Search results for: optimum locations

Authors: Judith Mwakalonge, Geophrey Mbatta, Cuthbert Ruseruka, Gurcan Comert, Saidi Siuhi

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Recent advancements in technology have fostered the development of Electric Vehicles (EVs) that provides relief from transportation dependence on natural fossil fuels as sources of energy. It is estimated that more than 50% of petroleum is used for transportation, which accounts for 28% of annual energy use. Vehicles make up about 82% of all transportation energy use. It is also estimated that about 22% of global Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions are produced by the transportation sector, therefore, it raises environmental concerns. Governments worldwide, including the United States, are investing in developing EVs to resolve the issues related to the use of natural fossil fuels, such as air pollution due to emissions. For instance, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) that was signed by President Biden on November 15th, 2021, sets aside about $5 billion to be apportioned to all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico for the development of EV chargers. These chargers should be placed in a way that maximizes their utility. This study aims at studying the charging behaviors of Electric Vehicle (EV) users to establish factors to be considered in the selection of charging locations. The study will focus on social-economic and land use data by studying the relationship between charging time and charging locations. Local factors affecting the charging time and the chargers’ utility will be investigated.

Keywords: electric vehicles, EV charging stations, social economic factors, charging networks

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Authors: Arash Rafiei, Carroll Moore

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Leaching process as the first stage of hydrometallurgy is a multidisciplinary system including material properties, chemistry, reactor design, mechanics and fluid dynamics. Therefore, doing leaching system optimization by pure scientific methods need lots of times and expenses. In this work, a mixture of two titanium ores and one titanium slag are used for extracting titanium for leaching stage of TiO2 pigment production procedure. Optimum titanium extraction can be obtained from following strategies: i) Maximizing titanium extraction without selective digestion; and ii) Optimizing selective titanium extraction by balancing between maximum titanium extraction and minimum impurity digestion. The main difference between two strategies is due to process optimization framework. For the first strategy, the most important stage of production process is concerned as the main stage and rest of stages would be adopted with respect to the main stage. The second strategy optimizes performance of more than one stage at once. The second strategy has more technical complexity compared to the first one but it brings more economical and technical advantages for the leaching system. Obviously, each strategy has its own optimum operational zone that is not as same as the other one and the best operational zone is chosen due to complexity, economical and practical aspects of the leaching system. Experimental design has been carried out by using Taguchi method. The most important advantages of this methodology are involving different technical aspects of leaching process; minimizing the number of needed experiments as well as time and expense; and concerning the role of parameter interactions due to principles of multifactor-at-time optimization. Leaching tests have been done at batch scale on lab with appropriate control on temperature. The leaching tank geometry has been concerned as an important factor to provide comparable agitation conditions. Data analysis has been done by using reactor design and mass balancing principles. Finally, optimum zone for operational parameters are determined for each leaching strategy and discussed due to their economical and practical aspects.

Keywords: titanium leaching, optimization, experimental design, performance analysis

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Authors: Atilola O. Abidemi-Iromini, Oluayo A. Bello-Olusoji, Immanuel A. Adebayo

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Ecological studies were carried out in Asejire Reservoir (AR) and Lagos Lagoon (LL), Southwest Nigeria from January 2012 to December 2013 to determine the health status of Chrysichthys nigrodigitatus (CN) and Oreochromis niloticus (ON). The fish species samples were collected every month, these were separated into sexes, and growth pattern {length, (cm); weight (g), Isometric index, condition factor} were measured. Heavy metals (lead (Pb), iron (Fe), zinc (Zn), copper (Cu), and chromium (Cr) in ppm concentrations were also determined while bacteria occurrence(s), (load and prevalence) on fish skins, gills and intestine in the two ecological zones were determined. The fish ratio collected is in range with normal aquatic (1: 1+) male: female ratio. Growth assessment determined revealed no significant difference in length and weight in O. niloticus between locations, but a significant difference in weight occurred in C. nigrodigitatus between locations, with a higher weight (196.06 ±0.16 g) from Lagos Lagoon. Highest condition factor (5.25) was recorded in Asejire Reservoir O. niloticus, (ARON); and lowest condition factor (1.64) was observed in Asejire Reservoir C. nigrodigitatus (ARCN); as this indicated a negative allometric value which is normal in Bagridae species because it increases more in Length to weight gain than for the Cichlidae growth status. Normal growth rate (K > 1) occurred between sexes, with the male species having higher K - factors than female species within locations, between locations, between species, and within species, except for female C. nigrodigitatus having higher condition factor (K = 1.75) than male C. nigrodigitatus (K = 1.54) in Asejire Reservoir. The highest isometric value (3.05) was recorded in Asejire Reservoir O. niloticus and lowest in Lagos Lagoon C. nigrodigitatus. Male O. niloticus from Asejire Reservoir had highest isometric value, and O. niloticus species had higher condition factor which ranged between isometric (b ≤ 3) and positive allometric (b > 3), hence, denoted robustness of fish to grow more in weight than in length; while C. nigrodigitatus fish has negative allometric (b < 3) indicating fish add more length than in weight on growth. The status of condition factors and isometric values obtained is species-specific, and environmental influence, food availability or reproduction factor may as well be contributing factors. The concentrations of heavy metals in fish flesh revealed that Zn (6.52 ±0.82) had the highest, while Cr (0.01±0.00) was ranked lowest; for O. niloticus in Asejire Reservoir. In Lagos Lagoon, heavy metals concentration level revealed that O. niloticus flesh had highest in Zn (4.71±0.25) and lowest in Pb (0.01±0.00). Lagos Lagoon C. nigrodigitatus heavy metal concentration level revealed Zn (9.56±0.96) had highest, while Cr (0.06±0.01) had lowest; and Asejire Reservoir C. nigrodigitatus heavy metal level revealed that Zn (8.26 ±0.74) had highest, and Cr (0.08±0.00) had lowest. In all, Zinc (Zn) was top-ranked in level among species.

