Search results for: solid waste generation

Authors: Megha Chavda, Parth Thummar, Rahul Ghetia

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This paper presents the voltage and current control of microgrid accompanied by the synchronization of microgrid with the main utility grid in both islanded and grid-connected modes. Distributed Energy Resources (DERs) satisfy the wide-spread power demand of consumer by behaving as a micro source for a low voltage (LV) grid or microgrid. Synchronization of the microgrid with the main utility grid is done using PLL and PWM gate pulse generation technique is used for the Voltage Source Converter. Potential Function method achieves the voltage and current control of this microgrid in both islanded and grid-connected modes. A low voltage grid consisting of three distributed generators (DG) is considered for the study and is simulated in time-domain using PSCAD/EMTDC software. The simulation results depict the appropriateness of voltage and current control of microgrid and synchronization of microgrid with the medium voltage (MV) grid.

Keywords: microgrid, distributed energy resources, voltage and current control, voltage source converter, pulse width modulation, phase locked loop

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Authors: Pooja Rawat, Rakhi Tyagi

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Globally, almost 3 billion people rely on biomass (wood, charcoal, dung and crop residues) and coal as their primary source of domestic energy. Cooking and heating with solid fuels on open fire give rise to major pollutants. Women are primarily affected by these pollutants as they spend most of their time in the house. The WHO World Health Report 2002 estimates that indoor air pollution (IAP) is responsible for 2.7% of the loss of disability adjusted life years (DALYs) worldwide and 3.7% in high mortality developing countries. Indoor air pollution has the potential to not only impact health, but also impact the general economic well-being of the household. Exposure to high level of household pollution lead to acute and chronic respiratory conditions (e.g.: pneumonia, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lung cancer and cataract). There has been many strategies for reducing IAP like subsidize cleaner fuel technologies, for example use of kerosene rather than traditional biomass fuels. Another example is development, promotion of 'improved cooking stoves'. India, likely ranks second- distributing over 12 million improved stoves in the first seven years of a national program to develop. IAP should be reduced by understanding the welfare effects of reducing IAP within households and to understanding the most cost effective way to reduce it.

Keywords: open fire, indoor pollution, lung diseases, indoor air pollution

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Authors: S. Farid F. Mojtahedi, Ali Khosravi, Behnaz Naeimian, S. Adel A. Hosseini

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Land subsidence is a gradual settling or sudden sinking of the land surface from changes that take place underground. There are different causes of land subsidence; most notably, ground-water overdraft and severe weather conditions. Subsidence of the land surface due to ground water overdraft is caused by an increase in the intergranular pressure in unconsolidated aquifers, which results in a loss of buoyancy of solid particles in the zone dewatered by the falling water table and accordingly compaction of the aquifer. On the other hand, exploitation of underground water may result in significant changes in degree of saturation of soil layers above the water table, increasing the effective stress in these layers, and considerable soil settlements. This study focuses on estimation of soil moisture at surface using different methods. Specifically, different methods for the estimation of moisture content at the soil surface, as an important term to solve Richard’s equation and estimate soil moisture profile are presented, and their results are discussed through comparison with field measurements obtained from Yanco1 station in south-eastern Australia. Surface soil moisture is not easy to measure at the spatial scale of a catchment. Due to the heterogeneity of soil type, land use, and topography, surface soil moisture may change considerably in space and time.

Keywords: artificial neural network, empirical method, remote sensing, surface soil moisture, unsaturated soil

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Authors: Taghried I. M. Abdel-Magid, Gheida T. A. Al-Khelifa, Ahmed O. Adam, Esra G. A. Mohamed, Saeed M. S. Saeed

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The use of pozzolanic materials in concrete industry is facing challenges due to unpredictable behavior of natural materials. Corncob ash (CCA) is considered to be one of the promising plant-based materials that possess cementitious properties. Corn is one of the major planted crops in Sudan. Corncob is considered as waste and normally thrown away or burnt. The main purpose of this research was to test the hypothesis that CCA can sufficiently replace cement in a concrete mixture or a cement mortar. In this study, CCA was used to replace cement in mortar in three percentages: 0, 20, and 25%. The effect of this replacement was found to be positive in terms of long-term compressive strength, while not as such in short-term compressive strength. In the concrete mix, the introduction of CCA was found to have a positive impact on the slump test characteristics, whereas the early and late compressive strengths deteriorated by approximately 30%. More research is needed in this area to upgrade the efficient use of CCA in cement mortar and concrete properties.

