Search results for: multimodal transport

Authors: G. Venkata Rao, P. Kalpana, R. Srinivasa Rao

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Adequate and reliable estimates of aquifer parameters are of utmost importance for proper management of vital groundwater resources. At present scenario the ground water is polluted because of industrial waste disposed over the land and the contaminants are transported in the aquifer from one area to another area which is depending on the characteristics of the aquifer and contaminants. To know the contaminant transport, the accurate estimation of aquifer properties is highly needed. Conventionally, these properties are estimated through pumping tests carried out on water wells. The occurrence and movement of ground water in the aquifer are characteristically defined by the aquifer parameters. The pumping (aquifer) test is the standard technique for estimating various hydraulic properties of aquifer systems, viz, transmissivity (T), hydraulic conductivity (K), storage coefficient (S) etc., for which the graphical method is widely used. The study area for conducting pumping test is Pydibheemavaram Industrial area near the coastal belt of Srikulam, AP, India. The main objective of the present work is to estimate the aquifer properties for developing contaminant transport model for the study area.

Keywords: aquifer, contaminant transport, hydraulic conductivity, industrial waste, pumping test

Procedia PDF Downloads 447

Authors: Sung Ho Oh

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The advanced traffic lights, the system of traffic information collection and provision, the CCTVs for traffic control, and the traffic information center were installed in Asuncion, capital of Paraguay. After pre-post comparison of the installation, significant changes were found. Even though the traffic volumes were increased, travel speed was higher, so that travel time from origin to destination was decreased. the saving values for travel time, gas cost, and environmental cost are about 47 million US dollars per year. Satisfaction survey results for the installation were presented with statistical significance analysis.

Keywords: advanced transport management systems, effectiveness, Paraguay, traffic lights

Procedia PDF Downloads 357

Authors: Teesta Dey

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Integrated Transport development with proper traffic management leads to sustainable growth of any urban sphere. Appropriate mass transport planning is essential for the populous cities in third world countries like India. The exponential growth of motor vehicles with unplanned road network is now the common feature of major urban centres in India. Kolkata, the third largest mega city in India, is not an exception of it. The imbalance between demand and supply of unplanned transport services in this city is manifested in the high economic and environmental costs borne by the associated society. With the passage of time, the growth and extent of passenger demand for rapid urban transport has outstripped proper infrastructural planning and causes severe transport problems in the overall urban realm. Hence Kolkata stands out in the world as one of the most crisis-ridden metropolises. The urban transport crisis of this city involves severe traffic congestion, the disparity in mass transport services on changing peripheral land uses, route overlapping, lowering of travel speed and faulty implementation of governmental plans as mostly induced by rapid growth of private vehicles on limited road space with huge carbon footprint. Therefore the paper will critically analyze the extant road network pattern for improving regional connectivity and accessibility, assess the degree of congestion, identify the deviation from demand and supply balance and finally evaluate the emerging alternate transport options as promoted by the government. For this purpose, linear, nodal and spatial transport network have been assessed based on certain selected indices viz. Road Degree, Traffic Volume, Shimbel Index, Direct Bus Connectivity, Average Travel and Waiting Tine Indices, Route Variety, Service Frequency, Bus Intensity, Concentration Analysis, Delay Rate, Quality of Traffic Transmission, Lane Length Duration Index and Modal Mix. Total 20 Traffic Intersection Points (TIPs) have been selected for the measurement of nodal accessibility. Critical Congestion Zones (CCZs) are delineated based on one km buffer zones of each TIP for congestion pattern analysis. A total of 480 bus routes are assessed for identifying the deficiency in network planning. Apart from bus services, the combined effects of other mass and para transit modes, containing metro rail, auto, cab and ferry services, are also analyzed. Based on systematic random sampling method, a total of 1500 daily urban passengers’ perceptions were studied for checking the ground realities. The outcome of this research identifies the spatial disparity among the 15 boroughs of the city with severe route overlapping and congestion problem. North and Central Kolkata-based mass transport services exceed the transport strength of south and peripheral Kolkata. Faulty infrastructural condition, service inadequacy, economic loss and workers’ inefficiency are the most dominant reasons behind the defective mass transport network plan. Hence there is an urgent need to revive the extant road based mass transport system of this city by implementing a holistic management approach by upgrading traffic infrastructure, designing new roads, better cooperation among different mass transport agencies, better coordination of transport and changing land use policies, large increase in funding and finally general passengers’ awareness.

Keywords: carbon footprint, critical congestion zones, direct bus connectivity, integrated transport development

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Authors: Innocent C. Ezenwa, Takashi Yoshino

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Knowledge of the transport properties of Fe and its alloys at extreme high pressure (P), temperature (T) conditions are essential for understanding the generation and sustainability of the magnetic field of the rocky planets with a metallic core. Since Pt, an unfilled d-band late transition metal with an electronic structure of Xe4f¹⁴5d⁹6s¹, is paramagnetic and remains close-packed structure at ambient conditions and high P-T, it is expected that its transport properties at these conditions would be similar to those of ε-Fe. We investigated the T-dependent electrical resistivity of solid and liquid Pt up to 8 GPa and found it constant along its melting curve both on the liquid and solid sides in agreement with theoretical prediction and experimental results estimated from thermal conductivity measurements. Our results suggest that the T-dependent resistivity of ε-Fe is linear and would not saturate at high P, T conditions. This, in turn, suggests that the thermal conductivity of liquid Fe at Earth’s core conditions may not be as high as previously suggested by models employing saturation resistivity. Hence, thermal convection could have powered the geodynamo before the birth of the inner core. The electrical resistivity and thermal conductivity on the liquid and solid sides of the inner core boundary of the Earth would be significantly different in values.

