Search results for: generation Y and Z employees
2520 Microwave Production of Geopolymers Using Fluidized Bed Combustion Bottom Ash
Authors: Osholana Tobi Stephen, Rotimi Emmanuel Sadiku, Bilainu Oboirien.o
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Fluidized bed combustion (FBC) is a clean coal technology used in the combustion of low-grade coals for power generation. The production of large solid wastes such as bottom ashes from this process is a problem. The bottom ash contains some toxic elements which can leach out soils and contaminate surface and ground water; for this reason, they can neither be disposed in landfills nor lagoons anymore. The production of geopolymers from bottom ash for structural and concrete applications is an option for their disposal. In this study, the waste bottom ash obtained from the combustion of three low grade South African coals in a bubbling fluidized bed reactor was used to produce geopolymers. The geopolymers were cured in a household microwave. The results showed that the microwave curing enhanced the reactivity and strength of the geopolymers.Keywords: bottom ash, coal, fluidized bed combustion (FBC) geopolymer, compressive strength
Procedia PDF Downloads 3152519 3D Writing on Photosensitive Glass-Ceramics
Authors: C. Busuioc, S. Jinga, E. Pavel
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Optical lithography is a key technique in the development of sub-5 nm patterns for the semiconductor industry. We have already reported that the best results obtained with respect to direct laser writing process on active media, such as glass-ceramics, are achieved only when the energy of the laser radiation is absorbed in discrete quantities. Further, we need to clarify the role of active centers concentration in silver nanocrystals natural generation, as well as in fluorescent rare-earth nanostructures formation. As a consequence, samples with different compositions were prepared. SEM, AFM, TEM and STEM investigations were employed in order to demonstrate that few nm width lines can be written on fluorescent photosensitive glass-ceramics, these being efficient absorbers. Moreover, we believe that the experimental data will lead to the best choice in terms of active centers amount, laser power and glass-ceramic matrix.Keywords: glass-ceramics, 3D laser writing, optical disks, data storage
Procedia PDF Downloads 2982518 Customized Cow’s Urine Battery Using MnO2 Depolarizer
Authors: Raj Kumar Rajak, Bharat Mishra
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Bio-battery represents an entirely new long term, reasonable, reachable and ecofriendly approach to production of sustainable energy. Types of batteries have been developed using MnO2 in various ways. MnO2 is suitable with physical, chemical, electrochemical, and catalytic properties, serving as an effective cathodic depolarizer and may be considered as being the life blood of the battery systems. In the present experimental work, we have studied the effect of generation of power by bio-battery using different concentrations of MnO2. The tests show that it is possible to generate electricity using cow’s urine as an electrolyte. After ascertaining the optimum concentration of MnO2, various battery parameters and performance indicates that cow urine solely produces power of 695 mW, while a combination with MnO2 (40%) enhances power of bio-battery, i.e. 1377 mW. On adding more and more MnO2 to the electrolyte, the power suppressed because inflation of internal resistance. The analysis of the data produced from experiment shows that MnO2 is quite suitable to energize the bio-battery.Keywords: bio-batteries, cow’s urine, manganese dioxide, non-conventional
Procedia PDF Downloads 2612517 Dynamic Pricing With Demand Response Managment in Smart Grid: Stackelberg Game Approach
Authors: Hasibe Berfu Demi̇r, Şakir Esnaf
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In the past decade, extensive improvements have been done in electrical grid infrastructures. It is very important to make plans on supply, demand, transmission, distribution and pricing for the development of the electricity energy sector. Based on this perspective, in this study, Stackelberg game approach is proposed for demand participation management (DRM), which has become an important component in the smart grid to effectively reduce power generation costs and user bills. The purpose of this study is to examine electricity consumption from a dynamic pricing perspective. The results obtained were compared with the current situation and the results were interpreted.Keywords: lectricity, stackelberg, smart grid, demand response managment, dynamic pricing
Procedia PDF Downloads 982516 Optimal Classifying and Extracting Fuzzy Relationship from Query Using Text Mining Techniques
Authors: Faisal Alshuwaier, Ali Areshey
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Text mining techniques are generally applied for classifying the text, finding fuzzy relations and structures in data sets. This research provides plenty text mining capabilities. One common application is text classification and event extraction, which encompass deducing specific knowledge concerning incidents referred to in texts. The main contribution of this paper is the clarification of a concept graph generation mechanism, which is based on a text classification and optimal fuzzy relationship extraction. Furthermore, the work presented in this paper explains the application of fuzzy relationship extraction and branch and bound method to simplify the texts.Keywords: extraction, max-prod, fuzzy relations, text mining, memberships, classification, memberships, classification
