Search results for: salt solution

Authors: Andrey V. Timofeev

Abstract:

The practical efficient approach is suggested to estimate the high-speed objects instant bounds in C-OTDR monitoring systems. In case of super-dynamic objects (trains, cars) is difficult to obtain the adequate estimate of the instantaneous object localization because of estimation lag. In other words, reliable estimation coordinates of monitored object requires taking some time for data observation collection by means of C-OTDR system, and only if the required sample volume will be collected the final decision could be issued. But it is contrary to requirements of many real applications. For example, in rail traffic management systems we need to get data of the dynamic objects localization in real time. The way to solve this problem is to use the set of statistical independent parameters of C-OTDR signals for obtaining the most reliable solution in real time. The parameters of this type we can call as «signaling parameters» (SP). There are several the SP’s which carry information about dynamic objects instant localization for each of COTDR channels. The problem is that some of these parameters are very sensitive to dynamics of seismoacoustic emission sources, but are non-stable. On the other hand, in case the SP is very stable it becomes insensitive as rule. This report contains describing of the method for SP’s co-processing which is designed to get the most effective dynamic objects localization estimates in the C-OTDR monitoring system framework.

Keywords: C-OTDR-system, co-processing of signaling parameters, high-speed objects localization, multichannel monitoring systems.

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Authors: Jing Fang, Yao Cui, Mingming Wang, Shengli She, Jianping Yuan

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Wearable robotics is a potential solution in aiding gait rehabilitation of lower limbs dyskinesia patients, such as knee osteoarthritis or stroke afflicted patients. Many wearable robots have been developed in the form of rigid exoskeletons, but their bulk devices, high cost and control complexity hinder their popularity in the field of gait rehabilitation. Thus, the development of a portable, compliant and low-cost wearable robot for gait rehabilitation is necessary. Inspired by Chinese traditional folding fans and balloon inflators, the authors present an inflatable, foldable and variable stiffness knee exosuit (IFVSKE) in this paper. The pneumatic actuator of IFVSKE was fabricated in the shape of folding fans by using thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) fabric materials. The geometric and mechanical properties of IFVSKE were characterized with experimental methods. To assist the knee joint smartly, an intelligent control profile for IFVSKE was proposed based on the concept of full-cycle energy management of the biomechanical energy during human movement. The biomechanical energy of knee joints in a walking gait cycle of patients could be collected and released to assist the joint motion just by adjusting the inner pressure of IFVSKE. Finally, a healthy subject was involved to walk with and without the IFVSKE to evaluate the assisting effects.

Keywords: Biomechanical energy management, gait rehabilitation, knee exosuit, wearable robotics.

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Authors: C. M. Balaceanu, G. Suciu, C. S. Bosoc, O. Orza, C. Fernandez, Z. Viniczay

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The Internet of Things (IoT) represents the best option for smart vineyard applications, even if it is necessary to integrate the technologies required for the development. This article is based on the research and the results obtained in the DISAVIT project. For Smart Agriculture, the project aims to provide a trustworthy, intelligent, integrated vineyard management solution that is based on the IoT. To have interoperability through the use of a multiprotocol technology (being the future connected wireless IoT) it is necessary to adopt an agnostic approach, providing a reliable environment to address cyber security, IoT-based threats and traceability through blockchain-based design, but also creating a concept for long-term implementations (modular, scalable). The ones described above represent the main innovative technical aspects of this project. The DISAVIT project studies and promotes the incorporation of better management tools based on objective data-based decisions, which are necessary for agriculture adapted and more resistant to climate change. It also exploits the opportunities generated by the digital services market for smart agriculture management stakeholders. The project's final result aims to improve decision-making, performance, and viticulturally infrastructure and increase real-time data accuracy and interoperability. Innovative aspects such as end-to-end solutions, adaptability, scalability, security and traceability, place our product in a favorable situation over competitors. None of the solutions in the market meet every one of these requirements by a unique product being innovative.

Keywords: Blockchain, IoT, smart agriculture, vineyard.

