Search results for: performance degradation

Authors: Mohamed Khedr, Ahmed Farghali, Waleed El Rouby, Abdelrhman Hamdeldeen

Abstract:

Pure CeO2, Sm and Gd doped CeO2 were successfully prepared via hydrothermal method. The effect of hydrothermal temperature, reaction time and precursors were investigated. The prepared nanoparticles were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), FT-Raman Spectroscopy, transmission electron microscope (TEM) and field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM). The prepared pure and doped CeO2 nanoparticles were used as photo-catalyst for the degradation of Methylene blue (MB) dye under UV light irradiation. The results showed that Gd doped CeO2 nano-particles have the best catalytic degradation effect for MB under UV irradiation. The degradation pathways of MB were followed using liquid chromatography (LC/MS) and it was found that Gd doped CeO2 was able to oxidize MB dye with a complete mineralization of carbon, nitrogen and sulfur heteroatoms into CO2, NH4+, NO3- and SO42-.

Keywords: CeO2, doped CeO2, photocatalysis, methylene blue

Procedia PDF Downloads 318

Authors: Sam Bahreini, Payam Hayati

Abstract:

Metal-organic coordination [Cu(L)₄(SCN)₂] was synthesized applying ultrasonic irradiation, and its photocatalytic performance for the degradation of Remdesivir (RS) under sunlight irradiation was systematically explored for the first time in this study. The physicochemical properties of the synthesized photocatalyst were investigated using Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), powder x-ray diffraction (PXRD), energy-dispersive x-ray (EDX), thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) techniques. Systematic examinations were carried out by changing irradiation time, temperature, solution pH value, contact time, RS concentration, and catalyst dosage. The photodegradation kinetic profiles were modeled in pseudo-first order, pseudo-second-order, and intraparticle diffusion models reflected that photodegradation onto [Cu(L)₄(SCN)₂] catalyst follows pseudo-first order kinetic model. The fabricated [Cu(L)₄(SCN)₂] nanostructure bandgap was determined as 2.60 eV utilizing the Kubelka-Munk formula from the diffuse reflectance spectroscopy method. Decreasing chemical oxygen demand (COD) (from 70.5 mgL-1 to 36.4 mgL-1) under optimal conditions well confirmed mineralizing of the RS drug. The values of ΔH° and ΔS° was negative, implying the process of adsorption is spontaneous and more favorable in lower temperatures.

Keywords: Photocatalytic degradation, COVID-19, density functional theory (DFT), molecular electrostatic potential (MEP)

Procedia PDF Downloads 156

Authors: Jul Endawati

Abstract:

The composite element of 20 mm in thickness were manufactured using high volume fly ash, silica fume as alternative hydraulic binders and Portland cement Type II. Pine wood shavel as by product of local small wood working industries were used as the composite filler. The elements were given in situ wet and dry treatment for 9 months. Visually there is no fiber degradation as a result of the interaction of the environment. The assessment were done to the elements bending strength and dimensional properties. Increase in MoR after 180 days of exposure shown that mechanically this degradation is not seen yet. The increment of MoR (213%) compare to that of 28 days might be affected by the formation of calcium hydroxide (CH) or ettringite in the transition zone. The use of pozzolan showed also a delay or minimize degradation of composites while improving the pore structure, and minimize the mineralization of the fiber bond with the cement matrix. The water absorption is 4,22% at 180 days, 7,94% at 120 days and 12,38% at 28 days, in line with the 68% decrease in Thickness Swelling (TS). This unoccured degradation could also be affected by the presence of silica fume in the binder matrix. After 270 days of exposure under tropical condition, the flexural strength started to decrease.

Keywords: durability, fly ash, natural fibre, silica fume

Procedia PDF Downloads 254

Authors: Ayoola T. Brimmo, Mohamed I. Hassan

Abstract:

The push to mitigate the aluminum smelting industry’s enormous energy consumption and high emission releases is now even more persistent with the recent climate change happenings. Common approaches to achieve this have been focused on improving energy efficiency in the pot line and cast house sections of the smelter. However, the conventional energy efficiency analyses are based on the first law of thermodynamics, which do not shed proper light on the smelter’s degradation of energy. This just gives a general idea of the furnace’s performance with no reference to locations where improvement is a possibility based on the second law of thermodynamics. In this study, we apply exergy analyses on the pot line and cast house sections of the smelter to identify the locality and causes of energy degradation. The exergy analyses, which are based on a real life smelter conditions, highlight the possible locations for technology improvement in a typical smelter. With this established, methods of minimizing the smelter’s exergy losses are assessed.

Keywords: exergy analysis, electrolytic cell, furnace, heat transfer

Procedia PDF Downloads 276

Authors: Dheepshika Kodieswaran

Abstract:

The persisting problem in the world that continuously impose our planet at risk is the increasing amounts of recalcitrant. One such issue is the disposal of the Petroleum Refinery Sludge (PRS) which constitutes hydrocarbons that are hazardous to terrestrial and aquatic life. The comparatively safe approach to handling these wastes is by microbial degradation, while the other chemical and physical methods are either expensive and/or produce secondary pollutants. The bacterial and algal systems have different pathways for the degradation of hydrocarbons, and their growth rates vary. This study shows how different bacterial and microalgal strains degrade the polyaromatic hydrocarbon PAHs individually and their symbiotic influence on degradation as well. In this system, the metabolites and gaseous exchange help each other in growth. This method using also aids in the accumulation of lipids in microalgal cells and from which bio-oils can also be extracted. The bacterial strains used in this experiment are reported to be indigenous strains isolated from PRS. The target PAH studied were anthracene and pyrene for a period of 28 days. The PAH degradation kinetics best fitted the Gompertz model, and the order of the kinetics, rate constants, and half-life was determined.

