Search results for: water use efficiency yield.

Authors: Asar Khan, Peter D. Widdop, Andrew J. Day, Aliaster S. Wood, Steve, R. Mounce, John Machell

Abstract:

This paper describes an automated event detection and location system for water distribution pipelines which is based upon low-cost sensor technology and signature analysis by an Artificial Neural Network (ANN). The development of a low cost failure sensor which measures the opacity or cloudiness of the local water flow has been designed, developed and validated, and an ANN based system is then described which uses time series data produced by sensors to construct an empirical model for time series prediction and classification of events. These two components have been installed, tested and verified in an experimental site in a UK water distribution system. Verification of the system has been achieved from a series of simulated burst trials which have provided real data sets. It is concluded that the system has potential in water distribution network management.

Keywords: Detection, leakage, neural networks, sensors, water distribution networks

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Authors: Muhammad Jamil Khan, Muhammad Sharif Zia, Muhammad Qasim

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Insect pests are the major source of crop damage, yield and quality reduction in Pakistan and else where in the world. Cotton crop is the most hit crop in Pakistan followed by rice and the second most important foreign exchange earning crop. A wide variety of staple, horticultural and cash crops grown, reflect serious problems of many types of insect pests. To overcome the insect pest problem, pesticide use in Pakistan has increased substantially which has now been further intensified. Pesticides worth more than billions of rupees are imported every year. This paper reviews the over all pesticide use in Pakistan in relation to pesticide prices, support price of cotton and rice, pesticide use in different provinces of Pakistan on different crops and their impact on crop productivity. The environmental pollution caused by the use of pesticides, contamination of soil and water resources and the danger associated with the disposal of their empty containers is also discussed in detail.

Keywords: Pesticide use, crop productivity, environmentalpollution

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Authors: Akinola Ikudayisi, Folasade Adeyemo, Josiah Adeyemo

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This study focuses on the hydro-geology and chemical constituents analysis of Ikogosi Warm Spring waters in South West Nigeria. Ikogosi warm spring is a global tourist attraction because it has both warm and cold spring sources. Water samples from the cold spring, warm spring and the meeting point were collected, analyzed and the result shows close similarity in temperature, hydrogen iron concentration (pH), alkalinity, hardness, Calcium, Magnesium, Sodium, Iron, total dissolved solid and heavy metals. The measured parameters in the water samples are within World Health Organisation standards for fresh water. The study of the geology of the warm spring reveals that the study area is underlain by a group of slightly migmatised to non-migmatised paraschists and meta-igneous rocks. Also, concentration levels of selected heavy metals, (Copper, Cadmium, Zinc, Arsenic and Cromium) were determined in the water (ppm) samples. Chromium had the highest concentration value of 1.52ppm (an average of 49.67%) and Cadmium had the lowest concentration with value of 0.15ppm (an average of 4.89%). Comparison of these results showed that, their mean levels are within the standard values obtained in Nigeria. It can be concluded that both warm and spring water are safe for drinking.

Keywords: Cold spring, Ikogosi, melting point, warm spring, water samples.

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Authors: Hyung T. Kwak, Jun Gao, Yao An, Alfred Kleinhammes, Yue Wu

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Surface wettability is a crucial factor in oil recovery. In oil industry, the rock wettability involves the interplay between water, oil, and solid surface. Therefore, studying the interplay between adsorptions of water and hydrocarbon molecules on solid surface would be very informative for understanding rock wettability. Here we use the in-situ Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) gas isotherm technique to study competitive adsorptions of water and isopropanol, an intermediate step from hydrocarbons. This in-situ NMR technique obtains information on thermodynamic properties such as the isotherm, molecular dynamics via spin relaxation measurements, and adsorption kinetics such as how fast the system can reach thermal equilibrium after changes of vapor pressures. Using surfaces of silica glass beads, which can be modified from hydrophilic to hydrophobic, we obtained information on the influence of surface hydrophilicity on the state of surface water via obtained thermodynamic and dynamic properties.

Keywords: Competitive adsorption, nuclear magnetic resonance, wettability.

