Search results for: knowledge management system

Authors: Juzhong Tan, William Kerr

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Roasting is one critical procedure in chocolate processing, where special favors are developed, moisture content is decreased, and better processing properties are developed. Therefore, determination of roasting degree of cocoa bean is important for chocolate manufacturers to ensure the quality of chocolate products, and it also decides the commercial value of cocoa beans collected from cocoa farmers. The roasting degree of cocoa beans currently relies on human specialists, who sometimes are biased, and chemical analysis, which take long time and are inaccessible to many manufacturers and farmers. In this study, a self-made electronic nose system consists of gas sensors (TGS 800 and 2000 series) was used to detecting the gas generated by cocoa beans with a different roasting degree (0min, 20min, 30min, and 40min) and the signals collected by gas sensors were used to train a three-layers ANN. Chemical analysis of the graded beans was operated by traditional GC-MS system and the contents of volatile chemical compounds were used to train another ANN as a reference to electronic nosed signals trained ANN. Both trained ANN were used to predict cocoa beans with a different roasting degree for validation. The best accuracy of grading achieved by electronic nose signals trained ANN (using signals from TGS 813 826 820 880 830 2620 2602 2610) turned out to be 96.7%, however, the GC trained ANN got the accuracy of 83.8%.

Keywords: artificial neutron network, cocoa bean, electronic nose, roasting

Procedia PDF Downloads 215

Authors: Shweta Pinjarkar, Shrutika Yawale, Mayuri Patil, Reshma Adagale

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Face recognition is the technique which can be applied to the wide variety of problems like image and film processing, human computer interaction, criminal identification etc. This has motivated researchers to develop computational models to identify the faces, which are easy and simple to implement. In this, demonstrates the face recognition system in android device using eigenface. The system can be used as the base for the development of the recognition of human identity. Test images and training images are taken directly with the camera in android device.The test results showed that the system produces high accuracy. The goal is to implement model for particular face and distinguish it with large number of stored faces. face recognition system detects the faces in picture taken by web camera or digital camera and these images then checked with training images dataset based on descriptive features. Further this algorithm can be extended to recognize the facial expressions of a person.recognition could be carried out under widely varying conditions like frontal view,scaled frontal view subjects with spectacles. The algorithm models the real time varying lightning conditions. The implemented system is able to perform real-time face detection, face recognition and can give feedback giving a window with the subject's info from database and sending an e-mail notification to interested institutions using android application. Face recognition is the technique which can be applied to the wide variety of problems like image and film processing, human computer interaction, criminal identification etc. This has motivated researchers to develop computational models to identify the faces, which are easy and simple to implement. In this , demonstrates the face recognition system in android device using eigenface. The system can be used as the base for the development of the recognition of human identity. Test images and training images are taken directly with the camera in android device.The test results showed that the system produces high accuracy. The goal is to implement model for particular face and distinguish it with large number of stored faces. face recognition system detects the faces in picture taken by web camera or digital camera and these images then checked with training images dataset based on descriptive features. Further this algorithm can be extended to recognize the facial expressions of a person.recognition could be carried out under widely varying conditions like frontal view,scaled frontal view subjects with spectacles. The algorithm models the real time varying lightning conditions. The implemented system is able to perform real-time face detection, face recognition and can give feedback giving a window with the subject's info from database and sending an e-mail notification to interested institutions using android application.

Keywords: face detection, face recognition, eigen faces, algorithm

Procedia PDF Downloads 343

Authors: You-Kai Jhang, Yang-Cheng Lu

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Major contributions of this study are threefold: designing a new model of planar-membrane humidifier for Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC), an index to measure the Effectiveness (εT) of that humidifier, and an air compressor system to replicate related planar-membrane humidifier experiments. PEMFC as a kind of renewable energy has become more and more important in recent years due to its reliability and durability. To maintain the efficiency of the fuel cell, the membrane of PEMFC need to be controlled in a good hydration condition. How to maintain proper membrane humidity is one of the key issues to optimize PEMFC. We developed new humidifier to recycle water vapor from cathode air outlet so as to keep the moisture content of cathode air inlet in a PEMFC. By measuring parameters such as dry side air outlet dew point temperature, dry side air inlet temperature and humidity, wet side air inlet temperature and humidity, and differential pressure between dry side and wet side, we calculated indices obtained by dew point approach temperature (DPAT), water flux (J), water recovery ratio (WRR), effectiveness (εT), and differential pressure (ΔP). We discussed six topics including sealing effect, flow rate effect, flow direction effect, channel effect, temperature effect, and humidity effect by using these indices. Gas cylinders are used as sources of air supply in many studies of humidifiers. Gas cylinder depletes quickly during experiment at 1kW air flow rate, and it causes replication difficult. In order to ensure high stable air quality and better replication of experimental data, this study designs an air supply system to overcome this difficulty. The experimental result shows that the best rate of pressure loss of humidifier is 0.133×10³ Pa(g)/min at the torque of 25 (N.m). The best humidifier performance ranges from 30-40 (LPM) of air flow rates. The counter flow configured humidifies moisturizes the dry side inlet air more effectively than the parallel flow humidifier. From the performance measurements of the channel plates various rib widths studied in this study, it is found that the narrower the rib width is, the more the performance of humidifier improves. Raising channel width in same hydraulic diameter (Dh ) will obtain higher εT and lower ΔP. Moreover, increasing the dry side air inlet temperature or humidity will lead to lower εT. In addition, when the dry side air inlet temperature exceeds 50°C, the effect becomes even more obvious.

