Search results for: plant survival rate.
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 3719

Search results for: plant survival rate.

3539 Comparison between Batteries and Fuel Cells for Photovoltaic System Backup

Authors: M. Sedighizadeh, A. Rezazadeh

Abstract:

Batteries and fuel cells contain a great potential to back up severe photovoltaic power fluctuations under inclement weather conditions. In this paper comparison between batteries and fuel cells is carried out in detail only for their PV power backup options, so their common attributes and different attributes is discussed. Then, the common and different attributes are compared; accordingly, the fuel cell is selected as the backup of Photovoltaic system. Finally, environmental evaluation of the selected hybrid plant was made in terms of plant-s land requirement and lifetime CO2 emissions, and then compared with that of the conventional fossilfuel power generating forms.

Keywords: Fuel cell, PV cell, hybrid power plant.

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3538 A Study of Factors Affecting the Elapsed Time of Housing Renewal Project Implementation in Seoul

Authors: In Su Na, Gunwon Lee, Seiyong Kim

Abstract:

This study analyzed the effect of area variables and economic variables on the length of each period of the project in order to analyze the effect of agreement rate on project implementation in housing renewal projects. In conclusion, as can be seen from these results, a low agreement rate may not translate into project promotion, and a higher agreement rate may not translate into project delay. The expectation of the policy is that the lower the agreement rate, the more projects would be promoted, but that is not the actual effect. From a policy consistency viewpoint, changing the agreement rate frequently, depending on the decision of the public, is not reasonable. The policy of using agreement rate as a necessary condition for project implementation should be reconsidered.

Keywords: Area and Economic Variables, Elapsed time, Housing Renewal Project.

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3537 Reducing Humic Acid and Disinfection By-products in Raw Water using a Bio-activated Carbon Filter

Authors: Wei-Pin Tseng, Jie-Chung Lou, Ming-Ching Wu, Huang-Ming Fang

Abstract:

For stricter drinking water regulations in the future, reducing the humic acid and disinfection byproducts in raw water, namely, trihalomethanes (THMs) and haloacetic acids (HAAs) is worthy for research. To investigate the removal of waterborne organic material using a lab-scale of bio-activated carbon filter under different EBCT, the concentrations of humic acid prepared were 0.01, 0.03, 0.06, 0.12, 0.17, 0.23, and 0.29 mg/L. Then we conducted experiments using a pilot plant with in-field of the serially connected bio-activated carbon filters and hollow fiber membrane processes employed in traditional water purification plants. Results showed under low TOC conditions of humic acid in influent (0.69 to 1.03 mg TOC/L) with an EBCT of 30 min, 40 min, and 50 min, TOC removal rates increases with greater EBCT, attaining about 39 % removal rate. The removal rate of THMs and HAAs by BACF was 54.8 % and 89.0 %, respectively.

Keywords: Bio-activated carbon filter, hollow fiber membrane, humic acid, THMs, HAAs, Water Treatment

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3536 Effect of Cooling Rate on base Metals Recovery from Copper Matte Smelting Slags

Authors: N. Tshiongo , R K.K. Mbaya , K Maweja, L.C. Tshabalala

Abstract:

Slag sample from copper smelting operation in a water jacket furnace from DRC plant was used. The study intends to determine the effect of cooling in the extraction of base metals. The cooling methods investigated were water quenching, air cooling and furnace cooling. The latter cooling ways were compared to the original as received slag. It was observed that, the cooling rate of the slag affected the leaching of base metals as it changed the phase distribution in the slag and the base metals distribution within the phases. It was also found that fast cooling of slag prevented crystallization and produced an amorphous phase that encloses the base metals. The amorphous slags from the slag dumps were more leachable in acidic medium (HNO3) which leached 46%Cu, 95% Co, 85% Zn, 92% Pb and 79% Fe with no selectivity at pH0, than in basic medium (NH4OH). The leachability was vice versa for the modified slags by quenching in water which leached 89%Cu with a high selectivity as metal extractions are less than 1% for Co, Zn, Pb and Fe at ambient temperature and pH12. For the crystallized slags, leaching of base metals increased with the increase of temperature from ambient temperature to 60°C and decreased at the higher temperature of 80°C due to the evaporation of the ammonia solution used for basic leaching, the total amounts of base metals that were leached in slow cooled slags were very low compared to the quenched slag samples.

