Search results for: plant cover

Authors: A. O. Abulibdeh

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The aim of this study is to investigate and compare the changes in the Land Surface Temperature (LST) as a function of urbanization, particularly land use/land cover changes, in three cities in the UAE, mainly Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and Al Ain. The scale of this assessment will be at the macro- and micro-levels. At the macro-level, a comparative assessment will take place to compare between the four cities in the UAE. At the micro-level, the study will compare between the effects of different land use/land cover on the LST. This will provide a clear and quantitative city-specific information related to the relationship between urbanization and local spatial intra-urban LST variation in three cities in the UAE. The main objectives of this study are 1) to investigate the development of LST on the macro- and micro-level between and in three cities in the UAE over two decades time period, 2) to examine the impact of different types of land use/land cover on the spatial distribution of LST. Because these three cities are facing harsh arid climate, it is hypothesized that (1) urbanization is affecting and connected to the spatial changes in LST; (2) different land use/land cover have different impact on the LST; and (3) changes in spatial configuration of land use and vegetation concentration over time would control urban microclimate on a city scale and control macroclimate on the country scale. This study will be carried out over a 20-year period (1996-2016) and throughout the whole year. The study will compare between two distinct periods with different thermal characteristics which are the cool/cold period from November to March and warm/hot period between April and October. The best practice research method for this topic is to use remote sensing data to target different aspects of natural and anthropogenic systems impacts. The project will follow classical remote sensing and mapping techniques to investigate the impact of urbanization, mainly changes in land use/land cover, on LST. The investigation in this study will be performed in two stages. Stage one remote sensing data will be used to investigate the impact of urbanization on LST on a macroclimate level where the LST and Urban Heat Island (UHI) will be compared in the three cities using data from the past two decades. Stage two will investigate the impact on microclimate scale by investigating the LST and UHI using a particular land use/land cover type. In both stages, an LST and urban land cover maps will be generated over the study area. The outcome of this study should represent an important contribution to recent urban climate studies, particularly in the UAE. Based on the aim and objectives of this study, the expected outcomes are as follow: i) to determine the increase or decrease of LST as a result of urbanization in these four cities, ii) to determine the effect of different land uses/land covers on increasing or decreasing the LST.

Keywords: land use/land cover, global warming, land surface temperature, remote sensing

Procedia PDF Downloads 222

Authors: Yul Y. Nazaruddin, Anas Y. Widiaribowo, Satriyo Nugroho

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Boiler is one of the critical unit in a petrochemical plant. Steam produced by the boiler is used for various processes in the plant such as urea and ammonia plant. An alternative method to optimize the boiler combustion system is presented in this paper. Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS) approach is applied to model the boiler using real-time operational data collected from a boiler unit of the petrochemical plant. Nonlinear equation obtained is then used to optimize the air to fuel ratio using Genetic Algorithm, resulting an optimal ratio of 15.85. This optimal ratio is then maintained constant by ratio controller designed using inverse dynamics based on ANFIS. As a result, constant value of oxygen content in the flue gas is obtained which indicates more efficient combustion process.

Keywords: ANFIS, boiler, combustion process, genetic algorithm, optimization.

Procedia PDF Downloads 225

Authors: Raana Babadi Fathipour

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Over the past decades, the climatic CO2 concentration and worldwide normal temperature have been expanding, and this drift is anticipated to before long gotten to be more extreme. This situation of climate alter escalate abiotic stretch components (such as dry spell, flooding, saltiness, and bright radiation) that debilitate timberland and related environments as well as trim generation. These variables can contrarily influence plant development and advancement with a ensuing lessening in plant biomass aggregation and surrender, in expansion to expanding plant defenselessness to biotic stresses. As of late, biostimulants have ended up a hotspot as an viable and economical elective to reduce the negative impacts of stresses on plants. In any case, the larger part of biostimulants has destitute solidness beneath natural conditions, which leads to untimely debasement, shortening their organic movement. To unravel these bottlenecks, small scale- and nano-based definitions containing biostimulant atoms and/or microorganisms are picking up consideration as they illustrate a few points of interest over their routine details. In this survey, we center on the embodiment of plant development controllers and plant acquainted microorganisms as a technique to boost their application for plant assurance against abiotic stresses. We moreover address the potential restrictions and challenges confronted for the execution of this innovation, as well as conceivable outcomes with respect to future inquire about.

Keywords: bio stimulants, Seed priming, nano biotechnology, plant growth-promoting, rhizobacteria, plant growth regulators, microencapsulation

Procedia PDF Downloads 37

Authors: Saroj Panthi

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The red panda (Ailurus fulgens fulgens) is distributed throughout the Himalayas and is found in both protected and unprotected areas of Nepal. Loss and fragmentation of habitat threaten red panda population throughout its range, and as a consequence, it is listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Despite this pressing situation, data on the ecology of the red panda in western Nepal are lacking. Our aim in the current study was to determine the distribution, associated habitats, and summer diet of the red panda in Dhorpatan Hunting Reserve (DHR), Nepal. Evidence of red pandas was found in all 7 blocks of the reserve, spanning an area of 345.8 km2, between elevations of 2800 m and 4000 m and predominantly (> 75%) in forests comprising plant communities dominated by Abies spectabilis, Acer caesium, Tsuga domusa, and Betula utilis, with ground cover of Arundinaria spp. The dominant plant found in scat of the red panda was Arundinaria spp. (81.7%), with Acer spp., B. utilis, and lichen also frequently present. Livestock grazing and human activities were significantly higher in habitats where signs of pandas were recorded than in areas where they were absent. This habitat overlap between the red panda and livestock potentially poses a major threat to the panda’s survival in the DHR, a fact that should be taken into account in devising management strategies for this threatened species.

