November 7, 2010
The Age reports that Qantas has removed three more Rolls Royce Trent 900 engines on A380’s parked in Sydney and Los Angeles after putting them through 8 hour tests recommended by Rolls Royce.
Engine trouble: An Airbus A380's Rolls-Royce engine. Photo: Reuters via The Age
QANTAS has found issues with three more Rolls-Royce engines on its grounded Airbus A380 fleet that have required their removal from the wings, dashing the prospect of an early return to the skies.
Two of the engines taken off for closer inspection were on an A380 parked in Sydney and one is from a craft in Los Angeles. They were removed after the eight-hour tests Rolls-Royce recommended for each engine after the fleet was grounded.
The airline has one A380 in Singapore under investigation, one in Germany for servicing, one in Sydney and three in Los Angeles undergoing checks in the wake of the mid-air engine explosion last Thursday.
While Qantas will not say what the nature of the engine issues are, or whether the three engines are being examined for the same or different matters, the concern was sufficient to warrant their removal from the wings.
There is a disturbing silence from Rolls Royce and also from Singapore Airlines and Lufthansa who with Qantas use Trent 900’s on their A 380 aircraft.
Tags: Airbus A380, Qantas, Rolls Royce, Trent 900 failures
Posted in Australia, Aviation, Engineering, Technology | 1 Comment »
November 7, 2010
Borobudur Temple: Image via Wikipedia
Update from CNN:
The death toll from recent eruptions at Indonesia’s Mount Merapi continues to rise as the volcano spewed hot ash clouds and gas on Sunday. At least 156 people have died since Merapi started erupting on October 26. Ash columns reached as high as 6 kilometers (3.7 miles), according to the Indonesian Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation Agency.
The Borobudur temple lies about 45 km from Mount Merapi and is currently covered with ash which is being painstakingly cleared.
Employees of Borobudur temple on Sunday were working to keep the historic site from being damaged by the thick black ash that has fallen from nearby Mount Merapi’s eruption.
Karyono, a parking lot employee who has been working there since 1986, was taking the ash off the driveway and the parking lot. Using a small iron shovel, he and his 10 coworkers were squatting and painstakingly taking the ash away in buckets.Karyono said that he has been cleaning since Saturday and piling up the ashes to be dumped elsewhere.
While the cleanup operation continues, the famous temple is closed to visitors from Nov. 5 to 9.
Mount Merapi unleashed nearly 50 million cubic meters of gas, rocks and ash on Friday, its most powerful eruption in a century.
Up to 138 people have now died on Merapi’s slopes in the past ten days of eruptions and gas cloud ash emissions.
Authorities charged with conserving the temple say that
ash up to 3-centimetres deep has covered it and the acidity could erode the temple’s stones. They believe that if the ash it is not cleared away quickly it will accelerate the decay of the stones. The monument comprises six square platforms topped by three circular platforms, and is decorated with 2,672 relief panels and 504 Buddha statues. A main dome, located at the center of the top platform, is surrounded by 72 Buddha statues seated inside perforated stupa. The monument is both a shrine to the Lord Buddha and a place for Buddhist pilgrimage. The journey for pilgrims begins at the base of the monument and follows a path circumambulating the monument while ascending to the top through the three levels of Buddhist cosmology, namely Kāmadhātu (the world of desire), Rupadhatu (the world of forms) and Arupadhatu (the world of formlessness). During the journey the monument guides the pilgrims through a system of stairways and corridors with 1,460 narrative relief panels on the wall and the balustrades. Officials however confirm that over the next few days they will be conducting a technical evaluation for the cleaning process. The temple was again closed down for visitors temporarily after volcanic ash covered it following the Merapi volcano’s powerful eruptions on Friday. When the cleanup is completed visitors will be allowed to visit the site early next week – but they will still not be permitted to climb up to the temple.
Evidence suggests Borobudur was abandoned following the 14th-century decline of Buddhist and Hindu kingdoms in Java, and the Javanese conversion to Islam. Worldwide knowledge of its existence was sparked in 1814 by Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, then the British ruler of Java, who was advised of its location by native Indonesians. Borobudur has since been preserved through several restorations. The largest restoration project was undertaken between 1975 and 1982 by the Indonesian government and UNESCO, following which the monument was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is still used for pilgrimage; once a year Buddhists in Indonesia celebrate Vesak at the monument. Borobudur remains Indonesia’s single most visited tourist attraction.
