Complex projects often fail even when formal project management systems are in place. Project management processes and methodologies are well defined and described in academic and business literature. There is however less published research on the socio-cultural factors that are critical for project success. This study investigated whether project stakeholders view communication as one of the critical success factors for project success. Critical project success factors were identified from a literature study and ranked by 34 project stakeholders. The data was analysed using the Instant Priorities method and Analytical Hierarchical Process. A workshop on the use of communication within projects was observed. The results were translated into a project success factor model that explains the importance of communication in project success. Furthermore, a serious games based training tool is proposed. The aim of the training will be for participants to understand the communication preferences of themselves and the people they interact with in large projects. The proposed tool will require the participant to map typical stakeholder behavioural preferences. The well-known Marston DISC behavioural model is used as basis for understanding the behavioural preferences of different stakeholder groups. This research project supports the view that communication training across stakeholder groups should be used as a project risk mitigation tool. An increased understanding of the communication preferences of project stakeholders has the potential to shape a project culture that will stimulate teamwork combined with high levels of personal motivation as well as have the capacity to quickly identify and address project risks. / MSc (Computer Science), North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2014

The main objective of the study was to determine the risk(s) associated with lockout/tagout of hazardous energy and propose a new LOTO procedure which tracks the implementation of LOTO to mitigate against identified risks as a basis for promotion of safety. The study focuses on electrical personnel working in PHCN. Only electrical accident risks are examined, not other types of risk e.g. mechanical, chemical, and nuclear. To gather material for this study, a questionnaire was distributed amongst electrical workers in PHCN and their supervisors were interviewed. Relevant literature and publications were studied as reference. According to electrical personnel experience, electrocution, arc flash, arc blast, burns and lockout and tagout of the wrong electrical circuit are seen as the biggest electrical safety risk with regards to LOTO of hazardous energy. The research reveals new information about electrical accident risks. This information is used to create a procedure for tracking LOTO of hazardous energy. The procedure can be utilized in the mitigation of electrical risks and promotion of / Thesis (MIng (Development and Management Engineering))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013.

In spite of the remarkable development of modern medical treatment and technology, the threat of pandemic diseases such as anthrax, cholera, and SARS has not disappeared. As a part of emerging healthcare decision problems, many researchers have studied how to detect and contain disease outbreaks, and our research is aligned with this trend. This thesis mainly consists of two parts: epidemic simulation modeling for effective intervention strategies and spatiotemporal monitoring for outbreak detection. We developed a stochastic epidemic simulation model of a pandemic influenza virus (H1N1) to test possible interventions within a structured population. The possible interventions — such as vaccination, antiviral treatment, household prophylaxis, school closure and social distancing — are investigated in a large number of scenarios, including delays in vaccine delivery and low and moderate efficacy of the vaccine. Since timely and accurate detection of a disease outbreak is crucial in terms of preparation for emergencies in healthcare and biosurveillance, we suggest two spatiotemporal monitoring charts, namely, the SMCUSUM and RMCUSUM charts, to detect increases in the rate or count of disease incidents. Our research includes convenient methods to approximate the control limits of the charts. An analytical control limit approximation method for the SMCUSUM chart performs well under certain conditions on the data distribution and monitoring range. Another control limit approximation method for the RMCUSUM chart provides robust performance to various monitoring range, spatial correlation structures, and data distributions without intensive modeling of the underlying process.

The demand for fossil fuels by Ontario's conventional steam power generation sector is examined. It is hypothesised that the enactment of a carbon fee policy will induce a change in the relative prices of the three fuels used in this sector (coal, natural gas and heavy fuel oil). This would lead to substantial interfuel substitution and greenhouse gas abatement. The demand share equations for the three fuels are derived from the translog functional form and set in a simulation model to estimate the value of a carbon fee necessary, to reduce carbon dioxide emissions in compliance with the Kyoto Protocol. Results suggest that a fuel specific carbon fee policy would be successful in achieving the desired emissions reduction at a negligible net cost to society.