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Authors: Chun-Ying Lee, Kun-Hsien Lee, Bor-Wei Wang

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The process of post-supercritical CO₂ electroplating uses the electrolyte solution after being mixed with supercritical CO₂ and released to atmospheric pressure. It utilizes the microbubbles that form when oversaturated CO₂ in the electrolyte returns to gaseous state, which gives the similar effect of pulsed electroplating. Under atmospheric pressure, the CO₂ bubbles gradually diffuse. Therefore, the introduction of ultrasound and/or other agitation can potentially excite the CO₂ microbubbles to achieve an electroplated surface of even higher quality. In this study, during the electroplating process, three different modes of agitation: magnetic stirrer agitation, ultrasonic agitation and a combined mode (magnetic + ultrasonic) were applied, respectively, in order to obtain an optimal surface morphology and mechanical properties for the electroplated Ni coating. It is found that the combined agitation mode at a current density of 40 A/dm² achieved the smallest grain size, lower surface roughness, and produced an electroplated Ni layer that achieved hardness of 320 HV, much higher when compared with conventional method, which were usually in the range of 160 to 300 HV. However, at the same time, the electroplating with combined agitation developed a higher internal stress of 320 MPa due to the lower current efficiency of the process and finer grain in the coating. Moreover, a new control methodology for tailoring the coating’s mechanical property through its thickness was demonstrated by the timely introduction of ultrasonic agitation during the electroplating process with post supercritical CO₂ mixed electrolyte.

Keywords: Nickel electroplating, micro-bubbles, supercritical carbon dioxide, ultrasonic agitation, magnetic stirring.

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Authors: Chongya Song, Kang Yen, Alexander Pons, Jin Liu

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In the field of machine learning, the ensemble has been employed as a common methodology to improve the performance upon multiple base classifiers. However, the true predictions are often canceled out by the false ones during consensus due to a phenomenon called “curse of correlation” which is represented as the strong interferences among the predictions produced by the base classifiers. In addition, the existing practices are still not able to effectively mitigate the problem of imbalanced classification. Based on the analysis on our experiment results, we conclude that the two problems are caused by some inherent deficiencies in the approach of consensus. Therefore, we create an enhanced ensemble algorithm which adopts a designed rank-based chain-mode consensus to overcome the two problems. In order to evaluate the proposed ensemble algorithm, we employ a well-known benchmark data set NSL-KDD (the improved version of dataset KDDCup99 produced by University of New Brunswick) to make comparisons between the proposed and 8 common ensemble algorithms. Particularly, each compared ensemble classifier uses the same 22 base classifiers, so that the differences in terms of the improvements toward the accuracy and reliability upon the base classifiers can be truly revealed. As a result, the proposed rank-based chain-mode consensus is proved to be a more effective ensemble solution than the traditional consensus approach, which outperforms the 8 ensemble algorithms by 20% on almost all compared metrices which include accuracy, precision, recall, F1-score and area under receiver operating characteristic curve.

Keywords: Consensus, curse of correlation, imbalanced classification, rank-based chain-mode ensemble.

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Authors: Mariann Veresne Somosi, Zoltan Nagy, Krisztina Varga

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Innovation is the key element of economic development and a key factor in social processes. Technical innovations can be identified as prerequisites and causes of social change and cannot be created without the renewal of society. The study of social innovation can be characterised as one of the significant research areas of our day. The study’s aim is to identify the process of social innovation, which can be defined by input, transformation, and output factors. This approach divides the social innovation process into three parts: situation analysis, implementation, follow-up. The methods associated with each stage of the process are illustrated by the chronological line of social innovation. In this study, we have sought to present methodologies that support long- and short-term decision-making that is easy to apply, have different complementary content, and are well visualised for different user groups. When applying the methods, the reference objects are different: county, district, settlement, specific organisation. The solution proposed by the study supports the development of a methodological combination adapted to different situations. Having reviewed metric and conceptualisation issues, we wanted to develop a methodological combination along with a change management logic suitable for structured support to the generation of social innovation in the case of a locality or a specific organisation. In addition to a theoretical summary, in the second part of the study, we want to give a non-exhaustive picture of the two counties located in the north-eastern part of Hungary through specific analyses and case descriptions.

Keywords: Factors of social innovation, methodological combination, social innovation process, supporting decision-making.

