Search results for: energy and environmental assessment

Authors: S. Visetpotjanakit, N. Nakkaew

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Determination of low level ⁹⁰Sr in seawater has been widely developed for the purpose of environmental monitoring and radiological research because ⁹⁰Sr is one of the most hazardous radionuclides released from atmospheric during the testing of nuclear weapons, waste discharge from the generation nuclear energy and nuclear accident occurring at power plants. A liquid extraction technique using bis-2-etylhexyl-phosphoric acid to separate and purify yttrium followed by Cherenkov counting using a liquid scintillation counter to determine ⁹⁰Y in secular equilibrium to ⁹⁰Sr was developed to monitor ⁹⁰Sr in the Asia Pacific Ocean. The analytical performance was validated for the accuracy, precision, and trueness criteria. Sr-90 determination in seawater using various low concentrations in a range of 0.01 – 1 Bq/L of 30 liters spiked seawater samples and 0.5 liters of IAEA-RML-2015-01 proficiency test sample was performed for statistical evaluation. The results had a relative bias in the range from 3.41% to 12.28%, which is below accepted relative bias of ± 25% and passed the criteria confirming that our analytical approach for determination of low levels of ⁹⁰Sr in seawater was acceptable. Moreover, the approach is economical, non-laborious and fast.

Keywords: Proficiency test, radiation monitoring, seawater, strontium determination.

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Authors: Reza Mokhtari Malekabadi, Leila Jalalabadi, Zahra Kiyani Ghaleh No

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Today, systems of management and urban planning, attempt to reach more sustainable development through monitoring developments, urban development and development plans. Monitoring of changes in the urban places and sustainable urban development accounted a base for the realization of worthy goals urban sustainable development. The importance of women in environmental protection programs is high enough that in 21 agenda has been requested from all countries to allocate more shares to women in their policies. On the other hand, urban waste landfill has become one of the environmental concerns in modern cities. This research assumes that the impact of women on recycling, reduction and proper waste landfill is much more than men. For this reason, three districts; Yousef Abad, Heshmatieh & Nezam Abad are gauged through questionnaire and using the analytical research hypothesis model. This research will be categorized as functional research. The results have shown that noticing the power of women, their participation towards realization of the development objectives and programs can be used in solving their problems.

Keywords: Citizens (Urban), Environmental, Sustainability, Solid waste, Tehran.

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Authors: S. Abdourraziq, R. El Bachtiri

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The use of solar energy as a source for pumping water is one of the promising areas in the photovoltaic (PV) application. The energy of photovoltaic pumping systems (PVPS) can be widely improved by employing an MPPT algorithm. This will lead consequently to maximize the electrical motor speed of the system. This paper presents a modified incremental conductance (IncCond) MPPT algorithm with direct control method applied to a standalone PV pumping system. The influence of the algorithm parameters on system behavior is investigated and compared with the traditional (INC) method. The studied system consists of a PV panel, a DC-DC boost converter, and a PMDC motor-pump. The simulation of the system by MATLAB-SIMULINK is carried out. Simulation results found are satisfactory.

Keywords: Photovoltaic pumping system (PVPS), incremental conductance (INC), MPPT algorithm, boost converter.

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Authors: Samiul Kaiser, M. S. Kaiser

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The influence of Mg and Zr addition on mechanical properties such as hardness, tensile strength and impact energy of commercially pure Al are investigated. The microstructure and fracture behavior are also studied by using Optical and Scanning Electron Microscopy. It is observed that magnesium addition improves the mechanical properties of commercially pure Al at the expense of ductility due to formation of β″ (Al₃Mg) and β′ (Al₃Mg₂) phase into the alloy. Zr addition also plays a positive role through grain refinement effect and the formation of metastable L1₂ Al₃Zr precipitates. In addition, it is observed that the fractured surface of Mg added alloy is brittle and higher numbers of dimples are observed in case of Zr added alloy.

Keywords: Al-alloys, hardness, tensile strength, impact energy, microstructure.

