Search results for: renewable energy technologies

Authors: Tamar Khardziani, Violeta Berikashvili, Amrosi Chkuaseli, Vladimir Elisashvili

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The main objectives of this proposal are to develop low-cost, innovative, and competitive technologies for the production of mycelial biomass of medicinal mushrooms as a natural food supplement for poultry. To fulfill this task, industrial strains of Lentinus edodes, Ganoderma lucidum, and Pleurotus ostreatus were used in this study. The solid-state fermentation (SSF) of wheat grains, wheat bran, and soy flour was performed in flasks and bags. Among nine mushroom strains, P. ostreatus 2191 appeared to be the most productive in protein biomass accumulation in the SSF of wheat bran. All mushrooms produced exopolysaccharide with the highest yield of 5-8 mg/mL depending on fungal strain and growth substrate. Supplementation of medium with 1% glycerol and 2-4% peptone favored mushroom growth and protein accumulation. Among inorganic nitrogen sources, KNO₃ also provided high biomass and protein production. The SSF of all growth substrates was accompanied by the secretion of cellulase and xylanase activities. The highest CMCase activity (12-13 U/g) was revealed in the cultivation of P. ostreatus 2191 using wheat bran as a growth substrate and ammonium sulfate or yeast extract as a nitrogen source, whereas the highest xylanase activity was detected in the fermentation of soy flour supplemented with peptone. Acknowledgments: This work was supported by the Shota Rustaveli National Science Foundation of Georgia (Grant number STEM-22-2077).

Keywords: mushrooms, plant raw materials, fermentation, biomass protein, cellulase

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Authors: Fikrat Abdullayev, Narmin Huseynli

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Archaeology is a science that learns ancient people’s life and household on the basis of samples of material culture. The key research object of this science is artefacts, which are acquired during archaeological excavations. These artefacts can be seen in museums. Museums are the main institutions that give impressions of daily life and household of people in ancient times. Therefore, systematization, exhibition and presentation of archaeological items in museums should be adapted to trace the development of productive forces and its reflection on the household of people. In Gobustan museum which was commissioned in 2011, you can get information about the life and household, as well as religious beliefs, of people at all stages of history from the end of the Upper Palaeolith to the Middle Ages through archaeological items, rock inscriptions and modern technologies. The main idea of museum exposition is to give an idea to visitors about the environment, society and production relations during the Stone and Metal Age. Stimulation of development of production factors and production relationships of environmental factors that are influenced by natural forces can be easily seen through exhibits of Gobustan Museum. At the same time, creating of new ideological attributes in the changing society and the process of transforming people into a dominant position in a belief system can be seen in the substitution of motives of rock carvings in the chronological context. The historical and cultural essence of rock carvings in Gobustan Museum is demonstrated through modern technological means and traditional museum concepts. In addition, Gobustan Preserve is one of the rare places where visitors can directly contact with rock carvings.

Keywords: Gobustan, rock art, museum, productive forces

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Authors: Mohammed Farag, Mina Attari, S. Andrew Gadsden, Saeid R. Habibi

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Battery state of charge (SOC) estimation is an important parameter as it measures the total amount of electrical energy stored at a current time. The SOC percentage acts as a fuel gauge if it is compared with a conventional vehicle. Estimating the SOC is, therefore, essential for monitoring the amount of useful life remaining in the battery system. This paper looks at the implementation of three nonlinear estimation strategies for Li-Ion battery SOC estimation. One of the most common behavioral battery models is the one state hysteresis (OSH) model. The extended Kalman filter (EKF), the smooth variable structure filter (SVSF), and the time-varying smoothing boundary layer SVSF are applied on this model, and the results are compared.

Keywords: state of charge estimation, battery modeling, one-state hysteresis, filtering and estimation

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Authors: Islam Tarek, Moataz Soliman

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With the amazing development of nanoscience’s and the discovery of the unique properties of nanometric materials, the ideas of scientists and researchers headed to take advantage of this progress in various fields, and one of the most important of these areas is the field of heat transfer and benefit from it in saving energy used for heat transfer, so nanometric materials were used to improve the properties of heat transfer fluids and increase the efficiency of the liquid. In this paper, we will compare two types of heat transfer fluid, one industrial type (the base fluid is a mix of ethylene glycol and deionized water ) and another natural oils(the base fluid is a mix of jatropha oil and expired olive oil), explaining the method of preparing each of them, starting from the method of preparing CNT, collecting and sorting jatropha seeds, and the most appropriate method for extracting oil from them, and characterization the both of two fluids and when to use both.

