Search results for: high temperature exposure

Authors: M. Manafi, J. Hesari, H. Peighambardoust, M. Rahimzade Khoyi

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Fruit drying is a well known process mostly used for preservation of fruits. Osmotic dehydration of apricot slices were carried out in three different salt-sucrose concentrations and four different temperatures. Also three different weight ratios of solution to sample were conducted to one set of experiments. The dehydration curves were constructed using Peleg-s model. Increasing the solution volume increased the mass transfer rate and hence the solid gain increased rapidly. Increasing the volume of osmotic media caused an increase in overall mass transfer but a 'solution to sample' ratio of 5:1 gave the best product quality. The best temperature and concentration that had a high water loss to solid gain ratio and an acceptable taste were 40°C and 5%, respectively.

Keywords: Apricot, Effective diffusivities, Osmotic dehydration

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Authors: D. Zare, H. Naderi, A. A. Jafari

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Drying characteristics of rough rice (variety of lenjan) with an initial moisture content of 25% dry basis (db) was studied in a hot air dryer assisted by infrared heating. Three arrival air temperatures (30, 40 and 500C) and four infrared radiation intensities (0, 0.2 , 0.4 and 0.6 W/cm2) and three arrival air speeds (0.1, 0.15 and 0.2 m.s-1) were studied. Bending strength of brown rice kernel, percentage of cracked kernels and time of drying were measured and evaluated. The results showed that increasing the drying arrival air temperature and radiation intensity of infrared resulted decrease in drying time. High bending strength and low percentage of cracked kernel was obtained when paddy was dried by hot air assisted infrared dryer. Between this factors and their interactive effect were a significant difference (p<0.01). An intensity level of 0.2 W/cm2 was found to be optimum for radiation drying. Furthermore, in the present study, the application of Artificial Neural Network (ANN) for predicting the moisture content during drying (output parameter for ANN modeling) was investigated. Infrared Radiation intensity, drying air temperature, arrival air speed and drying time were considered as input parameters for the model. An ANN model with two hidden layers with 8 and 14 neurons were selected for studying the influence of transfer functions and training algorithms. The results revealed that a network with the Tansig (hyperbolic tangent sigmoid) transfer function and trainlm (Levenberg-Marquardt) back propagation algorithm made the most accurate predictions for the paddy drying system. Mean square error (MSE) was calculated and found that the random errors were within and acceptable range of ±5% with coefficient of determination (R2) of 99%.

Keywords: Rough rice, Infrared-hot air, Artificial Neural Network

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Authors: J. P. Chica Cano, G. Cabot, S. de Persis, F. Foucher

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Among all possibilities to combat global warming, CO₂ capture and sequestration (CCS) is presented as a great alternative to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emission. Several strategies for CCS from industrial and power plants are being considered. The concept of combined oxy-fuel combustion has been the most alternative solution. Nevertheless, due to the high cost of pure O₂ production, additional ways recently emerged. In this paper, an innovative combustion process for a gas turbine cycle was studied: it was composed of methane combustion with oxygen enhanced air (OEA), exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) and H₂O issuing from STIG (Steam Injection Gas Turbine), and the CO₂ capture was realized by membrane separator. The effect on this combustion process was emphasized, and it was shown that a study of the influence of H₂O dilution on the combustion parameters by experimental and numerical approaches had to be carried out. As a consequence, the laminar burning velocities measurements were performed in a stainless steel spherical combustion from atmospheric pressure to high pressure (up to 0.5 MPa), at 473 K for an equivalence ratio at 1. These experimental results were satisfactorily compared with Chemical Workbench v.4.1 package in conjunction with GRIMech 3.0 reaction mechanism. The good correlations so obtained between experimental and calculated flame speed velocities showed the validity of the GRIMech 3.0 mechanism in this domain of combustion: high H₂O dilution, low N₂, medium pressure. Finally, good estimations of flame speed and pollutant emissions were determined in other conditions compatible with real gas turbine. In particular, mixtures (composed of CH₄/O₂/N₂/H₂O/ or CO₂) leading to the same adiabatic temperature were investigated. Influences of oxygen enrichment and H₂O dilution (compared to CO₂) were disused.

Keywords: CO2 capture, oxygen enrichment, water dilution, laminar burning velocity, pollutants emissions.

