Search results for: small modular reactors

Authors: Bello Gonzalez, Setten Van M., Brouwer M.

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The chicken small intestine represents a dynamic and complex organ in which the enzymatic digestion and absorption of nutrients take place. The development of an in vitro fermentation chicken small intestinal model could be used as an alternative to explore the interaction between the microbiota and nutrient metabolism and to enhance the efficacy of targeting interventions to improve animal health. In the present study we have developed an in vitro fermentation chicken ileum microbiota model for unrevealing the complex interaction of ileum microbial community under physiological conditions. A two-vessel continuous fermentation process simulating in real-time the physiological conditions of the ileum content (pH, temperature, microaerophilic/anoxic conditions, and peristaltic movements) has been standardized as a proof of concept. As inoculum, we use a pool of ileum microbial community obtained from chicken broilers at the age of day 14. The development and validation of the model provide insight into the initial characterization of the ileum microbial community and its dynamics over time-related to nutrient assimilation and fermentation. Samples can be collected at different time points and can be used to determine the microbial compositional structure, dynamics, and diversity over time. The results of studies using this in vitro model will serve as the foundation for the development of a whole small intestine in vitro fermentation chicken gastrointestinal model to complement our already established in vitro fermentation chicken caeca model. The insight gained from this model could provide us with some information about the nutritional strategies to restore and maintain chicken gut homeostasis. Moreover, the in vitro fermentation model will also allow us to study relationships between gut microbiota composition and its dynamics over time associated with nutrients, antimicrobial compounds, and disease modelling.

Keywords: broilers, in vitro model, ileum microbiota, fermentation

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Authors: Pablo Ignacio Hernández Arango, Niels Lindemeyer

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Chlorine, as Sodium Hypochlorite (NaClO) solution in water, is an effective, worldwide spread, and economical substance to eliminate germs in the water. The disinfection potential of chlorine lies in its ability to degrade the outer surfaces of bacterial cells and viruses. This contribution reports the main parameters of the brine electrolysis for the production of NaClO, which is afterward used for the disinfection of water either for drinking or recreative uses. Herein, the system design was simulated, optimized, build, and tested based on titanium electrodes. The process optimization considers the whole process, from the salt (NaCl) dilution tank in order to maximize its operation time util the electrolysis itself in order to maximize the chlorine production reducing the energy and raw material (salt and water) consumption. One novel idea behind this optimization process is the modification of the flow pattern inside the electrochemical reactors. The increasing turbulence and residence time impact positively the operations figures. The operational parameters, which are defined in this study were compared and benchmarked with the parameters of actual commercial systems in order to validate the pertinency of those results.

Keywords: electrolysis, water disinfection, sodium hypochlorite, process optimization

Procedia PDF Downloads 115

Authors: Christos Spandonidis, Stefanos Tsantilas, Elias Sedikos, Nektarios Galiatsatos, Fotios Giannopoulos, Panagiotis Papadopoulos, Nikolaos Demagos, Dimitrios Reppas, Christos Giordamlis

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In the present paper, a low cost, compact and modular Internet of Things (IoT) platform for air quality monitoring in urban areas is presented. This platform comprises of dedicated low cost, low power hardware and the associated embedded software that enable measurement of particles (PM2.5 and PM10), NO, CO, CO₂ and O₃ concentration in the air, along with relative temperature and humidity. This integrated platform acts as part of a greater air pollution data collecting wireless network that is able to monitor the air quality in various regions and neighborhoods of an urban area, by providing sensor measurements at a high rate that reaches up to one sample per second. It is therefore suitable for Big Data analysis applications such as air quality forecasts, weather forecasts and traffic prediction. The first real world test for the developed platform took place in Thessaloniki, Greece, where 16 devices were installed in various buildings in the city. In the near future, many more of these devices are going to be installed in the greater Thessaloniki area, giving a detailed air quality map of the city.

Keywords: distributed sensor system, environmental monitoring, Internet of Things, smart cities

Procedia PDF Downloads 136

Authors: Ege Can Onal, Enver Ersen, Meltem Elitas

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Laparoscopy is a surgical operation, well known as keyhole surgery. The operation is performed through small holes, hence, scars of a patient become much smaller, patients can recover in a short time and the hospital stay becomes shorter in comparison to an open surgery. Several tools are used at laparoscopic operations; among them, the laparoscope has a crucial role. It provides the vision during the operation, which will be the main focus in here. Since the operation area is very small, motion of the surgical tools might be limited in laparoscopic operations compared to traditional surgeries. To overcome this limitation, most of the laparoscopic tools have become more precise, dexterous, multi-functional or automated. Here, we present a robotic-assisted laparoscope that is controlled with pedals directly by a surgeon. Thus, the movement of the laparoscope might be controlled better, so there will not be a need to calibrate the camera during the operation. The need for an assistant that controls the movement of the laparoscope will be eliminated. The duration of the laparoscopic operation might be shorter since the surgeon will directly operate the camera.

