Search results for: high speed flexible coupling (HSFC)

Authors: Vilas Warudkar, Dinkar Janghel, Siraj Ahmed

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Rapid development experienced by India requires huge amount of energy. Actual supply capacity additions have been consistently lower than the targets set by the government. According to World Bank 40% of residences are without electricity. In 12th five year plan 30 GW grid interactive renewable capacity is planned in which 17 GW is Wind, 10 GW is from solar and 2.1 GW from small hydro project, and rest is compensated by bio gas. Renewable energy (RE) and energy efficiency (EE) meet not only the environmental and energy security objectives, but also can play a crucial role in reducing chronic power shortages. In remote areas or areas with a weak grid, wind energy can be used for charging batteries or can be combined with a diesel engine to save fuel whenever wind is available. India according to IEC 61400-1 belongs to class IV Wind Condition; it is not possible to set up wind turbine in large scale at every place. So, the best choice is to go for small scale wind turbine at lower height which will have good annual energy production (AEP). Based on the wind characteristic available at MANIT Bhopal, rotor for small scale wind turbine is designed. Various Aero foil data is reviewed for selection of airfoil in the Blade Profile. Airfoil suited of Low wind conditions i.e. at low Reynold’s number is selected based on Coefficient of Lift, Drag and angle of attack. For designing of the rotor blade, standard Blade Element Momentum (BEM) Theory is implanted. Performance of the Blade is estimated using BEM theory in which axial induction factor and angular induction factor is optimized using iterative technique. Rotor performance is estimated for particular designed blade specifically for low wind Conditions. Power production of rotor is determined at different wind speeds for particular pitch angle of the blade. At pitch 15o and velocity 5 m/sec gives good cut in speed of 2 m/sec and power produced is around 350 Watts. Tip speed of the Blade is considered as 6.5 for which Coefficient of Performance of the rotor is calculated 0.35, which is good acceptable value for Small scale Wind turbine. Simple Load Model (SLM, IEC 61400-2) is also discussed to improve the structural strength of the rotor. In SLM, Edge wise Moment and Flap Wise moment is considered which cause bending stress at the root of the blade. Various Load case mentioned in the IEC 61400-2 is calculated and checked for the partial safety factor of the wind turbine blade.

Keywords: annual energy production, Blade Element Momentum Theory, low wind Conditions, selection of airfoil

Procedia PDF Downloads 337

Authors: Mahsa Houshdar, Seyed Mehdi Samimi Ardestani , ُSeyed Saeed Sadr

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Introduction: Online Medicare is a method in which parts of a medical process - whether its diagnostics, monitoring or the treatment itself will be done by using online services. This system has been operated in one boy’s high school, one girl’s high school and one high school in deprived aria. Method: At the first step the students registered for using the system. It was not mandatory and not free. They participated in estimating depression scale, anxiety scale and clinical interview by online medical care system. During this estimation, we could find the existence and severity of depression and anxiety in each one of the participants, also we could find the consequent needs of each one, such as supportive therapy in mild depression or anxiety, need to visited by psychologist in moderate cases, need to visited by psychiatrist in moderate-severe cases, need to visited by psychiatrist and psychologist in severe cases and need to perform medical lab examination tests. The lab examination tests were performed on persons specified by the system. The lab examinations were included: serum level of vitamin D, serum level of vitamin B12, serum level of calcium, fasting blood sugar, HbA1c, thyroid function tests and CBC. All of the students were solely treated by vitamins or minerals therapy and/ or treatment of medical problem (such as hypothyroidism). After a few months, we came back to high schools and estimated the existence and severity of depression and anxiety in treated students. With comparing these results, the affectability of the system could be prof. Results: Totally, we operate this project in 1077 participants in 243 of participant, the lab examination test were performed. In girls high schools: the existence and severity of depression significantly deceased (P value= 0.018<0.05 & P value 0.004< 0.05), but results about anxiety was not significant. In boys high schools: the existence and severity of depression significantly decreased (P value= 0.023<0.05 & P value = 0.004< 0.05 & P value= 0.049< 0.05). In boys high schools: the existence and severity of anxiety significantly decreased (P value= 0.041<0.05 & P value = 0.046< 0.05 &) but in one high school results about anxiety was not significant. In high school in deprived area the students did not have any problem paying for participating in the project, but they could not pay for medical lab examination tests. Thus, operation of the system was not possible in deprived area without a sponsor. Conclusion: This online medical system was successful in creating medical and psychiatric profile without attending physician. It was successful in decreasing depression without using antidepressants, but it was partially successful in decreasing anxiety.

Keywords: depression, diabetes, online medicare, vitamin D deficiency

Procedia PDF Downloads 325

Authors: S. Arun Prakash, V. Malathi, M. S. Mani Rajan

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The analytical bright two soliton solution of the 3-coupled nonlinear Schrödinger equations with variable coefficients in birefringent optical fiber is obtained by Darboux transformation method. To the design of ultra-speed optical devices, Soliton interaction and control in birefringence fiber is investigated. Lax pair is constructed for N coupled NLS system through AKNS method. Using two soliton solution, we demonstrate different interaction behaviors of solitons in birefringent fiber depending on the choice of control parameters. Our results shows that interactions of optical solitons have some specific applications such as construction of logic gates, optical computing, soliton switching, and soliton amplification in wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) system.

