Search results for: closed water cycles
1725 Development of a Sliding-tearing Mode Fracture Mechanical Tool for Laminated Composite Materials
Authors: Andras Szekrenyes
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This work presents the mixed-mode II/III prestressed split-cantilever beam specimen for the fracture testing of composite materials. In accordance with the concept of prestressed composite beams one of the two fracture modes is provided by the prestressed state of the specimen, and the other one is increased up to fracture initiation by using a testing machine. The novel beam-like specimen is able to provide any combination of the mode-II and mode-III energy release rates. A simple closed-form solution is developed using beam theory as a data reduction scheme and for the calculation of the energy release rates in the new configuration. The applicability and the limitations of the novel fracture mechanical test are demonstrated using unidirectional glass/polyester composite specimens. If only crack propagation onset is involved then the mixed-mode beam specimen can be used to obtain the fracture criterion of transparent composite materials in the GII - GIII plane in a relatively simple way.
Keywords: Composite, fracture mechanics, toughness testing, mixed-mode II/III fracture.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 19391724 Performance of Hybrid-MIMO Receiver Scheme in Cognitive Radio Network
Authors: Tanapong Khomyat, Peerapong Uthansakul, Monthippa Uthansakul
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In this paper, we evaluate the performance of the Hybrid-MIMO Receiver Scheme (HMRS) in Cognitive Radio network (CR-network). We investigate the efficiency of the proposed scheme which the energy level and user number of primary user are varied according to the characteristic of CR-network. HMRS can allow users to transmit either Space-Time Block Code (STBC) or Spatial-Multiplexing (SM) streams simultaneously by using Successive Interference Cancellation (SIC) and Maximum Likelihood Detection (MLD). From simulation, the results indicate that the interference level effects to the performance of HMRS. Moreover, the exact closed-form capacity of the proposed scheme is derived and compared with STBC scheme.Keywords: Hybrid-MIMO, Cognitive radio network (CRnetwork), Symbol Error Rate (SER), Successive interference cancellation (SIC), Maximum likelihood detection (MLD).
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 16371723 Effect of Environmental Factors on Photoreactivation of Microorganisms under Indoor Conditions
Authors: Shirin Shafaei, James R. Bolton, Mohamed Gamal El Din
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Ultraviolet (UV) disinfection causes damage to the DNA or RNA of microorganisms, but many microorganisms can repair this damage after exposure to near-UV or visible wavelengths (310–480 nm) by a mechanism called photoreactivation. Photoreactivation is gaining more attention because it can reduce the efficiency of UV disinfection of wastewater several hours after treatment. The focus of many photoreactivation research activities on the single species has caused a considerable lack in knowledge about complex natural communities of microorganisms and their response to UV treatment. In this research, photoreactivation experiments were carried out on the influent of the UV disinfection unit at a municipal wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) in Edmonton, Alberta after exposure to a Medium-Pressure (MP) UV lamp system to evaluate the effect of environmental factors on photoreactivation of microorganisms in the actual municipal wastewater. The effect of reactivation fluence, temperature, and river water on photoreactivation of total coliforms was examined under indoor conditions. The results showed that higher effective reactivation fluence values (up to 20 J/cm2) and higher temperatures (up to 25 °C) increased the photoreactivation of total coliforms. However, increasing the percentage of river in the mixtures of the effluent and river water decreased the photoreactivation of the mixtures. The results of this research can help the municipal wastewater treatment industry to examine the environmental effects of discharging their effluents into receiving waters.
Keywords: Photoreactivation, reactivation fluence, river water, temperature, ultraviolet disinfection, wastewater effluent.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 14051722 Quantifying the Methods of Monitoring Timers in Electric Water Heater for Grid Balancing on Demand Side Management: A Systematic Mapping Review
Authors: Yamamah Abdulrazaq, Lahieb A. Abrahim, Samuel E. Davies, Iain Shewring
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Electric water heater (EWH) is a powerful appliance that uses electricity in residential, commercial, and industrial settings, and the ability to control them properly will result in cost savings and the prevention of blackouts on the national grid. This article discusses the usage of timers in EWH control strategies for demand-side management (DSM). To the authors' knowledge, there is no systematic mapping review focusing on the utilization of EWH control strategies in DSM has yet been conducted. Consequently, the purpose of this research is to identify and examine main papers exploring EWH procedures in DSM by quantifying and categorizing information with regard to publication year and source, kind of methods, and source of data for monitoring control techniques. In order to answer the research questions, a total of 31 publications published between 1999 and 2023 were selected depending on specific inclusion and exclusion criteria. The data indicate that direct load control (DLC) has been somewhat more prevalent than indirect load control (ILC). Additionally, the mix method is much lower than the other techniques, and the proportion of real-time data (RTD) to non-real-time data (NRTD) is about equal.