Keywords: petroleum refinery sludge, co-culturing, polycyclic hydrocarbons, microalgal-bacterial consortia

Procedia PDF Downloads 94

Authors: Ju-Hong Lee, Ching-Wei Liao

Abstract:

Owing to close antenna spacing between antenna sensors within a compact space, a part of data in one antenna sensor would outflow to other antenna sensors when the antenna sensors in an antenna array operate simultaneously. This phenomenon is called mutual coupling effect (MCE). It has been shown that the performance of antenna array systems can be degraded when the antenna sensors are in close proximity. Especially, in a systems equipped with massive antenna sensors, the degradation of beamforming performance due to the MCE is significantly inevitable. Moreover, it has been shown that even a small angle error between the true direction angle of the desired signal and the steering angle deteriorates the effectiveness of an array beamforming system. However, the true direction vector of the desired signal may not be exactly known in some applications, e.g., the application in land mobile-cellular wireless systems. Therefore, it is worth developing robust techniques to deal with the problem due to the MCE and steering angle error for array beamforming systems. In this paper, we present an efficient technique for performing adaptive beamforming with robust capabilities against the MCE and the steering angle error. Only the data vector received by an antenna array is required by the proposed technique. By using the received array data vector, a correlation matrix is constructed to replace the original correlation matrix associated with the received array data vector. Then, the mutual coupling matrix due to the MCE on the antenna array is estimated through a recursive algorithm. An appropriate estimate of the direction angle of the desired signal can also be obtained during the recursive process. Based on the estimated mutual coupling matrix, the estimated direction angle, and the reconstructed correlation matrix, the proposed technique can effectively cure the performance degradation due to steering angle error and MCE. The novelty of the proposed technique is that the implementation procedure is very simple and the resulting adaptive beamforming performance is satisfactory. Simulation results show that the proposed technique provides much better beamforming performance without requiring complicated complexity as compared with the existing robust techniques.

Keywords: adaptive beamforming, mutual coupling effect, recursive algorithm, steering angle error

Procedia PDF Downloads 312

Authors: I. Nitoi, P. Oancea, M. Raileanu, M. Crisan, L. Constantin, I. Cristea

Abstract:

Hazardous organic compounds like nitroaromatics are frequently found in chemical and petroleum industries discharged effluents. Due to their bio-refractory character and high chemical stability cannot be efficiently removed by classical biological or physical-chemical treatment processes. In the past decades, semiconductor photocatalysis has been frequently applied for the advanced degradation of toxic pollutants. Among various semiconductors titania was a widely studied photocatalyst, due to its chemical inertness, low cost, photostability and nontoxicity. In order to improve optical absorption and photocatalytic activity of TiO2 many attempts have been made, one feasible approach consists of doping oxide semiconductor with metal. The degradation of dinitrobenzene (DNB) and dinitrotoluene (DNT) from aqueous solution under UVA-VIS irradiation using heavy metal (0.5% Fe, 1%Co, 1%Ni ) doped titania was investigated. The photodegradation experiments were carried out using a Heraeus laboratory scale UV-VIS reactor equipped with a medium-pressure mercury lamp which emits in the range: 320-500 nm. Solutions with (0.34-3.14) x 10-4 M pollutant content were photo-oxidized in the following working conditions: pH = 5-9; photocatalyst dose = 200 mg/L; irradiation time = 30 – 240 minutes. Prior to irradiation, the photocatalyst powder was added to the samples, and solutions were bubbled with air (50 L/hour), in the dark, for 30 min. Dopant type, pH, structure and initial pollutant concentration influence on the degradation efficiency were evaluated in order to set up the optimal working conditions which assure substrate advanced degradation. The kinetics of nitroaromatics degradation and organic nitrogen mineralization was assessed and pseudo-first order rate constants were calculated. Fe doped photocatalyst with lowest metal content (0.5 wt.%) showed a considerable better behaviour in respect to pollutant degradation than Co and Ni (1wt.%) doped titania catalysts. For the same working conditions, degradation efficiency was higher for DNT than DNB in accordance with their calculated adsobance constants (Kad), taking into account that degradation process occurs on catalyst surface following a Langmuir-Hinshalwood model. The presence of methyl group in the structure of DNT allows its degradation by oxidative and reductive pathways, while DNB is converted only by reductive route, which also explain the highest DNT degradation efficiency. For highest pollutant concentration tested (3 x 10-4 M), optimum working conditions (0.5 wt.% Fe doped –TiO2 loading of 200 mg/L, pH=7 and 240 min. irradiation time) assures advanced nitroaromatics degradation (ηDNB=89%, ηDNT=94%) and organic nitrogen mineralization (ηDNB=44%, ηDNT=47%).

