Search results for: building energy system optimization

Authors: Y.Galerkin, O. Solovieva

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Flow parameters are calculated in vaneless diffusers with relative width 0,014 – 0,10 constant along radii. Inlet flow angles and similarity criteria were varied. Information about flow structure is presented – meridian streamlines configuration, information on flow full development, flow separation. Polytrophic efficiency, loss and recovery coefficient are used to compare diffusers’ effectiveness. The sample of narrow diffuser optimization by conical walls application is presented. Three tampered variants of a wide diffuser are compared too. The work is made in the R&D laboratory “Gas dynamics of turbo machines” of the TU SPb.

Keywords: vaneless diffuser, relative width, flow angle, flow separation, loss coefficient, similarity criteria

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Authors: J.P. Henriques, E. R. Neto, G. Almeida, G. Ribeiro, J.V. Coutinho, A.B. Lugli

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Industry 4.0, or the Fourth Industrial Revolution, is transforming the relationship between people and machines. In this scenario, some technologies such as Cloud Computing, Internet of Things, Augmented Reality, Artificial Intelligence, Additive Manufacturing, among others, are making industries and devices increasingly intelligent. One of the most powerful technologies of this new revolution is the Digital Twin, which allows the virtualization of a real system or process. In this context, the present paper addresses the linear and nonlinear dynamic study of a didactic level plant using Digital Twin. In the first part of the work, the level plant is identified at a fixed point of operation, BY using the existing method of least squares means. The linearized model is embedded in a Digital Twin using Automation Studio® from Famous Technologies. Finally, in order to validate the usage of the Digital Twin in the linearized study of the plant, the dynamic response of the real system is compared to the Digital Twin. Furthermore, in order to develop the nonlinear model on a Digital Twin, the didactic level plant is identified by using the method proposed by Hammerstein. Different steps are applied to the plant, and from the Hammerstein algorithm, the nonlinear model is obtained for all operating ranges of the plant. As for the linear approach, the nonlinear model is embedded in the Digital Twin, and the dynamic response is compared to the real system in different points of operation. Finally, yet importantly, from the practical results obtained, one can conclude that the usage of Digital Twin to study the dynamic systems is extremely useful in the industrial environment, taking into account that it is possible to develop and tune controllers BY using the virtual model of the real systems.

Keywords: industry 4.0, digital twin, system identification, linear and nonlinear models

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Authors: H. Yousefnia, MS. Mousavi-Daramoroudi, S. Zolghadri, F. Abbasi-Davani

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High expression of somatostatin receptors on a wide range of human tumours makes them as potential targets for peptide receptor radionuclide tomography. A series of octreotide analogues were synthesized while [DOTA-DPhe1, Tyr3]octreotide (DOTATOC) indicated advantageous properties in tumour models. In this study, 177Lu-DOTATOC was prepared with the radiochemical purity of higher than 99% in 30 min at the optimized condition. Biological behavior of the complex was studied after intravenous injection into the Syrian rats. Major difference uptake was observed compared to 177LuCl3 solution especially in somatostatin receptor-positive tissues such as pancreas and adrenal.

Keywords: Biodistribution, 177Lu, Octreotide, Syrian rats

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Authors: Dudul Das, Pankaj Kalita, Sangeeta Borah

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Freshwater availability in the world is as low as 1% of total water available and in many geographical locations dissolved fluoride and arsenic are serious problem. In India availability of freshwater will be stressed by 2025, so the availability saline water from sea is a hope for the people of Indian sub-continent, but saline water is not drinkable it need to be processed, which again require a huge amount of energy. So the most easy and handy option in such situation for all those problems is solar still, this investigation presents various scopes for improvement of its efficiency. Experiments showed that by increasing the absorber plate area through better design can increase the distillate output by two fold and by using jute wicks in the modified absorber plate increases the output up to three times that of conventional solar still available in the Department of Energy, Tezpur University. The experiment is carried out at constant water depth of 8.5 cm and glass cover inclination of 27o facing South. The exergy analysis carried out clearly resulted that with the use of jute wick and baffle plated basin the efficiency achieved more than the simple baffle plated basin. The Instantaneous exergy without jute wick ranges from 2.5% to 4.5% while using jute it ranges from 1.5% to 5.15%.

Keywords: fluoride, absorber plate, jute wick, instantaneous exergy

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Authors: Francis O. Nwawuru

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The convergence analysis of split monotone inclusion problems and fixed point problems of certain nonlinear mappings are investigated in the setting of real Hilbert spaces. Inertial extrapolation term in the spirit of Polyak is incorporated to speed up the rate of convergence. Under standard assumptions, a strong convergence of the proposed algorithm is established without computing the resolvent operator or involving Yosida approximation method. The stepsize involved in the algorithm does not depend on the spectral radius of the linear operator. Furthermore, applications of the proposed algorithm in solving some related optimization problems are also considered. Our result complements and extends numerous results in the literature.

