Search results for: thermal efficient design

Authors: Giles Balbinotti, Lucas Balbinotti, Paula Hembecker

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The management of the productive process project activities, for the conception of future work and for the financial health of the companies, is an important condition in an organizational model that corroborates the management of the human aspects and their variabilities existing in the work. It is important to seek, at all levels of the organization, understanding and consequent cultural change, and so that factors associated with human aspects are considered and prioritized in the projects. In this scenario, the central question of research for this study is placed from the context of the work, in which the managers and project coordinators are inserted, as follows: How is the top management convinced, in the design stages, to take The ‘Ergonomics’ as strategy for the performance and sustainability of the business? In this perspective, this research has as general objective to analyze how the application of the management of the human aspects in a real project of productive process in the automotive industry, including the activity of the manager and coordinator of the project beyond the strategies of convincing to act in the ergonomics of design. For this, the socio-technical and ergonomic approach is adopted, given its anthropocentric premise in the sense of acting on the social system simultaneously to the technical system, besides the support of the Modapts system that measures the non-value-added times and the correlation with the Critical positions. The methodological approach adopted in this study is based on a review of the literature and the analysis of the activity of the project coordinators of an industry, including the management of human aspects in the context of work variability and the strategies applied in project activities. It was observed in the study that the loss of performance of the serial production lines reaches the important number of the order of 30%, which can make the operation with not value-added, and this loss has as one of the causes, the ergonomic problems present in the professional activity.

Keywords: human aspects in production process project, ergonomics in design, sociotechnical project management, sociotechnical, ergonomic principles, sustainability

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Authors: Amira Zrelli, Tahar Ezzeddine

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Measurement and monitoring of temperature, humidity and strain variation are very requested in great fields and areas such as structural health monitoring (SHM) systems. Currently, the use of fiber Bragg grating sensors (FBGS) is very recommended in SHM systems due to the specifications of these sensors. In this paper, we present the theory of Bragg sensor, therefore we try to measure the efficient variation of strain, temperature and humidity (SV, ST, SH) using Bragg sensor. Thus, we can deduce the fundamental relation between these parameters and the wavelength of Bragg sensor.

Keywords: Fiber Bragg Grating Sensors (FBGS), strain, temperature, humidity, structural health monitoring (SHM)

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Authors: Omer Oral, Y. Emre Yilmaz

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Topology optimization is an approach that optimizes material distribution within a given design space for a certain load and boundary conditions by providing performance goals. It uses various restrictions such as boundary conditions, set of loads, and constraints to maximize the performance of the system. It is different than size and shape optimization methods, but it reserves some features of both methods. In this study, interior structures of the parts were optimized by using SIMP (Solid Isotropic Material with Penalization) method. The volume of the part was preassigned parameter and minimum deflection was the objective function. The basic idea behind the theory was considered, and different methods were discussed. Rhinoceros 3D design tool was used with Grasshopper and TopOpt plugins to create and optimize parts. A Grasshopper algorithm was designed and tested for different beams, set of arbitrary located forces and support types such as pinned, fixed, etc. Finally, 2.5D shapes were obtained and verified by observing the changes in density function.

Keywords: Grasshopper, lattice structure, microstructures, Rhinoceros, solid isotropic material with penalization method, TopOpt, topology optimization

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Authors: Sudip Kumar Sinha, Saptarshi Ghosh

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While there’s a perpetual buzz around zinc oxide (ZnO) superstructures for their unique optical features, the versatile material has been constantly utilized to manifest tailored electronic properties through rendition of distinct morphologies. And yet, the unorthodox approach of implementing the novel 1D nanostructures of ZnO (pristine or doped) for volatile sensing applications has ample scope to accommodate new unconventional morphologies. In the last two decades, solid-state sensors have attracted much curiosity for their relevance in identifying pollutant, toxic and other industrial gases. In particular gas sensors based on metal oxide semiconducting (wide Eg) nanomaterials have recently attracted intensive attention owing to their high sensitivity and fast response and recovery time. These materials when exposed to air, the atmospheric O2 dissociates and get absorb on the surface of the sensors by trapping the outermost shell electrons. Finally a depleted zone on the surface of the sensors is formed, that enhances the potential barrier height at grain boundary . Once a target gas is exposed to the sensor, the chemical interaction between the chemisorbed oxygen and the specific gas liberates the trapped electrons. Therefore altering the amount of adsorbate is a considerable approach to improve the sensitivity of any target gas/vapour molecule. Likewise, this study presents a spontaneous but self catalytic creation of Sn-doped ZnO hexagonal nanoprisms on Si (100) substrates through thermal evaporation-condensation method, and their subsequent deployment for volatile sensing. In particular, the sensors were utilized to detect molecules of ethanol, acetone and ammonia below their permissible exposure limits which returned sensitivities of around 85%, 80% and 50% respectively. The influence of Sn concentration on the growth, microstructural and optical properties of the nanoprisms along with its role in augmenting the sensing parameters has been detailed. The single-crystalline nanostructures have a typical diameter ranging from 300 to 500 nm and a length that extends up to few micrometers. HRTEM images confirmed the hexagonal crystallography for the nanoprisms, while SAED pattern asserted the single crystalline nature. The growth habit is along the low index <0001>directions. It has been seen that the growth mechanism of the as-deposited nanostructures are directly influenced by varying supersaturation ratio, fairly high substrate temperatures, and specified surface defects in certain crystallographic planes, all acting cooperatively decide the final product morphology. Room temperature photoluminescence (PL) spectra of this rod like structures exhibits a weak ultraviolet (UV) emission peak at around 380 nm and a broad green emission peak in the 505 nm regime. An estimate of the sensing parameters against dispensed target molecules highlighted the potential for the nanoprisms as an effective volatile sensing material. The Sn-doped ZnO nanostructures with unique prismatic morphology may find important applications in various chemical sensors as well as other potential nanodevices.

