Search results for: cost methodology

Authors: F. C. Amadi, G. C. Enyi, G. Nasr

Abstract:

Relative permeabilities are practical factors that are used to correct the single phase Darcy’s law for application to multiphase flow. For effective characterisation of large-scale multiphase flow in hydrocarbon recovery, relative permeability and capillary pressures are used. These parameters are acquired via special core flooding experiments. Special core analysis (SCAL) module of reservoir simulation is applied by engineers for the evaluation of these parameters. But, core flooding experiments in shale core sample are expensive and time consuming before various flow assumptions are achieved for instance Darcy’s law. This makes it imperative for the application of coreflooding simulations in which various analysis of relative permeabilities and capillary pressures of multiphase flow can be carried out efficiently and effectively at a relative pace. This paper presents a Sendra software simulation of core flooding to achieve to relative permeabilities and capillary pressures using different correlations. The approach used in this study was three steps. The first step, the basic petrophysical parameters of Marcellus shale sample such as porosity was determined using laboratory techniques. Secondly, core flooding was simulated for particular scenario of injection using different correlations. And thirdly the best fit correlations for the estimation of relative permeability and capillary pressure was obtained. This research approach saves cost and time and very reliable in the computation of relative permeability and capillary pressures at steady or unsteady state, drainage or imbibition processes in oil and gas industry when compared to other methods.

Keywords: relative permeabilty, porosity, 1-D black oil simulator, capillary pressures

Procedia PDF Downloads 431

Authors: Kausar Alam, Mohammad Yazdi, Peiman Zogh, Ramin Motamed

Abstract:

An earthquake is an unpredictable natural disaster. It induces liquefaction, which causes considerable damage to the structure, life support, and piping systems because of ground settlement. As a result, people are incredibly concerned about how to resolve the situation. Previous researchers adopted different ground improvement techniques to reduce the settlement of the structure during earthquakes. This study evaluates the effectiveness of lowering the water table as a technique to mitigate foundation settlement in liquefiable soil. The performance will be evaluated based on foundation settlement and the reduction of excessive pore water pressure. In this study, a scaled model was prepared based on a full-scale shale table experiment conducted at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD). The model ground consists of three soil layers having a relative density of 55%, 45%, and 90%, respectively. A shallow foundation is seated over an unsaturated crust layer. After preparation of the model ground, the water table was measured to be at 45, 40, and 35 cm (from the bottom). Then, the input motions were applied for 10 seconds, with a peak acceleration of 0.25g and a constant frequency of 2.73 Hz. Based on the experimental results, the effectiveness of the lowering water table in reducing the foundation settlement and excess pore water pressure was evident. The foundation settlement was reduced from 50 mm to 5 mm. In addition, lowering the water table as a mitigation measure is a cost-effective way to decrease liquefaction-induced building settlement.

Keywords: foundation settlement, ground water table, liquefaction, hake table test

Procedia PDF Downloads 97

Authors: U. S. Babuga, A. H. Danwanka, A. Garba

Abstract:

The research was carried out to compare the yield of respondents before and after access to extension services on crop production technologies in the study area. Data were collected from the study area through questionnaires administered to seventy-five randomly selected respondents. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-test and regression models. The result disclosed that majority (97%) of the respondent attended one form of school or the other. The majority (78.67%) of the respondents had farm size ranging between 1-3 hectares. The majority of the respondent adopt improved variety of crops, plant spacing, herbicide, fertilizer application, land preparation, crop protection, crop processing and storage of farm produce. The result of the t-test between the yield of respondents before and after access to extension services shows that there was a significant (p<0.001) difference in yield before and after access to extension. It also indicated that farm size was significant (p<0.001) while household size, years of farming experience and extension contact were significant at (p<0.005). The major constraint to adoption of crop production technologies were shortage of extension agents, high cost of technology and lack of access to credit facility. The major pre-requisite for the improvement of extension service are employment of more extension agents or workers and adequate training. Adequate agricultural credit to farmers at low interest rates will enhance their adoption of crop production technologies.

Keywords: comparative, analysis, yield, access, extension

Procedia PDF Downloads 344

Authors: Rohit Gupta, Ravinder Agarwal

Abstract:

Surface electromyographic (sEMG) signal has the potential to identify the human activities and intention. This potential is further exploited to control the artificial limbs using the sEMG signal from residual limbs of amputees. The paper deals with the development of multichannel cost efficient sEMG signal interface for research application, along with evaluation of proposed class dependent statistical approach of the feature selection method. The sEMG signal acquisition interface was developed using ADS1298 of Texas Instruments, which is a front-end interface integrated circuit for ECG application. Further, the sEMG signal is recorded from two lower limb muscles for three locomotions namely: Plane Walk (PW), Stair Ascending (SA), Stair Descending (SD). A class dependent statistical approach is proposed for feature selection and also its performance is compared with 12 preexisting feature vectors. To make the study more extensive, performance of five different types of classifiers are compared. The outcome of the current piece of work proves the suitability of the proposed feature selection algorithm for locomotion recognition, as compared to other existing feature vectors. The SVM Classifier is found as the outperformed classifier among compared classifiers with an average recognition accuracy of 97.40%. Feature vector selection emerges as the most dominant factor affecting the classification performance as it holds 51.51% of the total variance in classification accuracy. The results demonstrate the potentials of the developed sEMG signal acquisition interface along with the proposed feature selection algorithm.