Keywords: laparoscope, laparoscopy, low-cost, minimally invasive surgery, robotic-assisted surgery

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Authors: R. Morbidelli, C. Saltalippi, A. Flammini, J. Dari

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This work analyses what effect systematic awareness-raising of the population on domestic water consumption produces. In a period where the availability of water is continually decreasing due to reduced rainfall, it is of paramount importance to raise awareness among the population. We conducted an experiment on a large sample of homes in urban areas of Central Italy. In the first phase, lasting three weeks, normal per capita, water consumption was quantified. Subsequently, instructions were given on how to save water during various uses in the household (showers, cleaning hands, use of water in toilets, watering small green areas, use of water in the kitchen, ...), and small visual messages were posted at water dispensers to remind users to behave properly. Finally, household consumption was assessed again for a further three weeks. This experiment made it possible to quantify the effect of the awareness-raising action on the reduction of water consumption without the use of any structural action (replacement of dispensers, improvement of the water system, ...).

Keywords: water saving, urban areas, awareness-raising, climate change

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Authors: Saba Shams Bidhendi, Steven Goh, Andrew Wandel

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The implementation of lean manufacturing initiatives has produced significant impacts in improving operational performance and reducing manufacturing wastes in the production process. However, selecting an appropriate set of lean strategies is critical to avoid misapplication of the lean manufacturing techniques and consequential increase in non-value-adding activities. To the author’s best knowledge, there is currently no methodology to select lean strategies that considers their impacts on manufacturing wastes and performance metrics simultaneously. In this research, a multi-objective methodology is proposed that suggests an appropriate set of lean initiatives based on their impacts on performance metrics and manufacturing wastes and within manufacturers’ resource limitation. The proposed methodology in this research suggests the best set of lean initiatives for implementation that have highest impacts on identified critical performance metrics and manufacturing wastes. Therefore, manufacturers can assure that implementing suggested lean tools improves their production performance and reduces manufacturing wastes at the same time. A case study was conducted to show the effectiveness and validate the proposed model and methodologies.

Keywords: lean manufacturing, lean strategies, manufacturing wastes, manufacturing performance, optimisation, decision making

Procedia PDF Downloads 184

Authors: Min Sik Kim, Hwa Sung Shin

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From 2013, small eel farms, which are located in Han River Estuary, South Korea suffer damage because of unknown massive perish. In the middle of discussion that the cause of perish could be environmental changes or waste water, a large amount of unknown nemertean was discovered during that time. Some nemerteans are known releasing neurotoxin substance. In this study, we isolated intestinal bacteria using selective media and conducted 16s rDNA microbial identification by gene alignment. As a result, there was a type of bacteria producing TTX, blocks sodium-channel inducing organism’s death. TTX production from the bacteria was confirmed by ELISA and liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometer. Additionally, the activated-charcoal which has an ability to absorb small molecules like toxin was applied to fibrous mesh to prevent ingestion of aquatic organisms and increase applicable area. The viability of zebrafish in the water with TTX and charcoal fiber mat were not decreased meaning it could be used for solving the perishing problem in fish farm.

Keywords: nemertean, TTX, fiber mat, activated charcoal, zebrafish

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Authors: S. K. Ling, A. K. H. Kwan

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The production of SCC (self-consolidating concrete) generally requires a fairy high paste volume, ranging from 35% to 40% of the total concrete volume. Such high paste volume would lead to low dimensional stability and high carbon footprint. Direct lowering the paste volume would deteriorate the performance of SCC, especially the passing ability. It is often observed that at narrow gap of congested reinforcements, the paste often flows in the front leaving the coarse aggregate particle behind to block the subsequent flow of concrete. Herein, it is suggested to increase the mortar volume through incorporating ground sand with a mean size of 0.3 mm while keeping the paste volume small. Trial concrete mixes with paste volumes of 30% and 34% and different ground sand contents have been tested to demonstrate how the paste volume can be lowered without sacrificing the passing ability. Overall, the results demonstrated that the addition of ground sand would enable the achievement of high passing ability at a relatively small paste volume.

Keywords: ground sand, mortar volume, paste volume, self-consolidating concrete

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Authors: Danhua Xu, Zhenlan Qian, Zhu Wang, Jiayan Fu, Ling Wang

