Search results for: slurry transportation

Authors: Tuji Jemal Ahmed, Abdi Mohammed, Geremew Geidare Kailo

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Food security, foodborne illness, and food safety are critical issues that affect the East Harerghe region of Oromia, Ethiopia. Despite the region's potential for agriculture, food insecurity remains a significant problem, with many households experiencing chronic hunger and malnutrition. The region also experiences high rates of foodborne illnesses, including cholera, typhoid, and diarrhea, which are caused by poor hygiene and sanitation practices. Additionally, food safety is a significant challenge, particularly in rural areas, where there is a lack of infrastructure, inadequate food storage facilities, and limited access to information about food safety. There are several factors that contribute to the current situation in the East Harerghe region; firstly, the region is susceptible to natural disasters, for instance, drought, which affects crop yields and livestock production. Secondly, the region also experiences poor infrastructure, which affects the storage and transportation of food, particularly in rural areas. Thirdly, there is a lack of awareness and knowledge on good hygiene and sanitation practices, specifically during food handling, processing, and storage. Fourthly, unitability due to conflict and other forms of land degradation exacerbates food insecurity and malnutrition. Finally, limited access to financial resources and markets commonly affects smallholder farmers by their ability to produce and sell food. To address the current situation in that area, several potential solutions can be implemented; investment in infrastructure is necessary, especially in rural areas, to improve the storage and transportation of food. Education and awareness programs on good hygiene and sanitation practices should target local communities, smallholder farmers, and food vendors. Financial resources and markets should be made more accessible to smallholder farmers, particularly through the provision of credit and improved access to markets. Addressing the underlying causes of conflict and promoting peaceful coexistence can help to reduce displacement and loss of livelihoods. Finally, the enforcement of food safety regulations and the implementation of standards for food processing and storage facilities are necessary to ensure food safety. In conclusion, addressing the challenges of food security, foodborne illness, and food safety in the East Harerghe region requires a coordinated effort from various stakeholders, including the government, non-governmental organizations, and local communities. By implementing the solutions outlined above, the region can improve its food security, prevent foodborne illnesses, and keep food safe for its population. Eventually, building the resilience of communities to shocks such as droughts, floods, and conflict is necessary to ensure long-term food security in the region.

Keywords: foodborne illness, food handling, food safety, food security

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Authors: K. Ighilahriz, M. Taleb Ahmed, R. Maachi

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Oil industries are responsible for most cases of contamination of our ecosystem by oil and heavy metals. They are toxic and considered carcinogenic and dangerous even when they exist in trace amounts. At Algiers refinery, production, transportation, and refining of crude oil generate considerable waste in storage tanks; these residues result from the gravitational settling. The composition of these residues is essentially a mixture of hydrocarbon and lead. We propose in this work the application of electrooxidation treatment for the leachate of the leaden sludge. The effect of pH, current density and the electrolysis time were studied, the effectiveness of the processes is evaluated by measuring the chemical oxygen demand (COD). The dissolution is the best way to mobilize pollutants from leaden mud, so we conducted leaching before starting the electrochemical treatment. The process was carried out in batch mode using graphite anode and a stainless steel cathode. The results clearly demonstrate the compatibility of the technique used with the type of pollution studied. In fact, it allowed COD removal about 80%.

Keywords: electrooxidation, leaching, leaden sludge, oil industry

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Authors: Preecha Phongpeng

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The objectives of this research are to assess the prevalence of travel businesses websites in Thailand, investigate and evaluate the quality of travel business websites in Thailand. The sample size includes 323 websites from the population of 1,458 websites. The study covers 4 types of travel business websites including: 78 general travel agents, 30 online reservation travel agents, 205 hotels, 7 airlines, and 3 car-rental companies with nation-wide operation. The findings indicated that e-tourism in Thailand is at its growth stage, with only 13% of travel businesses having websites, 28% of them providing e-mail and the quality of travel business websites in Thailand was at the average level. Seven common problems were found in websites: lack of travel essential information, insufficient transportation information, lack of navigation tools, lack of link pages to other organizations, lack of safety features, unclear online booking functions, and lack of special features also as well.

Keywords: traveling business, website evaluation, e-commerce, e-tourism

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Authors: Chien-Chun Huang, P. W. Yuan

