Search results for: Low area
1664 A Review on Application of Waste Tire in Concrete
Authors: M. A. Yazdi, J. Yang, L. Yihui, H. Su
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The application of recycle waste tires into civil engineering practices, namely asphalt paving mixtures and cementbased materials has been gaining ground across the world. This review summarizes and compares the recent achievements in the area of plain rubberized concrete (PRC), in details. Different treatment methods have been discussed to improve the performance of rubberized Portland cement concrete. The review also includes the effects of size and amount of tire rubbers on mechanical and durability properties of PRC. The microstructure behaviour of the rubberized concrete was detailed.Keywords: Waste rubber aggregates, Microstructure, Treatment methods, Size and content effects.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 46511663 Effective Photodegradation of Tetracycline by a Heteropoly Acid/Graphene Oxide Nanocomposite Based on Uio-66
Authors: Anasheh Maridiroosi, Ali Reza Mahjoub, Hanieh Fakhri
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Heteropoly acid nanoparticles anchored on graphene oxide based on UiO-66 were synthesized via in-situ growth hydrothermal method and tested for photodegradation of a tetracycline as critical pollutant. Results showed that presence of graphene oxide and UiO-66 with high specific surface area, great electron mobility and various functional groups make an excellent support for heteropoly acid and improve photocatalytic efficiency up to 95% for tetracycline. Furthermore, total organic carbon (TOC) analysis verified 79% mineralization of this pollutant under optimum condition.
Keywords: Heteropoly acid, graphene oxide, MOF, tetracycline.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 7431662 A new Configurable Decimation Filter using Pascal-s Triangle Theorem
Authors: A. Chahardah Cherik, E. Farshidi
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This paper presents a new configurable decimation filter for sigma-delta modulators. The filter employs the Pascal-s triangle-s theorem for building the coefficients of non-recursive decimation filters. The filter can be connected to the back-end of various modulators with different output accuracy. In this work two methods are shown and then compared from area occupation viewpoint. First method uses the memory and the second one employs Pascal-s triangle-s method, aiming to reduce required gates. XILINX ISE v10 is used for implementation and confirmation the filter.Keywords: Decimation filter, sigma delta, Pascal's triangle'stheorem, memory
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 16691661 Enhancement of a 3D Sound Using Psychoacoustics
Authors: Kyosik Koo, Hyungtai Cha
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Generally, in order to create 3D sound using binaural systems, we use head related transfer functions (HRTF) including the information of sounds which is arrived to our ears. But it can decline some three-dimensional effects in the area of a cone of confusion between front and back directions, because of the characteristics of HRTF. In this paper, we propose a new method to use psychoacoustics theory that reduces the confusion of sound image localization. In the method, HRTF spectrum characteristic is enhanced by using the energy ratio of the bark band. Informal listening tests show that the proposed method improves the front-back sound localization characteristics much better than the conventional methodsKeywords: HRTF, 3D sound, Psychoacoustics, Localization
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 20151660 Distribution Centers Reliability Cost in Capacitated Facility Location Problem
Authors: Mehdi Seifbarghy, Sajjad Jalali, Seyed Habib A. Rahmati
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Recently studies in area of supply chain network (SCN) have focused on the disruption issues in distribution systems. Also this paper extends the previous literature by providing a new biobjective model for cost minimization of designing a three echelon SCN across normal and failure scenarios with considering multi capacity option for manufacturers and distribution centers. Moreover, in order to solve the problem by means of LINGO software, novel model will be reformulated through a branch of LP-Metric method called Min-Max approach.Keywords: Scenario programming, Distribution, Multi-echelon supply chain design, Reliable facility
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 17381659 Performance Evaluation of Music and Minimum Norm Eigenvector Algorithms in Resolving Noisy Multiexponential Signals
Authors: Abdussamad U. Jibia, Momoh-Jimoh E. Salami
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Eigenvector methods are gaining increasing acceptance in the area of spectrum estimation. This paper presents a successful attempt at testing and evaluating the performance of two of the most popular types of subspace techniques in determining the parameters of multiexponential signals with real decay constants buried in noise. In particular, MUSIC (Multiple Signal Classification) and minimum-norm techniques are examined. It is shown that these methods perform almost equally well on multiexponential signals with MUSIC displaying better defined peaks.
