Search results for: electric company

Authors: Mingqian Zhang

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Tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (TERS) is a scanning probe technique for individual objects and structured surfaces investigation that provides a wealth of enhanced spectral information with nanoscale spatial resolution and high detection sensitivity. It has become a powerful and promising chemical and physical information detection method in the nanometer scale. The TERS technique uses a sharp metallic tip regulated in the near-field of a sample surface, which is illuminated with a certain incident beam meeting the excitation conditions of the wave-vector matching. The local electric field, and, consequently, the Raman scattering, from the sample in the vicinity of the tip apex are both greatly tip-enhanced owning to the excitation of localized surface plasmons and the lightning-rod effect. Typically, a TERS setup is composed of a scanning probe microscope, excitation and collection optical configurations, and a Raman spectroscope. In the illumination configuration, an objective lens or a parabolic mirror is always used as the most important component, in order to focus the incident beam on the tip apex for excitation. In this research, a novel TERS setup was built up by introducing a plasmonic lens to the excitation optics as a focusing device. A plasmonic lens with symmetry breaking semi-annular slits corrugated on gold film was designed for the purpose of generating concentrated sub-wavelength light spots with strong longitudinal electric field. Compared to conventional far-field optical components, the designed plasmonic lens not only focuses an incident beam to a sub-wavelength light spot, but also realizes a strong z-component that dominants the electric field illumination, which is ideal for the excitation of tip-enhancement. Therefore, using a PL in the illumination configuration of TERS contributes to improve the detection sensitivity by both reducing the far-field background and effectively exciting the localized electric field enhancement. The FDTD method was employed to investigate the optical near-field distribution resulting from the light-nanostructure interaction. And the optical field distribution was characterized using an scattering-type scanning near-field optical microscope to demonstrate the focusing performance of the lens. The experimental result is in agreement with the theoretically calculated one. It verifies the focusing performance of the plasmonic lens. The optical field distribution shows a bright elliptic spot in the lens center and several arc-like side-lobes on both sides. After the focusing performance was experimentally verified, the designed plasmonic lens was used as a focusing component in the excitation configuration of TERS setup to concentrate incident energy and generate a longitudinal optical field. A collimated linearly polarized laser beam, with along x-axis polarization, was incident from the bottom glass side on the plasmonic lens. The incident light focused by the plasmonic lens interacted with the silver-coated tip apex and enhanced the Raman signal of the sample locally. The scattered Raman signal was gathered by a parabolic mirror and detected with a Raman spectroscopy. Then, the plasmonic lens based setup was employed to investigate carbon nanotubes and TERS experiment was performed. Experimental results indicate that the Raman signal is considerably enhanced which proves that the novel TERS configuration is feasible and promising.

Keywords: longitudinal electric field, plasmonics, raman spectroscopy, tip-enhancement

Procedia PDF Downloads 357

Authors: Julio Lavarello-Salinas, Verónica Kramm-Vergara, Pedro Gil-La Orden

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During the COVID-19 pandemic, mental health became a relevant factor in people’s performance within organizations. The aim of this study was to analyze the effects of an organizational intervention program on the psychosocial factors of demands, resources, and the consequences of psychosocial risks in a technology services company during the COVID-19 pandemic. A quasi-experimental study was carried out with 105 employees who took part in an eight-week intervention program divided into two large stages. Pre- and post- measurements were collected using the UNIPSICO Questionnaire, considering its factors of demands, resources, and consequences of psychosocial risks. The Spanish Burnout Inventory (SBI) was also included. The results showed significant improvements in the perception of some psychosocial demand factors, all the resource factors, and all the consequences of psychosocial risks, except the guilt dimension of the SBI. Thus, we can conclude that the program was effective and that the study limitations should be improved in future studies.

Keywords: UNIPSICO questionnaire, occupational health, work stress, work psychosocial risk

Procedia PDF Downloads 91

Authors: Mohammad Mahdi Mozaffari, Mehdi Ajalli, Delaram Jafargholi

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The main purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of the system of ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) and SCM (Supply Chain Management) on the competitive advantage and performance of Mamot Company. The methods for collecting information in this study are library studies and field research. A questionnaire was used to collect the data needed to determine the relationship between the variables of the research. This questionnaire contains 38 questions. The direction of the current research is applied. The statistical population of this study consists of managers and experts who are familiar with the SCM system and ERP. Number of statistical society is 210. The sampling method is simple in this research. The sample size is 136 people. Also, among the distributed questionnaires, Reliability of the Cronbach's Alpha Cronbach's Questionnaire is evaluated and its value is more than 70%. Therefore, it confirms reliability. And formal validity has been used to determine the validity of the questionnaire, and the validity of the questionnaire is confirmed by the fact that the score of the impact is greater than 1.5. In the present study, one variable analysis was used for central indicators, dispersion and deviation from symmetry, and a general picture of the society was obtained. Also, two variables were analyzed to test the hypotheses; measure the correlation coefficient between variables using structural equations, SPSS software was used. Finally, multivariate analysis was used with statistical techniques related to the SPLS structural equations to determine the effects of independent variables on the dependent variables of the research to determine the structural relationships between the variables. The results of the test of research hypotheses indicate that: 1. Supply chain management practices have a positive impact on the competitive advantage of the Mammoth industrial complex. 2. Supply chain management practices have a positive impact on the performance of the Mammoth industrial complex. 3. Planning system Organizational resources have a positive impact on the performance of the Mammoth industrial complex. 4. The system of enterprise resource planning has a positive impact on Mamot's competitive advantage. 5.The competitive advantage has a positive impact on the performance of the Mammoth industrial complex 6.The system of enterprise resource planning Mamot Industrial Complex Supply Chain Management has a positive impact. The above results indicate that the system of enterprise resource planning and supply chain management has an impact on the competitive advantage and corporate performance of Mamot Company.