Keywords: hazardous organic compounds, irradiation, nitroaromatics, photocatalysis

Procedia PDF Downloads 308

Authors: E. A. Krasikov

Abstract:

Influence of neutron irradiation on RPV steel degradation are examined with reference to the possible reasons of the substantial experimental data scatter and furthermore – nonstandard (non-monotonous) and oscillatory embrittlement behavior. In our glance, this phenomenon may be explained by presence of the wavelike component in the embrittlement kinetics. We suppose that the main factor affecting steel anomalous embrittlement is fast neutron intensity (dose rate or flux), flux effect manifestation depends on state-of-the-art fluence level. At low fluencies, radiation degradation has to exceed normative value, then approaches to normative meaning and finally became sub normative. Data on radiation damage change including through the ex-service RPVs taking into account chemical factor, fast neutron fluence and neutron flux were obtained and analyzed. In our opinion, controversy in the estimation on neutron flux on radiation degradation impact may be explained by presence of the wavelike component in the embrittlement kinetics. Therefore, flux effect manifestation depends on fluence level. At low fluencies, radiation degradation has to exceed normative value, then approaches to normative meaning and finally became sub normative. Moreover as a hypothesis we suppose that at some stages of irradiation damaged metal have to be partially restored by irradiation i.e. neutron bombardment. Nascent during irradiation structure undergo occurring once or periodically transformation in a direction both degradation and recovery of the initial properties. According to our hypothesis, at some stage(s) of metal structure degradation neutron bombardment became recovering factor. As a result, oscillation arises that in turn leads to enhanced data scatter.

Keywords: annealing, embrittlement, radiation, RPV steel

Procedia PDF Downloads 333

Authors: M. Karimpour, L. Hitihamillage, N. Elkhoury, S. Moridpour, R. Hesami

Abstract:

Rail transport authorities around the world have been facing a significant challenge when predicting rail infrastructure maintenance work for a long period of time. Generally, maintenance monitoring and prediction is conducted manually. With the restrictions in economy, the rail transport authorities are in pursuit of improved modern methods, which can provide precise prediction of rail maintenance time and location. The expectation from such a method is to develop models to minimize the human error that is strongly related to manual prediction. Such models will help them in understanding how the track degradation occurs overtime under the change in different conditions (e.g. rail load, rail type, rail profile). They need a well-structured technique to identify the precise time that rail tracks fail in order to minimize the maintenance cost/time and secure the vehicles. The rail track characteristics that have been collected over the years will be used in developing rail track degradation prediction models. Since these data have been collected in large volumes and the data collection is done both electronically and manually, it is possible to have some errors. Sometimes these errors make it impossible to use them in prediction model development. This is one of the major drawbacks in rail track degradation prediction. An accurate model can play a key role in the estimation of the long-term behavior of rail tracks. Accurate models increase the track safety and decrease the cost of maintenance in long term. In this research, a short review of rail track degradation prediction models has been discussed before estimating rail track degradation for the curve sections of Melbourne tram track system using Adaptive Network-based Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS) model.

Keywords: ANFIS, MGT, prediction modeling, rail track degradation

Procedia PDF Downloads 314

Authors: Hanane Belayachi, Fadila Nemchi, Amel Belayachi, Sarra Bourahla, Mostefa Belhakem

Abstract:

In this work, two photocatalytic processes for the degradation of phenol in water are presented. The first one is extensive (EP), which is carried out in a treatment chain of two steps, allowing the adsorption of the pollutant by a naturally activated carbon from the grapes. This operation is followed by a photocatalytic degradation of the residual phenol in the presence of TiO₂. The second process is intensive (IP) and is realized in one step in the presence of a hybrid photocatalytic nanomaterial prepared from naturally activated carbon and TiO₂. The evaluation of the two processes, EP and IP, is based on the analytical monitoring of the initial and final parameters of the water to be treated, i.e., the phenol concentration by liquid phase chromatography (HPLC) and total organic carbon (TOC). For both processes, the sampling was carried out every 10 min for 120 min of treatment time to measure the phenol concentrations. The elimination and degradation rates in the case of the intensive process are better than the extensive process. In both processes, the catechol molecule was detected as an under product of degradation. In the IP case, this intermediate phenol was totally eliminated, and only traces of catechol persisted in the water.

Keywords: photocatalysis, hybrid, activated carbon, phenol

Procedia PDF Downloads 30

Authors: Chen-Yu Chen, Ping-Hsueh We, Wei-Mon Yan

Abstract:

Over the past few centuries, human requirements for energy have been met by burning fossil fuels. However, exploiting this resource has led to global warming and innumerable environmental issues. Thus, finding alternative solutions to the growing demands for energy has recently been driving the development of low-carbon and even zero-carbon energy sources. Wind power and solar energy are good options but they have the problem of unstable power output due to unpredictable weather conditions. To overcome this problem, a reliable and efficient energy storage sub-system is required in future distributed-power systems. Among all kinds of energy storage technologies, the fuel cell system with hydrogen storage is a promising option because it is suitable for large-scale and long-term energy storage. The high-temperature proton exchange membrane fuel cell (HT-PEMFC) with metallic bipolar plates is a promising fuel cell system because an HT-PEMFC can tolerate a higher CO concentration and the utilization of metallic bipolar plates can reduce the cost of the fuel cell stack. However, the operating life of metallic bipolar plates is a critical issue because of the corrosion phenomenon. As a result, in this work, we try to apply different coating layer on the metal surface and to investigate the protection performance of the coating layers. The tested bipolar plates include uncoated SS304 bipolar plates, titanium nitride (TiN) coated SS304 bipolar plates and chromium nitride (CrN) coated SS304 bipolar plates. The results show that the TiN coated SS304 bipolar plate has the lowest contact resistance and through-plane resistance and has the best cell performance and operating life among all tested bipolar plates. The long-term in-situ fuel cell tests show that the HT-PEMFC with TiN coated SS304 bipolar plates has the lowest performance decay rate. The second lowest is CrN coated SS304 bipolar plate. The uncoated SS304 bipolar plate has the worst performance decay rate. The performance decay rates with TiN coated SS304, CrN coated SS304 and uncoated SS304 bipolar plates are 5.324×10⁻³ % h⁻¹, 4.513×10⁻² % h⁻¹ and 7.870×10⁻² % h⁻¹, respectively. In addition, the EIS results indicate that the uncoated SS304 bipolar plate has the highest growth rate of ohmic resistance. However, the ohmic resistance with the TiN coated SS304 bipolar plates only increases slightly with time. The growth rate of ohmic resistances with TiN coated SS304, CrN coated SS304 and SS304 bipolar plates are 2.85×10⁻³ h⁻¹, 3.56×10⁻³ h⁻¹, and 4.33×10⁻³ h⁻¹, respectively. On the other hand, the charge transfer resistances with these three bipolar plates all increase with time, but the growth rates are all similar. In addition, the effective catalyst surface areas with all bipolar plates do not change significantly with time. Thus, it is inferred that the major reason for the performance degradation is the elevated ohmic resistance with time, which is associated with the corrosion and oxidation phenomena on the surface of the stainless steel bipolar plates.

Keywords: coating layer, high-temperature proton exchange membrane fuel cell, metallic bipolar plate, performance degradation

Procedia PDF Downloads 271

Authors: Abderafi Charki, David Bigaud

Abstract:

The aim of this oral speach is to present the PVMODREL© (PhotoVoltaic MODule RELiability) new software developed in the University of Angers. This new tool permits us to evaluate the lifetime and reliability of a PV module whatever its geographical location and environmental conditions. The electrical power output of a PV module decreases with time mainly as a result of the effects of corrosion, encapsulation discoloration, and solder bond failure. The failure of a PV module is defined as the point where the electrical power degradation reaches a given threshold value. Accelerated life tests (ALTs) are commonly used to assess the reliability of a PV module. However, ALTs provide limited data on the failure of a module and these tests are expensive to carry out. One possible solution is to conduct accelerated degradation tests. The Wiener process in conjunction with the accelerated failure time model makes it possible to carry out numerous simulations and thus to determine the failure time distribution based on the aforementioned threshold value. By this means, the failure time distribution and the lifetime (mean and uncertainty) can be evaluated. An example using the damp heat test is shown to demonstrate the usefulness PVMODREL.

Keywords: lifetime, reliability, PV Module, accelerated life testing, accelerated degradation testing

Procedia PDF Downloads 561

Authors: Payel Datta, Abhishek Das, Abhishek Roychoudhury, Dhiman Chattopadhyay, Tanushyam Chattopadhyay

Abstract:

Machine learning (ML) and deep learning (DL) is most predominantly used in image/video processing, natural language processing (NLP), audio and speech recognition but not that much used in system performance evaluation. In this paper, authors are going to describe the architecture of an abstraction layer constructed using ML/DL to detect the system failure. This proposed system is used to detect the system failure by evaluating the performance metrics of an IoT service deployment under constrained infrastructure environment. This system has been tested on the manually annotated data set containing different metrics of the system, like number of threads, throughput, average response time, CPU usage, memory usage, network input/output captured in different hardware environments like edge (atom based gateway) and cloud (AWS EC2). The main challenge of developing such system is that the accuracy of classification should be 100% as the error in the system has an impact on the degradation of the service performance and thus consequently affect the reliability and high availability which is mandatory for an IoT system. Proposed ML/DL classifiers work with 100% accuracy for the data set of nearly 4,000 samples captured within the organization.

Keywords: machine learning, system performance, performance metrics, IoT, edge

Procedia PDF Downloads 183

Authors: Artemova Anastasiia, Shen Zexiang, Savilov Serguei

Abstract:

The marine environment is very aggressive for a number of factors, such as moisture, temperature, winds, ultraviolet radiation, chloride ion concentration, oxygen concentration, pollution, and biofouling, all contributing to marine corrosion. Protective organic coatings provide protection either by a barrier action from the layer, which is limited due to permeability to water and oxygen or from active corrosion inhibition and cathodic protection due to the pigments in the coating. Carbon nanotubes can play not only barrier effect but also passivation effect via adsorbing molecular species of oxygen, hydroxyl, chloride and sulphate anions. Multiwall carbon nanotubes composite provide very important properties such as mechanical strength, non-cytotoxicity, outstanding thermal and electrical conductivity, and very strong absorption of ultraviolet radiation. The samples of stainless steel (316L) coated by epoxy resin with carbon nanotubes-based pigments were exposed to UV irradiation (340nm), and immersion to the sodium chloride solution for 1000h and corrosion behavior in 3.5 wt% sodium chloride (NaCl) solution was investigated. Experimental results showed that corrosion current significantly decreased in the presence of carbon nanotube-based materials, especially nitrogen-doped ones, in the composite coating. Importance of the structure and composition of the pigment materials and its composition was established, and the mechanism of the protection was described. Finally, the effect of nitrogen doping on the corrosion behavior was investigated. The pigment-polymer crosslinking improves the coating performance and the corrosion rate decreases in comparison with pure epoxy coating from 5.7E-05 to 1.4E-05mm/yr for the coating without any degradation; in more than 6 times for the coating after ultraviolet degradation; and more than 16% for the coatings after immersion degradation.