Keywords: red panda, Dhorpatan hunting reserve, diet, habitat preference

Procedia PDF Downloads 320

Authors: Lormaine Anne Branzuela, Elysa Largo, Julie Marisol Pagalilauan, Neil Concibido, Monet Concepcion Detras

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Energy is a necessity both for the people and the country. The demand for energy is continually increasing, but the supply is not doing the same. The reopening of the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP) in the Philippines has been circulating in the media for the current time. The general public has been hesitant in accepting the inclusion of nuclear energy in the Philippine energy mix due to perceived unsafe conditions of the plant. This study evaluated the possible operations of a nuclear power plant, which is of the same type as the BNPP, considering the safety of the workers, the public, and the environment using a Process Hazard Analysis (PHA) method. What-If Technique was utilized to identify the hazards and consequences on the operations of the plant, together with the level of risk it entails. Through the brainstorming sessions of the PHA team, it was found that the most critical system on the plant is the primary system. Possible leakages on pipes and equipment due to weakened seals and welds and blockages on coolant path due to fouling were the most common scenarios identified, which further caused the most critical scenario – radioactive leak through sump contamination, nuclear meltdown, and equipment damage and explosion which could result to multiple injuries and fatalities, and environmental impacts.

Keywords: process safety management, process hazard analysis, what-If technique, nuclear power plant

Procedia PDF Downloads 178

Authors: Mehmet Savsar

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Reliability and availability of power stations are extremely important in order to achieve a required level of power generation. In particular, in the hot desert climate of Kuwait, reliable power generation is extremely important because of cooling requirements at temperatures exceeding 50-centigrade degrees. In this paper, a particular power plant, named Sabiya Power Plant, which has 8 steam turbines and 13 gas turbine stations, has been studied in detail; extensive data are collected; and availability of station units are determined. Furthermore, a simulation model is developed and used to analyze the effects of different maintenance policies on availability of these stations. The results show that significant improvements can be achieved in power plant availabilities if appropriate maintenance policies are implemented.

Keywords: power plants, steam turbines, gas turbines, maintenance, availability, simulation

Procedia PDF Downloads 591

Authors: A. Zaidi, F. Khelifi, R. Masmoudi, M. Bouhicha

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5 In order to eradicate the degradation of reinforced concrete structures due to the steel corrosion, professionals in constructions suggest using fiber reinforced polymers (FRP) for their excellent properties. Nevertheless, high temperatures may affect the bond between FRP bar and concrete, and consequently the serviceability of FRP-reinforced concrete structures. This paper presents a nonlinear numerical investigation using ADINA software to investigate the effect of the spacing between glass FRP (GFRP) bars embedded in concrete on circumferential thermal deformations and the distribution of radial thermal cracks in reinforced concrete beams submitted to high temperature variations up to 60 °C for asymmetrical problems. The thermal deformations predicted from nonlinear finite elements model, at the FRP bar/concrete interface and at the external surface of concrete cover, were established as a function of the ratio of concrete cover thickness to FRP bar diameter (c/d_b) and the ratio of spacing between FRP bars in concrete to FRP bar diameter (e/d_b). Numerical results show that the circumferential thermal deformations at the external surface of concrete cover are linear until cracking thermal load varied from 32 to 55 °C corresponding to the ratio of e/d_b varied from 1.3 to 2.3, respectively. However, for ratios e/d_b >2.3 and c/d_b >1.6, the thermal deformations at the external surface of concrete cover exhibit linear behavior without any cracks observed on the specified surface. The numerical results are compared to those obtained from analytical models validated by experimental tests.

Keywords: concrete beam, FRP bars, spacing effect, thermal deformation

Procedia PDF Downloads 175

Authors: Isa Muhammad Zumo, Musa Lawan

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This study analyzes the land use/land cover changes in Damaturu metropolis from 1986 to 2005. LandSat TM Images of 1986, 1999, and 2005 were used. Built-up lands, agric lands, water body and other lands were created as themes within ILWIS 3.4 software. The images were displayed in False Colour Composite (FCC) for a better visualization and identification of the themes created. Training sample sets were collected based on the ground truth data during field the checks. Statistical data were then extracted from the classified sample set. Area in hectares for each theme was calculated for each year and the result for each land use/land cover types for each study year was compared. From the result, it was found out that built-up areas have a considerable increase from 37.71 hectares in 1986 to 1062.72 hectares in 2005. It has an annual increase rate of approximately 0.34%. The results also reveal that there is a decrease of 5829.66 hectares of other lands (vacant lands) from 1986 to 2005.

