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Carrying a Torch for Engineering New York--One of the highlights of the opening ceremonies of the Olympic games is the lighting of the stadium cauldron from a runner "passing the torch." That torch, which is really a series of torches, has been carried by a relay of hundreds, or even thousands, of runners, bearing a flame that was originally lit on Mt. Olympus, Greece, site of the first Olympic games. The flame continues to burn brightly at the stadium until the last award is won and the Olympians are feted in the closing ceremonies. The Olympics are officially over when the symbolic flame is extinguished. When Cathy Freeman, an Aboriginal track star, lit the official cauldron, which then rose dramatically overhead to open the 2000 Games of the XXVII Olympiad in Sydney last September, it brought tears of pride to many around the world, but maybe none more so than to a team of Australian fuel, combustion, and aerodynamics technology experts from the University of Adelaide's Turbulence Energy and Combustion (TEC) group. A joint program of the departments of Chemical and Mechanical Engineering, TEC helped develop the fuel and combustion systems for the Olympic relay torch, the ceremonial cauldron, and main stadium burner that towered over Stadium Australia. The "torch story" behind a memorable Olympics, which originally appeared in ChAPTER One Online, the American Institute of Chemical Engineers' online magazine for students, is worth retelling as engineers prepare to observe the 50th anniversary of National Engineers Week. Celebrated this year from February 18 to 24, National Engineers Week honors the achievements of engineers who fuel the flames of creativity, finding new and better ways to serve humanity. Designing the torch: a team effort. The University of Adelaide's joint team leaders for the design of the stadium flame were Dr. Gus Nathan, senior lecturer in Fuel and Combustion Technology in the TEC group, and Dr. Richard Kelso, senior lecturer in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, with input during the initial design phase from Dr. Dong-ke Zhang of the Department of Chemical Engineering, who is now heads the School of Chemical Engineering at Curtin University of Technology in Perth, Dr. Zeyad T. Alwahabi from the Department of Chemical Engineering, Dr. Bassam B. Dally from the Department of Mechanical Engineering, and Peter Lanspeary, a research fellow in the TEC group, were also part of the team. The design was conducted jointly with the group's industry partner Fuel and Combustion Technology (FCT) Pty. Ltd. The torch is made up of three layers, representing earth, fire, and water. The stainless steel inner layer contains the fuel system, which includes the combustor to keep the flame alight. The middle, blue layer is anodized aluminum and contains the fuel canister. The outer layer is made of aluminum with a specially textured finish. The inner combustion system is made from copper, brass, aluminum, and stainless steel. The torch's shell was designed by Blue Sky Design; and the prototypes, and 14,000 actual torches, were manufactured by G.A.&L. Harrington Pty. Ltd. Fueling the flames of victory In an attempt to be as "green" as possible, the Sydney Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games (SOCOG) established several guidelines for the torch design and flame, stating that it must be: highly visible; able to keep burning in torrential rain, high winds, crosswinds, and gusts from passing vehicles; safe, both to the torch bearer and the general public; and powered by a clean-burning fuel-with minimal smoke, soot, and other emissions. If at all possible, the designers were asked to use a renewable fuel. The choice of fuel is extremely important because it affects almost every aspect of the design and performance, including the size, weight, cost, reliability, and emissions, as well as the color and brightness of the flame. After much research, the team chose a fuel that is a blend of commercially available and locally produced gases comprising 65 percent butane and 35 percent propane. This blend is conveniently stored as a liquid, but is burned as a gas. The aerodynamically stabilized burner for the torch that the team developed has just four components, and is highly resistant to flame-out, even if dropped or inverted. It is much smaller, lighter, cheaper, and easier to manufacture than conventionally stabilized systems that have separate main and pilot burners. A second major technical innovation developed for the torch is a constant fuel flow rate and a constant fuel composition delivered from a simple miniature fuel system. The burner produces two flames simultaneously. One is a large, slowly mixing external flame that is highly visible but unstable in strong winds. The other, a small, rapidly mixing internal pilot flame, is very stable and keeps the external flame alight, the team reported. Potential future uses for the technology. Researchers in TEC determined that it's possible to develop at least three distinct products from the fuel and combustion system of the relay torch-a flare pilot burner for the petrochemical industry, an industrial furnace pilot, and a new camping stove. The torch burner also has "potential as a low-cost industrial pilot burner for kilns and furnaces. The burner offers performance comparable with or superior to conventional pilots but at a substantially reduced manufacturing and installation cost," the report states. The fuel and combustion system may first find new life as a camping stove. Its design would improve safety and heating performance in windy conditions and at low ambient temperatures. But, most significantly, it offers a safer alternative to conventional camping stoves and lanterns that can flare up dangerously if they are tipped over. The Sydney torch exemplifies "cradle-to-grave" design. The result is an economically-produced and fuel-efficient torch that generates a clean, non-toxic flame. The torch is safer, too, because it was designed so that the flame cannot flare up when the torch is inverted. The combustion system minimizes the temperature of the torch's exterior, reducing the risk of burn injury. And, the unburned fuel can be recovered and its empty canister can be recycled. The torch itself can be recycled, too, although, it's highly unlikely that anyone who had the honor of participating in the torch relay would bring theirs to the recycling center. For more information on the torch, its design, and TEC's final report, see http://www.tec.adelaide.edu.au/olympic_flames/index.html. Additional information is available at the official Sydney Games site at http://www.olympics.com/eng/about/torch/index.htm.Celebrating its 50th Anniversary this year, National Engineers Week was founded by the National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE) to increase public awareness and appreciation of the engineering profession, and engineers' contributions to our way of life, including "the games people play." Thousands of engineers, engineering students, teachers, and leaders in government and business participate each year. National Engineers Week is led by a consortium of more than 100 engineering, scientific, and education societies, including AIChE, and by major corporations. Co-chairs for the 2001 National Engineers Week program are NSPE and the IBM International Foundation. More information on National Engineers Week can be found at http://www.eweek.org. ### [_private/boilerplate.html]
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National Engineers Week Foundation
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