• Title/Summary/Keyword: Actual cost for work performed

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A Study on the Optimal System Sizing of the Standalone Photovoltaic Power Generation System for Uninterruptible Power Supply (독립형 태양광 발전 시스템의 무정전 전력공급을 위한 시스템 용량 최적 선정에 관한 연구)

  • Kim, Ki-Young;Choi, Woojin
    • The Transactions of the Korean Institute of Power Electronics
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    • v.23 no.2
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    • pp.77-85
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    • 2018
  • Renewable energy has been increasingly used and widely acclaimed as one of the solutions to rampant environmental problems. Among numerous kinds of renewable sources, the penetration rate of the PV system is relatively higher than that of others due to ease of installation. However, one disadvantage of the PV system is its dependence on weather condition. The PV system is especially critical when it is used for standalone systems because it cannot operate when the power generated from a PV module is not enough. Therefore, PV systems are often used with an energy storage system, such as batteries, to store backup energy when the weather condition is insufficient to supply power to the system. Blackout time can be reduced by increasing the size of the energy storage system, but it is a trade-off with system cost. In this work, optimal sizing of a standalone PV system is proposed to supply power to the system without blackout. The sizing of PV modules and batteries is performed by a simulation based on actual irradiation data collected during the past five years. The Life cycle costing of each system is evaluated to determine an optimal set of PV modules and batteries among several different combinations. The standalone PV system designed by the proposed method can supply power to the system with no interruption as long as the weather condition is similar to those of the past five years.

Improving Road Construction Productivity by Developing a Programmatic Resource Distribution System for Equipment Sharing in Multi-sectioned Road Construction Projects (다(多)공구 도로 건설 현장의 장비 공유시스템 구축을 통한 생산성 향상에 관한 연구)

  • Koo, Bonsang
    • Korean Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
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    • v.14 no.3
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    • pp.134-145
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    • 2013
  • Road construction projects are parcelled into sub-sections which are then tendered to individual contractors for construction. The type of work and equipments used are similar for each sub-section. However, such equipment are not shared on a regular basis among the contractors and only partially performed in an informal and ad hoc manner. Consequently, road construction equipment suffer from low utilization and increased leasing costs. Lean construction and Program Management approaches stress the importance of collaboration among individual participants in a way that increases the collective cost savings of the entire project. This research attempts to apply such theories with the notion that under utilization of expensive equipment can be improved by formalizing a way to enable the sharing of equipment in large, public sponsored, multi-sectioned road construction projects. A system was developed consisting of a set of criteria and processes that enables automatic allocation of equipment to multiple sites on daily basis, in a way that minimizes equipment costs and improves their individual utility. The system was then applied in allocating three different types of equipment to an actual road construction project with four sub-sections for three months. A new metric, nDPR showed that utilization improved for all equipment and also equipment related costs were decreased by 4.45%. Results also showed that increased shared opportunities of equipment correspond to an increase in utilization and cost savings.

Analysis of the Investment Suitability relative to the Landscape Elements Construction Costs within the Residents' Value Recognition in the Apartment - Focused on a Public Institutional Apartment Complex near the Capital Area - (아파트 단지 조경요소별 입주민의 가치인지도 대비 공사비 측정의 상대적 적정성 분석 - 공공기관 시행 수도권 분양아파트를 중심으로 -)

  • Park, Sang-Jin;Cho, Se-Hwan
    • Journal of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture
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    • v.44 no.6
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    • pp.177-187
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    • 2016
  • This study started with the question, "Is the cost of landscape construction work in residential areas measured by public enterprises, 'in response to the needs of consumers?" The study analyzed whether the landscape construction expenditure is being introduced at an appropriate ratio according to the value the residents have regarding landscape elements. Following this, research was conducted for the purpose of providing basic data for improving the efficiency of formulating apartment landscape construction costs in the future. This research proceeded based on a questionnaire survey of residents of apartments, and the content of the questionnaire used frequency analysis and descriptive statistics research methods. To take a look at a comparative analysis of value recognition, in particular, a comparative analysis was performed based on the actual input cost based on the ratio of landscape elements by layer. Conclusions were found as follows: First, the degree of interest in the apartment landscape of the tenants was high, and the value of the landscape was high but realistic satisfaction appeared comparatively low. Second, the awareness of residents' values regarding landscape elements appeared to give "plantings" more value than "facilities". Thirdly, as a result of a mutual comparison between the values recognized by the resident regarding landscape elements and the construction input fee, depending on the landscape elements, it appeared that there is a difference in the ratio of up to 52 times from 1.25. Fourth, the fact that there is a difference in the relative proportion of value recognition and inputting construction cost indicates that it is not possible to respond to the needs of tenants during the construction cost development process. It also shows that the utility of inputting construction costs is low. Therefore, a macro-level examination such as reflecting the existing inflation rate is necessary to develop the efficient landscape construction cost of apartment such as the awareness of the value of the residents regarding landscape elements, out of the customary construction cost formulation method based on the microscopic dimensions of the consumer side.