Procedia PDF Downloads 5822515 A Double PWM Source Inverter Technique with Reduced Leakage Current for Application on Standalone Systems
Authors: Md.Noman Habib Khan, M. S. Tajul Islam, T. S. Gunawan, M. Hasanuzzaman
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The photovoltaic (PV) panel with no galvanic isolation system is well-known technique in the world which is effective and deliver power with enhanced efficiency. The PV generation presented here is for stand-alone system installed in remote areas when as the resulting power gets connected to electronic load installation instead of being tied to the grid. Though very small, even then transformer-less topology is shown to be with leakage in pico-ampere range. By using PWM technique PWM, leakage current in different situations is shown. The results that are demonstrated in this paper show how the pico-ampere current is reduced to femto-ampere through use of inductors and capacitors of suitable values of inductor and capacitors with the load.Keywords: photovoltaic (PV) panel, duty cycle, pulse duration modulation (PDM), leakage current
Procedia PDF Downloads 5342514 Construction Information Visualization System Using nD CAD Model
Authors: Hyeon-seoung Kim, Sang-mi Park, Sun-ju Han, Leen-seok Kang
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The visualization technology of construction information using 3D and nD modeling can satisfy the visualization needs of each construction project participant. The nD CAD system is a tool that the construction information, such as construction schedule, cost and resource utilization, are simulated by 4D, 5D and 6D object formats based on 3D object. This study developed a methodology and simulation engine for nD CAD system for construction project management. It has improved functions such as built-in schedule generation, cost simulation of changed budget and built-in resource allocation comparing with the current systems. To develop an integrated nD CAD system, this study attempts an integrated method to link 5D and 6D objects based on 4D object.Keywords: building information modeling, visual simulation, 3D object, nD CAD augmented reality
Procedia PDF Downloads 3122513 Autophagy in the Midgut Epithelium of Spodoptera exigua Hübner (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) Larvae Exposed to Various Cadmium Concentration - 6-Generational Exposure
Authors: Magdalena Maria Rost-Roszkowska, Alina Chachulska-Żymełka, Monika Tarnawska, Maria Augustyniak, Alina Kafel, Agnieszka Babczyńska
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Autophagy is a form of cell remodeling in which an internalization of organelles into vacuoles that are called autophagosomes occur. Autophagosomes are the targets of lysosomes, thus causing digestion of cytoplasmic components. Eventually, it can lead to the death of the entire cell. However, in response to several stress factors, e.g., starvation, heavy metals (e.g., cadmium) autophagy can also act as a pro-survival factor, protecting the cell against its death. The main aim of our studies was to check if the process of autophagy, which could appear in the midgut epithelium after Cd treatment, can be fixed during the following generations of insects. As a model animal, we chose the beet armyworm Spodoptera exigua Hübner (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), a well-known polyphagous pest of many vegetable crops. We analyzed specimens at final larval stage (5th larval stage), due to its hyperfagy, resulting in great amount of cadmium assimilate. The culture consisted of two strains: a control strain (K) fed a standard diet, and a cadmium strain (Cd), fed on standard diet supplemented with cadmium (44 mg Cd per kg of dry weight of food) for 146 generations, both strains. In addition, the control insects were transferred to the Cd supplemented diet (5 mg Cd per kg of dry weight of food, 10 mg Cd per kg of dry weight of food, 20 mg Cd per kg of dry weight of food, 44 mg Cd per kg of dry weight of food). Therefore, we obtained Cd1, Cd2, Cd3 and KCd experimental groups. Autophagy has been examined using transmission electron microscope. During this process, degenerated organelles were surrounded by a membranous phagophore and enclosed in an autophagosome. Eventually, after the autophagosome fused with a lysosome, an autolysosome was formed and the process of the digestion of organelles began. During the 1st year of the experiment, we analyzed specimens of 6 generations in all the lines. The intensity of autophagy depends significantly on the generation, tissue and cadmium concentration in the insect rearing medium. In the Ist, IInd, IIIrd, IVth, Vth and VIth generation the intensity of autophagy in the midguts from cadmium-exposed strains decreased gradually according to the following order of strains: Cd1, Cd2, Cd3 and KCd. The higher amount of cells with autophagy was observed in Cd1 and Cd2. However, it was still higher than the percentage of cells with autophagy in the same tissues of the insects from the control and multigenerational cadmium strain. This may indicate that during 6-generational exposure to various Cd concentration, a preserved tolerance to cadmium was not maintained. The study has been financed by the National Science Centre Poland, grant no 2016/21/B/NZ8/00831.Keywords: autophagy, cell death, digestive system, ultrastructure
Procedia PDF Downloads 2332512 Dynamic Performance Analysis of Distribution/ Sub-Transmission Networks with High Penetration of PV Generation
Authors: Cristian F.T. Montenegro, Luís F. N. Lourenço, Maurício B. C. Salles, Renato M. Monaro
