Search results for: urban water

Authors: Yuchen Niu, Liang Zhao, Fangfang Xie, Weiyu Liu

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In the past decades, rapid urbanization in China has significantly promoted economic growth and caused a large number of environmental problems. In consideration of land resources shortage, high-density cities will become a common phenomenon in the future. How to improve the living environment under high density is a new challenge. Shenzhen is a typical high-density city, but also the forefront of China's development and reform area. This study selects 9 urban parks with different natural attributes in Shenzhen and explores the relationship of natural, economic, and social conditions within the service scope. Based on correlation analysis and system analysis, the results indicate that improvement of park design and management methods contribute to obtaining higher ecological value and promote economic and social development.

Keywords: correlation analysis, high-density city, park improvement, urban green spaces

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Authors: Ruqyyah Mushtaq, Chiacar Gamberdella, Roberta Miroglio, Fabio Novelli, Domenica Papro, M. Paturzo, A. Rubano, Angela Sardo

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Microalgae, particularly diatoms, are well suited for monitoring environmental health, especially in assessing the quality of seas and rivers in terms of organic matter, nutrients, and heavy metal pollution. They respond rapidly to changes in habitat quality. In this study, we focused on Skeletonema pseudocostatum, a unicellular alga that forms chains depending on environmental conditions. Specifically, we explored whether metal toxicants could affect the growth of these algal chains, potentially serving as an ecotoxicological indicator of heavy metal pollution. We utilized THz spectroscopy in conjunction with standard optical microscopy to observe the formation of these chains and their response to toxicants. Despite the strong absorption of terahertz radiation in water, we demonstrate that changes in water absorption in the terahertz range due to water-diatom interaction can provide insights into diatom chain length.

Keywords: THz-TDS spectroscopy, diatoms, marine ecotoxicology, marine pollution

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Authors: Sidique Gawusu, Xiaobing Zhang

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Turbulence models play a significant role in all computational fluid dynamics based modelling approaches. There is, however, no general turbulence model suitable for all flow scenarios. Therefore, a successful numerical modelling approach is only achievable if a more appropriate closure model is used. This paper evaluates different turbulence models in numerical modelling of oil-water flow within the Eulerian-Eulerian approach. A comparison among the obtained numerical results and published benchmark data showed reasonable agreement. The domain was meshed using structured mesh, and grid test was performed to ascertain grid independence. The evaluation of the models was made through analysis of velocity and pressure profiles across the domain. The models were tested for their suitability to accurately obtain a scalable and precise numerical experience. As a result, it is found that all the models except Standard-ω provide comparable results. The study also revealed new insights on flow in porous media, specifically oil reservoirs.

Keywords: turbulence modelling, simulation, multi-phase flows, water-flooding, heavy oil

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Authors: Abhijeet Kumar, Palaniswamy N. K.

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Heavy metal contamination in water sources endangers both the environment and human health. Various water filtration techniques have been employed till now for purification and removal of hazardous metals from water. Among all the existing methods, nanofibres have emerged as a viable alternative for effective heavy metal removal in recent years because of their unique qualities, such as large surface area, interconnected porous structure, and customizable surface chemistry. Among the numerous manufacturing techniques, solution blow spinning has gained popularity as a versatile process for producing nanofibers with customized properties. This paper seeks to offer a complete overview of the use of nanofibers for heavy metal filtration, particularly those produced using solution blow spinning. The review discusses current advances in nanofiber materials, production processes, and heavy metal removal performance. Furthermore, the field's difficulties and future opportunities are examined in order to direct future research and development activities.

Keywords: heavy metals, nanofiber composite, filter membranes, adsorption, impaction

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Authors: Amao Funmilayo Lanrewaju