Keywords: fixedpoint, hilbertspace, monotonemapping, resolventoperators

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Authors: Basave Gowda, Lokesh K., Prasanth S. M., Bellad S. B., Radha J., Lokesh G. Y., Patil S. B., Vijayakumar D. K., Ganigar B. S., Rakesh C. Mathad

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Quality seed plays an important role in enhancing the crop productivity. It was reported and confirmed by large scale verification research trials that by use of quality seeds alone, the crop yield can be enhanced by 15 to 20 per cent. At present, the quality seed production and distribution through organised sectors comprising both public and private seed sector was only 20-25% of the requirement and the remaining quantity is met through unorganised sector which include the farmer to farmers saved seeds. With an objective of developing an alternative seed system, the University of Agricultural Sciences, Raichur in Karnataka state has implemented Seed Village Programme in more than 100 villages covering around 5000 farmers every year since 2009-10 and in the selected seed villages, a group of 50-150 farmers were supplied the foundation seeds of new varieties to an extent of 0.4 ha at 50 % subsidy. And two to three training programmes were conducted in the targeted villages for quality seed production and the seed produced in the target group was processed locally in the university seed processing units and arranged for distribution in the local villages by the seed growers themselves. By this new innovative and modified seed system, the university can able to replace old varieties of pigeon pea and green gram by producing 1482, 2978, 2729, 2560, and 4581 tonnes of seeds of new varieties on large scale under farmers and scientists participatory seed village programmes respectively during 2009-10, 2010-11, 2011-12, 2012-13 and 2013-14. From this new alternate model of seed system, there should be large scale promotion of regional seed system involving farmers, NGO and voluntary organisation for quick and effective replacement of old, low yielding, disease susceptible varieties with new high yielding, disease resistant for enhanced food production and food security.

Keywords: seed system, seed village, seed replacement, varietal replacement

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Authors: Noureddine Benharkat, Abdelkader Chouaih, Nourdine Boukabcha

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A thiourea derivative compound was synthesized and subjected to structural analysis using single-crystal X-ray diffraction (XRD). The crystallographic data unveiled its crystallization in the P21/c space group within the monoclinic system. Examination of the dihedral angles indicated a notable non-planar structure. To support and interpret these resulats, density functional theory (DFT) calculations were conducted utilizing the B3LYP functional along with a 6–311 G (d, p) basis set. Additionally, to assess the contribution of intermolecular interactions, Hirshfeld surface analysis and 2D fingerprint plots were employed. Various types of interactions, whether weak intramolecular or intermolecular, within a molecule can significantly impact its stability. The distinctive signature of non-covalent interactions can be detected solely through electron density analysis. The NCI-RDG analysis was employed to investigate both repulsive and attractive van der Waals interactions while also calculating the energies associated with intermolecular interactions and their characteristics. Additionally, a molecular docking study was studied to explain the structure-activity relationship, revealing that the title compound exhibited an affinity energy of -6.8 kcal/mol when docked with B-DNA (1BNA).

Keywords: computational chemistry, density functional theory, crystallography, molecular docking, molecular structure, powder x-ray diffraction, single crystal x-ray diffraction

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Authors: Mahsa Houshdar, Seyed Mehdi Samimi Ardestani , ُSeyed Saeed Sadr

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Introduction: Online Medicare is a method in which parts of a medical process - whether its diagnostics, monitoring or the treatment itself will be done by using online services. This system has been operated in one boy’s high school, one girl’s high school and one high school in deprived aria. Method: At the first step the students registered for using the system. It was not mandatory and not free. They participated in estimating depression scale, anxiety scale and clinical interview by online medical care system. During this estimation, we could find the existence and severity of depression and anxiety in each one of the participants, also we could find the consequent needs of each one, such as supportive therapy in mild depression or anxiety, need to visited by psychologist in moderate cases, need to visited by psychiatrist in moderate-severe cases, need to visited by psychiatrist and psychologist in severe cases and need to perform medical lab examination tests. The lab examination tests were performed on persons specified by the system. The lab examinations were included: serum level of vitamin D, serum level of vitamin B12, serum level of calcium, fasting blood sugar, HbA1c, thyroid function tests and CBC. All of the students were solely treated by vitamins or minerals therapy and/ or treatment of medical problem (such as hypothyroidism). After a few months, we came back to high schools and estimated the existence and severity of depression and anxiety in treated students. With comparing these results, the affectability of the system could be prof. Results: Totally, we operate this project in 1077 participants in 243 of participant, the lab examination test were performed. In girls high schools: the existence and severity of depression significantly deceased (P value= 0.018<0.05 & P value 0.004< 0.05), but results about anxiety was not significant. In boys high schools: the existence and severity of depression significantly decreased (P value= 0.023<0.05 & P value = 0.004< 0.05 & P value= 0.049< 0.05). In boys high schools: the existence and severity of anxiety significantly decreased (P value= 0.041<0.05 & P value = 0.046< 0.05 &) but in one high school results about anxiety was not significant. In high school in deprived area the students did not have any problem paying for participating in the project, but they could not pay for medical lab examination tests. Thus, operation of the system was not possible in deprived area without a sponsor. Conclusion: This online medical system was successful in creating medical and psychiatric profile without attending physician. It was successful in decreasing depression without using antidepressants, but it was partially successful in decreasing anxiety.

Keywords: depression, diabetes, online medicare, vitamin D deficiency

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Authors: Qinglin Shu

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Based on the analysis of the structural vibration comfort of a domestic bridge, this paper studies the vibration reduction control principle of TMD, the derivation process of design parameter optimization and how to simulate TMD in the finite element software ANSYS. The research shows that, in view of the problem that the comfort level of a bridge exceeds the limit in individual working conditions, the vibration reduction control design of the bridge can effectively reduce the vibration of the structure by using TMD. Calculations show that when the mass ratio of TMD is 0.01, the vibration reduction rate under different working conditions is more than 90%, and the dynamic displacement of the TMD mass block is within 0.01m, indicating that the design of TMD is reasonable and safe.