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Authors: Yassine Jadi, Lin Jie

Abstract:

In order to serve the society in an electronic manner, many developing countries have launched tremendous e-government projects. The strategies of development and implementation e-government system have reached different levels, and to ensure consistency of development, the governments need to evaluate e-government performance. The United nation has design e-government development ranking index (EGDI) that rely on three indexes, Online service index (OSI), Telecommunication Infrastructure index (TII), and human capital index( HCI) which are not reflecting the interaction between a government and their citizens. Based on data envelopment analyses (DEA) technique, we are using E-participating index (EPI) as an output of government effort to evaluate the performance of e-government system. Therefore, the ranking index can be achieved in efficiency manner.

Keywords: E-government, DEA, efficiency measurement, EGDI.

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Authors: G. Toker, V. Bulatov, T. Kovalchuk, I. Schechter

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Dynamics of laser radiation – metal target interaction in water at 1064 nm by applying Mach-Zehnder interference technique was studied. The mechanism of generating the well developed regime of evaporation of a metal surface and a spherical shock wave in water is proposed. Critical intensities of the NIR for the well developed evaporation of silver and gold targets were determined. Dynamics of shock waves was investigated for earlier (dozens) and later (hundreds) nanoseconds of time. Transparent expanding plasma-vapor-compressed water object was visualized and measured. The thickness of compressed layer of water and pressures behind the front of a shock wave for later time delays were obtained from the optical treatment of interferograms.

Keywords: laser, shock wave, metal target, underwater

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Authors: D. M. Reddy Prasad, Nur Sabrina Binti Rahmat, Huei Ruey Ong, Chin Kui Cheng, Maksudur Rahman Khan, D. Sathiyamoorthy

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Carbon dioxide (CO₂) emission to the environment is inevitable which is responsible for global warming. Photocatalytic reduction of CO₂ to fuel, such as methanol, methane etc. is a promising way to reduce greenhouse gas CO₂ emission. In the present work, Bi₂S₃/CdS was synthesized as an effective visible light responsive photocatalyst for CO₂ reduction into methanol. The Bi₂S₃/CdS photocatalyst was prepared by hydrothermal reaction. The catalyst was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) instrument. The photocatalytic activity of the catalyst has been investigated for methanol production as a function of time. Gas chromatograph flame ionization detector (GC-FID) was employed to analyze the product. The yield of methanol was found to increase with higher CdS concentration in Bi₂S₃/CdS and the maximum yield was obtained for 45 wt% of Bi₂S₃/CdS under visible light irradiation was 20 μmole/g. The result establishes that Bi₂S₃/CdS is favorable catalyst to reduce CO₂ to methanol.

Keywords: Photocatalyst, Carbon dioxide reduction, visible light, Irradiation.

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Authors: Em-on Chairote, Panatda Jannoey, Griangsak Chairote

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A strain of Monascus purpureus CMU001 was used to prepare red yeast rice from Thai glutinous rice Korkor 6 (RD 6). Adding of different amounts of histidine (156, 312, 625 and 1250 mg in 100 g of rice grains)) under aerobic and air limitation (air-lock) condition were used in solid fermentation. Determination of the yield as well as monacolin K content was done. Citrinin content was also determined in order to confirm the safety use of prepared red yeast rice. It was found that under air-lock condition with 1250 mg of histidine addition gave the highest yield of 37.40 g of dried red yeast rice prepared from 100 g of rice. Highest 5.72 mg content of monacolin K was obtained under air-lock condition with 312 mg histidine addition. In the other hand, citrinin content was found to be less than 24462 ng/g of all dried red yeast rice samples under the experimental methods used in this work.

Keywords: Citrinin, Glutinous rice, Monacolin K, Red yeast rice.

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Authors: Kamil Ďurana, Robert Černý

Abstract:

An electrical apparatus for measuring moisture content was developed by our laboratory and uses dependence of electrical properties on water content in studied material. Error analysis of the apparatus was run by measuring different volumes of water in a simplified specimen, i.e. hollow plexiglass block, in order to avoid as many side-effects as possible. Obtained data were processed using both basic and advanced statistics and results were compared with each other. The influence of water content on accuracy of measured data was studied as well as the influence of variation of apparatus' proper arrangement or factual methodics of its usage. The overall coefficient of variation was 4%. There was no trend found in results of error dependence on water content. Comparison with current surveys led to a conclusion, that the studied apparatus can be used for indirect measurement of water content in porous materials, with expectable error and under known conditions. Factual experiments with porous materials are not involved, but are currently under investigation.