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The study examined the socio-economic characteristics of the residents in selected urban fringes of Ibadan; identified and examined the housing and neighbourhood characteristics and evaluated housing quality in the study area. It analysed the relationship between the socio-economic characteristics of the residents, housing and neighbourhood characteristics as well as housing quality in the study area. This was with a view to providing information that would enhance the housing quality in urban fringes of Ibadan. Primary and secondary data were used for the study. A survey of eleven purposively selected communities from Oluyole and Egbeda local government areas in the urban fringes was conducted through a questionnaire administration and expert rating by five independent assessors (Qualified Architects) using penalty scoring within similar time-frames. The study employed a random sampling method to select a sample size of 480 houses representing 5% of the sampling frame of 9600 houses. Respondent in the first house was selected randomly and subsequently every 20th house in the streets involved was systematically selected for questionnaire administration, usually a household-head per building. The structured questionnaire elicited information on socio-economic characteristics of the residents, housing and neighbourhood characteristics, factors affecting housing quality and housing quality in the study area. Secondary data obtained for the study included the land-use plan of Ibadan from previous publications, housing demographics, population figures from relevant institutions and other published materials. The data collected were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics such as frequency distribution, Cross tabulation, Correlation Analysis, Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and Relative Importance Index (RII). The result of the survey revealed that respondents from the Yoruba ethnic group constituted the majority, comprising 439 (91.5%) of the 480 respondents from the two local government areas selected. It also revealed that the type of tenure status of majority of the respondents in the two local government areas was self-ownership (234, 48.8%), while 44.0% of the respondents acquired their houses through personal savings. Cross tabulation indicated that majority (67.1%, 322 out of 480) of the respondents were low-income earners. The study showed that both housing and neighbourhood services were not adequately provided across neighbourhoods in the study area. Correlation analysis indicated a significant relationship between respondents’ socio–economic status and their general housing quality (r=0.46; p-value of 0.01< 0.05). The ANOVA indicated that the relationship between socio-economic characteristics of the residents, housing and neighbourhood characteristics in the study area was significant (F=18.289, p=0.00; the coefficient of determination R2= 0.192). The findings from the study however revealed that there was no significant difference in the results obtained from users based evaluation and expert rating. The study concluded that housing quality in the urban fringes of Ibadan is generally poor and the socio-economic status of the residents significantly influenced the housing quality.

Keywords: housing quality, urban fringes, economic status, poverty

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Authors: Emmy Kipsoi

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Kenya legalized the Sexual offence bill (2001), after vigorous campaigning and lobbying by feminist both in and out of parliament to ensure that the bill passed with minimal amendments. The sexual offense act provides for a good description on what constitutes sexual offences and the penalties that follow. It is from this context that the paper explores and interrogated the lived experiences of women living and working in Kenyan urban towns, who had experienced some form of sexual harassment. The study employed phenomenology to interpret the experiences of twenty (20) women in an urban town between the ages of 20 to 65 years women who had received at least some formal education and where engaged in some formal form of employment. The findings indicated that various forms of sexual harassment were experienced in the Kenyan town. Secondly, the knowledge about the contents of the bill wanting most of the women interviews were not aware of the protection accorded by law. The number of reported cases of sexual harassment shed light on the isolation, frustration and fear that women live despite a progressive law in print

Keywords: Kenya, phenomenology, sexual harassment, women

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Authors: H. C. Chang, J. R. Wang, A. L. Ho, S. W. Chen, J. H. Yang, C. Shih, L. C. Wang

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To confirm the reactor and containment integrity of the Advanced Boiling Water Reactor (ABWR), we perform the analysis of main steamline break (MSLB) transient by using the TRACE, PARCS, and SNAP codes. The process of the research has four steps. First, the ABWR nuclear power plant (NPP) model is developed by using the above codes. Second, the steady state analysis is performed by using this model. Third, the ABWR model is used to run the analysis of MSLB transient. Fourth, the predictions of TRACE and PARCS are compared with the data of FSAR. The results of TRACE/PARCS and FSAR are similar. According to the TRACE/PARCS results, the reactor and containment integrity of ABWR can be maintained in a safe condition for MSLB.

Keywords: advanced boiling water reactor, TRACE, PARCS, SNAP

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Authors: Morteza Keshavarz

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In this work, using density functional theory (DFT) thermodynamic stability and quantum molecular descriptors of cyclophoshphamide (an anticancer drug)-functionalized zigzag (8,0) CNT, armchair (4,4) CNT and nanocone complexes in water, for two attachment namely the sidewall and tip, is considered. Calculation of the total electronic energy (Et) and binding energy (Eb) of all complexes indicates that the most thermodynamic stability belongs to the sidewall-attachment of cyclophosphamide into functional nanocone. On the other hand, results from chemical hardness show that drug-functionalized zigzag (8,0) and armchair (4,4) complexes in the tip-attachment configuration possess the smallest and greatest chemical hardness, respectively. By computing the solvation energy, it is found that the solution of the drug and all complexes are spontaneous in water. Furthermore, chirality, type of nanovector (nanotube or nanocone), or attachment configuration have no effects on solvation energy of complexes.

Keywords: carbon nanotube, drug delivery, cyclophosphamide drug, density functional theory (DFT)

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Authors: Luojie Tang, Libin Ouyang, Yihang Gao

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The natural landscape and urban-rural structure, with their attractiveness in the Dali area around Erhai Lake, exhibit striking similarities with Howard's Garden City. With the emergence of the unique phenomenon of the first large-scale gathering of digital nomads in China in Dali, an analysis of Dali's natural, economic, and cultural representations and structures reveals that the Garden City model can no longer fully explain the current overall human living environment in Dali. By interpreting the bottom-up local construction process in Dali based on landscape identity, the transformation of production and lifestyle under new technologies such as ICT(Information and Communication Technology), and the values and lifestyle reshaping embodied in the "reverse urbanization" phenomenon of the middle class in Dali, it is believed that Dali has moved towards a "contemporary garden city influenced by new technology." The article summarizes the characteristics and connotations of this Garden City and provides corresponding strategies for its continued healthy development.