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Banana is one of the important fruits which constitute a valuable source of energy, vitamins and minerals and an important food component throughout the world. The fruit ripening and maturity standards vary from country to country depending on the expected shelf life of market. During ripening there are changes in appearance, texture and chemical composition of banana. The changes of component of banana during ethylene-induced ripening are categorized as nutritive values and commercial utilization. The objectives of this study were to investigate the changes of chemical composition and physicochemical properties of banana during ethylene-induced ripening. Green bananas were harvested and ripened by ethylene gas at low temperature (15℃) for seven stages. At each stage, banana was sliced and freeze-dried for banana flour preparation. The changes of total starch, resistant starch, chemical compositions, physicochemical properties, activity of amylase, polyphenolic oxidase (PPO) and phenylalanine ammonia lyase (PAL) of banana were analyzed each stage during ripening. The banana starch was isolated and analyzed for gelatinization properties, pasting properties and microscopic appearance each stage of ripening. The results indicated that the highest total starch and resistant starch content of green banana were 76.2% and 34.6%, respectively at the harvest stage. Both total starch and resistant starch content were significantly declined to 25.3% and 8.8%, respectively at the seventh stage. Soluble sugars content of banana increased from 1.21% at harvest stage to 37.72% at seventh stage during ethylene-induced ripening. Swelling power of banana flour decreased with the progress of ripening stage, but solubility increased. These results strongly related with the decreases of starch content of banana flour during ethylene-induced ripening. Both water insoluble and alcohol insoluble solids of banana flour decreased with the progress of ripening stage. Both activity of PPO and PAL increased, but the total free phenolics content decreased, with the increases of ripening stages. As ripening stage extended, the gelatinization enthalpy of banana starch significantly decreased from 15.31 J/g at the harvest stage to 10.55 J/g at the seventh stage. The peak viscosity and setback increased with the progress of ripening stages in the pasting properties of banana starch. The highest final viscosity, 5701 RVU, of banana starch slurry was found at the seventh stage. The scanning electron micrograph of banana starch showed the shapes of banana starch appeared to be round and elongated forms, ranging in 10-50 μm at the harvest stage. As the banana closed to ripe status, some parallel striations were observed on the surface of banana starch granular which could be caused by enzyme reaction during ripening. These results inferred that the highest resistant starch was found in the green banana could be considered as a potential application of healthy foods. The changes of chemical composition and physicochemical properties of banana could be caused by the hydrolysis of enzymes during the ethylene-induced ripening treatment.

Keywords: maturation of banana, appearance, texture, soluble sugars, resistant starch, enzyme activities, physicochemical properties of banana starch

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Authors: Gabriele Borg, Alexei De Bono, Charlie Abela

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There on a constant rise in the availability of high volumes of data gathered from multiple sources, resulting in an abundance of unprocessed information that can be used to monitor patterns and trends in user behaviour. Similarly, year after year, Malta is also constantly experiencing ongoing population growth and an increase in mobilization demand. This research takes advantage of data which is continuously being sourced and converting it into useful information related to the traffic problem on the Maltese roads. The scope of this paper is to provide a methodology to create a custom dataset (MalTra - Malta Traffic) compiled from multiple participants from various locations across the island to identify the most common routes taken to expose the main areas of activity. This use of big data is seen being used in various technologies and is referred to as ITSs (Intelligent Transportation Systems), which has been concluded that there is significant potential in utilising such sources of data on a nationwide scale.

Keywords: Big Data, vehicular traffic, traffic management, mobile data patterns

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Authors: Pianpian Zhang, Qingping Luo

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Currently, there is a great tendency that more and more villages in China are trying to increase income by development of tourism. Especially in Zhejiang Province, 'Beautiful Rural Construction' provides an excellent opportunity for the development of tourism. In this context, development orientation, transportation routes and tourism service facilities are analyzed under the perspective of water resources protection and regional integration based on the development tourism industry of the six villages in Pujiang County, Zhejiang Province as a research object. In the program, the biggest issue is the contradiction between the ecological protection of the water and the development of economy. How to deal with the relationship between protection and development is the key to the design of this case. Furthermore, the six villages are regarded as a whole, connecting to each other by the system of five-path and the landscape along the lake. Every village has its own features, but cannot develop without one another. The article is actively exploring for suggestions and countermeasures to promote the development premised on protection and based on a regional view.

Keywords: development, integration, protection, rural tourism

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Authors: Oscar Nieto-Garzón, Angélica Lozano

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In urban areas, on-road freight transportation creates several social and environmental externalities. Then, it is crucial that freight transport considers not only economic aspects, like retailer distribution cost reduction and service improvement, but also environmental effects such as global CO2 and local emissions (e.g. Particulate Matter, NOX, CO) and noise. Inadequate infrastructure development, high rate of urbanization, the increase of motorization, and the lack of transportation planning are characteristics that urban areas from developing countries share. The Metropolitan Area of Mexico City (MAMC), the Metropolitan Area of São Paulo (MASP), and Bogota are three of the largest urban areas in Latin America where air pollution is often a problem associated with emissions from mobile sources. The effect of the lockdown due to COVID-19 was analyzedfor these urban areas, comparing the same period (January to August) of years 2016 – 2019 with 2020. A strong reduction in the concentration of primary criteria pollutants emitted by road traffic were observed at the beginning of 2020 and after the lockdown measures.Daily mean concentration of NOx decreased 40% in the MAMC, 34% in the MASP, and 62% in Bogota. Daily mean ozone levels increased after the lockdown measures in the three urban areas, 25% in MAMC, 30% in the MASP and 60% in Bogota. These changes in emission patterns from mobile sources drastically changed the ambient atmospheric concentrations of CO and NOX. The CO/NOX ratioat the morning hours is often used as an indicator of mobile sources emissions. In 2020, traffic from cars and light vehicles was significantly reduced due to the first lockdown, but buses and trucks had not restrictions. In theory, it implies a decrease in CO and NOX from cars or light vehicles, maintaining the levels of NOX by trucks(or lower levels due to the congestion reduction). At rush hours, traffic was reduced between 50% and 75%, so trucks could get higher speeds, which would reduce their emissions. By means an emission model, it was found that an increase in the average speed (75%) would reduce the emissions (CO, NOX, and PM) from diesel trucks by up to 30%. It was expected that the value of CO/NOXratio could change due to thelockdownrestrictions. However, although there was asignificant reduction of traffic, CO/NOX kept its trend, decreasing to 8-9 in 2020. Hence, traffic restrictions had no impact on the CO/NOX ratio, although they did reduce vehicle emissions of CO and NOX. Therefore, these emissions may not adequately represent the change in the vehicle emission patterns, or this ratio may not be a good indicator of emissions generated by vehicles. From the comparison of the theoretical data and those observed during the lockdown, results that the real NOX reduction was lower than the theoretical reduction. The reasons could be that there are other sources of NOX emissions, so there would be an over-representation of NOX emissions generated by diesel vehicles, or there is an underestimation of CO emissions. Further analysis needs to consider this ratioto evaluate the emission inventories and then to extend these results forthe determination of emission control policies to non-mobile sources.