Keywords: Demand side management, direct load control, electric water heater, indirect load control, non-real-time data, real time data.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1141721 Accumulation of Pollutants, Self-purification and Impact on Peripheral Urban Areas: A Case Study in Shantytowns in Argentina
Authors: N. Porzionato, M. Mantiñan, E. Bussi, S. Grinberg, R. Gutierrez, G. Curutchet
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This work sets out to debate the tensions involved in the processes of contamination and self-purification in the urban space, particularly in the streams that run through the Buenos Aires metropolitan area. For much of their course, those streams are piped; their waters do not come into contact with the outdoors until they have reached deeply impoverished urban areas with high levels of environmental contamination. These are peripheral zones that, until thirty years ago, were marshlands and fields. They are now densely populated areas largely lacking in urban infrastructure. The Cárcova neighborhood, where this project is underway, is in the José León Suárez section of General San Martín county, Buenos Aires province. A stretch of José León Suarez canal crosses the neighborhood. Starting upstream, this canal carries pollutants due to the sewage and industrial waste released into it. Further downstream, in the neighborhood, domestic drainage is poured into the stream. In this paper, we formulate a hypothesis diametrical to the one that holds that these neighborhoods are the primary source of contamination, suggesting instead that in the stretch of the canal that runs through the neighborhood the stream’s waters are actually cleaned and the sediments accumulate pollutants. Indeed, the stretches of water that runs through these neighborhoods act as water processing plants for the metropolis. This project has studied the different organic-load polluting contributions to the water in a certain stretch of the canal, the reduction of that load over the course of the canal, and the incorporation of pollutants into the sediments. We have found that the surface water has considerable ability to self-purify, mostly due to processes of sedimentation and adsorption. The polluting load is accumulated in the sediments where that load stabilizes slowly by means of anaerobic processes. In this study, we also investigated the risks of sediment management and the use of the processes studied here in controlled conditions as tools of environmental restoration.Keywords: Bioremediation, pollutants, sediments, urban streams.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 24811720 Healing Performances: Ethnographic Concepts and Emic Perspectives
Authors: S. Ishak, M. G. Nasuruddin
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This paper looks at healing performances as ethnographic expressions of local knowledge and culture embedded within the Malay psyche and gemeinschaft. As society develops and progresses, these healing performances are caught within conflicting trajectories which become compounded by the contestations of tradition, religious concerns, locality and modernity. As exemplifications of the Malay ethos, these performances practice common rituals, cater to the innate needs of the practitioners and serve the targeted, closed, local community. This paper traces the ethnographic methods in documenting these practices as rituals of healing in a post-modern world. It delineates the ethnographic concepts used to analyze these rituals, and to semiotically read the varied binarial oppositions and juxtapositions. The paper concludes by highlighting the reconciliatory processes involved in maintaining these ritual performances as exemplifications of the Malay ethos playing an important role in the re-aligning, re-balancing and healing of the Malay community’s psyche.Keywords: Angin/winds, Semangat/spirits, Traditional Theatres, Trance.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 12131719 3D Network-on-Chip with on-Chip DRAM: An Empirical Analysis for Future Chip Multiprocessor
Authors: Thomas Canhao Xu, Bo Yang, Alexander Wei Yin, Pasi Liljeberg, Hannu Tenhunen
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With the increasing number of on-chip components and the critical requirement for processing power, Chip Multiprocessor (CMP) has gained wide acceptance in both academia and industry during the last decade. However, the conventional bus-based onchip communication schemes suffer from very high communication delay and low scalability in large scale systems. Network-on-Chip (NoC) has been proposed to solve the bottleneck of parallel onchip communications by applying different network topologies which separate the communication phase from the computation phase. Observing that the memory bandwidth of the communication between on-chip components and off-chip memory has become a critical problem even in NoC based systems, in this paper, we propose a novel 3D NoC with on-chip Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM) in which different layers are dedicated to different functionalities such as processors, cache or memory. Results show that, by using our proposed architecture, average link utilization has reduced by 10.25% for SPLASH-2 workloads. Our proposed design costs 1.12% less execution cycles than the traditional design on average.
