Search results for: wind power system
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 21928

Search results for: wind power system

16078 Research on Greenway System Planning of Mountainous City: A Case Study of Chengkou County, Chongqing

Authors: Youping Huang, Yang Liu

Abstract:

Mountainous cities have unique landscape relationship, topography and urban spatial pattern different from plain cities, which put forward different requirements for greenway system planning strategy. Taking the greenway planning of Chengkou County in Chongqing as an example, this paper discusses the greenway system planning strategy of mountainous cities based on urban and rural green space, urban landscape resources, human resources and other factors. Through multi-angle maintenance of landscape pattern, multi-objective integration of urban resources, multi-level construction of greenway network, and multi-interactive development control, the sustainable development of mountain city landscape resources is realized, the new urban ecology is constructed, and the quality of life of urban and rural residents is improved.

Keywords: greenway planning, mountain city, landscape pattern, cultural resources, chongqing

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16077 The Development of a Precision Irrigation System for Durian

Authors: Chatrabhuti Pipop, Visessri Supattra, Charinpanitkul Tawatchai

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Durian is one of the top agricultural products exported by Thailand. There is the massive market potential for the durian industry. While the global demand for Thai durians, especially the demand from China, is very high, Thailand's durian supply is far from satisfying strong demand. Poor agricultural practices result in low yields and poor quality of fruit. Most irrigation systems currently used by the farmers are fixed schedule or fixed rates that ignore actual weather conditions and crop water requirements. In addition, the technologies emerging are too difficult and complex and prices are too high for the farmers to adopt and afford. Many farmers leave the durian trees to grow naturally. With improper irrigation and nutrient management system, durians are vulnerable to a variety of issues, including stunted growth, not flowering, diseases, and death. Technical development or research for durian is much needed to support the wellbeing of the farmers and the economic development of the country. However, there are a limited number of studies or development projects for durian because durian is a perennial crop requiring a long time to obtain the results to report. This study, therefore, aims to address the problem of durian production by developing an autonomous and precision irrigation system. The system is designed and equipped with an industrial programmable controller, a weather station, and a digital flow meter. Daily water requirements are computed based on weather data such as rainfall and evapotranspiration for daily irrigation with variable flow rates. A prediction model is also designed as a part of the system to enhance the irrigation schedule. Before the system was installed in the field, a simulation model was built and tested in a laboratory setting to ensure its accuracy. Water consumption was measured daily before and after the experiment for further analysis. With this system, the crop water requirement is precisely estimated and optimized based on the data from the weather station. Durian will be irrigated at the right amount and at the right time, offering the opportunity for higher yield and higher income to the farmers.

Keywords: Durian, precision irrigation, precision agriculture, smart farm

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16076 A Study of Chaos Control Schemes for Plankton-Fish Dynamics

Authors: Rajinder Pal Kaur, Amit Sharma, Anuj Kumar Sharma, Govind Prasad Sahu

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The existence of chaos in the marine ecosystems may cause planktonic blooms, disease outbreaks, extinction of some plankton species, or some complex dynamics in oceans, which can adversely affect the sustainable marine ecosystem. The control of the chaotic plankton-fish dynamics is one of the main motives of marine ecologists. In this paper, we have studied the impact of phytoplankton refuge, zooplankton refuge, and fear effect on the chaotic plankton-fish dynamics incorporating phytoplankton, zooplankton, and fish biomass. The fear of fish predation transfers the unpredictable(chaotic) behavior of the plankton system to a stable orbit. The defense mechanism developed by prey species due to fear of the predator population can also terminate chaos from the given dynamics. Moreover, the impact of external disturbances like seasonality, noise, periodic fluctuations, and time delay on the given chaotic plankton system has also been discussed. We have applied feedback mechanisms to control the complexity of the system through the parameter noise. The non-feedback schemes are implemented to observe the role of seasonal force, periodic fluctuations, and time delay in suppressing the given chaotic system. Analytical results are substantiated by numerical simulation.

Keywords: plankton, chaos, noise, seasonality, fluctuations, fear effect, prey refuge

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16075 Students with Severe Learning Disabilities in Mainstream Classes: A Study of Comprehensions amongst School Staff and Parents Built on Observations and Interviews in a Phenomenological Framework

Authors: Inger Eriksson, Lisbeth Ohlsson, Jeremias Rosenqvist

Abstract:

Ingress: Focus in the study is directed towards phenomena and concepts of segregation, integration, and inclusion of students attending a special school form in Sweden, namely compulsory school for pupils with learning disabilities (in Swedish 'särskola') as an alternative to mainstream compulsory school. Aim: The aim of the study is to examine the school situation for students attending särskola from a historical perspective focussing the 1980s, 1990s and the 21st century, from an integration perspective, and from a perspective of power. Procedure: Five sub-studies are reported, where integration and inclusion are looked into by observation studies and interviews with school leaders, teachers, special and remedial teachers, psychologists, coordinators, and parents in the special schools/särskola. In brief, the study about special school students attending mainstream classes from 1998 takes its point of departure in the idea that all knowledge development takes place in a social context. A special interest is taken in the school’s role for integration generally, and the role of special education particularly and on whose conditions the integration is taking place – the special school students' or the other students,' or may be equally, in the class. Pedagogical and social conditions for so called individually integrated special school students in elementary school classes were studied in eleven classes. Results: The findings are interpreted in a power perspective supported by Foucault and relationally by Vygotsky. The main part of the data consists of extensive descriptions of the eleven cases, here called integration situations. Conclusions: In summary, this study suggests that the possibilities for a special school student to get into the class community and fellowship and thereby be integrated with the class are to a high degree dependant on to what extent the student can take part in the pedagogical processes. The pedagogical situation for the special school student is affected not only by the class teacher and the support and measures undertaken but also by the other students in the class as they, in turn, are affected by how the special school student is acting. This mutual impact, which constitutes the integration process in itself, might result in a true integration if the special school student attains the status of being accepted on his/her own terms not only being cared for or cherished by some classmates. A special school student who is not accepted even on the terms of the class will often experience severe problems in the contacts with classmates and the school situation might thus be a mere placement.