Keywords: Oreochromis niloticus, growth status, Chrysichthys nigrodigitatus, environments, heavy metals

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Authors: MeiBo, ZhaoXing, LuoLei, YuQingkui, TangMin, HanZhengsheng

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The Single Event Transients (SETs) were investigated on 0.18μm PDSOI transistors and 100 series CMOS inverter chain using pulse laser. The effect of different laser energy and device bias for waveform on SET was characterized experimentally, as well as the generation and propagation of SET in inverter chain. In this paper, the effects of struck transistors type and struck locations on SETs were investigated. The results showed that when irradiate NMOSFETs from 100th to 2nd stages, the SET pulse width measured at the output terminal increased from 287.4 ps to 472.9 ps; and when irradiate PMOSFETs from 99th to 1st stages, the SET pulse width increased from 287.4 ps to 472.9 ps. When struck locations were close to the output of the chain, the SET pulse was narrow; however, when struck nodes were close to the input, the SET pulse was broadening. SET pulses were progressively broadened up when propagating along inverter chains. The SET pulse broadening is independent of the type of struck transistors. Through analysis, history effect induced threshold voltage hysteresis in PDSOI is the reason of pulse broadening. The positive pulse observed by oscilloscope, contrary to the expected results, is because of charging and discharging of capacitor.

Keywords: single event transients, pulse laser, partially-depleted silicon-on-insulator, propagation-induced pulse broadening effect

Procedia PDF Downloads 384

Authors: Kuangyou B. Cheng

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Tennis is among the most popular sports worldwide. During ball-racket impact, substantial vibration transmitted to the hand/arm may be the cause of “tennis elbow”. Although it is common for athletes to attach a “vibration damper” to the spring-bed, the effect remains unclear. To avoid subjective factors and errors in data recording, the effect of damper attachment on racket handle end vibration was investigated with computer simulation. The tennis racket was modeled as a beam with free-free ends (similar to loosely holding the racket). Finite difference method with 40 segments was used to simulate ball-racket impact response. The effect of attaching a damper was modeled as having a segment with increased mass. It was found that the damper has the largest effect when installed at the spring-bed center. However, this is not a practical location due to interference with ball-racket impact. Vibration amplitude changed very slightly when the damper was near the top or bottom of the spring-bed. The damper works only slightly better at the bottom than at the top of the spring-bed. In addition, heavier dampers work better than lighter ones. These simulation results were comparable with experimental recordings in which the selection of damper locations was restricted by ball impact locations. It was concluded that mathematical model simulations were able to objectively investigate the effect of damper attachment on racket vibration. In addition, with very slight difference in grip end vibration amplitude when the damper was attached at the top or bottom of the spring-bed, whether the effect can really be felt by athletes is questionable.

Keywords: finite difference, impact, modeling, vibration amplitude

Procedia PDF Downloads 231

Authors: Erhan Ayas, Buse Katipoğlu, Eda Metin, Rifat Yılmaz

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The search for new materials has begun to be used even higher than the service temperature (~1150ᵒC) where nickel-based superalloys are currently used. This search should also meet the increasing demands for energy efficiency improvements. The materials studied for aerospace applications are expected to have good oxidation resistance. Mo-Si-B alloys, which have higher operating temperatures than nickel-based superalloys, are candidates for ultra-high temperature materials used in gas turbine and jet engines. Because the Moss and Mo₅SiB₂ (T2) phases exhibit high melting temperature, excellent high-temperature creep strength and oxidation resistance properties, however, low fracture toughness value at room temperature is a disadvantage for these materials, but this feature can be improved with optimum Moss phase and microstructure control. High-density value is also a problem for structural parts. For example, in turbine rotors, the higher the weight, the higher the centrifugal force, which reduces the creep life of the material. The density value of the nickel-based superalloys and the T2 phase, which is the Mo-Si-B alloy phase, is in the range of 8.6 - 9.2 g/cm³. But under these conditions, T2 phase Moss (density value 10.2 g/cm³), this value is above the density value of nickel-based superalloys. So, with some ceramic-based contributions, this value is enhanced by optimum values.

Keywords: molybdenum, composites, in-situ, mmc

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Authors: V. Manjunath, C. V. Chandrashekara

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Ecosystem authority calls for the use of lubricants with less effect on the nature in terms of exhaust emission, while engine user demands more mileage per liter of fuel without any compromise on engine durability. From this viewpoint, engine manufacturers require the optimum combination of materials and lubricant additive package to minimize friction and wear in the engine components like piston, crankshaft and valve train etc. The demands are placed for requirements to operate at higher speeds, loads, temperature and for extended replacement intervals of engine oil. Besides, it is necessary to accurately predict the lubricant life or the replacement interval to prevent lubrication and valve-train components failure. Experimental tribology evaluation of new engine oils requires large amount of time and energy. Hence low cost bench test is necessary for industries and original equipment manufacturing companies (OEM) to study the performance of lubricants. The present work outlines the procedure for the design and development of a valve train wear rig (MCR) to simulate the ASTMD-6891 and to develop new engine test for Indian automobile sector to evaluate lubricants for Indian automobile market. In order to improve the lubrication between cam and follower of internal combustion engine, the influence of materials or oils viscosity and additives on the friction and wear characteristics are examined with test rig by increasing the contact load at two different revolution speed. From the experimentation following results are made obvious. Temperature, Torque, speed and wear plots are used to validate the data obtained from the newly developed multi-cam cam rig (MCR) with follower against a cast iron camshaft. Camshaft lobe wear is measured at seven different locations on cam profile. Tribofilm formed using 5W-30 oil is evaluated and correlated with the standard test results.