Keywords: dali, ICT, rural-urban relationship, garden city model

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Authors: Ajoy Kumar Das, Prasenjit Dey

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Heat transfer due to forced convection of copper water based nanofluid has been predicted by Artificial Neural network (ANN). The present nanofluid is formed by mixing copper nano particles in water and the volume fractions are considered here are 0% to 15% and the Reynolds number are kept constant at 100. The back propagation algorithm is used to train the network. The present ANN is trained by the input and output data which has been obtained from the numerical simulation, performed in finite volume based Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) commercial software Ansys Fluent. The numerical simulation based results are compared with the back propagation based ANN results. It is found that the forced convection heat transfer of water based nanofluid can be predicted correctly by ANN. It is also observed that the back propagation ANN can predict the heat transfer characteristics of nanofluid very quickly compared to standard CFD method.

Keywords: forced convection, square cylinder, nanofluid, neural network

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Authors: H. Golchoobian, M. H. Taheri, S. Saedodin, A. Sarafraz

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This paper investigates the possibility of using three systems of organic Rankine auxiliary power generation, ejector refrigeration and absorption to recover energy from a diesel car. The analysis is done for both urban and suburban driving modes that vary from 60 to 120 km/h. Various refrigerants have also been used for organic Rankine and Ejector refrigeration cycles. The capacity was evaluated by Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) system in both urban and suburban conditions for cyclopentane and ammonia as refrigerants. Also, for these two driving plans, produced cooling by absorption refrigeration system under variable ambient temperature conditions and in ejector refrigeration system for R123, R134a and R141b refrigerants were investigated.

Keywords: absorption system, diesel engine, ejector refrigeration, energy recovery, organic Rankine cycle

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Authors: Innocent Kafodya, Guijun Xian

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This paper presents effects of distilled water, seawater and sustained bending strains of 30% and 50% ultimate strain at room temperature, on the durability of unidirectional pultruded carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) plates. In this study, dynamic mechanical analyzer (DMA) was used to investigate the synergic effects of the immersions and bending strains on the visco-elastic properties of (CFRP) such as storage modulus, tan delta and glass transition temperature. The study reveals that the storage modulus and glass transition temperature increase while tan delta peak decreases in the initial stage of both immersions due to the progression of curing. The storage modulus and Tg subsequently decrease and tan delta increases due to the matrix plasticization. The blister induced damages in the unstrained seawater samples enhance water uptake and cause more serious degradation of Tg and storage modulus than in water immersion. Increasing sustained bending decreases Tg and storage modulus in a long run for both immersions due to resin matrix cracking and debonding. The combined effects of immersions and strains are not clearly reflected due to the statistical effects of DMA sample sizes and competing processes of molecular reorientation and postcuring.

Keywords: pultruded CFRP plate, bending strain, glass transition temperature, storage modulus, tan delta

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Authors: Abel Mahowe

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Furrow erosion is the major problem menacing sustainability of irrigation in Malawi and polluting water bodies resulting in death of many aquatic animals. Many rivers in Malawi are drying due to some poor practices that are being practiced around these water bodies, furrow erosion is one of the cause of sedimentation in these rivers although it has gradual effect on deteriorating of these rivers hence neglected, but has got long term disastrous effect on water bodies. Many aquatic animals also suffer when these sediments are taken into these water bodies. An assessment of effect of manure treatment on furrow erosion was carried out in Sagawika irrigation scheme located in Kasungu District north part of Malawi. The soil on the field was clay loam and had just been tilled. The average furrow slope of 0.2% and was divided into two blocks, A and B. Each block had 20V-shaped furrow having a length of 10 m. Three different manure were used to construct these furrows by mixing it with soil which was moderately moist and 5 furrows from each block were constructed without manure. In each block 5furrow were made using a specific type of manure, and one set of five furrows in each block was made without manure treatment. The types of manure that were used were goat manure, pig manure, and manure from crop residuals. The manure application late was 5 kg/m. The furrow was constructed at a spacing of 0.6 m. Tomato was planted in the two blocks at spacing of 0.15 m between rows and 0.15 m between planting stations. Irrigation water was led from feeder canal into the irrigation furrows using siphons. The siphons discharge into each furrow was set at 1.86 L/S. The ¾ rule was used to determine the cut-off time for the irrigation cycles in order to reduce the run-off at the tail end. During each irrigation cycle, samples of the runoff water were collected at one-minute intervals and analyzed for total sediment concentration for use in estimating the total soil sediment loss. The results of the study have shown that a significant amount of soil is lost in soils without many organic matters, there was a low level of erosion in furrows that were constructed using manure treatment within the blocks. In addition, the results have shown that manure also differs in their ability to control erosion since pig manure proved to have greater abilities in binding the soil together than other manure since they were reduction in the amount of sediments at the tail end of furrows constructed by this type of manure. The results prove that manure contains organic matters which helps soil particles to bind together hence resisting the erosive force of water. The use of manure when constructing furrows in soil with less organic matter can highly reduce erosion hence reducing also pollution of water bodies and improve the conditions of aquatic animals.