Keywords: classifiers, feature selection, locomotion, sEMG

Procedia PDF Downloads 276

Authors: Tuba Sari

Abstract:

One of the major transformations caused by the industrial revolution, technological developments and globalization is undoubtedly acceleration of urbanization process. Globalization, in particular, is one of the major factors that trigger this transformation. In this context, as a result of the global metropolitan city system, multifunctional rising structure forms are becoming undeniable fact of the world’s leading metropolises as the manifestation of prestige and power with different life choices, easy accessibility to services related to the era of technology. The scope of research deals with five different urban centers in İstanbul where high-rise housing is increasing dramatically after 2000’s. Therefore, the research regards multi-centered urban residential pattern being created by high-rise housing structures in the city. The methodology of the research is based on two main issue, one of them is related to sampling method of high-rise housing projects in İstanbul, while the other method of the research is based on the model of Semantics. In the framework of research hypothesis, it is aimed to prove that the character of vertical intensive structuring in Istanbul is based on seeking of different forms and images in the expressive quality, considering the production of existing high-rise buildings in residential areas in recent years. In respect to rising discourse of 'World City' in the globalizing world, it is very important to state the place of Istanbul in other developing world metropolises. In the perspective of 'World City' discourse, Istanbul has different projects concerning with globalization, international finance companies, cultural activities, mega projects, etc. In brief, the aim of this research is examining transformation forms of high-rise housing development in Istanbul within the frame of developing world cities, searching and analyzing discourse and image related to these projects.

Keywords: globalization, high-rise, housing, image

Procedia PDF Downloads 266

Authors: Tebogo Emma Makaba, Barnabas Ndlovu Gatsheni

Abstract:

The cities of Johannesburg and Pretoria both located in the Gauteng province are separated by a distance of 58 km. The traffic queues on the Ben Schoeman freeway which connects these two cities can stretch for almost 1.5 km. Vehicle traffic congestion impacts negatively on the business and the commuter’s quality of life. The goal of this paper is to identify variables that influence the flow of traffic and to design a vehicle traffic prediction model, which will predict the traffic flow pattern in advance. The model will unable motorist to be able to make appropriate travel decisions ahead of time. The data used was collected by Mikro’s Traffic Monitoring (MTM). Multi-Layer perceptron (MLP) was used individually to construct the model and the MLP was also combined with Bagging ensemble method to training the data. The cross—validation method was used for evaluating the models. The results obtained from the techniques were compared using predictive and prediction costs. The cost was computed using combination of the loss matrix and the confusion matrix. The predicted models designed shows that the status of the traffic flow on the freeway can be predicted using the following parameters travel time, average speed, traffic volume and day of month. The implications of this work is that commuters will be able to spend less time travelling on the route and spend time with their families. The logistics industry will save more than twice what they are currently spending.

Keywords: bagging ensemble methods, confusion matrix, multi-layer perceptron, vehicle traffic flow

Procedia PDF Downloads 326

Authors: Pui-Lai To, Chechen Liao, Hen-Yi Huang

Abstract:

Twenty years after Internet development, scholars have started to identify the negative impacts brought by the Internet. Overuse of Internet could develop Internet dependency and in turn cause addiction behavior. Therefore understanding the phenomenon of Internet addiction is important. With the joint efforts of experts and scholars, Internet addiction has been officially listed as a symptom that affects public health, and the diagnosis, causes and treatment of the symptom have also been explored. On the other hand, in the area of smartphone Internet usage, most studies are still focusing on the motivation factors of smartphone usage. Not much research has been done on smartphone Internet addiction. In view of the increasing adoption of smartphones, this paper is intended to find out whether smartphone Internet addiction exists in modern society or not. This study adopted the research methodology of online survey targeting users with smartphone Internet experience. A total of 434 effective samples were recovered. In terms of data analysis, Partial Least Square (PLS) in Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) is used for sample analysis and research model testing. Software chosen for statistical analysis is SPSS 20.0 for windows and SmartPLS 2.0. The research result successfully proved that smartphone users who access Internet service via smartphone could also develop smartphone Internet addiction. Factors including flow experience, depression, virtual social support, smartphone Internet affinity and maladaptive cognition all have significant and positive influence on smartphone Internet addiction. In the scenario of smartphone Internet use, descriptive norm has a positive and significant influence on perceived playfulness, while perceived playfulness also has a significant and positive influence on flow experience. Depression, on the other hand, is negatively influenced by actual social support and positive influenced by the virtual social support.

Keywords: internet addiction, smartphone usage, social support, perceived playfulness

Procedia PDF Downloads 226

Authors: Thomas Schalow

Abstract:

It is commonly recognized that our present curriculum is not preparing students to function in the 21st century. This is particularly true in regard to communication needs across cultures - both human and non-human. In this paper, a comprehensive theory of communication-based on communication with non-human cultures and intelligences is presented to meet the following three imminent contingencies: communicating with sentient biological intelligences, communicating with extraterrestrial intelligences, and communicating with artificial super-intelligences. The paper begins with the argument that we need to become much more serious about communicating with the non-human, intelligent life forms that already exists around us here on Earth. We need to broaden our definition of communication and reach out to other sentient life forms in order to provide humanity with a better perspective of its place within our ecosystem. The paper next examines the science and philosophy behind CETI (communication with extraterrestrial intelligences) and how it could prove useful even in the absence of contact with alien life. However, CETI’s assumptions and methodology need to be revised in accordance with the communication theory being proposed in this paper if we are truly serious about finding and communicating with life beyond Earth. The final theme explored in this paper is communication with non-biological super-intelligences. Humanity has never been truly compelled to converse with other species, and our failure to seriously consider such intercourse has left us largely unprepared to deal with communication in a future that will be mediated and controlled by computer algorithms. Fortunately, our experience dealing with other cultures can provide us with a framework for this communication. The basic concepts behind intercultural communication can be applied to the three types of communication envisioned in this paper if we are willing to recognize that we are in fact dealing with other cultures when we interact with other species, alien life, and artificial super-intelligence. The ideas considered in this paper will require a new mindset for humanity, but a new disposition will yield substantial gains. A curriculum that is truly ready for the 21st century needs to be aligned with this new theory of communication.