Keywords: COVID-19, emissions, freight transport, latin American metropolis

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Authors: Vinayaka Gude Divya Sampath

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The research introduces an integrated prediction model to assess the susceptibility of roads in a future flooding event. The model consists of deep learning algorithm for forecasting gauge height data and Flood Inundation Mapper (FIM) for spatial flooding. An optimal architecture for Long short-term memory network (LSTM) was identified for the gauge located on Tangipahoa River at Robert, LA. Dropout was applied to the model to evaluate the uncertainty associated with the predictions. The estimates are then used along with FIM to identify the spatial flooding. Further geoprocessing in ArcGIS provides the susceptibility values for different roads. The model was validated based on the devastating flood of August 2016. The paper discusses the challenges for generalization the methodology for other locations and also for various types of flooding. The developed model can be used by the transportation department and other emergency response organizations for effective disaster management.

Keywords: deep learning, disaster management, flood prediction, urban flooding

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Authors: Amir Taghizadeh Vahed, Adithya Thaduri

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Shovels are the main components in the mining transportation system. The productivity of the mines depends on the availability of shovels due to its high capital and operating costs. The unplanned failure/shutdowns of a shovel results in higher repair costs, increase in downtime, as well as increasing indirect cost (i.e. loss of production and company’s reputation). In order to mitigate these failures, predictive maintenance can be useful approach using failure prediction. The modern mining machinery or shovels collect huge datasets automatically; it consists of reliability and maintenance data. However, the gathered datasets are useless until the information and knowledge of data are extracted. Machine learning as well as data mining, which has a major role in recent studies, has been used for the knowledge discovery process. In this study, data mining and machine learning approaches are implemented to detect not only anomalies but also patterns from a dataset and further detection of failures.

Keywords: maintenance, machine learning, shovel, conditional based monitoring

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Authors: Imane Khalil, Quinn Pratt

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In a nuclear reactor, an array of fuel rods containing stacked uranium dioxide pellets clad with zircalloy is the heat source for a thermodynamic cycle of energy conversion from heat to electricity. After fuel is used in a nuclear reactor, the assemblies are stored underwater in a spent nuclear fuel pool at the nuclear power plant while heat generation and radioactive decay rates decrease before it is placed in packages for dry storage or transportation. A computational model of a Boiling Water Reactor spent fuel assembly is modeled using FLUENT, the computational fluid dynamics package. Heat transfer simulations were performed on the two-dimensional 9x9 spent fuel assembly to predict the maximum cladding temperature for different input to the FLUENT model. Uncertainty quantification is used to predict the heat transfer and the maximum temperature profile inside the assembly.

Keywords: spent nuclear fuel, conduction, heat transfer, uncertainty quantification

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Authors: T. A. Mona M. Salem, Ali F. Bakr

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Given the potential devastation associated with future climate change related disasters, it is vital to change the way we build and manage our cities, through new strategies to reconfigure them and their infrastructures in ways that help secure their reproduction. This leads to a kaleidoscopic view of the city that recognizes the interrelationships of energy, water, transportation, and solid waste. These interrelationships apply across sectors and with respect to the built form of the city. The paper aims at a long-term climate resilience of cities and their critical infrastructures, and sets out an argument for including an eco-infrastructure-based approach in strategies to address climate change. As these ecosystems have a critical role to play in building resilience and reducing vulnerabilities in cities, communities and economies at risk, the enhanced protection and management of ecosystems, biological resources and habitats can mitigate impacts and contribute to solutions as nations and cities strive to adapt to climate change.

Keywords: ecology, ecosystem, infrastructure, climate change, urban

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Authors: Boris G. German, Edward Jiménez, Sebastián Espinoza, Andrés G. Chico, Ricardo A. Narváez

