carbon dioxide and steam.

REFERENCES
[1] Energy from Waste: State-of-the-art-report. 5
th
Ed. 2006. ISWA
Working Group on Thermal Treatment of Waste. Rambll: Danmark.
[2] T. Malcow, Novel and innovative pyrolysis and gasification
technologies for energy efficient and environmentally sound MSW
disposal. Waste management, vol 24, pp 53-79, 2004.
[3] C. Borgianni, P. Defilippis, M. Paolucci, F. Pochetti, "Gasification
process of waste containing PVC", Fuel, vol 81, pp. 1827-1833, 2002.
[4] C. Borgianni. P. De Filippis. F. Pochetti. M. Paolucci: "Gasification
process of Cuban bagasse in a two-stage reactor" Biomass & Bioenergy
vol. 27, pp. 247-252, 2004.
[5] P. Defilippis, F. Pochetti, C. Borgianni, M. Paolucci, "Automobile
shredder residue gasification", Waste Management & Research vol. 21-
pp. 459-466, 2003.
[6] P. Defilippis, C. Borgianni, M. Paolucci, F. Pochetti, "Prediction of
syngas quality for two-stage gasification of selected waste feedstock,
Waste Management, 24, pp. 633-639, 2004
[7] Phyllis Database for biomass and waste. Energy Research Centre of The
Netherlands, http://www.ecn.nl/phyllis

175
An I ntroduction to the HLanData Project: a Step
Forward in the Harmonization of Spatial
I nformation throughout Europe

Sarmite Barvika
The Faculty of Engineering Economics and Management
Riga, Latvia
sarmite.barvika@rtu.lv
Liga Jankava
University of Latvia
Faculty of Geography and Earth Sciences
Riga, Latvia
ljankava@gmail.com

