Search results for: energy intensive industries

Authors: Jeries Khoury

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The use of legendary, folkloric and religious symbols is one of the most important phenomena in modern Arabic poetry. Interestingly enough, most of the modern Arabic poetry’s pioneers were so fascinated by the biblical symbols and they managed to use many modern techniques to make these symbols adequate for their personal life from one side and fit to their Islamic beliefs from the other. One of the most famous poets to do so was al-Sayya:b. The way he employed one of these symbols ‘job’, the new features he adds to this character and the link between this character and his personal life will be discussed in this study. Besides, the study will examine the influence of al-Sayya:b on another modern poet Saadi Yusuf, who, following al-Sayya:b, used the character of Job in a special way, by mixing its features with al-Sayya:b’s personal features and in this way creating a new mixed character. A semantic, cultural and comparative analysis of the poems written by al-Sayya:b himself and the other poets who evoked the mixed image of al-Sayya:b-Job, can reveal the changes Arab poets made to the original biblical figure of Job to bring it closer to Islamic culture. The paper will make an intensive use of intertextuality idioms in order to shed light on the network of relations between three kinds of texts (indeed three ‘palimpsests’: 1- biblical- the primary text; 2- poetic- al-Syya:b’s secondary version; 3- re-poetic- Sa’di Yusuf’s tertiary version). The bottom line in this paper is that that al-Sayya:b was directly influenced by the dramatic biblical story of Job more than the brief Quranic version of the story. In fact, the ‘new’ character of Job designed by al-Sayya:b himself differs from the original one in many aspects that we can safely say it is the Sayyabian-Job that cannot be found in the poems of any other poets, unless they are evoking the own tragedy of al-Sayya:b himself, like what Saadi Yusuf did.

Keywords: Arabic poetry, intertextuality, job, meter, modernism, symbolism

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Authors: Ningombam Linthoingambi Devi, Amrendra Kumar

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The long term sampling at one of the most populated city in Indo-Gangetic region shows higher mass concentration of atmospheric aerosol (PM₂.₅) during spring season (144.70µg/m³), summer season (91.96 µg/m³), the autumn season (266.48µg/m³) and winter season (367.09 µg/m³) respectively. The concentration of PM₂.₅ in Patna across the year shows much higher than the limit fixed by the national ambient air quality level fixed by central pollution control board India (CPCB, India) and World Health Organization (WHO). Different water-soluble cation (Na⁺, K⁺, Ca²⁺, NH₄⁺ , and Mg²⁺) and anion (Cl⁻, NO₃⁻ , and SO₄²⁻) species were detected in PM₂.₅. Results show the significantly higher loaded of water-soluble ions during winter and spring seasons. The acidity of the atmosphere was revealed and calculated using selected major cations (K⁺, Ca²⁺ , and NH₄⁺) and anions (SO₄²⁻, and NO₃⁻). A regression correlation was analyzed to check the significant linkage between the acidity and alkalinity ions. During the winter season (r² = 0.79) and spring season (r² = 0.64) shows good significant correlation between the cations and anions. The ratio of NO₃⁻/SO₄²⁻ indicates the sources of secondary pollutants were mainly influenced by industrial and vehicular emission however SO₄²⁻ mostly emitted from industries during the winter season.

Keywords: aerosols, inorganic species, source apportionment, Indo-Gangetic region

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Authors: Ezra Kavana

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This article analyses the role those East African countries play in enforcing crude oil pipeline regulations. The paper finds that countries are more likely to have responsibility for enforcing these regulations if they have larger networks of gathering and transmission lines and if their citizens are more liberal and more pro-environment., Pipeline operations, transportation costs, new pipeline construction, and environmental effects are all heavily controlled. All facets of pipeline systems and the facilities connected to them are governed by statutory bodies. In order to support the project manager on such new pipeline projects, companies building and running these pipelines typically include personnel and consultants who specialize in these permitting processes. The primary permissions that can be necessary for pipelines carrying different commodities are mentioned in this paper. National, regional, and local municipalities each have their own permits. Through their right-of-way group, the contractor's project compliance leadership is typically directly responsible for obtaining those permits, which are typically obtained through government agencies. The whole list of local permits needed for a planned pipeline can only be found after a careful field investigation. A country's government regulates pipelines that are entirely within its borders. With a few exceptions, state regulations governing ratemaking and safety have been enacted to be consistent with regulatory requirements. Countries that produce a lot of energy are typically more involved in regulating pipelines than countries that produce little to no energy. To identify the proper regulatory authority, it is important to research the several government agencies that regulate pipeline transportation. Additionally, it's crucial that the scope determination of a planned project engage with a various external professional with experience in linear facilities or the company's pipeline construction and environmental professional to identify and obtain any necessary design clearances, permits, or approvals. These professionals can offer precise estimations of the costs and length of time needed to process necessary permits. Governments with a stronger energy sector, on the other hand, are less likely to take on control. However, the performance of the pipeline or national enforcement activities are unaffected significantly by whether a government has taken on control. Financial fines are the most efficient government enforcement instrument because they greatly reduce occurrences and property damage.

Keywords: crude oil, pipeline, regulatory compliance, and construction permits

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Authors: Omar Moafaq Saleh Aljanabi, Noradiva Hamzah, Ruhanita Maelah

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In today’s challenging global economy, which is driven by information and knowledge, risk management is undergoing a great change, as organizations shift from traditional and compartmental risk management to an enterprise-wide approach. Enterprise risk management (ERM), which aims at increasing the sustainability of an organization and achieving competitive advantage, is gaining global attention and fast becoming an essential concern in all industries. Furthermore, in order to be effective, ERM should be managed by managers with high-level skills and knowledge. Despite the importance of the knowledge embedded in, there remains a paucity of evidence concerning how human capital could influence the organization’s ERM. Responses from 116 public listed companies (PLCs) on the main market of Bursa Malaysia were analyzed using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM). This study found that there is a significant association between ERM and organizational performance. The results also indicate that human capital has a positive moderating effect on the relationship between ERM and performance. The study contributes to the ERM literature by providing empirical evidence on the relationship between ERM, human capital, and organizational performance. Findings from this study also provide guidelines for managers, policy makers, and the regulatory bodies, to evaluate the ERM practices in PLCs.