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Authors: Kalangi Rodrigo, Kelum Manamendra-Arachchi

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Bones, teeth, and shells have been acknowledged over the last two centuries as evidence of chronology, Palaeo-environment, and human activity. Faunal traces are valid evidence of past situations because they have properties that have not changed over long periods. Sri Lanka has been known as an Island, which has a diverse variety of prehistoric occupation among ecological zones. Defining the Paleoecology of the past societies has been an archaeological thought developed in the 1960s. It is mainly concerned with the reconstruction from available geological and biological evidence of past biota, populations, communities, landscapes, environments, and ecosystems. This early and persistent human fossil, technical, and cultural florescence, as well as a collection of well-preserved tropical-forest rock shelters with associated 'on-site ' Palaeoenvironmental records, makes Sri Lanka a central and unusual case study to determine the extent and strength of early human tropical forest encounters. Excavations carried out in prehistoric caves in the low country wet zone has shown that in the last 50,000 years, the temperature in the lowland rainforests has not exceeded 5 degrees. Based on Semnopithecus Priam (Gray Langur) remains unearthed from wet zone prehistoric caves, it has been argued periods of momentous climate changes during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) and Terminal Pleistocene/Early Holocene boundary, with a recognizable preference for semi-open ‘Intermediate’ rainforest or edges. Continuous genus Acavus and Oligospira occupation along with uninterrupted horizontal pervasive of Canarium sp. (‘kekuna’ nut) have proven that temperatures in the lowland rain forests have not changed by at least 5 °C over the last 50,000 years. Site catchment or territorial analysis cannot be any longer defensible, due to time-distance based factors as well as optimal foraging theory failed as a consequence of prehistoric people were aware of the decrease in cost-benefit ratio and located sites, and generally played out a settlement strategy that minimized the ratio of energy expended to energy produced.

Keywords: Palaeo-environment, palaeo-ecology, palaeo-climate, prehistory, zooarchaeology.

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Authors: N. Türkmenoğlu Bayraktar, E. Kishalı

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Campus buildings are educational facilities where various amount of energy consumption for lighting, heating, cooling and ventilation occurs. Some of the new universities in Turkey, where this investigation takes place, still continue their educational activities in existing buildings primarily designed for different architectural programs and converted to campus buildings via changes of function, space organizations and structural interventions but most of the time without consideration of appropriate micro climatic conditions. Reducing energy consumption in these structures not only contributes to the national economy but also mitigates the negative effects on environment. Furthermore, optimum thermal comfort conditions should be provided during the refurbishment of existing campus structures and their building envelope. Considering this issue, the first step is to investigate the climatic performance of building elements regarding refurbishment process. In the context of the study Kocaeli University, Faculty of Design and Architecture building constructed in 1980s in Anıtpark campus located in the central part of Kocaeli, Turkey was investigated. Climatic factors influencing thermal conditions; the deteriorations on building envelope; temperature distribution; heat losses from façade elements observed by thermography were presented in order to improve strategies for retrofit process for the building envelope. Within the scope of the survey, refurbishment strategies towards providing optimum climatic comfort conditions, increasing energy efficiency of building envelope were proposed.

Keywords: Building envelope, IRT, refurbishment, non-destructive test.

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Authors: Daniel Santos, Bruno Ribeiro, Marco Amato, Antonio Fonseca

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In this paper we discuss the behaviour of the longitudinal modes of a magnetized non collisional plasma subjected to an external electromagnetic field. We apply a semiclassical formalism, with the electrons being studied in a quantum mechanical viewpoint whereas the electromagnetic field in the classical context. We calculate the dielectric function in order to obtains the modes and found that, unlike the Bernstein modes, the presence of radiation induces oscillations around the cyclotron harmonics, which are smoothed as the energy stored in the radiation field becomes small compared to the thermal energy of the electrons. We analyze the influence of the number of photon involved in the electronic transitions between the Landau levels and how the parameters such as the external fields strength, plasma density and temperature affect the dispersion relation

Keywords: Collective oscillations, External fields, Dispersion relation.

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Authors: Vojko Kilar, Boris Azinović, David Koren

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Recently, an increasing trend of passive and low-energy buildings transferring form non earthquake-prone to earthquake-prone regions has thrown out the question about the seismic safety of such buildings. The paper describes the most commonly used thermal insulating materials and the special details, which could be critical from the point of view of earthquake resistance. The most critical appeared to be the cases of buildings founded on the RC foundation slab lying on a thermal insulation (TI) layer made of extruded polystyrene (XPS). It was pointed out that in such cases the seismic response of such buildings might differ to response of their fixed based counterparts. The main parameters that need special designers’ attention are: the building’s lateral top displacement, the ductility demand of the superstructure, the foundation friction coefficient demand, the maximum compressive stress in the TI layer and the percentage of the uplifted foundation. The analyses have shown that the potentially negative influences of inserting the TI under the foundation slab could be expected only for slender high-rise buildings subjected to severe earthquakes. Oppositely it was demonstrated for the foundation friction coefficient demand which could exceed the capacity value yet in the case of low-rise buildings subjected to moderate earthquakes. Some suggestions to prevent the horizontal shifts are also given.