Keywords: electrical resistivity, thermal conductivity, transport properties, geodynamo and geomagnetic field

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Authors: Rhodine Hickman, Craig Wylie, Michael G. McCaul

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Introduction: The World Health Organisation has called on governments around the world to recognise emergency conditions as a global public health problem and respond with appropriate steps for effective preventative strategies. However, to understand the magnitude of the problem, good quality epidemiological data is required. This is especially challenging in low and middle-income countries, where routine data is scarce, specifically within the prehospital setting. Methods: We conducted a retrospective cross-sectional study of a national prehospital private sector EMS database. The database being the property of ER24 (private Emergency Medical Services (EMS) company in South Africa) contains claims submitted by the majority of ambulance services in South Africa during the period between 1 January 2008 to 28 March 2017. We used descriptive statistics and control charts to describe the data using STATA 14. Results: 299,257 calls were included in the analysis. The top clinical conditions requiring ambulance transport were transport accidents (10% of total call volume) and ischaemic heart disease (4.4%). The number of transport accidents consistently increased between 2009 and 2014 and reached beyond the limit for normal variation in 2015. Victims of transport accidents required basic life support services 60% of the time with 80% of injuries being minor to moderate. The frequency of ischaemic heart disease had a steady incline from 2011 to 2016. Advanced life support services were required about 50% of the time, with 60% of patients needing urgent care. Conclusion: Transport accidents, followed by ischaemic heart disease, are the most prevalent conditions in South African private EMS. There is a potential to address these conditions by developing the capacity of low and mid-level providers in trauma and advanced EMS providers in ischaemic heart disease.

Keywords: emergency care, emergency medicine, prehospital providers, South Africa

Procedia PDF Downloads 177

Authors: Dimitrios J. Dimitriou, Maria F. Sartzetaki, Anastasia Kalamakidou

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Transport infrastructure assets are key components of the national asset portfolio. The decision to invest in a new infrastructure in transports could take from a few years to some decades. This is mainly because of the need to reserve and spent many capitals, the long payback period, the number of the stakeholders involved in the decision process and –many times- the investment and business risks are high. Decision makers and stakeholders need to define the framework and the outputs of the decision process taking into account the project characteristics, the business uncertainties, and the different expectations. Therefore, the decision assessment framework is an essential challenge linked with the key decision factors meet the stakeholder expectations highlighting project trade-offs, financial risks, business uncertainties and market limitations. This paper examines the decision process for new transport infrastructure projects in cross-border regions, where a wide range of stakeholders with different expectation is involved. According to a consequences analysis systemic approach, the relationship of transport infrastructure development, economic system development and stakeholder expectation is analysed. Adopting the on system of system methodological approach, the decision making the framework, variables, inputs and outputs are defined, highlighting the key shareholder’s role and expectations. The application provides the methodology outputs presenting the proposed decision framework for a strategic railway project in north Greece deals with the upgrade of the existing railway corridor connecting Greece, Turkey, and Bulgaria.

Keywords: system of system decision making, managing decisions for transport projects, decision support framework, defining decision process

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Authors: Felipe Bedoya Maya, Agustina Calatayud, Vileydy Gonzalez Mejia

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Encompassing inventory, warehousing, and transportation management, logistics is a crucial predictor of firm performance. This has been extensively proven by extant literature in business and operations management. Logistics is also a fundamental determinant of a country's ability to access international markets. Available studies in international and transport economics have shown that limited transport infrastructure and underperforming transport services can severely affect international competitiveness. However, the evidence lacks the overall impact of logistics performance-encompassing all inventory, warehousing, and transport components- on global trade. In order to fill this knowledge gap, the paper uses a gravitational trade model with 155 countries from all geographical regions between 2007 and 2018. Data on logistics performance is obtained from the World Bank's Logistics Performance Index (LPI). First, the relationship between logistics performance and a country’s total trade is estimated, followed by a breakdown by the economic sector. Then, the analysis is disaggregated according to the level of technological intensity of traded goods. Finally, after evaluating the intensive margin of trade, the relevance of logistics infrastructure and services for the extensive trade margin is assessed. Results suggest that: (i) improvements in both logistics infrastructure and services are associated with export growth; (ii) manufactured goods can significantly benefit from these improvements, especially when both exporting and importing countries increase their logistics performance; (iii) the quality of logistics infrastructure and services becomes more important as traded goods are technology-intensive; and (iv) improving the exporting country's logistics performance is essential in the intensive margin of trade while enhancing the importing country's logistics performance is more relevant in the extensive margin.