Keywords: gas sensor, HRTEM, photoluminescence, ultraviolet, zinc oxide

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Authors: Tingting Chen, Shouliang Zhao

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Compared with other regions, the construction for villages and towns in regions inhabited by minority nationality shall be deeply rooted in natural and cultural endowment in locality, and more importance shall be attached to building of characteristics. In this kind of area, landscape design is very important for its character and tradition. By empirical study in Shennongjia Area, some findings could be summarized as below. There are unique natural and cultural resources in Shennongjia Forestry District; during transformation on style and features of Tujia Village, Xiaguping, special style and features have been successfully shaped through 4 strategies: (1) highlighting Tujia Culture and architectural style in west region of Hubei Province; (2) merging with local natural environment; (3) introducing system of rural coordination architect; and (4) making great efforts to design and construct environmental embellishments with village and town symbols.

Keywords: rural coordination architect, special style and features, characteristic landscape, villages and towns in regions inhabited by minority nationality

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Authors: Nina Philipova

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The influence of the geometric parameters of trapezoidal labyrinth channel on the pressure losses along the labyrinth length is investigated in this work. The impact of the dentate height is studied at fixed values of the dentate angle and the dentate spacing. The objective of the work presented in this paper is to derive a mathematical model of the pressure losses along the labyrinth length depending on the dentate height. The numerical simulations of the water flow movement are performed by using Commercial codes ANSYS GAMBIT and FLUENT. Dripper inlet pressure is set up to be 1 bar. As a result, the mathematical model of the pressure losses is determined as a second-order polynomial by means Commercial code STATISTIKA. Bi-objective optimization is performed by using the mean algebraic function of utility. The optimum value of the dentate height is defined at fixed values of the dentate angle and the dentate spacing. The derived model of the pressure losses and the optimum value of the dentate height are used as a basis for a more successful emitter design.

Keywords: drip irrigation, labyrinth channel hydrodynamics, numerical simulations, Reynolds stress model

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Authors: Till Gramberg

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In the dynamic world of machine and plant engineering, stagnation in the growth of new product sales compels companies to reconsider their business models. The increasing shift toward service orientation, known as "servitization," along with challenges posed by digitalization and sustainability, necessitates an adaptation of product portfolio management (PPM). Against this backdrop, this study investigates the current challenges and requirements of PPM in this industrial context and develops a framework for the application of generative artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance agility and efficiency in PPM processes. The research approach of this study is based on a mixed-method design. Initially, qualitative interviews with industry experts were conducted to gain a deep understanding of the specific challenges and requirements in PPM. These interviews were analyzed using the Gioia method, painting a detailed picture of the existing issues and needs within the sector. This was complemented by a quantitative online survey. The combination of qualitative and quantitative research enabled a comprehensive understanding of the current challenges in the practical application of machine and plant engineering PPM. Based on these insights, a specific framework for the application of generative AI in PPM was developed. This framework aims to assist companies in implementing faster and more agile processes, systematically integrating dynamic requirements from trends such as digitalization and sustainability into their PPM process. Utilizing generative AI technologies, companies can more quickly identify and respond to trends and market changes, allowing for a more efficient and targeted adaptation of the product portfolio. The study emphasizes the importance of an agile and reactive approach to PPM in a rapidly changing environment. It demonstrates how generative AI can serve as a powerful tool to manage the complexity of a diversified and continually evolving product portfolio. The developed framework offers practical guidelines and strategies for companies to improve their PPM processes by leveraging the latest technological advancements while maintaining ecological and social responsibility. This paper significantly contributes to deepening the understanding of the application of generative AI in PPM and provides a framework for companies to manage their product portfolios more effectively and adapt to changing market conditions. The findings underscore the relevance of continuous adaptation and innovation in PPM strategies and demonstrate the potential of generative AI for proactive and future-oriented business management.

Keywords: servitization, product portfolio management, generative AI, disruptive innovation, machine and plant engineering

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Authors: Thierry Pauporté, Sana Koussi, Fabrice Odobel

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The preparation of semiconductor oxide layers and structures by soft techniques is an important field of research. Higher performances are expected from the optimizing of the oxide films and then use of new methods of preparation for a better control of their chemical, morphological, electrical and optical properties. We present the preparation of NiO by electrodeposition from pure polar aprotic medium and mixtures with water. The effect of the solvent, of the electrochemical deposition parameters and post-deposition annealing treatment on the structural, morphological and optical properties of the films is investigated. We remarkably show that the solvent is inserted in the deposited layer and act as a blowing agent, giving rise to mesoporous films after elimination by thermal annealing. These layers of p-type oxide have been successfully used, after sensitization by a dye, in p-type dye-sensitized solar cells. The effects of the solvent on the layer properties and the application of these layers in p-type dye-sensitized solar cells are described.