Keywords: device, capacitance method, error analysis, moisture meter

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Authors: F. Javier Benitez, Carolina Garcia, Juan Luis Acero, Francisco J. Real

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Four phenylurea herbicides (isoproturon, chlortoluron, diuron and linuron) were dissolved in different water matrices in order to study their chemical degradation by using UV radiation, ozone and some advanced oxidation processes (UV/H2O2, O3/H2O2, Fenton reagent and the photo- Fenton system). The waters used were: ultra-pure water, a commercial mineral water, a groundwater and a surface water taken from a reservoir. Elimination levels were established for each herbicide and for several global quality parameters, and a kinetic study was performed in order to determine basic kinetic parameters of each reaction between the target phenylureas and these oxidizing systems.

Keywords: Phenylurea herbicides, UV radiation; Ozone, Fenton reagent, Hydroxyl radicals, Rate constants, Quantum yields

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Authors: Liqiang Duan, Ma Jingkai, Lv Zhipeng, Haifan Cai

Abstract:

The integrated solar combined cycle (ISCC) system has a series of advantages such as increasing the system power generation, reducing the cost of solar power generation, less pollutant and CO₂ emission. In this paper, the parabolic trough collectors with direct steam generation (DSG) technology are considered to replace the heat load of heating surfaces in heat regenerator steam generation (HRSG) of a conventional natural gas combined cycle (NGCC) system containing a PG9351FA gas turbine and a triple pressure HRSG with reheat. The detailed model of the NGCC system is built in ASPEN PLUS software and the parabolic trough collectors with DSG technology is modeled in EBSILON software. ISCC-DSG systems with the replacement of single, two, three and four heating surfaces are studied in this paper. Results show that: (1) the ISCC-DSG systems with the replacement heat load of HPB, HPB+LPE, HPE2+HPB+HPS, HPE1+HPE2+ HPB+HPS are the best integration schemes when single, two, three and four stages of heating surfaces are partly replaced by the parabolic trough solar energy collectors with DSG technology. (2) Both the changes of feed water flow and the heat load of the heating surfaces in ISCC-DSG systems with the replacement of multi-stage heating surfaces are smaller than those in ISCC-DSG systems with the replacement of single heating surface. (3) ISCC-DSG systems with the replacement of HPB+LPE heating surfaces can increase the solar power output significantly. (4) The ISCC-DSG systems with the replacement of HPB heating surfaces has the highest solar-thermal-to-electricity efficiency (47.45%) and the solar radiation energy-to-electricity efficiency (30.37%), as well as the highest exergy efficiency of solar field (33.61%).

Keywords: HRSG, integration scheme, parabolic trough collectors with DSG technology, solar power generation.

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Authors: P. B. Sob, A. A. Alugongo, T. B. Tengen

Abstract:

The activation volume of 6082T6 aluminum is investigated at different temperatures for grain size variants. The deformation activation volume was computed on the basis of the relationship between the Boltzmann’s constant k, the testing temperatures, the material strain rate sensitivity and the material yield stress grain size variants. The material strain rate sensitivity is computed as a function of yield stress and strain rate grain size variants. The effect of the material strain rate sensitivity and the deformation activation volume of 6082T6 aluminum at different temperatures of 3-D grain are discussed. It is shown that the strain rate sensitivities and activation volume are negative for the grain size variants during the deformation of nanostructured materials. It is also observed that the activation volume vary in different ways with the equivalent radius, semi minor axis radius, semi major axis radius and major axis radius. From the obtained results it is shown that the variation of activation volume increase and decrease with the testing temperature. It was revealed that, increase in strain rate sensitivity led to decrease in activation volume whereas increase in activation volume led to decrease in strain rate sensitivity.

Keywords: Nanostructured materials, grain size variants, temperature, yield stress, strain rate sensitivity, activation volume.

