Documenti di Didattica
Documenti di Professioni
Documenti di Cultura
Technical English 3
RevolucionUnattended
1
TECHNICAL ENGLISH 3 2011 USAC
2
TECHNICAL ENGLISH 3 2011 USAC
Este proyecto nació a principios del año 2008 con el afán de lograr que todo
estudiante egresado de la Facultad de Ingeniería tenga conocimiento de Inglés
Técnico para poder aplicarlo tanto en sus estudios como en su desempeño
profesional.
3
TECHNICAL ENGLISH 3 2011 USAC
4
TECHNICAL ENGLISH 3 2011 USAC
This project started the first semester 2008 with the eagerness to obtain that all
withdrawn students of the Faculty of Engineering have knowledge of Technical
English, becoming it a necessity that the students apply this knowledge in their
studies as in their professional performance.
DEAN
5
TECHNICAL ENGLISH 3 2011 USAC
6
TECHNICAL ENGLISH 3 2011 USAC
Awareness / Acknowledgment
7
TECHNICAL ENGLISH 3 2011 USAC
8
TECHNICAL ENGLISH 3 2011 USAC
9
TECHNICAL ENGLISH 3 2011 USAC
Contenido
LEAN MANUFACTURING ............................................................................................................................ 12
INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................................. 12
LEAN MANUFACTURING GOALS........................................................................................................................ 13
STEPS TO ACHIEVE LEAN SYSTEMS ...................................................................................................................... 14
DESIGN A SIMPLE MANUFACTURING SYSTEM ........................................................................................................ 14
THERE IS ALWAYS ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT ....................................................................................................... 14
CONTINUOUSLY IMPROVE ............................................................................................................................... 15
MEASURE.................................................................................................................................................... 15
HOMEWORK: ............................................................................................................................................... 16
PROCESS DIAGRAMS ................................................................................................................................. 17
INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................................. 17
OPERATIONS DIAGRAM .................................................................................................................................. 18
IMPORTANT CONSIDERATIONS ...................................................................................................................................... 19
PROCESS FLOW DIAGRAM............................................................................................................................... 19
IMPORTANT CONSIDERATIONS ...................................................................................................................................................20
PROCESS TRAVEL DIAGRAM .....................................................................................................................................................20
IMPORTANT CONSIDERATIONS ...................................................................................................................................... 21
HOMEWORK ................................................................................................................................................ 22
QUALITY CONTROL.................................................................................................................................... 25
INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................................. 25
QUALITY CONTROL CONCEPTS........................................................................................................................... 25
QUALITY ASSURANCE ................................................................................................................................................. 25
MEASURING THE QUALITY ............................................................................................................................... 26
2.1 EVALUATING THE QUALITY ....................................................................................................................... 26
INTRODUCING LEAN PROCESSES ....................................................................................................................... 27
LEAN TECHNIQUES ........................................................................................................................................ 27
VALUE STREAM MAPPING ........................................................................................................................................... 27
THE 5S METHOD ....................................................................................................................................................... 28
RAPID IMPROVEMENT EVENTS ...................................................................................................................................... 28
LEAN MATERIALS AND KANBAN .................................................................................................................................... 29
HOMEWORK ................................................................................................................................................ 29
ALTERNATIVE ENERGY............................................................................................................................... 32
INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................................. 32
TODAY’S ENERGY SOURCES = FOSSIL FUELS .......................................................................................................... 32
THE PROBLEMS OF THE USE OF THE FOSSIL FUELS ............................................................................................................. 33
THE SOLUTIONS ............................................................................................................................................ 34
SOLAR ENERGY ......................................................................................................................................... 34
SOLAR HEAT ................................................................................................................................................ 35
PHOTOVOLTAIC, OR SOLAR, CELLS .................................................................................................................... 35
HOW SOLAR CELL ENERGY WORKS ..................................................................................................................... 36
10
TECHNICAL ENGLISH 3 2011 USAC
11
TECHNICAL ENGLISH 3 2011 USAC
FABRICACIÓN LEAN
Introducción
producción que considera que el gasto de recursos para cualquier objetivo que no sea la
creación de valor para el cliente final es un desperdicio y, por lo tanto, un objetivo para la
eliminación. Trabajando desde la perspectiva del cliente que consume un producto o servicio,
el valor se define como cualquier acción o proceso por el que un cliente estaría dispuesto a
pagar.
Básicamente, lean se centra en crear más valor con menos trabajo. La fabricación ajustada es
producción de Toyota (TPS) (de ahí que el término Toyotismo también prevalezca) y se
identifique como Lean solo en la década de 1990. Es conocido por su enfoque en la reducción
de los siete desechos originales de Toyota para mejorar el valor general del cliente, pero
La fabricación ajustada es una variación del tema de la eficiencia basada en la optimización del
flujo; Es una instancia actual del tema recurrente en la historia humana para aumentar la
eficiencia, disminuir el desperdicio y usar métodos empíricos para decidir lo que importa, en
12
TECHNICAL 2011
ENGLISH 3 USAC
El objetivo de Lean es eliminar los desechos, y Toyota definió tres tipos generales de
desechos:
• Muda
• Mura
• Muri
Muda: es un término general japonés tradicional para una actividad que es derrochadora y no
Toyota (TPS).
procesan)
Movimiento (personas o equipos que se mueven o caminan más de lo necesario para realizar
el procesamiento)
productos)
• Reduzca los costos totales: para minimizar los costos, una empresa debe producir solo a la demanda del cliente.
La sobreproducción aumenta los costos de inventario de una empresa debido a las necesidades de
almacenamiento.
Los siguientes pasos deben implementarse para crear el sistema de fabricación ajustada ideal:
4. Medida
Un principio fundamental de la manufactura esbelta es la manufactura de flujo basada en la demanda. En este tipo
de configuración de producción, el inventario solo se extrae de cada centro de producción cuando es necesario
para cumplir con el pedido de un cliente. Los beneficios de este objetivo incluyen:
• Menos inventario
•Productividad incrementada
actividades sin valor agregado. “Las actividades de valor agregado son simplemente aquellas cosas por las que el
cliente está dispuesto a pagar, todo lo demás es desperdicio y debe eliminarse, simplificarse, reducirse o
integrarse” (Rizzardo, 2003). Mejorar el flujo de material a través de nuevos diseños de sistema ideales a la
Una mentalidad de mejora continua es esencial para alcanzar los objetivos de una empresa. El término
"mejora continua" significa la mejora incremental de productos, procesos o servicios a lo largo del tiempo,
con el objetivo de reducir el desperdicio para mejorar la funcionalidad del lugar de trabajo, el servicio al
Medida
Un conjunto de métricas de rendimiento que se considera que encaja bien en un entorno Lean es la
efectividad general del equipo, o OEE, que es una jerarquía de métricas que se centran en la eficacia con la
que se utiliza una operación de fabricación. Para mantener las cosas realmente simples, la fabricación
ajustada tiene una premisa básica y un objetivo general "hacer más con menos" y esto se logra de manera
• Eliminar desperdicios
• Acortar los tiempos del ciclo del producto desde las materias primas hasta los productos terminados.
La fabricación ajustada implica algunos cambios productivos positivos reales en las empresas que tendrán
un impacto medible en el resultado final. Los beneficios de la producción ajustada podrían incluir:
• Capital liberada
•Productividad incrementada
• La retención de empleados 15
TECHNICAL ENGLISH 3 2011 USAC
Homework:
Investigate the following terms related to lean manufacturing and give their definition:
• Just in time Kanban Kaizen Poka Yoke
Suggested videos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0Q-xaYior0&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SU01D-jTZcE&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q89qAbAAR3Q&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZdHGTCXcJQU&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKb84GafalI
Activities
Complete the next chart with the next definitions:
Lean manufacturing
Reduce Time
Continuously Improve
TPS
Improve quality
16
TECHNICAL ENGLISH 3 2011 USAC
DIAGRAMAS DE PROCESO
Introducción
Los diagramas de procesos son muy importantes en la industria manufacturera porque nos dan
una perspectiva clara de los procesos en cada paso, incluidos los materiales, el tiempo, la
distancia y otros. Esto ayuda a los ingenieros a interpretar y analizar el proceso de fabricación y
a tomar decisiones que mejorarán el proceso sin estar allí para observar cómo funciona todo.
• Encabezado
• Cuerpo
• Resumen
Y en el resumen escribirás todos los pasos que tiene el proceso, incluido el tiempo. El tiempo
es el factor más importante porque lo usamos para calcular la eficiencia y productividad del
proceso.
Ejemplo:
Encabezamiento
Cuerpo
Reumen
17
Diagrama de operaciones
Descripción Símbolo
• Operación: es cuando el proceso tiene transformación de materiales, o involucra cualquier acción o actividad para la
creación de productos.
• Inspección: es cuando verificamos cómo va el proceso y también la calidad del producto durante el proceso de fabricación.
• Combinado: este es un paso de inspección de operación y se utiliza cuando en el proceso tiene que verificar los productos
durante un
th
Company name: John’s house Analyst: John Hamilton Date: Nov. 20 , 2010
Process: making of hot chocolate Area: kitchen Type of diagram: operations
Page 1 of 1
0.7 min
1 In a pot put 1 liter of water, in a
stove With high fire, let it boil
1 min
2 Take the 0.30 pounds of chocolate
out of the bag and put it into the pot
0.5 min
0.8 min
5 Get a cup and serve
0.5 min
6 Add the marshmallows
0.4 min
1
Check if it’s not too hot, Enjoy
18
Summary
Operation 6 10.5
Inspection 1 0.4
Combined 1 0.5
Totals 8 11.4
Consideraciones importantes
• Tenga en cuenta que el tiempo se da en minutos; Este es un estándar para todos los diagramas.
• El diagrama siempre se dibujará de derecha a izquierda, incluso si tiene procesos simultáneos o no.
• Una breve descripción de cada paso del proceso está escrita en el lado derecho del símbolo.
• Al numerar el proceso, recuerde que debe hacerlo de acuerdo con su función en el diagrama, y
cuando tiene un proceso simultáneo, primero debe escribir el número a la izquierda y luego a la
El diagrama de flujo del proceso es una representación gráfica de los pasos que siguen una secuencia
con su naturaleza, y también incluye toda la información importante considerada necesaria para el
análisis. Esta información puede ser la distancia, el tiempo, la cantidad, etc. Esto nos ayuda a descubrir
y eliminar desperdicios y demoras, haciendo que el proceso sea más eficiente y aumente la
demoras y transporte.