Keywords: corrosion, coating, carbon nanotubes, degradation

Procedia PDF Downloads 149

Authors: Qiuyu Dai, Haochong Zhang, Xiangrong Liu

Abstract:

Diagonal sparse matrix-vector multiplication is a well-studied topic in the fields of scientific computing and big data processing. However, when diagonal sparse matrices are stored in DIA format, there can be a significant number of padded zero elements and scattered points, which can lead to a degradation in the performance of the current DIA kernel. This can also lead to excessive consumption of computational and memory resources. In order to address these issues, the authors propose the DIA-Adaptive scheme and its kernel, which leverages the parallel instruction sets on MLU. The researchers analyze the effect of allocating a varying number of threads, clusters, and hardware architectures on the performance of SpMV using different formats. The experimental results indicate that the proposed DIA-Adaptive scheme performs well and offers excellent parallelism.

Keywords: adaptive method, DIA, diagonal sparse matrices, MLU, sparse matrix-vector multiplication

Procedia PDF Downloads 112

Authors: Bouafia-Chergui Souâd, Chabani Malika, Bensmaili Aicha

Abstract:

Water treatment and especially, medicament pollutants are nowadays important problems. Degradation of oxytetracycline was carried out using combined process of low-frequency ultrasound (US), ultraviolet irradiation and a catalyst. The effectiveness of the coupled processes has been evaluated by studying the effects of various operating parameters including initial OTC concentration, solution pH and catalyst mass. For the photolysis process, the monochromatic ultraviolet light wavelength utilized was 365 nm. The sonolysis experiments were performed with ultrasound at a frequency of 40 kHz. The heterogeneous photocatalysis was studied in the presence of TiO2. The processes were employed individually, and simultaneously to examine the details of the processes and to investigate the contribution of each process. Low UV intensity (12W), low pH and high mass of TiO2 conditions enhanced the sono-photocatalytic degradation of OTC. The results showed that the individual contribution sonochemical and photochemical reactions are very low, however, their coupling increases the degradation rate of 8 times compared to photolysis and 2 times compared to sonolysis. There is a synergistic effect between the two modes of radiation, UV and U.S. leading to 82.04% degradation yield. An application of these combined processes on the treatment of a real pharmaceutical wastewater was examined.

Keywords: sonolysis, photocatalysis, combined process, antibiotic

Procedia PDF Downloads 270

Authors: HoYoung Son, DongHoon Shin, WooYoung Jung

Abstract:

This study presented the seismic fragility framework of concrete weir structure subjected to strong seismic ground motions and in particular, concrete aging condition of the weir structure was taken into account in this study. In order to understand the influence of concrete aging on the weir structure, by using probabilistic risk assessment, the analytical seismic fragility of the weir structure was derived for pre- and post-deterioration of concrete. The performance of concrete weir structure after five years was assumed for the concrete aging or deterioration, and according to after five years’ condition, the elastic modulus was simply reduced about one–tenth compared with initial condition of weir structures. A 2D nonlinear finite element analysis was performed considering the deterioration of concrete in weir structures using ABAQUS platform, a commercial structural analysis program. Simplified concrete degradation was resulted in the increase of almost 45% of the probability of failure at Limit State 3, in comparison to initial construction stage, by analyzing the seismic fragility.

Keywords: weir, FEM, concrete, fragility, aging

Procedia PDF Downloads 474

Authors: Abul Bashar

Abstract:

The recent surge in the adoption of cloud computing systems by various organizations has brought forth the challenge of evaluating their performance. One of the major issues faced by the cloud service providers and customers is to assess the ability of cloud computing systems to provide the desired services in accordance to the QoS and SLA constraints. To this end, an opportunity exists to develop means to ensure that the desired performance levels of such systems are met under simulated environments. This will eventually minimize the service disruptions and performance degradation issues during the commissioning and operational phase of cloud computing infrastructure. However, it is observed that several simulators and modelers are available for simulating the cloud computing systems. Therefore, this paper presents a critical evaluation of the state-of-the-art modeling and simulation frameworks applicable to cloud computing systems. It compares the prominent simulation frameworks in terms of the API features, programming flexibility, operating system requirements, supported services, licensing needs and popularity. Subsequently, it provides recommendations regarding the choice of the most appropriate framework for researchers, administrators and managers of cloud computing systems.