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Authors: Sh. Edrisi, A. Farahbakhsh

Abstract:

An experiment was conducted under controlled conditions to study the effect of water extract of leaves, shoots and roots of either Sisymbrium irio L. =SISIR and or Descurainia sophia (L.) Schur =DESSO on the germination and primary growth of barley. A split-split plot experiment in CRD with three replications was used. The main plots were the type of weed: i.e. SISIR and DESSO and the sub-plots were type of organ: i.e. leaf, stem and root and, the sub-sub plots were concentration of the water extract of each organ of the weeds: i.e. 0, 2, 4 and 8 % w/v. The results showed that the SISIR water extracts had a greater inhibitory effects on the germination and primary growth of barley than those of DESSO water extracts. The water extracts of the leaves of both weeds had the greatest inhibitory effects on the germination and primary growth of barley, compared to those of stems and roots. Increasing the concentration of water extracts of leaves, stems and roots of both weeds up to 8 % caused the greatest inhibitory effects to barley and reduced the germination rate and primary growth of it linearly.

Keywords: Allelopathy, barley, DESSO, SISIR

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Authors: Nelson R. Osungbemiro, Rafiu O. Sanni, Rotimi F. Olaniyan, Abayomi O. Olajuyigbe

Abstract:

Bacteria flora of Clarias gariepinus collected from two natural habitats namely Owena River (freshwater) and Igbokoda lagoon (brackish water) were examined using standard microbiological procedures. Thirteen bacterial species were identified. The result indicated that from the identified bacteria isolated, Vibrio sp, Proteus sp. Shigella sp. and E. coli were present in both habitats (fresh and brackish waters). Others were habitat-selective such as Salmonella sp., Pseudomonas sp, Enterococcus sp, Staphylococcus sp. that were found only in freshwater habitat. While Branhamella sp, Streptococcus sp. and Micrococcus sp. were found in brackish water habitat. Bacteria load from Owena river (freshwater) was found to be the highest load recorded at 6.21 x 10⁴cfu. T-test analysis also revealed that there was a marked significant difference between bacterial load in guts of sampled Clarias from fresh water and brackish water habitats.

Keywords: Bacteria flora, gut, Clarias gariepinus, Owena river

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Authors: B. Tirandazi, M. Mehrpooya, A. Vatani

Abstract:

This paper provides an exergy analysis of the multistage refrigeration cycle used for C2+ recovery plant. The behavior of an industrial refrigeration cycle with refrigerant propane has been investigated by the exergy method. A computational model based on the exergy analysis is presented for the investigation of the effects of the valves on the exergy losses, the second law of efficiency, and the coefficient of performance (COP) of a vapor compression refrigeration cycle. The equations of exergy destruction and exergetic efficiency for the main cycle components such as evaporators, condensers, compressors, and expansion valves are developed. The relations for the total exergy destruction in the cycle and the cycle exergetic efficiency are obtained. An ethane recovery unit with its refrigeration cycle has been simulated to prepare the exergy analysis. Using a typical actual work input value; the exergetic efficiency of the refrigeration cycle is determined to be 39.90% indicating a great potential for improvements. The simulation results reveal that the exergetic efficiencies of the heat exchanger and expansion sections get the lowest rank among the other compartments of refrigeration cycle. Refrigeration calculations have been carried out through the analysis of T–S and P–H diagrams where coefficient of performance (COP) was obtained as 1.85. The novelty of this article includes the effect and sensitivity analysis of molar flow, pressure drops and temperature on the exergy efficiency and coefficient of performance of the cycle.

Keywords: exergy; Valve; CRP; refrigeration cycle; propane refrigerant; C2+ Recovery; Ethane Recovery;.

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Authors: Abbas S. Al-Omari, Zain M. Al-Houri

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The response of King Abdulla Canal (KAC) water to the upgrade of As Samra Wastewater Treatment Plant which discharges its effluent to the Zarqa River is investigated. Time series quality data that extends between October 2005 and December 2009 obtained by a state of the art telemetric monitoring system were analyzed for COD, EC, TP and TN at two monitoring stations located upstream and downstream of the confluence of the Zarqa River with KAC. The samples- means and the t-test showed that there has been significant improvement in the quality of the KAC water for COD, and TP. However, the improvement in the TN was found statistically insignificant, whereas the EC of the KAC was unaffected by the upgrade. Comparing the selected parameters with the standards and guidelines for using treated wastewater in irrigation showed that the KAC water has improved towards meeting the required standards and guidelines for treated wastewater reuse in irrigation.