Keywords: PEM fuel cell, water management, membrane humidifier, heat and mass transfer, humidifier performance

Procedia PDF Downloads 156

Authors: Ying Chen

Abstract:

Conservation Agriculture in a sustainable way of farming, as it brings many benefits, such as preventing soil from erosion and degradation, improving soil health, conserving energy, and sequestrating carbon. However, adoption of conservation agriculture has been progressing slowly in some part of the world due to some challenges. Among them, seeding in heavy crop residue is challenging, especially in corn production systems. Weed control is also challenging in conservation agriculture. This research aimed to investigate some technologies that can address these challenges. For crop residue management, vertical tillage and vertical seeding have been studied in multiple research projects. Results showed that vertical tillage and seeding were able to deal with crop residue through cutting residue into small segments, which would not plug seeder in the sub-sequent seeding. Vertical tillage is a conservation tillage system, as it leaves more than 30% crop residue on soil surface while incorporating some residue into the shallow soil layer for fast residue decomposition. For weed control, mechanical weeding can reduce chemical inputs in crop production. A tine weeder was studied for weed control during the early growing season of several field crops (corn, soybean, flax, and pea). Detail results of these studies will be shared at the conference.

Keywords: tillage, seeding, mechanical weeding, crop residue

Procedia PDF Downloads 59

Authors: A. D. Parekh

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The present work describes relative contributions of operating parameters on required heat transfer area of three heat exchangers viz. evaporator, condenser and cascade condenser of two stage R404A-R508B cascade refrigeration system using Taguchi method. The operating parameters considered in present study includes (1) condensing temperature of high temperature cycle and low temperature cycle (2) evaporating temperature of low temperature cycle (3) degree of superheating in low temperature cycle (4) refrigerating effect. Heat transfer areas of three heat exchangers are studied with variation of above operating parameters and also optimum working levels of each operating parameter has been obtained for minimum heat transfer area of each heat exchanger using Taguchi method. The analysis using Taguchi method reveals that evaporating temperature of low temperature cycle and refrigerating effect contribute relatively largely on the area of evaporator. Condenser area is mainly influenced by both condensing temperature of high temperature cycle and refrigerating effect. Area of cascade condenser is mainly affected by refrigerating effect and the effects of other operating parameters are minimal.

Keywords: cascade refrigeration system, Taguchi method, heat transfer area, ANOVA, optimal solution

Procedia PDF Downloads 319

Authors: M. Attavanich, H. Kobayashi

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Moklen is a sub-group of ethnic minority in Thailand. In the past, they were vagabonds of the sea. Their livelihood relied on the sea but they built temporary shelters to avoid strong wind and waves during monsoon season. Recently, they have permanently settled on land along coastal area and mangrove forest in Phang Nga and Phuket Province, Southern Thailand. Moklen people have their own housing culture: the Moklen ethnic house was built from local natural materials, indicating a unique structure and design. Its wooden structure is joined by rattan ropes. The construction process is very unique because of using body-based unit of measurement for design and construction. However, there are several threats for those unique structures. One of the most important threats on Moklen ethnic house is tsunami. Especially the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami caused widely damage to Southern Thailand and Phang Nga province was the most affected area. In that time, Moklen villages which are located along the coastal area also affected calamitously. In order to recover the damage in affected villages, mostly new modern style houses were provided by aid agencies. This process has caused a significant impact on Moklen housing culture. Not only tsunami, but also modernization has an influence on the changing appearance of the Moklen houses and the effect of modernization has been started to experience before the tsunami. As a result, local construction knowledge is very limited nowadays because the number of elderly people in Moklen has been decreasing drastically. Last but not the least, restrictions of construction materials which are originally provided from accessible mangroves, create limitations in building a Moklen house. In particular, after the Reserved Forest Act, wood chopping without any permission has become illegal. These are some of the most important reasons for Moklen ethnic houses to disappear. Nevertheless, according to the results of field surveys done in 2013 in Phang Nga province, it is found out that some Moklen ethnic houses are still available in Tubpla Village, but only a few. Next survey in the same area in 2014 showed that number of Moklen houses in the village has been started to increase significantly. That proves that there is a high potential to conserve Moklen houses. Also the project of our research team in February 2014 contributed to continuation of Moklen ethnic house. With the cooperation of the village leader and our team, it was aimed to construct a Moklen house with the help of local participants. For the project, villagers revealed the building knowledge and techniques, and in the end, project helped community to understand the value of their houses. Also, it was a good opportunity for Moklen children to learn about their culture. In addition, NGOs recently have started to support ecotourism projects in the village. It not only helps to preserve a way of life, but also contributes to preserve indigenous knowledge and techniques of Moklen ethnic house. This kind of supporting activities are important for the conservation of Moklen ethnic houses.

Keywords: conservation, construction project, Moklen Ethnic House, 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami

Procedia PDF Downloads 296

Authors: Sang-Keun Moon, Hong-Rok Lim, Jin-O Kim

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This paper presents a Power Quality (PQ) modeling and filtering processes for the distribution system disturbances using recognition learning methods. Typical PQ waveforms with mathematical applications and gathered field data are applied to the proposed models. The objective of this paper is analyzing PQ data with respect to monitoring, discriminating, and evaluating the waveform of power disturbances to ensure the system preventative system failure protections and complex system problem estimations. Examined signal filtering techniques are used for the field waveform noises and feature extractions. Using extraction and learning classification techniques, the efficiency was verified for the recognition of the PQ disturbances with focusing on interactive modeling methods in this paper. The waveform of selected 8 disturbances is modeled with randomized parameters of IEEE 1159 PQ ranges. The range, parameters, and weights are updated regarding field waveform obtained. Along with voltages, currents have same process to obtain the waveform features as the voltage apart from some of ratings and filters. Changing loads are causing the distortion in the voltage waveform due to the drawing of the different patterns of current variation. In the conclusion, PQ disturbances in the voltage and current waveforms indicate different types of patterns of variations and disturbance, and a modified technique based on the symmetrical components in time domain was proposed in this paper for the PQ disturbances detection and then classification. Our method is based on the fact that obtained waveforms from suggested trigger conditions contain potential information for abnormality detections. The extracted features are sequentially applied to estimation and recognition learning modules for further studies.