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The unique flora and fauna of The Galapagos Islands has leveraged a tourism-driven growth in the islands. Nonetheless, such development is energy-intensive and requires thousands of gallons of diesel each year for thermoelectric electricity generation. The needed transport of fossil fuels from the continent has generated oil spillages and affectations to the fragile ecosystem of the islands. The Zero Fossil Fuels initiative for The Galapagos proposed by the Ecuadorian government as an alternative to reduce the use of fossil fuels in the islands, considers the replacement of diesel in thermoelectric generators, by Jatropha curcas vegetable oil. However, the Jatropha oil supply cannot entirely cover yet the demand for electricity generation in Galapagos. Within this context, the present work aims to provide an optimization model that can be used as a selection criterion for approving new Jatropha Curcas collection points in rural areas of Manabi-Ecuador. For this purpose, existing Jatropha collection points in Manabi were grouped under three regions: north (7 collection points), center (4 collection points) and south (9 collection points). Field work was carried out in every region in order to characterize the collection points, to establish local Jatropha supply and to determine transportation costs. Data collection was complemented using GIS software and an objective function was defined in order to determine the profit associated to Jatropha oil production. The market price of both Jatropha oil and residual cake, were considered for the total revenue; whereas Jatropha price, transportation and oil extraction costs were considered for the total cost. The tonnes of Jatropha fruit and seed, transported from collection points to the extraction plant, were considered as variables. The maximum and minimum amount of the collected Jatropha from each region constrained the optimization problem. The supply chain was optimized using linear programming in order to maximize the profits. Finally, a sensitivity analysis was performed in order to find a profit-based criterion for the acceptance of future collection points in Manabi. The maximum profit reached a value of $ 4,616.93 per year, which represented a total Jatropha collection of 62.3 tonnes Jatropha per year. The northern region of Manabi had the biggest collection share (69%), followed by the southern region (17%). The criteria for accepting new Jatropha collection points in the rural areas of Manabi can be defined by the current maximum profit of the zone and by the variation in the profit when collection points are removed one at a time. The definition of new feasible collection points plays a key role in the supply chain associated to Jatropha oil production. Therefore, a mathematical model that assists decision makers in establishing new collection points while assuring profitability, contributes to guarantee a continued Jatropha oil supply for Galapagos and a sustained economic growth in the rural areas of Ecuador.

Keywords: collection points, Jatropha curcas, linear programming, supply chain

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Authors: Hyeon Jong Yoo, Jae Hwan Yang, Dong Kyu Kim

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Recently, riding a bicycle is recommended as an eco-friendly means of transportation. In Seoul, the mayor has secured budget for extending bicycle infrastructure. As bicycle rental centers are adopted in places, more citizens are using bike rental service on bike-only roads for leisure. However, most of the citizens are not experienced in riding bicycles. They usually do not wear helmets, keep the balance of bicycle riding, and pay attention to nearby occasions. Therefore, in this study, bicycles on Han-river bike-only road were tracked, and their behaviors were analyzed in order to show how dangerously beginner riders are riding. The number of conflicts is calculated to evaluate riding safety on the most crowded bike-only road. As a result, conflicts between beginner riders and fast-driving skilled drivers are frequently observed especially at night, and on weekends. In conclusion, it is suggested that the government should acknowledge citizens the fact that bikes are vehicles and adopt a test for bike driving.

Keywords: bicycles, safety, bike-only road, policy proposal

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Authors: Serban Stere, Stefan Burciu

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The challenging and continuously growing competition in the urban freight transport market emphasizes the need for optimal planning of transportation processes in terms of identifying the solution of consolidating traffic flows in congested urban areas. The aim of the present paper is to present the mathematical framework and propose a methodology of combining urban traffic flows between the distribution centers located at the boundary of a congested urban area. The three scenarios regarding traffic flow between consolidation centers that are taken into consideration in the paper are based on the same characteristics of traffic flows. The scenarios differ in terms of the accessibility of the four consolidation centers given by the infrastructure, the connections between them, and the possibility of consolidating traffic flows for one or multiple destinations. Also, synthetical indicators will allow us to compare the scenarios considered and chose the indicated for our distribution system.

Keywords: distribution system, single and multiple destinations, urban consolidation centers, traffic flow consolidation schemes

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Authors: Satish Kumar Dewangan, Santosh Kumar Senapati

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The present work focuses on the investigation of the effect of non-Newtonian behavior on the oil-water stratified flow in a horizontal channel using ANSYS Fluent. Coupled level set and volume of fluid (CLSVOF) has been used to capture the evolving interface assuming unsteady, coaxial flow with constant fluid properties. The diametric variation of oil volume fraction, mixture velocity, total pressure and pressure gradient has been studied. Non-Newtonian behavior of oil has been represented by the power law model in order to investigate the effect of flow behavior index. Stratified flow pattern tends to assume dispersed flow pattern with the change in the behavior of oil to non-Newtonian. The pressure gradient is found to be very much sensitive to the flow behavior index. The findings could be useful in designing the transportation pipe line in petroleum industries.

Keywords: oil-water stratified flow, horizontal channel, CLSVOF, non–Newtonian behaviour.

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Authors: Chieh Lee

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Today, supply chain managers face extensive disruptions in raw material pricing, transportation block, and quality issue due to product complexity. While digitalization might help managers to mitigate the disruption risk and increase supply chain resilience by sharing information between sellers and buyers through the supply chain, entities are reluctant to build such a system. The main reason is it is not clear what information should be shared and who has access to the stored information. In this research, we propose a smart contract built by blockchain technology. This contract helps both buyer and seller to identify the type of information, the access to the information, and how to trace the information. This contract helps managers control their orders through the supply chain and address any disruption they see fit. Furthermore, with the same smart contract, the supplier can track the production process of an order and increase production efficiency by eliminating waste.