Keywords: aquatic, erosion, furrow, soil

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Authors: Ding Jue, Li Jiahua, Lei Zhidi, Weng Peifen, Li Xiaowei

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With the rapid development of national modern industry, people begin to pay attention to environmental pollution and harm caused by industrial dust. Based on above, a numerical study on the dedusting technology of industrial environment was conducted. The dynamic models of multicomponent particles collision and coagulation, breakage and deposition are developed, and the interaction of water droplet and aerosol particle in 2-Dimension flow field was researched by Eulerian-Lagrangian method and Multi-Monte Carlo method. The effects of the droplet scale, movement speed of droplet and the flow field structure on scavenging efficiency were analyzed. The results show that under the certain condition, 30μm of droplet has the best scavenging efficiency. At the initial speed 1m/s of droplets, droplets and aerosol particles have more time to interact, so it has a better scavenging efficiency for the particle.

Keywords: water droplet, aerosol particle, collision and coagulation, multi-monte carlo method

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Authors: Pawan P. Kalbende, Anil B. Zade

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A novel terpolymer resin has been synthesized by condensation polymerization reaction of 4,4’-biphenol and 4,4’-oxydianiline with formaldehyde in presence of 2M hydrochloric acid as catalyst. Composition of resin was determined on the basis of their elemental analysis and further characterized by UV-Visible, infra-red and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy to confine the most probable structure of synthesized terpolymer. Newly synthesized terpolymer was proved to be a selective chelating ion-exchanger for certain metal ions and were studied for Fe3+, Cu2+, Ni2+, Co2+, Zn2+, Cd2+, Hg2+ and Pb2+ ions using their metal nitrate solutions. A batch equilibrium method was employed to study the selectivity of metal ions uptake involving the measurements of the distribution of a given metal ion between the terpolymer sample and a solution containing the metal ion. The study was carried out over a wide pH range, shaking time and in media of different electrolytes at different ionic strengths. Distribution ratios of metal ions were found to be increased by rising pH of the solutions. Hence, it can be used to recover certain metal ions from waste water for the purpose of purification of water and removal of iron from boiler water.

Keywords: terpolymers, ion-exchangers, distribution ratio, metal ion uptake

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Authors: Opata Obinna Johnpaul

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Wastewater is one of the day-to–day concerns of humans and the environment, in general, due to its importance to the environment. This is because of the presence of various contaminants that are involved in waste water. Wastewater treatment can be defined as the proportion of wastewater that is treated, in order to reduce pollutants before being discharged to the environment, by the level of treatment. This work discusses wastewater treatment, its contaminants, as well as the technologies, involved.The major focus is to analyze Okomu Oil Palm Company Plc, their effluent treatment facility. Okomu Oil Palm Company is based in Nigeria, which is one of the developing countries of the world. Okomu Oil Palm Company uses aquatic treatment technology for their effluent treatment and applies the physio-chemical level of advanced chemical treatment of wastewater treatment process. This work will discuss the outcome of the laboratory sample taken on the 30th January, 2015 and analyzed between 30th January- 4th February 2015.

Keywords: wastewater treatment, contaminants, physio-chemical process, Okomu oil palm

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Authors: Cheng-Lung Yu, Ying-His Liao

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Some evidence show that public art accelerates local economic growth. Even local governments award the collaboration of public-private partnership to sustain the creation of public art for urban economic development. Through the public-private partnership of public art establishment it is obvious that public construction projects have been led by the governmental policy yet the private developers have played crucial roles to drive the innovative business models such as tourism investment, real estate value up and community participation. This study shows that the types of collaboration have been driven by Taichung city governmental policy from the regulation of public art establishment in the past three years. Through some cases empirical analyzes the authors discover the trends concerning the public art development to support local economic growth in Taiwan.

Keywords: public art, public art establishment regulation, construction management, urban governance

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Authors: Vara Prasad Vemu

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The aim of the present work is to investigate the mechanical properties and water absorption capacity of carbon and basalt fibers mixed with matrix epoxy. At present, there is demand for nature friendly products. Basalt reinforced composites developed recently, and these mineral amorphous fibres are a valid alternative to carbon fibres for their lower cost and to glass fibres for their strength. The present paper describes briefly on basalt and carbon fibres (uni-directional) which are used as reinforcement materials for composites. The matrix epoxy (LY 556-HY 951) is taken into account to assess its influence on the evaluated parameters. In order to use reinforced composites for structural applications, it is necessary to perform a mechanical characterization. With this aim experiments like tensile strength, flexural strength, hardness and water absorption are performed. Later the mechanical properties obtained from experiments are compared with ANSYS software results.