Keywords: NiO, layer, p-type sensitized solar cells, electrodeposition

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Authors: Jalpit B. Prajapati, Ketankumar G. Patel

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Palm oil may be employed in diesel engine as an alternative fuel. Biofuel has so far been backed by government policies in the quest for low carbon fuel in the near future and promises to ensure energy security through partially replacing fossil fuels. This paper presents an experimental investigation of performance and emission characteristics by using palm oil in diesel engine. The properties of palm oil can be compared favorably with the characteristics required for internal combustion engine fuels especially diesel engine. Experiments will be performed for fixed compression ratio i.e. 18 using biodiesel-diesel blends i.e. B0, B10, B20, B30, B40, B50 with load variation from no load to full load and compared with base cases i.e. engine using diesel as a fuel. The parameters studied in performance characteristics are brake power, brake specific fuel consumption and brake thermal efficiency, in emission characteristics are carbon monoxide, unburnt hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxide. After experimental results B20 (20% palm oil and 80% diesel) is best in performance, but NOx formation is little higher in B20.

Keywords: palm biodiesel, performance, emission, diesel-biodiesel blend

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Authors: Anshu Radha Aggarwal

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Higher Education (HE) in the India has experienced a series of remarkable changes over the last fifteen years as successive governments have sought to make the sector more efficient and more accountable for investment of public funds. Rapid expansion in student numbers and pressures to widen Participation amongst non-traditional students are key challenges facing HE. Learning outcomes can act as a benchmark for assuring quality and efficiency in HE and they also enable universities to describe courses in an unambiguous way so as to demystify (and open up) education to a wider audience. This paper examines how learning outcomes are used in HE and evaluates the implications for curriculum design and student learning. There has been huge expansion in the field of higher education, both technical and non-technical, in India during the last two decades, and this trend is continuing. It is expected that another about 400 colleges and 300 universities will be created by the end of the 13th Plan Period. This has lead to many concerns about the quality of education and training of our students. Many studies have brought the issues ailing our curricula, delivery, monitoring and assessment. Govt. of India, (via MHRD, UGC, NBA,…) has initiated several steps to bring improvement in quality of higher education and training, such as National Skills Qualification Framework, making accreditation of institutions mandatory in order to receive Govt. grants, and so on. Moreover, Outcome-based Education and Training (OBET) has also been mandated and encouraged in the teaching/learning institutions. MHRD, UGC and NBAhas made accreditation of schools, colleges and universities mandatory w.e.f Jan 2014. Outcome-based Education and Training (OBET) approach is learner-centric, whereas the traditional approach has been teacher-centric. OBET is a process which involves the re-orientation/restructuring the curriculum, implementation, assessment/measurements of educational goals, and achievement of higher order learning, rather than merely clearing/passing the university examinations. OBET aims to bring about these desired changes within the students, by increasing knowledge, developing skills, influencing attitudes and creating social-connect mind-set. This approach has been adopted by several leading universities and institutions around the world in advanced countries. Objectives of this paper is to highlight the issues concerning quality in higher education and quality frameworks, to deliberate on the various education and training models, to explain the outcome-based education and assessment processes, to provide an understanding of the NAAC and outcome-based accreditation criteria and processes and to share best-practice outcomes-based accreditation system and process.

Keywords: learning outcomes, curriculum development, pedagogy, outcome based education

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Authors: Moustafa Osman Mohammed

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This paper introduces Luhmann’s autopoietic social systems starting with the original concept of autopoiesis by biologists and scientists, including the modification of general systems based on socialized medicine. A specific type of autopoietic system is explained in the three existing groups of the ecological phenomena: interaction, social and medical sciences. This hypothesis model, nevertheless, has a nonlinear interaction with its natural environment ‘interactional cycle’ for the exchange of photon energy with molecular without any changes in topology. The external forces in the systems environment might be concomitant with the natural fluctuations’ influence (e.g. radioactive radiation, electromagnetic waves). The cantilever sensor deploys insights to the future chip processor for prevention of social metabolic systems. Thus, the circuits with resonant electric and optical properties are prototyped on board as an intra–chip inter–chip transmission for producing electromagnetic energy approximately ranges from 1.7 mA at 3.3 V to service the detection in locomotion with the least significant power losses. Nowadays, therapeutic systems are assimilated materials from embryonic stem cells to aggregate multiple functions of the vessels nature de-cellular structure for replenishment. While, the interior actuators deploy base-pair complementarity of nucleotides for the symmetric arrangement in particular bacterial nanonetworks of the sequence cycle creating double-stranded DNA strings. The DNA strands must be sequenced, assembled, and decoded in order to reconstruct the original source reliably. The design of exterior actuators have the ability in sensing different variations in the corresponding patterns regarding beat-to-beat heart rate variability (HRV) for spatial autocorrelation of molecular communication, which consists of human electromagnetic, piezoelectric, electrostatic and electrothermal energy to monitor and transfer the dynamic changes of all the cantilevers simultaneously in real-time workspace with high precision. A prototype-enabled dynamic energy sensor has been investigated in the laboratory for inclusion of nanoscale devices in the architecture with a fuzzy logic control for detection of thermal and electrostatic changes with optoelectronic devices to interpret uncertainty associated with signal interference. Ultimately, the controversial aspect of molecular frictional properties is adjusted to each other and forms its unique spatial structure modules for providing the environment mutual contribution in the investigation of mass temperature changes due to pathogenic archival architecture of clusters.

Keywords: autopoiesis, nanoparticles, quantum photonics, portable energy, photonic structure, photodynamic therapeutic system

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Authors: Hamid Rezaei, Xiaotao Bi, C. Jim Lim, Anthony Lau, Shahab Sokhansanj

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A one-dimensional heat transfer model coupled with the kinetic information has been used to predict the overall pyrolysis mass loss of a single wood particle. The kinetic parameters were determined experimentally and the regime and characteristics of the conversion were evaluated in terms of the particle size and reactor temperature. The order of overall mass loss changed from n=1 at temperatures lower than 350 °C to n=0.5 at temperatures higher that 350 °C. Conversion time analysis showed that particles larger than 0.5 mm were controlled by internal thermal resistances. The valid range of particle size to use the simplified lumped model depends on the fluid temperature around the particles. The critical particle size was 0.6-0.7 mm for the fluid temperature of 500 °C and 0.9-1.0 mm for the fluid temperature of 100 °C. Experimental pyrolysis of moist particles did not show distinct drying and pyrolysis stages. The process was divided into two hypothetical drying and pyrolysis dominated zones and empirical correlations are developed to predict the rate of mass loss in each zone.