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Authors: T. Sakamoto, S. Kainuma

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Firstly, in order to examine the influence of the remaining amount of the rust on the coating film durability, the accelerated deterioration tests were carried out. In order to prepare test specimens, uncoated steel plates were corroded by the Salt Spray Test (SST) prior to the accelerated deterioration tests, and then the prepared test specimens were coated by epoxy resin and phthalic acid resin each of which has different gas-barrier performance. As the result, it was confirmed that the under-film corrosion occurred in the area and the adjacency to great quantities of salt exists in the rust, and did not occurred in the specimen which was applied the epoxy resin paint after the surface preparation by the power tool. Secondly, in order to clarify the influence of the corrosive factors on the coating film durability, outdoor exposure tests were conducted for one year on actual steel bridge located at a coastal area. The tests specimens consist of coated corroded plates and the uncoated steel plates, and they were installed on the different structural members of the bridge for one year. From the test results, the uncoated steel plates which were installed on the underside of the member are easily corrosive and had highly correlation with the amount of salt in the rust. On the other hand, the most corrosive under-film steel was the vertical surface of the web plate. Thus, it was confirmed that under-film corrosion rate was not match with corrosion rate of the uncoated steel. Consequently, it is estimated that the main factors of under-film corrosion are gas-barrier property of coating film and corrosive factors such as water vapor and temperature. The salt which significantly corrodes the uncoated steel plate is not directly related to the under-film corrosion.

Keywords: Accelerated deterioration test, Coating durability, Environmental factor, Under-film corrosion.

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Authors: Yuan Zhang

Abstract:

Along with large population and great demands for urban development, Hong Kong serves as a typical high-density city with multiple altitudes, advanced three-dimensional traffic system, rich city open space, etc. This paper contributes to analyzing its complex urban form and evolution mechanism from three aspects of view, separately as time, space and buildings. Taking both horizontal and vertical dimension into consideration, this paper provides a perspective to explore the fascinating process of growing and space folding in the urban form of high-density city, also as a research reference for related high-density urban design.

Keywords: Evolution mechanism, high-density city, Hong Kong, urban form.

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Authors: Elteyeb Eljack, Takashi Ohta

Abstract:

Proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) is used to reconstruct spatio-temporal data of a fully developed turbulent channel flow with density variation at Reynolds number of 150, based on the friction velocity and the channel half-width, and Prandtl number of 0.71. To apply POD to the fully developed turbulent channel flow with density variation, the flow field (velocities, density, and temperature) is scaled by the corresponding root mean square values (rms) so that the flow field becomes dimensionless. A five-vector POD problem is solved numerically. The reconstructed second-order moments of velocity, temperature, and density from POD eigenfunctions compare favorably to the original Direct Numerical Simulation (DNS) data.

Keywords: Pattern Recognition, POD, Coherent Structures, Low dimensional modelling.

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Authors: A. Karsenty, A. Chelly

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Ultrathin (UTD) and Nanoscale (NSD) SOI-MOSFET devices, sharing a similar W/L but with a channel thickness of 46nm and 1.6nm respectively, were fabricated using a selective “gate recessed” process on the same silicon wafer. The electrical transport characterization at room temperature has shown a large difference between the two kinds of devices and has been interpreted in terms of a huge unexpected series resistance. Electrical characteristics of the Nanoscale device, taken in the linear region, can be analytically derived from the ultrathin device ones. A comparison of the structure and composition of the layers, using advanced techniques such as Focused Ion Beam (FIB) and High Resolution TEM (HRTEM) coupled with Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDS), contributes an explanation as to the difference of transport between the devices.

Keywords: Nanoscale Devices, SOI MOSFET, Analytical Model, Electron Transport.

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Authors: A. Kerfah, K. Taïbi, S. Omeiri, M. Trari.

Abstract:

New lead-free ferroelectric relaxor ceramics were prepared by conventional solid-state synthesis in the BaTiO3-Bi2O3- Y2O3 systems. Some of these ceramics present a ferroelectric relaxor with transition temperature close to room temperature. These new materials are very interesting for applications and can replace leadbased ceramic to prevent the toxic pollutions during the preparation state. In the other hand, the energy band diagram shows the potentiality of these compounds for the solar energy conversion. Thus, some compositions have been tested successfully for H2 production upon visible light. The best activity occurs in alkaline media with a rate evolution of about 0.15 mL g-1 mn-1 and a quantum yield of 1% under polychromatic light.