Keywords: land use, changes, analysis, environmental pollution

Procedia PDF Downloads 309

Authors: Babak Moradi, Hassan Zare-Maivan

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A greenhouse investigation has been conducted to study the effect of crude oil on morphology and protein content of Avicennia marina plant. Avicennia marina seeds were sown in different concentrations of the crude oil mixed soil (i.e., 2.5, 5, 7.5, and 10 w/w). Controls and replicates were also set up. Morphological traits were recorded 4 months after plantation. Avicennia marina seedlings could tolerate up to 10% (w/w). Results demonstrated that there was a reduction in plant shoot and root biomass with the increase of crude oil concentration. Plant height, total leaf number and length reduced significantly with increase of crude oil contamination. Investigation revealed that there is a great impact of crude oil contamination on protein content of the roots of the experimental plant. Protein content of roots grown in different concentrations of crude oil were more than those of the control plant. Further, results also showed that protein content was increased with increased concentration of crude oil.

Keywords: Avicennia marina, morphology, oil contamination, protein content

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Authors: Mohammad Reza Fooladi

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Because of the importance and effect of plant innovations on economy, industry, and especially agriculture, they have been on the core attention of legislators at the national level, and have been a topic of international documents related to intellectual innovations in the recent decades. For protection of plant innovations, two legal systems (i.e. particular system based on International Convention for protection of new variety of plants, and the patent system) have been considered. Ease of access to the support and the level of support in each of these systems are different. Our attempt in this paper, in addition to describing and analyzing the characteristics of each system, is to suggest the compatible system to the industry and agriculture of Afghanistan. Due to the lack of sufficient industrial infrastructure and academic research, the particular system based on the International Convention on the protection of new variety of plants is suggested. At the same time, appropriate industrial and legal infrastructures, as well as laboratories and research centers should be provided in order that plant innovations under the patent system could also be supported.

Keywords: new varieties of plant, patent, agriculture, Afghanistan

Procedia PDF Downloads 296

Authors: Nivethika Ajeethan, Lord Abbey, Svetlana Yurge

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Riboflavin is a water-soluble vitamin and the direct precursor of the flavin cofactors flavin mononucleotide and flavin adenine dinucleotide. Flavins (FLs) are bioactive molecules that have a beneficial effect on plant growth and development. Sinorhizobium meliloti strain 1021 is an α-proteobacterium that forms agronomically important N₂-fixing symbiosis with Medicago plants and secretes a considerable amount of FLs (FL⁺ strain). This strain was also implicated in plant growth promotion in its association with non-legume host plants. However, the mechanism of this plant growth promotion is not well understood. In this study, we evaluated the growth and development of tomato plants inoculated with S. meliloti 1021 and its mutant (FL⁻ strain) with limited ability to secrete FLs. Our preliminary experiments indicated that inoculation with FL⁺ strain significantly increased seedlings' root and shoot length and surface area compared to those of plants inoculated with FL⁻ strain. For example, the root lengths of 9-day old seedlings inoculated with FL⁺ strain were 35% longer than seedlings inoculated with the mutant. Proteomic approaches combined with the analysis of plant physiological responses such as growth and photosynthetic rate, stomatal conductance, transpiration rate, and chlorophyll content will be used to evaluate the host-plant response to bacteria-derived FLs.

Keywords: flavin, plant growth promotion, riboflavin, Sinorhizobium meliloti

Procedia PDF Downloads 114

Authors: Cheba Ben Amar

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Bacillus and Paenibacillus are Gram-positive aerobic endospore-forming bacteria (AEFB) and most abundant in the rhizosphere, they mediated plant growth promotion and disease protection by several complex and interrelated processes involving direct and indirect mechanisms that include nitrogen fixation, phosphate solubilization, siderophores production, phytohormones production and plant diseases control. In addition to their multiple PGPR properties, high secretory capacity, spore forming ability and spore resistance to unfavorable conditions enabling their extended commercial applications for long shelf-life. Due to these unique advantages, Bacillus species were the most an ideal candidate for developing efficient PGPR products such as biopesticides, fungicides and fertilizers. This review list all studied and reported plant growth promoting Bacillus species and strains, discuss their capacities to enhance plant growth and protection with special focusing on the most frequent species Bacillus subtilis, B. pumilus ,B. megaterium, B. amyloliquefaciens , B. licheniformis and B. sphaericus, furthermore we recapitulate the beneficial activities and mechanisms of several species and strains of the genus Paenibacillus involved in plant growth stimulation and plant disease control.