Keywords: carbon fibre, basalt fibre, uni-directional, reinforcement, mechanical tests, water absorption test, ANSYS

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Authors: Annur Suhadi, Haris B. Harahap, Zaim Arrosyidi, Epan, Darmapala

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Oilfields under waterflood often face the problem of plugging injectors either by internal filtration or external filter cake built up inside pore throats. The content of suspended solids shall be reduced to required level of filtration since corrective action of plugging is costly expensive. The performance of nutshell filters, where filtration takes place, is good using pecan and walnut shells. Candlenut shells were used instead of pecan and walnut shells since they were abundant in Indonesia, Malaysia, and East Africa. Physical and chemical properties of walnut, pecan, and candlenut shells were tested and the results were compared. Testing, using full-scale nutshell filters, was conducted to determine the oil content, turbidity, and suspended solid removal, which was based on designed flux rate. The performance of candlenut shells, which were deeply bedded in nutshell filters for filtration process, was monitored. Cleaned water outgoing nutshell filters had total suspended solids of 17 ppm, while oil content could be reduced to 15.1 ppm. Turbidity, using candlenut shells, was below the specification for injection water, which was less than 10 Nephelometric Turbidity Unit (NTU). Turbidity of water, outgoing nutshell filter, was ranged from 1.7-5.0 NTU at various dates of operation. Walnut, pecan, and candlenut shells had moisture content of 8.98 wt%, 10.95 wt%, and 9.95 wt%, respectively. The porosity of walnut, pecan, and candlenut shells was significantly affected by moisture content. Candlenut shells had property of toluene solubility of 7.68 wt%, which was much higher than walnut shells, reflecting more crude oil adsorption. The hardness of candlenut shells was 2.5-3 Mohs, which was close to walnut shells’ hardness. It was advantage to guarantee the cleaning filter cake by fluidization process during backwashing.

Keywords: candlenut shells, filtration, nutshell filter, pecan shells, walnut shells

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Authors: Howard Gomwe, Eunice Seekoe, Philemon Lyoka, Chioneso Show Marange, Dennyford Mafa

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Background: This study was designed to assess PA levels and sedentary behavior among primary school learners in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. Methods: A cross-sectional study was adopted to assess the patterns and levels of PA and sedentary behavior using the Physical Activity Questionnaire for Older Children (PAQ-C). Results: Using complete case analysis, 870 randomly selected participants (boys = 351 and girls = 519) aged 9 to 14 years were retained. The sample comprised of primary school learners, both boys and girls; aged 9-14 years old, who were randomly selected from rural, urban and peri-urban areas in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. Overly, the sample had a mean PAQ-C score of 2.33 ± 0.43. The mean of PA in boys was significantly higher (p = 0.003) in comparison with the girls. The 13 to 14 age group had a significantly higher PA level (p = 0.014). Learners from urban areas (n = 136; 77.3%) engaged more in sedentary behaviour as compared to those from rural areas (n = 252; 54.9%). Conclusion: The findings demonstrated low levels of PA and high engagement of sedentary behavior, which have negative implications on the health, growth and development of children. The study, therefore, recommends relevant stakeholders to implement interventions aimed to promote the increase in PA and reduction in sedentary behaviors for primary school learners in the Eastern Cape province in South Africa.

Keywords: learners, physical activity, sedentary behavior, south Africa

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Authors: Zatil Athaillah, Anastasia Devi, Dian Muzdalifah, Wirasuwasti Nugrahani, Linar Udin

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During tempe fermentation, some chemical changes occurred and they contributed to sensory, appearance, and health benefits of soybeans. Many studies on health properties of tempe have specialized on their isoflavones. In this study, other components of tempe, particularly water soluble chemicals, was investigated for their biofunctionality. The study was focused on the ability to suppress MCF-7 breast cancer cell growth and antioxidant activity, as expressed by DPPH radical scavenging activity, total phenols and total flavonoids, of the water extracts. Fermentation time of tempe was extended up to 120 hr to increase the possibility to find the functional components. Extraction yield and soluble nitrogen content were also quantified as accompanying data. Our findings suggested that yield of water extraction of tempe increased as fermentation was extended up to 120 hr, except for a slight decrease at 72 hr. Water extracts of tempe showed inhibition of MCF-7 breast cancer cell growth, as shown by lower IC50 values when compared to control (unfermented soybeans). Among the varied fermentation timescales, 60-hr period showed the highest activity (IC50 of 8.7 ± 4.95 µg/ml). The anticancer activity of extracts obtained from different fermentation time was positively correlated with total soluble nitrogens, but less relevant with antioxidant data. During 48-72 hr fermentation, at which cancer suppression activity was significant, the antioxidant properties from the three assays were not higher than control. These findings indicated that water extracts of tempe from extended fermentation could inhibit breast cancer cell growth but further study to determine the mechanism and compounds that play important role in the activity should be conducted.

