Search results for: housing energy efficiency

Authors: Bhavesh Dadhich, Fenil Bamnoliya, Akshita Swaminathan

Abstract:

This project aims to design a system to generate energy from flowing wind due to the motion of a vehicle on the road or from the flow of wind in compact areas to utilize the wasteful energy into a useful one. It is envisaged through a design and aerodynamic performance improvement of a Savonius vertical axis wind turbine rotor and used in an integrated system with a Triboelectric Nanogenerator (TENG) that can generate a good amount of electrical energy. Aerodynamic calculations are performed numerically using Computational Fluid Dynamics software, and TENG's performance is evaluated analytically. The Turbine's coefficient of power is validated with published results for an inlet velocity of 7 m/s with a Tip Speed Ratio of 0.75 and found to reasonably agree with that of experiment results. The baseline design is modified with a new blade arc angle and rotor position angle based on the recommended parameter ranges suggested by previous researchers. Simulations have been performed for different T.S.R. values ranging from 0.25 to 1.5 with an interval of 0.25 with two applicable free stream velocities of 5 m/s and 7m/s. Finally, the newly designed VAWT CFD performance results are used as input for the analytical performance prediction of the triboelectric nanogenerator. The results show that this approach could be feasible and useful for small power source applications.

Keywords: savonius turbine, power, overlap ratio, tip speed ratio, TENG

Procedia PDF Downloads 105

Authors: Hammadi Larbi

Abstract:

The treatment of wastewater in sewage plants usually results in the formation of a large amount of sludge. These appear at the outlet of the treatment plant as a viscous fluid loaded with a high concentration of dry matter. This sludge production presents environmental, ecological, and economic risks. That is why it is necessary to find many solutions for minimizing these risks. In the present article, the effect of hydrogen peroxide, thermal treatment, and quicklime on the characteristics of the activated sludge produced in urban wastewater plant were evaluated in order to avoid any risk in the plants. The study shows increasing of the dose of H2O2 from 0 to 0.4 g causes an increase in the solubilization rate of COD from 12% to 45% and a reduction in the organic matter content of sludge (VM/SM) from 74% to 36% . The results also show that the optimum efficiency of the heat treatment corresponds to a temperature of 80 ° C for a treatment time of 40 min is 47% and 51.82% for a temperature equal to 100 ° C and 76.30 % for a temperature of 120 ° C, and 79.38% for a temperature of 140 ° C. The treatment of sludge by quicklime gives the optimum efficiency of 70.62 %. It was shown the increasing of the temperature from 80°C to 140°C, the pH of sludge was increased from 7.12 to 9.59. The obtained results showed that with increasing the dose of quicklime from 0 g/l to 1g/l in activated sludge led to an increase of their pH from 7.12 to 12.06. The study shows the increasing the dose of quicklime from 0 g/l to 1g/l causes also an increase in the solubilization of COD from 0% to 70.62 %

Keywords: activated sludge, hydrogen peroxide, thermal treatment, quicklime

Procedia PDF Downloads 87

Authors: Chih-Chieh Yang, Chung-Neng Huang

Abstract:

In power system, how to improve the fault diagnosis technology of transmission line has always been the primary goal of power grid operators. In recent years, due to the rise of green energy, the addition of all kinds of distributed power also has an impact on the stability of the power system. Because the smart meters are with the function of data recording and bidirectional transmission, the adaptive Fuzzy Neural inference system, ANFIS, as well as the artificial intelligence that has the characteristics of learning and estimation in artificial intelligence. For transmission network, in order to avoid misjudgment of the fault type and location due to the input of these unstable power sources, combined with the above advantages of smart meter and ANFIS, a method for identifying fault types and location of faults is proposed in this study. In ANFIS training, the bus voltage and current information collected by smart meters can be trained through the ANFIS tool in MATLAB to generate fault codes to identify different types of faults and the location of faults. In addition, due to the uncertainty of distributed generation, a wind power system is added to the transmission network to verify the diagnosis correctness of the study. Simulation results show that the method proposed in this study can correctly identify the fault type and location of fault with more efficiency, and can deal with the interference caused by the addition of unstable power sources.

Keywords: ANFIS, fault diagnosis, power system, smart meter

Procedia PDF Downloads 125

Authors: Carlos F. Sanz-Navarro, Sonia Fereres

Abstract:

Binary and ternary mixtures of molten salts are excellent thermal energy storage systems and have been widely used in commercial tanks both in nuclear and solar thermal applications. However, the energy density of the commercially used mixtures is still insufficient, and therefore, new systems based on latent heat storage (or phase change materials, PCM) are currently being investigated. In order to shed some light on the macroscopic physical properties of the molten salt phases, knowledge of the microscopic structure and dynamics is required. Several molecular dynamics (MD) simulations have been performed to model the thermal behavior of (Li,K)2CO3 mixtures. Up to this date, this particular molten salt mixture has not been extensively studied but it is of fundamental interest for understanding the behavior of other commercial salts. Molten salt diffusivities, the internal electrical ion mobility, and the physical properties of the solid-liquid phase transition have been calculated and compared to available data from literature. The effect of anion polarization and the application of a strong external electric field have also been investigated. The influence of electrical ion mobility on local composition is explained through the Chemla effect, well known in electrochemistry. These results open a new way to design optimal high temperature energy storage materials.