Keywords: copper slag, leaching, amorphous, cooling rate

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3535 Comparison of The Fertilizer Properties of Ash Fractions from Medium-Sized (32 MW) and Small-Sized (6 MW) Municipal District Heating Plants

Authors: Hannu Nurmesniemi, Mikko Mäkelä, Risto Pöykiö, Olli Dahl

Abstract:

Due to the low heavy metal concentrations, the bottom ash from a 32 MW municipal district heating plant was determined to be a potential forest fertilizer as such. However, additional Ca would be needed, because its Ca concentration of 1.9- % (d.w.) was lower than the statutory Finnish minimum limit value of 6.0-% (d.w.) for Ca in forest fertilizer. Due to the elevated As concentration (53.0 mg/kg; d.w.) in the fly ash from the 32 MW municipal district heating plant, and Cr concentration (620 mg/kg; d.w.) in the ash fraction (i.e. mixture of the bottom ash and fly ash) from the 6 MW municipal district heating plant, which exceed the limit values of 30 mg/kg (d.w.) and 300 mg/kg (d.w.) for As and Cr, respectively, these residues are not suitable as forest fertilizers. Although these ash fractions cannot be used as a forest fertilizer as such, they can be used for the landscaping of landfills or in industrial and other areas that are closed to the public. However, an environmental permit is then needed.

Keywords: Ash, fertilizer, peat, forest residue, waste

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3534 Optimal Policy for a Deteriorating Inventory Model with Finite Replenishment Rate and with Price Dependant Demand Rate and Cycle Length Dependant Price

Authors: Hamed Sabahno

Abstract:

In this paper, an inventory model with finite and constant replenishment rate, price dependant demand rate, time value of money and inflation, finite time horizon, lead time and exponential deterioration rate and with the objective of maximizing the present worth of the total system profit is developed. Using a dynamic programming based solution algorithm, the optimal sequence of the cycles can be found and also different optimal selling prices, optimal order quantities and optimal maximum inventories can be obtained for the cycles with unequal lengths, which have never been done before for this model. Also, a numerical example is used to show accuracy of the solution procedure.

Keywords: Deteriorating items, Dynamic programming, Finitereplenishment rate, Inventory control, Operation Research.

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3533 An Expectation of the Rate of Inflation According to Inflation-Unemployment Interaction in Croatia

Authors: Zdravka Aljinović, Snježana Pivac, Boško Šego

Abstract:

According to the interaction of inflation and unemployment, expectation of the rate of inflation in Croatia is estimated. The interaction between inflation and unemployment is shown by model based on three first-order differential i.e. difference equations: Phillips relation, adaptive expectations equation and monetary-policy equation. The resulting equation is second order differential i.e. difference equation which describes the time path of inflation. The data of the rate of inflation and the rate of unemployment are used for parameters estimation. On the basis of the estimated time paths, the stability and convergence analysis is done for the rate of inflation.

Keywords: Differencing, inflation, time path, unemployment.

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3532 Study on Butterfly Visitation Patterns of Stachytarpheta jamaicensis as a Beneficial Plant for Butterfly Conservation

Authors: P. U. S. Peiris

Abstract:

The butterflies are ecologically very important insects. The adults generally feed on nectar and are important as pollinators of flowering plants. However, these pollinators are under threat with their habitat loss. One reason for habitat loss is spread of invasive plants. However, there are even beneficial exotic plants which can directly support for Butterfly Conservation Action Plan of Sri Lanka by attracting butterflies for nectar. Stachytarpheta jamaicensis (L.) is an important nectar plant which attracts a diverse set of butterflies in higher number. It comprises a violet color inflorescence which last for about 37 hours where it attracted a peak of butterflies around 9.00am having around average of 15 butterflies. There were no butterflies in early and late hours where the number goes to very low values as 2 at 1.00pm. it was found that a diverse group of butterflies were attracted from around 15 species including 01 endemic species, 02 endemic subspecies and 02 vulnerable species. Therefore, this is a beneficial exotic plant that could be used in butterfly attraction and conservation however with adequate monitoring of the plant population.