Keywords: Ferroelectric, Hydrogen production, Lead-free, Photocatalysis.

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Authors: Y. A. Shapovalov, F. M. Gumerov, M. K. Nauryzbaev, S. V. Mazanov, R. A. Usmanov, A. V. Klinov, L. K. Safiullina, S. A. Soshin

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A flow-through installation was created and manufactured for the transesterification of triglycerides of fatty acids and production of biodiesel fuel under supercritical fluid conditions. Transesterification of rapeseed oil with ethanol was carried out according to two parameters: temperature and the ratio of alcohol/oil mixture at the constant pressure of 19 MPa. The kinetics of the yield of fatty acids ethyl esters (FAEE) was determined in the temperature range of 320-380 °C at the alcohol/oil molar ratio of 6:1-20:1. The content of the formed FAEE was determined by the method of correlation of the resulting biodiesel fuel by its kinematic viscosity. The maximum FAEE yield (about 90%) was obtained within 30 min at the ethanol/oil molar ratio of 12:1 and a temperature of 380 °C. When studying of transesterification of triglycerides, a kinetic model of an isothermal flow reactor was used. The reaction order implemented in the flow reactor has been determined. The first order of the reaction was confirmed by data on the conversion of FAEE during the reaction at different temperatures and the molar ratios of the initial reagents (ethanol/oil). Using the Arrhenius equation, the values of the effective constants of the transesterification reaction rate were calculated at different reaction temperatures. In addition, based on the experimental data, the activation energy and the pre-exponential factor of the transesterification reaction were determined.

Keywords: Biodiesel, fatty acid esters, supercritical fluid technology, transesterification.

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Authors: Benjamin Osei Tutu, Rita Asante, Emefa Atsu

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Background: An outbreak of gastroenteritis occurred in December 2019 after students of a Senior High School in Accra were served with kenkey and fish during their dinner. An investigation was conducted to characterize the affected people, the source of contamination, the etiologic food and agent. Methods: An epidemiological study was conducted with cases selected from the student population who were ill. Controls were selected from among students who also ate from the school canteen during dinner but were not ill. Food history of each case and control was taken to assess their exposure status. Epi Info 7 was used to analyze the data obtained from the outbreak. Attack rates and odds ratios were calculated to determine the risk of foodborne infection for each of the foods consumed by the population. The source of contamination of the foods was ascertained by conducting an environmental risk assessment at the school. Results: Data were obtained from 126 students, out of which 57 (45.2%) were cases and 69 (54.8%) were controls. The cases presented with symptoms such as diarrhea (85.96%), abdominal cramps (66.67%), vomiting (50.88%), headache (21.05%), fever (17.86%) and nausea (3.51%). The peak incubation period was 18 hours with a minimum and maximum incubation periods of 6 and 50 hours respectively. From the incubation period, duration of illness and the symptoms, non-typhoidal salmonellosis was suspected. Multivariate analysis indicated that the illness was associated with the consumption of the fried fish served, however this was statistically insignificant (AOR 3.1.00, P = 0.159). No stool, blood or food samples were available for organism isolation and confirmation of suspected etiologic agent. The environmental risk assessment indicated poor hand washing practices on the part of both the food handlers and students. Conclusion: The outbreak could probably be due to the consumption of the fried fish that might have been contaminated with Salmonella sp. as a result of poor hand washing practices in the school.

Keywords: Case control study, food poisoning, handwashing, Salmonella, school.

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Authors: R. Akbari, M. A. Ehyaei, R. Shahi Shavvon

Abstract:

Nowadays, solar energy is used for energy purposes such as the use of thermal energy for domestic, industrial and power applications, as well as the conversion of the sunlight into electricity by photovoltaic cells. In this study, the thermodynamic simulation of the solar Rankin cycle with phase change material (paraffin) was first studied. Then energy and exergy analyses were performed. For optimization, a single and multi-objective genetic optimization algorithm to maximize thermal and exergy efficiency was used. The parameters discussed in this paper included the effects of input pressure on turbines, input mass flow to turbines, the surface of converters and collector angles on thermal and exergy efficiency. In the organic Rankin cycle, where solar energy is used as input energy, the fluid selection is considered as a necessary factor to achieve reliable and efficient operation. Therefore, silicon oil is selected for a high-temperature cycle and water for a low-temperature cycle as an operating fluid. The results showed that increasing the mass flow to turbines 1 and 2 would increase thermal efficiency, while it reduces and increases the exergy efficiency in turbines 1 and 2, respectively. Increasing the inlet pressure to the turbine 1 decreases the thermal and exergy efficiency, and increasing the inlet pressure to the turbine 2 increases the thermal efficiency and exergy efficiency. Also, increasing the angle of the collector increased thermal efficiency and exergy. The thermal efficiency of the system was 22.3% which improves to 33.2 and 27.2% in single-objective and multi-objective optimization, respectively. Also, the exergy efficiency of the system was 1.33% which has been improved to 1.719 and 1.529% in single-objective and multi-objective optimization, respectively. These results showed that the thermal and exergy efficiency in a single-objective optimization is greater than the multi-objective optimization.

Keywords: Exergy analysis, Genetic algorithm, Rankine cycle, Single and Multi-objective function.

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Authors: Eggertson, E.C. Kapulla, R, Fokken, J, Prasser, H.M.

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The turbulent mixing of coolant streams of different temperature and density can cause severe temperature fluctuations in piping systems in nuclear reactors. In certain periodic contraction cycles these conditions lead to thermal fatigue. The resulting aging effect prompts investigation in how the mixing of flows over a sharp temperature/density interface evolves. To study the fundamental turbulent mixing phenomena in the presence of density gradients, isokinetic (shear-free) mixing experiments are performed in a square channel with Reynolds numbers ranging from 2-500 to 60-000. Sucrose is used to create the density difference. A Wire Mesh Sensor (WMS) is used to determine the concentration map of the flow in the cross section. The mean interface width as a function of velocity, density difference and distance from the mixing point are analyzed based on traditional methods chosen for the purposes of atmospheric/oceanic stratification analyses. A definition of the mixing layer thickness more appropriate to thermal fatigue and based on mixedness is devised. This definition shows that the thermal fatigue risk assessed using simple mixing layer growth can be misleading and why an approach that separates the effects of large scale (turbulent) and small scale (molecular) mixing is necessary.

Keywords: Concentration measurements, Mixedness, Stablystratified turbulent isokinetic mixing layer, Wire mesh sensor

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Authors: A. Gürses, T. B. Barın, Ç. Doğar

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Bitumen has been widely used as the binder of aggregate in road pavement due to its good viscoelastic properties, as a viscous organic mixture with various chemical compositions. Bitumen is a liquid at high temperature and it becomes brittle at low temperatures, and this temperature-sensitivity can cause the rutting and cracking of the pavement and limit its application. Therefore, the properties of existing asphalt materials need to be enhanced. The pavement with polymer modified bitumen exhibits greater resistance to rutting and thermal cracking, decreased fatigue damage, as well as stripping and temperature susceptibility; however, they are expensive and their applications have disadvantages. Bituminous mixtures are composed of very irregular aggregates bound together with hydrocarbon-based asphalt, with a low volume fraction of voids dispersed within the matrix. Montmorillonite (MMT) is a layered silicate with low cost and abundance, which consists of layers of tetrahedral silicate and octahedral hydroxide sheets. Recently, the layered silicates have been widely used for the modification of polymers, as well as in many different fields. However, there are not too much studies related with the preparation of the modified asphalt with MMT, currently. In this study, organo-clay-modified bitumen, and calcareous aggregate and organo-clay blends were prepared by hot blending method with OMMT, which has been synthesized using a cationic surfactant (Cetyltrymethylammonium bromide, CTAB) and long chain hydrocarbon, and MMT. When the exchangeable cations in the interlayer region of pristine MMT were exchanged with hydrocarbon attached surfactant ions, the MMT becomes organophilic and more compatible with bitumen. The effects of the super hydrophobic OMMT onto the micro structural and mechanic properties (Marshall Stability and volumetric parameters) of the prepared blends were investigated. Stability and volumetric parameters of the blends prepared were measured using Marshall Test. Also, in order to investigate the morphological and micro structural properties of the organo-clay-modified bitumen and calcareous aggregate and organo-clay blends, their SEM and HRTEM images were taken. It was observed that the stability and volumetric parameters of the prepared mixtures improved significantly compared to the conventional hot mixes and even the stone matrix mixture. A micro structural analysis based on SEM images indicates that the organo-clay platelets dispersed in the bitumen have a dominant role in the increase of effectiveness of bitumen - aggregate interactions.

