Search results for: suppression of hydrogen generation

Authors: Shivarudraswamy, Anubhav Shrivastava, Lakshya Bhat

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Distributed generation has indeed become a major area of interest in recent years. Distributed Generation can address large number of loads in a power line and hence has better efficiency over the conventional methods. However there are certain drawbacks associated with it, increase in voltage being the major one. This paper addresses the voltage control at the buses for an IEEE 30 bus system by regulating reactive power. For carrying out the analysis, the suitable location for placing distributed generators (DG) is identified through load flow analysis and seeing where the voltage profile is dipping. MATLAB programming is used to regulate the voltage at all buses within +/-5% of the base value even after the introduction of DG’s. Three methods for regulation of voltage are discussed. A sensitivity based analysis is later carried out to determine the priority among the various methods listed in the paper.

Keywords: distributed generators, distributed system, reactive power, voltage control

Procedia PDF Downloads 500

Authors: Yinghui Shang, Ziqing Zhou, Rong Han, Hang Wang, Xiaodi Liu, Yong Yang

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The design of advanced amorphous solids, such as metallic glasses, with targeted properties through artificial intelligence signifies a paradigmatic shift in physical metallurgy and materials technology. Here, we developed a machine-learning architecture that facilitates the generation of metallic glasses with targeted multifunctional properties. Our architecture integrates the state-of-the-art unsupervised generative adversarial network model with supervised models, allowing the incorporation of general prior knowledge derived from thousands of data points across a vast range of alloy compositions, into the creation of data points for a specific type of composition, which overcame the common issue of data scarcity typically encountered in the design of a given type of metallic glasses. Using our generative model, we have successfully designed copper-based metallic glasses, which display exceptionally high hardness or a remarkably low modulus. Notably, our architecture can not only explore uncharted regions in the targeted compositional space but also permits self-improvement after experimentally validated data points are added to the initial dataset for subsequent cycles of data generation, hence paving the way for the customized design of amorphous solids without human intervention.

Keywords: metallic glass, artificial intelligence, mechanical property, automated generation

Procedia PDF Downloads 56

Authors: Paula Quiterio, Arlete Apolinario, Celia T. Sousa, Joao Azevedo, Paula Dias, Adelio Mendes, Joao P. Araujo

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Nowadays one of the mankind's greatest challenges has been the supply of low-cost and environmentally friendly energy sources as an alternative to non-renewable fossil fuels. Hydrogen has been considered a promising solution, representing a clean and low-cost fuel. It can be produced directly from clean and abundant resources, such as sunlight and water, using photoelectrochemical cells (PECs), in a process that mimics the nature´s photosynthesis. Hematite (alpha-Fe2O3) has attracted considerable attention as a promising photoanode for solar water splitting, due to its high chemical stability, nontoxicity, availability and low band gap (2.2 eV), which allows reaching a high thermodynamic solar-to-hydrogen efficiency of 16.8 %. However, the main drawbacks of hematite such as the short hole diffusion length and the poor conductivity that lead to high electron-hole recombination result in significant PEC efficiency losses. One strategy to overcome these limitations and to increase the PEC efficiency is to use 1D nanostructures, such as nanotubes (NTs) and nanowires (NWs), which present high aspect ratios and large surface areas providing direct pathways for electron transport up to the charge collector and minimizing the recombination losses. In particular, due to the ultrathin walls of the NTs, the holes can reach the surface faster than in other nanostructures, representing a key factor for the NTs photoresponse. In this work, we prepared hematite NWs and NTs, respectively by hydrothermal process and electrochemical anodization. For hematite NWs growing, we studied the effect of variable hydrothermal conditions, different annealing temperatures and time, and the use of Ti and Sn dopants on the morphology and PEC performance. The crystalline phase characterization by X-ray diffraction was crucial to distinguish the formation of hematite and other iron oxide phases, alongside its effect on the photoanodes conductivity and consequent PEC efficiency. The conductivity of the as-prepared NWs is very low, in the order of 10-5 S cm-1, but after doping and annealing optimization it increased by a factor of 105. A high photocurrent density of 1.02 mA cm-2 at 1.45 VRHE was obtained under simulated sunlight, which is a very promising value for this kind of hematite nanostructures. The stability of the photoelectrodes was also tested, presenting good stability after several J-V measurements over time. The NTs, synthesized by fast anodizations with potentials ranging from 20-100 V, presented a linear growth of the NTs pore walls, with very low thicknesses from 10 - 18 nm. These preliminary results are also very promising for the use of hematite photoelectrodes on PEC hydrogen applications.

Keywords: hematite, nanotubes, nanowires, photoelectrochemical cells

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Authors: Raj Kumar Rajak, Bharat Mishra

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Bio-batteries represent an entirely new long-term, reasonable, reachable, and eco-friendly approach to generation of sustainable energy. In the present experimental work, we have studied the effect of the generation of power by bio-battery using different electrode pairs. The tests show that it is possible to generate electricity using cow’s urine as an electrolyte. C-Mg electrode pair shows maximum Voltage and Short Circuit Current (SCC), while C-Zn electrode pair shows less Open Circuit Voltage (OCV) and SCC. By the studies of cow urine and different electrodes, it is found that C-Zn electrode battery is more economical. The cow urine battery with C-Zn electrode provides maximum power (707.4 mW) and durability (up to 145 h). This result shows that the bio-batteries have the potency to full fill the need of electricity demand for lower energy equipment.