Keywords: enterprise risk management, human capital, organizational performance, Malaysian public listed companies

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Authors: Arun Dhakal, Rajesh Kumar Rai

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Agroforestry is long practiced in Nepal as a means of subsistence livelihoods. Given its potential to climate change mitigation, this practice is being recommended as a climate-smart farming practice in the recent years. However, the financial attractiveness of this practice is not well-documented in a labor scarce economy such as Nepal. This study attempts to examine the financial suitability of an agroforestry-based farming practice in the present socio-economic context of Nepal where labor is in short supply. A total of 200 households were randomly selected for household surveys in Dhanusha district during April to July 2015. Two farming practices were found to be dominant in the study area: 1) conventional farming (field crops only) in which at least two field crops are annually grown, and 2) agroforestry-based farming (agroforest, home garden and field crops combined) practice (ABFP). The ABFP was found to be less labor intensive than the conventional farming (137 Man days/yr/ha vs 218 Man days/yr/ha). The ex-ante financial analysis indicated that both the farming practices generated positive NPVs (Net Present Values) and B/C (Benefit-Cost) ratios greater than one, indicating both are financially attractive farming enterprises under the base discount rate of 12%. However, the ABFP generated higher NPV and greater B/C ratio than the conventional farming, indicating the former was financially more attractive than the later. The sensitivity analysis showed that the conventional farming was more sensitive to change in labor wage rate than that of the ABFP. Up to the 24% discount rate, the ABFP generated higher NPV and in case of B/C ratio, the ratio was found greater for ABFP even in 50% discount rate.

Keywords: agroforestry, benefit-cost analysis, conventional farming, net present value

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Authors: Linyue Jia, Wenbo Du, Zhaohui Wang, Ke Liu, Shubo Li

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Due to the great potential for weight reduction in aerospace and automotive industries, magnesium-rare earth (Mg-RE) based alloys with outstanding mechanical performance have been widely investigated for decades. However, magnesium alloys are still restricted in engineering applications because of their lower strength and ductility. Hence, there are large spaces and challenges in achieving high-performance Mg alloys. This work reports an Mg-Gd-Er-Zn-Zr alloy with ultrahigh strength and good ductility developed via hot extrusion, pre-deformation, and two-stage aging. The extruded alloy comprises fine dynamically recrystallized (DRXed) grains and coarse worked grains with a large aspect ratio. Pre-deformation has little effect on the microstructure and macro-texture and serves primarily to introduce a large number of dislocations, resulting in strain hardening and higher precipitation strengthening during subsequent aging due to more nucleation sites. As a result, the alloy exhibits a yield strength (YS) of 506 MPa, an ultimate tensile strength (UTS) of 549 MPa, and elongation (EL) of 8.2% at room temperature, showing superior strength-ductility balance than the other wrought Mg-RE alloys previously reported. The current study proposes a combination of pre-deformation and two-stage aging to further improve the mechanical properties of wrought Mg alloys for engineering applications.

Keywords: magnesium alloys, mechanical properties, microstructure, pre-deformation, two-stage aging

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Authors: Debabrata Das, Preeti Mishra

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A two-phase anaerobic process combining biohydrogen followed by biomethane (biohythane technology) serves as an environment-friendly and economically sustainable approach for the improved valorization of organic wastes. Suitability of the pure cultures like Klebsiela pneumonia, C. freundii, B. coagulan, etc. and mixed acidogenic cultures for the biohydrogen production was already studied. The characteristics of organic wastes play a critical role in biohydrogen production. The choice of an appropriate combination of complementary organic wastes can vastly improve the bioenergy generation besides achieving the significant cost reduction. Suitability and economic viability of using the groundnut deoiled cake (GDOC), mustard deoiled cake (MDOC), distillers’ dried grain with soluble (DDGS) and algal biomass (AB) as a co-substrate were studied for a biohythane production. Results show that maximum gaseous energy of 20.7, 9.3, 16.7 and 15.6 % was recovered using GDOC, MDOC, DDGS and AB in the two stage biohythane production, respectively. Both GDOC and DDGS were found to be better co-substrates as compared to MDOC and AB in terms of hythane production, respectively. The maximum cumulative hydrogen and methane production of 150 and 64 mmol/L were achieved using GDOC. Further, 98 % reduction in substrate input cost (SIC) was achieved using the co-supplementation procedure.

Keywords: Biohythane, algal biomass, distillers’ dried grain with soluble (DDGS), groundnut deoiled cake (GDOC), mustard deoiled cake (MDOC)

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Authors: Galit Shiff, Yael Gilad