Keywords: artificial intelligence, CETI, communication, language

Procedia PDF Downloads 344

Authors: Malathi Balakrishnan, Cheng Lee Ooi, Chander Vengadasalam

Abstract:

The purpose of this study is to explore a case study of trainee teachers’ learning experience on innovating traditional games during the traditional game carnival. It explores issues arising from multiple case studies of trainee teachers learning experiences in innovating traditional games. A qualitative methodology was adopted through observations, semi-structured interviews and reflective journals’ content analysis of trainee teachers’ learning experiences creating and implementing innovative traditional games. Twelve groups of 36 trainee teachers who registered for Sports and Physical Education Management Course were the participants for this research during the traditional game carnival. Semi structured interviews were administrated after the trainee teachers learning experiences in creating innovative traditional games. Reflective journals were collected after carnival day and the content analyzed. Inductive data analysis was used to evaluate various data sources. All the collected data were then evaluated through the Nvivo data analysis process. Inductive reasoning was interpreted based on the Self Determination Theory (SDT). The findings showed that the trainee teachers had positive game participation experiences, game knowledge about traditional games and positive motivation to innovate the game. The data also revealed the influence of themes like cultural significance and creativity. It can be concluded from the findings that the organized game carnival, as a requirement of course work by the Institute of Teacher Training Malaysia, was able to enhance teacher trainers’ innovative thinking skills. The SDT, as a multidimensional approach to motivation, was utilized. Therefore, teacher trainers may have more learning experiences using the SDT.

Keywords: learning experiences, innovation, traditional games, trainee teachers

Procedia PDF Downloads 315

Authors: Van-Thanh Ho, Hyoungsoon Lee, Jaiyoung Ryu

Abstract:

Efficient pressure distribution within soft robotic systems, specifically to the pneumatic artificial muscle (PAM) regions, is essential to minimize energy consumption. This optimization involves adjusting reservoir pressure, pipe diameter, and branching network layout to reduce flow speed and pressure drop while enhancing flow efficiency. The outcome of this optimization is a lightweight power source and reduced mechanical impedance, enabling extended wear and movement. To achieve this, a branching network system was created by combining pipe components and intricate cross-sectional area variations, employing the principle of minimal work based on a complete virtual human exosuit. The results indicate that modifying the cross-sectional area of the branching network, gradually decreasing it, reduces velocity and enhances momentum compensation, preventing flow disturbances at separation regions. These optimized designs achieve uniform velocity distribution (uniformity index > 94%) prior to entering the connection pipe, with a pressure drop of less than 5%. The design must also consider the length-to-diameter ratio for fluid dynamic performance and production cost. This approach can be utilized to create a comprehensive PAM system, integrating well-designed tube networks and complex pneumatic models.

Keywords: pneumatic artificial muscles, pipe networks, pressure drop, compressible turbulent flow, uniformity flow, murray's law

Procedia PDF Downloads 56

Authors: Nsenga Bakinahe

Abstract:

Background: Adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) globally and, particularly in Rwanda, face significant challenges related to HIV prevention and sexual and reproductive health (SRH). Rwanda has a young population, with 65.3% below 30 years of age, demonstrating a need for SRH promotion and HIV prevention for this population. We aimed to determine the knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) of integrated HIV prevention and SRH services among AGYW in Rwanda. Methodology: We conducted a cross-sectional survey among 384 AGYW aged 15-24 years who had ever been pregnant and currently reside in Nyagatare district, Eastern Rwanda from January to April 2023. A questionnaire was developed to collect data, participants were randomly selected and data were collected by one-on-one interviews and were analyzed using SPSS V21. The statistical relationship between variables was significant at P-Value of 0.05 and 95% confidence interval. Results: The majority (97.9%) of respondents demonstrated a good level of knowledge, (52.2%) of the respondents had positive attitudes towards integrated HIV prevention and SRH services. Looking at the practice of integrated HIV prevention and SRH services use, 51.4% of respondents have a low level of practice. The practice of integrated HIV prevention and SRH services was significantly associated with school drop-out and family status (P>0.05). Conclusion: The findings from these studies collectively emphasize the need for comprehensive education, targeted interventions, and community-based support to achieve better health outcomes regarding HIV prevention and overall sexual and reproductive health among adolescent girls and young women. Empowering adolescent girls and young women with accurate information and comprehensive support will enable them to make informed decisions, protect their health effectively, and contribute to reducing the burden of HIV and improving sexual and reproductive health outcomes.

