Search results for: production optimization

Authors: O. R. Raimi, A. Lateef

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Inoculum developments of A. niger were used for inoculation of medium for submerged fermentation and solid state fermentation. The filtrate obtained were used as sources of the extra-cellular enzymes. The FTase activities and the course of pH in submerged fermentation ranged from 7.53-24.42µ/ml and 4.4-4.8 respectively. The maximum FTase activity was obtained at 48 hours fermentation. In solid state fermentation, FTase activities ranged from 2.41-27.77µ/ml. Using ripe plantain peel and kola nut pod respectively. Both substrates supported the growth of the fungus, producing profuse growth during fermentation. In the control experiment (using kolanut pod) that lack supplementation, appreciable FTase activity of 16.92µ/ml was obtained. The optimum temperature range was 600C. it was also active at broad pH range of 1-9 with optimum obtain at pH of 5.0. FTase was stable within the range of investigated pH showing more than 60% activities. FTase can be used in the production of fructooligosaccharide, a functional food.

Keywords: Aspergillus niger, solid state fermentation, kola nut pods, Fructosyltransferase (FTase)

Procedia PDF Downloads 457

Authors: Azeez Ayodele Ayodele

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This paper investigated the problem of picture books design and the quality of the pictures in picture books. The research surveyed nursery and primary schools in four major cities in southwest of Nigeria. The instruments including the descriptive survey questionnaire and a structured interview were developed, validated and administered for collection of relevant data. Descriptive statistics was used in analyzing the data. The result of the study revealed that there were poor quality of pictures in picture books and this is due to scarcity of trained graphic designers who understand systems approach to picture books design and production. There is thus a need for more qualified graphic designers, given in-service professional training as well as a refresher course as criteria for upgrading by the stakeholders.

Keywords: pictures, picture books, pre-primary schools, trained graphic designers

Procedia PDF Downloads 247

Authors: R. Rosazley, M. A. Izzati, A. W. Fareezal, M. Z. Shazana, I. Rushdan, M. A. Ainun Zuriyati

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This study focuses on production and characterizations of nanofibrillated cellulose (NFC) from kenaf core. NFC was produced by employing ultrasonic treatments in aqueous solution. Field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM) and scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) were used to study the size and morphology structure. The chemical and characteristics of the cellulose and NFC were studied using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and viscometer. Degrees of polymerization (DP) of cellulose and NFC were obtained via viscosity value. Results showed that 5 to 47 nm diameters of fibrils were measured. Moreover, the thermal stability of the NFC was increased as compared to the cellulose that confirmed by TGA analysis. It was also found that NFC had higher crystallinity and lower viscosity than the cellulose which were measured by XRD and viscometer, respectively. The NFC characteristics have enormous prospect related to bio-nanocomposite.

Keywords: crystallinity, kenaf core, nanofibrillated cellulose, ultrasonic

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Authors: Thales Maluf, Nazem Nascimento

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The development of society relies heavily on the total amount of energy obtained and its consumption. Over the years, there has been an advancement on energy attainment, which is directly related to some natural resources and developing systems. Some of these resources should be highlighted for its remarkable presence in world´s energy grid, such as water, petroleum, and gas, while others deserve attention for representing an alternative to diversify the energy grid, like geothermal sources. Therefore, because all these resources can be extracted from the underground, drilling wells is a mandatory activity in terms of exploration, and it involves a previous geological study and an adequate preparation. It also involves a cleaning process and an extraction process that can be executed by different procedures. For that reason, this research aims the enhancement of exploration processes through a comparative analysis of drilling costs and techniques used to produce them. The analysis itself is based on a bibliographical review based on books, scientific papers, schoolwork and mainly explore drilling methods and technologies, equipment used, well measurements, extraction methods, and production costs. Besides techniques and costs regarding the drilling processes, some properties and general characteristics of these sources are also compared. Preliminary studies show that there are some major differences regarding the exploration processes, mostly because these resources are naturally distinct. Water wells, for instance, have hundreds of meters of length because water is stored close to the surface, while oil, gas, and geothermal production wells can reach thousands of meters, which make them more expensive to be drilled. The drilling methods present some general similarities especially regarding the main mechanism of perforation, but since water is a resource stored closer to the surface than the other ones, there is a wider variety of methods. Water wells can be drilled by rotary mechanisms, percussion mechanisms, rotary-percussion mechanisms, and some other simpler methods. Oil and gas production wells, on the other hand, require rotary or rotary-percussion drilling with a proper structure called drill rig and resistant materials for the drill bits and the other components, mostly because they´re stored in sedimentary basins that can be located thousands of meters under the ground. Geothermal production wells also require rotary or rotary-percussion drilling and require the existence of an injection well and an extraction well. The exploration efficiency also depends on the permeability of the soil, and that is why it has been developed the Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS). Throughout this review study, it can be verified that the analysis of the extraction processes of energy resources is essential since these resources are responsible for society development. Furthermore, the comparative analysis of costs and well drilling techniques for water, geothermal energy, oil, and gas production, which is the main goal of this research, can enable the growth of energy generation field through the emergence of ideas that improve the efficiency of energy generation processes.