Keywords: optical soliton, soliton interaction, soliton switching, WDM

Procedia PDF Downloads 505

Authors: Faidon Kyriakou, William Dempster, David Nash

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Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm (AAA) is a major life-threatening pathology for which modern approaches reduce the need for open surgery through the use of stenting. The success of stenting though is sometimes jeopardized by the final position of the stent graft inside the human artery which may result in migration, endoleaks or blood flow occlusion. Herein, a finite element (FE) model of the commercial medical device AnacondaTM (Vascutek, Terumo) has been developed and validated in order to create a numerical tool able to provide useful clinical insight before the surgical procedure takes place. The AnacondaTM device consists of a series of NiTi rings sewn onto woven polyester fabric, a structure that despite its column stiffness is flexible enough to be used in very tortuous geometries. For the purposes of this study, a FE model of the device was built in Abaqus® (version 6.13-2) with the combination of beam, shell and surface elements; the choice of these building blocks was made to keep the computational cost to a minimum. The validation of the numerical model was performed by comparing the deployed position of a full stent graft device inside a constructed AAA with a duplicate set-up in Abaqus®. Specifically, an AAA geometry was built in CAD software and included regions of both high and low tortuosity. Subsequently, the CAD model was 3D printed into a transparent aneurysm, and a stent was deployed in the lab following the steps of the clinical procedure. Images on the frontal and sagittal planes of the experiment allowed the comparison with the results of the numerical model. By overlapping the experimental and computational images, the mean and maximum distances between the rings of the two models were measured in the longitudinal, and the transverse direction and, a 5mm upper bound was set as a limit commonly used by clinicians when working with simulations. The two models showed very good agreement of their spatial positioning, especially in the less tortuous regions. As a result, and despite the inherent uncertainties of a surgical procedure, the FE model allows confidence that the final position of the stent graft, when deployed in vivo, can also be predicted with significant accuracy. Moreover, the numerical model run in just a few hours, an encouraging result for applications in the clinical routine. In conclusion, the efficient modelling of a complicated structure which combines thin scaffolding and fabric has been demonstrated to be feasible. Furthermore, the prediction capabilities of the location of each stent ring, as well as the global shape of the graft, has been shown. This can allow surgeons to better plan their procedures and medical device manufacturers to optimize their designs. The current model can further be used as a starting point for patient specific CFD analysis.

Keywords: AAA, efficiency, finite element analysis, stent deployment

Procedia PDF Downloads 191

Authors: Mohini M. Sain, Vijay Kumar, Tasmia Tabassem, Jimi Tjong

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In the recent times, the Lithium-sulfur batteries (LiSBs) have emerged as a highly promising next generation of secondary batteries for their high theoretical specific capacity (1675 mAh/g) and low cost, and they have shown immense possibilities in utilizing in battery operated electric vehicles (BEVs). However, the commercialization of LiSBs is restricted due to the slow redox kinetics of sulfur cathode and shuttling effect of polysulfides during battery operation. Thus, the development of novel host materials is crucial for suppressing the dissolution of polysulfides into electrolyte, and this eventually helps in resolving the long-term cycling problem in LiSBs. This work provides a simple and straightforward method to design carbon materials with optimized nitrogen content with high surface area and thus simultaneously reveals new methods and strategies for realizing high performance host material design for practical LiSBs.

Keywords: Li ion battery, graphtitic carbon, electrode fabrication, BeV

Procedia PDF Downloads 532

Authors: Peerawat Khongkliang, Prawit Kongjan, Tsuyoshi Imai, Poonsuk Prasertsan, Sompong O-Thong

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A two-stage thermophilic fermentation and electrohydrogenesis process was used to convert cassava starch processing wastewater into hydrogen gas. Maximum hydrogen yield from fermentation stage by Thermoanaerobacterium thermosaccharolyticum PSU-2 was 248 mL H2/g-COD at optimal pH of 6.5. Optimum hydrogen production rate of 820 mL/L/d and yield of 200 mL/g COD was obtained at HRT of 2 days in fermentation stage. Cassava starch processing wastewater fermentation effluent consisted of acetic acid, butyric acid and propionic acid. The effluent from fermentation stage was used as feedstock to generate hydrogen production by microbial electrolysis cell (MECs) at an applied voltage of 0.6 V in second stage with additional 657 mL H2/g-COD was produced. Energy efficiencies based on electricity needed for the MEC were 330 % with COD removals of 95 %. The overall hydrogen yield was 800-900 mL H2/g-COD. Microbial community analysis of electrohydrogenesis by DGGE shows that exoelectrogens belong to Acidiphilium sp., Geobacter sulfurreducens and Thermincola sp. were dominated at anode. These results show two-stage thermophilic fermentation, and electrohydrogenesis process improved hydrogen production performance with high hydrogen yields, high gas production rates and high COD removal efficiency.

Keywords: cassava starch processing wastewater, biohydrogen, thermophilic fermentation, microbial electrolysis cell

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Authors: Nikhil Kumar, Asish Bandyopadhyay

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Laser welding process is a capable technology for forming the automobile, microelectronics, marine and aerospace parts etc. In the present work, a mathematical and statistical approach is adopted to study the laser welding of AISI 304 stainless steel. A robotic control 500 W pulsed Nd:YAG laser source with 1064 nm wavelength has been used for welding purpose. Butt joints are made. The effects of welding parameters, namely; laser power, scanning speed and pulse width on the seam width and depth of penetration has been investigated using the empirical models developed by response surface methodology (RSM). Weld quality is directly correlated with the weld geometry. Twenty sets of experiments have been conducted as per central composite design (CCD) design matrix. The second order mathematical model has been developed for predicting the desired responses. The results of ANOVA indicate that the laser power has the most significant effect on responses. Microstructural analysis as well as hardness of the selected weld specimens has been carried out to understand the metallurgical and mechanical behaviour of the weld. Average micro-hardness of the weld is observed to be higher than the base metal. Higher hardness of the weld is the resultant of grain refinement and δ-ferrite formation in the weld structure. The result suggests that the lower line energy generally produce fine grain structure and improved mechanical properties than the high line energy. The combined effects of input parameters on responses have been analyzed with the help of developed 3-D response surface and contour plots. Finally, multi-objective optimization has been conducted for producing weld joint with complete penetration, minimum seam width and acceptable welding profile. Confirmatory tests have been conducted at optimum parametric conditions to validate the applied optimization technique.