Keywords: 3D integration, network-on-chip, memory-on-chip, DRAM, chip multiprocessor.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 24471718 Design of PI and Fuzzy Controller for High-Efficiency and Tightly Regulated Full Bridge DC-DC Converter
Authors: Sudha Bansal, Lalit Mohan Saini, Dheeraj Joshi
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The controller is used to improve the dynamic performance of DC-DC converter by achieving a robust output voltage against load disturbances. This paper presents the performance of PI and Fuzzy controller for a phase- shifted zero-voltage switched full-bridge PWM (ZVS FB- PWM) converters with a closed loop control. The proposed converter is regulated with minimum overshoot and good stability. In this paper phase-shift control method is used as an effective tool to reduce switching losses and duty cycle losses. A 1kW/100KHz dc/dc converter is simulated and analyzed using MATLAB. The circuit is simulated for static and dynamic load (DC motor). It has been observed that performance of converter with fuzzy controller is better than that of PI controller. An efficiency comparison of the converter with a reported topology has also been carried out.
Keywords: Full-bridge converter, phase-shifted, synchronous rectifier (SR), zero-voltage switching (ZVS).
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 29821717 Centralized Cooperative Spectrum Sensing with MIMO in the Reporting Network over κ − μ Fading Channel
Authors: S Hariharan, K Chaitanya, P Muthuchidambaranathan
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The IEEE 802.22 working group aims to drive the Digital Video Broadcasting-Terrestrial (DVB-T) bands for data communication to the rural area without interfering the TV broadcast. In this paper, we arrive at a closed-form expression for average detection probability of Fusion center (FC) with multiple antenna over the κ − μ fading channel model. We consider a centralized cooperative multiple antenna network for reporting. The DVB-T samples forwarded by the secondary user (SU) were combined using Maximum ratio combiner at FC, an energy detection is performed to make the decision. The fading effects of the channel degrades the detection probability of the FC, a generalized independent and identically distributed (IID) κ − μ and an additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) channel is considered for reporting and sensing respectively. The proposed system performance is verified through simulation results.
Keywords: IEEE 802.22, Cooperative spectrum sensing, Multiple antenna, κ − μ .
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 54571716 Aquatic Modeling: An Interplay between Scales
Authors: Christina G. Siontorou
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This paper presents an integrated knowledge-based approach to multi-scale modeling of aquatic systems, with a view to enhancing predictive power and aiding environmental management and policy-making. The basic phases of this approach have been exemplified in the case of a bay in Saronicos Gulf (Attiki, Greece). The results showed a significant problem with rising phytoplankton blooms linked to excessive microbial growth, arisen mostly due to increased nitrogen inflows; therefore, the nitrification/denitrification processes of the benthic and water column sub-systems have provided the quality variables to be monitored for assessing environmental status. It is thereby demonstrated that the proposed approach facilitates modeling choices and implementation option decisions, while it provides substantial support for knowledge and experience capitalization in long-term water management.
Keywords: Aquatic ecosystem, integrated modeling, multi-scale modeling, ontological platform.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 23291715 Application of Japanese Origami Ball for Floating Multirotor Aerial Robot
Authors: P. H. Le, J. Molina, S. Hirai
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In this work, we propose the application of Japanese “Origami” art for a floating function of a small aerial vehicle such as a hexarotor. A preliminary experiment was conducted using Origami magic balls mounted under a hexarotor. This magic ball can expand and shrink using an air pump during free flying. Using this interesting and functional concept, it promises to reduce the resistance of wind as well as reduce the energy consumption when the Origami balls are deflated. This approach can be particularly useful in rescue emergency situations. Furthermore, there are many unexpected reasons that may cause the multi-rotor has to land on the surface of water due to problems with the communication between the aircraft and the ground station. In addition, a complementary experiment was designed to prove that the hexarotor can fly maintaining the stability and also, takes off and lands on the surface of water using air balloons.
