Search results for: resource recovery from water

Authors: Gabriela-Andreea Despescu, Mădălina-Elena Mavrodin, Gheorghe Lăzăroiu, Florin Adrian Grădinaru

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The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the enhancement of a hydroelectric plant protection by coordinating protection measures and existing security and introducing new measures under a risk management process. Also, the plan identifies key critical elements of a hydroelectric plant, from its level vulnerabilities and threats it is subjected to in order to achieve the necessary protection measures to reduce the level of risk.

Keywords: critical infrastructure, risk analysis, critical infrastructure protection, vulnerability, risk management, turbine, impact analysis

Procedia PDF Downloads 547

Authors: A. Babou, Y. Kerboua Ziari, Y. Kerkoub

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The risks of depletion of fossil fuel reserves and environmental problems caused by their consumption cause to consider alternative energy solutions. Hydrogen appears as a serious solution because its combustion produces only water. The objective of this study is to digitally analyze the effect of operating conditions on the process of absorption of hydrogen in a tank of metal hydride alloy Lanthanum - Nickel (LaNi 5). For this modeling of heat transfer and mass in the tank was carried .The results of numerical weather prediction are in good agreement with the experimental results.

Keywords: hydrogen, storage, energy, fuel, simulation

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Authors: Chuan-Ming Tung, Jin-Cheng Fu, Chia-En Feng

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In recent years, the rapid development of urban land in Taiwan has led to the constant increase of the areas of impervious surface, which has increased the risk of waterlogging during heavy rainfall. Therefore, in recent years, promoting runoff allocation responsibilities has often been used as a means of reducing regional flooding. In this study, the single catchment area covering both urban and rural land as the study area is discussed. Based on Storm Water Management Model, urban and rural land in a single catchment area was explored to develop the runoff allocation responsibilities according to their respective control regulation on land use. The impacts of runoff increment and reduction in sub-catchment area were studied to understand the impact of highly developed urban land on the reduction of flood risk of rural land at the back end. The results showed that the rainfall with 1 hour short delay of 2 years, 5 years, 10 years, and 25 years return period. If the study area was fully developed, the peak discharge at the outlet would increase by 24.46% -22.97% without runoff allocation responsibilities. The front-end urban land would increase runoff from back-end of rural land by 76.19% -46.51%. However, if runoff allocation responsibilities were carried out in the study area, the peak discharge could be reduced by 58.38-63.08%, which could make the front-end to reduce 54.05% -23.81% of the peak flow to the back-end. In addition, the researchers found that if it was seen from the perspective of runoff allocation responsibilities of per unit area, the residential area of urban land would benefit from the relevant laws and regulations of the urban system, which would have a better effect of reducing flood than the residential land in rural land. For rural land, the development scale of residential land was generally small, which made the effect of flood reduction better than that of industrial land. Agricultural land requires a large area of land, resulting in the lowest share of the flow per unit area. From the point of the planners, this study suggests that for the rural land around the city, its responsibility should be assigned to share the runoff. And setting up rain water storage facilities in the same way as urban land, can also take stock of agricultural land resources to increase the ridge of field for flood storage, in order to improve regional disaster reduction capacity and resilience.

Keywords: runoff allocation responsibilities, land use, flood mitigation, SWMM

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Authors: Sara Segura, Diego Nuñez, Miryam Villamil

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In this work, we studied the microscale interaction of foreign substances with blood inside an artificial transparent artery system that represents medium and small muscular arteries. This artery system had channels ranging from 75 μm to 930 μm and was fabricated using glass and transparent polymer blends like Phenylbis(2,4,6-trimethylbenzoyl) phosphine oxide, Poly(ethylene glycol) and PDMS in order to be monitored in real time. The setup was performed using a computer controlled precision micropump and a high resolution optical microscope capable of tracking fluids at fast capture. Observation and analysis were performed using a real time software that reconstructs the fluid dynamics determining the flux velocity, injection dependency, turbulence and rheology. All experiments were carried out with fully computer controlled equipment. Interactions between substances like water, serum (0.9% sodium chloride and electrolyte with a ratio of 4 ppm) and blood cells were studied at microscale as high as 400nm of resolution and the analysis was performed using a frame-by-frame observation and HD-video capture. These observations lead us to understand the fluid and mixing behavior of the interest substance in the blood stream and to shed a light on the use of implantable devices for drug delivery at arteries with different Endothelial dysfunction. Several substances were tested using the artificial artery system. Initially, Milli-Q water was used as a control substance for the study of the basic fluid dynamics of the artificial artery system. However, serum and other low viscous substances were pumped into the system with the presence of other liquids to study the mixing profiles and behaviors. Finally, mammal blood was used for the final test while serum was injected. Different flow conditions, pumping rates, and time rates were evaluated for the determination of the optimal mixing conditions. Our results suggested the use of a very fine controlled microinjection for better mixing profiles with and approximately rate of 135.000 μm3/s for the administration of drugs inside arteries.

Keywords: artificial artery, drug delivery, microfluidics dynamics, arteriosclerosis

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Authors: Maria Zulema Morquecho Vega, Fabiola CarolinaMiranda Castro, Rafael Verdugo Miranda, Ignacio Yocupicio Villegas, Ana lidia Barron Raygoza, Martin enrique MArquez Cordova, Jose Alberto Duarte Moller

