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Advances in technology across industry

ATR and Sweden’s BRA perform first ATR biofuel flight

AN ATR 72-600 of the Swedish carrier BRA (former Braathens Regional) took off from Stockholm-Bromma in February to Umeå fueled at 45% with fossil-free used cooking oil, marking the first biofuel-powered flight of an ATR aircraft.

Thanks to its lighter structure, optimised speed and engines designed for short routes, ATR’s aircraft already demonstrates the best environmental performance in its segment. Nonetheless, ATR continues to invest in virtuous technologies and contributes to European research and development efforts to take advances in environmental performance even further. ATR encourages the use of alternative fuels and offers support to customers and local governments in developing a comprehensive business plan, from fuel selection to routing, certification and availability for seamless airline operations.

Christian Clemens, chief executive officer of BRA, declared: “Sweden is currently debating a new tax on aviation. It will have a minimal impact on emissions, and will unfortunately slow down the pace in which we can continue to make aviation more sustainable. The ATR 72-600, especially if powered by biofuel, is the optimal transportation on many of our routes and features the highest standards of environmental care.”

Christian Scherer, chief executive officer of ATR, declared: “Today’s challenge is to get a large-scale production of biofuels at affordable costs while avoiding a negative impact on the environment. Swedish airlines like BRA can take advantage of the massive expansion of its forests, along with the operation of fuel-efficient turboprops, to reach the ambitious goal of halving their CO2 emissions by 2025.” Visit: www.atr-aircraft.com

Gas imaging makes quantum leap with a single pixel

New technology which could offer the oil and gas industry a cheaper way to visualise methane gas is taking one step closer to becoming commercially available. In a paper published in the journal Optics Express, researchers from the University of Glasgow’s School of Physics and Astronomy and Scottish photonics company M Squared Lasers describe how they have used a technique called single-pixel imaging to create real-time video images of methane gas in a typical atmospheric setting. While gas imaging technology has been commercially available for some time, current systems are expensive, bulky and power-hungry. Single-pixel imaging uses just one light-sensitive pixel to build digital images instead of using conventional multi-pixel sensor arrays, which can be prohibitively expensive for infrared imaging. This allows the researchers to build a much smaller, cheaper gas detection system. The scene in front of the sensor is illuminated using a sequence of infrared patterns created using a laser tuned to 1.65μm, the absorption wavelength of methane, and display technology commonly found in digital data projectors. Using sophisticated sampling techniques to correlate the projected patterns and the gas, the researchers can create a real-time, colour coded image of the gas overlaid on an image of the scene using a conventional colour camera.

Dr Graham Gibson, lead author of the paper, said: “Working with M Squared Lasers, with the support of QuantIC, has been of immense benefit to the project. M Squared’s advanced laser systems allowed us to effectively ‘tune in’ to the wavelength of methane gas, and opens up the possibility of using the system to detect other types of gases in the future.” Visit: www.glasgow.ac.uk

Asia’s first hybrid electric ferry heralds cleaner sea travel

The Taiwanese harbour city of Kaohsiung has launched a new hybrid electric ferry, which could revolutionise marine passenger transport across the region by curbing greenhouse and diesel emissions.

Kaohsiung recently re-launched the popular Cijian Island passenger ferry, retrofitted with a Visedo electric propulsion system, replacing the original diesel engine. It heralds Asia’s first hybrid electric ferry and, if successful, the Kaohsiung City Government plans to retrofit the rest of its diesel fleet to help reduce pollution levels around Taiwan’s largest harbour.

Visedo OY, a leading Finnish manufacturer of electric drivetrains for marine vessels, commercial vehicles and heavy duty applications, worked alongside Taiwan’s Ship and Ocean Industries R&D Center, also known as SOIC, to complete the retrofit.

Visedo CEO Kimmo Rauma said: “Given the geography, ferries are a vital mode of public transport across East and Southeast Asia but they are also the most energy intensive per kilometre travelled. Until now, diesel ferries have been a dirty but necessary part of life around harbours like Kaohsiung. In Hong Kong for example, passenger ferries make up the majority of licensed vessels in Victoria Harbour, where it’s estimated air pollution kills about 3200 people every year.

“Visedo has developed a cost-effective and efficient alternative, so rather than waiting until a vessel’s service life ends, harbour cities can swap noisy, dirty and expensive diesel for silent electric powertrains that are more efficient, can halve fuel costs and emit no fumes or oil pollution.” Visit: www.visedo.com