Keywords: Eigenvector, minimum norm, multiexponential, subspace.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 17271658 Functioning of Turkic Elements in Modern Hindi
Authors: B. S. Bokuleva, R. A. Avakova, A. A. Sultangubieva, U. Schamiloglu
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It is discussed about modern usage of adopted words and their vocabularies, Turkism usage fields, phonetic, grammatical and lexis-semantic assimilation of the typological-morphological structures of entering to different Hindi languages in comparative typological aspects in this scientific article. The lexis vocabulary is rich, the prevalence area is wide and it has researched the entering process of vocabulary into the great languages of Turkic elements from the speakers- numbers. The research work has worked on the base of Hindi vocabulary.Keywords: Adopted words, language communications, Turkism, Turkic languages.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 21541657 Effect of Catalyst Preparation on the Performance of CaO-ZnO Catalysts for Transesterification
Authors: Pathravut Klinklom, Apanee Luengnaruemitchai, Samai Jai-In
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In this research, CaO-ZnO catalysts (with various Ca:Zn atomic ratios of 1:5, 1:3, 1:1, and 3:1) prepared by incipientwetness impregnation (IWI) and co-precipitation (CP) methods were used as a catalyst in the transesterification of palm oil with methanol for biodiesel production. The catalysts were characterized by several techniques, including BET method, CO2-TPD, and Hemmett Indicator. The effects of precursor concentration, and calcination temperature on the catalytic performance were studied under reaction conditions of a 15:1 methanol to oil molar ratio, 6 wt% catalyst, reaction temperature of 60°C, and reaction time of 8 h. At Ca:Zn atomic ratio of 1:3 gave the highest FAME value owing to a basic properties and surface area of the prepared catalyst.Keywords: CaO, ZnO, Biodiesel, Impregnation, Coprecipitation.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 26991656 Analysis of Trend and Variability of Rainfall in the Mid-Mahanadi River Basin of Eastern India
Authors: Rabindra K. Panda, Gurjeet Singh
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The major objective of this study was to analyze the trend and variability of rainfall in the middle Mahandi river basin located in eastern India. The trend of variation of extreme rainfall events has predominant effect on agricultural water management and extreme hydrological events such as floods and droughts. Mahanadi river basin is one of the major river basins of India having an area of 1,41,589 km2 and divided into three regions: Upper, middle and delta region. The middle region of Mahanadi river basin has an area of 48,700 km2 and it is mostly dominated by agricultural land, where agriculture is mostly rainfed. The study region has five Agro-climatic zones namely: East and South Eastern Coastal Plain, North Eastern Ghat, Western Undulating Zone, Western Central Table Land and Mid Central Table Land, which were numbered as zones 1 to 5 respectively for convenience in reporting. In the present study, analysis of variability and trends of annual, seasonal, and monthly rainfall was carried out, using the daily rainfall data collected from the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) for 35 years (1979-2013) for the 5 agro-climatic zones. The long term variability of rainfall was investigated by evaluating the mean, standard deviation and coefficient of variation. The long term trend of rainfall was analyzed using the Mann-Kendall test on monthly, seasonal and annual time scales. It was found that there is a decreasing trend in the rainfall during the winter and pre monsoon seasons for zones 2, 3 and 4; whereas in the monsoon (rainy) season there is an increasing trend for zones 1, 4 and 5 with a level of significance ranging between 90-95%. On the other hand, the mean annual rainfall has an increasing trend at 99% significance level. The estimated seasonality index showed that the rainfall distribution is asymmetric and distributed over 3-4 months period. The study will help to understand the spatio-temporal variation of rainfall and to determine the correlation between the current rainfall trend and climate change scenario of the study region for multifarious use.
Keywords: Eastern India, long-term variability and trends, Mann-Kendall test, seasonality index, spatio-temporal variation.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 16231655 The Effect of Natural Light on the Performance of Visible Light Communication Systems
Authors: Mahmoud Beshr, Ivan Andonovic, Moustafa H. Aly
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Visible Light Communication (VLC) offers advantages of low energy consumption, licence free and RF interference free operation. One application area for VLC is in the provision of health centred services circumventing issues of interference with any biomedical device within the environment. VLC performamce is affected by natural light restricting systems avilability and relibility. The paper presents an analysis of the performance of VLC systems under different meteorological conditions. The evaluation considered the impact of natural light as a function of different reflection surfaces in different room sizes.
