Search results for: Water dew point
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 4018

Search results for: Water dew point

868 Environmental Management System for Tourist Accommodations in Amphawa, Samut Songkram,Thailand

Authors: T. Utarasakul

Abstract:

Amphawa is the most popular weekend destination for both domestic and international tourists in Thailand. More than 112 homestays and resorts have been developed along the water resources. This research aims to initiate appropriate environmental management system for riverside tourist accommodations in Amphawa by investigating current environmental characteristics. Eighty-eight riverside tourist accommodations were survey from specific questionnaire, GPS data were also gathered for spatial analysis. The results revealed that the accommodations are welled manage in regards to some environmental aspects. In order to reduce economic costs, energy efficiency equipment is utilized. A substantial number of tourist accommodations encouraged waste separation, followed by transfer to local administration organization. Grease traps also utilized in order to decrease chemical discharged, grease and oil from canteen and restaurants on natural environment. The most notable mitigation is to initiate environmental friendly cleansers for tourist accommodation along the riverside in tourism destinations.

Keywords: Environmental Management System, Tourist Accommodations, Amphawa, Samut Songkram

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867 Numerical Analysis of the Melting of Nano-Enhanced Phase Change Material in a Rectangular Latent Heat Storage Unit

Authors: Radouane Elbahjaoui, Hamid El Qarnia

Abstract:

Melting of Paraffin Wax (P116) dispersed with Al2O3 nanoparticles in a rectangular latent heat storage unit (LHSU) is numerically investigated. The storage unit consists of a number of vertical and identical plates of nano-enhanced phase change material (NEPCM) separated by rectangular channels in which heat transfer fluid flows (HTF: Water). A two dimensional mathematical model is considered to investigate numerically the heat and flow characteristics of the LHSU. The melting problem was formulated using the enthalpy porosity method. The finite volume approach was used for solving equations. The effects of nanoparticles’ volumetric fraction and the Reynolds number on the thermal performance of the storage unit were investigated.

Keywords: Nano-enhanced phase change material, phase change material, nanoparticles, latent heat storage unit, melting.

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866 Novel Anti-leukemia Calanone Compounds by Quantitative Structure-Activity Relationship AM1 Semiempirical Method

Authors: Ponco Iswanto, Mochammad Chasani, Muhammad Hanafi, Iqmal Tahir, Eva Vaulina YD, Harjono, Lestari Solikhati, Winkanda S. Putra, Yayuk Yuliantini

Abstract:

Quantitative Structure-Activity Relationship (QSAR) approach for discovering novel more active Calanone derivative as anti-leukemia compound has been conducted. There are 6 experimental activities of Calanone compounds against leukemia cell L1210 that are used as material of the research. Calculation of theoretical predictors (independent variables) was performed by AM1 semiempirical method. The QSAR equation is determined by Principle Component Regression (PCR) analysis, with Log IC50 as dependent variable and the independent variables are atomic net charges, dipole moment (μ), and coefficient partition of noctanol/ water (Log P). Three novel Calanone derivatives that obtained by this research have higher activity against leukemia cell L1210 than pure Calanone.

Keywords: AM1 semiempirical calculation, Calanone, Principle Component Regression, QSAR approach.

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865 Robust Face Recognition using AAM and Gabor Features

Authors: Sanghoon Kim, Sun-Tae Chung, Souhwan Jung, Seoungseon Jeon, Jaemin Kim, Seongwon Cho

Abstract:

In this paper, we propose a face recognition algorithm using AAM and Gabor features. Gabor feature vectors which are well known to be robust with respect to small variations of shape, scaling, rotation, distortion, illumination and poses in images are popularly employed for feature vectors for many object detection and recognition algorithms. EBGM, which is prominent among face recognition algorithms employing Gabor feature vectors, requires localization of facial feature points where Gabor feature vectors are extracted. However, localization method employed in EBGM is based on Gabor jet similarity and is sensitive to initial values. Wrong localization of facial feature points affects face recognition rate. AAM is known to be successfully applied to localization of facial feature points. In this paper, we devise a facial feature point localization method which first roughly estimate facial feature points using AAM and refine facial feature points using Gabor jet similarity-based facial feature localization method with initial points set by the rough facial feature points obtained from AAM, and propose a face recognition algorithm using the devised localization method for facial feature localization and Gabor feature vectors. It is observed through experiments that such a cascaded localization method based on both AAM and Gabor jet similarity is more robust than the localization method based on only Gabor jet similarity. Also, it is shown that the proposed face recognition algorithm using this devised localization method and Gabor feature vectors performs better than the conventional face recognition algorithm using Gabor jet similarity-based localization method and Gabor feature vectors like EBGM.

