Search results for: Negative bias temperature instability

Authors: Ehsan B. Haghighi, Pavel Makhnatch, Jörgen Rogstam

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The ice rink floor is the largest heat exchanger in an ice rink. The important part of the floor consists of concrete, and the thermophysical properties of this concrete have strong influence on the energy usage of the ice rink. The thermal conductivity of concrete can be increased by using iron ore as ballast. In this study, the Transient Plane Source (TPS) method showed an increase up to 58.2% of thermal conductivity comparing the improved concrete to standard concrete. Moreover, two alternative ice rink floor designs are suggested to incorporate the improved concrete. A 2D simulation was developed to investigate the temperature distribution in the conventional and the suggested designs. The results show that the suggested designs reduce the temperature difference between the ice surface and the brine by 1-4˚C, when comparing with convectional designs at equal heat flux. This primarily leads to an increased coefficient of performance (COP) in the primary refrigeration cycle and secondly to a decrease in the secondary refrigerant pumping power. The suggested designs have great potential to reduce the energy usage of ice rinks. Depending on the load scenario in the ice rink, the saving potential lies in the range of 3-10% of the refrigeration system energy usage. This calculation is based on steady state conditions and the potential with improved dynamic behavior is expected to increase the potential saving.

Keywords: Concrete, iron ore, ice rink, energy saving.

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Authors: Viviane Nascimento, Dania Mehmod

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Introduction: The Coronavirus (COVID-19) disease was firstly reported in Asia at the end of 2019 and became a pandemic at the beginning of 2020. It resulted in a significant impact over the global economy and the health care systems around the world. The immediate measure adopted worldwide to contain the virus was mainly the lockdown and curfews. This certainly had an important impact on expats workers due to the financial insecurity, culture barrier and distance from the family. Saudi Arabia has one of the largest flows of foreign workers in the world and expats are the majority of the workforce. The aim of this essay was assessing the psychological impact of COVID-19 in non-health care expats living in Saudi Arabia. Methods: The study was conducted in a construction company in Riyadh with non-health care employees. The cross-sectional study protocol was approved by the company's executive management. Employees who verbally agreed to participate in the study were asked to anonymously answer a questionnaire validated for behavioral research (DASS-21). In addition, a second questionnaire was created to assess feelings and emotions. Results: More than a third of participants screened positive for one or more psychological symptoms (depression, anxiety and stress) on the DASS-21 scale. Moreover, it was observed an increase on negative feelings on the additional questionnaire. Conclusion: This study reveals an increase on negative feelings and psychological symptoms among non-health care migrant workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. In light of this, it is crucial to understand the emotional effects caused by the pandemic on migrant workers in order to create supportive and informative strategies minimizing the emotional impact on this vulnerable group.

Keywords: COVID-19 pandemic, Saudi Arabia, psychological effects, migrant workers.

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Authors: Mliki Bouchmel, Abbassi Mohamed Ammar, Kamel Geudri, Chrigui Mouldi, Omri Ahmed

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The objective of this work is to use the Fire Dynamics Simulator (FDS) to investigate the behavior of a kerosene small-scale fire. FDS is a Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) tool developed specifically for fire applications. Throughout its development, FDS is used for the resolution of practical problems in fire protection engineering. At the same time FDS is used to study fundamental fire dynamics and combustion. Predictions are based on Large Eddy Simulation (LES) with a Smagorinsky turbulence model. LES directly computes the large-scale eddies and the sub-grid scale dissipative processes are modeled. This technique is the default turbulence model which was used in this study. The validation of the numerical prediction is done using a direct comparison of combustion output variables to experimental measurements. Effect of the mesh size on the temperature evolutions is investigated and optimum grid size is suggested. Effect of width openings is investigated. Temperature distribution and species flow are presented for different operating conditions. The effect of the composition of the used fuel on atmospheric pollution is also a focus point within this work. Good predictions are obtained where the size of the computational cells within the fire compartment is less than 1/10th of the characteristic fire diameter.

Keywords: Large eddy simulation, Radiation, Turbulence, combustion, pollution.

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Authors: Dmitry Yu. Korulkin, Raissa A. Muzychkina

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In review the generalized data about different methods of synthesis of biological activity acylatedhydrohyanthraquinones is presented. The basic regularity of a synthesis is analyzed. Action of temperature, pH, solubility, catalysts and other factors on a reaction product yield is revealed.

Keywords: Aminoacidic acylation, hydroxyanthraquinones, nucleophilic exchange, physiologically active substances.

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Authors: Dmitriy Yu. Korulkin, Raissa A. Muzychkina

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In review the generalized data about different methods of synthesis of biological activity halogenated di-, tri- and tetrahydroxyanthraquinones is presented. The basic regularity of a synthesis is analyzed. Action of temperature, pH, solubility, catalysts and other factors on a reaction product yield is revealed.

