Search results for: open biomass burning

Authors: B. A. Parate, K. D. Deodhar, V. K. Dixit, V. V. Rao

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This article outlines the ballistics of main seat ejection cartridges for aircraft application. The ballistics of main seat ejection cartridges plays a vital role during the ejection of the pilot in an emergency. The ballistic parameters such as maximum pressure, time is taken to reach the maximum pressure, and time required to reach half the maximum pressure contributes to the spinal injury of the pilot. Therefore, the evaluations of these parameters are very critical during various stages of development. Elaborate testing was carried out for main seat ejection cartridges on seat ejection tower (SET) at different operating temperatures considering physiological limits. As these trials are cumbersome in nature, a vented vessel (VV) testing facility was devised to lay down the performance parameters at hot and cold temperature conditions. Single base (SB) propellant having hepta-tubular configuration is selected as the main filling. Gun powder plays the role of a booster based on ballistic requirements. The evaluation methodology of various performance parameters of main seat ejection cartridges is explained in this paper. Physiological parameters such as maximum seat ejection velocity, acceleration, and rate of rising of acceleration are also experimentally determined on seat ejection tower. All the parameters are observed well within physiological limits. This paper addresses the internal ballistic of main seat ejection cartridges, propellant selection, its calculation, and evaluation of various performance parameters for an aircraft application.

Keywords: ballistics of seat ejection, ejection seat, gas generator, gun propulsion, main seat ejection cartridges, maximum pressure, performance parameters, propellant, progressive burning and vented vessel

Procedia PDF Downloads 154

Authors: Kajetan Deja, Katarzyna Draganska-Deja, Mateusz Ormanczyk, Michał Procajlo

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Two glaciated fjords on Spitsbergen (Hornsund 77°N) and Kongsfjorden (79°N) were studied for the occurrence of macroplankton (mostly euphausids, hyperiids, chaetognaths) with the use of drop down the camera. The underwater imagery demonstrates that closer to the glacier front, where turbid and freshwater occurs, most of the macroplankters leave the upper water column and descends to the bottom (about 100m depth). Concentrations of macroplankton in the immediate vicinity of the sediment reach over 500 specimens per m² - what corresponds to the biomass of 10g C/m³. Such concentrations of macroplankton are of prime interest for fish, seals and other carnivores. Conditions in the near-bottom waters are in many respects better than in the upper water column- better oxygenated, cold, fully saline and transparent waters with rich food deposited on the seabed from the surface (sinking microplankton). We suggest that near bottom occurrence of macroplankton is related to the increase of glacier melt and freshwater discharge intensity.

Keywords: arctic, ecosystem, fjords, Krill

Procedia PDF Downloads 265

Authors: Kalpana Rajouriya, Ajay Taneja

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Particulates are ubiquitous in the air environment and cause serious threats to human beings, such as lung cancer, COPD, and Asthma. Particulates mainly arise from industrial effluent, vehicular emission, and other anthropogenic activities. In the glass industrial city Firozabad, real-time monitoring of size segregated Particulate Matter (PM) and black carbon was done by Aerosol Black Carbon Detector (ABCD) and GRIMM portable aerosol Spectrometer at two different sites in which one site is urban and another is rural. The average mass concentration of size segregated PM during the study period (March & April 2022) was recorded as PM10 (223.73 g/m⁻³), PM5.0 (44.955 g/m⁻³), PM2.5 (59.275 g/m⁻³), PM1.0 (33.02 g/m⁻³), PM0.5 (2.05 g/m⁻³), and PM0.25 (2.99 g/m⁻³). The highest concentration of BC was found in Urban due to the emissions from diesel engines and wood burning, while NO2 was highest at the rural sites. The average concentrations of PM10 (6.08 and 2.73 times) PM2.5 exceeded the NAAQS and WHO guidelines. Particulate Matter deposition and health risk assessment was done by MPPD and USEPA model to know about the particulate matter toxicity in industrial residents. Health risk assessment results showed that Children are most likely to be affected by exposure of PM10 and PM2.5 and may have various non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic diseases. Deposition results inferred that the sensitive exposed population, especially 9 years old children, have high PM deposition as well as visualization and may be at risk of developing health-related problems from exposure to size-segregated PM. They will be discussed during presentation.

Keywords: particulate matter, black carbon, NO2, deposition of PM, health risk

Procedia PDF Downloads 66

Authors: A. W. Zularisam, Lakhveer Singh, Mimi Sakinah Abdul Munaim

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In this study, the optimization of hydrogen production using polyethylene glycol (PEG) immobilized sludge was investigated in batch tests. Palm oil mill effluent (POME) is used as a substrate that can act as a carbon source. Experiment focus on the effect of some important affecting factors on fermentative hydrogen production. Results showed that immobilized sludge demonstrated the maximum hydrogen production rate of 340 mL/L-POME/h under follow optimal condition: amount of biomass 10 mg VSS/ g bead, PEG concentration 10%, and cell age 24 h or 40 h. More importantly, immobilized sludge not only enhanced hydrogen production but can also tolerate the harsh environment and produce hydrogen at the wide ranges of pH. The present results indicate the potential of PEG-immobilized sludge for large-scale operations as well; these factors play an important role in stable and continuous hydrogen production.

Keywords: bioydrogen, immobilization, polyethylene glycol, palm oil mill effluent, dark fermentation

Procedia PDF Downloads 342

Authors: Danute Karcauskiene, Dalia Ambrazaitiene, Regina Skuodiene, Monika Vilkiene, Regina Repsiene, Ieva Jokubauskaite

