Welcome to the fourth and final issue of 2014. With this issue we have successfully completed our seventh year in publication and wish to thank all those people who have contributed to the journal this year. We are grateful particularly to our authors, reviewers and administrators, and, our formal acknowledgement of the reviewers who have been active on our behalf will appear in the next issue of the journal. In our final issue of the year, we are presenting nine research papers that discuss a wide variety of topics including recycling processes, materials processing and sustainable automotive engineering.
The first two papers within this issue discuss advancements in recycling processes. In this context, the issue begins with a paper by Bendimerad et al. that analyses the efficiency of polymer separation using triboelectric processes. This is followed by a paper from Stephen and Garcia which investigates the degradation of used tyre rubber through pyrolosis to create fuel.
The second thematic area within this issue looks at materials processing. The first paper is from Zhang et al. in which the design of energy-efficient suspension cement kilns is explored. The second is from Gu et al. which discusses the improvement of annular isolation quality in oil and gas wells through the use of blast furnace slag as a mud cake modifier. The final paper in this area by Doll describes research into the upgrade of natural oils for manufacturing of polymers or industrial fluids using a series of alkene cross-metathesis reactions performed using a homogeneous ruthenium-based catalyst.
This is followed by a series of papers addressing different aspects of sustainable automotive engineering. The first from Yaliwal et al. presents the effect of compression ratio on the performance of combustion and exhaust emission characteristics of a single cylinder four strokes direct injection stationary diesel engine, operated on HOME and producer gas in a dual fuel mode. This is followed by a paper by Suresh et al. which compares the performances of diesel engines fuelled with different biodiesels and with different thermal barrier coatings. Finally, this area is concluded with a paper from Samanta et al. which explores energy management in hybrid electric vehicles using radial basis function neural networks.
This issue closes with a paper by Felice et al. which presents a reference model for comparing the lifecycles and environmental footprints of electrical and electronic equipment, and validates these using a case study of large household appliances.
Since the launch of IJSE, one of our fundamental principles has been to publish research and new knowledge across various engineering disciplines, as we strongly believe that there are significant opportunities for collaboration and transferable knowledge between the various applications of sustainability. Over the subsequent years, as the number and range of research activities and submissions in this subject area have rapidly increased, this has brought significant operational challenges for the Editorial team, particularly in identifying appropriate reviewers for the wide range of specialist subject areas covered by submissions to IJSE. This, coupled with increasing external pressures on the time of our specialist reviewers, has in turn resulted in an increase in the processing time of some of our papers. As the time between acceptance and publication has increased, we must also more frequently consult with our Editorial Board Members regarding the relevance of the subject matter of a number of highly specialist submissions to the scope of our journal and their suitability for publication in IJSE.
We are actively searching for practical solutions to deal with these challenges, and are grateful for our authors understanding and support during this period of growth and transition of the journal. In this context, we are committed to complete the initial reviewing process within 3 months from the date of submission. To maintain the high quality of our manuscripts, it is also journal policy to re-review papers that have required substantial revisions, in addition to those that are rejected and are invited to be re-submitted to the journal.
Finally, as we look to the future for IJSE, it is with great excitement that we can announce that the number of issues published per year will increase from four to six, which reflects the increasing number of submissions we are receiving. In light of this, in the coming years we are also keen to increase the publication of special issues, and as such, would like to invite contributions and suggestions for our future special issues from those conference organisers and engineers who wish to act as special issue Editors. In this context, we are also very pleased to announce that our upcoming special issue in Design for Sustainable Behaviour is due to be published in the second issue of 2015.