Keywords: drilling, water, oil, Gas, geothermal energy

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Authors: Elena Collino, Dario A. Ronzio, Goffredo Decimi, Maurizio Riva

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The rapid increase of renewable energy in Italy is led by wind and solar installations. The 2017 Italian energy strategy foresees a further development of these sustainable technologies, especially solar. This fact has resulted in new opportunities, challenges, and different problems to deal with. The growth of renewables allows to meet the European requirements regarding energy and environmental policy, but these types of sources are difficult to manage because they are intermittent and non-programmable. Operationally, these characteristics can lead to instability on the voltage profile and increasing uncertainty on energy reserve scheduling. The increasing renewable production must be considered with more and more attention especially by the Transmission System Operator (TSO). The TSO, in fact, every day provides orders on energy dispatch, once the market outcome has been determined, on extended areas, defined mainly on the basis of power transmission limitations. In Italy, six market zone are defined: Northern-Italy, Central-Northern Italy, Central-Southern Italy, Southern Italy, Sardinia, and Sicily. An accurate hourly renewable power forecasting for the day-ahead on these extended areas brings an improvement both in terms of dispatching and reserve management. In this study, an operational forecasting tool of the hourly solar output for the six Italian market zones is presented, and the performance is analysed. The implementation is carried out by means of a numerical weather prediction model, coupled with a statistical post-processing in order to derive the power forecast on the basis of the meteorological projection. The weather forecast is obtained from the limited area model RAMS on the Italian territory, initialized with IFS-ECMWF boundary conditions. The post-processing calculates the solar power production with the Analog Ensemble technique (AN). This statistical approach forecasts the production using a probability distribution of the measured production registered in the past when the weather scenario looked very similar to the forecasted one. The similarity is evaluated for the components of the solar radiation: global (GHI), diffuse (DIF) and direct normal (DNI) irradiation, together with the corresponding azimuth and zenith solar angles. These are, in fact, the main factors that affect the solar production. Considering that the AN performance is strictly related to the length and quality of the historical data a training period of more than one year has been used. The training set is made by historical Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) forecasts at 12 UTC for the GHI, DIF and DNI variables over the Italian territory together with corresponding hourly measured production for each of the six zones. The AN technique makes it possible to estimate the aggregate solar production in the area, without information about the technologic characteristics of the all solar parks present in each area. Besides, this information is often only partially available. Every day, the hourly solar power forecast for the six Italian market zones is made publicly available through a website.

Keywords: analog ensemble, electricity market, PV forecast, solar energy

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Authors: Weiwei Xie, Yichao Li

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The initial installation of the umbilical can affect the subsequent installation process and final installation. Meanwhile, the design of both ends of the ultra-deep water dynamic umbilical (UDWDU), as well as the design of the surface unit and the subsea production system connected by UDWDU,], varies in different oil and gas fields. To optimize the installation process of UDWDU, on the basis of the summary and analysis of the surface-end and the subsea-end design of UDWDU and the mainstream construction resources, the method of initial installation from the surface unit side or the subsea production system side of UDWDU is studied, and each initiation installation method is pointed out if some difficulties that may be encountered.

Keywords: dynamic umbilical, ultra-deep-water, initial installation, installation process

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Authors: Ali Zefeiti

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There has always been a debate on critical versus pragmatic approach to learning English. Different elements of teaching take different shapes in the two approaches. This study concerns itself with the students who are the main pillar of the teaching/learning operation. Students have always been placed into classrooms to learn what the curricula of different courses offer. There is little room for students to state their own learning needs as they often have to conform with the group requirement. This study focuses on an extra-curricular activity students did alongside their mainstream learning. The students come from different colleges and different EAP courses. They are united by their passion for the task and learning many things along the way. The data are collected through interviews and students' journals. The study was concerned with the effect of this extra-curricular activity on students' main learning trajectory. The students were engaged in the task of film production over the period of their English Language course. The findings show that students are able to set their own agenda for learning and have actually had a lot of skills and vocabulary to take to class.

Keywords: critical EAP, pragmatic EAP, self-directed learning, teaching methods

Procedia PDF Downloads 455

Authors: Nkechi Neboh, Josiah Adeyemo, Abimbola Enitan, Oludayo Olugbara

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Evolutionary algorithms are techniques extensively used in the planning and management of water resources and systems. It is useful in finding optimal solutions to water resources problems considering the complexities involved in the analysis. River basin management is an essential area that involves the management of upstream, river inflow and outflow including downstream aspects of a reservoir. Water as a scarce resource is needed by human and the environment for survival and its management involve a lot of complexities. Management of this scarce resource is necessary for proper distribution to competing users in a river basin. This presents a lot of complexities involving many constraints and conflicting objectives. Evolutionary algorithms are very useful in solving this kind of complex problems with ease. Evolutionary algorithms are easy to use, fast and robust with many other advantages. Many applications of evolutionary algorithms, which are population based search algorithm, are discussed. Different methodologies involved in the modeling and simulation of water management problems in river basins are explained. It was found from this work that different evolutionary algorithms are suitable for different problems. Therefore, appropriate algorithms are suggested for different methodologies and applications based on results of previous studies reviewed. It is concluded that evolutionary algorithms, with wide applications in water resources management, are viable and easy algorithms for most of the applications. The results suggested that evolutionary algorithms, applied in the right application areas, can suggest superior solutions for river basin management especially in reservoir operations, irrigation planning and management, stream flow forecasting and real-time applications. The future directions in this work are suggested. This study will assist decision makers and stakeholders on the best evolutionary algorithm to use in varied optimization issues in water resources management.