Since Borobudur was built sometime in the 9th Century it has probably seen – and survived – over one hundred eruptions from Mount Merapi in the following 1200 years. Mount Merapi is Indonesia’s most active volcano and has certainly been erupting regularly at least since 8000 BC. Since 1548 written eruption records are available but earlier eruptions are inferred.
Mount Merapi as seen from Borobudur: image ghumakkar.com
Tags: Borobudur Temple, Central Java, Earth Sciences, Indonesia, Mount Merapi, Volcanoes
Posted in Environment, Geosciences, Indonesia, Volcanos | Comments Off on Borobodur Temple covered by Merapi volcano ash
November 7, 2010
Guiyang-skyline: Image via Wikipedia
Xinhua reports on a diesel shortage because electricity consumers are forced to use diesel generators as authorities shut down power generation to reach “emissions targets”. Needless to say the emissions from the diesel generators are a lot worse than the forced power shut-downs they replace!
An unprecedented diesel shortage is sweeping through Chinese cities, as numerous enterprises have to resort to diesel fuel to generate electricity to continue operation during periods of forced power outages. Local governments are rushing to switch off electricity as part of their commitment to the central government on energy conservation and emissions reductions.
However, the blackouts have apparently led to the linking effect of the diesel shortage. Long queues of cars and even “Sold-out” signs at gas stations are increasingly common scenes in many cities. Additionally, the market monitoring of the China Chamber of Commerce for the Petroleum Industry has acknowledged that more than 2,000 privately-owned gas stations in southern China had shut down due to their not having diesel fuel to sell.
During the period of the 11th Five-Year Plan (2006-2010), China sought to reduce energy consumption per GDP unit by 20 percent. In the first four years of the 11th five-year plan, a 15.6 percent reduction (compared to between year 2005 and year 2009) was reached. But energy consumption per unit of GDP increased 0.09 percent in the first half of 2010, year on year. In a hurry to meet their regional targets assigned by the central government, many local governments chose the blackout method for enterprises in the remaining two months. This method quickly spread to many provinces around China.
In Wenzhou city of Zhejiang Province, with China’s most prosperous private economy, power supplies for some enterprises will be cut for two to four days following one day with electricity. “My company’s electricity consumption is about 150,000 kw-hr, but the local government’s allotment is only 60,000 kw-hr.” said the owner of an export-oriented farm products deep-processing company, who only gave his surname, Ye. Just as is being done by many of his peers, Ye had to purchase a diesel generator with 200,000 yuan (about 30,000 U.S. dollars). It will cost him an additional 10,000 yuan (about 1,500 U.S. dollars) to generate electricity, twice the normal cost for electricity.
“The irrational blackout policy by some local governments is contrary to the energy conservation and emissions reduction target as was set by China’s 11th Five-Year Plan,” said Dr.Zhang Jianyu, China Program manager of the U.S. Environmental Defense Fund. Also, more emissions and fuel consumption might be produced by the diesel generators. “The blackout is not a wise choice. What the local governments need to do now is to pay attention to change the mode of economic growth with high efficiency and low energy consumption,” said Zhong Yongsheng, deputy director of the Center for China’s Urban-Rural Development Studies.
Environmentalism gone mad.
Tags: Air pollution, China, diesel use, emissions, forced power outages
Posted in Air pollution, China, Energy, Environment | Comments Off on China: Cutting power generation to cut emissions makes things worse
November 7, 2010
The Telegraph today carries the story that the Eurofighter Typhoon came out best in the technical and flight evaluation just completed for the Indian M-MRCA contract for 126 fighters worth about 11 billion $. However the Telegraph’s conclusion that
The European-made Typhoon fighter is winning the fight for the $11.5bn (£7.1bn) contract to supply 126 fighters to the Indian Air Force in a deal worth $5 billion and 2,000 new jobs to Britain.
is a little premature.
In a recent interview Air Chief Marshal Pradeep Naik Chief of Air Staff said
The IAF has completed the Field Evaluation Trials on all six M-MRCA aircraft and has submitted its Staff Evaluation Report to MoD for further processing.The likely time frame for completion of various activities before the contract is signed is about 6-8 months. So, we expect the contract to be signed by March 2011.