Keywords: enterprise resource planning, supply chain management, competitive advantage, Mamot company performance

Procedia PDF Downloads 76

Authors: Enrique Claver Cortés, Bartolomé Marco Lajara, Eduardo Sánchez García, Pedro Seva Larrosa, Encarnación Manresa Marhuenda, Lorena Ruiz Fernández, Esther Poveda Pareja

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In recent decades, the analysis of the effects of clustering as an essential factor for the development of innovations and the competitiveness of enterprises has raised great interest in different areas. Nowadays, companies have access to almost all tangible and intangible resources located and/or developed in any country in the world. However, despite the obvious advantages that this situation entails for companies, their geographical location has shown itself, increasingly clearly, to be a fundamental factor that positively influences their innovative performance and competitiveness. Industrial clusters could represent a unique level of analysis, positioned between the individual company and the industry, which makes them an ideal unit of analysis to determine the effects derived from company membership of a cluster. Also, the absorptive capacity (hereinafter 'AC') can mediate the process of innovation development by companies located in a cluster. The transformation and exploitation of knowledge could have a mediating effect between knowledge acquisition and innovative performance. The main objective of this work is to determine the key factors that affect the degree of generation and use of knowledge from the environment by companies and, consequently, their innovative performance and competitiveness. The elements analyzed are the companies' membership of a cluster and the AC. To this end, 30 most relevant papers published on this subject in the "Web of Science" database have been reviewed. Our findings show that, within a cluster, the knowledge coming from the companies' environment can significantly influence their innovative performance and competitiveness, although in this relationship, the degree of access and exploitation of the companies to this knowledge plays a fundamental role, which depends on a series of elements both internal and external to the company.

Keywords: absorptive capacity, clusters, innovation, knowledge

Procedia PDF Downloads 115

Authors: H. M. Wilhelm, P. O. Fernandes, L. P. Dill, C. Steffens, K. G. Moscon, S. M. Peres, V. Bender, T. Marchesan, J. B. Ferreira Neto

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Deterioration of insulating oil is a natural process that occurs during transformers operation. However, this process can be accelerated by some factors, such as oxygen, high temperatures, metals and, moisture, which rapidly reduce oil insulating capacity and favor transformer faults. Parts of building materials of a transformer can be degraded and yield soluble compounds and insoluble particles that shorten the equipment life. Physicochemical tests, dissolved gas analysis (including propane, propylene and, butane), volatile and furanic compounds determination, besides quantitative and morphological analyses of particulate are proposed in this study in order to correlate transformers building materials degradation with insulating oil characteristics. The present investigation involves tests of medium temperature overheating simulation by means of an electric resistance wrapped with the following materials immersed in mineral insulating oil: test I) copper, tin, lead and, paper (heated at 350-400 °C for 8 h); test II) only copper (at 250 °C for 11 h); and test III) only paper (at 250 °C for 8 h and at 350 °C for 8 h). A different experiment is the simulation of electric arc involving copper, using an electric welding machine at two distinct energy sets (low and high). Analysis results showed that dielectric loss was higher in the sample of test I, higher neutralization index and higher values of hydrogen and hydrocarbons, including propane and butane, were also observed. Test III oil presented higher particle count, in addition, ferrographic analysis revealed contamination with fibers and carbonized paper. However, these particles had little influence on the oil physicochemical parameters (dielectric loss and neutralization index) and on the gas production, which was very low. Test II oil showed high levels of methane, ethane, and propylene, indicating the effect of metal on oil degradation. CO₂ and CO gases were formed in the highest concentration in test III, as expected. Regarding volatile compounds, in test I acetone, benzene and toluene were detected, which are oil oxidation products. Regarding test III, methanol was identified due to cellulose degradation, as expected. Electric arc simulation test showed the highest oil oxidation in presence of copper and at high temperature, since these samples had huge concentration of hydrogen, ethylene, and acetylene. Particle count was also very high, showing the highest release of copper in such conditions. When comparing high and low energy, the first presented more hydrogen, ethylene, and acetylene. This sample had more similar results to test I, pointing out that the generation of different particles can be the cause for faults such as electric arc. Ferrography showed more evident copper and exfoliation particles than in other samples. Therefore, in this study, by using different combined analytical techniques, it was possible to correlate insulating oil characteristics with possible contaminants, which can lead to transformers failure.

Keywords: Ferrography, gas analysis, insulating mineral oil, particle contamination, transformer failures

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Authors: Stefano Zaninotto, Geoffrey Farrugia, Johan Debattista, Jason Gauci

