Concerns about LPG Powered Cars in Enclosed Car Parks
January 23, 2009
LPG (under a variety of names “GPL” and “Auto gas” also) is widely used as a vehicle fuel in Far East, USA, Europe. USA, UK, Holland, Italy and France have particularly well developed infrastructures.
There are serious restrictions on LPG fuelled vehicles using ferries, tunnels, enclosed car parks. They do check and they turn back vehicles simply when found. All underground car parks in Europe and in the USA have signs banning for LPG powered vehicles.
Since 2001, LPG tanks and fuel systems are fitted with active safety mechanisms that better minimize the risk of explosion or leakage, making it safe to park vehicles also in multi-story and underground car parks. The Italy Interior Ministry allows all LPG vehicles with a safety system that complies to the ECE/ONU no. 67/01 Regulation to park on the first underground floor of multi-story car parks, even when connected to other underground floors.
LPG is pressurized and LPG tanks are sealed. Sealed tanks eliminate evaporative emissions or spillage. Using outage valves incorrectly during refueling, however, could cause excess vapor discharge.
The weight of LPG vapors at ambient temperatures is approximately 150 % the weight of air. If there is a leak, LPG vapors tend to sink to the ground and pool, creating a potentially hazardous situation. In some areas in North America, LPG vehicles are not allowed in enclosed car parks, tunnels. LPG is extremely volatile and burns twice as hot as a gasoline fire. Vehicle fuel tanks in LPG vehicles are of relatively thick-wall steel construction. In the event of a vehicle crash, they are much less prone to rupture or to cause fires than gasoline tanks.
LPG can explode when mixed with air in the range 1.8 % to 8.6 %. It requires a small ignition source, which could be a match, cigarette, electrical spark (think overhead catenary) or even a simple sharp strike against certain materials, particularly metals containing aluminum, magnesium, titanium etc.
You can smell a leak of LPG, but you have nowhere to go to escape in such place. LPG gas sinks so its difficult for the ventilation system to extract it. Spilt petrol falls to the ground, but then it evaporates. Auto gas is more explosive than petrol.
LPG is stored in a closed high pressure system so any breach will leak gas or liquid that rapidly gasifies leading to an air/gas mixture of potentially the correct proportions. Once ignited the explosion is highly likely to lead to fire and subsequent possible death by carbon monoxide poisoning as well as fire and shrapnel injuries.
Federal Council of Switzerland has officially banned LPG powered vehicles from multi-storey car parks! An appropriate sign was developed, but it cannot be used in German-speaking Switzerland because nobody understands the meaning of the French abbreviation GPL. Authorities has written to the Council to launch a debate on both a Switzerland-wide ban and an appropriate sign that can be understood throughout Switzerland, or even throughout Europe. The rules in force do not prohibit the imposition of individual bans. The owner or the management of a multi-storey car parks have the right to ban access to vehicles of this type by putting up an appropriate sign, and naturally such an arrangement would apply to foreign vehicles too.
In case of basement fires offer a degree of complexity and hazard beyond the normal building fire due to heat build up and the need for firefighting access being made from above. Enclosed car fires can develop to create an extreme heat and smoke environment, possibly compromising the structure. This may have a direct impact on not only occupants but also firefighter safety, especially in relation to search and rescue.
Insurance Companies in Europe and USA have continued the risk analysis and made recommendations on the construction, equipment and other safety measures of multi-storey enclosed car parks.
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China Auto Industry 2008
January 22, 2009
Shanghai Daily Newspaper is publishing auto industry stories of the 2008. Here is one of them you can read on:
THE impact of the global financial crisis on the auto industry has been growing since the second half of last year.
China stepped up a series of efforts to defy the economic downturn and spur domestic consumption, sending positive signals to the industry.
Fuel tax reform is the latest government effort to direct the automotive industry toward greener and more energy-efficient methods.
The struggling US auto industry is also teaching Chinese counterparts that more attention should be placed on small cars and new-energy vehicles.
China lost its first dispute since it entered the World Trade Organization in 2001 when tariff policies on auto parts drew criticism from western car makers.
Shanghai Daily previously highlighted the first five of 2008′s top 10 auto industry stories. Today, we publish the remaining top stories of the year. Read the restof article : Lessons to be learned from the US …
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Car Parking in Dublin City
January 1, 2009
Parking in Dublin can be a bit of a nightmare, but with this guide you’ll know where exactly to park your car so that it’s safe and secure and above all, legally parked.
Dublin city is small and compact so at rush hour it tends to get congested. It’s easy to walk around from attraction to attraction so be sure to park-up the car as soon as you arrive, as there really is no need to drive around this city centre to sight see.
Tow-away and clamping are in operation for those who park in a loading bay, pedestrian area, on double yellow lines, on a disabled parking space, on a bus lane or cycle track, so car parks are really the best option.
Dublin city has over 20 car parks, which are very well placed whether here for shopping or sightseeing.