Keywords: cloud computing, modeling framework, performance evaluation, simulation tools

Procedia PDF Downloads 482

Authors: Ali Etemadi, Polat H. Gulkan

Abstract:

The drift spectrum derived through the continuous shear-beam and wave propagation theory is known to be useful appliance to measure of the demand of pulse like near field ground motions on building structures. As regards, many of old frame buildings with poor or non-ductile column elements, pass the elastic limits and blurt the post yielding hysteresis degradation responses when subjected to such impulsive ground motions. The drift spectrum which, is based on a linear system cannot be predicted the overestimate drift demands arising from inelasticity in an elastic plastic systems. A simple procedure to estimate the drift demands in shear-type frames which, respond over the elastic limits is described and effect of hysteresis degradation behavior on seismic demands is clarified. Whereupon the modification factors are proposed to incorporate the hysteresis degradation effects parametrically. These factors are defined with respected to the linear systems. The method can be applicable for rapid assessment of existing poor detailed, non-ductile buildings.

Keywords: drift spectrum, shear-type frame, stiffness and strength degradation, pinching, smooth hysteretic model, quasi static analysis

Procedia PDF Downloads 513

Authors: Diana Bardhi

Abstract:

Road safety is an essential part of the economic and social development of any industrialized country. Decisions to maintain and improve the reliability, functionality of infrastructure structures can only be achieved through integrated road life cycle planning and management. There has always been a tendency to review road maintenance strategies, but there is still no serious and reliable administration due to not only insufficient funds but also problems in the proper reorganization of this system. The safety and performance of the road system depend on the ongoing activity of road maintenance management. For it to be effective, it is necessary to intervene before the degradation has caused irreparable damage or damage with a high economic cost of repairs. Investments in road infrastructure during 2006-2014 show that the life of these projects presents problems related to the maintenance and management of life cycle performance in a wide range of constituent elements. Maintenance planning includes various problems that depend on the degree of degradation of asphalt layers, the degree of damage to road structures (bridges, tunnels, culverts, and the economic planning of resources for their repair). The purpose of this study is first to provide a brief overview of the problems in the field of maintenance and life cycle management of road infrastructure investments, proposing ways to reorganize the sector of administration and maintenance of ongoing roads and secondly testing and evaluating the work and nature of standards of different types of road infrastructure projects, through a methodology consisting of a) development, b) data collection, and c) analysis.

Keywords: infrastructure, maintenance, depreciation, efficiency

Procedia PDF Downloads 143

Authors: Yifu Ding, Vijay Avinash, Malcolm McCulloch

Abstract:

As the proliferation of decentralized energy systems, the UK power system allows small-scale entities such as microgrids (MGs) to tender multiple energy services including energy arbitrage and frequency responses (FRs). However, its operation requires the balance between the uncertain renewable generations and loads in real-time and has to fulfill their provision requirements of contract services continuously during the time window agreed, otherwise it will be penalized for the under-delivered provision. To hedge against risks due to uncertainties and maximize the economic benefits, we propose a stochastic model predictive control (SMPC) framework to optimize its operation for the multi-service provision. Distinguished from previous works, we include a detailed economic-degradation model of the lithium-ion battery to quantify the costs of different service provisions, as well as accurately describe the changing dynamics of the battery. Considering a branch of load and generation scenarios and the battery aging, we formulate a risk-averse cost function using conditional value at risk (CVaR). It aims to achieve the maximum expected net revenue and avoids severe losses. The framework will be performed on a case study of a PV-battery grid-tied microgrid in the UK with real-life data. To highlight its performance, the framework will be compared with the case without the degradation model and the deterministic formulation.

Keywords: model predictive control (MPC), battery degradation, frequency response, microgrids

Procedia PDF Downloads 113

Authors: I. Ben Kaddour, S. Larbaoui

Abstract:

Since their first synthesis in 1984, silicoaluminophosphates have proven their effectiveness as a good adsorbent and catalyst in several environmental and energy applications. In this work, the photocatalytic reaction of the photo-degradation of a pharmaceutical product in water was carried out in the presence of a series of materials based on titanium oxide, anatase phase, supported on the microporous framework of the SAPO4-5 at different levels, under ultraviolet light. These photo-catalysts were characterized by different physicochemical analysis methods in order to determine their structural, textural, and morphological properties, such as X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), microscopy scanning electronics (SEM), nitrogen adsorption measurements, UV-visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (UV-Vis-DRS). In this study, liquid chromatography coupled with spectroscopy of mass (LC-MS) was used to determine the nature of the intermediate products formed during the photocatalytic degradation of DCF.

Keywords: photocatalysis, titanium dioxide, SAPO-5, diclofenac

Procedia PDF Downloads 55

Authors: Friday Godwin Okibe, Elaoyi David Paul, Oladayo Thomas Ojekunle

Abstract:

In this study, Nitrogen and Phosphorous co-doped Zinc Oxide (NPZ) was prepared through a solvent-free reaction. The NPZ was characterized by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. The photocatalytic activity of the catalyst was investigated by monitoring the degradation of para-nitrophenol (PNP) under visible light irradiation and the process was optimized using factorial design of experiment. The factors investigated were initial concentration of para-nitrophenol, catalyst loading, pH and irradiation time. The characterization results revealed a successful doping of ZnO by nitrogen and phosphorus and an improvement in the surface morphology of the catalyst. The photo-catalyst exhibited improved photocatalytic activity under visible light by 73.8%. The statistical analysis of the optimization result showed that the model terms were significant at 95% confidence level. Interactions plots revealed that irradiation time was the most significant factor affecting the degradation process. The cube plots of the interactions of the variables showed that an optimum degradation efficiency of 66.9% was achieved at 10mg/L initial PNP concentration, 0.5g catalyst loading, pH 7 and 150 minutes irradiation time.