Keywords: integrated HIV prevention, sexual and reproductive health services, among adolescentes girls, and young women

Procedia PDF Downloads 31

Authors: Tamar Lazariashvili

Abstract:

Introduction: The agro-insurance has great importance for agricultural development in the country. In the article, the insurance market of the Georgian agricultural sector has been studied, the level of interest of farmers with insurance products and the trend of demand for those products are revealed; also, the importance of insurance is substantiated. Methodology: The following research methods are applied in the presented paper: statistical (selection, grouping, observation, trend) and qualitative research (in-depth interview with farmers). They claim that the main reason for aggravation is the low level of trust, less awareness about the conditions of the insurance contract. In order to eradicate distrust towards agro-insurance, it is recommended to increase awareness of insured farmers in terms of an insurance agreement. In the case of disputable issues between insurance companies and the customers (farmers), it is advisable to enact the Mediation Service, which will be able to protect the rights of insured farmers. Main Findings: Insurance companies prefer to deal with large farmers, the number of them is very small in Georgia as the credit market. The government interference in this sector is also a very cautious topic. However, the government can strengthen the awareness of farmers about the characteristics and advantages of the insurance system in order to increase the number of insured and reduce insurance premiums for farmers. Conclusion: Enactment of agro-insurance will increase the interest and confidence of financial institutions in the farming sector, financial resources will be accessible to the farmers that will facilitate the stable development of the sector in the country. The size of the agro-insurance market in the country should be increased, and the new territories should be covered. The State must have an obligation to ensure the risk of farmers and subsidize insurance companies. Based on the analysis of the insurance market, the conclusions on agro-insurance issues and the relevant recommendations are proposed.

Keywords: Agro-insurance, agricultural product, Agro-market, farming

Procedia PDF Downloads 109

Authors: Samia Jamshed Nauman Majeed

Abstract:

Purpose: Globally, the pandemic of COVID -19 has created a massive distraction for educational reforms influencing learning options, education access, and outcomes of students in more than 190 countries which has carved marks in history. To explore the challenges and complications confronted by students and faculty members while ensuring access to online education, qualitative research was conducted. Methodology: For this purpose, a series of focus group discussions were conducted in different regions of Pakistan, which revealed interesting findings shared by Panelists, which include Vice-Chancellors, Rectors, and Deans of different private and public sector universities of Pakistan. The qualitative research aims to explore the challenges and success factors of online educations by students with diverse backgrounds of higher education institutions to maximize student educational outcomes. Findings: The findings revealed several challenges and opportunities when it comes to online education for students of higher education institutions. Simultaneously, the researchers discovered the key success factors necessary for online education. Lastly, the paper presents the research limitations and future research recommendations to streamline online education in a better way ensuring the students' success. Originality: The pandemic has forced the closure of social, business, and educational activities, which has drastically influence the quality of education with its subsequent impact on the economy. In response, numerous universities across the globe are forced to suspend their educational activities by closing the universities. Though online education has been adopted worldwide by the universities, which brought numerous issues for academia, particularly for underdeveloped countries, and Pakistani higher education reforms are no exception to this.

Keywords: online education, higher education institutions, COVID-19, challenges, key success factors

Procedia PDF Downloads 69

Authors: P. Chang, C. Lopez, C. Burbano

Abstract:

Flood protection zones are riparian buffers that are formed to manage and mitigate the impact of flooding, and in turn, protect local populations. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the Guía Técnica de Criterios para el Acotamiento de las Rondas Hídricas in Colombia against international regulations in Canada and Spain, in order to determine its limitations and contribute to its improvement. The need to establish a specific corridor that allows for the dynamic development of a river is clear; however, limitations present in the Colombian Technical Guide are identified. The study shows that international regulations provide similar concepts as used in Colombia, but additionally integrate aspects such as regionalization that allows for a better characterization of the channel way, and incorporate the frequency of flooding and its probability of occurrence in the concept of risk when determining the protection zone. The case study analyzed in Dosquebradas - Risaralda aimed at comparing the application of the different standards through hydraulic modeling. It highlights that the current Colombian standard does not offer sufficient details in its implementation phase, which leads to a false sense of security related to inaccuracy and lack of data. Furthermore, the study demonstrates how the Colombian norm is ill-adapted to the conditions of Dosquebradas typical of the Andes region, both in the social and hydraulic aspects, and does not reduce the risk, nor does it improve the protection of the population. Our study considers it pertinent to include risk estimation as an integral part of the methodology when establishing protect flood zone, considering the particularity of water systems, as they are characterized by an heterogeneous natural dynamic behavior.

Keywords: environmental corridor, flood zone determination, hydraulic domain, legislation flood protection zone

Procedia PDF Downloads 99

Authors: S. F. H. Tasfy, N. A. M. Zabidi, M.-S. Shaharun

Abstract:

Utilization of CO2 as a carbon source to produce valuable chemicals is one of the important ways to reduce the global warming caused by increasing CO2 in the atmosphere. Supported metal catalysts are crucial for the production of clean and renewable fuels and chemicals from the stable CO2 molecules. The catalytic conversion of CO2 into methanol is recently under increased scrutiny as an opportunity to be used as a low-cost carbon source. Therefore, series of the bimetallic Cu/ZnO-based catalyst supported by SBA-15 were synthesized via impregnation technique with different total metal loading and tested in the catalytic hydrogenation of CO2 to methanol. The morphological and textural properties of the synthesized catalysts were determined by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), temperature programmed desorption, reduction, oxidation and pulse chemisorption (TPDRO), and N2-adsorption. The CO2 hydrogenation reaction was performed in microactivity fixed-bed system at 250 °C, 2.25 MPa, and H2/CO2 ratio of 3. Experimental results showed that the catalytic structure and performance was strongly affected by the loading of the active site. Where, the catalytic activity, methanol selectivity as well as the space-time yield increased with increasing the metal loading until it reaches the maximum values at a metal loading of 15 wt% while further addition of metal inhibits the catalytic performance. The higher catalytic activity of 14 % and methanol selectivity of 92 % were obtained over Cu/ZnO-SBA-15 catalyst with total bimetallic loading of 15 wt%. The excellent performance of 15 wt% Cu/ZnO-SBA-15 catalyst is attributed to the presence of well disperses active sites with small particle size, higher Cu surface area, and lower catalytic reducibility.