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The need to reduce fuel and noise during taxi operations in the airports with a scenario of constantly increasing air traffic has resulted in an effort by the aerospace industry to move towards electric taxiing. In fact, this is one of the problems that is currently being addressed by SESAR JU and two main solutions are being proposed. With the first solution, electric motors are installed in the main (or nose) landing gear of the aircraft. With the second solution, manned or unmanned electric tow trucks are used to tow aircraft from the gate to the runway (or vice-versa). The presence of the tow trucks results in an increase in vehicle traffic inside the airport. Therefore, it is important to design the system in a way that the workload of Air Traffic Control (ATC) is not increased and the system assists ATC in managing all ground operations. The aim of this work is to develop an electric taxiing system, based on the use of autonomous tow trucks, which optimizes aircraft ground operations while keeping ATC in the loop. This system will consist of two components: an optimization tool and a Graphical User Interface (GUI). The optimization tool will be responsible for determining the optimal path for arriving and departing aircraft; allocating a tow truck to each taxiing aircraft; detecting conflicts between aircraft and/or tow trucks; and proposing solutions to resolve any conflicts. There are two main optimization strategies proposed in the literature. With centralized optimization, a central authority coordinates and makes the decision for all ground movements, in order to find a global optimum. With the second strategy, called decentralized optimization or multi-agent system, the decision authority is distributed among several agents. These agents could be the aircraft, the tow trucks, and taxiway or runway intersections. This approach finds local optima; however, it scales better with the number of ground movements and is more robust to external disturbances (such as taxi delays or unscheduled events). The strategy proposed in this work is a hybrid system combining aspects of these two approaches. The GUI will provide information on the movement and status of each aircraft and tow truck, and alert ATC about any impending conflicts. It will also enable ATC to give taxi clearances and to modify the routes proposed by the system. The complete system will be tested via computer simulation of various taxi scenarios at multiple airports, including Malta International Airport, a major international airport, and a fictitious airport. These tests will involve actual Air Traffic Controllers in order to evaluate the GUI and assess the impact of the system on ATC workload and situation awareness. It is expected that the proposed system will increase the efficiency of taxi operations while reducing their environmental impact. Furthermore, it is envisaged that the system will facilitate various controller tasks and improve ATC situation awareness.

Keywords: air traffic control, electric taxiing, autonomous tow trucks, graphical user interface, ground operations, multi-agent, route optimization

Procedia PDF Downloads 111

Authors: Shun Horikoshi, Tohru Kawabe

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This study presents performance analysis results of SMC (Sliding mode control) with changing the chattering functions applied to slip suppression problem of electric vehicles (EVs). In SMC, chattering phenomenon always occurs through high frequency switching of the control inputs. It is undesirable phenomenon and degrade the control performance, since it causes the oscillations of the control inputs. Several studies have been conducted on this problem by introducing some general saturation function. However, study about whether saturation function was really best and the performance analysis when using the other functions, weren’t being done so much. Therefore, in this paper, several candidate functions for SMC are selected and control performance of candidate functions is analyzed. In the analysis, evaluation function based on the trade-off between slip suppression performance and chattering reduction performance is proposed. The analyses are conducted in several numerical simulations of slip suppression problem of EVs. Then, we can see that there is no difference of employed candidate functions in chattering reduction performance. On the other hand, in slip suppression performance, the saturation function is excellent overall. So, we conclude the saturation function is most suitable for slip suppression sliding mode control.

Keywords: sliding mode control, chattering function, electric vehicle, slip suppression, performance analysis

Procedia PDF Downloads 306

Authors: Débora Ramos Santiago

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Endogenous development usually apresent a deep approach to locational aspects, considering the potential, knowledge and the workforce, as encouragement to articulate the entire productive activity of a community. In the case of communities located around the area of management of the company Precious Wood Amazon (PWA), their endogenous development is subject to the dynamic of this company, which operates a certified way, seeking alternatives to mitigate and compensate the damages caused by its activities. This article soughts to present the socio-economic and environmental challenges to promote of the endogenous development of these communities, identifying the relationship of the PWA in this process. The communities analyzed emerge with poor socioeconomic conditions, futhermore, their ecosystem characteristics differ spatially from each other, which modifies the entire production dynamics. The family agriculture was an important source of income, but needs investment and technical assistance. The participation of PWA in the promotion of the endogenous development of the communities was proved significant, because of the intense sustainable actions practice by PWA. Many are the challenges that exist in these communities, so its fundamental to elaborate public policies to these specific areas.

Keywords: endogenous development, traditional communities, Amazon, PWA

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Authors: Paolo Guzzini, Emad Samuel M. Ebeid

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Bridges and Railways are critical infrastructures. Ensuring safety for transports using such assets is a primary goal as it directly impacts the lives of people. By the way, improving safety could require increased investments in O&M, and therefore optimizing resource usage for asset maintenance becomes crucial. Drones4Safety (D4S), a European project funded under the H2020 Research and Innovation Action (RIA) program, aims to increase the safety of the European civil transport by building a system that relies on 3 main pillars: • Drones operating autonomously in swarm mode; • Drones able to recharge themselves using inductive phenomena produced by transmission lines in the nearby of bridges and railways assets to be inspected; • Data acquired that are analyzed with AI-empowered algorithms for defect detection This paper describes the business model behind this disruptive project. The Business Model is structured in 2 parts: • The first part is focused on the design of the business model Canvas, to explain the value provided by the Drone4safety project; • The second part aims at defining a detailed financial analysis, with the target of calculating the IRR (Internal Return rate) and the NPV (Net Present Value) of the investment in a 7 years plan (2 years to run the project + 5 years post-implementation). As to the financial analysis 2 different points of view are assumed: • Point of view of the Drones4safety company in charge of designing, producing, and selling the new system; • Point of view of the Utility company that will adopt the new system in its O&M practices; Assuming the point of view of the Drones4safety company 3 scenarios were considered: • Selling the drones > revenues will be produced by the drones’ sales; • Renting the drones > revenues will be produced by the rental of the drones (with a time-based model); • Selling the data acquisition service > revenues will be produced by the sales of pictures acquired by drones; Assuming the point of view of a utility adopting the D4S system, a 4th scenario was analyzed taking into account the decremental costs related to the change of operation and maintenance practices. The paper will show, for both companies, what are the key parameters affecting most of the business model and which are the sustainable scenarios.