Keywords: Helicopter, Japanese Origami ball, Floating, Aerial Robots, Rescue.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 24651714 Nanocomputing Memory Devices Formed from Carbon Nanotubes and Metallofulleres
Authors: Richard K. F. Lee, James M. Hill
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In this paper, we summarize recent work of the authors on nanocomputing memory devices. We investigate two memory devices, each comprising a charged metallofullerene and carbon nanotubes. The first device involves two open nanotubes of the same radius that are joined by a centrally located nanotube of a smaller radius. A metallofullerene is then enclosed inside the structure. The second device also involves a etallofullerene that is located inside a closed carbon nanotube. Assuming the Lennard-Jones interaction energy and the continuum approximation, for both devices, the metallofullerene has two symmetrically placed equal minimum energy positions. On one side the metallofullerene represents the zero information state and by applying an external electrical field, it can overcome the energy barrier, and pass from one end of the tube to the other, where the metallofullerene then represents the one information state.
Keywords: Carbon nanotube, continuous approach, energy barrier, Lennard-Jones potential, metallofullerene, nanomemory device.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 14601713 Investigation Bubble Growth and Nucleation Rates during the Pool Boiling Heat Transfer of Distilled Water Using Population Balance Model
Authors: V. Nikkhah Rashidabad, M. Manteghian, M. Masoumi, S. Mousavian
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In this research, the changes in bubbles diameter and number that may occur due to the change in heat flux of pure water during pool boiling process. For this purpose, test equipment was designed and developed to collect test data. The bubbles were graded using Caliper Screen software. To calculate the growth and nucleation rates of bubbles under different fluxes, population balance model was employed. The results show that the increase in heat flux from q=20 kw/m2 to q= 102 kw/m2 raised the growth and nucleation rates of bubbles.
Keywords: Heat flux, bubble growth, bubble nucleation, population balance model.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 24681712 Modeling and Investigation of Volume Strain at Large Deformation under Uniaxial Cyclic Loading in Semi Crystalline Polymer
Authors: Rida B. Arieby
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This study deals with the experimental investigation and theoretical modeling of Semi crystalline polymeric materials with a rubbery amorphous phase (HDPE) subjected to a uniaxial cyclic tests with various maximum strain levels, even at large deformation. Each cycle is loaded in tension up to certain maximum strain and then unloaded down to zero stress with N number of cycles. This work is focuses on the measure of the volume strain due to the phenomena of damage during this kind of tests. On the basis of thermodynamics of relaxation processes, a constitutive model for large strain deformation has been developed, taking into account the damage effect, to predict the complex elasto-viscoelastic-viscoplastic behavior of material. A direct comparison between the model predictions and the experimental data show that the model accurately captures the material response. The model is also capable of predicting the influence damage causing volume variation.Keywords: Cyclic test, large strain, polymers semi-crystalline, Volume strain, Thermodynamics of Irreversible Processes.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 23101711 Enhancement of Heat Transfer Rate in a Solar Flat Plate Collector Using Twisted Tapes and Wire Coiled Turbulators
Authors: S. Vijayakumar, R. Vinoth, K. Abilash, P. Praveen
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Effects of insertion of coiled wire in juxtaposition with twisted tapes on heat transfer rate and solar radiation without disturbing the flow inside the riser tubes in a solar flat plate collector is experimentally reconnoitered in this present work. The wire coil used as a turbulator is placed inside the riser tube while the twisted tape is inserted into the wire coil to create a continuous swirling flow along the tube wall. The results of the heat transfer have been compared well with the available results. The heat transfer rate in the collector has been found to be increased by 18% to 70%. Solar water heaters having inserts in the flow tubes perform better than the conventional plain ones. It has been observed that heat losses are reduced consequently increasing the thermal performance about 30% over the plain water heaters under the same operating conditions. The effect of twisted tape with wire coils, flow Reynolds number, and the intensity of solar radiation on the thermal performance of the solar water heater has been presented. Effects of insertion of coiled wire in juxtaposition with twisted tapes on heat transfer rate and solar radiation without disturbing the flow inside the riser tubes in a solar flat plate collector is experimentally reconnoitered in this present work. The wire coil used as a turbulator is placed inside the riser tube while the twisted tape is inserted into the wire coil to create a continuous swirling flow along the tube wall. The results of the heat transfer have been compared well with the available results. The heat transfer rate in the collector has been found to be increased by 18% to 70%. Solar water heaters having inserts in the flow tubes perform better than the conventional plain ones. It has been observed that heat losses are reduced consequently increasing the thermal performance about 30% over the plain water heaters under the same operating conditions. The effect of twisted tape with wire coils, flow Reynolds number, and the intensity of solar radiation on the thermal performance of the solar water heater has been presented.