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Background: Anemopsis californica, also called (tame grass) belongs to the Saururaceae family small, green plant. The blade is long and wide. Gives a white flower. The plant population is only found in humid, swampy habitats, it grows where there is water, along the banks of streams and water holes. In the winter, it dries up. The leaves, rhizomes, or roots of this plant have been used to treat a range of diseases. Some of its healing properties are used to treat wounds, cold and flu symptoms, spasmodic cough, infection, pain and inflammation, burns, swollen feet, as well as lung ailments, asthma, circulatory problems (varicose veins), rheumatoid arthritis, purifies blood, helps in urinary and digestive tract diseases, sores and healing, for headache, sore throat, diarrhea, kidney pain. The tea made from the leaves and roots is used to treat uterine cancer, womb cancer, relieves menstrual pain and stops excessive bleeding after childbirth. It is also used as a gynecological treatment for infections, hemorrhoids, candidiasis and vaginitis. Objective: To study the cytotoxicity of gels prepared with silver nanoparticles in AC extract combined with chitosan, collagen and hyaluronic acid as an alternative therapy for skin conditions. Methods: The Ag NPs were synthesized according to the following method. A 0.3 mg/mL solution is prepared in 10 ml of deionized water, adjust to pH 12 with NaOH, stirring is maintained constant magnetic and a temperature of 80 °C. Subsequently, 100 ul of a 0.1 M AgNO3 solution and kept stirring constantly for 15 min. Once the reaction is complete, measurements are performed by UV-Vis. A gel was prepared in a 5% solution of acetic acid with the respective nanoparticles and AC extract of silver in the extract of AC. Chitosan is added until the process begins to occur gel. At that time, collagen will be added in a ratio of 3 to 5 drops, and later, hyaluronic acid in 2% of the total compound formed. Finally, after resting for 24 hours, the cytotoxic effect of the gels was studied. in the presence of highly positive bacteria Staphylococcus aureus and highly negative for Escherichia coli. Cultures will be incubated for 24 hours in the presence of the compound and compared with the reference. Results: Silver nanoparticles obtained had a spherical shape and sizes among 20 and 30 nm. UV-Vis spectra confirm the presence of silver nanoparticles showing a surface plasmon around 420 nm. Finally, the test in presence of bacteria yield a good antibacterial property of this nanocompound and tests in people were successful. Conclusion: Gel prepared by biogenic synthesis shown beneficious effects in severe acne, acne vulgaris and wound healing with diabetic patients.

Keywords: anemopsis californica, nanomedicina, biotechnology, biomedicine

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Authors: Nafiseh Noormohammadi, Ahmad Sobhani Najafabadi

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Hypericins (hypericin and pseudohypericin) are natural napthodianthrone derivatives produced by Hypericum perforatum (St. John’s Wort), which have many medicinal properties such as antitumor, antineoplastic, antiviral, and antidepressant activities. Production and accumulation of hypericin in the plant are influenced by both genetic and environmental conditions. Despite the existence of different high-throughput data on the plant, genetic dimensions of hypericin biosynthesis have not yet been completely understood. In this research, 21 high-quality RNA-seq data on different parts of the plant were integrated into metabolic data to reconstruct a coexpression network. Results showed that a cluster of 30 transcripts was correlated with total hypericin. The identified transcripts were divided into three main groups based on their functions, including hypericin biosynthesis genes, transporters, detoxification genes, and transcription factors (TFs). In the biosynthetic group, different isoforms of polyketide synthase (PKSs) and phenolic oxidative coupling proteins (POCPs) were identified. Phylogenetic analysis of protein sequences integrated into gene expression analysis showed that some of the POCPs seem to be very important in the biosynthetic pathway of hypericin. In the TFs group, six TFs were correlated with total hypericin. qPCR analysis of these six TFs confirmed that three of them were highly correlated. The identified genes in this research are a rich resource for further studies on the molecular breeding of H. perforatum in order to obtain varieties with high hypericin production.

Keywords: hypericin, St. John’s Wort, data mining, transcription factors, secondary metabolites

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Authors: Fujia Yang

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Alongside technological innovation, the current “double reduction” policy and English Curriculum Standards for Compulsory Education in China both emphasise and encourage appropriately integrating educational technologies into the classroom. Therefore, schools are increasingly using digital means to engage students in English reading, but the impact of such technologies on Chinese pupils’ reading achievement remains unclear. To serve as a reference for reforming English reading education in primary schools under the double reduction policy, this study investigates the effects and primary influencing factors of a specific reading programme, Accelerated Reader (AR), on Chinese primary school students’ reading achievement. A quantitative online survey was used to collect 37 valid questionnaires from teachers, and the results demonstrate that, from teachers’ perspectives, the AR program seemed to positively affect students’ reading achievement by recommending material at the appropriate reading levels and developing students’ reading habits. Although the reading enjoyment derived from the AR program does not directly influence students’ reading achievement, these factors are strongly correlated. This can be explained by the self-paced, independent learning AR format, its high accuracy in predicting reading level, the quiz format and external motivation, and the importance of examinations and resource limitations in China. The results of this study may support reforming English reading education in Chinese primary schools.

Keywords: educational technology, reading programme, primary students, accelerated reader, reading effects

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Authors: Yuanyuan Wang, Chun Hui

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Drawing on social capital theory, this article discusses how individuals may utilize network ties to come up with creativity. Social capital theory elaborates how network ties enhances individual creativity from three dimensions: structural access, and relational and cognitive mechanisms. We categorize network ties into strong and weak in terms of tie strength. With less structural constraints, weak ties allow diverse and heterogeneous knowledge to prosper, further facilitating individuals to build up connections among diverse even distant ideas. On the other hand, strong ties with the relational mechanism of cooperation and trust may benefit the accumulation of psychological capital, ultimately to motivate and sustain creativity. We suggest that differential ties play different roles for individual creativity: Weak ties deliver informational benefit directly rifling individual creativity from informational resource aspect; strong ties offer solidarity benefits to reinforce psychological capital, which further inspires individual creativity engagement from a psychological viewpoint. Social capital embedded in network ties influence individuals’ informational acquisition, motivation, as well as cognitive ability to be creative. Besides, we also consider the moderating effects constraining the relatedness between network ties and creativity, such as knowledge articulability. We hypothesize that when the extent of knowledge articulability is low, that is, with low knowledge codifiability, and high dependency and ambiguity, weak ties previous serving as knowledge reservoir will not become ineffective on individual creativity. Two-wave survey will be employed in Mainland China to empirically test mentioned propositions.