The Canadian agricultural sector was recognised as a potential seller of carbon offset credits in the domestic emission trading system. A number of beneficial management practices may reduce GHG emissions while increasing production efficiency and profitability of agricultural activities. A contingent valuation survey was used to estimate the carbon offset price at which feedlot operators in Ontario would adopt two management practices that reduce GHG emissions: adding roasted soybean seeds to a cattle diet and increasing the intensity of feedlot operations. The value elicitation questions to estimate the mean WTA compensation were designed using a multiple bounded discrete choice format developed by Welsh and Poe (1998). / It was estimated that at a carbon offset price of $ 25.14/t CO2 e provided enough incentive for feedlot operators to intensify their operations and a price of $ 109.51/t CO2e to change their feeding strategies. The mean willingness to accept a cost to change a conventional practice to a greenhouse gas emissions reducing practice was estimated to be 62% of the carbon revenue. The regression analysis demonstrated that producers' willingness to accept compensation was influenced by the individual's characteristics, farm structure variables, and practice attributes. Policy makers may use these results in the design of greenhouse gas reduction strategies for the beef sector.

Power system harmonics and interharmonics are power quality concerns that have received a great deal of attention in recent years. These phenomena can have several adverse effects on power system operation. The main harmonic and interharmonic sources are devices based on power electronics. An emerging class of harmonic sources is comprised of power electronic-based home appliances. These appliances are dispersed throughout the low-voltage distribution system, and their collective impact can result in unacceptable levels of voltage distortion. The characterization of home appliances based on their harmonic currents is an important step toward understanding the impact of these devices. This thesis presents an evaluation of the relative severity of the harmonic currents from these devices, and the impact of the disparity of the harmonic current phase angles. Typically, the voltage supplied to each harmonic source is already distorted. This distortion causes a change of the harmonic current magnitudes (traditionally referred to as the attenuation effect). Common harmonic analysis methods cannot take this variation into account because they use a typical harmonic current source model specified by a supply voltage having little or no distortion. This thesis characterizes the harmonic attenuation effect of power electronic-based appliances. One of the findings is that harmonic amplification, rather than attenuation, can occur under credible voltage conditions. This finding had not been made previously. In order to include the harmonic attenuation/amplification in appliance modeling, a measurement-based harmonic modeling technique is proposed. One of the most economic and effective ways to mitigate harmonics in power systems is through the use of harmonic shunt passive filters. These filters can be of many topologies. Selecting these topologies is a task that, today, depends on the experience and judgment of the filter designer. An investigation is carried out on the common filter topologies, and the most cost-effective topologies for mitigating harmonics are identified. As many of the larger harmonic loads also generate interharmonics, interharmonics have become prevalent in today’s medium-voltage distribution system. Mitigation cannot be carried out until the interharmonic-source location is known. A method for interharmonic source determination is proposed and then verified through simulation and field measurement studies.

Disaster researchers have established the determinants of preparedness and mitigation at the household level of analysis. However, at the organizational level, there is limited research and no theory to guide research on the determinants of preparedness and mitigation. The main goal of this study is to answer the question "what are the determinants of mitigation and preparedness at the organizational level?" The data come from a survey of 227 organizations in Memphis, Tennessee. This study uses Tobit regression technique to identify the determinants. This study finds that organizational size and concern over disaster impact are strong positive determinants of mitigation and preparedness in organizations. In addition, there is a significant and non-linear relationship between organizational obstacle and mitigation and preparedness activities. The study concludes with policy implications and recommendations for future studies.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 275-282). / x, 282 leaves, bound ill. 29 cm