Keywords: pedestrian bridges, human-induced vibration, comfort, tuned mass dampers

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Authors: Mohamed Boubekri

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Daylight in general and sunlight in particular are vital to life on earth, and it is not difficult to believe that their absence fosters conditions that promote disease. Through photosynthesis and other processes, sunlight provides photochemical ingredients necessary for our lives. There are fundamental biological, hormonal, and physiological functions coordinated by cycles that are crucial to life for cells, plants, animals, and humans. Many plants and animals, including humans, develop abnormal behaviors when sunlight is absent because their diurnal cycle is disturbed. Building​ codes disregard this aspect of daylighting when promulgating windows for buildings. This paper discusses the health aspects of daylighting design.

Keywords: daylighting, health, sunlight, sleep, disorders, circadian rythm, cancer

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Authors: Youping Huang, Yang Liu

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Mountainous cities have unique landscape relationship, topography and urban spatial pattern different from plain cities, which put forward different requirements for greenway system planning strategy. Taking the greenway planning of Chengkou County in Chongqing as an example, this paper discusses the greenway system planning strategy of mountainous cities based on urban and rural green space, urban landscape resources, human resources and other factors. Through multi-angle maintenance of landscape pattern, multi-objective integration of urban resources, multi-level construction of greenway network, and multi-interactive development control, the sustainable development of mountain city landscape resources is realized, the new urban ecology is constructed, and the quality of life of urban and rural residents is improved.

Keywords: greenway planning, mountain city, landscape pattern, cultural resources, chongqing

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Authors: Chatrabhuti Pipop, Visessri Supattra, Charinpanitkul Tawatchai

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Durian is one of the top agricultural products exported by Thailand. There is the massive market potential for the durian industry. While the global demand for Thai durians, especially the demand from China, is very high, Thailand's durian supply is far from satisfying strong demand. Poor agricultural practices result in low yields and poor quality of fruit. Most irrigation systems currently used by the farmers are fixed schedule or fixed rates that ignore actual weather conditions and crop water requirements. In addition, the technologies emerging are too difficult and complex and prices are too high for the farmers to adopt and afford. Many farmers leave the durian trees to grow naturally. With improper irrigation and nutrient management system, durians are vulnerable to a variety of issues, including stunted growth, not flowering, diseases, and death. Technical development or research for durian is much needed to support the wellbeing of the farmers and the economic development of the country. However, there are a limited number of studies or development projects for durian because durian is a perennial crop requiring a long time to obtain the results to report. This study, therefore, aims to address the problem of durian production by developing an autonomous and precision irrigation system. The system is designed and equipped with an industrial programmable controller, a weather station, and a digital flow meter. Daily water requirements are computed based on weather data such as rainfall and evapotranspiration for daily irrigation with variable flow rates. A prediction model is also designed as a part of the system to enhance the irrigation schedule. Before the system was installed in the field, a simulation model was built and tested in a laboratory setting to ensure its accuracy. Water consumption was measured daily before and after the experiment for further analysis. With this system, the crop water requirement is precisely estimated and optimized based on the data from the weather station. Durian will be irrigated at the right amount and at the right time, offering the opportunity for higher yield and higher income to the farmers.

Keywords: Durian, precision irrigation, precision agriculture, smart farm

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Authors: Rajinder Pal Kaur, Amit Sharma, Anuj Kumar Sharma, Govind Prasad Sahu

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The existence of chaos in the marine ecosystems may cause planktonic blooms, disease outbreaks, extinction of some plankton species, or some complex dynamics in oceans, which can adversely affect the sustainable marine ecosystem. The control of the chaotic plankton-fish dynamics is one of the main motives of marine ecologists. In this paper, we have studied the impact of phytoplankton refuge, zooplankton refuge, and fear effect on the chaotic plankton-fish dynamics incorporating phytoplankton, zooplankton, and fish biomass. The fear of fish predation transfers the unpredictable(chaotic) behavior of the plankton system to a stable orbit. The defense mechanism developed by prey species due to fear of the predator population can also terminate chaos from the given dynamics. Moreover, the impact of external disturbances like seasonality, noise, periodic fluctuations, and time delay on the given chaotic plankton system has also been discussed. We have applied feedback mechanisms to control the complexity of the system through the parameter noise. The non-feedback schemes are implemented to observe the role of seasonal force, periodic fluctuations, and time delay in suppressing the given chaotic system. Analytical results are substantiated by numerical simulation.