Keywords: network ties, social capital, psychological capital, knowledge articulability, individual creativity

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Authors: Mustafa Yılmaz, Ahmet Akar, Nesrin Köken, Nilgün Kızılcan

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Commercially available poly(acrylonitrile-co-vinyl acetate) P(AN-VA) or poly(acrylonitrile-co-methyl acrylate) P(AN-MA) are not satisfactory to meet the demand in flame and fire-resistance. In this work, vinylphosphonic acid is used during polymerization of acrylonitrile, vinyl acetate, methacrylic acid to produce fire-retardant polymers. These phosphorus containing polymers are successfully spun in the form of nanofibers. Properties such as water absorption of polymers are also determined and compared with commercial polymers.

Keywords: flame retardant, nanofiber, polyacrylonitrile, phosphorous compound, membrane

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Authors: E. Balkauskaitė, A. Bučinskas, R. Ivanauskas, M. Kriipsalu, G. Denafas

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Leaching of heavy metals (chromium, zinc, copper) from the fine fraction of the Torma landfill (Estonia) was investigated. The leaching kinetics studies have determined the dependence of some metal’s concentration on the leaching time. Metals were leached with Aqua Regia, distilled water and EDTA (Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid); process was most intensive 2 hours after the start of the experiment, except for copper with EDTA (0.5 h) and lead with EDTA (4 h). During leaching, steady concentrations of Fe, Mn, Cd and Pb were fully stabilized after 8 h; however concentrations of Cu and Ni were not stabilized after 10 h.

Keywords: fine fraction, landfills, leached metals, leaching kinetics

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Authors: Andrew Gennett

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Designing for fungal development means embracing the symbiotic relationship between the living system and built environment. The potential of mycelium post-colonization is explored for the fabrication of advanced pure mycelium products, going beyond the conventional methods of aggregating materials. Fruiting induction imparts desired material properties such as enhanced environmental resistance. Production approach allows for simultaneous generation of multiple products while scaling up raw materials supply suitable for architectural applications. The following work explores the integration of fungal environmental perception with computational design of built fruiting chambers. Polyporales, are classified by their porous reproductive tissues supported by a wood-like context tissue covered by a hard waterproofing coat of hydrobpobins. Persisting for years in the wild, these species represent material properties that would be highly desired in moving beyond flat sheets of arial mycelium as with leather or bacon applications. Understanding the inherent environmental perception of fungi has become the basis for working with and inducing desired hyphal differentiation. Working within the native signal interpretation of a mycelium mass during fruiting induction provides the means to apply textures and color to the final finishing coat. A delicate interplay between meeting human-centered goals while designing around natural processes of living systems represents a blend of art and science. Architecturally, physical simulations inform model design for simple modular fruiting chambers that change as fungal growth progresses, while biological life science principles describe the internal computations occurring within the fungal hyphae. First, a form filling phase of growth is controlled by growth chamber environment. Second, an initiation phase of growth forms the final exterior finishing texture. Hyphal densification induces cellular cascades, in turn producing the classical hardened cuticle, UV protective molecule production, as well, as waterproofing finish. Upon fruiting process completion, the fully colonized spent substrate holds considerable value and is not considered waste. Instead, it becomes a valuable resource in the next cycle of production scale-up. However, the acquisition of new substrate resources poses a critical question, particularly as these resources become increasingly scarce. Pursuing a regenerative design paradigm from the environmental perspective, the usage of “agricultural waste” for architectural materials would prove a continuation of the destructive practices established by the previous industrial regime. For these residues from fields and forests serve a vital ecological role protecting the soil surface in combating erosion while reducing evaporation and fostering a biologically diverse food web. Instead, urban centers have been identified as abundant sources of new substrate material. Diverting the waste from secondary locations such as food processing centers, papers mills, and recycling facilities not only reduces landfill burden but leverages the latent value of these waste steams as precious resources for mycelium cultivation. In conclusion, working with living systems through innovative built environments for fungal development, provides the needed gain of function and resilience of mycelium products. The next generation of sustainable fungal products will go beyond the current binding process, with a focus upon reducing landfill burden from urban centers. In final considerations, biophilic material builds to an ecologically regenerative recycling production cycle.

Keywords: regenerative agriculture, mycelium fabrication, growth chamber design, sustainable resource acquisition, fungal morphogenesis, soil fertility

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Authors: Mukesh Lal Das, Muthukumar Muthuchamy

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Climate change Adaptation strategy (AS) is a scientific approach to dealing with the impacts of climate change (CC). Efforts are being made to contain the global emission of greenhouse gas within threshold limits, thereby limiting the rise of global temperature to an optimal level. Global Climate change is a spontaneous process; therefore, reversing the damage would take decades. The climate change adaptation strategy recommended by various stakeholders could be a key to resilience for biodiversity. The Indian Government has constituted the panel to synthesize the climate change action report at the federal and state levels. This review scavenged the published literature on the Western Ghats hotspots. And highlight the adaptation strategy recommended by diverse scientific actors to conserve biodiversity. It also reviews the grey literature adopted by state and federal governments and its effectiveness in mitigating the impacts on biodiversity. We have narrowed the scope of interest to the state action report by 6 Indian states such as Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, which host Western Ghats global biodiversity hotspot. Western Ghats(WGs) act as the water tower to the peninsular part of India, and its extensive watershed caters to the water demand of the Industry sector, Agriculture and urban community. Conservation of WGs is the key to the prosperity of Peninsular India. The global scientific community suggested more than 600+ Climate change adaptation strategies for the policymakers, stakeholders, and other state actors to take proactive actions. The preliminary analysis of the federal and the state action plan on climate change in the wake of CC indicate inadequacy in motion as per recommended scientific adaptation strategies. Tamil Nadu and Kerala state constitute nine effective adaptation strategies out of the 40+ recommended for Western Ghats conservation. And other four states' adaptation strategies are deficient, confusing and vague. Western Ghats' resilience capacity will soon or might have reached its threshold, and the frequency of severe drought and flash floods might upsurge manifold in the decades to come. The lack of a clear roadmap to climate change adaptation strategies in the federal and state action stirred us to identify the gap and address it by offering a holistic approach to WGs biodiversity conservation.