Keywords: Butterflies, exotic plants, pollinators, Stachytarpheta jamaicensis (L.), butterfly conservation

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3531 A Frame Work for the Development of a Suitable Method to Find Shoot Length at Maturity of Mustard Plant Using Soft Computing Model

Authors: Satyendra Nath Mandal, J. Pal Choudhury, Dilip De, S. R. Bhadra Chaudhuri

Abstract:

The production of a plant can be measured in terms of seeds. The generation of seeds plays a critical role in our social and daily life. The fruit production which generates seeds, depends on the various parameters of the plant, such as shoot length, leaf number, root length, root number, etc When the plant is growing, some leaves may be lost and some new leaves may appear. It is very difficult to use the number of leaves of the tree to calculate the growth of the plant.. It is also cumbersome to measure the number of roots and length of growth of root in several time instances continuously after certain initial period of time, because roots grow deeper and deeper under ground in course of time. On the contrary, the shoot length of the tree grows in course of time which can be measured in different time instances. So the growth of the plant can be measured using the data of shoot length which are measured at different time instances after plantation. The environmental parameters like temperature, rain fall, humidity and pollution are also play some role in production of yield. The soil, crop and distance management are taken care to produce maximum amount of yields of plant. The data of the growth of shoot length of some mustard plant at the initial stage (7,14,21 & 28 days after plantation) is available from the statistical survey by a group of scientists under the supervision of Prof. Dilip De. In this paper, initial shoot length of Ken( one type of mustard plant) has been used as an initial data. The statistical models, the methods of fuzzy logic and neural network have been tested on this mustard plant and based on error analysis (calculation of average error) that model with minimum error has been selected and can be used for the assessment of shoot length at maturity. Finally, all these methods have been tested with other type of mustard plants and the particular soft computing model with the minimum error of all types has been selected for calculating the predicted data of growth of shoot length. The shoot length at the stage of maturity of all types of mustard plants has been calculated using the statistical method on the predicted data of shoot length.

Keywords: Fuzzy time series, neural network, forecasting error, average error.

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3530 CFD Modeling of Reduction in NOX Emission Using HiTAC Technique

Authors: Abbas Khoshhal, Masoud Rahimi, Sayed Reza Shabanian, Ammar Abdulaziz Alsairafi

Abstract:

In the present study, the rate of NOx emission in a combustion chamber working in conventional combustion and High Temperature Air Combustion (HiTAC) system are examined using CFD modeling. The effect of peak temperature, combustion air temperature and oxygen concentration on NOx emission rate was undertaken. Results show that in a fixed oxygen concentration, increasing the preheated air temperature will increase the peak temperature and NOx emission rate. In addition, it was observed that the reduction of the oxygen concentration in the fixed preheated air temperature decreases the peak temperature and NOx emission rate. On the other hand, the results show that increase of preheated air temperature at various oxygen concentrations increases the NOx emission rate. However, the rate of increase in HiTAC conditions is quite lower than the conventional combustion. The modeling results show that the NOx emission rate in HiTAC combustion is 133% less than that of the conventional combustion.

Keywords: CFD Modeling, HiTAC, NOx, Combustion.

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3529 Soil Respiration Rate of Laurel-Leaved and Cryptomeria japonica Forests

Authors: Ayuko Itsuki, Sachiyo Aburatani

Abstract:

We assessed the ecology of the organic and mineral soil layers of laurel-leaved (BB-1) and Cryptomeria japonica (BB-2 and Pw) forests in the Kasugayama Hill Primeval Forest (Nara, Japan). The soil respiration rate was higher in the deeper horizons (F and H) of organic layers than in those of mineral soil layers, suggesting organic layers may be where active microbial metabolism occurs. Respiration rates in the soil of BB-1, BB-2 and Pw forests were closely similar at 5 and 10°C. However, the soil respiration rate increased in proportion to temperatures of 15°C or above. We therefore consider the activity of soil microorganisms to markedly decrease at temperatures below 10°C. At a temperature of 15°C or above, the soil respiration rate in the BB-1 organic layers was higher than in those of the BB-2 and Pw organic layers, due to differences in forest vegetation that appeared to influence several salient soil properties, particularly pH and the carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) content of the F and H horizons.

Keywords: Forest soil, mineralization rate, soil respiration rate.

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3528 Integrated Water Management for Lafarge Cement-Jordan

Authors: Azzam Hamaideh, Abbas Al-Omari, Michael Sturm

Abstract:

This study aims at implementing integrated water resources management principles to the Lafarge Cement Jordan at Al-Fuhais plant. This was accomplished by conducting water audits at all water consuming units in the plant. Based on the findings of the water audit, an action plan to improve water use efficiency in the plant was proposed. The main elements of which are installing water saving devices, re-use of the treated wastewater, water harvesting, raising the awareness of the employees, and linking the plant to the water demand management unit at the Ministry of Water and Irrigation.