Descripción Símbolo
19
• Inspección: es cuando verificamos cómo va el proceso y también la calidad del producto durante el
proceso de fabricación.
• Combinado: este es un paso de inspección de operación y se usa cuando en el proceso tiene que
verificar los productos durante una operación.
• Retraso: esto se usa cuando no se está haciendo nada en el proceso. Podría ser la espera para que
otro proceso paralelo finalice antes de agregar el producto a la línea de ensamblaje.
• Transporte: es cuando el producto se mueve más de 1,5 metros al siguiente paso. Esto se debe a que
el cuerpo humano puede mover algo de un lado a otro entre 0 y 1,5 my es irrelevante según los
estándares.
• Almacenamiento: se utiliza al comienzo del proceso cuando los materiales se toman del
almacenamiento de materias primas y al final del mismo en el almacenamiento del producto terminado.
Como diagrama de operaciones, tiene las mismas partes: encabezado, cuerpo y resumen, y es
importante incluir en el resumen el tiempo y la distancia que tiene en el diagrama.
Consideraciones importantes
• El diagrama siempre se dibujará de derecha a izquierda, incluso si tiene procesos simultáneos o no.
• Una breve descripción de cada paso del proceso está escrita en el lado derecho del símbolo.
• Al numerar el proceso, recuerde que debe hacerlo de acuerdo con su función en el diagrama, y
cuando tiene un proceso simultáneo, primero debe escribir el número a la izquierda y luego a la
Este diagrama usa el mismo simbolismo que el flujo del proceso y también la misma estructura, la única
Recuerde dibujar siempre los símbolos en un área de 1 cm2. Este es un estándar para todos los
20
Consideraciones importantes
• El tiempo se da en minutos; Este es un estándar para todos los diagramas.
• El diagrama se dibuja en una vista en planta de la planta de fabricación.
• La hora se coloca en la esquina superior izquierda del símbolo.
• La distancia se escribe en metros y la esquina inferior izquierda del símbolo.
• Una breve descripción de cada paso del proceso está escrita en el lado derecho del símbolo.
• Al numerar el proceso, recuerde que debe hacerlo de acuerdo con su función en el diagrama y la
secuencia del proceso.
Ejemplo: (por razones de espacio, este diagrama no incluye el tiempo y la distancia)
Company name: Industry S.A. Analyst: John Hamilton Date: Nov 20th, 2010
Process: production of ketchup Area: manufacturing plant Type of diagram: process travel
Page 1 of 1
21
TECHNICAL ENGLISH 3 2011 USAC
Summary
Operation 9
Inspection 2
Combined 2
Transportation 4
Delay 3
Storage 1
Totals 21
Homework
With the given videos, draw the operations diagram, the process flow diagram and the
operations travel diagram.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TI-dSckvw0Q
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5sNItVp9cA&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Y5Auwf0nXE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3K3-stVK0lM
22
TECHNICAL ENGLISH 3 2011 USAC
Activities:
According to the picture below, determine what symbol each operation needs:
23
TECHNICAL ENGLISH 3 2011 USAC
Sawdust 6%
Waiting to be processed
Waiting to be processed
Devastation and Comprobation
Transfer to the pendulum
(forklift) Sawdust 0.38%
Sawdust
Cut and Comprobation
Waiting to be transported
Sawdust 0.32%
Transfer to the assembly area
Waiting to be transported (forklift)
Waiting to be processed
Waiting to be transported
Storage
Description Symbol No. of steps Time Description 2 Symbol No. of steps2 Time2
2
CONTROL DE CALIDAD
Introducción
El control de calidad es un concepto crítico en todas las industrias y profesiones. A medida que
la globalización continúa y el mundo se hace más pequeño, lo que hace posible que los
consumidores elijan entre los mejores productos del mundo, la supervivencia de su trabajo y de
su empresa depende de su capacidad para producir un producto o servicio de calidad. En este
capítulo, definimos el término "calidad" e introducimos algunos conceptos y métodos
importantes de control de calidad.
Para la mayoría de las personas, la calidad está asociada con la idea de un producto o
servicio que está bien hecho, se ve bien y hace bien su trabajo. Pensamos en un producto de calidad
como uno que dura, aguanta bien y no requiere reparación constante. Un producto o servicio de
calidad debe cumplir con un alto estándar en muchas áreas, como forma, características, ajuste y
acabado, confiabilidad y usabilidad.
Conceptos de control de calidad
• Basado en el cliente: la calidad cumple con las expectativas del cliente.
• Basado en estadísticas: cuanta menos variación tenga, mayor será la calidad de su producto
o servicio.
Después de que una organización decide una definición de calidad, necesita estándares para medir su
calidad. La razón es porque muchos estándares están impulsados por el deseo de salvaguardar y el
bienestar de las personas que usan los productos o servicios que brindan las empresas. Los estándares
de calidad también son críticos para apoyar el comercio internacional.
Seguro de calidad
producto o servicio de calidad. Este método difiere del control de calidad en que analiza todo el
proceso, no solo el producto final. El control de calidad está diseñado para detectar problemas
con un producto o servicio; El control de calidad intenta evitar problemas en el paso ajustando
25
Midiendo la calidad
El antiguo gerente que decía: "No se puede administrar lo que se puede medir" suena especialmente
cierto en el control de calidad. Un buen sistema de medición te ayuda a saber dónde has estado y
hacia dónde vas. Los clientes generalmente requieren que usted mida ciertos atributos de su producto
o servicio contra sus especificaciones. Por lo tanto, trabajar en el control de calidad significa que debe
La capacitación de los empleados es fundamental para garantizar que todos los involucrados en su
proceso midan las mismas especificaciones de la misma manera. También debe recopilar datos en un
recopilación y análisis de datos. Si no tiene una buena información, no puede tomar buenas decisiones.
• Las estadísticas lo ayudan a determinar qué procesos o partes de los procesos le están causando más
problemas a su empresa (al usar la regla 80/20, el 80 por ciento de sus problemas son causados por el
• Puede usar estadísticas para el muestreo para no tener que probar el 100 por ciento de los artículos
que hace.
• Las estadísticas pueden ayudarlo a detectar relaciones entre los valores que mide, incluso si las
Aunque, gran parte de las estadísticas le permiten mirar hacia atrás, solo sucedió en el pasado. El
Control Estadístico de Procesos (SPC) le permite identificar problemas antes de que puedan afectar
negativamente la calidad de su producto o servicio. La idea básica detrás de SPC es que si puede
detectar un cambio en un proceso antes de que llegue al punto de fabricar productos defectuosos,
puede solucionar el proceso antes de que los productos defectuosos lleguen a los estantes.
26
Introducción de procesos lean Los procesos Lean son la última moda de dieta en el mundo del
control de calidad. Lean es una técnica de control de calidad que puede utilizar para identificar
y eliminar la flacidez en los procesos de su empresa. La "flacidez" es todo el peso muerto
llevado por un proceso sin agregar ningún valor. La mayoría de los procesos de la compañía
son derrochadores en términos de tiempo y materiales, lo que a menudo resulta en una peor
calidad para el cliente, una preocupación de todas las empresas. Lean se enfoca en la
satisfacción del cliente y la reducción de costos. Los defensores de la técnica creen que cada
paso en un proceso es una oportunidad para cometer un error: para crear un problema de
calidad, en otras palabras. Cuantos menos pasos tenga en un proceso, menos posibilidades de
error creará y mejor será la calidad de su producto o servicio final. Puede aplicar las técnicas
lean en las siguientes secciones a todo tipo de procesos y entornos que van desde oficinas,
hospitales y fábricas. En la mayoría de los casos, la aplicación de conceptos lean no requiere
un aumento en los costos de capital: simplemente reasigna a las personas a fines más
productivos y, por supuesto, los procesos lean son más baratos de operar.
Técnicas Lean Mapeo de flujo de valor Las personas piensan en imágenes, no en palabras, por
lo que darles una idea de cómo se hace algo a menudo es mejor que contarles sobre un
proceso. Después de todo, la cita es "¡Muéstrame el dinero!", No "¡Háblame del dinero!" Mapeo
de flujo de valor describe visualmente un proceso de producción para ayudar a los trabajadores
a ubicar los desechos dentro de él. El desperdicio es cualquiera actividad que no agrega valor
para el cliente. Por lo general, eliminar el desperdicio implica reducir la cantidad de inventario y
acortar el tiempo que se tarda en entregar un producto o servicio al cliente después de su
pedido.
27
El método 5S
Las áreas de trabajo evolucionan junto con los procesos que soportan. A medida que una
organización implementa nuevas acciones y herramientas, debe encontrar un lugar para ellas
"en algún lugar". Con el tiempo, el desorden puede acumularse lentamente a medida que
del trabajo.
El método 5S es una herramienta esencial para cualquier iniciativa de calidad que busque
aclarar el flujo de trabajo. Las 5S describen cinco atributos japoneses necesarios para un
• Seiri (organización)
• Seiton (pulcritud)
• Seiso (limpieza)
• Seiketsu (estandarización)
• Shitsuke (disciplina)
28
TECHNICAL ENGLISH 3 2011 USAC
Suggested videos
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7Z33tljMTQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LdhC4ziAhgY
29
TECHNICAL ENGLISH 3 2011 USAC
Activities:
30
TECHNICAL ENGLISH 3 2011 USAC
31
TECHNICAL ENGLISH 3 2011 USAC
ALTERNATIVE ENERGY
Introduction
You need energy to start your day. Your breakfast is the fuel your body needs to work. What
would you do if you ran out of your favorite cereal? You could buy another box. But what if the store
was all out, too? What if it wasn’t getting any more deliveries? What would you do then? The
answer seems simple; you’d have to find another food for breakfast. The world faces a similar
problem; our fuel resources are running low and could run out in your lifetime.
Most everything in the world needs energy to work. Think about the energy you use each
day: the lights you turn on, the bus or car you take to school, the computer you use for homework,
the television you watch before bed. Even while you sleep, energy runs your furnace heating your
house and the refrigerator keeping food from spoiling. It even runs the alarm clock that wakes you
up in the morning. Now think about how many people live on the Earth. With a population of more
than 6 billion, the world uses a lot of energy.
1. Coal
2. Oil
32
TECHNICAL ENGLISH 3 2011 USAC
nylon backpack, and even your fleece jacket are all made from oil. Some homes burn oil for heat and
some power plants burn oil too. In many countries, however, oil’s main use is for transportation. Oil is
made into gasoline for cars, diesel fuel for trucks, and jet fuel for airplanes.