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A new business mode called rural complex is proposed by the China’s government to promote the development the economy in the rural area. However, for the sake of current national conditions including the great number of labor farmers owning the small scale farmlands and the uncertain enthusiasm from the enterprises, it is challenging to develop the big scale rural complex. To react to the dilemmas, this paper puts forward the micro-rural complex to boost the small scale farms by co-participation from a bottom-up mode. By analyzing the potential opportunities to find the suitable mode, exploring the interdisciplinary and interdepartmental co-participation way beyond architecture design and spatial planning between different actors, the paper tries to find a complete process towards the sustainable micro-rural complex and conducts an ongoing practice to optimize it, to bring new insights and reference to the rural development. According to the transformation of the economy, the micro-rural complex will develop into two phases, both of which can be discussed in three parts, the economic mode, the spatial support, and the Cooperating mechanism. The first stage is the agriculture co-participation based on the rise of Community supported agriculture (CSA) in which the consumers buy the products planted in an organic way from the farmers directly with a higher price to support the small-scale agriculture and overcome the food safety issues. The following stage sets up the agritourism catering the citizens with the restaurants, inns and other tourist service facilities to be planned and designed. In the whole process, the interdisciplinary co-participation will play an important role to provide the guidelines and consultation from the agronomists, architects and rural planners to the farmers. This mode has been applied to an on-going farm project, from which to explore the mode in a more practical way. In conclusion, the micro-rural complex aims at creating a balanced urban-rural relationship by co-participation taking advantage of the different actors. The spatial development is considered from the economic mode and social organization. The integration of the mode based on the small-scale agriculture will contribute to a sustainable growth and realize the long run development in the rural area.

Keywords: micro-rural complex, co-participation, sustainable development, China

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Authors: Guo-Hui Lu, Jing-Yi Cai, Ke-Yan Tan, Xiao-Cai Yin, Yu Zheng, Peng-Wei Shao, Yong-Liang Yang

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Soil erosion around abandoned mines is one of the important geological agents for pollutant diffuses to the lower reaches of the local river basin system. River loading of pollutants is an important parameter for remediation of abandoned mines. In order to obtain information on pollutant transport and diffusion downstream in mining area, the small tributary system of the Xiaxi River in Wanshan District of Guizhou Province was selected as the research area. Sediment and suspended matter samples were collected and determined for Pb, As, Hg, Zn, Co, Cd, Cu, Ni, Cr, and Mn by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and atomic fluorescence spectrometry (AFS) with the pretreatment of wet digestion. Discussions are made for pollution status and spatial distribution characteristics. The total Hg content in the sediments ranged from 0.45 to 16.0 g/g (dry weight) with an average of 5.79 g/g, which was ten times higher than the limit of Class II soil for mercury by the National Soil Environmental Quality Standard. The maximum occurred at the intersection of the Jin River and the Xiaxi River. The potential ecological hazard index (RI) was used to evaluate the ecological risk of heavy metals in the sediments. The average RI value for the whole study area suggests the high potential ecological risk level. High Cd potential ecological risk was found at individual sites.

Keywords: heavy metal, risk assessment, sediment, suspended matter, Wanshan mercury mine, small tributary system

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Authors: A. Bachrata, N. Marie, F. Bertrand, J. B. Droin

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The in-depth understanding of severe accident propagation in Generation IV of nuclear reactors is important so that appropriate risk management can be undertaken early in their design process. This paper is focused on model improvements in the SIMMER code in order to perform studies of severe accident mitigation of Sodium Fast Reactor. During the design process of the mitigation devices dedicated to extraction of molten fuel from the core region, the molten fuel propagation from the core up to the core catcher has to be studied. In this aim, analytical as well as the complex thermo-hydraulic simulations with SIMMER-III code are performed. The studies presented in this paper focus on physical phenomena and associated physical models that influence the corium relocation. Firstly, the molten pool heat exchange with surrounding structures is analysed since it influences directly the instant of rupture of the dedicated tubes favouring the corium relocation for mitigation purpose. After the corium penetration into mitigation tubes, the fuel-coolant interactions result in formation of debris bed. Analyses of debris bed fluidization as well as sinking into a fluid are presented in this paper.

Keywords: corium, mitigation tubes, SIMMER-III, sodium fast reactor

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Authors: Vilas Warudkar, Dinkar Janghel, Siraj Ahmed

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Rapid development experienced by India requires huge amount of energy. Actual supply capacity additions have been consistently lower than the targets set by the government. According to World Bank 40% of residences are without electricity. In 12th five year plan 30 GW grid interactive renewable capacity is planned in which 17 GW is Wind, 10 GW is from solar and 2.1 GW from small hydro project, and rest is compensated by bio gas. Renewable energy (RE) and energy efficiency (EE) meet not only the environmental and energy security objectives, but also can play a crucial role in reducing chronic power shortages. In remote areas or areas with a weak grid, wind energy can be used for charging batteries or can be combined with a diesel engine to save fuel whenever wind is available. India according to IEC 61400-1 belongs to class IV Wind Condition; it is not possible to set up wind turbine in large scale at every place. So, the best choice is to go for small scale wind turbine at lower height which will have good annual energy production (AEP). Based on the wind characteristic available at MANIT Bhopal, rotor for small scale wind turbine is designed. Various Aero foil data is reviewed for selection of airfoil in the Blade Profile. Airfoil suited of Low wind conditions i.e. at low Reynold’s number is selected based on Coefficient of Lift, Drag and angle of attack. For designing of the rotor blade, standard Blade Element Momentum (BEM) Theory is implanted. Performance of the Blade is estimated using BEM theory in which axial induction factor and angular induction factor is optimized using iterative technique. Rotor performance is estimated for particular designed blade specifically for low wind Conditions. Power production of rotor is determined at different wind speeds for particular pitch angle of the blade. At pitch 15o and velocity 5 m/sec gives good cut in speed of 2 m/sec and power produced is around 350 Watts. Tip speed of the Blade is considered as 6.5 for which Coefficient of Performance of the rotor is calculated 0.35, which is good acceptable value for Small scale Wind turbine. Simple Load Model (SLM, IEC 61400-2) is also discussed to improve the structural strength of the rotor. In SLM, Edge wise Moment and Flap Wise moment is considered which cause bending stress at the root of the blade. Various Load case mentioned in the IEC 61400-2 is calculated and checked for the partial safety factor of the wind turbine blade.