Keywords: power quality recognition, PQ modeling, waveform feature extraction, disturbance trigger condition, PQ signal filtering

Procedia PDF Downloads 172

Authors: Muhammad Ali Tariq

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Grid-connected PV systems have drawn tremendous attention of researchers in the past recent years. The report elucidates the development of efficient and stable solar PV energy conversion systems after thorough analysis at various facets like PV module characteristics, its arrangement, power electronics and MPPT topologies, the stability of the grid, and economic viability over its lifetime. This report and feasibility study will try to bring all optimizing approaches and design calculations which are required for generating energy from BIPV and roof-mounted solar PV in a convenient, sustainable, and user-friendly way.

Keywords: building integrated photovoltaic system, grid integration, solar resource assessment, return on investment, multi MPPT-inverter, levelised cost of electricity

Procedia PDF Downloads 120

Authors: Claude Tadonki

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We address the issues related to the computation of the covariance matrix. This matrix is likely to be ill conditioned following its canonical expression, thus consequently raises serious numerical issues. The underlying linear system, which therefore should be solved by means of iterative approaches, becomes computationally challenging. A huge number of iterations is expected in order to reach an acceptable level of convergence, necessary to meet the required accuracy of the computation. In addition, this linear system needs to be solved at each iteration following the general form of the covariance matrix. Putting all together, its comes that we need to compute as fast as possible the associated matrix-vector product. This is our purpose in the work, where we consider and discuss skillful formulations of the problem, then propose a parallel implementation of the matrix-vector product involved. Numerical and performance oriented discussions are provided based on experimental evaluations.

Keywords: covariance-matrix, multicore, numerical computing, parallel computing

Procedia PDF Downloads 299

Authors: M. A. Suazlina, H. Azhan, S. A. Syamsyir, S. Y. S. Yusainee

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Fe2O3 was doped to Bi-2223 superconductor prepared in bulk form using high purity oxide powders via solid state reaction technique with intermediate grinding. A stiochiometric of x=0.00, 0.02, 0.04, 0.06, 0.08 and 0.10 Fe are systematically added to the well balanced Bi1.6Pb0.4Sr2Ca2Cu3-xFexOy in order to trace the effect of Fe doping to the system. Microstructure, resistive transitions, phase volume, and cell parameters were hence investigated. Substitution of Fe is found to slowly decrease the Bi-2223 phase volume and the resistive transitions for x=0.00 – 0.10 samples whereas accelerated formation of the Bi-2212 phase is detected for further substitutions. Changes in superconducting properties of Fe-doping Bi-2223 system were discussed and the findings were further compared with available literature.

Keywords: BSCCO, critical temperature, critical current density, XRD, flux pinning

Procedia PDF Downloads 380

Authors: Handie Pramana Putra, Ani Dijah Rahajoe

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The proliferation of smart devices and advancements in mobile communication technologies have permeated various facets of life with the widespread influence of e-commerce. Detecting abnormal transactions holds paramount significance in this realm due to the potential for substantial financial losses. Moreover, the fusion of data flow and control flow assumes a critical role in the exploration of process modeling and data analysis, contributing significantly to the accuracy and security of business processes. This paper introduces an alternative approach to identify abnormal transactions through a model that integrates both data and control flows. Referred to as the Extended Data Petri net (DPNE), our model encapsulates the entire process, encompassing user login to the e-commerce platform and concluding with the payment stage, including the mobile transaction process. We scrutinize the model's structure, formulate an algorithm for detecting anomalies in pertinent data, and elucidate the rationale and efficacy of the comprehensive system model. A case study validates the responsive performance of each system component, demonstrating the system's adeptness in evaluating every activity within mobile transactions. Ultimately, the results of anomaly detection are derived through a thorough and comprehensive analysis.

Keywords: database, data analysis, DPNE, extended data flow, e-commerce

Procedia PDF Downloads 39

Authors: Hyojung Shin, Munhee Kweon

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Non-suicide Self Injuri (NSSI) can be defined as the act of an individual who does not intend to die directly and intentionally damaging his or her body tissues. According to a study conducted by the Korean Ministry of Education in 2018, the NSSI is widely spreading among teenagers, with 7.9 percent of all middle school students and 6.4 percent of high school students reporting experience in NSSI. As such, it is understood that the first time of the NSSI is in adolescence. However, the NSSI may not start and stop at a certain time, but may last longer. However, despite the widespread prevalence of NSSI among teenagers, little is known about the process and maintenance of NSSI college students on a continuous development basis. Korea's NSSI research trends are mainly focused on individual internal vulnerabilities (high levels of painful emotions/awareness, lack of pain tolerance) and interpersonal vulnerabilities (poor communication skills and social problem solving), and little studies have been done on individuals' unique characteristics and environmental factors such as substrate or environmental vulnerability factors. In particular, environmental factors are associated with the occurrence of NSSI by acting as a vulnerability factor that can interfere with the emotional control of individuals, whereas individual factors play a more direct role by contributing to the maintenance of NSSI, so it is more important to consider this for personal environmental involvement in NSSI. This study focused on the Fight-Flight-Freeze System as a factor in the defensive avoidance system of Reward Sensitivity in individual factors. Also, Environmental factors include the level of expressed emotion in family. Wedig and Nock (2007) said that if parents with a self-critical cognitive style take the form of criticizing their children, the experience of NSSI increases. The high level of parental criticism is related to the increasing frequency of NSSI acts as well as to serious levels of NSSI. If the normal coping mechanism fails to control emotions, people want to overcome emotional difficulties even through NSSI, and emotional disturbances experienced by individuals within an unsupported social relationship increase vulnerability to NSSI. Based on these theories, this study is to find ways to prevent NSSI and intervene in counseling effectively by verifying the differences between the characteristics experienced NSSI persons and non-experienced NSSI persons. Therefore, the purpose of this research was to examine the relationship of Fight-Flight-Freeze System (FFFS), level of expressed emotion in family and emotion regulation difficulties, comparing those who experienced Non-Suicidal Self-Injury (NSSI) with those who did not experienced Non-Suicidal Self-Injury (NSSI). The data were collected from university students in Seoul Korea and Gyeonggi-do province. 99 subjects were experienced student of NSSI, while 375 were non- experienced student of NSSI. The results of this study are as follows. First, the result of t-test indicated that NSSI attempters showed a significant difference in fight-flight-freeze system, level of expressed emotion and emotion regulation difficulties, compared with non-attempters. Second, fight-flight-freeze system, level of expressed emotion in family and emotion regulation difficulties of NSSI attempters showed a significant difference in correlation. The correlation was significant only freeze system of fight-flight-freeze system, Level of expressed emotion in family and emotion regulation difficulties. Third, freeze system and level of expressed emotion in family predicted emotion regulation difficulties of NSSI attempters. Fight-freeze system and level of expressed emotion in family predicted emotion regulation difficulties of non-NSSI attempters. Lastly, Practical implications for counselors and limitations of this study are discussed.