Nowadays spatial information is becoming more and more
accessible for various purposes due to local, national and European
initiatives. This paper is addressed to one such initiative Hlandata,
whose purpose is to make a significant step forward in the
harmonization and use of land cover (LC) and land use (LU)
geographic data and its related data bases over Europe. The project
was developed using the best experiences from previous geographic
data harmonization activities with the goal of demonstrating the
feasibility of European level harmonization of land information
related datasets. The three pilot projects LU-LC Data Analysis
System for intermediate-level users, Harmonized and
Interoperable Land Information Systems and Stratification of
Waste Dumps were developed and tested within the project and
demonstrated advantages from user oriented value-added services
emphasizing data search, exploration and analysis.
Keywordsland use: land cover; GI S; I NSPI RE
I. The Importance of Land Cover
and Land Use Information
Nowadays LC and LU information is amongst the most
requested geographic data because of its essentiality of use
and application in various areas (environmental impact
evaluation, Global Monitoring for Environment and Security
(GMES) application, evaluation-projection on water
consumption, study on habitats and ecosystems, calculations
on erosive states, study and evaluation of town-planning
growth models, etc.) and is fundamental in performing
planning in a sustainable manner. The ability of information
technologies to handle geographic data has improved during
the past two decades and Geographic Information Systems
(GIS) are well suited to the integration and management of
local, national and international land, natural resources and
property related data. Particularly various sectors of property
industry represent significant market potential for GIS,
especially in the use and processing of LC and LU geographic
data for commercial and non-commercial purposes. [8] [16]
LC represents the biophysical state of real landscape (natural,
human modified and artificial objects on land surfaces). LU
reflects the social-economic purpose for which land is used
(current and perspective land for residential, industrial,
commercial, agricultural etc. purposes). Together, these two
data sets provide complementary information for the particular
territory both in landscape and development potential. [2]
II. Efforts in Harmonizing Spatial
Data
The history of use of land is very relevant to planning
function. [16] For a long time LC and LC information has
been stored and managed separately at different levels:
European, national, or local, without application of the
systemic approach, common standards and classification. Past
activities producing land related information from the local to
the European level have been mostly developed
independently, addressing the specific requirements of the
information (scale, accuracy, resolution, data acquiring,
update period, etc.) or user (public and private sector,
individuals etc.). This has resulted in numerous datasets,
mainly neither compatible with each other nor taking into
account the interoperability of accumulated information. [2]
[5] [4] However in the context of monitoring environmental
changes (loss of biodiversity, climate changes, food safety
etc.), harmonization activities have increasingly touched
global issues with regard to better integration of various
sources of information on various scales (for example: the
European CORINE LC Initiative is integrated into the initial
GMES programme framework). [9] [10] [13] [15]
III. Modern Harmonization Efforts
Globalization is affecting spatial planning, requiring new
ways of governance to take advantage of its benefits, while
data collection requires new approaches in the way of data
collection and use within a sustainable local and cross-border
context. The main European spatial information harmonization
initiative, the INSPIRE directive (2007), established general
rules for the implementation of thirty four spatial data sets,
including LC and LU related information, (Annexes I, II and
III of the directive) in entire European Community to support
Communitys policies regarding fulfillment of the
requirements of environmental issues around Europe. [8] [6]
176
[12] The implementation of this directive should be based on
the previously developed spatial data infrastructures of
Member States and does not require new data collection
system. The Member States must ensure that this
infrastructure is compatible, interoperable and usable on the
national level, as well as in the Community trans-boundary
context. [10] Currently INSPIRE directive is also a key driver
for the standardization and harmonization of LC and LU
information in the European Union (EU), but there is still a
long process to reach a satisfactory outcome due to different
standards and practices of Member States. At the same time,
the INSPIRE implementation measures (EU initiatives, project
activities, best practices) have been regularly tested, identified
and supported by the INSPIRE Technical Working Group
(TGW) to provide the best experience available on LC and LU
mapping in Europe for the purpose of insuring the successful
implementation of the INSPIRE objectives. Close cooperation
with INSPIRE TWG was also one of the achievements of the
HLanData project in regard to the outcomes of the project
activities regarding the development of the perspective data
categorization and data model. [4]
IV. The Hlandata Approach
The HLanData project is one of recently completed
European projects (with a 36 months duration, which ended in
February, 2013) and is relevant to the expected target
outcomes listed in the ICT PSP 2009 Work Programme. [11]
Nowadays LC and LU information in European countries
has been managed at national, regional or local level, which
resulted in a suite of datasets, not always standardized,
compatible with each other. But in a context where
environmental threats (such as climate change, biodiversity
loss and food security) become more and more global, there is
a need to better integrate various sources of information at
various scales. Therefore this European projects aim was to
widen the use of LC and LU spatial data by the public and
private sector, organizations and citizens through the
development of some user oriented value-added services The
HLanData brought together nine partners with relevant GIS
oriented project experience from seven European countries
(Spain, the Netherlands, Czech Republic, Slovak Republic,
Austria, Latvia and Lithuania), but lead by the Government of
Navarre and TRACASA (Spain). The project was built on
experiences of previous harmonization activities and their best
practices in close cooperation with INSPIRE TWGs, aiming to
demonstrate cooperation among the feasible European level
harmonization of the land information related datasets taking
into account both data categorization and models through the
development of user oriented value-added web-services to
streamline harmonized data exploration and analysis. [4]
Target users of the proposed services are LC and LU
information users at European, national and local level.
The specific objectives of the HLanData project were:
to contribute to the common (European) data sharing
infrastructure;
to test INSPIRE TWGs data specification to assure
sharing land cover and land use data between
different public authorities and other stakeholders at
the local, regional, national and European level;
to promote the use of LC and LU spatial data at the
European level through the developed value-added
web-services in the various pilot projects;
to make available to the public the projects results
using dissemination activities with respect to
deliverables and outcomes (pilot projects) [4].
A. Project Work Plan and Its Implementation Activities
The HLanData project activities consisted of four work
packages: WP1 Diagnostic, WP2 Harmonization of LC/LU
data and development of the baseline LU/LC sharing
infrastructure, WP3 Pilots design and implementation and
WP4 Results assessment (see Fig. 1). [2] [4]