Keywords: As Samra wastewater treatment plant, Telemetric monitoring system, Treated wastewater, Water quality monitoring, Zarqa River watershed.

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Authors: Maryam Kargar, Neamatolah Khorasani, Mahmoud Karami, Gholam-Reza Rafiee, Reza Naseh

Abstract:

Interpolated contour maps drawn for aluminum, copper and molybdenum in downstream monitoring boreholes of water dam in Miduk Copper Complex and the values of pH, redox potential (Eh) and distance from water dam indicate different trends of variation and behavior of these three elements in downward groundwater resources. As these maps exhibit, aluminum is dominant in the most alkaline (pH = 9-11) borehole (MB5) to water dam. The highest concentration of molybdenum is found in the nearest borehole (MB6) to water dam. Main concentration of copper is observed in the most oxidized borehole (MB3 with Eh=293.2mV). The spatial difference among sampling stations can be attributed to the existence of faults and diaclases in the geologic structure of Miduk region which causes the groundwater sampling sites to be impressed by different contamination sources (toe seepage and upper seepage water originated from different zones of tailings dump).

Keywords: Contour maps, Monitoring borehole, Toe seepage, Upper seepage.

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Authors: H. Kiani, S. Moradi, B. Soltani Soulgani, S. Mousavian

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Desalting/dehydration plants (DDP) are often installed in crude oil production units in order to remove water-soluble salts from an oil stream. In order to optimize this process, desalting unit should be modeled. In this research, artificial neural network is used to model efficiency of desalting unit as a function of input parameter. The result of this research shows that the mentioned model has good agreement with experimental data.

Keywords: Desalting unit, Crude oil, Neural Networks, Simulation, Recovery, Separation.

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Authors: Saba Gachpaz, Hamid Reza Heidari

Abstract:

The sharp increase in population growth leads to more pressure on agricultural areas to satisfy the food supply. This necessitates increased resource consumption and underscores the importance of addressing sustainable agriculture development along with other environmental considerations. Land-use management is a crucial factor in obtaining optimum productivity. Machine learning is a widely used technique in the agricultural sector, from yield prediction to customer behavior. This method focuses on learning and provides patterns and correlations from our data set. In this study, nine physical control factors, namely, soil classification, electrical conductivity, normalized difference water index (NDWI), groundwater level, elevation, annual precipitation, pH of water, annual mean temperature, and slope in the alluvial plain in Khuzestan (an agricultural hotspot in Iran) are used to decide the best agricultural land use for both rainfed and irrigated agriculture for 10 different crops. For this purpose, each variable was imported into Arc GIS, and a raster layer was obtained. In the next level, by using training samples, all layers were imported into the python environment. A random forest model was applied, and the weight of each variable was specified. In the final step, results were visualized using a digital elevation model, and the importance of all factors for each one of the crops was obtained. Our results show that despite 62% of the study area being allocated to agricultural purposes, only 42.9% of these areas can be defined as a suitable class for cultivation purposes.

Keywords: Land suitability, machine learning, random forest, sustainable agriculture.

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Authors: M. Maronek, J. Barta, P. Palcek, K. Ulrich

Abstract:

Low carbon deep drawing steel DC 01 according to EN 10130-91 was nitrooxidized in dissociated ammonia at 580°C/45 min and consequently oxidised at 380°C/5 min in vapour of distilled water. Material after nitrooxidation had 54 % increase of yield point, 34 % increase of strength and 10-times increased resistance to atmospheric corrosion in comparison to the material before nitrooxidation. The microstructure of treated material consisted of thin ε-phase layer connected to layer containing precipitated massive needle shaped Fe4N - γ' nitrides. This layer passed to a diffusion layer consisting of fine irregular shaped Fe16N2 - α'' nitrides regularly dispersed in ferritic matrix. Fatigue properties were examined under bending load with frequency of 20 kHz and sinusoidal symmetric cycle. The results confirmed positive influence of nitrooxidation on fatigue properties as fatigue limit of treated material was double in comparison to untreated material.