Keywords: fight-flight-freeze system, level of expressed emotion in family, emotion regulation difficulty, non-suicidal self injury

Procedia PDF Downloads 100

Authors: Patrick David Chirilele

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There are growing interests in improving service delivery in the healthcare sector through the adoption of emerging digital technologies, including the Vocera B3000n communication system badge. As a result, understanding the factors that impact the adoption of such digital technologies is becoming important. This study investigates the determinants of task-technology fit through the adoption of Vocera B3000n communication system badge in healthcare sector in South Africa. Statistical analyses are performed on the data collected from 143 healthcare workers including registered nurses and personal care workers at three hospitals in South Africa through survey to test the relationship between task characteristics, technology characteristics and user characteristics for better understanding the task-technology fit and the adoption of Vocera communication systems in South African hospitals. The result reveals that all three factors have a significant impact on task-technology fit through the adoption of Vocera B3000n communication system badge. Such findings are useful for healthcare sector in their adoption of digital technologies for improving service delivery through effective communication in their workplace.

Keywords: adoption, communication systems, task-technology fit, user characteristics, Vocera

Procedia PDF Downloads 127

Authors: Faruk Aras, Melih Inal, Tansel Cinar

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The coordination of airport staff especially in the operations and maintenance departments is important for the airport operation. As a result, this coordination will increase the efficiency in all operation. Therefore, a Collaborative Decision-Making (CDM) system targets on improving the overall productivity of all operations by optimizing the use of resources and improving the predictability of actions. Enlarged productivity can be of major benefit for all airport operations. It also increases cost-efficiency. This study explains how predictive maintenance using IoT (Internet of Things), predictive operations and the statistical data such as Mean Time To Failure (MTTF) improves airport terminal operations and utilize airport terminal equipment in collaboration with collaborative decision making system/Airport Operation Control Center (AOCC). Data generated by the predictive maintenance methods is retrieved and analyzed by maintenance managers to predict when a problem is about to occur. With that information, maintenance can be scheduled when needed. As an example, AOCC operator would have chance to assign a new gate that towards to this gate all the equipment such as travellator, elevator, escalator etc. are operational if the maintenance team is in collaboration with AOCC since maintenance team is aware of the health of the equipment because of predictive maintenance methods. Applying predictive maintenance methods based on analyzing the health of airport terminal equipment dramatically reduces the risk of downtime by on time repairs. We can classify the categories as high priority calls for urgent repair action, as medium priority requires repair at the earliest opportunity, and low priority allows maintenance to be scheduled when convenient. In all cases, identifying potential problems early resulted in better allocation airport terminal resources by AOCC.

Keywords: airport, predictive maintenance, collaborative decision-making system, Airport Operation Control Center (AOCC)

Procedia PDF Downloads 348

Authors: Seiied Taghi Seiied Safavian, Ebrahim Fataei, Taghi Ebadi

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Urbanized population increasing has been a major driving force for physical development and expansion. In this regard, selecting optimal management strategies for sustainable development of cities as the most important population centers has gotten more attention by the city managers. One of the most important issues in planning a sustainable development is environmental sustainability. In this research, identifying the optimal physical development strategies of Ardabil city in the future condition have been investigated based on land-use planning principles and regularities. Determination of suitable lands of urban development was conducted through natural variables comprised of slope, topography, geology, distance from fault, underground water's depth, land-use strategies and earth shape using hierarchical process method (AHP) in Geographical information system (GIS). Region's potential capabilities and talents were estimated by environmental elements extraction and its measurement based on environmental criteria. Consequently, specified suitable areas for Ardabil city development were introduced. Results of this research showed that the northern part of the Ardabil city is the most suitable sites for physical development of this city regarding the environmental sustainability criteria.