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The main ambition for nowadays agriculture is to get the economically effective yield and to secure the soil ecological sustainability. According to the effect on the main soil quality indexes, tillage systems may be separated into two types, conventional and conservation tillage. The goal of this study was to determine the impact of conservation and conventional primary soil tillage methods and soil fertility improvement measures on soil properties and crop productivity. Methods: The soil of the experimental site is Dystric Glossic Retisol (WRB 2014) with texture of sandy loam. The trial was established in 2003 in the experimental field of crop rotation of Vėžaičiai Branch of Lithuanian Research Centre for Agriculture and Forestry. Trial factors and treatments: factor A- primary soil tillage in (autumn): deep ploughing (20-25cm), shallow ploughing (10-12cm), shallow ploughless tillage (8-10cm); factor B – soil fertility improvement measures: plant residues, plant residues + straw, green manure 1st cut + straw, farmyard manure 40tha-1 + straw. The four - course crop rotation consisted of red clover, winter wheat, spring rape and spring barley with undersown. Results: The tillage had no statistically significant effect on topsoil (0-10 cm) pHKCl level, it was 5.5 - 5.7. During all experiment period, the highest soil pHKCl level (5.65) was in the shallow ploughless tillage. The organic fertilizers particularly the biomass of grass and farmyard manure had tendency to increase the soil pHKCl. The content of plant - available phosphorus and potassium significantly increase in the shallow ploughing compared with others tillage systems. The farmyard manure increases those elements in whole arable layer. The dissolved organic carbon concentration was significantly higher in the 0 - 10 cm soil layer in the shallow ploughless tillage compared with deep ploughing. After the incorporation of clover biomass and farmyard manure the concentration of dissolved organic carbon increased in the top soil layer. During all experiment period the largest amount of water stable aggregates was determined in the soil where the shallow ploughless tillage was applied. It was by 12% higher compared with deep ploughing. During all experiment time, the soil moisture was higher in the shallow ploughing and shallow ploughless tillage (9-27%) compared to deep ploughing. The lowest emission of CO2 was determined in the deep ploughing soil. The highest rate of CO2 emission was in shallow ploughless tillage. The addition of organic fertilisers had a tendency to increase the CO2 emission, but there was no statistically significant effect between the different types of organic fertilisers. The crop yield was larger in the deep ploughing soil compared to the shallow and shallow ploughless tillage.

Keywords: reduced tillage, soil structure, soil pH, biological activity, crop productivity

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Authors: Seyed Mohamad Rasool Mirkarimi, David Chiaramonti, Samir Bensaid

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Catalytic methane decomposition (CMD, reaction 4) is a one-step process for hydrogen production where carbon in the methane molecule is sequestered in the form of stable and higher-value carbon materials. Metallic catalysts and carbon-based catalysts are two major types of catalysts utilized for the CDM process. Although carbon-based catalysts have lower activity compared to metallic ones, they are less expensive and offer high thermal stability and strong resistance to chemical impurities such as sulfur. Also, it would require less costly separation methods as some of the carbon-based catalysts may not have an active metal component in them. Since the regeneration of metallic catalysts requires burning of the C on their surfaces, which emits CO/CO2, in some cases, using carbon-based catalysts would be recommended because regeneration can be completely avoided, and the catalyst can be directly used in other processes. This work focuses on the effect of biochar as a carbon-based catalyst for the conversion of methane into hydrogen and carbon. Biochar produced from the pyrolysis of poplar wood and activated biochar are used as catalysts for this process. In order to observe the impact of carbon-based catalysts on methane conversion, methane cracking in the absence and presence of catalysts for a gas stream with different levels of methane concentration should be performed. The results of these experiments prove conversion of methane in the absence of catalysts at 900 °C is negligible, whereas in the presence of biochar and activated biochar, significant growth has been observed. Comparing the results of the tests related to using char and activated char shows the enhancement obtained in BET surface area of the catalyst through activation leads to more than 10 vol.% methane conversion.

Keywords: hydrogen production, catalytic methane decomposition, biochar, activated biochar, carbon-based catalyts

Procedia PDF Downloads 81

Authors: Dimitra Marini, Konstantinos Bakogiannis, Spyros Polychronopoulos, Georgios Kouroupetroglou

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Archaemusicology cannot entirely depend on the study of the excavated ancient musical instruments as most of the time their condition is not ideal (i.e., missing/eroded parts) and moreover, because of the concern damaging the originals during the experiments. Researchers, in order to overcome the above obstacles, build replicas. This technique is still the most popular one, although it is rather expensive and time-consuming. Throughout the last decades, the development of physical modeling techniques has provided tools that enable the study of musical instruments through their digitally simulated models. This is not only a more cost and time-efficient technique but also provides additional flexibility as the user can easily modify parameters such as their geometrical features and materials. This paper thoroughly describes the steps to create a physical model of a woodwind ancient Greek instrument, Plagiaulos. This instrument could be considered as the ancestor of the modern flute due to the common geometry and air-jet excitation mechanism. Plagiaulos is comprised of a single resonator with an open end and a number of tone holes. The combination of closed and open tone holes produces the pitch variations. In this work, the effects of all the instrument’s components are described by means of physics and then simulated based on digital waveguides. The synthesized sound of the proposed model complies with the theory, highlighting its validity. Further, the synthesized sound of the model simulating the Plagiaulos of Koile (2nd century BCE) was compared with its replica build in our laboratory by following the scientific methodologies of archeomusicology. The aforementioned results verify that robust dynamic digital tools can be introduced in the field of computational, experimental archaemusicology.

Keywords: archaeomusicology, digital waveguides, musical acoustics, physical modeling

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Authors: Farrukh Jamil, Ala'A H. Al-Muhtaseb, Lamya Al-Haj, Mohab A. Al-Hinai

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Environmental problems and the security of energy supply have motivated the attention in the expansion of alternatives for fossil based fuels. Biomass has been recognized as a capable resource because it is plentifully available and in principle carbon dioxide neutral. Present study focuses on utilization date seeds oil for synthesizing high value fuels formulations such as green diesel and jet fuel. The hydrodeoxygenation of date seeds oil occurred to be highly efficient at following operating conditions temperature 300°C pressure 10bar with continuous stirring at 500 rpm. Products characterization revealed the efficiency of hydrodeoxygenation by formation of linear hydrocarbons (paraffin) in larger fraction. Based on the type of components in product oil it was calculated that maximum fraction lies within the range of green diesel 72.78 % then jet fuel 28.25 % by using Pt/C catalyst. It can be concluded that waste date seeds oil has potential to be used for obtaining high value products.