A study on the improvement of distribution system by overseas agricultural investment (해외농업투자에 따른 유통체계 개선방안에 관한 연구)

  • Sun, Il-Suck;Lee, Dong-Ok
    • Journal of Distribution Science
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    • v.8 no.3
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    • pp.17-26
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    • 2010
  • Recently concerns have been raised due to the unbalanced supply of crops: the price of crops has been unstable and at one point the price went up so high that the word Agflation(agriculture+ inflation) was coined. Korea, in particular, is a small-sized country and needs to secure the stable supply of crops by investing in the produce importation at a national level. Investment in foreign produce importation is becoming more important as a measure for sufficient supply of crops, limited supply of domestic crops, weakened farming conditions worldwide, as well as recent changes in the use of crops due to the development of bio-fuels, influence of carbon emission on crops, the price increase in crops, and influx of foreign hot money. However, there are many problems with investing in foreign produce importation: lack of support from the government; lack of farming information and technology; difficulty in securing the capital; no immediate pay-off from the investment and insufficient management. Although foreign produce is originally more price-competitive than domestic produce, it loses its competiveness in the process of importation (due to high tariffs) and poor distribution system, which makes it difficult to sell in Korea. Therefore, investment in foreign produce importation is being questioned for feasibility; to make it possible, foreign produce must maintain the price-competitiveness. Especially, harvest of agricultural products depends on natural and geographical conditions of each country and those products have indigenous properties, so distribution system according to import and export of agricultural products should be treated more carefully than that of other industries. Distribution costs are differentiated into each item and include cost of sorting and wrapping, cost of wrapping materials, cost of domestic transport, cost of international transport and cost of clearing customs for import and export. So transporting and storing agricultural products generates considerable costs compared with other products. Also, due to upgrade of dietary life, needs for stability, taste and visible quality toward food including agricultural products are being raised and wrong way of storage causes decomposition of food and loss of freshness, making the storage more difficult than that in room temperature, so storage and transport in distribution of agricultural products needs specialty. In addition, because lack of specialty in distribution and circulation such as storage and wrapping does not solve limit factors in distance, the distribution and circulation has been limited to a form of import and export within short-distant region. Therefore, need for distribution out-sourcing which can satisfy specialty in managing distribution and circulation and it is needed to establish more effective distribution system. However, existing distribution system of agricultural products is exposed to various problems including problems in distribution channel, making distribution and strategy for distribution and those problems are as follows. First, in case of investment in overseas agricultural industry, stable supply of the products is difficult because areas of production are dispersed widely and influenced by outer factors due to including overseas distribution channels. Also, at the aspect of quality, standardization of products is difficult, distribution system is quite complicated and unreasonable due to long distribution channels according to international trade and financial and institutional support is not enough. Especially, there are quite a lot of ineffective factors including multi level distribution process, dramatic gap between production cost and customer's cost, lack of physical distribution facilities and difficulties in storage and transport due to lack of wrapping containers. Besides, because import and export of agricultural products has been manages under the company's own distribution according to transaction contract between manufacturers and exporting company, efficiency is low due to excessive investment in fixed costs and lack of specialty in dealing with agricultural products causes fall of value of products, showing the limit to lose price-competitiveness. Especially, because lack of specialty in distribution and circulation such as storage and wrapping does not solve limit factors in distance, the distribution and circulation has been limited to a form of import and export within short-distant region. Therefore, need for distribution out-sourcing which can satisfy specialty in managing distribution and circulation and it is needed to establish more effective distribution system. Second, among tangible and intangible services which promote the efficiency of the whole distribution, a function building distribution environment which includes distribution information, system for standard and inspection, distribution finance, system for diversification of risks, education and training, distribution administration and tax system is wanted. In general, such a function building distribution environment is difficult to be changed and supplement innovatively because its effect compared with investment does not appear immediately despite of its necessity. Especially, in case of distribution of agricultural products, as a function of collecting and distributing is performed individually through various channels, the importance of distribution information and standardization is getting more focus due to the problem of repetition of work and lack of specialty. Also, efficient management of distribution is quite difficult due to lack of professionals in distribution, so support to professional education is needed. Third, though effort to keep self-sufficiency ratio of staple food, rice is regarded as important at the government level, level of dependency on overseas of others crops is high. Therefore, plan for stable securing food resources aside from staple food is also necessary. Especially, governmental organizations of agricultural products distribution in Korea are production-centered and have unreasonable structure whose function at the aspect of distribution and consumption is quite insufficient. And development of new distribution channels which can deal with changes in distribution environment and they do not achieve actual results of strategy for distribution due to non-positive strategy for price distribution. That is, it implies the possibility that base for supply will become vulnerable because it does not mediate appropriate interests on total distribution channels such as manufacturers, wholesale dealers and vendors by emphasizing consumer protection excessively in the distribution of agricultural products. Therefore, this study examined fundamental concept and actual situation for our investment to overseas agriculture, drew necessities, considerations, problems, etc. of overseas agricultural investment and suggested improvements at the level of distribution for price competitiveness of agricultural products cultivated in overseas under five aspects; government's indirect support, distribution's modernization and distribution information function's strengthening, government's political support for distribution facility, transportation route, load and unloading works' improvement, price competitiveness' securing, professional manpower's cultivation by education and training, etc. Here are some suggestions for foreign produce importation. First, the government should conduct a survey on the current distribution channels and analyze the situation to establish a measure for long-term development plans. By providing each agricultural area with a guideline for planning appropriate production of crops, the government can help farmers be ready for importation, and prevent them from producing same crops all at the same time. Government can sign an MOU with the foreign government and promote the importation so that the development of agricultural resources can be stable and steady. Second, the government can establish a strategy for an effective distribution system by providing farmers and agriculture-related workers with the distribution information such as price, production, demand, market structure and location, feature of each crop, and etc. In order for such distribution system to become feasible, the government needs to reconstruct the current distribution system, designate a public organization for providing distribution information and set the criteria for level of produce quality, trade units, and package units. Third, the government should provide financial support and a policy to seek an efficient distribution channel for foreign produce to be delivered fresh: the government should expand distribution facilities (for selecting, packaging, storing, and processing) and transportation vehicles while modernizing old facilities. There should be another policy to improve the efficiency of unloading, and to lower the cost of distribution. Fourth, it is necessary to enact a new law covering exceptional cases for importing produce in order to maintain the price competitiveness; currently the high tariffs is keeping the imported produce from being distributed domestically. However, the new adjustment should be made carefully within the WTO regulations since it can create a problem from giving preferential tariffs. The government can also simplify the distribution channels in order to reduce the cost in the distribution process. Fifth, the government should educate distributors to raise the efficiency and to modernize the distribution system. It is necessary to develop human resources by educating people regarding the foreign agricultural environment, the produce quality, management skills, and by introducing some successful cases in advanced countries.

