Yesterday was my last day of work at Multimatic. I'm headed back to school for an MBA at the Queen's School of Business. I'd only been at MTC (Multimatic Technical Centre) for a year...a year and two days exactly. It's a decent place to work, there a lot of highly capable people and I got along with almost everyone. In terms of Mechanical Engineering, there aren't many other places that have the capabilities that they have. Their core business is automotive hinges, but they're also into race cars, high end sports cars, and the occasional sailboat.
I got to work on an interesting project relating to European automotive standards for head impact protection in the event that a car hits a pedestrian or a bicyclist. The basic idea is that the hood of the car would be designed to absorb the energy of the impact of the victim's head as a method to reduce head trauma or fatalities. You can read more about it here.
In terms of design, there are two ways of achieving this goal. You can design a passive "soft" system where the hinge, supporting structure, and the hood buckle under the impact of the victim's head. The other method is to design an active system where the car has sensors on the front bumper to detect a collision and an active lift system where the hood is raised by about 50-150mm at the hinges. This youtube video shows the implementation of the system on a current Jaguar vehicle (EUMatic is a European division of Multimatic and they produce the hinges for Jaguar).
The project I worked on was an active system that was already in development, but I was tasked with designing a hinge system proposal for a future European version of the Chrysler 300. Instead of airbags or other pyrotechnic devices for lifting the hood, the system I was working on used gas struts. The central idea is that in the event of a false deployment (faulty sensor or impact with a garbage can or other inanimate object), the driver could just manually reset the system by opening the hood and continue driving. Currently, a false deployment with the Jaguar system would mean that the driver would have to call for a tow truck and have the hinges/hood/airbags replaced...pretty costly. The Multimatic system would protect against that.
I can't go into details about the project, but it was a really good learning experience. The workload was heavy but interesting. I did some pretty neat kinematics on the design side (something akin to this), had three quarters of the analysis department work on the strength and dynamics of the system, and got to be part of a technical review at the Chrysler Technical Centre in Auburn Hills, Michigan.
Unfortunately, even though the Chrysler engineers loved our system from a technical standpoint, the price tag was a little to high for their liking. The last I heard was that our system was around US$50 more per system than the next competitor. That came out to around US$6M more for the entire vehicle program. They went with a supplier that offered a non-resetting pyrotechnic system.
My last design task was to design some demo fixtures of the GM Tech World show where GM invited a select number of suppliers to show case their technologies. One of the demo fixtures was for the active system using a Saab 93 hood. It was really cool seeing the system in action...the fixture literally jumped of the floor. Pretty dramatic! It'll be interesting to hear about the reactions of the GM people.
In the end though, as interesting as that work was, I decided that it was time to move on to something different. Pursuing an MBA was a step that I need to take to get to do the kind of work that I'd grown more interested in. I'll write more about the thoughts that went to that decision in another post...
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
About Biodiesel...
I've been reading a lot about Biodiesel lately in terms of an alternative energy source. It's attractive since it's a closed loop cycle type of fuel. Vegetable oil from plants like Rapeseed (Canola), Peanut, and Soybean can be converted into a fuel suitable for running in diesel engines. Rudolph Diesel, the German inventor of the engine, initially ran his engine on peanut oil in the very early 1900s. With the advent of cheap petroleum, diesel fuel extracted from crude oil was more cost effective to run in these engines.
You can read about the benefits of a diesel engine here.
Biodiesel seems to be gaining in popularity with the current rise in gasoline prices (As of today, crude oil goes for about US$120 per barrel). There seems to be a grassroots movement for home made biodiesel fuel, a Youtube search for biodiesel shows a lot of instructional videos on how to make it.
CBC Marketplace has a good article about the fuel. Canada Clean Fuels is a Canadian company that distributes biodiesel and their website has a lot of good information about the benefits and drawbacks of using the fuel. Other good resources can be found here, here, and here.
As I understand it the main benefits and drawbacks are as follows:
Benefits
Drawbacks
In a previous post about Tim Flannery, I mentioned a Canadian company called Dynamotive and their process for producing Bio-oil through pyrolysis. I started wondering if the Bio-oil could be used to make Biodiesel. That way the process has a double effect on removing CO2 from the atmosphere: carbon sequestration and reduced tailpipe emissions. Maybe that was their original intent with their business idea.
I also started thinking that a series hybrid vehicle with a small efficient diesel engine generator would be a relatively simple car to develop. This sort of solution has already been implemented for locomotive engines and buses (see here and here).