Keywords: bio-batteries, cow's urine, electrodes, non-conventional

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Authors: Ruchi Agarwal

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The Indian diaspora in Thailand is as ethnically diverse as any other country. Although a relatively small community, the Indian diaspora has long established its roots, some with their fifth generation now living in Thailand. The community has a solid social and economic standing recognized by the host country but lacks connections with its ethnic roots in the home country. The biggest dilemma faced by the younger generation of the Indian diasporic community is the identity crisis. Regardless of being born and brought up in Thailand and possessing Thai citizenship, they do not get recognition as Thais by their Thai counterparts. However, with the Act Asia Policy of the Indian government, there has been an increase in social and political activities organized by old and new Indian associations, bringing new hopes of recognizing the Thai-Indian diasporic community.

Keywords: Indian, Thailand, diaspora, Act East Policy, Thai

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Authors: Pradeep Lamichhane

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Plasma-assisted nitrogen fixation is a process by which atomic nitrogen generated by plasma is converted into ammonia (NH₃) or related nitrogenous compounds. Nitrogen fixation is essential to plant because fixed inorganic nitrogen compounds are required to them for the biosynthesis of all nitrogen-containing organic compounds, such as amino acids and proteins, nucleoside triphosphates and nucleic acid. Most of our atmosphere is composed of nitrogen; however, the plant cannot absorb it directly from the air ambient. As a portion of the nitrogen cycle, nitrogen fixation fundamental for agriculture and the manufacture of fertilizer. In this study, plasma-assisted nitrogen fixation was performed by exposing a non-thermal atmospheric pressure nitrogen plasma generated a sinusoidal power supply (with an applied voltage of 10 kV and frequency of 33 kHz) on a water surface. Besides this, UV excitation of water molecules at the water interface was also done in order to disassociate water. Hydrogen and hydroxyl radical obtained from this UV photolysis electrochemically combine with nitrogen atom obtained from plasma. As a result of this, nitrogen fixation on plasma-activated water (PAW) significantly enhanced. The amount of nitrogen-based products like NOₓ and ammonia (NH₃) synthesized by this combined process of UV and plasma are 1.4 and 2.8 times higher than those obtained by plasma alone. In every 48 hours, 20 ml of plasma-activated water (pH≈3.15) for 10 minutes with moderate concentrations of NOₓ, NH₃ and hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) was irrigated on each corn plant (Zea Mays). It was found that the PAW has shown a significant impact on seeds germination rate and improved seedling growth. The result obtained from this experiment suggested that crop yield could increase in a short duration. In the future, this experiment could open boundless opportunities in plasma agriculture to mobilize nitrogen because nitrite, nitrate, and ammonia are more suitable for plant uptake.

Keywords: plasma-assisted nitrogen fixation, nitrogen plasma, UV excitation of water, ammonia synthesis

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Authors: Xiong Xie, Yuhang Chen

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Vulnerability discovery technology is a significant field of the current. In this paper, a fuzzy framework based on concolic execution has been proposed. Fuzzy test and symbolic execution are widely used in the field of vulnerability discovery technology. But each of them has its own advantages and disadvantages. During the path generation stage, path traversal algorithm based on generation is used to get more accurate path. During the constraint solving stage, dynamic concolic execution is used to avoid the path explosion. If there is external call, the concolic based on function summary is used. Experiments show that the framework can effectively improve the ability of triggering vulnerabilities and code coverage.

Keywords: concolic execution, constraint solving, fuzzy test, vulnerability discovery

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Authors: Md. Danish Eqbal, Venkat Gundabala

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Microparticles and microcapsules are basically used as a carrier for cells, tissues, drugs, and chemicals. Due to its biocompatibility, non-toxicity and biodegradability, alginate based microparticles have numerous applications in drug delivery, tissue engineering, organ repair and transplantation, etc. The production of uniform monodispersed microparticles was a challenge for the past few decades. However, emergence of microfluidics has provided controlled methods for the generation of the uniform monodispersed microparticles. In this work, we present a successful method for the generation of both microparticles and microcapsules (single and double core) using merging approach of two droplets, completely inside the microfluidic device. We have fabricated hybrid glass- PDMS (polydimethylsiloxane) based microfluidic device which has coflow geometry as well as the T junction channel. Coflow is used to generate the single as well as double oil-alginate emulsion in oil and T junction helps to form the calcium chloride droplets in oil. The basic idea is to match the frequency of the alginate droplets and calcium chloride droplets perfectly for controlled generation. Using the merging of droplets technique, we have successfully generated the microparticles and the microcapsules having single core as well as double and multiple cores. The cores in the microcapsules are very stable, well separated from each other and very intact as seen through cross-sectional confocal images. The size and the number of the cores along with the thickness of the shell can be easily controlled by controlling the flowrate of the liquids.