Keywords: Electrophilic substitution, halogenation, hydroxyanthraquinones, physiologically active substances.

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Authors: Xingwen Lu, Kaimin Shih

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This study investigated a strategy of blending lead-laden sludge and Al-rich precursors to reduce the release of metals from the stabilized products. Using PbO as the simulated lead-laden sludge to sinter with γ-Al2O3 by Pb:Al molar ratios of 1:2 and 1:12, PbAl2O4 and PbAl12O19 were formed as final products during the sintering process, respectively. By firing the PbO + γ-Al2O3 mixtures with different Pb/Al molar ratios at 600 to 1000 °C, the lead transformation was determined through X-ray diffraction (XRD) data. In Pb/Al molar ratio of 1/2 system, the formation of PbAl2O4 is initiated at 700 °C, but an effective formation was observed above 750 °C. An intermediate phase, Pb9Al8O21, was detected in the temperature range of 800-900 °C. However, different incorporation behavior for sintering PbO with Al-rich precursors at a Pb/Al molar ratio of 1/12 was observed during the formation of PbAl12O19 in this system. In the sintering process, both temperature and time effect on the formation of PbAl2O4 and PbAl12O19 phases were estimated. Finally, a prolonged leaching test modified from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency-s toxicity characteristic leaching procedure (TCLP) was used to evaluate the durability of PbO, Pb9Al8O21, PbAl2O4 and PbAl12O19 phases. Comparison for the leaching results of the four phases demonstrated the higher intrinsic resistance of PbAl12O19 against acid attack.

Keywords: Sludge, Lead, Stabilization, Leaching behavior

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Authors: Caighley Logan, Suzzanne McColl

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The outcome of fire related fatalities, along with other research, has found fires can have a detrimental effect to the mineral and crystalline structures within bone. This study focused on the mineral and crystalline structures within porcine bone samples to analyse the changes caused, with the intent of effectively ‘reverse engineering’ the data collected from burned bone samples to discover what may have happened. Using Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR), and X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF), the data were collected from a controlled source of intense heat (muffle furnace) and an open fire, based in a living room setting in a standard size shipping container (2.5 m x 2.4 m) of a similar temperature with a known ignition source, a gasoline lighter. This approach is to analyse the changes to the samples and how the changes differ depending on the heat source. Results have found significant differences in the levels of remaining minerals for each type of heat/burning (p =< 0.001), particularly Phosphorus and Calcium, this also includes notable additions of absorbed elements and minerals from the surrounding materials, i.e., Cerium (Ce), Bromine (Br) and Neodymium (Ne). The analysis techniques included provide validated results in conjunction with previous studies.

Keywords: Forensic anthropology, thermal alterations, porcine bone, FTIR, XRF.

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Authors: F. Esfandyari Darabad, Z. Samadi

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Natural environments have always been affected by one of the most important natural hazards, which is called, the mass movements that cause instability. Identifying the unstable regions and separating them so as to detect and determine the risk of environmental factors is one of the important issues in mountainous areas development. In this study, the northwest of Sabalan hillsides overlooking the Meshkin city and the surrounding area of that have been delimitated, in order to analyze the range processes such as landslides and debris flows based on structural and geomorphological conditions, by means of using GIS. This area due to the high slope of the hillsides and height of the region and the poor localization of roads and so because of them destabilizing the ranges own an inappropriate situation. This study is done with the purpose of identifying the effective factors in the range motion and determining the areas with high potential for zoning these movements by using GIS. The results showed that the most common range movements in the area, are debris flows, rocks falling and landslides. The effective factors in each one of the mass movements, considering a small amount of weight for each factor, the weight map of each factor and finally, the map of risk zoning for the range movements were provided. Based on the zoning map resulted in the study area, the risking level of damaging has specified into the four zones of very high risk, high risk, medium risk, low risk, in which areas with very high and high risk are settled near the road and along the Khyav river and in the  mountainous district.

Keywords: Debris flow, environmental hazards, GIS, landslide.

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Authors: Ashok K. Satapathy, Prerana Nashine

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Radiative heat transfer in participating medium was carried out using the finite volume method. The radiative transfer equations are formulated for absorbing and anisotropically scattering and emitting medium. The solution strategy is discussed and the conditions for computational stability are conferred. The equations have been solved for transient radiative medium and transient radiation incorporated with transient conduction. Results have been obtained for irradiation and corresponding heat fluxes for both the cases. The solutions can be used to conclude incident energy and surface heat flux. Transient solutions were obtained for a slab of heat conducting in slab and by thermal radiation. The effect of heat conduction during the transient phase is to partially equalize the internal temperature distribution. The solution procedure provides accurate temperature distributions in these regions. A finite volume procedure with variable space and time increments is used to solve the transient radiation equation. The medium in the enclosure absorbs, emits, and anisotropically scatters radiative energy. The incident radiations and the radiative heat fluxes are presented in graphical forms. The phase function anisotropy plays a significant role in the radiation heat transfer when the boundary condition is non-symmetric.