Maybe it's just a matter of time before this type of solution is implemented economically for passenger cars. I guess we just have to be a little more patient...
You can read about the benefits of a diesel engine here.
Biodiesel seems to be gaining in popularity with the current rise in gasoline prices (As of today, crude oil goes for about US$120 per barrel). There seems to be a grassroots movement for home made biodiesel fuel, a Youtube search for biodiesel shows a lot of instructional videos on how to make it.
CBC Marketplace has a good article about the fuel. Canada Clean Fuels is a Canadian company that distributes biodiesel and their website has a lot of good information about the benefits and drawbacks of using the fuel. Other good resources can be found here, here, and here.
As I understand it the main benefits and drawbacks are as follows:
Benefits
- The carbon contained within the fuel is extracted from the atmosphere by the plants harvested for the fuel. No carbon is transferred from underground storage (petroluem) to the atmosphere.
- Pure bisdiesel (B100) burned in a diesel engine has significantly lower CO2 emissions that current gasoline engines.
- Engines run with biodiesel run cleaner and more efficiently. They also last longer and require less maintenance than when run with petro-diesel. Biodiesel does not contain the substances that can gum up an engine.
- Lower cost fuel.
Drawbacks
- Increased NOx emissions. These can be offset with good catalytic converters.
- Poor cold weather performance. Biodiesel becomes very viscous and can freeze at the cold temperatures that Canada experiences in the winter. Blending biodiesel with petro-diesel can alleviate this problem.
- Large areas of agricultural land will need to be devoted to growing the plants needed for large scale fuel production.
- Not readily available at gas pumps
- There aren't a lot of passenger vehicles that have diesel engines. Volkswagen is at the forefront with the Turbo Diesel Injection engines (TDI)
In a previous post about Tim Flannery, I mentioned a Canadian company called Dynamotive and their process for producing Bio-oil through pyrolysis. I started wondering if the Bio-oil could be used to make Biodiesel. That way the process has a double effect on removing CO2 from the atmosphere: carbon sequestration and reduced tailpipe emissions. Maybe that was their original intent with their business idea.
I also started thinking that a series hybrid vehicle with a small efficient diesel engine generator would be a relatively simple car to develop. This sort of solution has already been implemented for locomotive engines and buses (see here and here).
Maybe it's just a matter of time before this type of solution is implemented economically for passenger cars. I guess we just have to be a little more patient...
More on politics...
Since I my last post was about politics and I criticized a website making fun of Stephane Dion, I figured it's only fair to post something from the other side...
I came across this site while searching for recent politics news:
www.gettingthejobdone.ca
While the site isn't as bad as the one mentioned in my previous post, it still lacks integrity and class. Considering that no one has taken credit for the site other than a link to an obscure email address, I can only assume that one of the opposition parties put it together.
If you are going to say something bad about someone and publish it online, have the courage to sign it and own up to it. It will be refreshing to get a sense of accountability and integrity from our political leaders...
I came across this site while searching for recent politics news:
www.gettingthejobdone.ca
While the site isn't as bad as the one mentioned in my previous post, it still lacks integrity and class. Considering that no one has taken credit for the site other than a link to an obscure email address, I can only assume that one of the opposition parties put it together.
If you are going to say something bad about someone and publish it online, have the courage to sign it and own up to it. It will be refreshing to get a sense of accountability and integrity from our political leaders...
Sunday, April 13, 2008
In bad taste...
I follow politics fairly closely and I've tried to avoid getting too political on this blog. I recently browsed through the website of the Conservative Party and found this:
notaleader.ca
I find this distasteful, lacking originality, and an example of poor leadership.
Devoting a whole website to criticize and make fun of a person is something that losers do. It also shows poor sportsmanship and lacks class.
Any monkey can criticize (I'm doing it right now). I don't understand how this sort of stuff attracts people to your point of view. Using the same bad picture for Stephane Dion over and over also shows laziness and a lack of creativity. The dog blog isn't even remotely funny.
I agree that Stephane Dion and the Liberal party have been disappointing thus far, but this sort of thing shouldn't be tolerated for very long. Trashing somebody else isn't good leadership. Coming up with a coherent and thoughtful vision for Canada's future and getting the voting public to buy into that vision is true leadership. So far, I don't see any of that in any of our political parties.
notaleader.ca
I find this distasteful, lacking originality, and an example of poor leadership.
Devoting a whole website to criticize and make fun of a person is something that losers do. It also shows poor sportsmanship and lacks class.