Keywords: adaptation strategy, biodiversity conservation, climate change, resilience, Western Ghats

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Authors: Ishita Singh

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Social-dimension of Climate Change is no longer peripheral to Science, Technology and Innovation (STI). Indeed, STI is being mobilized to address small farmers’ vulnerability and adaptation to Climate Change. The experiences from the cold desert of Leh (Ladakh) in North-West Himalaya illustrate the potential of STI to address the challenges of Climate Change and the needs of small farmers through the use of Artificial Glacier Techniques. Small farmers have a unique technique of water harvesting to augment irrigation, called “Artificial Glaciers” - an intricate network of water channels and dams along the upper slope of a valley that are located closer to villages and at lower altitudes than natural glaciers. It starts to melt much earlier and supplements additional irrigation to small farmers’ improving their livelihoods. Therefore, the issue of vulnerability, adaptive capacity and adaptation strategy needs to be analyzed in a local context and the communities as well as regions where people live. Leh (Ladakh) in North-West Himalaya provides a Case Study for exploring the ways in which adaptation to Climate Change is taking place at a community scale using Artificial Glacier Technology. With the above backdrop, an attempt has been made to analyze the rural poor households' vulnerability and adaptation practices to Climate Change using this technology, thereby drawing lessons on vulnerability-livelihood interactions in the cold desert of Leh (Ladakh) in North-West Himalaya, India. The study is based on primary data and information collected from 675 households confined to 27 villages of Leh (Ladakh) in North-West Himalaya, India. It reveals that 61.18% of the population is driving livelihoods from agriculture and allied activities. With increased irrigation potential due to the use of Artificial Glaciers, food security has been assured to 77.56% of households and health vulnerability has been reduced in 31% of households. Seasonal migration as a livelihood diversification mechanism has declined in nearly two-thirds of households, thereby improving livelihood strategies. Use of tactical adaptations by small farmers in response to persistent droughts, such as selling livestock, expanding agriculture lands, and use of relief cash and foods, have declined to 20.44%, 24.74% and 63% of households. However, these measures are unsustainable on a long-term basis. The role of policymakers and societal stakeholders becomes important in this context. To address livelihood challenges, the role of technology is critical in a multidisciplinary approach involving multilateral collaboration among different stakeholders. The presence of social entrepreneurs and new actors on the adaptation scene is necessary to bring forth adaptation measures. Better linkage between Science and Technology policies, together with other policies, should be encouraged. Better health care, access to safe drinking water, better sanitary conditions, and improved standards of education and infrastructure are effective measures to enhance a community’s adaptive capacity. However, social transfers for supporting climate adaptive capacity require significant amounts of additional investment. Developing institutional mechanisms for specific adaptation interventions can be one of the most effective ways of implementing a plan to enhance adaptation and build resilience.

Keywords: climate change, adaptation, livelihood, stakeholders

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Authors: Lloyd B. Ranises

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The Philippine labor force has been affected by the pandemic recently. The situation was added by the high inflation rate, which makes matter worse. Since the Philippines has a new government after the 2022 national election, the labor condition under the previous government has been passed on to the new one. To understand the labor challenges the present government faces, this study revisits the labor conditions and responses of the previous government from 2016 to 2022. Thus, this study reviews the labor force of the Philippines within the time frame. It explores the challenges in the labor market and examines government policy. This study uses secondary sources in tracing the labor conditions and government actions that addressed them. The Literatures are consolidated to see its relevance to the new government’s labor policy. This study found that the labor force had a sluggish growth earlier until 2018 and thrived on but was affected by the pandemic. By 2020, the National Capital Region’s labor force dropped, although, after which, it begins to thrive again, showing recovery. However, its composition is much more complex. Cognitive skill is high in demand that requires tertiary education. But the production of goods and services is low in the scientific workforce in addition to the mismatch between position and profession. Moreover, Philippine labor has poor female participation. In addition to these complexities, the agricultural rural areas have high underemployment, which implies surplus labor of low skill. Overseas employment, on the other, is significant to the decrease in domestic production. The major responses of the previous government, by far, have been focused on the minimum wage increase and the social services and health insurance, which are appropriate to the post-pandemic needs. Yet still, some issues are unattended. This study concludes that the previous government’s policy needs to be fleshed out substantially. It necessitates that the new administration shall consider encompassing all aspects of the Philippine labor force to sustain and strengthen the economy of the country.

Keywords: cognitive skills, minimum wage, national capital region, underemployment

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Authors: R. A. C. H. Seneviratne, M. Gunawardana, R. P. N. P. Rajapakse