Keywords: plankton, chaos, noise, seasonality, fluctuations, fear effect, prey refuge

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Authors: Zhiwei Zhong, Xiaofei Li, Deli Wang

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Ecosystem engineering is a powerful force shaping community structure and ecosystem function. Yet, very little is known about the mechanisms by which engineers affect vital ecosystem processes like trophic interactions. Here, we examine the potential for a herbivore ecosystem engineer, domestic sheep, to affect trophic interactions between the web-building spider Argiope bruennichi, its grasshopper prey Euchorthippus spp., and the grasshoppers’ host plant Leymus chinensis. By integrating small- and large-scale field experiments, we demonstrate that: 1) moderate sheep grazing changed the structure of plant communities by suppressing strongly interacting forbs within a grassland matrix; 2) this change in plant community structure drove interaction modifications between the grasshoppers and their grass host plants and between grasshoppers and their spider predators, and 3) these interaction modifications were entirely mediated by plasticity in grasshopper behavior. Overall, ecosystem engineering by sheep grazing strengthened bottom-up effects and weakened top-down effects via trait-mediated interactions, resulting in a nearly two-fold increase in grasshopper densities. Interestingly, the grasshopper behavioral shifts which reduced spider per capita predation rates in the microcosms did not translate to reduced spider predation rates at the larger system scale because increased grasshopper densities offset behavioral effects at larger scales. Our findings demonstrate that 1) ecosystem engineering can strongly alter trophic interactions, 2) such effects can be driven by cryptic trait-mediated interactions, and 3) the relative importance of trait- versus density effects as measured by microcosm experiments may not reflect the importance of these processes at realistic ecological scales due to scale-dependent interactions.

Keywords: bottom-up effects, ecosystem engineering, trait-mediated indirect effects, top-down effects

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Authors: Shaban Guma, Naim Bajcinca

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We propose an event-triggered algorithm for the solution of a distributed optimization problem by means of the projected subgradient method. Thereby, we invoke an OFDMA resource allocation scheme by applying an event-triggered sensitivity analysis at the access point. The optimal resource assignment of the subcarriers to the involved wireless nodes is carried out by considering the sensitivity analysis of the overall objective function as defined by the control of vehicle clusters with respect to the information exchange between the nodes.

Keywords: consensus, cross-layer, distributed, event-triggered, multi-vehicle, protocol, resource, OFDMA, wireless

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Authors: Pyung Soo Kim, Eung Hyuk Lee, Mun Suck Jang

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In the current paper, an indoor positioning system is proposed with consideration of measurement delay. Firstly, an estimation filter with a measurement delay is designed for the indoor positioning mechanism under a weighted least square criterion, which utilizes only finite measurements on the most recent window. The proposed estimation filtering based scheme gives the filtered estimates for position, velocity and acceleration of moving target in real-time, while removing undesired noisy effects and preserving desired moving positions. Secondly, the proposed scheme is shown to have good inherent properties such as unbiasedness, efficiency, time-invariance, deadbeat, and robustness due to the finite memory structure. Finally, computer simulations shows that the performance of the proposed estimation filtering based scheme can outperform to the existing infinite memory filtering based mechanism.

Keywords: indoor positioning system, wireless sensor networks, measurement delay

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Authors: Herman Susilo, Rahmat Budiman

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Bali province is one of the most famous tourist destinations in Indonesia. As a central tourist destination, Bali is very concerned about the use of clean energy. Since Bali is an area that does not have natural resources, so all of its energy sources are imported from java island and other islands. As an example, currently, Pertagas is developing the use of LNG for the needs of the retail industry. Right now, LNG is transported from the LNG plant facility in Bontang (Kalimantan Province) using ISO Tanks which are transported by cargo ships and then transported by trucks to the island of Bali. After that, LNG from ISO Tank is breakbulk into LNG Cylinders for distribution to retail customers. The existing distribution scheme is very long and costly since the source of LNG is come from another island (Kalimantan) and is relatively far away. To solve this problem, we plan to build the mini-LNG plant on Java Island since there are lots of gas sources available. There are some small gas reserves (flared or stranded gas) that are not yet monetized and are less valuable (cheaper) because the volume is very small. After liquifying the gas from the gas field, the LNG is transported by the truck using ISO Tank. After that, LNG from ISO Tank is breakbulk into LNG Cylinders for distribution to retail customers. From this new LNG distribution scheme, there are 4-5 USD/MMBTU saving compared to the existing distribution scheme. It is hoped that with these cost savings, the number of retail LNG sales can increase rapidly.

Keywords: LNG, LNG retail, mini LNG, small scale LNG

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Authors: Luqman Shah

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The myopic gender discrimination is now a well-documented and recognized fact. However, gender is only one facet of an individual’s multiple identities. The aim of this work is to investigate gender discrimination highlighted in print media in the subcontinent with a specific focus on Pakistan and India. In this study, an approach is adopted by using the James Paul Gee model for the identification of gender discrimination. As a matter of fact, gender discrimination is not consistent in its nature and intensity across global societies and varies as social, geographical, and cultural background change. The World has been changed enormously in every aspect of life, and there are also obvious changes towards gender discrimination, prejudices, and biases, but still, the world has a long way to go to recognize women as equal as men in every sphere of life. The history of the world is full of gender-based incidents and violence. Now the time came that this issue must be seriously addressed and to eradicate this evil, which will lead to harmonize society and consequently heading towards peace and prosperity. The study was carried out by a mixed model research method. The data was extracted from the contents of five Pakistani English newspapers out of a total of 23 daily English newspapers, and likewise, five Indian daily English newspapers out of 52 those were published 2018-2019. Two news stories from each of these newspapers, in total, twenty news stories were taken as sampling for this research. Content and semiotic analysis techniques were used to analyze through James Paul Gee's seven building tasks of language. The resources of renowned e-papers are utilized, and the highlighted cases in Pakistani newspapers of Indian gender-based stories and vice versa are scrutinized as per the requirement of this research paper. For analysis of the written stretches of discourse taken from e-papers and processing of data for the focused problem, James Paul Gee 'Seven Building Tasks of Language' is used. Tabulation of findings is carried to pinpoint the issue with certainty. Findings after processing the data showed that there is a gross human rights violation on the basis of gender discrimination. The print media needs a more realistic representation of what is what not what seems to be. The study recommends the equality and parity of genders.