Keywords: gravity models, infrastructure, international trade, logistics

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Authors: Yuxi Zhu, Zhenqian Chen

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It is of great interest to investigate the thermal properties of non-precious metal catalysts for Proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) based on the thermal management requirements. Due to the low symmetry of materials, to accurately obtain the thermal conductivity of materials, it is necessary to obtain the second and third order force constants by combining density functional theory and machine learning interatomic potential. To be specific, the interatomic force constants are obtained by moment tensor potential (MTP), which is trained by the computational trajectory of Ab initio molecular dynamics (AIMD) at 50, 300, 600, and 900 K for 1 ps each, with a time step of 1 fs in the AIMD computation. And then the thermal conductivity can be obtained by solving the Boltzmann transport equation. In this paper, the thermal transport properties of single metal atom catalysts are studied for the first time to our best knowledge by machine-learning interatomic potential (MLIP). Results show that the single metal atom catalysts exhibit anisotropic thermal conductivities and partially exhibit good thermal conductivity. The average lattice thermal conductivities of G-FeN₄, G-CoN₄ and G-NiN₄ at 300 K are 88.61 W/mK, 205.32 W/mK and 210.57 W/mK, respectively. While other single metal atom catalysts show low thermal conductivity due to their low phonon lifetime. The results also show that low-frequency phonons (0-10 THz) dominate thermal transport properties. The results provide theoretical insights into the application of single metal atom catalysts in thermal management.

Keywords: proton exchange membrane fuel cell, single metal atom catalysts, density functional theory, thermal conductivity, machine-learning interatomic potential

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Authors: Mohamed El-Khateeb

Abstract:

Encompassing inventory, warehousing, and transportation management, logistics is a crucial predictor of firm performance. This has been extensively proven by extant literature in business and operations management. Logistics is also a fundamental determinant of a country's ability to access international markets. Available studies in international and transport economics have shown that limited transport infrastructure and underperforming transport services can severely affect international competitiveness. However, the evidence lacks the overall impact of logistics performance-encompassing all inventory, warehousing, and transport components- on global trade. In order to fill this knowledge gap, the paper uses a gravitational trade model with 155 countries from all geographical regions between 2007 and 2018. Data on logistics performance is obtained from the World Bank's Logistics Performance Index (LPI). First, the relationship between logistics performance and a country’s total trade is estimated, followed by a breakdown by the economic sector. Then, the analysis is disaggregated according to the level of technological intensity of traded goods. Finally, after evaluating the intensive margin of trade, the relevance of logistics infrastructure and services for the extensive trade margin is assessed. Results suggest that: (i) improvements in both logistics infrastructure and services are associated with export growth; (ii) manufactured goods can significantly benefit from these improvements, especially when both exporting and importing countries increase their logistics performance; (iii) the quality of logistics infrastructure and services becomes more important as traded goods are technology-intensive; and (iv) improving the exporting country's logistics performance is essential in the intensive margin of trade while enhancing the importing country's logistics performance is more relevant in the extensive margin.

Keywords: low-cost, recycling, reuse, solid waste, wastewater treatment

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Authors: P. K. Sarkar, Amit Kumar Jain

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The demand for Urban transportation is characterised by a large scale temporal and spatial variations which causes heavy congestion inside metro trains in peak hours near Centre Business District (CBD) of the city. The conventional approach to address peak hour congestion, metro trains has been to increase the supply by way of introduction of more trains, increasing the length of the trains, optimising the time table to increase the capacity of the system. However, there is a limitation of supply side measures determined by the design capacity of the systems beyond which any addition in the capacity requires huge capital investments. The demand side interventions are essentially required to actually spread the demand across the time and space. In this study, an attempt has been made to identify the potential Transport Demand Management tools applicable to Urban Rail Transportation systems with a special focus on differential pricing. A conceptual price elasticity model has been developed to analyse the effect of various combinations of peak and nonpeak hoursfares on demands. The elasticity values for peak hour, nonpeak hour and cross elasticity have been assumed from the relevant literature available in the field. The conceptual price elasticity model so developed is based on assumptions which need to be validated with actual values of elasticities for different segments of passengers. Once validated, the model can be used to determine the peak and nonpeak hour fares with an objective to increase overall ridership, revenue, demand levelling and optimal utilisation of assets.

Keywords: urban transport, differential fares, congestion, transport demand management, elasticity

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Authors: Danny Mwangi, Collins Oduor Ondiek

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Mass mobility is one of the most important characteristics of every industrialized civilization. Man must travel about in order to fulfill his commitment to putting food on his table. As a result, movement is an important part of human life. Man must travel from one place to another. This is a natural trait of humans, according to elementary science. Variables in human mobility have arisen as a result of technological advancements over time. Public transit is one of these modes of transportation. When it comes to reducing safety-related risks in the public transport system, awareness is crucial. So much so even when it comes to public transportation in Kenya. Having a system that can be able to keep users updated with real-time traffic updates on the route, they are on and also have the ability to rate drivers after a trip could go a long way in improving safety on Kenyan roads. What this proposed system is intended to accomplish is to reduce occurrences of reckless driving and give matatu drivers the feeling that they are accountable to someone and more so have the incentive to be better drivers who are motivated to follow the law and have passenger safety as a priority. The research was conducted, and the findings show that 95.2% of respondents were not satisfied with the current safety measures in the Kenyan public transport sector. This means that the chances for this system to be accepted in the market are high because it addresses a key issue. 98.8% of the respondents were of the opinion that the implementation of the proposed system would significantly increase safety measures in the public transport sector. During the research, it was clear that the main challenge 77.1% of the respondents face when using public transport is that there is no way to monitor driver safety performance, and 68.7% of the respondent believed the widespread use of unroadworthy public transit vehicles contributed to the lack of safety when using public transport. However, 77.1% of the respondents expect the benefit of creating a sense of accountability for the drivers, and 74.7% of the respondents expect the benefit of increased passenger safety. 63.9% believe that with the implementation of the system, there will be the benefit of monitoring driver performance. This shows that with the implementation of the proposed system, it will be possible to make a lot of progress in terms of making Kenyan roads safer when using public transit. According to the findings, it is recommended that this proposed public transportation safety awareness system be implemented as it will be able to address matatu passengers' safety concerns while also encouraging matatu drivers to drive more carefully. As a result, it's a project with a chance of becoming viable, marketable, and feasible.