Keywords: nanoscience, heat transfer, thermal conductivity, jatropha oil

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Authors: Soban Najam, S. M. Jahanzeb, Ahmed Sohail, Faraz Idris Khan

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With the recent increase in reliance on Gas as the primary source of energy across the world, there has been a lot of research conducted on gas distribution networks. As the complexity and size of these networks grow, so does the leakage of gas in the distribution network. One of the most crucial factors in the production and distribution of gas is UFG or Unaccounted for Gas. The presence of UFG signifies that there is a difference between the amount of gas distributed, and the amount of gas billed. Our approach is to use information that we acquire from several specified points in the network. This information will be used to calculate the loss occurring in the network using the developed algorithm. The Algorithm can also identify the leakages at any point of the pipeline so we can easily detect faults and rectify them within minimal time, minimal efforts and minimal resources.

Keywords: FLA, fault location analysis, GDN, gas distribution network, GIS, geographic information system, NMS, network Management system, OMS, outage management system, SSGC, Sui Southern gas company, UFG, unaccounted for gas

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Authors: David Edgar

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To understand how the brain’s subconscious and conscious functions, we must conquer the physics of Unity, which leads to duality’s algorithm. Where the subconscious (bottom-up) and conscious (top-down) processes function together to produce and consume intelligence, we use terms like ‘time is relative,’ but we really do understand the meaning. In the brain, there are different processes and, therefore, different observers. These different processes experience time at different rates. A sensory system such as the eyes cycles measurement around 33 milliseconds, the conscious process of the frontal lobe cycles at 300 milliseconds, and the subconscious process of the thalamus cycle at 5 milliseconds. Three different observers experience time differently. To bridge observers, the thalamus, which is the fastest of the processes, maintains a synchronous state and entangles the different components of the brain’s physical process. The entanglements form a synchronous cohesion between the brain components allowing them to share the same state and execute in the same measurement cycle. The thalamus uses the shared state to control the firing sequence of the brain’s linear subconscious process. Sharing state also allows the brain to cheat on the amount of sensory data that must be exchanged between components. Only unpredictable motion is transferred through the synchronous state because predictable motion already exists in the shared framework. The brain’s synchronous subconscious process is entirely based on energy conservation, where prediction regulates energy usage. So, the eyes every 33 milliseconds dump their sensory data into the thalamus every day. The thalamus is going to perform a motion measurement to identify the unpredictable motion in the sensory data. Here is the trick. The thalamus conducts its measurement based on the original observation time of the sensory system (33 ms), not its own process time (5 ms). This creates a data payload of synchronous motion that preserves the original sensory observation. Basically, a frozen moment in time (Flat 4D). The single moment in time can then be processed through the single state maintained by the synchronous process. Other processes, such as consciousness (300 ms), can interface with the synchronous state to generate awareness of that moment. Now, synchronous data traveling through a separate faster synchronous process creates a theoretical time tunnel where observation time is tunneled through the synchronous process and is reproduced on the other side in the original time-relativity. The synchronous process eliminates time dilation by simply removing itself from the equation so that its own process time does not alter the experience. To the original observer, the measurement appears to be instantaneous, but in the thalamus, a linear subconscious process generating sensory perception and thought production is being executed. It is all just occurring in the time available because other observation times are slower than thalamic measurement time. For life to exist in the physical universe requires a linear measurement process, it just hides by operating at a faster time relativity. What’s interesting is time dilation is not the problem; it’s the solution. Einstein said there was no universal time.

Keywords: neural synchronization, natural intelligence, 99.95% IoT data transmission savings, artificial subconscious intelligence (ASI)

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Authors: Farbod Behnaminia, Saeed Samet

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The COVID-19 pandemic has paralyzed many lives until a vaccine was available, which caused the so-called “new normal.” According to the World Health Organization (WHO), COVID-19 is an infectious disease. It can cause significant illness or death in anyone. Governments and health officials tried to impose rules and regulations to avoid and slow down transmission. Therefore, software engineers worldwide developed applications to trace and track patients’ movements and notify others, mainly using Bluetooth. In this way, everyone could be informed whether they come in close contact with someone who has COVID-19 and takes proper safety precautions. Because most of the applications use technologies that can potentially reveal the user’s identity and location, researchers have debated privacy preservation and how to improve user privacy during such pandemics. Thanks to Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT), there have been some proposed methods to develop privacy-preserving Patient Tracking Systems in the last two years. As an instance of the DLT, Blockchain is like a decentralized peer-to-peer database that maintains a record of transactions. Transactions are immutable, transparent, and anonymous in this system. We conducted a comprehensive evaluation of the literature by looking for papers in the relevant field and dividing them into pre- and post-pandemic systems. Additionally, we discussed the many uses of blockchain technology in pandemic control. We found that two major obstacles facing blockchain implementation across many healthcare systems are scalability and privacy. The Polkadot platform is presented, along with a review of its efficacy in tackling current concerns. A more scalable healthcare system is achievable in the near future using Polkadot as well as a much more privacy-preserving environment.