Keywords: gender discrimination, print media, Paul Gee model, subcontinent

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Authors: Yoonjung An, Yongtae Park

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Offering a Product-Service System (PSS) is a well-accepted strategy that companies may adopt to provide a set of systemic solutions to customers. PSSs were initially provided in a simple form but now take diversified and complex forms involving multiple services, products and technologies. With the growing interest in the PSS, frameworks for the PSS development have been introduced by many researchers. However, most of the existing frameworks fail to examine various relations existing in a complex PSS. Since designing a complex PSS involves full integration of multiple products and services, it is essential to identify not only product-service relations but also product-product/ service-service relations. It is also equally important to specify how they are related for better understanding of the system. Moreover, as customers tend to view their purchase from a more holistic perspective, a PSS should be developed based on the whole system’s requirements, rather than focusing only on the product requirements or service requirements. Thus, we propose a framework to develop a complex PSS that is coordinated fully with the requirements of both worlds. Specifically, our approach adopts a multi-domain matrix (MDM). A MDM identifies not only inter-domain relations but also intra-domain relations so that it helps to design a PSS that includes highly desired and closely related core functions/ features. Also, various dependency types and rating schemes proposed in our approach would help the integration process.

Keywords: inter-domain relations, intra-domain relations, multi-domain matrix, product-service system design

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Authors: P. Mandree, S. O. Ramchuran, F. O'Brien, L. Sethunya, S. Khumalo

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South Africa is identified as one of the five emerging waste management markets, globally. The waste sector in South Africa influences the areas of energy, water and food at an economic and social level. Recently, South African industries have focused on waste valorization and diversification of the current product offerings in an attempt to reduce industrial waste, target a zero waste-to-landfill initiative and recover energy. South Africa has a number of waste streams including industrial and agricultural biomass, municipal waste and marine waste. Large volumes of agricultural and forestry residues, in particular, are generated which provides significant opportunity for production of bio-based fuels and chemicals. This could directly impact development of a rural economy. One of the largest agricultural industries is the sugar industry, which contributes significantly to the country’s economy and job creation. However, the sugar industry is facing challenges due to fluctuations in sugar prices, increasing competition with low-cost global sugar producers, increasing energy and agricultural input costs, lower consumption and aging facilities. This study is aimed at technology development for the production of various bio-based chemicals using feedstock from the sugar refining process. Various indigenous bacteria and yeast species were assessed for the potential to produce platform chemicals in flask studies and at 30 L fermentation scale. Quantitative analysis of targeted bio-based chemicals was performed using either gas chromatography or high pressure liquid chromatography to assess production yields and techno-economics in order to compare performance to current commercial benchmark processes. The study also creates a decision platform for the research direction that is required for strain development using Industrial Synthetic Biology.

Keywords: bio-based chemicals, biorefinery, industrial synthetic biology, waste valorization

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Authors: Pengzhou Lu, Liming Xin, Payam Tavakoli, Zhonghua Lin, Roberto V. P. Ribeiro, Mitesh V. Badiwala

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Ex vivo Heart Perfusion (EVHP) has been developed as an alternative strategy to expand cardiac donation by enabling resuscitation and functional assessment of hearts donated from marginal donors, which were previously not accepted. EVHP parameters, such as perfusion flow (PF) and perfusion pressure (PP) are crucial for optimal organ preservation. However, with the heart’s constant physiological changes during EVHP, such as coronary vascular resistance, manual control of these parameters is rendered imprecise and cumbersome for the operator. Additionally, low control precision and the long adjusting time may lead to irreversible damage to the myocardial tissue. To solve this problem, an automatic heart perfusion system was developed by applying a Human-Machine Interface (HMI) and a Programmable-Logic-Controller (PLC)-based circuit to control PF and PP. The PLC-based control system collects the data of PF and PP through flow probes and pressure transducers. It has two control modes: the RPM-flow mode and the pressure mode. The RPM-flow control mode is an open-loop system. It influences PF through providing and maintaining the desired speed inputted through the HMI to the centrifugal pump with a maximum error of 20 rpm. The pressure control mode is a closed-loop system where the operator selects a target Mean Arterial Pressure (MAP) to control PP. The inputs of the pressure control mode are the target MAP, received through the HMI, and the real MAP, received from the pressure transducer. A PID algorithm is applied to maintain the real MAP at the target value with a maximum error of 1mmHg. The precision and control speed of the RPM-flow control mode were examined by comparing the PLC-based system to an experienced operator (EO) across seven RPM adjustment ranges (500, 1000, 2000 and random RPM changes; 8 trials per range) tested in a random order. System’s PID algorithm performance in pressure control was assessed during 10 EVHP experiments using porcine hearts. Precision was examined through monitoring the steady-state pressure error throughout perfusion period, and stabilizing speed was tested by performing two MAP adjustment changes (4 trials per change) of 15 and 20mmHg. A total of 56 trials were performed to validate the RPM-flow control mode. Overall, the PLC-based system demonstrated the significantly faster speed than the EO in all trials (PLC 1.21±0.03, EO 3.69±0.23 seconds; p < 0.001) and greater precision to reach the desired RPM (PLC 10±0.7, EO 33±2.7 mean RPM error; p < 0.001). Regarding pressure control, the PLC-based system has the median precision of ±1mmHg error and the median stabilizing times in changing 15 and 20mmHg of MAP are 15 and 19.5 seconds respectively. The novel PLC-based control system was 3 times faster with 60% less error than the EO for RPM-flow control. In pressure control mode, it demonstrates a high precision and fast stabilizing speed. In summary, this novel system successfully controlled perfusion flow and pressure with high precision, stability and a fast response time through a user-friendly interface. This design may provide a viable technique for future development of novel heart preservation and assessment strategies during EVHP.