Keywords: ANOVA, laser welding, modeling and optimization, response surface methodology

Procedia PDF Downloads 294

Authors: Theophilius Adekunle Tinuoye

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Trade unions are groups formed essentially to promote, articulate and enhance the welfare of workers. They are expected to defend the workers interests and participate actively in workplace exchanges. But for trade unions to function effectively and actualize their lofty aspirations in the context of the current dynamic and ever-changing industrial relations context, they must not only have qualified and competent leaders, but also flexible and effective structure, systems, organograms, constitution, and administrative processes in place to compliment their policies and programmes. An important aspect of industrial relations is the existence of cordial tripartite or bipartite interactions between stakeholders and other social partners that are indispensable to the creation of positive and mutually beneficial exchanges and outcomes. This paper canvassed that unions must be structurally viable and administratively cohesive in order to be effective, pragmatic, functional and remain relevant. It also argued that weak, structurally deficient and less organized unions often find it immensely difficult to actualize workers goals. Finally, it outlined basic principles that will enhance union administration, guarantee that unions will continue to satisfy the yearnings of its members in these trying times and finally foster peaceful industrial relations climate and cordial labor relations between trade unions, employers /management and government.

Keywords: governance, labor relations, trade unions, workers

Procedia PDF Downloads 346

Authors: Raman Kumar, Jasgurpreet Singh Chohan, Chander Shekhar Verma

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Today, the manufacturing industries respond rapidly to new demands and compete in this continuously changing environment, thus seeking out new methods allowing them to remain competitive and flexible simultaneously. The aim of the manufacturing organizations is to reduce manufacturing costs and wastes through system simplification, organizational potential, and proper infrastructural planning by using modern techniques like lean manufacturing. In India, large number of medium and large scale manufacturing industries has successfully implemented lean manufacturing techniques. Keeping in view the above-mentioned facts, different tools will be involved in the successful implementation of the lean approach. The present work is focused on the auto part manufacturing industry to improve the performance of the recliner assembly line. There is a number of lean manufacturing tools available, but the experience and complete knowledge of manufacturing processes are required to select an appropriate tool for a specific process. Fishbone diagrams (scrap, inventory, and waiting) have been drawn to identify the root cause of different. Effect of cycle time reduction on scrap and inventory is analyzed thoroughly in the case company. Results have shown that there is a decrease in inventory cost by 7 percent after the successful implementation of the lean tool.

Keywords: lean tool, fish-bone diagram, cycle time reduction, case study

Procedia PDF Downloads 127

Authors: Xinhai Li, Huidong Tian, Yumin Guo

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Bird migration is fantastic natural phenomenon. In recent years, the use of GPS transmitters has generated a vast amount of data, and the Movebank platform has made these data publicly accessible. For researchers, what they need are data analysis tools. Although there are approximately 90 R packages dedicated to animal movement analysis, the capacity for comprehensive processing of bird migration data remains limited. Hence, we introduce a novel package called migrationR. This package enables the calculation of movement speed, direction, changes in direction, flight duration, daily and annual movement distances. Furthermore, it can pinpoint the starting and ending dates of migration, estimate nest site locations and stopovers, and visualize movement trajectories at various time scales. migrationR distinguishes individuals through NMDS (non-metric multidimensional scaling) coordinates based on movement variables such as speed, flight duration, path tortuosity, and migration timing. A distinctive aspect of the package is the development of a hetero-occurrences species distribution model that takes into account the daily rhythm of individual birds across different landcover types. Habitat use for foraging and roosting differs significantly for many waterbirds. For example, White-naped Cranes at Poyang Lake in China typically forage in croplands and roost in shallow water areas. Both of these occurrence types are of equal importance. Optimal habitats consist of a combination of crop lands and shallow waters, whereas suboptimal habitats lack both, which necessitates birds to fly extensively. With migrationR, we conduct species distribution modeling for foraging and roosting separately and utilize the moving distance between crop lands and shallow water areas as an index of overall habitat suitability. This approach offers a more nuanced understanding of the habitat requirements for migratory birds and enhances our ability to analyze and interpret their movement patterns effectively. The functions of migrationR are demonstrated using our own tracking data of 78 White-naped Crane individuals from 2014 to 2023, comprising over one million valid locations in total. migrationR can be installed from a GitHub repository by executing the following command: remotes::install_github("Xinhai-Li/migrationR").