Keywords: pyrolysis, kinetics, model, single particle

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Authors: Ákos Wolf, Richard P. Ray

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Due to the introduction of Eurocode 8, the structural design for seismic and dynamic effects has become more significant in Hungary. This has emphasized the need for more effort to describe the behavior of structures under these conditions. Soil conditions have a significant effect on the response of structures by modifying the stiffness and damping of the soil-structural system and by modifying the seismic action as it reaches the ground surface. Shear modulus (G) and shear wave velocity (v_s), which are often measured in the field, are the fundamental dynamic soil properties for foundation vibration problems, liquefaction potential and earthquake site response analysis. There are several laboratory and in-situ measurement techniques to evaluate dynamic soil properties, but unfortunately, they are often too expensive for general design practice. However, a significant number of correlations have been proposed to determine shear wave velocity or shear modulus from Cone Penetration Tests (CPT), which are used more and more in geotechnical design practice in Hungary. This allows the designer to analyze and compare CPT and seismic test result in order to select the best correlation equations for Hungarian soils and to improve the recommendations for the Hungarian geologic conditions. Based on a literature review, as well as research experience in Hungary, the influence of various parameters on the accuracy of results will be shown. This study can serve as a basis for selecting and modifying correlation equations for Hungarian soils. Test data are taken from seven locations in Hungary with similar geologic conditions. The shear wave velocity values were measured by seismic CPT. Several factors are analyzed including soil type, behavior index, measurement depth, geologic age etc. for their effect on the accuracy of predictions. The final results show an improved prediction method for Hungarian soils

Keywords: CPT correlation, dynamic soil properties, seismic CPT, shear wave velocity

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Authors: Kumars ZandParsa, Quynh Nguyen, Hadi Moradi

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There are old cast-in-place concrete box girder bridges in California with inter-span hinges that are designed based on old earthquake codes. Hinge removal is part of the bridges’ earthquake retrofitting project, and hinges were removed and replaced with modified hinges per new earthquake codes. The span that has a hinge is divided into short and long cantilevers in which the short cantilever supports the long cantilever. In the recent bridge hinge replacement, the length of the short and long cantilevers were 20ft and 80ft, respectively. The seat in the new design is wider than the old design, and the horizontal and vertical movements of the deck at the hinge location must be computed to check if restraints are needed. In this paper, besides considering the conventional reinforced concrete box girder bridges, the hinge removal operations, along with the response spectrum analysis based on the El Centro 1940 earthquake, will be presented to verify if vertical and horizontal restrainers are needed.

Keywords: hinge replacement, restrainers, vertical earthquake, response spectrum analysis

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Authors: A. Maruf Aytekin

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We present our approach on using continuous delivery pattern for release management. One of the key practices of agile and lean teams is the continuous delivery of new features to stakeholders. The main benefits of this approach lie in the ability to release new applications rapidly which has real strategic impact on the competitive advantage of an organization. Organizations that successfully implement Continuous Delivery have the ability to evolve rapidly to support innovation, provide stable and reliable software in more efficient ways, decrease the amount of resources need for maintenance, and lower the software delivery time and costs. One of the objectives of this paper is to elaborate a case study where IT division of Central Securities Depository Institution (MKK) of Turkey apply Continuous Delivery pattern to improve release management process.

Keywords: automation, continuous delivery, deployment, release management

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Authors: M. Ahmed Eldesouky, S. Nasr, A. Beltagy

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Groundwater is generally considered as the best source for aquaculture as it is well protected from contamination. The most common problem limiting the use of groundwater in Egypt is its high iron, manganese and ammonia content. This problem is often overcome by applying the treatment before use. Aeration in many cases is not enough to oxidize iron and manganese in complex forms with organics. Most of the treatment we use potassium permanganate as an oxidizer followed by a pressurized closed green sand filter. The aim of present study is to investigate the optimum characteristics of groundwater to give lowest iron, manganese and ammonia, maximum production and quality of fish in aquaculture in El-Max Research Station. The major design goal of the system was determined the optimum time for harvesting the treated water, pH, and Glauconite weight to use it for aquaculture process in the research site and achieve the Egyptian law (48/1982) and EPA level required for aquaculture. The water characteristics are [Fe = 0.116 mg/L, Mn = 1.36 mg/L,TN = 0.44 mg/L , TP = 0.07 mg/L , Ammonia = 0.386 mg/L] by using the glauconite filter we obtained high efficiency for removal for [(Fe, Mn and Ammonia] ,but in the Lab we obtained result for (Fe, 43-97), ( Mn,92-99 ), and ( Ammonia, 66-88 )]. We summarized the results to show the optimum time, pH, Glauconite weight, and the best model for design in the region.