Keywords: a swarm of drones, AI, bridges, railways, drones4safety company, utility companies

Procedia PDF Downloads 126

Authors: Ali Akber Jaffri, Asad Naseem, Javeria Khan, Zubair Hamza, Ishtiaq

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The purpose of this study is to determine safety stock, maximum inventory level, reordering point, and reordering quantity by rearranging lot sizes for supplier and customer in MRO (maintenance repair operations) warehouse of Engro Polymers & Chemicals. To achieve the aim, physical analysis method and excel commands were carried out to elicit the customer and supplier data provided by the company. Initially, we rearranged the current lot sizes and MOUs (measure of units) in SAP software. Due to change in lot sizes, we have to determine the new quantities for safety stock, maximum inventory, reordering point and reordering quantity as per company's demand. By proposed system, we saved extra cost in terms of reducing time of receiving from vendor and in issuance to customer, ease of material handling in MRO warehouse and also reduce human efforts.

Keywords: maintenance repair operation, maximum inventory, reorder quantity, safety stock

Procedia PDF Downloads 262

Authors: Coriolano Salvini

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The increasing utilization of renewable energy sources for electric power production calls for the introduction of energy storage systems to match the electric demand along the time. Although many countries are pursuing as a final goal a “decarbonized” electrical system, in the next decades the traditional fossil fuel fed power plant still will play a relevant role in fulfilling the electric demand. Presently, such plants provide grid ancillary services (frequency control, grid balance, reserve, etc.) by adapting the output power to the grid requirements. An interesting option is represented by the possibility to use traditional plants to improve the grid storage capabilities. The present paper is addressed to small-medium size systems suited for distributed energy storage. The proposed Energy Storage System (ESS) is based on a Compressed Air Energy Storage (CAES) integrated into a Gas-Steam Combined Cycle (GSCC) or a Gas Turbine based CHP plants. The systems can be incorporated in an ex novo built plant or added to an already existing one. To avoid any geological restriction related to the availability of natural compressed air reservoirs, artificial storage is addressed. During the charging phase, electric power is absorbed from the grid by an electric driven intercooled/aftercooled compressor. In the course of the discharge phase, the compressed stored air is sent to a heat transfer device fed by hot gas taken upstream the Heat Recovery Steam Generator (HRSG) and subsequently expanded for power production. To maximize the output power, a staged reheated expansion process is adopted. The specific power production related to the kilogram per second of exhaust gas used to heat the stored air is two/three times larger than that achieved if the gas were used to produce steam in the HRSG. As a result, a relevant power augmentation is attained with respect to normal GSCC plant operations without additional use of fuel. Therefore, the excess of output power can be considered “fuel free” and the storage system can be compared to “pure” ESSs such as electrochemical, pumped hydro or adiabatic CAES. Representative cases featured by different power absorption, production capability, and storage capacity have been taken into consideration. For each case, a technical optimization aimed at maximizing the storage efficiency has been carried out. On the basis of the resulting storage pressure and volume, number of compression and expansion stages, air heater arrangement and process quantities found for each case, a cost estimation of the storage systems has been performed. Storage efficiencies from 0.6 to 0.7 have been assessed. Capital costs in the range of 400-800 €/kW and 500-1000 €/kWh have been estimated. Such figures are similar or lower to those featuring alternative storage technologies.

Keywords: artificial air storage reservoir, compressed air energy storage (CAES), gas steam combined cycle (GSCC), techno-economic analysis

Procedia PDF Downloads 200

Authors: Jogi Prayogo, Dwi Qaqa Prasetyatama, Rahmad Dwi Afandi, Kunto Arief Prasetyo, Viorel Herniza Leksono

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PT. Pertamina Trans Kontinental managed a fleet of 364 ships in 2018 - 2020. In that period, there were 8 incidents of ship damage, causing breakdown maintenance on 6 ships belonging to PT Pertamina Trans Kontinental throughout Indonesia's operational areas due to ropes entangled in propellers. The company's losses that were caused by the fouled propellers amounted to 306.35 Million Rupiah. Of the 8 incidents, Mooring Boat PSC I was taken as a pilot project for further analysis considering the location of the ship which is in Surabaya and Mooring Boat PSC I has experienced 2 incidents of rope entanglement that caused the company's losses due to the largest Breakdown Maintenance amounted to 200.99 Million Rupiah. After analyzing the rope entanglement in the ship's propeller based on the data of Mooring Boat PSC I related to the location of propellers that are often fouled in the conventional propulsion system, it was found that there is a suitable location for the implementation of SI KUMAN tool that serves to cut ropes to prevent the occurrence of rope entangled in ship propellers. The determination of SI KUMAN tool is based on the strength of the ship's material to be installed and a suitable design to prevent the occurrence of ropes being entangled in propellers. After the installation of the "SI KUMAN" tool and monitoring carried out for 1 year period (August 2020 - August 2021), it was found that SI KUMAN tool can eliminate the risk of fouled propeller incidents which previously occurred twice in one year so that the company's loss amounted to 200.99 Million Rupiah can be eliminated and SI KUMAN tool can still operate optimally.