Keywords: annual energy production, Blade Element Momentum Theory, low wind Conditions, selection of airfoil

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Authors: Dunwen Zuo, Yongfang Deng, Bo Song

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An attempt is made here to measure the forces of three directions, under conditions of different feed speeds, different tilt angles of tool and without or with the pin on the tool, by using octagonal ring dynamometer in the AA2024 aluminum FSJ (Friction Stir Joining) process, and investigate how four main factors influence forces in the FSJ process. It is found that, high feed speed lead to small feed force and small lateral force, but high feed speed leads to large feed force in the stable joining stage of process. As the rotational speed increasing, the time of axial force drop from the maximum to the minimum required increased in the push-up process. In the stable joining stage, the rotational speed has little effect on the feed force; large rotational speed leads to small lateral force and axial force. The maximum axial force increases as the tilt angle of tool increases at the downward movement stage. At the moment of start feeding, as tilt angle of tool increases, the amplitudes of the axial force increasing become large. In the stable joining stage, with the increase of tilt angle of tool, the axial force is increased, the lateral force is decreased, and the feed force almost unchanged. The tool with pin will decrease axial force in the downward movement stage. The feed force and lateral force will increase, but the axial force will reduced in the stable joining stage by using the tool with pin compare to by using the tool without pin.

Keywords: FSJ, force factor, AA2024 aluminum, friction stir joining

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Authors: Stéphanie Looser, Walter Wehrmeyer

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Given the limited research on Small and Mediumsized Enterprises’ (SMEs) contribution to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and even scarcer research on Swiss SMEs, this paper helps to fill these gaps by enabling the identification of supranational SME parameters and to make a contribution to the evolving field of these topics. Thus, the paper investigates the current state of SME practices in Switzerland and across 15 other countries. Combining the degree to which SMEs demonstrate an explicit (or business case) approach or see CSR as an implicit moral activity with the assessment of their attributes for “variety of capitalism” defines the framework of this comparative analysis. According to previous studies, liberal market economies, e.g. in the United States (US) or United Kingdom (UK), are aligned with extrinsic CSR, while coordinated market systems (in Central European or Asian countries) evolve implicit CSR agendas. To outline Swiss small business CSR patterns in particular, 40 SME owner-managers were interviewed. The transcribed interviews were coded utilising MAXQDA for qualitative content analysis. A secondary data analysis of results from different countries (i.e., Australia, Austria, Chile, Cameroon, Catalonia (notably a part of Spain that seeks autonomy), China, Finland, Germany, Hong Kong (a special administrative region of China), Italy, Netherlands, Singapore, Spain, Taiwan, UK, US) lays groundwork for this comparative study on small business CSR. Applying the same coding categories (in MAXQDA) for the interview analysis as well as for the secondary data research while following grounded theory rules to refine and keep track of ideas generated testable hypotheses and comparative power on implicit (and the lower likelihood of explicit) CSR in SMEs retrospectively. The paper identifies Swiss small business CSR as deep, profound, “soul”, and an implicit part of the day-to-day business. Similar to most Central European, Mediterranean, Nordic, and Asian countries, explicit CSR is still very rare in Swiss SMEs. Astonishingly, also UK and US SMEs follow this pattern in spite of their strong and distinct liberal market economies. Though other findings show that nationality matters this research concludes that SME culture and its informal CSR agenda are strongly formative and superseding even forces of market economies, nationally cultural patterns, and language. In a world of “big business”, explicit “business case” CSR, and the mantra that “CSR must pay”, this study points to a distinctly implicit small business CSR model built on trust, physical closeness, and virtues that is largely detached from the bottom line. This pattern holds for different cultural contexts and it is concluded that SME culture is stronger than nationality leading to a supra-national, monolithic SME CSR approach. Hence, classifications of countries by their market system or capitalism, as found in the comparative capitalism literature, do not match the CSR practices in SMEs as they do not mirror the peculiarities of their business. This raises questions on the universality and generalisability of management concepts.