Keywords: Earthquake Response, Extruded Polystyrene (XPS), Low-Energy Buildings, Foundations on Thermal Insulation Layer.

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Authors: Goh Yen Nee

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This research aimed to find out the determining factors for ISO 14001 EMS implementation among SMEs in Malaysia from the Resource based view. A cross-sectional approach using survey was conducted. A research model been proposed which comprises of ISO 14001 EMS implementation as the criterion variable while physical capital resources (i.e. environmental performance tracking and organizational infrastructures), human capital resources (i.e. top management commitment and support, training and education, employee empowerment and teamwork) and organizational capital resources (i.e. recognition and reward, organizational culture and organizational communication) as the explanatory variables. The research findings show that only environmental performance tracking, top management commitment and support and organizational culture are found to be positively and significantly associated with ISO 14001 EMS implementation. It is expected that this research will shed new knowledge and provide a base for future studies about the role played by firm-s internal resources.

Keywords: ISO 14001 Environmental Management System, Malaysia, Resource based view, SMEs

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Authors: D. Sathan, A. Meetoo, R. K. Subramaniam

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Context awareness is a capability whereby mobile computing devices can sense their physical environment and adapt their behavior accordingly. The term context-awareness, in ubiquitous computing, was introduced by Schilit in 1994 and has become one of the most exciting concepts in early 21st-century computing, fueled by recent developments in pervasive computing (i.e. mobile and ubiquitous computing). These include computing devices worn by users, embedded devices, smart appliances, sensors surrounding users and a variety of wireless networking technologies. Context-aware applications use context information to adapt interfaces, tailor the set of application-relevant data, increase the precision of information retrieval, discover services, make the user interaction implicit, or build smart environments. For example: A context aware mobile phone will know that the user is currently in a meeting room, and reject any unimportant calls. One of the major challenges in providing users with context-aware services lies in continuously monitoring their contexts based on numerous sensors connected to the context aware system through wireless communication. A number of context aware frameworks based on sensors have been proposed, but many of them have neglected the fact that monitoring with sensors imposes heavy workloads on ubiquitous devices with limited computing power and battery. In this paper, we present CALEEF, a lightweight and energy efficient context aware framework for resource limited ubiquitous devices.

Keywords: Context-Aware, Energy-Efficient, Lightweight, Ubiquitous Devices.

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Authors: Abeer Samy, Oliver C. Saavedra Valeriano, Abdelazim Negm

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The Blue Nile Basin is the most important tributary of the Nile River. Egypt and Sudan are almost dependent on water originated from the Blue Nile. This multi-dependency creates conflicts among the three countries Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia making the management of these conflicts as an international issue. Good assessment of the water resources of the Blue Nile is an important to help in managing such conflicts. Hydrological models are good tool for such assessment. This paper presents a critical review of the nature and variability of the climate and hydrology of the Blue Nile Basin as a first step of using hydrological modeling to assess the water resources of the Blue Nile. Many several attempts are done to develop basin-scale hydrological modeling on the Blue Nile. Lumped and semi distributed models used averages of meteorological inputs and watershed characteristics in hydrological simulation, to analyze runoff for flood control and water resource management. Distributed models include the temporal and spatial variability of catchment conditions and meteorological inputs to allow better representation of the hydrological process. The main challenge of all used models was to assess the water resources of the basin is the shortage of the data needed for models calibration and validation. It is recommended to use distributed model for their higher accuracy to cope with the great variability and complexity of the Blue Nile basin and to collect sufficient data to have more sophisticated and accurate hydrological modeling.

Keywords: Blue Nile Basin, Climate Change, Hydrological Modeling, Watershed.

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Authors: María Teresa García-Álvarez, Isabel Soares, Rosa María Mariz-Pérez

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Directive 2009/28/CE establishes, as obligatory objective, a share of renewable energies on energetic consumption of 20%, in European Union, in 2020 However, such European normative gives freedom to member states in the selection of the renewable promotion mechanism that allows them to obtain that objective. In this paper, we analyze the main characteristics of the promotion mechanisms of renewable energy used in the countries that shape the Electricity Iberian Market (Spain and Portugal) and the results in employment. The importance of these countries is given by the great increasing of the renewable energies which suppose a share higher than 30% of the overall generation in 2010. Therefore, this research paper can serve as the basis for the learning of other countries with regard to the main advantages that entail the use of a feed-in tariff system.

Keywords: Employment, Energy policy, Professional profiles, Renewable energies, Professional profiles.