Keywords: bird migration, hetero-occurrences species distribution model, migrationR, R package, satellite telemetry

Procedia PDF Downloads 63

Authors: Rachit Ahuja, Ayush Chugh

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Aerodynamic forces and moments, as well as tire-road forces largely affects the maneuverability of the vehicle. Car manufacturers are largely fascinated and influenced by various aerodynamic improvements made in formula cars. There is constant effort of applying these aerodynamic improvements in road vehicles. In motor racing, the key differentiating factor in a high performance car is its ability to maintain highest possible acceleration in appropriate direction. One of the main areas of concern in motor racing is balance of aerodynamic forces and stream line the flow of air across the body of the vehicle. At present, formula racing cars are regulated by stringent FIA norms, there are constrains for dimensions of the vehicle, engine capacity etc. So one of the fields in which there is a large scope of improvement is aerodynamics of the vehicle. In this project work, an attempt has been made to design a formula- student (FS) car, improve its aerodynamic characteristics through steady state CFD simulations and simultaneously calculate its lap time. Initially, a CAD model of a formula student car is made using SOLIDWORKS as per the given dimensions and a steady-state external air-flow simulation is performed on the baseline model of the formula student car without any add on device to evaluate and analyze the air-flow pattern around the car and aerodynamic forces using FLUENT Solver. A detailed survey on different add-on devices used in racing application like: - front wing, diffuser, shark pin, T- wing etc. is made and geometric model of these add-on devices are created. These add-on devices are assembled with the baseline model. Steady state CFD simulations are done on the modified car to evaluate the aerodynamic effects of these add-on devices on the car. Later comparison of lap time simulation of the formula student car with and without the add-on devices is done with the help of MATLAB. Aerodynamic performances like: - lift, drag and their coefficients are evaluated for different configuration and design of the add-on devices at different speed of the vehicle. From parametric CFD simulations on formula student car attached with add-on devices, there is a considerable amount of drag and lift force reduction besides streamlining the airflow across the car. The best possible configuration of these add-on devices is obtained from these CFD simulations and also use of these add-on devices have shown an improvement in performance of the car which can be compared by various lap time simulations of the car.

Keywords: aerodynamic performance, front wing, laptime simulation, t-wing

Procedia PDF Downloads 197

Authors: Tadele Tesfaw, Ajit Pal Singh, Abebaw Mekonnen Gezahegn

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Welding is a basic manufacturing process for making components or assemblies. Recent welding economics research has focused on developing the reliable machinery database to ensure optimum production. Research on welding of materials like steel is still critical and ongoing. Welding input parameters play a very significant role in determining the quality of a weld joint. The metal active gas (MAG) welding parameters are the most important factors affecting the quality, productivity and cost of welding in many industrial operations. The aim of this study is to investigate the optimization process parameters for metal active gas welding for 60x60x5mm dead mild steel plate work-piece using Taguchi method to formulate the statistical experimental design using semi-automatic welding machine. An experimental study was conducted at Bishoftu Automotive Industry, Bishoftu, Ethiopia. This study presents the influence of four welding parameters (control factors) like welding voltage (volt), welding current (ampere), wire speed (m/min.), and gas (CO2) flow rate (lit./min.) with three different levels for variability in the welding hardness. The objective functions have been chosen in relation to parameters of MAG welding i.e., welding hardness in final products. Nine experimental runs based on an L9 orthogonal array Taguchi method were performed. An orthogonal array, signal-to-noise (S/N) ratio and analysis of variance (ANOVA) are employed to investigate the welding characteristics of dead mild steel plate and used in order to obtain optimum levels for every input parameter at 95% confidence level. The optimal parameters setting was found is welding voltage at 22 volts, welding current at 125 ampere, wire speed at 2.15 m/min and gas flow rate at 19 l/min by using the Taguchi experimental design method within the constraints of the production process. Finally, six conformations welding have been carried out to compare the existing values; the predicated values with the experimental values confirm its effectiveness in the analysis of welding hardness (quality) in final products. It is found that welding current has a major influence on the quality of welded joints. Experimental result for optimum setting gave a better hardness of welding condition than initial setting. This study is valuable for different material and thickness variation of welding plate for Ethiopian industries.

Keywords: Weld quality, metal active gas welding, dead mild steel plate, orthogonal array, analysis of variance, Taguchi method

Procedia PDF Downloads 481

Authors: Mahfouz Saeed

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Cu₂(ZnSn)(S)₄ (CTZS) offers potential advantages over CuInGaSe₂ (CIGS) as solar thin film because to its higher band gap. Preparing such photovoltaic materials by electrochemical techniques is particularly attractive due to the lower processing cost and the high throughput of such techniques. Several recent publications report CTZS electroplating; however, the electrochemical process still facing serious challenges such as a sulfur atomic ration which is about 50% of the total alloy. We introduce in this work an improved electrolyte composition which enables the direct electrodeposition of CTZS from a single bath. The electrolyte is significantly more dilute in comparison to common baths described in the literature. The bath composition we introduce is: 0.0032 M CuSO₄, 0.0021 M ZnSO₄, 0.0303 M SnCl₂, 0.0038 M Na₂S₂O₃, and 0.3 mM Na₂S₂O3. PHydrion is applied to buffer the electrolyte to pH=2, and 0.7 M LiCl is applied as supporting electrolyte. Electrochemical process was carried at a rotating disk electrode which provides quantitative characterization of the flow (room temperature). Comprehensive electrochemical behavior study at different electrode rotation rates are provided. The effects of agitation on atomic composition of the deposit and its adhesion to the molybdenum back contact are discussed. The post treatment annealing was conducted under sulfur atmosphere with no need for metals addition from the gas phase during annealing. The potential which produced the desired atomic ratio of CTZS at -0.82 V/NHE. Smooth deposit, with uniform composition across the sample surface and depth was obtained at 500 rpm rotation speed. Final sulfur atomic ratio was adjusted to 50.2% in order to have the desired atomic ration. The final composition was investigated using Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy technique (EDS). XRD technique used to analyze CTZS crystallography and thickness. Complete and functional CTZS PV devices were fabricated by depositing all the required layers in the correct order and the desired optical properties. Acknowledgments: Case Western Reserve University for the technical help and for using their instruments.