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To address the micronutrient deficiencies in the Asian region, the World Food Program in its current mandate highlights the requirement of employing efficient fortification of micronutrients in rice, under the program 'Scaling-up Rice Fortification in Asia'. The current industrial methods of rice fortification with micronutrients are not promising due to poor permeation or retention of fortificants. This study was carried out to develop a method to improve fortification of micronutrients in rice by removing the air barriers for diffusing micronutrients through the husk. For the purpose, soaking stage of paddy was coupled with vacuum (- 0.6 bar) for different time periods. Both long and short grain varieties of paddy (BG 352 and BG 358, respectively) initially tested for water uptake during hot soaking (70 °C) under vacuum (28.5 and 26.15%, respectively) were significantly (P < 0.05) higher than that of non-vacuum conditions (25.24 and 25.45% respectively), exhibiting the effectiveness of water diffusion into the rice grains through the cleared pores under negative pressure. To fortify the selected micronutrients (iron and zinc), paddy was vacuum-soaked in Fe2+ or Zn2+ solutions (500 ppm) separately for one hour, and continued soaking for another 3.5 h without vacuum. Significantly (P<0.05) higher amounts of Fe2+ and Zn2+ were observed throughout the soaking period, in both short and long grain varieties of rice compared to rice treated without vacuum. To achieve the recommended limits of World Food Program standards for fortified iron (40-48 mg/kg) and zinc (60-72 mg/kg) in rice, soaking was done with different concentrations of Fe2+ or Zn2+ for varying time periods. For both iron and zinc fortifications, hot soaking (70 °C) in 400 ppm solutions under vacuum (- 0.6 bar) during the first hour followed by 2.5 h under atmospheric pressure exhibited the optimum fortification (Fe2+: 46.59±0.37 ppm and Zn2+: 67.24±1.36 ppm) with a greater significance (P < 0.05) compared to the controls (Fe2+: 38.84±0.62 ppm and Zn2+: 52.55±0.55 ppm). This finding was further confirmed by the XRF images, clearly showing a greater fixation of Fe2+ and Zn2+ in the rice grains under vacuum treatment. Moreover, there were no significant (P>0.05) differences among both Fe2+ and Zn2+ contents in fortified rice even after polishing and washing, confirming their greater retention. A seven point hedonic scale showed that the overall acceptability for both iron and zinc fortified rice were significantly (P < 0.05) higher than the parboiled rice without fortificants. With all the drawbacks eliminated, per kilogram cost will be less than US$ 1 for both iron and zinc fortified rice. The new method of rice fortification studied and developed in this research, can be claimed as the best method in comparison to other rice fortification methods currently deployed.

Keywords: fortification, vacuum assisted diffusion, micronutrients, parboiling

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Authors: Srishti Bhatt, Vaibhav Bhavsar, Adil Hussain, Aashay Mhaske, S. C. Bali, T. S. Srikanth

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Shape Memory Alloys (SMA) are widely known for their unique shape recovery properties. SMA based actuation systems have high-force to weight ratio, light weight and also bio-compatible material. Which is why they are being used in different fields of aerospace, robotics, automotive and biomedical industries. However, in the automotive industry plenty of patents are available but commercially viable products are very few in market. This could be due to SMA material limitations like small stroke, direct dependability of lifecycle on stroke, pull load of the wire and high cycle time. In automotive sector, SMA being considered as an actuator which is required to have high stroke and constraint arises to accommodate a long length of wire (to compensate maximum 4 % strain as per better fatigue life cycle) not only increases complexity but also adds on the cost. More than 200 different types of actuators are used in an automobile, few of them whose efficiency can highly increase by replacing them with SMA based actuators which include latch lock mechanism, glove box, Head lamp leveling, side mirror and rear mirror leveling, tailgate opener and fuel lid cap actuator. To overcome the limitation of available space for required stroke of an actuator which leads to study the effect of different loading positions on SMA wires, different orientations of SMA wire by using pulleys and lever based systems to achieve maximum stroke. This investigation summarizes the loading under the V shape orientation the required stroke and carrying load capacity in more compact in comparison with straight orientation of wire. Similarly, the U shape orientation its showing higher load carrying capacity but reduced stroke which is aligned with concept of bundled wire method. Life-cycle of these orientations were also evaluated.

Keywords: actuators, automotive, nitinol, shape memory alloy, SMA wire orientations

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Authors: Charles Kwasi Antwi, Mohammad Naushad Emmambux, Natalia Rosa-Sibakov

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The consumption of high-fibre snacks is beneficial in reducing the prevalence of most non-communicable diseases and improving human health. However, using high-fibre flour to produce snacks by extrusion cooking reduces the expansion ratio of snacks, thereby decreasing sensory properties and consumer acceptability of the snack. The study determines the effects of adding Viscozyme®-treated sorghum bran on the properties of extruded sorghum snacks with the aim of producing high-fibre expanded snacks with acceptable quality. With a twin-screw extruder, sorghum endosperm flour [by decortication] with and without sorghum bran and with enzyme-treated sorghum bran was extruded at high shear rates with feed moisture of 20%, feed rate of 10 kg/hr, screw speed of 500 rpm, and temperature zones of 60°C, 70°C, 80°C, 140°C, and 140°C toward the die. The expanded snacks that resulted from this process were analysed in terms of their physical (expansion ratio, bulk density, colour profile), chemical (soluble and insoluble dietary fibre), and functional (water solubility index (WSI) and water absorption index (WAI)) characteristics. The expanded snacks produced from refined sorghum flour enriched with Viscozyme-treated bran had similar expansion ratios to refined sorghum flour extrudates, which were higher than those for untreated bran-sorghum extrudate. Sorghum extrudates without bran showed higher values of expansion ratio and low values of bulk density compared to the untreated bran extrudates. The enzyme-treated fibre increased the expansion ratio significantly with low bulk density values compared to untreated bran. Compared to untreated bran extrudates, WSI values in enzyme-treated samples increased, while WAI values decreased. Enzyme treatment of bran reduced particle size and increased soluble dietary fibre to increase expansion. Lower particle size suggests less interference with bubble formation at the die. Viscozyme-treated bran-sorghum composite flour could be used as raw material to produce high-fibre expanded snacks with improved physicochemical and functional properties.

Keywords: extrusion, sorghum bran, decortication, expanded snacks

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Authors: S. S. Awanti, Aravindakumar B. Harwalkar

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Concrete construction in future has to be environmental friendly apart from being safe so that society at large is benefited by the huge investments made in the infrastructure projects. To achieve this, component materials of the concrete system have to be optimized with reference to sustainability. This paper presents a study on development of mix proportions of high volume fly ash concrete (HFC). A series of HFC mixtures with cement replacement levels varying between 50% and 65% were prepared with water/binder ratios of 0.3 and 0.35. Compressive strength values were obtained at different ages. From the experimental results, pozzolanic efficiency ratios and mix design curves for HFC were established.