Keywords: evolutionary algorithm, multi-objective, reservoir operation, river basin management

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Authors: Eashan Hatti

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In software development, programmers often must make a choice between high-level programming and high-performance programs. High-level programming encourages the use of complex, pervasive abstractions. However, the use of these abstractions degrades performance-high performance demands that programs be low-level. In a compiler, the optimizer attempts to let the user have both. The optimizer takes high-level, abstract code as an input and produces low-level, performant code as an output. However, there is a problem with having the optimizer be a built-in part of the compiler. Domain-specific abstractions implemented as libraries are common in high-level languages. As a language’s library ecosystem grows, so does the number of abstractions that programmers will use. If these abstractions are to be performant, the optimizer must be extended with new optimizations to target them, or these abstractions must rely on existing general-purpose optimizations. The latter is often not as effective as needed. The former presents too significant of an effort for the compiler developers, as they are the only ones who can extend the language with new optimizations. Thus, the language becomes more high-level, yet the optimizer – and, in turn, program performance – falls behind. Programmers are again confronted with a choice between high-level programming and high-performance programs. To investigate a potential solution to this problem, we developed Peridot, a prototype programming language. Peridot’s main contribution is that it enables library developers to easily extend the language with new optimizations themselves. This allows the optimization workload to be taken off the compiler developers’ hands and given to a much larger set of people who can specialize in each problem domain. Because of this, optimizations can be much more effective while also being much more numerous. To enable this, Peridot supports metaprogramming designed for implementing program transformations. The language is split into two fragments or “levels”, one for metaprogramming, the other for high-level general-purpose programming. The metaprogramming level supports logic programming. Peridot’s key idea is that optimizations are simply implemented as metaprograms. The meta level supports several specific features which make it particularly suited to implementing optimizers. For instance, metaprograms can automatically deduce equalities between the programs they are optimizing via unification, deal with variable binding declaratively via higher-order abstract syntax, and avoid the phase-ordering problem via non-determinism. We have found that this design centered around logic programming makes optimizers concise and easy to write compared to their equivalents in functional or imperative languages. Overall, implementing Peridot has shown that its design is a viable solution to the problem of writing code which is both high-level and performant.

Keywords: optimization, metaprogramming, logic programming, abstraction

Procedia PDF Downloads 88

Authors: Caroline Correia, Stefani Perna, John Gaughan, Elizabeth Cerceo

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Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic has brought unprecedented changes to how hospitals function on a daily basis. Increased personal protective equipment (PPE) usage and measures to pre-package, separate, and decontaminate have the potential to increase the waste load. However, limiting non-essential surgeries drastically reduces operating room (OR) waste, and restricting visitation policies to contain outbreaks may help conserve resources. The impact of these policy changes with increased disposable PPE usage on hospital production of waste is unknown. Methods: Waste produced in pounds (lbs) was measured for January through June during both 2019 and 2020 through Stericycle in Cooper University Hospital in Camden, NJ. This timeframe was selected since the pandemic began in January 2020 in the US. The total waste produced during this time was 328,623 lbs in 2019 and 306,454 lbs in 2020. Using Poisson counts (α=.05), less waste was produced in 2020 (p < 0.001). The amount of sharps and regulated medical waste (grossly bloody items) were both significantly decreased as well (p < 0.0001, p=0.0002), and these account for 10-15% of the total waste produced. Discussion: Despite the increased usage of disposable PPE, overall hospital waste was decreased during the pandemic as compared to prior. As surgeries are estimated to be responsible for up to one-half of waste produced by hospitals, it is possible that constraint on elective procedures contributed to the decreased waste in all three categories; estimates of a 35% decrease in surgical volume would be expected to impact waste production. The effects of the pandemic on waste production should continue to be monitored to understand the environmental impact as health systems resume backlogged surgeries at a higher volume.

Keywords: COVID-19, hospital, surgery, waste

Procedia PDF Downloads 106

Authors: C. Fúnez Guerra, B. Nieto Calderón, M. Jaén Caparrós, L. Reyes-Bozo, A. Godoy-Faúndez, E. Vyhmeister

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The global energy system is experiencing a change of scenery. Unstable energy markets, an increasing focus on climate change and its sustainable development is forcing businesses to pursue new solutions in order to ensure future economic growth. This has led to the interest in using hydrogen as an energy carrier in transportation and industrial applications. As an energy carrier, hydrogen is accessible and holds a high gravimetric energy density. Abundant in hydrocarbons, hydrogen can play an important role in the shift towards low-emission fossil value chains. By combining hydrogen production by natural gas reforming with carbon capture and storage, the overall CO2 emissions are significantly reduced. In addition, the flexibility of hydrogen as an energy storage makes it applicable as a stabilizer in the renewable energy mix. The recent development in hydrogen fuel cells is also raising the expectations for a hydrogen powered transportation sector. Hydrogen value chains exist to a large extent in the industry today. The global hydrogen consumption was approximately 50 million tonnes (7.2 EJ) in 2013, where refineries, ammonia, methanol production and metal processing were main consumers. Natural gas reforming produced 48% of this hydrogen, but without carbon capture and storage (CCS). The total emissions from the production reached 500 million tonnes of CO2, hence alternative production methods with lower emissions will be necessary in future value chains. Hydrogen from electrolysis is used for a wide range of industrial chemical reactions for many years. Possibly, the earliest use was for the production of ammonia-based fertilisers by Norsk Hydro, with a test reactor set up in Notodden, Norway, in 1927. This application also claims one of the world’s largest electrolyser installations, at Sable Chemicals in Zimbabwe. Its array of 28 electrolysers consumes 80 MW per hour, producing around 21,000 Nm3/h of hydrogen. These electrolysers can compete if cheap sources of electricity are available and natural gas for steam reforming is relatively expensive. Because electrolysis of water produces oxygen as a by-product, a system of Autothermal Reforming (ATR) utilizing this oxygen has been analyzed. Replacing the air separation unit with electrolysers produces the required amount of oxygen to the ATR as well as additional hydrogen. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the technical and economic potential of large-scale production of hydrogen for oil refining industry. Sensitivity analysis of parameters such as investment costs, plant operating hours, electricity price and sale price of hydrogen and oxygen are performed.