Keywords: integration/inclusion, mainstream school, power, special school students

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16074 An Indoor Positioning System in Wireless Sensor Networks with Measurement Delay

Authors: Pyung Soo Kim, Eung Hyuk Lee, Mun Suck Jang

Abstract:

In the current paper, an indoor positioning system is proposed with consideration of measurement delay. Firstly, an estimation filter with a measurement delay is designed for the indoor positioning mechanism under a weighted least square criterion, which utilizes only finite measurements on the most recent window. The proposed estimation filtering based scheme gives the filtered estimates for position, velocity and acceleration of moving target in real-time, while removing undesired noisy effects and preserving desired moving positions. Secondly, the proposed scheme is shown to have good inherent properties such as unbiasedness, efficiency, time-invariance, deadbeat, and robustness due to the finite memory structure. Finally, computer simulations shows that the performance of the proposed estimation filtering based scheme can outperform to the existing infinite memory filtering based mechanism.

Keywords: indoor positioning system, wireless sensor networks, measurement delay

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16073 Investigation of the Effects of 10-Week Nordic Hamstring Exercise Training and Subsequent Detraining on Plasma Viscosity and Oxidative Stress Levels in Healthy Young Men

Authors: H. C. Ozdamar , O. Kilic-Erkek, H. E. Akkaya, E. Kilic-Toprak, M. Bor-Kucukatay

Abstract:

Nordic hamstring exercise (NHE) is used to increase hamstring muscle strength, prevent injuries. The aim of this study was to reveal the acute, long-term effects of 10-week NHE, followed by 5, 10-week detraining on anthropometric measurements, flexibility, anaerobic power, muscle architecture, damage, fatigue, oxidative stress, plasma viscosity (PV), blood lactate levels. 40 sedentary, healthy male volunteers underwent 10 weeks of progressive NHE followed by 5, 10 weeks of detraining. Muscle architecture was determined by ultrasonography, stiffness by strain elastography. Anaerobic power was assessed by double-foot standing, long jump, vertical jump, flexibility by sit-lie, hamstring flexibility tests. Creatine kinase activity, oxidant/antioxidant parameters were measured from venous blood by a commercial kit, whereas PV was determined using a cone-plate viscometer. The blood lactate level was measured from the fingertip. NHE allowed subjects to lose weight, this effect was reversed by detraining for 5 weeks. Exercise caused an increase in knee angles measured by a goniometer, which wasn’t affected by detraining. 10-week NHE caused a partially reversed increase in anaerobic performance upon detraining. NHE resulted in increment of biceps femoris long head (BFub) area, pennation angle, which was reversed by detraining of 10-weeks. Blood lactate levels, muscle pain, fatigue were increased after each exercise session. NHE didn’t change oxidant/antioxidant parameters; 5-week detraining resulted in an increase in total oxidant capacity (TOC) and oxidative stress index (OSI). Detraining of 10 weeks caused a reduction of these parameters. Acute exercise caused a reduction in PV at 1 to 10 weeks. Pre-exercise PV measured on the 10th week was lower than the basal value. Detraining caused the increment of PV. The results may guide the selection of the exercise type to increase performance and muscle strength. Knowing how much of the gains will be lost after a period of detraining can contribute to raising awareness of the continuity of the exercise. This work was supported by PAU Scientific Research Projects Coordination Unit (Project number: 2018SABE034)

Keywords: anaerobic power, detraining, Nordic hamstring exercise, oxidative stress, plasma viscosity

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16072 A Framework for Designing Complex Product-Service Systems with a Multi-Domain Matrix

Authors: Yoonjung An, Yongtae Park

Abstract:

Offering a Product-Service System (PSS) is a well-accepted strategy that companies may adopt to provide a set of systemic solutions to customers. PSSs were initially provided in a simple form but now take diversified and complex forms involving multiple services, products and technologies. With the growing interest in the PSS, frameworks for the PSS development have been introduced by many researchers. However, most of the existing frameworks fail to examine various relations existing in a complex PSS. Since designing a complex PSS involves full integration of multiple products and services, it is essential to identify not only product-service relations but also product-product/ service-service relations. It is also equally important to specify how they are related for better understanding of the system. Moreover, as customers tend to view their purchase from a more holistic perspective, a PSS should be developed based on the whole system’s requirements, rather than focusing only on the product requirements or service requirements. Thus, we propose a framework to develop a complex PSS that is coordinated fully with the requirements of both worlds. Specifically, our approach adopts a multi-domain matrix (MDM). A MDM identifies not only inter-domain relations but also intra-domain relations so that it helps to design a PSS that includes highly desired and closely related core functions/ features. Also, various dependency types and rating schemes proposed in our approach would help the integration process.

Keywords: inter-domain relations, intra-domain relations, multi-domain matrix, product-service system design

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16071 Development of an Automatic Control System for ex vivo Heart Perfusion

Authors: Pengzhou Lu, Liming Xin, Payam Tavakoli, Zhonghua Lin, Roberto V. P. Ribeiro, Mitesh V. Badiwala

Abstract:

Ex vivo Heart Perfusion (EVHP) has been developed as an alternative strategy to expand cardiac donation by enabling resuscitation and functional assessment of hearts donated from marginal donors, which were previously not accepted. EVHP parameters, such as perfusion flow (PF) and perfusion pressure (PP) are crucial for optimal organ preservation. However, with the heart’s constant physiological changes during EVHP, such as coronary vascular resistance, manual control of these parameters is rendered imprecise and cumbersome for the operator. Additionally, low control precision and the long adjusting time may lead to irreversible damage to the myocardial tissue. To solve this problem, an automatic heart perfusion system was developed by applying a Human-Machine Interface (HMI) and a Programmable-Logic-Controller (PLC)-based circuit to control PF and PP. The PLC-based control system collects the data of PF and PP through flow probes and pressure transducers. It has two control modes: the RPM-flow mode and the pressure mode. The RPM-flow control mode is an open-loop system. It influences PF through providing and maintaining the desired speed inputted through the HMI to the centrifugal pump with a maximum error of 20 rpm. The pressure control mode is a closed-loop system where the operator selects a target Mean Arterial Pressure (MAP) to control PP. The inputs of the pressure control mode are the target MAP, received through the HMI, and the real MAP, received from the pressure transducer. A PID algorithm is applied to maintain the real MAP at the target value with a maximum error of 1mmHg. The precision and control speed of the RPM-flow control mode were examined by comparing the PLC-based system to an experienced operator (EO) across seven RPM adjustment ranges (500, 1000, 2000 and random RPM changes; 8 trials per range) tested in a random order. System’s PID algorithm performance in pressure control was assessed during 10 EVHP experiments using porcine hearts. Precision was examined through monitoring the steady-state pressure error throughout perfusion period, and stabilizing speed was tested by performing two MAP adjustment changes (4 trials per change) of 15 and 20mmHg. A total of 56 trials were performed to validate the RPM-flow control mode. Overall, the PLC-based system demonstrated the significantly faster speed than the EO in all trials (PLC 1.21±0.03, EO 3.69±0.23 seconds; p < 0.001) and greater precision to reach the desired RPM (PLC 10±0.7, EO 33±2.7 mean RPM error; p < 0.001). Regarding pressure control, the PLC-based system has the median precision of ±1mmHg error and the median stabilizing times in changing 15 and 20mmHg of MAP are 15 and 19.5 seconds respectively. The novel PLC-based control system was 3 times faster with 60% less error than the EO for RPM-flow control. In pressure control mode, it demonstrates a high precision and fast stabilizing speed. In summary, this novel system successfully controlled perfusion flow and pressure with high precision, stability and a fast response time through a user-friendly interface. This design may provide a viable technique for future development of novel heart preservation and assessment strategies during EVHP.

Keywords: automatic control system, biomedical engineering, ex-vivo heart perfusion, human-machine interface, programmable logic controller

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16070 An Integrated Fuzzy Inference System and Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution Approach for Evaluation of Lean Healthcare Systems

Authors: Aydin M. Torkabadi, Ehsan Pourjavad

Abstract:

A decade after the introduction of Lean in Saskatchewan’s public healthcare system, its effectiveness remains a controversial subject among health researchers, workers, managers, and politicians. Therefore, developing a framework to quantitatively assess the Lean achievements is significant. This study investigates the success of initiatives across Saskatchewan health regions by recognizing the Lean healthcare criteria, measuring the success levels, comparing the regions, and identifying the areas for improvements. This study proposes an integrated intelligent computing approach by applying Fuzzy Inference System (FIS) and Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS). FIS is used as an efficient approach to assess the Lean healthcare criteria, and TOPSIS is applied for ranking the values in regards to the level of leanness. Due to the innate uncertainty in decision maker judgments on criteria, principals of the fuzzy theory are applied. Finally, FIS-TOPSIS was established as an efficient technique in determining the lean merit in healthcare systems.

Keywords: lean healthcare, intelligent computing, fuzzy inference system, healthcare evaluation, technique for order of preference by similarity to ideal solution, multi-criteria decision making, MCDM

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16069 Comparison of Methods of Estimation for Use in Goodness of Fit Tests for Binary Multilevel Models

Authors: I. V. Pinto, M. R. Sooriyarachchi

Abstract:

It can be frequently observed that the data arising in our environment have a hierarchical or a nested structure attached with the data. Multilevel modelling is a modern approach to handle this kind of data. When multilevel modelling is combined with a binary response, the estimation methods get complex in nature and the usual techniques are derived from quasi-likelihood method. The estimation methods which are compared in this study are, marginal quasi-likelihood (order 1 & order 2) (MQL1, MQL2) and penalized quasi-likelihood (order 1 & order 2) (PQL1, PQL2). A statistical model is of no use if it does not reflect the given dataset. Therefore, checking the adequacy of the fitted model through a goodness-of-fit (GOF) test is an essential stage in any modelling procedure. However, prior to usage, it is also equally important to confirm that the GOF test performs well and is suitable for the given model. This study assesses the suitability of the GOF test developed for binary response multilevel models with respect to the method used in model estimation. An extensive set of simulations was conducted using MLwiN (v 2.19) with varying number of clusters, cluster sizes and intra cluster correlations. The test maintained the desirable Type-I error for models estimated using PQL2 and it failed for almost all the combinations of MQL. Power of the test was adequate for most of the combinations in all estimation methods except MQL1. Moreover, models were fitted using the four methods to a real-life dataset and performance of the test was compared for each model.

Keywords: goodness-of-fit test, marginal quasi-likelihood, multilevel modelling, penalized quasi-likelihood, power, quasi-likelihood, type-I error

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16068 An Application of Geographic Information System to Select Areas for Sanitary Landfill in Bang Nok- Khwaek Municipality

Authors: Musthaya Patchanee

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The study of Sanitary landfill in Bang Nok-khwaek municipality consists of two procedures. First, to survey and create the spatial database by using physical factor, environmental factor, economical factor and social factor to follow the method of Geographic information system: GIS, second, to analyze the proper spatial for allocating the sanitary landfill in Bang Nok-khwaek municipality by using Overlay techniques to calculate the weighting linear total in Arc GIS program. The study found that there are 2.49 sq.km. proper spatial for the sanitary landfill in Bang Nok-khwaek municipals city which is 66.76% of the whole area. The highest proper spatial is 0.02 sq.km. which is 0.54%, The high proper spatial is 0.3 sq.km. which is 8.04%, the moderate spatial is 1.62 sq.km. which is 43.43% and the low proper spatial is 0.55 sq.km. which is 14.75%. These results will be used as the guideline to select the sanitary landfill area in accordance with sanitation standard for Subdistrict Administrative Organization and Subbdistrict Municipality in Samut Songkhram provice.