Keywords: date seeds, hydrodeoxygenation, paraffin, deoxygenation

Procedia PDF Downloads 264

Authors: Vicent Lwanga

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Issue: Communication between parent and child is important and necessary. Poor parenting and lack of openness and communication between parents and their children contribute to the increasing rate of HIV infection among young persons between the ages of 10-25. The young person, when left on their own are at the risk of misinformation from peers and from other sources. Description: Parent-Child Communication (PCC) was designed as a key component of a community-based HIV and AIDS intervention focused on young persons by Elderly Widows Orphans Family Support Organisation. Findings from the preliminary community-level process indicated that the lack of parent-child communication militates against young persons adopting and maintaining healthier sexual behaviors. An integrated youth strategy consisting of youth Peer Education/Facilitation and PCC was used to bridge this gap. The process involved an interactive parent-child forum, which allowed parents and children to meet and have open and frank discussions on the needs of young persons and the role of parents. This forum addressed all emerging issues from all parties and created better cordiality amongst them. Lessons Learnt: When young people feel unconnected to their parents, family, or home, they may become involved in activities that put their health at risk. Equally, when parents affirm the value of their children through open interaction, children are more likely to develop positive and healthy attitudes about themselves. Creating the opportunity for this interactive forum is paramount in any intervention program focused on young persons. Conclusion: HIV and AIDS-related programmes, especially those focusing on youth, should have PCC as an integral, essential component. Parents should be vehicles for information dissemination and need to be equipped with the capacity and skills to take on the onerous task of talking sexual reproductive health and sexuality with their children and wards.

Keywords: aids, communication, HIV, youth

Procedia PDF Downloads 123

Authors: Emily Moore, Dora Amos, Tracy Ellimah, Natasha Parrott

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Postoperative haematoma is a well-recognised complication of thyroid surgery with an incidence of 1-5%. Haematoma formation causes progressive airway obstruction, necessitating emergency bedside haematoma evacuation in up to ¼ of patients. ENT UK, BAETS and DAS have developed consensus guidelines to improve perioperative care, recommending that all healthcare staff interacting with patients undergoing thyroid surgery should be trained in managing post-thyroidectomy haematoma. The aim was to assess the effectiveness of a hybrid simulation model in improving clinician’s confidence in dealing with this surgical emergency. A hybrid simulation was designed, consisting of a standardised patient wearing a part-task trainer to mimic a post-thyroidectomy haematoma in a real patient. The part-task trainer was an adapted C-spine collar with layers of silicone representing the skin and strap muscles and thickened jelly representing the haematoma. Both the skin and strap muscle layers had to be opened in order to evacuate the haematoma. Boxes have been implemented into the appropriate post operative areas (recovery and surgical wards), which contain a printed algorithm designed to assist in remembering a sequence of steps for haematoma evacuation using the ‘SCOOP’ method (skin exposure, cut sutures, open skin, open muscles, pack wound) along with all the necessary equipment to open the front of the neck. Small-group teaching sessions were delivered by ENT and anaesthetic trainees to members of the multidisciplinary team normally involved in perioperative patient care, which included ENT surgeons, anaesthetists, recovery nurses, HCAs and ODPs. The DESATS acronym of signs and symptoms to recognise (difficulty swallowing, EWS score, swelling, anxiety, tachycardia, stridor) was highlighted. Then participants took part in the hybrid simulation in order to practice this ‘SCOOP’ method of haematoma evacuation. Participants were surveyed using a Likert scale to assess their level of confidence pre- and post teaching session. 30 clinicians took part. Confidence (agreed/strongly agreed) in recognition of post thyroidectomy haematoma improved from 58.6% to 96.5%. Confidence in management improved from 27.5% to 89.7%. All participants successfully decompressed the haematoma. All participants agreed/strongly agreed, that the sessions were useful for their learning. Multidisciplinary team simulation teaching is effective at significantly improving confidence in both the recognition and management of postoperative haematoma. Hybrid simulation sessions are useful and should be incorporated into training for clinicians.

Keywords: thyroid surgery, haematoma, teaching, hybrid simulation

Procedia PDF Downloads 96

Authors: Julia DeVoy, Olivia Berlin

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The United States exports over 1.6 billion pounds of post-consumer textiles every year, primarily to countries in the Global South. These textiles make their way to landfills and open-air dumps where they decompose, contaminating water systems and releasing harmful greenhouse gases. Through this inequitable system of waste disposal, countries with less political and economic power are coerced into accepting the environmental and health consequences of over-consumption in the Global North. Thus, the global trade of post-consumer textile waste represents a serious issue of environmental justice and a public health hazard. Our research located, characterizes, and quantifies the environmental and human health risks that occur when post-consumer textiles are left to decompose in landfills and open-air dumps in the Global South. In our work, we make use of United Nations International Trade Statistics data to map the global distribution of post-consumer textiles exported from the United States. Next, we present our landfill simulating reactor designed to measure toxicity of leachate resulting from the decomposition of textiles in developing countries and to quantify the related greenhouse gas emissions. This design makes use of low-cost and sustainable materials to promote frugal innovation and make landfill reactors more accessible. Finally, we describe how the data generated from these tools can be leveraged to inform individual consumer behaviors, local policies around textile waste disposal, and global advocacy efforts to mitigate the environmental harms caused by textile waste.

Keywords: sustainability, textile design, public health, built environment

Procedia PDF Downloads 129

Authors: Ntloana Hlabishi Peter

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The availability of public transportation modes and qualitative infrastructure is a burning issue that affects urban sustainability. Public transportation is indispensable in providing adequate transportation means to people at an affordable price, and it promotes public transport reliance. Burgersfort town has a critical condition on the urban public transportation infrastructure which affects the bus and taxi public transport modes and the existing infrastructure. The municipality is regarded as one of the mining towns in Limpopo Province considering the availability of mining activities and proposal on establishment of a Special Economic Zone (SEZ). The study aim is to assess the efficacy of current public transportation infrastructure and to propose relevant recommendations that will unlock the possibility of future supportable public transportation systems. The Key Informant Interview (KII) was used to acquire data on the views from commuters and stakeholders involved. There KII incorporated three relevant questions in relation to services rendered in public transportation. Relevant literature relating to public transportation modes and infrastructure revealed the imperatives of public transportation infrastructure, and relevant legislation was reviewed concerning public transport infrastructure. The finding revealed poor conditions on the public transportation ranks and also inadequate parking space for public transportation modes. The study reveals that 100% of people interviewed were not satisfied with the condition of public transportation infrastructure and 100% are not satisfied with the services offered by public transportation sectors. The findings revealed that the municipality is the main player who can upgrade the existing conditions of public transportation. The study recommended that an intermodal transportation facility must be established to resolve the emerging challenges.