The analysis showed that by implementing the proposed action plan, it is expected that the industrial water demand can be satisfied from non-conventional resources including treated wastewater and harvested water. As a consequence, fresh water can be used to increase the supply to Al-Fuhais city which is expected to reflect positively on the relationship between the factory and the city. 

Keywords: Integrated water resources management, non-conventional water resources, water awareness, water demand management, water harvesting, water saving devices.

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3527 Molecular Characterization of Free Radicals Decomposing Genes on Plant Developmental Stages

Authors: R. Haddad, K. Morris, V. Buchanan-Wollaston

Abstract:

Biochemical and molecular analysis of some antioxidant enzyme genes revealed different level of gene expression on oilseed (Brassica napus). For molecular and biochemical analysis, leaf tissues were harvested from plants at eight different developmental stages, from young to senescence. The levels of total protein and chlorophyll were increased during maturity stages of plant, while these were decreased during the last stages of plant growth. Structural analysis (nucleotide and deduced amino acid sequence, and phylogenic tree) of a complementary DNA revealed a high level of similarity for a family of Catalase genes. The expression of the gene encoded by different Catalase isoforms was assessed during different plant growth phase. No significant difference between samples was observed, when Catalase activity was statistically analyzed at different developmental stages. EST analysis exhibited different transcripts levels for a number of other relevant antioxidant genes (different isoforms of SOD and glutathione). The high level of transcription of these genes at senescence stages was indicated that these genes are senescenceinduced genes.

Keywords: Biochemical analysis, Oilseed, Expression pattern, Growth phases

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3526 Determination of Strain Rate Sensitivity (SRS) for Grain Size Variants on Nanocrystalline Material Produced by ARB and ECAP

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

Abstract:

Mechanical behavior of 6082T6 aluminum is investigated at different temperatures. The strain rate sensitivity is investigated at different temperatures on the grain size variants. The sensitivity of the measured grain size variants on 3-D grain is discussed. It is shown that the strain rate sensitivities are negative for the grain size variants during the deformation of nanostructured materials. It is also observed that the strain rate sensitivities vary in different ways with the equivalent radius, semi minor axis radius, semi major axis radius and major axis radius. From the obtained results, it is shown that the variation of strain rate sensitivity with temperature suggests that the strain rate sensitivity at the low and the high temperature ends of the 6082T6 aluminum range is different. The obtained results revealed transition at different temperature from negative strain rate sensitivity as temperature increased on the grain size variants.

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

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3525 Predictor Factors for Treatment Failure among Patients on Second Line Antiretroviral Therapy

Authors: Mohd. A. M. Rahim, Yahaya Hassan, Mathumalar L. Fahrni

Abstract:

Second line antiretroviral therapy (ART) regimen is used when patients fail their first line regimen. There are many factors such as non-adherence, drug resistance as well as virological and immunological failure that lead to second line highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) regimen treatment failure. This study was aimed at determining predictor factors to treatment failure with second line HAART and analyzing median survival time. An observational, retrospective study was conducted in Sungai Buloh Hospital (HSB) to assess current status of HIV patients treated with second line HAART regimen. Convenience sampling was used and 104 patients were included based on the study’s inclusion and exclusion criteria. Data was collected for six months i.e. from July until December 2013. Data was then analysed using SPSS version 18. Kaplan-Meier and Cox regression analyses were used to measure median survival times and predictor factors for treatment failure. The study population consisted mainly of male subjects, aged 30- 45 years, who were heterosexual, and had HIV infection for less than 6 years. The most common second line HAART regimen given was lopinavir/ritonavir (LPV/r)-based combination. Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that patients on LPV/r demonstrated longer median survival times than patients on indinavir/ritonavir (IDV/r) based combination (p<0.001). The commonest reason for a treatment to fail with second line HAART was non-adherence. Based on Cox regression analysis, other predictor factors for treatment failure with second line HAART regimen were age and mode of HIV transmission.

Keywords: Adherence, antiretroviral therapy, second line, treatment failure.

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3524 A Comparative Study on Survival and Growth of Larvivorous Fish, Rasbora daniconius, Puntius ticto, and Puntius Conchonius

Authors: Lavkush Kumar Brahman, Ramesh Chandra

Abstract:

Experiments were carried out on the survival and growth of Rasbora daniconius, Puntius ticto and Puntius conchonius. The motivation of the study was to obtain information for growing the fish on a commercial scale for their use as biological control agents against mosquito larvae. The effects of temperature, total hardness, DO, pH and feed on the growth of fish were also investigated. Excessive value of total hardness was found because very rich calcium ion is present in Chitrakoot area. There was significant increases in growth rates of fish as temperature was increased from 280C to 300C. Further increases in temperature up to 320C, did not further affect growth. The positive and highly significant correlations 0.991488, 0.9581 and 0.9935 were found between length and weight of P. ticto, P. conchonius and R. daniconius respectively. The regression was significant at 5% level of probability.