Keywords: steel sheet, fatigue, nitrooxidation, S-N diagram

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Authors: Touhari Fadhila, Mehaiguene Madjid, Meddi Mohamed

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This work aims to assess the quality of water dams based on the monitoring of physical-chemical parameters by the National Agency of Water Resources (ANRH) for a period of 10 years (1999-2008). Quality sheets of surface water for the four dams in the region of upper Cheliff (Ghrib, Deurdeur, Harreza, and Ouled Mellouk) show a degradation of the quality (organic pollution expressed in COD and OM) over time. Indeed, the registered amount of COD often exceeds 50 mg/ l, and the OM exceeds 15 mg/l. This pollution is caused by discharges of wastewater and eutrophication. The waters of dams show a very high salinity (TDS = 2574 mg/l in 2008 for the waters of the dam Ghrib, standard = 1500 mg/l). The concentration of nitrogenous substances (NH₄⁺, NO₂^-) in water is high in 2008 at Ouled Melloukdam. This pollution is caused by the oxidation of nitrogenous organic matter. On the other hand, we studied the relationship between the evolution of quality parameters and filling dams. We observed a decrease in the salinity and COD following an improvement of the filling state of dams, this resides in the dilution water through the contribution of rainwater. While increased levels of nitrates and phosphorus in the waters of four dams studied during the rainy season is compared to the dry period, this increase may be due to leaching from fertilizers used in agricultural soils situated in watersheds.

Keywords: Surface water quality, pollution, physical-chemical parameters, upper Cheliff basin.

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Authors: A. Ashjaran, M. E. Yazdanshenas, A. Rashidi, R. Khajavi, A. Rezaee

Abstract:

fibers of pure cellulose can be made from some bacteria such as acetobacter xylinum. Bacterial cellulose fibers are very pure, tens of nm across and about 0.5 micron long. The fibers are very stiff and, although nobody seems to have measured the strength of individual fibers. Their stiffness up to 70 GPa. Fundamental strengths should be at least greater than those of the best commercial polymers, but best bulk strength seems to about the same as that of steel. They can potentially be produced in industrial quantities at greatly lowered cost and water content, and with triple the yield, by a new process. This article presents a critical review of the available information on the bacterial cellulose as a biological nonwoven fabric with special emphasis on its fermentative production and applications. Characteristics of bacterial cellulose biofabric with respect to its structure and physicochemical properties are discussed. Current and potential applications of bacterial cellulose in textile, nonwoven cloth, paper, films synthetic fiber coating, food, pharmaceutical and other industries are also presented.

Keywords: Microbial cellulose, Biofabric, Microorganisms Acetobacter xylinum, Polysaccharide

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Authors: Iqbal Hossain, Dr. Monzur Imteaz, Dr. Shirley Gato-Trinidad, Prof. Abdallah Shanableh

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Estimation of runoff water quality parameters is required to determine appropriate water quality management options. Various models are used to estimate runoff water quality parameters. However, most models provide event-based estimates of water quality parameters for specific sites. The work presented in this paper describes the development of a model that continuously simulates the accumulation and wash-off of water quality pollutants in a catchment. The model allows estimation of pollutants build-up during dry periods and pollutants wash-off during storm events. The model was developed by integrating two individual models; rainfall-runoff model, and catchment water quality model. The rainfall-runoff model is based on the time-area runoff estimation method. The model allows users to estimate the time of concentration using a range of established methods. The model also allows estimation of the continuing runoff losses using any of the available estimation methods (i.e., constant, linearly varying or exponentially varying). Pollutants build-up in a catchment was represented by one of three pre-defined functions; power, exponential, or saturation. Similarly, pollutants wash-off was represented by one of three different functions; power, rating-curve, or exponential. The developed runoff water quality model was set-up to simulate the build-up and wash-off of total suspended solids (TSS), total phosphorus (TP) and total nitrogen (TN). The application of the model was demonstrated using available runoff and TSS field data from road and roof surfaces in the Gold Coast, Australia. The model provided excellent representation of the field data demonstrating the simplicity yet effectiveness of the proposed model.

Keywords: Catchment, continuous pollutants build-up, pollutants wash-off, runoff, runoff water quality model.