Keywords: public transportation, modes, infrastructure, urban sustainability

Procedia PDF Downloads 226

Authors: Brenda Cecilia Ledesma, Andrea Beltramone

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This work deals with the bio-waste valorization approach for catalyst development, the use of products derived from biomass as raw material and the obtaining of biofuels. In this research, activated carbons were synthesized from the orange peel using different synthesis conditions. With the activated carbons obtained with the best structure and texture, PtIr bimetallic catalysts were prepared. Carbon activation was carried out through a chemical process with phosphoric acid as an activating agent, varying the acid concentration, the ratio substrate/activating agent and time of contact between them. The best support was obtained using a carbonization time of 1 h, the temperature of carbonization of 470oC, the phosphoric acid concentration of 50 wt.% and a BET area of 1429 m2/g. Subsequently, the metallic nanoparticles were deposited in the activated carbon to use the solid as a catalytic material for the hydrogenation of HMF to 2,5-DMF. The catalyst presented an excellent performance for biofuels generation.

Keywords: orange peel, bio-waste valorization, platinum, iridium, 5-hydroxymethylfurfural

Procedia PDF Downloads 195

Authors: Mihail Nagea, Olivera Lupescu, Nicolae Ciurea, Alexandru Dimitriu, Alina Grosu

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Introduction: As severe open injuries are more and more frequent in modern traumatology, threatening not only the integrity of the affected limb but even the life of the patients, new methods desired to cope with the consequences of these traumas were described. Vacuum therapy is one such method which has been described as enhancing healing in trauma with extensive soft-tissue injuries, included those with septic complications. Material and methods: Authors prospectively analyze 15 patients with severe lower limb trauma with MESS less than 6, with considerable soft tissue loss following initial debridement and fracture fixation. The patients needed serial debridements and vacuum therapy was applied after delayed healing due to initial severity of the trauma, for an average period of 12 days (7 - 23 days).In 7 cases vacuum therapy was applied for septic complications. Results: Within the study group, there were no local complications; secondary debridements were performed for all the patients and vacuum system was re-installed after these debridements. No amputations were needed. Medical records were reviewed in order to compare the outcome of the patients: the hospital stay, anti-microbial therapy, time to healing of the bone and soft tissues (there is no standard group to be compared with) and the result showed considerable improvements in the outcome of the patients. Conclusion: Vacuum therapy improves healing of the soft tissues, including those infected; hospital stay and the number of secondary necessary procedures are reduced. Therefore it is considered a valuable support in treating trauma of the limbs with severe soft tissue injuries.

Keywords: complex injuries, negative pressure, open fractures, wound therapy

Procedia PDF Downloads 295

Authors: Shiva Mardani, Mehdi Nasr-Esfahani, Majid Olia, Hamid Molahosseini, Hamed Hassanzadeh Khankahdani

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Plant-parasitic nematodes cause serious diseases on plants and effectively reduce food production in quality and quantity worldwide, with at least 17 nematode species in the three important and major genera, including Meloidogyne, Heterodera, and Pratylenchus. Root-knot nematodes (RKN), Meloidogyne spp. with the dominant species, Meloidogynejavanica, are considered as the important plant pathogens of agricultural products globally. The hosts range can be vegetables, bedding plants, grasses, shrubs, numerous weeds, and trees, including forests. In this study, chemical management was carried out on RKN, M. javanica, to investigate the efficacy of Iranian Abamectin insecticide product [acaricide Abamectin (Vermectin® 2% EC, Gyah Corp., Iran)] verses imported normal Abamectin available in the Iran markets [acaricide Abamectin (Vermectin® 1.8% EC, Cropstar Chemical Industry Co., Ltd.)] each of which at the rate of 8 L./ha, on Tomatoes, Solanumlycopersicum L., (No. 29-41, Dutch company Siemens) as a test plant, and the controls (infested to RKN and without any chemical pesticides treatments); and (sterile soil without any RKN and chemical pesticides treatments) at the greenhouse in Isfahan, Iran. The trails were repeated thrice. The results indicated a highly significant reduction in RKN population and an increase in biomass parameters at 1% level of significance, respectively. Relatively similar results were obtained in all the three experiments conducted on tomato root-knot nematodes. The treatments of Gyah-Abamectin (51.6%) and external Abamectin (40.4%) had the highest to least effect on reducing the number of larvae in the soil compared to the infected controls, respectively. Gyah-Abamectin by 44.1% and then external one by 31.9% had the highest effect on reducing the number of larvae and eggs in the root and 31.4% and 24.1% reduction in the number of galls compared to the infected controls, respectively. Based on priority, Gyah-Abamectin (47.4 % ) and external Abamectin (31.1 %) treatments had the highest effect on reducing the number of egg- masses in the root compared to the infected controls, with no significant difference between Gyah-Abamectin and external Abamectin. The highest reproduction of larvae and egg in the root was observed in the infected controls (75.5%) and the lowest in the healthy controls (0.0%). The highest reduction in the larval and egg reproduction in the roots compared to the infected controls was observed in Gyah-Abamectin and the lowest in the external one. Based on preference, Gyah-Abamectin (37.6%) and external Abamectin (26.9%) had the highest effect on the reduction of the larvae and egg reproduction in the root compared to the infected controls, respectively. Regarding growth parameters factors, the lowest stem length was observed in external Abamectin (51.9 cm), with nosignificantly different from Gyah-Abamectin and healthy controls. The highest root fresh weight was recorded in the infected controls (19.81 gr.) and the lowest in the healthy ones (9.81 gr.); the highest root length in the healthy controls (22.4 cm), and the lowest in the infected controls and external Abamectin (12.6 and 11.9 cm), respectively. Conclusively, the results of these three tests on tomato plants revealed that Gyah-Abamectin 2% compared to external Abamectin 1.8% is competitive in the chemical management of the root nematodes of these types of products and is a suitable alternative in this regard.