Keywords: ASTMD-6891, multi-cam rig (MCR), 5W-30, cam-profile

Procedia PDF Downloads 149

Authors: Rosna Mat Taha, Sakinah Abdullah, Sadegh Mohajer, Asmah Awal

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Lycium barbarum L. (Goji) belongs to Solanaceae family and native to some areas of China. Ethnobotanical studies have shown that this plant has been consumed by the Chinese since ancient times. It has been used as medicine in providing excellent effects on cardiovascular system and cholesterol level, besides contains high antioxidant and antidiabetic properties. In the present study, some tissue culture work has been carried out to induce callus, in vitro regeneration from various explants of Goji and also some acclimatization protocols were followed to transfer the regenerated plants to soil. The main aims being to establish high efficient regeneration system for mass production and commercialization for future uses, since the growth of this species is very limited in Malaysia. The optimum hormonal regime and the most suitable and responsive explants were identified. It was found that leaves and stems gave good responses. Murashige and Skoog’s (MS) medium supplemented with 2.0 mg/L NAA and 0.5 mg/L BAP was the best for callus induction and MS media fortified with 1.0 mg/L NAA and 1.0 mg/L BAP was optimum for in vitro regeneration. The survival rates of plantlets after acclimatization was 63±1.5 % on black soil and 50±1.3 % on mixed soil (combination of black and red soil at a ratio of 2 to 1), respectively.

Keywords: callus, acclimatization, in vitro culture, regeneration

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Authors: Jeremy Schultz

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The purpose of this study was to understand the perceptions of vineyard managers in the Krasnodar Region of Southern Russia located between the city of Kransnodar and the Black Sea. In recent years, wine tourism throughout the region has seen tremendous growth due in part to the concurrent growth in the number of tourists vacationing at the Black Sea. This trend has contributed to the development of large-scale wine operations developing in numerous rural locations along the tourists’ travel path. Niche areas of tourism, such as wine tourism, have proven to provide economic viability for rural communities all around the world. Understanding their shared group characteristics while honoring their unique qualities as individuals aids in responsible wine tourism development that provides a sense of well-being for the communities and stakeholders involved. Semi-structured interviews and lived experience methodologies were used in locations that were associated with wine food tourism operations. By understanding management perspectives, it lends insight into sustainable destination management and wine tourism product development, furthering our progress toward ethical, responsible, and financially feasible operations. This research also represents a collaborative effort between Russia and the United States that supports an agenda of sustainable destination development and management. As a global community, we need to continue to investigate stakeholder perceptions and strategic management techniques that best support the pillars upon which responsible tourism was founded.

Keywords: wine tourism, tourism development, Russia, rural tourism

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Authors: Sanjaykumar R. Patel, Parth R. Kayastha

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α-lactose monohydrate is widely used in the pharmaceutical industries as an inactive substance that acts as a vehicle or a medium for a drug or other active substance. It is a byproduct of dairy industries, and the recovery of lactose from whey not only boosts the improvement of the economics of whey utilization but also causes a reduction in pollution as lactose recovery can reduce the BOD of whey by more than 80%. In the present study, levels of process parameters were kept as initial lactose concentration (30-50% w/w), sonication amplitude (20-40%), sonication time (2-6 hours), and crystallization temperature (10-20 ^oC) for the recovery of lactose in ultrasound assisted cooling crystallization. In comparison with cooling crystallization, the use of ultrasound enhanced the lactose recovery by 39.17% (w/w). The parameters were optimized for the lactose recovery using Taguchi Method. The optimum conditions found were initial lactose concentration at level 3 (50% w/w), amplitude of sonication at level 2 (40%), the sonication time at level 3 (6 hours), and crystallization temperature at level 1 (10 °C). The maximum recovery was found to be 85.85% at the optimum conditions. Sonication time and the initial lactose concentration were found to be significant parameters for the lactose recovery.

Keywords: crystallization, lactose, Taguchi method, ultrasound

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Authors: P. Singh, R. M. Banik

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Artificial neural network (ANN) was employed to optimize assay parameters viz., time, temperature, pH of reaction mixture, enzyme volume and substrate concentration of L-glutaminase from Bacillus cereus MTCC 1305. ANN model showed high value of coefficient of determination (0.9999), low value of root mean square error (0.6697) and low value of absolute average deviation. A multilayer perceptron neural network trained with an error back-propagation algorithm was incorporated for developing a predictive model and its topology was obtained as 5-3-1 after applying Levenberg Marquardt (LM) training algorithm. The predicted activity of L-glutaminase was obtained as 633.7349 U/l by considering optimum assay parameters, viz., pH of reaction mixture (7.5), reaction time (20 minutes), incubation temperature (35˚C), substrate concentration (40mM), and enzyme volume (0.5ml). The predicted data was verified by running experiment at simulated optimum assay condition and activity was obtained as 634.00 U/l. The application of ANN model for optimization of assay conditions improved the activity of L-glutaminase by 1.499 fold.