Keywords: Hot mix asphalt, stone matrix asphalt, organo clay, Marshall Test, calcareous aggregate, modified bitumen.

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Authors: Hesamodin Ebnodin Hamidi, Mojtaba Rahimi

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Along with increasing development of generation of supersonic planes especially fighters and request for increasing the performance and maneuverability scientists and engineers suggested the delta and double delta wing design. One of the areas which was necessary to be researched, was the Aerodynamic review of this type of wings in high angles of attack at low speeds that was very important in landing and takeoff the planes and maneuvers. Leading Edges of the wings,cause the separation flow from wing surface and then formation of powerful vortex with high rotational speed which studing the mechanism and location of formation and also the position of the vortex breakdown in high angles of attack is very important. In this research, a double delta wing with 76o/45o sweep angles at high angle of attack in steady state and incompressible flow were numerically analyzed with Fluent software. With analaysis of the numerical results, we arrived the most important characteristic of the double delta wings which is keeping of lift at high angles of attacks.

Keywords: Double delta wing, high angle of attack, vortex breakdown, incompressible flow.

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Authors: W. Y. Wan Fairos, W. H. Wan Azaki, L. Mohamad Alias, Y. Bee Wah

Abstract:

Dengue fever has become a major concern for health authorities all over the world particularly in the tropical countries. These countries, in particular are experiencing the most worrying outbreak of dengue fever (DF) and dengue haemorrhagic fever (DHF). The DF and DHF epidemics, thus, have become the main causes of hospital admissions and deaths in Malaysia. This paper, therefore, attempts to examine the environmental factors that may influence the recent dengue outbreak. The aim of this study is twofold, firstly is to establish a statistical model to describe the relationship between the number of dengue cases and a range of explanatory variables and secondly, to identify the lag operator for explanatory variables which affect the dengue incidence the most. The explanatory variables involved include the level of cloud cover, percentage of relative humidity, amount of rainfall, maximum temperature, minimum temperature and wind speed. The Poisson and Negative Binomial regression analyses were used in this study. The results of the analyses on the 915 observations (daily data taken from July 2006 to Dec 2008), reveal that the climatic factors comprising of daily temperature and wind speed were found to significantly influence the incidence of dengue fever after 2 and 3 weeks of their occurrences. The effect of humidity, on the other hand, appears to be significant only after 2 weeks.

Keywords: Dengue Fever, Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever, Negative Binomial Regression model, Poisson Regression model.

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Authors: Adrian T. Plesca

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This paper describes a three-dimensional thermal model of the current path included in the low voltage power circuit breakers. The model can be used to analyse the thermal behaviour of the current path during both steady-state and transient conditions. The current path lengthwise temperature distribution and timecurrent characteristic of the terminal connections of the power circuit breaker have been obtained. The influence of the electric current and voltage drop on main electric contact of the circuit breaker has been investigated. To validate the three-dimensional thermal model, some experimental tests have been done. There is a good correlation between experimental and simulation results.

Keywords: Current path, power circuit breakers, temperature distribution, thermal analysis.

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Authors: Nishtha Gupta , S.Ramesh Kumar , B.Ravisankar, S.Kumaran

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In this study, mechanically alloyed Al 2024 powder is densified by conventional sintering and by equal channel angular pressing (ECAP) with and without back pressure. The powder was encapsulated in an aluminium can for consolidation through ECAP. The properties obtained in the compacts by conventional sintering route and by ECAP are compared. The effect of conventional sintering and ECAP on consolidation behaviour of powder, microstructure, density and hardness is discussed. Room temperature back pressure aided ECAP results in nearly full denser (97% of its theoretical density) compact at room temperature. NanoIndentation technique was used to determine the modulus of the consolidated compacts.