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The need to retrofit old buildings lies in the fact that buildings are responsible for the main energy use and CO₂ emission. Existing old structures are more dominant in their effect than new energy-efficient buildings. Nevertheless not every case of urban renewal that aims to replace old buildings with new neighbourhoods necessarily has a financial or sustainable justification. Façade design plays a vital role in the building's energy performance and the unit's comfort conditions. A retrofit façade residential methodology and feasibility applicative study has been carried out for the past four years, with two projects already fully renovated. The intention of this study is to serve as a case study for limited budget façade retrofit in Mediterranean climate urban areas. The two case study buildings are set in Israel. However, they are set in different local climatic conditions. One is in 'Sderot' in the south of the country, and one is in' Migdal Hahemek' in the north of the country. The building typology is similar. The budget of the projects is around $14,000 per unit and includes interventions at the buildings' envelope while tenants are living in. Extensive research and analysis of the existing conditions have been done. The building's components, materials and envelope sections were mapped, examined and compared to relevant updated standards. Solar radiation simulations for the buildings in their surroundings during winter and summer days were done. The energy rate of each unit, as well as the building as a whole, was calculated according to the Israeli Energy Code. The buildings’ facades were documented with the use of a thermal camera during different hours of the day. This information was superimposed with data about the electricity use and the thermal comfort that was collected from the residential units. Later in the process, similar tools were further used in order to compare the effectiveness of different design options and to evaluate the chosen solutions. Both projects showed that the most problematic units were the ones below the roof and the ones on top of the elevated entrance floor (pilotis). Old buildings tend to have poor insulation on those two horizontal surfaces which require treatment. Different radiation levels and wall sections in the two projects influenced the design strategies: In the southern project, there was an extreme difference in solar radiations levels between the main façade and the back elevation. Eventually, it was decided to invest in insulating the main south-west façade and the side façades, leaving the back north-east façade almost untouched. Lower levels of radiation in the northern project led to a different tactic: a combination of basic insulation on all façades, together with intense treatment on areas with problematic thermal behavior. While poor execution of construction details and bad installation of windows in the northern project required replacing them all, in the southern project it was found that it is more essential to shade the windows than replace them. Although the buildings and the construction typology was chosen for this study are similar, the research shows that there are large differences due to the location in different climatic zones and variation in local conditions. Therefore, in order to reach a systematic and cost-effective method of work, a more extensive catalogue database is needed. Such a catalogue will enable public housing companies in the Mediterranean climate to promote massive projects of renovating existing old buildings, drawing on minimal analysis and planning processes.

Keywords: facade, low budget, residential, retrofit

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Authors: A. Ribeiro, N. Pacheco, M. Soares, N. Valério, L. Nascimento, A. Silva, C. Vilarinho, J. Carvalho

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Hydrogen will play a key role in changing the current global energy paradigm, associated with the high use of fossil fuels and the release of greenhouse gases. This work intended to identify and quantify the potential of Solid Recovered Fuels (SFR) existing in Portugal and project the cost of hydrogen, produced through its steam gasification in different scenarios, associated with the size or capacity of the plant and the existence of carbon capture and storage (CCS) systems. Therefore, it was performed a techno-economic analysis simulation using an ASPEN base model, the H2A Hydrogen Production Model Version 3.2018. Regarding the production of SRF, it was possible to verify the annual production of more than 200 thousand tons of SRF in Portugal in 2019. The results of the techno-economic analysis simulations showed that in the scenarios containing a high (200,000 tons/year) and medium (40,000 tons/year) amount of SFR, the cost of hydrogen production was competitive concerning the current prices of hydrogen. The results indicate that scenarios 1 and 2, which use 200,000 tons of SRF per year, have lower hydrogen production values, 1.22 USD/kg H2 and 1.63 USD/kg H2, respectively. The cost of producing hydrogen without carbon capture and storage (CCS) systems in an average amount of SFR (40,000 tons/year) was 1.70 USD/kg H2. In turn, scenarios 5 (without CCS) and 6 (with CCS), which use only 683 tons of SFR from urban sources, have the highest costs, 6.54 USD/kg H2 and 908.97 USD/kg H2, respectively. Therefore, it was possible to conclude that there is a huge potential for the use of SRF for the production of hydrogen through steam gasification in Portugal.

Keywords: gasification, hydrogen, solid recovered fuels, techno-economic analysis, waste-to-energy

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Authors: S. B. Mayil Vealan, C. Sekar

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Bisphenol A (BIS A) and 4 Nitrophenol (4N) are the most prevalent environmental endocrine-disrupting chemicals which mimic hormones and have a direct relationship to the development and growth of animal and human reproductive systems. Moreover, intensive exposure to the compound is related to prostate and breast cancer, infertility, obesity, and diabetes. Hence, accurate and reliable determination techniques are crucial for preventing human exposure to these harmful chemicals. Lanthanum Copper Oxide (La₂Cu₂O₅) nanoparticles were synthesized and investigated through various techniques such as scanning electron microscopy, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. Cyclic voltammetry and square wave voltammetry techniques are employed to evaluate the electrochemical behavior of as-synthesized samples toward the electrochemical detection of Bisphenol A and 4-Nitrophenol. Under the optimal conditions, the oxidation current increased linearly with increasing the concentration of BIS A and 4-N in the range of 0.01 to 600 μM with a detection limit of 2.44 nM and 3.8 nM. These are the lowest limits of detection and the widest linear ranges in the literature for this determination. The method was applied to the simultaneous determination of BIS A and 4-N in real samples (food packing materials and river water) with excellent recovery values ranging from 95% to 99%. Better stability, sensitivity, selectivity and reproducibility, fast response, and ease of preparation made the sensor well-suitable for the simultaneous determination of bisphenol and 4 Nitrophenol. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report in which La₂Cu₂O₅ nano particles were used as efficient electron mediators for the fabrication of endocrine disruptor (BIS A and 4N) chemical sensors.

Keywords: endocrine disruptors, electrochemical sensor, Food contacting materials, lanthanum cuprates, nanomaterials

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Authors: K. N. Dinesh Babu

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In this paper, the protection of a complicated bus arrangement with a dual bus coupler and bus sectionalizer using low impedance differential protection applicable for very high voltages like 220kV and 400kV is discussed. In many power generation stations, several operational procedures are implemented to utilize the transfer bus as the main bus and to facilitate the maintenance of circuit breakers and current transformers (in each section) without shutting down the bay(s). Owing to this fact, the complications in operational philosophy have thrown challenges for the bus bar protection implementation. Many bus topologies allow any one of the main buses available in the station to be used as an auxiliary bus. In such a system, pre-defined precautions and procedures are made as guidelines, which are followed before assigning any bus as an auxiliary bus. The procedure involves shifting of links, changing rotary switches, insertion of test block, and so on, thereby causing unreliable operation. This kind of unreliable operation or inadvertent procedural lapse may result in the isolation of the bus bar from the grid due to the unpredictable operation of the bus bar protection relay, which is a commonly occurring phenomenon due to manual mistakes. With the sophisticated configuration and implementation of logic in modern intelligent electronic devices, the operator is free to select the transfer arrangement without sacrificing the protection required by a bus differential system for a reliable operation, and labor-intensive processes are completely eliminated. This paper deals with the procedure to test the security logic for such special scenarios using Megger make SMRT, bus bar protection relay to assure system stability and get rid of all the specific operational precautions/procedure.