Keywords: autothermal reforming, electrolyser, hydrogen, natural gas, steam methane reforming

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Authors: Janet Kaningen, Richard N. Kaningen, Jonas Kaningen

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This paper aims to discover the best ways to improve production efficiency, cost efficiency, community cohesion, and long-term sustainability in Ghana's housing delivery. Advanced Construction Technologies (ACTs) are set to become the sustainable mainstay of the construction industry due to the demand for innovative housing solutions. Advances in material science, building component production, and assembly technologies are leading to the development of next-generation materials such as polymeric-fiber-based products, light-metal alloys, and eco-materials. Modular housing construction has become more efficient and cost-effective than traditional building methods and is becoming increasingly popular for commercial, industrial, and residential projects. Effective project management and logistics will be imperative in the future speed and cost of modular construction housing.

Keywords: technology blending, sustainability, housing, Ghana

Procedia PDF Downloads 87

Authors: Leonard Mike McNelly Longwa, Divine Kusosa Musiku, Dieudonne Nahum Kabeya

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In this paper, the bifurcation analysis of oilfields in the Democratic Republic of Congo is presented in order to enhance petroleum production in an intense tectonic evolution characterized by distinct compressive and extensive phases and the digenetic transformation in the reservoirs during burial geological configuration. The use of porous media in the Makelekese MS-25 field has been established to simulate the boundaries within 3 sedimentary basins open to exploration including the coastal basin with an area of 5992 km², a central basin with an area of 800,000 km², the western branch of the East African Rift in which there are 50,000 km². The fractal characterization of complex hydro-dynamic fractures in oilfields is developed to facilitate the oil production process based on the reservoirs bifurcation model.

Keywords: reservoir bifurcation, fractal characterization, permeability, conductivity, skin effect

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Authors: Bator Shagdyrov, Elena Zorina, Tamara Nesterenko

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The aim of the research was to develop a design of micromechanical gyroscope, which will be used in the automotive industry, safety systems and anti-lock braking system. The research resulted in improvement of one of the technical parameters – bandwidth. In the process of mass production of micromechanical sensors, problems occurred with their use. One of the problems was a narrow bandwidth typical for the gyroscopes with a high-quality factor. A constructive way of increasing bandwidth is to use multimass systems via secondary oscillations axis. When constructing, the main task was to choose the frequency - phases and antiphases as close to each other as possible, and set the frequency of the primary oscillation evenly between them. Investigations are carried out using the T-Flex CAD finite element program and T-Flex ANALYSIS support package. The results obtained are planned to use in the future for the production of an experimental model of development and testing in practice of characteristics derived by theoretical means.

Keywords: bandwidth, inertial mass, mathematical model, micromechanical gyroscope, micromechanics

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Authors: Adrien Chatel, Ehsan Askari Mahvelati, Laurent Fitschy

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Once-Through-Steam-Generators are commonly used in the oil-sand industry in the heavy fuel oil extraction process. They are composed of three main parts: the burner, the radiant and convective sections. Natural gas is burned through staged diffusive flames stabilized by the burner. The heat generated by the combustion is transferred to the water flowing through the piping system in the radiant and convective sections. The steam produced within the pipes is then directed to the ground to reduce the oil viscosity and allow its pumping. With the rapid development of the oil-sand industry, the number of OTSG in operation has increased as well as the associated emissions of environmental pollutants, especially the Nitrous Oxides (NOₓ). To limit the environmental degradation, various international environmental agencies have established regulations on the pollutant discharge and pushed to reduce the NOₓ release. To meet these constraints, OTSG constructors have to rely on more and more advanced tools to study and predict the NOₓ emission. With the increase of the computational resources, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) has emerged as a flexible tool to analyze the combustion and pollutant formation process. Moreover, to optimize the burner operating condition regarding the NOx emission, field characterization and measurements are usually accomplished. However, these kinds of experimental campaigns are particularly time-consuming and sometimes even impossible for industrial plants with strict operation schedule constraints. Therefore, the application of CFD seems to be more adequate in order to provide guidelines on the NOₓ emission and reduction problem. In the present work, two different software are employed to simulate the combustion process in an OTSG, namely the commercial software ANSYS Fluent and the open source software OpenFOAM. RANS (Reynolds-Averaged Navier–Stokes) equations combined with the Eddy Dissipation Concept to model the combustion and closed by the k-epsilon model are solved. A mesh sensitivity analysis is performed to assess the independence of the solution on the mesh. In the first part, the results given by the two software are compared and confronted with experimental data as a mean to assess the numerical modelling. Flame temperatures and chemical composition are used as reference fields to perform this validation. Results show a fair agreement between experimental and numerical data. In the last part, OpenFOAM is employed to simulate several operating conditions, and an Emission Characteristic Map of the combustion system is generated. The sources of high NOₓ production inside the OTSG are pointed and correlated to the physics of the flow. CFD is, therefore, a useful tool for providing an insight into the NOₓ emission phenomena in OTSG. Sources of high NOₓ production can be identified, and operating conditions can be adjusted accordingly. With the help of RANS simulations, an Emission Characteristics Map can be produced and then be used as a guide for a field tune-up.