Keywords: photovoltaic, CTZS, thin film, electrochemical

Procedia PDF Downloads 242

Authors: Godwin Chigozie Okpara, William Chimee Nwaoha

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The paper set out to stress on how financial inclusion index could be calculated and also investigated the impact of inclusive finance on inclusive growth in an emerging economy. In the light of these objectives, chi-wins method was used to calculate indexes of financial inclusion while co-integration and error correction model were used for evaluation of the impact of financial inclusion on inclusive growth. The result of the analysis revealed that financial inclusion while having a long-run relationship with GDP growth is an insignificant function of the growth of the economy. The speed of adjustment is correctly signed and significant. On the basis of these results, the researchers called for tireless efforts of government and banking sector in promoting financial inclusion in developing countries.

Keywords: chi-wins index, co-integration, error correction model, financial inclusion

Procedia PDF Downloads 653

Authors: Rajiv Arora

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Biodiesel may be economical if produced from inexpensive feedstock which commonly contains high level of free fatty acids (FFA) as an inhibitor in production of methyl ester. In this study, a two-step process for biodiesel production from high FFA spent bleach earth oil in a batch reactor is developed. Oil sample extracted from spent bleaching earth (SBE) was utilized for biodiesel process. In the first step, FFA of the SBE oil was reduced to 1.91% through sulfuric acid catalyzed esterification. In the second step, the product prepared from the first esterification process was carried out transesterification with an alkaline catalyst. The influence of four variables on conversion efficiency to methyl ester, i.e., methanol/ SBE oil molar ratio, catalyst amount, reaction temperature and reaction time, was studied in the second stage. The optimum process variables in the transesterification were methanol/oil molar ratio 6:1, heterogeneous catalyst conc. 5 wt %, reaction temperature 65 °C and reaction time 60 minutes to produce biodiesel. Major fuel properties of SBE biodiesel were measured to comply with ASTM and EN standards. Therefore, an optimized process for production of biodiesel from a low-cost high FFA source was accomplished.

Keywords: biodiesel, esterification, free fatty acids, residual oil, spent bleaching earth, transesterification

Procedia PDF Downloads 176

Authors: Sabina Huč, Staffan Svensson, Tomaž Hozjan

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Timber structures may be exposed to various environmental conditions during their service life. Often, the structures have to resist extreme changes in the relative humidity of surrounding air, with simultaneously carrying the loads. Wood material response for this load case is seen as increasing deformation of the timber structure. Relative humidity variations cause moisture changes in timber and consequently shrinkage and swelling of the material. Moisture changes and loads acting together result in mechano-sorptive creep, while sustained load gives viscoelastic creep. In some cases, magnitude of the mechano-sorptive strain can be about five times the elastic strain already at low stress levels. Therefore, analyzing mechano-sorptive creep and its influence on timber structures’ long-term behavior is of high importance. Relatively many one-dimensional rheological models for rheological behavior of wood can be found in literature, while a number of models coupling creep response in each material direction is limited. In this study, mathematical formulation of a coupled two-dimensional mechano-sorptive model and its application to the experimental results are presented. The mechano-sorptive model constitutes of a moisture transport model and a mechanical model. Variation of the moisture content in wood is modelled by multi-Fickian moisture transport model. The model accounts for processes of the bound-water and water-vapor diffusion in wood, that are coupled through sorption hysteresis. Sorption defines a nonlinear relation between moisture content and relative humidity. Multi-Fickian moisture transport model is able to accurately predict unique, non-uniform moisture content field within the timber member over time. Calculated moisture content in timber members is used as an input to the mechanical analysis. In the mechanical analysis, the total strain is assumed to be a sum of the elastic strain, viscoelastic strain, mechano-sorptive strain, and strain due to shrinkage and swelling. Mechano-sorptive response is modelled by so-called spring-dashpot type of a model, that proved to be suitable for describing creep of wood. Mechano-sorptive strain is dependent on change of moisture content. The model includes mechano-sorptive material parameters that have to be calibrated to the experimental results. The calibration is made to the experiments carried out on wooden blocks subjected to uniaxial compressive loaded in tangential direction and varying humidity conditions. The moisture and the mechanical model are implemented in a finite element software. The calibration procedure gives the required, distinctive set of mechano-sorptive material parameters. The analysis shows that mechano-sorptive strain in transverse direction is present, though its magnitude and variation are substantially lower than the mechano-sorptive strain in the direction of loading. The presented mechano-sorptive model enables observing real temporal and spatial distribution of the moisture-induced strains and stresses in timber members. Since the model’s suitability for predicting mechano-sorptive strains is shown and the required material parameters are obtained, a comprehensive advanced analysis of the stress-strain state in timber structures, including connections subjected to constant load and varying humidity is possible.

Keywords: mechanical analysis, mechano-sorptive creep, moisture transport model, timber

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Authors: Abasse Kamarchou, Ahmed Abdelhafid Bebba, Ali Douadi

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The objective of this work is the preparation of an activated carbon from waste date palm from El Oued region, namely the date stones and its use in the treatment of wastewater in this region. The study of the characteristics of this coal has the following results: specific surface 125.86 m2 / g, pore volume 0.039 cm3 / g, pore diameter of 16.25 microns, surface micropores 92.28 m2 / g, the outer surface 33,57 m2 /g, methylene blue number of 13.6 mg / g, iodine number 735.2 mg /g, the functional groups are the number of 4.10-2 mol / g. The optimum conditions for pH, stirring speed, initial concentration, contact time were determined. For organic pollutants, the best conditions are: pH > 8 and pH < 5, a contact time of 5 minutes and an agitation rate of 200 - 300 rpm.