Keywords: bacillus, paenibacillus, PGPR, beneficial activities, mechanisms, growth promotion, disease control, agrobiotechnology

Procedia PDF Downloads 367

Authors: Ercan Ceyhan, Ali Kahraman, Hasan Dalgıç

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This research was made during the 2011 and 2012 growing periods according to “Randomized Blocks Design” with 3 replications. Research material was the following chickpea genotype: CA119, CA128, CA149, CA150, CA222, CA250, CA254 and other 2 commercial varieties named as Gökçe and Yaşa. Some agronomical characteristics such as plant height (cm), number of pod per plant, number of seed per pod, number of seed per plant, 1000 seed weight (g) and seed yield (kg ha-1) were determined. Statistically significant variations were found amongst the genotypes for all variables except seeds per pod. Means of the two years showed the range for plant height was from 52.83 cm (Gökçe) to 73.00 cm (CA150), number of pod per plant was from 14.00 (CA149) to 26.83 (CA261), number of seed per pod was from 1.10 (Gökçe) to 1.19 (CA149 ve CA250), number of seed per plant was from 16.28 (CA149) to 31.65 (CA261), 1000 seed weight was from 295.85 g (CA149) to 437.80 g (CA261) and seed yield was from 1342.73 kg ha-1 (CA261) to 2161.50 kg ha-1 (CA128). Results of the research implicated that the new developed lines were superior compared with the control (commercial) varieties by means of most of the characteristics.

Keywords: agricultural characters, chickpea, seed yield, genotype variations

Procedia PDF Downloads 178

Authors: G. Raviraja Shetty, K. G. Poojitha

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An experiment was conducted to study the effect of different growth regulators on seed germination and vegetative propagation by cuttings of an endangered medicinal plant species, Celastrus paniculatus Willd. at College of Horticulture, Mudigere during June- Sept 2014. Various growth parameters were recorded for seed germination and significantly higher results for Rate of germination (0.78), Plant vigour (2082.74), Plant height (22.10cm), number of leaves (7.83) fresh weight (136.58mg) and dry weight of plant (59.16mg) noticed in seeds treated with GA3 400 ppm when compared to control. In vegetative propagation the cuttings treated with IBA 2000 ppm recorded significantly highest sprouting percentage (98.00) when compared to control (71.00). The results of present investigation will be helpful for large scale multiplication of the species. It will also help for cultivation and conservation of this endangered species.

Keywords: Celastrus paniculatus Willd, seeds, germination, cuttings

Procedia PDF Downloads 384

Authors: Jacob Lewis Watts, Adam F. A. Pellegrini

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Prairies, grasslands, and forests cover an expansive portion of the world’s surface and contribute significantly to Earth’s carbon cycle. The largest driver of carbon dynamics in some of these ecosystems is fire. As the global climate changes, most fire-dominated ecosystems will experience increased fire frequency and intensity, leading to increased carbon flux into the atmosphere and soil nutrient depletion. The plant communities associated with different fire regimes are important for reassimilation of carbon lost during fire and soil recovery. More frequent fires promote conservative plant functional traits aboveground; however, belowground fine root traits are poorly explored and arguably more important drivers of ecosystem function as the primary interface between the soil and plant. The root economic spectrum (RES) hypothesis describes single-dimensional covariation between important fine-root traits along a range of plant strategies from acquisitive to conservative – parallel to the well-established leaf economic spectrum (LES). However, because of the paucity of root trait data, the complex nature of the rhizosphere, and the phylogenetic conservatism of root traits, it is unknown whether the RES hypothesis accurately describes plant nutrient and water acquisition strategies. This project utilizesplants grown in common garden conditions in the Cambridge University Botanic Garden and a meta-analysis of long-term fire manipulation experiments to examine the belowground physiological traits of fire-adapted and non-fire-adapted herbaceous species to 1) test the RES hypothesis and 2) describe the effect of fire regimes on fine root functional traits – which in turn affect carbon and nutrient cycling. A suite of morphological, chemical, and biological root traits (e.g. root diameter, specific root length, percent N, percent mycorrhizal colonization, etc.) of 50 herbaceous species were measuredand tested for phylogenetic conservatism and RES dimensionality. Fire-adapted and non-fire-adapted plants traits were compared using phylogenetic PCA techniques. Preliminary evidence suggests that phylogenetic conservatism may weaken the single-dimensionality of the RES, suggesting that there may not be a single way that plants optimize nutrient and water acquisition and storage in the complex rhizosphere; additionally, fire-adapted species are expected to be more conservative than non-fire-adapted species, which may be indicative of slower carbon cycling with increasing fire frequency and intensity.

Keywords: climate change, fire regimes, root economic spectrum, fine roots

Procedia PDF Downloads 88

Authors: M. E. Razipoor, T. Masunaga, K. Sato, M. S. Saboory

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Estimation of soil erosion is economically and environmentally important in Herat, Afghanistan. Degradation of soil has negative impact (decreased soil fertility, destroyed soil structure, and consequently soil sealing and crusting) on life of Herat residents. Water and wind are the main erosive factors causing soil erosion in Herat. Furthermore, scarce vegetation cover, exacerbated by socioeconomic constraint, and steep slopes accelerate soil erosion. To sustain soil productivity and reduce soil erosion impact on human life, due to sustaining agricultural production and auditing the environment, it is needed to quantify the magnitude and extent of soil erosion in a spatial domain. Thus, this study aims to estimate soil loss potential and its spatial distribution in Herat, Afghanistan by applying RUSLE in GIS environment. The rainfall erosivity factor ranged between values of 125 and 612 (MJ mm ha-1 h-1 year-1). Soil erodibility factor varied from 0.036 to 0.073 (Mg h MJ-1 mm-1). Slope length and steepness factor (LS) values were between 0.03 and 31.4. The vegetation cover factor (C), derived from NDVI analysis of Landsat-8 OLI scenes, resulting in range of 0.03 to 1. Support practice factor (P) were assigned to a value of 1, since there is not significant mitigation practices in the study area. Soil erosion potential map was the product of these factors. Mean soil erosion rate of Herat Province was 29 Mg ha-1 year-1 that ranged from 0.024 Mg ha-1 year-1 in flat areas with dense vegetation cover to 778 Mg ha-1 year-1 in sharp slopes with high rainfall but least vegetation cover. Based on land cover map of Afghanistan, areas with soil loss rate higher than soil loss tolerance (8 Mg ha-1 year-1) occupies 98% of Forests, 81% rangelands, 64% barren lands, 60% rainfed lands, 28% urban area and 18% irrigated Lands.