Keywords: blockchain, production process, smart contract, supply chain resilience

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Authors: Osungwu Emeka

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Until recently, Port Harcourt was known as the “Garden City of Nigeria” because of its neatness and the overwhelming presence of vegetation all over the metropolis. But today, the presence of piles of refuse dotting the entire city may have turned Port Harcourt into a “Garbage City”. Indiscriminate dumping of industrial, commercial and household wastes such as food waste, paper, polythene, textiles, scrap metals, glasses, wood, plastic, etc. at street corners and gutters, is still very common. The waste management problem in the state affects the citizens both directly and indirectly. The dumping of waste along the roadside obstructs traffic and, after mixing with rain water may sip underground with the possibility of the leachate contaminating the groundwater. The basic solid waste management processes of collection, transportation, segregation and final disposal appear to be very inefficient. This study was undertaken to assess waste utilization using metal waste scavengers. Highlighting their activities as a part of the informal sector of the solid waste management system with a view to identifying their challenges, prospects and possible contributions to the solid waste management system in the Port Harcourt metropolis. Therefore, the aim was to understand and assess scavenging as a system of solid waste management in Port Harcourt and to identify the main bottlenecks to its efficiency and the way forward. This study targeted people who engage in scavenging metal scraps across 5 major waste dump sites across Port Harcourt. To achieve this, a mixed method study was conducted to provide both experiential evidence on this waste utilization method using a qualitative study and a survey to collect numeric evidence on this subject. The findings from the qualitative string of this study provided insight on scavenging as a waste utilization activity and how their activities can reduce the gross waste generated and collected from the subject areas. It further showed the nature and characteristics of scavengers in the waste recycling system as a means of achieving the millennium development goals towards poverty alleviation, job creation and the development of a sustainable, cleaner environment. The study showed that in Port Harcourt, the waste management practice involves the collection, transportation and disposal of waste by refuse contractors using cart pushers and disposal vehicles at designated dumpsites where the scavengers salvage metal scraps for recycling and reuse. This study further indicates that there is a great demand for metal waste materials/products that are clearly identified as genuinely sustainable, even though they may be perceived as waste. The market for these waste materials shall promote entrepreneurship as a profitable venture for waste recovery and recycling in Port Harcourt. Therefore, the benefit of resource recovery and recycling as a means of the solid waste management system will enhance waste to wealth that will reduce pollution, create job opportunities thereby alleviate poverty.

Keywords: scavengers, metal waste, waste-to-wealth, recycle, Port Harcourt, Nigeria, waste reduction, garden city, waste

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Authors: Fatma Keskin Arabul, Ibrahim Senol, Ahmet Yigit Arabul, Ali Rifat Boynuegri

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On account of the concern of the fossil fuel is depleting and its negative effects on the environment, interest in alternative energy sources is increasing day by day. However, considering the importance of transportation in human life, instead of oil and its derivatives fueled vehicles with internal combustion engines, electric vehicles which are sensitive to the environment and working with electrical energy has begun to develop. In this study, simulation was carried out for providing energy management and recovering regenerative braking in fuel cell-battery hybrid electric vehicle. The main power supply of the vehicle is fuel cell on the other hand not only instantaneous power is supplied by the battery but also the energy generated due to regenerative breaking is stored in the battery. Obtained results of the simulation is analyzed and discussed.

Keywords: electric vehicles, fuel cell, battery, regenerative braking, energy management

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Authors: J. Sánchez-Beaskoetxea

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The analysis of accidents, such as marine accidents, is one of the most useful instruments to avoid future accidents. In the case of marine accidents, from a simple collision of a small boat in a port to the wreck of a gigantic tanker ship, the study of the causes of the accidents is the basis of a great part of the marine international legislation. Some countries have official institutions who investigate all the accidents in which a ship with their flag is involved. In the case of the USA, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is responsible for these researches. The NTSB, after a deep investigation into each accident, publishes a Marine Accident Report with the possible cause of the accident. This paper analyses all the Marine Accident Reports published by the NTBS and focuses its attention especially in the Human Errors that led to reported accidents. In this research, the different Human Errors made by crew members are cataloged in 10 different groups. After a complete analysis of all the reports, the statistical analysis on the Human Errors typology in marine accidents is presented in order to use it as a tool to avoid the same errors in the future.

Keywords: human error, marine accidents, ship crew, USA

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Authors: Iman Mazinani, Zubaidah Ismail, Ahmad Mustafa Hashim, Amir Reza Saba

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Two tragic tsunamis that devastated the west coast of Sumatra Island, Indonesia in 2004 and North East Japan in 2011 had damaged bridges to various extents. Tsunamis have resulted in the catastrophic deterioration of infrastructures i.e. coastal structures, utilities and transportation facilities. A bridge structure performs vital roles to enable people to perform activities related to their daily needs and for development. A damaged bridge needs to be repaired expeditiously. In order to understand the effects of tsunami forces on bridges, experimental tests are carried out to measure the characteristics of hydrodynamic force at various wave heights. Coastal bridge models designed at a 1:40 scale are used in a 24.0 m long hydraulic flume with a cross section of 1.5 m by 2.0 m. The horizontal forces and uplift forces in all cases show that forces increase nonlinearly with increasing wave amplitude.