Keywords: Face Recognition, AAM, Gabor features, EBGM.

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864 Effects of Temperature and Enzyme Concentration on Quality of Pineapple and Pawpaw Blended Juice

Authors: Ndidi F. Amulu, Calistus N. Ude, Patrick E. Amulu, Nneka N. Uchegbu

Abstract:

The effects of temperature and enzyme concentration on the quality of mixed pineapple and pawpaw blended fruits juice were studied. Extracts of the two fruit juices were separately treated at 70  for 15 min each so as to inactivate micro-organisms. They were analyzed and blended in different proportions of 70% pawpaw and 30% pineapple, 60% pawpaw and 40% pineapple, 50% pineapple and 50% pawpaw, 40% pawpaw and 60% pineapple. The characterization of the fresh pawpaw and pineapple juice before blending showed that the juices have good quality. The high water content of the product may have affected the viscosity, vitamin C content and total soluble solid of the blended juice to be low. The effects of the process parameters on the quality showed that better quality of the blended juice can be obtained within the optimum temperature range of (50-70 °C) and enzyme concentration range (0.12-0.18 w/v). The ratio of mix 60% pineapple juice: 40% pawpaw juice has better quality. This showed that pawpaw and pineapple juices can blend effectively to produce a quality juice.

Keywords: Clarification, pawpaw, pineapple, viscosity, vitamin C.

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863 Synthesis of Aragonite Superstructure from Steelmaking Slag via Indirect CO2 Mineral Sequestration

Authors: Weijun Bao, Huiquan Li

Abstract:

Using steelmaking slag as a raw material, aragonite superstructure product had been synthesized via an indirect CO2 mineral sequestration rout. It mainly involved two separate steps, in which the element of calcium is first selectively leached from steelmaking slag by a novel leaching media consisting of organic solvent Tributyl phosphate (TBP), acetic acid, and ultra-purity water, followed by enhanced carbonation in a separate step for aragonite superstructure production as well as efficiency recovery of leaching media. Based on the different leaching medium employed in the steelmaking slag leaching process, two typical products were collected from the enhanced carbonation step. The products were characterized by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), respectively. It reveals that the needle-like aragonite crystals self-organized into aragonite superstructure particles including aragonite microspheres as well as dumbbell-like spherical particles, can be obtained from the steelmaking slag with the purity over 99%.

Keywords: Aragonite superstructure, Steelmaking slag, Indirect CO2 mineral sequestration, Selective leaching, Enhanced carbonation.

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862 Study on the Characteristics and Utilization of Sewage Sludge at Indah Water Konsortium (IWK) Sungai Udang, Melaka

Authors: Siti Noorain Roslan, Siti Salmi Ghazali, Norfadhlina Muhamed Asli

Abstract:

The volume of biosolids produced in Malaysia nowadays had increased proportionally to its population size. The end products from the waste treatments were mounting, thus inevitable that in the end the environment will be surrounded by the waste. This study was conducted to investigate the suitability of biosolids to be reused as fertilizer for non-food crop. By varying the concentration of biosolids applied onto the soil, growth of five ornamental plant samples were tested for eight consecutive weeks. The results show that the pH of the soil after the addition of biosolids ranges from 6.45 to 6.56 which is suitable for the plant growth. The soil samples that contains biosolid also show higher amount of macronutrients (N, P, K) and the heavy metals content are significantly increased in the plant however it does not exceed the guidelines drawn by the Environmental Protection Agency. It is also proven that there was only small significant different in the performance of plant growth between biosolids and commercial fertilizer. It can be seen that biosolids was able to perform just as well as commercial fertilizer.

Keywords: Biosolids, fertilizer, R. chinensis, waste sludge.

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861 Hydrodynamic Characteristics of a New Sewer Overflow Screening Device: CFD Modeling & Analytical Study

Authors: M. A. Aziz, M. A. Imteaz, J. Naser, D. I. Phillips

Abstract:

Some of the major concerns regarding sewer overflows to receiving water bodies include serious environmental, aesthetic and public health problems. A noble self-cleansing sewer overflow screening device having a sewer overflow chamber, a rectangular tank and a slotted ogee weir to capture the gross pollutants has been investigated. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) techniques are used to simulate the flow phenomena with two different inlet orientations; parallel and perpendicular to the weir direction. CFD simulation results are compared with analytical results. Numerical results show that the flow is not uniform (across the width of the inclined surface) near the top of the inclined surface. The flow becomes uniform near the bottom of the inclined surface, with significant increase of shear stress. The simulation results promises for an effective and efficient self-cleansing sewer overflow screening device by comparing hydrodynamic results.