Keywords: automatic control system, biomedical engineering, ex-vivo heart perfusion, human-machine interface, programmable logic controller

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Authors: Aydin M. Torkabadi, Ehsan Pourjavad

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A decade after the introduction of Lean in Saskatchewan’s public healthcare system, its effectiveness remains a controversial subject among health researchers, workers, managers, and politicians. Therefore, developing a framework to quantitatively assess the Lean achievements is significant. This study investigates the success of initiatives across Saskatchewan health regions by recognizing the Lean healthcare criteria, measuring the success levels, comparing the regions, and identifying the areas for improvements. This study proposes an integrated intelligent computing approach by applying Fuzzy Inference System (FIS) and Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS). FIS is used as an efficient approach to assess the Lean healthcare criteria, and TOPSIS is applied for ranking the values in regards to the level of leanness. Due to the innate uncertainty in decision maker judgments on criteria, principals of the fuzzy theory are applied. Finally, FIS-TOPSIS was established as an efficient technique in determining the lean merit in healthcare systems.

Keywords: lean healthcare, intelligent computing, fuzzy inference system, healthcare evaluation, technique for order of preference by similarity to ideal solution, multi-criteria decision making, MCDM

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Authors: Muhammad Kashif

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The primary aim of this paper is to investigate the influence of financial technology (FinTech) on sustainable finance. The sample for this study spans from 2010 to 2021, encompassing data from 89 countries worldwide. The study employed two-stage least squares (2SLS) regression approach with the instrumental variables and validated the findings using a two-step system generalized method of moments (GMM). The findings indicate that fintech has a significant favorable impact on sustainable finance. While other factors such as institutional quality, socio-economic condition, and renewable energy have a significant and beneficial influence on the trajectory of sustainable finance, except globalization's impact is positive but insignificant. Furthermore, fintech is crucial in driving the transition toward a sustainable future characterized by a lower carbon economy. The study found that fintech has extensive application across various sectors of sustainable finance and has substantial potential to create long-term positive effects on sustainable finance. Fintech can integrate extensively with other technologies to facilitate diversified growth in sustainable finance. Additionally, this study highlights fintech-related trends and research opportunities in sustainable finance, showing how these can promote each other worldwide with important policy implications for countries looking to advance sustainable finance through technology.

Keywords: sustainable development goals (SDGs), financial technology (FinTech), genuine savings index (GSI), financial stability index, sustainable finance

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Authors: Boris Melnikov, Ye Zhang, Dmitrii Chaikovskii

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This study explores the pseudo-geometric version of the extensively researched Traveling Salesman Problem (TSP), proposing a novel generalization of existing algorithms which are traditionally confined to the geometric version. By adapting the "onion husk" method and introducing auxiliary algorithms, this research fills a notable gap in the existing literature. Through computational experiments using randomly generated data, several metrics were analyzed to validate the proposed approach's efficacy. Preliminary results align with expected outcomes, indicating a promising advancement in TSP solutions.

Keywords: optimization problems, traveling salesman problem, heuristic algorithms, “onion husk” algorithm, pseudo-geometric version

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Authors: Bashar Mahmoud, Lee Mortimer, Michael Fairweather

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New methods have recently been introduced to improve the thermal property values of molten nitrate salts (a binary mixture of NaNO3:KNO3in 60:40 wt. %), by doping them with minute concentration of nanoparticles in the range of 0.5 to 1.5 wt. % to form the so-called: Nano-heat-transfer-fluid, apt for thermal energy transfer and storage applications. The present study aims to assess the stability of these nanofluids using the advanced computational modelling technique, Lagrangian particle tracking. A multi-phase solid-liquid model is used, where the motion of embedded nanoparticles in the suspended fluid is treated by an Euler-Lagrange hybrid scheme with fixed time stepping. This technique enables measurements of various multi-scale forces whose characteristic (length and timescales) are quite different. Two systems are considered, both consisting of 50 nm Al2O3 ceramic nanoparticles suspended in fluids of different density ratios. This includes both water (5 to 95 °C) and molten nitrate salt (220 to 500 °C) at various volume fractions ranging between 1% to 5%. Dynamic properties of both phases are coupled to the ambient temperature of the fluid suspension. The three-dimensional computational region consists of a 1μm cube and particles are homogeneously distributed across the domain. Periodic boundary conditions are enforced. The particle equations of motion are integrated using the fourth order Runge-Kutta algorithm with a very small time-step, Δts, set at 10-11 s. The implemented technique demonstrates the key dynamics of aggregated nanoparticles and this involves: Brownian motion, soft-sphere particle-particle collisions, and Derjaguin, Landau, Vervey, and Overbeek (DLVO) forces. These mechanisms are responsible for the predictive model of aggregation of nano-suspensions. An energy transport-based method of predicting the thermal conductivity of the nanofluids is also used to determine thermal properties of the suspension. The simulation results confirms the effectiveness of the technique. The values are in excellent agreement with the theoretical and experimental data obtained from similar studies. The predictions indicates the role of Brownian motion and DLVO force (represented by both the repulsive electric double layer and an attractive Van der Waals) and its influence in the level of nanoparticles agglomeration. As to the nano-aggregates formed that was found to play a key role in governing the thermal behavior of nanofluids at various particle concentration. The presentation will include a quantitative assessment of these forces and mechanisms, which would lead to conclusions about nanofluids, heat transfer performance and thermal characteristics and its potential application in solar thermal energy plants.