Keywords: blockchain, electronic record management, EHR, privacy-preserving, patient tracking, COVID-19, trust and confidence, Polkadot

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Authors: Agah Tugrul Korucu, Mustafa Mucahit Gundogdu, Tarık Gencturk, Ahmet Yucel

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Countries are developing big projects and supplying financial resource for developing technological substructure and integrating technology into the education. In Turkey, the Ministry of Education, with the aim of integrating ICT into learning and teaching processes, created a project named increasing occasions and normalizing the technology movement. FATIH Project with this project, the aim is to create teaching environments which are enriched with technology. In orientating people with the technology and integrating technology into the education, teacher and teacher candidates have a big responsibility. While teachers are using technology in lesson, the devices in class and the methods developed are important factors. The aim of this research is to examine awareness, and foresight about FATIH Project in different aspects. This study was conducted during the practice period of the second semester in the 2014-2015 academic years. The working group of the research was created from 209 teacher candidates which are from different teaching departments in the Ahmet Kelesoglu Education Faculty of Necmettin Erbakan University. Scanning model was used in this research. In research, as a getting data tool evaluation of “opinion about FATIH Project: awareness, foresight and expectation scale” which was developed by Karal et. al.; personal information form which was developed by researchers were used. Cronbach coefficient which is the reliability of the scale is 0.91. In analyzing the data, statistical package program average, standard deviation, percentage, correlation, t-test and variance analysis test were used.

Keywords: Fatih Project, information and communication technologies, information technology integration, views on the Fatih Project, technology integration in education

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Authors: Azadeh Farzaneh, Mohammad Reza Abdi, A. Quaranta, Matteo Dalla Palma, Seyedshahram Mortazavi

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We report on the synthesis of cesium-iodide nanoparticles using sol-gel technique. The structural properties of CsI nanoparticles were characterized by X-ray diffraction and Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) Also, optical properties were followed by optical absorption and UV–vis fluorescence. Intense photoluminescence is also observed, with some spectral tuning possible with ripening time getting a range of emission photon wavelength approximately from 366 to 350 nm. The size effect on CsI luminescence leads to an increase in scintillation light yield, a redshift of the emission bands of the on_center and off_center self_trapped excitons (STEs) and an increase in the contribution of the off_center STEs to the net intrinsic emission yield. The energy transfer from the matrix to CsI nanoparticles is a key characteristic for scintillation detectors. So the scintillation spectra to alpha particles of sample were monitored.

Keywords: nanoparticles, luminescence, sol gel, scintillator

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Authors: Matthew Stephenson

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We study the electrical conductivity of strongly disordered, strongly coupled quantum field theories, holographically dual to non-perturbatively disordered uncharged black holes. The computation reduces to solving a diffusive hydrostatic equation for an emergent horizon fluid. We demonstrate that a large class of theories in two spatial dimensions have a universal conductivity independent of disorder strength, and rigorously rule out disorder-driven conductor-insulator transitions in many theories. We present a (fine-tuned) axion-dilaton bulk theory which realizes the conductor-insulator transition, interpreted as a classical percolation transition in the horizon fluid. We address aspects of strongly disordered holography that can and cannot be addressed via mean-field modeling, such as massive gravity.

Keywords: theoretical physics, black holes, holography, high energy

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Authors: Vida Dones-Jimenez

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The main purpose of this study is to determine the preschool teachers’ technology and 21st-century skills and its relation to teachers’ performance. The participants were 94 preschool teachers and 59 school administrators from the CDAPS member schools. The data were collected by using 21st Century Skill, developed by ISSA (2009), Technology Skills of Teachers Survey (2013) and Teacher Performance Evaluation Criteria and Descriptors (200) was modified by the current researcher to suit the needs of her study and was administered personally by her. The surveys were designed to measure the participants’ 21st-century skills, technology skills and teaching performance. The result of the study indicates that the majority of the preschool teachers are the college graduate. Most of them are in the teaching profession for 0 to 10 years. It also indicated that the majority of the school administrators are masters’ degree holder. The preschool teachers are outstanding in their teaching performance as rated by the school administrators. The preschool teachers are skillful in using technology, and they are very skillful in executing the 21st-century skills in teaching. It was further determined that no significant difference between preschool teachers 21st-century skill in regards to educational attainment same as with the number of years in teaching, likewise with their technology skills. Furthermore, the study has shown that there is a very weak relationship between technology and 21st-century skills of preschool teachers, a weak relationship between technology skills and teaching performance and a very weak relationship between 21st-century skills and teaching performance were also established. The study recommends that the preschool teachers should be encouraged to enroll in master degree programs. School administrators should support the implementation of newly adopted technologies and support faculty members at various levels of use and experience. It is also recommended that regular review of the professional development plan be undertaken to upgrade 21st-century teaching and learning skills of preschool teachers.