Fig. 1. HLanData work plan

The However, the practical implementation of the project was split
into three main phases: Diagnostic phase, Harmonization
and development of common data infrastructure phase and
Value-added web services implementation and validation.
The Diagnostic phase considered the assessment of current
European stage (situation) regarding the harmonization of LC
and LU geographic information, taking into account ongoing
initiatives regarding the data categorization and modeling (for
example: SIONE, LISA), as well as assessing the needs of end
users from point of view of data harmonization and
functionality in high-level spatial data services developed by
177
the project. The outcome from the second phase
Harmonization and development of common data
infrastructure phase was based on the diagnostic results.
The developed harmonization proposal for LC and LU
geographic data was provided to respective TWG, both from
the perspective of the data categorization and the data model.
[4] Within this phase the common data sharing infrastructure
(CDSI), HLanData geoportal, was also developed to support
harmonized LC and LU data storage and maintenance in
different sources across Europe. [2] [4] HLanData geoportal is
the access portal to the CDSI and harmonized WMS and
follows the principle: one centralized access to decentralized
data.The HLanData Geoportal has the following basic
functionalities: viewing, discovering and map creation.
Currently the HLanData geoportal provides a map viewer to
overlay and compare spatial data and metadata catalogue that
allows searching of available data from participants countries.
The architectural design of the portal consists of three tier
architecture, which has the advantages of flexibility, good
scalability and thin clients. [4]. The project ended in the
implementation of the third phase Value-added web
services implementation and validation where the CDSI
was used and data harmonization potential was tested by
developing and using three specific value-added thematic
web-based services (pilot projects).[2] [3] [4]. An important
project activity was the testing of developed web-services
through pilot projects, the project overall assessment, as well
as the dissemination of the project. [3]
B. The Pilot Projects
The three specific value-added thematic web-based
services (pilot projects) were developed and successfully
tested as part of the HLanData project for selected users: Pilot
1 LU/LC Data Analysis System for Intermediate-Level
Users (Spain), Pilot 2 Harmonized and Interoperable Land
Information Systems (Check Republic, Lithuania) with two
subpilots (2.1 Harmonized Interoperable National Land
Information Systems and 2.2. Establishment of a National
Land Statistical Accounting System Based on GMES Core
Mapping Service Products); and Pilot 3 Stratification of
Waste Dumps (Slovakia), (see Fig 2). [4]