Keywords: double-core, droplets, microcapsules, microparticles

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Authors: Kamal Kumar Gupta, Sunil Kayesth

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Dysdercus koenigii is serious pest of cotton and other malvaceous crop. Present research work aimed at ecofriendly approach for management of pest by plant extracts. The impact of Ocimum sanctum was studied on reproductive performance of Dysdercus koenigii. The hexane extract of Ocimum leaves was prepared by ‘cold extraction method’. The newly emerged fifth instar nymphs were exposed to the extract of concentrations ranging from 0.1% to 0.00625% by ‘thin film residual method’ for a period of 24h. Reproductive fitness of the adults emerged from the treated nymphs was evaluated by assessing their courtship behaviour, oviposition behaviour, and fertility. The studies indicated that treatment of Dysdercus with the hexane extract of Ocimum altered their courtship behaviour. Consequently, the treated males exhibited less sexual activity, performed fewer mounting attempts, increased time to mate and showed decreased percent successful mating. The females often rejected courting treated male by shaking the abdomen. Similarly, the treated females in many cases remained non-receptive to the courting male. Premature termination of mating in the mating pairs prior to insemination further decreased the mating success of the treated adults. Maximum abbreviation of courtship behaviour was observed in the experimental set up where both the males and the females were treated. Only females which mate successfully were observed for study of oviposition behaviour. The treated females laid lesser number of egg batches and eggs in their life span. The eggs laid by these females were fertile indicating insemination of the female. However, percent hatchability was lesser than control. The effects of hexane extract were dose dependent. Treatment with 0.1% and 0.05% extract altered courtship behaviour. Doses of concentrations less than 0.05% did not affect courtship behaviour but altered the oviposition behaviour and fertility. Significant reduction in the fecundity and fertility was observed in the treatments at concentration as low as 0.00625%. The GCMS analysis of the extract revealed a plethora of phytochemicals including juvenile hormone mimics, and the intermediates of juvenile hormone biosynthesis. Therefore, some of these compounds individually or synergistically impair reproductive behaviour of Dysdercus. Alteration of courtship behaviour and suppression of fecundity and fertility with the help of plant extracts has wide potentials in suppression of pest population and ‘integrated pest management’.

Keywords: courtship behaviour, Dysdercus koenigii, Ocimum sanctum, oviposition behaviour

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Authors: Muhammad Saiful Fadhil Reyhan, Yusnita Rahayu, Fadhel Muhammadsyah

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This paper proposed a design of 16 elements, 8x2 linear fed patch antenna array with 16 ports, for 28 GHz, mm-wave band 5G for base station. The phased array covers along the azimuth plane to provide the coverage to the users in omnidirectional. The proposed antenna is designed RT Duroid 5880 substrate with the overall size of 85x35.6x0.787 mm³. The array is operating from 27.43 GHz to 28.34 GHz with a 910 MHz impedance bandwidth. The gain of the array is 18.3 dB, while the suppression of the side lobes is -1.0 dB. The main lobe direction of the array is 15 deg. The array shows a high array gain throughout the impedance bandwidth with overall of VSWR is below 1.12. The design will be proposed in single element and 16 elements antenna.

Keywords: 5G antenna, 28 GHz, MIMO, omnidirectional, phased array, base station, broadband

Procedia PDF Downloads 249

Authors: Abazar Ghorbani, W. M. Wishwajith W. Kandegama, Seyed Mehdi Razavi, Moxian Chen

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The roles of hydrogen sulfide (H₂S) and melatonin (MT) as gasotransmitters in plants are widely recognised. Nevertheless, the precise nature of their involvement in defensive reactions remains uncertain. This study investigates the impact of the ML-H2S interaction on tomato plants exposed to vanadium (V) toxicity, focusing on synthesising secondary metabolites and V metal sequestration. The treatments applied in this study included a control (T1), V stress (T2), MT+V (T3), MT+H2S+V (T4), MT+hypotaurine (HT)+V (T5), and MT+H2S+HT+V (T6). These treatments were administered: MT (150 µM) as a foliar spray pre-treatment (3X), HT treatment (0.1 mM, an H2S scavenger) as root immersion for 12 hours as pre-treatments, and H2S (NaHS, 0.2 mM) and V (40 mg/L) treatments added to the Hoagland solution for 2 weeks. Results demonstrate that ML and H2S+ML treatments alleviate V toxicity by promoting the transcription of key genes (ANS, F3H, CHS, DFR, PAL, and CHI) involved in phenolic and anthocyanin biosynthesis. Moreover, they decreased V uptake and accumulation and enhanced the transcription of genes involved in glutathione and phytochelatin synthesis (GSH1, PCS, and ABC1), leading to V sequestration in roots and protection against V-induced damage. Additionally, ML and H2S+ML treatments optimize chlorophyll metabolism, and increase internal H2S levels, thereby promoting tomato growth under V stress. The combined treatment of ML+H2S shows superior effects compared to ML alone, suggesting synergistic/interactive effects between these two substances. Furthermore, inhibition of the beneficial impact of ML+H2S and ML treatments by HT, an H2S scavenger, underscores the significant involvement of H₂S in the signaling pathway activated by ML during V toxicity. Overall, these findings suggest that ML requires the presence of endogenous H₂S to mitigate V-induced adverse effects on tomato seedlings.

Keywords: vanadium toxicity, secondary metabolites, vanadium sequestration, h2s-melatonin crosstalk

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Authors: Saeid Jalilzadeh, Majid Pakdel

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The customer demand for better power quality and higher reliability has forced the power industry to use distributed generations (DGs) such as wind power and photo voltaic arrays. Islanding is a phenomenon occurs when a power grid becomes electrically isolated from the power system and the distribution system is energized by distributed generators. It is necessary to disconnect all distributed generators immediately after islanding occurrence. Therefore a DG system should have the capability to detect islanding phenomena. In this paper, a novel micro controller based relay for anti-islanding protection of a typical DG system is proposed. The simulation results using Proteus software verify the proper operation and effectiveness of the proposed protective relay.