Keywords: bus bar protection, by-pass isolator, blind spot, breaker failure, intelligent electronic device, end fault, bus unification, directional principle, zones of protection, breaker re-trip, under voltage security, smart megger relay tester

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Authors: Alice W. Theuri, Anselimo O. Makokha, Florence M. Kyallo

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Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a serious metabolic disorder whose prevalence among adults has been increasing in the last decade. It is estimated that by 2030, the number of cases in Africa will almost double. Diet and lifestyle modifications are considered the cornerstone for the treatment and management of T2DM. Despite this, there is minimum literature assessing the dietary practices and glycemic control in a semi arid region context in Kenya. The objective of this study was to determine the dietary practices of adult T2DM patients attending Kitui out patient clinic in Kitui County. This was a cross sectional study design where every consenting second patient attending diabetic clinic was interviewed. A total of 138 T2DM patients were interviewed using a structured interview guide on socio-economic and dietary practices administered. The study was carried out in April and May 2017. There were more female (64%) than male (36%) in this study with majority being unemployed (38.4%). Forty seven percent (47.6%) had elevated HbA1c. Majority took three meals per day while DDS was 4.3 ± 1.09. The mean energy intake for men and women was 2823.8 ± 82.45 and 2766.3.30 ± 76.74 respectively. There was a non significant positive relationship (r= 131; P value = 0.124) between amount energy consumed and glycemic control. There were suboptimal dietary practices leading to poor glycemic control among T2DM patients attending diabetic clinic at Kitui District Hospital.

Keywords: adults, dietary practices, semi arid region, T2DM

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Authors: K. Melouk, M. Dellakrachaï

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Analytical formula for the optical gain based on a simple parabolic-band by introducing theoretical expressions for the quantized energy is presented. The model used in this treatment take into account the effects of intraband relaxation. It is shown, as a result, that the gain for the TE mode is larger than that for TM mode and the presence of acceptor impurity increase the peak gain.

Keywords: InGaAsP, laser, quantum well, semiconductor

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Authors: Chenghao Ma

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This paper mainly examines and compares the primary revenue sources in the professional sports, intercollegiate sports, and sporting goods industries in the U.S. In the professional team sport, revenues may come from different resources, including broadcasting rights, ticket sales, corporate partnerships, naming rights, licensed merchandise, luxury suites, club seating, ancillary activities, and transfer fees. Many universities use university budgets and student fees to cover the cost of collegiate athletics. Other sources of revenue include ticket sales, broadcast rights, concessions, corporate partnerships, cash contributions from alumni, and others. Revenues in the sporting goods industry are very different compared with professional sports teams and collegiate athletics. Sporting goods companies mainly sell a line of products and equipment to generate revenue. Revenues are critical for sports organizations, including professional sports teams, intercollegiate athletics, and sporting goods companies. There are similarities and differences among these areas. Sports managers are looking for new ways to generate revenues, and there are many changes of sources because of the development of the internet and technology. Compared with intercollegiate athletics, professional sport and sporting goods companies will create more revenue opportunities globally.

Keywords: revenue sources, professional sports, intercollegiate athletics, sporting goods industry

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Authors: Sherry Junette Tagle

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Extensive research continues to prove the positive effects of home and school collaborations in education. Although parent involvement programs in Benguet, Philippines are in place, the impact has yet to affect the current aggregate performance of elementary pupils. This study describes the involvement of public elementary teachers and parents along Epstein’s types of involvement using the sequential explanatory design. Survey and interview results show that teachers place greater value on activities that cater to communicating, volunteering, learning at home and decision making. On the other hand, parents are actively involved in all six types and value the importance of their involvement in school to their child’s schooling. Parents of grades 1-4 pupils significantly give importance to communicating activities to offset difficulties encountered by young pupils while parents of grades 5-6 pupils, have declining interest in volunteering and learning at home activities citing older children as being more independent to do teacher-assigned tasks. Teachers, compared to the other respondent groups, significantly place higher value on the importance of parent leaders as their partners in implementing school activities. In general, involvement of parents and teachers in home-school activities is intensive in the lower grade levels and decreases as their child progresses through school. A recommended program for future collaborations of the Philippine’s Department of Education has been formulated to diversify existing activities and elicit greater participation among the school’s stakeholders to achieve holistic development of the pupils and ultimately improve pupils’ school aggregate performance.

Keywords: Epstein's types of involvement, community collaborations, home and school partnerships, parent involvement

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Authors: Syed Asif Hassan, Syed Atif Hassan

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Multidrug-resistant Tuberculosis (MDR-TB) is an infection caused by the resistant strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis that do not respond either to isoniazid or rifampicin, which are the most important anti-TB drugs. The increase in the occurrence of a drug-resistance strain of MTB calls for an intensive search of novel target-based therapeutics. In this context LprG (Rv1411c) a lipoprotein from MTB plays a pivotal role in the immune evasion of Mtb leading to survival and propagation of the bacterium within the host cell. Therefore, a machine learning method will be developed for generating a computational model that could predict for a potential anti LprG activity of the novel antituberculosis compound. The present study will utilize dataset from PubChem database maintained by National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI). The dataset involves compounds screened against MTB were categorized as active and inactive based upon PubChem activity score. PowerMV, a molecular descriptor generator, and visualization tool will be used to generate the 2D molecular descriptors for the actives and inactive compounds present in the dataset. The 2D molecular descriptors generated from PowerMV will be used as features. We feed these features into three different classifiers, namely, random forest, a deep neural network, and a recurring neural network, to build separate predictive models and choosing the best performing model based on the accuracy of predicting novel antituberculosis compound with an anti LprG activity. Additionally, the efficacy of predicted active compounds will be screened using SMARTS filter to choose molecule with drug-like features.