Keywords: thermal energy storage, molten salt, nano-fluids, multi-scale computational modelling

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Authors: V. E. Messerle, A. B. Ustimenko, O. A. Lavrichshev

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A large amount of manure and its irrational use negatively affect the environment. As compared with biomass fermentation, plasma processing of manure enhances makes it possible to intensify the process of obtaining fuel gas, which consists mainly of synthesis gas (CO + H₂), and increase plant productivity by 150–200 times. This is achieved due to the high temperature in the plasma reactor and a multiple reduction in waste processing time. This paper examines the plasma processing of biomass using the example of dried mixed animal manure (dung with a moisture content of 30%). Characteristic composition of dung, wt.%: Н₂О – 30, С – 29.07, Н – 4.06, О – 32.08, S – 0.26, N – 1.22, P₂O₅ – 0.61, K₂O – 1.47, СаО – 0.86, MgO – 0.37. The thermodynamic code TERRA was used to numerically analyze dung plasma gasification and pyrolysis. Plasma gasification and pyrolysis of dung were analyzed in the temperature range 300–3,000 K and pressure 0.1 MPa for the following thermodynamic systems: 100% dung + 25% air (plasma gasification) and 100% dung + 25% nitrogen (plasma pyrolysis). Calculations were conducted to determine the composition of the gas phase, the degree of carbon gasification, and the specific energy consumption of the processes. At an optimum temperature of 1,500 K, which provides both complete gasification of dung carbon and the maximum yield of combustible components (99.4 vol.% during dung gasification and 99.5 vol.% during pyrolysis), and decomposition of toxic compounds of furan, dioxin, and benz(a)pyrene, the following composition of combustible gas was obtained, vol.%: СО – 29.6, Н₂ – 35.6, СО₂ – 5.7, N₂ – 10.6, H₂O – 17.9 (gasification) and СО – 30.2, Н₂ – 38.3, СО₂ – 4.1, N₂ – 13.3, H₂O – 13.6 (pyrolysis). The specific energy consumption of gasification and pyrolysis of dung at 1,500 K is 1.28 and 1.33 kWh/kg, respectively. An installation with a DC plasma torch with a rated power of 100 kW and a plasma reactor with a dung capacity of 50 kg/h was used for dung processing experiments. The dung was gasified in an air (or nitrogen during pyrolysis) plasma jet, which provided a mass-average temperature in the reactor volume of at least 1,600 K. The organic part of the dung was gasified, and the inorganic part of the waste was melted. For pyrolysis and gasification of dung, the specific energy consumption was 1.5 kWh/kg and 1.4 kWh/kg, respectively. The maximum temperature in the reactor reached 1,887 K. At the outlet of the reactor, a gas of the following composition was obtained, vol.%: СO – 25.9, H₂ – 32.9, СO₂ – 3.5, N₂ – 37.3 (pyrolysis in nitrogen plasma); СO – 32.6, H₂ – 24.1, СO₂ – 5.7, N₂ – 35.8 (air plasma gasification). The specific heat of combustion of the combustible gas formed during pyrolysis and plasma-air gasification of agricultural waste is 10,500 and 10,340 kJ/kg, respectively. Comparison of the integral indicators of dung plasma processing showed satisfactory agreement between the calculation and experiment.

Keywords: agricultural waste, experiment, plasma gasification, thermodynamic calculation

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Authors: Musthaya Patchanee

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The study of Sanitary landfill in Bang Nok-khwaek municipality consists of two procedures. First, to survey and create the spatial database by using physical factor, environmental factor, economical factor and social factor to follow the method of Geographic information system: GIS, second, to analyze the proper spatial for allocating the sanitary landfill in Bang Nok-khwaek municipality by using Overlay techniques to calculate the weighting linear total in Arc GIS program. The study found that there are 2.49 sq.km. proper spatial for the sanitary landfill in Bang Nok-khwaek municipals city which is 66.76% of the whole area. The highest proper spatial is 0.02 sq.km. which is 0.54%, The high proper spatial is 0.3 sq.km. which is 8.04%, the moderate spatial is 1.62 sq.km. which is 43.43% and the low proper spatial is 0.55 sq.km. which is 14.75%. These results will be used as the guideline to select the sanitary landfill area in accordance with sanitation standard for Subdistrict Administrative Organization and Subbdistrict Municipality in Samut Songkhram provice.