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More PV systems have been connected to the electrical network each year. As the number of PV systems increases, some issues affecting grid operations have been identified. This paper studied the impacts related to changes in solar irradiance on a distribution/sub-transmission network, considering variations due to moving clouds and daily cycles. Using MATLAB/Simulink software, a solar farm of 30 MWp was built and then implemented to a test network. From simulations, it has been determined that irradiance changes can have a significant impact on the grid by causing voltage fluctuations outside the allowable thresholds. This work discussed some local control strategies and grid reinforcements to mitigate the negative effects of the irradiance changes on the grid.Keywords: reactive power control, solar irradiance, utility-scale PV systems, voltage fluctuations
Procedia PDF Downloads 4602511 Classification of Generative Adversarial Network Generated Multivariate Time Series Data Featuring Transformer-Based Deep Learning Architecture
Authors: Thrivikraman Aswathi, S. Advaith
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As there can be cases where the use of real data is somehow limited, such as when it is hard to get access to a large volume of real data, we need to go for synthetic data generation. This produces high-quality synthetic data while maintaining the statistical properties of a specific dataset. In the present work, a generative adversarial network (GAN) is trained to produce multivariate time series (MTS) data since the MTS is now being gathered more often in various real-world systems. Furthermore, the GAN-generated MTS data is fed into a transformer-based deep learning architecture that carries out the data categorization into predefined classes. Further, the model is evaluated across various distinct domains by generating corresponding MTS data.Keywords: GAN, transformer, classification, multivariate time series
Procedia PDF Downloads 1302510 Enhanced Model for Risk-Based Assessment of Employee Security with Bring Your Own Device Using Cyber Hygiene
Authors: Saidu I. R., Shittu S. S.
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As the trend of personal devices accessing corporate data continues to rise through Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) practices, organizations recognize the potential cost reduction and productivity gains. However, the associated security risks pose a significant threat to these benefits. Often, organizations adopt BYOD environments without fully considering the vulnerabilities introduced by human factors in this context. This study presents an enhanced assessment model that evaluates the security posture of employees in BYOD environments using cyber hygiene principles. The framework assesses users' adherence to best practices and guidelines for maintaining a secure computing environment, employing scales and the Euclidean distance formula. By utilizing this algorithm, the study measures the distance between users' security practices and the organization's optimal security policies. To facilitate user evaluation, a simple and intuitive interface for automated assessment is developed. To validate the effectiveness of the proposed framework, design science research methods are employed, and empirical assessments are conducted using five artifacts to analyze user suitability in BYOD environments. By addressing the human factor vulnerabilities through the assessment of cyber hygiene practices, this study aims to enhance the overall security of BYOD environments and enable organizations to leverage the advantages of this evolving trend while mitigating potential risks.Keywords: security, BYOD, vulnerability, risk, cyber hygiene
Procedia PDF Downloads 762509 Setting the Baseline for a Sentinel System for the Identification of Occupational Risk Factors in Africa
Authors: Menouni Aziza, Chbihi Kaoutar, Duca Radu Corneliu, Gilissen Liesbeth, Bounou Salim, Godderis Lode, El Jaafari Samir
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In Africa, environmental and occupational health risks are mostly underreported. The aim of this research is to develop and implement a sentinel surveillance system comprising training and guidance of occupational physicians (OC) who will report new work-related diseases in African countries. A group of 30 OC are recruited and trained in each of the partner countries (Morocco, Benin and Ethiopia). Each committed OC is asked to recruit 50 workers during a consultation in a time-frame of 6 months (1500 workers per country). Workers are asked to fill out an online questionnaire about their health status and work conditions, including exposure to 20 chemicals. Urine and blood samples are then collected for human biomonitoring of common exposures. Some preliminary results showed that 92% of the employees surveyed are exposed to physical constraints, 44% to chemical agents, and 24% to biological agents. The most common physical constraints are manual handling of loads, noise pollution and thermal pollution. The most frequent chemical risks are exposure to pesticides and fuels. This project will allow a better understanding of effective sentinel systems as a promising method to gather high quality data, which can support policy-making in terms of preventing emerging work-related diseases.Keywords: sentinel system, occupational diseases, human biomonitoring, Africa
Procedia PDF Downloads 822508 Most Recent Lifespan Estimate for the Itaipu Hydroelectric Power Plant Computed by Using Borland and Miller Method and Mass Balance in Brazil, Paraguay
Authors: Anderson Braga Mendes