Keywords: hydrogenation of carbon dioxide, methanol synthesis, metal loading, Cu/ZnO-SBA-15 catalyst

Procedia PDF Downloads 215

Authors: Hiba S. Ahmed, Abbas A. Allawi, Riyadh A. Hindi

Abstract:

Pultruded materials made of fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) come in a broad range of shapes, such as bars, I-sections, C-sections, and other structural sections. These FRP materials are starting to compete with steel as structural materials because of their great resistance, low self-weight, and cheap maintenance costs-especially in corrosive conditions. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of Glass Fiber Reinforced Polymer (GFRP) of the hybrid columns built by combining (GFRP) profiles with concrete columns because of their low cost and high structural efficiency. To achieve the aims of this study, nine circular columns with a diameter of (150 mm) and a height of (1000mm) were cast using normal concrete with compression strength equal to (35 MPa). The research involved three different types of reinforcement: hybrid circular columns type (IG) with GFRP I-section and 1% of the reinforcement ratio of steel bars, hybrid circular columns type (IS) with steel I-section and 1% of the reinforcement ratio of steel bars, (where the cross-section area of I-section for GFRP and steel was the same), compared with reference column (R) without I-section. To investigate the ultimate capacity, axial and lateral deformation, strain in longitudinal and transverse reinforcement, and failure mode of the circular column under different loading conditions (concentric and eccentric) with eccentricities of 25 mm and 50 mm, respectively. In the second part, an analytical finite element model will be performed using ABAQUS software to validate the experimental results.

Keywords: composite, columns, reinforced concrete, GFRP, axial load

Procedia PDF Downloads 37

Authors: Shivaram P. Arunachalam, Mustafa Y. Sir, Andy Boggust, David M. Nestler, Thomas R. Hellmich, Kalyan S. Pasupathy

Abstract:

Emergency departments (EDs) provide urgent care to patients throughout the day in a complex and chaotic environment. Real-time location systems (RTLS) are increasingly being utilized in healthcare settings, and have shown to improve safety, reduce cost, and increase patient satisfaction. Radio Frequency Identification Device (RFID) data in an ED has been shown to compute variables such as patient-provider contact time, which is associated with patient outcomes such as 30-day hospitalization. These variables can provide avenues for improving ED operational efficiency. A major challenge with ED financial operations is under-coding of critical care services due to physicians’ difficulty reporting accurate times for critical care provided under Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) codes 99291 and 99292. In this work, the authors propose a framework to optimize ED critical care billing using RFID data. RFID estimated physician-patient contact times could accurately quantify direct critical care services which will help model a data-driven approach for ED critical care billing. This paper will describe the framework and provide insights into opportunities to prevent under coding as well as over coding to avoid insurance audits. Future work will focus on data analytics to demonstrate the feasibility of the framework described.

Keywords: critical care billing, CPT codes, emergency department, RFID

Procedia PDF Downloads 116

Authors: Aderonke Oluseun Akinwumi, Olusola A. Komolaf

Abstract:

This paper gives information about the wide array of challenges facing both the electric utilities and consumers in the distribution system in developing countries, using Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife Nigeria as a case study. It also proffers cost-effective solution through remote monitoring, diagnostic and operation of distribution networks without compromising the system reliability. As utilities move from manned and unintelligent networks to completely unmanned smart grids, switching activities at substations and feeders will be managed and controlled remotely by dedicated systems hence this design. The Substation Remote Diagnostic and Operation Solution (sRDOs) would remotely monitor the load on Medium Voltage (MV) and Low Voltage (LV) feeders as well as distribution transformers and allow the utility disconnect non-paying customers with absolutely no extra resource deployment and without interrupting supply to paying customers. The aftermath of the implementation of this design improved the lifetime of key distribution infrastructure by automatically isolating feeders during overload conditions and more importantly erring consumers. This increased the ratio of revenue generated on electricity bills to total network load.

Keywords: electric utility, consumers, remote monitoring, diagnostic, system reliability, manned and unintelligent networks, unmanned smart grids, switching activities, medium voltage, low voltage, distribution transformer

Procedia PDF Downloads 114

Authors: Ramin Rostamkhani, Thurasamy Ramayah

Abstract:

One of the most important topics of today’s industrial organizations is the challenging issue of supply chain management. In this field, scientists and researchers have published numerous practical articles and models, especially in the last decade. In this research, to our best knowledge, the discussion of data modeling of supply chain management components using well-known statistical distribution functions has been considered. The world of science owns mathematics, and showing the behavior of supply chain data based on the characteristics of statistical distribution functions is innovative research that has not been published anywhere until the moment of doing this research. In an analytical process, describing different aspects of functions including probability density, cumulative distribution, reliability, and failure function can reach the suitable statistical distribution function for each of the components of the supply chain management. It can be applied to predict the behavior data of the relevant component in the future. Providing a model to adapt the best statistical distribution function in the supply chain management components will be a big revolution in the field of the behavior of the supply chain management elements in today's industrial organizations. Demonstrating the final results of the proposed model by introducing the process capability indices before and after implementing it alongside verifying the approach through the relevant assessment as an acceptable verification is a final step. The introduced approach can save the required time and cost to achieve the organizational goals. Moreover, it can increase added value in the organization.