Keywords: Geographic Information System (GIS), sanitary landfill, Bang Nok-Khwaek municipality, Subdistrict Administrative Organization

Procedia PDF Downloads 383

Authors: S. B. Rathna Kumar, Sandya K. Varudhini, Aparna Ravichandran

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Telugu is a south central Dravidian language spoken in Andhra Pradesh, a southern state of India. The available speech identification tests in Telugu have been developed to determine the communication problems of individuals having a flat frequency hearing loss. These conventional speech audiometric tests would provide redundant information when used on individuals with high-frequency sloping hearing loss because of better hearing sensitivity in the low- and mid-frequency regions. Hence, conventional speech identification tests do not indicate the true nature of the communication problem of individuals with high-frequency sloping hearing loss. It is highly possible that a person with a high-frequency sloping hearing loss may get maximum scores if conventional speech identification tests are used. Hence, there is a need to develop speech identification test materials that are specifically designed to assess the speech identification performance of individuals with high-frequency sloping hearing loss. The present study aimed to develop speech identification test for individuals with high-frequency sloping hearing loss in Telugu. Individuals with high-frequency sloping hearing loss have difficulty in perception of voiceless consonants whose spectral energy is above 1000 Hz. Hence, the word lists constructed with phonemes having mid- and high-frequency spectral energy will estimate speech identification performance better for such individuals. The phonemes /k/, /g/, /c/, /ṭ/ /t/, /p/, /s/, /ś/, /ṣ/ and /h/are preferred for the construction of words as these phonemes have spectral energy distributed in the frequencies above 1000 KHz predominantly. The present study developed two word lists in Telugu (each word list contained 25 words) for evaluating speech identification performance of individuals with high-frequency sloping hearing loss. The performance of individuals with high-frequency sloping hearing loss was evaluated using both conventional and high-frequency word lists under recorded voice condition. The results revealed that the developed word lists were found to be more sensitive in identifying the true nature of the communication problem of individuals with high-frequency sloping hearing loss.

Keywords: speech identification test, high-frequency sloping hearing loss, recorded voice condition, Telugu

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Authors: Gayathri Devi V, Aravamudan Kannan, Amit Sircar

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In the inner fuel cycle system of a nuclear fusion reactor, the Hydrogen Isotopes Removal System (HIRS) plays a pivoted role. It enables the effective extraction of the hydrogen isotopes from the breeder purge gas which helps to maintain the tritium breeding ratio and sustain the fusion reaction. One of the components of HIRS, Cryogenic Molecular Sieve Bed (CMSB) columns with zeolites adsorbents are considered for the physisorption of hydrogen isotopes at 1 bar and 77 K. Even though zeolites have good thermal stability and reduced activation properties making them ideal for use in nuclear reactor applications, their modest capacity for hydrogen isotopes adsorption is a cause of concern. In order to enhance the adsorbent capacity in an informed manner, it is helpful to understand the adsorption phenomena at the quantum electronic structure level. Physicochemical modifications of the adsorbent material enhances the adsorption capacity through the incorporation of active sites. This may be accomplished through the incorporation of suitable metal ions in the zeolite framework. In this work, molecular hydrogen isotopes adsorption on the active sites of functionalized zeolites are investigated in detail using Density Functional Theory (DFT) study. This involves the utilization of hybrid Generalized Gradient Approximation (GGA) with dispersion correction to account for the exchange and correlation functional of DFT. The electronic energies, adsorption enthalpy, adsorption free energy, Highest Occupied Molecular Orbital (HOMO), Lowest Unoccupied Molecular Orbital (LUMO) energies are computed on the stable 8T zeolite clusters as well as the periodic structure functionalized with different active sites. The characteristics of the dihydrogen bond with the active metal sites and the isotopic effects are also studied in detail. Validation studies with DFT will also be presented for adsorption of hydrogen on metal ion functionalized zeolites. The ab-inito screening analysis gave insights regarding the mechanism of hydrogen interaction with the zeolites under study and also the effect of the metal ion on adsorption. This detailed study provides guidelines for selection of the appropriate metal ions that may be incorporated in the zeolites framework for effective adsorption of hydrogen isotopes in the HIRS.

Keywords: adsorption enthalpy, functionalized zeolites, hydrogen isotopes, nuclear fusion, physisorption

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Authors: Svanik Garg

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The center of our galaxy is often referred to as the ‘galactic center’ and has many theories associated with its true nature. Given the existence of interstellar dust and bright stars, it is nearly impossible to observe its position, about 24,000 light-years away. Due to this uncertainty, humans have often speculated what could exist at a vantage point upon which the entire galaxy spirals and revolves, with wild theories ranging from the presence of dark matter to black holes and wormholes. Data up till now on the same is very limited, and conclusions are to the best of the author's knowledge, as the only method to view the galactic center is through x-ray and infrared imaging, which counter the problems mentioned earlier. This paper examines, first, the existence of a galactic center, then the methods to identify what it might contain, and lastly, possible conclusions along with implications of the findings. Several secondary sources, along with a python tool to analyze x-ray readings were used to identify the true nature of what lies in the center of the galaxy, whether it be a void due to the existence of dark energy or a black hole. Using this roughly 4-part examination, as a result of this study, a plausible definition of the galactic center was formulated, keeping in mind the rather wild theories, data and different ideas proposed by researchers. This paper aims to dissect the theory of a galactic center and identify its nature to help understand what it shows about galaxies and our universe.

Keywords: milky way, galaxy, dark energy, stars

Procedia PDF Downloads 111