Keywords: cementitious materials, compressive strength, corncob ash, pozzolanic materials

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Authors: Muhammad Ganda Wiratama

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XYZ company is one of the upstream chemical companies that produce chemical products such as NaOH, HCl, NaClO, VCM, EDC, and PVC for downstream companies. The products are shipped by land using trucks and sea lanes using ship mode. Especially for solid products such as flake caustic soda (F-NaOH) and PVC resin, the products are sold in loose bag packing and palletize packing (packed in pallet). The focus of this study is to increase the number of items that can be loaded in pallet packaging on the company's logistics vehicle. This is very difficult because on this packaging, the dimensions or size of the material to be loaded become larger and certainly much heavier than the loose bag packing. This factor causes the arrangement and handling of materials in the mode of transportation more difficult. In this case, it is difficult to load a different type of volume packing pallet dimension in one truck or container. By using the Cube-IQ software, it is hoped that the planning of stuffing activity material by pallet can become easier in optimizing the existing space with various possible combinations of possibilities. In addition, the output of this software can also be used as a reference for operators in the material handling include the order and orientation of materials contained in the truck or container. The more optimal contents of logistics cargo, then transportation costs can also be minimized.

Keywords: loading activity, container loading, palletize product, simulation

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Authors: Nouh Zeggai, Lucas Debrux, Fabien Parrain, Brahim Dkhil, Martino Lobue, Morgan Almanza

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Refrigeration and air conditioning are some of the most used energies in our daily life, especially vapor compression refrigeration. Electrocaloric material might appears as an alternative towards solid-state cooling. polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) based polymer has shown promising adiabatic temperature change (∆T) and entropy change (∆S). There is practically no limit to the electric field that can be applied, except the one that the material can withstand. However, when working with a large surface as required in a device, the chance to have a defect is larger and can drastically reduce the voltage breakdown, thus reducing the electrocaloric properties. In this work, we propose to study how the characteristic of a single film are transposed when going to multilayer. The laminator and the hot press appear as two interesting processes that have been investigating to achieve a multilayer film. The study is mainly focused on the breakdown field and the adiabatic temperature change, but the phase and crystallinity have also been measured. We process one layer-based PVDF and assemble them to obtain a multilayer. Pressing at hot temperature method and lamination were used for the production of the thin films. The multilayer film shows higher breakdown strength, temperature change, and crystallinity (beta phases) using the hot press technique.

Keywords: PVDF-TrFE-CFE, multilayer, electrocaloric effect, hot press, cooling device

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Authors: Miguel A. Figueroa, José A. Lara-Ramos, Miguel A. Mueses

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Pharmaceutical residues are a section of emerging contaminants of anthropogenic origin that are present in a myriad of waters with which human beings interact daily and are starting to affect the ecosystem directly. Conventional waste-water treatment systems are not capable of degrading these pharmaceutical effluents because their designs cannot handle the intermediate products and biological effects occurring during its treatment. That is why it is necessary to hybridize conventional waste-water systems with non-conventional processes. In the specific case of an ozonation process, its efficiency highly depends on a perfect dispersion of ozone, long times of interaction of the gas-liquid phases and the size of the ozone bubbles formed through-out the reaction system. In order to increase the efficiency of these parameters, the use of a modified flotation cell has been proposed recently as a reactive system, which is used at an industrial level to facilitate the suspension of particles and spreading gas bubbles through the reactor volume at a high rate. The objective of the present work is the development of a mathematical model that can closely predict the kinetic rates of reactions taking place in the flotation cell at an experimental scale by means of identifying proper reaction mechanisms that take into account the modified chemical and hydrodynamic factors in the FeO-catalyzed Ozonation of Diclofenac aqueous solutions in a flotation cell. The methodology is comprised of three steps: an experimental phase where a modified flotation cell reactor is used to analyze the effects of ozone concentration and loading catalyst over the degradation of Diclofenac aqueous solutions. The performance is evaluated through an index of utilized ozone, which relates the amount of ozone supplied to the system per milligram of degraded pollutant. Next, a theoretical phase where the reaction mechanisms taking place during the experiments must be identified and proposed that details the multiple direct and indirect reactions the system goes through. Finally, a kinetic model is obtained that can mathematically represent the reaction mechanisms with adjustable parameters that can be fitted to the experimental results and give the model a proper physical meaning. The expected results are a robust reaction rate law that can simulate the improved results of Diclofenac mineralization on water using the modified flotation cell reactor. By means of this methodology, the following results were obtained: A robust reaction pathways mechanism showcasing the intermediates, free-radicals and products of the reaction, Optimal values of reaction rate constants that simulated Hatta numbers lower than 3 for the system modeled, degradation percentages of 100%, TOC (Total organic carbon) removal percentage of 69.9 only requiring an optimal value of FeO catalyst of 0.3 g/L. These results showed that a flotation cell could be used as a reactor in ozonation, catalytic ozonation and photocatalytic ozonation processes, since it produces high reaction rate constants and reduces mass transfer limitations (Ha > 3) by producing microbubbles and maintaining a good catalyst distribution.