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Authors: V. K. Rattan, Baljinder K. Gill, Seema Kapoor

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Isobaric vapor-liquid equilibrium measurements are reported for binary mixture of 2-Methyltetrahydrofuran and Cumene at 97.3 kPa. The data were obtained using a vapor recirculating type (modified Othmer's) equilibrium still. The mixture shows slight negative deviation from ideality. The system does not form an azeotrope. The experimental data obtained in this study are thermodynamically consistent according to the Herington test. The activity coefficients have been satisfactorily correlated by means of the Margules, and NRTL equations. Excess Gibbs free energy has been calculated from the experimental data. The values of activity coefficients have also been obtained by the UNIFAC group contribution method.

Keywords: Binary mixture, 2-Methyltetrahydrofuran, Cumene, Vapor-liquid equilibrium, UNIFAC, Excess Gibbs free energy.

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Authors: Arash Esmaeili, Zhibang Liu, Yang Xiang, Jimmy Yun, Lei Shao

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High pressure carbon dioxide (CO2) absorption from a specific off-gas in a conventional column has been evaluated for the environmental concerns by the Aspen HYSYS simulator using a wide range of single absorbents and piperazine (PZ) blended solutions to estimate the outlet CO2 concentration, CO2 loading, reboiler power supply and regeneration heat duty to choose the most efficient solution in terms of CO2 removal and required heat duty. The property package, which is compatible with all applied solutions for the simulation in this study, estimates the properties based on electrolyte non-random two-liquid (E-NRTL) model for electrolyte thermodynamics and Peng-Robinson equation of state for vapor phase and liquid hydrocarbon phase properties. The results of the simulation indicate that PZ in addition to the mixture of PZ and monoethanolamine (MEA) demand the highest regeneration heat duty compared with other studied single and blended amine solutions respectively. The blended amine solutions with the lowest PZ concentrations (5wt% and 10wt%) were considered and compared to reduce the cost of process, among which the blended solution of 10wt%PZ+35wt%MDEA (methyldiethanolamine) was found as the most appropriate solution in terms of CO2 content in the outlet gas, rich-CO2 loading and regeneration heat duty.

Keywords: Absorption, amine solutions, Aspen HYSYS, CO2 loading, piperazine, regeneration heat duty.

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Authors: C. Silveira, A. Ascenso, J. Ferreira, A. I. Miranda, P. Tuccella, G. Curci

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Poor air quality is one of the main environmental causes of premature deaths worldwide, and mainly in cities, where the majority of the population lives. It is a consequence of successive land cover (LC) and use changes, as a result of the intensification of human activities. Knowing these landscape modifications in a comprehensive spatiotemporal dimension is, therefore, essential for understanding variations in air pollutant concentrations. In this sense, the use of air quality models is very useful to simulate the physical and chemical processes that affect the dispersion and reaction of chemical species into the atmosphere. However, the modelling performance should always be evaluated since the resolution of the input datasets largely dictates the reliability of the air quality outcomes. Among these data, the updated LC is an important parameter to be considered in atmospheric models, since it takes into account the Earth’s surface changes due to natural and anthropic actions, and regulates the exchanges of fluxes (emissions, heat, moisture, etc.) between the soil and the air. This work aims to evaluate the performance of the Weather Research and Forecasting model coupled with Chemistry (WRF-Chem), when different LC classifications are used as an input. The influence of two LC classifications was tested: i) the 24-classes USGS (United States Geological Survey) LC database included by default in the model, and the ii) CLC (Corine Land Cover) and specific high-resolution LC data for Portugal, reclassified according to the new USGS nomenclature (33-classes). Two distinct WRF-Chem simulations were carried out to assess the influence of the LC on air quality over Europe and Portugal, as a case study, for the year 2015, using the nesting technique over three simulation domains (25 km², 5 km² and 1 km² horizontal resolution). Based on the 33-classes LC approach, particular emphasis was attributed to Portugal, given the detail and higher LC spatial resolution (100 m x 100 m) than the CLC data (5000 m x 5000 m). As regards to the air quality, only the LC impacts on tropospheric ozone concentrations were evaluated, because ozone pollution episodes typically occur in Portugal, in particular during the spring/summer, and there are few research works relating to this pollutant with LC changes. The WRF-Chem results were validated by season and station typology using background measurements from the Portuguese air quality monitoring network. As expected, a better model performance was achieved in rural stations: moderate correlation (0.4 – 0.7), BIAS (10 – 21µg.m^-3) and RMSE (20 – 30 µg.m^-3), and where higher average ozone concentrations were estimated. Comparing both simulations, small differences grounded on the Leaf Area Index and air temperature values were found, although the high-resolution LC approach shows a slight enhancement in the model evaluation. This highlights the role of the LC on the exchange of atmospheric fluxes, and stresses the need to consider a high-resolution LC characterization combined with other detailed model inputs, such as the emission inventory, to improve air quality assessment.