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Itaipu Hydroelectric Power Plant is settled on the Paraná River, which is a natural boundary between Brazil and Paraguay; thus, the facility is shared by both countries. Itaipu Power Plant is the biggest hydroelectric generator in the world, and provides clean and renewable electrical energy supply for 17% and 76% of Brazil and Paraguay, respectively. The plant started its generation in 1984. It counts on 20 Francis turbines and has installed capacity of 14,000 MWh. Its historic generation record occurred in 2016 (103,098,366 MWh), and since the beginning of its operation until the last day of 2016 the plant has achieved the sum of 2,415,789,823 MWh. The distinct sedimentologic aspects of the drainage area of Itaipu Power Plant, from its stretch upstream (Porto Primavera and Rosana dams) to downstream (Itaipu dam itself), were taken into account in order to best estimate the increase/decrease in the sediment yield by using data from 2001 to 2016. Such data are collected through a network of 14 automatic sedimentometric stations managed by the company itself and operating in an hourly basis, covering an area of around 136,000 km² (92% of the incremental drainage area of the undertaking). Since 1972, a series of lifespan studies for the Itaipu Power Plant have been made, being first assessed by Sir Hans Albert Einstein, at the time of the feasibility studies for the enterprise. From that date onwards, eight further studies were made through the last 44 years aiming to confer more precision upon the estimates based on more updated data sets. From the analysis of each monitoring station, it was clearly noticed strong increase tendencies in the sediment yield through the last 14 years, mainly in the Iguatemi, Ivaí, São Francisco Falso and Carapá Rivers, the latter situated in Paraguay, whereas the others are utterly in Brazilian territory. Five lifespan scenarios considering different sediment yield tendencies were simulated with the aid of the softwares SEDIMENT and DPOSIT, both developed by the author of the present work. Such softwares thoroughly follow the Borland & Miller methodology (empirical method of area-reduction). The soundest scenario out of the five ones under analysis indicated a lifespan foresight of 168 years, being the reservoir only 1.8% silted by the end of 2016, after 32 years of operation. Besides, the mass balance in the reservoir (water inflows minus outflows) between 1986 and 2016 shows that 2% of the whole Itaipu lake is silted nowadays. Owing to the convergence of both results, which were acquired by using different methodologies and independent input data, it is worth concluding that the mathematical modeling is satisfactory and calibrated, thus assigning credibility to this most recent lifespan estimate.Keywords: Borland and Miller method, hydroelectricity, Itaipu Power Plant, lifespan, mass balance
Procedia PDF Downloads 2742507 Predicting the Effect of Silicon Electrode Design Parameters on Thermal Performance of a Lithium-Ion Battery
Authors: Harika Dasari, Eric Eisenbraun
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The present study models the role of electrode structural characteristics on the thermal behavior of lithium-ion batteries. Preliminary modeling runs have employed a 1D lithium-ion battery coupled to a two-dimensional axisymmetric model using silicon as the battery anode material. The two models are coupled by the heat generated and the average temperature. Our study is focused on the silicon anode particle sizes and it is observed that silicon anodes with nano-sized particles reduced the temperature of the battery in comparison to anodes with larger particles. These results are discussed in the context of the relationship between particle size and thermal transport properties in the electrode.Keywords: particle size, NMC, silicon, heat generation, separator
Procedia PDF Downloads 2902506 The Effect of Emotional Intelligence on Performance and Motivation of Staff: A Case Study of East Azerbaijan Red Crescent
Authors: Bahram Asghari Aghdam, Ali Mahjoub
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The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effect of emotional intelligence on the motivation and performance of East Azarbaijan the Red Crescent staff. In this study, EI is determined as the independent variable component of self awareness, self management, social awareness, and relations management, motivation and performance as dependent variables. The research method is descriptive-survey. In this study, simple random sampling method is used and research sample consists of 130 East Azarbaijan the Red Crescent staff that uses Cochran's formula 100 of them were selected and questionnaires were filled by them. Three types of questionnaires were used in this study for emotional intelligence, consisting of the Bradbury Travis and Jane Greaves standard questionnaire; and for motivation and performance a questionnaire is regulated by the researcher with help of professionals and experts in this field that consists of 33 questions about the motivation and 15 questions about performance and content validity were used to obtain the necessary credit. Reliability by using the Cronbach's alpha coefficient /948 was approved. Also, in this study to test the hypothesis of the Spearman correlation coefficient and linear regressions and determine fitness of variables' of structural equation modeling is used. The results show that emotional intelligence with coefficient /865, motivation and performance of in East Azerbaijan the Red Crescent employees has a positive effect. Based on Friedman Test ranking the most influence in motivation and performance of staff in respondents' opinion is in order of self-awareness, relations management, social awareness and self-management.Keywords: emotional intelligence, self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relations management, motivation, performance