Keywords: Hydrodynamic Characteristics, Ogee Spillway, Screening, Sewer Overflow Device.

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860 Insight-Based Evaluation of a Map-based Dashboard

Authors: Anna Fredriksson Häägg, Charlotte Weil, Niklas Rönnberg

Abstract:

Map-based dashboards are used for data exploration every day. The present study used an insight-based methodology for evaluating a map-based dashboard that presents research findings of water management and ecosystem services in the Amazon. In addition to analyzing the insights gained from using the dashboard, the evaluation method was compared to standardized questionnaires and task-based evaluations. The result suggests that the dashboard enabled the participants to gain domain-relevant, complex insights regarding the topic presented. Furthermore, the insight-based analysis highlighted unexpected insights and hypotheses regarding causes and potential adaptation strategies for remediation. Although time- and resource-consuming, the insight-based methodology was shown to have the potential of thoroughly analyzing how end users can utilize map-based dashboards for data exploration and decision making. Finally, the insight-based methodology is argued to evaluate tools in scenarios more similar to real-life usage, compared to task-based evaluation methods.

Keywords: Visual analytics, dashboard, insight-based evaluation, geographic visualization.

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859 A Universal Approach for the Intuitive Control of Mobile Robots using an AR/VR-based Interface

Authors: Juergen Rossmann, Andre Kupetz, Roland Wischnewski

Abstract:

Mobile robots are used in a large field of scenarios, like exploring contaminated areas, repairing oil rigs under water, finding survivors in collapsed buildings, etc. Currently, there is no unified intuitive user interface (UI) to control such complex mobile robots. As a consequence, some scenarios are done without the exploitation of experience and intuition of human teleoperators. A novel framework has been developed to embed a flexible and modular UI into a complete 3-D virtual reality simulation system. This new approach wants to access maximum benefits of human operators. Sensor information received from the robot is prepared for an intuitive visualization. Virtual reality metaphors support the operator in his decisions. These metaphors are integrated into a real time stereo video stream. This approach is not restricted to any specific type of mobile robot and allows for the operation of different robot types with a consistent concept and user interface.

Keywords: 3-D simulation system, augmented reality, teleoperation of mobile robots, user interface.

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858 Identification of Ice Hockey World Championship International Sports Event through Brand Personality

Authors: Eva Čáslavová, Andrej Višněvský

Abstract:

This research focused on the dimensions of brand personality of the Ice Hockey World Championship sporting event. The authors compared the elements in relation to different demographic groups including gender, age, level of education and student status of the population of Prague. Moreover, the differences of opinions of respondents who had experience of visiting a sports event and those who had not were assessed. In the research, the modified brand personality scale was used. This modified scale consists of five dimensions: responsibility, activity, toughness, individuality and emotionality, none of which was previously tested. The authors had an intentional sample of 291 respondents from Prague available, ranging in age from 18 years to 75 years, with either a high school or university education. The respondents rated the characteristic features in a seven-point Likert Scale and the data was collected in November 2012. The results suggest that the Ice Hockey World Championship is most identified with these dimensions: responsibility, emotionality and activity. Men had higher mean scores (4.93) on the Likert Scale in the emotionality dimension, while women had higher mean scores (4.91) in the activity dimension. Those respondents with experience visiting an Ice Hockey World Championship match had the highest mean score (5.10) in the emotionality dimension. This research had expected to show more pronounced mean values (above six) on the Likert scale in the emotionality and activity dimensions that more strongly characterize the brand personality of the Ice Hockey World Championship, however this expectation was not confirmed.

Keywords: Brand personality dimensions, ice hockey, international sport event, sports marketing.