3. Natural gas
Companies drill for natural gas the same way they do for oil. Natural gas is highly flammable.
Gas stoves cook food with a lower flame. In the United States, and probably other countries, the
house’s heating system and water heater may use natural gas. Natural gas is also used in power
plants to create electricity.
Fossil fuels have been a useful source of energy, but we need to rethink how much we depend
on them. We need to consider three main facts. First, fossil fuel supplies are low. We use so much
energy that someday we’ll use up all of Earth’s fossil fuels. At the rate we use now fossil fuels,
scientists’ estimate that the world’s reserve will last 40 to 70 more years. What will happen after all of
the oil, coal, and natural gas have run out? How will
we travel from place to place? How will we light our
homes? How will we communicate with each other?
Finally, burning fossil fuels harms Earth. Coal, oil, and natural gas create a lot of air pollution.
The burning of fossil fuels releases harmful emissions that cause asthma and other health problems.
This pollution also leads to acid rain and snow. Many scientist and citizens are concerned about the
carbon dioxide released by burning fossil fuels. Carbon dioxide belongs to a group of gases known as
greenhouse gases. As these gases collect in the atmosphere, they act like the glass walls of a
greenhouse, trapping warm air close to Earth’s surface. This warming is natural, and long ago it
made the planet’s environment mild enough to support life. However, when human activities pump
larger-than-normal amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, more heat is trapped, and
33
TECHNICAL ENGLISH 3 2011 USAC
temperatures can grow unnaturally high. As a result, there can be major effects on weather that
may be devastating to the environment and all the people on Earth.
The solutions
What can we do about our energy problems? Instead of relying on fossil fuels, we need to
examine our “green” alternatives. Green energy is renewable – it is constantly being replaced and
won’t run out. Natural forces, such as wind, water, and sunlight are green energy sources. It’s not
easy to switch to green energy; however, we rely on fossil fuels every day. People would need to
spend huge amounts of money to change from one kind of fuel to another. We need to take action,
but first, we need to understand our energy alternatives, then we can make the best energy
choices to preserve our planet.
Solar energy
Put on sunglasses, rub in sunscreen, and hit the beach. It’s time
to soak up some rays! The sun can give you a great tan or make you
sweat playing Frisbee. The sun’s light and heat can also help us solve
our energy problems. You have probably noticed wires running from
your home to poles on the street. These wires connect you to the
power grid of your community. Home’s that use solar power, don’t
need as much energy from the grid. There are two types of solar
power: solar cell energy and solar thermal energy.
Solar Energy, the energy generated by the sun. This energy is in the form of electromagnetic
radiation and travels to the earth in waves of various lengths. Some of the radiation becomes evident
as heat, some as visible light. All life on earth depends ultimately on the sun's radiation. It warms the
earth and provides the energy that green plants use to make their food. (Without plants, there would
be no animals, since all animals must feed on plants or on plant-eating organisms.)
Since ancient times attempts have been made—with varying success—to put the energy from
the sun to practical use. In the third century B.C., the Greek mathematician and physicist Archimedes
is said to have used the sun's rays reflected from mirrors to set fire to an invading Roman fleet. In the
19th century, John Ericsson, designer of the ironclad warship Monitor, built an engine that was
powered by the sun's energy.
34
TECHNICAL ENGLISH 3 2011 USAC
Solar Heat
Solar heat supplies energy for a variety of uses. The preservation of fruits, vegetables, meat,
and fish by sun drying has been practiced for centuries. Some industrial products are also dried by the
heat of the sun. In some warm, arid regions, the heat of the sun is used to evaporate seawater or
brines to recover salt and other minerals.
Water for domestic use can be heated by solar energy by the use of roof-mounted devices
consisting of heat collectors through which water pipes pass. As the water is heated it flows into
storage tanks. Heat collectors can also be used to heat homes and other buildings. The sun's heat is
transferred to a fluid—usually water or air—which then heats the interior of the building. For heating
at night and on cloudy days, some form of heat storage is necessary. A common storage system
consists of an insulated tank to hold solar-heated water. In many regions, additional heat from a
conventional heating system is required for extended cloudy or cold periods.
Industrial installations that use large arrays of mirrors to produce intense solar heating have
been developed in a number of countries. A large solar furnace at Odeillo, in the French Pyrenees,
uses an array of thousands of movable mirrors to direct sunlight on a parabolic mirror. This mirror
focuses the sunlight on an oven, yielding temperatures of more than 6,000° F. (3,300° C.). The furnace
is used to study the effects of high temperatures on certain substances and for various industrial
processes.
In the southwestern United States, a few experimental installations have been built that use a
large array of computer-controlled mirrors to concentrate sunlight onto a boiler atop a high tower.
Steam produced in the boiler powers a turbine that generates electricity.
Photovoltaic cells convert sunlight directly into electricity. The cells are made of a
semiconductor material, usually silicon. A solar battery consists of an array of solar cells connected
together to generate electric power.
Solar batteries are the source of power on most artificial satellites. Solar batteries are used in
remote locations as a source of power for navigational buoys, irrigation pumps, and other equipment.
Small solar batteries are used in some calculators and wrist watches.
35
TECHNICAL ENGLISH 3 2011 USAC
To a very limited extent solar batteries have been used to supply electric power to businesses
and residences. However, photovoltaic cells are relatively costly to manufacture and are thus not
practical for generating large amounts of electricity commercially. Research in the use of photovoltaic
cells for solar energy is directed toward finding ways of increasing the efficiency of the cells and of
reducing their cost.
The solar cells that you see on calculators and satellites are also called photovoltaic (PV) cells,
which as the name implies (photo meaning "light" and voltaic meaning "electricity"), convert sunlight
directly into electricity. A module is a group of cells connected electrically and packaged into a frame
(more commonly known as a solar panel), which can then be grouped into larger solar arrays, like the
one operating at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada.
PV cells also all have one or more electric field that acts to force electrons freed by light
absorption to flow in a certain direction. This flow of electrons is a current, and by placing metal
contacts on the top and bottom of the PV cell, we can draw that current off for external use, say, to
power a calculator. This current, together with the cell's voltage (which is a result of its built-in
electric field or fields), defines the power (or wattage) that the solar cell can produce.
That's the basic process, but there's really much more to it. On the next page, let's take a
deeper look into one example of a PV cell: the single-crystal silicon cell.
Silicon has some special chemical properties, especially in its crystalline form. An atom of sili-con
has 14 electrons, arranged in three different shells. The first two shells -- which hold two and eight
electrons respectively -- are completely full. The outer shell, however, is only half full with just four
electrons. A silicon atom will always look for ways to fill up its last shell, and to do this, it will share
electrons with four nearby atoms. It's like each atom holds hands with its neighbors, except that
36
TECHNICAL ENGLISH 3 2011 USAC
in this case, each atom has four hands joined to four neighbors. That's what forms the crystalline
structure, and that structure turns out to be important to this type of PV cell.
The only problem is that pure crystalline silicon is a poor conductor of electricity because none
of its electrons are free to move about, unlike the electrons in more optimum conductors like copper.
To address this issue, the silicon in a solar cell has impurities -- other atoms purposefully mixed in
with the silicon atoms -- which changes the way things work a bit. We usually think of impurities as
something undesirable, but in this case, our cell wouldn't work without them. Consider silicon with an
atom of phosphorous here and there, maybe one for every million silicon atoms. Phosphorous has
five electrons in its outer shell, not four. It still bonds with its silicon neighbor atoms, but in a sense,
the phosphorous has one electron that doesn't have anyone to hold hands with. It doesn't form part
of a bond, but there is a positive proton in the phosphorous nucleus holding it in place.
When energy is added to pure silicon, in the form of heat for example, it can cause a few
electrons to break free of their bonds and leave their atoms. A hole is left behind in each case. These
electrons, called free carriers, then wander randomly around the crystalline lattice looking for
another hole to fall into and carrying an electrical current. However, there are so few of them in pure
silicon, that they aren't very useful.
But our impure silicon with phosphorous atoms mixed in is a different story. It takes a lot less
energy to knock loose one of our "extra" phosphorous electrons because they aren't tied up in a bond
with any neighboring atoms. As a result, most of these electrons do break free, and we have a lot
more free carriers than we would have in pure silicon. The process of adding impurities on purpose is
called doping, and when doped with phosphorous, the resulting silicon is called N-type ("n" for
negative) because of the prevalence of free electrons. N-type doped silicon is a much better
conductor than pure silicon.
The other part of a typical solar cell is doped with the element boron, which has only three
electrons in its outer shell instead of four, to become P-type silicon. Instead of having free electrons,
P-type ("p" for positive) has free openings and carries the opposite (positive) charge.
Before now, our two separate pieces of silicon were electrically neutral; the interesting part
begins when you put them together. That's because without an electric field, the cell wouldn't work;
the field forms when the N-type and P-type silicon come into contact. Suddenly, the free electrons on
the N side see all the openings on the P side, and there's a mad rush to fill them. Do all the free
electrons fill all the free holes? No. If they did, then the whole arrangement wouldn't be very useful.
However, right at the junction, they do mix and form something of a barrier, making it harder and
37
TECHNICAL ENGLISH 3 2011 USAC
harder for electrons on the N side to cross over to the P side. Eventually, equilibrium is reached, and
we have an electric field separating the two sides.
This electric field acts as a diode, allowing (and even pushing) electrons to flow from the P side
to the N side, but not the other way around. It's like a hill -- electrons can easily go down the hill (to
the N side), but can't climb it (to the P side).
When light, in the form of photons, hits our solar cell, its energy breaks apart electron-hole
pairs. Each photon with enough energy will normally free exactly one electron, resulting in a free hole
as well. If this happens close enough to the electric field, or if free electron and free hole happen to
wander into its range of influence, the field will send the electron to the N side and the hole to the P
side. This causes further disruption of electrical neutrality, and if we provide an external current path,
electrons will flow through the path to the P side to unite with holes that the electric field sent there,
doing work for us along the way. The electron flow provides the current, and the cell's electric field
causes a voltage. With both current and voltage, we have power, which is the product of the two.
There are a few more components left before we can really use our cell. Silicon happens to be
a very shiny material, which can send photons bouncing away before they've done their job, so an
antireflective coating is applied to reduce those losses. The final step is to install something that will
protect the cell from the elements -- often a glass cover plate. PV modules are generally made by
connecting several individual cells together to achieve useful levels of voltage and current, and
putting them in a sturdy frame complete with positive and negative terminals.