Keywords: date palm, activated carbon, wastewater, El-Oued

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Authors: Santosh Kumar Ketham

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Climate change creating most dramatic and destructive consequences, the result is global warming and sea-level rise, flooding coastal cities around the world forming vulnerable situations affecting in multiple ways: environment, economy, social and political. The aim and goal of the research is to develop cities on water. Taking the problem as an opportunity to bring science, engineering, policies and design together to make a resilient and sustainable floating community on water considering existing/new technologies of floating. The quest is to make sustainable habitat on water to live, work, learn and play.  To make sustainable energy generation and storage alongside maintaining balance of land and marine to conserve Ecosystem. The research would serve as a model for sustainable neighbourhoods designed in a modular way and thus can easily extend or re-arranged, to adapt for future socioeconomic realities.  This research paper studies primarily on climate change problems, effects, risks and opportunities. It does so, through analysing existing case studies, books and writings published on coastal cities and understanding its various aspects for making sustainable habitat.

Keywords: floating cities, flexible modular typologies, rising sea levels, sustainable architecture and urbanism

Procedia PDF Downloads 137

Authors: Yulu Zhang, Atushi Teramoto, Taka-Aki Ohkubo

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In this study, the effect of expansive additives on autogenous shrinkage and delayed expansion of ultra-high strength mortar was explored. The specimens made for the study were composed of ultra-high strength mortar, which was mixed with ettringite-lime composite type expansive additive. Two series of experiments were conducted with the specimens. The experimental results confirmed that the autogenous shrinkage of specimens was effectively decreased by increasing the proportion of the expansive additive. On the other hand, for the specimens, which had 7% expansive additive, and were cured for seven days at a constant temperature of 20°C, and then cured for a long time in either in an underwater, moist (Relative humidity: 100%) or dry air (Relative humidity: 60%) environment, excessively large expansion strain occurred. Specifically, typical turtle shell-like swelling expansion cracks were confirmed in the specimens that underwent long-term curing in an underwater and moist environment. According to the result of hydration analysis, the formation of expansive substances, calcium hydroxide and alumina, ferric oxide, tri-sulfate contribute to the occurrence of delayed expansion.

Keywords: ultra-high strength mortar, expansive additive, autogenous shrinkage, delayed expansion

Procedia PDF Downloads 239

Authors: Ali Mamizadeh, Ires Iskender, Saeid Aghaei

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Energy is one of the important issues with high priority property in the world. Energy demand is rapidly increasing depending on the growing population and industry. The useable energy sources in the world will be insufficient to meet the need for energy. Therefore, the efficient and economical usage of energy sources is getting more importance. In a survey conducted among electric consuming machines, the electrical machines are consuming about 40% of the total electrical energy consumed by electrical devices and 96% of this consumption belongs to induction motors. Induction motors are the workhorses of industry and have very large application areas in industry and urban systems like water pumping and distribution systems, steel and paper industries and etc. Monitoring and the control of the motors have an important effect on the operating performance of the motor, driver selection and replacement strategy management of electrical machines. The sensorless monitoring system for monitoring and calculating efficiency of induction motors are studied in this study. The equivalent circuit of IEEE is used in the design of this study. The terminal current and voltage of induction motor are used in this motor to measure the efficiency of induction motor. The motor nameplate information and the measured current and voltage are used in this system to calculate accurately the losses of induction motor to calculate its input and output power. The efficiency of the induction motor is monitored online in the proposed method without disconnecting the motor from the driver and without adding any additional connection at the motor terminal box. The proposed monitoring system measure accurately the efficiency by including all losses without using torque meter and speed sensor. The monitoring system uses embedded architecture and does not need to connect to a computer to measure and log measured data. The conclusion regarding the efficiency, the accuracy and technical and economical benefits of the proposed method are presented. The experimental verification has been obtained on a 3 phase 1.1 kW, 2-pole induction motor. The proposed method can be used for optimal control of induction motors, efficiency monitoring and motor replacement strategy.

Keywords: induction motor, efficiency, power losses, monitoring, embedded design

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Authors: Ti-An Tsai, Chun-Chih Wang, Hung-Wen Wang, I-Ling Chang, Lien-Wen Chen

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In this study, we demonstrate a high-resolution refractive index sensor based on a magnetic photonic crystal (MPC) composed of a triangular lattice array of air holes embedded in Si matrix. A microcavity is created by changing the radius of an air hole in the middle of the photonic crystal. The cavity filled with gyrotropic materials can serve as a refractive index sensor. The shift of the resonant frequency of the sensor is obtained numerically using finite difference time domain method under different ambient conditions having refractive index from n = 1.0 to n = 1.1. The numerical results show that a tiny change in refractive index of Δn = 0.0001 is distinguishable. In addition, the spectral response of the MPC sensor is studied while an external magnetic field is present. The results show that the MPC sensor exhibits a dramatic improvement in resolution.