Keywords: analyzing, process capability indices, statistical distribution functions, supply chain management components

Procedia PDF Downloads 77

Authors: Gurjeet Singh, M. K. Pradhan, Ajay Verma

Abstract:

The plastic industry plays very important role in the economy of any country. It is generally among the leading share of the economy of the country. Since metals and their alloys are very rarely available on the earth. So to produce plastic products and components, which finds application in many industrial as well as household consumer products is beneficial. Since 50% plastic products are manufactured by injection moulding process. For production of better quality product, we have to control quality characteristics and performance of the product. The process parameters plays a significant role in production of plastic, hence the control of process parameter is essential. In this paper the effect of the parameters selection on injection moulding process has been described. It is to define suitable parameters in producing plastic product. Selecting the process parameter by trial and error is neither desirable nor acceptable, as it is often tends to increase the cost and time. Hence optimization of processing parameter of injection moulding process is essential. The experiments were designed with Taguchi’s orthogonal array to achieve the result with least number of experiments. Here Plastic material polypropylene is studied. Tensile strength test of material is done on universal testing machine, which is produced by injection moulding machine. By using Taguchi technique with the help of MiniTab-14 software the best value of injection pressure, melt temperature, packing pressure and packing time is obtained. We found that process parameter packing pressure contribute more in production of good tensile plastic product.

Keywords: injection moulding, tensile strength, poly-propylene, Taguchi

Procedia PDF Downloads 262

Authors: Andrea ČopíKová

Abstract:

Competency Based Management is a new approach to management, which solves organization’s challenges with complexity and with the aim to find and solve organization’s problems and learn how to avoid these in future. They teach the organizations to create, apart from the state of stability – that is temporary, vital organization, which is permanently able to utilize and profit from internal and external opportunities. The aim of this paper is to propose a process of competency model design, based on which a competency model for a financial department manager in a production company will be created. Competency models are very useful tool in many personnel processes in any organization. They are used for acquiring and selection of employees, designing training and development activities, employees’ evaluation, and they can be used as a guide for a career planning and as a tool for succession planning especially for managerial positions. When creating a competency model the method AHP (Analytic Hierarchy Process) and quantitative pair-wise comparison (Saaty’s method) will be used; these methods belong among the most used methods for the determination of weights, and it is used in the AHP procedure. The introduction part of the paper consists of the research results pertaining to the use of competency model in practice and then the issue of competency and competency models is explained. The application part describes in detail proposed methodology for the creation of competency models, based on which the competency model for the position of financial department manager in a foreign manufacturing company, will be created. In the conclusion of the paper, the final competency model will be shown for above mentioned position. The competency model divides selected competencies into three groups that are managerial, interpersonal and functional. The model describes in detail individual levels of competencies, their target value (required level) and the level of importance.

Keywords: analytic hierarchy process, competency, competency model, quantitative pairwise comparison

Procedia PDF Downloads 229

Authors: M. López-Moreno, L. Lugo Avilés, F. Román, J. Lugo Rosas, J. Hernández-Viezcas Jr., Peralta-Videa, J. Gardea-Torresdey

Abstract:

Degradation of agricultural soils has increased rapidly during the last 20 years due to the indiscriminate use of pesticides and other anthropogenic activities. Currently, there is an urgent need of soil restoration to increase agricultural production. Utilization of sewage sludge or municipal solid waste is an important way to recycle nutrient elements and improve soil quality. With these amendments, nutrient availability in the aqueous phase might be increased and production of healthier crops can be accomplished. This research project aimed to achieve sustainable management of tropical agricultural soils, specifically in Puerto Rico, through the amendment of water treatment plant sludge’s. This practice avoids landfill disposal of sewage sludge and at the same time results cost-effective practice for recycling solid waste residues. Coriander sativum was cultivated in a compost-soil-sludge mixture at different proportions. Results showed that Coriander grown in a mixture of 25% compost+50% Voladora soi+25% sludge had the best growth and development. High chlorophyll content (33.01 ± 0.8) was observed in Coriander plants cultivated in 25% compost+62.5% Coloso soil+ 12.5% sludge compared to plants grown with no sludge (32.59 ± 0.7). ICP-OES analysis showed variations in mineral element contents (macro and micronutrients) in coriander plant grown I soil amended with sludge and compost.

Keywords: compost, Coriandrum sativum, nutrients, waste sludge

Procedia PDF Downloads 388

Authors: Volker Koch, Sigrid Swobodnik, Bernd M. Zunk

Abstract:

The success of companies on globalized markets is significantly influenced by the performance of purchasing departments and, of course, the individuals employed as professional purchasers. Nonetheless, this is generally accepted in practice, in literature as well as in empirical research, only insufficient attention was given to the assessment of this relationship between the personality of professional purchasers and their individual performance. This paper aims to describe the relationship against the background of the 'Big Five Inventory'. Based on the five dimensions of a personality (openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism) a research model was designed. The research model divides the individual performance of professional purchasers into two major dimensions: operational and strategic. The operational dimension consists of the items 'cost', 'quality delivery' and 'flexibility'; the strategic dimension comprises the positions 'innovation', 'supplier satisfaction' as wells as 'purchasing and supply management integration in the organization'. To test the research model, a survey study was performed, and an online questionnaire was sent out to purchasing professionals in Austrian companies. The data collected from 78 responses was used to test the research model applying a group comparison. The comparison points out that there is (i) an influence of the purchasers’ personality on the individual performance of professional purchasers and (ii) a link between purchasers’ personality to a high or a low individual performance of professional purchasers. The findings of this study may help human resource managers during staff recruitment processes to identify the 'right performing personality' for an operational and/or a strategic position in purchasing departments.