Procedia PDF Downloads 4852505 New Innovation and Sustainability in a Developing Country: The Case of Cameroon
Authors: Lema Catherine Forje
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Innovation activates the system of an economy to a new level. Innovation follows a process. The first step in innovation is the idea-generation process. There is widespread appreciation that people go to great lengths, incur expenses: energy and materials to generate innovative ideas. People get inspired, create, and connect. The inspiration also enables the building of a culture of innovation. Data collection was done through a face-to-face interview with the producer of the first Cameroon beer that came out in the early 1960s, a rice producing company, a cement producing company, and 100 women following a type of dressing commonly worn by Cameroonian women (wrappa). There were a total number of one hundred and three interviewees. The implication of this study is for everybody. It sheds light on the factors that are likely to sustain an innovation. Conclusion emphasises continuous research to keep giving the innovation a face lift.Keywords: entrepreneurship, ideas, innovation, sustainability
Procedia PDF Downloads 2962504 An Exploratory Study on Business Leadership, Workplace Assessment, and Change Management in the Middle East and North Africa
Authors: C. Akhras
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Change is the life blood of business. Dynamic factors inspire change yet may act as barriers, influencing the company’s position in the market and challenging its organizational mission and culture. Today, the business context has globalized with business enterprises in the North and South joint in mergers and the East forges a strategic alliance with the West. Moreover, given that very little remains stable in certain industries, national business goals in the millennial marketplaces might be rapid, accelerated, and differentiated growth while distinctive competitive advantage might mark new qualitative excellence in others. In a new age culture marked by change, organizations, leaders, and followers are impacted; indigenous business leaders seem to have a very important role to play in change management. This case study was carried out on 178 business employees employed in local industry to evaluate perceptions of indigenous business leadership, workplace assessment, and organizational change management in the Middle East and North Africa. Three research questions were posed: (1) In your work context, do you think business leaders are essentially changing agents? (2) In your work context, is workplace change more effective in business leaders perceived as a hierarchical change agent rather than those perceived as an empowering change agent? (3) In your work context, is workplace change more efficient in business leaders perceived as a hierarchical change agent rather than those perceived as an empowering change agent? The results of the study and its limitations imposed by time and space indicate that more comprehensive research is required in this area.Keywords: catalyst, change management, business enterprise, workplace assessment
Procedia PDF Downloads 2932503 Analysis of Advanced Modulation Format Using Gain and Loss Spectrum for Long Range Radio over Fiber System
Authors: Shaina Nagpal, Amit Gupta
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In this work, all optical Stimulated Brillouin Scattering (SBS) generated single sideband with suppressed carrier is presented to provide better efficiency. The generation of single sideband and enhanced carrier power signal using the SBS technique is further used to strengthen the low shifted sideband and to suppress the upshifted sideband. These generated single sideband signals are able to work at high frequency ranges. Also, generated single sideband is validated over 90 km transmission using single mode fiber with acceptable bit error rate. The results for an equivalent are then compared so that the acceptable technique is chosen and also the required quality for the optimum performance of the system is reported.Keywords: stimulated Brillouin scattering, radio over fiber, upper side band, quality factor
Procedia PDF Downloads 2362502 Twitter Ego Networks and the Capital Markets: A Social Network Analysis Perspective of Market Reactions to Earnings Announcement Events
Authors: Gregory D. Saxton
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Networks are everywhere: lunch ties among co-workers, golfing partnerships among employees, interlocking board-of-director connections, Facebook friendship ties, etc. Each network varies in terms of its structure -its size, how inter-connected network members are, and the prevalence of sub-groups and cliques. At the same time, within any given network, some network members will have a more important, more central position on account of their greater number of connections or their capacity as “bridges” connecting members of different network cliques. The logic of network structure and position is at the heart of what is known as social network analysis, and this paper applies this logic to the study of the stock market. Using an array of data analytics and machine learning tools, this study will examine 17 million Twitter messages discussing the stocks of the firms in the S&P 1,500 index in 2018. Each of these 1,500 stocks has a distinct Twitter discussion network that varies in terms of core network characteristics such as size, density, influence, norms and values, level of activity, and embedded resources. The study’s core proposition is that the ultimate effect of any market-relevant information is contingent on the characteristics of the network through which it flows. To test this proposition, this study operationalizes each of the core network characteristics and examines their influence on market reactions to 2018 quarterly earnings announcement events.Keywords: data analytics, investor-to-investor communication, social network analysis, Twitter