Keywords: Land cover, tropospheric ozone, WRF-Chem, air quality assessment.

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Authors: H. Mehdi, Kh. S. Karimov, A. A. Kavokin

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Methods of clustering which were developed in the data mining theory can be successfully applied to the investigation of different kinds of dependencies between the conditions of environment and human activities. It is known, that environmental parameters such as temperature, relative humidity, atmospheric pressure and illumination have significant effects on the human mental performance. To investigate these parameters effect, data mining technique of clustering using entropy and Information Gain Ratio (IGR) K(Y/X) = (H(X)–H(Y/X))/H(Y) is used, where H(Y)=-ΣPi ln(Pi). This technique allows adjusting the boundaries of clusters. It is shown that the information gain ratio (IGR) grows monotonically and simultaneously with degree of connectivity between two variables. This approach has some preferences if compared, for example, with correlation analysis due to relatively smaller sensitivity to shape of functional dependencies. Variant of an algorithm to implement the proposed method with some analysis of above problem of environmental effects is also presented. It was shown that proposed method converges with finite number of steps.

Keywords: Clustering, Correlation analysis, EnvironmentalParameters, Information Gain Ratio, Mental Performance.

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Authors: Taruna Katyal Arora, Geeta Kumari, Hari Shankar, Neelima Mishra

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Substandard and counterfeit antimalarials is a major problem in malaria endemic areas. The availability of counterfeit/ substandard medicines is not only decreasing the efficacy in patients, but it is also one of the contributing factors for developing antimalarial drug resistance. Owing to this, a pilot study was conducted to survey quality of drugs collected from different malaria endemic areas of India. Artesunate+Sulphadoxine-Pyrimethamine (AS+SP), Artemether-Lumefantrine (AL), Chloroquine (CQ) tablets were randomly picked from public health facilities in selected states of India. The quality of antimalarial drugs from these areas was assessed by using Global Pharma Health Fund Minilab test kit. This includes physical/visual inspection and disintegration test. Thin-layer chromatography (TLC) was carried out for semi-quantitative assessment of active pharmaceutical ingredients. A total of 45 brands, out of which 21 were for CQ, 14 for AL and 10 for AS+SP were tested from Uttar Pradesh (U.P.), Mizoram, Meghalaya and Gujrat states. One out of 45 samples showed variable disintegration and retension factor. The variable disintegration and retention factor which would have been due to substandard quality or other factors including storage. However, HPLC analysis confirms standard active pharmaceutical ingredient, but may be due to humid temperature and moisture in storage may account for the observed result.

Keywords: Antimalarial medicines, counterfeit, substandard, thin layer chromatography.

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Authors: Wai Keng Teng, Gek Cheng Ngoh, Rozita Yusoff, Mohamed Kheireddine Aroua, Joe Shen Heng

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As a by-product of the biodiesel industries, glycerol has been vastly generated which surpasses the market demand. It is imperative to develop an efficient glycerol valorization processes in minimizing the net energy requirement and intensifying the biodiesel production. In this study, base-catalyzed transesterification of glycerol with dimethyl carbonate using microwave irradiation as heating method to produce glycerol carbonate was conducted by varying grades of glycerol, i.e. 70%, 86% and 99% purity, that is obtained from biodiesel plant. Metal oxide catalysts were used with varying operating parameters including reaction time, DMC/glycerol molar ratio, catalyst weight %, temperature and stirring speed. From the study on the effect of different operating parameters it was found that the type of catalyst used has the most significant effect on the transesterification reaction. Amidst the metal oxide catalysts examined, CaO gave the best performance. This study indicates the feasibility of producing glycerol carbonate using different grade of glycerol in both conventional thermal activation and microwave irradiation with CaO as catalyst. Microwave assisted transesterification (MAT) of glycerol into glycerol carbonate has demonstrated itself as an energy efficient route by achieving 94.2% yield of GC at 65°C, 5 minutes reaction time, 1 wt% CaO and DMC/glycerol molar ratio of 2. The advantages of MAT transesterification route has made the direct utilization of bioglycerol from biodiesel production without the need of purification. This has marked a more economical and less-energy intensive glycerol carbonate synthesis route.

Keywords: Biodiesel, glycerol, glycerol carbonate, microwave irradiation.