Now begin the strategic evaluations and these include a number of different levels of nested strategies. In addition to the IAF’s own views of what is required in its goals of becoming a Strategic rather than a Tactical Air Force and the mix of aircraft required for that, come the strategic requirements of the Armed Forces as a whole including the views of the Army and Navy not only for tactical support needs but also including the Navy’s carrier based fighter requirements. The Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Finance are obviously involved together with the Prime Ministers Office (PMO) in the highest level of strategic evaluation of the National Interests. The initial costs, life-cycle costs and operating costs are all separate parameters in the final evaluation. Then the impacts of future jobs, technology transfer, development of indigenous capabilities and National political aspirations come into play here.
The reason I believe that the Telegraph story is a little too optimistic about the EurofighterTyphoon’s chances is that the “Medium” representing the first “M” of M-MRCA (Medium Multi Role Combat Aircraft) is a critical factor. In the “Heavy” class India has the Russian Su-30MKI, which is under series production at HAL in Nasik, India. The Heavy class will probably represent about 60% of India’s combat aircraft for some time to come. The need for a “Medium” fighter comes about because most of India’s MIG 21s are obsolete and “life-expired” and the IAF only has some 50 Mirage 2000s which are a decade old. The indigenous Light Combat Aircraft which was to have replaced the MIG 21s is a long way behind schedule and has not yet resolved all its technical issues. It is the need for around 15 -20% of the IAF’s combat aircraft being in the “Medium” class which generates the 126 fighters required in the current contract. The winner of this contract is likely to then sell another 80 -100 aircraft in a second phase.
The Eurofighter Typhoon and the French Rafale at around 24,000 kg maximum weight are close to the level that would be classed as “Heavy”. The aircraft coming closest to meeting the Indian definition of “Medium” are Lockheed Martin’s F-16 IN Super Viper and the Swedish Saab Gripen IN and they have both been configured specifically for the IAF.
JAS Gripen Image via Wikipedia
Political considerations cannot be ignored and this gives the F-16 an edge even though there can be a perception issue since the F-16 is the mainstay of the Pakistani Air Force and the IAF must be seen to be getting something superior to that supplied to the Pakistan Air Force. The Swedish fighter may actually be closest to Indian requirements but bears the political burden of the Bofors affaire and the perception issues in India that domestic Swedish politics may suddenly intrude into a long term supply arrangement which must last for some 30 years.
The Eurofighter cannot be dismissed but my top three at this stage would be:
- Lockheed Martin F-16 IN Super Viper
- Saab Gripen IN, and
- Eurofighter Typhoon.
But there are many angles to be looked at and there is a very long way to go before the contract is awarded in March 2011.
Tags: Eurofighter Typhoon, Indian MRCA competition, JAS 39 Gripen, Lockheed Martin F-16, M-MRCA competition, Saab Gripen IN
Posted in Aviation, Defense, India, Technology | 5 Comments »
November 6, 2010
Jökulhlaup from Grímsvötn subsides
The earlier concern about meltwater flooding from the Grimsvotn glacial lake in Iceland which could have signalled that the volcano underneath was about to erupt has subsided.
Figure 1. The jökulhlaup from Grímsvötn: image vedur.is
The jökulhlaup (glacial outburst flood) from Grímsvötn that began near the end of October is now coming to an end. The flood reached a maximum level shortly after noon on November 3, and scientists from IMO visited the site on that day to study the effects of the flood on the region adjacent to the ice margin. Two IMO technicians have performed regular discharge measurements on the bridge over the river Gígjukvísl throughout this week (Figure 1) and the results from their measurements are shown in Figure 2.
Figure 2. Discharge (m3/s) measurements at Gígjukvísl bridge: From the curve the total amount of floodwater is estimated 0.45 km3
The discharge curve is typical for jökulhlaups from Grímsvötn that do not result from volcanic activity: Over the course of several days, the amount of water flowing through an ice tunnel at the glacier bed steadily increases. Loss of frictional heat from the floodwater causes melting of the tunnel walls, thereby increasing the flow capacity of the tunnel.
In past centuries, most jökulhlaups from Grímsvötn have entered the course of the river Skeiðará. This time, however, floodwater that emerged from beneath the eastern part of the glacier went westwards along the glacier margin and then entered the river Gígjukvísl. Skeiðará has deposited very large amounts of sediment on the eastern part of Skeiðarársandur plains over the centuries, increasing the elevation of the sandur area there relative to the central part. In addition, the glacier has carved a trench during times of advance. Thus, it was clear that retreat of the glacier over the past 15 years would sooner or later lead to a drastic shift in the direction of meltwater flow from this part of the glacier. In the summer of 2009, this shift occurred and water has ceased to enter the course of Skeiðará.