Keywords: Geographic Information System (GIS), sanitary landfill, Bang Nok-Khwaek municipality, Subdistrict Administrative Organization

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16067 The Effect of PM10 Dispersion from Industrial, Residential and Commercial Areas in Arid Environment

Authors: Meshari Al-Harbi

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A comparative area-season-elemental-wise time series analysis by Dust Track monitor (2012-2013) revealed high PM10 dispersion in the outdoor environment in the sequence of industrial> express highways>residential>open areas. Time series analysis from 7AM-6AM (until next day), 30d (monthly), 3600sec. (for any given period of a month), and 12 months (yearly) showed peak PM10 dispersion during 1AM-7AM, 1d-4d and 25d-31d of every month, 1500-3600 with the exception in PM10 dispersion in residential areas, and in the months-March to June, respectively. This time-bound PM10 dispersion suggests the primary influence of human activities (peak mobility and productivity period for a given time frame) besides the secondary influence of meteorological parameters (high temperature and wind action) and, occasional dust storms. Whereas, gravimetric analysis reveals the influence of precipitation, low temperature and low volatility resulting high trace metals in PM10 during winter than in summer and primarily attributes to the influence of nature besides, the secondary attributes of smoke stack emission from various industries and automobiles. Furthermore, our study recommends residents to limit outdoor air pollution exposures and take precautionary measures to inhale PM10 pollutants from the atmosphere.

Keywords: aerosol, pollution, respirable particulates, trace-metals

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16066 Achieving High Renewable Energy Penetration in Western Australia Using Data Digitisation and Machine Learning

Authors: A. D. Tayal

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The energy industry is undergoing significant disruption. This research outlines that, whilst challenging; this disruption is also an emerging opportunity for electricity utilities. One such opportunity is leveraging the developments in data analytics and machine learning. As the uptake of renewable energy technologies and complimentary control systems increases, electricity grids will likely transform towards dense microgrids with high penetration of renewable generation sources, rich in network and customer data, and linked through intelligent, wireless communications. Data digitisation and analytics have already impacted numerous industries, and its influence on the energy sector is growing, as computational capabilities increase to manage big data, and as machines develop algorithms to solve the energy challenges of the future. The objective of this paper is to address how far the uptake of renewable technologies can go given the constraints of existing grid infrastructure and provides a qualitative assessment of how higher levels of renewable energy penetration can be facilitated by incorporating even broader technological advances in the fields of data analytics and machine learning. Western Australia is used as a contextualised case study, given its abundance and diverse renewable resources (solar, wind, biomass, and wave) and isolated networks, making a high penetration of renewables a feasible target for policy makers over coming decades.

Keywords: data, innovation, renewable, solar

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16065 Feasibility Study for the Implementation of a Condition-Based Maintenance System in the UH-60 Helicopters

Authors: Santos Cabrera, Halbert Yesid, Moncada Nino, Alvaro Fernando, Rincon Cuta, Yeisson Alexis

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The present work evaluates the feasibility of implementing a health and use monitoring system (HUMS), based on vibration analysis as a condition-based maintenance program for the UH60L 'Blackhawk' helicopters. The mixed approach used consists of contributions from national and international experts, the analysis of data extracted from the software (Meridium), the correlation of variables derived from the diagnosis of availability, the development, and application of the HUMS system, the evaluation of the latter through of the use of instruments designed for the collection of information using the DELPHI method and data capture with the device installed in the helicopter studied. The results obtained in the investigation reflect the context of maintenance in aerial operations, a reduction of operation and maintenance costs of over 2%, better use of human resources, improvement in availability (5%), and fulfillment of the aircraft’s security standards, enabling the implementation of the monitoring system (HUMS) in the condition-based maintenance program. New elements are added to the study of maintenance based on condition -specifically, in the determination of viability based on qualitative and quantitative data according to the methodology. The use of condition-based maintenance will allow organizations to adjust and reconfigure their strategic, logistical, and maintenance capabilities, aligning them with their strategic objectives of responding quickly and adequately to changes in the environment and operational requirements.

Keywords: air transportation sustainability, HUMS, maintenance based condition, maintenance blackhawk capability

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16064 A Discussion on Urban Planning Methods after Globalization within the Context of Anticipatory Systems

Authors: Ceylan Sozer, Ece Ceylan Baba

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The reforms and changes that began with industrialization in cities and continued with globalization in 1980’s, created many changes in urban environments. City centers which are desolated due to industrialization, began to get crowded with globalization and became the heart of technology, commerce and social activities. While the immediate and intense alterations are planned around rigorous visions in developed countries, several urban areas where the processes were underestimated and not taken precaution faced with irrevocable situations. When the effects of the globalization in the cities are examined, it is seen that there are some anticipatory system plans in the cities about the future problems. Several cities such as New York, London and Tokyo have planned to resolve probable future problems in a systematic scheme to decrease possible side effects during globalization. The decisions in urban planning and their applications are the main points in terms of sustainability and livability in such mega-cities. This article examines the effects of globalization on urban planning through 3 mega cities and the applications. When the applications of urban plannings of the three mega-cities are investigated, it is seen that the city plans are generated under light of past experiences and predictions of a certain future. In urban planning, past and present experiences of a city should have been examined and then future projections could be predicted together with current world dynamics by a systematic way. In this study, methods used in urban planning will be discussed and ‘Anticipatory System’ model will be explained and relations with global-urban planning will be discussed. The concept of ‘anticipation’ is a phenomenon that means creating foresights and predictions about the future by combining past, present and future within an action plan. The main distinctive feature that separates anticipatory systems from other systems is the combination of past, present and future and concluding with an act. Urban plans that consist of various parameters and interactions together are identified as ‘live’ and they have systematic integrities. Urban planning with an anticipatory system might be alive and can foresight some ‘side effects’ in design processes. After globalization, cities became more complex and should be designed within an anticipatory system model. These cities can be more livable and can have sustainable urban conditions for today and future.In this study, urban planning of Istanbul city is going to be analyzed with comparisons of New York, Tokyo and London city plans in terms of anticipatory system models. The lack of a system in İstanbul and its side effects will be discussed. When past and present actions in urban planning are approached through an anticipatory system, it can give more accurate and sustainable results in the future.