Keywords: atomistic simulations, thermal storage, latent heat, molten salt, ion mobility

Procedia PDF Downloads 311

Authors: Mohammadreza Akbari, Pooya Soleimani Besheli, Reza khalili, Sara Akbari, Davood Domiri Ganji

Abstract:

In this symposium, our aims are accuracy, capabilities and power at solving of the complicate non-linear differential at the reaction chemical in the catalyst reactor (heterogeneous reaction). Our purpose is to enhance the ability of solving the mentioned nonlinear differential equations at chemical engineering and similar issues with a simple and innovative approach which entitled ‘’Akbari-Ganji's Method’’ or ‘’AGM’’. In this paper we solve many examples of nonlinear differential equations of chemical reactions and its investigate. The chemical reactor with the energy changing (non-isotherm) in two reactors of mixed and plug are separately studied and the nonlinear differential equations obtained from the reaction behavior in these systems are solved by a new method. Practically, the reactions with the energy changing (heat or cold) have an important effect on designing and function of the reactors. This means that possibility of reaching the optimal conditions of operation for the maximum conversion depending on nonlinear nature of the reaction velocity toward temperature, results in the complexity of the operation in the reactor. In this case, the differential equation set which governs the reactors can be obtained simultaneous solution of mass equilibrium and energy and temperature changing at concentration.

Keywords: new method (AGM), nonlinear differential equation, tubular and mixed reactors, catalyst bed

Procedia PDF Downloads 364

Authors: Foruzan Taheri, Seyedeh Negar Hosseinian, Katayoon Alizadeh

Abstract:

The small countryside city of Shandiz, with a population of about 13.297 is located 35 km to the west of the Mashhad metropolitan. Due to Shandiz’s natural beauty, suitable climate, and its close proximity to Mashhad which is the largest city in the eastern half of the country, many people own second houses in this area. In addition to this, Shandiz hosts millions of visitors annually. Its economic role, which is parallel and complementary to Mashhad, has caused population growth, the increase of activities, and physical expansion, all of which exceed the city’s capacity. The aim of this descriptive and analytical study was to evaluate the impact of city expansion on the environment and aid in preventing further harm to the natural environment of this perimeter. Data were collected from population and housing statistics during a different period of time-based on GIS. Results show that the existence of an integrated environmental management system in order to coordinate development projects and the expansion of tourism programs that meet environmental conditions are necessary and achieving sustainable development with quality of life in this area without considering environmental limitations and capabilities cannot be sustained.

Keywords: population growth, tourism, physical development, environmental impact, Shandiz City

Procedia PDF Downloads 339

Authors: Rewati Raman, Uttam K. Roy

Abstract:

One of the main adversaries of city planning in present times is the ever-expanding problem of urbanization and the antagonistic issues accompanying it. The prevalent challenges in urbanization such as population growth, urban sprawl, poverty, inequality, pollution, congestion, etc. call for reforms in the urban fabric as well as in planning theory and practice. One of the various paradigms of city planning, land use planning, has been the major instruments for spatial planning of cities and regions in India. Zoning regulation based land use planning in the form of land use and development control plans (LUDCP) and development control regulations (DCR) have been considered mainstream guiding principles in land use planning for decades. In spite of many advantages of such zoning based regulations, over a period of time, it has been critiqued by scholars for its own limitations of isolation and lack of vitality, inconvenience in business in terms of proximity to residence and low operating cost, unsuitable environment for small investments, higher travel distance for facilities, amenities and thereby higher expenditure, safety issues etc. Mixed land use has been advocated as a tool to avoid such limitations in city planning by researchers. In addition, mixed land use can offer many advantages like housing variety and density, the creation of an economic blend of compatible land use, compact development, stronger neighborhood character, walkability, and generation of jobs, etc. Alternatively, the mixed land use beyond a suitable balance of use can also bring disadvantages like traffic congestion, encroachments, very high-density housing leading to a slum like condition, parking spill out, non-residential uses operating on residential premises paying less tax, chaos hampering residential privacy, pressure on existing infrastructure facilities, etc. This research aims at studying and outlining the various challenges and potentials of mixed land use zoning, through modeling tools, as a competent instrument for city planning in lieu of the present urban scenario. The methodology of research adopted in this paper involves the study of a mixed land use neighborhood in India, identification of indicators and parameters related to its extent and spatial pattern and the subsequent use of system dynamics as a modeling tool for simulation. The findings from this analysis helped in identifying the various advantages and challenges associated with the dynamic nature of a mixed use urban settlement. The results also confirmed the hypothesis that mixed use neighborhoods are catalysts for employment generation, socioeconomic gains while improving vibrancy, health, safety, and security. It is also seen that certain challenges related to chaos, lack of privacy and pollution prevail in mixed use neighborhoods, which can be mitigated by varying the percentage of mixing as per need, ensuring compatibility of adjoining use, institutional interventions in the form of policies, neighborhood micro-climatic interventions, etc. Therefore this paper gives a consolidated and holistic framework and quantified outcome pertaining to the extent and spatial pattern of mixed land use that should be adopted to ensure sustainable urban planning.