Keywords: nitrogen and phosphorous co-doped Zno, p-nitrophenol, photocatalytic degradation, optimization, factorial design of experimental

Procedia PDF Downloads 511

Authors: H. Boucheloukh, N. Aoun, M. Denni, A. Mahrouk, T. Sehili

Abstract:

Perovskite materials with strontium alkaline earth metal have attracted researchers in photocatalysis. Thus, nanocomposite-based strontium has been synthesized by the sol-gel method, calciened at 700 °C, and characterized by different methods such as X-ray difraction (DRX), Fourier transformed infrared (FTIR), and diffuse relectance spectroscopy (DRS). After that, the photocatlytic performance of SrNO3/SnO2 has been tested under sunlight in an aqueous solution for two dyes methylene blue and congo-red. The results reveal that 70% of methylene blue has already been degraded after 45 minutes of exposure to sun light, while 80% of Congo red has been eliminated by adsorption on SrSnO₃/SnO₂ in 120 minutes of contact.

Keywords: congo-red, methylene blue, photocatalysis, perovskite

Procedia PDF Downloads 38

Authors: A. H. El-Shazly, A. El-Tayeb, M. F. Elkady, Mona G. E. Ibrahim, Abdelazim M. Negm

Abstract:

In this paper, corona discharge plasma reactor was used for degradation of organic pollution in aqueous solutions in batch reactor. This work examines the possibility of increasing the organic pollution removal efficiency from wastewater using non-thermal plasma. Three types of organic pollution phenol, acid blue 25 and methylene blue are presented to investigate experimentally the amount of organic pollution removal efficiency from wastewater. Measurement results for phenol degradation percentage are 71% in 35 min and 96% when its residence time is 60 min. In addition, the degradation behavior of acid blue 25 utilizing dual pin-to-plate corona discharge plasma system displays a removal efficiency of 82% in 11 min. The complete decolorization was accomplished in 35 min for concentration of acid blue 25 up to 100 ppm. Furthermore, the methylene blue degradation touched up to 85% during 35 min treatment in corona discharge plasma a batch reactor system. The decolorization ratio, conductivity, corona current and discharge energy are considered at various concentration molarity for AlCl3, CaCl2, KCl and NaCl under different molar concentration. It was observed that the attendance of salts at the same concentration level considerably diminished the rate and the extent of decolorization. The research presented that the corona system could be positively utilized in a diversity of organically contaminated at diverse concentrations. Energy consumption requirements for decolorization was considered. The consequences will be valuable for designing the plasma treatment systems appropriate for industrial wastewaters.

Keywords: wastewater treatment, corona discharge, non-thermal plasma, organic pollution

Procedia PDF Downloads 320

Authors: Mabrook Saleh Amera, Prabhakarn Arunachalama, Maged N. Shaddadb, Abdulhadi Al-Qadia

Abstract:

Global energy crises and water pollution have negatively impacted sustainable development in recent years. It is most promising to use Bismuth vanadate (BiVO4) as an electrode for photoelectrocatalytic (PEC) oxidation of water and pollution degradation. However, BiVO4 anodes suffer from poor charge separation and slow water oxidation. In this paper, a Zr:BiVO4/NiFeOOH heterojunction was successfully prepared by electrodeposition and photoelectrochemical transformation process. The method resulted in a notable 5-fold improvement in photocurrent features (1.27 mAcm−2 at 1.23 VRHE) and a lower onset potential of 0.6 VRHE. Photoanodes with high photocatalytic features and high photocorrosion resistance may be attributed their high conformity and amorphous nature of the coating. In this study, PEC was compared to electrocatalysis (EC), and the effect of bias potential on PEC degradation was discussed for tetracycline (TCH), riboflavin, and streptomycin. In PEC, TCH was degraded in the most efficient way (96 %) by Zr:BiVO4/NiFeOOH, three times larger than Zr:BiVO4 and EC (55 %). Thus, this study offers a potential solution for oxidizing PEC water and treating water pollution.

Keywords: photoelectrochemical, water splitting, pharmaceutical pollutants degradation, photoanodes, cocatalyst

Procedia PDF Downloads 36

Authors: B. Roostaii, H. Kazeminejad, S. Khakshournia

Abstract:

The evolution of volume porosity previously obtained by using the existing low temperature high burn-up gaseous swelling model with progressive recrystallization for UO₂ fuel is utilized to study the degradation of irradiated UO₂ thermal conductivity calculated by the FRAPCON model of thermal conductivity. A porosity correction factor is developed based on the assumption that the fuel morphology is a three-phase type, consisting of the as-fabricated pores and pores due to intergranular bubbles whitin UO₂ matrix and solid fission products. The predicted thermal conductivity demonstrates an additional degradation of 27% due to porosity formation at burn-up levels around 120 MWd/kgU which would cause an increase in the fuel temperature accordingly. Results of the calculations are compared with available data.