Keywords: tsunami, bridge, horizontal force, uplift force

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Authors: Rauf R. Hussein, Devon M. Ramey

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Integrating Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) with Geographic Information Systems (GIS) can provide valuable insights for various applications, such as archaeology, transportation, and utility locating. Although there has been progress toward automating the integration of GPR data with GIS, fully automatic integration has not been achieved yet. Additionally, manually integrating GPR data with GIS can be a time-consuming and error-prone process. In this study, actual, real-world GPR applications are presented, and a software named GPR-GIS 10 is created to interactively extract subsurface targets from GPR radargrams and automatically integrate them into GIS. With this software, it is possible to quickly and reliably integrate the two techniques to create informative subsurface maps. The results indicated that automatic integration of GPR with GIS can be an efficient tool to map and view any subsurface targets in their appropriate location in a 3D space with the needed precision. The findings of this study could help GPR-GIS integrators save time and reduce errors in many GPR-GIS applications.

Keywords: GPR, GIS, GPR-GIS 10, drone technology, automation

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Authors: B. S. Muddukrishna, Karthik Aithal, Aravind Pai

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Introduction: Preparation of binary cocrystals of Etraverine (ETR) by using Tartaric Acid (TAR) as a conformer was the main focus of this study. Etravirine is a Class IV drug, as per the BCS classification system. Methods: Cocrystals were prepared by slow evaporation technique. A mixture of total 500mg of ETR: TAR was weighed in molar ratios of 1:1 (371.72mg of ETR and 128.27mg of TAR). Saturated solution of Etravirine was prepared in Acetone: Methanol (50:50) mixture in which tartaric acid is dissolved by sonication and then this solution was stirred using a magnetic stirrer until the solvent got evaporated. Shimadzu FTIR – 8300 system was used to acquire the FTIR spectra of the cocrystals prepared. Shimadzu thermal analyzer was used to achieve DSC measurements. X-ray diffractometer was used to obtain the X-ray powder diffraction pattern. Shake flask method was used to determine the equilibrium dynamic solubility of pure, physical mixture and cocrystals of ETR. USP buffer (pH 6.8) containing 1% of Tween 80 was used as the medium. The pure, physical mixture and the optimized cocrystal of ETR were accurately weighed sufficient to maintain the sink condition and were filled in hard gelatine capsules (size 4). Electrolab-Tablet Dissolution tester using basket apparatus at a rotational speed of 50 rpm and USP phosphate buffer (900 mL, pH = 6.8, 37 ˚C) + 1% Tween80 as a media, was used to carry out dissolution. Shimadzu LC-10 series chromatographic system was used to perform the analysis with PDA detector. An Hypersil BDS C18 (150mm ×4.6 mm ×5 µm) column was used for separation with mobile phase comprising of a mixture of ace¬tonitrile and phosphate buffer 20mM, pH 3.2 in the ratio 60:40 v/v. The flow rate was 1.0mL/min and column temperature was set to 30°C. The detection was carried out at 304 nm for ETR. Results and discussions: The cocrystals were subjected to various solid state characterization and the results confirmed the formation of cocrystals. The C=O stretching vibration (1741cm-1) in tartaric acid was disappeared in the cocrystal and the peak broadening of primary amine indicates hydrogen bond formation. The difference in the melting point of cocrystals when compared to pure Etravirine (265 °C) indicates interaction between the drug and the coformer which proves that first ordered transformation i.e. melting endotherm has disappeared. The difference in 2θ values of pure drug and cocrystals indicates the interaction between the drug and the coformer. Dynamic solubility and dissolution studies were also conducted by shake flask method and USP apparatus one respectively and 3.6 fold increase in the dynamic solubility were observed and in-vitro dissolution study shows four fold increase in the solubility for the ETR: TAR (1:1) cocrystals. The ETR: TAR (1:1) cocrystals shows improved solubility and dissolution as compared to the pure drug which was clearly showed by solid state characterization and dissolution studies.

Keywords: dynamic solubility, Etraverine, in vitro dissolution, slurry method

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Authors: Rashid Mahmood, Muhammad Sufyan, Nasir Ahmed

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The MANETs have lessened transportation and decentralized network. There are numerous basis of routing protocols. We derived the MANETs protocol into three major categories like Reactive, Proactive and hybrid. In these protocols, we discussed only some protocols like Distance Sequenced Distance Vector (DSDV), Ad hoc on Demand Distance Vector (AODV) and Dynamic Source Routing (DSR). The AODV and DSR are both reactive type of protocols. On the other hand, DSDV is proactive type protocol here. We compare these routing protocols for network security estimated by network simulator (NS-2). In this dissertation some parameters discussed such as simulation time, packet size, number of node, packet delivery fraction, push time and speed etc. We will construct all these parameters on routing protocols under suitable conditions for network security measures.