Keywords: breakdown maintenance, mooring boat, fleet, fouled propeller, rope entangled, cut

Procedia PDF Downloads 167

Authors: John Morales, Armando Guzman

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Protection relay algorithms play a crucial role in Electric Power System stability, where, it is clear that lightning strokes produce the mayor percentage of faults and outages of Transmission Lines (TLs) and Distribution Feeders (DFs). In this context, it is imperative to develop novel protection relay algorithms. However, in order to get this aim, Electric Power Systems (EPS) network have to be simulated as real as possible, especially the lightning phenomena, and EPS elements that affect their behavior like direct and indirect lightning, insulator string, overhead line, soil ionization and other. However, researchers have proposed new protection relay algorithms considering common faults, which are not produced by lightning strokes, omitting these imperative phenomena for the transmission line protection relays behavior. Based on the above said, this paper presents the possibilities of using the Alternative Transient Program ATP-Draw for the modeling and simulation of some models to make lightning stroke studies, especially for protection relays, which are developed through Transient Analysis of Control Systems (TACS) and MODELS language corresponding to the ATP-Draw.

Keywords: back-flashover, faults, flashover, lightning stroke, modeling of lightning, outages, protection relays

Procedia PDF Downloads 296

Authors: Hiromi Takafuji

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Flight attendant:FA is one of popular occupation, especially in Asian countries, and the decision to be hired is made after clearing a high multiplier. On the other hand, immediately after joining the company, they experience unique stress due to the fact that the organization requires them to perform security and customer service duties in a highly specialized and limited space and time. As a result, despite the high level of difficulty in joining the company, many new recruits retire early at a high rate. It is commonly said that 30% of new graduates leave the company within three years in Japan and speculated that Reality Shock:RS is one of the causes of this. RS is that newcomers experience refers to the stress caused by the difference between pre-employment expectations and post-employment reality. The purpose of this study was to elucidate the mechanism by which the expertise required of new FA and the expectation of expertise held by each of them cause reality shock, which affects motivation and the decision to leave. This study identified the professionalism required of new FA and the impact of that expectation for professionalism on RS through an exploratory study of the experiences and psychological processes of FA who left within three years. Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with five FA who left a major Japanese airline at an early stage, and their experiences were categorized, integrated, and classified by qualitative content analysis. They were chosen under a number of controlled conditions. Then two major findings emerged: first, that pre-employment expectations defining RS were hierarchical, and second, that training amplified expectations of professionalism, which strongly influenced early turnover. From these, this study generated a model of RS generative process model of FA that expectations are hierarchical and influential. This could contribute to the prevention of mental health deterioration by reality shock among new FA.

Keywords: reality shock, flight attendant, early turnover, qualitative study

Procedia PDF Downloads 70

Authors: Miguel A. Jimenez Barros, Elyn L. Solano Charris, Luis E. Ramirez, Lauren Castro Bolano, Carlos Torres Barreto, Juliana Morales Cubillo

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This project sought to mitigate the high levels of water consumption in industrial processes in accordance with the water-rationing plan promoted at national and international level due to the water consumption projections published by the United Nations. Water consumption has three main uses, municipal (common use), agricultural and industrial where the latter consumes a minimum percentage (around 20% of the total consumption). Awareness on world water scarcity, a Colombian company responsible for generation of massive consumption products, decided to implement politics and techniques for water treatment, recycling, and reuse. The project consisted in a business technology program that permits a better use of wastewater caused by production operations. This approach reduces the potable water consumption, generates better conditions of water in the sewage dumps, generates a positive environmental impact for the region, and is a reference model in national and international levels. In order to achieve the objective, a process flow diagram was used in order to define the industrial processes that required potable water. This strategy allowed the industry to determine a water reuse plan at the operational level without affecting the requirements associated with the manufacturing process and even more, to support the activities developed in administrative buildings. Afterwards, the company made an evaluation and selection of the chemical and biological processes required for water reuse, in compliance with the Colombian Law. The implementation of the business technology program optimized the water use and recirculation rate up to 70%, accomplishing an important reduction of the regional environmental impact.

Keywords: bio-reactor, potable water, reverse osmosis, water treatment

Procedia PDF Downloads 220

Authors: Ahmad Yame, Ahad Ali, Badih Jawad, Daw Al-Werfalli Mohamed Nasser, Sabah Abro

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Industries in general have a lot of waste. Wool textile company, Baniwalid, Libya has many complex problems that led to enormous waste generated due to the lack of lean strategies, expertise, technical support and commitment. To successfully address waste at wool textile company, this study will attempt to develop a methodical approach that integrates lean manufacturing tools to optimize performance characteristics such as lead time and delivery. This methodology will utilize Value Stream Mapping (VSM) techniques to identify the process variables that affect production. Once these variables are identified, Design of Experiments (DOE) Methodology will be used to determine the significantly influential process variables, these variables are then controlled and set at their optimal to achieve optimal levels of productivity, quality, agility, efficiency and delivery to analyze the outputs of the simulation model for different lean configurations. The goal of this research is to investigate how the tools of lean manufacturing can be adapted from the discrete to the continuous manufacturing environment and to evaluate their benefits at a specific industrial.

Keywords: lean manufacturing, DOE, value stream mapping, textiles

Procedia PDF Downloads 438

Authors: Nady Farag Faragalla Hanna

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In the car dealership industry in Japan, the sales specialist is a key factor in the success of the company. I hypothesize that when a company understands the characteristics of sales professionals in its industry, it is easier to recruit and train salespeople effectively. Lean human resources management ensures the economic success and performance of companies, especially small and medium-sized companies.The purpose of the article is to determine the characteristics of sales specialists for small and medium-sized car dealerships using the chi-square test and the proximate variable model. Accordingly, the results show that career change experience, learning ability and product knowledge are important, while university education, career building through internal transfer, leadership experience and people development are not important for becoming a sales professional. I also show that the characteristics of sales specialists are perseverance, humility, improvisation and passion for business.