Keywords: age factor, compressive strength, high volume fly ash concrete, pozolanic efficiency ratio

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Authors: Lingfei Sun

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Based on the significant value of ecology, the strategic planning for ecological civilization construction was mentioned in the 17th and 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China. How to generate economic value based on the environmental capacity is not only an economic decision but also a political decision to make. Boshan took the full use of “Ecology” and transformed it as an inexhaustible green resource to benefit people, reflecting the sustainable value of new agriculture development mode. The Strawberry Harvest Festival and Blueberry Harvest Festival hosted approximately 96,000 and 54,000 leisure tourists respectively in 2014. For the Kiwi Harvest Festival in August 2014, in average, it attracted about 4600 tourists per day, which generated daily kiwi sales of 50,000 lbs and 3 million RMB (About 476,000 USD) of daily revenue. The purpose of this study is to elaborate the modes of agritourism development, by analyzing the cases in rural area of Boshan, China. Interviews with the local government officers were applied to discover operation mode of agritourism operation. The financial data was used to demonstrate the strength of government policy and improvement of the income of rural people. The result indicated that there are mainly three types of modes: the Intensive Mode, the Model Mode and the Mixed Mode, supported by case study respectively. With the boom of tourism, the development of agritourism in Boshan relies on the agriculture encouraging policy of China and the effort of local government; meanwhile, large scale of cultivation and the product differentiation are the crucial elements for the success of rural agritourism projects.

Keywords: agriculture, agritourism, economy, rural area development

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Authors: Dessy Laksyana Utami

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Manual material handling activities often make it difficult for humans to work like this. Muscle injury due to incorrect posture.Workers need to facilitate their activities. One tool to assist their activities in the transportation of ordinary materials is a trolley. This tool is very useful because it can be used.It can bring many items without having to spend more energy to operate it. Very Comfortable used a trolley in the community. But the old design still have a complaint by worker, because lack of grip and capacity. After posture analysis with the REBA method, the value of risk need to be increased is obtained tool. Re design use Indonesian anthropometric data with the 50th percentile.

Keywords: Material Handling, REBA method, postural assessment, Trolley.

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Authors: Bipul Krishna Saha, Basab Chakraborty, Ashish Alex Sam, Parthasarathi Ghosh

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The demand for energy is cumulatively increasing with time.  Since the availability of conventional energy resources is dying out gradually, significant interest is being laid on searching for alternate energy resources and minimizing the wastage of energy in various fields.  In such perspective, low-grade waste heat from several industrial sources can be reused to generate electricity. The present work is to further the adoption of the Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) technology in Indian industrial sector.  The present paper focuses on extending the previously reported idea to the next level through a comparative review with three different working fluids using practical data from an Indian industrial plant. For comprehensive study in the simulation platform of Aspen Hysys^®, v8.6, the waste heat data has been collected from a current coke oven gas plant in India.  A parametric analysis of non-regenerative ORC and regenerative ORC is executed using the working fluids R-123, R-11 and R-21 for subcritical ORC system.  The primary goal is to determine the optimal working fluid considering various system parameters like turbine work output, obtained system efficiency, irreversibility rate and second law efficiency under applied multiple heat source temperature (160 °C- 180 °C).  Selection of the turbo-expanders is one of the most crucial tasks for low-temperature applications in ORC system. The present work is an attempt to make suitable recommendation for the appropriate configuration of the turbine. In a nutshell, this study justifies the proficiency of integrating the ORC technology in Indian perspective and also finds the appropriate parameter of all components integrated in ORC system for building up an ORC prototype.

Keywords: organic Rankine cycle, regenerative organic Rankine cycle, waste heat recovery, Indian industry

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Authors: Abdulrazak Jinadu Otaru, Ahmed Almulhim, Hassan Alhassan, Mohammed Sabri

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Saudi Arabia is host to a state-owned oil and gas corporation, known as Saudi ARAMCO, that is responsible for the highest emissions of carbon dioxide (CO₂) due to the heavy reliance on fossil fuels as an energy source for various sectors such as transportation, aerospace, manufacturing, and residential use. Unfortunately, the detrimental consequences of CO₂ emissions include escalating temperatures in the Middle East region, posing significant obstacles in terms of food security and water scarcity for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. As part of the Saudi Vision 2030 initiative, which aims to reduce the country's reliance on fossil fuels by 50 %, this study focuses on designing a plant that will produce approximately 100,000 metric tons per year (MTPY) of green hydrogen (H₂) using brine as the primary feedstock. The proposed facility incorporates a double electrolytic technology that first separates brine or sodium chloride (NaCl) into sodium hydroxide, hydrogen gas, and chlorine gas. The sodium hydroxide is then used as an electrolyte in the splitting of water molecules through the supply of electrical energy in a second-stage electrolyser to produce green hydrogen. The study encompasses a comprehensive analysis of process descriptions and flow diagrams, as well as materials and energy balances. It also includes equipment design and specification, cost analysis, and considerations for safety and environmental impact. The design capitalizes on the abundant brine supply, a byproduct of the world's largest desalination plant located in Al Jubail, Saudi Arabia. Additionally, the design incorporates the use of available renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind power, to power the proposed plant. This approach not only helps reduce carbon emissions but also aligns with Saudi Arabia's energy transition policy. Furthermore, it supports the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals on Sustainable Cities and Communities (Goal 11) and Climate Action (Goal 13), benefiting not only Saudi Arabia but also other countries in the Middle East.