Keywords: preschool teacher, teaching performance, technology, 21st century skills

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Authors: Muhammad A. Nadeem, Shaheed Ullah

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The article reports the synthesis of Cr2O3/C nanocomposites obtained by the direct carbonization of PFA/MIL-101(Cr) bulk composite. The nanocomposites were characterized by various instrumental techniques like powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), selected area electron diffraction (SAED) and the surface characterized were investigated via N2 adsorption/desorption analysis. TEM and SAED analysis shows that turbostatic graphitic carbon was obtained with high crystallinity. The nanocomposites were tested for electrochemical supercapacitor and the faradic and non-Faradic processes were checked through cyclic voltammetry (CV). The maximum specific capacitance calculated for Cr2O3/C 900 sample from CV measurement is 301 F g-1 at 2 mV s-1 due to its maximum charge storing capacity as confirm by frequency response analysis.

Keywords: nanocomposites, transmission electron microscopy, non-faradic process

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Authors: Kyoung-Jin Joo, In-Gun Kim, Hyun-Seok Hong, Dong-Woo Kang, Ju Lee

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Recently, the permanent magnet-assisted synchronous reluctance motor (PMa-SynRM) that can be substituted for the induction motor has been studying because of the needs of the development of the premium high efficiency motor for the minimum energy performance standard (MEPS). PMa-SynRM is required to the speed and position information for motor speed and torque controls. However, to apply the sensors has many problems that are sensor mounting space shortage and additional cost, etc. Therefore, in this paper, speed-sensorless control based on model reference adaptive system (MRAS) is introduced to eliminate the sensor. The sensorless method is constructed in a reference model as standard and an adaptive model as the state observer. The proposed algorithm is verified by the simulation.

Keywords: PMa-SynRM, sensorless control, robust estimation, MRAS method

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Authors: G. Wimmers

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The University of Northern British Columbia needed a new laboratory building for the Master of Engineering in Integrated Wood Design Program and its new Civil Engineering Program. Since the University is committed to reducing its environmental footprint and because the Master of Engineering Program is actively involved in research of energy efficient buildings, the decision was made to request the energy efficiency of the Passive House Standard in the Request for Proposals. The building is located in Prince George in Northern British Columbia, a city located at the northern edge of climate zone 6 with an average low between -8 and -10.5 in the winter months. The footprint of the building is 30m x 30m with a height of about 10m. The building consists of a large open space for the shop and laboratory with a small portion of the floorplan being two floors, allowing for a mezzanine level with a few offices as well as mechanical and storage rooms. The total net floor area is 1042m² and the building’s gross volume 9686m³. One key requirement of the Passive House Standard is the airtight envelope with an airtightness of < 0.6 ach@50Pa. In the past, we have seen that this requirement can be challenging to reach for industrial buildings. When testing for air tightness, it is important to test in both directions, pressurization, and depressurization, since the airflow through all leakages of the building will, in reality, happen simultaneously in both directions. A specific detail or situation such as overlapping but not sealed membranes might be airtight in one direction, due to the valve effect, but are opening up when tested in the opposite direction. In this specific project, the advantage was the overall very compact envelope and the good volume to envelope area ratio. The building had to be very airtight and the details for the windows and doors installation as well as all transitions from walls to roof and floor, the connections of the prefabricated wall panels and all penetrations had to be carefully developed to allow for maximum airtightness. The biggest challenges were the specific components of this industrial building, the large bay door for semi-trucks and the dust extraction system for the wood processing machinery. The testing was carried out in accordance with EN 132829 (method A) as specified in the International Passive House Standard and the volume calculation was also following the Passive House guideline resulting in a net volume of 7383m3, excluding all walls, floors and suspended ceiling volumes. This paper will explore the details and strategies used to achieve an airtightness of 0.07 ach@50Pa, to the best of our knowledge the lowest value achieved in North America so far following the test protocol of the International Passive House Standard and discuss the crucial steps throughout the project phases and the most challenging details.