Keywords: mixed land use, sustainable development, system dynamics analysis, urban dynamics modelling

Procedia PDF Downloads 167

Authors: Saroj Poudel, Joshua Mancini, Douglas Pike, Jennifer Timm, Alexei Tyryshkin, Vikas Nanda, Paul Falkowski

Abstract:

On the early Earth, protein-metal complexes likely harvested energy from a reduced environment. These complexes would have been precursors to the metabolic enzymes of ancient organisms. Hydrogenase is an essential enzyme in most anaerobic organisms for the reduction and oxidation of hydrogen in the environment and is likely one of the earliest evolved enzymes. To attempt to reinvent a precursor to modern hydrogenase, we computationally designed a short thirteen amino acid peptide that binds the often-required catalytic transition metal Nickel in hydrogenase. This simple complex can achieve hundreds of hydrogen evolution cycles using light energy in a broad range of temperature and pH. Biophysical and structural investigations strongly indicate the peptide forms a di-nickel active site analogous to Acetyl-CoA synthase, an ancient protein central to carbon reduction in the Wood-Ljungdahl pathway and capable of hydrogen evolution. This work demonstrates that prior to the complex evolution of multidomain enzymes, early peptide-metal complexes could have catalyzed energy transfer from the environment on the early Earth and enabled the evolution of modern metabolism

Keywords: hydrogenase, prebiotic enzyme, metalloenzyme, computational design

Procedia PDF Downloads 201

Authors: Magdy Abdel-Aleem Abdel-Ati Mayouf, Islam Al Sayed Hussein Al Sayed

Abstract:

Development of tourism and hospitality faculties' graduates is a key to the future health of hospitality and tourism sectors. Meanwhile information and communication technologies (ICTs) increasingly become the driving engine for productivity improvement and business opportunities in tourism and hospitality industry. Tourism and hospitality education and training must address these developments to enhance the ability of future managers to adopt a variety of ICT tools and strategies to increase their organization's efficiency and competitiveness. Therefore, this study aims to explore the types and effectiveness of ICT training offered by faculties of tourism and hotels in Egypt, and evaluating the importance of that training from the graduate's point of view. The study targets the graduates who graduated in the present ten years from three different faculties of tourism and hotels. Results argued the types, levels and effectiveness of ICT training offered in these faculties and the extent to which training programs were appreciated by graduates working in different fields, and finally, it recommended particular practices to enhance the training efficiency and raising the perceived benefits of it for workers in tourism and hospitality fields.

Keywords: training, IT, graduated, tourism and hospitality, education

Procedia PDF Downloads 342

Authors: Milind Bharambe, Chander Shekhar

Abstract:

India is a vast country with its 1.21 billion population at the dawn of new decade, which accounts for one sixth of the global human capital in the world today. It is well known that health expenditure in India is dominated by private spending. This is an unfortunate consequence of India’s development because of large positive externality associated with health spending, which make health a merit good. This paper has used data from NSSO and Indian Government’s spending on health as reported by Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. Understanding of the dynamism of age-structure of the population would greatly optimize the expenditure on health care services. A country with good public health indicators is bound to possess good human capital which is an asset to the economic growth and indicator of development status of country. The paper tries to present the linkages between the health expenditure incurred by different states at various levels of demographic transition levels and the efficiency in utilization of health expenditure. It also looks into the way in which allocative efficiency health services can be improved. Paper tries to explore the per capita spending on health and how the demographic transition taking place in different states of India affect the required quantity and quality of health services.

Keywords: age structure, demographic transition, health expenditure, morbidity

Procedia PDF Downloads 388

Authors: Anmar Dulaimi, Hassan Al Nageim, Felicite Ruddock, Linda Seton

Abstract:

Cold bituminous asphalt mixture (CBEM) provide a sustainable, cost effective and energy efficiency alternative to traditional hot mixtures. However, these mixtures have a comparatively low initial strength and as it is considered as evolutionary materials, mainly in the early life where the initial cohesion is low and builds up slowly. On the other hand, asphalt concrete is, by far, the most common mixtures in use as binder course and base in road pavement in the UK having a continuous grade offer a good aggregate interlock results in this material having very good load-spreading properties as well as a high resistance to permanent deformation. This study aims at developing a novel fast curing cold asphalt concrete binder course mixtures by using Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) as a replacement to conventional mineral filler (0%-100%) while new by-product material (LJMU-A2) was used as a supplementary cementitious material. With this purpose, cold asphalt concrete binder course mixtures with cationic emulsions were studied by means of stiffness modulus whereas water sensitivity was approved by assessing the stiffness modulus ratio before and after sample conditioning. The results indicate that a substantial enhancement in the stiffness modulus and a considerable improvement of water sensitivity resistance by adding of LJMU-A2 to the cold asphalt mixtures as a supplementary cementitious material. Moreover, the addition of LJMU-A2 to those mixtures leads to stiffness modulus after 2- day curing comparable to those obtained with Portland cement after 7-day curing.

Keywords: cold mix asphalt, binder course, cement, stiffness modulus, water sensitivity

Procedia PDF Downloads 292

Authors: Marzieh Joda, Narges Fallah, Neda Afsham

Abstract:

Graphite-supported two different of morphology α and β -Ni (OH)₂ electrodes were prepared by electrochemical deposition at appropriate potentials with regard to Ni (II)/Ni (III) redox couple under alkaline and acidic conditions, respectively, for selective oxidation of ammonia to nitrogen in the direct electro-oxidation process. Cyclic voltammetry (CV) of the electrolyte containing NH₃ indicated mediation of electron transfer by Ni (OH)₂ and the electrode surface was analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), Raman spectrometer (RS), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Results of surface characterization indicated the presence of α polymorphs which is the stable phase of Ni (OH)₂ /Graphite. Cyclic voltammograms gave information on the nature of electron transfer between nitrogen species and working electrode and revealed that the potential has depended on both nature ammonia oxidation and that of concentration. The mechanism of selective ammonia conversion to nitrogen and byproducts, namely NO₂- and NO₃- was established by Cyclic voltammograms and current efficiency. The removal efficiency and selective conversion of ammonia (0.1 M KNO₃ + 0.01 M Ni(NO₃)₂, pH 11, 250°C) on Nickel Oxide-hydroxide /Graphite was determined based on potential controlled experiments.