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857 Changing the Way South Africa Think about Parking Provision at Tertiary Institutions

Authors: M. C. Venter, G. Hitge, S. C. Krygsman, J. Thiart

Abstract:

For decades, South Africa has been planning transportation systems from a supply, rather than a demand side, perspective. In terms of parking, this relates to requiring the minimum parking provision that is enforced by city officials. Newer insight is starting to indicate that South Africa needs to re-think this philosophy in light of a new policy environment that desires a different outcome. Urban policies have shifted from reliance on the private car for access, to employing a wide range of alternative modes. Car dominated travel is influenced by various parameters, of which the availability and location of parking plays a significant role. The question is therefore, what is the right strategy to achieve the desired transport outcomes for SA. The focus of this paper is used to assess this issue with regard to parking provision, and specifically at a tertiary institution. A parking audit was conducted at the Stellenbosch campus of Stellenbosch University, monitoring occupancy at all 60 parking areas, every hour during business hours over a five-day period. The data from this survey was compared with the prescribed number of parking bays according to the Stellenbosch Municipality zoning scheme (requiring a minimum of 0.4 bays per student). The analysis shows that by providing 0.09 bays per student, the maximum total daily occupation of all the parking areas did not exceed an 80% occupation rate. It is concluded that the prevailing parking standards are not supportive of the new urban and transport policy environment, but that it is extremely conservative from a practical demand point of view.

Keywords: Parking provision, parking requirements, travel behaviour, travel demand management.

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856 Mechanical Properties Enhancement of 66/34Mg-Alloy for Medical Application

Authors: S. O. Adeosun, O. I. Sekunowo, O. P. Gbenebor, W. A. Ayoola, A. O. Odunade, T. A. Idowu

Abstract:

Sand cast samples of the as-received 66/34Mg-Al alloy were first homogenized at 4900C and then divided into three groups on which annealing, normalising and artificial ageing were respectively carried out. Thermal ageing of the samples involved treatment at 5000C, soaked for 4 hours and quenched in water at ambient temperature followed by tempering at 2000C for 2 hours. Test specimens were subjected to microstructure and mechanical analyses and the results compared. Precipitation of significant volume of stable Mg17Al12 crystals in the aged specimen’s matrix conferred superior mechanical characteristics compared with the annealed, normalized and as-cast specimens. The ultimate tensile strength was 93.4MPa with micro-hardness of 64.9HRC and impact energy (toughness) of 4.05J. In particular, its Young modulus was 10.4GPa which compared well with that of cortical (trabecule) bone’s modulus that varies from 12-17GPa.

Keywords: Mg-Al alloy, artificial ageing, medical implant, cortical bone, mechanical properties.

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855 Speciation Analysis by Solid-Phase Microextraction and Application to Atrazine

Authors: K. Benhabib, X. Pierens, V-D Nguyen, G. Mimanne

Abstract:

The main hypothesis of the dynamics of solid phase microextraction (SPME) is that steady-state mass transfer is respected throughout the SPME extraction process. It considers steady-state diffusion is established in the two phases and fast exchange of the analyte at the solid phase film/water interface. An improved model is proposed in this paper to handle with the situation when the analyte (atrazine) is in contact with colloid suspensions (carboxylate latex in aqueous solution). A mathematical solution is obtained by substituting the diffusion coefficient by the mean of diffusion coefficient between analyte and carboxylate latex, and also thickness layer by the mean thickness in aqueous solution. This solution provides an equation relating the extracted amount of the analyte to the extraction a little more complicated than previous models. It also gives a better description of experimental observations. Moreover, the rate constant of analyte obtained is in satisfactory agreement with that obtained from the initial curve fitting.

Keywords: Pesticide, SPME methods, polyacrylate, steady state.

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854 Numerical Analysis of Turbulent Natural Convection in a Square Cavity using Large- Eddy Simulation in Lattice Boltzmann Method

Authors: H. Sajjadi, M. Gorji, GH.R. Kefayati, D. D. Ganji, M. Shayan Nia

Abstract:

In this paper Lattice Boltzmann simulation of turbulent natural convection with large-eddy simulations (LES) in a square cavity which is filled by water has been investigated. The present results are validated by finds of other investigations which have been done with different numerical methods. Calculations were performed for high Rayleigh numbers of Ra=108 and 109. The results confirm that this method is in acceptable agreement with other verifications of such a flow. In this investigation is tried to present Large-eddy turbulence flow model by Lattice Boltzmann Method (LBM) with a clear and simple statement. Effects of increase in Rayleigh number are displayed on streamlines, isotherm counters and average Nusselt number. Result shows that the average Nusselt number enhances with growth of the Rayleigh numbers.