Keywords: advanced oxidation technologies, iron oxide, emergent contaminants, AOTS intensification

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Authors: Natia Gavardashvili

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On June 13-14 of 2015, a landslide in village Akhaldaba was formed as a result of the intense rains in the water catch basin of the river Vere. As a result of the landslide movement, freshets and mudflows originated, and unfortunately, there were victims: zoo animals and birds were drawn in the flood and 12 people died due to the flooded motor road. The goal of the study is to give the analysis of the results of the field and scientific research held in 2015-2017 and to generalize them to the water catch basins of the erosive-mudflow rivers of other mountain landscapes of Georgia. By considering the field and scientific works, the main geographic, geological, climatic, hydrological and hydraulic properties of the erosive-mudflow tributaries of the water catch basin of the river Vere were evaluated and the probabilities of mudflow formation by considering relevant risk-factors were identified. The typology of the water catch basins of erosive-mudflow rivers of Georgia was identified on the example of the river Vere based on the field and scientific study, and their genesis, frequency of mudflow formation and volume of the drift material was identified. By using the empirical and theoretical dependencies, the amount of solid admixtures in the mudflow formed in the gorge of the river Jokhona, the right tributary of the river Vere was identified by considering the shape of the stones.

Keywords: water catchment basin, erosion, mudflow, typology

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Authors: H. B. Rekha, Usha N. Murthy, Prashanth, Ashoka

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Dyes are manufactured to have high chemical resistance because they are normally species, very difficult to degrade (reactive dyes). It damages flora and fauna. Furthermore, coloured components are highly hazardous. So removal of dyes becomes a challenge for both textile industry and water treatment facility. Dyeing wastewater is usually treated by conventional methods such as biological oxidation and adsorption but nowadays them becoming in-adequate because of large variability of composition of waste water. In the present investigation, mild steel electrodes of varying surface area were used for treatment of synthetic textile dye. It appears that electro-chemical coagulation could be very effective in removing coloured from wastewater; it could also be used to remove other parameters like chlorides, COD, and solids to some extent. In the present study, coloured removal up to 99% was obtained for surface area of mild steel electrode of 80 cm2 and 96% of surface area of mild steel electrode of 50 cm2. The findings from this study could be used to improve the design of electro-chemical treatment systems and modify existing systems to improve efficiency.

Keywords: electrochemical coagulation, mild steel, colour, environmental engineering

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Authors: Susmita Sharma, Pankaj Pathak

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Biosolids are by-products of municipal and industrial wastewater treatment process. The generation of the biosolids is increasing at an alarming rate due to the implementation of strict environmental legislation to improve the quality of discharges from wastewater treatment plant. As such, proper management and safe disposal of sewage sludge have become a worldwide topic of research. Biosolids, rich in organic matter and essential micro and macronutrients; can be used as a soil conditioner, to cut fertilizer costs and create favorable conditions for vegetation. However, it also contains pathogens and heavy metals which are undesirable as they are harmful to both humans and the environment. Therefore, for safe utilization of biosolids for land application purposes, categorization of the contaminant and pathogen is mandatory. In this context, biosolids collected from a wastewater treatment plant in Maharashtra are utilized to determine its physical, chemical and microbiological attributes. This study would ascertain, if the use of these materials from the specific site, are suitable for agriculture. Further, efforts have also been made to present the internationally acceptable legal standards and guidelines for biosolids management or application.

Keywords: biosolids, sewage, heavy metal, sustainable agriculture

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Authors: Tim Vollmer, Andrea Greven, Malte Brettel