Keywords: solanum lycopersicum, vermectin, biomass, tomato

Procedia PDF Downloads 96

Authors: M. M. Wagh, V. V. Kulkarni

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The rising economic activities, growing population and improving living standards of world have led to a steady growth in its appetite for quality and quantity of energy services. As the economy expands the electricity demand is going to grow further, increasing the challenges of the more generation and stresses on the utility grids. Appropriate energy model will help in proper utilization of the locally available renewable energy sources such as solar, wind, biomass, small hydro etc. to integrate in the available grid, reducing the investments in energy infrastructure. Further to these new technologies like smart grids, decentralized energy planning, energy management practices, energy efficiency are emerging. In this paper, the attempt has been made to study and review the recent energy planning models, energy forecasting models, and renewable energy integration models. In addition, various modeling techniques and tools are reviewed and discussed.

Keywords: energy modeling, integration of renewable energy, energy modeling tools, energy modeling techniques

Procedia PDF Downloads 345

Authors: Thais Cavalheri Santos, Pedro Jose Gabriel Ferreira, Alexandre Daliberto Frugoli, Lucio Leonardo, Pedro Americo Frugoli

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This paper presents a low cost education proposal to be used in engineering courses. The engineering education in universities of a developing country that is in need of an increasing number of engineers carried out with quality and affordably, pose a difficult problem to solve. In Brazil, the political and economic scenario requires academic managers able to reduce costs without compromising the quality of education. Within this context, the elaboration of a physics principles teaching method with the construction of an electronic balance is proposed. First, a method to develop and construct a load cell through which the students can understand the physical principle of strain gauges and bridge circuit will be proposed. The load cell structure was made with aluminum 6351T6, in dimensions of 80 mm x 13 mm x 13 mm and for its instrumentation, a complete Wheatstone Bridge was assembled with strain gauges of 350 ohms. Additionally, the process involves the use of a software tool to document the prototypes (design circuits), the conditioning of the signal, a microcontroller, C language programming as well as the development of the prototype. The project also intends to use an open-source I/O board (Arduino Microcontroller). To design the circuit, the Fritizing software will be used and, to program the controller, an open-source software named IDE®. A load cell was chosen because strain gauges have accuracy and their use has several applications in the industry. A prototype was developed for this study, and it confirmed the affordability of this educational idea. Furthermore, the goal of this proposal is to motivate the students to understand the several possible applications in high technology of the use of load cells and microcontroller.

Keywords: Arduino, load cell, low-cost education, strain gauge

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Authors: Preshanthan Moodley

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This study compares two different pretreatments for sugarcane leaf waste (SLW): steam salt-alkali (SSA) and microwave salt-alkali (MSA). The two pretreatment types were modelled, optimized, and validated with R² > 0.97. Reducing sugar yields of 1.21g/g were obtained with optimized SSA pretreatment using 1.73M ZnCl₂, 1.36M NaOH and 9.69% solid loading, and 1.17g/g with optimized MSA pretreatment using 1.67M ZnCl₂, 1.52M NaOH at 400W for 10min. A lower pretreatment time (10min) was required for the MSA model (83% lower). The structure of pretreated SLW was assessed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Fourier Transform Infrared analysis (FTIR). The optimized SSA and MSA models showed lignin removal of 80.5 and 73% respectively. The MSA pretreatment was further examined on sorghum leaves and Napier grass and showed yield improvements of 1.9- and 2.8-fold compared to recent reports. The developed pretreatment methods demonstrated high efficiency at enhancing enzymatic hydrolysis on various lignocellulosic substrates.

Keywords: lignocellulosic biomass, pretreatment, salt, sugarcane leaves

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Authors: Kathleen Frances Haigh, Mieke Nieder-Heitmann, Somayeh Farzad, Mohsen Ali Mandegari, Johann Ferdinand Gorgens

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Lignocellulose can be converted to a range of biochemicals and biofuels. Where this is derived from agricultural waste, issues of competition with food are virtually eliminated. One such source of lignocellulose is the South African sugar industry. Lignocellulose could be accessed by changes to the current farming practices and investments in more efficient boilers. The South African sugar industry is struggling due to falling sugar prices and increasing costs and it is proposed that annexing a biorefinery to a sugar mill will broaden the product range and improve viability. Process simulations of the selected chemicals were generated using Aspen Plus®. It was envisaged that a biorefinery would be annexed to a typical South African sugar mill. Bagasse would be diverted from the existing boilers to the biorefinery and mixed with harvest residues. This biomass would provide the feedstock for the biorefinery and the process energy for the biorefinery and sugar mill. Thus, in all scenarios a portion of the biomass was diverted to a new efficient combined heat and power plant (CHP). The Aspen Plus® simulations provided the mass and energy balance data to carry out an economic assessment of each scenarios. The net present value (NPV), internal rate of return (IRR) and minimum selling price (MSP) was calculated for each scenario. As a starting point scenarios were generated to investigate the production of ethanol, ethanol and lactic acid, ethanol and furfural, butanol, methanol, and Fischer-Tropsch syncrude. The bypass to the CHP plant is a useful indicator of the energy demands of the chemical processes. An iterative approach was used to identify a suitable bypass because increasing this value had the combined effect of increasing the amount of energy available and reducing the capacity of the chemical plant. Bypass values ranged from 30% for syncrude production to 50% for combined ethanol and furfural production. A hurdle rate of 15.7% was selected for the IRR. The butanol, combined ethanol and furfural, or the Fischer-Tropsch syncrude scenarios are unsuitable for investment with IRRs of 4.8%, 7.5% and 11.5% respectively. This provides valuable insights into research opportunities. For example furfural from sugarcane bagasse is an established process although the integration of furfural production with ethanol is less well understood. The IRR for the ethanol scenario was 14.7%, which is below the investment criteria, but given the technological maturity it may still be considered for investment. The scenarios which met the investment criteria were the combined ethanol and lactic acid, and the methanol scenarios with IRRs of 20.5% and 16.7%, respectively. These assessments show that the production of biochemicals from lignocellulose can be commercially viable. In addition, this assessment have provided valuable insights for research to improve the commercial viability of additional chemicals and scenarios. This has led to further assessments of the production of itaconic acid, succinic acid, citric acid, xylitol, polyhydroxybutyrate, polyethylene, glucaric acid and glutamic acid.