Keywords: Turbulent natural convection, Large Eddy Simulation, Lattice Boltzmann Method

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853 Energy Efficient Construction and the Seismic Resistance of Passive Houses

Authors: Vojko Kilar, Boris Azinović, David Koren

Abstract:

Recently, an increasing trend of passive and low-energy buildings transferring form non earthquake-prone to earthquake-prone regions has thrown out the question about the seismic safety of such buildings. The paper describes the most commonly used thermal insulating materials and the special details, which could be critical from the point of view of earthquake resistance. The most critical appeared to be the cases of buildings founded on the RC foundation slab lying on a thermal insulation (TI) layer made of extruded polystyrene (XPS). It was pointed out that in such cases the seismic response of such buildings might differ to response of their fixed based counterparts. The main parameters that need special designers’ attention are: the building’s lateral top displacement, the ductility demand of the superstructure, the foundation friction coefficient demand, the maximum compressive stress in the TI layer and the percentage of the uplifted foundation. The analyses have shown that the potentially negative influences of inserting the TI under the foundation slab could be expected only for slender high-rise buildings subjected to severe earthquakes. Oppositely it was demonstrated for the foundation friction coefficient demand which could exceed the capacity value yet in the case of low-rise buildings subjected to moderate earthquakes. Some suggestions to prevent the horizontal shifts are also given.

Keywords: Earthquake Response, Extruded Polystyrene (XPS), Low-Energy Buildings, Foundations on Thermal Insulation Layer.

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852 CFD Simulation and Validation of Flap Type Wave-Maker

Authors: Anant Lal, M. Elangovan

Abstract:

A general purpose viscous flow solver Ansys CFX was used to solve the unsteady three-dimensional (3D) Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes Equation (RANSE) for simulating a 3D numerical viscous wave tank. A flap-type wave generator was incorporated in the computational domain to generate the desired incident waves. Authors have made effort to study the physical behaviors of Flap type wave maker with governing parameters. Dependency of the water fill depth, Time period of oscillations and amplitude of oscillations of flap were studied. Effort has been made to establish relations between parameters. A validation study was also carried out against CFD methodology with wave maker theory. It has been observed that CFD results are in good agreement with theoretical results. Beaches of different slopes were introduced to damp the wave, so that it should not cause any reflection from boundary. As a conclusion this methodology can simulate the experimental wave-maker for regular wave generation for different wave length and amplitudes.

Keywords: CFD, RANSE, Flap type, wave-maker, VOF, seakeeping, numerical method.

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851 Application of Lattice Boltzmann Methods in Heat and Moisture Transfer in Frozen Soil

Authors: Wenyu Song, Bingxi Li, Zhongbin Fu, Bo Zhang

Abstract:

Although water only takes a little percentage in the total mass of soil, it indeed plays an important role to the strength of structure. Moisture transfer can be carried out by many different mechanisms which may involve heat and mass transfer, thermodynamic phase change, and the interplay of various forces such as viscous, buoyancy, and capillary forces. The continuum models are not well suited for describing those phenomena in which the connectivity of the pore space or the fracture network, or that of a fluid phase, plays a major role. However, Lattice Boltzmann methods (LBMs) are especially well suited to simulate flows around complex geometries. Lattice Boltzmann methods were initially invented for solving fluid flows. Recently, fluid with multicomponent and phase change is also included in the equations. By comparing the numerical result with experimental result, the Lattice Boltzmann methods with phase change will be optimized.

Keywords: Frozen soil, Lattice Boltzmann method, Phase change, Test rig.

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850 Enzymatic Esterification of Carboxylic Acids and Higher Alcohols in Organic Medium

Authors: D.T. Mirzarakhmetova

Abstract:

The studying of enzymatic esterification of carboxylic acids and higher alcohols was performed by esterase Saccharomyces cerevisiae in water-organic medium. Investigation of the enzyme specificity to acetic substrates showed the best result with acetic acid in esterification reactions with ethanol whereas within other carboxylic acids the esterification decreased with acids: hexanoic > pentanoic > butyric > decanoic. In relation to higher alcohols C3-C5, esterification increased with alcohols propanol < butanol < amylol. Also it was determined that esterase was more specific to alcohols with branched chain such as isobutyl alcohol and isoamyl alcohol. Data obtained may have important practical implications, for example, for application of yeast esterase in producing various volatile esters as well as in enzymatic transformation of volatile acids and toxic fusel alcohols into volatile esters by providing the production of the high quality alcoholic beverages with redused content of higher alcohols as well as with improved degustational and hygienic properties.