Keywords: combustion, computational fluid dynamics, nitrous oxides emission, once-through-steam-generators

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Authors: Aliaa M. El-Borai, Ehab A. Beltagy, Eman E. Gadallah, Samy A. ElAssar

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Bioremediation technology is now used for treatment instead of traditional metal removal methods. A strain was isolated from Marsa Alam, Red sea, Egypt showed high resistance to high lead concentration and was identified by the 16S rRNA gene sequencing technique as Halomonas sp. ES015. Medium optimization was carried out using Plackett-Burman design, and the most significant factors were yeast extract, casamino acid and inoculums size. The optimized media obtained by the statistical design raised the removal efficiency from 84% to 99% from initial concentration 250 ppm of lead. Moreover, Box-Behnken experimental design was applied to study the relationship between yeast extract concentration, casamino acid concentration and inoculums size. The optimized medium increased removal efficiency to 97% from initial concentration 500 ppm of lead. Immobilized Halomonas sp. ES015 cells on sponge cubes, using optimized medium in loop bioremediation column, showed relatively constant lead removal efficiency when reused six successive cycles over the range of time interval. Also metal removal efficiency was not affected by flow rate changes. Finally, the results of this research refer to the possibility of lead bioremediation by free or immobilized cells of Halomonas sp. ES015. Also, bioremediation can be done in batch cultures and semicontinuous cultures using column technology.

Keywords: bioremediation, lead, Box–Behnken, Halomonas sp. ES015, loop bioremediation, Plackett-Burman

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Authors: Hyun Seop Uhm, Yong Ho Choi, Ji Eun Kim, Young Hoon Lee

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Weapon-target assignment (WTA) is a problem that assigns available launchers to appropriate targets in order to defend assets. Various algorithms for WTA have been developed over past years for both in the static and dynamic environment (denoted by SWTA and DWTA respectively). Due to the problem requirement to be solved in a relevant computational time, WTA has suffered from the solution efficiency. As a result, SWTA and DWTA problems have been solved in the limited situation of the battlefield. In this paper, the general situation under continuous time is considered by Time based Weapon Target Assignment (TWTA) problem. TWTA are studied using the mixed integer programming model, and three heuristic algorithms; decomposed opt-opt, decomposed opt-greedy, and greedy algorithms are suggested. Although the TWTA optimization model works inefficiently when it is characterized by a large size, the decomposed opt-opt algorithm based on the linearization and decomposition method extracted efficient solutions in a reasonable computation time. Because the computation time of the scheduling part is too long to solve by the optimization model, several algorithms based on greedy is proposed. The models show lower performance value than that of the decomposed opt-opt algorithm, but very short time is needed to compute. Hence, this paper proposes an improved method by applying decomposition to TWTA, and more practical and effectual methods can be developed for using TWTA on the battlefield.

Keywords: air and missile defense, weapon target assignment, mixed integer programming, piecewise linearization, decomposition algorithm, military operations research

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Authors: Adira Nofeadri Ryofi, Alvin Andrianus, Anna Khairunnisa, Anugrah Cahyo Widodo, Arbhyando Tri Putrananda, Arsy Imanda N. Raswati, Gita Rahmaningsih, Ina Agustina

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The consumption level of fresh bananas from 2005 until 2010, increased from 8.2 to 10 kg/capita/year. The commercial scale of banana generally harvested when it still green to make the banana avoid physical damage, chemical, and disease after harvest and ripe fruit. That first metabolism activity can be used as a synthesis reaction. Ripening fruit was influenced by ethylene hormone that synthesized in fruit which is experiencing ripe and including hormone in the ripening fruit process in klimaterik phase. This ethylene hormone is affected by the respiration level that would speed up the restructuring of carbohydrates inside the fruit, so the weighting of fruit will be decreased. Compared to other klimaterik fruit, banana is a fruit that has a medium ethylene production rate and the rate of respiration is low. The salicylic acid can regulate the result number of the growth process or the development of fruits and plants. Salicylic acid serves to hinder biosynthesis ethylene and delay senses. The research aims to understand the influence of salicylic acid concentration that derived from the waste of avocado skin in inhibition process to ethylene production that the maturation can be controlled, so it can keep the quality of banana for storage. It is also to increase the potential value of the waste of avocado skin that were still used in industrial cosmetics.

Keywords: ethylene hormone, extract avocado skin, inhibitor, salicylic acid

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Authors: Iqraq Kamal, Akmal Razif, Sivadas Chandra Sekaran, Ahmad Syazwan Hisaburi

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Painting plays a crucial role in the aerospace manufacturing industry, serving both protective and cosmetic purposes for components. However, the traditional manual painting method is time-consuming and labor-intensive, posing challenges for the sector in achieving higher efficiency. Additionally, the current automated robot path planning has been a bottleneck for spray painting processes, as typical manual teaching methods are time-consuming, error-prone, and skill-dependent. Therefore, it is essential to develop automated tool path planning methods to replace manual ones, reducing costs and improving product quality. Focusing on flat panel painting in aerospace manufacturing, this study aims to address issues related to unreliable part identification techniques caused by the high-mixture, low-volume nature of the industry. The proposed solution involves using a spray gun and a UR10 robotic arm with a vision system that utilizes one-shot object detection (OS2D) to identify parts accurately. Additionally, the research optimizes path planning by concentrating on the region of interest—specifically, the identified part, rather than uniformly covering the entire painting tray.