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Authors: N. Yuvaraj, V. B. Prakash, D. Venkatraj

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This paper may be considered as combination of both pervasive computing and Differential GPS (global positioning satellite) which relates to control automatic traffic signals in such a way as to pre-empt normal signal operation and permit lifesaving vehicles. Before knowing the arrival of the lifesaving vehicles from the signal there is a chance of clearing the traffic. Traffic signal preemption system includes a vehicle equipped with onboard computer system capable of capturing diagnostic information and estimated location of the lifesaving vehicle using the information provided by GPS receiver connected to the onboard computer system and transmitting the information-s using a wireless transmitter via a wireless network. The fleet management system connected to a wireless receiver is capable of receiving the information transmitted by the lifesaving vehicle .A computer is also located at the intersection uses corrected vehicle position, speed & direction measurements, in conjunction with previously recorded data defining approach routes to the intersection, to determine the optimum time to switch a traffic light controller to preemption mode so that lifesaving vehicles can pass safely. In case when the ambulance need to take a “U" turn in a heavy traffic area we suggest a solution. Now we are going to make use of computerized median which uses LINKED BLOCKS (removable) to solve the above problem.

Keywords: Ubiquitous computing, differential GPS, fleet management system, wireless transmitter and receiver computerized median i.e. linked blocks (removable).

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Authors: S. A. Moeini, M. T.Ahmadian

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Structural behavior of ring stiffened thick walled cylinders made of functionally graded materials (FGMs) is investigated in this paper. Functionally graded materials are inhomogeneous composites which are usually made from a mixture of metal and ceramic. The gradient compositional variation of the constituents from one surface to the other provides an elegant solution to the problem of high transverse shear stresses that are induced when two dissimilar materials with large differences in material properties are bonded. FGM formation of the cylinder is modeled by power-law exponent and the variation of characteristics is supposed to be in radial direction. A finite element formulation is derived for the analysis. According to the property variation of the constituent materials in the radial direction of the wall, it is not convenient to use conventional elements to model and analyze the structure of the stiffened FGM cylinders. In this paper a new cylindrical super-element is used to model the finite element formulation and analyze the static and modal behavior of stiffened FGM thick walled cylinders. By using this super-element the number of elements, which are needed for modeling, will reduce significantly and the process time is less in comparison with conventional finite element formulations. Results for static and modal analysis are evaluated and verified by comparison to finite element formulation with conventional elements. Comparison indicates a good conformity between results.

Keywords: FGMs, Modal analysis, Static analysis, Stiffened cylinders.

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Authors: W. Kongnoo, J. Loysongkroa, S. Chotivichien, N. Viriyautsahakul, N. Saiwongse

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Obesity, stunting and wasting problems among Thai school-aged children are increasing due to inappropriate food consumption behavior and poor environments for desirable nutritional behavior. Because of a low school lunch budget of only 0.40 USD per person per day, food quality is not up to nutritional standards. Therefore, the Health Department with the Education Ministry and the Thai Health Promotion Foundation have developed a quality school lunch project during 2009–2013. The program objectives were development and management of public policy to increase school lunch budget. The methods used a healthy public policy motivation process and movement in 241 local administrative organizations and 538 schools. The problem and solution research was organized to study school food and nutrition management, create a best practice policy mobilization model and hold a public hearing to motivate an increase of school meal funding. The results showed that local public policy has been motivated during 2009-2011 to increase school meal budget using local budgets. School children with best food consumption behavior and exercise increased from 13.2% in 2009 to 51.6% in 2013 and stunting decreased from 6.0% in 2009 to 4.7% in 2013. As the result of national policy motivation (2012-2013), the cabinet meeting on October 22, 2013 has approved an increase of school lunch budget from 0.40 USD to 0.62 USD per person per day. Thus, 5,800,469 school children nationwide have benefited from the budget increase.

Keywords: Public policy, Quality school lunch, Thailand.