Keywords: islanding, distributed generation (DG), protective relay, micro controller, proteus software

Procedia PDF Downloads 583

Authors: Ramasamy Tamizhselvi, Leema George, Madhav Bhatia

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We have earlier shown that mouse pancreatic acinar cells produce hydrogen sulfide (H2S) and play a role in the pathogenesis of acute pancreatitis. This study is to determine the effect of H2S on TLR4 mediated innate immune signaling in acute pancreatitis via substance P (SP). Male Swiss mice were treated with hourly intraperitoneal injection of caerulein (50μg/kg) for 10 hour. DL-propargylglycine (PAG) (100 mg/kg i.p.), an inhibitor of H2S formation was administered 1h after the induction of acute pancreatitis. Pancreatic acinar cells from male Swiss mice were incubated with or without caerulein (10–7 M for 60 min) and CP-96345 (NK1R inhibitor). To better understand the effect of H2S in inflammation, acinar cells were stimulated with caerulein after addition of H2S donor, NaHS. In addition, caerulein treated pancreatic acinar cells were pretreated with PAG (30 µM), for 1h. H2S inhibitor, PAG, eliminated TLR4, IRAK4, TRAF6 and NF-kB levels in an in vitro and in vivo model of caerulein-induced acute pancreatitis. PPTA gene deletion reduced TLR4, MyD88, IRAK4, TRAF6, adhesion molecules and NF-kB in caerulein treated pancreatic acinar cells whereas administration of NaHS resulted in further rise in TLR4 and NF-kB levels in caerulein treated pancreatic acinar cells. In addition, acini isolated from mice and treated with PPTA gene receptor NK1R antagonist CP96345 did not exhibit further increase in TLR4, IRAK4, TRAF6, adhesion molecules and NF-kB levels after NaHS pretreatment. The present findings show for the first time that in acute pancreatitis, H2S up-regulates TLR4 pathway and NF-kB via substance P.

Keywords: preprotachykinin-A gene, H2S, TLR4, acute pancreatitis

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Authors: Vaishali Joshi, Pallav Joshi

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The main objective of this study is to examine the fashion consumption behavior of females with respect to their age group. Differences were studied in the pre-purchase, purchase and post-purchase behavior of females belonging to three age cohorts such as Generation X, Generation Y, and Generation Z. Quantitative approach was used to conduct this research. Data was collected through structured questionnaire. The questionnaire consisted of three sections. Section one included a question of the source of information of purchasing fashion apparels which measure the pre-purchase behavior. Section two measures purchase behavior which included two questions: i. motivations for purchasing fashion apparel and ii. important attributes considered for purchasing fashion apparel. The last section included a question regarding disposal of fashion apparel which measures the post-purchase behavior. Hundred females were selected as the respondents for this study through convenience sampling in the fashion streets. They were categorized into three age groups and then the results were analyzed. Four hypotheses were developed after reviewing the existing literature. Regression analysis was conducted for testing the hypothesis. Hypothesis one was accepted which stated that ‘social influence’ as a source of information for purchasing fashion apparels decreases with age. Hypothesis two was accepted which suggested that motivation of ‘Attention seeking’ for purchasing fashion apparel decreases with age. Hypothesis three and four also accepted which suggested that the importance of ‘Quality’ and ‘Price’ increases with age but hypothesis five was rejected which suggested that the importance of ‘Fit’ increases with age and last but not the least hypothesis six was accepted which suggested that the ‘duration’ of using fashion apparel increases with age. Limitation of the study deals with the sample of only female respondents. Implication can be made from this research in the field of Fashion apparel industry with respect to consumer segmentation and better marketing approaches can be implemented by the marketers form this study. Further research can be concluded by including male respondents also.

Keywords: fashion, consumption behavior, age cohorts, motivation

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Authors: Jiechen Yin, Xiang Hong, Ran Liu

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Atrazine (ATR), a widely used triazine herbicide, is an environmental endocrine disruptor that can cause health problems. However, whether there are multi/trans-generational reproductive impacts of ATR have not been studied to our best knowledge. Therefore, in this study, Caenorhabditis elegans was used as a preferable model organism to identify the multi/trans-generational reproductive toxicity of ATR. L1 larvae were exposed to different concentrations (0.0004–40 mg/L) of ATR for 48 h. Successive generations (F1 to F5) were fed without ATR and consecutive exposure. The results showed that ATR exposure during P0 decreased fecundity, including a reduction in fertilized eggs, oocytes, and ovulation rate, delayed gonadal development, and decreased the relative area of the gonad arm and germ cell number. Furthermore, continuous ATR exposure (P0–F5) causes a significant increase in reproductive toxicity in subsequent generations, although no significant toxicity occurred in the P0 generation after exposure to environmental-related concentrations, suggesting that ATR exposure might have cumulative effects. Likewise, parental exposure to ATR caused transgenerational toxicity impairments. Interestingly, reproductive toxicity not development toxicity was transmitted to several generations (F1–F4), and the F2 generation showed the most notable changes. QRT-PCR results showed that genes related to DNA methylation 6mA (damt-1, nmad-1) and histone H3 methylation (mes-4, met-2, set-25, set-2, and utx-1) can also be passed on to offspring. The function of H3K4 and H3K9 methylation were explored by using loss-of-function mutants for set-2, set-25, and met-2. Transmissible reproductive toxicity was absent in met-2(n4256), set-2(ok952), and set-25(n5021) mutants, which suggests that the histone methyltransferases H3K4 and H3K9 activity are indispensable for the transgenerational effect of ATR. Finally, the downstream genes of DNA methylation and histone H3 methylation were determined. ATR upregulated the expression of ZC317.7, hsp-6, and hsp-60. Mitochondrial stress in parental generation dependent transcription 6mA modifiers may establish these epigenetic marks in progeny.