Keywords: Afghanistan, erosion, GIS, Herat, RUSLE

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Authors: Yavuz Bağcı, Levent Keskin

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The study was carried out in 2011-2014 period to determine plant-based hand tools uses of plants in Kadınhanı (Konya) and surrounding villages. A total of 153 individuals, who lived or were living during this study in 4 towns, 37 villages and 9 neighborhood were interviewed. It was found that of a total about 20 plants belonging to 10 families in the study area, about 60 hand-made goods were used by peoples for various purposes.

Keywords: ethnobotanic, handmade, Kadınhanı, Konya, plant-human relationship

Procedia PDF Downloads 386

Authors: B. Almassri, F. Almahmoud, R. Francois

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Near surface mounted reinforcement (NSM) technique is one of the promising techniques used nowadays to strengthen reinforced concrete (RC) structures. In the NSM technique, the Carbon Fibre Reinforced Polymer (CFRP) rods are placed inside pre-cut grooves and are bonded to the concrete with epoxy adhesive. This paper studies the non-classical mode of failure ‘the separation of concrete cover’ according to experimental and numerical FE modelling results. Experimental results and numerical modelling results of a 3D finite element (FE) model using the commercial software Abaqus and 2D FE model FEMIX were obtained on two beams, one corroded (25 years of corrosion procedure) and one control (A1CL3-R and A1T-R) were each repaired in bending using NSM CFRP rod and were then tested up to failure. The results showed that the NSM technique increased the overall capacity of control and corroded beams despite a non-classical mode of failure with separation of the concrete cover occurring in the corroded beam due to damage induced by corrosion. Another FE model used external steel stirrups around the repaired corroded beam A1CL3-R which failed with the separation of concrete cover, this model showed a change in the mode of failure form a non-classical mode of failure by the separation of concrete cover to the same mode of failure of the repaired control beam by the crushing of compressed concrete.

Keywords: corrosion, repair, Reinforced Concrete, FEM, CFRP, FEMIX

Procedia PDF Downloads 139

Authors: He Yuhai, Ahmad Ziad Bin Sulaiman

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Tongkat Ali, or Eurycoma longifolia, is a traditional Malay and Orang Asli herb used as aphrodisiac, general tonic, anti-Malaria, and anti-Pyretic. It has been recognized as a cashcrop by Malaysia due to its high value for the pharmaceutical use. In Tongkat Ali, eurycomanone, a quassinoid is usually chosen as a marker phytochemical as it is the most abundant phytochemical. In this research, ultrasound and enzyme were used to enhance the extraction of Eurycomanone from Tongkat Ali. Ultrasonic assisted extraction (USE) enhances extraction by facilitating the swelling and hydration of the plant material, enlarging the plant pores, breaking the plant cell, reducing the plant particle size and creating cavitation bubbles that enhance mass transfer in both the washing and diffusion phase of extraction. Enzyme hydrolyses the cell wall of the plant, loosening the structure of the cell wall, releasing more phytochemicals from the plant cell, enhancing the productivity of the extraction. Possible effects of ultrasound on the activity of the enzyme during the hydrolysis of the cell wall is under the investigation by this research. The extracts was analysed by high performance liquid chromatography for the yields of Eurycomanone. In this whole process, the conventional water extraction was used as a control of comparing the performance of the ultrasound and enzyme assisted extraction.

Keywords: ultrasound, enzymatic, extraction, Eurycoma longifolia

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Authors: Negar Ganjouhaghighi, Amirali Dolatshahi

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The origin of most risks of a mega project usually takes place in the phases before closing the contract. As a practical point of view, using project risk management techniques for preparing a proposal is not a total solution for managing the risks of a contract. The objective of this paper is to cover all those activities associated with risk management of a mega project sale’s processes; from entrance to a new market to awarding activities and the review of contract performance. In this study, the risk management happens in six consecutive steps that are divided into three distinct but interdependent phases upstream of the award of the contract: pre-tendering, tendering and closing. In the first step, by preparing standard market risk report, risks of the new market are identified. The next step is the bid or no bid decision making based on the previous gathered data. During the next three steps in tendering phase, project risk management techniques are applied for determining how much contingency reserve must be added or reduced to the estimated cost in order to put the residual risk to an acceptable level. Finally, the last step which happens in closing phase would be an overview of the project risks and final clarification of residual risks. The sales experience of more than 20,000 MW turn-key power plant projects alongside this framework, are used to develop a software that assists the sales team to have a better project risk management.