Keywords: electronics engineering, marketing, sales, E-commerce digitalization, interactive systems, sales process ARIMA models, sales demand forecasting, time series, R codetraits of sales professionals, variable precision rough sets theory, sales professional, sales professionals

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Authors: Naren Bag, S. Bhattacharyya, Partha P. Gopmandal

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In this study, we have analyzed the transport of analytes under a two dimensional steady incompressible flow of power-law fluids through rectangular nanochannel. A mathematical model based on the Cauchy momentum-Nernst-Planck-Poisson equations is considered to study the combined effect of mixed electroosmotic (EO) and pressure driven (PD) flow. The coupled governing equations are solved numerically by finite volume method. We have studied extensively the effect of key parameters, e.g., flow behavior index, concentration of the electrolyte, surface potential, imposed pressure gradient and imposed electric field strength on the net average flow across the channel. In addition to study the effect of mixed EOF and PD on the analyte distribution across the channel, we consider a nonlinear model based on general convective-diffusion-electromigration equation. We have also presented the retention factor for various values of electrolyte concentration and flow behavior index.

Keywords: electric double layer, finite volume method, flow behavior index, mixed electroosmotic/pressure driven flow, non-Newtonian power-law fluids, numerical simulation

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Authors: Salima Bouadjela, Fatima Zohra Abdoune, Lahcene Mechernene

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PDLCs are currently considered as promising materials for specific applications such as creation of window blinds controlled by electric field, fog simulators, UV protective glasses, high data storage device etc. We know that the electrical field inside the liquid crystal is low compare with the external electric field [1,2]. An addition of high magnetic and electrical, properties containing compounds to the polymer dispersed liquid crystal (PDLC) will enhance the electrical, optical, and magnetic properties of the PDLC [3,4]. Low Concentration of inorganic nanoparticles TiO2 added to nematic liquid crystals (E7) and also combined with monomers (TPGDA) and cured monomer/LC mixture to elaborate polymer-LC-NP dispersion. The presence of liquid crystal and nanoparticles in TPGDA matrix were conformed and the modified properties of PDLC due to doped nanoparticle were studied and explained by the results of FTIR, POM, UV. Incorporation of nanoparticles modifies the structure of PDLC and thus it makes increase the amount of droplets and decrease in droplet size. we found that the presence of TiO2 nanoparticles leads to a shift the nematic-isotropic transition temperature TNI.

Keywords: nanocomposites, PDLC, phases diagram, TiO2

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Authors: Domenico Carmelo Mongelli

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The context is that of great uncertainty in the 27 countries belonging to the European Union which has adopted an epochal measure: the elimination of internal combustion engines for the traction of road vehicles starting from 2035 with complete replacement with electric vehicles. If on the one hand there is great concern at various levels for the unpreparedness for this change, on the other the Scientific Community is not preparing accurate studies on the problem, as the scientific literature deals with single aspects of the issue, moreover addressing the issue at the level of individual countries, losing sight of the global implications of the issue for the entire EU. The aim of the research is to fill these gaps: the technological, plant engineering, environmental, economic and employment aspects of the energy transition in question are addressed and connected to each other, comparing the current situation with the different scenarios that could exist in 2035 and in the following years until total disposal of the internal combustion engine vehicle fleet for the entire EU. The methodologies adopted by the research consist in the analysis of the entire life cycle of electric vehicles and batteries, through the use of specific databases, and in the dynamic simulation, using specific calculation codes, of the application of the results of this analysis to the entire EU electric vehicle fleet from 2035 onwards. Energy balance sheets will be drawn up (to evaluate the net energy saved), plant balance sheets (to determine the surplus demand for power and electrical energy required and the sizing of new plants from renewable sources to cover electricity needs), economic balance sheets (to determine the investment costs for this transition, the savings during the operation phase and the payback times of the initial investments), the environmental balances (with the different energy mix scenarios in anticipation of 2035, the reductions in CO2eq and the environmental effects are determined resulting from the increase in the production of lithium for batteries), the employment balances (it is estimated how many jobs will be lost and recovered in the reconversion of the automotive industry, related industries and in the refining, distribution and sale of petroleum products and how many will be products for technological innovation, the increase in demand for electricity, the construction and management of street electric columns). New algorithms for forecast optimization are developed, tested and validated. Compared to other published material, the research adds an overall picture of the energy transition, capturing the advantages and disadvantages of the different aspects, evaluating the entities and improvement solutions in an organic overall picture of the topic. The results achieved allow us to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the energy transition, to determine the possible solutions to mitigate these weaknesses and to simulate and then evaluate their effects, establishing the most suitable solutions to make this transition feasible.

Keywords: engines, Europe, mobility, transition

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Authors: Partha P. Gopmandal, S. Bhattacharyya

Abstract:

We investigate the thermal end effect on the pseudo-steady state behavior of the isotachophoretic transport of ionic species in a 2-D microchannel. Both ends of the channel are kept at a constant temperature which may lead to significant changes in electrophoretic migration speed. A mathematical model based on Nernst-Planck equations for transport of ions coupled with the equation for temperature field is considered. In addition, the charge conservation equations govern the potential field due to the external electric field. We have computed the equations for ion transport, potential and temperature in a coupled manner through the finite volume method. The diffusive terms are discretized via central difference scheme, while QUICK (Quadratic Upwind Interpolation Convection Kinematics) scheme is used to discretize the convective terms. We find that the thermal end effect has significant effect on the isotachophoretic (ITP) migration speed of the analyte. Our result shows that the ITP velocity for temperature dependent case no longer varies linearly with the applied electric field. A detailed analysis has been made to provide a range of the key parameters to minimize the Joule heating effect on ITP transport of analytes.