Keywords: Indigenous fish, DO, larvae, mosquito, pH, Temperature, total hardness.

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3523 Towards a Systematic Planning of Standardization Projects in Plant Engineering

Authors: M. Amberg, M. Gepp, S. Horn

Abstract:

In today-s economy plant engineering faces many challenges. For instance the intensifying competition in this business is leading to cost competition and needs for a shorter time-to-market. To remain competitive companies need to make their businesses more profitable by implementing improvement programs such as standardization projects. But they have difficulties to tap their full economic potential for various reasons. One of them is non-holistic planning and implementation of standardization projects. This paper describes a new conceptual framework - the layer-model. The model combines and expands existing proven approaches in order to improve design, implementation and management of standardization projects. Based on a holistic approach it helps to systematically analyze the effects of standardization projects on different business layers and enables companies to better seize the opportunities offered by standardization.

Keywords: layer model, plant engineering, standardization.

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3522 Extraction and Analysis of Hypericum perforatum L. from Turkey

Authors: E. Moroydor Derun, Z. Eslek, S. Piskin

Abstract:

Hypericum perforatum L. is a member of the Hypericaceae (Guttiferae) family and commonly known as St. John’s wort. There is a growing interest in this medicinal plant because of the constituents of this genus. A number of species have been shown to possess various biological activities such as antiviral, wound healing, analgesic, hepatoprotective, antimicrobial and antioxidant activities and also have therapeutic effects on burns, bruises, swelling, anxiety and mild to moderate depression. In this study, the aerial parts of Hypericum perforatum L. are extracted and the main and effective constituents are determined. The analysis of the extracts was performed by GC-MS and LC-MS. As a next step, it is aimed to investigate the usage of the main constituents of the medicinal plant.

Keywords: Hypericaceae, Hypericum perforatum L., GC-MS, Guttiferae, LC-MS, Medicinal plant, St. John’s wort.

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3521 Optimum Turbomachine Selection for Power Regeneration in Vapor Compression Cool Production Plants

Authors: S. B. Alavi, G. Cerri, L. Chennaoui, A. Giovannelli, S. Mazzoni

Abstract:

Power Regeneration in Refrigeration Plant concept has been analyzed and has been shown to be capable of saving about 25% power in Cryogenic Plants with the Power Regeneration System (PRS) running under nominal conditions. The innovative component Compressor Expander Group (CEG) based on turbomachinery has been designed and built modifying CETT compressor and expander, both selected for optimum plant performance. Experiments have shown the good response of the turbomachines to run with R404a as working fluid. Power saving up to 12% under PRS derated conditions (50% loading) has been demonstrated. Such experiments allowed predicting a power saving up to 25% under CEG full load.

Keywords: Compressor, Expander, Power Saving, Refrigeration Plant, Turbine, Turbomachinery Selection, Vapor Pressure Booster.

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3520 Estimating Reaction Rate Constants with Neural Networks

Authors: Benedek Kovacs, Janos Toth

Abstract:

Solutions are proposed for the central problem of estimating the reaction rate coefficients in homogeneous kinetics. The first is based upon the fact that the right hand side of a kinetic differential equation is linear in the rate constants, whereas the second one uses the technique of neural networks. This second one is discussed deeply and its advantages, disadvantages and conditions of applicability are analyzed in the mirror of the first one. Numerical analysis carried out on practical models using simulated data, and our programs written in Mathematica.

Keywords: Neural networks, parameter estimation, linear regression, kinetic models, reaction rate coefficients.