Procedia PDF Downloads 1212501 Design Analysis of Solar Energy Panels for Tropical Nigeria
Authors: Cyril Agochi Okorowo
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More than ever human activity relating to uncontrolled greenhouse gas (GHG) and its effects on the earth is gaining greater attention in the global academic and policy discussions. Activities of man have greatly influenced climate change over the years as a result of a consistent increase in the use of fossil fuel energy. Scientists and researchers globally are making significant and devoted efforts towards the development and implementation of renewable energy technologies that are harmless to the environment. One of such energy is solar energy with its source from the sun. There are currently two primary ways of harvesting this energy from the sun: through photovoltaic (PV) panels and through thermal collectors. This work discusses solar energy as the abundant renewable energy in the tropical Nigeria, processes of harvesting the energy and recommends solar energy as an alternative means of electric power generation in a time the demand for power in Nigeria supersedes supply.Keywords: analysis, energy, design, solar
Procedia PDF Downloads 2932500 Studies on Design of Cyclone Separator with Tri-Chambered Filter Unit for Dust Removal in Rice Mills
Authors: T. K. Chandrashekar, R. Harish Kumar, T. B. Prasad, C. R. Rajashekhar
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Cyclone separators are normally used for dust collection in rice mills for a long time. However, their dust collection efficiency is lower and is influenced by factors like geometry, exit pipe dimensions and length, humidity, and temperature at dust generation place. The design of cyclone has been slightly altered, and the new design has proven to be successful in collecting the dust particles of size up to 10 microns, the major modification was to change the height of exit pipe of the cyclone chamber to have optimum dust collection. The cyclone is coupled with a tri-chambered filter unit with three geo text materials filters of different mesh size to capture the dust less than 10 micron.Keywords: cyclone-separator, rice mill, tri chambered filter, dust removal
Procedia PDF Downloads 5172499 Comparison of Two-Phase Critical Flow Models for Estimation of Leak Flow Rate through Cracks
Authors: Tadashi Watanabe, Jinya Katsuyama, Akihiro Mano
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The estimation of leak flow rates through narrow cracks in structures is of importance for nuclear reactor safety, since the leak flow could be detected before occurrence of loss-of-coolant accidents. The two-phase critical leak flow rates are calculated using the system analysis code, and two representative non-homogeneous critical flow models, Henry-Fauske model and Ransom-Trapp model, are compared. The pressure decrease and vapor generation in the crack, and the leak flow rates are found to be larger for the Henry-Fauske model. It is shown that the leak flow rates are not affected by the structural temperature, but affected largely by the roughness of crack surface.Keywords: crack, critical flow, leak, roughness
Procedia PDF Downloads 1802498 The Effect of Leadership Style on Employee Engagement in Ethiopian Airlines
Authors: Mahlet Nigussie Worku
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The main purpose of this study was to examine the effects of different leadership styles on employee engagement in Ethiopian Airlines headquarters located in Addis Ababa. Specific objectives of the study were stated to examine the effects of five leadership styles, namely transformational, transactional, democratic, lassies fair and autocratic leadership styles on employees’ engagement. The study was conducted on 288 sample sizes, and a simple random sampling technique was employed. The quantitative findings were presented and analyzed by table, ANOVA, bivariate correlation and regression model through SPSS software version 23. Out of 288 total distributed questionnaires, 280 were returned, and 8 of the returned were rejected due to missing data, while the remaining 280 responses were used for data analysis. Data was analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). The study employed both descriptive and explanatory research design. Correlation and regression were used to analyze the relationship and its effect between leadership Style and employee engagement. The regression results showed that transformational, transactional and democratic leadership Styles have significant contributions to employee engagement. Similarly, the transformational, transactional land democratic leadership style had a positive and strong correlation with employee engagement. However, lassies-fair and autocratic leadership styles showed a negative and insignificant effect on employee engagement. Finally, based on the findings, workable recommendations and implications for further studies were forwarded.Keywords: leadership, autocratic leadership style, democratic leadership style, employee engagement
Procedia PDF Downloads 982497 Approximation Algorithms for Peak-Demand Reduction
Authors: Zaid Jamal Saeed Almahmoud