Keywords: project marketing, risk management, tendering, project management, turn-key projects

Procedia PDF Downloads 301

Authors: Tugba G. Isin Ozkan, Yoshiharu Fujii

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One of the most important constrains that decrease the crop yields are weeds. Increased amount and number of chemical herbicides are being utilized every day to control weeds. Chemical herbicides which cause environmental effects, and limitations on implementation of them have led to the nonchemical alternatives in the management of weeds. It is needed increasingly the application of allelopathy as a nonherbicidal innovation to control weed populations in integrated weed management. It is not only because of public concern about herbicide use, but also increased agricultural costs and herbicide resistance weeds. Allelopathy is defined as a common biological phenomenon, direct or indirect interaction which one plant or organism produces biochemicals influence the physiological processes of another neighboring plant or organism. Biochemicals involved in allelopathy are called allelochemicals that influence beneficially or detrimentally the growth, survival, development, and reproduction of other plant or organisms. All plant parts could have allelochemicals which are secondary plant metabolites. Allelochemicals are released to environment, influence the germination and seedling growth of neighbors' weeds; that is the way how allelopathy is applied for weed control. Crop cultivars have significantly different ability for inhibiting the growth of certain weeds. So, a high commercial value crop Corylus avellana L. and its byproducts were chosen to introduce for their allelopathic potential in this research. Edible nut of Corylus avellana L., commonly known as hazelnut is commercially valuable crop with byproducts; skin, hard shell, green leafy cover, and tree leaf. Research on allelopathic potential of a plant by using the sandwich bioassay method and investigation growth inhibitory activity is the first step to develop new and environmentally friendly alternatives for weed control. Thus, the objective of this research is to determine allelopathic potential of C. avellana L. and its byproducts by using sandwich method and to determine effective concentrations (EC) of their extracts for inducing half-maximum elongation inhibition on radicle of test plant, EC50. The sandwich method is reliable and fast bioassay, very useful for allelopathic screening under laboratory conditions. In experiments, lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) seeds will be test plant, because of its high sensitivity to inhibition by allelochemicals and reliability for germination. In sandwich method, the radicle lengths of dry material treated lettuce seeds and control lettuce seeds will be measured and inhibition of radicle elongation will be determined. Lettuce seeds will also be treated by the methanol extracts of dry hazelnut parts to calculate EC₅₀ values, which are required to induce half-maximal inhibition of growth, as mg dry weight equivalent mL-1. Inhibitory activity of extracts against lettuce seedling elongation will be evaluated, like in sandwich method, by comparing the radicle lengths of treated seeds with that of control seeds and EC₅₀ values will be determined. Research samples are dry parts of Turkish hazelnut, C. avellana L. The results would suggest the opportunity for allelopathic potential of C. avellana L. with its byproducts in plant-plant interaction, might be utilized for further researches, could be beneficial in finding bioactive chemicals from natural products and developing of natural herbicides.

Keywords: allelopathy, Corylus avellana L., EC50, Lactuca sativa L., sandwich method, Turkish hazelnut

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Authors: H. Kadi-Hanifi, F. Amghar

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Steppes of arid Mediterranean zones are deeply threatened by desertification. To stop or alleviate ecological and economic problems associated with this desertification, management actions have been implemented since the last three decades. The struggle against desertification has become a national priority in many countries. In Algeria, several management techniques have been used to cope with desertification. This study aims at investigating the effect of exclosure on floristic diversity and chemical soil proprieties after four years of implementation. 167 phyto-ecological samples have been studied, 122 inside the exclosure and 45 outside. Results showed that plant diversity, composition, vegetation cover, pastoral value and soil fertility were significantly higher in protected areas.

Keywords: Algeria, arid, desertification, pastoral management, soil fertility

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Authors: Megha Gupta, Nupur Prakash

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Identification of plant diseases has been performed using machine learning and deep learning models on the datasets containing images of healthy and diseased plant leaves. The current study carries out an evaluation of some of the deep learning models based on convolutional neural network (CNN) architectures for identification of plant diseases. For this purpose, the publicly available New Plant Diseases Dataset, an augmented version of PlantVillage dataset, available on Kaggle platform, containing 87,900 images has been used. The dataset contained images of 26 diseases of 14 different plants and images of 12 healthy plants. The CNN models selected for the study presented in this paper are AlexNet, ZFNet, VGGNet (four models), GoogLeNet, and ResNet (three models). The selected models are trained using PyTorch, an open-source machine learning library, on Google Colaboratory. A comparative study has been carried out to analyze the high degree of accuracy achieved using these models. The highest test accuracy and F1-score of 99.59% and 0.996, respectively, were achieved by using GoogLeNet with Mini-batch momentum based gradient descent learning algorithm.