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3519 Interaction of between Cd and Zn in Barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) Plant for Phytoextraction Method

Authors: S. Adiloğlu, K. Bellitürk, Y. Solmaz, A. Adiloğlu

Abstract:

The aim of this research is to remediation of the cadmium (Cd) pollution in agricultural soils by using barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) plant. For this purpose, a pot experiment was done in greenhouse conditions. Cadmium (100 mg/kg) as CdSO4.8H2O forms was applied to each pot and incubated during 30 days. Then Ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA) chelate was applied to each pot at five doses (0, 3, 6, 8 and 10 mmol/kg) 20 days before harvesting time of the barley plants. The plants were harvested after two months planting. According to the pot experiment results, Cd and Zn amounts of barley plant increased with increasing EDTA application and Zn and Cd contents of barley 20,13 and 1,35 mg/kg for 0 mmol /kg EDTA; 58,61 and 113,24 mg/kg for 10 mmol/kg EDTA doses, respectively. On the other hand, Cd and Zn concentrations of experiment soil increased with EDTA application to the soil samples. Zinc and Cd concentrations of soil 0,31 and 0,021 mg/kg for 0 mmol /kg EDTA; 2,39 and 67,40 mg/kg for 10 mmol/kg EDTA doses, respectively. These increases were found to be statistically significant at the level of 1 %. According to the results of the pot experiment, some heavy metal especially Cd pollution of barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) plant province can be remediated by the phytoextraction method.

Keywords: Barley (Hordeum vulgare L.), Cadmium and Zinc, phytoextraction, soil pollution.

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3518 Type–2 Fuzzy Programming for Optimizing the Heat Rate of an Industrial Gas Turbine via Absorption Chiller Technology

Authors: T. Ganesan, M. S. Aris, I. Elamvazuthi, Momen Kamal Tageldeen

Abstract:

Terms set in power purchase agreements (PPA) challenge power utility companies in balancing between the returns (from maximizing power production) and securing long term supply contracts at capped production. The production limitation set in the PPA has driven efforts to maximize profits through efficient and economic power production. In this paper, a combined industrial-scale gas turbine (GT) - absorption chiller (AC) system is considered to cool the GT air intake for reducing the plant’s heat rate (HR). This GT-AC system is optimized while considering power output limitations imposed by the PPA. In addition, the proposed formulation accounts for uncertainties in the ambient temperature using Type-2 fuzzy programming. Using the enhanced chaotic differential evolution (CEDE), the Pareto frontier was constructed and the optimization results are analyzed in detail.

Keywords: Absorption chillers, turbine inlet air cooling, power purchase agreement, multiobjective optimization, type-2 fuzzy programming, chaotic differential evolution.

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3517 An Approach for Coagulant Dosage Optimization Using Soft Jar Test: A Case Study of Bangkhen Water Treatment Plant

Authors: Ninlawat Phuangchoke, Waraporn Viyanon, Setta Sasananan

Abstract:

The most important process of the water treatment plant process is coagulation, which uses alum and poly aluminum chloride (PACL). Therefore, determining the dosage of alum and PACL is the most important factor to be prescribed. This research applies an artificial neural network (ANN), which uses the Levenberg–Marquardt algorithm to create a mathematical model (Soft Jar Test) for chemical dose prediction, as used for coagulation, such as alum and PACL, with input data consisting of turbidity, pH, alkalinity, conductivity, and, oxygen consumption (OC) of the Bangkhen Water Treatment Plant (BKWTP), under the authority of the Metropolitan Waterworks Authority of Thailand. The data were collected from 1 January 2019 to 31 December 2019 in order to cover the changing seasons of Thailand. The input data of ANN are divided into three groups: training set, test set, and validation set. The coefficient of determination and the mean absolute errors of the alum model are 0.73, 3.18 and the PACL model are 0.59, 3.21, respectively.

Keywords: Soft jar test, jar test, water treatment plant process, artificial neural network.

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3516 Effect of Varying Diets on Growth, Development and Survival of Queen Bee (Apis mellifera L.) in Captivity

Authors: Muhammad Anjum Aqueel, Zaighum Abbas, Mubasshir Sohail, Muhammad Abubakar, Hafiz Khurram Shurjeel, Abu Bakar Muhammad Raza, Muhammad Afzal, Sami Ullah

Abstract:

Keeping in view the increasing demand, queen of Apis mellifera L. (Hymenoptera: Apidae) was reared artificially in this experiment at varying diets including royal jelly. Larval duration, pupal duration, weight, and size of pupae were evaluated at different diets including royal jelly. Queen larvae were raised by Doo Little grafting method. Four different diets were mixed with royal jelly and applied to larvae. Fructose, sugar, yeast, and honey were provided to rearing queen larvae along with same amount of royal jelly. Larval and pupal duration were longest (6.15 and 7.5 days, respectively) at yeast and shortest on honey (5.05 and 7.02 days, respectively). Heavier and bigger pupae were recorded on yeast (168.14 mg and 1.76 cm, respectively) followed by diets having sugar and honey. Due to production of heavier and bigger pupae, yeast was considered as best artificial diet for the growing queen larvae. So, in the second part of experiment, different amounts of yeast were provided to growing larvae along with fixed amount (0.5 g) of royal jelly. Survival rates of the larvae and queen bee were 70% and 40% in the 4-g food, 86.7% and 53.3% in the 6-g food, and 76.7% and 50% in the 8-g food. Weight of adult queen bee (1.459±0.191 g) and the number of ovarioles (41.7±21.3) were highest at 8 g of food. Results of this study are helpful for bee-keepers in producing fitter queen bees.