Keywords: tempe, anticancer, antioxidant, phenolic compounds

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Authors: Asaad Y. Shamseldin

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Analytical probabilistic approach is an innovative approach for urban stormwater modeling. It can provide information about the long-term performance of a stormwater management facility without being computationally very demanding. This paper explores the application of the analytical probabilistic approach in New Zealand. The paper presents the results of a case study aimed at development of an objective way of identifying what constitutes a rainfall storm event and the estimation of the corresponding statistical properties of storms using two selected automatic rainfall stations located in the Auckland region in New Zealand. The storm identification and the estimation of the storm statistical properties are regarded as the first step in the development of the analytical probabilistic models. The paper provides a recommendation about the definition of the storm inter-event time to be used in conjunction with the analytical probabilistic approach.

Keywords: hydrology, rainfall storm, storm inter-event time, New Zealand, stormwater management

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Authors: José Antonio Donaire Benito, Konstantina Zerva

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Historically, cities have been places where people from many nations and cultures have met and settled together, while population flows and density have had a significant impact on urban dynamics. Cities' high density of social, cultural, business offerings, everyday services, and other amenities not intended for tourists draw not only tourists but a wide range of city users as well. With the coordination of city rhythms and the porosity of the community, city users order and frame their urban experience. From one side, recent literature focuses on the shift in urban tourist experience from 'having' a holiday through 'doing' activities to 'becoming' a local by experiencing a part of daily life. On the other hand, there is a debate on the 'touristification of everyday life', where middle and upper class urban dwellers display attitudes and behaviors that are virtually undistinguishable from those of visitors. With the advent of globalization and technological advances, modern society has undergone a radical transformation that has altered mobility patterns within it, blurring the boundaries between tourism and everyday life, work and leisure, and "hosts" and "guests". Additionally, the presence of other 'temporary city' users, such as commuters, digital nomads, second home owners, and migrants, contributes to a more complex transformation of tourist cities. Moving away from this traditional clear distinction between 'hosts' and 'guests', which represents a more static view of tourism, and moving towards a more liquid narrative of mobility, academics on tourism development are embracing the New Mobilities Paradigm. The latter moves beyond the static structures of the modern world and focuses on the ways in which social entities are made up of people, machines, information, and images in a moving system. In light of this fluid interdependence between tourists and guests, a question arises as to whether overtourism, which is considered as the underlying cause of citizens' perception of a lower urban quality of life, is a fair representation of perceived mobility excessiveness, place consumption disruptiveness, and residents displacement. As a representative example of an overtourism narrative, Barcelona was chosen as a study area for this purpose, focusing on the incoming city users to reflect in depth the variety of people who contribute to mobility flows beyond those residents already have. Several statistical data have been analyzed to determine the number of national and international visitors to Barcelona at some point during the day in 2019. Specifically, tracking data gathered from mobile phone users within the city are combined with tourist surveys, urban mobility data, zenithal data capture, and information about the city's attractions. The paper shows that tourists are only a small part of the different incoming city users that daily enter Barcelona; excursionists, commuters, and metropolitans also contribute to a high mobility flow. Based on the diversity of incoming city users and their place consumption, it seems that the city's urban experience is more likely to be impacted by over-mobility tan over-tourism.

Keywords: city users, density, new mobilities paradigm, over-tourism.

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Authors: Alhage Drammeh

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The research is on the occurrence of certain diseases among children in rural and far-flung parts of the Gambia and the extent to which they are caused by lack of access to clean water. A baseline survey was used to discover, describe, and explain the actual processes. The paper explains the purpose of the research, which is majorly to improve the health condition of children, especially those living in rural communities. The paper also gives a brief overview of the socio-economic situation of The Gambia, emphasizing its status as a Least Developed Country (LDC) and the majority of its population living below the poverty line, with women and children hardest hit. The research used as case studies of two rural communities in the Gambia -Basse Dampha Kunda Village and Foni Besse. Data was collected through oral interviews and medical tests conducted among people in both villages, with an emphasis on children. The demographic detail of those tested is tabulated for a clearer understanding. The results were compared, revealing that skin rashes, hepatitis, and certain other diseases are more prevalent in communities lacking access to safe drinking water. These results were also presented in a tabular form. The study established how some policy failures and neglect on the part of the Government of The Gambia are imperiling the health of many rural dwellers in the country, the most glaring being that the research team was unable to test water samples collected from the two communities, as there are no laboratory reagents for testing water anywhere in The Gambia. Many rural communities lack basic amenities, especially clean and potable water, as well as health facilities. The study findings also highlighted the need for healthcare providers and medical NGOs to voice the plight of rural dwellers and collaborate with the government to set up health facilities in rural areas of The Gambia.