Keywords: comparative analysis, convolutional neural networks, deep learning, plant disease identification

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Authors: Gürcan D. Baysal, Ali Tanış

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In this study, samples of plant types including rose hip (Rosa canina L.), jujube (Ziziphus jujube), sea buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides), elderberry (Sambucus nigra), apricot (Prunus armeniaca), scots pine (Pinus sylvestris), and cedar of Lebanon (Cedrus libani) were grown using plant supporting units called Ekobox and drip irrigation systems in the Karapınar, Konya region of Turkey to reveal the efficiency of Ekobox and drip irrigation compared against a control with no irrigation. The plant diameter, height, and survival rates were determined, compared with each other, and statistically analyzed. According to the statistical analysis of the results, Ekobox applications resulted in the highest values for survival rate, diameter, and height measurements whereas the lowest values were determined in the control groups. These results indicate that the cultivation of plants with Ekobox may help protect against the loss of fertile soils as an effective mechanism for combating erosion and desertification. These advantages may also lead to a lasting economic effect on the cultivation of plants by locals of the Karapınar, Konya province who suffer from an ever-decreasing underground water level as a result of agricultural consumption.

Keywords: drip irrigation, ekobox, plant diameter, plant height, plant survival rate

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Authors: Nazakat Ismailzada, Carol Jones

Abstract:

Tomato drilling moth Tuta absoluta (Meyrick) (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) is the main pest of tomato plants in many countries. The larvae of tomato leaves, the stems inside, in the end buds, they opened the gallery in green and ripe fruit. In this way the harmful products can be fed with all parts of the tomato plant can cause damage to 80-100%. Pest harms all above ground parts of the tomato plant. After the seedlings are planted in areas and during blossoming holder traps with tomato moth’s rubber capsule inside should be placed in the area by using five-tomato moth’s feremon per ha. Then there should be carried out observations in the fields in every three days regularly. During the researches, it was showed that in field condition Carogen 20 SC besides high-level biological efficiency also has low ecological load for environment, and should be used against tomato moth in farms. Therefore it was showed that in field condition Carogen 20 SC besides high-level biological efficiency also has low ecological load for environment, and should be used against tomato moth in farms with insecticide expenditure norm 320 qr\ha. In farms should be used plant rotation, plant fields should be plowed on the 25-30 sm depth, before sowing seeds should be proceeded by insecticides. As element of integrated plant protection activities, should be used pheromones trap. In tomato plant fields as an insecticide should be used AGROSAN 240 SC and Carogen 20 SP.

Keywords: lepidoptera, Tuta absoluta, chemical control, integrated pest management

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Authors: P. C. Tewari, Parveen Kumar

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The paper describes the availability analysis of milling system of a rice milling plant using probabilistic approach. The subsystems under study are special purpose machines. The availability analysis of the system is carried out to determine the effect of failure and repair rates of each subsystem on overall performance (i.e. steady state availability) of system concerned. Further, on the basis of effect of repair rates on the system availability, maintenance repair priorities have been suggested. The problem is formulated using Markov Birth-Death process taking exponential distribution for probable failures and repair rates. The first order differential equations associated with transition diagram are developed by using mnemonic rule. These equations are solved using normalizing conditions and recursive method to drive out the steady state availability expression of the system. The findings of the paper are presented and discussed with the plant personnel to adopt a suitable maintenance policy to increase the productivity of the rice milling plant.

Keywords: availability modeling, Markov process, milling system, rice milling plant

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Authors: Zanele Ntshidi, Sebinasi Dzikiti, Dominic Mazvimavi

Abstract:

South Africa is a dry country and yet it is ranked as the 8th largest exporter of fresh apples (Malus Domestica) globally. Prime apple producing regions are in the Eastern and Western Cape Provinces of the country where all the fruit is grown under irrigation. Climate change models predict increasingly drier future conditions in these regions and the frequency and severity of droughts is expected to increase. For the sustainability and growth of the fruit industry it is important to minimize non-beneficial water losses from the orchard floor. The aims of this study were firstly to compare the water use of cover crop species used in South African orchards for which there is currently no information. The second aim was to investigate how orchard water use (evapotranspiration) was partitioned into beneficial (tree transpiration) and non-beneficial (orchard floor evaporation) water uses for micro-sprinkler irrigated orchards with different canopy covers. This information is important in order to explore opportunities to minimize non-beneficial water losses. Six cover crop species (four exotic and two indigenous) were grown in 2 L pots in a greenhouse. Cover crop transpiration was measured using the gravimetric method on clear days. To establish how water use was partitioned in orchards, evapotranspiration (ET) was measured using an open path eddy covariance system, while tree transpiration was measured hourly throughout the season (October to June) on six trees per orchard using the heat ratio sap flow method. On selected clear days, soil evaporation was measured hourly from sunrise to sunset using six micro-lysimeters situated at different wet/dry and sun/shade positions on the orchard floor. Transpiration of cover crops was measured using miniature (2 mm Ø) stem heat balance sap flow gauges. The greenhouse study showed that exotic cover crops had significantly higher (p < 0.01) average transpiration rates (~3.7 L/m2/d) than the indigenous species (~ 2.2 L/m²/d). In young non-bearing orchards, orchard floor evaporative fluxes accounted for more than 60% of orchard ET while this ranged from 10 to 30% in mature orchards with a high canopy cover. While exotic cover crops are preferred by most farmers, this study shows that they use larger quantities of water than indigenous species. This in turn contributes to a larger orchard floor evaporation flux. In young orchards non-beneficial losses can be minimized by adopting drip or short range micro-sprinkler methods that reduce the wetted soil fraction thereby conserving water.