Any monkey can criticize (I'm doing it right now). I don't understand how this sort of stuff attracts people to your point of view. Using the same bad picture for Stephane Dion over and over also shows laziness and a lack of creativity. The dog blog isn't even remotely funny.
I agree that Stephane Dion and the Liberal party have been disappointing thus far, but this sort of thing shouldn't be tolerated for very long. Trashing somebody else isn't good leadership. Coming up with a coherent and thoughtful vision for Canada's future and getting the voting public to buy into that vision is true leadership. So far, I don't see any of that in any of our political parties.
Review: Tim Flannery in Toronto
Since I posted an ad about it here, I went to the Tim Flannery's lecture here in Toronto with a couple of friends. I read his book a while ago so I was looking forward to hearing him speak in person.
Bridget Stutchbury spoke first about how pesticides in South American countries affect the birds that migrate between North and South America. I have to admit that I didn't find her lecture all that interesting. It seemed like she wasn't used to speaking in public and was a little nervous. Focusing on such a small aspect of the overall environmental problem seems a little short-sighted to me. Helping South American farmers produce healthy and profitable crops without the use of costly pesticides is a solution that will save the birds as well as help poorer people prosper. Ms. Stutchbury didn't touch on that aspect other than saying that people should drink shade-grown coffee. It's a good idea, but it seems a little shallow to me.
The after effects of dinner and this first part of the lecture got me a little drowsy. By the time Mr. Flannery actually got up to speak I was ready for nap. I did get a little shut eye at the beginning of his lecture but kept listening to what he was saying. I woke up from my little power nap when he got to the pithy part of his lecture. He touched on a few interesting ideas:
Electric Cars
He noted an interesting project in Denmark regarding electric cars. It's something to keep an eye on to see if it really works or not. The cars being used seem to be production cars retrofitted with batteries and an electric motor. He mentioned the idea of a removable battery pack to work around the long charging time of the batteries and tax holidays for electric vehicles (no tax for a certain amount of time).
Carbon Sequestration via Pyrolysis
Pyrolysis is basically the process for making charcoal where organic matter is heated with the absence of oxygen. The particular application that Mr. Flannery talked about was regarding biochar. You can read more about it here and here. This is how I understand the process:
A Canadian company, Dynamotive, is involved in this process; although the focus seems to be the production of biofuels where the biochar is a waste product. I should also point out that hydrogen is one of the gases produced in the pyrolysis of organic matter. It could be siphoned off and used in a fuel cell to generate electricity for use in the pyrolysis process or for feeding the electricity grid.
Political Leadership
Mr. Flannery didn't have much good to say about the environmental policies of our current government. He criticized their approach in promoting emission intensity caps rather than overall emission caps (see here for a brief description of the difference). He mentioned that he was at the Bali conference but was more critical of the American efforts and didn't really touch on the performance of our current government. He went on to explain the political change in Australia and how the environment was a central theme to the election and played a part in defeating the government lead by John Howard (see here or here).
He also mentioned the political leadership in China where the government is starting to see the economic benefits of a more sustainable energy system using cleaner energy sources. He highlighted that China is on its way to developing auto emission standards that were stricter than the US CAFE standards. The potential implication is that cars made in China could be sold here in North America, but North American cars could not be sold in China simply because they wouldn't meet the Chinese emission standards. He also pointed out that the different levels of government there are starting to be measured by their societal and environmental performance along with their economic performance.
It's rare to hear praise for China these days, but as I mentioned in my review of the PBS E-squared series, once the Chinese political leadership decides to do something, they don't take very long to go about doing it.
not so great ideas...
Mr. Flannery briefly talked about a concept where some villagers in the Amazon belt could be paid for not developing their land as part of some sort of carbon credit trading system. I just don't see it happening. Basically, those villagers would end up getting paid for doing nothing...can't see many people agreeing to that.
Alberta Tar Sands
He confessed that he didn't know much about the topic. He did say that it didn't make much sense that we only pay around $1.10/litre for gasoline when it gets extracted from Alberta, trucked down to Texas, refined there, and then trucked back up here. He just said that if a free market approach was taken and subsidies for oil companies were removed, renewable energy sources would provide a very real and competitive alternative to fossil fuels.
The question period at the end of the lecture was interesting as well. Some of the members of the audience mentioned switching to Bullfrog Power for the electricity. Incidentally, my buddy Alex was there with me and he works for Bullfrog in business development.