Keywords: antituberculosis drug, classifier, machine learning, molecular descriptors, prediction

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Authors: J. Bahrawi, M. Elhag

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Estimation of evapotranspiration is always a major component in water resources management. Traditional techniques of calculating daily evapotranspiration based on field measurements are valid only for local scales. Earth observation satellite sensors are thus used to overcome difficulties in obtaining daily evapotranspiration measurements on regional scale. The Surface Energy Balance System (SEBS) model was adopted to estimate daily evapotranspiration and relative evaporation along with other land surface energy fluxes. The model requires agro-climatic data that improve the model outputs. Advance Along Track Scanning Radiometer (AATSR) and Medium Spectral Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MERIS) imageries were used to estimate the daily evapotranspiration and relative evaporation over the entire Nile Delta region in Egypt supported by meteorological data collected from six different weather stations located within the study area. Daily evapotranspiration maps derived from SEBS model show a strong agreement with actual ground-truth data taken from 92 points uniformly distributed all over the study area. Moreover, daily evapotranspiration and relative evaporation are strongly correlated. The reliable estimation of daily evapotranspiration supports the decision makers to review the current land use practices in terms of water management, while enabling them to propose proper land use changes.

Keywords: daily evapotranspiration, relative evaporation, SEBS, AATSR, MERIS, Nile Delta

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Authors: Nadia El Alami El Hassani, Soukaina Motia, Benachir Bouchikhi, Nezha El Bari

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Doxycycline (DXy) is a cycline antibiotic, most frequently prescribed to treat bacterial infections in veterinary medicine. However, its broad antimicrobial activity and low cost, lead to an intensive use, which can seriously affect human health. Therefore, its spread in the food products has to be monitored. The scope of this work was to synthetize a sensitive and very selective molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) for DXy detection in honey samples. Firstly, the synthesis of this biosensor was performed by casting a layer of carboxylate polyvinyl chloride (PVC-COOH) on the working surface of a gold screen-printed electrode (Au-SPE) in order to bind covalently the analyte under mild conditions. Secondly, DXy as a template molecule was bounded to the activated carboxylic groups, and the formation of MIP was performed by a biocompatible polymer by the mean of polyacrylamide matrix. Then, DXy was detected by measurements of differential pulse voltammetry (DPV). A non-imprinted polymer (NIP) prepared in the same conditions and without the use of template molecule was also performed. We have noticed that the elaborated biosensor exhibits a high sensitivity and a linear behavior between the regenerated current and the logarithmic concentrations of DXy from 0.1 pg.mL⁻¹ to 1000 pg.mL⁻¹. This technic was successfully applied to determine DXy residues in honey samples with a limit of detection (LOD) of 0.1 pg.mL⁻¹ and an excellent selectivity when compared to the results of oxytetracycline (OXy) as analogous interfering compound. The proposed method is cheap, sensitive, selective, simple, and is applied successfully to detect DXy in honey with the recoveries of 87% and 95%. Considering these advantages, this system provides a further perspective for food quality control in industrial fields.

Keywords: doxycycline, electrochemical sensor, food control, gold nanoparticles, honey, molecular imprinted polymer

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Authors: Patrizia Frontera, Anastasia Macario, Sebastiano Candamano, Fortunato Crea, Pierluigi Antonucci

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The increasing of the world energy demand makes today biomass an attractive energy source, based on the minimizing of CO2 emission and on the global warming reduction purposes. Recently, COP-21, the international meeting on global climate change, defined the roadmap for sustainable worldwide development, based on low-carbon containing fuel. Hydrogen is an energy vector able to substitute the conventional fuels from petroleum. Ethanol for hydrogen production represents a valid alternative to the fossil sources due to its low toxicity, low production costs, high biodegradability, high H2 content and renewability. Ethanol conversion to generate hydrogen by a combination of partial oxidation and steam reforming reactions is generally called auto-thermal reforming (ATR). The ATR process is advantageous due to the low energy requirements and to the reduced carbonaceous deposits formation. Catalyst plays a pivotal role in the ATR process, especially towards the process selectivity and the carbonaceous deposits formation. Bimetallic or trimetallic catalysts, as well as catalysts with doped-promoters supports, may exhibit high activity, selectivity and deactivation resistance with respect to the corresponding monometallic ones. In this work, NiMoCo/GDC, NiMoCu/GDC and NiMoRe/GDC (where GDC is Gadolinia Doped Ceria support and the metal composition is 60:30:10 for all catalyst) have been prepared by impregnation method. The support, Gadolinia 0.2 Doped Ceria 0.8, was impregnated by metal precursors solubilized in aqueous ethanol solution (50%) at room temperature for 6 hours. After this, the catalysts were dried at 100°C for 8 hours and, subsequently, calcined at 600°C in order to have the metal oxides. Finally, active catalysts were obtained by reduction procedure (H2 atmosphere at 500°C for 6 hours). All sample were characterized by different analytical techniques (XRD, SEM-EDX, XPS, CHNS, H2-TPR and Raman Spectorscopy). Catalytic experiments (auto-thermal reforming of ethanol) were carried out in the temperature range 500-800°C under atmospheric pressure, using a continuous fixed-bed microreactor. Effluent gases from the reactor were analyzed by two Varian CP4900 chromarographs with a TCD detector. The analytical investigation focused on the preventing of the coke deposition, the metals sintering effect and the sulfur poisoning. Hydrogen productivity, ethanol conversion and products distribution were measured and analyzed. At 600°C, all tri-metallic catalysts show the best performance: H2 + CO reaching almost the 77 vol.% in the final gases. While NiMoCo/GDC catalyst shows the best selectivity to hydrogen whit respect to the other tri-metallic catalysts (41 vol.% at 600°C). On the other hand, NiMoCu/GDC and NiMoRe/GDC demonstrated high sulfur poisoning resistance (up to 200 cc/min) with respect to the NiMoCo/GDC catalyst. The correlation among catalytic results and surface properties of the catalysts will be discussed.