Keywords: finite volume method, isotachophoresis, QUICK scheme, thermal effect

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Authors: Khryslyn Araño, Dela Cruz, Michael Leo, Dela Pena, Eden May, Leslie Joy Diaz

Abstract:

Montmorillonite (MMT) is a very abundant clay mineral and is versatile such that it can be chemically or physically altered by changing the ions between the sheets of its layered structure. This clay mineral can be prepared into functional nanoparticles that can be used as fillers in other nanomaterials such as nanofibers to achieve special properties. In this study, two types of iron-modified MMT, Iron-MMT (FeMMT) and Zero Valent Iron-MMT (ZVIMMT) were synthesized via ion exchange technique. The modified clay was incorporated in polymer nanofibers which were produced using a process called electrospinning. ICP analysis confirmed that clay modification was successful where there is an observed decrease in the concentration of Na and an increase in the concentration of Fe after ion exchange. XRD analysis also confirmed that modification took place because of the changes in the d-spacing of Na-MMT from 11.5 Å to 13.6 Å and 12.6 Å after synthesis of FeMMT and ZVIMMT, respectively. SEM images of the electrospun nanofibers revealed that the ZVIMMT-filled fibers have a smaller average diameter than the FeMMT-filled fibers because of the lower resistance of the suspensions of the former to the elongation force from the applied electric field. The resistance to the electric field was measured by getting the bulk voltage of the suspensions.

Keywords: electrospinning, nanofibers, montmorillonite, materials science

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Authors: Moise A.E., State G., Tudorache M., Custură I., Enea D.N., Osman (Defta) A., Drăgotoiu D.

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This scientific paper explores risk management strategies in the food supply chain, with a focus on chicken raw materials, in the context of a company sourcing from the EU and non-EU. The aim of the paper is to adapt the requirements of international standards (IFS, BRC, QS, ITW, FSSC, ISO), proposing efficient methods to identify and remediate non-conformities and corrective and preventive actions. Defining the supply flow and acceptance steps promotes collaboration with suppliers to ensure the quality and safety of raw materials. To assess the risks of suppliers and raw materials, objective criteria are developed and vulnerabilities in the supply chain are analyzed, including the risk of fraud. Active monitoring of international alerts through RASFF helps to identify emerging risks quickly, and regular analysis of international trends and company performance enables continuous adaptation of risk management strategies. Implementing these measures strengthens food safety and consumer confidence in the final products supplied.

Keywords: food supply chain, international standards, quality and safety of raw materials, RASFF

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Authors: Paola Villoria Sáez, Mercedes Del Río Merino, Jaime Santa Cruz Astorqui, Antonio Rodríguez Sánchez

Abstract:

The Spanish construction industry generates large volumes of waste. However, despite the legislative improvements introduced for construction and demolition waste (CDW), construction waste recycling rate remains well below other European countries and also below the target set for 2020. This situation can be due to many difficulties. i.e.: The difficulty of onsite segregation or the estimation in advance of the total amount generated. Despite these difficulties, the proper management of CDW must be one of the main aspects to be considered by the construction companies. In this sense, some large national companies are implementing Integrated Management Systems (IMS) including not only quality and safety aspects, but also environment issues. However, although this fact is a reality for large construction companies still the vast majority of companies need to adopt this trend. In short, it is common to find in small and medium enterprises a decentralized management system: A single system of quality management, another for system safety management and a third one for environmental management system (EMS). In addition, the EMSs currently used address CDW superficially and are mainly focus on other environmental concerns such as carbon emissions. Therefore, this research determines and implements a specific best practice management system for CDW based on eight procedures in a Spanish Construction company. The main advantages and drawbacks of its implementation are highlighted. Results of this study show that establishing and implementing a CDW management system in building works, improve CDW quantification as the company obtains their own CDW generation ratio. This helps construction stakeholders when developing CDW Management Plans and also helps to achieve a higher adjustment of CDW management costs. Finally, integrating this CDW system with the EMS of the company favors the cohesion of the construction process organization at all stages, establishing responsibilities in the field of waste and providing a greater control over the process.

Keywords: construction and demolition waste, waste management, best practices, waste minimization, building, quality management systems

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Authors: Yousef S. Al-Othman

Abstract:

The growth and expansion of the industrial facilities comes proportional to the market increasing demand of products and services. Furthermore, raw material producers such as oil companies usually undergo massive revamping projects to maintain a synchronized supply. These revamping projects are usually delivered through challenging construction projects held and associated with daily site risks related to the construction process. Henceforth, a case study related to these risks and corresponding on-spot corrective measurements has been made on a certain number of construction project contractors at Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) to derive the benefits and overall effectiveness of the on-spot corrective measurements during the construction phase of a project, and how would the same help in avoiding major incidents, ensuring a smooth, cost effective and on time delivery of the project. Findings of this case study shall have an added value to the overall risk management process by minimizing the daily site risks that may affect the project lead time, resulting in an undisturbed on-site construction process.