Keywords: Visible light communication, impulse reponse , performance analysis , natural light.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 16931654 A SAW-less Dual-Band CDMA Diversity and Simultaneous-GPS Zero-IF Receiver
Authors: Bassem Fahs, Philippe Barré, Patrick Ozenne, Eric Chartier, Guillaume Hérault, Sébastien Jacquet, Sébastien Clamagirand
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We present a dual-band (Cellular & PCS) dual-path zero-IF receiver for CDMA2000 diversity, monitoring and simultaneous-GPS. The secondary path is a SAW-less diversity CDMA receiver which can be also used for advanced features like monitoring when supported with an additional external VCO. A GPS receiver is integrated with its dedicated VCO allowing simultaneous positioning during a cellular call. The circuit is implemented in a 0.25μm 40GHz-fT BiCMOS process and uses a HVQFN 56-pin package. It consumes a maximum 300mW from a 2.8V supply in dual-modes. The chip area is 12.8mm2.Keywords: CDMA, diversity, GPS, zero-IF, SAW-less
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 18061653 An Artificial Neural Network Model Based Study of Seismic Wave
Authors: Hemant Kumar, Nilendu Das
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A study based on ANN structure gives us the information to predict the size of the future in realizing a past event. ANN, IMD (Indian meteorological department) data and remote sensing were used to enable a number of parameters for calculating the size that may occur in the future. A threshold selected specifically above the high-frequency harvest reached the area during the selected seismic activity. In the field of human and local biodiversity it remains to obtain the right parameter compared to the frequency of impact. But during the study the assumption is that predicting seismic activity is a difficult process, not because of the parameters involved here, which can be analyzed and funded in research activity.
Keywords: ANN, Bayesian class, earthquakes, IMD.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 6741652 Optical Verification of an Ophthalmological Examination Apparatus Employing the Electroretinogram Function on Fundus-Related Perimetry
Authors: Naoto Suzuki
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Japanese are affected by the most common causes of eyesight loss such as glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy, pigmentary retinal degeneration, and age-related macular degeneration. We developed an ophthalmological examination apparatus with a fundus camera, precisely fundus-related perimetry (microperimetry), and electroretinogram (ERG) functions to diagnose a variety of diseases that cause eyesight loss. The experimental apparatus was constructed with the same optical system as a fundus camera. The microperimetry optical system was calculated and added to the experimental apparatus using the German company Optenso's optical engineering software (OpTaliX-LT 10.8). We also added an Edmund infrared camera (EO-0413), a lens with a 25 mm focal length, a 45° cold mirror, a 12 V/50 W halogen lamp, and an 8-inch monitor. We made the artificial eye of a plane-convex lens, a black spacer, and a hemispherical cup. The hemispherical cup had a small section of the paper at the bottom. The artificial eye was photographed five times using the experimental apparatus. The software was created to display the examination target on the monitor and save examination data using C++Builder 10.2. The retinal fundus was displayed on the monitor at a length and width of 1 mm and a resolution of 70.4 ± 4.1 and 74.7 ± 6.8 pixels, respectively. The microperimetry and ERG functions were successfully added to the experimental ophthalmological apparatus. A moving machine was developed to measure the artificial eye's movement. The artificial eye's rear part was painted black and white in the central area. It was rotated 10 degrees from one side to the other. The movement was captured five times as motion videos. Three static images were extracted from one of the motion videos captured. The images display the artificial eye facing the center, right, and left directions. The three images were processed using Scilab 6.1.0 and Image Processing and Computer Vision Toolbox 4.1.2, including trimming, binarization, making a window, deleting peripheral area, and morphological operations. To calculate the artificial eye's fundus center, we added a gravity method to the program to calculate the gravity position of connected components. From the three images, the image processing could calculate the center position.
Keywords: Ophthalmological examination apparatus, microperimetry, electroretinogram, eye movement.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 5381651 Enhancing capabilities of Texture Extraction for Color Image Retrieval
Authors: Pranam Janney, Sridhar G, Sridhar V.