Keywords: big five inventory, individual performance, personality, purchasing professionals

Procedia PDF Downloads 157

Authors: Alex Gonzalez Caceres, Jan Karlshøj, Tor Arvid Vik

Abstract:

Life cycle of residential buildings are expected to be several decades, 40% of European residential buildings have inefficient energy conservation measure. The existing building represents 20-40% of the energy use and the CO₂ emission. Since net zero energy buildings are a short-term goal, (should be achieved by EU countries after 2020), is necessary to plan the next logical step, which is to prepare the existing outdated stack of building to retrofit them into an energy efficiency buildings. In order to accomplish this, two specialize and widespread tool can be used Building Information Modelling (BIM) and life-cycle assessment (LCA). BIM and LCA are tools used by a variety of disciplines; both are able to represent and analyze the constructions in different stages. The combination of these technologies could improve greatly the retrofitting techniques. The incorporation of the carbon footprint, introducing a single database source for different material analysis. To this is added the possibility of considering different analysis approaches such as costs and energy saving. Is expected with these measures, enrich the decision-making. The methodology is based on two main activities; the first task involved the collection of data this is accomplished by literature review and interview with experts in the retrofitting field and BIM technologies. The results of this task are presented as an evaluation checklist of BIM ability to manage data and improve decision-making in retrofitting projects. The last activity involves an evaluation using the results of the previous tasks, to check how far the IFC format can support the requirements by each specialist, and its uses by third party software. The result indicates that BIM/LCA have a great potential to improve the retrofitting process in existing buildings, but some modification must be done in order to meet the requirements of the specialists for both, retrofitting and LCA evaluators.

Keywords: retrofitting, BIM, LCA, energy efficiency

Procedia PDF Downloads 203

Authors: Ayobami Solomon Popoola, Victor N. Enujiugha

Abstract:

Production of soy-yogurt by fermentation of soymilk with lactic acid bacteria isolated from soymilk was studied. Soymilk was extracted from dehulled soybean seeds and pasteurized at 95 °C for 15 min. The soymilk was left to naturally ferment (temperature 40 °C; time 8 h) and lactic acid bacteria were isolated, screened and selected for yogurt production. Freshly prepared soymilk was pasteurized (95 °C, 15 min), inoculated with the lactic acid bacteria isolated (3% w/v starter culture) and incubated at 40 °C for 8 h. The yogurt produced was stored at 4 °C. Investigations were carried out with the aim of improving the sensory qualities and acceptability of soy yogurt. Commercial yogurt was used as a control. The percentage of soymilk inoculated was 70% of the broth. Soy-yoghurt samples produced were subsequently subjected to biochemical and microbiological assays which included total viable counts of fresh milk and soy-based yoghurt; proximate composition of functional soy-based yoghurt fermented with Lactobacillus plantarum; changes in pH, Titratable acidity, and lactic acid bacteria during a 14 day period of storage; as well as morphological and biochemical characteristics of lactic acid bacteria isolated. The results demonstrated that using Lactobacillus plantarum to inoculate soy milk for yogurt production takes about 8 h. The overall acceptability of the soy-based yogurt produced was not significantly different from that of the control sample. The use of isolate from soymilk had the added advantage of reducing the cost of yogurt starter culture, thereby making soy-yogurt, a good source of much desired good quality protein. However, more experiments are needed to improve the sensory qualities such as beany or astringent flavor and color.

Keywords: soy, soymilk, yoghurt, starter culture

Procedia PDF Downloads 242

Authors: Umar D. M., Aminu A. M., Izaddeen K. Y.

Abstract:

Deployments of mini macrocell base stations also referred to as femtocells, improve the quality of service of indoor and outdoor users. Nevertheless, mobility management remains a key issue with regards to their deployment. This paper is leaned towards this issue, with an in-depth focus on the most important aspect of mobility management -handover. In handover management, making a handover decision in the LTE two-tier macrocell femtocell network is a crucial research area. Decision algorithms in this research are classified and comparatively analyzed according to received signal strength, user equipment speed, cost function, and interference. However, it was observed that most of the discussed decision algorithms fail to consider cell selection with hybrid access policy in a single macrocell multiple femtocell scenario, another observation was a majority of these algorithms lack the incorporation of user equipment residence parameter. Not including this parameter boosts the number of unnecessary handover occurrence. To deal with these issues, a sophisticated handover decision algorithm is proposed. The proposed algorithm considers the user’s velocity, received signal strength, residence time, as well as the femtocell base station’s access policy. Simulation results have shown that the proposed algorithm reduces the number of unnecessary handovers when compared to conventional received signal strength-based handover decision algorithm.