Keywords: ATR, Caenorhabditis elegans, multi-/trans-generation, reproductive toxicity

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Authors: Dalvir Kataria, Khushminder Kaur Chahal, Amit Kumar

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The carrot seed essential oil was obtained by hydrodistillation. Hexane, dichloromethane, and methanol solvents were used for extraction of carrot seed by Soxhlet extraction methods. The major and minor compounds identified in carrot seed essential oil were carotol (52.73), daucol (5.10), daucene (5.68), (E)-β-farnesene (5.40), β-cubebene (3.19), longifolenaldehyde (3.23), β-elimene (3.23), (E)-caryophyllene (1.22), β-bisabolene (2.95) etc. The chemical composition of hexane, dichloromethane, and methanol extracts was different. Carotol was the common compound present. Major compounds isolated were from the carrot seed essential oil by column chromatography. Chemical transformations of carotol (2) with mercuric acetate/sodium borohydride, dry hydrochloric acid gas, acetonitrile/sulfuric acid, selenium dioxide/t-butyl hydrogen peroxide, N-bromosuccinimide, hydrogen iodide, and phenol were carried out. The derivatives of carotol were designed to explore the significance of some structural modifications in relation to antioxidant activities. The structures of major compounds and derivatives were confirmed on the basis of FT-IR, 1HNMR and 13CNMR spectroscopy. Antioxidant activity of carrot seed essential oil, various extracts and isolated compounds were tested by in vitro models involving 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH•), hydroxyl (OH•), nitric oxide (NO•), superoxide radical scavenging methods and ferric reducing antioxidant power assay (FRAP). Chemical transformations of major isolated compound carotol were carried out, and antioxidant activity of all compounds was undertaken. The major sesquiterpenoidcarotol isolated from carrot seed essential oil showed the highest antioxidant activity in all the methods. The methanol extract showed higher antioxidant potential as compared to carrot seed essential oil, hexane, and dichloromethane extracts.

Keywords: antioxidant, carotol, carrot, DPPH

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Authors: Ojiegbe Ikenna Nathan

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Obesity is a medical condition in which excess body fat has accumulated to the extent that it leads to reduced life expectancy and or increased health problems. Obesity as a worldwide problem is seen clustered in the families and it moves from generation to generation. It causes some disabilities, mortality and morbidity if left unattended to. The predisposing factors to obesity are either genetic or environment in origin. Nevertheless, the main predisposing factor to obesity is the excessive consumption of food rich in low-density lipoprotein (LDL) such as organ meats, saturated fats etc. This low-density lipoprotein causes an increase in adipose tissue and complicates to obesity. There are varieties of obesity which one needs to take appropriate measures to avoid; such as android, gynoid and morbid obesity. Nonetheless, studies have shown that there is hope for the obese individuals, despite the cause, type and degree of their obesity. This is through the use of the different available treatment measures which increase in physical activities, caloric restrictions, drug therapy and surgical intervention.

Keywords: low-density, lipoprotein, culprit, obesity

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Authors: Shafaqat Ali, Rehan Ahmad, Muhammad Rizwan

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Chromium (Cr) is one of the most toxic pollutants among heavy metals that adversely affect living organisms and physiological processes in plants. The present study investigated the effect of without and with 15 mg L-1 5-Aminolevulinic acid (ALA) on morpho-physiological attributes of cauliflower (Brassica oleracea botrytis L.) under different Cr concentrations (0, 10, 100 and 200 μM) in the growth medium. Results showed that Cr stress decreased the plant growth, biomass, photosynthetic pigments, and gas exchange characteristics. Chromium stress enhanced the activities of enzymatic antioxidants, catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and guaiacol peroxidase (POD), and caused oxidative stress, as observed by increased level of malondialdehyde (MDA), hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), electrolyte leakage (EL), in both leaves and roots of cauliflower. Chromium concentrations and total Cr uptake increased in roots, stem and leaves of plants with increasing Cr levels in the growth medium. Foliar application of ALA increased plant growth, biomass, photosynthetic pigments and gas exchange characteristics under Cr stress as compared to without ALA application. As compared to Cr stress alone, ALA application decreased the levels of MDA, H2O2 and EL while further enhanced the activities of antioxidant enzymes in both leaves and roots. Chromium concentrations and total Cr uptake decreased by the ALA application as compared to without ALA. These results showed that foliar application of ALA might be effective in reducing Cr uptake and toxicity in cauliflower.

Keywords: antioxidant enzymes, cauliflower, photosynthesis, chromium, ALA, hydrogen peroxide, electrolyte leakage

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Authors: N. K. Mohd Affendi, T. A. R. Tuan Abdullah, S. A. Syed Mustaffa

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In power industry transformer is an important component and most of us familiar by the functioning principle of a transformer electrically. There are many losses occur during the operation of a transformer that causes heat generation. This heat, if not dissipated properly will reduce the lifetime and effectiveness of the transformer. Transformer cooling helps in maintaining the temperature rise of various paths. This paper proposed to minimize the ambient temperature of the transformer room in order to lower down the temperature of the transformer. A simulation has been made using finite element methods programs called FEMM (Finite Elements Method Magnetics) to create a virtual model based on actual measurement of a transformer. The generalization of the two-dimensional (2D) FEMM results proves that by minimizing the ambient temperature, the heat of the transformer is decreased. The modeling process and of the transformer heat flow has been presented.