Keywords: Bacillus cereus, L-glutaminase, assay parameters, artificial neural network

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Authors: Hammadi Larbi

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The treatment of wastewater in sewage plants usually results in the formation of a large amount of sludge. These appear at the outlet of the treatment plant as a viscous fluid loaded with a high concentration of dry matter. This sludge production presents environmental, ecological, and economic risks. That is why it is necessary to find many solutions for minimizing these risks. In the present article, the effect of hydrogen peroxide, thermal treatment, and quicklime on the characteristics of the activated sludge produced in urban wastewater plant were evaluated in order to avoid any risk in the plants. The study shows increasing of the dose of H2O2 from 0 to 0.4 g causes an increase in the solubilization rate of COD from 12% to 45% and a reduction in the organic matter content of sludge (VM/SM) from 74% to 36% . The results also show that the optimum efficiency of the heat treatment corresponds to a temperature of 80 ° C for a treatment time of 40 min is 47% and 51.82% for a temperature equal to 100 ° C and 76.30 % for a temperature of 120 ° C, and 79.38% for a temperature of 140 ° C. The treatment of sludge by quicklime gives the optimum efficiency of 70.62 %. It was shown the increasing of the temperature from 80°C to 140°C, the pH of sludge was increased from 7.12 to 9.59. The obtained results showed that with increasing the dose of quicklime from 0 g/l to 1g/l in activated sludge led to an increase of their pH from 7.12 to 12.06. The study shows the increasing the dose of quicklime from 0 g/l to 1g/l causes also an increase in the solubilization of COD from 0% to 70.62 %

Keywords: activated sludge, hydrogen peroxide, thermal treatment, quicklime

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Authors: Samart Porncharoen, Nisa Pakvilai

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The elevated levels of air pollutants in regional atmospheric environments is a significant problem that affects human health in Thailand, particularly in the Chao Phraya River Basin. Of concern are issues surrounding ambient air pollution such as particulate matter, gaseous pollutants and more specifically concerning air pollution along the river. Therefore, the spatio-temporal study of air pollution in this real environment can gain more accurate air quality data for making formalized environmental policy in river basins. In order to inform such a policy, a study was conducted over a period of January –December, 2015 to continually collect measurements of various pollutants in both urban and regional locations in the Chao Phraya River Basin. This study investigated the air pollutants in many diverse environments along the Chao Phraya River Basin, Thailand in 2015. Multivariate Analysis Techniques such as Principle Component Analysis (PCA) and Path analysis were utilised to classify air pollution in the surveyed location. Measurements were collected in both urban and rural areas to see if significant differences existed between the two locations in terms of air pollution levels. The meteorological parameters of various particulates were collected continually from a Thai pollution control department monitoring station over a period of January –December, 2015. Of interest to this study were the readings of SO2, CO, NOx, O3, and PM10. Results showed a daily arithmetic mean concentration of SO2, CO, NOx, O3, PM10 reading at 3±1 ppb, 0.5± 0.5 ppm, 30±21 ppb, 19±16 ppb, and 40±20 ug/m3 in urban locations (Bangkok). During the same time period, the readings for the same measurements in rural areas, Ayutthaya (were 1±0.5 ppb, 0.1± 0.05 ppm, 25±17 ppb, 30±21 ppb, and 35±10 ug/m3respectively. This show that Bangkok were located in highly polluted environments that are dominated source emitted from vehicles. Further, results were analysed to ascertain if significant seasonal variation existed in the measurements. It was found that levels of both gaseous pollutants and particle matter in dry season were higher than the wet season. More broadly, the results show that levels of pollutants were measured highest in locations along the Chao Phraya. River Basin known to have a large number of vehicles and biomass burning. This correlation suggests that the principle pollutants were from these anthropogenic sources. This study contributes to the body of knowledge surrounding ambient air pollution such as particulate matter, gaseous pollutants and more specifically concerning air pollution along the Chao Phraya River Basin. Further, this study is one of the first to utilise continuous mobile monitoring along a river in order to gain accurate measurements during a data collection period. Overall, the results of this study can be used for making formalized environmental policy in river basins in order to reduce the physical effects on human health.

Keywords: air pollution, Chao Phraya river basin, meteorology, seasonal variation, principal component analysis

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Authors: A. Falavand Jozaei, A. Ghafouri

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Operation enhancement in an air cooler (heat exchanger) depends on the rate of heat transfer, and pressure drop. In this paper, for a given heat duty, study of the effects of FPI (fin per inch) and fin type (circular and hexagonal fins) on two parameters mentioned above is considered in an air cooler in Iran, Arvand petrochemical. A program in EES (Engineering Equations Solver) software moreover, Aspen B-JAC and HTFS+ software are used for this purpose to solve governing equations. At first the simulated results obtained from this program is compared to the experimental data for two cases of FPI. The effects of FPI from 3 to 15 over heat transfer (Q) to pressure drop ratio (Q/Δp ratio). This ratio is one of the main parameters in design, rating, and simulation heat exchangers. The results show that heat transfer (Q) and pressure drop increase with increasing FPI (fin per inch) steadily, and the Q/Δp ratio increases to FPI = 12 (for circular fins about 47% and for hexagonal fins about 69%) and then decreased gradually to FPI = 15 (for circular fins about 5% and for hexagonal fins about 8%), and Q/Δp ratio is maximum at FPI = 12. The FPI value selection between 8 and 12 obtained as a result to optimum heat transfer to pressure drop ratio. Also by contrast, between circular and hexagonal fins results, the Q/Δp ratio of hexagonal fins more than Q/Δp ratio of circular fins for FPI between 8 and 12 (optimum FPI).