Keywords: Participating media, finite volume method, radiation coupled with conduction, heat transfer.

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Authors: Young Mun Lee, Seon Ho Kim, Seok Min Choi, JeongJu Kim, Seungyeong Choi, Hyung Hee Cho

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To decrease sulfur oxide in the flue gas from coal power plant, a flue gas de-sulfurization facility is operated. In the reactor, a chemical reaction occurs with a temperature change of the gas so that sulfur oxide is removed and cleaned air is emitted. In this process, temperature change induces a serious problem which is a cold erosion of stack. To solve this problem, the rotary heat exchanger is managed before the stack. In the heat exchanger, a heating element is equipped to increase a heat transfer area. Heat transfer and pressure loss is a big issue to improve a performance. In this research, thermal-fluid characteristics of the heating element are analyzed by computational fluid dynamics. Fouling simulation is also conducted to calculate a performance of heating element. Numerical analysis is performed on the situation where plugging phenomenon has already occurred and existed in the inlet region of the heating element. As the pressure of the rear part of the plugging decreases suddenly and the flow velocity becomes slower, it is found that the flow is gathered from both sides as it develops in the flow direction, and it is confirmed that the pressure difference due to plugging is increased.

Keywords: Heating element, plugging, rotary heat exchanger, thermal fluid characteristics.

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Authors: Dyah Iswantini, Trivadila, Novik Nurhidayat, Waras Nurcholis

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The antioxidant compounds are needed for the food, beverages, and pharmaceuticals industry. For this purpose, an appropriate method is required to measure the antioxidant properties in various types of samples. Spectrophotometric method usually used has some weaknesses, including the high price, long sample preparation time, and less sensitivity. Among the alternative methods developed to overcome these weaknesses is antioxidant biosensor based on superoxide dismutase (SOD) enzyme. Therefore, this study was carried out to measure the SOD activity originating from Deinococcus radiodurans and to determine its kinetics properties. Carbon paste electrode modified with ferrocene and immobilized SOD exhibited anode and cathode current peak at potential of +400 and +300mv respectively, in both pure SOD and SOD of D. radiodurans. This indicated that the current generated was from superoxide catalytic dismutation reaction by SOD. Optimum conditions for SOD activity was at pH 9 and temperature of 27.50C for D. radiodurans SOD, and pH 11 and temperature of 200C for pure SOD. Dismutation reaction kinetics of superoxide catalyzed by SOD followed the Lineweaver-Burk kinetics with D. radiodurans SOD KMapp value was smaller than pure SOD. The result showed that D. radiodurans SOD had higher enzyme-substrate affinity and specificity than pure SOD. It concluded that D. radiodurans SOD had a great potential as biological recognition component for antioxidant biosensor.

Keywords: Antioxidant biosensor, Deinococcus radiodurans, enzyme kinetic, superoxide dismutase (SOD).

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Authors: Bin Mu, Site Li, Shijin Yuan

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Under the circumstance of environment deterioration, people are increasingly concerned about the quality of the environment, especially air quality. As a result, it is of great value to give accurate and timely forecast of AQI (air quality index). In order to simplify influencing factors of air quality in a city, and forecast the city’s AQI tomorrow, this study used MATLAB software and adopted the method of constructing a mathematic model of PCA-GABP to provide a solution. To be specific, this study firstly made principal component analysis (PCA) of influencing factors of AQI tomorrow including aspects of weather, industry waste gas and IAQI data today. Then, we used the back propagation neural network model (BP), which is optimized by genetic algorithm (GA), to give forecast of AQI tomorrow. In order to verify validity and accuracy of PCA-GABP model’s forecast capability. The study uses two statistical indices to evaluate AQI forecast results (normalized mean square error and fractional bias). Eventually, this study reduces mean square error by optimizing individual gene structure in genetic algorithm and adjusting the parameters of back propagation model. To conclude, the performance of the model to forecast AQI is comparatively convincing and the model is expected to take positive effect in AQI forecast in the future.

Keywords: AQI forecast, principal component analysis, genetic algorithm, back propagation neural network model.

