Green go-kart in education!

At the University of Southern Denmark (SDU), engineering students are taught electronics and challenged with real-life industrial equipment driven by electric motors and drives manufactured by Nidec.

SDU gives young engineering students an opportunity to be part of developing the green technology of the future in a creative study environment with modern teaching facilities and dedicated teachers.

The students have access to a genuine go-kart 

The use of high-tech technologies in the form of real-life industrial equipment and advanced electronic techniques is an important part of the teaching and education of Denmark’s future electronics specialists. As part of the teaching projects, the institute and the students have access to several advanced electronic test benches, which gives them a good insight into the handling, testing and research of different combinations of industrial electronic equipment and teaches them to test torque, speed, load, etc. under realistic conditions.

The test benches combine different set-ups of advanced variable speed drives and high-tech electric motors, which have the flexibility to test a wide variety of electronic equipment. The test benches use Nidec Leroy-Somer motor units (servo motors, LSMV and IMfinity induction ranges) and Control Techniques Unidrive M600/M700 drives.

Each semester, the electronic engineering degree programme includes project work on a current topic, for example how to design the electronic controller of an electric go-kart motor. In the course of the project, the students work with the design of variable speed drives, programming, modulation and simulation of the drives as well as the design of electronic hardware. The students have access to a genuine go-kart with an electric motor as well as a corresponding test bench with programmable drives and electric motors.

All in all, the realistic project provides useful knowledge and intuitive understanding of the control of electric motors, which can also be used in connection with variable speed drives for electric cars,
robots, etc.

 @NidecMotorCorp #Education #Green #Denmark @SyddanskUniv

Ambient air quality monitoring stations throughout Britain.

Air Monitors has been awarded a contract to service, calibrate and maintain the majority of the British Automatic Urban and Rural Network (AURN) of ambient air quality monitoring stations.

The AURN has been delivering air quality data since the early 1970s, and comprises over 100 monitoring stations across Britain producing more than 5 million measurements every year. The network helps the Government there fulfil its statutory European reporting requirements, as well as supporting air quality research and policy development. The monitoring stations measure oxides of nitrogen (NOx), sulphur dioxide (SO2), ozone (O3), carbon monoxide (CO) and particles (PM10, PM2.5). These sites provide high resolution hourly information which is communicated rapidly to the public, using a wide range of electronic, media and web platforms.

Expressing his pleasure on winning the contract, Air Monitors Managing Director Jim Mills said: “The AURN is the largest ambient air quality monitoring network in the UK, so this award is, in part, recognition of the quality service that Air Monitors delivers. We have a team of engineers spread across the UK, so this award strengthens our business and opens opportunities for future growth.”

The AURN is managed on behalf of DEFRA by Bureau Veritas, a global leader in Testing, Inspection and Certification (TIC). Bureau Veritas supports private and public sector clients from around the world to meet the growing challenges of quality, safety, environmental protection and social responsibility. Dr Richard Maggs, Consulting Group Manager - Air Quality, Acoustics & Vibration at Bureau Veritas, said: “Effective service is crucial to the provision of reliable data, so I congratulate Air Monitors on their success and look forward to working with them.”

@airmonitors #Environment #PAuto 

Istanbul welcomes international emissions monitoring event!

CEM 2014 is the 11th in a series of international conferences and exhibitions focusing on emissions monitoring. Taking place at the Renaissance Polat Istanbul Hotel in Turkey from 14th to 16th May, CEM 2014 provides an international focus for anyone involved with emissions to air, and registration is now open.

The CEM Conference will feature speakers from 13 different countries covering a wide variety of subjects within the event’s emissions monitoring theme.

The opening presentation and welcome speech will be given by Mr Soner Olgun, Head of the Laboratory, Measurement and Monitoring Department at the Turkish Ministry of Environment. The Conference will address all of the most topical issues relating to emissions monitoring and will contain four main themes:

1. Regulation - international and industrial
2. Standards, quality assurance and control
3. Equipment innovation
4. Case studies

All of the most important pollutants will be covered by the presentations which will also address process and emissions monitoring issues for all types of regulated processes including power stations, steelworks, industrial processes, combined heat and power plants, energy from waste systems and carbon capture. For example, one of the speakers will describe the application of FTIR monitoring technology to emissions from Germany’s vast biogas industry.

The CEM Exhibition is 15% larger than the previous event and registered Conference delegates are able to visit the Exhibition without further charge,

Environment Agencies build new technology into rain monitoring network!

As parts of England suffer from extreme weather conditions with rain and storm winds wreaking havoc over large swaths of the southern shires and counties it is appropriate indeed to share this item about a precipitation monitoring technology that performs particularly well during periods of high intensity rain.

Pluvio2

During recent trials conducted by the British Environment Agency (EA) and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA), in cooperation with the British Met Office, OTT Hydrometry’s Pluvio2 raingauge exceeded the target performance requirements of the assessment and over 100 units have now been purchased by the EA. As a result, the quality of monitoring data has been improved and the cost of running the more remote sites has been significantly reduced because site visits are only necessary once or twice per year, instead of quarterly, which is the normal requirement for tipping bucket raingauges.

The OTT Pluvio2 operates on a weighing measuring principle which ensures that it can measure precipitation accurately and reliably in all weather conditions, while requiring minimal maintenance.

The EA’s Dave Stewart has been responsible for the implementation of Pluvio2 into the Agency’s network. He says: “Initial results look promising; the Pluvio2 is proving to be very reliable, so we have been able to reduce the frequency with which we have to make site visits. This is particularly advantageous with remote sites where we are making considerable savings in time and travel; payback periods vary from almost immediate, up to several years.”