Keywords: aquaculture, ammonia in groundwater, groundwater, iron and manganese in water, groundwater treatment

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Authors: Rania Jradi, Christophe Marvillet, Mohamed Razak Jeday

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One of the most frequently encountered problems in industrial heat exchangers is fouling, which degrades the thermal and hydraulic performances of these types of equipment, leading thus to failure if undetected. And it occurs due to the accumulation of undesired material on the heat transfer surface. So, it is necessary to know about the heat exchanger fouling dynamics to plan mitigation strategies, ensuring a sustainable and safe operation. This paper proposes an Artificial Neural Network (ANN) approach to estimate the fouling resistance in a cross-flow heat exchanger by the collection of the operating data of the phosphoric acid concentration loop. The operating data of 361 was used to validate the proposed model. The ANN attains AARD= 0.048%, MSE= 1.811x10⁻¹¹, RMSE= 4.256x 10⁻⁶ and r²=99.5 % of accuracy which confirms that it is a credible and valuable approach for industrialists and technologists who are faced with the drawbacks of fouling in heat exchangers.

Keywords: cross-flow heat exchanger, fouling, estimation, phosphoric acid concentration loop, artificial neural network approach

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Authors: Divya Raghunandanan, Bhavesh D. Gajbhiye, C. S. Sona, Channamallikarjun S. Mathpati

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Molten fluoride salts are considered as potential coolants for next generation nuclear plants where the heat can be utilized for production of hydrogen and electricity. Among molten fluoride salts, FLiNaK (LiF-NaF-KF: 46.5-11.5-42 mol %) is a potential candidate for the coolant due to its superior thermophysical properties such as high temperature stability, boiling point, volumetric heat capacity and thermal conductivity. Major technical challenge in implementation is the selection of structural material which can withstand corrosive nature of FLiNaK. Corrosion study of alloys SS 316L, Hastelloy B, Ni-201 was performed in molten FLiNaK at 650°C. Nickel was found to be more resistant to corrosive attack in molten fluoride medium. Corrosion experiments were performed to study the effect of nickel coating on corrosion of alloys SS 316L and Hastelloy B. Weight loss of the alloys due to corrosion was measured and corrosion rate was estimated. The surface morphology of the alloys was analyzed by Scanning Electron Microscopy.

Keywords: corrosion, FLiNaK, hastelloy, weight loss

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Authors: Prasenjit Singha, Sunil Yadav, Soumya Ranjan Mohantry, Ajay Kumar Shukla

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Temperature distribution in the hematite ore mixed with 7.5% coal was predicted by solving a 1-D heat conduction equation using an implicit finite difference approach. In this work, it was considered a square slab of 20 cm x 20 cm, which assumed the coal to be uniformly mixed with hematite ore. It was solved the equations with the use of MATLAB 2018a software. Heat transfer effects in this 1D dimensional slab convective and the radiative boundary conditions are also considered. Temperature distribution obtained inside hematite slab by considering microwave heating time, thermal conductivity, heat capacity, carbon percentage, sample dimensions, and many other factors such as penetration depth, permittivity, and permeability of coal and hematite ore mixtures. The resulting temperature profile can be used as a guiding tool for optimizing the microwave-assisted carbothermal reduction process of hematite slab was extended to other dimensions as well, viz., 1 cm x 1 cm, 5 cm x 5 cm, 10 cm x 10 cm, 20 cm x 20 cm. The model predictions are in good agreement with experimental results.

Keywords: hematite ore, coal, microwave processing, heat transfer, implicit method, temperature distribution

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Authors: Ahmad Alduweesh

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Self-cleaning surfaces have become essential in various applications. For instance, in photovoltaics, they provide an easy-cost effecting way to keep the solar cells clean. Titanium dioxide (TiO₂) nanoparticles were fabricated at different thicknesses to study the effect of different thicknesses on the hydrophilicity behavior of TiO₂, eventually leading to customizing hydrophilicity levels to desired values under natural light. As a result, a remarkable increase was noticed in surface hydrophilicity after applying thermal annealing on the as-deposited TiO₂ thin-films, with contact angle dropping from around 85.4ᵒ for as-deposited thin-films down to 5.1ᵒ for one of the annealed samples. The produced thin films were exposed to the outside environment to observe the effect of dust. The transmittance of light using UV-VIS spectroscopy will be conducted on the lowest and highest thicknesses (5-40 nm); this will show whether the Titania has successfully enabled more sunlight to penetrate the glass or not. Surface characterizations, including AFM and contact angle, have been included in this test.

Keywords: physical vapor deposition, TiO₂, nano-thin films, hydrophobicity, hydrophilicity, self-cleaning surfaces

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Authors: Habib Alshuwaikhat, Nahid Hossain

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Residential sector consumes more than half of the produced electricity in Saudi Arabia, and fossil fuel is the main source of energy to meet growing household electricity demand in the Kingdom. Several studies forecasted and expressed concern that unless the domestic energy demand growth is controlled, it will reduce Saudi Arabia’s crude oil export capacity within a decade and the Kingdom is likely to be incapable of exporting crude oil within next three decades. Though the Saudi government has initiated to address the domestic energy demand growth issue, the demand side energy management policies and programs are focused on industrial and commercial sectors. It is apparent that there is an urgent need to develop a comprehensive energy efficiency strategy for addressing efficient energy use in residential sector in the Kingdom. Then again as Saudi Arabia is at its primary stage in addressing energy efficiency issues in its residential sector, there is a scope for the Kingdom to learn from global energy efficiency practices and design its own energy efficiency policies and programs. However, in order to do that sustainable, it is essential to address local contexts of energy efficiency. It is also necessary to find out the policies and programs that will fit to the local contexts. Thus the objective of this study was set to identify globally best practice energy efficiency policies and programs in residential sector that have replication potential in Saudi Arabia. In this regard two sets of multi-criteria decision analysis matrices were developed to evaluate the energy efficiency policies and programs. The first matrix was used to evaluate the global energy efficiency policies and programs, and the second matrix was used to evaluate the replication potential of global best practice energy efficiency policies and programs for Saudi Arabia. Wuppertal Institute’s guidelines for energy efficiency policy evaluation were used to develop the matrices, and the different attributes of the matrices were set through available literature review. The study reveals that the best practice energy efficiency policies and programs with good replication potential for Saudi Arabia are those which have multiple components to address energy efficiency and are diversified in their characteristics. The study also indicates the more diversified components are included in a policy and program, the more replication potential it has for the Kingdom. This finding is consistent with other studies, where it is observed that in order to be successful in energy efficiency practices, it is required to introduce multiple policy components in a cluster rather than concentrate on a single policy measure. The developed multi-criteria decision analysis matrices for energy efficiency policy and program evaluation could be utilized to assess the replication potential of other globally best practice energy efficiency policies and programs for the residential sector of the Kingdom. In addition it has potential to guide Saudi policy makers to adopt and formulate its own energy efficiency policies and programs for Saudi Arabia.