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Authors: Marzieh Moosavi-Nasab, Masoumeh Izadi, Sara Hosseinpour

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In this study, the possibility of using potato as a substrate for glutamic acid production by Brevibacterium linens was investigated. For preparation of fermentation medium, potato was hydrolyzed by hydrochloridric acid. The medium contained potato hydrolysate, tween 80, mineral solution, glucose, and potassium hydrogen phosphate. The initial pH of the medium was adjusted to 7-7.5. For achieving the optimum time with maximum yield, the beakers containing the medium and the inoculums were incubated in a rotary water bath flask shaker for one to five days. Thin layer choromatography was used for quantitative and qualitative assay of the glutamic acid produced. The results revealed that as fermentation time increased, pH of the fermentation medium significantly decreased (P<0.05). Furthermore, glutamic acid concentration in fermentation medium increased significantly (P<0.05). The highest amount of the glutamic acid obtained was 5.6 g/l on the forth day of fermentation.

Keywords: Brevibacterium linens, Fermentation, Glutamicacid, Thin layer choromatography

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Authors: Fardin Boustani, M Hojati , S Ebrahimzadeh

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The Kowsar dam supply water for different usages such as drinking, industrial, agricultural and aquaculture farms usages and located next to the city of Dehdashat in Kohgiluye and Boyerahmad province in southern Iran. There are some towns and villages on the Kowsar dam watersheds, which Dehdasht and Choram are the most important and populated cities in this area. The study was undertaken to assess the status of water quality in the urban areas of the Kowsar dam. A total of 28 water samples were collected from 6 stations on surface water and 1 station from groundwater on the watershed of the Kowsar dam. All the samples were analyzed for Ni concentration using standard procedures. The results were compared with other national and international standards. Among the analyzed samples, as the maximum value of Nickel (0.01 mg/L) was observed on the station 2 at the autumn 2010, all the samples analyzed were within the maximum admissible limits by the United States Environmental Protection Agency, EU, WHO and the Iranian. In general results of the present study have shown that a Ni mean value of station No. 2 with 0.006 mg/L is higher than the other stations. Ni level of all samples and stations have had normal values and this is an indication of pollution potential and hazards because of human activity and waste water of towns in the areas, which can effect on human health implications in future. This research, therefore, recommends the government and other responsible authorities to take suitable improving measures in the Kowsar dam watersheds.

Keywords: Kowsar dam, Drinking water quality, Nickel, Maximum admissible limit, World health organization

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Authors: K. P. Vishwanath, A. Kandasamy

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The present work deals with analyses of the effects of bearing curvature and non-Newtonian characteristics on the load capacity of an exponential rectangular squeeze film bearing using Bingham fluids as lubricants. Bingham fluids are characterized by an yield value and hence the formation of a “rigid" core in the region between the plates is justified. The flow is confined to the region between the core and the plates. The shape of the core has been identified through numerical means. Further, numerical solutions for the pressure distribution and load carrying capacity of the bearing for various values of Bingham number and curvature parameter have been obtained. The effects of bearing curvature and non-Newtonian characteristics of the lubricant on the bearing performances have been discussed.

Keywords: rheodynamic lubrication, yield stress, non-Newtonianfluid, Bingham fluid, exponential squeeze film.

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Authors: Kollie B. Dogba, Willis Oluoch-Kosura, Chepchumba Chumo

Abstract:

In Liberia, many of the agricultural households cultivate cassava for either sustenance purposes, or to generate farm income. Many of the concentrated cassava farmers reside in Nimba, a north-eastern County that borders two other economies: the Republics of Cote D’Ivoire and Guinea. With a high demand for cassava output and products in emerging Asian markets coupled with an objective of the Liberia agriculture policies to increase the competitiveness of valued agriculture crops; there is a need to examine the level of resource-use efficiency for many agriculture crops. However, there is a scarcity of information on the efficiency of many agriculture crops, including cassava. Hence the study applying an output-oriented method seeks to assess the economic efficiency of cassava farmers in Nimba County, Liberia. A multi-stage sampling technique was employed to generate a sample for the study. From 216 cassava farmers, data related to on-farm attributes, socio-economic and institutional factors were collected. The stochastic frontier models, using the Translog functional forms, of production and revenue, were used to determine the level of revenue efficiency and its determinants. The result showed that most of the cassava farmers are male (60%). Many of the farmers are either married, engaged or living together with a spouse (83%), with a mean household size of nine persons. Farmland is prevalently obtained by inheritance (95%), average farm size is 1.34 hectares, and most cassava farmers did not access agriculture credits (76%) and extension services (91%). The mean cassava output per hectare is 1,506.02 kg, which estimates average revenue of L$23,551.16 (Liberian dollars). Empirical results showed that the revenue efficiency of cassava farmers varies from 0.1% to 73.5%; with the mean revenue efficiency of 12.9%. This indicates that on average, there is a vast potential of 87.1% to increase the economic efficiency of cassava farmers in Nimba by improving technical and allocative efficiencies. For the significant determinants of revenue efficiency, age and group membership had negative effects on revenue efficiency of cassava production; while farming experience, access to extension, formal education, and average wage rate have positive effects. The study recommends the setting-up and incentivizing of farmer field schools for cassava farmers to primarily share their farming experiences with others and to learn robust cultivation techniques of sustainable agriculture. Also, farm managers and farmers should consider a fix wage rate in labor contracts for all stages of cassava farming.