Keywords: Solar Flat Plate Collector, Heat Transfer, Twisted tape, Wire coiled turbulators
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 28711710 Real-time Interactive Ocean Wave Simulation using Multithread
Authors: K. Prachumrak, T. Kanchanapornchai
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This research simulates one of the natural phenomena, the ocean wave. Our goal is to be able to simulate the ocean wave at real-time rate with the water surface interacting with objects. The wave in this research is calm and smooth caused by the force of the wind above the ocean surface. In order to make the simulation of the wave real-time, the implementation of the GPU and the multithreading techniques are used here. Based on the fact that the new generation CPUs, for personal computers, have multi cores, they are useful for the multithread. This technique utilizes more than one core at a time. This simulation is programmed by C language with OpenGL. To make the simulation of the wave look more realistic, we applied an OpenGL technique called cube mapping (environmental mapping) to make water surface reflective and more realistic.Keywords: Interactive wave, ocean wave, wind effect, multithread
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 24811709 Impact of a Proposed Pier on Tidal Currents:Koa Kood Island, Thailand
Authors: Cherdvong Saengsupavanich
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The impact of a proposed pier on tidal current alteration was evaluated. The proposed pier location was in Salad Bay on Koa Kood Island, Trat province, Thailand, and was designed to accommodate passenger ships with a draft of less than 2 m. The study began with collecting necessary data, including bathymetric, water elevation and tidal current characteristics. The impact was assessed using a software package (MIKE21). Although the results showed that the pier would affect the existing current pattern, the change was determined to be insignificant, as the design of the piles for the pier provided sufficient spacing to let the current flow as freely as possible. Consequences of the altered current, such as seabed erosion, water stagnation, sediment deposition and navigational risk were assessed. Environmental mitigation measures might be necessary if the impacts were considered unacceptable.Keywords: Environmental impact assessment, pier, tidal currentchange, coastal engineering and management
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 19041708 Delineation of Oil – Polluted Sites in Ibeno LGA, Nigeria, Using Microbiological and Physicochemical Characterization
Authors: Ime R. Udotong, Justina I. R. Udotong
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Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited (MPNU), a subsidiary of ExxonMobil and the highest crude oil & condensate producer in Nigeria has its operational base and an oil terminal, the Qua Iboe terminal (QIT) located at Ibeno, Nigeria. Other oil companies like Network Exploration and Production Nigeria Ltd, Frontier Oil Ltd; Shell Petroleum Development Company Ltd; Elf Petroleum Nigeria Ltd and Nigerian Agip Energy, a subsidiary of the Italian ENI E&P operate onshore, on the continental shelf and in deep offshore of the Atlantic Ocean, respectively with the coastal waters of Ibeno, Nigeria as the nearest shoreline. This study was designed to delineate the oil-polluted sites in Ibeno, Nigeria using microbiological and physico-chemical characterization of soils, sediments and ground and surface water samples from the study area. Results obtained revealed that there have been significant recent hydrocarbon inputs into this environment as observed from the high counts of hydrocarbonoclastic microorganisms in excess of 1% at all the stations sampled. Moreover, high concentrations of THC, BTEX and heavy metals contents in all the samples analyzed corroborate the high recent crude oil input into the study area. The results also showed that the pollution of the different environmental media sampled were of varying degrees, following the trend: ground water > surface water > sediments > soils.Keywords: Microbiological characterization, oil-polluted sites, physico-chemical analyses, total hydrocarbon content.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 23071707 Assessment of Vermiculite Concrete Containing Bio-Polymer Aggregate
Authors: Aliakbar Sayadi, Thomas R. Neitzert, G. Charles Clifton, Min Cheol Han
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The present study aims to assess the performance of vermiculite concrete containing poly-lactic acid beads as an eco-friendly aggregate. Vermiculite aggregate was replaced by poly-lactic acid in percentages of 0%, 20%, 40%, 60% and 80%. Mechanical and thermal properties of concrete were investigated. Test results indicated that the inclusion of poly-lactic acid decreased the PH value of concrete and all the poly-lactic acid particles were dissolved due to the formation of sodium lactide and lactide oligomers when subjected to the high alkaline environment of concrete. In addition, an increase in thermal conductivity value of concrete was observed as the ratio of poly-lactic acid increased. Moreover, a set of equations was proposed to estimate the water-cement ratio, cement content and water absorption ratio of concrete.Keywords: Poly-lactic acid, PLA, vermiculite, concrete, eco-friendly, mechanical properties.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 17991706 Effects of Slip Condition and Peripheral Layer on Couple Stress Fluid Flow through a Channel with Mild Stenosis
Authors: Gurju Awgichew, G. Radhakrishnamacharya
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Steady incompressible couple stress fluid flow through two dimensional symmetric channel with stenosis is investigated. The flow consisting of a core region to be a couple stress fluid and a peripheral layer of plasma (Newtonian fluid). Assuming the stenosis to be mild, the equations governing the flow of the proposed model are solved using the slip boundary condition and closed form expressions for the flow characteristics (the dimensionless resistance to flow and wall shear stress at the maximum height of stenosis) are derived. The effects of various parameters on these flow variables have been studied. It is observed that the resistance to flow as well as the wall shear stress increase with the height of stenosis, viscosity ratio and Darcy number. However, the trend is reversed as the slip and the couple stress parameter increase.