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Smart grid is emerging as the future power grid, with smart techniques to optimize power consumption and electricity generation. Minimizing peak power consumption under a fixed delay requirement is a significant problem in the smart grid.For this problem, all appliances must be scheduled within a given finite time duration. We consider the problem of minimizing the peak demand under appliances constraints by scheduling power jobs with uniform release dates and deadlines. As the problem is known to be NP-hard, we analyze the performance of a version of the natural greedy heuristic for solving this problem. Our theoretical analysis and experimental results show that the proposed heuristic outperforms existing methods by providing a better approximation to the optimal solution.Keywords: peak demand scheduling, approximation algorithms, smart grid, heuristics
Procedia PDF Downloads 942496 Seasonal Variability of M₂ Internal Tides Energetics in the Western Bay of Bengal
Authors: A. D. Rao, Sachiko Mohanty
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The Internal Waves (IWs) are generated by the flow of barotropic tide over the rapidly varying and steep topographic features like continental shelf slope, subsurface ridges, and the seamounts, etc. The IWs of the tidal frequency are generally known as internal tides. These waves have a significant influence on the vertical density and hence causes mixing in the region. Such waves are also important in submarine acoustics, underwater navigation, offshore structures, ocean mixing and biogeochemical processes, etc. over the shelf-slope region. The seasonal variability of internal tides in the Bay of Bengal with special emphasis on its energetics is examined by using three-dimensional MITgcm model. The numerical simulations are performed for different periods covering August-September, 2013; November-December, 2013 and March-April, 2014 representing monsoon, post-monsoon and pre-monsoon seasons respectively during which high temporal resolution in-situ data sets are available. The model is initially validated through the spectral estimates of density and the baroclinic velocities. From the estimates, it is inferred that the internal tides associated with semi-diurnal frequency are more dominant in both observations and model simulations for November-December and March-April. However, in August, the estimate is found to be maximum near-inertial frequency at all the available depths. The observed vertical structure of the baroclinic velocities and its magnitude are found to be well captured by the model. EOF analysis is performed to decompose the zonal and meridional baroclinic tidal currents into different vertical modes. The analysis suggests that about 70-80% of the total variance comes from Mode-1 semi-diurnal internal tide in both observations as well as in the model simulations. The first three modes are sufficient to describe most of the variability for semidiurnal internal tides, as they represent 90-95% of the total variance for all the seasons. The phase speed, group speed, and wavelength are found to be maximum for post-monsoon season compared to other two seasons. The model simulation suggests that the internal tide is generated all along the shelf-slope regions and propagate away from the generation sites in all the months. The model simulated energy dissipation rate infers that its maximum occurs at the generation sites and hence the local mixing due to internal tide is maximum at these sites. The spatial distribution of available potential energy is found to be maximum in November (20kg/m²) in northern BoB and minimum in August (14kg/m²). The detailed energy budget calculation are made for all the seasons and results are analysed.Keywords: available potential energy, baroclinic energy flux, internal tides, Bay of Bengal
Procedia PDF Downloads 1702495 Solar Energy: The Alternative Electric Power Resource in Tropical Nigeria
Authors: Okorowo Cyril Agochi
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More than ever human activity relating to uncontrolled greenhouse gas (GHG) and its effects on the earth is gaining greater attention in the global academic and policy discussions. Activities of man has greatly influenced climate change over the years as a result of consistent increase in the use of fossil fuel energy. Scientists and researchers globally are making significant and devoted efforts towards the development and implementation of renewable energy technologies that are harmless to the environment. One of such energy is solar energy with its source from the sun. There are currently two primary ways of harvesting this energy from the sun: through photovoltaic (PV) panels and through thermal collectors. This work discuses solar energy the abundant renewable energy in the tropical Nigeria, processes of harvesting and recommends same as an alternative means of electric power generation in a time the demand for power supersedes supply.Keywords: electric, power, renewable energy, solar energy, sun, tropical
Procedia PDF Downloads 5432494 A Firefly Based Optimization Technique for Optimal Planning of Voltage Controlled Distributed Generators
Authors: M. M. Othman, Walid El-Khattam, Y. G. Hegazy, A. Y. Abdelaziz
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This paper presents a method for finding the optimal location and capacity of dispatchable DGs connected to the distribution feeders for optimal planning for a specified power loss without violating the system practical constraints. The distributed generation units in the proposed algorithm is modeled as voltage controlled node with the flexibility to be converted to constant power node in case of reactive power limit violation. The proposed algorithm is implemented in MATLAB and tested on the IEEE 37-nodes feeder. The results that are validated by comparing it with results obtained from other competing methods show the effectiveness, accuracy and speed of the proposed method.Keywords: distributed generators, firefly technique, optimization, power loss