Keywords: public safety, public transportation, accountable driving, safe transportation

Procedia PDF Downloads 105

Authors: Yusuf Umar Madugu

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Since its creation in 1967, Kano has tremendously undergone political, social and economic transformations. Public urban transportation has been playing a vital role in sustaining economic growth of Kano metropolis, especially with the existence of modern buses with the regular network of roads, in all the main centers of trade. This study, therefore, centers on the role of intra-city buses in molding the economy of Kano. Its main focus is post-colonial Kano (i.e. 1967-2015), a period that witnessed rapid expansion of commercial activities and ever increasing urbanization which goes along with it population explosion. The commuters patronized the urban transport, a situation that made the business lucrative. More so, the traders who had come from within and outside Kano relied heavily on commercial vehicles to transport their merchandise to their various destinations. Commercial road transport system, therefore, had become well organized in Kano with a significant number of people earning their means of livelihood from it. It also serves as a source of revenue to governments at different levels. However, the study of transport and development as an academic discipline is inter-disciplinary in nature. This study, therefore, employs the services and the methodologies of other disciplines such as Geography, History, Urban and Regional Planning, Engineering, Computer Science, Economics, etc. to provide a comprehensive picture of the issues under investigation. The source materials for this study included extensive use of written literature and oral information. In view of the crucial importance of intra-city commercial transport services, this study demonstrates its role in the overall economic transformation of the study area. It generally also, contributed in opening up a new ground and looked into the history of commercial transport system. At present, Kano Metropolitan area is located between latitude 110 50’ and 12007’, and longitude 80 22’ and 80 47’ within the Semi-Arid Sudan Savannah Zone of West Africa about 840kilometers of the edge of the Sahara desert. The Metropolitan area has expanded over the years and has become the third largest conurbation in Nigeria with a population of about 4million. It is made up of eight local government areas viz: Kano Municipal, Gwale, Dala, Tarauni, Nasarawa, Fage, Ungogo, and Kumbotso.

Keywords: assessment, buses, city, mobility, sustainable

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Authors: Ratri A. Benedictus, Felicia M. Yolanda

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Public transport is a crucial issue for capital city in developing country, such as Jakarta. Inadequate number and low quality of public transport services resulting personal vehicles as the main option. As a result, traffic jams are getting worse in Jakarta. The low quality of public transport, particularly buses, compounded by the risk behavior of the driver. Traffic accidents involving public bus in Jakarta were often the case, even result in fatality. The purpose of this study is to get a description of risk behavior among the public bus drivers in Jakarta. 132 bus drivers become respondent of this study. Risky Driving Behavior scale of Dorn were used. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. 51.5% of respondents felt often showing risky behavior while on driving. The highest type of risky driving behavior is still using the unsafe bus (62%). Followed by trespass the bus line (30%), over speed (21%), violate the road signs (15%) and driving with unhealthy physical condition (4%). Results of this study suggested that high understanding of the bus drivers on their risk behaviors have not lead to the emergence of safe driving behavior. Therefore, together with technical engineering and instrumentation work intervention over this issue, psychological aspects also need to be considered, such as: risk perception, safety attitude,safety culture, locus of control and Fatalism.

Keywords: bus driver, psychological factors, public transportation, risky driving behavior

Procedia PDF Downloads 362

Authors: Kobi Kutsher

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On February 12th 2013, monitoring stations of the Preparatory Commission of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) detected a seismic event with explosion-like underground characteristics in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK). The location was found to be in the vicinity of the two previous announced nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009.The nuclear test was also announced by the government of the DPRK.After an underground nuclear explosion, radioactive fission products (mostly noble gases) can seep through layers of rock and sediment until they escape into the atmosphere. The fission products are dispersed in the atmosphere and may be detected thousands of kilometers downwind from the test site. Indeed, more than 7 weeks after the explosion, unusual detections of noble gases was reported at the radionuclide station in Takasaki, Japan. The radionuclide station is a part of the International Monitoring System, operated to verify the CTBT. This study provides an estimation of the possible source region and the total radioactivity of the release using Atmospheric Transport Modeling.