Keywords: jaundice, skin rashes, children, rural communities, the Gambia, causes

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Authors: Basavaraj Kabade, K. T. Nagaraja, Swathi Ramanathan, A. Veeraragavan, P. S. Reashma

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Deteriorating quality of the pedestrian environment and the increasing risk of pedestrian crashes are major concerns for most of the cities in India. The recent shift in the priority to motorized transport and the abating condition of existing pedestrian facilities can be considered as prime reasons for the increasing pedestrian related crashes in India. Bengaluru City – the IT capital hub of the nation is not much different from this. The increase in number of pedestrian crashes in Bengaluru reflects the same. To resolve this issue and to ensure safe, sustainable and pedestrian friendly sidewalks, Govt. of Karnataka, India has implemented newfangled pedestrian sidewalks popularized programme named Tender S.U.R.E. (Specifications for Urban Road Execution) projects. Tender SURE adopts unique urban street design guidelines where the pedestrians are given prime preference. The present study presents an assessment of the quality and performance of the pedestrian side walk and the walkability index of the newly built pedestrian friendly sidewalks. Various physical and environmental factors affecting pedestrian safety are identified and studied in detail. The pedestrian mobility is quantified through Pedestrian Level of Service (PLoS) and the pedestrian walking comfort is measured by calculating the Walkability Index (WI). It is observed that the new initiatives taken in reference to improving pedestrian safety have succeeded in Bengaluru by attaining a level of Service of ‘A’ and with a good WI score.

Keywords: pedestrian safety, pedestrian level of service (PLoS), Right of Way (RoW), Tender S.U.R.E (Specifications for Urban Road Execution), walkability index (WI), walkway facilities

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Authors: Shubham Damke, Md Imtiaz, Sanchita Dei

Abstract:

To stimulate the well and to enhance the production from the shaly formations, fracturing is essential. Presently the chiefly employed technology is Hydraulic Fracturing. However Hydraulic Fracturing accompanies itself with problems like disposing large volumes of fracturing wastewater, removal of water from the pores, formation damage due to injection of large amount of chemicals into underground formations and many more. Therefore embarking on the path of innovation new techniques have been developed which uses different gases such as Nitrogen, Carbon dioxide, Frac Oil, LPG, etc. are used as a base fluid for fracturing formation. However LPG proves to be the most favorable of them which eliminates the use of water and chemicals. When using it as a fracturing fluid, within the surface equipment, it is stored, gelled, and proppant blended at a constant pressure. It is then pressurized with high pressure pumps to the required surface injection pressure With lowering the total cost and increasing the productivity, LPG is also very noteworthy for fracturing shale, where if the hydraulic fracturing is done the water ‘swells’ the formation and creates surface tension, both of which inhibit the flow of oil and gas. Also fracturing with LPG increases the effective fracture length and since propane, butane and pentane is used which are already present in the natural gas therefore there is no problem of back flow because these gases get mixed with the natural gas. LPG Fracturing technology can be a promising substitute of the Hydraulic Fracturing, which could substantially reduce the capital cost of fracturing shale and will also restrict the problems with the disposal of water and on the same hand increasing the fracture length and the productivity from the shale.

Keywords: Fracking, Shale, Surface Tension, Viscosity

Procedia PDF Downloads 427

Authors: William C. Alexander

Abstract:

The oscillating water column (OSC) wave energy converter (WEC) with deep water reactance (DWR) consists of a large hollow sphere filled with seawater at the base, referred to as the ‘stabilizer’, a hollow cylinder at the top of the device, with a said cylinder having a bottom open to the sea and a sealed top save for an orifice which leads to an air turbine, and a long, narrow rod connecting said stabilizer with said cylinder. A small amount of ballast at the bottom of the stabilizer and a small amount of floatation in the cylinder keeps the device upright in the sea. The floatation is set such that the mean water level is nominally halfway up the cylinder. The entire device is loosely moored to the seabed to keep it from drifting away. In the presence of ocean waves, seawater will move up and down within the cylinder, producing the ‘oscillating water column’. This gives rise to air pressure within the cylinder alternating between positive and negative gauge pressure, which in turn causes air to alternately leave and enter the cylinder through said top-cover situated orifice. An air turbine situated within or immediately adjacent to said orifice converts the oscillating airflow into electric power for transport to shore or elsewhere by electric power cable. Said oscillating air pressure produces large up and down forces on the cylinder. Said large forces are opposed through the rod to the large mass of water retained within the stabilizer, which is located deep enough to be mostly free of any wave influence and which provides the deepwater reactance. The cylinder and stabilizer form a spring-mass system which has a vertical (heave) resonant frequency. The diameter of the cylinder largely determines the power rating of the device, while the size (and water mass within) of the stabilizer determines said resonant frequency. Said frequency is chosen to be on the lower end of the wave frequency spectrum to maximize the average power output of the device over a large span of time (such as a year). The upper portion of the device (the cylinder) moves laterally (surge) with the waves. This motion is accommodated with minimal loading on the said rod by having the stabilizer shaped like a sphere, allowing the entire device to rotate about the center of the stabilizer without rotating the seawater within the stabilizer. A full-scale device of this type may have the following dimensions. The cylinder may be 16 meters in diameter and 30 meters high, the stabilizer 25 meters in diameter, and the rod 55 meters long. Simulations predict that this will produce 1,400 kW in waves of 3.5-meter height and 12 second period, with a relatively flat power curve between 5 and 16 second wave periods, as will be suitable for an open-ocean location. This is nominally 10 times higher power than similar-sized WEC spar buoys as reported in the literature, and the device is projected to have only 5% of the mass per unit power of other OWC converters.