Keywords: air cooler, circular and hexagonal fins, fin per inch, heat transfer and pressure drop

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Authors: Navid Zanganeh, Hafez Balavi, Farbod Sharif, Mahla Zabet, Marzieh Bakhtiary Noodeh

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Cerium oxide (CeO2) also known as cerium dioxide or ceria is a pale yellow-white powder with various applications in the industry from wood coating to cosmetics, filtration, fuel cell electrolytes, gas sensors, hybrid solar cells and catalysts. In this research, attempts were made to synthesize and characterization of CeO2 nano-particles via sol-gel method. In addition, the effect of aging time on the size of particles was investigated. For this purpose, the aging times adjusted 48, 56, 64, and 72 min. The obtained particles were characterized by x-ray diffraction spectroscopy (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmitted electron microscopy (TEM), and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET). As a result, XRD patterns confirmed the formation of CeO2 nanoparticles. SEM and TEM images illustrated the nano-particles with cluster shape, spherical and a nano-size range which was in agreement with XRD results. The finest particles (7.3 nm) was obtained at the optimum condition which was aging time of 48 min, calcination temperature at 400 ⁰C, and cerium concentration of 0.004 mol. Average specific surface area of the particles at optimum condition was measured by BET analysis and recorded as 47.57 m2/g.

Keywords: aging time, CeO2 nanoparticles, size distribution, sol-gel

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Authors: Qiang Wang, Hongyang Yu

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Multi-human 3D pose estimation is a challenging task in computer vision, which aims to recover the 3D joint locations of multiple people from multi-view images. In contrast to traditional methods, which typically only use color (RGB) images as input, our approach utilizes both color and depth (D) information contained in RGB-D images. We also employ a transformer-based model as the backbone of our approach, which is able to capture long-range dependencies and has been shown to perform well on various sequence modeling tasks. Our method is trained and tested on the Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) Panoptic dataset, which contains a diverse set of indoor and outdoor scenes with multiple people in varying poses and clothing. We evaluate the performance of our model on the standard 3D pose estimation metrics of mean per-joint position error (MPJPE). Our results show that the transformer-based approach outperforms traditional methods and achieves competitive results on the CMU Panoptic dataset. We also perform an ablation study to understand the impact of different design choices on the overall performance of the model. In summary, our work demonstrates the effectiveness of using a transformer-based approach with RGB-D images for multi-human 3D pose estimation and has potential applications in real-world scenarios such as human-computer interaction, robotics, and augmented reality.

Keywords: multi-human 3D pose estimation, RGB-D images, transformer, 3D joint locations

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Authors: Jazim Sohail, Filipe Teixeira-Dias

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Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) within non-helmeted contact sports is a growing concern due to the serious risk of potential injury. Extensive research is being conducted looking into head kinematics in non-helmeted contact sports utilizing instrumented mouthguards that allow researchers to record accelerations and velocities of the head during and after an impact. This does not, however, allow the location of the impact on the head, and its magnitude and orientation, to be determined. This research proposes and validates two methods to quantify impact locations from instrumented mouthguard kinematic data, one using rigid body dynamics, the other utilizing machine learning. The rigid body dynamics technique focuses on establishing and matching moments from Euler’s and torque equations in order to find the impact location on the head. The methodology is validated with impact data collected from a lab test with the dummy head fitted with an instrumented mouthguard. Additionally, a Hybrid III Dummy head finite element model was utilized to create synthetic kinematic data sets for impacts from varying locations to validate the impact location algorithm. The algorithm calculates accurate impact locations; however, it will require preprocessing of live data, which is currently being done by cross-referencing data timestamps to video footage. The machine learning technique focuses on eliminating the preprocessing aspect by establishing trends within time-series signals from instrumented mouthguards to determine the impact location on the head. An unsupervised learning technique is used to cluster together impacts within similar regions from an entire time-series signal. The kinematic signals established from mouthguards are converted to the frequency domain before using a clustering algorithm to cluster together similar signals within a time series that may span the length of a game. Impacts are clustered within predetermined location bins. The same Hybrid III Dummy finite element model is used to create impacts that closely replicate on-field impacts in order to create synthetic time-series datasets consisting of impacts in varying locations. These time-series data sets are used to validate the machine learning technique. The rigid body dynamics technique provides a good method to establish accurate impact location of impact signals that have already been labeled as true impacts and filtered out of the entire time series. However, the machine learning technique provides a method that can be implemented with long time series signal data but will provide impact location within predetermined regions on the head. Additionally, the machine learning technique can be used to eliminate false impacts captured by sensors saving additional time for data scientists using instrumented mouthguard kinematic data as validating true impacts with video footage would not be required.

Keywords: head impacts, impact location, instrumented mouthguard, machine learning, mTBI

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Authors: Sharifah Nabihah Syed Jaafar, Umar Adli Amran, Rasidi Roslan, Chia Chin Hua, Sarani Zakaria

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Bio-composites derived from plant fiber and bio-derived polymer, are likely more ecofriendly and demonstrate competitive performance with petroleum based. In this research, the green phenolic resin was used as a matrix and oil palm empty fruit bunch fiber (EFB) was used as filler. The matrix was synthesized from soda lignin, phenol and hydrochloric acid as a catalyst. The phenolic resin was synthesized via liquefaction and condensation to enhance the combination of phenol during the process. Later, the phenolic resin was mixed with EFB by using mechanical stirrer and was molded with hot press at 180 oC. In this research, the composites were prepared with EFB content of 5%, 10%, 15% and 20%. The samples that viewed under scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showed that the EFB filler remained embedded in the resin. From impact and hardness testing, samples 10% of EFB showed the optimum properties meanwhile sample 15% showed the optimum properties for flexural testing. Thermal stability of the composites was investigated using thermogravimetric (TGA) analysis and found that the weight loss and the activation energy (Ea) of the composites samples were decreased as the filler content increased.