Keywords: urban development, environmental sustainability, Ardabil city, AHP, GIS

Procedia PDF Downloads 418

Authors: Ming-Yeh Lu, Shiao-Shing Chen, Saikat Sinha Ray, Hung-Te Hsu

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The submerged anaerobic osmotic membrane bioreactor (AnOMBR) integrated with periodic microfiltration (MF) extraction for simultaneous phosphorus and clean water recovery from wastewater was evaluated. A laboratory-scale AnOMBR used cellulose triacetate (CTA) membranes with effective membrane area of 130 cm² was fully submerged into a 5 L bioreactor at 30-35 ℃. Active layer was orientated to feed stream for minimizing membrane fouling and scaling. Additionally, a peristaltic pump was used to circulate magnesium sulphate (MgSO₄) solution applied as draw solution (DS). Microfiltration membrane periodically extracted about 1 L solution when the TDS reaches to 5 g/L to recover phosphorus and simultaneously control the salt accumulation in the bioreactor. During experiment progress, the average water flux was around 1.6 LMH. The AnOMBR process showed greater than 95% removal of soluble chemical oxygen demand (sCOD), nearly 100% of total phosphorous whereas only partial of ammonia was removed. On the other hand, the average methane production of 0.22 L/g sCOD was obtained. Subsequently, the overall performance demonstrates that a novel submerged AnOMBR system is potential for simultaneous wastewater treatment and resource recovery from wastewater. Therefore, the new concept of this system can be used to replace for the conventional AnMBR in the future.

Keywords: anaerobic treatment, forward osmosis, phosphorus recovery, membrane bioreactor

Procedia PDF Downloads 218

Authors: Nicolaas Unland, John Webb

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The acidification and mobilisation of metals during the oxidation of acid sulfate soils exposed during lake bed drying is an increasingly common phenomenon under climate scenarios with reduced rainfall. In order to assess the risk of generating high concentrations of acidity and dissolved metals, chromium suite analysis are fundamental, but sometimes limited in characterising the potential risks they pose. This study combines such fundamental test work, along with incubation tests and 1D modelling to investigate the risks associated with the drying of Third Reedy Lake in South East Australia. Core samples were collected from a variable depth of 0.5 m below the lake bed, at 19 locations across the lake’s footprint, using a boat platform. Samples were subjected to a chromium suite of analysis, including titratable actual acidity, chromium reducible sulfur and acid neutralising capacity. Concentrations of reduced sulfur up to 0.08 %S and net acidities up to 0.15 %S indicate that acid sulfate soils have formed on the lake bed during permanent inundation over the last century. A further sub-set of samples were prepared in 7 columns and subject to accelerated heating, drying and wetting over a period of 64 days in laboratory. Results from the incubation trial indicate that while pyrite oxidation proceeded, minimal change to soil pH or the acidity of leachate occurred, suggesting that the internal buffering capacity of lake bed sediments was sufficient to neutralise a large proportion of the acidity produced. A 1D mass balance model was developed to assess potential changes in lake water quality during drying based on the results of chromium suite and incubation tests. Results from the above test work and modelling suggest that acid sulfate soils pose a moderate to low risk to the Third Reedy Lake system. Further, the risks can be effectively managed during the initial stages of lake drying via flushing with available mildly alkaline water. The study finds that while test work such as chromium suite analysis are fundamental in characterizing acid sulfate soil environments, they can the overestimate risks associated with the soils. Subsequent incubation test work may more accurately characterise such soils and lead to better-informed management strategies.

Keywords: acid sulfate soil, incubation, management, model, risk

Procedia PDF Downloads 349

Authors: Abdullah Bal, Sevdenur Bal

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This paper purposes a new type of hardware application for training of cellular neural networks (CNN) using optical joint transform correlation (JTC) architecture for image feature extraction. CNNs require much more computation during the training stage compare to test process. Since optoelectronic hardware applications offer possibility of parallel high speed processing capability for 2D data processing applications, CNN training algorithm can be realized using Fourier optics technique. JTC employs lens and CCD cameras with laser beam that realize 2D matrix multiplication and summation in the light speed. Therefore, in the each iteration of training, JTC carries more computation burden inherently and the rest of mathematical computation realized digitally. The bipolar data is encoded by phase and summation of correlation operations is realized using multi-object input joint images. Overlapping properties of JTC are then utilized for summation of two cross-correlations which provide less computation possibility for training stage. Phase-only JTC does not require data rearrangement, electronic pre-calculation and strict system alignment. The proposed system can be incorporated simultaneously with various optical image processing or optical pattern recognition techniques just in the same optical system.

Keywords: CNN training, image processing, joint transform correlation, optoelectronic hardware

Procedia PDF Downloads 494

Authors: Elmo Thiago Lins Cöuras Ford, Valentina Alessandra Carvalho do Vale, Rubens Maribondo do Nascimento, José Ubiragi de Lima Mendes

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Given the unquestionable need of environmental preservation of discarded industrial residues, The scrape of tires have been seen as a salutary alternative for addictive in concrete, asphalt production and of other composites materials. In this work, grew a composite the base of scrape of tire as reinforcement and latex as matrix, to be used as insulating thermal in "cold" systems (0º). Analyzed the acting of the material was what plays the thermal conservation when submitted the flow of heat. Verified the temperature profiles in the internal surfaces and it expresses of the composite as well as the temperature gradient in the same. As a consequence, in function of the answers of the system, conclusions were reached.

Keywords: cold system, latex, flow of heat, asphalt production

Procedia PDF Downloads 453

Authors: A. D. Parekh

Abstract:

The present work describes relative contributions of operating parameters on required heat transfer area of three heat exchangers viz. evaporator, condenser and cascade condenser of two stage R404A-R508B cascade refrigeration system using Taguchi method. The operating parameters considered in present study includes (1) condensing temperature of high temperature cycle and low temperature cycle (2) evaporating temperature of low temperature cycle (3) degree of superheating in low temperature cycle (4) refrigerating effect. Heat transfer areas of three heat exchangers are studied with variation of above operating parameters and also optimum working levels of each operating parameter has been obtained for minimum heat transfer area of each heat exchanger using Taguchi method. The analysis using Taguchi method reveals that evaporating temperature of low temperature cycle and refrigerating effect contribute relatively largely on the area of evaporator. Condenser area is mainly influenced by both condensing temperature of high temperature cycle and refrigerating effect. Area of cascade condenser is mainly affected by refrigerating effect and the effects of other operating parameters are minimal.

