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At least 1,063 records · Page 59

Appendix D: Assessement of potential industrial sites in Essex County, New York

Potential industrial sites were assessed using high and medium altitude aircraft photographs and supporting information on the 4,730 sq. km. (1,825 sq. mile) county. Factors evaluated include land availability, slope, site accessibility, soil drainage, other subsurface characteristics, and the expected physical as well as visual impacts on existing land use. Areas unavailable or unsuitable for development were eliminated first, and the remaining areas evaluated and the best sites identified.

Wozny, T. M.↗

Conceptual design study of a coal gasification combined-cycle powerplant for industrial cogeneration

A conceptual design study was conducted to assess technical feasibility, environmental characteristics, and economics of coal gasification. The feasibility of a coal gasification combined cycle cogeneration powerplant was examined in response to energy needs and to national policy aimed at decreasing dependence on oil and natural gas. The powerplant provides the steam heating and baseload electrical requirements while serving as a prototype for industrial cogeneration and a modular building block for utility applications. The following topics are discussed: (1) screening of candidate gasification, sulfur removal and power conversion components; (2) definition of a reference system; (3) quantification of plant emissions and waste streams; (4) estimates of capital and operating costs; and (5) a procurement and construction schedule. It is concluded that the proposed powerplant is technically feasible and environmentally superior.

Bloomfield, H. S.↗

Cobalt: A vital element in the aircraft engine industry

Recent trends in the United States consumption of cobalt indicate that superalloys for aircraft engine manufacture require increasing amounts of this strategic element. Superalloys consume a lion's share of total U.S. cobalt usage which was about 16 million pounds in 1980. In excess of 90 percent of the cobalt used in this country was imported, principally from the African countries of Zaire and Zambia. Early studies on the roles of cobalt as an alloying element in high temperature alloys concentrated on the simple Ni-Cr and Nimonic alloy series. The role of cobalt in current complex nickel base superalloys is not well defined and indeed, the need for the high concentration of cobalt in widely used nickel base superalloys is not firmly established. The current cobalt situation is reviewed as it applies to superalloys and the opportunities for research to reduce the consumption of cobalt in the aircraft engine industry are described.

Stephens, J. R.↗

An Analysis of Solar Panel Assembly as a Prison Industry

An analysis of the effect of manufacturing solar collectors by California prison inmates is presented. It was concluded that the concept is feasible and would have little adverse effect on the private sector's solar industry.

Lizak, R. M.↗

Industrial application experiment series

Two procurements within the Industrial Application Experiment Series of the Thermal Power Systems Project are discussed. The first procurement, initiated in April 1980, resulted in an award to the Applied Concepts Corporation for the Capital Concrete Experiment: two Fresnel concentrating collectors will be evaluated in single-unit installations at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory Parabolic Dish Test Site and at Capitol Concrete Products, Topeka, Kansas. The second procurement, initiated in March 1981, is titled, "Thermal System Engineering Experiment B." The objective of the procurement is the rapid deployment of developed parabolic dish collectors.

Bluhm, S. A.↗

An industrial perspective of the LANDSAT opportunity

The feasibility of enhancing LANDSAT products to provide the greatest usability low cost data possible can be determined through government sponsorship and finance of one or more task forces composed of a critical number of experts in multiple disciplines from many industries and academia. The synergism of multiple minds addressing singular problems without the creation of permanent or perpetual structures must yield output in the form of implementable specifications, even if presented as alternatives. Changes are needed within the spacecraft in order to account for Sun angle changes. The use of pointing accuracy to make geometric corrections (and possible radiometric corrections, is needed more than onboard data reduction and information extraction, which assume a proper knowledge of application and reduce potential utilization. Multilinear arrays need to be investigated and methods for sensor calibration and for determining the effects of atmospheric inversion, as well as the best way to back out the modulation transfer function must be determined.

Williams, B. F.↗

Economics of technological change - A joint model for the aircraft and airline industries

The principal focus of this econometric model is on the process of technological change in the U.S. aircraft manufacturing and airline industries. The problem of predicting the rate of introduction of current technology aircraft into an airline's fleet during the period of research, development, and construction for new technology aircraft arises in planning aeronautical research investments. The approach in this model is a statistical one. It attempts to identify major factors that influence transport aircraft manufacturers and airlines, and to correlate them with the patterns of delivery of new aircraft to the domestic trunk carriers. The functional form of the model has been derived from several earlier econometric models on the economics of innovation, acquisition, and technological change.

Kneafsey, J. T.↗

Robots in modern industry

A survey is presented of robotic device types and capabilities, and an assessment is made of the relative benefits they confer in present and planned numbers on such industrial countries as Japan, the U.S., and West Germany. Attention is also given to possible social impacts of large-scale implementation, and the need for close consultation between management and labor is stressed. It is reported that, while the hourly cost of robot labor remained at between $4.00 and $4.60 over the period 1960-present, human hourly labor costs (including fringe benefits) have risen from less than $4.00 to nearly $17.00. Among the types of devices described are: (1) remotely controlled manipulator vehicles; (2) undersea robotic craft; (3) servo-controlled robots; and (4) articulated robots. Also covered are robot programming languages derived from such standard languages as ALGOL, FORTRAN, and BASIC.