Keywords: plant design, electrolysis, brine, sodium hydroxide, chlorine gas, green hydrogen

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Authors: Gary Pattemore, Michael Edgar, Andrew Job, Marina Auad, Kathryn Job

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As critical commodities become more scarce, significant time and resources have been used to better understand complicated ore bodies and extract their full potential. These challenging ore bodies provide several pain points for geologists and engineers to overcome, poor handling of these issues flows downs stream to the processing plant affecting throughput rates and recovery. Many open cut mines utilise blast hole drilling to extract additional information to feed back into the modelling process. This method requires samples to be collected during or after blast hole drilling. Samples are then sent for assay with turnaround times varying from 1 to 12 days. This method is time consuming, costly, requires human exposure on the bench and collects elemental data only. To address this challenge, research has been undertaken to utilise hyperspectral imaging across a broad spectrum to scan samples, collars or take down hole measurements for minerals and moisture content and grade abundances. Automation of this process using unmanned vehicles and on-board processing reduces human in pit exposure to ensure ongoing safety. On-board processing allows data to be integrated into modelling workflows with immediacy. The preliminary results demonstrate numerous direct and indirect benefits from this new technology, including rapid and accurate grade estimates, moisture content and mineralogy. These benefits allow for faster geo modelling updates, better informed mine scheduling and improved downstream blending and processing practices. The paper presents recommendations for implementation of the technology in open cut mining environments.

Keywords: grade control, hyperspectral scanning, artificial intelligence, autonomous mining, machine learning

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Authors: Abigaile Rose Mary R. Capay, Janne Ly Castillon-Gilpo, Sheila A. Javier

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The transition to online learning has been a challenging feat on the mental health of tertiary students. This study investigated whether learning mindfulness strategies online would help in improving students’ imagination, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness and emotional stability, as measured by the International Personality Item Pool (IPIP) Big Five Factor Markers, as well as their dispositional mindfulness as measured by the Mindfulness Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS). Fifty-two college students participated in the experiment. The 23 participants assigned to the treatment condition received 6-weekly experiential sessions of online mindfulness training and were advised to follow a daily mindfulness practice, while the 29 participants from the control group only received a 1-hour lecture. Scores were collected at pretest and posttest. Findings show that there was a significant difference in the pretest and posttest scores of students assigned in the treatment group, likewise medium effect sizes in the variables: dispositional mindfulness (t (22) = 2.64, p = 0.015, d = .550), extraversion (t (22) = 2.76, p = 0.011, d = 0.575), emotional stability (t (22) = 2.99, p = 0.007, d = .624), conscientiousness (t (22) = 2.74, p = 0.012, d = .572) and imagination (t (22) = 4.08, p < .001), but not for agreeableness (t (22) = 2.01, p = 0.057, d = .419). No significant differences were observed on the scores of the control group. Educational institutions are recommended to consider teaching basic mindfulness strategies to tertiary students, as a valuable resource in improving their mental health as they navigate through adjustments in online learning.

Keywords: mindfulness, school-based interventions, MAAS, IPIP Big Five Markers, experiment

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Authors: Gökçen A. Çiftçioğlu, M. A. Neşet Kadırgan, Figen Kadırgan

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Solar energy, since it is available every day, is seen as one of the most valuable renewable energy resources. Thus, the energy of sun should be efficiently used in various applications. The most known applications that use solar energy are heating water and spaces. High efficiency solar collectors need appropriate selective surfaces to absorb the heat. Selective surfaces (Selektif-Sera) used in this study are applied to flat collectors, which are produced by a roll to roll cost effective coating of nano nickel layers, developed in Selektif Teknoloji Co. Inc. Efficiency of flat collectors using Selektif-Sera absorbers are calculated in collaboration with Institute for Solar Technik Rapperswil, Switzerland. The main cause of high energy consumption in industry is mostly caused from low temperature level processes. There is considerable effort in research to minimize the energy use by renewable energy sources such as solar energy. A feasibility study will be presented to obtain the potential of solar thermal energy utilization in the textile industry using these solar collectors. For the feasibility calculations presented in this study, textile dyeing and finishing factory located at Kahramanmaras is selected since the geographic location was an important factor. Kahramanmaras is located in the south east part of Turkey thus has a great potential to have solar illumination much longer. It was observed that, the collector area is limited by the available area in the factory, thus a hybrid heating generating system (lignite/solar thermal) was preferred in the calculations of this study to be more realistic. During the feasibility work, the calculations took into account the preheating process, where well waters heated from 15 °C to 30-40 °C by using the hot waters in heat exchangers. Then the preheated water was heated again by high efficiency solar collectors. Economic comparison between the lignite use and solar thermal collector use was provided to determine the optimal system that can be used efficiently. The optimum design of solar thermal systems was studied depending on the optimum collector area. It was found that the solar thermal system is more economic and efficient than the merely lignite use. Return on investment time is calculated as 5.15 years.

Keywords: energy, renewable energy, selective surface, solar collector

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Authors: Haiqiang Song, Huiqing Liu

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The Doseo basin in Chad, Central Africa is one of the most important oil and gas blocks in the world. However, the low degree of oil and gas exploration and the lack of relevant geological data restrict the understanding and resource evaluation of the basin. To further develop the Doseo basin efficiently, it is urgent to deeply analyze the source rock characteristics and hydrocarbon generation potential of the Doseo basin. Based on seismic and drilling data in recent years, this paper systematically evaluates the geochemical characteristics of source rocks and their generated oils in Doseo Basin, explores the development, distribution, and evolution characteristics of source rocks, and evaluates the exploration potential of Doseo Basin according to the hydrocarbon enrichment law. The results show that the Lower Cretaceous Baliemian and Apudian source rocks in Doseo Basin are well developed, with high organic matter abundance (average TOC≥3%) and good organic matter types (type I~II), which are the main development layers of source rocks, but the organic matter maturity is generally low (Ro of the drilled source rocks is mainly between 0.4%~0.8%). The planar structure also shows that the main hydrocarbon accumulation mode in Doseo sag is the forward tectonic reservoirs such as near source anticlines and faulted noses. Finally, it is estimated that the accumulative resources of the main source rocks in the Doseo Basin are about 4.33× 108T in Apudite and Balim terrace layers. The results of this study will help guide the next step of oil and gas exploration, which is expected to drive the next step of oil and gas development.