Keywords: DSDV, AODV, DSR NS-2, PDF, push time

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Authors: Anitha Muralidhara, Victor Engelen, Christophe Len, Pascal Pandard, Guy Marlair

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Production of bio-based chemicals and materials from lignocellulosic biomass is gaining tremendous importance in advanced bio-refineries while aiming towards progressive replacement of petroleum based chemicals in transportation fuels and commodity polymers. One such attempt has resulted in the production of key furan derivatives (FD) such as furfural, HMF, MMF etc., via acid catalyzed dehydration (ACD) of C6 and C5 sugars, which are further converted into key chemicals or intermediates (such as Furandicarboxylic acid, Furfuryl alcohol etc.,). In subsequent processes, many high potential FD are produced, that can be converted into high added value polymers or high energy density biofuels. During ACD, an unavoidable polyfuranic byproduct is generated which is called humins. The family of FD is very large with varying chemical structures and diverse physicochemical properties. Accordingly, the associated risk profiles may largely vary. Hazardous Material (Haz-mat) classification systems such as GHS (CLP in the EU) and the UN TDG Model Regulations for transport of dangerous goods are one of the preliminary requirements for all chemicals for their appropriate classification, labelling, packaging, safe storage, and transportation. Considering the growing application routes of FD, it becomes important to notice the limited access to safety related information (safety data sheets available only for famous compounds such as HMF, furfural etc.,) in these internationally recognized haz-mat classification systems. However, these classifications do not necessarily provide information about the extent of risk involved when the chemical is used in any specific application. Factors such as thermal stability, speed of combustion, chemical incompatibilities, etc., can equally influence the safety profile of a compound, that are clearly out of the scope of any haz-mat classification system. Irrespective of the bio-based origin, FD has so far received inconsistent remarks concerning their toxicity profiles. With such inconsistencies, there is a fear that, a large family of FD may also follow extreme judgmental scenarios like ionic liquids, by ranking some compounds as extremely thermally stable, non-flammable, etc., Unless clarified, these messages could lead to misleading judgements while ranking the chemical based on its hazard rating. Safety is a key aspect in any sustainable biorefinery operation/facility, which is often underscored or neglected. To fill up these existing data gaps and to address ambiguities and discrepancies, the current study focuses on giving preliminary insights on safety assessment of FD and their potential targeted by-products. With the available information in the literature and obtained experimental results, physicochemical safety, environmental safety as well as (a scenario based) fire safety profiles of key FD, as well as side streams such as humins and levulinic acid, will be considered. With this, the study focuses on defining patterns and trends that gives coherent safety related information for existing and newly synthesized FD in the market for better functionality and sustainable applications.

Keywords: furanics, humins, safety, thermal and fire hazard, toxicity

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Authors: Olga Orynycz, Andrzej Wasiak

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Mathematical model describing energetic efficiency (defined as a ratio of energy obtained in the form of biofuel to the sum of energy inputs necessary to facilitate production) of agricultural subsystem as a function of technological parameters was developed. Production technology is characterized by parameters of machinery, topological characteristics of the plantation as well as transportation routes inside and outside of plantation. The relationship between the energetic efficiency of agricultural and industrial subsystems is also derived. Due to the assumed large area of the individual field, the operations last for several days increasing inter-fields routes because of several returns. The total distance driven outside of the fields is, however, small as compared to the distance driven inside of the fields. This results in small energy consumption during inter-fields transport that, however, causes a substantial decrease of the energetic effectiveness of the whole system.

Keywords: biofuel, energetic efficiency, EROEI, mathematical modelling, production system

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Authors: Robert K. Hillyard, Jonathan Thomas, Brett A. Story

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Compressed Stabilized Earth Blocks (CSEB) are masonry units that combine soil, sand, stabilizer, and water under pressure to form an earth block. These CSEB’s offer a cost-effective building solution for remote construction, using local resources and labor to minimize transportation and material costs. However, CSEB’s, and earthen construction generally have not been widely adopted as standardized construction materials. One shortcoming is the difficulty in standardizing strength values of CSEB units and systems due to the inherent variations in mix design, including production compression. This research presents findings on compressive strengths of full-scale CSEB’s from 60 different mix designs as a function of the amount of cement, sand, soil, and water added to the mixture. The full-scale results are compared with CSEB cylinder cores.

Keywords: CSEB, compressive strength, earth construction, mix design

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Authors: Emiliano Castillo

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The aim of this research is to analyze the origins, the development and possible outcomes of the environmental conflict between grassroots organizations, indigenous communities, Kinder Morgan Corporation, and the Canadian government over the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada. Building on the political ecology and the environmental justice theoretical framework, this research examines the impacts and risks of tar sands extraction, production, and transportation on climate change, public health, the environment, and indigenous people´s rights over their lands. This study is relevant to the environmental justice and political ecology literature because it discusses the unequal distribution of environmental costs and economic benefits of tar sands development; and focuses on the competing interests, needs, values, and claims of the actors involved in the conflict. Furthermore, it will shed light on the context, conditions, and processes that lead to the organization and mobilization of a grassroots movement- comprised of indigenous communities, citizens, scientists, and non-governmental organizations- that draw significant media attention by opposing the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion. Similarly, the research will explain the differences and dynamics within the grassroots movement. This research seeks to address the global context of the conflict by studying the links between the decline of conventional oil production, the rise of unconventional fossil fuels (e.g. tar sands), climate change, and the struggles of low-income, ethnic, and racial minorities over the territorial expansion of extractive industries. Data will be collected from legislative documents, policy and technical reports, scientific journals, newspapers articles, participant observation, and semi-structured interviews with representatives and members of the grassroots organizations, indigenous communities, and Burnaby citizens that oppose the Trans Mountain pipeline. These interviews will focus on their perceptions of the risks of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion; the roots of the anti-tar sands movement; the differences and dynamics within the movement; and the strategies to defend the livelihoods of local communities and the environment against tar sands development. This research will contribute to the understanding of the underlying causes of the environmental conflict between the Canadian government, Kinder Morgan, and grassroots organizations over tar sands extraction, production, and transportation in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada. Moreover, this work will elucidate the transformations of society-nature relationships brought by tar sands development. Research findings will provide scientific information about how the resistance movement in British Columbia can challenge the dominant narrative on tar sands, exert greater influence in environmental politics, and efficiently defend Indigenous people´s rights to lands. Furthermore, this research will shed light into how grassroots movements can contribute towards the building of more inclusive and sustainable societies.