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Content-Based Image Retrieval has been a major area of research in recent years. Efficient image retrieval with high precision would require an approach which combines usage of both the color and texture features of the image. In this paper we propose a method for enhancing the capabilities of texture based feature extraction and further demonstrate the use of these enhanced texture features in Texture-Based Color Image Retrieval.Keywords: Image retrieval, texture feature extraction, color extraction
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 16071650 Estimate of Maximum Expected Intensity of One-Half-Wave Lines Dancing
Authors: A. Bekbaev, M. Dzhamanbaev, R. Abitaeva, A. Karbozova, G. Nabyeva
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In this paper, the regression dependence of dancing intensity from wind speed and length of span was established due to the statistic data obtained from multi-year observations on line wires dancing accumulated by power systems of Kazakhstan and the Russian Federation. The lower and upper limitations of the equations parameters were estimated, as well as the adequacy of the regression model. The constructed model will be used in research of dancing phenomena for the development of methods and means of protection against dancing and for zoning plan of the territories of line wire dancing.Keywords: Power lines, line wire dancing, dancing intensity, regression equation, dancing area intensity.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 11961649 Travel Time Model for Cylinder Type Parking System
Authors: Jing Zhang, Jie Chen
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In this paper, we mainly analyze an automated parking system where the storage and retrieval requests are performed by a tower crane. In this parking system, the S/R crane which is located at the middle of the bottom of the cylinder parking area can rotate in both clockwise and counterclockwise and three kinds of movements can be done simultaneously. We develop some mathematical travel time models for the single command cycle under the random storage assignment using the characteristics of this system. Finally, we compare these travel models with discrete case and it is shown that these travel models display a good satisfactory performance.Keywords: Parking system, travel time model, tower crane.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 7851648 FPGA Implementation of RSA Cryptosystem
Authors: Ridha Ghayoula, ElAmjed Hajlaoui, Talel Korkobi, Mbarek Traii, Hichem Trabelsi
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In this paper, the hardware implementation of the RSA public-key cryptographic algorithm is presented. The RSA cryptographic algorithm is depends on the computation of repeated modular exponentials. The Montgomery algorithm is used and modified to reduce hardware resources and to achieve reasonable operating speed for FPGA. An efficient architecture for modular multiplications based on the array multiplier is proposed. We have implemented a RSA cryptosystem based on Montgomery algorithm. As a result, it is shown that proposed architecture contributes to small area and reasonable speed.Keywords: RSA, Cryptosystem, Montgomery, Implementation.FPGA.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 24101647 Liberation as a Method for Monument Valorisation: The Case of the Defence Heritage Restoration
Authors: Donatella R. Fiorino, Marzia Loddo
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The practice of freeing monuments from subsequent additions crosses the entire history of conservation and it is traditionally connected to the aim of valorisation, both for cultural and educational purpose and recently even for touristic exploitation. Defence heritage has been widely interested by these cultural and technical moods from philological restoration to critic innovations. A renovated critical analysis of Italian episodes and in particular the Sardinian case of the area of San Pancrazio in Cagliari, constitute an important lesson about the limits of this practice and the uncertainty in terms of results, towards the definition of a sustainable good practice in the restoration of military architectures.
Keywords: Defensive architecture, Liberation, Valorisation for tourism, Historical restoration.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 20861646 Calculation of Reorder Point Level under Stochastic Parameters: A Case Study in Healthcare Area
Authors: Serap Akcan, Ali Kokangul
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We consider a single-echelon, single-item inventory system where both demand and lead-time are stochastic. Continuous review policy is used to control the inventory system. The objective is to calculate the reorder point level under stochastic parameters. A case study is presented in Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.Keywords: Inventory control system, reorder point level, stochastic demand, stochastic lead time
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 35171645 Effect of Band Contact on the Temperature Distribution for Dry Friction Clutch
Authors: Oday I. Abdullah, J. Schlattmann
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In this study, the two dimensional heat conduction problem for the dry friction clutch disc is modeled mathematically analysis and is solved numerically using finite element method, to determine the temperature field when band contacts occurs between the rubbing surfaces during the operation of an automotive clutch. Temperature calculation have been made for contact area of different band width and the results obtained compared with these attained when complete contact occurs. Furthermore, the effects of slipping time and sliding velocity function are investigated as well. Both single and repeated engagements made at regular interval are considered.Keywords: Band contact, dry friction clutch, frictional heating, temperature field, 2D FEM.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 36161644 Mobility Analysis of the Population of Rabat-Salé-Zemmour-Zaer
Authors: F. Ghaiti
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In this paper, we present the 2006 survey study origin destination and price that we carried out during 2006 fall in the area in the Moroccan region of Rabat-Salé-Zemmour-Zaer. The survey concerns the people-s characteristics, their displacements behavior and the price that they will be able to pay for a tramway ticket. The main objective is to study a set of relative features to the households and to their displacement's habits and to their choices among public and privet transport modes. A comparison between this survey results and that of the 1996's is made. A pricing scheme is also given according to the tram capacity. (The Rabat-Salé tramway is under construction right now and it will be operational beginning 2010).