Keywords: globalization, urban planning, anticipatory system, New York, London, Tokyo, Istanbul

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16063 Internet Economy: Enhancing Information Communication Technology Adaptation, Service Delivery, Content and Digital Skills for Small Holder Farmers in Uganda

Authors: Baker Ssekitto, Ambrose Mbogo

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The study reveals that indeed agriculture employs over 70% of Uganda’s population, of which majority are youth and women. The study further reveals that over 70% of the farmers are smallholder farmers based in rural areas, whose operations are greatly affected by; climate change, weak digital skills, limited access to productivity knowledge along value chains, limited access to quality farm inputs, weak logistics systems, limited access to quality extension services, weak business intelligence, limited access to quality markets among others. It finds that the emerging 4th industrial revolution powered by artificial intelligence, 5G and data science will provide possibilities of addressing some of these challenges. Furthermore, the study finds that despite rapid development of ICT4Agric Innovation, their uptake is constrained by a number of factors including; limited awareness of these innovations, low internet and smart phone penetration especially in rural areas, lack of appropriate digital skills, inappropriate programmes implementation models which are project and donor driven, limited articulation of value addition to various stakeholders among others. Majority of farmers and other value chain actors lacked knowledge and skills to harness the power of ICTs, especially their application of ICTs in monitoring and evaluation on quality of service in the extension system and farm level processes.

Keywords: artificial intelligence, productivity, ICT4agriculture, value chain, logistics

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16062 A Survey of Domain Name System Tunneling Attacks: Detection and Prevention

Authors: Lawrence Williams

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As the mechanism which converts domains to internet protocol (IP) addresses, Domain Name System (DNS) is an essential part of internet usage. It was not designed securely and can be subject to attacks. DNS attacks have become more frequent and sophisticated and the need for detecting and preventing them becomes more important for the modern network. DNS tunnelling attacks are one type of attack that are primarily used for distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks and data exfiltration. Discussion of different techniques to detect and prevent DNS tunneling attacks is done. The methods, models, experiments, and data for each technique are discussed. A proposal about feasibility is made. Future research on these topics is proposed.

Keywords: DNS, tunneling, exfiltration, botnet

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16061 Pressure-Robust Approximation for the Rotational Fluid Flow Problems

Authors: Medine Demir, Volker John

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Fluid equations in a rotating frame of reference have a broad class of important applications in meteorology and oceanography, especially in the large-scale flows considered in ocean and atmosphere, as well as many physical and industrial applications. The Coriolis and the centripetal forces, resulting from the rotation of the earth, play a crucial role in such systems. For such applications it may be required to solve the system in complex three-dimensional geometries. In recent years, the Navier--Stokes equations in a rotating frame have been investigated in a number of papers using the classical inf-sup stable mixed methods, like Taylor-Hood pairs, to contribute to the analysis and the accurate and efficient numerical simulation. Numerical analysis reveals that these classical methods introduce a pressure-dependent contribution in the velocity error bounds that is proportional to some inverse power of the viscosity. Hence, these methods are optimally convergent but small velocity errors might not be achieved for complicated pressures and small viscosity coefficients. Several approaches have been proposed for improving the pressure-robustness of pairs of finite element spaces. In this contribution, a pressure-robust space discretization of the incompressible Navier--Stokes equations in a rotating frame of reference is considered. The discretization employs divergence-free, $H^1$-conforming mixed finite element methods like Scott--Vogelius pairs. However, this approach might come with a modification of the meshes, like the use of barycentric-refined grids in case of Scott--Vogelius pairs. However, this strategy requires the finite element code to have control on the mesh generator which is not realistic in many engineering applications and might also be in conflict with the solver for the linear system. An error estimate for the velocity is derived that tracks the dependency of the error bound on the coefficients of the problem, in particular on the angular velocity. Numerical examples illustrate the theoretical results. The idea of pressure-robust method could be cast on different types of flow problems which would be considered as future studies. As another future research direction, to avoid a modification of the mesh, one may use a very simple parameter-dependent modification of the Scott-Vogelius element, the pressure-wired Stokes element, such that the inf-sup constant is independent of nearly-singular vertices.

Keywords: navier-stokes equations in a rotating frame of refence, coriolis force, pressure-robust error estimate, scott-vogelius pairs of finite element spaces

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16060 A Method to Predict the Thermo-Elastic Behavior of Laser-Integrated Machine Tools

Authors: C. Brecher, M. Fey, F. Du Bois-Reymond, S. Neus

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Additive manufacturing has emerged into a fast-growing section within the manufacturing technologies. Established machine tool manufacturers, such as DMG MORI, recently presented machine tools combining milling and laser welding. By this, machine tools can realize a higher degree of flexibility and a shorter production time. Still there are challenges that have to be accounted for in terms of maintaining the necessary machining accuracy - especially due to thermal effects arising through the use of high power laser processing units. To study the thermal behavior of laser-integrated machine tools, it is essential to analyze and simulate the thermal behavior of machine components, individual and assembled. This information will help to design a geometrically stable machine tool under the influence of high power laser processes. This paper presents an approach to decrease the loss of machining precision due to thermal impacts. Real effects of laser machining processes are considered and thus enable an optimized design of the machine tool, respective its components, in the early design phase. Core element of this approach is a matched FEM model considering all relevant variables arising, e.g. laser power, angle of laser beam, reflective coefficients and heat transfer coefficient. Hence, a systematic approach to obtain this matched FEM model is essential. Indicating the thermal behavior of structural components as well as predicting the laser beam path, to determine the relevant beam intensity on the structural components, there are the two constituent aspects of the method. To match the model both aspects of the method have to be combined and verified empirically. In this context, an essential machine component of a five axis machine tool, the turn-swivel table, serves as the demonstration object for the verification process. Therefore, a turn-swivel table test bench as well as an experimental set-up to measure the beam propagation were developed and are described in the paper. In addition to the empirical investigation, a simulative approach of the described types of experimental examination is presented. Concluding, it is shown that the method and a good understanding of the two core aspects, the thermo-elastic machine behavior and the laser beam path, as well as their combination helps designers to minimize the loss of precision in the early stages of the design phase.