Fig. 2. HLanData pilots
The development of all pilots was based on the results
from previous project phases. In order to achieve the
objective, three main tasks were defined for the pilots: design
of the pilot projects, development and the running of the pilot
projects, and validation. The group of potential users for
developed services was identified within the project.
The segmentation of all users of the LC and LU
cartography within the HLanData project distinguishes
between:
Low-level users (or general public): They access LC
and LU data through the spatial data infrastructures and
use only the information layers overlaid on to an
ortophoto map;
Intermediate-level users: Technicians of the public
administration at local, regional and national levels,
services and networks administrators, public entities
from different sectors (urban land, forest and rural
environments), private companies, educational
institutions, architects and engineers. Their needs
include functionalities such as the visualization of the
LC and LU layer, the overlay of their own
information onto other sources, spatial and temporal
analysis, and the downloading of data in different
formats; [14]
High-level users: Professionals who carry out high-
level analysis by making use of GIS tools. Possibly
the services to be created are not sufficient for their
needs, but they will be able to get LC and LU data
layers through downloading applications in order to
incorporate them to their GIS.
It should be recognized, that the rest of HLanData project
outcome was oriented to the needs of intermediate-level
users to promote the use and standardization of LU and LC
related information that is maintained and used by public and
private bodies.
178
The functionality of the developed services in most of
these cases is provided using standardized web-services
(WMS, WFS, WPS), standardized IT protocols and formats
(REST, JSON). The basic services are provided within each
pilot project using specialized web-based map applications
that allow users free access and the performing of selected
operations to obtain requested new information using
harmonized LC and LU data. The map layers of each pilot
project include harmonized WMS, which were prepared in
previous stages of the project. Both, Open Source and
commercial development frameworks were tested in
implementation of the pilot projects, but users comfort
assessment was carried out within validation of the design of
each pilot project. Due to data harmonization in accordance
with common standards, the LU and LC data across Europe
can be shown on the one map, with a common (standardized)
legend, and therefore has become a key issue for cross-
border planning and analysis activities. [4] [7] User comfort is
provided by an interactive web-based approach: a fast and
flexible environment which allows one to view and analyze
user defined themes, web-tools that are strictly Open Source
based, the free definition of analysis details and units (size of
area), the saving of used files etc. [4] The pilot project also has
contributed to the increasing use and reuse of harmonized data
sets related to LC and LU themes from Annexes I-III of the
INSPIRE directive through network services for sharing
spatial data between public authorities and other stakeholders,
enabling the creation of value added services. [4]
C. Pilot 1: LC/LU Data Analysis System for Intermediate-
Level Users
This pilot project was developed mainly by two partners:
Spain and Latvia. Gobierno de Navarra (Spain), IGN/CNIG
(Spain) and TDF (Latvia) participated in the pilot as content
providers and end users, but Tracasa (Spain) and CEIT
Alanova (Austria) provided technology for this development.
[2]
The Pilot 1 was addressed to the group of intermediate-level
users of LC and LU information and is a system (accessible
on: https://gisportal.tracasa.es/hlandata/viewer/ ) that allows
users to make advanced analysis (viewing, overlaying, spatial
and temporal analysis, downloading, data maintenance etc.) of
the LC and LU datasets with information coming from
different sources (Navarre region, Spain and Latvia) at a
European level. (see Fig. 3).