Keywords: Matrix O/D, Theory of pricing, Urban transport survey.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 26331643 Taxonomy of Structured P2P Overlay Networks Security Attacks
Authors: Zied Trifa, Maher Khemakhem
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The survey and classification of the different security attacks in structured peer-to-peer (P2P) overlay networks can be useful to computer system designers, programmers, administrators, and users. In this paper, we attempt to provide a taxonomy of structured P2P overlay networks security attacks. We have specially focused on the way these attacks can arise at each level of the network. Moreover, we observed that most of the existing systems such as Content Addressable Network (CAN), Chord, Pastry, Tapestry, Kademlia, and Viceroy suffer from threats and vulnerability which lead to disrupt and corrupt their functioning. We hope that our survey constitutes a good help for who-s working on this area of research.Keywords: P2P, Structured P2P Overlay Networks, DHT, Security, classification
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 17541642 Research Analysis in Eclectic Theory (Kaboudan and Sfandiar)
Authors: Farideh Alizadeh, Mohd Nasir Hashim
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Present research investigates eclecticism in Iranian theatre on the basis of eclectic theory. Eclectic theatre is a new theory in postmodernism. The theory appeared during 60th – 70th century in some theatres such as “Conference of the Birds”. Special theatrical forms have been developed in many geographical- cultural areas of the world and are indigenous to that area. These forms, as compared with original forms, are considered to be traditional while being comprehensive, the form is considered to be national. Kaboudan and Sfandiar theatre has been influenced by elements of traditional form of Iran.
Keywords: Eclectic theatre, theatrical forms, tradition, play.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 21081641 A Testbed for the Experiments Performed in Missing Value Treatments
Authors: Dias de J. C. Lilian, Lobato M. F. Fábio, de Santana L. Ádamo
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The occurrence of missing values in database is a serious problem for Data Mining tasks, responsible for degrading data quality and accuracy of analyses. In this context, the area has shown a lack of standardization for experiments to treat missing values, introducing difficulties to the evaluation process among different researches due to the absence in the use of common parameters. This paper proposes a testbed intended to facilitate the experiments implementation and provide unbiased parameters using available datasets and suited performance metrics in order to optimize the evaluation and comparison between the state of art missing values treatments.
Keywords: Data imputation, data mining, missing values treatment, testbed.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 15031640 Measurement of Reverse Flow Generated at Cold Exit of Vortex Tube
Authors: Mohd Hazwan bin Yusof, Hiroshi Katanoda
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In order to clarify the structure of the cold flow discharged from the vortex tube (VT), the pressure of the cold flow was measured, and a simple flow visualization technique using a 0.75mm-diameter needle and an oily paint is made to study the reverse flow at the cold exit. It is clear that a negative pressure and positive pressure region exist at a certain pressure and cold fraction area, and that a reverse flow is observed in the negative pressure region.
Keywords: Flow visualization, Pressure measurement, Reverse flow, Vortex tube.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 19161639 Conductivity and Selection of Copper Clad Steel Wires for Grounding Applications
Authors: George Eduful, Kingsford J. A. Atanga
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Copper clad steel wire (CCS) is primarily used for grounding applications to reduce the high incidence of copper ground conductor theft in electrical installations. The cross sectional area of the CCS is selected by relating the diameter equivalence to a copper conductor. The main difficulty is how to use a simple analytical relation to determine the right conductivity of CCS for a particular application. The use of Eddy-Current instrument for measuring conductivity is known but in most cases, the instrument is not readily available. The paper presents a simplified approach on how to size and determine CCS conductivity for a given application.