Keywords: EFB, liquefaction, phenol formaldehyde, lignin

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Authors: Pelin Yılmaz Çetiner, Metin Mert İlgün, Nazlı Çetindağ, Emine Birci, Gizemnur Yıldız Uysal, Özcan Hatipoğlu, Ehsan Tuzcuoğlu, Gökhan Sır

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Water scarcity is an inevitable problem affecting more and more people day by day. It is a worldwide crisis and a consequence of rapid population growth, urbanization and overexploitation. Thus, the solutions providing the reclamation of the wastewater are the desired approach. Wastewater contains various substances such as organic, soaps and detergents, solvents, biological substances, and inorganic substances. The physical properties of the wastewater differs regarding to its origin such as commerical, domestic or hospital usage. Thus, the treatment strategy of this type of wastewater is should be comprehensively investigated and properly treated. The advanced oxidation process comes up as a hopeful method associated with the formation of reactive hydroxyl radicals that are highly reactive to oxidize of organic pollutants. This process has a priority on other methods such as coagulation, flocuation, sedimentation and filtration since it was not cause any undesirable by-products. In the present study, it was aimed to investigate the applicability of advanced oxidation process for the treatment of household appliances wastewater. For this purpose, the laboratory studies providing the effectively addressing of the formed radicals to organic pollutants were carried out. Then the effect of process parameters were comprehensively studied by using response surface methodology, Box-Benhken experimental desing. The final chemical oxygen demand (COD) was the main output to evaluate the optimum point providing the expected COD removal. The linear alkyl benzene sulfonate (LAS), total dissolved solids (TDS) and color were measured for the optimum point providing the expected COD removal. Finally, present study pointed out that advanced oxidation process might be efficiently preffered to treat of the household appliances wastewater and the optimum process parameters provided that expected removal of COD.

Keywords: advanced oxidation process, household appliances wastewater, modelling, water reuse

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Authors: Mirian Graciella Dalla Porta, Humberto Jorge José, Danielle de Bem Luiz, Regina de F. P. M.Moreira

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Similar to most processing industries, fish processing produces large volumes of wastewater, which contains especially organic contaminants, salts and oils dispersed therein. Different processes have been used for the treatment of fishery wastewaters, but the most commonly used are chemical coagulation and flotation. These techniques are well known but sometimes the characteristics of the treated effluent do not comply with legal standards for discharge. Electrocoagulation (EC) is an electrochemical process that can be used to treat wastewaters in terms of both organic matter and nutrient removal. The process is based on the use of sacrificial electrodes such as aluminum, iron or zinc, that are oxidized to produce metal ions that can be used to coagulate and react with organic matter and nutrients in the wastewater. While EC processes are effective to treatment of several types of wastewaters, applications have been limited due to the high energy demands and high current densities. Generally, the for EC process can be performed without additional chemicals or pre-treatment, but the costs should be reduced for EC processes to become more applicable. In this work, we studied the treatment of a real wastewater from fishmeal industry by electrocoagulation process. Removal efficiencies for chemical oxygen demand (COD), total organic carbon (TOC) turbidity, phosphorous and nitrogen concentration were determined as a function of the operating conditions, such as pH, current density and operating time. The optimum operating conditions were determined to be operating time of 10 minutes, current density 100 A.m-2, and initial pH 4.0. COD, TOC, phosphorous concentration, and turbidity removal efficiencies at the optimum operating conditions were higher than 90% for aluminum electrode. Operating costs at the optimum conditions were calculated as US$ 0.37/m3 (US$ 0.038/kg COD) for Al electrode. These results demonstrate that the EC process is a promising technology to remove nutrients from fishery wastewaters, as the process has both a high efficiency of nutrient removal, and low energy requirements.

Keywords: electrocoagulation, fish, food industry, wastewater

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Authors: Durata Haciu, Elif Sena Tekin, Gokce Ozturk, Patricia Ramey Balcı

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Coastal zones are under increasing threat due to anthropogenic activities that introduce considerable pollutants such as heavy metals into marine ecosystems. As part of a larger experimental study examining species responses to contaminated marine sediments, surface sediments (top 5cm) were analysed for major trace elements at three locations in Istanbul Straight. Samples were randomly collected by divers (May 2018) using hand-corers from Istinye (n=4), Garipce (n=10) and Poyrazköy (n=6), at water depths of 4-8m. Twelve metals were examined: As, arsenic; Pb, lead; Cd, cadmium; Cr, chromium; Cu, Copper; Fe, Iron; Ni, Nickel; Zn, Zinc; V, vanadium; Mn, Manganese; Ba, Barium; and Ag, silver by wavelength-dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (WDXRF) and Inductively Coupled Plasma/Mass Spectroscopy (ICP/MS). Preliminary results indicate that the average concentrations of metals (mg kg⁻¹) varied considerably among locations. In general, concentrations were relatively lower at Garipce compared to either Istinye or Poyrazköy. For most metals mean concentrations were highest at Poyrazköy and Ag and Cd were below detection limits (exception= Ag in a few samples). While Cd and As were undetected in all stations, the concentrations of Fe and Ni fall in the criteria of moderately polluted range and the rest of the metals in the range of low polluted range as compared to Effects Range Low (ERL) and Effects Range median (ERM) values determined by US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Keywords: effect-range classification, ICP/MS, marine sediments, XRF

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Authors: Teklay Tesfay, Gebreyesus Brhane Tesfahunegn, Abadi Berhane, Selemawit Girmay

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Adjusting the proper sowing date of a crop at a particular location with a changing climate is an essential management option to maximize crop yield. However, determining the optimum sowing date for rainfed maize production through field experimentation requires repeated trials for many years in different weather conditions and crop management. To avoid such long-term experimentation to determine the optimum sowing date, crop models such as AquaCrop are useful. Therefore, the overall objective of this study was to evaluate the performance of AquaCrop model in simulating maize productivity under varying sowing dates. A field experiment was conducted for two consecutive cropping seasons by deploying four maize seed sowing dates in a randomized complete block design with three replications. Input data required to run this model are stored as climate, crop, soil, and management files in the AquaCrop database and adjusted through the user interface. Observed data from separate field experiments was used to calibrate and validate the model. AquaCrop model was validated for its performance in simulating the green canopy and aboveground biomass of maize for the varying sowing dates based on the calibrated parameters. Results of the present study showed that there was a good agreement (an overall R2 =, Ef= d= RMSE =) between measured and simulated values of the canopy cover and biomass yields. Considering the overall values of the statistical test indicators, the performance of the model to predict maize growth and biomass yield was successful, and so this is a valuable tool help for decision-making. Hence, this calibrated and validated model is suggested to use for determining optimum maize crop sowing date for similar climate and soil conditions to the study area, instead of conducting long-term experimentation.