Keywords: Al-2024, Back Pressure, ECAP, Nanoindentation

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Authors: Jindrich J. Melcher, Marcela Karmazínová

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The paper presents the brief information on particular results of experimental study focused to the problems of behavior of structural plated components made of fiber-cement-based materials and used in building constructions, exposed to atmospheric physical effects given by the weather changes in the summer period. Weather changes represented namely by temperature and rain cause also the changes of the temperature and moisture of the investigated structural components. This can affect their static behavior that means stresses and deformations, which have been monitored as the main outputs of tests performed. Experimental verification is based on the simulation of the influence of temperature and rain using the defined procedure of warming and water sprinkling with respect to the corresponding weather conditions during summer period in the South Moravian region at the Czech Republic, for which the application of these structural components is mainly planned. Two types of components have been tested: (i) glass-fiber-concrete panels used for building façades and (ii) fiber-cement slabs used mainly for claddings, but also as a part of floor structures or lost shuttering, and so on.

Keywords: Atmospheric physical effect, building component, experiment, fiber-cement, glass-fiber-concrete, simulation, static behavior, test, warming, water sprinkling, weather.

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Authors: M. Malek Yarand, H. Saebi Monfared

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This study aimed at designing and developing a mechanical force gauge for the square watermelon mold for the first time. It also tried to introduce the square watermelon characteristics and its production limitations. The mechanical force gauge performance and the product itself were also described. There are three main designable gauge models: a. hydraulic gauge, b. strain gauge, and c. mechanical gauge. The advantage of the hydraulic model is that it instantly displays the pressure and thus the force exerted by the melon. However, considering the inability to measure forces at all directions, complicated development, high cost, possible hydraulic fluid leak into the fruit chamber and the possible influence of increased ambient temperature on the fluid pressure, the development of this gauge was overruled. The second choice was to calculate pressure using the direct force a strain gauge. The main advantage of these strain gauges over spring types is their high precision in measurements; but with regard to the lack of conformity of strain gauge working range with water melon growth, calculations were faced with problems. Finally the mechanical pressure gauge has advantages, including the ability to measured forces and pressures on the mold surface during melon growth; the ability to display the peak forces; the ability to produce melon growth graph thanks to its continuous force measurements; the conformity of its manufacturing materials with the required physical conditions of melon growth; high air conditioning capability; the ability to permit sunlight reaches the melon rind (no yellowish skin and quality loss); fast and straightforward calibration; no damages to the product during assembling and disassembling; visual check capability of the product within the mold; applicable to all growth environments (field, greenhouses, etc.); simple process; low costs and so forth.

Keywords: Mechanical Force Gauge, Mold, Reshaped Fruit, Square Watermelon.

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Authors: M. Ghobeiti-Hasab, Z. Shariati

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In this paper, strontium ferrite (SrO.6Fe2O3) was synthesized by the sol-gel auto-combustion process. The thermal behavior of powder obtained from self-propagating combustion of initial gel was evaluated by simultaneous differential thermal analysis (DTA) and thermo gravimetric (TG), from room temperature to 1200°C. The as-burnt powder was calcined at various temperatures from 700-900°C to achieve the single-phase Sr-ferrite. Phase composition, morphology and magnetic properties were investigated using X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and vibrating sample magnetometry (VSM) techniques. Results showed that the single-phase and nano-sized hexagonal strontium ferrite particles were formed at calcination temperature of 800°C with crystallite size of 27 nm and coercivity of 6238 Oe.

Keywords: Hard magnet, Sr-ferrite, Sol-gel auto-combustion, Nano-powder.

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Authors: Laila Seada, Hanan Oreiby, Fawaz Al Rashid, Ashraf Negm

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Background and Objective: In most areas of the world, the incidence of thyroid cancer has been increasing over the last decade, mostly due to a combination of early detection of the neoplasm resulting from sensitive procedures and increased population exposure to radiation and unrecognized carcinogens. Methods: Cases of thyroid cancer have been retrieved from the cancer registry at King Khalid Hospital during the period from August 2012 to April 2016. Age, gender and histopathologic types have been recorded. Results: Thyroid carcinoma ranked as the second most common malignancy in females (25%) after breast cancer (31%). It constituted 20.8% of all newly diagnosed cancer cases. As for males, it ranked the 4^th type of malignancy after gastrointestinal cancer, lymphomas and soft tissue sarcomas. Mean age for females and males was 38.7 +/- 13.2 and 60.25 +/- 11.5 years, respectively, and the difference between the two groups was statistically significant (p value = 0.0001). Fifty-five (82%) were papillary carcinomas including 10 follicular variant of papillary (FVPC), and eight papillary micro carcinomas (PMC) and two tall cell/oncocytic variants. Follicular carcinomas constituted two (3.1%), while two (3.1%) were anaplastic, and two (3.1%) were medullary. Conclusion: Thyroid cancer incidence in Hail is ranking as the 2^nd most common female malignancy similar to other regions in the Kingdom. However, this high incidence contrasts with much lower rates worldwide.