Keywords: environmental conflict, environmental justice, extractive industry, indigenous communities, political ecology, tar sands

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Authors: Szymon Kuczynski, Krystian Liszka, Mariusz Laciak, Andrii Oliinyk, Adam Szurlej

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Currently, in automotive transport to power vehicles, almost exclusively hydrocarbon based fuels are used. Due to increase of hydrocarbon fuels consumption, quality parameters are tightend for clean environment. At the same time efforts are undertaken for development of alternative fuels. The reasons why looking for alternative fuels for petroleum and diesel are: to increase vehicle efficiency and to reduce the environmental impact, reduction of greenhouse gases emissions and savings in consumption of limited oil resources. Significant progress was performed on development of alternative fuels such as methanol, ethanol, natural gas (CNG / LNG), LPG, dimethyl ether (DME) and biodiesel. In addition, biggest vehicle manufacturers work on fuel cell vehicles and its introduction to the market. Alcohols such as methanol and ethanol create the perfect fuel for spark-ignition engines. Their advantages are high-value antiknock which determines their application as additive (10%) to unleaded petrol and relative purity of produced exhaust gasses. Ethanol is produced in distillation process of plant products, which value as a food can be irrational. Ethanol production can be costly also for the entire economy of the country, because it requires a large complex distillation plants, large amounts of biomass and finally a significant amount of fuel to sustain the process. At the same time, the fermentation process of plants releases into the atmosphere large quantities of carbon dioxide. Natural gas cannot be directly converted into liquid fuels, although such arrangements have been proposed in the literature. Going through stage of intermediates is inevitable yet. Most popular one is conversion to methanol, which can be processed further to dimethyl ether (DME) or olefin (ethylene and propylene) for the petrochemical sector. Methanol uses natural gas as a raw material, however, requires expensive and advanced production processes. In relation to pollution emissions, the optimal vehicle fuel is LPG which is used in many countries as an engine fuel. Production of LPG is inextricably linked with production and processing of oil and gas, and which represents a small percentage. Its potential as an alternative for traditional fuels is therefore proportionately reduced. Excellent engine fuel may be biogas, however, follows to the same limitations as ethanol - the same production process is used and raw materials. Most essential fuel in the campaign of environment protection against pollution is natural gas. Natural gas as fuel may be either compressed (CNG) or liquefied (LNG). Natural gas can also be used for hydrogen production in steam reforming. Hydrogen can be used as a basic starting material for the chemical industry, an important raw material in the refinery processes, as well as a fuel vehicle transportation. Natural gas can be used as CNG which represents an excellent compromise between the availability of the technology that is proven and relatively cheap to use in many areas of the automotive industry. Natural gas can also be seen as an important bridge to other alternative sources of energy derived from fuel and harmless to the environment. For these reasons CNG as a fuel stimulates considerable interest in the worldwide.

Keywords: alternative fuels, CNG (Compressed Natural Gas), LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas), NGVs (Natural Gas Vehicles)

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Authors: Tayebeh Saghapour, Sara Moridpour, Russell George Thompson

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One of the common aims of transport policy makers is to switch people’s travel to active transport. For this purpose, a variety of transport goals and investments should be programmed to increase the propensity towards active transport mode choice. This paper aims to investigate whether built environment features in neighbourhoods could enhance the odds of active transportation. The present study introduces an index measuring public transport accessibility (PTAI), and a walkability index along with socioeconomic variables to investigate mode choice behaviour. Using travel behaviour data, an ordered logit regression model is applied to examine the impacts of explanatory variables on walking trips. The findings indicated that high rates of active travel are consistently associated with higher levels of walking and public transport accessibility.

Keywords: active transport, public transport accessibility, walkability, ordered logit model

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Authors: Yadi Xu, Qingping Luo

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Currently, there is a great tendency that more and more villages in China are trying to increase income by development of tourism. 'Beautiful Rural Construction' provides an excellent opportunity for the development of tourism. In this context, development orientation, transportation routes, and tourism service facilities are analyzed under the perspective of existing landscape utilization and regional integration based on the development tourism industry of the Nanliangdu Village in Jingxing Town, Shijiazhuang Province as a research object. In the program, the biggest issue is the contradiction between the ecological development and protection of the river and the development of economy. How to deal with the relationship between protection and development is the key to the design of this case. Furthermore, the streets and courtyard space, existing buildings, public environment, specific landscape of the ancient village with a history of thousands of years have strong regional characteristics. The article is actively exploring for suggestions and countermeasures to promote the development premised on protection and based on a regional view.

Keywords: development, integration, protection, rural tourism

Procedia PDF Downloads 266