Keywords: cascade refrigeration system, Taguchi method, heat transfer area, ANOVA, optimal solution

Procedia PDF Downloads 369

Authors: Rosa L. Figueroa, Joselyn A. Hernández

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During the last couple of years, the Ministry of Health have been developing new health policies in order to regulate and improve in benefit of the patient the pharmaceutical system in our country. However, there are still some deficiencies in how medicines have been accessed, distributed, and sold. Therefore, it is necessary to empower the patient by offering new instances to improve access to drug information. This work introduces ‘the bioequivalent’ a medical drug search tool created to increase both diffusion and getting information about the therapeutic equivalence of medicines for the patient. The development of the search tool started with a study on the availability of sources of drug information accessible to the patient where advantages and disadvantages were analyzed. The information obtained was used to feed the functional design of the new tool. The design of the new tool shows an external interface that includes a header, body, sidebar and footer. The header has a menu containing ‘Home,’ ‘Who we are,’ and ‘Mission and vision.’ The Body contains the medical drug search tool, and the Sidebar is for the user logging in. It could be anonym, registered user, as well as, administrator. Anonym user could only use the tool. Registered users could add some information on existing medicines in the database; however, adding information will be restricted and limited to specific items and subject to administrator approval because the information added must be endorsed by the Chilean Public Health Institute. On the other hand, the administrator will have all the privileges, including creating or deleting drugs or information about them. The Bioequivalent was tested on different mobile devices, and no fails have been found. Moreover, a small survey was answered by ten people who tested the tool, and all of them agree that the tool was useful to get information about bioequivalent drugs, and they would recommend the tool to others. Nevertheless, an 80% of people who tested the tool says it was easy to use, and a 70% indicates that additional help is not required. These results are evidence that ‘the Bioequivalent’ may contribute to the knowledge about the therapeutic bioequivalence and bioequivalent drugs existing in Chile. As future work, the tool will be developed to make it available to the public for a first testing stage in a more massive scenario.

Keywords: collaborative database, bioequivalent drugs, search tool, web platform

Procedia PDF Downloads 218

Authors: Joel A. Gordon, Nazmiye Balta-Ozkan, Seyed Ali Nabavi

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Hydrogen-fueled technologies are rapidly advancing as a critical component of the low-carbon energy transition. In countries historically reliant on natural gas for home heating, such as the UK, hydrogen may prove fundamental for decarbonizing the residential sector, alongside other technologies such as heat pumps and district heat networks. While the UK government is set to take a long-term policy decision on the role of domestic hydrogen by 2026, there are considerable uncertainties regarding consumer preferences for ‘hydrogen homes’ (i.e., hydrogen-fueled appliances for space heating, hot water, and cooking. In comparison to other hydrogen energy technologies, such as road transport applications, to date, few studies have engaged with the social acceptance aspects of the domestic hydrogen transition, resulting in a stark knowledge deficit and pronounced risk to policymaking efforts. In response, this study aims to safeguard against undesirable policy measures by revealing the underlying relationships between the factors of domestic hydrogen acceptance and their respective dimensions: attitudinal, socio-political, community, market, and behavioral acceptance. The study employs an online survey (n=~2100) to gauge how different UK householders perceive the proposition of switching from natural gas to hydrogen-fueled appliances. In addition to accounting for housing characteristics (i.e., housing tenure, property type and number of occupants per dwelling) and several other socio-structural variables (e.g. age, gender, and location), the study explores the impacts of consumer heterogeneity on hydrogen acceptance by recruiting respondents from across five distinct groups: (1) fuel poor householders, (2) technology engaged householders, (3) environmentally engaged householders, (4) technology and environmentally engaged householders, and (5) a baseline group (n=~700) which filters out each of the smaller targeted groups (n=~350). This research design reflects the notion that supporting a socially fair and efficient transition to hydrogen will require parallel engagement with potential early adopters and demographic groups impacted by fuel poverty while also accounting strongly for public attitudes towards net zero. Employing a second-order multigroup confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) in Mplus, the proposed hydrogen acceptance model is tested to fit the data through a partial least squares (PLS) approach. In addition to testing differences between and within groups, the findings provide policymakers with critical insights regarding the significance of knowledge and awareness, safety perceptions, perceived community impacts, cost factors, and trust in key actors and stakeholders as potential explanatory factors of hydrogen acceptance. Preliminary results suggest that knowledge and awareness of hydrogen are positively associated with support for domestic hydrogen at the household, community, and national levels. However, with the exception of technology and/or environmentally engaged citizens, much of the population remains unfamiliar with hydrogen and somewhat skeptical of its application in homes. Knowledge and awareness present as critical to facilitating positive safety perceptions, alongside higher levels of trust and more favorable expectations for community benefits, appliance performance, and potential cost savings. Based on these preliminary findings, policymakers should be put on red alert about diffusing hydrogen into the public consciousness in alignment with energy security, fuel poverty, and net-zero agendas.