Keywords: Thyroid, Hail, papillary, micro carcinoma.

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Authors: Simin Asadollahi, Mohammad Hossein Haddad Khodaparast

Abstract:

Molasses is one of the most important by-products in sugar industry, which contains a large amount of sucrose. The routine way to separate the sucrose from molasses is using steffen method. Whereas this method is very usual in sugar factories, the aim of this research is optimization of this method. Mentioned optimization depends to three factors of reactor alkality, reactor temperature and diluted molasses brix. Accordingly, three different stages must be done:

1. Construction of a pilot plant similar to actual steffen system in sugar factories
2. Experimenting using the pilot plant
3. Laboratory analysis

These experiences included 27 treatments in three replications. In each replication, brix, polarization and purity characters in Saccharate syrup and hot and cold waste were measured. The results showed that diluted molasses brix, reactor alkality and reactor temperature had many significant effects on Saccharate purity and efficiency of molasses desugarization. This research was performed in "randomize complete design" form & was analyzed with "duncan multiple range test". The significant difference in the level of α = 5% is observed between the treatments. The results indicated that the optimal conditions for molasses desugarization by steffen method are: diluted molasses brix= 10, reactor alkality= 10 and reactor temperature=8˚C. 

Keywords: Molasses desugarization, Saccharate purity, Steffen process.

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Authors: Amil Daraz, Suheel Abdullah Malik, Tahir Saleem, Sajid Ali Bhati

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In this paper, Integral Proportional (I-P) controller is employed for superheated steam temperature control system. The Ziegler-Nichols (Z-N) method is used for the tuning of I-P controller. The performance analysis of Z-N based I-P controller is assessed on superheated steam system of 500-MW boiler. The comparison of transient response parameters such as rise time, settling time, and overshoot is made with Z-N based Proportional Integral (PI) controller. It is observed from the results that Z-N based I-P controller completely eliminates the overshoot in the output response.

Keywords: Superheated steam, process reaction curve, PI and I-P controller, Ziegler-Nichols tuning.

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Authors: Keunhong Chae, Youngpo Lee, Seokho Yoon

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In cognitive radio (CR) systems, the primary user (PU) signal would randomly depart or arrive during the sensing period of a CR user, which is referred to as the high traffic environment. In this paper, we propose a novel spectrum sensing scheme based on the cyclostationarity of PU signals in high traffic environments. Specifically, we obtain a test statistic by applying an estimate of spectral autocoherence function of the PU signal to the generalized- likelihood ratio. From numerical results, it is confirmed that the proposed scheme provides a better spectrum sensing performance compared with the conventional spectrum sensing scheme based on the energy of the PU signals in high traffic environments.

Keywords: Spectrum sensing, cyclostationarity, high traffic environments.

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Authors: Miloš Matúš, Peter Križan, Ľubomír Šooš, Juraj Beniak

Abstract:

The moisture content of densified biomass is a limiting parameter influencing the quality of this solid biofuel. It influences its calorific value, density, mechanical strength and dimensional stability as well as affecting its production process. This paper deals with experimental research into the effect of moisture content of the densified material on the final quality of biofuel in the form of logs (briquettes or pellets). Experiments based on the singleaxis densification of the spruce sawdust were carried out with a hydraulic piston press (piston and die), where the densified logs were produced at room temperature. The effect of moisture content on the qualitative properties of the logs, including density, change of moisture, expansion and physical changes, and compressive and impact resistance were studied. The results show the moisture ranges required for producing good-quality logs. The experiments were evaluated and the moisture content of the tested material was optimized to achieve the optimum value for the best quality of the solid biofuel. The dense logs also have high-energy content per unit volume. The research results could be used to develop and optimize industrial technologies and machinery for biomass densification to achieve high quality solid biofuel.

Keywords: Biomass, briquettes, densification, fuel quality, moisture content, density.