Keywords: catalysts, ceria, ethanol, gadolinia, hydrogen, Nickel

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Authors: Taghreed Al-Khalid, Muftah El-Naas

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As an economical and environmentally friendly technology, biological treatment has been shown to be one of the most promising approaches for the removal of numerous types of organic water pollutants such as Chlorophenols, which are hazardous pollutants commonly encountered in wastewater generated by the petroleum and petrochemical industries. This study aimed at evaluating the performance of a spouted bed bioreactor (SBBR) for aerobic biodegradation of 2, 4 dichlorophenol (DCP) by a commercial strain of Pseudomonas putida immobilized in polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) gel particles. The SBBR is characterized by systematic intense mixing, resulting in improvement of the biodegradation rates through reducing the mass transfer limitations. The reactor was evaluated in both batch and continuous mode in order to evaluate its hydrodynamics in terms of stability and response to shock loads. The SBBR was able to maintain a stable operation and recovered quickly to its normal operating mode once the shock load had been removed. In comparison to a packed bed reactor bioreactor, the SBBR proved to be more efficient and more stable, achieving a removal percentage and throughput of 80% and 1414 g/m3day, respectively. In addition, the biodegradation of chlorophenols was mathematically modeled using a dynamic modeling approach in order to assess reaction and mass transfer limitations. The results confirmed the effectiveness of the use of the PVA immobilization technique for the biodegradation of phenols.

Keywords: biodegradation, 2, 4 dichlorophenol, immobilization, polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) gel

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Authors: S. Chandrasekaran, P. A. Kiran

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Increasing demand for large-sized Floating, Storage and Regasification Units (FSRUs) for oil and gas industries led to the development of novel geometric form of Buoyant Leg Storage and Regasification Platform (BLSRP). BLSRP consists of a circular deck supported by six buoyant legs placed symmetrically with respect to wave direction. Circular deck is connected to buoyant legs using hinged joints, which restrain transfer of rotational response from the legs to deck and vice-versa. Buoyant legs are connected to seabed using taut moored system with high initial pretension, enabling rigid body motion in vertical plane. Encountered environmental loads induce dynamic tether tension variations, which in turn affect stability of the platform. The present study investigates Mathieu stability of BLSRP under the postulated tether pullout cases by inducing additional tension in the tethers. From the numerical studies carried out, it is seen that postulated tether pullout on any one of the buoyant legs does not result in Mathieu type instability even under excessive tether tension. This is due to the presence of hinged joints, which are capable of dissipating the unbalanced loads to other legs. However, under tether pullout of consecutive buoyant legs, Mathieu-type instability is observed.

Keywords: offshore platforms, stability, postulated failure, dynamic tether tension

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Authors: Nunu Nakashidze, Shota Lominadze, Darejan Jashi

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Citrus culture used to be one of the leading fields of sub-tropical agriculture in Georgia and especially in Adjara region, but the citrus production has been significantly decreased in recent years due to deterioration of quality index of fruit and reduction of sale markets. The fact severely affected both the economy of Republic and population. Intensive technologies of citrus fruit production are widely implemented in the world practices, which include the following: variety of species, consumption of fertilizers and chemicals, proper use of fruit production and etc. However working on technologies which ensure getting of high quality and plentiful product is very much important if taking into consideration modern, global ecological problems. Using of bio-preparations for plant nourishment is considered as one of the activities. The present work discusses liquid organic fertilizer 'Biorag' produced in Georgia and influence of its growth stimulation (Gakhokidze N1, N2, N3) on agrochemical index of soils and mineral composition of fruit of Citrus Unshiu orchards cultivated in the sub-tropical zone of Black Sea in Adjara region. It was ascertained that liquid organic fertilizers used in the orchard of citrus 'Unshiu' and influence of growth stimulators on the quality index of fruit are not clearly shown in comparison with control one. A small priority is noticed in case of growth stimulators. In conditions of red soils, liquid organic fertilizers and growth stimulators added in the nutrition of the citrus more or less influence the dry material of fruit and the composition of ash and nutrition elements. Agro-chemical index of the soil, except exchange acidity, is somehow enlarged which is one of the positive results in this case.

Keywords: growth stimulator, liquid fertilizer, plant, fruit, soil

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Authors: Sudarshan Kalsulkar, Sunil S. Bhagwat

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Biosorption is a physiochemical process that occurs naturally in certain biomass which allows it to passively concentrate and bind contaminants onto its cellular structure. Activated carbons (AC) are one such efficient biosorbents made by utilizing lignocellulosic materials from agricultural waste. Steam activated carbon (AC) was synthesized from Barley husk. Its synthesis parameters of time and temperature were optimized. Its physico-chemical properties like density, surface area, pore volume, Methylene blue and Iodine values were characterized. BET surface area was found to be 42 m²/g. Batch Adsorption tests were carried out to determine the maximum adsorption capacity (qmax) for various metal ions. Cd+2 48.74 mg/g, Pb+2 19.28 mg/g, Hg+2 39.1mg/g were the respective qmax values. pH and time were optimized for adsorption of each ion. Column Adsorptions were carried for each to obtain breakthrough data. Microbial adsorption was carried using E. coli K12 strain. 78% reduction in cell count was observed at operating conditions. Thus the synthesized Barley husk AC can be an economically feasible replacement for commercially available AC prepared from the costlier coconut shells. Breweries and malting industries where barley husk is a primary waste generated on a large scale can be a good source for bulk raw material.