Keywords: CSR, comparative study, cultures of capitalism, small, medium-sized enterprises

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Authors: James Banda, Jupiter Simbeye, Essau Chisale, Geoffrey Kanyerere, Kings Kamtambe

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Improved solar tent dryers for processing small fish species were designed to reduce post-harvest fish losses and improve supply of quality fish products in the southern part of Lake Malawi under CultiAF project. A comparative analysis of the quality of Diplotaxodon (Ndunduma) from Lake Malawi processed in solar tent dryer and open sun drying was conducted using proximate analysis, microbial analysis and sensory evaluation. Proximates for solar tent dried fish and open sun dried fish in terms of proteins, fats, moisture and ash were 63.3±0.15% and 63.3±0.34%, 19.6±0.09% and 19.9±0.25%, 8.3±0.12% and 17.0±0.01%, and 15.6±0.61% and 21.9±0.91% respectively. Crude protein and crude fat showed non-significant differences (p = 0.05), while moisture and ash content were significantly different (p = 001). Open sun dried fish had significantly higher numbers of viable bacteria counts (5.2×10⁶ CFU) than solar tent dried fish (3.9×10² CFU). Most isolated bacteria from solar tent dried and open sun dried fish were 1.0×10¹ and 7.2×10³ for Total coliform, 0 and 4.5 × 10³ for Escherishia coli, 0 and 7.5 × 10³ for Salmonella, 0 and 5.7×10² for shigella, 4.0×10¹ and 6.1×10³ for Staphylococcus, 1.0×10¹ and 7.0×10² for vibrio. Qualitative evaluation of sensory properties showed higher acceptability of 3.8 for solar tent dried fish than 1.7 for open sun dried fish. It is concluded that promotion of solar tent drying in processing small fish species in Malawi would support small-scale fish processors to produce quality fish in terms of nutritive value, reduced microbial contamination, sensory acceptability and reduced moisture content.

Keywords: diplotaxodon, Malawi, open sun drying, solar tent drying

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Authors: Sungkyung Kim, Jee-Hyeon Na, Dong-Seung Kwon

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Future mobile networks following 5th generation will be characterized by one thousand times higher gains in capacity; connections for at least one hundred billion devices; user experience capable of extremely low latency and response times. To be close to the capacity requirements and higher reliability, advanced technologies have been studied, such as multiple connectivity, small cell enhancement, heterogeneous networking, and advanced interference and mobility management. This paper is focused on the multiple connectivity in heterogeneous cellular networks. We investigate the performance of coverage and user throughput in several deployment scenarios. Using the stochastic geometry approach, the SINR distributions and the coverage probabilities are derived in case of dual connection. Also, to compare the user throughput enhancement among the deployment scenarios, we calculate the spectral efficiency and discuss our results.

Keywords: heterogeneous networks, multiple connectivity, small cell enhancement, stochastic geometry

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Authors: Tadayuki Kyoutani, Shigeyuki Haruyama, Ken Kaminishi, Zefry Darmawan

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Japan’s semiconductor industries have developed greatly in recent years. Many were started from a Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) that found at a good circumstance and now become the prosperous industries in the world. Sustainable growth factors that support the creation of spirit value inside the Japanese company were strongly embedded through performance. Those factors were not clearly defined among each company. A series of literature research conducted to explore quantitative text mining about the definition of sustainable growth factors. Sustainable criteria were developed from previous research to verify the definition of the factors. A typical frame work was proposed as a systematical approach to develop sustainable growth factor in a specific company. Result of approach was review in certain period shows that factors influenced in sustainable growth was importance for the company to achieve the goal.

Keywords: SME, manufacture, sustainable, growth factor

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Authors: Debora P. Arce, Flavia J. Krsticevic, Marco R. Bertolaccini, Joaquín Ezpeleta, Estela M. Valle, Sergio D. Ponce, Elizabeth Tapia

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Small Heat Shock Proteins (sHSPs) are low molecular weight chaperones that play an important role during stress response and development in all living organisms. Fruit maturation and oxidative stress can induce sHSP synthesis both in Arabidopsis and tomato plants. RNA-Seq technology is becoming widely used in various transcriptomics studies; however, analyzing and interpreting the RNA-Seq data face serious challenges. In the present work, we de novo assembled the Solanum lycopersicum transcriptome for three different maturation stages (mature green, breaker and red ripe). Differential gene expression analysis was carried out during tomato fruit development. We identified 12 sHSPs differentially expressed that might be involved in breaker and red ripe fruit maturation. Interestingly, these sHSPs have different subcellular localization and suggest a complex regulation of the fruit maturation network process.

Keywords: sHSPs, maturation, tomato, RNA-Seq, assembly

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Authors: Jiří F. Urbánek, David Král

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Small and Middle Enterprises (SME) have a specific mission, characteristics, and behavior in global business competitive environments. They must respect policy, rules, requirements and standards in all their inherent and outer processes of supply - customer chains and networks. Paper aims and purposes are to introduce computational assistance, which enables us the using of prevailing operation system MS Office (SmartArt...) for mathematical models, using DYVELOP (Dynamic Vector Logistics of Processes) method. It is providing for SMS´s global environment the capability and profit to achieve its commitment regarding the effectiveness of the quality management system in customer requirements meeting and also the continual improvement of the organization’s and SME´s processes overall performance and efficiency, as well as its societal security via continual planning improvement. DYVELOP model´s maps - the Blazons are able mathematically - graphically express the relationships among entities, actors, and processes, including the discovering and modeling of the cycling cases and their phases. The blazons need live PowerPoint presentation for better comprehension of this paper mission – added value analysis. The crisis management of SMEs is obliged to use the cycles for successful coping of crisis situations.  Several times cycling of these cases is a necessary condition for the encompassment of the both the emergency event and the mitigation of organization´s damages. Uninterrupted and continuous cycling process is a good indicator and controlling actor of SME continuity and its sustainable development advanced possibilities.