Keywords: additive manufacturing, laser beam machining, machine tool, thermal effects

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16059 Evaluating and Prioritizing the Effective Management Factors of Human Resources Empowerment and Efficiency in Manufacturing Companies: A Case Study of Fars’ Livestock and Poultry Manufacturing Companies

Authors: Mohsen Yaghmoor, Sima Radmanesh

Abstract:

Rapid environmental changes have been threaten the life of many organizations .Enabling and productivity of human resource should be considered as the most important issue in order to increase performance and ensure survival of the organizations. In this research, the effectiveness of management factory in productivity & inability of human resource have been identified and reviewed at glance. Afterward there were two questions they are “what are the factors effecting productivity and enabling of human resource” . And ”what are the priority order based on effective management of human resource in Fars Poultry Complex". A specified questionnaire has been designed in order to priorities and effectiveness of the identified factors. Six factors specify to consist of: Individual characteristics, teaching, motivation, partnership management, authority or power submission and job development that have most effect on organization. Then specify a questionnaire for priority and effect measurement of specified factor that reach after collect information and using statistical tests of keronchbakh alpha coefficient r=0.792 that we can say the questionnaire has sufficient reliability. After information analysis of specified six factors by Friedman test categorize their effect. Measurement on organization respectively consists of individual characteristics, job development or enrichment, authority submission, partnership management, teaching and motivation. At last it has been indicated to approaches to increase making power full and productivity of manpower.

Keywords: productivity, empowerment, enrichment, authority submission, partnership management, teaching, motivation

Procedia PDF Downloads 242
16058 Alkali Activation of Fly Ash, Metakaolin and Slag Blends: Fresh and Hardened Properties

Authors: Weiliang Gong, Lissa Gomes, Lucile Raymond, Hui Xu, Werner Lutze, Ian L. Pegg

Abstract:

Alkali-activated materials, particularly geopolymers, have attracted much interest in academia. Commercial applications are on the rise, as well. Geopolymers are produced typically by a reaction of one or two aluminosilicates with an alkaline solution at room temperature. Fly ash is an important aluminosilicate source. However, using low-Ca fly ash, the byproduct of burning hard or black coal reacts and sets slowly at room temperature. The development of mechanical durability, e.g., compressive strength, is slow as well. The use of fly ashes with relatively high contents ( > 6%) of unburned carbon, i.e., high loss on ignition (LOI), is particularly disadvantageous as well. This paper will show to what extent these impediments can be mitigated by mixing the fly ash with one or two more aluminosilicate sources. The fly ash used here is generated at the Orlando power plant (Florida, USA). It is low in Ca ( < 1.5% CaO) and has a high LOI of > 6%. The additional aluminosilicate sources are metakaolin and blast furnace slag. Binary fly ash-metakaolin and ternary fly ash-metakaolin-slag geopolymers were prepared. Properties of geopolymer pastes before and after setting have been measured. Fresh mixtures of aluminosilicates with an alkaline solution were studied by Vicat needle penetration, rheology, and isothermal calorimetry up to initial setting and beyond. The hardened geopolymers were investigated by SEM/EDS and the compressive strength was measured. Initial setting (fluid to solid transition) was indicated by a rapid increase in yield stress and plastic viscosity. The rheological times of setting were always smaller than the Vicat times of setting. Both times of setting decreased with increasing replacement of fly ash with blast furnace slag in a ternary fly ash-metakaolin-slag geopolymer system. As expected, setting with only Orlando fly ash was the slowest. Replacing 20% fly ash with metakaolin shortened the set time. Replacing increasing fractions of fly ash in the binary system by blast furnace slag (up to 30%) shortened the time of setting even further. The 28-day compressive strength increased drastically from < 20 MPa to 90 MPa. The most interesting finding relates to the calorimetric measurements. The use of two or three aluminosilicates generated significantly more heat (20 to 65%) than the calculated from the weighted sum of the individual aluminosilicates. This synergetic heat contributes or may be responsible for most of the increase of compressive strength of our binary and ternary geopolymers. The synergetic heat effect may be also related to increased incorporation of calcium in sodium aluminosilicate hydrate to form a hybrid (N,C)A-S-H) gel. The time of setting will be correlated with heat release and maximum heat flow.

Keywords: alkali-activated materials, binary and ternary geopolymers, blends of fly ash, metakaolin and blast furnace slag, rheology, synergetic heats

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16057 Automatic Classification of the Stand-to-Sit Phase in the TUG Test Using Machine Learning

Authors: Yasmine Abu Adla, Racha Soubra, Milana Kasab, Mohamad O. Diab, Aly Chkeir

Abstract:

Over the past several years, researchers have shown a great interest in assessing the mobility of elderly people to measure their functional status. Usually, such an assessment is done by conducting tests that require the subject to walk a certain distance, turn around, and finally sit back down. Consequently, this study aims to provide an at home monitoring system to assess the patient’s status continuously. Thus, we proposed a technique to automatically detect when a subject sits down while walking at home. In this study, we utilized a Doppler radar system to capture the motion of the subjects. More than 20 features were extracted from the radar signals, out of which 11 were chosen based on their intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC > 0.75). Accordingly, the sequential floating forward selection wrapper was applied to further narrow down the final feature vector. Finally, 5 features were introduced to the linear discriminant analysis classifier, and an accuracy of 93.75% was achieved as well as a precision and recall of 95% and 90%, respectively.

Keywords: Doppler radar system, stand-to-sit phase, TUG test, machine learning, classification

Procedia PDF Downloads 156
16056 Integrating Reactive Chlorine Species Generation with H2 Evolution in a Multifunctional Photoelectrochemical System for Low Operational Carbon Emissions Saline Sewage Treatment

Authors: Zexiao Zheng, Irene M. C. Lo

Abstract:

Organic pollutants, ammonia, and bacteria are major contaminants in sewage, which may adversely impact ecosystems without proper treatment. Conventional wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are operated to remove these contaminants from sewage but suffer from high carbon emissions and are powerless to remove emerging organic pollutants (EOPs). Herein, we have developed a low operational carbon emissions multifunctional photoelectrochemical (PEC) system for saline sewage treatment to simultaneously remove organic compounds, ammonia, and bacteria, coupled with H2 evolution. A reduced BiVO4 (r-BiVO4) with improved PEC properties due to the construction of oxygen vacancies and V4+ species was developed for the multifunctional PEC system. The PEC/r-BiVO4 process could treat saline sewage to meet local WWTPs’ discharge standard in 40 minutes at 2.0 V vs. Ag/AgCl and completely degrade carbamazepine (one of the EOPs), coupled with significant evolution of H2. A remarkable reduction in operational carbon emissions was achieved by the PEC/r-BiVO4 process compared with large-scale WWTPs, attributed to the restrained direct carbon emissions from the generation of greenhouse gases. Mechanistic investigation revealed that the PEC system could activate chloride ions in sewage to generate reactive chlorine species and facilitate •OH production, promoting contaminants removal. The PEC system exhibited operational feasibility at different pH and total suspended solids concentrations and has outstanding reusability and stability, confirming its promising practical potential. The study combined the simultaneous removal of three major contaminants from saline sewage and H2 evolution in a single PEC process, demonstrating a viable approach to supplementing and extending the existing wastewater treatment technologies. The study generated profound insights into the in-situ activation of existing chloride ions in sewage for contaminants removal and offered fundamental theories for applying the PEC system in sewage remediation with low operational carbon emissions. The developed PEC system can fit well with the future needs of wastewater treatment because of the following features: (i) low operational carbon emissions, benefiting the carbon neutrality process; (ii) higher quality of the effluent due to the elimination of EOPs; (iii) chemical-free in the operation of sewage treatment; (iv) easy reuse and recycling without secondary pollution.

Keywords: contaminants removal, H2 evolution, multifunctional PEC system, operational carbon emissions, saline sewage treatment, r-BiVO4 photoanodes

Procedia PDF Downloads 152
16055 Millennials' Viewpoints about Sustainable Hotels' Practices in Egypt: Promoting Responsible Consumerism

Authors: Jailan Mohamed El Demerdash

Abstract:

Millennials are a distinctive and dominant consumer group whose behavior, preferences and purchase decisions are broadly explored but not fully understood yet. Making up the largest market segment in the world, and in Egypt, they have the power to reinvent the hospitality industry and contribute to forming prospective demand for green hotels by showing willingness to adopting their environmental-friendly practices. The current study aims to enhance better understanding of Millennials' perception about sustainable initiatives and to increase the prediction power of their intentions regarding green hotel practices in Egypt. In doing so, the study is exploring the relation among different factors; Millennials' environmental awareness, their acceptance of green practices and their willingness to pay more for them. Millennials' profile, their preferences and environmental decision-making process are brought under light to stimulate actions of hospitality decision-makers and hoteliers. Bearing in mind that responsible consumerism is depending on understanding the different influences on consumption. The study questionnaire was composed of four sections and it was distributed to random Egyptian travelers' blogs and Facebook groups, with approximately 8000 members. Analysis of variance test (ANOVA) was used to examine the study variables. The findings indicated that Millennials' environmental awareness will not be a significant factor in their acceptance of hotel green practices, as well as, their willingness to pay more for them. However, Millennials' acceptance of the level of hotel green practices will have an impact on their willingness to pay more. Millennials were found to have a noticeable level of environmental awareness but lack commitment to tolerating hotel green practices and their associated high prices.

Keywords: millennials, environment, awareness, paying more

Procedia PDF Downloads 141
16054 Unsupervised Text Mining Approach to Early Warning System

Authors: Ichihan Tai, Bill Olson, Paul Blessner

Abstract:

Traditional early warning systems that alarm against crisis are generally based on structured or numerical data; therefore, a system that can make predictions based on unstructured textual data, an uncorrelated data source, is a great complement to the traditional early warning systems. The Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) Volatility Index (VIX), commonly referred to as the fear index, measures the cost of insurance against market crash, and spikes in the event of crisis. In this study, news data is consumed for prediction of whether there will be a market-wide crisis by predicting the movement of the fear index, and the historical references to similar events are presented in an unsupervised manner. Topic modeling-based prediction and representation are made based on daily news data between 1990 and 2015 from The Wall Street Journal against VIX index data from CBOE.

Keywords: early warning system, knowledge management, market prediction, topic modeling.

Procedia PDF Downloads 333
16053 Efficient Recommendation System for Frequent and High Utility Itemsets over Incremental Datasets

Authors: J. K. Kavitha, D. Manjula, U. Kanimozhi

Abstract:

Mining frequent and high utility item sets have gained much significance in the recent years. When the data arrives sporadically, incremental and interactive rule mining and utility mining approaches can be adopted to handle user’s dynamic environmental needs and avoid redundancies, using previous data structures, and mining results. The dependence on recommendation systems has exponentially risen since the advent of search engines. This paper proposes a model for building a recommendation system that suggests frequent and high utility item sets over dynamic datasets for a cluster based location prediction strategy to predict user’s trajectories using the Efficient Incremental Rule Mining (EIRM) algorithm and the Fast Update Utility Pattern Tree (FUUP) algorithm. Through comprehensive evaluations by experiments, this scheme has shown to deliver excellent performance.

Keywords: data sets, recommendation system, utility item sets, frequent item sets mining

Procedia PDF Downloads 288
16052 Robson System Analysis in Kyiv Perinatal Centre

Authors: Victoria Bila, Iryna Ventskivska, Oleksandra Zahorodnia

Abstract:

The goal of the study: To study the distribution of patients of the Kiyv Perinatal Center according to the Robson system and compare it with world data. Materials and methods: a comparison of the distribution of patients of Kiyv Perinatal center according to the Robson system for 2 periods - the first quarter of 2019 and 2020. For each group, 3 indicators were analyzed - the share of this group in the overall structure of patients of the Perinatal Center for the reporting period, the frequency of abdominal delivery in this group, as well as the contribution of this group to the total number of abdominal delivery. Obtained data were compared with those of the WHO in the guidelines for the implementation of the Robson system in 2017. Results and its discussion: The distribution of patients of the Perinatal Center into groups in the Robson classification is not much different from that recommended by the author. So, among all women, patients of group 1 dominate; this indicator does not change in dynamics. A slight increase in the share of group 2 (6.7% in 2019 and 9.3% - 2020) was due to an increase in the number of labor induction. At the same time, the number of patients of groups 1 and 2 in the Perinatal Center is greater than in the world population, which is determined by the hospitalization of primiparous women with reproductive losses in the past. The Perinatal Center is distinguished from the world population and the proportion of women of group 5 - it was 5.4%, in the world - 7.6%. The frequency of caesarean section in the Perinatal Center is within limits typical for most countries (20.5-20.8%). Moreover, the dominant groups in the structure of caesarean sections are group 5 (21-23.3%) and group 2 (21.9-22.9%), which are the reserve for reducing the number of abdominal delivery. In group 2, certain results have already been achieved in this matter - the frequency of cesarean section in 2019 here amounted to 67.8%, in the first quarter of 2020 - 51.6%. This happened due to a change in the leading method of induction of labor. Thus, the Robson system is a convenient and affordable tool for assessing the structure of caesarean sections. The analysis showed that, in general, the structure of caesarean sections in the Perinatal Center is close to world data, and the identified deviations have explanations related to the specialization of the Center.