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Authors: Ammar Alsabery, Habibis Saleh, Norazam Arbin, Ishak Hashim

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Unsteady natural convection and heat transfer in a square cavity partially filled with porous media using a thermal non-equilibrium model is studied in this paper. The left vertical wall is maintained at a constant hot temperature Th and the right vertical wall is maintained at a constant cold temperature Tc, while the horizontal walls are adiabatic. The governing equations are obtained by applying the Darcy model and Boussinesq approximation. COMSOL’s finite element method is used to solve the non-dimensional governing equations together with specified boundary conditions. The governing parameters of this study are the Rayleigh number (Ra = 10^5, and Ra = 10^6 ), Darcy namber (Da = 10^−2, and Da = 10^−3), the modified thermal conductivity ratio (10^−1 ≤ γ ≤ 10^4), the inter-phase heat transfer coefficien (10^−1 ≤ H ≤ 10^3) and the time dependent (0.001 ≤ τ ≤ 0.2). The results presented for values of the governing parameters in terms of streamlines in both fluid/porous-layer, isotherms of fluid in fluid/porous-layer, isotherms of solid in porous layer, and average Nusselt number.

Keywords: Unsteady natural convection, Thermal non-equilibrium model, Darcy model.

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Authors: Asal Pournaghshband

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This paper presents the development of a finite element model to study the large deflection behaviour of restrained stainless steel cellular beams at elevated temperature. Cellular beams are widely used for efficient utilization of raw materials to facilitate long spans with faster construction resulting sustainable design solution that can enhance the performance and merit of any construction project. However, their load carrying capacity is less than the equivalent beams without opening due to developing shear-moment interaction at the openings. In structural frames due to elements continuity, such beams are restrained by their adjoining members which has a substantial effect on beams behaviour in fire. Stainless steel has also become integral part of the build environment due to its excellent corrosion resistance, whole life-cycle costs, and sustainability. This paper reports the numerical investigations into the effect of structural continuity on the thermo-mechanical performance of restrained steel beams with circle and elongated circle shapes of web opening in fire. The numerical model is firstly validated using existing numerical results from the literature, and then employed to perform a parametric study. Parametric studies to explore the influence of variation in i) axial restraint stiffness, ii) steel grades, iii) shape and size of web openings, and iv) load level were described. Hence, the structural continuity is evaluated through the application of different levels of axial restraints on the response of carbon steel and stainless steel cellular beam in fire. The transit temperature for stainless steel cellular beam is shown to be less affected by the level of axial stiffness than the equivalent carbon steel cellular beam. Overall, it was established that whereas stainless steel cellular beams show similar stages of behaviour of carbon steel cellular beams in fire, they are capable of withstanding higher temperatures prior to the onset of catenary action in large deflection, despite the higher thermal expansion of stainless steel material.

Keywords: Axial restraint, catenary action, cellular beam, fire, numerical modelling, stainless steel, transit temperature.

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Authors: Dmitry Yu. Korulkin, Raissa A. Muzychkina

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In review the generalized data about different methods of synthesis of biological activity aminated hydroxyanthraquinones is presented. The basic regularity of a synthesis is analyzed. Action of temperature, pH, solubility, catalysts and other factors on a reaction product yield is revealed.

Keywords: Amination, hydroxyanthraquinones, nucleophilic exchange, physiologically active substances.

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Authors: Acumsiri Tantiakrnpanit

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This paper aims to examine the relationship between urbanization and income inequality in Thailand during the period 2002–2020, using a panel of data for 76 provinces collected from Thailand’s National Statistical Office (Labor Force Survey: LFS), as well as geospatial data from the U.S. Air Force Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) and the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite Day/Night band (VIIRS-DNB) satellite for 19 selected years. This paper employs two different definitions to identify urban areas: 1) Urban areas defined by Thailand's National Statistical Office (LFS), and 2) Urban areas estimated using nighttime light data from the DMSP and VIIRS-DNB satellite. The second method includes two sub-categories: 2.1) Determining urban areas by calculating nighttime light density with a population density of 300 people per square kilometer, and 2.2) Calculating urban areas based on nighttime light density corresponding to a population density of 1,500 people per square kilometer. The empirical analysis based on Ordinary Least Squares (OLS), fixed effects, and random effects models reveals a consistent U-shaped relationship between income inequality and urbanization. The findings from the econometric analysis demonstrate that urbanization or population density has a significant and negative impact on income inequality. Moreover, the square of urbanization shows a statistically significant positive impact on income inequality. Additionally, there is a negative association between logarithmically transformed income and income inequality. This paper also proposes the inclusion of satellite imagery, geospatial data, and spatial econometric techniques in future studies to conduct quantitative analysis of spatial relationships.

Keywords: Income inequality, nighttime light, population density, Thailand, urbanization.