Keywords: Electro deposition, Nickel oxide-hydroxide, Nitrogen selectivity, Ammonia oxidation

Procedia PDF Downloads 202

Authors: Marina Shakleina, Konstantin Shaklein, Stanislav Yakiro

Abstract:

The digitalization of modern human life over the last decade has facilitated the acquisition, storage, and processing of data, which are used to detect changes in consumer preferences and to improve the internal efficiency of the production process. This emerging trend has attracted academic interest in the use of big data in research. The study focuses on modeling the social comfort of the Russian population for the period 2010-2021 using big data. Big data provides enormous opportunities for understanding human interactions at the scale of society with plenty of space and time dynamics. One of the most popular big data sources is Google Trends. The methodology for assessing social comfort using big data involves several steps: 1. 574 words were selected based on the Harvard IV-4 Dictionary adjusted to fit the reality of everyday Russian life. The set of keywords was further cleansed by excluding queries consisting of verbs and words with several lexical meanings. 2. Search queries were processed to ensure comparability of results: the transformation of data to a 10-point scale, elimination of popularity peaks, detrending, and deseasoning. The proposed methodology for keyword search and Google Trends processing was implemented in the form of a script in the Python programming language. 3. Block and summary integral indicators of social comfort were constructed using the first modified principal component resulting in weighting coefficients values of block components. According to the study, social comfort is described by 12 blocks: ‘health’, ‘education’, ‘social support’, ‘financial situation’, ‘employment’, ‘housing’, ‘ethical norms’, ‘security’, ‘political stability’, ‘leisure’, ‘environment’, ‘infrastructure’. According to the model, the summary integral indicator increased by 54% and was 4.631 points; the average annual rate was 3.6%, which is higher than the rate of economic growth by 2.7 p.p. The value of the indicator describing social comfort in Russia is determined by 26% by ‘social support’, 24% by ‘education’, 12% by ‘infrastructure’, 10% by ‘leisure’, and the remaining 28% by others. Among 25% of the most popular searches, 85% are of negative nature and are mainly related to the blocks ‘security’, ‘political stability’, ‘health’, for example, ‘crime rate’, ‘vulnerability’. Among the 25% most unpopular queries, 99% of the queries were positive and mostly related to the blocks ‘ethical norms’, ‘education’, ‘employment’, for example, ‘social package’, ‘recycling’. In conclusion, the introduction of the latent category ‘social comfort’ into the scientific vocabulary deepens the theory of the quality of life of the population in terms of the study of the involvement of an individual in the society and expanding the subjective aspect of the measurements of various indicators. Integral assessment of social comfort demonstrates the overall picture of the development of the phenomenon over time and space and quantitatively evaluates ongoing socio-economic policy. The application of big data in the assessment of latent categories gives stable results, which opens up possibilities for their practical implementation.

Keywords: big data, Google trends, integral indicator, social comfort

Procedia PDF Downloads 185

Authors: Yeong-cheng Wang, Jin-Yinn Wang, Ming-Shan Lin, Jian-Li Dong

Abstract:

To universalize the adoption of sustainable energy, the R.O.C. government encourages public buildings to introduce the PV power station on the building roof, whereas most old buildings did not include the considerations of photovoltaic (PV) power facilities in the design phase. Several factors affect the PV electricity output, the temperature is the key one, different PV technologies have different temperature coefficients. Other factors like PV panel azimuth, panel inclination from the horizontal plane, and row to row distance of PV arrays, mix up at the beginning of system design. The goal of this work is to maximize the annual energy output of a roof mount PV system. Tables to simplify the design work are developed; the results can be used for engineering project quote directly.

Keywords: optimal inclination, array azimuth, annual output

Procedia PDF Downloads 654

Authors: Samuel Matylewicz, K. W. Goossen

Abstract:

The deployment of white or cool (high albedo) roofing is a common energy savings recommendation for a variety of buildings all over the world. Here, the effect of a white roof on the energy savings of an ice rink facility in the northeastern US is determined by measuring the effect of solar irradiance on the consumption of the rink's ice refrigeration system. The consumption of the refrigeration system was logged over a year, along with multiple weather vectors, and a statistical model was applied. The experimental model indicates that the expected savings of replacing the existing grey roof with a white roof on the consumption of the refrigeration system is only 4.7 %. This overall result of the statistical model is confirmed with isolated instances of otherwise similar weather days, but cloudy vs. sunny, where there was no measurable difference in refrigeration consumption up to the noise in the local data, which was a few percent. This compares with a simple theoretical calculation that indicates 30% savings. The difference is attributed to a lack of convective cooling of the roof in the theoretical model. The best experimental model shows a relative effect of the weather vectors dry bulb temperature, solar irradiance, wind speed, and relative humidity on refrigeration consumption of 1, 0.026, 0.163, and -0.056, respectively. This result can have an impact on decisions to apply white roofing to refrigerated buildings in general.