Keywords: Saudi Arabia, residential sector, energy efficiency, policy evaluation

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Authors: Ali Al-Dahoud, Mohamed Fezari, Thamer Al-Rawashdeh, Ismail Jannoud

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Monitoring and detecting faults on a set of Solar panels, using a wireless sensor network (WNS) is our contribution in this paper, This work is part of the project we are working on at Al-Zaytoonah University. The research problem has been exposed by engineers and technicians or operators dealing with PV panels maintenance, in order to monitor and detect faults within solar panels which affect considerably the energy produced by the solar panels. The proposed solution is based on installing WSN nodes with appropriate sensors for more often occurred faults on the 45 solar panels installed on the roof of IT faculty. A simulation has been done on nodes distribution and a study for the design of a node with appropriate sensors taking into account the priorities of the processing faults. Finally, a graphic user interface is designed and adapted to telemonitoring panels using WSN. The primary tests of hardware implementation gave interesting results, the sensors calibration and interference transmission problem have been solved. A friendly GUI using high level language Visial Basic was developed to carry out the monitoring process and to save data on Exel File.

Keywords: Arduino Mega microcnotroller, solar panels, fault-detection, simulation, node design

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Authors: Kuan Lun Pan, Moo Been Chang

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Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are one of major air contaminants, and they can react with nitrogen oxides (NOx) in atmosphere to form ozone (O3) and peroxyacetyl nitrate (PAN) with solar irradiation, leading to environmental hazards. In addition, some VOCs are toxic at low concentration levels and cause adverse effects on human health. How to effectively reduce VOCs emission has become an important issue. Thermal catalysis is regarded as an effective way for VOCs removal because it provides oxidation route to successfully convert VOCs into carbon dioxide (CO2) and water (H2O(g)). Single perovskite-type catalysts are promising for VOC removal, and they are of good potential to replace noble metals due to good activity and high thermal stability. Single perovskites can be generally described as ABO3 or A2BO4, where A-site is often a rare earth element or an alkaline. Typically, the B-site is transition metal cation (Fe, Cu, Ni, Co, or Mn). Catalytic properties of perovskites mainly rely on nature, oxidation states and arrangement of B-site cation. Interestingly, single perovskites could be further synthesized to form double perovskite-type catalysts which can simply be represented by A2B’B”O6. Likewise, A-site stands for an alkaline metal or rare earth element, and the B′ and B′′ are transition metals. Double perovskites possess unique surface properties. In structure, three-dimensional of B-site with ordered arrangement of B’O6 and B”O6 is presented alternately, and they corner-share octahedral along three directions of the crystal lattice, while cations of A-site position between the void of octahedral. It has attracted considerable attention due to specific arrangement of alternating B-site structure. Therefore, double perovskites may have more variations than single perovskites, and this greater variation may promote catalytic performance. It is expected that activity of double perovskites is higher than that of single perovskites toward VOC removal. In this study, double perovskite-type catalyst (La2CoMnO6) is prepared and evaluated for VOC removal. Also, single perovskites including LaCoO3 and LaMnO3 are tested for the comparison purpose. Toluene (C7H8) is one of the important VOCs which are commonly applied in chemical processes. In addition to its wide application, C7H8 has high toxicity at a low concentration. Therefore, C7H8 is selected as the target compound in this study. Experimental results indicate that double perovskite (La2CoMnO6) has better activity if compared with single perovskites. Especially, C7H8 can be completely oxidized to CO2 at 300oC as La2CoMnO6 is applied. Characterization of catalysts indicates that double perovskite has unique surface properties and is of higher amounts of lattice oxygen, leading to higher activity. For durability test, La2CoMnO6 maintains high C7H8 removal efficiency of 100% at 300oC and 30,000 h-1, and it also shows good resistance to CO2 (5%) and H2O(g) (5%) of gas streams tested. For various VOCs including isopropyl alcohol (C3H8O), ethanal (C2H4O), and ethylene (C2H4) tested, as high as 100% efficiency could be achieved with double perovskite-type catalyst operated at 300℃, indicating that double perovskites are promising catalysts for VOCs removal, and possible mechanisms will be elucidated in this paper.