Keywords: AquaCrop model, calibration, validation, simulation

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Authors: Ali Rabah

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This research received no grant or financial support from any public, commercial, or none governmental agency. The author conducted this work as part of his normal research activities as a professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of Khartoum, Sudan. Abstract While fossil oil reserves have been receding, the demand for diesel and gasoline has been growing. In recent years, syngas of biomass origin has been emerging as a viable feedstock for Fischer-Tropsch (FT) synthesis, a process for manufacturing synthetic gasoline and diesel. This paper reports the optimization of syngas quality to match FT synthesis requirements. The optimization model maximizes the thermal efficiency under the constraint of H2/CO≥2.0 and operating conditions of equivalent ratio (0 ≤ ER ≤ 1.0), steam to biomass ratio (0 ≤ SB ≤ 5), and gasification temperature (500 °C ≤ Tg ≤ 1300 °C). The optimization model is executed using the optimization section of the Model Analysis Tools of the Aspen Plus simulator. The model is tested using eleven (11) types of MSW. The optimum operating conditions under which the objective function and the constraint are satisfied are ER=0, SB=0.66-1.22, and Tg=679 - 763°C. Under the optimum operating conditions, the syngas quality is H2=52.38 - 58.67-mole percent, LHV=12.55 - 17.15 MJ/kg, N2=0.38 - 2.33-mole percent, and H2/CO≥2.15. The generalized optimization model reported could be extended to any other type of biomass and coal. Keywords: MSW, Syngas, Optimization, Fischer-Tropsch.

Keywords: syngas, MSW, optimization, Fisher-Tropsh

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Authors: Billel Kenidra, Mohamed Benmohammed

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Data mining technique used in the field of clustering is a subject of active research and assists in biological pattern recognition and extraction of new knowledge from raw data. Clustering means the act of partitioning an unlabeled dataset into groups of similar objects. Each group, called a cluster, consists of objects that are similar between themselves and dissimilar to objects of other groups. Several clustering methods are based on partitional clustering. This category attempts to directly decompose the dataset into a set of disjoint clusters leading to an integer number of clusters that optimizes a given criterion function. The criterion function may emphasize a local or a global structure of the data, and its optimization is an iterative relocation procedure. The K-Means algorithm is one of the most widely used partitional clustering techniques. Since K-Means is extremely sensitive to the initial choice of centers and a poor choice of centers may lead to a local optimum that is quite inferior to the global optimum, we propose a strategy to initiate K-Means centers. The improved K-Means algorithm is compared with the original K-Means, and the results prove how the efficiency has been significantly improved.

Keywords: microarray data mining, biological pattern recognition, partitional clustering, k-means algorithm, centroid initialization

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Authors: Adam M. Yates, Julie E. Byles

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Hypertension has been identified as a prominent co-morbidity of obesity. To improve clinical intervention of hypertension, it is critical to identify metrics that most accurately reflect risk for increased morbidity. Two of the most relevant and accurate measures for increased risk of hypertension due to excess adipose tissue are Body Mass Index (BMI) and Waist-Height Ratio (WHtR). Previous research has examined these measures in cross-national and cross-ethnic studies, but has most often relied on secondary means such as meta-analysis to identify and evaluate the efficacy of individual body mass measures. In this study, we instead use cross-sectional analysis to assess the cross-ethnic discriminative power of BMI and WHtR to predict risk of hypertension. Using the WHO SAGE survey, which collected anthropometric and biometric data from respondents in six middle-income countries (China, Ghana, India, Mexico, Russia, South Africa), we implement logistic regression to examine the discriminative power of measured BMI and WHtR with a known population of hypertensive and non-hypertensive respondents. We control for gender and age to identify whether optimum cut-off points that are adequately sensitive as tests for risk of hypertension may be different between groups. We report results for OR, RR, and ROC curves for each of the six SAGE countries. As seen in existing literature, results demonstrate that both WHtR and BMI are significant predictors of hypertension (p < .01). For these six countries, we find that cut-off points for WHtR may be dependent upon gender, age and ethnicity. While an optimum omnibus cut-point for WHtR may be 0.55, results also suggest that the gender and age relationship with WHtR may warrant the development of individual cut-offs to optimize health outcomes. Trends through multiple countries show that the optimum cut-point for WHtR increases with age while the area under the curve (AUROC) decreases for both men and women. Comparison between BMI and WHtR indicate that BMI may remain more robust than WHtR. Implications for public health policy are discussed.