Keywords: atmospheric transport modeling, CTBTO, nuclear tests, radioactive fission products

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Authors: J. M. Muñoz, Y. Vasquez, P. Oyola, M. Rubio

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All emissions of contaminants inside of homes, offices, school and another enclosure closer that affect the health of those who inhabit or use them are cataloged how indoor pollution. The importance of this study is because individuals spend most of their time in indoors ambient. The main indoor pollutants are oxides of nitrogen (NOₓ), sulfur dioxide (SO₂), carbon monoxide (CO) and particulate matter (PM). Combustion heaters are an important source of pollution indoors. It will be measured: NOₓ, SO₂, CO, PM₂,₅ y PM₁₀ continuous and discreet form at indoor and outdoor of two households with different heating energy; kerosene and electricity (control home) respectively, in addition to environmental parameters such as temperature. With the values obtained in the 'control home' it will be possible estimate the contaminants transport from outside to inside of the household and later the contribution generated by kerosene heating. Transporting the emissions from burning kerosene to a photochemical chamber coupled to a continuous and discreet measuring system of contaminants it will be evaluated the oxidation of the emissions and formation of secondary particulate matter. It will be expected watch a contaminants transport from outside to inside of the household and the kerosene emissions present a high potential of formation secondary particulate matter.

Keywords: heating, indoor pollution, kerosene, secondary particulate matter

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Authors: Rajan Vohra, Ravinder Singh Sawhney, Kunwar Partap Singh

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Electrical charge transport through two basic strands thymine and adenine of DNA have been investigated and analyzed using the jellium model approach. The FFT-2D computations have been performed for semi-empirical Extended Huckel Theory using atomistic tool kit to contemplate the charge transport metrics like current and conductance. The envisaged data is further evaluated in terms of transmission spectrum, HOMO-LUMO Gap and number of electrons. We have scrutinized the behavior of the devices in the range of -2V to 2V for a step size of 0.2V. We observe that both thymine and adenine can act as molecular devices when sandwiched between two gold probes. A prominent observation is a drop in HLGs of adenine and thymine when working as a device as compared to their intrinsic values and this is comparative more visible in case of adenine. The current in the thymine based device exhibit linear increase with voltage in spite of having low conductance. Further, the broader transmission peaks represent the strong coupling of electrodes to the scattering molecule (thymine). Moreover, the observed current in case of thymine is almost 3-4 times than that of observed for adenine. The NDR effect has been perceived in case of adenine based device for higher bias voltages and can be utilized in various future electronics applications.

Keywords: adenine, DNA, extended Huckel, thymine, transmission spectra

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Authors: Adinarayana Badveeti, Mohammad Shafi Mir

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In Srinagar City, in India, traffic congestion is a condition on transport networks that occurs as use increases and is characterized by slower speeds, longer trip times, and increased vehicular queuing. Traffic congestion is conventionally measured using indicators such as roadway level-of-service, the Travel Time Index and their variants. Several measures have been taken in order to counteract congestion like road pricing, car pooling, improved traffic management, etc. While new road construction can temporarily relieve congestion in the longer term, it simply encourages further growth in car traffic through increased travel and a switch away from public transport. The full paper report, on which this abstract is based, aims to provide policymakers and technical staff with the real-time data, conceptual framework and guidance on some of the engineering tools necessary to manage congestion in such a way as to reduce its overall impact on individuals, families, communities, and societies dynamic, affordable, liveable and attractive urban regions will never be free of congestion. Road transport policies, however, should seek to manage congestion on a cost-effective basis with the aim of reducing the burden that excessive congestion imposes upon travellers and urban dwellers throughout the urban road network.

Keywords: traffic congestion, modeling, traffic management, travel time index

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Authors: Luo Jiaoyang, Yu Hongyang

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In this paper, we explore a method that can be used in the working scene of intelligent industrial robots to confirm the identity information of operators to ensure that the robot executes instructions in a sufficiently safe environment. This approach uses three information modalities, namely visible light, depth, and sound. We explored a variety of fusion modes for the three modalities and finally used the joint feature learning method to improve the performance of the model in the case of noise compared with the single-modal case, making the maximum noise in the experiment. It can also maintain an accuracy rate of more than 90%.

Keywords: multimodal, kinect, machine learning, distance image

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Authors: Ahmed Kiani

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The United Arab Emirates is clearly facing a multitude of challenges in curbing its greenhouse gas emissions to meet its pre-allotted framework of Kyoto protocol and COP21 targets due to its hunger for modernization, industrialization, infrastructure growth, soaring population and oil and gas activity. In this work, we focus on the bonafide zero emission electric vehicles market penetration in the country’s transport industry for emission reduction. We study the global electric vehicle market trends, the complementary battery technologies and the trends by manufacturers, emission standards across borders and prioritized advancements which will ultimately dictate the terms of future conditions for the United Arab Emirate transport industry. Based on our findings and analysis at every stage of current viability and state-of-transport-affairs, we postulate policy recommendations to local governmental entities from a supply and demand perspective covering aspects of technology, infrastructure requirements, change in power dynamics, end user incentives program, market regulators behavior and communications amongst key stakeholders. 