Keywords: blazons, computational assistance, DYVELOP method, small and middle enterprises

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Authors: Nijanthan Mohan, Rolf Gross, Fabian Theis

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The conventional method used in the construction industries often resulted in significant rework since most of the decisions were taken onsite under the pressure of project deadlines and also due to the improper information flow, which results in ineffective coordination. However, today’s architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) stakeholders demand faster and accurate deliverables, efficient buildings, and smart processes, which turns out to be a tall order. Hence, the building information modelling (BIM) concept was developed as a solution to fulfill the above-mentioned necessities. Even though BIM is successfully implemented in most of the world, it is still in the early stages in Germany, since the stakeholders are sceptical of its reliability and efficiency. Due to the huge capital requirement, the small and medium-sized construction companies are still reluctant to implement BIM workflow in their projects. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the opportunities and obstacles to implementing BIM for prefabrication. Among all other advantages of BIM, pre-fabrication is chosen for this paper because it plays a vital role in creating an impact on time as well as cost factors of a construction project. The positive impact of prefabrication can be explicitly observed by the project stakeholders and participants, which enables the breakthrough of the skepticism factor among the small scale construction companies. The analysis consists of the development of a process workflow for implementing prefabrication in building construction, followed by a practical approach, which was executed with two case studies. The first case study represents on-site prefabrication, and the second was done for off-site prefabrication. It was planned in such a way that the first case study gives a first-hand experience for the workers at the site on the BIM model so that they can make much use of the created BIM model, which is a better representation compared to the traditional 2D plan. The main aim of the first case study is to create a belief in the implementation of BIM models, which was succeeded by the execution of offshore prefabrication in the second case study. Based on the case studies, the cost and time analysis was made, and it is inferred that the implementation of BIM for prefabrication can reduce construction time, ensures minimal or no wastes, better accuracy, less problem-solving at the construction site. It is also observed that this process requires more planning time, better communication, and coordination between different disciplines such as mechanical, electrical, plumbing, architecture, etc., which was the major obstacle for successful implementation. This paper was carried out in the perspective of small and medium-sized mechanical contracting companies for the private building sector in Germany.

Keywords: building information modelling, construction wastes, pre-fabrication, small and medium sized company

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Authors: Su-Ning Wang, Yao-Qiang Chen

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The CeO2-ZrO2-La2O3-Al2O3 composite oxides are synthesized using co-precipitation method by two different reactors (i.e. continuous stirred-tank reactor and batch reactor), and the corresponding Rh-only three-way catalysts are obtained by wet-impregnation approach. The textural, structural, morphology and redox properties of the support materials, as well as the catalytic performance of the Rh-only catalyst are investigated systematically. The results reveal that the materials (CZLA-C) synthesized by continuous stirred-tank reactor have a better physic-chemical properties than the counterpart material (CZLA-B) prepared by batch reactor. After aging treatment at 1000 ℃ for 5 h, the BET surface area and pore volume of S1 reach up to 76 m2 g-1 and 0.36 mL/g, respectively, which is higher than that of S2. The XRD and Raman results demonstrate that a high structural stability is obtained by S1 because of the negligible lattice variation and the slight grain growth after aging treatment. The SEM and TEM images display that the morphology of S1 is assembled by many homogeneous primary nanoparticles (about 6.12 nm) that are connected to form mesoporous structure The TPR measurement shows that S1 possesses a higher reduction ability than S2. Compared with the catalyst supported on the CZLA-B, the as-prepared CZLA-C demonstrates an improved three-way catalytic activity both before and after aging treatment.

Keywords: composite oxides, reactor, catalysis, catalytic performance

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Authors: Fouzi Harrou, Ying Sun, Sofiane Khadraoui

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Anomaly detection based on Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was studied intensively and largely applied to multivariate processes with highly cross-correlated process variables. Monitoring metrics such as the Hotelling's T2 and the Q statistics are usually used in PCA-based monitoring to elucidate the pattern variations in the principal and residual subspaces, respectively. However, these metrics are ill suited to detect small faults. In this paper, the Exponentially Weighted Moving Average (EWMA) based on the Q and T statistics, T2-EWMA and Q-EWMA, were developed for detecting faults in the process mean. The performance of the proposed methods was compared with that of the conventional PCA-based fault detection method using synthetic data. The results clearly show the benefit and the effectiveness of the proposed methods over the conventional PCA method, especially for detecting small faults in highly correlated multivariate data.