How much sunlight energy does our PV cell absorb? Unfortunately, probably not an awful lot.
In 2006, for example, most solar panels only reached efficiency levels of about 12 to 18 percent. The
most cutting-edge solar panel system that year finally muscled its way over the industry's long-
38
TECHNICAL ENGLISH 3 2011 USAC
standing 40 percent barrier in solar efficiency -- achieving 40.7 percent [source: U.S. Department of
Energy]. So why is it such a challenge to make the most of a sunny day?
The sun radiates approximately 1000W per square meter, so a 10 x 10 cm solar cell is exposed
to nearly 10 watts of radiated power. Depending on the quality of the cell, it can produce an electrical
output of 1 - 1.5 watts. To increase the output, several cells are combined and connected to a PV
module. The connection of several PV modules is also referred to as a PV array.
Thermal energy can also create electricity. In a solar power plant, the sun heats a liquid until it
boils. Then the steam created from this boiling liquid runs a turbine to generate electricity. In order
for the liquids to boil, these power plants use mirror to focus the sun’s heat and increase its strength.
Some mirrors are curved and shaped like a saucer. Others are shaped like a trough or placed in a line.
Some new solar energy plants have a power tower. Thousands of mirrors surround the tower and
focus the sun’s heat to the top.
39
TECHNICAL ENGLISH 3 2011 USAC
The solar collectors absorb the sun’s rays, convert them to heat and transfer the heat to a
heat-transfer fluid. (The heat-transfer fluid is typically a glycol and water mixture in regions where
seasonal freezing in a concern.) The heat-transfer fluid is then pumped into a heat exchanger located
inside the water storage tank where it heats the water.
After releasing its heat via the heat exchanger, the heat-transfer fluid flows back to the
collectors to be reheated. The controller keeps the heat-transfer fluid circulating whenever there is
heat available in the solar collectors. In the winter, a boiler serves as an alternate heat source.
Solar thermal systems can be integrated into existing hot water systems with relative ease.
• The Solar Controller. Solar thermal systems are operated by a solar controller. Once the temperature
at the collector rises several degrees above the temperature in the storage tank, the solar controller
switches on the circulation pump and the heat-transfer fluid transports the heat accumulated in the
collector to the hot water tank.
• The Hot Water Tank. There are two basic kinds of tanks. Drinking water storage tanks are used for
heating drinking water and consist of steel tanks that are filled with drinking water and equipped with
two heat exchangers.
• Combination storage tanks are used for both drinking water and supplying heating systems. They have
two internal tanks to keep the water separated. The solar thermal circuit is connected to the lower
heat exchanger. The boiler connects to the upper heat exchanger.
In most cases, solar thermal energy systems are designed to meet 100% of a household’s
energy demands for water heating during the summer months from May to September. During
the winter months, the boiler will likely be used for space heating and can also heat water during
that time. In this way, solar energy accounts for approximately 60% of the energy used to heat
water throughout the year.
40
TECHNICAL ENGLISH 3 2011 USAC
Generally speaking, the size of your solar thermal system will vary depending on the climate and
overall water usage. The following guidelines can be used to estimate your system requirements:
As you can see, evacuated tube type collectors are more efficient given the same area.
This may be something to consider if your rooftop is not very large.
Since household hot water requirements remain relatively consistent throughout the year, the
use of solar energy for hot water generation can be extremely cost-effective. The solar thermal
system can easily be designed to meet a specific household’s energy demands for hot water usage.
With a properly sized system, 50% to 65% of the annual hot water requirements would be provided
by solar energy – and during the summer, 100% could be achieved, allowing the conventional heating
system to be completely off during that time.
Wind Energy
Wind is moving air. The motion is caused by changes in air temperature. Warm air is light, and
cold air is heavy. When the land beats up during the day, it warms the air above it. This warm air
rises higher in the sky; while cold air moves down to fill the space left by the warm air. This
movement of air creates wind.
41
TECHNICAL ENGLISH 3 2011 USAC
The process of converting the wind into mechanical energy starts with the wind turbine blades. There
are two different types of blade designs, lift type and drag type:
• Lift Type: This is a common type of the modern horizontal axis wind turbine blade that you see at all the big
wind farms. This type of blade has a similar design of an airplane wing. As the air blows on both side of the
blade, it takes the air long to travel across the leading edge creating a lower air pressure and higher air
pressure on the tailing edge. This pressure difference ‘pulls’ and ‘pushes’ the blade around.
Lift type blades have much higher rotational speeds than drag type, which make them well suited
for generating electricity.
• Drag Type – The first type of wind turbines created used a drag design. This type of wind turbine uses
the force of the wind to push the blade. A savonius is a perfect example of this design type, the wind
is resisted by blade and the wind’s force on it pushes it around. This design normally creates a slower
42
TECHNICAL ENGLISH 3 2011 USAC
rotational speed with a higher torque than a lift type design. This design has been used for
centuries for milling, sawing, pumping, but rarely used for energy generation on large scale.
The rotating blades are connected to a shaft which is connected to a generator. Some micro
wind turbines are designed to be direct drive, where the blades connect directly to a low RPM
generator, usually around 500+ RPM. The larger wind turbines make the use of gears to increase a
slow blade turn, sometimes as slow as 9 RPM, into 1800+ RPM that can be used to drive a generator.
These gears lose energy and cause additional cost, maintenance, and downtime. Many recent
advances and ingenuity has gone into improving the design.
43
TECHNICAL ENGLISH 3 2011 USAC
Horizontal axis wind turbines have the main rotor shaft and
electrical generator at the top of a tower, and they must be pointed
into the wind. Small turbines are pointed by a simple wind vane
placed square with the rotor (blades), while large turbines generally
use a wind sensor coupled with a servo motor to turn the turbine
into the wind. Most large wind turbines have a gearbox, which
turns the slow rotation of the rotor into a faster rotation that is
more suitable to drive an electrical generator.
Downwind machines have been built, despite the problem of turbulence, because they don't
need an additional mechanism for keeping them in line with the wind. Additionally, in high winds the
blades can be allowed to bend which reduces their swept area and thus their wind resistance. Since
turbulence leads to fatigue failures, and reliability is so important, most HAWTs are upwind machines.
HAWT advantages
• The tall tower base allows access to stronger wind in sites with wind shear. In some wind shear sites,
every ten meters up the wind speed can increase by 20% and the power output by 34%.
• High efficiency, since the blades always move perpendicularly to the wind, receiving power through the
whole rotation. In contrast, all vertical axis wind turbines, and most proposed airborne wind turbine
designs, involve various types of reciprocating actions, requiring airfoil surfaces to backtrack against
the wind for part of the cycle. Backtracking against the wind leads to inherently lower efficiency.
44
TECHNICAL ENGLISH 3 2011 USAC
HAWT disadvantages
• Massive tower construction is required to support the heavy blades, gearbox, and generator.
• Components of a horizontal axis wind turbine (gearbox, rotor shaft and brake assembly) being lifted
into position.
• Their height makes them obtrusively visible across large areas, disrupting the appearance of the
landscape and sometimes creating local opposition.
• Downwind variants suffer from fatigue and structural failure caused by turbulence when a blade passes
through the tower's wind shadow (for this reason, the majority of HAWTs use an upwind design, with
the rotor facing the wind in front of the tower).
• HAWTs require an additional yaw control mechanism to turn the blades toward the wind.
• HAWTs generally require a braking or yawing device in high winds to stop the turbine from spinning
and destroying or damaging itself.
When the turbine turns to face the wind, the rotating blades act like a gyroscope. As it pivots,
gyroscopic precession tries to twist the turbine into a forward or backward somersault. For each
blade on a wind generator's turbine, force is at a minimum when the blade is horizontal and at a
maximum when the blade is vertical. This cyclic twisting can quickly fatigue and crack the blade roots,
hub and axle of the turbines.
Vertical axis
It is difficult to mount vertical-axis turbines on towers, meaning they are often installed nearer
to the base on which they rest, such as the ground or a building rooftop. The wind speed is slower at
a lower altitude, so less wind energy is available for a given size turbine. Air flow near the ground and
45
TECHNICAL ENGLISH 3 2011 USAC
other objects can create turbulent flow, which can introduce issues of vibration, including noise and
bearing wear which may increase the maintenance or shorten its service life. However, when a
turbine is mounted on a rooftop, the building generally redirects wind over the roof and this can
double the wind speed at the turbine. If the height of the rooftop mounted turbine tower is
approximately 50% of the building height, this is near the optimum for maximum wind energy and
minimum wind turbulence.
VAWT subtypes
Darrieus wind turbine
Darrieus wind turbines are commonly called "Eggbeater" turbines, because they look like a
giant eggbeater. They have good efficiency, but produce large torque ripple and cyclic stress on the
tower, which contributes to poor reliability. Also, they generally require some external power source,
or an additional Savonius rotor, to start turning, because the starting torque is very low. The torque
ripple is reduced by using three or more blades which results in a higher solidity for the rotor. Solidity
is measured by blade area over the rotor area. Newer Darrieus type turbines are not held up by guy-
wires but have an external superstructure connected to the top bearing.
A Savonius is a drag type turbine, they are commonly used in cases of high reliability in many
things such as ventilation and anemometers. Because they are a drag type turbine they are less
efficient than the common HAWT. Savonius are excellent in areas of turbulent wind and self starting.
VAWT advantages
• No yaw mechanisms is needed.
• A VAWT can be located nearer the ground, making it easier to maintain the moving parts.
• VAWTs have lower wind startup speeds than the typical the HAWTs.
• VAWTs may be built at locations where taller structures are prohibited.
• VAWTs situated close to the ground can take advantage of locations where rooftops, mesas,
hilltops, ridgelines, and passes funnel the wind and increase wind velocity.
VAWT disadvantages
• Most VAWTs have a average decreased efficiency from a common HAWT, mainly because of the
additional drag that they have as their blades rotate into the wind. Versions that reduce drag
produce more energy, especially those that funnel wind into the collector area.
46
TECHNICAL ENGLISH 3 2011 USAC
• Having rotors located close to the ground where wind speeds are lower and do not take advantage
of higher wind speeds above.
• Because VAWTs are not commonly deployed due mainly to the serious disadvantages mentioned
above, they appear novel to those not familiar with the wind industry. This has often made them
the subject of wild claims and investment scams over the last 50 years.