Keywords: electric vehicles, greenhouse gas emission reductions, market analysis, policy recommendations

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Authors: Francisco J. Arias

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Consideration is given to a mechanism of heat and mass transport in solutions similar than that of natural convection but with one important difference. Here the mechanism is not promoted by density differences in the fluid occurring due to temperature gradients (coefficient of thermal expansion) but rather by solubility differences due to the thermal dependence of the solubility (coefficient of thermal solubility). Utilizing a simplified physical model, it is shown that by the proper choice of the concentration of a given solution, convection might be induced by the alternating precipitation of the solute -when the solution becomes supersaturated, and its posterior recombination when changes in temperature occurs. The spontaneous change in the Gibbs free energy during the mixing is the driven force for the mechanism. The maximum extractable energy from this new type of thermal convection was derived. Experimental data from a closed-loop circuit was obtained demonstrating the feasibility for continuous separation and recombination of the solution. This type of heat and mass transport -which doesn’t depend on gravity, might potentially be interesting for heat and mass transport downwards (as in solar-roof collectors to inside homes), horizontal (e.g., microelectronic applications), and in microgravity (space technology). Also, because the coefficient of thermal solubility could be positive or negative, the investigated thermo-osmosis convection can be used either for heating or cooling.

Keywords: natural convection, thermal gradient, solubility, osmotic pressure

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Authors: Zhaopeng Zhu, Xianzhi Song, Gensheng Li

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Transports of solid particles through the drill pipe, drill string-hole annulus and hydraulically generated fractures are important dynamic processes encountered in oil and gas well drilling and completion operations. Different from particle transport in infinite space, the transports of cuttings, proppants and formation sand are hindered by a finite boundary. Therefore, an accurate description of the particle transport behavior under the bounded wall conditions encountered in drilling and hydraulic fracturing operations is needed to improve drilling safety and efficiency. In this study, the particle settling experiments were carried out to investigate the particle settling behavior in the pipe, annulus and between the parallel plates filled with power-law fluids. Experimental conditions simulated the particle Reynolds number ranges of 0.01-123.87, the dimensionless diameter ranges of 0.20-0.80 and the fluid flow behavior index ranges of 0.48-0.69. Firstly, the wall effect of the annulus is revealed by analyzing the settling process of the particles in the annular geometry with variable inner pipe diameter. Then, the geometric continuity among the pipe, annulus and parallel plates was determined by introducing the ratio of inner diameter to an outer diameter of the annulus. Further, a unified dimensionless diameter was defined to confirm the relationship between the three different geometry in terms of the wall effect. In addition, a dimensionless term independent from the settling velocity was introduced to establish a unified explicit settling velocity model applicable to pipes, annulus and fractures with a mean relative error of 8.71%. An example case study was provided to demonstrate the application of the unified model for predicting particle settling velocity. This paper is the first study of annulus wall effects based on the geometric continuity concept and the unified model presented here will provide theoretical guidance for improved hydraulic design of cuttings transport, proppant placement and sand management operations.

Keywords: wall effect, particle settling velocity, cuttings transport, proppant transport in fracture

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Authors: Ross Calvert, Colin Whittaker, Alison Raby, Alistair G. L. Borthwick, Ton S. van den Bremer

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Large concentrations of plastic have polluted the seas in the last half century, with harmful effects on marine wildlife and potentially to human health. Plastic pollution will have lasting effects because it is expected to take hundreds or thousands of years for plastic to decay in the ocean. The question arises how waves transport plastic in the ocean. The predominant motion induced by waves creates ellipsoid orbits. However, these orbits do not close, resulting in a drift. This is defined as Stokes drift. If a particle is infinitesimally small and the same density as water, it will behave exactly as the water does, i.e., as a purely Lagrangian tracer. However, as the particle grows in size or changes density, it will behave differently. The particle will then have its own inertia, the fluid will exert drag on the particle, because there is relative velocity, and it will rise or sink depending on the density and whether it is on the free surface. Previously, plastic pollution has all been considered to be purely Lagrangian. However, the steepness of waves in the ocean is small, normally about α = k₀a = 0.1 (where k₀ is the wavenumber and a is the wave amplitude), this means that the mean drift flows are of the order of ten times smaller than the oscillatory velocities (Stokes drift is proportional to steepness squared, whilst the oscillatory velocities are proportional to the steepness). Thus, the particle motion must have the forces of the full motion, oscillatory and mean flow, as well as a dynamic buoyancy term to account for the free surface, to determine whether inertia is important. To track the motion of a floating inertial particle under wave action requires the fluid velocities, which form the forcing, and the full equations of motion of a particle to be solved. Starting with the equation of motion of a sphere in unsteady flow with viscous drag. Terms can added then be added to the equation of motion to better model floating plastic: a dynamic buoyancy to model a particle floating on the free surface, quadratic drag for larger particles and a slope sliding term. Using perturbation methods to order the equation of motion into sequentially solvable parts allows a parametric equation for the transport of inertial finite-sized floating particles to be derived. This parametric equation can then be validated using numerical simulations of the equation of motion and flume experiments. This paper presents a parametric equation for the transport of inertial floating finite-size particles by ocean waves. The equation shows an increase in Stokes drift for larger, less dense particles. The equation has been validated using numerical solutions of the equation of motion and laboratory flume experiments. The difference in the particle transport equation and a purely Lagrangian tracer is illustrated using worlds maps of the induced transport. This parametric transport equation would allow ocean-scale numerical models to include inertial effects of floating plastic when predicting or tracing the transport of pollutants.