Keywords: Stenosis, Couple stress fluid, Slip condition, Peripheral layer.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 23491705 Mechanical Behavior of Recycled Mortars Manufactured from Moisture Correction Using the Halogen Light Thermogravimetric Balance as an Alternative to the Traditional ASTM C 128 Method
Authors: Diana Gómez-Cano, J. C. Ochoa-Botero, Roberto Bernal Correa, Yhan Paul Arias
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To obtain high mechanical performance, the fresh conditions of a mortar are decisive. Measuring the absorption of aggregates used in mortar mixes is a fundamental requirement for proper design of the mixes prior to their placement in construction sites. In this sense, absorption is a determining factor in the design of a mix because it conditions the amount of water, which in turn affects the water/cement ratio and the final porosity of the mortar. Thus, this work focuses on the mechanical behavior of recycled mortars manufactured from moisture correction using the Thermogravimetric Balancing Halogen Light (TBHL) technique in comparison with the traditional ASTM C 128 International Standard method. The advantages of using the TBHL technique are favorable in terms of reduced consumption of resources such as materials, energy and time. The results show that in contrast to the ASTM C 128 method, the TBHL alternative technique allows obtaining a higher precision in the absorption values of recycled aggregates, which is reflected not only in a more efficient process in terms of sustainability in the characterization of construction materials, but also in an effect on the mechanical performance of recycled mortars.
Keywords: Alternative raw materials, halogen light, recycled mortar, resources optimization, water absorption.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 5351704 Sensitivity of the SHARC Model to Variations of Manning Coefficient and Effect of “n“ on the Sediment Materials Entry into the Eastern Water intake- A Case in the Dez Diversion Weir in Iran
Authors: M.R.Mansoujian, A.Rohani, N.Hedayat , M.Qamari, M. Osroosh
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Permanent rivers are the main sources of renewable water supply for the croplands under the irrigation and drainage schemes. They are also the major source of sediment loads transport into the storage reservoirs of the hydro-electrical dams, diversion weirs and regulating dams. Sedimentation process results from soil erosion which is related to poor watershed management and human intervention ion in the hydraulic regime of the rivers. These could change the hydraulic behavior and as such, leads to riverbed and river bank scouring, the consequences of which would be sediment load transport into the dams and therefore reducing the flow discharge in water intakes. The present paper investigate sedimentation process by varying the Manning coefficient "n" by using the SHARC software along the watercourse in the Dez River. Results indicated that the optimum "n" within that river range is 0.0315 at which quantity minimum sediment loads are transported into the Eastern intake. Comparison of the model results with those obtained by those from the SSIIM software within the same river reach showed a very close proximity between them. This suggests a relative accuracy with which the model can simulate the hydraulic flow characteristics and therefore its suitability as a powerful analytical tool for project feasibility studies and project implementation.Keywords: Sediment transport, Manning coefficient, Eastern Intake, SHARC, Dez River.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 16811703 Particle Image Velocimetry for Measuring Water Flow Velocity
Authors: King Kuok Kuok, Po Chan Chiu
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Floods are natural phenomena, which may turn into disasters causing widespread damage, health problems and even deaths. Nowadays, floods had become more serious and more frequent due to climatic changes. During flooding, discharge measurement still can be taken by standing on the bridge across the river using portable measurement instrument. However, it is too dangerous to get near to the river especially during high flood. Therefore, this study employs Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) as a tool to measure the surface flow velocity. PIV is a image processing technique to track the movement of water from one point to another. The PIV codes are developed using Matlab. In this study, 18 ping pong balls were scattered over the surface of the drain and images were taken with a digital SLR camera. The images obtained were analyzed using the PIV code. Results show that PIV is able to produce the flow velocity through analyzing the series of images captured.