Keywords: data-driven method, process control, anomaly detection, dimensionality reduction

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Authors: Ali Reza Tahavvor‚ Saeed Hosseini, Behnam Amiri

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Concentric and eccentric annulus is used frequently in technical and industrial applications such as nuclear reactors, thermal storage system and etc. In this paper, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is used to investigate two dimensional free convection of laminar flow in annulus with isotherm cylinders surface and cooler inner surface. Problem studied in thirty different cases. Due to natural convection continuity and momentum equations are coupled and must be solved simultaneously. Finite volume method is used for solving governing equations. The purpose was to obtain the eccentricity effect on Nusselt number in different Rayleight numbers, so streamlines and temperature fields must be determined. Results shown that the highest Nusselt number values occurs in degree of eccentricity equal to 0.5 upward for inner cylinder and degree of eccentricity equal to 0.3 upward for outer cylinder. Side eccentricity reduces the outer cylinder Nusselt number but increases inner cylinder Nusselt number. The trend in variation of Nusselt number with respect to eccentricity remain similar in different Rayleight numbers. Correlations are included to calculate the Nusselt number of the cylinders.

Keywords: natural convection, concentric, eccentric, Nusselt number, annulus

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Authors: Nasrin Bakhshizadeh, Ashkan Forootan

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A major problem that affects the quality control of polymer in the industrial polymerization is the lack of suitable on-line measurement tools to evaluate the properties of the polymer such as melt and density indices. Controlling the polymerization in ordinary method is performed manually by taking samples, measuring the quality of polymer in the lab and registry of results. This method is highly time consuming and leads to producing large number of incompatible products. An online application for estimating melt index and density proposed in this study is a neural network based on the input-output data of the polyethylene production plant. Temperature, the level of reactors' bed, the intensity of ethylene mass flow, hydrogen and butene-1, the molar concentration of ethylene, hydrogen and butene-1 are used for the process to establish the neural model. The neural network is taught based on the actual operational data and back-propagation and Levenberg-Marquart techniques. The simulated results indicate that the neural network process model established with three layers (one hidden layer) for forecasting the density and the four layers for the melt index is able to successfully predict those quality properties.

Keywords: polyethylene, polymerization, density, melt index, neural network

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Authors: Birhanu Abera Kibret

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The abstract highlights findings from a seismicity study conducted in the Ethiopian Rift Valley and adjacent cities, including Semera, Adama, and Hawasa, located in Afar and the Main Ethiopian Rift system. The region experiences high seismicity, characterized by small to moderate earthquakes situated in the mid-to-upper crust. Additionally, the capital city of Ethiopia, Addis Ababa, situated in the rift margin, experiences seismic activity, with small to relatively moderate earthquakes observed to the east and southeast of the city, alongside the rift valley. These findings underscore the seismic vulnerability of the region, emphasizing the need for comprehensive seismic risk assessment and mitigation strategies to enhance resilience and preparedness.

Keywords: seismic hazard, seismicity, crustal structure, magmatic intrusion, partial meltung

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Authors: A. Boudiaf

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The purpose of this paper is to analyze and apprehend, through four case studies, the interest of the project of the implementation of the quality management system (QMS) at four Moroccan small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). This project could generate significant organizational change to improve the functioning of the organization. In fact, quality is becoming a necessity in the current business world. It is considered to be a major component in companies’ competitive strategies. It should be noted that quality management is characterized by a set of methods and techniques that can be used to solve malfunctions and reorganize companies. It is useful to point out that the choice of the adoption of the quality approach could be influenced by the circumstances of the business context, it could also be derived from its strategic vision; this means that this choice can be characterized as either a strategic aspect or a reactive aspect. This would probably have a major impact on the functioning of the QMS and also on the perception of the quality issue by company managers and their employees.

Keywords: business context, organizational change, quality, reorganization

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Authors: Jiří Barta, Teodor Baláž, Tomáš Ludík, Jiří. F. Urbánek

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This article deals with the outputs of project acronym ADAPTIV of Czech Defence Research Project. This Project solved tends to adaptive camouflage. The camouflage is concealment by means of disguise. Perceptive interface between recipient and camouflaged object is visualized by means of textile modular screens. Screens special light semi-permeability enables front/ back projection with nearly identical light parameters. Information permeability, towards illusion creation, must be controlled by the camouflage provider by means sophisticated and mastered illusion with perfect scenarios. The project ADAPTIV was primarily funded with the maximum possible use of COTS (Commercial-Off-The-Shelf) principle asks special definition of feasibility conditions, especially recipient space position. This paper deals with uses the ADAPTIV output with name DATAsam with modification for infrared camouflage. It is focused on active camouflage in infrared spectrum of emissivity at <8;14> μm for laboratory conditions. The main chapter provides basic experiments and testing physical properties needed for camouflage in infrared environment. The evaluation experiments revealed the possibility of use case in various types of camouflage.