Keywords: biorefineries, sugar mill, methanol, ethanol

Procedia PDF Downloads 197

Authors: Golnar Hasheminasab, Mehrdad Faizi, Mona Khoramjouy

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Introduction: Benzodiazepines (BZDs) have pharmacological effects, including anxiolytic, sedative-hypnotic, anticonvulsant, and muscle relaxant properties. However, they have adverse effects such as interaction with alcohol, ataxia, impaired learning, and psychological and physical dependence. According to the structure of zolpidem and on the basis of the structure-activity relationship of BZD receptor ligands, six novel derivatives of 2-fluorobenzyloxy 4,6- diphenylpyramidin-2-ol have been synthesized. We studied the hypnotic, sedative, and anticonvulsant effects of the novel compounds. Method: In this study, we used male mice (18 to 25 g). All the substances were injected intraperitoneally. The hypnotic effect of the compounds was examined by pentobarbital induced sleeping test. The locomotor activities and sedative effects of the novel compounds were evaluated by open field and loss of righting reflex test, respectively. The anticonvulsant effects of the novel compounds were assessed by PTZ and MES tests. Results: In the pentobarbital induced sleeping and open field tests, compound 4-(2-((2-fluorobenzyl)oxy)phenyl)-6-(p-tolyl) pyrimidine-2-ol with ED50=14.20 mg/kg and ED50=47.88 mg/kg, respectively, was the most effective compound. None of the novel compounds showed a significant anticonvulsant effect in the PTZ test. In MES test, compound 4-(2-((2-fluorobenzyl)oxy)phenyl)-6-(p-tolyl)pyrimidine-2-ol with ED50=12.92 mg/kg was the most effective compound. Flumazenil blocked the sedation and hypnosis of all the compounds. Conclusion: All of the novel derivatives showed significant sedative-hypnotic activities and caused the reduction of locomotor activities. The results show that the methyl lipophilic substitutes on the phenyl ring of 4,6-diphenylpyramidin-2-ol derivatives can increase the sedative and hypnotic effects of the derivatives. Flumazenil antagonized the sedative, and the hypnotic effects of the compounds indicate that BZD receptors are involved in the effects.

Keywords: BZD, sedative, hyptonic, anticonvulsant, zolpidem, MES, PTZ, benzodiazepine, locomotor activities, pentobarbital induced sleeping tests

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Authors: S. Zeynep Siretioglu Girgin, Gizem Turna Cebeci

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Turkey’s immigration policy is a controversial issue considering its legal, economic, social, and political and human rights dimensions. Formulation of an immigration policy goes hand in hand with political processes, where natives’ attitudes play a significant role. On the other hand, as was the case in Turkey, radical changes made in immigration policy or policies lacking transparency may cause severe reactions by the host society. The underlying discussion paper aims to analyze quantitatively the effects of the existing ‘open door’ immigration policy on the economic integration of Syrian refugees in Turkey, and on the perception of the native population of refugees. For the analysis, semi-structured in-depth interviews and focus group interviews have been conducted. After the introduction, a literature review is provided, followed by theoretical background on the explanation of natives’ attitudes towards immigrants. In the next section, a qualitative analysis of natives’ attitudes towards Syrian refugees is presented with the subtopics of (i) awareness, general opinions and expectations, (ii) open-door policy and management of the migration process, (iii) perception of positive and negative impacts of immigration, (iv) economic integration, and (v) cultural similarity. Results indicate that, natives concurrently have social, economic and security concerns regarding refugees, while difficulties regarding security and economic integration of refugees stand out. Socio-economic characteristics of the respondents, such as the educational level and employment status, are not sufficient to explain the overall attitudes towards refugees, while they can be used to explain the awareness of the respondents and the priority of the concerns felt.

Keywords: economic integration, immigration policy, integration policies, migrants, natives’ sentiments, perception, Syrian refugees, Turkey

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Authors: Rosa Suryantini, Reine S. Wulandari, Slamet Rifanjani

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Acacia (Acacia mangium) is a forest plant species which is produced to pulp and paper. The high demand for pulp and paper increase the acacia plantation forest area. However, the outbreak of Ganoderma (root rot pathogen) infection becomes obstacles for the development of acacia plantations. This is due to the extent of host range and species of Ganoderma. Ganoderma has also the ability to survive the long-term without hosts. The diversity of the host and Ganoderma species affects its virulence. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the virulence of Ganoderma from different hosts (acacia, palm oil (Elaeis guineensis) and rubber (Hevea brasiliensis)). The methods were isolation and morphology identification of Ganoderma, and inoculation of Ganoderma isolates on acacia seedlings. The results showed that the three isolates of Ganoderma from different hosts had a morphological similarity with G. Lucidum (according to Ganoderma isolated from acacia or G1), G. boninense (according to Ganoderma isolated from palm oil or G2) and G. applanatum (according to Ganoderma isolated from rubber or G3). Symptoms of infection in acacia were seen at 3 months of age. The symptoms were begun with chlorosis, necrosis and death of seedlings (such as burning). Necrosis was started from the tip of the leaf. Based on this visible symptoms, G1 was moderate virulence isolate and G2 was low virulence isolate while G3 was avirulen isolate. The symptoms were still growing in accordance with the development of plant so it affected the value of diseases severity index. Ganoderma infection decreased the dry weight of seedlings, ie. 3.82 g (seedlings that were inoculated by G1), 4.01 g (seedlings that were inoculated by G2); and 5.02 g (seedlings that were inoculated by G3) when the dry weight of seedlings control was 10,02 g. These results provide information for early control of Ganoderma diseases on acacia especially those planted near rubber and oil palm crops.