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Authors: Winai Mankhatitham

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This research investigated groundcover on the roof (green roof) which can reduce the temperature and carbon monoxide. This study is divided into 3 main aspects: 1. Types of groundcover affecting heat reduction 2. The efficiency on heat reduction of 3 types of groundcover, i.e. lawn, arachis pintoi, and purslane 3. Database for designing green roof. This study has been designed as an experimental research by simulating the 3 types of groundcover in 3 trays placed in the green house for recording the temperature change for 24 hours. The results showed that the groundcover with the highest heat reduction efficiency was lawn. The dense of the lawn can protect the heat transfer to the soil. For the further study, there should be a comparative study of the thickness and the types of soil to get more information for the suitable types of groundcover and the soil for designing the energy saving green roof.

Keywords: Groundcover, Green Roof, Heat Reduction, Energy Saving.

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Authors: Zhi Sheng Lin, K. C. G. Ong, Lado Riannevo Chandra, Bee Hong Angeline Tan, Chat Tim Tam, Sze Dai Pang

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Design for Disassembly (DfD) aims to reuse the structural components instead of demolition followed by recycling of the demolition debris. This concept preserves the invested embodied energy of materials, thus reducing inputs of new embodied energy during materials reprocessing or remanufacturing. Both analytical and experimental research on a proposed DfD beam-column connection for use in residential apartments is currently investigated at the National University of Singapore in collaboration with the Housing and Development Board of Singapore. The present study reports on the results of a numerical analysis of the proposed connection utilizing finite element analysis. The numerical model was calibrated and validated by comparison against experimental results. Results of a parametric study will also be presented and discussed.

Keywords: Design for Disassembly (DfD), finite element analysis, parametric study.

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Authors: Anna Yu. Muratova, Vera V. Kapitonova, Marina P. Chernyshova, Olga V. Turkovskaya

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This research was undertaken to study enzymatic activity in the shoots, roots, and rhizosphere of alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) grown in quartz sand that was uncontaminated and contaminated with phenanthrene at concentrations of 10 and 100 mg kg-1. The higher concentration of phehanthrene had a distinct phytotoxic effect on alfalfa, inhibiting seed germination energy, plant survival, and biomass accumulation. The plant stress response to the environmental pollution was an increase in peroxidase activity. Peroxidases were the predominant enzymes in the alfalfa shoots and roots. The peroxidase profile in the shoots differed from that in the roots and had different isoenzyme numbers. 2,2'-Azinobis-(3-ethylbenzo-thiazoline-6-sulphonate) (ABTS) peroxidase was predominant in the shoots, and 2,7-diaminofluorene (2,2-DAF) peroxidase was predominant in the roots. Under the influence of phenanthrene, the activity of 2,7-DAF peroxidase increased in the shoots, and the activity of ABTS peroxidase increased in the roots. Alfalfa root peroxidases were the prevalent enzyme systems in the rhizosphere sand. Examination of the activity of alfalfa root peroxidase toward phenanthrene revealed the possibility of involvement of the plant enzyme in rhizosphere degradation of the PAH.

Keywords: Medicago sativa, enzymatic activity, peroxidase, phenanthrene.

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Authors: Ibrahim F. Elbaba, Paul T. Williams

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Hydrogen is regarded to play an important role in future energy systems because it can be produced from abundant resources and its combustion only generates water. The disposal of waste tyres is a major problem in environmental management throughout the world. The use of waste materials as a source of hydrogen is particularly of interest in that it would also solve a waste treatment problem. There is much interest in the use of alternative feedstocks for the production of hydrogen since more than 95% of current production is from fossil fuels. The pyrolysis of waste tyres for the production of liquid fuels, activated carbons and gases has been extensively researched. However, combining pyrolysis with gasification is a novel process that can gasify the gaseous products from pyrolysis. In this paper, an experimental investigation into the production of hydrogen and other gases from the bench scale pyrolysis-gasification of tyres has been investigated. Experiments were carried using a two stage system consisting of pyrolysis of the waste tyres followed by catalytic steam gasification of the evolved gases and vapours in a second reactor. Experiments were conducted at a pyrolysis temperature of 500 °C using Ni/Al2O3 as a catalyst. The results showed that there was a dramatic increase in gas yield and the potential H2 production when the gasification temperature was increased from 600 to 900 oC. Overall, the process showed that high yields of hydrogen can be produced from waste tyres.