Keywords: air changes, airtightness, envelope design, industrial building, passive house

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Authors: Sanaz Mosadeghsedghi, Mathew Hudder, Mohammad Ali Baghbanzadeh, Charbel Atallah, Seyedeh Laleh Dashtban Kenari, Konstantin Volchek

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Lithium has recently been extensively used in lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) for electric vehicles and portable electronic devices. The conventional evaporative approach to recover and concentrate lithium is extremely slow and may take 10-24 months to concentrate lithium from dilute sources, such as geothermal brines. To response to the increasing industrial lithium demand, alternative extraction and concentration technologies should be developed to recover lithium from brines with low concentrations. In this study, a combination of electrocoagulation (EC) and electrodialysis (ED) was evaluated for the recovery of lithium from geothermal brines. The brine samples in this study, collected in Western Canada, had lithium concentrations of 50-75 mg/L on a background of much higher (over 10,000 times) concentrations of sodium. This very high sodium-to-lithium ratio poses challenges to the conventional direct-lithium extraction processes which employ lithium-selective adsorbents. EC was used to co-precipitate lithium using a sacrificial aluminium electrode. The precipitate was then dissolved, and the leachate was treated using ED to separate and concentrate lithium from other ions. The focus of this paper is on the study of ED, including a two-step ED process that included a mono-valent selective stage to separate lithium from multi-valent cations followed by a bipolar ED stage to convert lithium chloride (LiCl) to LiOH product. Eventually, the ED cell was reconfigured using mono-valent cation exchange with the bipolar membranes to combine the two ED steps in one. Using this process at optimum conditions, over 95% of the co-existing cations were removed and the purity of lithium increased to over 90% in the final product.

Keywords: electrochemical separation, electrocoagulation, electrodialysis, lithium extraction

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Authors: Rajiv Kumar, Amit Sachan, Arindam Mukherjee

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Government agencies around the world, including India, are incorporating digital technologies and processes into their day-to-day operations to become more efficient. Despite low internet penetration (around 34.8% of total population) in India, Government of India has made some public services mandatory to access online (e.g. passport, tax filing).This is insisting citizens to access mandatory public services online. However, due to digital divide, all citizens do not have equal access to internet. In light of this, it is an interesting topic to explore how citizens are able to access mandatory online public services. It is important to understand how citizens are adopting these mandatory e-government services and how the adoption behavior of these mandatory e-government services is different or similar to adoption behavior of non-mandatory e-government services. The purpose of this research is to investigate the factors that influence adoption of mandatory and non-mandatory e-government services in India. A quantitative technique is employed in this study. A conceptual model has been proposed by integrating the influencing factors to adopt e-government services from previous studies. The proposed conceptual model highlights a comprehensive set of potential factors influencing the adoption of e-government services. The proposed model has been validated by keeping in view the local context of Indian society. Online and paper based survey was administered, collected data was analyzed and results have been discussed. A total of 463 valid responses were received and further the responses were analyzed. The research reveals that the influencing factors to adopt e-government services are not same for both mandatory and non-mandatory e-government services. There are some factors that influence adoption of both mandatory and non-mandatory e-government services but there are some which are relevant for either of mandatory and non-mandatory e-government services. The research findings may help government or concerned agencies in successfully implementing e-government services.

Keywords: adoption, e-government, India, mandatory, non-mandatory

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Authors: Y. J. Song, Q. S. Xu, X. C. Wang, H. Wang, C. Q. Li

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The catalyst of copper oxide loaded on HZSM-5 was developed for nitrous oxide (N₂O) direct decomposition. The kinetic of nitrous oxide decomposition was studied for CuO/HZSM-5 catalyst prepared by incipient wetness impregnation method. The external and internal diffusion of catalytic reaction were considered in the investigation. Experiment results indicated that the external diffusion was basically eliminated when the reaction gas mixture gas hourly space velocity (GHSV) was higher than 9000h⁻¹ and the influence of the internal diffusion was negligible when the particle size of the catalyst CuO/HZSM-5 was small than 40-60 mesh. The experiment results showed that the kinetic of catalytic decomposition of N₂O was a first-order reaction and the activation energy and the pre-factor of the kinetic equation were 115.15kJ/mol and of 1.6×109, respectively.

Keywords: catalytic decomposition, CuO/HZSM-5, kinetic, nitrous oxide

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Authors: Rabindranath Jana, Biswajit Maity, Keka Rana