Keywords: perturbation methods, plastic pollution transport, Stokes drift, wave flume experiments, wave-induced mean flow

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Authors: Saeed Zeinali, Nasser Talebbeydokhti, Mehdi Saeidian, Shahrad Vosough

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In this article, bathymetry changes have been studied as a case study for Larak Island, located in The South of Iran. The advanced 2D model of Mike21 has been used for this purpose. A simple procedure has been utilized in this model. First, the hydrodynamic (HD) module of Mike21 has been used to obtain the required output for sediment transport model (ST module). The ST module modeled the area for tidal currents only. Bed level changes are resulted by series of modeling for both HD and ST module in 3 months time step. The final bathymetry in each time step is used as the primary bathymetry for next time step. This consecutive procedure been continued until bathymetry for the year 2020 is obtained.

Keywords: bed level changes, Larak Island, hydrodynamic, sediment transport

Procedia PDF Downloads 269

Authors: Dermot O'Brien, Vasileios Christaras, Georgios Fontaras, Igor Nai Fovino, Ioannis Kounelis

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With the rise of the Internet of Things (IoT), 5G, and blockchain (BC) technologies, vehicles are becoming ever increasingly connected and are already transmitting substantial amounts of data to the original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) servers. This data could be used to help detect mileage fraud and enable more accurate vehicle emissions monitoring. This would not only help regulators but could enable applications such as permitting efficient drivers to pay less tax, geofencing for air quality improvement, as well as pollution tolling and trading platforms for transport-related businesses and EU citizens. Other applications could include traffic management and shared mobility systems. BC enables the transmission of data with additional security and removes single points of failure while maintaining data provenance, identity ownership, and the possibility to retain varying levels of privacy depending on the requirements of the applied use case. This research performs simulations of vehicles interacting with European member state authorities and European Commission BC nodes that are running hyperleger fabric and explores whether the technology is currently feasible for transport applications such as the emission monitoring use-case.

Keywords: future transportation systems, technological innovations, policy approaches for transportation future, economic and regulatory trends, blockchain

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Authors: Augustina Konadu Larbi-Ampofo, Ekemini Umoinwek

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Background: Hypercalcaemia is a common electrolyte imbalance that increases mortality if poorly controlled. Primary hyperparathyroidism often presents like this with a prevalence of 0.1-0.3%. Management due to an ectopic parathyroid adenoma in the mediastinum is challenging, especially in a patient with a pacemaker. Case Presentation: A 79-year-old woman with a history of a previous cardiac arrest, permanent pacemaker, ischaemic heart disease, bilateral renal calculi, rectal polyps, liver cirrhosis, and a family history of hyperthyroidism presented to the emergency department with acute back pain. Management and Outcome: The patient was diagnosed with primary hyperparathyroidism due to her elevated corrected calcium and parathyroid hormone levels. Parathyroid investigations consisting of an NM MIBI scan, SPECT-CT, 4D parathyroid scan, and an ultrasound scan of the neck and thorax confirmed an ectopic parathyroid adenoma in the mediastinum at the level of the aortic arch, along with benign thyroid nodules. The location of the adenoma warranted a thoracoscopic surgical approach; however, the presence of her pacemaker and other cardiovascular conditions predisposed her to a potentially poorer post-operative outcome. Discussion: Mediastinal ectopic parathyroid adenomas are rare and difficult to diagnose and treat, often needing a multimodal imaging approach for accurate localisation. Surgery is a definitive treatment; however, in this patient, long-term medical treatment with cinacalcet was the only next suitable treatment option. The difficulty with this is that cinacalcet tackles the biochemical markers of the disease entity and not the disease itself, leaving room for what happens next if there is refractory/uncontrolled hypercalcaemia in this patient with a pacemaker. Moreover, the coexistence of her multiple conditions raises the suspicion of an underlying multisystemic or multiple endocrine disorder, with multiple endocrine neoplasia coming to mind, necessitating further genetic or autoimmune investigations. Conclusion: Mediastinal ectopic parathyroid adenomas are rare, with diagnostic and management challenges.

Keywords: mediastinal ectopic parathyroid adenoma, hyperparathyroidism, SPECT/CT, nuclear medicine, multimodal imaging

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Authors: Lukas Vierus, Thomas Schuster

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A general framework is examined for dynamic tensor field tomography within an inhomogeneous medium characterized by refraction and absorption, treated as an inverse source problem concerning the associated transport equation. Guided by Fermat’s principle, the Riemannian metric within the specified domain is determined by the medium's refractive index. While considerable literature exists on the inverse problem of reconstructing a tensor field from its longitudinal ray transform within a static Euclidean environment, limited inversion formulas and algorithms are available for general Riemannian metrics and time-varying tensor fields. It is established that tensor field tomography, akin to an inverse source problem for a transport equation, persists in dynamic scenarios. Framing dynamic tensor tomography as an inverse source problem embodies a comprehensive perspective within this domain. Ensuring well-defined forward mappings necessitates establishing existence and uniqueness for the underlying transport equations. However, the bilinear forms of the associated weak formulations fail to meet the coercivity condition. Consequently, recourse to viscosity solutions is taken, demonstrating their unique existence within suitable Sobolev spaces (in the static case) and Sobolev-Bochner spaces (in the dynamic case), under a specific assumption restricting variations in the refractive index. Notably, the adjoint problem can also be reformulated as a transport equation, with analogous results regarding uniqueness. Analytical solutions are expressed as integrals over geodesics, facilitating more efficient evaluation of forward and adjoint operators compared to solving partial differential equations. Certainly, here's the revised sentence in English: Numerical experiments are conducted using a Nesterov-accelerated Landweber method, encompassing various fields, absorption coefficients, and refractive indices, thereby illustrating the enhanced reconstruction achieved through this holistic modeling approach.