Keywords: volatile organic compounds, Toluene (C7H8), double perovskite-type catalyst, catalysis

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Authors: Nisha Sharma, Mili Kaur, Ashutosh Halder, Seema Kaushal, Manoj Kumar, Manish Jain

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Purpose: To investigate microRNAs (miRNA) as an epigenomic etiological factor in idiopathic non-obstructive azoospermia (NOA). In order to achieve the same, an association was seen between occupational exposure to radiation, thermal, and chemical factors and idiopathic cases of non-obstructive azoospermia, and later, testicular differential miRNA expression profiling was done in exposure group NOA cases. Method: It is a prospective study in which 200 apparent idiopathic male factor infertility cases, who have been advised to undergo testicular fine needle aspiration (FNA) evaluation, are recruited. A detailed occupational history was taken to understand the possible type of exposure due to the nature and duration of work. A total of 26 patients were excluded upon XY-FISH and Yq microdeletion tests due to the presence of genetic causes of infertility, 6 hypospermatogeneis (HS), six Sertoli cell-only syndrome (SCOS), and six normospermatogeneis patients testicular FNA samples were used for RNA isolation followed by small RNA sequencing and nCounter miRNA expression analysis. Differential miRNA expression profile of HS and SCOS patients was done. A web-based tool, miRNet, was used to predict the interacting compounds or chemicals using the shortlisted miRNAs with high fold change. The major limitation encountered in this study was the insufficient quantity of testicular FNA sample used for total RNA isolation, which resulted in a low yield and RNA integrity number (RIN) value. Therefore, the number of RNA samples admissible for differential miRNA expression analysis was very small in comparison to the total number of patients recruited. Results: Differential expression analysis revealed 69 down-regulated and 40 up-regulated miRNAs in HS and 66 down-regulated and 33 up-regulated miRNAs in SCOS in comparison to normospermatogenesis controls. The miRNA interaction analysis using the miRNet tool showed that the differential expression profiles of HS and SCOS patients were associated with arsenic trioxide, bisphenol-A, calcium sulphate, lithium, and cadmium. These compounds are reproductive toxins and might be responsible for miRNA-mediated epigenetic deregulation leading to NOA. The association between occupational risk factor exposure and the non-exposure group of NOA patients was not statistically significant, with ꭓ2 (3, N= 178) = 6.70, p= 0.082. The association between individual exposure groups (radiation, thermal, and chemical) and various sub-types of NOA is also not significant, with ꭓ2 (9, N= 178) = 15.06, p= 0.089. Functional analysis of HS and SCOS patients' miRNA profiles revealed some important miR-family members in terms of male fertility. The miR-181 family plays a role in the differentiation of spermatogonia and spermatocytes, as well as the transcriptional regulation of haploid germ cells. The miR-34 family is expressed in spermatocytes and round spermatids and is involved in the regulation of SSCs differentiation. Conclusion: The reproductive toxins might adopt the miRNA-mediated mechanism of disease development in idiopathic cases of NOA. Chemical compound induced; miRNA-mediated epigenetic deregulation can give a future perspective on the etiopathogenesis of the disease.

Keywords: microRNA, non-obstructive azoospermia (NOA), occupational exposure, hypospermatogenesis (HS), Sertoli cell only syndrome (SCOS)

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Authors: Ahmed Emad, Ahmed Salah, Abdelrahman Magdy, Omar Rashid, Mohammed Adel

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This research paper discusses vehicle-to-vehicle technology as an important application of linear algebra. This communication technology represents an efficient and promising application to help to ensure the safety of the drivers by warning them when a crash possibility is close. The major link that combines our topic with linear algebra is the Laplacian matrix. Some main definitions used in the V2V were illustrated, such as VANET and its characteristics. The V2V technology could be applied in different applications with different traffic scenarios and various ways to warn car drivers. These scenarios were simulated programs such as MATLAB and Python to test how the V2V system would respond to the different scenarios and warn the car drivers exposed to the threat of collisions.

Keywords: V2V communication, vehicle to vehicle scenarios, VANET, FCW, EEBL, IMA, Laplacian matrix

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Authors: A. Youseef

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One of the most aims of IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX) is to present high-speed wireless access to cover wide range coverage. The base station (BS) and the subscriber station (SS) are the main parts of WiMAX. WiMAX uses either Point-to-Multipoint (PMP) or mesh topologies. In the PMP mode, the SSs connect to the BS to gain access to the network. However, in the mesh mode, the SSs connect to each other to gain access to the BS. The main components of QoS management in the 802.16 standard are the admission control, buffer management, and packet scheduling. There are several researches proposed to create an efficient packet scheduling schemes. Therefore, we use QualNet 5.0.2 to study the performance of different scheduling schemes, such as WFQ, SCFQ, RR, and SP when the numbers of SSs increase. We find that when the number of SSs increases, the average jitter and average end-to-end delay is increased and the throughput is reduced.

Keywords: WiMAX, scheduling scheme, QoS, QualNet

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Authors: Abid Fida Masih

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Forced degradation study of Rifaximin was conducted to determine the stability indicating potential of HPLC testing method for detection of Rifaximin in formulated tablets to be employed for quality control and stability testing. The questioned method applied with mobile phase methanol: water (70:30), 5µm, 250 x 4.6mm, C18 column, wavelength 293nm and flow rate of 1.0 ml/min. Forced degradation study was performed under oxidative, acidic, basic, thermal and photolytic conditions. The applied method successfully determined the degradation products after acidic and basic degradation without interfering with Rifaximin detection. Therefore, the method was said to be stability indicating and can be applied for quality control and stability testing of Rifaxmin tablets during its shelf life.