Keywords: Economic efficiency, frontier production, and revenue functions, Liberia, Nimba County, output-oriented, revenue efficiency.

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Authors: Candice Moy, Damien Guirco, Thomas Boyle

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Intelligent technologies are increasingly facilitating sustainable water management strategies in Australia. While this innovation can present clear cost benefits to utilities through immediate leak detection and deference of capital costs, the impact of this technology on households is less distinct. By offering real-time engagement and detailed end-use consumption breakdowns, there is significant potential for demand reduction as a behavioural response to increased information. Despite this potential, passive implementation without well-planned residential engagement strategies is likely to result in a lost opportunity. This paper begins this research process by exploring the effect of smart water meters through the lens of three behaviour change theories. The Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB), Belief Revision theory (BR) and Practice Theory emphasise different variables that can potentially influence and predict household water engagements. In acknowledging the strengths of each theory, the nuances and complexity of household water engagement can be recognised which can contribute to effective planning for residential smart meter engagement strategies.

Keywords: Behaviour, information, household, smart meters, water.

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Authors: Alesya Ya. Maruk, Olga E. Klementyeva, Ekaterina I. Lesik, Anton A. Larenkov, Alexander B. Bruskin

Abstract:

Alpfa-fetoprotein and its fragments may be an important vehicle for targeted delivery of radionuclides to the tumor. We investigated the effect of conditions on the labeling of biologically active synthetic peptide based on the (F-afp) with technetium-99m. The influence of the nature of the buffer solution, pH, concentration of reductant, concentration of the peptide and the reaction temperature on the yield of labeling was examined. As a result, the following optimal conditions for labeling of (F-afp) are found: pH 8.5 (phosphate and bicarbonate buffers) and pH from 1.7 to 7.0 (citrate buffer). The reaction proceeds with sufficient yield at room temperature for 30 min at the concentration of SnCl2 and (Fafp) (F-afp) is to be less than 10 mkg/ml and 25 mkg/ml, respectively. Investigations of the test drug accumulation in the tumor cells of human breast cancer were carried out. Results can be assumed that the in vivo study of the (F-afp) in experimental tumor lesions will show concentrations sufficient for imaging these lesions by SPECT.

Keywords: peptide, technetium-99m, tumor, SPECT.

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Authors: Ramin Karimzadeh, Nazi Rahimi, Mohammad Ghashghaee

Abstract:

In the present research, steam cracking of two types of feedstocks i.e., naphtha and ethane is simulated for Pyrocrack1-1 and 2/2 coil configurations considering two key parameters of coil outlet temperature (COT) and coil capacity using a radical based kinetic model. The computer model is confirmed using the industrial data obtained from Amirkabir Petrochemical Complex. The results are in good agreement with performance data for naphtha cracking in a wide range of severity (0.4-0.7), and for ethane cracking on various conversions (50-70). It was found that Pyrocrack2-2 coil type is an appropriate choice for steam cracking of ethane at reasonable ethylene yield while resulting in much lower tube wall temperature while Pyrocrack1-1 coil type is a proper selection for liquid feedstocks i.e. naphtha. It can be used for cracking of liquid feedstocks at optimal ethylene yield whereas not exceeding the allowable maximum tube temperature.

Keywords: Coil configuration, Ethane, Naphtha, Steamcracking.

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