Keywords: Acacia, Ganoderma, infection, virulence

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Authors: Abdul Khalique Baloch, Ali Okatan

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The quality analysis of food and vegetable from image is hot topic now a day, where researchers make them better then pervious findings through different technique and methods. In this research we have review the literature, and find gape from them, and suggest better proposed approach, design the algorithm, developed a software to measure the quality from images, where accuracy of image show better results, and compare the results with Perouse work done so for. The Application we uses an open-source dataset and python language with tensor flow lite framework. In this research we focus to sort food and vegetable from image, in the images, the application can sorts and make them grading after process the images, it could create less errors them human base sorting errors by manual grading. Digital pictures datasets were created. The collected images arranged by classes. The classification accuracy of the system was about 94%. As fruits and vegetables play main role in day-to-day life, the quality of fruits and vegetables is necessary in evaluating agricultural produce, the customer always buy good quality fruits and vegetables. This document is about quality detection of fruit and vegetables using images. Most of customers suffering due to unhealthy foods and vegetables by suppliers, so there is no proper quality measurement level followed by hotel managements. it have developed software to measure the quality of the fruits and vegetables by using images, it will tell you how is your fruits and vegetables are fresh or rotten. Some algorithms reviewed in this thesis including digital images, ResNet, VGG16, CNN and Transfer Learning grading feature extraction. This application used an open source dataset of images and language used python, and designs a framework of system.

Keywords: deep learning, computer vision, image processing, rotten fruit detection, fruits quality criteria, vegetables quality criteria

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Authors: Aseel Hatif Jassam, Hadeel Hatif Jassam

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The paper discusses the phallocentric discourse that is challenged by women in general and of women of color in particular in spite of the simultaneity of oppression due to race, class, and gender in the diaspora. Therefore, the paper gives a brief account of women's experience in the light of postcolonial feminist theory. The paper also cast light on the theories of Luce Irigaray and Helen Cixous, two Feminist theorists who support and advise women to have their own discourse to challenge the infectious patriarchal sentence advocated by Sigmund Freud and Harold Bloom's model of literary history. Black women authors like BuchiEmecheta as well as her alter ego Adah, a Nigerian-born girl and the protagonist of her semi-autobiographical novel, Second Class Citizen, suffer from this phallocentric and oppressive sentence and displacement as they migrate from Nigeria, a former British colony where they feel marginalized to North London with the hope of realizing their dreams. Yet, in the British diaspora, they get culturally shocked and continue to suffer from further marginalization due to class and race and are insulted and interiorized ironically by their patriarchal husbands who try to put an end to their dreams of authorship. With the phallocentric belief that women aren't capable of self-representation in the background of their mindsets, the violent Sylvester Onwordi and Francis Obi, the husbands of both Emecheta and Adah, respectively have practiced oppression on them by burning their own authoritative voice, represented by the novels they write while they are struggling with their economically atrocious living experience in the British diaspora.

Keywords: authorship, British diaspora, discourse, phallocentric, patriarchy

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Authors: Edita Baltrėnaitė, Pranas Baltrėnas, Eglė MarčIulaitienė, Mantas PranskevičIus, Valeriia Chemerys

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The growing demand for organic products in the market promotes their use in various fields. One of such products is biochar. Among the innovative environmental applications, biochar has the potential as an adsorbent for retaining contaminants in environmental engineering and agrotechnical systems. Artificial modification of biochar can improve its adsorption capacity. However, indirect/natural change of biochar composition (e.g., contaminated biomass) based on syngenetic elements provides prospects for new applications of biochar as well as decreases the modification costs. Natural lignocellulosic and biochar composition variations would lead to a new field of application of biochar and reduce resources for biochar modifications. The aim of this study was to determine the influence of syngenetic elements of biochar’s feedstock on the physicochemical properties of lignocellulosic biochar. Syngenetic elements (e.g., Zn, Cu, Ni, Pb, Mg) and other intrinsic properties (e.g., lignin, COHN, moisture, ash) of indifferent types of lignocellulosic feedstock on the physicochemical characteristics of biochar are discussed.

Keywords: adsorption, lignocellulosic biochar, instrinsic properties, syngenetic elements

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Authors: Yeshona Sewsynker

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This study presents three microwave-assisted alkalic salt pretreatments to enhance delignification and enzymatic saccharification of corn cobs. The effects of process parameters of salt concentration (0-15%), microwave power intensity (0-800 W) and pretreatment time (2-8 min) on reducing sugar yield from corn cobs were investigated. Pretreatment models were developed with the high coefficient of determination values (R2>0.85). Optimization gave a maximum reducing sugar yield of 0.76 g/g. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Fourier Transform Infrared analysis (FTIR) showed major changes in the lignocellulosic structure after pretreatment. A 7-fold increase in the sugar yield was observed compared to previous reports on the same substrate. The developed pretreatment strategy was effective for enhancing enzymatic saccharification from lignocellulosic wastes for microbial biofuel production processes and value-added products.

Keywords: pretreatment, lignocellulosic biomass, enzymatic hydrolysis, delignification

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Authors: Gizachew Belay Adugna

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Scalable and cost-effective device fabrication techniques are urgent to commercialize the perovskite solar cells (PSCs) for the next photovoltaic (PV) technology. Herein, large-area films of perovskite and hole-transporting materials (HTMs) were developed via a rapid and scalable thermal-assisting bar-coating process in the open air. High-quality and large crystalline grains of MAPbI₃ with homogenous morphology and thickness were obtained on a large-area (10 cm×10 cm) solution-sheared mp-TiO₂/c-TiO₂/FTO substrate. Encouraging photovoltaic performance of 19.02% was achieved for devices fabricated from the bar-coated perovskite film compared to that from the small-scale spin-coated film (17.27%) with 2,2′,7,7′-tetrakis-(N,N-di-p-methoxyphenylamine)-9,9′-spirobifluorene (spiro-OMeTAD) as an HTM whereas a higher power conversion efficiency of 19.89% with improved device stability was achieved by capping a fluorinated (HYC-2) HTM as an alternative to the traditional spiro-OMeTAD. The fluorinated exhibited better molecular packing in the HTM film and deeper HOMO level compared to the nonfluorinated counterpart; thus, improved hole mobility and overall charge extraction in the device were demonstrated. Furthermore, excellent film processability and an impressive PCE of 18.52% were achieved in the large area bar-coated HYC-2 prepared sequentially on the perovskite underlayer in the open atmosphere, compared to the bar-coated spiro-OMeTAD/perovskite (17.51%). This all-solution approach demonstrated the feasibility of high-quality films on a large-area substrate for PSCs, which is a vital step toward industrial-scale PV production.