Keywords: Copper clad steel wire, conductivity, grounding, skin effect.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 7021638 Design an Electrical Nose with ZnO Nanowire Arrays
Authors: Amin Nekoubin, Abdolamir Nekoubin
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Vertical ZnO nanowire array films were synthesized based on aqueous method for sensing applications. ZnO nanowires were investigated structurally using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The gas-sensing properties of ZnO nanowires array films are studied. It is found that the ZnO nanowires array film sensor exhibits excellent sensing properties towards O2 and CO2 at 100 °C with the response time shorter than 5 s. High surface area / volume ratio of vertical ZnO nanowire and high mobility accounts for the fast response and recovery. The sensor response was measured in the range from 100 to 500 ppm O2 and CO2 in this study.Keywords: Gas sensor, semiconductor, ZnO, Nanowire array
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 15431637 Complexity of Operation and Maintenance in Irrigation Network Management-A Case of the Dez Scheme in the Greater Dezful, Iran
Authors: Najaf Hedayat
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Food and fibre production in arid and semi-arid regions has emerged as one of the major challenges for various socio-economic and political reasons such as the food security and self-sufficiency. Productive use of the renewable water resources has risen on top ofthe decision-making agenda. For this reason, efficient operation and maintenance of modern irrigation and drainage schemes become part and parcel and indispensible reality in agricultural policy making arena. The aim of this paper is to investigate the complexity of operating and maintaining such schemes, mainly focussing on challenges which enhance and opportunities that impedsustainable food and fibre production. The methodology involved using secondary data complemented byroutine observations and stakeholders views on issues that influence the O&M in the Dez command area. The SPSS program was used as an analytical framework for data analysis and interpretation.Results indicate poor application efficiency in most croplands, much of which is attributed to deficient operation of conveyance and distribution canals. These in turn, are reportedly linked to inadequate maintenance of the pumping stations and hydraulic structures like turnouts,flumes and other control systems particularly in the secondary and tertiary canals. Results show that the aforementioned deficiencies have been the major impediment to establishing regular flow toward the farm gates which subsequently undermine application efficiency and tillage operationsat farm level. Results further show that accumulative impact of such deficiencies has been the major causes of poorcrop yield and quality that deem production system in these croplands uneconomic. Results further show that the present state might undermine the sustainability of agricultural system in the command area. The overall conclusion being that present water management is unlikely to be responsive to challenges that the sector faces. And in the absence of coherent measures to shift the status quo situation in favour of more productive resource use, it would be hard to fulfil the objectives of the National Economic and Socio-cultural Development Plans.
Keywords: renewable water resources, Dez scheme, irrigationand drainage, sustainable crop production, O&M
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 16061636 From e-Government to e-Democracy Challenges and Opportunities for Development in Montenegro
Authors: Tamara Djurickovic MSc
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Internet today has a huge impact on all aspects of life, and also in the area of the broader context of democracy, politics and politicians. If democracy is freedom of choice, there are a number of conditions that can ensure in practice the freedom to be achieved and realized. These preconditions must be achieved regardless of the manner of voting. The key contribution of ICT to achieve freedom of choice is that technology enables the correlation of the citizens and elected representatives on the better way than it was possible without the Internet. In this sense, we can say that the Internet and ICT are changing significantly, and potentially improving the environment in which democratic processes are taking place. This paper aims to describe trends in use of ICT in democratic processes, and analyzes the challenges for implementation of e-Democracy in MontenegroKeywords: About four key words or phrases in alphabetical order, separated by commas.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 15931635 ORR Activity and Stability of Pt-Based Electrocatalysts in PEM Fuel Cell
Authors: S. Limpattayanate, M. Hunsom
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A comparison of activity and stability of the as-formed Pt/C, Pt-Co and Pt-Pd/C electrocatalysts, prepared by a combined approach of impregnation and seeding, was performed. According to the activity test in a single Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) fuel cell, the Oxygen Reduction Reaction (ORR) activity of the Pt-M/C electrocatalyst was slightly lower than that of Pt/C. The j0.9 V and E10 mA/cm2 of the as-prepared electrocatalysts increased in the order of Pt/C > Pt-Co/C > Pt-Pd/C. However, in the medium-to-high current density region, Pt-Pd/C exhibited the best performance. With regard to their stability in a 0.5 M H2SO4 electrolyte solution, the electrochemical surface area decreased as the number of rounds of repetitive potential cycling increased due to the dissolution of the metals within the catalyst structure. For long-term measurement, Pt- Pd/C was the most stable than the other three electrocatalysts.Keywords: ORR activity, Stability, Pt-based electrocatalysts, PEM fuel cell.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2410