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Authors: Pablo Cardozo Herrera

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In a dynamic market of Information Technology (IT) Service and with high quality demands and high performance requirements in decreasing costs, it is imperative that IT companies invest organizational effort in order to increase the effectiveness of their Information Technology Service Management (ITSM) processes through the improvement of ITSM project management and through solid support to the strategic decision-making process of IT directors. In this article, the author presents an analysis of common issues of IT companies around the world, with strategic needs of information unmet that provoke their ITSM processes and projects management that do not achieve the effectiveness and efficiency expected of their results. In response to the issues raised, the author proposes a framework consisting of an innovative theoretical framework model of ITSM management and a technological solution aligned to the Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) good practices guidance and ISO/IEC 20000-1 requirements. The article describes a research that proves the proposed framework is able to integrate, manage and coordinate in a holistic way, measurable and auditable, all ITSM processes and projects of IT organization and utilize the effectiveness assessment achieved for their strategic decision-making process increasing the process maturity level and improving the capacity of an efficient management.

Keywords: Innovation in IT services, ITSM processes, ITIL and ISO/IEC 20000-1, IT service management, IT service excellence.

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Authors: Syed Salman Ahmed, Zahid Halim, Rauf Baig, Shariq Bashir

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With the rapid growth in business size, today's businesses orient towards electronic technologies. Amazon.com and e-bay.com are some of the major stakeholders in this regard. Unfortunately the enormous size and hugely unstructured data on the web, even for a single commodity, has become a cause of ambiguity for consumers. Extracting valuable information from such an everincreasing data is an extremely tedious task and is fast becoming critical towards the success of businesses. Web content mining can play a major role in solving these issues. It involves using efficient algorithmic techniques to search and retrieve the desired information from a seemingly impossible to search unstructured data on the Internet. Application of web content mining can be very encouraging in the areas of Customer Relations Modeling, billing records, logistics investigations, product cataloguing and quality management. In this paper we present a review of some very interesting, efficient yet implementable techniques from the field of web content mining and study their impact in the area specific to business user needs focusing both on the customer as well as the producer. The techniques we would be reviewing include, mining by developing a knowledge-base repository of the domain, iterative refinement of user queries for personalized search, using a graphbased approach for the development of a web-crawler and filtering information for personalized search using website captions. These techniques have been analyzed and compared on the basis of their execution time and relevance of the result they produced against a particular search.

Keywords: Data mining, web mining, search engines, knowledge discovery.

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Authors: Ashish Saini, A.K. Saxena

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In competitive electricity markets all over the world, an adoption of suitable transmission pricing model is a problem as transmission segment still operates as a monopoly. Transmission pricing is an important tool to promote investment for various transmission services in order to provide economic, secure and reliable electricity to bulk and retail customers. The nodal pricing based on SRMC (Short Run Marginal Cost) is found extremely useful by researchers for sending correct economic signals. The marginal prices must be determined as a part of solution to optimization problem i.e. to maximize the social welfare. The need to maximize the social welfare subject to number of system operational constraints is a major challenge from computation and societal point of views. The purpose of this paper is to present a nodal transmission pricing model based on SRMC by developing new mathematical expressions of real and reactive power marginal prices using GA-Fuzzy based optimal power flow framework. The impacts of selecting different social welfare functions on power marginal prices are analyzed and verified with results reported in literature. Network revenues for two different power systems are determined using expressions derived for real and reactive power marginal prices in this paper.

Keywords: Deregulation, electricity markets, nodal pricing, social welfare function, short run marginal cost.

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Authors: S.H. Mirtalaie, M.A. Hajabasi

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In this paper, an analytical approach is used to study the coupled lateral-torsional vibrations of laminated composite beam. It is known that in such structures due to the fibers orientation in various layers, any lateral displacement will produce a twisting moment. This phenomenon is modeled by the bending-twisting material coupling rigidity and its main feature is the coupling of lateral and torsional vibrations. In addition to the material coupling, the effects of shear deformation and rotary inertia are taken into account in the definition of the potential and kinetic energies. Then, the governing differential equations are derived using the Hamilton-s principle and the mathematical model matches the Timoshenko beam model when neglecting the effect of bending-twisting rigidity. The equations of motion which form a system of three coupled PDEs are solved analytically to study the free vibrations of the beam in lateral and rotational modes due to the bending, as well as the torsional mode caused by twisting. The analytic solution is carried out in three steps: 1) assuming synchronous motion for the kinematic variables which are the lateral, rotational and torsional displacements, 2) solving the ensuing eigenvalue problem which contains three coupled second order ODEs and 3) imposing different boundary conditions related to combinations of simply, clamped and free end conditions. The resulting natural frequencies and mode shapes are compared with similar results in the literature and good agreement is achieved.