Keywords: perovskite solar cells, hole transporting materials, up-scaling process, power conversion efficiency

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Authors: Muhammad Yasir Wadood, Fatemeh Babaeian

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By developing ultra-wideband (UWB) systems, there is a high demand for UWB filters with low insertion loss, wide bandwidth, and having a planar structure which is compatible with other components of the UWB system. A microstrip interdigital filter is a great option for designing UWB filters. However, the presence of via holes in this structure creates difficulties in the fabrication procedure of the filter. Especially in the higher frequency band, any misalignment of the drilled via hole with the Microstrip stubs causes large errors in the measurement results compared to the desired results. Moreover, in this case (high-frequency designs), the line width of the stubs are very narrow, so highly precise small via holes are required to be implemented, which increases the cost of fabrication significantly. Also, in this case, there is a risk of having fabrication errors. To combat this issue, in this paper, a via-less UWB microstrip filter is proposed which is designed based on a modification of a conventional inter-digital bandpass filter. The novel approaches in this filter design are 1) replacement of each via hole with a quarter-wavelength open circuit stub to avoid the complexity of manufacturing, 2) using a bend structure to reduce the unwanted coupling effects and 3) minimising the size. Using the proposed structure, a UWB filter operating in the frequency band of 3.9-6.6 GHz (1-dB bandwidth) is designed and fabricated. The promising results of the simulation and measurement are presented in this paper. The selected substrate for these designs was Rogers RO4003 with a thickness of 20 mils. This is a common substrate in most of the industrial projects. The compact size of the proposed filter is highly beneficial for applications which require a very miniature size of hardware.

Keywords: band-pass filters, inter-digital filter, microstrip, via-less

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Authors: Jovana Grahovac, Ivana Pajcin, Natasa Lukic, Jelena Dodic, Aleksandar Jokic

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To obtain purified biomass to be used in the plant pathogen biocontrol or as soil biofertilizer, it is necessary to eliminate residual broth components at the end of the fermentation process. The main drawback of membrane separation techniques is permeate flux decline due to the membrane fouling. Fouling mitigation measures increase the pressure drop along membrane channel due to the increased resistance to flow of the feed suspension, thus increasing the hydraulic power drop. At the same time, these measures lead to an increase in the permeate flux due to the reduced resistance of the filtration cake on the membrane surface. Because of these opposing effects, the energy efficiency of fouling mitigation measures is limited, and the justification of its application is provided by information on a reducing specific energy consumption compared to a case without any measures employed. In this study, the influence of static mixer (Kenics) and air-sparging (two-phase flow) on reduction of specific energy consumption (ER) was investigated. Cultivation Bacillus velezensis was carried out in the 3-L bioreactor (Biostat® Aplus) containing 2 L working volume with two parallel Rushton turbines and without internal baffles. Cultivation was carried out at 28 °C on at 150 rpm with an aeration rate of 0.75 vvm during 96 h. The experiments were carried out in a conventional cross-flow microfiltration unit. During experiments, permeate and retentate were recycled back to the broth vessel to simulate continuous process. The single channel ceramic membrane (TAMI Deutschland) used had a nominal pore size 200 nm with the length of 250 mm and an inner/external diameter of 6/10 mm. The useful membrane channel surface was 4.33×10⁻³ m². Air sparging was brought by the pressurized air connected by a three-way valve to the feed tube by a simple T-connector without diffusor. The different approaches to flux improvement are compared in terms of energy consumption. Reduction of specific energy consumption compared to microfiltration without fouling mitigation is around 49% and 63%, for use of two-phase flow and a static mixer, respectively. In the case of a combination of these two fouling mitigation methods, ER is 60%, i.e., slightly lower compared to the use of turbulence promoter alone. The reason for this result can be found in the fact that flux increase is more affected by the presence of a Kenics static mixer while sparging results in an increase of energy used during microfiltration. By comparing combined method with turbulence promoter flux enhancement method ER is negative (-7%) which can be explained by increased power consumption for air flow with moderate contribution to the flux increase. Another confirmation for this fact can be found by comparing energy consumption values for combined method with energy consumption in the case of two-phase flow. In this instance energy reduction (ER) is 22% that demonstrates that turbulence promoter is more efficient compared to two phase flow. Antimicrobial activity of Bacillus velezensis biomass against phytopathogenic isolates Xanthomonas campestris was preserved under different fouling reduction methods.

Keywords: Bacillus velezensis, microfiltration, static mixer, two-phase flow

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Authors: Mohamed Aly, Aliaa Rehan Youssef, Emad Sawerees, Mounir Guirgis

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Relevance: Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common degenerative disease seen in all populations. It causes disability and substantial socioeconomic burden. Evidence supports that exercise are the most effective conservative treatment for patients with OA. Therapists experience and clinical judgment play major role in exercise prescription and scientific evidence for this regard is lacking. The development of clinical prediction rules to identify patients who are most likely benefit from exercise may help solving this dilemma. Purpose: This study investigated whether body mass index and functional ability at baseline can predict patients’ response to a selected exercise program. Approach: Fifty-six patients, aged 35 to 65 years, completed an exercise program consisting of open kinetic chain strengthening and passive stretching exercises. The program was given for 3 sessions per week, 45 minutes per session, for 6 weeks Evaluation: At baseline and post treatment, pain severity was assessed using the numerical pain rating scale, whereas functional ability was being assessed by step test (ST), time up and go test (TUG) and 50 feet time walk test (50 FTW). After completing the program, global rate of change (GROC) score of greater than 4 was used to categorize patients as successful and non-successful. Thirty-eight patients (68%) had successful response to the intervention. Logistic regression showed that BMI and 50 FTW test were the only significant predictors. Based on the results, patients with BMI less than 34.71 kg/m2 and 50 FTW test less than 25.64 sec are 68% to 89% more likely to benefit from the exercise program. Conclusions: Clinicians should consider the described strengthening and flexibility exercise program for patents with BMI less than 34.7 Kg/m2 and 50 FTW faster than 25.6 seconds. The validity of these predictors should be investigated for other exercise.

Keywords: clinical prediction rule, knee osteoarthritis, physical therapy exercises, validity

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