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Family firms represent the predominant business structure worldwide, accounting for 90 percent of all operational businesses. These firms are essential to society and the economy. In the past decade, family firm exits increased by 72%; and in the next five years, 95,000 German family firms will be sold, acquired, or liquidated. For family firms, socioemotional wealth represents the frame of reference and value to preserve when making decisions. Family firm exits threaten the socioemotional wealth, as in extreme scenarios, economic logic may take over. So, a dilemma arises: Maintaining socioemotional wealth versus pursuing financial wealth. Family firm researchers agree that family involvement leads to specific goals, behaviors, and outcomes. For instance, the desire to protect socioemotional wealth when selling the firm and the focus on particular exit success dimensions, depending on the family's role inside the firm. However, despite the regularity of family firm exits, there is little research on the effect of family involvement on the family firm CEOs' perceived exit performance. We investigate the family firm CEOs' perceived exit performance, which we call exit success. Considering the deficiencies in the literature, we identify two research gaps. First, it remains unclear how family involvement affects the dimensions of exit success. Hence, we provide evidence of which success dimensions matter most depending on the family's involvement and how to differentiate successful from unsuccessful exits. Second, prior work has analyzed family involvement in the socioemotional wealth context but found contradictory findings. This work considers, for example, the family generation in control and identifies the tipping point of economic objectives becoming preferable over socioemotional wealth-related goals. This paper theorizes and empirically investigates, through the lens of socioemotional wealth and conflict theory, how socioemotional wealth mediates the relationship between family involvement and family firms' exit success. We analyze family firms' exit success dimensions of personal financial benefits, personal reputation, employee benefits, and firm mission persistence. Family involvement considers the family firms' heterogeneity in ownership, management, and generation. We use a quantitative approach in the form of an online survey by drawing on 116 responses from former family firm CEOs'. This study highlights that socioemotional wealth mediates the relationship between the dimensions of family involvement and exit success. The greater socioemotional wealth, the greater the family firm CEOs focus on the pro-organizational exit success dimensions of employee benefits and firm mission persistence. In contrast, the self-regarding dimension of personal financial benefits is significantly negatively affected. An important finding is that later generations and the number of family managers involved significantly negatively affect the two pro-organizational dimensions of exit success. Family ownership does not show any significant effect. Our work widens implications for research, theory, and practice by contributing in two meaningful ways. First, our results offer insights to differentiate successful from unsuccessful family firm exits and provide evidence of which success dimensions matter and which to focus on, most dependent on the family's role inside the firm. Second, our article advances research and empirical understanding of family firms and socioemotional wealth by clarifying contradictory findings.

Keywords: exit success, family firm exit, perceived exit performance, socioemotional wealth

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Authors: Eduardo F. Mello, Peter H. Bauer

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The primary focus of this paper is the generation of energy-optimal speed trajectories for heterogeneous electric vehicle platoons in urban driving conditions. Optimal speed trajectories are generated for individual vehicles and for an entire platoon under the assumption that they can be executed without errors, as would be the case for self-driving vehicles. It is then shown that the optimization for the “average vehicle in the platoon” generates similar transportation energy savings to optimizing speed trajectories for each vehicle individually. The introduced approach only requires the lead vehicle to run the optimization software while the remaining vehicles are only required to have adaptive cruise control capability. The achieved energy savings are typically between 30% and 50% for stop-to-stop segments in cities. The prime motivation of urban platooning comes from the fact that urban platoons efficiently utilize the available space and the minimization of transportation energy in cities is important for many reasons, i.e., for environmental, power, and range considerations.

Keywords: electric vehicles, energy efficiency, optimization, platooning, self-driving vehicles, urban traffic

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Authors: K. Assis, K. P. Chong, A. S. Idris, C. M. Ho

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Oil palm or Elaeis guineensis is considered as the golden crop in Malaysia. But oil palm industry in this country is now facing with the most devastating disease called as Ganoderma Basal Stem Rot disease. The objective of this paper is to analyze the economic loss due to this disease. There were three commercial oil palm sites selected for collecting the required data for economic analysis. Yield parameter used to measure the loss was the total weight of fresh fruit bunch in six months. The predictors include disease severity, change in disease severity, number of infected neighbor palms, age of palm, planting generation, topography, and first order interaction variables. The estimation model of yield loss was identified by using backward elimination based regression method. Diagnostic checking was conducted on the residual of the best yield loss model. The value of mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) was used to measure the forecast performance of the model. The best yield loss model was then used to estimate the economic loss by using the current monthly price of fresh fruit bunch at mill gate.

Keywords: ganoderma, oil palm, regression model, yield loss, economic loss

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Authors: Salahaldein Alsadey, Issa Amaish

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Recycled aggregates (RA) have the potential to compromise concrete performance, contributing to issues such as reduced strength and increased susceptibility to cracking. This study investigates the impact of sisal fiber (SF) on the mechanical properties of concrete, with the objective of utilizing sisal fibers as a reinforcing element in concrete compositions containing natural aggregate and varying percentages (25%, 50%, and 75%) of coarse recycled aggregate replacement. The investigation aims to discern the positive and negative effects on compressive and flexural strength, thereby assessing the viability of sisal fiber-reinforced recycled concrete in comparison to conventional concrete composed of natural aggregate without sisal fiber. Test results revealed that concrete samples incorporating sisal fiber exhibited elevated compressive and flexural strength. Comparative analysis of these strength values was conducted with reference to samples devoid of sisal fiber.