Tags: Flood, Glacier, Grímsvötn, Iceland, Volcano
Posted in Environment, Iceland, Natural Disasters | Comments Off on Iceland volcano watch stands down
November 6, 2010
Mount Merapi volcano lies 431 km from Jakarta. But the continuing eruptions over the last two weeks have pumped sufficient ash sufficiently high into the atmosphere that flights to Jakarta are beginning to be cancelled. Flights to Yogyakarta, the nearest large airport to Mount Merapi, were suspended a few days ago.
The Guardian reports:
Several airlines have suspended flights into Indonesia’s capital Jakarta after Mount Merapi’s worst eruption in a century spewed volcanic ash up to five miles (8km) into the air.
The move came as number of people killed by Mount Merapi in the last two weeks climbed to 138 after the volcano unleashed a surge of searing gas yesterday that torched houses and trees and incinerated villagers.
Officials at Singapore Airlines, Japan Airlines, Malaysia Airlines, Lufthansa, Cathay Pacific and AirAsia fear the ash is a safety threat and could damage aircraft.
“The volcanic ash presence in the airways surrounding Jakarta could cause severe damage to our aircraft and engines which could impair the safety of our operations including passengers and crew,” said Azharuddin Osman, director of operations for Malaysia Airlines.
Lightning strikes as Mount Merapi volcano erupted today, spewing out towering clouds of hot gas and debris, as seen from Ketep village in Magelang, Indonesia's Central Java province. Photograph: Beawiharta/Reuters
Tags: ash clouds, flight cancellations, Indonesia, Mount Merapi, Volcano
Posted in Air pollution, Aviation, Environment, Indonesia, Natural Disasters | Comments Off on Mount Merapi ash cloud leads to cancellation of flights to Jakarta
November 6, 2010
Reuters:
President Barack Obama announced $10 billion in business deals on Saturday as he arrived in India to boost U.S. exports and jobs after a mauling in mid-term polls, but he ran into immediate controversy over Pakistan. Obama flew into Mumbai, India’s financial hub, and announced the United States would also relax export controls over sensitive technology, a demand of India’s that will help deepen U.S. ties with the emerging global power and its trillion dollar economy.
Obama’s first act was to pay tribute to victims of the 2008 Mumbai attacks, but he was criticized for making no reference to India’s traditional foe Pakistan, which New Delhi blames for harboring anti-India militants. Pakistan-based militants killed 166 people in a 60-hour rampage through India’s financial hub, gunning down their victims at luxury hotels, a train station and a Jewish center. India says elements in the Pakistan state were behind the attacks.
But Obama’s trip is also about business, with China now ahead of the United States in trade with India. The $10 billion in deals will support 54,000 jobs in the United States, White House aide Michael Froman said. The White House also announced Obama would support India’s membership of four global non-proliferation organizations, a move that will reassure New Delhi — left out of these groups after its 1998 nuclear tests — that Washington is recognizing its global clout.
He spends the night at the The Taj Hotel and flies to Delhi tomorrow afternoon. I expect a few more contracts to be settled with the 215 strong corporate leaders who make up the accompanying business delegation.
Tags: India, Obama visit to India, United States
Posted in Business, India, Technology, US | Comments Off on Obama in India: day 1: 10 billion $ of contracts worth 54,000 jobs in US
November 6, 2010
Between August 30th and November 5th there have been at least 4 engine incidents involving a Rolls Royce engine causing a shut down of one engine and an emergency landing.
- August 30th QF 74, Boeing 747-400, RR RB211-524 engines, returned to San Francisco after one engine exploded, holes found in engine casing
- September 28th, SQ 333, A380-800, RR Trent 900 engines, returned to Paris after one engine failed, two and a half hours after take-off.
- November 4th, QF32, A380, Trent 900 engines, return to Singapore after one engine exploded over Batam shortly after take-off
- November 5th, QF6, Boeing 747-400, RR RB 211-524 engines, returned to Changi, Singapore after one engine failed shortly after take-off.