Keywords: hydrogen homes, social acceptance, consumer heterogeneity, heat decarbonization

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Authors: Erich Ryan, Benjamin McDaniel, Dragoljub Kosanovic

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Combined heat and power (CHP) plants are an efficient technology for meeting the heating and electric needs of large campus energy systems, but have come under greater scrutiny as the world pushes for emissions reductions and lower consumption of fossil fuels. The electrification of heating and cooling systems offers a great deal of potential for carbon savings, but these systems can be costly endeavors due to increased electric consumption and peak demand. Thermal energy storage (TES) has been shown to be an effective means of improving the viability of electrified systems, by shifting heating and cooling load to off-peak hours and reducing peak demand charges. In this study, we analyze the integration of an electrified heating and cooling system with thermal energy storage into a campus CHP plant, to investigate the potential of leveraging existing infrastructure and technologies with the climate goals of the 21st century. A TRNSYS model was built to simulate a ground source heat pump (GSHP) system with TES using measured campus heating and cooling loads. The GSHP with TES system is modeled to follow the parameters of industry standards and sized to provide an optimal balance of capital and operating costs. Using known CHP production information, costs and emissions were investigated for a unique large energy user rate structure that operates a CHP plant. The results highlight the cost and emissions benefits of a targeted integration of heat pump technology within the framework of existing CHP systems, along with the performance impacts and value of TES capability within the combined system.

Keywords: thermal energy storage, combined heat and power, heat pumps, electrification

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Authors: Sanpachai Huvanandana, Settapong Malisuwan, Soparwan Tongyuak, Prust Pannachet, Anong Phoepueak, Navneet Madan

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Many regions of Thailand are prone to flooding due to tropical climate. A commonly increasing precipitation in this continent results in risk of flooding. Many efforts have been implemented such as drainage control system, multiple dams, and irrigation canals. In order to decide where the drainages, dams, and canal should be appropriately located, the flooding risk area should be determined. This paper is aimed to identify the appropriate features that can be used to classify the flooding risk area in Thailand. Several features have been analyzed and used to classify the area. Non-supervised clustering techniques have been used and the results have been compared with ten years average actual flooding area.

Keywords: flood area clustering, geographical information system, flood features

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Authors: Pappu Kumar, Ajai Singh, Anshuman Singh

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There are different water user sectors such as rural, urban, mining, subsistence and commercial irrigated agriculture, commercial forestry, industry, power generation which are present in the catchment in Subarnarekha River Basin and Ranchi city. There is an inequity issue in the access to water. The development of the rural area, construction of new power generation plants, along with the population growth, the requirement of unmet water demand and the consideration of environmental flows, the revitalization of small-scale irrigation schemes is going to increase the water demands in almost all the water-stressed catchment. The WEAP Model was developed by the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) to enable evaluation of planning and management issues associated with water resources development. The WEAP model can be used for both urban and rural areas and can address a wide range of issues including sectoral demand analyses, water conservation, water rights and allocation priorities, river flow simulation, reservoir operation, ecosystem requirements and project cost-benefit analyses. This model is a tool for integrated water resource management and planning like, forecasting water demand, supply, inflows, outflows, water use, reuse, water quality, priority areas and Hydropower generation, In the present study, efforts have been made to access the utility of the WEAP model for water supply and demand analysis for Ranchi city. A detailed works have been carried out and it was tried to ascertain that the WEAP model used for generating different scenario of water requirement, which could help for the future planning of water. The water supplied to Ranchi city was mostly contributed by our study river, Hatiya reservoir and ground water. Data was collected from various agencies like PHE Ranchi, census data of 2011, Doranda reservoir and meteorology department etc. This collected and generated data was given as input to the WEAP model. The model generated the trends for discharge of our study river up to next 2050 and same time also generated scenarios calculating our demand and supplies for feature. The results generated from the model outputs predicting the water require 12 million litter. The results will help in drafting policies for future regarding water supplies and demands under changing climatic scenarios.

Keywords: WEAP model, water demand analysis, Ranchi, scenarios

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Authors: Chang Su Woo, Hyun Sung Park

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Air spring system is widely accepted for railway vehicle secondary suspension to reduce and absorb the vibration and noise. The low natural frequency ensures a comfortable ride and an invariably good stiffness. In this paper, the characteristic and durability test was conducted in laboratory by using servo-hydraulic fatigue testing system to reliability evaluation of air spring for electric railway vehicle. The experimental results show that the characteristics and durability of domestically developed products are excellent. Moreover, to guarantee the adaption of air spring, the ride comfort and air pressure variation were measured in train test on subway line. Air spring developed by this study for railway vehicles can guarantee the reliability of average usage of 1 million times at 90% confidence level.

Keywords: air spring, reliability, railway, service lifetime

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Authors: Osaretin Rosemary Uyi, A. O. Ogungbemi

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Female involvement in policy making and partnership in a man-driven-world is fast gaining international recognition. The Nigeria commercial real estate is one of the sectors of the economy that has a significant number of the male in the business. This study was conducted to assess the participation of females in estate management in Lagos state, Nigeria. Lagos is the commercial nerve center of Nigeria having the highest number of real estate practitioners and investors. The population due to the daily influx of people has made real estate business to continue to grow in this part of Nigeria. A structured questionnaire duly pre-tested and validated was used to elicit information from the respondents. The data collected were presented using tables and charts and were analyzed using descriptive statistical tools such as frequency counts, percentages, were used to test the hypothesis. The results also indicated that most females that participated in commercial real estate business are educated (80%), fell within 31-40 years of age (75%) and of high income status (88%) earn above ₦800,000 per year, while 10% are real estate investors and 82% of the female in the sector are employee. The study concluded that the number of female participating in various aspect of commercial real estate business in the study area was moderate while the numbers of female investors are low when compared to male. This might be due to the problems associated with rent collection, land disputes and other issues that are associated with property management in Nigeria. It is therefore recommended that females in real estate should be empowered and encouraged to match with their male counterpart.