Procedia PDF Downloads 5332493 MSG Image Encryption Based on AES and RSA Algorithms "MSG Image Security"
Authors: Boukhatem Mohammed Belkaid, Lahdir Mourad
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In this paper, we propose a new encryption system for security issues meteorological images from Meteosat Second Generation (MSG), which generates 12 images every 15 minutes. The hybrid encryption scheme is based on AES and RSA algorithms to validate the three security services are authentication, integrity and confidentiality. Privacy is ensured by AES, authenticity is ensured by the RSA algorithm. Integrity is assured by the basic function of the correlation between adjacent pixels. Our system generates a unique password every 15 minutes that will be used to encrypt each frame of the MSG meteorological basis to strengthen and ensure his safety. Several metrics have been used for various tests of our analysis. For the integrity test, we noticed the efficiencies of our system and how the imprint cryptographic changes at reception if a change affects the image in the transmission channel.Keywords: AES, RSA, integrity, confidentiality, authentication, satellite MSG, encryption, decryption, key, correlation
Procedia PDF Downloads 3832492 Computer Aided Assembly Attributes Retrieval Methods for Automated Assembly Sequence Generation
Authors: M. V. A. Raju Bahubalendruni, Bibhuti Bhusan Biswal, B. B. V. L. Deepak
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Achieving an appropriate assembly sequence needs deep verification for its physical feasibility. For this purpose, industrial engineers use several assembly predicates; namely, liaison, geometric feasibility, stability and mechanical feasibility. However, testing an assembly sequence for these predicates requires huge assembly information. Extracting such assembly information from an assembled product is a time consuming and highly skillful task with complex reasoning methods. In this paper, computer aided methods are proposed to extract all the necessary assembly information from computer aided design (CAD) environment in order to perform the assembly sequence planning efficiently. These methods use preliminary capabilities of three-dimensional solid modelling and assembly modelling methods used in CAD software considering equilibrium laws of physical bodies.Keywords: assembly automation, assembly attributes, assembly, CAD
Procedia PDF Downloads 3052491 The Effect of Metal-Organic Framework Pore Size to Hydrogen Generation of Ammonia Borane via Nanoconfinement
Authors: Jing-Yang Chung, Chi-Wei Liao, Jing Li, Bor Kae Chang, Cheng-Yu Wang
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Chemical hydride ammonia borane (AB, NH3BH3) draws attentions to hydrogen energy researches for its high theoretical gravimetrical capacity (19.6 wt%). Nevertheless, the elevated AB decomposition temperatures (Td) and unwanted byproducts are main hurdles in practical application. It was reported that the byproducts and Td can be reduced with nanoconfinement technique, in which AB molecules are confined in porous materials, such as porous carbon, zeolite, metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), etc. Although nanoconfinement empirically shows effectiveness on hydrogen generation temperature reduction in AB, the theoretical mechanism is debatable. Low Td was reported in AB@IRMOF-1 (Zn4O(BDC)3, BDC = benzenedicarboxylate), where Zn atoms form closed metal clusters secondary building unit (SBU) with no exposed active sites. Other than nanosized hydride, it was also observed that catalyst addition facilitates AB decomposition in the composite of Li-catalyzed carbon CMK-3, MOF JUC-32-Y with exposed Y3+, etc. It is believed that nanosized AB is critical for lowering Td, while active sites eliminate byproducts. Nonetheless, some researchers claimed that it is the catalytic sites that are the critical factor to reduce Td, instead of the hydride size. The group physically ground AB with ZIF-8 (zeolitic imidazolate frameworks, (Zn(2-methylimidazolate)2)), and found similar reduced Td phenomenon, even though AB molecules were not ‘confined’ or forming nanoparticles by physical hand grinding. It shows the catalytic reaction, not nanoconfinement, leads to AB dehydrogenation promotion. In this research, we explored the possible criteria of hydrogen production temperature from nanoconfined AB in MOFs with different pore sizes and active sites. MOFs with metal SBU such as Zn (IRMOF), Zr (UiO), and Al (MIL-53), accompanying with various organic ligands (BDC and BPDC; BPDC = biphenyldicarboxylate) were modified with AB. Excess MOFs were used for AB size constrained in micropores estimated by revisiting Horvath-Kawazoe model. AB dissolved in methanol was added to MOFs crystalline with MOF pore volume to AB ratio 4:1, and the slurry was dried under vacuum to collect AB@MOF powders. With TPD-MS (temperature programmed desorption with mass spectroscopy), we observed Td was reduced with smaller MOF pores. For example, it was reduced from 100°C to 64°C when MOF micropore ~1 nm, while ~90°C with pore size up to 5 nm. The behavior of Td as a function of AB crystalline radius obeys thermodynamics when the Gibbs free energy of AB decomposition is zero, and no obvious correlation with metal type was observed. In conclusion, we discovered Td of AB is proportional to the reciprocal of MOF pore size, possibly stronger than the effect of active sites.Keywords: ammonia borane, chemical hydride, metal-organic framework, nanoconfinement
Procedia PDF Downloads 187