Keywords: camouflage, ADAPTIV, infrared camouflage, computer-aided, COTS

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Authors: Patrik Jangl, Milan Mikuláštík

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The objective of the paper is to measure and compare market orientation of Swiss and Czech banks, as well as examine statistically the degree of influence it has on competitiveness of the institutions. The analysis of market orientation is based on the collecting, analysis and correct interpretation of the data. Descriptive analysis of market orientation describe current situation. Research of relation of competitiveness and market orientation in the sector of big international banks is suggested with the expectation of existence of a strong relationship. Partially, the work served as reconfirmation of suitability of classic methodologies to measurement of banks’ market orientation. Two types of data were gathered. Firstly, by measuring subjectively perceived market orientation of a company and secondly, by quantifying its competitiveness. All data were collected from a sample of small, mid-sized and large banks. We used numerical secondary character data from the international statistical financial Bureau Van Dijk’s BANKSCOPE database. Statistical analysis led to the following results. Assuming classical market orientation measures to be scientifically justified, Czech banks are statistically less market-oriented than Swiss banks. Secondly, among small Swiss banks, which are not broadly internationally active, small relationship exist between market orientation measures and market share based competitiveness measures. Thirdly, among all Swiss banks, a strong relationship exists between market orientation measures and market share based competitiveness measures. Above results imply existence of a strong relation of this measure in sector of big international banks. A strong statistical relationship has been proven to exist between market orientation measures and equity/total assets ratio in Switzerland.

Keywords: market orientation, competitiveness, marketing strategy, measurement of market orientation, relation between market orientation and competitiveness, banking sector

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Authors: L.Vaz, L. Ferreira, R. Aparício, J. Pedro, M. Franco

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This article concerns a qualitative analysis, through an interview, regarding “Sustainability Adoption Barriers in SMEs.” To begin with, the article provides a state-of-the-art overview through fifty-seven articles initially extracted from the Scopus database. The articles were analyzed, and four main clusters emerged in the literature: 1) sustainability and small and medium-sized companies; 2) sustainable business models; 3) sustainability practices adoption procedures, and 4) adoption difficulties on sustainability practices. Utilizing interviews as a methodology, the article seeks to strengthen knowledge regarding sustainability practices, their barriers and the sustainable procedures adopted by SMEs in a Portuguese context. The results demonstrate that the literature agrees with this case study, where there are numerous sustainable practices, yet, due to financial, political, cultural, and technological factors, barriers emerge in the adoption process. By comparing the literature findings with the conducted interviews of interior Portuguese SMEs, this article develops a contribution to the scientific community through a captivating, intuitive and motivating way.

Keywords: barriers, practices, business model, green

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Authors: A. Falenski, A. Kaesbohrer, M. Filter

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Introduction: Risk assessments can be performed in various ways and in different degrees of complexity. In order to assess risks associated with imported foods additional information needs to be taken into account compared to a risk assessment on regional products. The present review is an overview on currently available best practise approaches and data sources used for food import risk assessments (IRAs). Methods: A literature review has been performed. PubMed was searched for articles about food IRAs published in the years 2004 to 2014 (English and German texts only, search string “(English [la] OR German [la]) (2004:2014 [dp]) import [ti] risk”). Titles and abstracts were screened for import risks in the context of IRAs. The finally selected publications were analysed according to a predefined questionnaire extracting the following information: risk assessment guidelines followed, modelling methods used, data and software applied, existence of an analysis of uncertainty and variability. IRAs cited in these publications were also included in the analysis. Results: The PubMed search resulted in 49 publications, 17 of which contained information about import risks and risk assessments. Within these 19 cross references were identified to be of interest for the present study. These included original articles, reviews and guidelines. At least one of the guidelines of the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) and the Codex Alimentarius Commission were referenced in any of the IRAs, either for import of animals or for imports concerning foods, respectively. Interestingly, also a combination of both was used to assess the risk associated with the import of live animals serving as the source of food. Methods ranged from full quantitative IRAs using probabilistic models and dose-response models to qualitative IRA in which decision trees or severity tables were set up using parameter estimations based on expert opinions. Calculations were done using @Risk, R or Excel. Most heterogeneous was the type of data used, ranging from general information on imported goods (food, live animals) to pathogen prevalence in the country of origin. These data were either publicly available in databases or lists (e.g., OIE WAHID and Handystatus II, FAOSTAT, Eurostat, TRACES), accessible on a national level (e.g., herd information) or only open to a small group of people (flight passenger import data at national airport customs office). In the IRAs, an uncertainty analysis has been mentioned in some cases, but calculations have been performed only in a few cases. Conclusion: The current state-of-the-art in the assessment of risks of imported foods is characterized by a great heterogeneity in relation to general methodology and data used. Often information is gathered on a case-by-case basis and reformatted by hand in order to perform the IRA. This analysis therefore illustrates the need for a flexible, modular framework supporting the connection of existing data sources with data analysis and modelling tools. Such an infrastructure could pave the way to IRA workflows applicable ad-hoc, e.g. in case of a crisis situation.

Keywords: import risk assessment, review, tools, food import

Procedia PDF Downloads 296