Keywords: enzymes in non-conventional media, esterification, higher alcohols, volatile esters, yeast esterase

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849 Fast Approximate Bayesian Contextual Cold Start Learning (FAB-COST)

Authors: Jack R. McKenzie, Peter A. Appleby, Thomas House, Neil Walton

Abstract:

Cold-start is a notoriously difficult problem which can occur in recommendation systems, and arises when there is insufficient information to draw inferences for users or items. To address this challenge, a contextual bandit algorithm – the Fast Approximate Bayesian Contextual Cold Start Learning algorithm (FAB-COST) – is proposed, which is designed to provide improved accuracy compared to the traditionally used Laplace approximation in the logistic contextual bandit, while controlling both algorithmic complexity and computational cost. To this end, FAB-COST uses a combination of two moment projection variational methods: Expectation Propagation (EP), which performs well at the cold start, but becomes slow as the amount of data increases; and Assumed Density Filtering (ADF), which has slower growth of computational cost with data size but requires more data to obtain an acceptable level of accuracy. By switching from EP to ADF when the dataset becomes large, it is able to exploit their complementary strengths. The empirical justification for FAB-COST is presented, and systematically compared to other approaches on simulated data. In a benchmark against the Laplace approximation on real data consisting of over 670, 000 impressions from autotrader.co.uk, FAB-COST demonstrates at one point increase of over 16% in user clicks. On the basis of these results, it is argued that FAB-COST is likely to be an attractive approach to cold-start recommendation systems in a variety of contexts.

Keywords: Cold-start, expectation propagation, multi-armed bandits, Thompson sampling, variational inference.

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848 Finite Element Analysis of the Blanking and Stamping Processes of Nuclear Fuel Spacer Grids

Authors: R. O. Santos, L. P. Moreira, M. C. Cardoso

Abstract:

Spacer grid assembly supporting the nuclear fuel rods is an important concern in the design of structural components of a Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR). The spacer grid is composed by springs and dimples which are formed from a strip sheet by means of blanking and stamping processes. In this paper, the blanking process and tooling parameters are evaluated by means of a 2D plane-strain finite element model in order to evaluate the punch load and quality of the sheared edges of Inconel 718 strips used for nuclear spacer grids. A 3D finite element model is also proposed to predict the tooling loads resulting from the stamping process of a preformed Inconel 718 strip and to analyse the residual stress effects upon the spring and dimple design geometries of a nuclear spacer grid.

Keywords: Blanking process, damage model, finite element modelling, Inconel 718, spacer grids, stamping process.

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847 Numerical Predictionon the Influence of Mixer on the Performance of Urea-SCR System

Authors: Kyoungwoo Park, Chol-Ho Hong, Sedoo Oh, Seongjoon Moon

Abstract:

Diesel vehicle should be equipped with emission after-treatment devices as NOx reduction catalyst and particulate filtersin order to meet more stringer diesel emission standard. Urea-SCR is being developed as the most efficient method of reducing NOx emissions in the after-treatment devices of diesel engines, and recent studies have begun to mount the Urea-SCR device for diesel passenger cars and light duty vehicles. In the present study, the effects of the mixer on the efficiency of urea-SCR System (i.e., NH3uni- formityindex (NH3 UI) is investigated by predicting the transport phenomena in the urea-SCR system. The three dimensional Eulerian-Lagrangian CFD simulationfor internal flow and spray characteristics in front of SCR is carried out by using STAR-CCM+ 7.06 code. In addition, the paper proposes a method to minimize the wall-wetting around the urea injector in order to prevent injector blocks caused by solid urea loading.

Keywords: Computational fluid dynamics, Multi-phase flow, NH3 uniformity index, Urea-SCR system, Urea-water-solution.

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846 Effects of Photovoltaic System Introduction in Detached Houses with All-Electrified Residential Equipment in Japan

Authors: Qingrong Liu, Tetsuo Hayashi, Yuji Ryu

Abstract:

In this paper, in order to investigate the effects of photovoltaic system introduction to detached houses in Japan, two kinds of works were done. Firstly, the hourly generation amount of a 4.2kW photovoltaic system were simulated in 46 cities to investigate the potential of the system in different regions in Japan using a simulation model of photovoltaic system. Secondly, based on the simulated electricity generation amount, the energy saving, the environmental and the economic effect of the photovoltaic system were examined from hourly to annual timescales, based upon calculations of typical electricity, heating, cooling and hot water supply load profiles for Japanese dwellings. The above analysis was carried out using a standard year-s hourly weather data for the different city provided by the Expanded AMeDAS Weather Data issued by AIJ (Architectural Institute of Japan).