Keywords: Doseo basin, lower cretaceous, source rock characteristics, developmental characteristics, hydrocarbon generation potential

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Authors: Kuo Chieh Chao, Thishani Amarathunga, Sangam Shrestha

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Rainfall induced slope failures are one of the most damaging and disastrous natural hazards which occur frequently in the world. This type of sliding mainly occurs in the zone above the groundwater level in silty/sandy soils. When the rainwater begins to infiltrate into the vadose zone of the soil, the negative pore-water pressure tends to decrease and reduce the shear strength of soil material. Climate change has resulted in excessive and unpredictable rainfall in all around the world, resulting in landslides with dire consequences to human lives and infrastructure. Such problems could be overcome by examining in detail the causes for such slope failures and recommending effective repair plans for vulnerable locations by considering future climatic change. The selected area for this study is located in the road rehabilitation section from Maubara to Mota Ain road in Timor-Leste. Slope failures and cracks have occurred in 2013 and after repairs reoccurred again in 2017 subsequent to heavy rains. Both observed and future predicted climate data analyses were conducted to understand the severe precipitation conditions in past and future. Observed climate data were collected from NOAA global climate data portal. CORDEX data portal was used to collect Regional Climate Model (RCM) future predicted climate data. Both observed and RCM data were extracted to location-based data using ArcGIS Software. Linear scaling method was used for the bias correction of future data and bias corrected climate data were assigned to GeoStudio Software. Precipitations of wet seasons (December to March ) in 2007 to 2013 is higher than 2001-2006 period and it is more than nearly 40% higher precipitation than usual monthly average precipitation of 160mm.The results of seepage analyses which were carried out using SEEP/W model with observed climate, clearly demonstrated that the pore water pressure within the fill slope was significantly increased due to the increase of the infiltration during the wet season of 2013.One main Regional Climate Models (RCM) was analyzed in order to predict future climate variation under two Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs).In the projected period of 76 years ahead from 2014, shows that the amount of precipitation is considerably getting higher in the future in both RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5 emission scenarios. Critical pore water pressure conditions during 2014-2090 were used in order to recommend appropriate remediation methods. Results of slope stability analyses indicated that the factor of safety of the fill slopes was reduced from 1.226 to 0.793 during the dry season to wet season in 2013.Results of future slope stability which were obtained using SLOPE/W model for the RCP emissions scenarios depict that, the use of tieback anchors and geogrids in slope protection could be effective in increasing the stability of slopes to an acceptable level during the wet seasons. Moreover, methods and procedures like monitoring of slopes showing signs or susceptible for movement and installing surface protections could be used to increase the stability of slopes.

Keywords: climate change, precipitation, SEEP/W, SLOPE/W, unsaturated soil

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Authors: Lopez J., Mehrvar M., Quinones E., Suarez A., Romero C.

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Membrane Distillation is an emerging technology that uses thermal and membrane steps for the desalination process to get drinking water. In this study, silver nanoparticles (AgNP) were deposited by dip-coating process over Polyvinylidene Fluoride, Fiberglass hydrophilic, and Polytetrafluoroethylene hydrophobic commercial membranes as substrate. Membranes were characterized and used in a Vacuum Membrane Distillation cell under Ultraviolet light with sea salt feed solution. The presence of AgNP increases the absorption of energy on the membrane, which improves the transmembrane flux.

Keywords: silver nanoparticles, membrane distillation, desalination technologies, heat deliver

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Authors: Mazifah Simis, Azahan Awang, Kadir Arifin

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The brownfield regeneration is being implemented in developped countries. However, as a group 1 developing country in the South East Asia, the rapid development and increasing number of urban population in Malaysia have urged the needs to incorporate the brownfield regeneration into its physical planning development. The increasing number of urban ex-landfills is seen as a new resource that could overcome the issues of inadequate urban green space provisions. With regards to the new development approach in urban planning, this perception study aims to identify the sustainable planning approach based on what the stakeholders have in mind. Respondents consist of 375 local communities within four urban ex-landfill areas and 61 landscape architect and town planner officers in the Malaysian Local Authorities. Three main objectives are set to be achieved, which are (i) to identify ex-landfill issues that need to be overcome prior to the ex-landfill redevelopment (ii) to identify the most suitable types of ex-landfill redevelopment, and (iii) to identify the priority function for ex-landfill redevelopment as the public parks. From the data gathered through the survey method, the order of priorities based on stakeholders' perception was produced. The results show different perception among the stakeholders, but they agreed to the development of the public park as the main development. Hence, this study attempts to produce an integrated approach as a model for sustainable ex-landfill redevelopment that could be accepted by the stakeholders as a beneficial future development that could change the image of 296 ex-landfills in Malaysia into the urban public parks by the year 2020.

Keywords: brownfield regeneration, ex-landfill redevelopment, integrated approach, stakeholders' perception

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Authors: Ana Pego

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Environmental technologies were developed for decades. Clean technologies emerged a few years ago. In these perspectives, the use of cleantech technologies has become very important due the fact of new era of environmental feats. As such, the market itself has become more competitive, more collaborative towards a better use of clean technologies. This paper shows the importance of clean technologies in offshore energy sector in Portuguese market, its localization and its impact on economy. Clean technologies are directly related with renewable cluster and concomitant with economic and social resource optimization criteria, geographic aspects, climate change and soil features. Cleantech is related with regional development, socio-technical transitions in organisations. There are an economical and social combinations which allow specialisation of regions in activities, higher employment, reduce of energy costs, local knowledge spillover and, business collaboration and competitiveness. The methodology used will be quantitative (IO matrix for Portugal 2013) and qualitative (questionnaires to stakeholders). The mix of both methodologies will confirm whether the use of technologies will allow a positive impact on economic and social variables used on this model. It is expected a positive impact on Portuguese economy both in investment and employment taking in account the localization of offshore renewable activities. This means that the importance of offshore renewable investment in Portugal has a few points which should be pointed out: the increase of specialised employment, localization of specific activities in territory, and increase of value added in certain regions. The conclusion will allow researchers and organisation to compare the Portuguese model to other European regions in order to a better use of natural and human resources.

Keywords: cleantech, economic impact, localisation, territory dynamics

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