Fig. 3. HLanData Pilots 1 web tool interface

Proposed solution solved several earlier observed problems (or
practices): such requests for LU and LC information in
different formats (for example CAD), management of LC and
LU information layers through desktop viewers had some
limitations regarding its non-universal use (typical practice of
local administration for management their own spatial data),
etc. Thanks to this development, the new system allows one to
process selected data (for example a selected area of a specific
land parcel) together with other attributed data (for example
descriptive data on a specific selected land area and related
statistics on the territory), to download and print the obtained
results; and to save used or created data files. In addition, the
pilot project made this information available to a significantly
bigger amount of users. [14]
D. Pilot 2: Harmonized and Interoperable Land Information
Systems
The two subpilots were developed within the Pilot 2
Harmonized and Interoperable Land Information Systems
(LIS): Subpilot 2.1 - Harmonized Interoperable National LIS
(Czech Republic) and Subpilot 2.2 - Establishment of a
National Land Statistical Accounting System Based on GMES
Core Mapping Service Products (Lithuania) focusing on
making the national LIS interoperable, standardized and a
user-friendly tool oriented to explore, describe, compare and
explain LC and LU changes in a socio-economic context. In
order to achieve the level of flexibility and usefulness required
by users, the service specification for the Pilot 2 went far
beyond the traditional concept of data provision. [4]
In the framework of the HLanData Subpilot 2.1, the Czech
partner had excellent cooperation among three involved
participants: GISAT and CENIA, which jointly serve as the
National Reference Centre (EIONET NRC) for Spatial
Analysis and Land Cover in the Czech Republic, work on
exploring the potential for the setup of a national LIS within
this HLanData framework. The Pilot 2.1 focused mainly on
technical issues, but also reflected organizational support
required in setting up a data sharing cycle between the
national mandated actors and data providers of partial LC and
179
LU data in a harmonized way. [4] It was observed that the
demands in regard to LIS are similar in different countries and
there is a strong need for harmonization of both core mapping
services and downstream (added value services) activities so
that the results with regard to content and service are
comparable between the countries and also at the European
level as is required by INSPIRE principles. In the Czech
Republic, as in many other countries, LC and LU related
information is collected and managed for special domains
(forestry, water, agriculture etc.) by a number of different
national organizations based on their mandate, specific
management needs and requirements on data content and
structure, as well as mapping scale. [4] At the same time all
stakeholders (public and private bodies, decision makers,
NGOs, researchers, planners, GIS analysts, the general public)
require access to adequate and comprehensive spatial data to
achieve their needs: interdisciplinary analysis and research;
planning activities, transparency and participation in decision
making, efficient integrated data management, monitoring of
environmental changes, and safety and disaster management
etc.
Inspired also by the European Environmental Agency the
Land and Ecosystem Accounting framework [4], the Pilot 2
was based on an interactive web-based approach, where both
spatial and socio-economical statistical data are delivered in
an organized way, together with tools in a fast and flexible
way [4]. Due to use of common data harmonization standards,
the LC and LU data across Europe now can be shown together
in single map on the HLanData geoportal. The developed
common legend is a key issue for easy use of this data for
the purpose of cross-border analysis and integrated planning
activities. Supported by INSPIRE directive implementation
activities in the Czech Republic and the progress in the GMES
area, the pilot also demonstrated its practical implementation
in LC/LU domain, allowing data sharing between the
individual actors involved through network services. [4]
Access to information concerning Pilot 2.1 is available at:
http://hlandata.gisat.cz/appv2 .
Subpilot 2.2 Establishment of a National Land Statistical
Accounting System based on GMES Core Mapping Service
(CMS) Products was developed by our Lithuanian partner
and is based on the current running implementation of the new
Lithuanian concept of a national Statistical Land Accounting
System (SLAS).
The main objective of Subpilot 2.2 was the practical
implementation and operational testing of the SLAS on the
basis of GMES CMS products based on the HLanData
methodology for data harmonization. The Subpilot covered
two trans-boundary river basins Nemunlis (4,047 km2)
with its dominating natural landscapes and Ma (5,463 km2)
with an intensely agricultural landscape both stretching
along the area of northern Lithuania and southern Latvia. [4]
The SLAS is basically used to keep information of the
amounts of different national land assets (arable land, forests,
built-up areas, etc.) for the purpose of planning budget
assignments, incomes, agricultural quotas, as well as for
spatial planning at the national and municipal level. The
project survey focused attention on conceptual incapability in
data structure of SLAS among the former Soviet block
countries (now EU member states) and the old member
states. After accession to the EU (2004), old, inherited
Soviet time statistical systems became almost inoperable
due to:
The implementation of numerous EU regulations
relating to agriculture and the environment (Natura-
2000 network, water framework directive, directives on
carbon emissions and climate change, etc.);