Keywords: heat generation, temperature rise, ambient temperature, FEMM

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Authors: A. Mathieu, B. Aubry, E. Chhim, M. Jobe, M. Arnaud

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Present project consists in a study and a development of piezoelectric devices for supplying power to new generation pacemakers. They are miniaturized leadless implants without battery placed directly in right ventricle. Amongst different acceptable energy sources in cardiac environment, we choose the solution of a device based on conversion of the energy produced by pressure variation inside the heart into electrical energy. The proposed energy harvesters can meet the power requirements of pacemakers, and can be a good solution to solve the problem of regular surgical operation. With further development, proposed device should provide enough energy to allow pacemakers autonomy, and could be good candidate for next pacemaker generation.

Keywords: energy harvester, heart, leadless pacemaker, piezoelectric cells, pressure variation

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Authors: Rajat Raj, Rohini S. Hallikar

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The ever-increasing integration of renewable energy sources in the power grid necessitates the development of efficient and reliable microgrid systems. Photovoltaic (PV) systems coupled with energy storage technologies, such as batteries, offer promising solutions for sustainable and resilient power generation. This paper proposes an adaptive power control topology for a PV-battery microgrid system, aiming to optimize the utilization of available solar energy and enhance the overall system performance. In order to provide a smooth transition between the OFF-GRID and ON-GRID modes of operation with proportionate power sharing, a self-adaptive control method for a microgrid is proposed. Three different modes of operation are discussed in this paper, i.e., GRID connected, the transition between Grid-connected and Islanded State, and changing the irradiance of PVs and doing the transitioning. The simulation results show total harmonic distortion to be 0.08, 1.43 and 2.17 for distribution generation-1 and 4.22,3.92 and 2.10 for distribution generation-2 in the three modes, respectively which helps to maintain good power quality. The simulation results demonstrate the superiority of the adaptive power control topology in terms of maximizing renewable energy utilization, improving system stability and ensuring a seamless transition between grid-connected and islanded modes.

Keywords: islanded modes, microgrids, photo voltaic, total harmonic distortion

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Authors: Shubhangi R. Deshmukh, Anupam B. Soni

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Clean water and electricity are vital services needed in all communities. Bio-degradation of wastewater contaminants and desalination technologies are the best possible alternatives for the global shortage of fresh water supply. Osmotic microbial fuel cell (OMFC) is a versatile technology that uses microorganism (used for biodegradation of organic waste) and membrane technology (used for water purification) for wastewater treatment and energy generation simultaneously. This technology is the combination of microbial fuel cell (MFC) and forward osmosis (FO) processes. OMFC can give more electricity and clean water than the MFC which has a regular proton exchange membrane. FO gives many improvements such as high contamination removal, lower operating energy, raising high proton flux than other pressure-driven membrane technology. Lower concentration polarization lowers the membrane fouling by giving osmotic water recovery without extra cost. In this review paper, we have discussed the principle, mechanism, limitation, and application of OMFC technology reported to date. Also, we have interpreted the experimental data from various literature on the water recovery and electricity generation assessed by a different component of OMFC. The area of producing electricity using OMFC has further scope for research and seems like a promising route to wastewater treatment.

Keywords: forward osmosis, microbial fuel cell, osmotic microbial fuel cell, wastewater treatment

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Authors: Heidi von Korff

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The electricity grid is changing in terms of flexibility. Distributed generation (DG) policy is being discussed worldwide and implemented. Developers and utilities are seeking a pathway towards Zero Net Energy (ZNE) communities and the interconnection to the distribution grid. Using the VISDOM platform for establishing a method for managing and monitoring energy consumption loads of ZNE communities as a capacity resource for the grid. Reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and energy security are primary policy drivers for incorporating high-performance energy standards and sustainability practices in residential households, such as a market transformation of ZNE and nearly ZNE (nZNE) communities. This research investigates how load data impacts ZNE, to see if there is a correlation to the daily load variations in a single ZNE home. Case studies will include a ZNE community in California and a nearly ZNE community (All – Electric) in the Netherlands, which both are in measurement and verification (M&V) phases and connected to the grid for simulations of methods.

Keywords: zero net energy, distributed generation, renewable energy, zero net energy community

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Authors: Vaidehi Murarka, Sneha Mehta, Dishant Upadhyay

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Our project topic is “Alphabet Recognition using pixel probability distribution”. The project uses techniques of Image Processing and Machine Learning in Computer Vision. Alphabet recognition is the mechanical or electronic translation of scanned images of handwritten, typewritten or printed text into machine-encoded text. It is widely used to convert books and documents into electronic files etc. Alphabet Recognition based OCR application is sometimes used in signature recognition which is used in bank and other high security buildings. One of the popular mobile applications includes reading a visiting card and directly storing it to the contacts. OCR's are known to be used in radar systems for reading speeders license plates and lots of other things. The implementation of our project has been done using Visual Studio and Open CV (Open Source Computer Vision). Our algorithm is based on Neural Networks (machine learning). The project was implemented in three modules: (1) Training: This module aims “Database Generation”. Database was generated using two methods: (a) Run-time generation included database generation at compilation time using inbuilt fonts of OpenCV library. Human intervention is not necessary for generating this database. (b) Contour–detection: ‘jpeg’ template containing different fonts of an alphabet is converted to the weighted matrix using specialized functions (contour detection and blob detection) of OpenCV. The main advantage of this type of database generation is that the algorithm becomes self-learning and the final database requires little memory to be stored (119kb precisely). (2) Preprocessing: Input image is pre-processed using image processing concepts such as adaptive thresholding, binarizing, dilating etc. and is made ready for segmentation. “Segmentation” includes extraction of lines, words, and letters from the processed text image. (3) Testing and prediction: The extracted letters are classified and predicted using the neural networks algorithm. The algorithm recognizes an alphabet based on certain mathematical parameters calculated using the database and weight matrix of the segmented image.