Geothermal energy
47
TECHNICAL ENGLISH 3 2011 USAC
Homework
• Investigate at least 15 technical words from this chapter that you previously did not know
and write the translation and definition of each
• Investigate about the following topics: magma, and mantle
• Watch the suggested videos. Then, answer this question: What could you do help to introduce
people to living a "green" life? What are some ways to change their way of thinking and living?
Suggested videos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIU5fFmDeSc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_fvbO2VXjc&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1HmY_ImHAg&feature=channel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KlG0xk93J-E&feature=channel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJAbATJCugs&feature=fvw
Activities
Write in each square and explain some energy sources:
48
TECHNICAL ENGLISH 3 2011 USAC
Bioethanol production
In recent years, largely in response to uncertain fuel supply and efforts to reduce carbon
dioxide emissions, bioethanol (along with biodiesel) has become one of the most promising biofuels
today and is considered as the only feasible short to medium alternative to fossil transport fuels in
Europe and in the wider world.
Bioethanol is seen as a good fuel alternative because the source crops can be grown
renewably and in most climates around the world. In addition the use of bioethanol is generally CO2
neutral. This is achieved because in the growing phase of the source crop, CO2 is absorbed by the
plant and oxygen is released in the same volume that CO2 is produced in the combustion of the fuel.
This creates an obvious advantage over fossil fuels which only emit CO2 as well as other poisonous
emissions. In the 1970s, Brazil and the USA started mass production of bioethanol -grown from
sugarcane and corn respectively. Smaller scale production started more recently in Spain, France and
Sweden mostly from wheat and sugar beet.
In recent years the concept of the bio-refinery has emerged, whereby one integrates biomass
conversion processes and technology to produce a variety of products including fuels, power,
chemicals and feed for cattle. In this manner one can take advantage of the natural differences in the
chemical and structural composition of the biomass feed stocks.
st
The production of bioethanol from traditional means, or 1 Generation Biofuels is based upon
starch crops like corn and wheat and from sugar crops like sugar cane and sugar beet. However, the
cultivation of alternative sugar crops like sweet sorghum opens up new possibilities in Europe,
especially in hotter and drier regions, such as Southern and Eastern Europe. Sweet sorghum requires
less water or nutrients and has a higher fermentable sugar content than sugar cane as well as a
shorter growing period which means that in some regions like in Africa you can get 2 harvests a year
from the same crop. In addition to this, the development of lingo-cellulosic technology has meant
that not only high energy content starch and sugar crops can be used but also woody biomass or
nd
waste residues from forestry. This development is seen as the 2 Generation of Biofuels.
49
TECHNICAL ENGLISH 3 2011 USAC
What is Bioethanol?
The principle fuel used as a petrol substitute for road transport vehicles is bioethanol.
Bioethanol fuel is mainly produced by the sugar fermentation process, although it can also be
manufactured by the chemical process of reacting ethylene with steam.
The main sources of sugar required to produce ethanol come from fuel or energy crops. These
crops are grown specifically for energy use and include corn, maize and wheat crops, waste straw,
willow and popular trees, sawdust, reed canary grass, cord grasses, jerusalem artichoke,
myscanthus and sorghum plants. There is also ongoing research and development into the use of
municipal solid wastes to produce ethanol fuel.
Benefits
Bioethanol has a number of advantages over conventional fuels. It comes from a renewable
resource i.e. crops and not from a finite resource and the crops it derives from can grow well (like
cereals, sugar beet and maize). Another benefit over fossil fuels is the greenhouse gas emissions. The
road transport network accounts for 22% of all greenhouse gas emissions and through the use of
bioethanol, some of these emissions will be reduced as the fuel crops absorb the CO2 they emit
through growing. Also, blending bioethanol with petrol will help extend the life of the diminishing oil
supplies and ensure greater fuel security, avoiding heavy reliance on oil producing nations.
50
TECHNICAL ENGLISH 3 2011 USAC
By encouraging bioethanol’s use, the rural economy would also receive a boost from growing
the necessary crops. Bioethanol is also biodegradable and far less toxic that fossil fuels. In addition, by
using bioethanol in older engines can help reduce the amount of carbon monoxide produced by the
vehicle thus improving air quality.
Another advantage of bioethanol is the ease with which it can be easily integrated into the
existing road transport fuel system. In quantities up to 5%, bioethanol can be blended with
conventional fuel without the need of engine modifications. Bioethanol is produced using familiar
methods, such as fermentation, and it can be distributed using the same petrol forecourts and
transportation systems as before.
Bioethanol Production
Ethanol can be produced from biomass by the hydrolysis and sugar fermentation processes.
Biomass wastes contain a complex mixture of carbohydrate polymers from the plant cell walls known
as cellulose, hemi cellulose and lignin. In order to produce sugars from the biomass, the biomass is
pre-treated with acids or enzymes in order to reduce the size of the feedstock and to open up the
plant structure. The cellulose and the hemi cellulose portions are broken down (hydrolysed) by
51
TECHNICAL ENGLISH 3 2011 USAC
enzymes or dilute acids into sucrose sugar that is then fermented into ethanol. The lignin which is
also present in the biomass is normally used as a fuel for the ethanol production plants boilers. There
are three principle methods of
extracting sugars from
biomass. These are
concentrated acid hydrolysis,
dilute acid hydrolysis and
enzymatic hydrolysis.
Production Process:
1. Grinding Grain
52
TECHNICAL ENGLISH 3 2011 USAC
Yeast is a facultative anaerobe. In an aerobic environment, it converts sugars into carbon dioxide and
water. In an anaerobic environment, it converts sugars into carbon dioxide and ethanol. Thus, for an ethanol
industry, it is important to exclude significant oxygen from its system. This fermentation process is relatively
slow process, so it is important for an industrial use to make it faster. Usually, a propagation tank is employed.
In this tank, mash, water, enzymes, nutrients, and yeast are mixed to re-hydrate the yeast.
3. Distillation:
4. Dehydration
Bioethanol Usage
Chemicals
A number of chemicals are produced in the ethanol industry and potentially even more in the 2 nd.
generation bioethanol industry, serving a wide range of uses in the pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, beverages and
medical sectors as well as for industrial uses. The market potential for bioethanol is
53
TECHNICAL ENGLISH 3 2011 USAC
therefore not just limited to transport fuel or energy production but has potential to supply the existing
chemicals industry.
Transport Fuel:
Bioethanol has mostly been used as a biofuel for transport, especially in Brazil. Indeed it was in
Brazil where the first bioethanol fuelled cars emerged on a large-scale. Although generally unknown
to the average consumer, a large volume of bioethanol is already used in Europe as it is blended with
petrol at 5%. It is used as a substitute for lead as an oxygenating additive and has a high octane rating,
which improves performance. Although the eventual target is the private consumer, few are aware of
bioethanol’s potenial to, at least, partly replace petrol as a transport fuel in Europe.
• Bioethanol producers
• Fuel suppliers
• Car manufacturers
• The government
Fuel Cells:
54
TECHNICAL ENGLISH 3 2011 USAC
components). They are, however, regarded as very reliable for the duration of their lifespan and are
often used for emergency power.
In addition, an increase in the demand of bioethanol may burden on our money. This is because,
currently, ethanol production is supported by huge subsidies coming from our tax. Besides, an
increase in the ethanol production means an increase in the demand of corn . This may cause an
increase in the corn price. Today, corn is everywhere in our meal.
Therefore, there are still so many concerns to say bioethnaol is a real ideal energy source.
55
TECHNICAL ENGLISH 3 2011 USAC
Activities
• Use the box below to describe the picture of the Bioethanol production where you can see
the different steps of the process:
56
TECHNICAL ENGLISH 3 2011 USAC
Ethanol can be produced from biomass by the hydrolysis and sugar fermentation processes.
By encouraging bioethanol’s use, the rural economy would never receive a boost from growing the necessary
crops:
An increase in the ethanol production means an inrease in the demand of corn. This may cause a decrease
in the corn price.
The most common blend is 10% ethanol and 90% petrol (E10):
57
TECHNICAL ENGLISH 3 2011 USAC
3. With the next picture do a “Proccess diagram” to recognize the activity in each part of the
Bioethanol production writing each specification in the square below.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Lean Manufacturing:
References
58
TECHNICAL ENGLISH 3 2011 USAC
Gears
Another thing gears do is adjust the direction of rotation. For instance, in the differential
between the rear wheels of your car, the power is transmitted by a shaft that runs down the center of
the car, and the differential has to turn that power 90 degrees to apply it to the wheels.
There are a lot of intricacies in the different types of gears. In this article, we'll learn exactly how the
teeth on gears work, and we'll talk about the different types of gears you find in all sorts of
mechanical gadgets.
On any gear, the ratio is determined by the distances from the center of the gear to the point
of contact. For instance, in a device with two gears, if one gear is twice the diameter of the other, the
ratio would be 2:1.
One of the most primitive types of gears we could look at would be a wheel with wooden pegs
sticking out of it.
The problem with this type of gear is that the distance from the center of each gear to the
point of contact changes as the gears rotate. This means that the gear ratio changes as the gear turns,
meaning that the output speed also changes. If you used a gear like this in your car, it would be
impossible to maintain a constant speed -- you would be accelerating and decelerating constantly.
Many modern gears use a special tooth profile called an involute. This profile has the very important
property of maintaining a constant speed ratio between the two gears. Like the peg wheel above, the
contact point moves; but the shape of the involute gear tooth compensates for this movement.
Types of Gears
59
TECHNICAL ENGLISH 3 2011 USAC
Spur gears are the most common type of gears. They have
straight teeth, and are mounted on parallel shafts. Sometimes,
many spur gears are used at once to create very large gear
reductions. Spur gears are used in many, like the electric
screwdriver, dancing monster, oscillating sprinkler, windup alarm
clock, washing machine and clothes dryer. But you won't find
many in your car. This is because the spur gear can be really loud. Each time a gear tooth engages a
tooth on the other gear, the teeth collide, and this impact makes a noise. It also increases the stress
on the gear teeth. To reduce the noise and stress in the gears, most of the gears in your car are
helical.
60
TECHNICAL ENGLISH 3 2011 USAC
On straight and spiral bevel gears, the shafts must be perpendicular to each other, but they must also
be in the same plane. If you were to extend the two shafts past the gears, they would intersect. The
hypoid gear, on the other hand, can engage with the axes in different planes.