Keywords: activated carbon, Barley husk, biosorption, decontamination, heavy metal removal, water treatment

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Authors: Debasis Sarkar

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Clean development mechanism (CDM) can act as an effective instrument for mitigating climate change. This mechanism can effectively reduce the emission of CO2 and other green house gases (GHG). Construction of a mega infrastructure project like underground corridor construction for metro rail operation involves in consumption of substantial quantity of concrete which consumes huge quantity of energy consuming materials like cement and steel. This paper is an attempt to develop an integrated clean development mechanism and risk management approach for sustainable development for an underground corridor metro rail project in India during its construction phase. It was observed that about 35% reduction in CO2 emission can be obtained by adding fly ash as a part replacement of cement. The reduced emission quantity of CO2 which is of the quantum of about 21,646.36 MT would result in cost savings of approximately INR 8.5 million (USD 1,29,878).But construction and operation of such infrastructure projects of the present era are subject to huge risks and uncertainties throughout all the phases of the project, thus reducing the probability of successful completion of the project within stipulated time and cost frame. Thus, an integrated approach of combining CDM with risk management would enable the metro rail authorities to develop a sustainable risk mitigation measure framework to ensure more cost and energy savings and lesser time and cost over-run.

Keywords: clean development mechanism (CDM), infrastructure transportation, project risk management, underground metro rail

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Authors: Wassima El Mofid, Svetlozar Ivanov, Andreas Bund

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The increasing requirements for high power and energy lithium ion batteries have led to the development of several classes of positive electrode materials. Among those one promising material is LiNixMnyCo1−x−yO2 due to its high reversible capacity and remarkable cycling performance. Further structural stabilization and improved electrochemical performance of this class of cathode materials can be achieved by cationic substitution to a transition metal such as Al, Mg, Cr, etc. The current study discusses a novel NMC type material obtained by simultaneous cationic substitution of the cobalt which is a toxic element, with aluminum and iron. A compound with the composition LiNi0.6Mn0.2Co0.15Al0.025Fe0.025O2 (NMCAF) was synthesized by the self-combustion method using sucrose as fuel. The material has a layered α-NaFeO2 type structure with a good hexagonal ordering. Rietveld refinement analysis of the XRD patterns revealed a very low cationic mixing compared to the non-substituted material LiNi0.6Mn0,2Co0.2O2 suggesting a structural stabilization. Galvanostatic cycling measurements indicate improved electrochemical performance after the metal substitution. An initial discharge capacity of about 190 mAh.g−1 at slow rate (C/20), and a good cycling stability even at moderately faster rates (C/5 and C) have been observed. The long term cycling displayed a capacity retention of about 90% after 10 cycles.

Keywords: cationic substitution, lithium ion batteries, positive electrode material, self-combustion synthesis method

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Authors: Samira Melki, Moncef Gueddari

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In Tunisia, solid wastes storage continue to be uncontrolled. It is eliminated by land raising without any protection measurement against water table and soil contamination. Several industries are located in Sfax area, especially those of the Tunisian Chemical Group (TCG) for the enrichment and transformation of phosphate. The activity of the TCG focuses primarily on the production of chemical fertilizers and phosphoric acid, by transforming natural phosphates. This production generates gaseous emissions, liquid discharges and huge amounts of phosphogypsum (PG) stored directly on the soil surface. Groundwater samples were collected from Tunisian Chemical Group (TCG) site, to assess the effects of phosphogypsum leatchate on groundwater quality. The measurements of various physicochemical parameters including heavy metals (Al, Fe, Zn and F) and stable isotopes of the water molecule (¹⁸O, ²H) were determined in groundwater samples and are reported. The moderately high concentrations of SO₄⁼, Ortho-P, NH₄⁺ Al and F⁻ in groundwater particularly near to the phosphogypsum storage site, likely indicate that groundwater quality is being significantly affected by leachate percolation. The effect of distance of the piezometers from the pollution source was also investigated. The isotopic data of water molecule, showed that the waters of the Sfax-Agreb aquifer amount to recent-evaporation induced rainfall.

Keywords: phosphogypsum leatchate, groundwater quality, pollution, stable isotopes, Sfax-Agareb, Tunisia

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Authors: A. Roukbi, B. Draoui

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Due to the high cost and the environmental problems caused by the conventional air-conditioning systems, various researches are being increasingly focused on thermal comfort in the building sector integrating renewable energy sources, particularly solar energy. For that purpose, this study aims to present a modeling and performance analysis of a direct air-cooled Water/LiBr absorption chiller. The chiller is considered to be coupled to a small residential building at an arid zone situated in south Algeria. The system is modeled with TRNSYS simulation program. The main objective is to study the feasibility of the chosen system in arid zones and to apply a simplified method to predict the performance of the system by mean of the characteristic equation approach tacking in account the influence of the climatic conditions of the considered site, the collector area and storage volume of the hot water tank on the performance of the installation. First, the results of the system modeling are compared with an experimental data from the open literature and the developed model is then validated. In another hand, a parametric study is performed to analyze the performance of the direct air-cooled absorption chiller at the operating conditions of interest for the present study. Thus, the obtained results has shown that the studied system can present a good alternative for cooling systems in arid zones since the cooling load is roughly in phase with solar availability.