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The most promising clean energy source is the fuel cell, since it does not generate toxic gases and other hazardous compounds. Again the direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) is more user-friendly as it is easy to be miniaturized and suited as energy source for automobiles as well as domestic applications and portable devices. And unlike the hydrogen used for some fuel cells, methanol is a liquid that is easy to store and transport in conventional tanks. The most important part of a fuel cell is its membrane. Till now, an overall efficiency for a methanol fuel cell is reported to be about 20 ~ 25%. The lower efficiency of the cell may be due to the critical factors, e.g. slow reaction kinetics at the anode and methanol crossover. The oxidation of methanol is composed of a series of successive reactions creating formaldehyde and formic acid as intermediates that contribute to slow reaction rates and decreased cell voltage. Currently, the investigation of new anode catalysts to improve oxidation reaction rates is an active area of research as it applies to the methanol fuel cell. Surprisingly, there are very limited reports on nanostructured membranes, which are rather simple to manufacture with different tuneable compositions and are expected to allow only the proton permeation but not the methanol due to their molecular sizing effects and affinity to the membrane surface. We have developed a nanostructured fuel cell membrane from polydimethyl siloxane rubber (PDMS), ethylene methyl co-acrylate (EMA) and multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs). The effect of incorporating different proportions of f-MWNTs in polymer membrane has been studied. The introduction of f-MWNTs in polymer matrix modified the polymer structure, and therefore the properties of the device. The proton conductivity, measured by an AC impedance technique using open-frame and two-electrode cell and methanol permeability of the membranes was found to be dependent on the f-MWNTs loading. The proton conductivity of the membranes increases with increase in concentration of f-MWNTs concentration due to increased content of conductive materials. Measured methanol permeabilities at 60oC were found to be dependant on loading of f-MWNTs. The methanol permeability decreased from 1.5 x 10-6 cm²/s for pure film to 0.8 x 10-7 cm²/s for a membrane containing 0.5wt % f-MWNTs. This is due to increasing proportion of f-MWNTs, the matrix becomes more compact. From DSC melting curves it is clear that the polymer matrix with f-MWNTs is thermally stable. FT-IR studies show good interaction between EMA and f-MWNTs. XRD analysis shows good crystalline behavior of the prepared membranes. Significant cost savings can be achieved when using the blended films which contain less expensive polymers.

Keywords: fuel cell membrane, polydimethyl siloxane rubber, carbon nanotubes, proton conductivity, methanol permeability

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Authors: Danzhao Cheng, Eugene Ch'ng

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Virtual Reality technologies can reconstruct cultural heritage objects and sites to a level of realism. Concentrating mostly on documenting authentic data and accurate representations of tangible contents, current virtual heritage is limited to accumulating visually presented objects. Such constructions, however, are fragmentary and may not convey the inherent significance of heritage in a meaningful way. In order to contextualise fragmentary historical contents where history can be told, a strategy is to create a guided narrative via role-playing. Such an approach can strengthen the logical connections of cultural elements and facilitate creative synthesis within the virtual world. This project successfully reconstructed the Ningbo Sanjiangkou VR site in Yuan Dynasty combining VR technology and role-play game approach. The results with 80 pairs of participants suggest that VR role-playing can be beneficial in a number of ways. Firstly, it creates thematic interactivity which encourages users to explore the virtual heritage in a more entertaining way with task-oriented goals. Secondly, the experience becomes highly engaging since users can interpret a historical context through the perspective of specific roles that exist in past societies. Thirdly, personalisation allows open-ended sequences of the expedition, reinforcing user’s acquisition of procedural knowledge relative to the cultural domain. To sum up, role-playing in VR poses great potential for experiential learning as it allows users to interpret a historical context in a more entertaining way.

Keywords: experiential learning, maritime silk road, role-playing, virtual heritage, virtual reality

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Authors: E. Asadollahi-Yazdi, J. Gardan, P. Lafon

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Nowadays, manufactures are encountered with production of different version of products due to quality, cost and time constraints. On the other hand, Additive Manufacturing (AM) as a production method based on CAD model disrupts the design and manufacturing cycle with new parameters. To consider these issues, the researchers utilized Design For Manufacturing (DFM) approach for AM but until now there is no integrated approach for design and manufacturing of product through the AM. So, this paper aims to provide a general methodology for managing the different production issues, as well as, support the interoperability with AM process and different Product Life Cycle Management tools. The problem is that the models of System Engineering which is used for managing complex systems cannot support the product evolution and its impact on the product life cycle. Therefore, it seems necessary to provide a general methodology for managing the product’s diversities which is created by using AM. This methodology must consider manufacture and assembly during product design as early as possible in the design stage. The latest approach of DFM, as a methodology to analyze the system comprehensively, integrates manufacturing constraints in the numerical model in upstream. So, DFM for AM is used to import the characteristics of AM into the design and manufacturing process of a hybrid product to manage the criteria coming from AM. Also, the research presents an integrated design method in order to take into account the knowledge of layers manufacturing technologies. For this purpose, the interface model based on the skin and skeleton concepts is provided, the usage and manufacturing skins are used to show the functional surface of the product. Also, the material flow and link between the skins are demonstrated by usage and manufacturing skeletons. Therefore, this integrated approach is a helpful methodology for designer and manufacturer in different decisions like material and process selection as well as, evaluation of product manufacturability.