Here are some of the main car parks in the city centre.
· Abbey Street car park
The Abbey Street car park is located on Lower Abbey Street, just off O’Connell Street (Dublin’s main street) in the city centre. This is a very central location for visiting attractions like Trinity College, Temple Bar, the GPO and also for shopping on O’Connell Street and Henry Street.
· Parnell Centre car park
This car park is located just off Parnell Street. Parnell Street can be found just off the top of O’Connell Street (opposite end to O’Connell Bridge).
This car park is handy if you want to be close to the Gate Theatre, the Ambassador Theatre, the Dublin Writers Museum or the James Joyce Museum. This car park is also within walking distance of Croke Park stadium.
To get to this car park just take a right after the Virgin Cinema on Parnell Street and take another right on a small street called ‘Loftus Lane’ and you’ll see the car park.
· Drury Street car park
This car park is located on Drury Street and is best approached from Stephens Street Lower. It has about 480 spaces and is very convenient to Grafton Street, St. Stephen’s Green Shopping Centre, the Powerscourt Shopping Centre and the Gaiety Theatre.
· IFSC car park
This car park is located in the Irish Financial Services Centre, which is the city’s core business and financial district. It can be found in the docklands area about a 10-minute walk east of O’Connell Bridge. The car park has about 360 spaces and is ideal for attending events in the IFSC or for visiting attractions along the Dublin docklands like the Viking Splash Tour, the Famine Memorial, the Custom House or the Point Depot.
· Christchurch car park
The Christchurch car park has about 212 spaces and can be accessed from Lord Edward Street in the Christchurch area.
This car park is ideal if you want to park-up and stroll around one of the oldest parts of Dublin and explore attractions like Dublin Castle, Christchurch Cathedral, the City Hall, St. Audoen’s Gate and it’s also not that far from Temple Bar.
· Temple Bar car park
Also known as the Fleet Street car park this car park can be found right in the heart of the city centre, just off Westmoreland Street. It’s convenient to Temple Bar, Grafton Street, Trinity College and O’Connell Street so it’s a popular place to park.
This car park is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
· Jervis Street car park
This car park has up to 750 spaces and is adjoining the Jervis Shopping Centre – one of the biggest and best shopping centres in Dublin. It is accessed from Jervis Street. This car park is ideally located for shopping as it’s also very convenient to Henry Street, which is one of Dublin’s pedestrianised shopping streets.
· Stephens Green Shopping Centre car park
Stephen’s Green has one of the largest car parks in the city centre with up to 700 spaces. It can be accessed from Mercer Street and is open 24 hours a day.
This car park is ideally located for shopping as it’s located next to the Stephen’s Green Shopping Centre just off Grafton Street, so you won’t have too far to go with those shopping bags!
Mairead Foley writes for the Ireland travel and accommodation website http://www.GoIreland.com
Visit GoIreland for all you need to know before visiting Dublin, like what to see and where to go. View B&Bs, guesthouses and self catering in Dublin as well as Dublin hotels.
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Number Plate Recognition Technology
October 13, 2008
Recent advances in Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) technologies have lead to a greater acceptance of the technology by car-park operators. The new digital ANPR technologies present greater read rates than traditional CCTV/PC based technologies and offer far greater flexibility in deployment and customization than previously available. By attaching a unique signature to every vehicle entering and exiting a car park the potential of a car-park management system is greatly enhanced. The signature widely used by vehicle identification technologies is usually the registration number displayed on the front and rear of the vehicle. To robustly read this plate in all weather conditions, day and night and to increase the ability of a system to read dirty plates, Alpha Vision Design has developed a stand alone digital ANPR station that can extract the registration number and automatically present the number for processing. The applications of ANPR technologies can be used for tolling, police enforcement, journey time analysis, average speed violation and access control. Within the car parking domain, most car park operators use ANPR technology as a medium to locate lost vehicles, to calculate occupancy times and to dramatically decrease the revenue loss associated with ticket fraud. ANPR is also finding favour within non-supervised car parks as a means to control access via a white list. This white list contains a list of vehicles with known access rights. Suitable for hotel, apartment and company car parks, this negates the use of disposable paper tickets and wireless FOBs. Companies with large fleets are introducing ANPR as a cost effective method of tracking their vehicles throughout their depots. Large supermarkets and chains are also beginning to utilize the information obtained from their car-parks as a way of highlighting demographic patterns with a view to maximizing profits. For any traffic management system to be a success, the read rate must exceed 99%. Traditionally most operators shied away from ANPR when they discovered that their true read rates were rarely above 60%. In real world applications, this was the limit, not due to poor software but the result of using conventional CCTV systems to obtain the images. CCTV technology is 50 years old and does not lend itself well to computer recognition systems. The common processing core for CCTV based ANPR systems is a PC. CCTV/PC based systems are not robust and are unacceptably high maintenance. To counter this, Alpha Vision Design has developed a self-contained ANPR system designed specifically for the car parking industry. This system includes an