Keywords: magnetic photonic crystal, refractive index sensor, sensitivity, high-resolution

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Authors: Antaram Sarve, Mahesh Varma, Shriram Sonawane

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Conventional route of producing biodiesel with alcohol produces glycerol as side product which leads to oversupply and devaluation in the world market. Supercritical methyl acetate (SCMA) has been proven to convert triglycerides into fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs) and triacetin, which is a valuable biodiesel additive as side product rather than glycerol. However, due to the low reactivity of supercritical methyl acetate on triglycerides, high reaction conditions are required to obtained maximum yields. The present study describes the renewable approach for the production of biodiesel from low-cost, high acid value mahua oil under supercritical methyl acetate condition using carbon dioxide (CO2) as a co-solvent. CO2 was employed to decrease high reaction conditions required for supercritical methyl acetate transesterification. The influence of process parameters such as temperature, oil to methyl acetate molar ratio, reaction time, and the CO2 pressure was evaluated. The properties of biodiesel produced were found to be superior compared to conventional biodiesel method. Furthermore, SCMA has a high tolerance towards free fatty acids (FFAs) which is crucial to allow the utilization of inexpensive waste oils as a biodiesel feedstock.

Keywords: supercritical methyl acetate, CO2, biodiesel, fuel properties

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Authors: Hamid Reza Ranjbar, Ali Reza Azmoude Ardalan, Hamid Dehghani, Mohammad Reza Sarajian

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Natural disasters are unexpected events which predicting them is difficult. Earthquake is one of the most devastating disasters among natural hazards with high rate of mortality and wide extent of damages. After the earthquake occurrence, managing the critical condition and allocating limited relief sources requiring a complete awareness of damaged area. The information for allocating relief teams should be precise and reliable as much as possible, and be presented in the appropriate time after the earthquake occurrence. This type of information was previously presented in the form of a damage map; conducting relief teams by using damage map mostly lead to waste of time for finding alive occupants under the rubble. In this research, a proposed standard for prioritizing damaged buildings in terms of requiring rescue and relief was presented. This standard prioritizes damaged buildings into four levels of priority including very high, high, moderate and low by considering key parameters such as type of land use, activity time, and inactivity time of each land use, time of earthquake occurrence and distinct index. The priority map by using the proposed standard could be a basis for guiding relief teams towards the areas with high relief priority.

Keywords: Damage map, GIS, priority map, USAR

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Authors: Walaa Mohammed Saeed

Abstract:

Studies suggest a crosstalk between bone and metabolism through Osteocalcin (OC), a bone-derived protein that plays an important role in regulating glucose and fat metabolism. Studies relate type II Diabetes Mellitus (DMII) with Homocysteine (Hcy) and cardiovascular diseases (CVD). This study investigates the relationship between levels of OC, Hcy, and DMII in 85 subjects of which 50 were diabetic female patients (29–65 years) and 35 healthy controls. OC and Hcy levels were measured in fasting blood samples using immunoassay analyzer. Fasting serum glucose, glycated hemoglobin, lipid profile, were estimated by automated Siemens Dimension XP auto-analyzer. A significant increase in the frequency of low OC levels (p < 0.001) and high Hcy levels (p < 0.001) was detected in diabetic patients compared to controls (chi-squared test). Using ANOVA test, patients were divided into tertiles based on plasma OC and Hcy levels; fasting serum glucose varied inversely with OC but directly with Hcy tertiles (p=0.049, p=0.033 respectively). Atherogenic Index of Plasma (AIP=Log TG/HDL) predicts that diabetic patients with 36% high and 15% intermediate cardiovascular risk had increased frequency of low OC levels compared to low-risk patients (p=0.047). Another group of diabetic patients with 39% high and 11% intermediate CVD risk had increased frequency of high Hcy levels (p=0.033). A significant negative correlation existed between OC and glucose (r = -0.318; p = 0.035) while correlation between glucose level and Hcy (r = 0.851 p=0.022) was positive. Hence, low serum OC levels and high Hcy levels were associated with impaired glucose metabolism that may increase cardiovascular risk in DMII.

Keywords: osteocalcin, homocysteine, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular

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Authors: Gaurav Datta, Sourav Ghosh, Rahul Roy

Abstract:

The incorporation of silica fume into the normal concrete is a routine one in the present days to produce the tailor made high strength and high performance concrete. The design parameters are increasing with the incorporation of silica fume in conventional concrete and the mix proportioning is becoming complex. The main objective of this paper has been made to investigate the different mechanical properties like compressive strength, permeability, porosity, density, modulus of elasticity, compacting factor, slump of concrete incorporating silica fume. In this present paper 5 (five) mix of concrete incorporating silica fume is cast to perform experiments. These experiments were carried out by replacing cement with different percentages of silica fume at a single constant water-cementitious materials ratio keeping other mix design variables constant. The silica fume was replaced by 0%, 5%, 10%, 15% and 20% for water-cementitious materials (w/cm) ratio for 0.40. For all mixes compressive strengths were determined at 24 hours, 7 and 28 days for 100 mm and 150 mm cubes. Other properties like permeability, porosity, density, modulus of elasticity, compacting factor, and slump were also determined for five mixes of concrete.