Incomplete data and new requirements of stakeholders
with regard to land data structure and statistics
concerning rural and urban areas.
Therefore in Lithuania the new concept on national SLAS
(formulated by State Land Service under the Ministry of
Agriculture) was based on advanced GIS, remote sensing
technologies and particularly on the emerging GMES CMS,
developed within of the FP7 projects coordinated by EC in
cooperation with EEA and ESA, as well as GMES Service
Elements carried out by ESA member states, possibly
developing additional GMES Downstream Services for
specific thematic content particularly requested by national
stakeholders. The feasibility study took place with regard
summarizing the current situation, identifying information
gaps and expectations of the major stakeholders, testing the
existing spatial data properties, recent GMES technologies and
practical issues related to production of high-resolution
LU/LC datasets, as well as providing the necessary technical
and thematic specifications and spatial data infrastructure
requirements for the national SLAS [2] [4] After the
implementation of the SLAS pilot project (Subpilot 2.2), the
State Land Service of Lithuania also launched a regular
monitoring program and incorporated the high-resolution
LU/LC datasets and statistical land accounting products into
the recently established Lithuanian Spatial Information. [4]
More information about Pilot 2.2 is available at:
http://hlandata.agi.lt/ .
E. Pilot 3: Stratification of Waste Dumps
The main objective of Pilot 3 was the stratification and
control of waste dumps in Slovakia through an interactive
mapping service including the following geographic
information layers: LC and LU, settlements, population and
waste production. Problem of waste production and dump
localization is complex and often causes conflicts in many
countries and now it is global problem. For example in
Slovakia long-term waste disposal in landfills is still the most
frequent method of municipal waste handling (76 %) despite
the efforts to decrease the number of official landfills in regard
to national and European law. Therefore a public map service
would be very helpful in overcoming discrepancies between
government, the industrial sector, environmental communities
and the public. An interactive map service would also be
helpful in the process of mapping existing official dumps,
forbidden dumps and for proposals of new dumps based on
LC and LU multitemporal GIS dataset (the key layers like
180
population, waste production, LC/LU, hydrology and
environment protection).
The services of Pilot 3 focused on crucial GIS functionalities,
which are necessary for the main potential user of this service
the general public, local and international decision makers
and waste managers. For example, the potential user may help
in the mapping of forbidden waste dumps by GPS localization
or by simple editing of the positions thanks to othophoto or
civil maps in the background. The system also enables the
general public and institutional bodies to check the status of
dumps, put them under control, discuss solutions with local
regional governmental bodies and municipalities, overlay
available transport layers and propose forbidden dump
disposals on the basis of cost-distance analysis, search and
investigate possible causes of soil, water and air pollution,
investigate territories for indicating places for new waste
dumps in overpopulated areas, etc. Due to the existence of
several control mechanisms (EIONET reporting obligations,
Basel convention etc.), functionality of the service is suitable
also for cross-border users. More information about Pilot 3 is
available on: Pilot 3: http://hlandata.sazp.sk/ (see Fig.4).

Fig 4: Example of the HLANDATA Pilots 3 web tool
interface

IV. THE E-LEARNING TOOL

The e-learning framework was used within the HLanData
project. The HLanData Training Platform was a part of Pilot
1, but had been used also for other pilot projects. This tool was
developed at the Institute of Mathematics and Computer
Science and used for other EU projects like SDI-EDU and
NaturNet lus (NN+) to support e-learning about GIS and
INSPIRE.
The e-learning platform is an open source web browser based
e-conference, collaboration and learning tool which supports
slide shows, webpage demonstration, synchronous pre-
recorded video display, chat and lecturer live narration using
web camera provided video and audio. Educational contents
are described using meta-data and stored in a meta-data
catalog to increase data accessibility. The training modules are
structured with regard to HLanData project aims, themes (LC
and LU), pilot projects and geoportal. Registration is required
for users to access the training modules.
The HLanData Training Platform also links to the BRISEIDE
Training Framework and HABITATS Networking Services
and service toolkits. An introduction to other GIS
harmonization activities across Europe (GMES, Humbolt,
Plan4all etc.) is also provided to users. The e-learning tool is
cloud-based and available for users at: http://hlandata.cloud-
learning (see Fig. 5).

Fig 5: HLanData E-learning platform

V. Conclutions
HLanData project revealed that INSPIRE principles can be
achieved and represents a real and massive application of the
directive by trans-boundary public administrations and private
enterprises with competence in geospatial data across Europe.
Web-based applications and services provided by the project
Pilots and Geoportal are fully operational and demonstrate the
power of modern technological solutions to support the
provision of complex spatial data sets (like a LC and LU) to
the end user. Institutional users from central and local
administration currently are the most stable demand for
integrated web-based solutions providing harmonised LU/LC
information, but there is a clear potential for expanding such
services into the sector of higher education, the general public,
as well as to develop business models. Barriers to
implementation of INSPIRE are based on local traditions in
data collection, quality of data sets and the precariousness of
funding for implementing INSPIRE measurements in member
states. At the same time the potential added value of spatial
data is very high due to modern trends in how information is
consumed and depicted in daily life.
Acknowledgment
181
The authors of the paper would thank The HLanData
project team, especially Ms. Inga Berzina, project coordinator
from Technical Development Forum of Latvia for contribution
regarding valuable information about practical validation of
the Pilot projects) and professor Ineta Geipele from Riga
Technical University, The Faculty of Engineering Economics
and Management.- for support and advice in the preparation of
the paper.
References