Keywords: forced degradation, high-performance liquid chromatography, method validation, rifaximin, stability indicating method

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Authors: Khaled R. Khater

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The paper theme is soil retaining structures. Cantilever secant-pile wall is triggering scientific point of curiosity. Specially the capping beams structural analysis and its interaction with secant piles as one integrated matrix. It is believed that straining actions of this integrated matrix are most probably induced due to a combination of induced line load and non-uniform horizontal pile tips displacement. The strategy that followed throughout this study starts by converting the pile head horizontal displacements generated by Plaxis-2D model to a system of concentrated line load acting per meter run along the capping beam. Then, those line loads are the input data of Staad-Pro 3D-model. Those models tailored to allow the capping beam and the secant piles interacting as one matrix, i.e. a unit. It is believed that the suggested strategy presents close to real structural simulation. The above is the paper thought and methodology. Three sand densities, one pile rigidity and one excavation depth, “h = 4.0-m,” are completely sufficient to achieve the paper’s objective.

Keywords: secant piles, capping beam, analysis, design, plaxis 2D, staad pro 3D

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Authors: Febrian Tegar Wicaksana, Niqmatul Kurniati, Surya Nandika

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Indonesia is one of the countries that have great number of disaster occurrence and threat because it is located in not only between three tectonic plates such as Eurasia plates, Indo-Australia plates and Pacific plates, but also in the Ring of Fire path, like earthquake, Tsunami, volcanic eruption and many more. Recently, research shows that there are potential areas that will be devastated by Tsunami in southern coast of Java. Tsunami is a series of waves in a body of water caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean. When the waves enter shallow water, they may rise to several feet or, in rare cases, tens of feet, striking the coast with devastating force. The parameter for reference such as magnitude, the depth of epicentre, distance between epicentres with land, the depth of every points, when reached the shore and the growth of waves. Interaction between parameters will bring the big variance of Tsunami wave. Based on that, we can formulate preparation that needed for disaster mitigation strategies. The mitigation strategies will take the important role in an effort to reduce the number of victims and damage in the area. It will reduce the number of victim and casualties. Reducing is directed to the most difficult mobilization casualties in the tsunami disaster area like old people, sick people and disabilities people. Until now, the method that used for rescuing people from Tsunami is basic horizontal evacuation. This evacuation system is not optimal because it needs so long time and it cannot be used by people with disabilities. The writers propose to create a vertical evacuation model with an escape bunker system. This bunker system is chosen because the downward vertical evacuation is considered more efficient and faster. Especially in coastal areas without any highlands surround it. The downward evacuation system is better than upward evacuation because it can avoid the risk of erosion at the ground around the structure which can affect the building. The structure of the bunker and the evacuation process while, and even after, disaster are the main priority to be considered. The power of bunker has quake’s resistance, the durability from water stream, variety of interaction to the ground, and waterproof design. When the situation is back to normal, victim and casualties can go into the safer place. The bunker will be located near the hospital and public places, and will have wide entrance supported by large slide in it so it will ease the disabilities people. The technology of the escape bunker system is expected to reduce the number of victims who have low mobility in the Tsunami.

Keywords: escape bunker, tsunami, vertical evacuation, mitigation, disaster management

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Authors: Fatima Arrutia, Francisco Amador Riera

Abstract:

The meat industry generates large volumes of blood as a result of meat processing. Several industrial procedures have been implemented in order to treat this by-product, but are focused on the production of low-value products, and in many cases, blood is simply discarded as waste. Besides, in addition to economic interests, there is an environmental concern due to bloodborne pathogens and other chemical contaminants found in blood. Consequently, there is a dire need to find extensive uses for blood that can be both applicable to industrial scale and able to yield high value-added products. Blood has been recognized as an important source of protein. The main blood serum protein in mammals is serum albumin. One of the top trends in food market is functional foods. Among them, bioactive peptides can be obtained from protein sources by microbiological fermentation or enzymatic and chemical hydrolysis. Bioactive peptides are short amino acid sequences that can have a positive impact on health when administered. The main drawback for bioactive peptide production is the high cost of the isolation, purification and characterization techniques (such as chromatography and mass spectrometry) that make unaffordable the scale-up. On the other hand, membrane technologies are very suitable to apply to the industry because they offer a very easy scale-up and are low-cost technologies, compared to other traditional separation methods. In this work, the possibility of obtaining bioactive peptide fractions from serum albumin by means of a simple procedure of only 2 steps (hydrolysis and membrane filtration) was evaluated, as an exploratory study for possible industrial application. The methodology used in this work was, firstly, a tryptic hydrolysis of serum albumin in order to release the peptides from the protein. The protein was previously subjected to a thermal treatment in order to enhance the enzyme cleavage and thus the peptide yield. Then, the obtained hydrolysate was filtered through a nanofiltration/ultrafiltration flat rig at three different pH values with two different membrane materials, so as to compare membrane performance. The corresponding permeates were analyzed by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry technology in order to obtain the peptide sequences present in each permeate. Finally, different concentrations of every permeate were evaluated for their in vitro antihypertensive and antioxidant activities though ACE-inhibition and DPPH radical scavenging tests. The hydrolysis process with the previous thermal treatment allowed achieving a degree of hydrolysis of the 49.66% of the maximum possible. It was found that peptides were best transmitted to the permeate stream at pH values that corresponded to their isoelectric points. Best selectivity between peptide groups was achieved at basic pH values. Differences in peptide content were found between membranes and also between pH values for the same membrane. The antioxidant activity of all permeates was high compared with the control only for the highest dose. However, antihypertensive activity was best for intermediate concentrations, rather than higher or lower doses. Therefore, although differences between them, all permeates were promising regarding antihypertensive and antioxidant properties.

Keywords: bioactive peptides, bovine serum albumin, hydrolysis, membrane filtration

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