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Authors: Anjian Chen, Joseph C. Chen

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This paper studies a case where the targeted surface roughness of fused deposition modeling (FDM) additive manufacturing process is improved. The process is designing to reduce or eliminate the defects and improve the process capability index Cp and Cpk for an FDM additive manufacturing process. The baseline Cp is 0.274 and Cpk is 0.654. This research utilizes the Taguchi methodology, to eliminate defects and improve the process. The Taguchi method is used to optimize the additive manufacturing process and printing parameters that affect the targeted surface roughness of FDM additive manufacturing. The Taguchi L9 orthogonal array is used to organize the parameters' (four controllable parameters and one non-controllable parameter) effectiveness on the FDM additive manufacturing process. The four controllable parameters are nozzle temperature [°C], layer thickness [mm], nozzle speed [mm/s], and extruder speed [%]. The non-controllable parameter is the environmental temperature [°C]. After the optimization of the parameters, a confirmation print was printed to prove that the results can reduce the amount of defects and improve the process capability index Cp from 0.274 to 1.605 and the Cpk from 0.654 to 1.233 for the FDM additive manufacturing process. The final results confirmed that the Taguchi methodology is sufficient to improve the surface roughness of FDM additive manufacturing process.

Keywords: Additive manufacturing, fused deposition modeling, surface roughness, Six-Sigma, Taguchi method, 3D printing.

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Authors: A.V.Naresh Babu, S.Sivanagaraju

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A considerable progress has been achieved in transient stability analysis (TSA) with various FACTS controllers. But, all these controllers are associated with single transmission line. This paper is intended to discuss a new approach i.e. a multi-line FACTS controller which is interline power flow controller (IPFC) for TSA of a multi-machine power system network. A mathematical model of IPFC, termed as power injection model (PIM) presented and this model is incorporated in Newton-Raphson (NR) power flow algorithm. Then, the reduced admittance matrix of a multi-machine power system network for a three phase fault without and with IPFC is obtained which is required to draw the machine swing curves. A general approach based on L-index has also been discussed to find the best location of IPFC to reduce the proximity to instability of a power system. Numerical results are carried out on two test systems namely, 6-bus and 11-bus systems. A program in MATLAB has been written to plot the variation of generator rotor angle and speed difference curves without and with IPFC for TSA and also a simple approach has been presented to evaluate critical clearing time for test systems. The results obtained without and with IPFC are compared and discussed.

Keywords: Flexible alternating current transmission system (FACTS), first swing stability, interline power flow controller (IPFC), power injection model (PIM).

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Authors: Samuel A. Phillips, Emmanuel A. Ayanlowo, Rasaki O. Olanrewaju, Olayode Fatoki

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This paper employs the Jeffrey's prior technique in the process of estimating the periodograms and frequency of sinusoidal model for unknown noisy time variants or oscillating events (data) in a Bayesian setting. The non-informative Jeffrey's prior was adopted for the posterior trigonometric function of the sinusoidal model such that Cramer-Rao Lower Bound (CRLB) inference was used in carving-out the minimum variance needed to curb the invariance structure effect for unknown noisy time observational and repeated circular patterns. An average monthly oscillating temperature series measured in degree Celsius (0C) from 1901 to 2014 was subjected to the posterior solution of the unknown noisy events of the sinusoidal model via Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC). It was not only deduced that two minutes period is required before completing a cycle of changing temperature from one particular degree Celsius to another but also that the sinusoidal model via the CRLB-Jeffrey's prior for unknown noisy events produced a miniature posterior Maximum A Posteriori (MAP) compare to a known noisy events.

Keywords: Cramer-Rao Lower Bound (CRLB), Jeffrey's prior, Sinusoidal, Maximum A Posteriori (MAP), Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC), Periodograms.

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Authors: Ayman E. Taha, Fawzy A. Abd El-Ghany

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A crossbreeding experiment was carried out between two Egyptian strains of chickens namely Mandarah (MM) and El-Salam (SS). The two purebred strains and their reciprocal crosses (MS and SM) were used to estimate the effect of crossing on egg laying and egg quality parameters, direct additive and maternal additive effects as well as heterosis and direct heterosis percentages for studied traits. Results revealed that SM cross recorded the highest significant averages for most of egg production traits including body weight at sexual maturity (BW1), egg numbers at first 90 days, 42 weeks and 65 weeks of age (EN1, EN2 and EN3; respectively), egg weight at 90 days, 42 weeks of age (EW1 and EW2), egg mass at 90 days, 42 weeks and 65 weeks of age (EM1, EM2 and EM3; respectively), feed conversion ratio to egg production at 90 days , 42 weeks and 65 weeks of age (FCR1, FCR2 and FCR3; respectively), fertility and commercial hatchability percentages. Moreover, SM line reached the age sexual maturity (ASM) and period to the first ten eggs (Pf10 egg) at earlier age than other lines. On the other hand, crossing did not well improve egg quality parameters. Estimates and percentages of direct additive effect (GI) were negative for most of the studied traits except for EN1, EN2, EN3, FCR3, fertility, scientific and commercial hatchability percentages that were positive. But Estimates and percentages of maternal heterosis (Gm) were positive for all the studied traits of egg production, except for BW2, BW3, ASM, Pf10, FCR1, FCR2, FCR3 and scientific hatchability that were negative. Also, positive estimates and percentages of heterosis were recorded for most of egg production and egg quality traits. It was concluded that using of SS strain as a sire line and MM strain as a dam line resulting in best new commercial egg line (SM) which is of great concern for poultry breeder in Egypt.