Keywords: sustainable construction, construction materials, recycled aggregate, sisal fibers, compressive strength, flexural strength, eco-friendly concrete, natural fiber composites, recycled materials, construction waste management

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Authors: Yiyang Su, Jörg Neumann, Jan Wetzlich, Florian Thiel

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Smart grid is a term used to describe the next generation power grid. New challenges such as integration of renewable and decentralized energy sources, the requirement for continuous grid estimation and optimization, as well as the use of two-way flows of energy have been brought to the power gird. In order to achieve efficient, reliable, sustainable, as well as secure delivery of electric power more and more information and communication technologies are used for the monitoring and the control of power grids. Consequently, the need for cybersecurity is dramatically increased and has converged into several standards which will be presented here. These standards for the smart grid must be designed to satisfy both performance and reliability requirements. An in depth investigation of the effect of retrospectively embedded security in existing grids on it’s dynamic behavior is required. Therefore, a retrofitting plan for existing meters is offered, and it’s performance in a test low voltage microgrid is investigated. As a result of this, integration of security measures into measurement architectures of smart grids at the design phase is strongly recommended.

Keywords: cyber security, performance, protocols, security standards, smart grid

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Authors: Apolinar Picado, Steve Alfaro, Rafael Gamero

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Energy and exergy analyses of thin-layer drying of pineapple slices (Ananas comosus L.) were conducted in a laboratory tunnel dryer. Drying experiments were carried out at three temperatures (100, 115 and 130 °C) and an air velocity of 1.45 m/s. The effects of drying variables on energy utilisation, energy utilisation ratio, exergy loss and exergy efficiency were studied. The enthalpy difference of the gas increased as the inlet gas temperature increase. It is observed that at the 75 minutes of the drying process the outlet gas enthalpy achieves a maximum value that is very close to the inlet value and remains constant until the end of the drying process. This behaviour is due to the reduction of the total enthalpy within the system, or in other words, the reduction of the effective heat transfer from the hot gas flow to the vegetable being dried. Further, the outlet entropy exhibits a significant increase that is not only due to the temperature variation, but also to the increase of water vapour phase contained in the hot gas flow. The maximum value of the exergy efficiency curve corresponds to the maximum value observed within the drying rate curves. This maximum value represents the stage when the available energy is efficiently used in the removal of the moisture within the solid. As the drying rate decreases, the available energy is started to be less employed. The exergetic efficiency was directly dependent on the evaporation flux and since the convective drying is less efficient that other types of dryer, it is likely that the exergetic efficiency has relatively low values.

Keywords: efficiency, energy, exergy, thin-layer drying

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Authors: S. O. Amhakhian, M. Idenyi

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A pot experiment was conducted to assess the effects of organic manure on the growth of Jatropha curcas L seedlings at the Faculty of Agriculture, Kogi State University, Anyigba. There were seven treatments, namely, three (3) levels of poultry droppings (PD) (20g, 40g and 60g/kg soil) designated as T1, T2 and T3 respectively, three (3) levels of solid cattle dung (CD) (40g, 80g and 120g/kg soil designated as T4, T5, and T6) respectively, and control (no organic manure) designated as T7. All the treatments were replicated three (3) times. Jathopha curcas L seeds were sown into the polythene pot and observed for the period of six (6) weeks. Growth parameters measured were plant height, leaf count, stem girth, numbers of branches, and fresh weight. Mean separation using F-LSD0.05 showed that 120g cow dung/kg soil (T6) gave optional level of organic manure required for Jatropha curcas throughout the growth period of the seedlings. All the treatments having organic manure were significantly better than the control (P < 0.05) except at two weeks after planting where all the treatments gave the same number of leaves and at the sixth week after planting where only 120g cow dung/kg soil (T6) showed significant difference (P <0.05) in the number of branches. As a result, 120g cow dung/kg soil (T6) is therefore recommended for raising Jatrophus curcas L seedlings in Anyigba, Kogi State.

Keywords: Jatropha curcas, cow-dungs, seedlings, poultry dropping, polythene-pot

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Authors: Nader Saadatkhah, Jafar Rahnamarad, Shattri Mansor, Zailani Khuzaimah, Arnis Asmat, Nor Aizam Adnan, Siti Noradzah Adam

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Kelantan river basin as a flood prone area at the east coast of the peninsular Malaysia has suffered several flood and mudflow events in the recent years. The current research attempted to assess the land cover changes impact in the Kelantan river basin focused on the runoff contributions from different land cover classes and the potential impact of land cover changes on runoff generation. In this regards, the hydrological regional modeling of rainfall induced runoff event as the improved transient rainfall infiltration and grid based regional model (Improved-TRIGRS) was employed to compute rate of infiltration, and subsequently changes in the discharge volume in this study. The effects of land use changes on peak flow and runoff volume was investigated using storm rainfall events during the last three decades.