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Authors: V.Bharathi, Jamila Patterson, R.Rajendiran

Abstract:

Optimization of extraction of phenolic compounds from Avicennia marina using response surface methodology was carried out during the present study. Five levels, three factors rotatable design (CCRD) was utilized to examine the optimum combination of extraction variables based on the TPC of Avicennia marina leaves. The best combination of response function was 78.41 °C, drying temperature; 26.18°C; extraction temperature and 36.53 minutes of extraction time. However, the procedure can be promptly extended to the study of several others pharmaceutical processes like purification of bioactive substances, drying of extracts and development of the pharmaceutical dosage forms for the benefit of consumers.

Keywords: Avicennia marina, Central Composite RotatableDesign (CCRD), Response Surface Methodology, Total Phenoliccontents (TPC)

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Authors: I. Grigoraviciute-Puroniene, K. Tsuru, E. Garskaite, Z. Stankeviciute, A. Beganskiene, K. Ishikawa, A. Kareiva

Abstract:

Tricalcium phosphate (β-Ca₃(PO₄)₂, β-TCP) powders were synthesized using wet polymeric precipitation method for the first time to our best knowledge. The results of X-ray diffraction analysis showed the formation of almost single a Ca-deficient hydroxyapatite (CDHA) phase of a poor crystallinity already at room temperature. With continuously increasing the calcination temperature up to 800 °C, the crystalline β-TCP was obtained as the main phase. It was demonstrated that infrared spectroscopy is very effective method to characterize the formation of β-TCP. The SEM results showed that β-TCP solids were homogeneous having a small particle size distribution. The β-TCP powders consisted of spherical particles varying in size from 100 to 300 nm. Fabricated β-TCP specimens were placed to the bones of the rats and maintained for 1-2 months.

Keywords: β-TCP, bone regeneration, wet chemical processing, polymeric precipitation.

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Authors: Mohamed Hafid, Marcel Lacroix

Abstract:

This study presents a simple inverse heat transfer procedure for predicting the wall erosion and the time-varying thickness of the protective bank that covers the inside surface of the refractory brick wall of a melting furnace. The direct problem is solved by using the Finite-Volume model. The melting/solidification process is modeled using the enthalpy method. The inverse procedure rests on the Levenberg-Marquardt method combined with the Broyden method. The effect of the location of the temperature sensors and of the measurement noise on the inverse predictions is investigated. Recommendations are made concerning the location of the temperature sensor.

Keywords: Melting furnace, inverse heat transfer, enthalpy method, Levenberg–Marquardt Method.

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Authors: Ming-Hui Lee, Tsung-Chien Chen, Tsu-Ping Yu, Horng-Yuan Jang

Abstract:

The innovative intelligent fuzzy weighted input estimation method (FWIEM) can be applied to the inverse heat transfer conduction problem (IHCP) to estimate the unknown time-varying heat flux of the multilayer materials as presented in this paper. The feasibility of this method can be verified by adopting the temperature measurement experiment. The experiment modular may be designed by using the copper sample which is stacked up 4 aluminum samples with different thicknesses. Furthermore, the bottoms of copper samples are heated by applying the standard heat source, and the temperatures on the tops of aluminum are measured by using the thermocouples. The temperature measurements are then regarded as the inputs into the presented method to estimate the heat flux in the bottoms of copper samples. The influence on the estimation caused by the temperature measurement of the sample with different thickness, the processing noise covariance Q, the weighting factor γ , the sampling time interval Δt , and the space discrete interval Δx , will be investigated by utilizing the experiment verification. The results show that this method is efficient and robust to estimate the unknown time-varying heat input of the multilayer materials.

Keywords: Multilayer Materials, Input Estimation Method, IHCP, Heat Flux.

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Authors: Edison Muzenda, John Kabuba, Freeman Ntuli, Mansoor Mollagee

Abstract:

The aim of this study was to investigate ammonium exchange capacity of natural and activated clinoptilolite from Kwazulu-Natal Province, South Africa. X – ray fluorescence (XRF) analysis showed that the clinoptilolite contained exchangeable ions of sodium, potassium, calcium and magnesium. This analysis also confirmed that the zeolite sample had a high silicon composition compared to aluminium. Batch equilibrium studies were performed in an orbital shaker and the data fitted the Langmuir isotherm very well. The ammonium exchange capacity was found to increase with pH and temperature. Clinoptilolite functionalization with hydrochloric acid increased its ammonia uptake ability.

Keywords: Activated clinoptilolite, Ammonium exchange, Equilibrium, Functionalization, Langmuir isotherm

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