Keywords: additive manufacturing, 3D printing, design for manufacturing, integrated design, interoperability

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Authors: H. Ahmed, A. Persson, L. Sundqvist, B. Biorkman

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Numerous amounts of metallurgical dusts and sludge containing iron as well as some other valuable elements such as Zn, Pb and C are annually produced in the steelmaking industry. These alternative iron ore resources (fines) with unsatisfying physical and metallurgical properties are difficult to recycle. However, agglomerating these fines to be further used as a feed stock for existing iron and steel making processes is practiced successfully at several plants but for limited extent. In the present study, briquettes of integrated steelmaking industry waste materials (namely, BF-dust and sludge, BOF-dust and sludge) were used as feed stock to produce direct reduced iron (DRI). Physical and metallurgical properties of produced briquettes were investigated by means of TGA/DTA/QMS in combination with XRD. Swelling, softening and melting behavior were also studied using heating microscope.

Keywords: iron and steel wastes, recycling, self-reducing briquettes, thermogravimetry

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Authors: S. Zhuiykov, Z. Wei

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Conformal defect-free two-dimensional (2D) WO₃ and TiO₂ semiconductors have been developed by the atomic layer deposition (ALD) technique on wafer scale with unique approach to the thickness control with precision of ± 10% from the monolayer of nanomaterial (less than 1.0 nm thick) to the nano-layered 2D structures with thickness of ~3.0-7.0 nm. Developed 2D nanostructures exhibited unique, distinguishable properties at nanoscale compare to their thicker counterparts. Specifically, 2D TiO₂-Au bilayer demonstrated improved photocatalytic degradation of palmitic acid under UV and visible light illumination. Improved functional capabilities of 2D semiconductors would be advantageous to various environmental, nano-energy and bio-sensing applications. The ALD-enabled approach is proven to be versatile, scalable and applicable to the broader range of 2D semiconductors.

Keywords: two-dimensional (2D) semiconductors, ALD, WO₃, TiO₂, wafer scale

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Authors: P. H. Le, J. Molina, S. Hirai

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In this work, we propose the application of Japanese “Origami” art for a floating function of a small aerial vehicle such as a hexarotor. A preliminary experiment was conducted using Origami magic balls mounted under a hexarotor. This magic ball can expand and shrink using an air pump during free flying. Using this interesting and functional concept, it promises to reduce the resistance of wind as well as reduce the energy consumption when the Origami balls are deflated. This approach can be particularly useful in rescue emergency situations. Furthermore, there are many unexpected reasons that may cause the multi-rotor has to land on the surface of water due to problems with the communication between the aircraft and the ground station. In addition, a complementary experiment was designed to prove that the hexarotor can fly maintaining the stability and also, takes off and lands on the surface of water using air balloons.

Keywords: helicopter, Japanese origami ball, floating, aerial robots, rescue

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Authors: Amin Khamoosh, Hamed Faramarzifar

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In the capital of Iran, Tehran, numerous buildings constructed when extreme climates were not prevalent now face the need for rehabilitation, typically within their first decade. Our data delves into the performance metrics and economic advantages of sustainable rehabilitation practices compared to traditional methods. With a focus on the scarcity of water resources, we specifically scrutinize water-efficient techniques throughout construction, rehabilitation, and usage. Examining design elements that optimize natural light while efficiently managing heat transmission is crucial, given the reliance on water for cooling devices in this region. The data aims to present a comprehensive strategy, addressing immediate structural concerns while harmonizing with Iran's unique environmental conditions.

Keywords: sustainable rehabilitation, concrete buildings, iran, solar energy, water-efficient techniques

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Authors: Prashant Sharma, Jyotsna Dutta Majumdar

Abstract:

The present study concerns development of a composite thermal barrier coating consisting of a mixture of La2O3 and YSZ (with 8 wt.%, 32 wt.% and 50 wt.% 50% La2O3) by plasma spray deposition technique on a CoNiCrAlY based bond coat deposited on Inconel 718 substrate by high velocity oxy-fuel deposition (HVOF) technique. The addition of La2O3 in YSZ causes the formation of pyrochlore (La2Zr2O7) phase in the inter splats boundary along with the presence of LaYO3 phase. The coefficient of thermal expansion is significantly reduced from due to the evolution of different phases and structural defects in the sprayed coating. The activation energy for TGO growth under isothermal and cyclic oxidation was increased in the composite coating as compared to YSZ coating.