Keywords: Free vibration, laminated composite beam, material coupling, state space.

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Authors: Ghulam Murshid

Abstract:

Carbon dioxide is one of the major greenhouse gas (GHG) contributors. It is an obligation of the industry to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide emission to the acceptable limits. Tremendous research and studies are reported in the past and still the quest to find the suitable and economical solution of this problem needed to be explored in order to develop the most plausible absorber for carbon dioxide removal. Amino acids can be potential alternate solvents for carbon dioxide capture from gaseous streams. This is due to its ability to resist oxidative degradation, low volatility and its ionic structure. In addition, the introduction of promoter-like piperazine to amino acid helps to further enhance the solubility. In this work, the effect of piperazine on thermo physical properties and solubility of β-Alanine aqueous solutions were studied for various concentrations. The measured physicochemical properties data was correlated as a function of temperature using least-squares method and the correlation parameters are reported together with it respective standard deviations. The effect of activator piperazine on the CO2 loading performance of selected amino acid under high-pressure conditions (1bar to 10bar) at temperature range of (30 to 60)oC was also studied. Solubility of CO2 decreases with increasing temperature and increases with increasing pressure. Quadratic representation of solubility using Response Surface Methodology (RSM) shows that the most important parameter to optimize solubility is system pressure. The addition of promoter increases the solubility effect of the solvent.

Keywords: Amino acids, CO2, Global warming, Solubility.

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Authors: J. Tospornsampan, I. Kita, M. Ishii, Y. Kitamura

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In this paper a combination approach of two heuristic-based algorithms: genetic algorithm and tabu search is proposed. It has been developed to obtain the least cost based on the split-pipe design of looped water distribution network. The proposed combination algorithm has been applied to solve the three well-known water distribution networks taken from the literature. The development of the combination of these two heuristic-based algorithms for optimization is aimed at enhancing their strengths and compensating their weaknesses. Tabu search is rather systematic and deterministic that uses adaptive memory in search process, while genetic algorithm is probabilistic and stochastic optimization technique in which the solution space is explored by generating candidate solutions. Split-pipe design may not be realistic in practice but in optimization purpose, optimal solutions are always achieved with split-pipe design. The solutions obtained in this study have proved that the least cost solutions obtained from the split-pipe design are always better than those obtained from the single pipe design. The results obtained from the combination approach show its ability and effectiveness to solve combinatorial optimization problems. The solutions obtained are very satisfactory and high quality in which the solutions of two networks are found to be the lowest-cost solutions yet presented in the literature. The concept of combination approach proposed in this study is expected to contribute some useful benefits in diverse problems.

Keywords: GAs, Heuristics, Looped network, Least-cost design, Pipe network, Optimization, TS

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Authors: M. M. Morgham, A. A. Hameda, N. A. Zriba, H. A. Jawan

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This paper aims to study the effect of cold work condition on the microstructure of Cu-1.5wt%Ti, and Cu-3.5wt%Ti and hence mechanical properties. The samples under investigation were machined, and solution heat treated. X-ray diffraction technique is used to identify the different phases present after cold deformation by compression and also different heat treatment and also measuring the relative quantities of phases present. The metallographic examination is used to study the microstructure of the samples. The hardness measurements were used to indicate the change in mechanical properties. The results are compared with the mechanical properties obtained by previous workers. Experiments on cold compression followed by aging of Cu-Ti alloys have indicated that the most efficient hardening of the material results from continuous precipitation of very fine particles within the matrix. These particles were reported to be β`-type, Cu4Ti phase. The β`-β transformation and particles coarsening within the matrix as well as long grain boundaries were responsible for the overaging of Cu-1.5wt%Ti and Cu-3.5wt%Ti alloys. It is well known that plate-like particles are β – type, Cu3Ti phase. Discontinuous precipitation was found to start at the grain boundaries and expand into grain interior. At the higher aging temperature, a classic Widmanstätten morphology forms giving rise to a coarse microstructure comprised of α and the equilibrium phase β. Those results were confirmed by X-ray analysis, which found that a few percent of Cu3Ti, β precipitates are formed during aging at high temperature for long time for both Cu- Ti alloys (i.e. Cu-1.5wt%Ti and Cu-3.5wt%Ti).