Heer, E.↗

Some technical writing skills industry needs

It is suggested that engineers and other technical students be taught three classes of skills in technical writing. First, "Big Picture Things", which includes: the importance of clear writing, the wide scope of writing, the wide scope of writing tasks that will be faced in industry, and the principles of organization of technical materials such as; how to analyze, classify, partition, and interpret. Second, "Writing Procedures", which encompasses: how to get words on paper efficiently and team-write. Third, "Writing Details", in which two considerations are important: how to achieve precision in the use of language and the aspects of style. Three problems in style are cited: the problem of sentence transition, overuse of attributive adjectives, and verbosity in paragraph structure. The most important thing in technical writing is considered to be functionality, economy and clarity.

Smith, F. R.↗

Industry needs for silicon crystals and standards

The trend of the device fabrication industry requirement for larger crystals is reviewed. The ranges of properties and uniformities measurement standards needed for resistivity (four-point probe and spreading resistance) and for the chemical composition of oxygen and carbon impurities are presented.

Benson, K. E.↗

The small community solar thermal power experiment. Parabolic dish technology for industrial process heat application

Aspects of incorporating a thermal energy transport system (ETS) into a field of parabolic dish collectors for industrial process heat (IPH) applications were investigated. Specific objectives are to: (1) verify the mathematical optimization of pipe diameters and insulation thicknesses calculated by a computer code; (2) verify the cost model for pipe network costs using conventional pipe network construction; (3) develop a design and the associated production costs for incorporating risers and downcomers on a low cost concentrator (LCC); (4) investigate the cost reduction of using unconventional pipe construction technology. The pipe network design and costs for a particular IPH application, specifically solar thermally enhanced oil recovery (STEOR) are analyzed. The application involves the hybrid operation of a solar powered steam generator in conjunction with a steam generator using fossil fuels to generate STEOR steam for wells. It is concluded that the STEOR application provides a baseline pipe network geometry used for optimization studies of pipe diameter and insulation thickness, and for development of comparative cost data, and operating parameters for the design of riser/downcomer modifications to the low cost concentrator.

Polzien, R. E.↗

CAD/CAM approach to improving industry productivity gathers momentum

Recent results and planning for the NASA/industry Integrated Programs for Aerospace-Vehicle Design (IPAD) program for improving productivity with CAD/CAM methods are outlined. The industrial group work is being mainly done by Boeing, and progress has been made in defining the designer work environment, developing requirements and a preliminary design for a future CAD/CAM system, and developing CAD/CAM technology. The work environment was defined by conducting a detailed study of a reference design process, and key software elements for a CAD/CAM system have been defined, specifically for interactive design or experiment control processes. Further work is proceeding on executive, data management, geometry and graphics, and general utility software, and dynamic aspects of the programs being developed are outlined

Fulton, R. E.↗

Technology transfer - LSA project to industry

Program goals, procedural steps, and examples of different situations encountered in the Low-cost Solar Array (LSA) project managed at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in conjunction with industrial contractors are outlined. The project is intended to result in the production-ready status of photovoltaic panels which produce power at $.70/peak W by 1986. The first phase of the program identified materials and processes which were promising for further development. Phase II served to correct steps and materials which did not work and were important to the array processing. The third phase will bring the processes to technical readiness by demonstration of successful fabrication of modules at a scale which can be increased to commercial production. An information exchange is ongoing between manufacturers and the JPL to alter specific steps which yield results which vary from those found in the laboratory when transferred to the factory.

Gallagher, B. D.↗

Controlling Industrial Noise

Handbook gives basic comprehensive information on noise in industrial environments. Intended to aid engineers in understanding measuring and controlling noise whether or not they have experiences in acoustics.

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Further industrial tests of ceramic thermal barrier coatings

The NASA Lewis Research Center made technical assistance arrangements (contracts) with several commercial organizations under which Lewis designed plasma-sprayed thermal-barrier coatings (TBC) for their products. Lewis was then furnished with the test conditions and evaluations of coating usefulness. The coating systems were developed and sprayed at Lewis. All of the systems incorporated a two-layer, ceramic-bond coating concept. Coating thickness and chemical composition were varied to fit three applications: the leading edges of first-stage turbine vanes for an advanced gas turbine engine; the flame impingement surfaces of a combustor transition section; and diesel engine valves and head surfaces. The TBC incorporated yytria-stabilized zirconia, which lowered metal temperatures, protected metal parts, and increased metal part life. In some cases metal burning, melting, and warping were eliminated. Additional benefits were realized from these endeavors: hands-on experience with thermal-barrier coatings was provided to industry; the success of these endeavors encourages these and other organizations to accelerate the implementation of TBC technology.

Liebert, C. H.↗

Panel discussions: Industrial support sector requirements

Industrial support was the subject of a panel discussion on solar energy technology. Members of various energy-related businesses and agencies were present. Topics cofered include: (1) solar collectors; (2) solar energy policy; (3) government/industry relations; and (4) economic factors which influence the use of solar energy.

Washom, B.↗

Assessment of critical-fluid extractions in the process industries

The potential for critical-fluid extraction as a separation process for improving the productive use of energy in the process industries is assessed. Critical-fluid extraction involves the use of fluids, normally gaseous at ambient conditions, as extraction solvents at temperatures and pressures around the critical point. Equilibrium and kinetic properties in this regime are very favorable for solvent applications, and generally allow major reductions in the energy requirements for separating and purifying chemical component of a mixture.

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