Keywords: Apis melifera L., dietary effect, survival and development, honey bee queen.

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3515 A 3.125Gb/s Clock and Data Recovery Circuit Using 1/4-Rate Technique

Authors: Il-Do Jeong, Hang-Geun Jeong

Abstract:

This paper describes the design and fabrication of a clock and data recovery circuit (CDR). We propose a new clock and data recovery which is based on a 1/4-rate frequency detector (QRFD). The proposed frequency detector helps reduce the VCO frequency and is thus advantageous for high speed application. The proposed frequency detector can achieve low jitter operation and extend the pull-in range without using the reference clock. The proposed CDR was implemented using a 1/4-rate bang-bang type phase detector (PD) and a ring voltage controlled oscillator (VCO). The CDR circuit has been fabricated in a standard 0.18 CMOS technology. It occupies an active area of 1 x 1 and consumes 90 mW from a single 1.8V supply.

Keywords: Clock and data recovery, 1/4-rate frequency detector, 1/4-rate phase detector.

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3514 Influence of Hydrocarbons on Plant Cell Ultrastructure and Main Metabolic Enzymes

Authors: T. Sadunishvili, E. Kvesitadze, M. Betsiashvili, N. Kuprava, G. Zaalishvili, G. Kvesitadze

Abstract:

Influence of octane and benzene on plant cell ultrastructure and enzymes of basic metabolism, such as nitrogen assimilation and energy generation have been studied. Different plants: perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne) and alfalfa (Medicago sativa); crops- maize (Zea mays L.) and bean (Phaseolus vulgaris); shrubs – privet (Ligustrum sempervirens) and trifoliate orange (Poncirus trifoliate); trees - poplar (Populus deltoides) and white mulberry (Morus alba L.) were exposed to hydrocarbons of different concentrations (1, 10 and 100 mM). Destructive changes in bean and maize leaves cells ultrastructure under the influence of benzene vapour were revealed at the level of photosynthetic and energy generation subcellular organells. Different deviations at the level of subcellular organelles structure and distribution were observed in alfalfa and ryegrass root cells under the influence of benzene and octane, absorbed through roots. The level of destructive changes is concentration dependent. Benzene at low 1 and 10 mM concentration caused the increase in glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH) activity in maize roots and leaves and in poplar and mulberry shoots, though to higher extent in case of lower, 1mM concentration. The induction was more intensive in plant roots. The highest tested 100mM concentration of benzene was inhibitory to the enzyme in all plants. Octane caused induction of GDH in all grassy plants at all tested concentrations; however the rate of induction decreased parallel to increase of the hydrocarbon concentration. Octane at concentration 1 mM caused induction of GDH in privet, trifoliate and white mulberry shoots. The highest, 100mM octane was characterized by inhibitory effect to GDH activity in all plants. Octane had inductive effect on malate dehydrogenase in almost all plants and tested concentrations, indicating the intensification of Trycarboxylic Acid Cycle. The data could be suggested for elaboration of criteria for plant selection for phytoremediation of oil hydrocarbons contaminated soils.

Keywords: Higher plants, hydrocarbons, cell ultrastructure, glutamate and malate dehydrogenases.

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3513 Experimental Investigation of a Novel Reaction in Reduction of Sulfates by Natural Gas as a Reducing Agent

Authors: Ali Ghiaseddin , Akram Nemati

Abstract:

In a pilot plant scale of a fluidized bed reactor, a reduction reaction of sodium sulfate by natural gas has been investigated. Natural gas is applied in this study as a reductant. Feed density, feed mass flow rate, natural gas and air flow rate (independent parameters)and temperature of bed and CO concentration in inlet and outlet of reactor (dependent parameters) were monitored and recorded at steady state. The residence time was adjusted close to value of traditional reaction [1]. An artificial neural network (ANN) was established to study dependency of yield and carbon gradient on operating parameters. Resultant 97% accuracy of applied ANN is a good prove that natural gas can be used as a reducing agent. Predicted ANN model for relation between other sources carbon gradient (accuracy 74%) indicates there is not a meaningful relation between other sources carbon variation and reduction process which means carbon in granule does not have significant effect on the reaction yield.