Keywords: Particle Image Velocimetry, flow velocity, surface flow.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 28451702 The Effect of Multiple Environmental Conditions on Acacia Senegal Seedling’s Carbon, Nitrogen, and Hydrogen Contents: An Experimental Investigation
Authors: Abdoelmoniem A. Attaelmanan, Ahmed A. H. Siddig
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This study was conducted in light of continual global climate changes that projected increasing aridity, changes in soil fertility, and pollution. Plant growth and development largely depend on the combination of availing water and nutrients in the soil. Changes in the climate and atmospheric chemistry can cause serious effects on these growth factors. Plant carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and hydrogen (H) play a fundamental role in the maintenance of ecosystem structure and function. Hashab (Acacia senegal), which produces gum Arabic, supports dryland ecosystems in tropical zones by its potentiality to restore degraded soils; hence, it is ecologically and economically important for the dry areas of sub-Saharan Africa. The study aims at investigating the effects of water stress (simulated drought) and poor soil type on Acacia senegal C, N, and H contents. Seven-day-old seedlings were assigned to the treatments in split-plot design for four weeks. The main plot is irrigation interval (well-watered and water-stressed), and the subplot is soil types (silt and sandy soils). Seedling's C%, N%, and H% were measured using CHNS-O Analyzer and applying Standard Test Method. Irrigation intervals and soil types had no effects on seedlings and leaves C%, N%, and H%, irrigation interval had affected stem C% and H%, both irrigation intervals and soil types had affected root N% and interaction effect of water and soil was found on leaves and root's N%. Application of well-watered irrigation with soil that is rich in N and other nutrients would result in the greatest seedling C, N, and H content which will enhance growth and biomass accumulation and can play a crucial role in ecosystem productivity and services in the dryland regions.
Keywords: Acacia senegal, Africa, climate change, drylands, nutrients biomass, Sub-Sahara, Sudan.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 5341701 Distillation Monitoring and Control using LabVIEW and SIMULINK Tools
Authors: J. Fernandez de Canete, P. Del Saz Orozco, S. Gonzalez-Perez
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LabVIEW and SIMULINK are two most widely used graphical programming environments for designing digital signal processing and control systems. Unlike conventional text-based programming languages such as C, Cµ and MATLAB, graphical programming involves block-based code developments, allowing a more efficient mechanism to build and analyze control systems. In this paper a LabVIEW environment has been employed as a graphical user interface for monitoring the operation of a controlled distillation column, by visualizing both the closed loop performance and the user selected control conditions, while the column dynamics has been modeled under the SIMULINK environment. This tool has been applied to the PID based decoupled control of a binary distillation column. By means of such integrated environments the control designer is able to monitor and control the plant behavior and optimize the response when both, the quality improvement of distillation products and the operation efficiency tasks, are considered.Keywords: Distillation control, software tools, SIMULINKLabVIEWinterface.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 38161700 A Fuzzy Control System for Reducing Urban Stormwater Runoff by a Stormwater Storage Tank
Authors: Pingping Zhang, Yanpeng Cai, Jianlong Wang
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Stormwater storage tank (SST) is a popular low impact development technology for reducing stormwater runoff in the construction of sponge city. At present, it is difficult to perform the automatic control of SST for reducing peak flow. In this paper, fuzzy control was introduced into the peak control of SST to improve the efficiency of reducing stormwater runoff. Firstly, the design of SST was investigated. A catchment area and a return period were assumed, a SST model was manufactured, and then the storage capacity of the SST was verified. Secondly, the control parameters of the SST based on reducing stormwater runoff were analyzed, and a schematic diagram of real-time control (RTC) system based on peak control SST was established. Finally, fuzzy control system of a double input (flow and water level) and double output (inlet and outlet valve) was designed. The results showed that 1) under the different return periods (one year, three years, five years), the SST had the effect of delayed peak control and storage by increasing the detention time, 2) rainfall, pipeline flow, the influent time and the water level in the SST could be used as RTC parameters, and 3) the response curves of flow velocity and water level fluctuated very little and reached equilibrium in a short time. The combination of online monitoring and fuzzy control was feasible to control the SST automatically. This paper provides a theoretical reference for reducing stormwater runoff and improving the operation efficiency of SST.