Keywords: commercial real estate, empowerment, female, participation, property management

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Authors: Obioma Uche

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Due to the recent volatility in oil & gas prices as well as increased development of non-conventional resources, it has become even more essential to critically evaluate the profitability of petroleum prospects prior to making any investment decisions. Traditionally, simple Monte Carlo (MC) algorithms have been used to randomly sample probability distributions of economic and geological factors (e.g. price, OPEX, CAPEX, reserves, productive life, etc.) in order to obtain probability distributions for profitability metrics such as Net Present Value (NPV). In recent years, second-order MC algorithms have been shown to offer an advantage over simple MC techniques due to the added consideration of uncertainties associated with the probability distributions of the relevant variables. Here, a strategy for the application of the second-order MC technique to a case study is demonstrated to analyze its effectiveness as a tool for portfolio management.

Keywords: Monte Carlo algorithms, portfolio management, profitability, risk analysis

Procedia PDF Downloads 317

Authors: Mohiuddin Ahsanul Kabir Chowdhury, Nafisa Lira Huq, Afroza Khanom, Rafiqul Islam, Abdullah Nurus Salam Khan, Farhana Karim, Nabila Zaka, Shams El Arifeen, Sk. Masum Billah

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After having astounding achievements in reducing maternal mortality and achieving the target for Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 5, the Government of Bangladesh has set new target to reduce Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) to 70 per 100,000 live births aligning with targets of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Aversion of deaths from maternal complication by ensuring quality health care could be an important path to accelerate the rate of reduction of MMR. This formative research was aimed at exploring the provision of quality maternal health services at different level of health facilities. The study was conducted in 1 district hospital (DH) and 4 Upazila health complexes (UHC) of Kurigram district of Bangladesh, utilizing both quantitative and qualitative research methods. We conducted 14 key informant interviews with facility managers and 20 in-depth interviews with health care providers and support staff. Besides, we observed 387 normal deliveries from which we found 17 cases of post partum haemorrhage (PPH) and 2 cases of eclampsia during the data collection period extended from July-September 2016. The quantitative data were analyzed by using descriptive statistics, and the qualitative component underwent thematic analysis with the broad themes of facility readiness for maternal complication management, and management of complications. Inadequacy in human resources has been identified as the most important bottleneck to provide quality care to manage maternal complications. The DH had a particular paucity of human resources in medical officer cadre where about 61% posts were unfilled. On the other hand, in the UHCs the positions mostly empty were obstetricians (75%, paediatricians (75%), staff nurses (65%), and anaesthetists (100%). The workload on the existing staff is increased because of the persistence of vacant posts. Unavailability of anesthetists and consultants does not permit the health care providers (HCP) of lower cadres to perform emergency operative procedures and forces them to refer the patients although referral system is not well organized in rural Bangladesh. Insufficient bed capacity, inadequate training, shortage of emergency medicines etc. are other hindrance factors for facility readiness. Among the 387 observed delivery case, 17 (4.4%) were identified as PPH cases, and only 2 cases were found as eclampsia/pre-eclampsia. The majority of the patients were treated with uterine message (16 out of 17, 94.1%) and injectable Oxytocin (14 out of 17, 82.4%). The providers of DH mentioned that they can manage the PPH because of having provision for diagnostic and blood transfusion services, although not as 24/7 services. Regarding management of eclampsia/pre-eclampsia, HCPs provided Diazepam, MgSO4, and other anti-hypertensives. The UHCs did not have MgSO4 at stock even, and one facility manager admitted that they treat eclampsia with Diazepam only. The nurses of the UHCs were found to be afraid to handle eclampsia cases. The upcoming interventions must ensure refresher training of service providers, continuous availability of essential medicine and equipment needed for complication management, availability of skilled health workforce, availability of functioning blood transfusion unit and pairing of consultants and anaesthetists to reach the newly set targets altogether.

Keywords: Bangladesh, health facilities, maternal complications, quality of care

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Authors: Mukhammad Fatkhullah, Ayla Karina Budita, Cut Rizka Al Usrah, Kanita Khoirun Nisa, Muhammad Alhada Fuadilah Habib, Siti Muslihatul Mukaromah

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Batik industry has become one of the leading industries in the economy of Indonesia. Since the recognition of batik as one of cultural wealth and national identity of Indonesia by UNESCO, batik production keeps increasing as a result of increasing demands for batik, whether from domestically or abroad. One of the rapid development batik industries in Indonesia is batik industry in Lawean Village, Solo, Central Java, Indonesia. This batik industry generally uses putting-out system where batik workers work in their own houses. With the implementation of this system, therefore employers don’t have to prepare Environmental Impact Analysis (EIA), social security for workers, overtime payment, space for working, and equipment for working. The implementation of putting-out system causes many problems, starting from environmental pollution, the loss of social rights of workers, and even exploitation of workers by batik entrepreneurs. The data used to describe this reality is the primary data from qualitative research with in-depth interview data collection technique. Informants were determined purposively. The theory used to perform data interpretation is the phenomenology of Alfred Schutz. Both qualitative and phenomenology are used in this study to describe batik workers exploitation in terms of the implementation of putting-out system on home batik industry in Lawean. The research result showed that workers in batik industry sector in Lawean were exploited with the implementation of putting-out system. The workers were strictly employed by the entrepreneurs, so that their job cannot be called 'part-time' job anymore. In terms of labor and time, the workers often work more than 12 hours per day and they often work overtime without receiving any overtime payment. In terms of work safety, the workers often have contact with chemical substances contained in batik making materials without using any protection, such as clothes work, which is worsened by the lack of standard or procedure in work that can cause physical damage, such as burnt and peeled off skin. Moreover, exposure and contamination of chemical materials make the workers and their families vulnerable to various diseases. Meanwhile, batik entrepreneurs did not give any social security (including health cost aid). Besides that, the researchers found that batik industry in home industry sector is not environmentally friendly, even damaging ecosystem because industrial waste disposed without EIA.

Keywords: exploitation, home batik industry, occupational health and safety, putting-out system

Procedia PDF Downloads 299