Keywords: plasma spraying, oxidation resistance, thermal barrier coating, microstructure, X-ray method

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Authors: Abdusalam Gsiea, Ramadan Al-habashi, Mohamed Atumi, Khaled Atmimi

Abstract:

We present a theoretical investigation on the structural, electronic properties and vibrational mode of nitrogen impurities in ZnO. The atomic structures, formation and transition energies and vibrational modes of (NO3)i interstitial or NO4 substituting on an oxygen site ZnO were computed using ab initio total energy methods. Based on Local density functional theory, our calculations are in agreement with one interpretation of bound-excition photoluminescence for N-doped ZnO. First-principles calculations show that (NO3)i defects interstitial or NO4 substituting on an Oxygen site in ZnO are important suitable impurity for p-type doping in ZnO. However, many experimental efforts have not resulted in reproducible p-type material with N2 and N2O doping. by means of first-principle pseudo-potential calculation we find that the use of NO or NO2 with O gas might help the experimental research to resolve the challenge of achieving p-type ZnO.

Keywords: DFF, nitrogen, p-type, ZnO

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Authors: Shahbaa F. Bdewi, Bakhtyar K. Aziz, Ayad A. R. Mutar

Abstract:

Nano-materials show different surface properties due to their high surface area and active sites. This study investigates the feasibility of using nano-MgO (NMO) for removing Congo red (CR) dye from wastewater. NMO was prepared by molten salt method. Equilibrium experiments show the equilibrium was reached after 120 minutes and maximum adsorption efficiency was obtained in acidic media up to pH 6. Isotherm studies revealed the favorability of the adsorption process. The overall adsorption process was spontaneous and endothermic in nature with a maximum adsorption capacity of 1100 mg g-1 at 40°C as estimated from Langmuir isotherm. The adsorption kinetics was found to follow pseudo second-order rate equation. Relatively high activation energy (180.7 kJ mol-1) was obtained which is consistent with chemisorption mechanism for the adsorption process.

Keywords: adsorption, congo red, magnesium oxide, nanoparticles

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Authors: Fahanim Abdul Rashid, Muhammad Azzam Ismail

Abstract:

Part and parcel of building green homes (GHs) with favorable thermal comfort (TC) is to design and build with reduced carbon footprint (CF) from embodied energy in the building envelope and reduced operational CF overall. Together, the environmental impact of GHs can be reduced significantly. Nevertheless, there is still a need to identify the base CF value for Malaysian GHs and this can be done by assessing existing ones which can then be compared to conventional and vernacular houses which are built differently with different building materials. This paper underlines the research design and introduces the case studies. For now, the operational CF of the case studies is beyond the scope of this study. Findings from this research could identify the best building material and construction technique combination to build GHs depending on the available skills, financial constraints and the condition of the immediate environment.

Keywords: embodied carbon footprint, Malaysian green homes

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Authors: Farid Saeidi, Serkan Dag

Abstract:

In this study, fracture analysis of a fibrous composite laminate with variable fiber spacing is carried out using Jk-integral method. The laminate is assumed to be under thermal loading. Jk-integral is formulated by using the constitutive relations of plane orthotropic thermoelasticity. Developed domain independent form of the Jk-integral is then integrated into the general purpose finite element analysis software ANSYS. Numerical results are generated so as to assess the influence of variable fiber spacing on mode I and II stress intensity factors, energy release rate, and T-stress. For verification, some of the results are compared to those obtained using displacement correlation technique (DCT).

Keywords: Jk-integral, Variable Fiber Spacing, Thermoelasticity, T-stress, Finite Element Method, Fibrous Composite.

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Authors: Claire Biasco, Thaier Hayajneh

Abstract:

A smart city is the integration of digital technologies in urban environments to enhance the quality of life. Smart cities capture real-time information from devices, sensors, and network data to analyze and improve city functions such as traffic analysis, public safety, and environmental impacts. Current smart cities face controversy due to their reliance on real-time data tracking and surveillance. Internet of Things (IoT) devices and blockchain technology are converging to reshape smart city infrastructure away from its centralized model. Connecting IoT data to blockchain applications would create a peer-to-peer, decentralized model. Furthermore, blockchain technology powers the ability for IoT device data to shift from the ownership and control of centralized entities to individuals or communities with Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs). In the context of smart cities, DAOs can govern cyber-physical systems to have a greater influence over how urban services are being provided. This paper will explore how the core components of a smart city now apply to DAOs. We will also analyze different definitions of DAOs to determine their most important aspects in relation to smart cities. Both categorizations will provide a solid foundation to conduct a cybersecurity assessment of DAOs in smart cities. It will identify the benefits and risks of adopting DAOs as they currently operate. The paper will then provide several mitigation methods to combat cybersecurity risks of DAO integrations. Finally, we will give several insights into what challenges will be faced by DAO and blockchain spaces in the coming years before achieving a higher level of maturity.

Keywords: blockchain, IoT, smart city, DAO

Procedia PDF Downloads 128