Keywords: Catalyst, Hydrogen, Pyrolysis, Gasification, Tyre, Waste

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Authors: Divya Agarwal, Pushpendra S. Bharti

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Autonomous mobile robots (AMR) are expected as smart tools for operations in every automation industry. Path planning and obstacle avoidance is the backbone of AMR as robots have to reach their goal location avoiding obstacles while traversing through optimized path defined according to some criteria such as distance, time or energy. Path planning can be classified into global and local path planning where environmental information is known and unknown/partially known, respectively. A number of sensors are used for data collection. A number of algorithms such as artificial potential field (APF), rapidly exploring random trees (RRT), bidirectional RRT, Fuzzy approach, Purepursuit, A* algorithm, vector field histogram (VFH) and modified local path planning algorithm, etc. have been used in the last three decades for path planning and obstacle avoidance for AMR. This paper makes an attempt to review some of the path planning and obstacle avoidance algorithms used in the field of AMR. The review includes comparative analysis of simulation and mathematical computations of path planning and obstacle avoidance algorithms using MATLAB 2018a. From the review, it could be concluded that different algorithms may complete the same task (i.e. with a different set of instructions) in less or more time, space, effort, etc.

Keywords: Autonomous mobile robots, obstacle avoidance, path planning, and processing time.

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Authors: M. Nikbakht, N. Choupani

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In this paper delamination phenomenon in Carbon-Epoxy laminated composite material is investigated numerically. Arcan apparatus and specimen is modeled in ABAQUS finite element software for different loading conditions and crack geometries. The influence of variation of crack geometry on interlaminar fracture stress intensity factor and energy release rate for various mixed mode ratios and pure mode I and II was studied. Also, correction factors for this specimen for different crack length ratios were calculated. The finite element results indicate that for loading angles close to pure mode-II loading, a high ratio of mode-II to mode-I fracture is dominant and there is an opposite trend for loading angles close to pure mode-I loading. It confirms that by varying the loading angle of Arcan specimen pure mode-I, pure mode-II and a wide range of mixed-mode loading conditions can be created and tested. Also, numerical results confirm that the increase of the mode- II loading contribution leads to an increase of fracture resistance in the CF/PEI composite (i.e., a reduction in the total strain energy release rate) and the increase of the crack length leads to a reduction of interlaminar fracture resistance in the CF/PEI composite (i.e., an increase in the total interlaminar strain energy release rate).

Keywords: Fracture Mechanics, Mixed Mode, Arcan Specimen, Finite Element.

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Authors: Arie Pujiwati, Kengo Nakamura, Noriaki Watanabe, Takeshi Komai

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Coal mining is well known to cause considerable environmental impacts, including trace element contamination of soil. This study aimed to assess the trace element (As, Cd, Co, Cu, Ni, Pb, Sb, and Zn) contamination of soil in the vicinity of coal mining activities, using the case study of Asam-asam River basin, South Kalimantan, Indonesia, and to assess the human health risk, incorporating total and bioavailable (water-leachable and acid-leachable) concentrations. The results show the enrichment of As and Co in soil, surpassing the background soil value. Contamination was evaluated based on the index of geo-accumulation, I_geo and the pollution index, PI. I_geo values showed that the soil was generally uncontaminated (I_geo ≤ 0), except for elevated As and Co. Mean PI for Ni and Cu indicated slight contamination. Regarding the assessment of health risks, the Hazard Index, HI showed adverse risks (HI > 1) for Ni, Co, and As. Further, Ni and As were found to pose unacceptable carcinogenic risk (risk > 1.10^-5). Farming, settlement, and plantation were found to present greater risk than coal mines. These results show that coal mining activity in the study area contaminates the soils by particular elements and may pose potential human health risk in its surrounding area. This study is important for setting appropriate countermeasure actions and improving basic coal mining management in Indonesia.

Keywords: Coal mine, risk, soil, trace elements.

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Authors: Prashant Kumar Soori, Parthasarathy L., Masami Okano, Awet Mana

Abstract:

Off-grid Photovoltaic (PV) systems are empowering technology in underdeveloped countries like Ethiopia where many people live far away from the modern world. Where there is relatively low energy consumption, providing energy from grid systems is not commercially cost-effective. As a result, significant people groups worldwide stay without access to electricity. One remote village in northern Ethiopia was selected by the United Nations for a pilot project to improve its living conditions. As part of this comprehensive project, an intelligent charge controller circuit for Off-grid PV systems was designed for the clinic in that village. In this paper, design aspects of an intelligent charge controller unit and its load driver circuits are discussed for an efficient utilization of PVbased supply systems.

Keywords: Compact Fluorescent Lamp (CFL), FluorescentLamp, Intelligent Charge Controller Unit (ICCU), Light EmittingDiode (LED), Photovoltaic (PV).