Keywords: cool roofs, solar cooling load, refrigerated buildings, energy-efficient building envelopes

Procedia PDF Downloads 115

Authors: Lukman O. Alimi, Vincent J. Smith, Leonard J. Barbour

Abstract:

The thermosalient effect is an extremely rare propensity of certain crystalline solids for self-actuation by elastic deformation or a ballistic event1. Thermosalient compounds, colloquially known as ‘jumping crystals’ are promising materials for fabrication of actuators that are also being considered as materials for clean energy conversion because of their capabilities to convert thermal energy into mechanical motion directly. Herein, an organic aminonitrile and its derivatives have been probed by a combination of structural, microscopic and thermoanalytical techniques. Crystals of these compounds were analysed by means of single crystal XRD and hotstage microscopy in the temperature range of 100 to 298 K and found to exhibit the thermosalient effect. We also carried out differential scanning calorimetric analysis at the temperature corresponding to that at which the crystal jumps as observed under a hotstage microscope.

Keywords: aminonitrile, jumping crystal, self actuation, thermosalient effect

Procedia PDF Downloads 421

Authors: J. Koiso-Kanttila, A. Soikkeli, A. Aapaoja

Abstract:

Construction in Finland is focusing increasingly on renovation instead of conventional new construction, and this trend will continue to grow in the coming years and decades. Renovation of the large number of suburban residential apartment buildings built in the 1960s and 1970s poses a particular challenge. However, renovation projects are demanding for the residents of these buildings, since they usually are uninitiated in construction issues. On the other hand, renovation projects generally apply the operating models of new construction. Nevertheless, the residents of an existing residential apartment building are some of the best experts on the site. Thus, in this research project we applied a relational model in developing and testing at case sites a planning process that employs interactive planning methods. Current residents, housing company managers, the city zoning manager, the contractor’s and prefab element supplier’s representatives, professional designers and researchers all took part in the planning. The entire interactive planning process progressed phase by phase as the participants’ and designers’ concerted discussion and ideation process, so that the end result was a renovation plan desired by the residents.

Keywords: apartment building renovation, interactive planning, project alliance, user-orientedness

Procedia PDF Downloads 373

Authors: S. Abdullahi, M. Momoh, K. U. Isah

Abstract:

Zinc oxide (ZnO) thin films of 75.5 nm and 130.5 nm were deposited at room temperature onto chemically and ultrasonically cleaned corning glass substrate by radio frequency technique and annealed at 150°C under nitrogen atmosphere for 60 minutes. The optical properties of the films were ascertained by UV-VIS-NIR spectrophotometry. Influence of the thickness of the films on the optical properties was studied keeping other deposition parameters constant. The optical transmittance spectra reveal a maximum transmittance of 81.49% and 84.26% respectively. The band gap of the films is found to be direct allowed transition and decreases with the increase in thickness of the films. The band gap energy (Eg) is in the range of 3.28 eV to 3.31 eV, respectively. These thin films are suitable for solar cell applications.

Keywords: optical constants, RF sputtering, Urbach energy, zinc oxide thin film

Procedia PDF Downloads 443

Authors: Hale Kirer Silva Lecuna, Beyza Aydin

Abstract:

Health is one of the main components of human capital and sustainable development, and it is very important for economic growth. Health economics, which is an indisputable part of the science of economics, has five stages in general. These are health and development, financing of health services, economic regulation in the health, allocation of resources and efficiency of health services. A well-developed and efficient health sector plays a major role by increasing the level of development of countries. The most crucial pillars of the health sector are the hospitals that are divided into public and private. The main purpose of the hospitals is to provide more efficient services. Therefore the aim is to meet patients’ satisfaction by increasing the service quality. Health-related studies in Turkey date back to the Ottoman and Seljuk Empires. In the near past, Turkey applied 'Health Sector Transformation Programs' under different titles between 2003 and 2010. Our aim in this paper is to measure how effective these transformation programs are for the health sector, to see how much they can increase the efficiency of hospitals over the years, to see the return of investments, to make comments and suggestions on the results, and to provide a new reference for the literature. Within this framework, the public and private hospitals in Balıkesir, Bilecik, Bursa, Çanakkale, Edirne, Istanbul, Kirklareli, Kocaeli, Sakarya, Tekirdağ, Yalova will be examined by using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) for the years between 2000 and 2019. DEA is a linear programming-based technique, which gives relatively good results in multivariate studies. DEA basically estimates an efficiency frontier and make a comparison. Constant returns to scale and variable returns to scale are two most commonly used DEA methods. Both models are divided into two as input and output-oriented. To analyze the data, the number of personnel, number of specialist physicians, number of practitioners, number of beds, number of examinations will be used as input variables; and the number of surgeries, in-patient ratio, and crude mortality rate as output variables. 11 hospitals belonging to the Marmara region were included in the study. It is seen that these hospitals worked effectively only in 7 provinces (Balıkesir, Bilecik, Bursa, Edirne, İstanbul, Kırklareli, Yalova) for the year 2001 when no transformation program was implemented. After the transformation program was implemented, for example, in 2014 and 2016, 10 hospitals (Balıkesir, Bilecik, Bursa, Çanakkale, Edirne, İstanbul, Kocaeli, Kırklareli, Tekirdağ, Yalova) were found to be effective. In 2015, ineffective results were observed for Sakarya, Tekirdağ and Yalova. However, since these values are closer to 1 after the transformation program, we can say that the transformation program has positive effects. For Sakarya alone, no effective results have been achieved in any year. When we look at the results in general, it shows that the transformation program has a positive effect on the effectiveness of hospitals.