Keywords: Photovoltaic system, Energy saving, Environmental effect, Japanese dwelling, Detached house.

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845 Numerical Investigation of the Effect of Geometrical Shape of Plate Heat Exchangers on Heat Transfer Efficiency

Authors: Hamed Sanei, Mohammad Bagher Ayani

Abstract:

Optimizations of Plate Heat Exchangers (PHS) have received great attention in the past decade. In this study, heat transfer and pressure drop coefficients are compared for rectangular and circular PHS employing numerical simulations. Plates are designed to have equivalent areas. Simulations were implemented to investigate the efficiency of PHSs considering heat transfer, friction factor and pressure drop. Amount of heat transfer and pressure drop was obtained for different range of Reynolds numbers. These two parameters were compared with aim of F "weighting factor correlation". In this comparison, the minimum amount of F indicates higher efficiency. Results reveal that the F value for rectangular shape is less than circular plate, and hence using rectangular shape of PHS is more efficient than circular one. It was observed that, the amount of friction factor is correlated to the Reynolds numbers, such that friction factor decreased in both rectangular and circular plates with an increase in Reynolds number. Furthermore, such simulations revealed that the amount of heat transfer in rectangular plate is more than circular plate for different range of Reynolds numbers. The difference is more distinct for higher Reynolds number. However, amount of pressure drop in circular plate is less than rectangular plate for the same range of Reynolds numbers which is considered as a negative point for rectangular plate efficiency. It can be concluded that, while rectangular PHSs occupy more space than circular plate, the efficiency of rectangular plate is higher.

Keywords: Chevron corrugated-plate heat exchanger, heat transfer, friction factor, Reynolds numbers.

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844 Ultrasound Mechanical Index as a Parameter Affecting of the Ability of Proliferation of Cells

Authors: Z. Hormozi Moghaddam, M. Mokhtari-Dizaji, M. Movahedin, M. E. Ravari

Abstract:

Mechanical index (MI) is used for quantifying acoustic cavitation and the relationship between acoustic pressure and the frequency. In this study, modeling of the MI was applied to provide treatment protocol and to understand the effective physical processes on reproducibility of stem cells. The acoustic pressure and MI equations are modeled and solved to estimate optimal MI for 28, 40, 150 kHz and 1 MHz frequencies. Radial and axial acoustic pressure distribution was extracted. To validate the results of the modeling, the acoustic pressure in the water and near field depth was measured by a piston hydrophone. Results of modeling and experiments show that the model is consistent well to experimental results with 0.91 and 0.90 correlation of coefficient (p<0.05) for 1 MHz and 40 kHz. Low intensity ultrasound with 0.40 MI is more effective on the proliferation rate of the spermatogonial stem cells during the seven days of culture, in contrast, high MI has a harmful effect on the spermatogonial stem cells. This model provides proper treatment planning in vitro and in vivo by estimating the cavitation phenomenon.

Keywords: Ultrasound, mechanical index, modeling, stem cell.

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843 Heavy Metals and Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Roadside Soil Samples: A Review

Authors: R. Kaur, J. K. Katnoria

Abstract:

Diverse contaminants released into the environment through progress of urbanization and industrialization adversely affect human health. Among various sources of contaminants, especially, in big cities, automobiles play a significant role in aggravating the pollution. Various pollutants viz., heavy metals (Pb, Mn, Ni, Zn, As, Hg, Cd) and Polyaromatic hydrocarbons (Benzo-a-pyrene, fluoranthene, pyrene, benzo-b-anthracene, benzo-b-fluoranthene, acenaphthylene, fluorine, phenantherene, anthracene, chrysene, benzo-k-fluoranthene, benzo-e-pyrene, indenol-1,2,3-cd-pyrene, dibenzo-a,h-anthracene, benzo-ghi-perylene) are released by vehicles. Further, these pollutants are expected to cause severe mutagenic, genotoxic and carcinogenic effects. Considering this, many authors monitored the levels of pollution in roadside soil, water and plants. The present review focuses upon the analysis and effects of heavy metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons from the roadside samples.

Keywords: Automobiles, Carcinogenicity, Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer, Gas Chromatography – Mass Spectroscopy, Soil pollution.