Keywords: Mandarahand El-Salam chickens, Crossing, Egg production, Egg quality, Crossbreeding components.

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Authors: G. Erkomaishvili, M. Kobalava, T. Lazariashvili, N. Damenia

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Current state of foreign direct investment (FDI) in Georgia is analyzed and evaluated in the paper, the existing legislative background for regulating investments and stimulating policies to attract investments are shown. It is noted that in developing countries encouragement of investment activity, support and implementation are of the most important tasks, implying a consistent investment policy, investor-friendly tax regime and the legal system, reducing administrative barriers and restrictions, fare competitive conditions and business development infrastructure. The work deals with the determining factor of FDIs and the main directions of stimulation, as well as prospective industries where new investments are needed. Contributing and hindering factors and stimulating measures are analyzed. As a result of the research, the direct and indirect factors attracting FDI have been identified. Facilitating factors to FDI inflow are as follows: simplicity of starting business, geopolitical location, low taxes, access to credit, ease of ownership registration, natural resources, low burden of regulations, low level of corruption and low crime rates. Hindering factors to FDI inflow are as follows: small market, lack of policy for attracting investments, low qualification of the workforce (despite the large number of unemployed people it is difficult to find workers with necessary special skills and qualifications), high interest rates, instability of national currency exchange rate, presence of conflict zones within the country and so forth.

Keywords: Foreign direct investment, investment attracting policies, investor, reinvestment.

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Authors: Cheng Shen, LaiHong Shen

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Ammonia is an important carrier of hydrogen energy, with the characteristics of high hydrogen content density and no carbon dioxide emission. Safe and efficient ammonia capture for ammonia synthesis from biomass is an important way to alleviate the energy crisis and solve the energy problem. Metal chloride has a chemical adsorption effect on ammonia and can be desorbed at high temperatures to obtain high-concentration ammonia after combining with ammonia, which has a good development prospect in ammonia capture and separation technology. In this paper, the ammonia adsorption properties of CuCl2 were measured, and the composite adsorbents were prepared by using silicon and multi-walled carbon nanotubes, respectively to support CuCl2, and the ammonia adsorption properties of the composite adsorbents were studied. The study found that the ammonia adsorption capacity of the three adsorbents decreased with the increase in temperature, so metal chlorides were more suitable for the low-temperature adsorption of ammonia. Silicon and multi-walled carbon nanotubes have an enhanced effect on the ammonia adsorption of CuCl2. The reason is that the porous material itself has a physical adsorption effect on ammonia, and silicon can play the role of skeleton support in cupric chloride particles, which enhances the pore structure of the adsorbent, thereby alleviating sintering.

Keywords: Ammonia, adsorption properties, metal chloride, MWCNTs, silicon.

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Authors: Mohsen Masoomi, Fazel Asadi Amjad, Monireh Arvin

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According to Naturalistic principles, human destiny in the form of blind chance and determinism, entraps the individual, so man is a defenceless creature unable to escape from the ruthless paws of a stoical universe. In Naturalism; nonetheless, melodrama mirrors a conscious alternative with a peculiar function. A typical American Naturalistic character thus cannot be a subject for social criticism of American society since they are not victims of the ongoing virtual slavery, capitalist system, nor of a ruined milieu, but of their own volition, and more importantly, their character frailty. Through a Postmodern viewpoint, each Naturalistic work can encompass some entropic trends and changes culminating in an entire failure and devastation. Frank Norris in McTeague displays the futile struggles of ordinary men and how they end up brutes. McTeague encompasses intoxication, abuse, violation, and ruthless homicides. Norris’ depictions of the falling individual as a demon represent the entropic dimension of Naturalistic novels. McTeague’s defeat is somewhat his own fault, the result of his own blunders and resolution, not the result of sheer accident. Throughout the novel, each character is a kind of insane quester indicating McTeague’s decadence and, by inference, the decadence of Western civilisation. McTeague seems to designate Norris’ solicitude for a community fabricated by the elements of human negative demeanours and conducts hauling acute symptoms of infectious dehumanisation. The aim of this article is to illustrate how one specific negative human disposition gradually, like a running fire, can spread everywhere and burn everything in itself. The author applies the concept of entropy metaphorically to describe the individual devolutions that necessarily comprise community entropy in McTeague, a dying universe.

