Mott MacDonald

About: Mott MacDonald is a company organization based out in London, United Kingdom. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Electric power system & Wind power. The organization has 586 authors who have published 529 publications receiving 9801 citations. The organization is also known as: Mott MacDonald Group & MMD.

Minimising the Cascading Effects of Flooding through Property-level Flood Adaptation: Working Paper on Incentivising Property-level Flood Adaptation

Abstract: Significant numbers of homes within the UK remain at risk of flooding despite significant investment on community=level flood protection schemes. Although community level flood protection schemes are the first line of defence for mitigating flood risk, not all properties are protectable. Property-Level Flood Protection (PLFP) provides those unprotected homeowners with an approach for protecting their homes from flooding. Although the level of take-up of such measures seems to have increased over the years, significant barriers still seem to exist preventing wider adoption. Government incentives have been identified as an effective method of encouraging property owners to adapt their properties and introduce flood resilience and resistance measures to their properties. The study seeks to discuss how such incentives have contributed towards property-level flood resilience and resistance measures being introduced by property-owners. Community perception of incentives and the likelihood of adapting if suitable incentives are available will also be investigated. An exploratory case study was undertaken to this end by conducting a survey of flood victims and at-risk residents in Worcestershire

Designing and procuring Dhaka’s sustainable water supply project, Bangladesh

Abstract: Rapid urbanisation of Dhaka in Bangladesh has led to over-abstraction of groundwater and shortages of drinking water. The US$1 billion ‘Dhaka environmentally sustainable water supply project’ aims ...

Investigation of a cascaded tripping incident

Abstract: This paper investigates an incident that occurred in a grid connected aluminum smelting plant that resulted in cascaded tripping of power plant parts and eventual system instability. The incident was initiated by tripping of an interconnector due to the operation of its directional over-current relay. The results of the power system simulation studies are described to explain the transient performance of the system during the incident. Having identified the main area of the electrical system weakness, an under frequency load shedding scheme is designed and implemented in practice to maintain the system stability during the most severe loss of generation scenarios. The paper demonstrates how using a detailed dynamic simulation of the electrical network can be used to assist with post event analysis, and provides additional insight into the dynamic performance of the system which cannot be obtained using only SCADA or PMS data. The good correlation between measured and simulated data confirms the veracity of the model and gives confidence in the proposed under frequency load shedding scheme.

Influence of accidental over-polarisation on the mechanical properties of cathodically protected pre-tensioned tendons

Abstract: This paper investigates the performance of pre‐tensioned tendons deliberately exposed to higher than normal impressed current cathodic protection (ICCP) to replicate accidental over‐polarisation. Plain ungalvanised tendons, 5.4 mm O, were pre‐stressed in moulds and cast in mortar. Two levels of pre‐tensioning were investigated, low (~30% ultimate tensile strength [UTS]) and high level (~80% UTS). Three different degrees of corrosion with target losses of cross‐sectional area of 0%–1%, 2%–4% and 4%–7%, respectively, were employed to replicate in situ conditions. ICCP was applied to the tendons at two levels of polarisation, normal protection (ICCP‐N) in the range of −650 to −750 mV and overprotection (ICCP‐O) ranging between −850 and −1300 mV, both versus Ag/AgCI/0.5‐M KCI for an extended period. After ICCP, the tendons were removed from the mortar and slow strain tensile tests were conducted. The results show that ICCP at both normal and overprotection had no significant influence on the elastic modulus, yield, 0.2% proof stress and ultimate strength of the tested tendons. Although ductility was reduced, fracture occurred after reaching the ultimate strength.

A New Automatic Device for Measuring Large Volume Changes

Abstract: The design and construction of a new automatic volume change unit, which is capable of measuring large volume changes without the need for reversing flow direction, is described. It works on the principle of a floating magnet at an air-water interface activating a magnetorestrictive sensor. Its performance is assessed against the criteria listed by Lade (1988) as desirable for any automatic volume change measuring device, and is shown to satisfy these criteria.