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Authors: Sharan Badiger, Prema T. Akkasaligar, Deepak Kadeli, M. Vishok

Abstract:

Neurological disorders are the most debilitating of manifestations seen in patients infected with HIV. The clinical profile of neurological manifestations in HIV patients has undergone a shift in recent years with opportunistic infections being controlled with combination anti-retroviral therapy and the advent of drugs which have higher central nervous system penetrability. The aim of this paper is to study the clinical, investigation profile and various neurological disorders in HIV patients on anti‐retroviral therapy. Fifty HIV patients with neurological manifestations were studied. A complete neurological examination including neurocognitive functioning using Montreal Cognitive Assessment and HIV Dementia scale were assessed. Apart from relevant investigations, CD4 count, cerebrovascular fluid analysis, computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of brain were done whenever required. Neurocognitive disorders formed the largest group with 42% suffering from HIV associated Neurocognitive Disorders. Among them, asymptomatic neurocognitive impairment was seen in 28%; mild neurocognitive disorder in 12%, and 2% had HIV‐associated dementia. Opportunistic infections of the nervous system accounted for 32%, with meningitis being the most common. Four patients had space occupying lesions of central nervous system; four tuberculomas, and one toxoplasmosis. With the advent of highly active retroviral therapy, HIV patients have longer life spans with suppression of viral load leading to decrease in opportunistic infections of the nervous system. Neurocognitive disorders are now the most common neurological dysfunction seen and thus neurocognitive assessment must be done in all patients with HIV.

Keywords: Anti retroviral therapy, cognitive dysfunction, dementia, neurological manifestations, opportunistic infections.

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Authors: Hanny H. Tumbelaka, Masafumi Miyatake

Abstract:

This paper proposes a three-phase four-wire currentcontrolled Voltage Source Inverter (CC-VSI) for both power quality improvement and PV energy extraction. For power quality improvement, the CC-VSI works as a grid current-controlling shunt active power filter to compensate for harmonic and reactive power of loads. Then, the PV array is coupled to the DC bus of the CC-VSI and supplies active power to the grid. The MPPT controller employs the particle swarm optimization technique. The output of the MPPT controller is a DC voltage that determines the DC-bus voltage according to PV maximum power. The PSO method is simple and effective especially for a partially shaded PV array. From computer simulation results, it proves that grid currents are sinusoidal and inphase with grid voltages, while the PV maximum active power is delivered to loads.

Keywords: Active Power Filter, MPPT, PV Energy Conversion.

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Authors: Ramy H. Mohammed

Abstract:

Displacement ventilation of a room with an occupant is modeled using CFD. The geometry of manikin is accurately represented in CFD model to minimize potential. Indoor zero equation turbulence model is used to simulate all cases and the effect of the thermal radiation from manikin is taken into account. After validation of the code, predicted mean vote, mean age of air, and ventilation effectiveness are used to predict the thermal comfort zones and indoor air quality. The effect of the inlet velocity and temperature on the thermal comfort and indoor air quality is investigated. The results show that the inlet velocity has great effect on the thermal comfort and indoor air quality and low inlet velocity is sufficient to establish comfortable conditions inside the room. In addition, the displacement ventilation system achieves not only thermal comfort in ventilated rooms, but also energy saving of fan power.

Keywords: Displacement ventilation, Energy saving, Thermal comfort, Turbulence model.

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Authors: Basavaraj Kabade, K. T. Nagaraja, Swathi Ramanathan, A. Veeraragavan, P. S. Reashma

Abstract:

Deteriorating quality of the pedestrian environment and the increasing risk of pedestrian crashes are major concerns for most of the cities in India. The recent shift in the priority to motorized transport and the abating condition of existing pedestrian facilities can be considered as prime reasons for the increasing pedestrian related crashes in India. Bengaluru City – the IT capital hub of the nation is not much different from this. The increase in number of pedestrian crashes in Bengaluru reflects the same. To resolve this issue and to ensure safe, sustainable and pedestrian friendly sidewalks, Govt. of Karnataka, India has implemented newfangled pedestrian sidewalks popularized programme named Tender S.U.R.E. (Specifications for Urban Road Execution) projects. Tender SURE adopts unique urban street design guidelines where the pedestrians are given prime preference. The present study presents an assessment of the quality and performance of the pedestrian side walk and the walkability index of the newly built pedestrian friendly sidewalks. Various physical and environmental factors affecting pedestrian safety are identified and studied in detail. The pedestrian mobility is quantified through Pedestrian Level of Service (PLoS) and the pedestrian walking comfort is measured by calculating the Walkability Index (WI). It is observed that the new initiatives taken in reference to improving pedestrian safety have succeeded in Bengaluru by attaining a level of Service of ‘A’ and with a good WI score.

Keywords: Pedestrian safety, pedestrian level of service, right of way, Tender SURE, walkability index, walkway facilities.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1993