This thesis puts forth the means of a strategic approach to address a persistent problem in the energy system and in this way, to transition the built environment to a future state that is more exergy-aware to curb CO2 emissions. Such a vision is made possible by the six-fold contributions of the research work: I) An analytical model is developed, which for the first time, formulates the CO2 emissions that are compounded in the energy system as a function of the systematic failures to match the supply and demand of exergy. This model is namely the Rational Exergy Management Model or REMM. II) REMM is then applied to analyze the pathways in which it is possible to lead the built environment into addressing structural overshoots in its exergy supply to curb CO2 emissions. The cases that embody these pathways are also analyzed over a base case, including cases for sustainable heating and cooling. III) New tools are designed to augment decision-making and exemplify a paradigm shift in the more rational usage of exergy to curb CO2 emissions. These include a scenario-based analysis tool, new options for CO2 wedges, and a multi-fold solution space for CO2 mitigation strategies based on REMM. IV) The concept of a net-zero exergy building (NZEXB) is developed and related to REMM strategies as the building block of an exergy-aware energy system. The target of a NZEXB is further supported by key design principles, which address shortcomings in state-of-the-art net-zero design. V) A premier building that deployed the key design principles to integrate building technology in an innovative, exergy-aware design and received LEED Platinum is analyzed on the basis of the NZEXB target. The results validate that this building boosts net self-sufficiency and curbs compound CO2 emissions, which are then presented in a proposed scheme to benchmark and/or label future NZEXBs. VI) Based on the scalability of the best-practices of the NZEXB ready building, the means to realize a smarter energy system that has exergy-aware relations in each aspect of the value chain to curb CO2 emissions are discussed. This includes a target for such a network at the community level, namely a net-zero exergy community (NZEXC). As a whole, the results of the thesis indicate that the strategic approach as provided by REMM and the NZEXB target of the research work has the potential to steer the speed and direction of societal action to curb CO2 emissions. The thesis concludes with a roadmap that represents a cyclical series of actions that may be scaled-up at various levels of the built environment in a transition to be in better balance with the Planet. / QC 20111014

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / Ultra-lean methane combustion in porous burners is investigated by means of a pilot-scale demonstration of the technology supported by a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modelling study. The suitability of porous burners as a lean-burn technology for the mitigation of methane emissions is also evaluated. Methane constitutes 14.3% of total global anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. The mitigation of these emissions could have a significant near-term effect on slowing global warming, and recovering and burning the methane would allow a wasted energy resource to be exploited. The typically low and fluctuating energy content of the emission streams makes combustion difficult; however porous burners—an advanced combustion technology capable of burning low-calorific value fuels below the conventional flammability limit—are a possible mitigation solution. A pilot-scale porous burner is designed expressly for the purpose of ultra-lean methane combustion. The burner comprises a cylindrical combustion chamber filled with a porous bed of alumina saddles, combined with an arrangement of heat exchanger tubes for preheating the incoming methane/air mixture. A CFD model is developed to aid in the design process. Results illustrating the operating range and behaviour of the burner are presented. Running on natural gas, the stable lean flammability limit of the system is 2.3 vol%, a considerable extension of the conventional lean limit of 4.3 vol%; operating in the transient combustion regime allows the lean limit to be reduced further still, to 1.1 vol%. The heat exchanger arrangement is found to be effective; preheat temperatures of up to 800K are recorded. Emissions of carbon monoxide and unburned hydrocarbons are negligible. The process appears stable to fluctuations in fuel concentration and flow rate, typically taking several hours to react to any changes. A CFD model of the porous burner is developed based on the commercial CFD code ANSYS CFX 12.0. The burner is modelled as a single 1-dimensional porous domain. Pressure loss due to the presence of the porous solid is accounted for using an isotropic loss model. Separate energy equations for the gas and solid phases are applied. Models for conductive heat transfer within the solid phase, and for convective heat transport between the gas and solid phases, are added. Combustion is modelled using a finite rate chemistry model; a skeletal mechanism for ultra-lean methane combustion is developed and incorporated into the model to describe the combustion reaction. Results from the model are presented and validated against experimental data; the model correctly predicts the main features of burner behaviour. Porous burners are found to show potential as a methane mitigation technology.