Keywords: user-equipment, radio signal service, long term evolution, mobility management, handoff

Procedia PDF Downloads 109

Authors: Lily Yarney, Emmanuel M. Y. Seidu, Thomas Chireh Kuusaanu, Belinda Adzimah-Yeboah

Abstract:

Healthcare delivery is labor-intensive; the role of the health worker is, therefore, indispensable in maintaining and improving individual and population health. In Ghana, doctor-patient ratio is 1:10,450, with a disproportionate tilt in favor of the relatively resource rich southern part of the country. The Upper West Region located in Northern Ghana, is among the poorest regions in the country. The study was aimed at finding out the reasons why medical doctors are unwilling to accept postings to the Upper West Region where their services are needed most despite some efforts to attract, motivate and retain them. Current initiatives by the Ministry of Health and its partners to attract and retain doctors in the region were also examined. Qualitative methodology was employed with an in-depth interview guide to collect data. Sixteen respondents comprising medical doctors, health managers, and other health-related partners purposively selected took part in the study. Data were recorded, transcribed, coded, and categorized into themes in tandem with the objectives of the study. The study found that medical doctors are unwilling to take up appointments in the Upper West Region because of limited opportunities for career and continuing professional development, poor financial inducement, and weak leadership, among other important contextual social and cultural factors. Critical success factors to surmount these challenges include concessions and sponsorship for medical specialization training for doctors and clear implementable national and local policies on postings.

Keywords: attraction, retention, medical doctors, deprived regions, Ghana

Procedia PDF Downloads 91

Authors: J. S. Dhillon, K. K. Dhaliwal

Abstract:

In almost all the digital filtering applications the digital infinite impulse response (IIR) filters are preferred over finite impulse response (FIR) filters because they provide much better performance, less computational cost and have smaller memory requirements for similar magnitude specifications. However, the digital IIR filters are generally multimodal with respect to the filter coefficients and therefore, reliable methods that can provide global optimal solutions are required. The artificial bee colony (ABC) algorithm is one such recently introduced meta-heuristic optimization algorithm. But in some cases it shows insufficiency while searching the solution space resulting in a weak exchange of information and hence is not able to return better solutions. To overcome this deficiency, the opposition based learning strategy is incorporated in ABC and hence a modified version called oppositional artificial bee colony (OABC) algorithm is proposed in this paper. Duplication of members is avoided during the run which also augments the exploration ability. The developed algorithm is then applied for the design of optimal and stable digital IIR filter structure where design of low-pass (LP) and high-pass (HP) filters is carried out. Fuzzy theory is applied to achieve maximize satisfaction of minimum magnitude error and stability constraints. To check the effectiveness of OABC, the results are compared with some well established filter design techniques and it is observed that in most cases OABC returns better or atleast comparable results.

Keywords: digital infinite impulse response filter, artificial bee colony optimization, opposition based learning, digital filter design, multi-parameter optimization

Procedia PDF Downloads 459

Authors: Nishant Rodrigues, Nicole Spanedda, Chilukuri K. Mohan, Arindam Chakraborty

Abstract:

A crucial objective in quantum chemistry is the computation of the energy levels of chemical systems. This task requires electron-repulsion integrals as inputs, and the steep computational cost of evaluating these integrals poses a major numerical challenge in efficient implementation of quantum chemical software. This work presents a moment-based machine-learning approach for the efficient evaluation of electron-repulsion integrals. These integrals were approximated using linear combinations of a small number of moments. Machine learning algorithms were applied to estimate the coefficients in the linear combination. A random forest approach was used to identify promising features using a recursive feature elimination approach, which performed best for learning the sign of each coefficient but not the magnitude. A neural network with two hidden layers were then used to learn the coefficient magnitudes along with an iterative feature masking approach to perform input vector compression, identifying a small subset of orbitals whose coefficients are sufficient for the quantum state energy computation. Finally, a small ensemble of neural networks (with a median rule for decision fusion) was shown to improve results when compared to a single network.

Keywords: quantum energy calculations, atomic orbitals, electron-repulsion integrals, ensemble machine learning, random forests, neural networks, feature extraction

Procedia PDF Downloads 92

Authors: Yelbek B. Utepov, Assel T. Mukhamejanova, Aliya K. Aldungarova, Aida G. Nazarova, Sabit A. Karaulov, Nurgul T. Alibekova, Aigul K. Kozhas, Dias Kazhimkanuly, Akmaral K. Tleubayeva

Abstract:

This research focuses on enhancing geotechnical surveying for foundation design through the spatial interpolation of intermediate soil properties. Traditional geotechnical practices rely on discrete data from borehole drilling, soil sampling, and laboratory analyses, often neglecting the continuous nature of soil properties and disregarding values in intermediate locations. This study challenges these omissions by emphasizing interpolation techniques such as Kriging, Inverse Distance Weighting, and Spline interpolation to capture the nuanced spatial variations in soil properties. The methodology is applied to geotechnical survey data from two construction sites in Astana, Kazakhstan, revealing continuous representations of Young's Modulus, Cohesion, and Friction Angle. The spatial heatmaps generated through interpolation offered valuable insights into the subsurface environment, highlighting heterogeneity and aiding in more informed foundation design decisions for considered cites. Moreover, intriguing patterns of heterogeneity, as well as visual clusters and transitions between soil classes, were explored within seemingly uniform layers. The study bridges the gap between discrete borehole samples and the continuous subsurface, contributing to the evolution of geotechnical engineering practices. The proposed approach, utilizing open-source software geographic information systems, provides a practical tool for visualizing soil characteristics and may pave the way for future advancements in geotechnical surveying and foundation design.

Keywords: soil mechanical properties, spatial interpolation, inverse distance weighting, heatmaps

Procedia PDF Downloads 56