Keywords: irradiation-induced recrystallization, matrix swelling, porosity evolution, UO₂ thermal conductivity

Procedia PDF Downloads 287

Authors: Renata Shitakubo, Hanyu Yangcheng, Jay-lin Jane, Fernanda Peroni Okita, Beatriz Cordenunsi

Abstract:

In the degradation transitory starch model, the enzymatic activity of glucan/water dikinase (GWD) and phosphoglucan/water dikinase (PWD) are essential for the granule degradation. GWD and PWD phosphorylate glucose molecules in the positions C6 and C3, respectively, in the amylopectin chains. This action is essential to allow that β-amylase degrade starch granules without previous action of α-amylase. During banana starch degradation, as part of banana ripening, both α- and β-amylases activities and proteins were already detected and, it is also known that there is a GWD and PWD protein bounded to the starch granule. Therefore, the aim of this study was to quantify both Gluc-6P and Gluc-3P in order to estimate the importance of the GWD-PWD-β-amylase pathway in banana starch degradation. Starch granules were isolated as described by Peroni-Okita et al (Carbohydrate Polymers, 81:291-299, 2010), from banana fruit at different stages of ripening, green (20.7%), intermediate (18.2%) and ripe (6.2%). Total phosphorus content was determinate following the Smith and Caruso method (1964). Gluc-6P and Gluc-3P quantifications were performed as described by Lim et al (Cereal Chemistry, 71(5):488-493, 1994). Total phosphorous content in green banana starch is found as 0.009%, intermediary banana starch 0.006% and ripe banana starch 0.004%, both by the colorimetric method and 31P-NMR. The NMR analysis showed the phosphorus content in C6 and C3. The results by NMR indicate that the amylopectin is phosphorylate by GWD and PWD before the bananas become ripen. Since both the total content of phosphorus and phosphorylated glucose molecules at positions C3 and C6 decrease with the starch degradation, it can be concluded that this phosphorylation occurs only in the surface of the starch granule and before the fruit be harvested.

Keywords: starch, GWD, PWD, 31P-NMR

Procedia PDF Downloads 446

Authors: Teguh Endah Saraswati, Kusumandari Kusumandari, Candra Purnawan, Annisa Dinan Ghaisani, Aufara Mahayum

Abstract:

The present study aims to investigate the degradation of methylene blue (MB) using TiO₂-carbon (TiO₂-C) photocatalyst combined with dielectric discharge (DBD) plasma. The carbon materials used in the photocatalyst were activated carbon and graphite. The thin layer of TiO₂-C photocatalyst was prepared by ball milling method which was then deposited on the plastic sheet. The characteristic of TiO₂-C thin layer was analyzed using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectroscopy, and UV-Vis diffuse reflectance spectrophotometer. The XRD diffractogram patterns of TiO₂-G thin layer in various weight compositions of 50:1, 50:3, and 50:5 show the 2θ peaks found around 25° and 27° are the main characteristic of TiO₂ and carbon. SEM analysis shows spherical and regular morphology of the photocatalyst. Analysis using UV-Vis diffuse reflectance shows TiO₂-C has narrower band gap energy. The DBD plasma reactor was generated using two electrodes of Cu tape connected with stainless steel mesh and Fe wire separated by a glass dielectric insulator, supplied by a high voltage 5 kV with an air flow rate of 1 L/min. The optimization of the weight composition of TiO₂-C thin layer was studied based on the highest reduction of the MB concentration achieved, examined by UV-Vis spectrophotometer. The changes in pH values and color of MB indicated the success of MB degradation. Moreover, the degradation efficiency of MB was also studied in various higher concentrations of 50, 100, 200, 300 ppm treated for 0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 min. The degradation efficiency of MB treated in combination system of photocatalysis and DBD plasma reached more than 99% in 6 min, in which the greater concentration of methylene blue dye, the lower degradation rate of methylene blue dye would be achieved.

Keywords: activated carbon, DBD plasma, graphite, methylene blue, photocatalysis

Procedia PDF Downloads 111

Authors: E. A. Krasikov

Abstract:

Dependence of the materials properties on neutron irradiation intensity (flux) is a key problem while usage data of the accelerated materials irradiation in test reactors for forecasting of their capacity for work in realistic (practical) circumstances of operation. Investigations of the reactor pressure vessel steel radiation degradation dependence on fast neutron fluence (embrittlement kinetics) at low flux reveal the instability in the form of the scatter of the experimental data and wave-like sections of embrittlement kinetics appearance. Disclosure of the steel degradation oscillating is a sign of the steel structure cyclic self-recovery transformation as it take place in self-organization processes. This assumption has received support through the discovery of the similar ‘anomalous’ data in scientific publications and by means of own additional experiments. Data obtained stimulate looking-for ways to management of the structural steel radiation stability (for example, by means of nano - structure modification for radiation defects annihilation intensification) for creation of the intelligent self-recovering material. Expected results: - radiation degradation theory and mechanisms development, - more adequate models of the radiation embrittlement elaboration, - surveillance specimen programs improvement, - methods and facility development for usage data of the accelerated materials irradiation for forecasting of their capacity for work in realistic (practical) circumstances of operation, - search of the ways for creating of the radiation stable self-recovery intelligent materials.

Keywords: degradation, radiation, steel, wave-like kinetics

Procedia PDF Downloads 293