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Optical Current Sensors with Improved Reliability using an Integrated-Optic Reflective Interferometer (반사형 간섭계를 이용하여 신뢰성을 향상시킨 광전류센서)

  • Kim, Sung-Moon;Chu, Woo-Sung;Oh, Min-Cheol
    • Journal of the Institute of Electronics and Information Engineers
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    • v.54 no.5
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    • pp.17-23
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    • 2017
  • Optical current sensors are suitable for operation in high voltage and high current environments such as power plants due to they are not affected by electromagnetic interference and have excellent insulation characteristics. However, as they operate in a harsh environment such as large temperature fluctuation and mechanical vibration, high reliability of the sensor is required. Therefore, many groups have been working on enhancing the reliability. In this work, an integrated optical current sensor incorporating polarization-rotated reflection interferometer is proposed. By integrating various optical components on a single chip, the sensor exhibits enhanced stability as well as the solution for low-cost optical sensors. Using this, we performed the characterization for the actual field application. By using a large power source, the current of 0.3 kA~36 kA was applied to the photosensor and the linear operation characteristics were observed. The error of the sensor was within $0{\pm}.5%$. Even when operating for a long time, the error range of the sensor was kept within $0{\pm}.5%$. In addition, the measurement of the frequency response over the range of 60 Hz to 10 kHz has confirmed that the 3-dB frequency band of the proposed OCT is well over 10 kHz.