Overall, the lecture was pretty good, well worth the $25 ticket price. Mr. Flannery's passion for the subject is easy to see. From my engineering perspective, the ideas he presented were intriguing and I started thinking about how they could be successfully implemented in practice. It'll be interesting how some of technologies develop and if they actually get adopted by governments and industries.
Bridget Stutchbury spoke first about how pesticides in South American countries affect the birds that migrate between North and South America. I have to admit that I didn't find her lecture all that interesting. It seemed like she wasn't used to speaking in public and was a little nervous. Focusing on such a small aspect of the overall environmental problem seems a little short-sighted to me. Helping South American farmers produce healthy and profitable crops without the use of costly pesticides is a solution that will save the birds as well as help poorer people prosper. Ms. Stutchbury didn't touch on that aspect other than saying that people should drink shade-grown coffee. It's a good idea, but it seems a little shallow to me.
The after effects of dinner and this first part of the lecture got me a little drowsy. By the time Mr. Flannery actually got up to speak I was ready for nap. I did get a little shut eye at the beginning of his lecture but kept listening to what he was saying. I woke up from my little power nap when he got to the pithy part of his lecture. He touched on a few interesting ideas:
Electric Cars
He noted an interesting project in Denmark regarding electric cars. It's something to keep an eye on to see if it really works or not. The cars being used seem to be production cars retrofitted with batteries and an electric motor. He mentioned the idea of a removable battery pack to work around the long charging time of the batteries and tax holidays for electric vehicles (no tax for a certain amount of time).
Carbon Sequestration via Pyrolysis
Pyrolysis is basically the process for making charcoal where organic matter is heated with the absence of oxygen. The particular application that Mr. Flannery talked about was regarding biochar. You can read more about it here and here. This is how I understand the process:
- Plants (agricultural crops) absorb carbon dioxide as they grow.
- The carbon is used up in the plants cells.
- Waste plant matter is then collected and put through pyrolysis.
- The resultant charcoal is then buried in the agricultural soil to help retain moisture and nutrients.
- The net result is that carbon is taken out of the atmosphere and put into the ground.
A Canadian company, Dynamotive, is involved in this process; although the focus seems to be the production of biofuels where the biochar is a waste product. I should also point out that hydrogen is one of the gases produced in the pyrolysis of organic matter. It could be siphoned off and used in a fuel cell to generate electricity for use in the pyrolysis process or for feeding the electricity grid.
Political Leadership
Mr. Flannery didn't have much good to say about the environmental policies of our current government. He criticized their approach in promoting emission intensity caps rather than overall emission caps (see here for a brief description of the difference). He mentioned that he was at the Bali conference but was more critical of the American efforts and didn't really touch on the performance of our current government. He went on to explain the political change in Australia and how the environment was a central theme to the election and played a part in defeating the government lead by John Howard (see here or here).
He also mentioned the political leadership in China where the government is starting to see the economic benefits of a more sustainable energy system using cleaner energy sources. He highlighted that China is on its way to developing auto emission standards that were stricter than the US CAFE standards. The potential implication is that cars made in China could be sold here in North America, but North American cars could not be sold in China simply because they wouldn't meet the Chinese emission standards. He also pointed out that the different levels of government there are starting to be measured by their societal and environmental performance along with their economic performance.
It's rare to hear praise for China these days, but as I mentioned in my review of the PBS E-squared series, once the Chinese political leadership decides to do something, they don't take very long to go about doing it.
not so great ideas...
Mr. Flannery briefly talked about a concept where some villagers in the Amazon belt could be paid for not developing their land as part of some sort of carbon credit trading system. I just don't see it happening. Basically, those villagers would end up getting paid for doing nothing...can't see many people agreeing to that.
Alberta Tar Sands
He confessed that he didn't know much about the topic. He did say that it didn't make much sense that we only pay around $1.10/litre for gasoline when it gets extracted from Alberta, trucked down to Texas, refined there, and then trucked back up here. He just said that if a free market approach was taken and subsidies for oil companies were removed, renewable energy sources would provide a very real and competitive alternative to fossil fuels.
The question period at the end of the lecture was interesting as well. Some of the members of the audience mentioned switching to Bullfrog Power for the electricity. Incidentally, my buddy Alex was there with me and he works for Bullfrog in business development.
Overall, the lecture was pretty good, well worth the $25 ticket price. Mr. Flannery's passion for the subject is easy to see. From my engineering perspective, the ideas he presented were intriguing and I started thinking about how they could be successfully implemented in practice. It'll be interesting how some of technologies develop and if they actually get adopted by governments and industries.
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