This feature is used in many car differentials. The ring gear of the differential and the input pinion
gear are both hypoid. This allows the input pinion to be mounted lower than the axis of the ring gear.
Figure shows the input pinion engaging the ring gear of the differential. Since the driveshaft of the car
is connected to the input pinion, this also lowers the driveshaft. This means that the driveshaft
doesn't intrude into the passenger compartment of the car as much, making more room for people
and cargo.
Worm gears are used when large gear reductions are needed. It
is common for worm gears to have reductions of 20:1, and even
up to 300:1 or greater. Many worm gears have an interesting
property that no other gear set has: the worm can easily turn the
gear, but the gear cannot turn the worm. This is because the
angle on the worm is so shallow that when the gear tries to spin
it, the friction between the gear and the worm holds the worm in
place. This feature is useful for machines such as conveyor
systems, in which the locking feature can act as a brake for the
conveyor when the motor is not turning. One other very
interesting usage of worm gears is in the Torsen differential,
which is used on some high-performance cars and trucks.
61
TECHNICAL ENGLISH 3 2011 USAC
Rack and pinion gears are used to convert rotation into linear
motion. A perfect example of this is the steering system on
many cars. The steering wheel rotates a gear which engages
the rack. As the gear turns, it slides the rack either to the right
or left, depending on which way you turn the wheel.
Rack and pinion gears are also used in some scales to turn the
dial that displays your weight.
Bearings
The concept behind a bearing is very simple: Things roll better than they slide. The wheels on
your car are like big bearings. If you had something like skis instead of wheels, your car would be a lot
more difficult to push down the road.
The bearing above is like the one in a barstool. It is loaded purely in thrust, and the entire load comes
from the weight of the person sitting on the stool.
62
TECHNICAL ENGLISH 3 2011 USAC
Types of Bearings
There are many types of bearings, each used for different
purposes. These include ball bearings, roller bearings, ball thrust
bearings, roller thrust bearings and tapered roller thrust bearings.
Roller bearings like the one illustrated below are used in applications
like conveyer belt rollers, where they must hold heavy radial loads. In these
bearings, the roller is a cylinder, so the contact between the inner and outer
race is not a point but a line. This spreads the load out over a larger area,
allowing the bearing to handle much greater loads than a ball bearing.
However, this type of bearing is not designed to handle much thrust loading. A
variation of this type of bearing, called a needle bearing, uses cylinders with a
very small diameter. This allows the bearing to fit into tight places.
63
TECHNICAL ENGLISH 3 2011 USAC
Ball thrust bearings like the one shown below are mostly used for low-speed applications and cannot
handle much radial load. Barstools and Lazy Susan turntables use this type of bearing.
Giant Roller Bearings. Probably the first use of a bearing was back when the Egyptians were
building the pyramids. They put round logs under the heavy stones so that they could roll
them to the building site. This method is still used today when large, very heavy objects like
the Cape Hatteras lighthouse need to be moved.
• Earthquake-Proof Buildings. The new San Francisco International Airport uses many advanced
building technologies to help it withstandearthquakes. One of these technologies involves
giant ball bearings.
64
TECHNICAL ENGLISH 3 2011 USAC
Motores y Motores
El término motores generalmente se refiere a motores de gasolina, motores diesel y motores a
reacción (o jets). En ingeniería, el motor generalmente significa motor eléctrico, pero en
términos generales, "motor" también puede referirse a motores de gasolina y diésel. Los
motores y motores impulsan (o impulsan) máquinas mediante la generación de movimiento
rotatorio, por ejemplo, para impulsar las ruedas. En los motores a reacción, los compresores y
las turbinas giran para generar una fuerza de empuje, producida al forzar el aire desde la parte
trasera del motor a alta velocidad.
A medida que un motor produce un par, fuerza giratoria, las partes móviles de la máquina que
está conduciendo producirán resistencia, debido a la fricción y otras fuerzas. Como resultado,
el par (fuerza de torsión) se ejerce sobre el eje de salida del motor. El torque, calculado como
un momento de giro en newton metros, es, por lo tanto, una medida de cuánta fuerza de
rotación puede ejercer un motor. La velocidad a la que un motor puede trabajar para ejercer par
es la potencia del motor, medida en vatios. Los ingenieros de Althoug normalmente calculan la
potencia del motor en vatios, la potencia de los motores de un vehículo a menudo se da en
potencia de freno (CV). Esta es la potencia de eje de salida de un motor medido en caballos de
fuerza (hp).
65
TECHNICAL ENGLISH 3 2011 USAC
66
TECHNICAL ENGLISH 3 2011 USAC
El núcleo del motor es el cilindro, con el pistón moviéndose hacia arriba y hacia
abajo dentro del cilindro. El motor descrito anteriormente tiene un cilindro. Eso es
típico de la mayoría de las cortadoras de césped, pero la mayoría de los
automóviles tienen más de un cilindro (cuatro, seis y ocho cilindros son comunes).
En un motor multicilindro, los cilindros generalmente están dispuestos en una de
tres formas: en línea, V o plana (también conocida como opuesta horizontalmente o
boxer), como se muestra en las siguientes figuras.
V - Los cilindros están dispuestos en dos bancos dispuestos en ángulo entre sí.
Plano: los cilindros están dispuestos en dos bancos en lados opuestos del motor.
Bujía
La bujía suministra la chispa que enciende la mezcla de aire / combustible para que
pueda producirse la combustión. La chispa debe suceder en el momento justo para
que las cosas funcionen correctamente.
Valvulas
67
TECHNICAL ENGLISH 3 2011 USAC
Pistón
Anillos de pistón
Biela
La biela conecta el pistón al cigüeñal. Puede girar en ambos
extremos para que su ángulo pueda cambiar a medida que el
pistón se mueve y el cigüeñal gira.
Cigüeñal
Sumidero
• Puede haber una impureza en el combustible (como el agua en el tanque de gasolina) que hace que el
combustible no se queme.
proceso de combustión no funcionará como debería. La falta de compresión puede ocurrir por estos
motivos:
• Los anillos del pistón están desgastados (permitiendo que el aire / combustible se filtre más allá del
• Las válvulas de admisión o escape no están sellando adecuadamente, permitiendo nuevamente una
fuga durante
compresión.
El "agujero" más común en un cilindro ocurre donde la parte superior del cilindro (que sujeta las
válvulas y la bujía y también conocida como la culata) se une al cilindro mismo. Generalmente, el
cilindro y la culata se atornillan junto con una junta delgada presionada entre ellos para asegurar un
buen sellado. Si la junta se rompe, se desarrollan pequeños agujeros entre el cilindro y la culata, y estos
Falta de chispa: la chispa puede ser inexistente o débil por varias razones:
Si la chispa ocurre demasiado temprano o demasiado tarde en el ciclo (es decir, si el tiempo de
Si los cojinetes que permiten que el cigüeñal gire libremente están desgastados, el cigüeñal no puede
• Si las válvulas no se abren y cierran en el momento correcto o en absoluto, el aire no puede entrar y
salir
• Si alguien mete una papa por el tubo de escape, el escape no puede salir del cilindro, por lo que el
motor
no correr
• Si se queda sin aceite, el pistón no puede moverse hacia arriba y hacia abajo libremente en el cilindro,
y el
el motor se inmovilizará.
En un motor que funciona correctamente, todos estos factores están dentro de la tolerancia.
. Como puede ver, un motor tiene varios sistemas que lo ayudan a hacer su trabajo de convertir
combustible en movimiento
69
TECHNICAL ENGLISH 3 2011 USAC
Motor eléctrico
Un motor eléctrico es un dispositivo electromecánico que convierte la energía eléctrica en energía
mecánica.
Los motores eléctricos se encuentran en aplicaciones tan diversas como ventiladores industriales,
sopladores y bombas, máquinas herramienta, electrodomésticos, herramientas eléctricas y unidades
de disco. Pueden ser alimentados por corriente continua, un dispositivo portátil con batería o un
vehículo de motor, o por corriente alterna de una red de distribución eléctrica central o inversor. Los
motores más pequeños se pueden encontrar en relojes de pulsera eléctricos. Los motores medianos
de dimensiones y características altamente estandarizadas proporcionan una potencia mecánica
conveniente para usos industriales. Los motores eléctricos más grandes se utilizan para la propulsión
de barcos, compresores de tuberías y bombas de agua con potencias de millones de vatios. Los
motores eléctricos pueden clasificarse por la fuente de energía eléctrica, por su construcción interna,
por su aplicación o por el tipo de movimiento que dan.
Terminología
En un motor eléctrico, la parte móvil se llama rotor y la parte estacionaria se llama estator. Los
campos magnéticos se producen en postes, y estos pueden ser polos sobresalientes donde son
impulsados por bobinados de cables eléctricos. Un motor de polo sombreado tiene un devanado
alrededor de una parte del polo que retrasa la fase del campo magnético para ese polo.
Un conmutador cambia el flujo de corriente a los devanados del rotor dependiendo del ángulo del
rotor.
Un motor de CC funciona con corriente continua, aunque casi siempre hay un mecanismo interno
(como un conmutador) que convierte CC a CA para parte del motor. Un motor de CA se suministra
con corriente alterna, a menudo evitando la necesidad de un conmutador.
Un motor síncrono es un motor de CA que funciona a una velocidad fija a una fracción de la
frecuencia de la fuente de alimentación, y un motor asíncrono es un motor de CA, generalmente un
motor de inducción, cuya velocidad disminuye al aumentar el par a un poco menos que la velocidad
síncrona. Los motores universales pueden funcionar con CA o CC, aunque la frecuencia máxima del
suministro de CA puede ser limited.
70
TECHNICAL ENGLISH 3 2011 USAC
Un motor de CC es un motor eléctrico que funciona con corriente continua (CC). Los motores de CC se
utilizan para operar maquinaria, a menudo eliminando la necesidad de una máquina de vapor local o un
motor de combustión interna. Los motores de CC pueden funcionar directamente desde baterías
recargables, la potencia motriz para los primeros vehículos eléctricos. Hoy en día, los motores de CC
todavía se encuentran en aplicaciones tan pequeñas como juguetes y unidades de disco, o en grandes
dimensiones para operar fábricas de laminación de acero y máquinas de papel. Los motores de CC
modernos casi siempre funcionan junto con dispositivos electrónicos de potencia.
AC motor
Comúnmente consta de dos partes básicas, un estator estacionario externo que tiene bobinas
alimentadas con corriente alterna para producir un campo magnético giratorio, y un rotor interno unido
al eje de salida al que el campo giratorio le da un par.