Keywords: improved-TRIGRS model, land cover changes, Kelantan river basin, flood event

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Authors: Sihem Kadem, Ratiba Irinislimane, Naima Belhaneche

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The natural resistance to biodegradation of polymeric materials prepared from petroleum-based source and the management of their wastes in the environment are the driving forces to replace them by other biodegradable materials from renewable resources. For that, in this work new biocomposites materials have been synthesis from sunflower oil (Helianthus annuus) and alfa plants (Stipatenacissima) as natural based resources. The sunflower oil (SFO) was chemically modified via epoxidation then acrylation reactions to obtain acrylated epoxidized sunflower oil resin (AESFO). The AESFO resin was then copolymerized with styrene as co-monomer in the presence of boron trifluoride (BF3) as cationic initiator and cobalt octoate (Co) as catalyst. The alfa fibers were treated with alkali treatment (5% NaOH) before been used as bio-reinforcement. Biocomposites were prepared by mixing the resin with untreated and treated alfa fibers at different percentages. A biodegradation study was carried out for the synthesized biocomposites in a solid medium (burial in the soil) by evaluated, first, the loss of mass, the results obtained were reached between 7.8% and 11% during one year. Then an observation under an optical microscope was carried out, after one year of burial in the soil, microcracks, brown and black spots were appeared on the samples surface. This results shows that the synthesized biocomposites have a great aptitude for biodegradation.

Keywords: alfa fiber, biocomposite, biodegradation, soil, sunflower oil

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Authors: Anbang Liu, Huaqing Xie, Zihua Wu, Xiaoxiao Yu, Yuanyuan Wang

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Due to the temperature-dependence and mutual coupling of thermoelectric parameters, the Thomson effect always exists, which is derived from temperature gradients during thermoelectric conversion. The synergistic effect between the Thomson effect and non-equilibrium heat transport of charge carriers leads to local heat absorption or release in thermoelements, thereby affecting its power generation performance and conversion efficiency. This study verified and analyzed the influence and mechanism of the Thomson effect on N-type skutterudite thermoelement through quasi-steady state testing under approximate vacuum conditions. The results indicate the temperature rise/fall of N-type thermoelement at any position is affected by Thomson heat release/absorption. Correspondingly, the Thomson effect also contributes advantageously/disadvantageously to the output power of N-type skutterudite thermoelement when the Thomson coefficients are positive/negative. In this work, the output power can be promoted or decreased maximally by more than 27% due to the presence of Thomson heat when the absolute value of the Thomson coefficient is around 36 μV/℃.

Keywords: Thomson effect, heat transport, thermoelectric conversion, numerical simulation

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Authors: Mohamad Bagher Heidari, Hefzollah Mohammadian

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New discoveries in materials on the nanometer-length scale are expected to play an important role in addressing ongoing and future challenges in the field of communication. Devices and systems for ultra-high speed short and long range communication links, portable and power efficient computing devices, high-density memory and logics, ultra-fast interconnects, and autonomous and robust energy scavenging devices for accessing ambient intelligence and needed information will critically depend on the success of next-generation emerging nonmaterials and devices. This article presents some exciting recent developments in nonmaterials that have the potential to play a critical role in the development and transformation of future intelligent communication and telecom networks in the gas refinery. The industry is benefiting from nanotechnology advances with numerous applications including those in smarter sensors, logic elements, computer chips, memory storage devices, optoelectronics.

Keywords: nonmaterial, intelligent communication, nanoscale, nanophotonic, telecom

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Authors: Ashkan Forootan, Reza Rashedi

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Polyethylene has wide usage areas such as blow molding, pipe, film, cable insulation. However, regardless to its growing applications, it has some constraints such as the limited 70C operating temperature. Polyethylene thermo setting procedure whose molecules are knotted and 3D-molecular-network formed , is developed to conquer the above problem and to raise the applicable temperature of the polymer. This paper reports the cross-linking for two different molecular weight grades of LLDPE by adding 0.5, 1, and 2% of DCP (Dicumyl Peroxide). DCP was chosen for its prevalence among various cross-linking agents. Structural parameters such as molecular weight, melt flow index, comonomer, number of branches,etc. were obtained through the use of relative tests as Gel Permeation Chromatography and Fourier Transform Infra Red spectrometer. After calculating the percentage of gel content, properties of the pure and cross-linked samples were compared by thermal and mechanical analysis with DMTA and FTIR and the effects of cross-linking like viscous and elastic modulus were discussed by using various structural paprameters such as MFI, molecular weight, short chain branches, etc. Studies showed that cross-linked polymer, unlike the pure one, had a solid state with thermal mechanical properties in the range of 110 to 120C and this helped overcome the problem of using polyethylene in temperatures near the melting point.