Keywords: oil and gas, risk management, construction projects, project lead time

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Authors: H. Vargova, J. Strecka, N. Tomasovicova

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A rigorous analytical treatment, with the help of a concept of negativity, is used to study the quantum and thermal entanglement in an isotropic mixed spin-(1/2,S) Heisenberg dimer. The effect of the spin-S magnitude, as well as the effect of diversity between Landé g-factors of magnetic constituents on system entanglement, is exhaustively analyzed upon the variation of the external magnetic and electric field, respectively. It was identified that the increasing magnitude of the spin-S species in a mixed spin-(1/2,S) Heisenberg dimer with comparative Landé g-factors have always a reduction effect on a degree of the quantum entanglement, but it strikingly shifts the thermal entanglement to the higher temperatures. Surprisingly, out of the limit of identical Landé g-factors, the increasing magnitude of spin-S entities can enhance the system entanglement in both low and high magnetic fields. Besides this, we identify that the analyzed dimer with a high-enough magnitude of the spin-S entities at a sufficiently high magnetic field can exhibit unconventional thermally driven re-entrance between the entangled and unentangled mixed state. The importance of the electric-field stimuli is also discussed in detail.

Keywords: quantum and thermal entantanglement, mixed spin Heisenberg model, negativity, reentrant phase transition

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Authors: Zahira Anane, Abdelhafid Bayadi

Abstract:

Corona in the HV overhead transmission lines is an important source of attenuation and distortion of overvoltage surges. This phenomenon of distortion, which is superimposed on the distortion by skin effect, is due to the dissipation of energy by injection of space charges around the conductor, this process with place as soon as the instantaneous voltage exceeds the threshold voltage of the corona effect conductors. This paper presents a mathematical model to determine the corona inception voltage, the critical electric field and the corona radius, to predict the capacitive changes at conductor of transmission line due to corona. This model has been incorporated into the Alternative Transients Program version of the Electromagnetic Transients Program (ATP/EMTP) as a user defined component, using the MODELS interface with NORTON TYPE94 of this program and using the foreign subroutine. For obtained the displacement of corona charge hell, dichotomy mathematical method is used for this computation. The present corona model can be used for computing of distortion and attenuation of transient overvoltage waves being propagated in a transmission line of the very high voltage electric power.

Keywords: high voltage, corona, Type94 NORTON, dichotomy, ATP/EMTP, MODELS, distortion, foreign model

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Authors: J. Y Jang, C. Y. Tseng

Abstract:

A three-dimensional numerical model of thermoelectric generator (TEG) modules attached to a large chimney plate is proposed and solved numerically using a control volume based finite difference formulation. The TEG module consists of a thermoelectric generator, an elliptical pin-fin heat sink, and a cold plate for water cooling. In the chimney, the temperature of flue gases is 450-650K. Therefore, the effects of convection and radiation heat transfer are considered. Although the TEG hot-side temperature and thus the electric power output can be increased by inserting an elliptical pin-fin heat sink into the chimney tunnel to increase the heat transfer area, the pin fin heat sink would cause extra pumping power at the same time. The main purpose of this study is to analyze the effects of geometrical parameters on the electric power output and chimney pressure drop characteristics. In addition, the effects of different operating conditions, including various inlet velocities (Vin = 1, 3, 5 m/s) and inlet temperatures (Tgas = 450, 550, 650K) are discussed in detail. The predicted numerical data for the power vs. current (P-I) curve are in good agreement (within 11%) with the experimental data.

Keywords: thermoelectric generator, waste heat recovery, pin-fin heat sink, experimental and numerical analysis

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Authors: Frie Ayalew, Seada Hussen

Abstract:

Ethio-telecom holds a variety of telecom devices that needs a consistent power source to be operational. The company got this power mainly from the national grid and used this power source alone or with a generator and/or batteries as a backup. In addition, for off-grid or remote areas, the company commonly uses generators and batteries. But unstable diesel prices, huge expenses of fuel and transportation, and high carbon emissions are the main problems associated with fuel energy. So, the design of solar power with battery backup is a highly recommended and advantageous source for the next coming years. This project designs the AC and DC standalone photovoltaic supply to Ethio-telecom access layer devices for the case of multi-service access gateway in Adama. The design is done by using Homer software for both AC and DC loads. The project shows that the design of a solar based microgrid is the best option for the designed area.

Keywords: solar power, battery, inverter, Ethio-telecom, solar radiation

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Authors: Ildar Akhmadullin, Mayank Tyagi

Abstract:

The subject of this paper is the design analysis of a single well power production unit from low enthalpy geothermal resources. A complexity of the project is defined by a low temperature heat source that usually makes such projects economically disadvantageous using the conventional binary power plant approach. A proposed new compact design is numerically analyzed. This paper describes a thermodynamic analysis, a working fluid choice, downhole heat exchanger (DHE) and turbine calculation results. The unit is able to produce 321 kW of electric power from a low enthalpy underground heat source utilizing n-Pentane as a working fluid. A geo-pressured reservoir located in Vermilion Parish, Louisiana, USA is selected as a prototype for the field application. With a brine temperature of 126℃, the optimal length of DHE is determined as 304.8 m (1000ft). All units (pipes, turbine, and pumps) are chosen from commercially available parts to bring this project closer to the industry requirements. Numerical calculations are based on petroleum industry standards. The project is sponsored by the Department of Energy of the US.

Keywords: downhole heat exchangers, geothermal power generation, organic rankine cycle, refrigerants, working fluids

Procedia PDF Downloads 302