[1] Haines-Young, R., and Weber, J.-L. - Land Accounts for Europe 1990-
2000. Towards Integrated Land and Ecosystem Accounting, Europen
Environment Agency, 2006
[2] D1.1. Diagnostic Report. Accessible online:
http://www.hlandata.eu/results.html
[3] D5.5. Communication and Dissemination Final Report. Accessible
online: http://www.hlandata.eu/results.html
[4] D6.4 HLanData Final Technical Report. Accesible online:
http://www.hlandata.eu/results.html
[5] I.Berzina: The Zemgale Planning Region Geoportal - Experience for
Rural Development. In: Scientific Jornal of Riga Technical University.
14. Issue, Sustainable Development, Vol.2, pp. 72.-80. Riga, 2011.
[6] INSPIRE D2.3 Drafting team data specifications. Definition of Annex
themes and scope.
http://inspire.jrc.ec.europa.eu/reports/ImplementingRules/DataSpecificat
ions/D2.3_Definition_of_Annex_Themes_and_scope_v3.0.pdf (last
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[7] Land Accounts for Europe 1990-2000. Towards Integrated Land and
Ecosystem Accounting, EEA Report 11, Copenhagen, European
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[8] K.Charvat, M.Alberts, S.Horakova. INSPIRE, GMES and GEOSS
Activities, Methods and Tools towards a Single Information Space in
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[9] Regulation (Eu) No 911/2010 Of The European Parliament And Of The
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[10] Source: Drafting Team "Data Specifications" Definitions of Annex
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[14] Source: http://inspire.jrc.ec.europa.eu/index.cfm/pageid/48 (last
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182
Authors Index

Admek, K. 59

Lpez-Bonilla, J. L. 43
Alexiou, A. 70

Mahaveera, A. 109
Arroja, L. 80

Mare, C. 128
Askari, I. B. 28

Marin, E. 80
Askari, L. B. 28

Marir-Benabbas, M. 51
Bdescu, M. 70

Matsushita, M. 123
Barvika, S. 176

Mtusescu, C. 128
Blumberga, D. 141, 161

Mizuno, S. 130
Borgianni, C. 173

Nadais, H. 80
Bucur, A. 43

Nestorovi, T. 134
Capela, I. 80

Noda, S. 123
Crdei, P. 70

Onay, . 119
Chen, R. 165

Panzieri, S. 173
Civilini, M. 87

Paolucci, M. 173
Constantin, N. 70

Pasuk, S. 109
Cortella, G. 87

Plpn, P. 59
Daddi, T. 93

Pustka, M. 59
De Caprariis, B. 173

Romagnoli, F. 141
De Filippis. P. 173

Silva, A. 80
De La Cerda, H. E. C. 27

Simes, A. F. 154
El Hocine, H. B. C. 51

Skujevska, A. 141
Galbieri, R. 154

Sohrabi, A. R. 82
Galindoms, G. 161

Tambovceva, T. 101
Geipele, I. 149

Tambovcevs, A. 101
Hartl, G. 112

Tessitore, S. 93
Hua, L. 63

Testa, F. 93
Iraldo, F. 93

Veidenbergs, I. 161
Jankava, L. 175

Veleba, J. 134
Kamijo, Y. 123

Vgants, G. 161
Kaykhah, M. M. 35

Vladu, V. 70
Ketners, K. 149

Wang, H. 165
Koanova, R. 149

Ye-Qing, G. 63
Kol, J. 59

Zoss, T. 141
Laicane, I. 141

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RECENTADVANCESinENERGY,

where the vector x has the elements from x

Summary: The aim of this tutorial is to provide a thorough understanding of principles,

and a pressure of 1 atm

), which represents the cardinal points, is

. The annual wind rose based on time and

, which correspond to the

; the direction with highest percentages of the

(East-South-East and South-East).

). It is worthy of notice since we can come into this

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