Keywords: Stormwater runoff, stormwater storage tank, real-time control, fuzzy control.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 9631699 Effects of Superheating on Thermodynamic Performance of Organic Rankine Cycles
Authors: Kyoung Hoon Kim
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Recently ORC(Organic Rankine Cycle) has attracted much attention due to its potential in reducing consumption of fossil fuels and its favorable characteristics to exploit low-grade heat sources. In this work thermodynamic performance of ORC with superheating of vapor is comparatively assessed for various working fluids. Special attention is paid to the effects of system parameters such as the evaporating temperature and the turbine inlet temperature on the characteristics of the system such as maximum possible work extraction from the given source, volumetric flow rate per 1 kW of net work and quality of the working fluid at turbine exit as well as thermal and exergy efficiencies. Results show that for a given source the thermal efficiency increases with decrease of the superheating but exergy efficiency may have a maximum value with respect to the superheating of the working fluid. Results also show that in selection of working fluid it is required to consider various criteria of performance characteristics as well as thermal efficiency.Keywords: organic Rankine cycle (ORC), low-grade energysource, Patel-Teja equation, thermodynamic performance
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 29001698 Design of an Stable GPC for Nonminimum Phase LTI Systems
Authors: Mahdi Yaghobi, Mohammad Haeri
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The current methods of predictive controllers are utilized for those processes in which the rate of output variations is not high. For such processes, therefore, stability can be achieved by implementing the constrained predictive controller or applying infinite prediction horizon. When the rate of the output growth is high (e.g. for unstable nonminimum phase process) the stabilization seems to be problematic. In order to avoid this, it is suggested to change the method in the way that: first, the prediction error growth should be decreased at the early stage of the prediction horizon, and second, the rate of the error variation should be penalized. The growth of the error is decreased through adjusting its weighting coefficients in the cost function. Reduction in the error variation is possible by adding the first order derivate of the error into the cost function. By studying different examples it is shown that using these two remedies together, the closed-loop stability of unstable nonminimum phase process can be achieved.Keywords: GPC, Stability, Varying Weighting Coefficients.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 12741697 Hydropriming and Osmopriming Effects on Cumin(Cuminum Cyminum L.) Seeds Germination
Authors: E. Neamatollahi, M. Bannayan, A. Souhani Darban, A. Ghanbari
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In production of medicinal plants, seed germination is very important problem. The treated seeds (control, hydro priming and ZnSO4) of Cumin (Cuminum cyminum L.) were evaluated at germination and seedling growth for tolerance to salt (NaCl and Na2SO4) conditions at the same water potentials of 0.0, -0.3, -0.6, - 0.9 and -1.2MPa. Electrical conductivity (EC) values of the NaCl solutions were 0.0, 6.5, 12.7, 18.4 and 23.5 dSm-1, respectively. The objective of the study was to determine factors responsible for germination and early seedling growth due to salt toxicity or osmotic effect and to optimize the best priming treatment for these stress conditions. Results revealed that germination delayed in both solutions, having variable germination with different priming treatments. Germination, shoot and weight, root and shoot length were higher but mean germination time and abnormal germination percentage were lower in NaCl than Na2SO4 at the same water potential. The root / shoot weight and R/S length increased with increase in osmotic potential in both NaCl and Na2SO4 solutions. NaCl had less inhibitor effect on seedling growth than the germination. It was concluded that inhibition of germination at the same water potential of NaCl and Na2SO4 resulted from salt toxicity rather than osmotic effect. Hydro priming increased germination and seedling growth under salt stress. This protocol has practical importance and could be recommended to farmers to achieve higher germination and uniform emergence under field conditions.Keywords: Priming, Germination, Nacl, ZnSo4, Na2So4.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 33131696 Numerical Simulations of Frost Heave Using COMSOL Multiphysics Software in Unsaturated Freezing Soils
Authors: Sara Soltanpour, Adolfo Foriero
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Frost heave is arguably the most problematic adverse phenomenon in cold region areas. It is a complex process that depends on heat and water transfer. The coupled physical fields generate considerable heave stresses as well as deformations. In the present study, a coupled Thermal-Hydraulic-Mechanical (THM) model using COMSOL Multiphysics in frozen unsaturated soils, such as fine sand, is investigated. Particular attention to the frost heave and temperature distribution, as well as the water migrating during soil freezing, is assessed. The results obtained from the numerical simulations are consistent with the results measured in the full-scale tests conducted by Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL).
Keywords: Frost heave, numerical simulations, COMSOL software, unsaturated freezing soil.
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