Keywords: Animal imagery, entropy, Gypsy, melodrama.

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Authors: D. Sufi Ahmadi, B. Bagheri

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Thermal water hammer is a special type of water hammer which rarely occurs in heat exchangers. In biphasic fluids, if steam bubbles are surrounded by condensate, regarding lower condensate temperature than steam, they will suddenly collapse. As a result, the vacuum caused by an extreme change in volume lead to movement of the condensates in all directions and their collision the force produced by this collision leads to a severe stress in the pipe wall. This phenomenon is a special type of water hammer. According to fluid mechanics, this phenomenon is a particular type of transient flows during which abrupt change of fluid leads to sudden pressure change inside the tube. In this paper, the mechanism of abrupt failure of 80 tubes of 481 tubes of a methanol heat exchanger is discussed. Initially, due to excessive temperature differences between heat transfer fluids and simultaneous failure of 80 tubes, thermal shock was presupposed as the reason of failure. Deeper investigation on cross-section of failed tubes showed that failure was, ductile type of failure, so the first hypothesis was rejected. Further analysis and more accurate experiments revealed that failure of tubes caused by thermal water hammer. Finally, the causes of thermal water hammer and various solutions to avoid such mechanism are discussed.

Keywords: Thermal water hammer, Brittle Failure, Condensate thermal shock

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Authors: M. AlSawalha, F. Roessner, L. Novikova, L. Bel'chinskaya

Abstract:

The acidity of different raw Jordanian clays containing zeolite, bentonite, red and white kaolinite and diatomite was characterized by means of temperature programmed desorption (TPD) of ammonia, conversion of 2-methyl-3-butyn-2-ol (MBOH), FTIR and BET-measurements. FTIR spectra proved presence of silanol and bridged hydroxyls on the clay surface. The number of acidic sites was calculated from experimental TPD-profiles. We observed the decrease of surface acidity correlates with the decrease of Si/Al ratio except for diatomite. On the TPD-plot for zeolite two maxima were registered due to different strength of surface acidic sites. Values of MBOH conversion, product yields and selectivity were calculated for the catalysis on Jordanian clays. We obtained that all clay samples are able to convert MBOH into a major product which is 3-methyl-3-buten-1-yne (MBYNE) catalyzed by acid surface sites with the selectivity close to 70%. There was found a correlation between MBOH conversion and acidity of clays determined by TPD-NH3, i.e. the higher the acidity the higher the conversion of MBOH. However, diatomite provided the lowest conversion of MBOH as result of poor polarization of silanol groups. Comparison of surface areas and conversions revealed the highest density of active sites for red kaolinite and the lowest for zeolite and diatomite.

Keywords: Acidity, Jordanian clay, Methylbutynol conversion, Temperature programmed desorption of ammonia

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Authors: Nureni O. Adeboye, Dawud A. Agunbiade

Abstract:

This research attempts to investigate the effects of heteroscedasticity and periodicity in a Panel Data Regression Model (PDRM) by extending previous works on balanced panel data estimation within the context of fitting PDRM for Banks audit fee. The estimation of such model was achieved through the derivation of Joint Lagrange Multiplier (LM) test for homoscedasticity and zero-serial correlation, a conditional LM test for zero serial correlation given heteroscedasticity of varying degrees as well as conditional LM test for homoscedasticity given first order positive serial correlation via a two-way error component model. Monte Carlo simulations were carried out for 81 different variations, of which its design assumed a uniform distribution under a linear heteroscedasticity function. Each of the variation was iterated 1000 times and the assessment of the three estimators considered are based on Variance, Absolute bias (ABIAS), Mean square error (MSE) and the Root Mean Square (RMSE) of parameters estimates. Eighteen different models at different specified conditions were fitted, and the best-fitted model is that of within estimator when heteroscedasticity is severe at either zero or positive serial correlation value. LM test results showed that the tests have good size and power as all the three tests are significant at 5% for the specified linear form of heteroscedasticity function which established the facts that Banks operations are severely heteroscedastic in nature with little or no periodicity effects.

Keywords: Audit fee, heteroscedasticity, Lagrange multiplier test, periodicity.