Keywords: evapotranspiration, sap flow, soil evaporation, transpiration

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Authors: Carmela Monterroso, Marc Romero-Estonllo, Carlos Pascual, Beatriz Rodríguez-Garrido

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The mobilization of heavy metals from polluted soils causes their transfer to natural waters, with consequences for ecosystems and human health. Phytostabilization techniques are applied to reduce this mobility, through the establishment of a vegetal cover and the application of soil amendments. In this work, the capacity of different organic amendments to improve water quality and reduce the mobility of metals in mine-tailings was evaluated. A field pilot test was carried out with leaching columns installed on an old Cu mine ore (NW of Spain) which forms part of the PhytoSUDOE network of phytomanaged contaminated field sites (PhytoSUDOE/ Phy2SUDOE Projects (SOE1/P5/E0189 and SOE4/P5/E1021)). Ten columns (1 meter high by 25 cm in diameter) were packed with untreated mine tailings (control) or those treated with organic amendments. Applied amendments were based on different combinations of municipal wastes, bark chippings, biomass fly ash, and nanoparticles like aluminum oxides or ferrihydrite-type iron oxides. During the packing of the columns, rhizon-samplers were installed at different heights (10, 20, and 50 cm) from the top, and pore water samples were obtained by suction. Additionally, in each column, a bottom leachate sample was collected through a valve installed at the bottom of the column. After packing, the columns were sown with grasses. Water samples were analyzed for: pH and redox potential, using combined electrodes; salinity by conductivity meter: bicarbonate by titration, sulfate, nitrate, and chloride, by ion chromatography (Dionex 2000); phosphate by colorimetry with ammonium molybdate/ascorbic acid; Ca, Mg, Fe, Al, Mn, Zn, Cu, Cd, and Pb by flame atomic absorption/emission spectrometry (Perkin Elmer). Porewater and leachate from the control columns (packed with unamended mine tailings) were extremely acidic and had a high concentration of Al, Fe, and Cu. In these columns, no plant development was observed. The application of organic amendments improved soil conditions, which allowed the establishment of a dense cover of grasses in the rest of the columns. The combined effect of soil amendment and plant growth had a positive impact on water quality and reduced mobility of aluminum and heavy metals.

Keywords: leaching, organic amendments, phytostabilization, polluted soils

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Authors: Zehra Aytac, Nurdilek Gulmezoglu

Abstract:

Safflower has been grown for centuries for many purposes worldwide. Especially it is important for the orange-red dye from its petal and for its high-quality oil obtained from the seeds. The crop is high adaptable to areas with insufficient rainfall and poor soil conditions. The plant has a deep taproot that can draw moisture and plant nutrients from deep to the subsoil. The research was carried out to study the nitrogen (N) uptake of different safflower cultivars and lines at different stages of growth and different plant parts in the experimental field of Faculty of Agriculture, Eskişehir Osmangazi University under semi-arid conditions. Different safflower cultivars and lines of varied origins were used as the material. The cultivars and lines were planted in a Randomized Complete Block Design with three replications. Two different growth stages (flowering and harvest) and three different plant parts (head, stem+leaf and seed) were determined. The nitrogen concentration of different plant parts was determined by the Kjeldahl method. Statistical analysis were performed by analysis of variance for each growth stage and plant parts taking a level of p < 0.05 and p < 0.01 as significant according to the LSD test. As a result, N concentration showed significant differences among different plant parts and different growth stages for different safflower genotypes of varied origins.

Keywords: Carthamus tinctorius L., growth stages, head N, leaf N, N uptake, seed N, Safflower

Procedia PDF Downloads 192

Authors: Husham Mahmood Ahmed

Abstract:

For so many reasons, fresh water scarcity is one of major problems facing the world and in particularly in the third world in the Northern Africa, the Middle East, the Southwest of Asia, and many other desert areas. Solar distillation offers one of the most promising solutions of renewable energy to this aggravated situation. The main obstacle hindering the spread of the use of solar technology for fresh water production is its low efficiency. Therefore, enhancing the solar stills performances by studying the parameters affecting their productivity and implementing new ideas and a different design are the main goals of the investigators in recent years. The present research is experimental work that tests a new design of solar still with a hemispherical top cover for water desalination with and without external reflectors under the climate of the Kingdom of Bahrain during the autumn season. The hemispherical cover has a base diameter of 1m and a depth of 0.4m, die cast from a 6 mm thick Lexan plastic sheet. The net effective area was 0.785 m2. It has been found that the average daily production rate obtained from the hemispherical top cover solar still is 3.610 liter/day. This yield is 11.1% higher than the yield of a conventional simple type single slope solar still having 20ᴼ slope glass cover and a larger effective area of 1 m2 obtained in previous research under similar climatic conditions. It has also been found that adding 1.2m long by 0.15 curved reflectors increased the yield of the hemispherical solar still by 5.5 %, while the 1.2 long by 0.3m curved reflector increased the yield by about 8%.

Keywords: hemispherical solar still, solar desalination, solar energy, the Northern Africa

Procedia PDF Downloads 377