Keywords: attenuated refractive dynamic ray transform of tensor fields, geodesics, transport equation, viscosity solutions

Procedia PDF Downloads 53

Authors: Shiliang Wu, Huanxin Zhang

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Mercury has been well-known for its negative effects on wildlife, public health as well as the ecosystem. Once emitted into atmosphere, mercury can be transformed into different forms or enter the ecosystem through dry deposition or wet deposition. Some fraction of the mercury will be reemitted back into the atmosphere and be subject to the same cycle. In addition, the relatively long lifetime of elemental mercury in the atmosphere enables it to be transported long distances from source regions to receptor regions. Global change such as climate change and land use/land cover change impose significant challenges for mercury pollution control besides the efforts to regulate mercury anthropogenic emissions. In this study, we use a global chemical transport model (GEOS-Chem) to examine the potential impacts from changes in climate and land use/land cover on the global budget of mercury as well as its atmospheric transport, chemical transformation, and deposition. We carry out a suite of sensitivity model simulations to separate the impacts on atmospheric mercury associated with changes in climate and land use/land cover. Both climate change and land use/land cover change are found to have significant impacts on global mercury budget but through different pathways. Land use/land cover change primarily increase mercury dry deposition in northern mid-latitudes over continental regions and central Africa. Climate change enhances the mobilization of mercury from soil and ocean reservoir to the atmosphere. Also, dry deposition is enhanced over most continental areas while a change in future precipitation dominates the change in mercury wet deposition. We find that 2000-2050 climate change could increase the global atmospheric burden of mercury by 5% and mercury deposition by up to 40% in some regions. Changes in land use and land cover also increase mercury deposition over some continental regions, by up to 40%. The change in the lifetime of atmospheric mercury has important implications for long-range transport of mercury. Our case study shows that changes in climate and land use and cover could significantly affect the source-receptor relationships for mercury.

Keywords: mercury, toxic pollutant, atmospheric transport, deposition, climate change

Procedia PDF Downloads 492

Authors: Ilkay Ozsev Yuksek, Nuray Ucar, Zeynep Esma Soygur, Yasemin Kucuk

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In this study, composite fabrics with polyacrylonitrile electrospun nanofiber deposited onto quilted polyester fabric have been produced in order to control the isolation properties such as water vapor permeability, air permeability and thermal conductivity. Different nanofiber webs were manufactured by changing polymer concentration from 10% to 16% and by changing the deposition time from 1 to 3 hours. Presence of nanofiber layer on the quilted fabric results to an increase of an isolation, i.e., a decrease of the moisture vapor transport rates at 20%, decrease of thermal conductivity at 15% and a decrease of air permeability values at 50%.

Keywords: nanofiber/fabric composites, electrospinning, isolation, thermal conductivity, moisture vapor transport, air permeability

Procedia PDF Downloads 316

Authors: N. Massoum, B. Bouazza

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In this paper, we have developed a numerical simulation model to describe the electrical properties of GaInP MESFET with submicron gate (Lg = 0.5 µm). This model takes into account the three-dimensional (3D) distribution of the load in the short channel and the law effect of mobility as a function of electric field. Simulation software based on a stochastic method such as Monte Carlo has been established. The results are discussed and compared with those of the experiment. The result suggests experimentally that, in a very small gate length in our devices (smaller than 40 nm), short-channel tunneling explains the degradation of transistor performance, which was previously enhanced by velocity overshoot.

Keywords: Monte Carlo simulation, transient electron transport, MESFET device, simulation software

Procedia PDF Downloads 515

Authors: Haifa El-Sadi, Maria Elektorowicz, Reed Rushing, Ammar Badawieh, Asif Chaudry

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Clay soils have particular properties that affect the assessment and remediation of contaminated sites. In clay soils, electro-kinetic transport of heavy metals has been carried out. The transport of these metals is predicated on maintaining a low pH throughout the cell, which, in turn, keeps the metals in the pore water phase where they are accessible to electro-kinetic transport. Supercritical fluid extraction and acid digestion were used for the analysis of heavy metals concentrations after the completion of electro-kinetic experimentation. Supercritical fluid (carbon dioxide) extraction is a new technique used to extract the heavy metal (lead, nickel, calcium and potassium) from clayey soil. The comparison between supercritical extraction and acid digestion of different metals was carried out. Supercritical fluid extraction, using ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) as a modifier, proved to be efficient and a safer technique than acid digestion technique in extracting metals from clayey soil. Mixing time of soil with EDTA before extracting heavy metals from clayey soil was investigated. The optimum and most practical shaking time for the extraction of lead, nickel, calcium and potassium was two hours.

Keywords: clay soil, heavy metals, supercritical fluid extraction, acid digestion

Procedia PDF Downloads 471