Keywords: aerospace manufacturing, one-shot object detection, automated spray painting, vision-based path optimization, deep learning, automation, robotic arm

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Authors: Rubin Dan, Xingcai Wang, Ziyang Chen

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A chaotic time series noise reduction method based on the fusion of the local projection method, wavelet transform, and particle swarm algorithm (referred to as the LW-PSO method) is proposed to address the problem of false recognition due to noise in the recognition process of chaotic time series containing noise. The method first uses phase space reconstruction to recover the original dynamical system characteristics and removes the noise subspace by selecting the neighborhood radius; then it uses wavelet transform to remove D1-D3 high-frequency components to maximize the retention of signal information while least-squares optimization is performed by the particle swarm algorithm. The Lorenz system containing 30% Gaussian white noise is simulated and verified, and the phase space, SNR value, RMSE value, and K value of the 0-1 test method before and after noise reduction of the Schreiber method, local projection method, wavelet transform method, and LW-PSO method are compared and analyzed, which proves that the LW-PSO method has a better noise reduction effect compared with the other three common methods. The method is also applied to the classical system to evaluate the noise reduction effect of the four methods and the original system identification effect, which further verifies the superiority of the LW-PSO method. Finally, it is applied to the Chengdu rainfall chaotic sequence for research, and the results prove that the LW-PSO method can effectively reduce the noise and improve the chaos recognition rate.

Keywords: Schreiber noise reduction, wavelet transform, particle swarm optimization, 0-1 test method, chaotic sequence denoising

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Authors: Eusèbe Gnonlonfoun, Xavier Framboisier, Michel Fick, Emmanuel Rondags

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Pathogenic fungi represent a generic problem for cereals, including barley, as they can produce a number of thermostable toxic metabolites such as mycotoxins that contaminate plants and food products, leading to serious health issues for humans and animals and causing significant losses in global food production. In addition, mycotoxins represent a significant technological concern for the malting and brewing industries, as they may affect the quality and safety of raw materials (barley and malt) and final products (beer). Moreover, this situation is worsening due to the highly variable climatic conditions that favor microbial development and the societal desire to reduce the use of phytosanitary products, including fungicides. In this complex environmental, regulatory and economic context for the French barley-malt-beer industry, this project aims to develop an innovative biocontrol process by using technological bacteria, isolated from infection-resistant barley cultures, that are able to reduce the development of spoilage fungi and the associated mycotoxin production. The experimental approach consists of i) coculturing bacterial and pathogenic fungal strains in solid and liquid media to access the growth kinetics of these microorganisms and to evaluate the impact of these bacteria on fungal growth and mycotoxin production; then ii) the results will be used to carry out a micro-malting process in order to develop the aforementioned process, and iii) the technological and sanitary properties of the generated barley malts will finally be evaluated in order to validate the biocontrol process developed. The process is expected to make it possible to guarantee, with controlled costs, an irreproachable hygienic and technological quality of the malt, despite the increasingly complex and variable conditions for barley production. Thus, the results will not only make it possible to maintain the dominant world position of the French barley-malt chain but will also allow it to conquer emerging markets, mainly in Africa and Asia. The use of this process will also contribute to the reduction of the use of phytosanitary products in the field for barley production while reducing the level of contamination of malting plant effluents. Its environmental impact would therefore be significant, especially considering that barley is the fourth most-produced cereal in the world.

Keywords: barley, pathogenic fungi, mycotoxins, malting, bacterial biocontrol

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Authors: Hanwei Gao, Louis Jezequel, Eric Cabrol, Bernard Vitry

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The chassis system is composed of complex elements that take up all the loads from the tire-ground contact area and thus it plays an important role in numerous specifications such as durability, comfort, crash, etc. During the development of new vehicle projects in Renault, durability validation is always the main focus while deployment of comfort comes later in the project. Therefore, sometimes design choices have to be reconsidered because of the natural incompatibility between these two specifications. Besides, robustness is also an important point of concern as it is related to manufacturing costs as well as the performance after the ageing of components like shock absorbers. In this paper an approach is proposed aiming to realize a multi-objective optimization between chassis endurance and comfort while taking the random factors into consideration. The adaptive-sparse polynomial chaos expansion method (PCE) with Chebyshev polynomial series has been applied to predict responses’ uncertainty intervals of a system according to its uncertain-but-bounded parameters. The approach can be divided into three steps. First an initial design of experiments is realized to build the response surfaces which represent statistically a black-box system. Secondly within several iterations an optimum set is proposed and validated which will form a Pareto front. At the same time the robustness of each response, served as additional objectives, is calculated from the pre-defined parameter intervals and the response surfaces obtained in the first step. Finally an inverse strategy is carried out to determine the parameters’ tolerance combination with a maximally acceptable degradation of the responses in terms of manufacturing costs. A quarter car model has been tested as an example by applying the road excitations from the actual road measurements for both endurance and comfort calculations. One indicator based on the Basquin’s law is defined to compare the global chassis durability of different parameter settings. Another indicator related to comfort is obtained from the vertical acceleration of the sprung mass. An optimum set with best robustness has been finally obtained and the reference tests prove a good robustness prediction of Chebyshev PCE method. This example demonstrates the effectiveness and reliability of the approach, in particular its ability to save computational costs for a complex system.

