Why we run

 

 

 

Ok, here we are again.

 

Kids are sleeping. The rainbow princess is absorbed in her reading. I have one hour for me. Tonight it’s decided: I run.

Short pants, light sweater, sneakers. All set. Everything''s fine.

Everything but motivation... Why do I do that to myself?

Because the weight scale shows above 90. How about that?

Ok, ok, ok...

 

Oh god it''s freezing cold out there! Ok, rush twice around the block, to tell everyone I did it, and come back in from the cold. Maybe only once will do.

I haven''t jogged ten steps yet that I already look forward to the hot shower at the end of this ordeal. I see my breath transforming into smoke. Running and smoking at the same time. Not healthy. This thought amuses me.

 

Heat. Cold. Thermal machine. Warming up.

 

Ok. Turn right, then right again, then again. And we are done.

I miss the second turn. Auto-pilot mode was turned on apparently. Already heading for the bigger route.  Already gathering thoughts of the day.

 

Combustion Bay One, says Client, how did you come to that name?

Oh, it means the best research and development combustion facility in Austria, I say. It sounds a bit provocative and I cannot refrain a smile to get to the point. Well, we did a few things in combustion and we did them good. This is what the name means.

Fancy, he nods and sips his coffee.

Yes. We had other ideas. The name “Verbrennungstechnik Graz” was straightforward but somehow unsexy. Then we wanted to call the firm “Ballon Rouge”, more poetic with a subtle French touch. But it quickly appeared to be far too exotic for the locals and impossible to spell on the phone. So that was it. “Combustion Bay One”, self-explicit, in short CBOne.

 

All systems report. Speed stabilises. Temperature ok. I start climbing the hill.

 

Back to my thoughts. Things are getting serious. Coffee cups are empty and put aside. Chitchat is over. A little silence marks the transition, as for music. Now. Why they did call us.

 

Client''s face looks worried. On the video, again and again, a powerful white flame flickers, then "schlups" she looks like suddenly aspired by the nozzle of the burner. After that there is not much to see, but an awfully yellowish flame tip surfacing in the middle of the module. The nozzle’s surface gets this dark red colour. Then bright red. Then glowing yellow. The burner stops and the glowing parts fade progressively as the ensemble is flushed with fresh air.

 

Flashback. It''s called flashback. Like my mind jumps back in time, the flame retreats suddenly in the injector''s plenum and settles around the fuel injection nozzle - where it''s not supposed to be. Diffusion flame wrongly placed. Elements usually cooled by the fresh reactants are now exposed to an unbearable heat. Not good. Not good at all.

 

This recollection made me tense. I accelerated in the middle of the slope. I feel it now because the cold air hurts my throat. I slow down. Back to the previous pace. Correct the operation point smoothly back to normal. Cold blood. Methodology.

 

The burner? The brand new burner? I ask.

He''s dead, Jim. He answers.

However dramatic this situation is for technicians, we both smile at this piece of shared culture. We ease a bit, humour helps.

 

This was a proven system he says. But since in the country where this facility was built the environmental rules are different, they changed something in the chimney. The commissioning was delayed. They got out of the budget frame. They got stressed by the delivery deadline, had too little time for testing and they missed that one. Now the facility has to work in one month and this burner is a failure. Further waiting is not an option.

 

Ideas? Probably the most important word of Client.

 

We discuss the case. Question tag from me. Answering yes. Answering no. Taking notes on my notepad. Dimensions. Configuration. Location. Literature hints. Nondimensional numbers pop up. Authors. Known projects, stories, people to be asked.

 

I forgot this and that, I think between two clouds of smoke. Mental note, write this down in the pad. Tomorrow when I close the door of the flat en route towards the office, I will wonder as usual if I forgot something. This will be the signal. This means write down these ideas in your pad. Mental note done, over.

 

Behind me, the city lights. I am at the top of the hill. I suddenly feel like Rocky Balboa training in Philadelphia. Gonna fly now. I''m surprised I got here so easily. Did I come up there or did the planet simply roll under my feet? Hard to say.

 

There is work to be done. For me, come back home.

For the flame, come back where it belongs.

It''s not easy to decide whether this project is too big for us. In the meantime, we have a solid project history. Anyway, it is much too early to rise up the arms like Rocky.

 

Wait a minute, Rocky does it BEFORE the fight, and apparently it helps. I''m alone in the street, it''s OK. Arms up, and bouncing like mad.

 

Motivation is the real fuel. Fears are the real barriers. Motivation overrules. I can feel it now. 

I want badly this case to be solved too. It’s challenging, it’s new, I''m in.

 

Client needs a few comforting words. I move on known grounds, I suggest options. I read on his face which one he likes and which one he doesn''t. I hand him published works of ours. Not about this specific case, of course, but near enough to get the faith.

 

A technology responding faster than the flame? He says, suspicious.

Yes I say. This flame''s speed is of the order of the meter a second. It can be monitored precisely, and finely tuned within very short time scales. It''s called active combustion control.

 

A few meters a second he thinks. Trying to give it a scale.

 

Wait a minute. A few meters a second.

And I am running downhill.

Carl Lewis, pray for me now.

Pink Floyd starts playing in my head, a little "Run Like Hell" will not hurt.

Speeding up. Hold it. Speed. Count up to one hundred and hold it. This must be at least 6m/s. Good. Hold it.

 

Can you fix  it? asks Client. Can you really be faster than the flame?

 

Me. Panting at the porch of my home. Been here. Done that.

 

Yes I say between two coughs. Yes we can. Not an easy one, but in the end we win.

 

Client relaxes.

Me too. Stretching.

 

For the time being, Endorphin, Serotonin and Dopamin are showing up. Goodie. Nice to see you.

For the future, hoping for the best. In one month, in one year, Client might say, it was good to have you aboard.

We will work on that.

 

It's been a great run.