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842 Vibration Analysis of a Solar Powered UAV

Authors: Kevin Anderson, Sukhwinder Singh Sandhu, Nouh Anies, Shilpa Ravichandra, Steven Dobbs, Donald Edberg

Abstract:

This paper presents the results of a Finite Element based vibration analysis of a solar powered Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV). The purpose of this paper was to quantify the free vibration, forced vibration response due to differing point inputs in order to predict the relative response magnitudes and frequencies at various wing locations of vibration induced power generators (magnet in coil) excited by gust and/or control surface pulse-decays used to help power the flight of the electric UAV. A Fluid Structure Interaction (FSI) study was performed in order to ascertain pertinent design stresses and deflections as well as aerodynamic parameters of the UAV airfoil. The 10 ft span airfoil is modeled using Mylar as the primary material. Results show that the free mode in bending is 4.8 Hz while the first forced bending mode is on range of 16.2 to 16.7 Hz depending on the location of excitation. The free torsional bending mode is 28.3 Hz, and the first forced torsional mode is range of 26.4 to 27.8 Hz, depending on the location of excitation. The FSI results predict the coefficients of aerodynamic drag and lift of 0.0052 and 0.077, respectively, which matches hand-calculations used to validate the Finite Element based results. FSI based maximum von Mises stresses and deflections were found to be 0.282 MPa and 3.4 mm, respectively. Dynamic pressures on the airfoil range from 1.04 to 1.23 kPa corresponding to velocity magnitudes in range of 22 to 66 m/s.

Keywords: ANSYS, finite element, FSI, UAV, vibrations.

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841 A Cost Optimization Model for the Construction of Bored Piles

Authors: Kenneth M. Oba

Abstract:

Adequate management, control, and optimization of cost is an essential element for a successful construction project. A multiple linear regression optimization model was formulated to address the problem of costs associated with pile construction operations. A total of 32 PVC-reinforced concrete piles with diameter of 300 mm, 5.4 m long, were studied during the construction. The soil upon which the piles were installed was mostly silty sand, and completely submerged in water at Bonny, Nigeria. The piles are friction piles installed by boring method, using a piling auger. The volumes of soil removed, the weight of reinforcement cage installed, and volumes of fresh concrete poured into the PVC void were determined. The cost of constructing each pile based on the calculated quantities was determined. A model was derived and subjected to statistical tests using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software. The model turned out to be adequate, fit, and have a high predictive accuracy with an R2 value of 0.833.

Keywords: Cost optimization modelling, multiple linear models, pile construction, regression models.

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840 Nest Site Selection by Persian Ground Jay (Podoces pleskei) in Bafgh Protected Area, Iran

Authors: S. Rasekhinia, S. Aghanajafizadeh, K. Eslami

Abstract:

We studied the selection of nest sites by Persian ground Jay (Podoces pleskei), in a semi -desert central Iran. Habitat variables such as plant species number, height of plant species, vegetation percent and distance to water sources of nest sites were compared with randomly selected non- used sites. The results showed that the most important factors influencing nesting site selection were total vegetation percent and number of shrubs (Zgophyllum eurypterum and Atraphaxis spinosa). The mean vegetation percent of 20 area selected by Persian Ground Jay was (4.41+ 0.17), which was significantly larger than that of the non – selected area (2.08 + 0.06). The number of Zygophyllum eurypterum (1.13+ 0.01) and Atraphaxis spinosa (1.36+ 0.10) were also significantly higher compared with the control area (0.43+ 0.07) and (0.58+ 0.9) respectively.

Keywords: Persian Ground Jay, Habitat variables, Iran.

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839 Improvement of Durability of Wood by Maleic Anhydride

Authors: Yong F. Li, Yi X. Liu, Xiang M. Wang, Feng H. Wang

Abstract:

Wood as a natural renewable material is vulnerable to degradation by microorganisms and susceptible to change in dimension by water. In order to effectively improve the durability of wood, an active reagent, maleic anhydride (Man) was selected for wood modification. Man was first dissolved into a solvent, and then penetrated into wood porous structure under a vacuum/pressure condition. After a final catalyst-thermal treatment, wood modification was finished. The test results indicate that acetone is a good solvent for transporting Man into wood matrix. SEM observation proved that wood samples treated by Man kept a good cellular structure, indicating a well penetration of Man into wood cell walls. FTIR analysis suggested that Man reacted with hydroxyl groups on wood cell walls by its ring-ether group, resulting in reduction of amount of hydroxyl groups and resultant good dimensional stability as well as fine decay resistance. Consequently, Man modifying wood to improve its durability is an effective method.

Keywords: Wood, porous structure, durability improvement, maleic anhydride

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