Keywords: reduction by natural gas, fluidized bed, sulfate, sulfide, artificial neural network

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3512 Stabilization of Nonnecessarily Inversely Stable First-Order Adaptive Systems under Saturated Input

Authors: M. De la Sen, O. Barambones

Abstract:

This paper presents an indirect adaptive stabilization scheme for first-order continuous-time systems under saturated input which is described by a sigmoidal function. The singularities are avoided through a modification scheme for the estimated plant parameter vector so that its associated Sylvester matrix is guaranteed to be non-singular and then the estimated plant model is controllable. The modification mechanism involves the use of a hysteresis switching function. An alternative hybrid scheme, whose estimated parameters are updated at sampling instants is also given to solve a similar adaptive stabilization problem. Such a scheme also uses hysteresis switching for modification of the parameter estimates so as to ensure the controllability of the estimated plant model.

Keywords: Hybrid dynamic systems, discrete systems, saturated input, control, stabilization.

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3511 A Qualitative Description of the Dynamics in the Interactions between Three Populations: Pollinators, Plants, and Herbivores

Authors: Miriam Sosa-Díaz, Faustino Sánchez-Garduño

Abstract:

In population dynamics the study of both, the abundance and the spatial distribution of the populations in a given habitat, is a fundamental issue a From ecological point of view, the determination of the factors influencing such changes involves important problems. In this paper a mathematical model to describe the temporal dynamic and the spatiotemporal dynamic of the interaction of three populations (pollinators, plants and herbivores) is presented. The study we present is carried out by stages: 1. The temporal dynamics and 2. The spatio-temporal dynamics. In turn, each of these stages is developed by considering three cases which correspond to the dynamics of each type of interaction. For instance, for stage 1, we consider three ODE nonlinear systems describing the pollinator-plant, plant-herbivore and plant-pollinator-herbivore, interactions, respectively. In each of these systems different types of dynamical behaviors are reported. Namely, transcritical and pitchfork bifurcations, existence of a limit cycle, existence of a heteroclinic orbit, etc. For the spatiotemporal dynamics of the two mathematical models a novel factor are introduced. This consists in considering that both, the pollinators and the herbivores, move towards those places of the habitat where the plant population density is high. In mathematical terms, this means that the diffusive part of the pollinators and herbivores equations depend on the plant population density. The analysis of this part is presented by considering pairs of populations, i. e., the pollinator-plant and plant-herbivore interactions and at the end the two mathematical model is presented, these models consist of two coupled nonlinear partial differential equations of reaction-diffusion type. These are defined on a rectangular domain with the homogeneous Neumann boundary conditions. We focused in the role played by the density dependent diffusion term into the coexistence of the populations. For both, the temporal and spatio-temporal dynamics, a several of numerical simulations are included.

Keywords: Bifurcation, heteroclinic orbits, steady state, traveling wave.

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3510 Closed Greenhouse Production Systems for Smart Plant Production in Urban Areas

Authors: U. Schmidt, D. Dannehl, I. Schuch, J. Suhl, T. Rocksch, R. Salazar-Moreno, E. Fitz-Rodrigues, A. Rojano Aquilar, I. Lopez Cruz, G. Navas Gomez, R. A. Abraham, L. C. Irineo, N. G. Gilberto

Abstract:

The integration of agricultural production systems into urban areas is a challenge for the coming decades. Because of increasing greenhouse gas emission and rising resource consumption as well as costs in animal husbandry, the dietary habits of people in the 21st century have to focus on herbal foods. Intensive plant cultivation systems in large cities and megacities require a smart coupling of information, material and energy flow with the urban infrastructure in terms of Horticulture 4.0. In recent years, many puzzle pieces have been developed for these closed processes at the Humboldt University. To compile these for an urban plant production, it has to be optimized and networked with urban infrastructure systems. In the field of heat energy production, it was shown that with closed greenhouse technology and patented heat exchange and storage technology energy can be provided for heating and domestic hot water supply in the city. Closed water circuits can be drastically reducing the water requirements of plant production in urban areas. Ion sensitive sensors and new disinfection methods can help keep circulating nutrient solutions in the system for a longer time in urban plant production greenhouses.

Keywords: Semi closed, greenhouses, urban farming, solar heat collector, closed water cycles, aquaponics.

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