Keywords: absorption chiller, air-cooled, arid zone, thermal comfort

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Authors: Debanjana Chatterjee

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Vernacular settlements in India often take the form that is dictated by the climate they are in. India, with its vast cultural diversity and various climatic regions, offers a wide range of vernacular architecture. This paper focuses on two main geographical regions: Kashmir and Kerala. They bring together myriad challenges of climatic and social characteristics to incorporate into their vernacular architectures, which are still relevant despite the advent of globalization and modernization. Scholars like William Wurster and Catherine Bauer even claimed that all the traditional buildings in these places have the kind of urbanity, which is dignified and elegant but also lively and human that every architect would like to achieve if they knew how. With modernization, and with a greater ease of construction, a reduction in labor, and the apparent robustness of contemporary construction techniques, people have, however, become increasingly tentative in respect of vernacular architecture. And yet modern architecture has typically led to energize intensive structures without much consideration to the location and surroundings of the structure itself. In contrary, Laurie Baker, the British-born Indian architect, had shown us the way to integrate the knowledge of vernacular when he developed his designs based on the traditional architecture of Kerala, respecting the local climate and environment. This paper also explores his technical creativity in his design of Center for Development Studies (CDS) in Trivandrum. Hence, in order to protect and conserve our rich cultural and architectural heritage, the elements of vernacular should be incorporated into the contemporary planning and architecture for sustainable building design. The provision should be made to incorporate vernacular architecture and traditional knowledge in the policies. Ultimately, the policymakers, planners, and architects should consider this incorporation of traditional vernacular and contemporary sustainability in their work for the betterment of society now.

Keywords: vernacular, architecture, sustainable development, Kashmir and Kerala, climate, Laurie Baker

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Authors: Federico Capra, Emanuele Martelli, Matteo Gazzani, Marco Mazzotti, Maurizio Notaro

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Natural gas is a major energy source in the current global economy, contributing to roughly 21% of the total primary energy consumption. Production of natural gas starting from renewable energy sources is key to limit the related CO2 emissions, especially for those sectors that heavily rely on natural gas use. In this context, biomethane produced via biogas upgrading represents a good candidate for partial substitution of fossil natural gas. The upgrading process of biogas to biomethane consists in (i) the removal of pollutants and impurities (e.g. H2S, siloxanes, ammonia, water), and (ii) the separation of carbon dioxide from methane. Focusing on the CO2 removal process, several technologies can be considered: chemical or physical absorption with solvents (e.g. water, amines), membranes, adsorption-based systems (PSA). However, none emerged as the leading technology, because of (i) the heterogeneity in plant size, ii) the heterogeneity in biogas composition, which is strongly related to the feedstock type (animal manure, sewage treatment, landfill products), (iii) the case-sensitive optimal tradeoff between purity and recovery of biomethane, and iv) the destination of the produced biomethane (grid injection, CHP applications, transportation sector). With this contribution, we explore the use of a technology for biogas upgrading and we compare the resulting performance with benchmark technologies. The proposed technology makes use of a chemical sorbent, which is engineered by RSE and consists of Di-Ethanol-Amine deposited on a solid support made of γ-Alumina, to chemically adsorb the CO2 contained in the gas. The material is packed into fixed beds that cyclically undergo adsorption and regeneration steps. CO2 is adsorbed at low temperature and ambient pressure (or slightly above) while the regeneration is carried out by pulling vacuum and increasing the temperature of the bed (vacuum-temperature swing adsorption - VTSA). Dynamic adsorption tests were performed by RSE and were used to tune the mathematical model of the process, including material and transport parameters (i.e. Langmuir isotherms data and heat and mass transport). Based on this set of data, an optimal VTSA cycle was designed. The results enabled a better understanding of the interplay between material and cycle tuning. As exemplary application, the upgrading of biogas for grid injection, produced by an anaerobic digester (60-70% CO2, 30-40% CH4), for an equivalent size of 1 MWel was selected. A plant configuration is proposed to maximize heat recovery and minimize the energy consumption of the process. The resulting performances are very promising compared to benchmark solutions, which make the VTSA configuration a valuable alternative for biomethane production starting from biogas.

Keywords: biogas upgrading, biogas upgrading energetic cost, CO2 adsorption, VTSA process modelling

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Authors: Ramanen Sugunesegran, Michael L. Williams

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Over the past two decades surgical approaches for mitral valve (MV) disease have evolved with the advent of minimally invasive techniques. Robotic mitral valve repair (RMVr) safety and efficacy has been well documented, however, mid- to long-term data are limited. The aim of this review was to provide a comprehensive analysis of the available mid- to long-term term data for RMVr. Electronic searches of five databases were performed to identify all relevant studies reporting minimum 5-year data on RMVr. Pre-defined primary outcomes of interest were overall survival, freedom from MV reoperation and freedom from moderate or worse mitral regurgitation (MR) at 5-years or more post-RMVr. A meta-analysis of proportions or means was performed, utilizing a random effects model, to present the data. Kaplan-Meier curves were aggregated using reconstructed individual patient data. Nine studies totaling 3,300 patients undergoing RMVr were identified. Rates of overall survival at 1-, 5- and 10-years were 99.2%, 97.4% and 92.3%, respectively. Freedom from MV reoperation at 8-years post RMVr was 95.0%. Freedom from moderate or worse MR at 7-years was 86.0%. Rates of early post-operative complications were low with only 0.2% all-cause mortality and 1.0% cerebrovascular accident. Reoperation for bleeding was low at 2.2% and successful RMVr was 99.8%. Mean intensive care unit and hospital stay were 22.4 hours and 5.2 days, respectively. RMVr is a safe procedure with low rates of early mortality and other complications. It can be performed with low complication rates in high volume, experienced centers. Evaluation of available mid-term data post-RMVr suggests favorable rates of overall survival, freedom from MV reoperation and freedom from moderate or worse MR recurrence.

Keywords: mitral valve disease, mitral valve repair, robotic cardiac surgery, robotic mitral valve repair

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