Keywords: contour-detection, neural networks, pre-processing, recognition coefficient, runtime-template generation, segmentation, weight matrix

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Authors: Maali-Amel Mersel, Lajos Fodor, Otto Horvath

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Photocatalytic H₂ production by H₂S decomposition is regarded to be an environmentally friendly process to produce carbon-free energy through direct solar energy conversion. For this purpose, sulphide-based materials, as photocatalysts, were widely used due to their excellent solar spectrum responses and high photocatalytic activity. The loading of proper co-catalysts that are based on cheap and earth-abundant materials on those semiconductors was shown to play an important role in the improvement of their efficiency. In this research, CdS-ZnS composite was studied because of its controllable band gap and excellent performance for H₂ evolution under visible light irradiation. The effects of the modification of this photocatalyst with different types of materials and the influence of the preparation parameters on its H₂ production activity were investigated. The CdS-ZnS composite with an enhanced photocatalytic activity for H₂ production was synthesized from ammine complexes. Two types of modification were used: compounds of Ni-group metals (NiS, PdS, and Pt) were applied as co-catalyst on the surface of CdS-ZnS semiconductor, while NiS, MnS, CoS, Ag₂S, and CuS were used as a dopant in the bulk of the catalyst. It was found that 0.1% of noble metals didn’t remarkably influence the photocatalytic activity, while the modification with 0.5% of NiS was shown to be more efficient in the bulk than on the surface. The modification with other types of metals results in a decrease of the rate of H₂ production, while the co-doping seems to be more promising. The preparation parameters (such as the amount of ammonia to form the ammine complexes, the order of the preparation steps together with the hydrothermal treatment) were also found to highly influence the rate of H₂ production. SEM, EDS and DRS analyses were made to reveal the structure of the most efficient photocatalysts. Moreover, the detection of the conduction band electron on the surface of the catalyst was also investigated. The excellent photoactivity of the CdS-ZnS catalysts with and without modification encourages further investigations to enhance the hydrogen generation by optimization of the reaction conditions.

Keywords: H₂S, photoactivity, photocatalytic H₂ production, CdS-ZnS

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Authors: Danielle A. Walker, Kyle L. Johnson, Patrick J. Fox, Jacen S. Moore

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The HIV Continuum of Care has become a universal model to provide context for the process of HIV testing, linkage to care, treatment, and viral suppression. HIV testing is the first step in moving toward community viral suppression. Countries with a lower socioeconomic status experience the lowest rates of testing and access to care. The Democratic Republic of the Congo is located in the heart of sub-Saharan Africa, where testing and access to care are low and women experience higher HIV prevalence compared to men. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo there is only a 21.6% HIV testing rate among women. Because a critical gap exists between a woman’s risk of contracting HIV and the decision to be tested, this study was conducted to obtain a better understanding of the relationship between factors that could influence HIV testing among women. The datasets analyzed were from the 2013-14 Democratic Republic of the Congo Demographic and Health Survey Program. The data was subset for women with an age range of 18-49 years. All missing cases were removed and one variable was recoded. The total sample size analyzed was 14,982 women. The results showed that there did not seem to be a difference in HIV testing by mean age. Out of 11 religious categories (Catholic, Protestant, Armee de salut, Kimbanguiste, Other Christians, Muslim, Bundu dia kongo, Vuvamu, Animist, no religion, and other), those who identified as Other Christians had the highest testing rate of 25.9% and those identified as Vuvamu had a 0% testing rate (p<0.001). There was a significant difference in testing by religion. Only 0.7% of women surveyed identified as having no religious affiliation. This suggests partnerships with key community and religious leaders could be a tool to increase testing. Over 60% of women who had never been tested for HIV did not know where to be tested. This highlights the need to educate communities on where testing facilities can be located. Almost 80% of women who believed HIV could be transmitted by supernatural means and/or witchcraft had never been tested before (p=0.08). Cultural beliefs could influence risk perception and testing decisions. Consequently, misconceptions need to be considered when implementing HIV testing and prevention programs. Location by province, years of education, and wealth index were also analyzed to control for socioeconomic status. Kinshasa had the highest testing rate of 54.2% of women living there, and both Equateur and Kasai-Occidental had less than a 10% testing rate (p<0.001). As the education level increased up to 12 years, testing increased (p<0.001). Women within the highest quintile of the wealth index had a 56.1% testing rate, and women within the lowest quintile had a 6.5% testing rate (p<0.001). This study concludes that further research is needed to identify culturally competent methods to increase HIV education programs, build partnerships with key community leaders, and improve knowledge on access to care.