integrated illuminator, high resolution digital camera, digital analyser and on-board relays, all contained in one standard security housing. Only mounting and a power cable is required – an industry first! A high resolution camera obtains images that are over sixteen times larger in area size than CCTV images. Combined with a wider field of view, now only one camera is required to capture both the registration plate and an overview of the vehicle, and vehicle placement within a lane is no longer an issue which leads to greater capture rates. The camera /computer unit can in real time adjust the exposure, gain, and the integrated on-board IR lighting to maximise the contrast and readability of the registration plate, including dirty plates, variations in plate reflectivity, strong headlamps and adverse weather conditions. This cannot be done with CCTV/PC based ANPR systems. The setup is easy and is only required once per site, with no re-configuration necessary even after a power outage as the system will reboot automatically. On a typical 800 bay car-park, the system can also store up to five years of data, capturing and time stamping an image of every vehicle entering and exiting the facility. The system is true Plug & Play and can directly control a parking barrier via its on-board database and integrated relays. For configuration, simply use any standard web browser to manage the ANPR station – no third party software is required to manage the entire ANPR network. Our standard systems are shipped in three versions. We have an ANPR station designed for operating at a 10 meter and 25 meter range, and a system for high speed traffic applications. All systems are pre configured and only mounting is required. The ANPR stations can act stand alone or integrate with an existing parking entry ticket/gate system. For remote applications, the ANPR station can also be configured to run over GPRS, TCP/IP and WIFI Networks.
http://www.parkingireland.ie/showart6.htm
Alpha Vision Design
Website: www.ait-traffic.com
Phone+353-1-4640332
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Madison’s Public Parking: a Nightmare for Everyone
September 18, 2008
Those who bring their car with them to Madison have to brave a concrete jungle of parking meters and yellow paint. They must face the joys and perils of parking in the city.
Some are too strapped for cash to pay the ridiculous prices landlords charge
for a parking space, while others fall victim to an architect who did not see fit to provide enough parking space for all tenants. For these individuals, the city sells mercifully cheap residential parking passes, just $21 annually. The kicker? They sell more permits than there are spaces.
The City of Madison Parking Utility ironically—and comically—declares on its website that “more permits are sold than there are available on-street parking spaces.” It also suggests that residents seek alternatives to on-street parking. Thanks for the warning.
The permit allows individuals to park their car on the street for 48 hours at a time. The Parking Utility claims the purpose of the Residential Parking Permit Program is to prevent commuter parking on residential streets. Another aim seems to be swelling the Utility’s wallet by charging students for exceeding the 48-hour limit.
But once a driver scores that treasured parking space, it’s difficult to give it up simply because the Parking Utility believes drivers must go for a spin every other day.
I
concede that if the 48-hour limit is a constant issue for an individual, they probably don’t need a car in the first place. However, between spending all day in classes, studying at Helen C. White, doing laundry and occasionally washing a dish or two, sometimes there just isn’t time to drive anywhere.
Once the clock is about to strike the 48th hour, there is a decision to make: chance being the next victim of the parking utility’s ticket-wielding minions, or drive
in circles around the block waiting for a space to free up. These
parking-space hunts are usually accompanied by exclamations of, “If
that bastard would have just pulled forward a couple feet,” “Damn fire
hydrant false alarms,” and bold contemplations of difficult parallel
parking feats.
Then there’s the chalk mark that the city tags on your car. When it appears on your tire, the parking minions will be back to give you your ticket if you haven’t moved. But there are ways of avoiding the fine. If there is some space in front or behind your vehicle, simply move it a foot to conceal the mark and you’ve bought yourself another 48 hours. However, this tactic is only acceptable if you are in a pinch for time, as the toolish nature of the
act renders it unacceptable for frequent use.
Winter is perhaps the most fun time to have a car in Madison. Complying with the 48-hour limit is particularly daunting when you must first unbury your vehicle from a foot of snow. The joys of the “Snow Emergency” also make winter a fun time for all.
Some extra breathing room for the parking time limit would make the lives of students at the mercy of on-street parking less stressful. Increasing the limit to 72 hours should do the trick. If you are not using your car frequently enough that even a 72-hour limit causes you strife, you definitely don’t need it.
The parking utility has made small steps to resolve the parking shortage. Ten-hour meters have been installed in some areas as a less expensive alternative—50 cents per hour—to the shorter-term meters. Twenty-two of the meters are conveniently located on Langdon Street between Henry Street and Wisconsin Avenue. The city should consider the welcomed addition of more 10-hour meters in the campus area.
In the meantime, if a car isn’t necessary, leave it home for your own sanity. Then the poor saps who need to drive to an internship or job can come home and not have to scour the congested streets for that elusive free gap of curb, an oasis in the desert.
Michelle Turcotte is a senior majoring in journalism. Please send responses to opinion@dailycardinal.com
Source: http://www.dailycardinal.com
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