Keywords: high performance concrete, high strength concrete, silica fume, strength

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Authors: Mathias U. Bonet, Pericles Pilidis, Georgios Doulgeris

Abstract:

An aero-derivative marine Gas Turbine engine model is simulated to be installed as the main propulsion prime mover to power a cruise ship which is designed and routed to transport intending Muslim pilgrims for the annual hajj pilgrimage from Nigeria to the Islamic port city of Jeddah in Saudi Arabia. A performance assessment of the Gas Turbine engine has been conducted by examining the effect of varying aerodynamic and hydrodynamic conditions encountered at various geographical locations along the scheduled transit route during the voyage. The investigation focuses on the overall behavior of the Gas Turbine engine employed to power and propel the ship as it operates under ideal and adverse conditions to be encountered during calm and rough weather according to the different seasons of the year under which the voyage may be undertaken. The variation of engine performance under varying operating conditions has been considered as a very important economic issue by determining the time the speed by which the journey is completed as well as the quantity of fuel required for undertaking the voyage. The assessment also focuses on the increased resistance caused by the fouling of the submerged portion of the ship hull surface with its resultant effect on the power output of the engine as well as the overall performance of the propulsion system. Daily ambient temperature levels were obtained by accessing data from the UK Meteorological Office while the varying degree of turbulence along the transit route and according to the Beaufort scale were also obtained as major input variables of the investigation. By assuming the ship to be navigating the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea during winter, spring and summer seasons, the performance modeling and simulation was accomplished through the use of an integrated Gas Turbine performance simulation code known as ‘Turbomach’ along with a Matlab generated code named ‘Poseidon’, all of which have been developed at the Power and Propulsion Department of Cranfield University. As a case study, the results of the various assumptions have further revealed that the marine Gas Turbine is a reliable and available alternative to the conventional marine propulsion prime movers that have dominated the maritime industry before now. The techno-economic and environmental assessment of this type of propulsion prime mover has enabled the determination of the effect of changes in weather and sea conditions on the ship speed as well as trip time and the quantity of fuel required to be burned throughout the voyage.

Keywords: ambient temperature, hull fouling, marine gas turbine, performance, propulsion, voyage

Procedia PDF Downloads 186

Authors: Yijin Kang

Abstract:

Chemical-electrical energy conversion and storage are greatly attractive for the development of sustainable energy. Catalytic processes are heavily involved in such energy conversion and storage. Development of high-performance catalyst nanomaterials relies on tuning material structures at nanoscale. This is in particular manifested in the design of catalysts demanding both high activity and durability. Here, a research system will be presented that connects fundamental investigation on well-defined extended surfaces (e.g. single crystal surfaces), extrapolation onto nanocrystals with highly controlled shape and size, exploration of interfacial interaction using novel nanocrystal superlattices as platform, and finally design of high performance catalysts in which all the possible beneficial properties from complex functional structures are implemented. Using recently published results, it will be demonstrated that optimal and fine balanced activity and durability, as well as tunable functionality, can be achieved by carefully tailoring the nanostructure of catalytic nanomaterials.

Keywords: energy, nanomaterials, catalysis, electrocatalysis

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Authors: Ratnakar Mahajan, Matteo Lelli, Kinjal Parmar

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Ground improvement is a very important aspect of infrastructure development, especially when it comes to deep-ground improvement. The use of various geosynthetic applications is very common these days for ground improvement. This paper presents a case study where the combination of two geosynthetic applications was used in order to optimize the design as well as to control the settlements through uniform load distribution. The Agartala-Akaura rail project was made to help increase railway connectivity between India and Bangladesh. Both countries have started the construction of the same. The project requires high railway embankments to be built for the rail link. However, the challenge was to design a proper ground improvement solution as the entire area comprises very soft soil for an average depth of 15m. After due diligence, a combination of two methods was worked out by Maccaferri. PVDs were provided for the consolidation, and on top of that, a layer of high-strength geogrids (Paralink) was proposed as a basal reinforcement. The design approach was followed as described in Indian standards as well as British standards. By introducing a basal reinforcement, the spacing of PVDs could be increased, which allowed quick installation and less material consumption while keeping the consolidation time within the project duration.

Keywords: ground improvement, basal reinforcement, PVDs, high strength geogrids, Paralink

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Authors: Saima Q. Memon, Mazhar I. Khaskheli

Abstract:

The aim of present study was to investigate the efficiency of mulberry leaves for the removal of both arsenic (III) and arsenic (V) from aqueous medium. Batch equilibrium studies were carried out to optimize various parameters such as pH of metal ion solution, volume of sorbate, sorbent doze, and agitation speed and agitation time. Maximum sorption efficiency of mulberry leaves for As (III) and As (V) at optimum conditions were 2818 μg.g-1 and 4930 μg.g-1, respectively. The experimental data was a good fit to Freundlich and D-R adsorption isotherm. Energy of adsorption was found to be in the range of 3-6 KJ/mole suggesting the physical nature of process. Kinetic data followed the first order rate, Morris-Weber equations. Developed method was applied to remove arsenic from real water samples.

Keywords: arsenic removal, mulberry, adsorption isotherms, kinetics of adsorption

Procedia PDF Downloads 275

Authors: Kyung-Jung Lee, Hyun-Sik Ahn

Abstract:

This paper suggests a design methodology for the hardware and software of the Electronic Control Unit (ECU) of safety-critical vehicle applications such as braking and steering. The architecture of the hardware is a high integrity system such that it incorporates a high performance 32-bit CPU and a separate Peripheral Control-Processor (PCP) together with an external watchdog CPU. Communication between the main CPU and the PCP is executed via a common area of RAM and events on either processor which are invoked by interrupts. Safety-related software is also implemented to provide a reliable, self-testing computing environment for safety critical and high integrity applications. The validity of the design approach is shown by using the Hardware-in-the-Loop Simulation (HILS) for Electric Power Steering (EPS) systems which consists of the EPS mechanism, the designed ECU, and monitoring tools.

Keywords: electronic control unit, electric power steering, functional safety, hardware-in-the-loop simulation

Procedia PDF Downloads 295