Keywords: Democratic Republic of the Congo, cultural beliefs, education, HIV testing

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Authors: Daniel Icaza, Federico Córdova, Chiristian Castro, Fernando Icaza, Juan Portoviejo

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In this article, the mathematical model is presented, and simulations were carried out using specialized software such as MATLAB before the construction of a 900-W wind turbine. The present study was conducted with the intention of taking advantage of the rotation of the blades of the wind generator after going through a process of amplification of speed by means of a system of gears to finally mechanically couple two electric generators of similar characteristics. This coupling allows generating a maximum voltage of 6 V in DC for each generator and putting in series the 12 V DC is achieved, which is later stored in batteries and used when the user requires it. Laboratory tests were made to verify the level of power generation produced based on the wind speed at the entrance of the blades.

Keywords: smart grids, wind turbine, modeling, renewable energy, robust control

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Authors: Robi Lou Logarta, Meliz Ann Marilag, Kristyl Lee Nisnisan, Felipe Lula Jr.

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Nowadays, alcohol is consumed widely around the globe for plenty of reasons. College years are the time that the students really decide if whether they will or will not engage into alcohol, although alcohol drinking begins before students arrive at college. The reasons on why college students consume alcohol vary in many categories. The norms on alcohol drinking are addiction, emotional pain reliever, popularity purposes, socialization, and a medium of euphoria for most students; college students in particular are most likely to feel this need. After tons of requirements to be complied and courses to be reviewed, they felt a need for celebration and relaxation which ends up in drinking with college mates and a few old friends. A lot of reasons consist the consumption of alcohol and this research determined the reasons behind the students’ onset for alcohol consumption; the main reason for such action and the experiences they encountered after in-take, furthermore, the correlation of alcohol drinking to the average allowance of the involved participants; Mindanao State University-Iligan Institute of Technology Students whether it affects their spending towards alcohol or not. This study assumes that alcohol drinking for MSU-IIT students’ is done to relieve emotional pain caused by flunking in particular subjects as well as dealing with romance, as part of the student body, these acts are noticeable enough which made this hypothesis be formulated. Selected MSU-IIT students were asked about their opinions regarding reasons of alcohol consumption. There were 100 respondents consisting of first year to fifth-year students aging 17-23 years old. Choices were given to the students to mark their most favorable reason for drinking that is adult influence, curiosity, family/personal problems, peer pressure, stress. Using the bar and pie chart illustrations, the collected data was then analyzed and among the given choices, the result has invalidated the hypothesis. The outcome shows that curiosity is the topmost reason why students start to drink and not due to emotional pain. With this, another hypothesis is formulated stating that millennial is a curious generation; this generation has changed the norm of drinking. One of the characteristics of the Y generation is being adventurous which correlates to how they get curious about things and the same goes for alcohol consumption, compared to the latter, this generation can be considered early drinkers in this manner. Therefore, it is concluded that MSU-IIT students which are part of the generation Y are adventurous enough to try unfamiliar beverages to satisfy their curious minds.

Keywords: adult influence, curiosity, family/personal problems, peer pressure, stress

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Authors: Subhro Sarkar, Umesh Mishra

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Agartala Municipal Council (AMC) is the municipal body which regulates and governs the Agartala city. MSW management may be proclaimed as a tool which rests on the principles of public health, economy, engineering and other aesthetic or environmental factors by dealing with the controlled generation, collection, transport, processing and disposal of MSW. Around 220-250 MT of solid waste per day is collected by AMC out of which 12-14 MT is plastic and is disposed of in Devendra Chandra Nagar dumping ground (33 acres), nearly 12-15 km from the city. A survey was performed to list down the prevailing operations conducted by the AMC which includes road sweeping, garbage lifting, carcass removal, biomedical waste collection, dumping, and incineration. Different types of vehicles are engaged to carry out these operations. Door to door collection of garbage is done from the houses with the help of 220 tricycles issued by 53 NGOs. The location of the dustbin containers were earmarked which consisted of 4.5 cum, 0.6 cum containers and 0.1 cum containers, placed at various locations within the city. The total household waste was categorized as organic, recyclable and other wastes. It was found that East Pratapgarh ward produced 99.3% organic waste out of the total MSW generated in that ward which is maximum among all the wards. A comparison of the waste generation versus the family size has been made. A questionnaire for the survey of MSW from household and market place was prepared. The average waste generated (in kg) per person per day was found out for each of the wards. It has been noted that East Jogendranagar ward had a maximum per person per day waste generation of 0.493 kg/day.In view of the studies made, it has been found that AMC has failed to implement MSWM in an effective way because of the unavailability of suitable facilities for treatment and disposal of the large amount of MSW. It has also been noted that AMC is not following the standard procedures of handling MSW. Transportation system has also been found less effective leading to waste of time, money and manpower.

Keywords: MSW, waste generation, solid waste disposal, management

Procedia PDF Downloads 317

Authors: M. Habab, C. Benachaiba, B. Mazari, H. Madi, C. Benoudjafer

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The use of Distributed Generation (DG) has been increasing in recent years to fill the gap between energy supply and demand. This paper presents the grid connected wind energy system with UPQC based on fuzzy controller to compensate for voltage and current disturbances. The proposed system can improve power quality at the point of installation on power distribution systems. Simulation results show the capability of the DG-UPQC intelligent system to compensate sags voltage and current harmonics at the Point of Common Coupling (PCC).

Keywords: shunt active filter, series active filter, UPQC, power quality, sags voltage, distributed generation, wind turbine

Procedia PDF Downloads 407