Existen dos tipos principales de motores de CA, según el tipo de rotor utilizado. El primer tipo es el
motor de inducción, que funciona un poco más lento que la frecuencia de suministro. El campo
magnético en el rotor de este motor es creado por una corriente inducida. El segundo tipo es el motor
síncrono, que no depende de la inducción y, como resultado, puede girar exactamente a la frecuencia de
suministro o un submúltiplo de la frecuencia de suministro. El campo magnético en el rotor es
generador por la corriente entregada a través de anillos colectores o por un imán permanente. Otros
tipos de motores incluyen motores de corriente parásita, y también máquinas de conmutación mecánica
AC / DC en las velocidades dependientes del voltaje y la conexión del devanado.
ELECTRÓNICA DIGITAL
La electrónica digital representa señales por bandas discretas de niveles analógicos, en lugar de por un
rango continuo. Todos los niveles dentro de una banda representan el mismo estado de señal. Los
cambios relativamente pequeños en los niveles de la señal analógica debido a la tolerancia de
fabricación, la atenuación de la señal o el ruido parásito no abandonan la envolvente discreta y, como
resultado, los circuitos de detección del estado de la señal los ignoran.
En la mayoría de los casos, el número de estos estados es dos, y están representados por dos bandas de
voltaje: una cerca de un valor de referencia (típicamente denominado "tierra" o cero voltios) y un valor
cerca del voltaje de suministro, correspondiente al "falso" ("0") y "verdadero" ("1") valores del dominio
booleano respectivamente.
Las técnicas digitales son útiles porque es más fácil hacer que un dispositivo electrónico cambie a uno de
varios estados conocidos que reproducir con precisión un rango continuo de valores.
Los circuitos electrónicos digitales generalmente están hechos de grandes conjuntos de puertas lógicas,
representaciones electrónicas simples de funciones lógicas booleanas.
Ventajas
Una ventaja de los circuitos digitales en comparación con los circuitos analógicos es que las señales
representadas digitalmente pueden transmitirse sin degradación debido al ruido. Por ejemplo, una señal
de audio continua, transmitida como una secuencia de 1s y 0s, puede reconstruirse sin errores, siempre
que el ruido recogido en la transmisión no sea suficiente para evitar la identificación de los 1s y 0s. Se
puede almacenar una hora de música en un disco compacto utilizando aproximadamente 6 mil millones
de dígitos binarios.
En un sistema digital, se puede obtener una representación más precisa de una señal utilizando más
dígitos binarios para representarla. Si bien esto requiere más circuitos digitales para procesar las
señales, cada dígito es manejado por el mismo tipo de hardware. En un sistema analógico, la
resolución adicional requiere mejoras fundamentales en las características de linealidad y ruido de
cada paso del signal chain.
Desventajas
En algunos casos, los circuitos digitales usan más energía que los circuitos analógicos para realizar las
mismas tareas, produciendo así más calor, lo que aumenta la complejidad de los circuitos, como la
inclusión de disipadores de calor. En sistemas portátiles o con batería, esto puede limitar el uso de
sistemas digitales.
En algunos casos, los circuitos digitales usan más energía que los circuitos analógicos para realizar las
mismas tareas, produciendo así más calor, lo que aumenta la complejidad de los circuitos, como la
inclusión de disipadores de calor. En sistemas portátiles o con batería, esto puede limitar el uso de
sistemas digitales.
Por otro lado, algunas técnicas utilizadas en los sistemas digitales hacen que esos sistemas sean más
vulnerables a los errores de un solo bit. Estas técnicas son aceptables cuando los bits subyacentes son
lo suficientemente confiables que tales errores son altamente improbables. Un error de un solo bit en
los datos de audio almacenados directamente como modulación de código de pulso lineal (como en
un CD-ROM) causa, en el peor de los casos, un solo clic. En cambio, muchas personas usa audio
TECHNICAL ENGLISH 3 2011 USAC
compresión para ahorrar espacio de almacenamiento y tiempo de descarga, a pesar de que un error
de un solo bit puede corromper toda la canción.
Construcción
Cada símbolo lógico está representado por una forma diferente. El conjunto real de formas se
introdujo en 1984 bajo el estándar IEEE \ ANSI 91-1984. "El símbolo lógico dado bajo este estándar se
está utilizando cada vez más e incluso ha comenzado a aparecer en la literatura publicada por los
fabricantes de circuitos integrados digitales".
La salida de una puerta lógica es un flujo o voltaje eléctrico que, a su vez, puede controlar más
puertas lógicas.
Las puertas lógicas a menudo usan la menor cantidad de transistores para reducir su tamaño,
consumo de energía y costo, y aumentar su confiabilidad.
Los circuitos integrados son la forma menos costosa de hacer puertas lógicas en grandes volúmenes.
Los ingenieros suelen diseñar circuitos integrados que utilizan software de automatización de diseño
electrónico (ver más abajo para más información).
Logic Families
Design started with relays. Relay logic was relatively inexpensive and reliable, but slow. Occasionally a
mechanical failure would occur. Fanouts were typically about ten, limited by the resistance of the
coils and arcing on the contacts from high voltages.
Later, vacuum tubes were used. These were very fast, but generated heat, and were unreliable
because the filaments would burn out. Fanouts were typically five to seven, limited by the heating
from the tubes' current. In the 1950s, special "computer tubes" were developed with filaments that
omitted volatile elements like silicon. These ran for hundreds of thousands of hours.
The first semiconductor logic family was resistor-transistor logic. This was a thousand times more
reliable than tubes, ran cooler, and used less power, but had a very low fan-in of three. Diode-
transistor logic improved the fanout up to about seven, and reduced the power. Some DTL designs
used two power-supplies with alternating layers of NPN and PNP transistors to increase the fanout.
Transistor transistor logic (TTL) was a great improvement over these. In early devices, fanout
improved to ten, and later variations reliably achieved twenty. TTL was also fast, with some variations
achieving switching times as low as twenty nanoseconds. TTL is still used in some designs.
73
TECHNICAL ENGLISH 3 2011 USAC
Emitter coupled logic is very fast but uses a lot of power. It was extensively used for high-
performance computers made up of many medium-scale components (such as the Illiac IV).
By far, the most common digital integrated circuits built today use CMOS logic, which is fast, offers
high circuit density and low-power per gate. This is used even in large, fast computers, such as theIBM
System z.
Recent developments
In 2009, researchers discovered that memristors can implement a boolean state storage (similar to a
flip flop, implication and logical inversion, providing a complete logic family with very small amounts
of space and power, using familiar CMOS semiconductor processes.
The discovery of superconductivity has enabled the development of rapid single flux quantum (RSFQ)
circuit technology, which uses Josephson junctions instead of transistors. Most recently, attempts are
being made to construct purely optical computing systems capable of processing digital information
using nonlinear optical elements.
Logic gate
A logic gate is an idealized or physical device implementing a Boolean function, that is, it performs a
logical operation on one or more logic inputs and produces a single logic output. Depending on the
context, the term may refer to an ideal logic gate, one that has for instance zero rise time and
unlimited fan-out, or it may refer to a non-ideal physical device.
Logic gates are primarily implemented using diodes or transistors acting as electronic switches, but
can also be constructed using electromagnetic relays (relay logic), fluidic logic, pneumatic logic,optics,
molecules, or even mechanical elements. With amplification, logic gates can be cascaded in the same
way that Boolean functions can be composed, allowing the construction of a physical model of all of
Boolean logic, and therefore, all of the algorithms and mathematics that can be described with
Boolean logic.
In the next table you will find the common gates with their symbol, truth table and the
respective boolean algebra description.
74
TECHNICAL ENGLISH 3 2011 USAC
INTPUT OUTPUT
A B AANDB
AND 0 0 0
0 1 0
1 0 0
1 1 1
INTPUT OUTPUT
A B AORB
OR A+B 0 0 0
0 1 1
1 0 1
1 1 1
INTPUT OUTPUT
NOT A NOT A
0 1
1 0
INTPUT OUTPUT
A B A NAND
B
0 0 1
NAND
0 1 1
1 0 1
1 1 0
INTPUT OUTPUT
A B ANORB
0 0 1
NOR
0 1 0
1 0 0
1 1 0
INTPUT OUTPUT
A B AXORB
0 0 0
XOR
0 1 1
1 0 1
1 1 0
75
TECHNICAL ENGLISH 3 2011 USAC
INTPUT OUTPUT
A B A XNOR
B
XNOR or 0 0 1
0 1 0
1 0 0
1 1 1
Karnaugh map
Karnaugh Maps are used for many small design problems. It's true that many larger designs are done
using computer implementations of different algorithms. However designs with a small number of
variables occur frequently in interface problems and that makes learning Karnaugh Maps worthwhile.
In addition, if you study Karnaugh Maps you will gain a great deal of insight into digital logic circuits.
Example :
Pairs of 1's are grouped as shown above, and the simplified answer is obtained by using the
following steps:
Note that two groups can be formed for the example given above, bearing in mind that the largest
rectangular clusters that can be made consist of two 1s. Notice that a 1 can belong to more than
one group.
The first group labelled I, consists of two 1s which correspond to A = 0, B = 0 and A = 1, B = 0. Put in
another way, all squares in this example that correspond to the area of the map where B = 0 contains
76
TECHNICAL ENGLISH 3 2011 USAC
1s, independent of the value of A. So when B = 0 the output is 1. The expression of the output
will contain the term
For group labelled II corresponds to the area of the map where A = 0. The group can therefore be
defined as . This implies that when A = 0 the output is 1. The output is therefore 1 whenever B = 0
and A = 0
Hence the simplified answer is Z = +
Example 2:
77
TECHNICAL ENGLISH 3 2011 USAC
78
TECHNICAL ENGLISH 3 2011 USAC
Principles of Telecommunications
Telecommunication is the transmission of information over significant distances to communicate. In
earlier times, telecommunications involved the use of visual signals or audio messages via coded
drumbeats, lung-blown horns, or sent by loud whistles, for example. In the modern age of electricity
and electronics, telecommunications now also includes the use of electrical devices such as
telegraphs, telephones, and teleprinters, the use of radio and microwave communications, as well as
fiber optics and their associated electronics, plus the use of the orbiting satellites and the Internet.
A revolution in wireless telecommunications began in the first decade of the 20th century with
pioneering developments in wireless radio communications by Nikola Tesla and Guglielmo Marconi.