Keywords: oscillating water column, wave energy converter, spar bouy, stabilizer

Procedia PDF Downloads 108

Authors: Khoi A. Nguyen, Rodney A. Stewart, Hong Zhang

Abstract:

Advanced metering technologies coupled with informatics creates an opportunity to form digital multi-utility service providers. These providers will be able to concurrently collect a customers’ medium-high resolution water, electricity and gas demand data and provide user-friendly platforms to feed this information back to customers and supply/distribution utility organisations. With the emergence of blockchain technology, a new research area has been explored which helps bring this multi-utility service provider concept to a much higher level. This study aims at introducing a breakthrough system architecture where smart metering technology in water, energy, and gas (WEG) are combined with blockchain technology to provide customer a novel real-time consumption report and decentralized resource trading platform. A pilot study on 4 properties in Australia has been undertaken to demonstrate this system, where benefits for customers and utilities are undeniable.

Keywords: blockchain, digital multi-utility, end use, demand forecasting

Procedia PDF Downloads 174

Authors: Bilge Aydın Er, Yuksel Ardalı

Abstract:

In Ayvacık village, 80-90% of the population is engaged in agriculture. The pollution was adversely affecting the properties of agricultural origin of the lake. This study is to determine pollution caused by unwanted changes in the Suat Ugurlu Dam Lake has been launched to monitor. Yesilirmak basin is located in the proximal part of the Black Sea. Therefore it was exposed to impact many pollution. In this study, sediment samples from selected points along the lake was made on the analysis. This work was supported by the results of water analyzes. It is clear that urgent measures should be taken to the area of water management

Keywords: eutrophication, Black sea, lake, pollution

Procedia PDF Downloads 404

Authors: Hung-Chun Lin, Tzu-Yuan Chao

Abstract:

As the population aging has become an inevitable trend globally, issues of improving the well-being of elderly people in urban areas have been a challenging task for urban planners. Recent studies of ageing trend have also expended to explore the relationship between the built environment and mental condition of elderly people. These studies have proved that even though the built environment may not necessarily play the decisive role in affecting mental health, it can have positive impacts on individual mental health by promoting social linkages and social networks among older adults. There has been a great amount of relevant research examined the impact of the built environment attributes on depression in the elderly; however, most were conducted in the Western countries. Little attention has been paid in Asian cities with contrarily high density and mix-use urban contexts such as Taiwan regarding how the built environment attributes related to depression in elderly people. Hence, more empirical cross-principle studies are needed to explore the possible impacts of Asia urban characteristics on older residents’ mental condition. This paper intends to focus on Tainan city, the fourth biggest metropolis in Taiwan. We first analyze with data from National Health Insurance Research Database to pinpoint the empirical study area where residing most elderly patients, aged over 65, with depressive disorders. Secondly, we explore the relationship between specific attributes of the built environment collected from previous studies and elderly individuals who suffer from depression, under different socio-cultural and networking circumstances. To achieve the results, the research methods adopted in this study include questionnaire and database analysis, and the results will be proceeded by correlation analysis. In addition, through literature review, by generalizing the built environment factors that have been used in Western research to evaluate the relationship between built environment and older individuals with depressive disorders, a set of local evaluative indicators of the built environment for future studies will be proposed as well. In order to move closer to develop age-friendly cities and improve the well-being for the elderly in Taiwan, the findings of this paper can provide empirical results to grab planners’ attention for how built environment makes the elderly feel and to reconsider the relationship between them. Furthermore, with an interdisciplinary topic, the research results are expected to make suggestions for amending the procedures of drawing up an urban plan or a city plan from a different point of view.

Keywords: built environment, depression, elderly, Tainan

Procedia PDF Downloads 127