Keywords: chassis durability, Chebyshev polynomials, multi-objective optimization, polynomial chaos expansion, ride comfort, robust design

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Authors: El H. Bouziani, H. A. Reguieg Yssaad

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The phytotoxicity of heavy metals can be expressed on roots and visible part of plants and is characterized by molecular and metabolic answers at various levels of organization of the whole plant. The present study was undertaken on two varieties of broad bean Vicia faba (Sidi Aïch and Super Aguadulce). The device was mounted on a substrate prepared by mixing sand, soil and compost, the substrate was artificially contaminated with three doses of lead nitrate [Pb(NO3)2] 0, 500 and 1000 ppm. Our objective is to follow the behavior of plant opposite the stress by evaluating the physiological parameters. The results reveal a reduction in the parameters of the productivity (chlorophyll and proteins production) with an increase in the osmoregulators (soluble sugars and proline).These results show that the production of broad bean is strongly modified by the disturbance of its internal physiology under lead exposure.

Keywords: broad bean, lead, stress, physiological parameters, phytotoxicity

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Authors: Xin-Yu Li, Dung-Ying Lin

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Fleet availability is a crucial indicator for an aircraft fleet. However, in practice, fleet planning involves many resource and safety constraints, such as annual and monthly flight training targets and maximum engine usage limits. Due to safety considerations, engines must be removed for mandatory maintenance and replacement of key components. This situation is known as the "threshold." The annual number of thresholds is a key factor in maintaining fleet availability. However, the traditional method heavily relies on experience and manual planning, which may result in ineffective engine usage and affect the flight missions. This study aims to address the challenges of fleet planning and availability maintenance in aircraft fleets with resource and safety constraints. The goal is to effectively optimize engine usage and maintenance tasks. This study has four objectives: minimizing the number of engine thresholds, minimizing the monthly lack of flight hours, minimizing the monthly excess of flight hours, and minimizing engine disassembly frequency. To solve the resulting formulation, this study uses parametric programming techniques and ϵ-constraint method to reformulate multi-objective problems into single-objective problems, efficiently generating Pareto fronts. This method is advantageous when handling multiple conflicting objectives. It allows for an effective trade-off between these competing objectives. Empirical results and managerial insights will be provided.

Keywords: aircraft fleet, engine utilization planning, multi-objective optimization, parametric method, Pareto optimality

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Authors: Yehia Manawi, Ahmad Kayvanifard

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Membrane distillation is an emerging technology which has been used to produce freshwater and purify different types of aqueous mixtures. Qatar is an arid country where almost 100% of its freshwater demand is supplied through the energy-intensive thermal desalination process. The country’s need for water has reached an all-time high which stipulates finding an alternative way to augment freshwater without adding any drastic affect to the environment. The objective of this paper was to investigate the potential of using the industrial low grade waste heat to produce freshwater using membrane distillation. The main part of this work was conducting a heat audit on selected Qatari chemical industries to estimate the amounts of freshwater produced if such industrial waste heat were to be recovered. By the end of this work, the main objective was met and the heat audit conducted on the Qatari chemical industries enabled us to estimate both the amounts of waste heat which can be potentially recovered in addition to the amounts of freshwater which can be produced if such waste heat were to be recovered. By the end, the heat audit showed that around 605 Mega Watts of waste heat can be recovered from the studied Qatari chemical industries which resulted in a total daily production of 5078.7 cubic meter of freshwater. This water can be used in a wide variety of applications such as human consumption or industry. The amount of produced freshwater may look small when compared to that produced through thermal desalination plants; however, one must bear in mind that this water comes from waste and can be used to supply water for small cities or remote areas which are not connected to the water grid. The idea of producing freshwater from the two widely-available wastes (thermal rejected brine and waste heat) seems promising as less environmental and economic impacts will be associated with freshwater production which may in the near future augment the conventional way of producing freshwater currently being thermal desalination. This work has shown that low grade waste heat in the chemical industries in Qatar and perhaps the rest of the world can contribute to additional production of freshwater using membrane distillation without significantly adding to the environmental impact.

Keywords: membrane distillation, desalination, heat recovery, environment

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Authors: Vladimira Vytlacilova

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This study presents the latest research trend in the discipline of construction and demolition (C&D) waste management in Czech Republic. The results of research interest exhibit an increasing research interest in C&D waste management practices in recent years. Construction and demolition waste creates a major portion of total solid waste production in the world and most of it is used in landfills, for reclamation or landscaping all the time. The quality of recycled aggregates for use in concrete construction depends on recycling practices. Classifications, composition and contaminants influence the mechanical-physical properties as well as environmental risks related to its utilization. The second part of contribution describes properties of fibre reinforced concrete with the full replacement of natural aggregate by recycled one (concrete or masonry rubble).

Keywords: construction and demolition waste, fibre reinforced concrete, recycled aggregate, recycling, waste management