Keywords: data envelopment analysis, efficiency, health sector, Marmara region

Procedia PDF Downloads 114

Authors: Sukran Karatas

Abstract:

Authentic energy network interrelations between the Creator and the creations as well as from creations to creations are the most important points for the worlds of physics and metaphysic to unite together and work in harmony, both within human beings, on the other hand, have the ability to choose their own life style voluntarily. However, it includes the automated involuntary spirit, soul and body working systems together with the voluntary actions, which involve personal, cultural and universal, rational or irrational variable values. Therefore, it is necessary for human beings to know the methods of existing authentic energy network connections to be able to communicate correlate and accommodate the physical and metaphysical entities as a proper functioning unity; this is essential for complete human psychological, biological and social well-being. Authentic knowledge is necessary for human beings to verify the position of self within self and with others to regulate conscious and voluntary actions accordingly in order to prevent oppressions and frictions within self and between self and others. Unfortunately, the absence of genuine individual and universal basic knowledge about how to establish an authentic energy network connection within self, with the deity and the environment is the most problematic issue even in the twenty-first century. The second most problematic issue is how to maintain freedom, equality and justice among human beings during these strictly interwoven network connections, which naturally involve physical, metaphysical and behavioral actions of the self and the others. The third and probably the most complicated problem is the scientific identification and the authentication of the deity. This not only provides the whole power and control over the choosers to set their life orders but also to establish perfect physical and metaphysical links as fully coordinated functional energy network. This thus indicates that choosing an authentic deity is the key-point that influences automated, emotional, and behavioral actions altogether, which shapes human perception, personal actions, and life orders. Therefore, we will be considering the existing ‘four types of energy wave end boundary behaviors’, comprising, free end, fixed end boundary behaviors, as well as boundary behaviors from denser medium to less dense medium and from less dense medium to denser medium. Consequently, this article aims to demonstrate that the authentication and the choice of deity has an important effect on individual psychological, biological and social health. It is hoped that it will encourage new researches in the field of authentic energy network connections to establish the best position and the most correct interrelation connections with self and others without violating the authorized orders and the borders of one another to live happier and healthier lives together. In addition, the book ‘Deity and Freedom, Equality, Justice in History, Philosophy, Science’ has more detailed information for those interested in this subject.

Keywords: deity, energy network, power, freedom, equality, justice, happiness, sadness, hope, fear, psychology, biology, sociology

Procedia PDF Downloads 334

Authors: Mohammed Wadi, Bedri Kekezoglu, Mustafa Baysal, Mehmet Rida Tur, Abdulfetah Shobole

Abstract:

This paper investigates the technical evaluation of the wind potential for present and future investments in Turkey taking into account the feasibility of sites, installments, operation, and maintenance. This evaluation based on the hourly measured wind speed data for the three years 2008–2010 at 30 m height for Çatalca district. These data were obtained from national meteorology station in Istanbul–Republic of Turkey are analyzed in order to evaluate the feasibility of wind power potential and to assure supreme assortment of wind turbines installing for the area of interest. Furthermore, the data are extrapolated and analyzed at 60 m and 80 m regarding the variability of roughness factor. Weibull bi-parameter probability function is used to approximate monthly and annually wind potential and power density based on three calculation methods namely, the approximated, the graphical and the energy pattern factor methods. The annual mean wind power densities were to be 400.31, 540.08 and 611.02 W/m² for 30, 60, and 80 m heights respectively. Simulation results prove that the analyzed area is an appropriate place for constructing large-scale wind farms.

Keywords: wind potential in Turkey, Weibull bi-parameter probability function, the approximated method, the graphical method, the energy pattern factor method, capacity factor

Procedia PDF Downloads 242

Authors: Yuchen Chen, Dehong Li, Bin Li, Denis Rodrigue, Xiaodong (Alice) Wang

Abstract:

When selecting insulation materials, not only should their thermal efficiency be considered, but also their impact on the environment. Compared to conventional insulation materials, bio-based materials not only have comparable thermal performance, but they also have a lower embodied energy. Sheep wool has the advantages of low negative health impact, high fire resistance, eco-friendliness, and high moisture resistance. However, studies on applying sheep wool insulation in cold and humid climates are still insufficient. The purpose of this study is to simulate the hygrothermal performance of sheep wool insulation for the Quebec City climate, as well as analyze the mold growth risks. The results show that a sheep wool wall has better thermal performance than a reference wall and that both meet the minimum requirements of the Quebec Code for the thermal performance of above-ground walls. The total water content indicates that the sheep wool wall can reach dynamic equilibrium in the Quebec climate and can dry out. At the same time, a delay of almost four months in the maximum total water content indicates that the sheep wool wall has high moisture absorption compared to the reference wall. The hygrothermal profiles show that the sheathing-insulation interface of both walls is at the highest risk for condensation. When the interior surface gypsum was replaced by stucco, the mold index significantly dropped.

Keywords: sheep wool, water content, hygrothermal performance, mould growth risk

Procedia PDF Downloads 69

Authors: Vathna Suy, Ki-Il Song

Abstract:

In order to store highly pressurized gas such as an isothermal compressed air energy storage, Lined Rock Caverns (LRC) are constructed underground and supported by layers of concrete, steel and rock masses. This study aims to numerically investigate the performance of rock masses which serve as a support of Lined Rock Cavern subjected to high cyclic pressure loadings. FLAC3D finite different software is used for the simulation since the software can effectively model the behavior of concrete lining and steel plate with its built-in structural elements. Cyclic pressure loadings are applied onto the inner surface of the cavern which then transmitted to concrete, steel and eventually to the surrounding rock masses. Changes of stress and strain are constantly monitored throughout all the process of loading operations. The results at various monitoring locations are then extracted and analyzed to assess the response of the rock masses, specifically on its ability to absorb energy during loadings induced by the changes of cyclic pressure loadings inside the cavern. By analyzing the obtained data of stress-strain relation and taking into account the behavior of materials under the effect of strain-dependency, conclusions on the performance of rock masses subjected to high cyclic loading conditions are drawn.