Keywords: hypertension, obesity, Waist-Height ratio, SAGE

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Authors: Erna Astuti, Supranto, Rochmadi, Agus Prasetya

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Biodiesel production from vegetable oil will produce glycerol as by-product about 10% of the biodiesel production. The amount of glycerol that was produced needed alternative way to handling immediately so as to not become the waste that polluted environment. One of the solutions was to process glycerol to polyglycidyl nitrate (PGN). PGN is synthesized from glycerol by three-step reactions i.e. nitration of glycerol, cyclization of 13- dinitroglycerine and polymerization of glycosyl nitrate. Optimum condition of nitration of glycerol with nitric acid has not been known. Thermodynamic feasibility should be done before run experiments in the laboratory. The aim of this study was to determine the parameters those affect nitration of glycerol and nitric acid and chose the operation condition. Many parameters were simulated to verify its possibility to experiment under conditions which would get the highest conversion of 1, 3-dinitroglycerine and which was the ideal condition to get it. The parameters that need to be studied to obtain the highest conversion of 1, 3-dinitroglycerine were mol ratio of nitric acid/glycerol, reaction temperature, mol ratio of glycerol/dichloromethane and pressure. The highest conversion was obtained in the range of mol ratio of nitric acid /glycerol between 2/1 – 5/1, reaction temperature of 5-25o C and pressure of 1 atm. The parameters that need to be studied further to obtain the highest conversion of 1.3 DNG are mol ratio of nitric acid/glycerol and reaction temperature.

Keywords: Nitration, glycerol, thermodynamic, optimum condition

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Authors: Doufoungognon C. Kone

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Global change, in particular pollution and global warming, threatens ecosystems and the biodiversity they harbor. Due to pollutants exposure, organisms might modify their thermal niches in order to track the thermal conditions limiting the negative impacts of chemical stressors depending on their mode of action. This study tests the influence of different pollutants, copper, salt, and chloramphenicol, on the thermal preferences of the ciliate Tetrahymena thermophila. Six genotypes were exposed to a gradient of concentrations ranging from 0 to 500mg/L for copper, 0 to 300 mg/l for chloramphenicol, and 0 to 12g/l for salt in synthetic media at eight temperatures ranging from 11 to 39° C. The measured fitness proxies are the maximum growth rate and the 50% growth inhibitory concentration (IC50). The results show that the majority of genotypes are more resistant to chloramphenicol in temperatures below their thermal optimum without pollutants, while they better tolerate other salt and copper in temperatures above their thermal optimum. In addition, generalists reduce their niche width while specialists widen it in chloramphenicol. Overall, results suggest that global warming would have a particularly deleterious effect in the case of chemical pollution. This pollution would induce the full disruption of the thermal habitats.

Keywords: ciliate, thermal niche, growth rate, toxicity, multiple stressors

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Authors: Muhammad Saad Aslam

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In 2021, our organization has launched our proprietary mobile App i.e. Farm Intelligence platform, an industrial-first precision agriculture solution, to Pakistan. It was piloted at 47 locations (spanning around 1,200 hectares of land), addressing growers’ pain points by bringing the benefits of precision agriculture to their doorsteps. This year, we have extended its reach by more than 10 times (nearly 130,000 hectares of land) in almost 600 locations across the country. The project team selected highly infested areas to set up traps, which then enabled the sales team to initiate evidence-based conversations with the grower community about preventive crop protection products that includes pesticides and insecticides. Mega farmer meeting field visits and demonstrations plots coupled with extensive marketing activities, were setup to include farmer community. With the help of App real-time pest monitoring (using heat maps and infestation prediction through predictive analytics) we have equipped our growers with on spot insights that will help them optimize pesticide applications. Heat maps allow growers to identify infestation hot spots to fine-tune pesticide delivery, while predictive analytics enable preventive application of pesticides before the situation escalates. Ultimately, they empower growers to keep their crops safe for a healthy harvest.

Keywords: precision pest management, precision agriculture, real time pest tracking, pest forecasting

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Authors: Krishan P. Sharma, T. P. Sharma

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Wireless sensor nodes are resource constrained battery powered devices usually deployed in hostile and ill-disposed areas to cooperatively monitor physical or environmental conditions. Due to their limited power supply, the major challenge for researchers is to utilize their battery power for enhancing the lifetime of whole network. Communication and sensing are two major sources of energy consumption in sensor networks. In this paper, we propose a deployment strategy for enhancing the average lifetime of a sensor network by effectively utilizing communication and sensing energy to provide full coverage. The proposed scheme is based on the fact that due to heavy relaying load, sensor nodes near to the sink drain energy at much faster rate than other nodes in the network and consequently die much earlier. To cover this imbalance, proposed scheme finds optimal communication and sensing ranges according to effective load at each node and uses a non-uniform deployment strategy where there is a comparatively high density of nodes near to the sink. Probable relaying load factor at particular node is calculated and accordingly optimal communication distance and sensing range for each sensor node is adjusted. Thus, sensor nodes are placed at locations that optimize energy during network operation. Formal mathematical analysis for calculating optimized locations is reported in present work.

Keywords: load factor, network lifetime, non-uniform deployment, sensing range

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Authors: Ahmed A. D. Sarhan, Mum Wai Yip, M. Sayuti, Lim Siew Fen

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Ti6Al4V alloy is highly used in the automotive and aerospace industry due to its good machining characteristics. Micro EDM drilling is commonly used to drill micro hole on extremely hard material with very high depth to diameter ratio. In this study, the parameters of micro-electrical discharge machining (EDM) in drilling of Ti6Al4V alloy is optimized for higher machining accuracy with less hole-dilation and hole taper ratio. The micro-EDM machining parameters includes, peak current and pulse on time. Fuzzy analysis was developed to evaluate the machining accuracy. The analysis shows that hole-dilation and hole-taper ratio are increased with the increasing of peak current and pulse on time. However, the surface quality deteriorates as the peak current and pulse on time increase. The combination that gives the optimum result for hole dilation is medium peak current and short pulse on time. Meanwhile, the optimum result for hole taper ratio is low peak current and short pulse on time.

Keywords: Micro EDM, Ti-6Al-4V alloy, fuzzy logic based analysis, optimization, machining accuracy

Procedia PDF Downloads 475