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Authors: Gaurav Kumar Sinha

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In an era defined by the proliferation of data and the utilization of cloud computing environments, the efficient transfer and processing of big data workloads across multi-cloud platforms have emerged as critical challenges. This research paper embarks on a comprehensive exploration of the complexities associated with managing and optimizing big data in a multi-cloud ecosystem.The foundation of this study is rooted in the recognition that modern enterprises increasingly rely on multiple cloud providers to meet diverse business needs, enhance redundancy, and reduce vendor lock-in. As a consequence, managing data across these heterogeneous cloud environments has become intricate, necessitating innovative approaches to ensure data integrity, security, and performance.The primary objective of this research is to investigate strategies and techniques for enhancing the efficiency of data transfer and processing in multi-cloud scenarios. It recognizes that big data workloads are characterized by their sheer volume, variety, velocity, and complexity, making traditional data management solutions insufficient for harnessing the full potential of multi-cloud architectures.The study commences by elucidating the challenges posed by multi-cloud environments in the context of big data. These challenges encompass data fragmentation, latency, security concerns, and cost optimization. To address these challenges, the research explores a range of methodologies and solutions. One of the key areas of focus is data transfer optimization. The paper delves into techniques for minimizing data movement latency, optimizing bandwidth utilization, and ensuring secure data transmission between different cloud providers. It evaluates the applicability of dedicated data transfer protocols, intelligent data routing algorithms, and edge computing approaches in reducing transfer times.Furthermore, the study examines strategies for efficient data processing across multi-cloud environments. It acknowledges that big data processing requires distributed and parallel computing capabilities that span across cloud boundaries. The research investigates containerization and orchestration technologies, serverless computing models, and interoperability standards that facilitate seamless data processing workflows.Security and data governance are paramount concerns in multi-cloud environments. The paper explores methods for ensuring data security, access control, and compliance with regulatory frameworks. It considers encryption techniques, identity and access management, and auditing mechanisms as essential components of a robust multi-cloud data security strategy.The research also evaluates cost optimization strategies, recognizing that the dynamic nature of multi-cloud pricing models can impact the overall cost of data transfer and processing. It examines approaches for workload placement, resource allocation, and predictive cost modeling to minimize operational expenses while maximizing performance.Moreover, this study provides insights into real-world case studies and best practices adopted by organizations that have successfully navigated the challenges of multi-cloud big data management. It presents a comparative analysis of various multi-cloud management platforms and tools available in the market.

Keywords: multi-cloud environments, big data workloads, data transfer optimization, data processing strategies

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Authors: Mahmoud Timar, Javad Joukar Borazjani

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A dynamic organization helps the management to overcome both internal and external uncertainties and complexities of the organization with more confidence and efficiency. Regarding this issue, in this paper, the influence of organizational culture factors over organizational learning components, which both of them are considered as important characteristics of a dynamic organization, has been studied in three subsidiary companies (production, consultation and service) of National Iranian Oil Company, and moreover we also tried to identify the most dominant culture in these three subsidiaries. Analysis of 840 received questionnaires by SPSS shows that there is a significant relationship between the components of organizational culture and organizational learning; however the rate of relationship between these two factors was different among the examined companies. By the use of Regression, it has been clarified that in the servicing company the highest relationship is between mission and learning environment, while in production division, there is a significant relationship between adaptability and learning needs satisfaction and however in consulting company the highest relationship is between involvement and applying learning in workplace.

Keywords: denison model, culture, leaning, organizational culture, organizational learning

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Authors: C. Bay, A. Mahr, H. Groneberg, F. Döpper

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Additive Manufacturing processes are becoming increasingly established in the industry for the economic production of complex prototypes and functional components. Laser beam melting (LBM), the most frequently used Additive Manufacturing technology for metal parts, has been gaining in industrial importance for several years. The LBM process chain – from material storage to machine set-up and component post-processing – requires many manual operations. These steps often depend on the manufactured component and are therefore not standardized. These operations are often not performed in a standardized manner, but depend on the experience of the machine operator, e.g., levelling of the build plate and adjusting the first powder layer in the LBM machine. This lack of standardization limits the reproducibility of the component quality. When processing metal powders with inhalable and alveolar particle fractions, the machine operator is at high risk due to the high reactivity and the toxic (e.g., carcinogenic) effect of the various metal powders. Faulty execution of the operation or unintentional omission of safety-relevant steps can impair the health of the machine operator. In this paper, all the steps of the LBM process chain are first analysed in terms of their influence on the two aforementioned challenges: reproducibility and work safety. Standardization to avoid errors increases the reproducibility of component quality as well as the adherence to and correct execution of safety-relevant operations. The corresponding lean method 5S will therefore be applied, in order to develop approaches in the form of recommended actions that standardize the work processes. These approaches will then be evaluated in terms of ease of implementation and their potential for improving reproducibility and work safety. The analysis and evaluation showed that sorting tools and spare parts as well as standardizing the workflow are likely to increase reproducibility. Organizing the operational steps and production environment decreases the hazards of material handling and consequently improves work safety.

Keywords: additive manufacturing, lean production, reproducibility, work safety

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Authors: Fatemeh Yazdanmehr, Iulian Nistor

Abstract:

The scope of the current study is the evaluation of the electric field effect on electrostatic desalting mathematical modeling with laboratory data. This research study was focused on developing a model for an existing operation desalting unit of one of the Iranian heavy oil field with a 75 MBPD production capacity. The high temperature of inlet oil to dehydration unit reduces the oil recovery, so the mathematical modeling of desalter operation parameters is very significant. The existing production unit operating data has been used for the accuracy of the mathematical desalting plant model. The inlet oil temperature to desalter was decreased from 110 to 80°C, and the desalted electrical field was increased from 0.75 to 2.5 Kv/cm. The model result shows that the desalter parameter changes meet the water-oil specification and also the oil production and consequently annual income is increased. In addition to that, changing desalter operation conditions reduces environmental footprint because of flare gas reduction. Following to specify the accuracy of selected electrostatic desalter electrical field, laboratory data has been used. Experimental data are used to ensure the effect of electrical field change on desalter. Therefore, the lab test is done on a crude oil sample. The results include the dehydration efficiency in the presence of a demulsifier and under electrical field (0.75 Kv) conditions at various temperatures. Comparing lab experimental and electrostatic desalter mathematical model results shows 1-3 percent acceptable error which confirms the validity of desalter specification and operation conditions changes.

Keywords: desalter, electrical field, demulsification, mathematical modeling, water-oil separation

Procedia PDF Downloads 140