Keywords: cesarian section, Robson system, Kyiv Perinatal Center, labor induction

Procedia PDF Downloads 131
16051 Modification of Electrical and Switching Characteristics of a Non Punch-Through Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor by Gamma Irradiation

Authors: Hani Baek, Gwang Min Sun, Chansun Shin, Sung Ho Ahn

Abstract:

Fast neutron irradiation using nuclear reactors is an effective method to improve switching loss and short circuit durability of power semiconductor (insulated gate bipolar transistors (IGBT) and insulated gate transistors (IGT), etc.). However, not only fast neutrons but also thermal neutrons, epithermal neutrons and gamma exist in the nuclear reactor. And the electrical properties of the IGBT may be deteriorated by the irradiation of gamma. Gamma irradiation damages are known to be caused by Total Ionizing Dose (TID) effect and Single Event Effect (SEE), Displacement Damage. Especially, the TID effect deteriorated the electrical properties such as leakage current and threshold voltage of a power semiconductor. This work can confirm the effect of the gamma irradiation on the electrical properties of 600 V NPT-IGBT. Irradiation of gamma forms lattice defects in the gate oxide and Si-SiO2 interface of the IGBT. It was confirmed that this lattice defect acts on the center of the trap and affects the threshold voltage, thereby negatively shifted the threshold voltage according to TID. In addition to the change in the carrier mobility, the conductivity modulation decreases in the n-drift region, indicating a negative influence that the forward voltage drop decreases. The turn-off delay time of the device before irradiation was 212 ns. Those of 2.5, 10, 30, 70 and 100 kRad(Si) were 225, 258, 311, 328, and 350 ns, respectively. The gamma irradiation increased the turn-off delay time of the IGBT by approximately 65%, and the switching characteristics deteriorated.

Keywords: NPT-IGBT, gamma irradiation, switching, turn-off delay time, recombination, trap center

Procedia PDF Downloads 153
16050 Supercritical Water Gasification of Organic Wastes for Hydrogen Production and Waste Valorization

Authors: Laura Alvarez-Alonso, Francisco Garcia-Carro, Jorge Loredo

Abstract:

Population growth and industrial development imply an increase in the energy demands and the problems caused by emissions of greenhouse effect gases, which has inspired the search for clean sources of energy. Hydrogen (H₂) is expected to play a key role in the world’s energy future by replacing fossil fuels. The properties of H₂ make it a green fuel that does not generate pollutants and supplies sufficient energy for power generation, transportation, and other applications. Supercritical Water Gasification (SCWG) represents an attractive alternative for the recovery of energy from wastes. SCWG allows conversion of a wide range of raw materials into a fuel gas with a high content of hydrogen and light hydrocarbons through their treatment at conditions higher than those that define the critical point of water (temperature of 374°C and pressure of 221 bar). Methane used as a transport fuel is another important gasification product. The number of different uses of gas and energy forms that can be produced depending on the kind of material gasified and type of technology used to process it, shows the flexibility of SCWG. This feature allows it to be integrated with several industrial processes, as well as power generation systems or waste-to-energy production systems. The final aim of this work is to study which conditions and equipment are the most efficient and advantageous to explore the possibilities to obtain streams rich in H₂ from oily wastes, which represent a major problem both for the environment and human health throughout the world. In this paper, the relative complexity of technology needed for feasible gasification process cycles is discussed with particular reference to the different feedstocks that can be used as raw material, different reactors, and energy recovery systems. For this purpose, a review of the current status of SCWG technologies has been carried out, by means of different classifications based on key features as the feed treated or the type of reactor and other apparatus. This analysis allows to improve the technology efficiency through the study of model calculations and its comparison with experimental data, the establishment of kinetics for chemical reactions, the analysis of how the main reaction parameters affect the yield and composition of products, or the determination of the most common problems and risks that can occur. The results of this work show that SCWG is a promising method for the production of both hydrogen and methane. The most significant choices of design are the reactor type and process cycle, which can be conveniently adopted according to waste characteristics. Regarding the future of the technology, the design of SCWG plants is still to be optimized to include energy recovery systems in order to reduce costs of equipment and operation derived from the high temperature and pressure conditions that are necessary to convert water to the SC state, as well as to find solutions to remove corrosion and clogging of components of the reactor.

Keywords: hydrogen production, organic wastes, supercritical water gasification, system integration, waste-to-energy

Procedia PDF Downloads 143
16049 Solution for Thick Plate Resting on Winkler Foundation by Symplectic Geometry Method

Authors: Mei-Jie Xu, Yang Zhong

Abstract:

Based on the symplectic geometry method, the theory of Hamilton system can be applied in the analysis of problem solved using the theory of elasticity and in the solution of elliptic partial differential equations. With this technique, this paper derives the theoretical solution for a thick rectangular plate with four free edges supported on a Winkler foundation by variable separation method. In this method, the governing equation of thick plate was first transformed into state equations in the Hamilton space. The theoretical solution of this problem was next obtained by applying the method of variable separation based on the Hamilton system. Compared with traditional theoretical solutions for rectangular plates, this method has the advantage of not having to assume the form of deflection functions in the solution process. Numerical examples are presented to verify the validity of the proposed solution method.

Keywords: symplectic geometry method, Winkler foundation, thick rectangular plate, variable separation method, Hamilton system

Procedia PDF Downloads 298