Keywords: LLDPE, cross-link, structural parameters, DCP, DMTA, GPC

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Authors: Akshita Bhardwaj

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Keratinase is an enzyme obtained from extracellular sources that is involved in biodegradation of keratin. It is a member of a group of proteases that can break down keratin into amino acids. Keratinases are produced only in the presence of substrate that contain keratin. It attacked the disulfide bond of substrate and involve in keratin degradation. Human hair, feathers, animal hard tissues, horns, claws, and hooves all contain keratin.. It exists in two form alpha keratin (found in soft tissues) and beta keratin (found in hard tissue). By taking part in the degradation of keratin, keratinases derived from microbial sources, often referred to as microbial keratinases, are important in the process of turning wastes containing keratin into products with added value. Chicken feathers contain high level of keratin protein content than other sources and became a suitable protein source. Keratinase production occurs at near alkaline pH and thermophilic temperatures. The bioprocessing of keratinous waste benefits greatly from the use of keratinases. Additionally, it lessens the issue caused by poultry excrement. The use of feather meal, along with keratinase, improves the digestion of proteins and amino acids.

Keywords: mili litre (ml), micro litre (Ul), TCA - trichloroacetic acid, OD - optical density

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Authors: A-Q. Nguyen. A. Amrhar, J. Zambrano, G. Brown, O.A. Yeste-Ojeda, R. Jr. Landry

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Since the presence of Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen), Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) has raised specific concerns related to the privacy and security, due to its vulnerable, low-level of security and limited payload. In this paper, the authors introduce and analyze the combination of Pulse Amplitude Modulation (PAM) and Phase Shift Keying (PSK) Modulation in conventional ADS-B, forming Secure ADS-B (SADS-B) avionics. In order to demonstrate the potential of this combination, Hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) simulation was used. The tests' results show that, on the one hand, SADS-B can offer five times the payload as its predecessor. This additional payload of SADS-B can be used in various applications, therefore enhancing the ability and efficiency of the current ADS-B. On the other hand, by using the extra phase modulated bits as a digital signature to authenticate ADS-B messages, SADS-B can increase the security of ADS-B, thus ensure a more secure aviation as well. More importantly, SADS-B is compatible with the current ADS-B In and Out. Hence, no significant modifications will be needed to implement this idea. As a result, SADS-B can be considered the most promising approach to enhance the capability and security of ADS-B.

Keywords: ADS-B authentication, ADS-B security, NextGen ADS-B, PSK signature, secure ADS-B

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Authors: A. Vani, M. N. Mamatha

Abstract:

Visual signal processing in human beings occurs in the occipital lobe of the brain. The signals that are generated in the brain are universal for all the human beings and they are called Visual Evoked Potential (VEP). Generally, the visually impaired people lose sight because of severe damage to only the eyes natural photo sensors, but the occipital lobe will still be functioning. In this paper, a technique of artificially generating VEP is proposed to enhance the visual ability of the subject. The system uses the electrical photoreceptors to capture image, process the image, to detect and recognize the subject or object. This voltage is further processed and can transmit wirelessly to a BIOMEMS implanted into occipital lobe of the patient’s brain. The proposed BIOMEMS consists of array of electrodes that generate the neuron potential which is similar to VEP of normal people. Thus, the neurons get the visual data from the BioMEMS which helps in generating partial vision or sight for the visually challenged patient. 

Keywords: BioMEMS, neuro-prosthetic, openvibe, visual evoked potential

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Authors: Stefanie Jeanette Huber

Abstract:

This paper explores the relevance and implications of preferences for housing services on house price fluctuations through the lens of an overlapping generation’s model. The model implies that an economy whose agents have lower preferences for housing services is characterized with lower expenditure shares on housing services and will tend to experience more frequent and more volatile housing bubbles. These model predictions are tested empirically in the companion paper Housing Booms and Busts - Convergences and Divergences across OECD countries. Between 1970 - 2013, countries who spend less on housing services as a share of total income experienced significantly more housing cycles and the associated housing boom-bust cycles were more violent. Finally, the model is used to study the impact of rental subsidies and help-to-buy schemes on rational housing bubbles. Rental subsidies are found to contribute to the control of housing bubbles, whereas help-to- buy scheme makes the economy more bubble-prone.

