PULP & PAPER ENGINEERING FUNDAMENTALS A – PPEF101 EXAMINATION/TEST 1

LECTURER: MS CP DLAMINI DUBE DATE: 07 MAY 2021

MODERATOR: MR GK REDDY DURATION: 08H00 – 11H00
NAME:………………………………………………………………….. ST. NO.:………………………………

NB: Show all workings in details using “STICK METHOD” where necessary

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i. Metric Mishaps: Importance of getting units right:

Failing to include the proper units with the results of engineering calculations can lead to unanticipated
failures in engineering systems. Serious errors that result from the dual usage of metric and non-metric
units are often grouped under the heading of metric mishaps.

1. Notable Engineering Failure: The “Gimli Glider”

The “Gimli Glider” is the nickname of the Air Canada commercial aircraft that was involved in an incident
that took place on July 23, 1983. The incident is an engineering failure that can be attributed directly to
the errors involving the mismatch of units. In the incident, a Boeing 767 passenger jet ran out of fuel at
an altitude of 26,000 feet, about midway through its flight from Montreal to Edmundton via Ottawa. We
have to trace some of the steps that led to the incident.

Air Canada Flight 143 originated in Montreal. It safely arrived in Ottawa on its first leg. At that time, the
pilot properly determined that the second leg of the flight (from Ottawa to Edmundton) would require
23.2 × 103 kilograms of jet fuel. The ground crew at the Ottawa airport, performed a dipstick check on
the fuel tanks. They measured that there were 8.804 × 103 liters of fuel on-board the aircraft upon its
arrival at Ottawa.

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Based on the data, the air & ground crew proceeded to calculate the amount of jet fuel that would need
to be transferred to the fuel tanks in order to assure safe arrival in Edmundton. However, they used an
incorrect conversion factor in their calculations. At the time of the incident Canada was converting from
the Imperial system of measurement to the metric system. The new Boeing 767 aircraft were the first of
the Air Canada fleet to be calibrated to the new system of units, using kilograms & liters rather than
pounds & Imperial gallons.
The crew wished to convert the 8.804 × 103 liters of fuel to its equivalent in kilograms. In order to do so
the crew applied an incorrect conversion factor |1.000 𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙 𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓 𝑤𝑤𝑤𝑤𝑤𝑤𝑤𝑤ℎ𝑠𝑠 0.001770 × 103 𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘|. In
actual fact, the correct conversion factor is |1.000 𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙 𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓 𝑤𝑤𝑤𝑤𝑤𝑤𝑤𝑤ℎ𝑠𝑠 80.3 × 10−2 𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘|, but the crew
used an improper weight.
1.1. What is the mass (kg) of the fuel on-board the aircraft that the crew inaccurately calculated? [2]
Significant figure of the answer. [1]

Type equation here.

Type equation here.

1.2. What is the mass (kg) of the fuel according to the crew needed to be transferred to the fuel tank
before departure from Ottawa to Edmundton? [2]
Significant figure of the answer. [1]

Type equation here.

Type equation here.

1.3. Finally, what is the volume of fuel in liters that that needed to be transferred to the fuel tank before
departure from Ottawa to Edmundton? [2]
Significant figure of the answer. [1]

Type equation here.

Type equation here.

Unfortunately, the sequence of calculations above contain errors and the aircraft was forced to glide
to a safe landing well short of its desired target.

Now examine the steps of calculations that should have been performed and that would have
enabled a safe landing of the aircraft in Edmundton.

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 1.4. Firstly, determine the correct mass (kg) of fuel that remained in the fuel tanks upon the aircraft’s
arrival in Ottawa. [2]
Significant figure of the answer. [1]

Type equation here.

Type equation here.

1.5. How much fuel (kg) needed to be transferred to the fuel tanks in order to accomplish the flight to
Edmundton? [2]
Significant figure of the answer. [1]

Type equation here.

Type equation here.

1.6 Determine the number of liters of fuel in liters that should have been transferred to the fuel tanks
to accomplish the flight to Edmundton. [2]
Significant figure of the answer. [1]

Type equation here.

Type equation here.

1.7 How many liters of fuel was still short off when the aircraft forced to glide to a safe landing (at a
former Canadian Air Force base in Gilmi) well short of its desired target? [2]
Significant figure of the answer. [1]

Type equation here.

Type equation here.

2. Homeostasis is the condition of keeping our bodies alive by regulating its internal temperature and
maintaining a stable environment. Approximately 2,000 calories per day are required to maintain the
human body. It is known that 1 calories is equivalent to 4.184 joules and that one watt is equivalent to
one joule per second. Determine the watts that are equivalent to the calories required to maintain the
human body. [4]

Type equation here.

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 Type equation here.

3. On September 23, 1999 NASA lost the $125 million Mars Climate orbiter spacecraft after a 286-day
journey to Mars. Miscalculations due to the use of English units instead of metric units apparently sent
the craft slowly off course 60 miles in all. Thrusters used to help point the spacecraft had, over the course
of months, been fired incorrectly because data used to control the wheels were calculated in incorrect
units. Lockheed Martin, which was performing the calculations, was sending thruster data in English units
(pound force) to NASA, while NASA’s navigation team was expecting metric units (Newtons).

A solid rocket booster is ordered with the specification that it is to produce a total of 9.89 million pound
force of thrust. If this number is mistaken for the thrust in Newtons, by how much, in pound force, will
the thrust be in error? (1 pound force = 4.5 Newtons). [5]

Type equation here.

Type equation here.

4. On January 26, 2004 at Tokyo Disneyland’s Space Mountain, an axle broke on a roller coaster train mid-
ride, causing it to derail. The cause was a part being the wrong size due to a conversion of the master
plans in 1995 from English units to Metric units. In 2002, new axles were mistakenly ordered using the
pre-1995 English specifications instead of the current Metric specifications.

A bolt is ordered with a thread diameter of 1.25 inches.

4.1. What is this diameter in millimeters? [2]

Type equation here.

Type equation here.

4.2 If the ordered bolt was mistaken for 1.25 centimeters, by how many millimeters would the bolt be
in error? [3]

Type equation here.

Type equation here.

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FORMULA/DATA SHEET