Keywords: cyclic loading, FLAC3D, lined rock cavern (LRC), strain-dependency

Procedia PDF Downloads 233

Authors: Jacob Wahl, Jane Zhang

Abstract:

This paper describes the development and characterization of a prototype IoT network for use with agricultural imaging and monitoring applications. The sensor and gateway nodes are designed using the ESP32 SoC with integrated Bluetooth Low Energy 4.2 and Wi-Fi. A development board, the Arducam IoTai ESP32, is used for prototyping, testing, and power measurements. Google’s Firebase is used as the cloud storage site for image data collected by the sensor. The sensor node captures images using the OV2640 2MP camera module and transmits the image data to the gateway via Bluetooth Low Energy. The gateway then uploads the collected images to Firebase via a known nearby Wi-Fi network connection. This image data can then be processed and analyzed by computer vision and machine learning pipelines to assess crop growth or other needs. The sensor node achieves a wireless transmission data throughput of 220kbps while consuming 150mA of current; the sensor sleeps at 162µA. The sensor node device lifetime is estimated to be 682 days on a 6600mAh LiPo battery while acquiring five images per day based on the development board power measurements. This network can be utilized by any application that requires high data rates, low power consumption, short-range communication, and large amounts of data to be transmitted at low-frequency intervals.

Keywords: Bluetooth low energy, ESP32, firebase cloud, IoT, smart farming

Procedia PDF Downloads 128

Authors: Dan Zhu, Jie Shi

Abstract:

This study explores the relationship between solar potential and block typology and density by analyzing sixteen existing typical street blocks with different topologies and densities in Shanghai, a representative high-density urban in China. Several indicators are proposed to quantify, and a methodology is conducted to evaluate and compare the solar potential both on façade and roof across various selected urban forms. 1) The importance of appropriate solar energy indicators and geometric parameters to be used in comparative studies, and 2) the relationship between urban typology, density, and solar performance are discussed. In this way, the results reveal the key design attributes contributing to increasing solar potential.

Keywords: block typology, geometric parameters, high-density urban, solar potential

Procedia PDF Downloads 320

Authors: Dhanya Nair, Nicholas Mirchandani

Abstract:

Musical haptic systems can enhance a listener’s musical experience while providing an alternative platform for the hearing impaired to experience music. Current music tactile technologies focus on representing tactile metronomes to synchronize performers or encoding musical notes into distinguishable (albeit distracting) tactile patterns. There is growing interest in the development of musical haptic systems to augment the auditory experience, although the haptic-music relationship is still not well understood. This paper represents a tactile music interface that provides vibrations to multiple fingertips in synchronicity with auditory music. Like an audio equalizer, different frequency bands are filtered out, and the power in each frequency band is computed and converted to a corresponding vibrational strength. These vibrations are felt on different fingertips, each corresponding to a different frequency band. Songs with music from different spectrums, as classified by their energy and valence, were used to test the effectiveness of the system and to understand the relationship between music and tactile sensations. Three participants were trained on one song categorized as sad (low energy and low valence score) and one song categorized as happy (high energy and high valence score). They were trained both with and without auditory feedback (listening to the song while experiencing the tactile music on their fingertips and then experiencing the vibrations alone without the music). The participants were then tested on three songs from both categories, without any auditory feedback, and were asked to classify the tactile vibrations they felt into either category. The participants were blinded to the songs being tested and were not provided any feedback on the accuracy of their classification. These participants were able to classify the music with 100% accuracy. Although the songs tested were on two opposite spectrums (sad/happy), the preliminary results show the potential of utilizing a vibrotactile equalizer, like the one presented, for augmenting musical experience while furthering the current understanding of music tactile relationship.

Keywords: haptic music relationship, tactile equalizer, tactile music, vibrations and mood

Procedia PDF Downloads 159

Authors: Noorhaslinda Kulub Abd. Rashid, Zuraini Anang, Bayu Taufiq Possumah, Suriyani Muhamad, Fauziah Abu Hasan, Hairunnizam Wahid

Abstract:

Reality of Malaysian lives today, especially the households, are not exempted from using a variety of good products and services that are particularly materialistic. In fact, the pace and sophistication of the technology is seen as a major catalyst to the pattern of community life. In facing the challenges of the current economy, the key role to be played by household is managing the pattern of expenditure, income and loan debts regularly and blessed by Allah. Unfortunately, the world today is witnessing the average household could owe solely to meet their needs with existing spending limits. This study aims to measure the ‘Religious Index of Household Expenditure’ (IKM) and analyze how far the religious influence to the pattern of household expenditure based on the 441 Muslim households. The results showed only a 5-item spending, food, housing, transportation, education, and recreation and entertainment that has a significant relationship with IKM. Therefore, Islamic consumer education is a must to establish sustainable consumptions in order to speed up the internalization of sustainable lifestyle among Malaysians.