Four incidents with engine failure in just over two months is quite out of the ordinary. All incidents involve Rolls Royce engines, three incidents involve Qantas aircraft, two were with Airbus A 380 aircraft and two with Boeing 747-400 jets. All of the incidents were soon after take-off (though the Singapore Airlines incident was 2.5 hours after take-off). Two of the incidents were “uncontained”, catastrophic engine failures (both Qantas) and the other two engine failures involved – by witness accounts – oil leaks and/or fires but no “uncontained explosions”. It is not clear whether in the latter 2 cases the engines were shut down or failed.
- The proximity to take-off suggests maintenance issues but two different airlines were involved (though it seems that Rolls Royce are still responsible for maintenance of the A 380 Trent 900 engines).
- Rolls Royce engines are used by many airlines and on many different aircraft types. It appears therefore that aircraft type is not the issue.
- Rolls Royce engines and perhaps some design fault (since even the RB 211 engines which failed on the Boeing 747s had some Trent features) looks like the prime culprit,
- the Rolls Royce Trent/ Qantas combination seems particularly prone to incidents.
In order of probability then the engine failure issue would seem to be caused by a Rolls Royce Trent design fault (which has then been introduced also into some of the RB 211-524’s powering the B747-400s), or some fault arising from the Qantas / RR Trent combination, or a maintenance issue specific to Rolls Royce’s maintenance organisation or a more general maintenance issue.
It is a tribute to engineers and engineering and safety standards that these 4 incidents led to no injuries whatever and were followed by perfectly safe landings even after the loss of one engine.
But a little more communication and information from Rolls Royce is called for. Singapore Airlines is also very tight with releasing any information about its incident. It is insufficient and inappropriate for Singapore Airlines to brush it off as a non-event. Lack of information only suggests something is being hidden.
And what of the Trent 1000 for the Boeing Dreamliner?
Tags: Airbus A380, Boeing 747, Qantas, RB 211 failure, Rolls Royce, Singapore Airlines, Trent 900 failures
Posted in Aviation, Engineering, Technology | 2 Comments »
November 6, 2010
A follow up to the post about the Channel 4 programme with environmentalists beating their breasts is this very succinct cartoon from Josh which encapsulates the whole story very nicely:
Tags: Alarmism, environment, Greens, Science
Posted in Alarmism, Environment, Science | Comments Off on “What the Green Movement got wrong” (cont’d)
November 6, 2010
The Times of India carries a smug story about President Obama’s visit to India which starts today:
President Barack Obama hasn’t been able to drive down unemployment in America, so he’s coming to India in search of US jobs. Four days after his party suffered heavy, economy-influenced losses in Congress, the president will arrive Saturday in Mumbai, India’s booming financial center, where he will meet with local business leaders and with American executives who have traveled to India in search of billions of dollars in trade deals.
The White House hopes to announce agreements on aircraft and other exports. The administration says that jobs and the US economy are the focus of Obama’s 10-day Asia trip, a message aimed at inoculating him against any criticism that he is concentrating on foreign affairs while Americans are suffering with unemployment at 9.6 percent. He left Washington shortly after the government reported the economy added 151,000 jobs in October but still not enough to lower the jobless rate.
Obama will be speaking to a gathering of Indian and American chief executives on Saturday, and he’s expected to announce the completion of job-producing commercial deals. The US has been looking for India to finalize purchases of Boeing aircraft and marine engines produced by Caterpillar, among other exports. However, serious disagreements remain, and they appear unlikely to be resolved during Obama’s visit.
President Obama will arrive in New Delhi with his largest business delegation ever to a country. The 215-member team of US business leaders will be looking to deepen commercial ties with India. Mr Obama will also address India’s Parliament – only the second US president to do so after Bill Clinton. India is hoping for an announcement on the lifting of nuclear curbs during the visit. New Delhi has long lobbied for Washington to allow the sale of sensitive technology that was denied to the country after it conducted a nuclear test.
Taj Hotel, Mumbai: Wikimedia Commons
The US wish list includes Defence agreements worth $ 12 billion among contracts creating upto 60,000 jobs in the US, verification processes for Indian nuclear plants and Indian promises for more market access.
On Saturday night President Obama will stay at the Taj Hotel in Mumbai which was the target of the terror attack on 26th November 2008 where 173 people were killed. India will be looking for the US support for Pakistan to be less forgiving of the terrorist training camps in Pakistan.
Tags: Barack Obama, India, Jobs, Taj Hotel, United State
Posted in Business, India, International Trade, US | Comments Off on Obama travels to India looking to boost US jobs