Marconi won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1909 for his efforts. Other highly notable pioneering
inventors and developers in the field of electrical and electronic telecommunications include Charles
Wheatstone and Samuel Morse (telegraph), Alexander Graham Bell (telephone), Edwin Armstrong,
and Lee de Forest (radio), as well as John Logie Baird and Philo Farnsworth (television).
Basic elements
A basic telecommunication system consists of three primary units that are always present in some
form:
• A transmitter that takes information and converts it to a signal.
• A transmission medium, also called the "physical channel" that carries the signal. An example
of this is the "free space channel".
A receiver that takes the signal from the channel and converts it back into usable information.
For example, in a radio broadcasting station the station's large power amplifier is the transmitter; and
the broadcasting antenna is the interface between the power amplifier and the "free space channel".
The free space channel is the transmission medium; and the receiver's antenna is the interface
between the free space channel and the receiver. Next, the radio receiver is the destination of the
radio signal, and this is where it is converted from electricity to sound for people to listen to.
Sometimes, telecommunication systems are "duplex" (two-way systems) with a single box of
electronics working as both a transmitter and a receiver, or a transceiver. For example, a cellular
telephone is a transceiver.[25] The transmission electronics and the receiver electronics in a
transceiver are actually quite independent of each other. This can be readily explained by the fact
that radio transmitters contain power amplifiers that operate with electrical powers measured in the
watts or kilowatts, but radio receivers deal with radio powers that are measured in the microwatts or
nanowatts. Hence, transceivers have to be carefully designed and built to isolate their high-power
circuitry and their low-power circuitry from each other.
broadcast communication because it is between one powerful transmitter and numerous low-power
but sensitive radio receivers.[25]
Telecommunications in which multiple transmitters and multiple receivers have been designed to
cooperate and to share the same physical channel are called multiplex systems.
Telecommunication networks
Communication channels
The term "channel" has two different meanings. In one meaning, a channel is the physical medium
that carries a signal between the transmitter and the receiver. Examples of this include the
atmosphere for sound communications, glass optical fibers for some kinds of optical communications,
coaxial cables for communications by way of the voltages and electric currents in them, and free
space for communications using visible light, infrared waves, ultraviolet light, and radio waves. This
last channel is called the "free space channel". The sending of radio waves from one place to another
has nothing to do with the presence or absence of an atmosphere between the two. Radio waves
travel through a perfect vacuum just as easily as they travel through air, fog, clouds, or any other kind
of gas besides air.
Modulation
The shaping of a signal to convey information is known as modulation. Modulation can be used to
represent a digital message as an analog waveform. This is commonly called "keying" – a term derived
from the older use of Morse Code in telecommunications – and several keying techniques exist (these
include phase-shift keying, frequency-shift keying, and amplitude-shift keying). The "Bluetooth"
system, for example, uses phase-shift keying to exchange information between various
devices.[29][30] In addition, there are combinations of phase-shift keying and amplitude-shift keying
which is called (in the jargon of the field) "quadrature amplitude modulation" (QAM) that are used in
high-capacity digital radio communication systems.
80
TECHNICAL ENGLISH 3 2011 USAC
Modulation can also be used to transmit the information of low-frequency analog signals at higher
frequencies. This is helpful because low-frequency analog signals cannot be effectively transmitted
over free space. Hence the information from a low-frequency analog signal must be impressed into a
higher-frequency signal (known as the "carrier wave") before transmission. There are several
different modulation schemes available to achieve this [two of the most basic being amplitude
modulation (AM) and frequency modulation (FM)]. An example of this process is a disc jockey's voice
being impressed into a 96 MHz carrier wave using frequency modulation (the voice would then be
received on a radio as the channel "96 FM"). In addition, modulation has the advantage of being
about to use frequency division multiplexing (FDM).
Amplitude modulation (AM) is a technique used in electronic communication, most commonly for
transmitting information via a radio carrier wave. AM works by varying the strength of the
transmitted signal in relation to the information being sent. For example, changes in signal strength
may be used to specify the sounds to be reproduced by a loudspeaker, or the light intensity of
television pixels. Contrast this with frequency modulation, in which the frequency is varied, and phase
modulation, in which the phase is varied.
81
TECHNICAL ENGLISH 3 2011 USAC
Frequency modulation
In telecommunications and signal processing, frequency modulation (FM) conveys information over a
carrier wave by varying its instantaneous frequency. This contrasts with amplitude modulation, in
which the amplitude of the carrier is varied while its frequency remains constant. In analog
applications, the difference between the instantaneous and the base frequency of the carrier is
directly proportional to the instantaneous value of the input-signal amplitude. Digital data can be sent
by shifting the carrier's frequency among a range of settings, a technique known as frequency-shift
keying. FSK (digital FM) is widely used in data and faxmodems. Morse code transmission has been
sent this way, and FASK was used in early telephone-line modems. Radioteletype also uses FSK. FM
modulation is also used in telemetry, radar, seismic prospecting and newborn EEG seizure monitoring.
Frequency modulation is known as phase modulationwhen the carrier phase modulation is the time
integral of the FM signal. FM is widely used for broadcasting music and speech, two-way radio
systems, magnetic tape-recording systems and some video-transmission systems. In radio systems,
frequency modulation with sufficient bandwidth provides an advantage in cancelling naturally-
occurring noise.
Applications
MAGNETIC TAPE STORAGE
FM is also used at intermediate frequencies by analog VCR systems (including VHS) to record both the
luminance (black and white) portions of the video signal. Commonly, the chrome component is
recorded as a conventional AM signal, using the higher-frequency FM signal as bias. FM is the only
82
TECHNICAL ENGLISH 3 2011 USAC
feasible method of recording the luminance ("black and white") component of video to (and
retrieving video from) magnetic tape without distortion; video signals have a large range of frequency
components – from a few hertz to several megahertz, too wide for equalizers to work with due to
electronic noise below −60 dB.
These FM systems are unusual, in that they have a ratio of carrier to maximum modulation frequency
of less than two; contrast this with FM audio broadcasting, where the ratio is around 10,000.
Consider, for example, a 6-MHz carrier modulated at a 3.5-MHz rate; by Bessel analysis, the first
sidebands are on 9.5 and 2.5 MHz and the second sidebands are on 13 MHz and −1 MHz. The result is
a reversed-phase sideband on +1 MHz; on demodulation, this results in unwanted output at 6−1 = 5
MHz. The system must be designed so that this unwanted output is reduced to an acceptable level.
SOUND
FM is also used at audio frequencies to synthesize sound. This technique, known as FM synthesis, was
popularized by early digital synthesizers and became a standard feature in several generations of
personal computer sound cards.
RADIO
Edwin Howard Armstrong (1890–1954) was an American electrical engineer who invented wideband
frequency modulation (FM) radio. He patented the regenerative circuit in 1914, the superheterodyne
receiver in 1918 and the super-regenerative circuit in 1922. Armstrong presented his paper, "A
Method of Reducing Disturbances in Radio Signaling by a System of Frequency Modulation", (which
first described FM radio) before the New York section of the Institute of Radio Engineers on
November 6, 1935. The paper was published in 1936.
FM is commonly used at VHF radio frequencies for high-fidelity broadcasts of music and speech.
Normal (analog) TV sound is also broadcast using FM. Narrowband FM is used for voice
communications in commercial and amateur radio settings. In broadcast services, where audio fidelity
is important, wideband FM is generally used. In two-way radio, narrowband FM (NBFM) is used to
conserve bandwidth for land mobile, marine mobile and other radio services.
83
TECHNICAL ENGLISH 3 2011 USAC
In the amplitud shift keying (ASK), the carrier amplitud sinusoidal switches between two values to ask
the PCM code. For example, the value 0 can be transmitted as an amplitud of A volts, while the state
1 can be transmitted like a sinusoidal signal of amplitud of B volts. The ASK resulting signal is
modulated pulses, called brands, that it represent with the 1 state, and spaces that represent the 0
state.
Example:
ASK([1011010001],2)
PSK MODULATION
In the Phase Shift Keying (PSK) Modulation, the carrier phase switches according the signal state of
the binary signal. In this kind of modulation, the gap is of 180º if transmitted a 0, the gap is of 0º if
transmitted a 1.
Example:
PSK([1001011011],2)
84
TECHNICAL ENGLISH 3 2011 USAC
FSK MODULATION
In the Frequency Shift Keying (FSK) modulation, the carrier frequency changes according the
modulated value. This mean, for the 0 you’ll have a frequency f1 and for 1 you’ll have a frequency f2.
Example:
PSK([1001011011],2)
85
TECHNICAL ENGLISH 3 2011 USAC
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Lean Manufacturing:
References
• Lean Manufacturing: tools, techniques, and how to use them; William M. Feld, St. Lucie Press,
2000.
• Lean Manufacturing: Implementation strategies that work; John Davis, Industrial Press, 2009.
Suggested readings:
Process Diagrams
References
• Ingeniería Industrial: métodos, estándares y diseño del trabajo; Benjamín Niebel, McGraw-
Hill Interamericana, 2009-
Suggested readings:
Quality control
References
• Quality control for dummies; Larry Webber, Michael Wallace; For Dummies, 2006.
86
TECHNICAL ENGLISH 3 2011 USAC
• Process Quality Control: troubleshooting and interpretation of data; Ellis Raymond Ott, Edward
Schilling, Dean Neubauer; ASQ Quality Press, 2005.
Suggested readings
• Fundamentals of industrial quality control; Lawrence Aft; St. Lucie Press, 1998
• Statistical quality control using excel; Steven Zimmerman, Marjorie Icenogle; ASQ
Quality Press, 2003.
• In-process quality control for manufacturing; W.E. Barkman; M Dekker; 1989.
Alternative Energy
References
• Alternative energy: Beyond fossil fuels, Dana Meachan Rau, Capstone press 2010.
• Alternative energy: political, economic, and social feasibility, Christopher A. Simon, Rowman &
Littlefield, 2007.
Suggested readings:
Alternative energy: a beginner’s guide to the future of energy technology, Marek Walisiewicz,
DK Pub. 2002
• Alternative energy, S. Vandana, APH Publishing, 2002
• Alternative energy: facts, statistics, and issues, Paula Berinstein, Oryx Press, 2001.
Heat transfer
References
Suggested readings:
• Shaum’s outline of the theory and problems of heat transfer; Donald R. Pitts; McGraw-Hill Professional,
1998.
87
TECHNICAL ENGLISH 3 2011 USAC
88