Keywords: ‘Religious Index of Household Expenditure’ (IKM), income, sustainable consumptions, household expenditure

Procedia PDF Downloads 217

Authors: Pietro P. Falciglia, Erica Gagliano, Vincenza Brancato, Alfio Catalfo, Guglielmo Finocchiaro, Guido De Guidi, Stefano Romano, Paolo Roccaro, Federico G. A. Vagliasindi

Abstract:

Cesium-137 (¹³⁷Cs) is a major radionuclide in spent nuclear fuel processing, and it represents the most important cause of contamination related to nuclear accidents. Cesium-137 has long-term radiological effects representing a major concern for the human health. Several physico-chemical methods have been proposed for ¹³⁷Cs removal from impacted water: ion-exchange, adsorption, chemical precipitation, membrane process, coagulation, and electrochemical. However, these methods can be limited by ionic selectivity and efficiency, or they present very restricted full-scale application due to equipment and chemical high costs. On the other hand, adsorption is considered a more cost-effective solution, and activated carbons (ACs) are known as a low-cost and effective adsorbent for a wide range of pollutants among which radionuclides. However, adsorption of Cs onto ACs has been investigated in very few and not exhaustive studies. In addition, exhausted activated carbons are generally discarded in landfill, that is not an eco-friendly and economic solution. Consequently, the regeneration of exhausted ACs must be considered a preferable choice. Several alternatives, including conventional thermal-, solvent-, biological- and electrochemical-regeneration, are available but are affected by several economic or environmental concerns. Microwave (MW) irradiation has been widely used in industrial and environmental applications and it has attracted many attentions to regenerating activated carbons. The growing interest in MW irradiation is based on the passive ability of the irradiated medium to convert a low power irradiation energy into a rapid and large temperature increase if the media presents good dielectric features. ACs are excellent MW-absorbers, with a high mechanical strength and a good resistance towards heating process. This work investigates the feasibility of MW irradiation for the regeneration of Cs-exhausted ACs. Adsorption batch experiments were carried out using commercially available granular activated carbon (GAC), then Cs-saturated AC samples were treated using a controllable bench-scale 2.45-GHz MW oven and investigating different adsorption-regeneration cycles. The regeneration efficiency (RE), weight loss percentage, and textural properties of the AC samples during the adsorption-regeneration cycles were also assessed. Main results demonstrated a relatively low adsorption capacity for Cs, although the feasibility of ACs was strictly linked to their dielectric nature, which allows a very efficient thermal regeneration by MW irradiation. The weight loss percentage was found less than 2%, and an increase in RE after three cycles was also observed. Furthermore, MW regeneration preserved the pore structure of the regenerated ACs. For a deeper exploration of the full-scale applicability of MW regeneration, further investigations on more adsorption-regeneration cycles or using fixed-bed columns are required.

Keywords: adsorption mechanisms, cesium, granular activated carbons, microwave regeneration

Procedia PDF Downloads 127

Authors: J. R. Mudakavi, K. Puttanna

Abstract:

Chromium in the environment is considered as one of the most toxic elements probably next only to mercury and arsenic. It is acutely toxic, mutagenic and carcinogenic in the environment. Chromium contamination of soil and underground water due to industrial activities is a very serious problem in several parts of India covering Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh etc. Functionally modified Activated Carbon Fabrics (ACF) offer targeted chromium removal from drinking water and industrial effluents. Activated carbon fabric is a light weight adsorbing material with high surface area and low resistance to fluid flow. We have investigated surface modification of ACF using various acids in the laboratory through batch as well as through continuous flow column experiments with a view to develop the optimum conditions for chromium removal. Among the various acids investigated, phosphoric acid modified ACF gave best results with a removal efficiency of 95% under optimum conditions. Optimum pH was around 2 – 4 with 2 hours contact time. Continuous column experiments with an effective bed contact time (EBCT) of 5 minutes indicated that breakthrough occurred after 300 bed volumes. Adsorption data followed a Freundlich isotherm pattern. Nickel adsorbs preferentially and sulphate reduces chromium adsorption by 50%. The ACF could be regenerated up to 52.3% using 3 M NaOH under optimal conditions. The process is simple, economical, energy efficient and applicable to industrial effluents and drinking water.

Keywords: activated carbon fabric, hexavalent chromium, adsorption, drinking water

Procedia PDF Downloads 323

Authors: Gizachew Belay Adugna

Abstract:

Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) shows rapid development as an emerging photovoltaic material; however, the fast device degradation due to the organic nature, mainly hole transporting material (HTM) and lack of robust and reliable upscaling process for photovoltaic module hindered its commercialization. Herein, HTM molecules with/without fluorine-substituted cyclopenta[2,1-b;3,4-b’]dithiophene derivatives (HYC-oF, HYC-mF, and HYC-H) were developed for PSCs application. The fluorinated HTM molecules exhibited better hole mobility and overall charge extraction in the devices mainly due to strong molecular interaction and packing in the film. Thus, the highest power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 19.64% with improved long stability was achieved for PSCs based on HYC-oF HTM. Moreover, the fluorinated HYC-oF demonstrated excellent film processability in a larger-area substrate (10 cm×10 cm) prepared sequentially with the absorption perovskite underlayer via a scalable bar coating process in ambient air and owned a higher PCE of 18.49% compared to the conventional spiro-OMeTAD (17.51%). The result demonstrates a facile development of HTM towards stable and efficient PSCs for future industrial-scale PV modules.

Keywords: perovskite solar cells, upscaling film coating, power conversion efficiency, solution processing

Procedia PDF Downloads 55