Keywords: housing bubbles, housing booms and busts, preference for housing services, expenditure shares for housing services, rental and purchase subsidies

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Authors: Gayathri Vijayakumar, Preethi Baskaran

Abstract:

The effluents that are let down by the industries mix with the water bodies and drastically affect the aquatic life, which leads to pollution and bio magnifications. Effluents mostly contain chemicals, heavy metals etc., and cause toxicity to the environment. The pharmaceutical industries too contribute. The by-products and other unwanted waste are discharged without any treatment; these causes DNA damage and affect behavior of aquatic life. The study was conducted on koi carp (Cyprinus carpio) the ornamental variety of common carp. A two week long study was conducted on them using common anti-depressant drug (Diazepam) in various concentrations. These drugs are known to cause behavioral damage and organ malfunctions (muscle twitch). The histopathological study conducted showed permanent muscle twitching and lesions in the fish samples studied. The sociability was also affected in the span of 14 days. Higher concentrations of this drug showed severe damage in the muscle structures. Thus, this drug can cause adverse effects on marine ecosystem and eventually cause bio magnification of drug by running through the food chain.

Keywords: pollution, toxicity, bio-magnifications, koi carp, muscle twitch, diazepam, histopathology

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Authors: Stephen Coandadiputra, Chrestella Carissa

Abstract:

Technology is created to simplify human’s life. One of current technology which being called as the second wave internet generation is the internet of things. Internet of things lets thousands of devices connected each other. In today's marketing world, IOT has brought customer into the next level which helping the customer to shorten every transaction they are conducting from traditional approach to sophisticated approach. However, the implementation of technology has always obstacles. The objective of this paper is to explore the determinants of customer to accepts such technology like the internet of things within their transaction. According to TAM (Technology Acceptance Model), researcher constructs the acceptance of internet of things based on perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use and trust and social factor and the two customer characteristics: perceived enjoyment and perceived behavioral control. This research uses exploratory research design which being facilitated by spreading questionnaire to 145 T-cash users in Jakarta and in its suburban region. At least, 190 samples were observed and questioned accordingly. All the collected data will be analyzed using Lisrel.

Keywords: behavioral intention to use, internet of things, near field communication, technology acceptance model

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Authors: Nam-Kuk Kim, Jin Kim, Soomin Park, Changhee Lee, Mijin Chu, Seong-Hun Lee

Abstract:

In this study, we conducted whole genome re-sequencing of 10 cultivars originated from five countries including Korea, China, India, Pakistan and Ethiopia with Sesamum indicum (Zhongzho No. 13) genome as a reference. Almost 80% of the whole genome sequences of the reference genome could be covered by sequenced reads. Numerous SNP and InDel were detected by bioinformatic analysis. Among these variants, 266,051 SNPs were identified as unique to countries. Pakistan and Ethiopia had high densities of SNPs compared to other countries. Three main clusters (cluster 1: Korea, cluster 2: Pakistan and India, cluster 3: Ethiopia and China) were recovered by neighbor-joining analysis using all variants. Interestingly, some variants were detected in DGAT1 (diacylglycerol O-acyltransferase 1) and FADS (fatty acid desaturase) genes, which are known to be related with fatty acid synthesis and metabolism. These results can provide useful information to understand the regional characteristics and develop DNA markers for origin discrimination of sesame.

Keywords: Sesamum indicum, NGS, SNP, DNA marker

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Authors: U. V. Okpala, C. C. Okpala

Abstract:

The effect of generator exhaust fumes on air, a case study of Onitsha was considered in this work. A sample of 400 respondents was randomly chosen in the study area based on the population. Questionnaire was designed and administered to inhabitants of the study area to enable the researchers ascertain information on the effect of generator exhaust fumes on air and possible remedies. The issue of the types of generators owned by residents, quantity of fuel products purchased per day and the number of years of generator ownership were discussed. The Pearson’s product moment analysis correlation and Chi-square test were applied in the hypothesis testing. The result shows that huge amount of effluents are discharged on the environment thereby polluting the air. This leads to radiative forcing, depletion of ozone layer and precipitation of acid rain. This has untold effect on the climate system. To ensure proper recovery, the study recommends that government makes available alternative energy sources in addition to the conventional power to save the environment; with this, waste becomes wealth towards a sustainable economy in Nigeria.

Keywords: Onitsha, generator, fuel products, exhaust fumes and remedies, energy systems

Procedia PDF Downloads 214