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Authors: Djalal Hamed

Abstract:

The aim of this paper is to perform, by mean of the finite volume method, a numerical solution of the transient natural convection in a narrow rectangular channel between two vertical parallel Material Testing Reactor (MTR)-type fuel plates, imposed under a heat flux with a cosine shape to determine the margin of the nuclear core power at which the natural convection cooling mode can ensure a safe core cooling, where the cladding temperature should not reach a specific safety limits (90 °C). For this purpose, a computer program is developed to determine the principal parameters related to the nuclear core safety, such as the temperature distribution in the fuel plate and in the coolant (light water) as a function of the reactor core power. Throughout the obtained results, we noticed that the core power should not reach 400 kW, to ensure a safe passive residual heat removing from the nuclear core by the upward natural convection cooling mode.

Keywords: Buoyancy force, friction force, friction factor, finite volume method, transient natural convection, thermal hydraulic analysis, vertical heated rectangular channel.

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Authors: W. Walke, J. Przondziono, K. Nowińska

Abstract:

The study comprises evaluation of suitability of passive layer created on the surface of AISI 316L stainless steel for products that are intended to have contact with blood. For that purpose, prior to and after chemical passivation, samples were subject to 7 day exposure in artificial plasma at the temperature of T=37°C. Next, tests of metallic ions infiltration from the surface to the solution were performed. The tests were performed with application of spectrometer JY 2000, by Yobin – Yvon, employing Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectrometry (ICP-AES). In order to characterize physical and chemical features of electrochemical processes taking place during exposure of samples to artificial plasma, tests with application of electrochemical impedance spectroscopy were suggested. The tests were performed with application of measuring unit equipped with potentiostat PGSTAT 302n with an attachment for impedance tests FRA2. Measurements were made in the environment simulating human blood at the temperature of T=37°C. Performed tests proved that application of chemical passivation process for AISI 316L stainless steel used for production of goods intended to have contact with blood is well-grounded and useful in order to improve safety of their usage.

Keywords: AISI 316L stainless steel, chemical passivation, artificial plasma, ions infiltration, EIS.

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Authors: Vandana Bali, Manab B. Bera, Parmjit S. Panesar

Abstract:

Microbial production of antimicrobials as biopreservatives is the major area of focus nowadays due to increased interest of consumers towards natural and safe preservation of ready to eat food products. The agro-industrial byproduct based medium and optimized process conditions can contribute in economical production of bacteriocins. Keeping this in view, the present investigation was carried out on agro-industrial byproducts utilization for the production of bacteriocin using Enterococcus faecium BS13 isolated from local fermented food. Different agro-industrial byproduct based carbon sources (whey, potato starch liquor, kinnow peel, deoiledrice bran and molasses), nitrogen sources (soya okra, pea pod and corn steep liquor), metal ions and surfactants were tested for optimal bacteriocin production. The effect of various process parameters such as pH, temperature, inoculum level, agitation and time were also tested on bacteriocin production. The optimized medium containing whey, supplemented with 4%corn steep liquor and polysorbate-80 displayed maximum bacteriocin activity with 2% inoculum, at pH 6.5, temperature 40^oC under shaking conditions (100 rpm).

Keywords: Bacteriocin, biopreservation, corn steep liquor, Enterococcus faecium, waste utilization, whey.

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Authors: Jana P. Vejpravova, Daniel Niznansky, Vaclav Vales, Barbara Bittova, Vaclav Tyrpekl, Stanislav Danis, Vaclav Holy, Stephen Doyle

Abstract:

The aim of our work is to study phase composition, particle size and magnetic response of Fe2O3/TiO2 nanocomposites with respect to the final annealing temperature. Those nanomaterials are considered as smart catalysts, separable from a liquid/gaseous phase by applied magnetic field. The starting product was obtained by an ecologically acceptable route, based on heterogeneous precipitation of the TiO2 on modified g-Fe2O3 nanocrystals dispersed in water. The precursor was subsequently annealed on air at temperatures ranging from 200 oC to 900 oC. The samples were investigated by synchrotron X-ray powder diffraction (S-PXRD), magnetic measurements and Mössbauer spectroscopy. As evidenced by S-PXRD and Mössbauer spectroscopy, increasing the annealing temperature causes evolution of the phase composition from anatase/maghemite to rutile/hematite, finally above 700 oC the pseudobrookite (Fe2TiO5) also forms. The apparent particle size of the various Fe2O3/TiO2 phases has been determined from the highquality S-PXRD data by using two different approaches: the Rietveld refinement and the Debye method. Magnetic response of the samples is discussed in considering the phase composition and the particle size.

Keywords: X-ray diffraction, profile analysis, Mössbauer spectroscopy, magnetic properties, TiO2, Fe2O3, Fe2TiO5

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