Keywords: Metallographic, hardness, precipitation, aging.

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Authors: A. Alshebani, Y. Swesi, S. Mrayed, F. Altaher

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This paper present some preliminary work on the preparation and physicochemical caracterization of nanocomposite MFI-alumina structures based on alumina hollow fibres. The fibers are manufactured by a wet spinning process. α-alumina particles were dispersed in a solution of polysulfone in NMP. The resulting slurry is pressed through the annular gap of a spinneret into a precipitation bath. The resulting green fibres are sintered. The mechanical strength of the alumina hollow fibres is determined by a three-point-bending test while the pore size is characterized by bubble-point testing. The bending strength is in the range of 110 MPa while the average pore size is 450 nm for an internal diameter of 1 mm and external diameter of 1.7 mm. To characterize the MFI membranes various techniques were used for physicochemical characterization of MFI–ceramic hollow fibres membranes: The nitrogen adsorption, X-ray diffractometry, scanning electron microscopy combined with X emission microanalysis. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Energy Dispersive Microanalysis by the X-ray were used to observe the morphology of the hollow fibre membranes (thickness, infiltration into the carrier, defects, homogeneity). No surface film, has been obtained, as observed by SEM and EDX analysis and confirmed by high temperature variation of N2 and CO2 gas permeances before cation exchange. Local analysis and characterise (SEM and EDX) and overall (by ICP elemental analysis) were conducted on two samples exchanged to determine the quantity and distribution of the cation of cesium on the cross section fibre of the zeolite between the cavities.

Keywords: Physicochemical characterization of MFI, Ceramic hollow fibre, CO2, Ion-exchange.

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Authors: J. Subbalakshmi, G. Dhruvasamhith, S. M. Hussain

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Polyaniline (PANI) is one of the most extensively studied material among the conducting polymers due to its simple synthesis by chemical and electrochemical routes. PANIs have advantages of chemical stability and high conductivity making their commercial applications quite attractive. However, to our knowledge, very little work has been reported on the tensile strength properties of templated PANIs processed with polyvinyl alcohol and also, detailed study has not been carried out. We have investigated the effect of small molecule and polymers as templates on PANI. Stable aqueous colloidal suspensions of trisodium citrate (TSC), poly(ethylenedioxythiophene)-polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT-PSS), and polyethylene glycol (PEG) templated PANIs were prepared through chemical synthesis, processed with polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and were fabricated into films by solution casting. Absorption and infra-red spectra were studied to gain insight into the possible molecular interactions. Surface morphology was studied through scanning electron microscope and optical microscope. Interestingly, tensile testing studies revealed least strain for pure PVA when compared to the blends of templated PANI. Furthermore, among the blends, TSC templated PANI possessed maximum elasticity. The ultimate tensile strength for PVA processed, PEG-templated PANI was found to be five times more than other blends considered in this study. We establish structure–property correlation with morphology, spectral characterization and tensile testing studies.

Keywords: Processed films, polyvinyl alcohol, spectroscopy, surface morphology, templated polyanilines, tensile test.

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Authors: R. Rajeshkannan, M. Rajasimman, N. Rajamohan

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In this study, the sorption of Malachite green (MG) on Hydrilla verticillata biomass, a submerged aquatic plant, was investigated in a batch system. The effects of operating parameters such as temperature, adsorbent dosage, contact time, adsorbent size, and agitation speed on the sorption of Malachite green were analyzed using response surface methodology (RSM). The proposed quadratic model for central composite design (CCD) fitted very well to the experimental data that it could be used to navigate the design space according to ANOVA results. The optimum sorption conditions were determined as temperature - 43.5oC, adsorbent dosage - 0.26g, contact time - 200min, adsorbent size - 0.205mm (65mesh), and agitation speed - 230rpm. The Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models were applied to the equilibrium data. The maximum monolayer coverage capacity of Hydrilla verticillata biomass for MG was found to be 91.97 mg/g at an initial pH 8.0 indicating that the optimum sorption initial pH. The external and intra particle diffusion models were also applied to sorption data of Hydrilla verticillata biomass with MG, and it was found that both the external diffusion as well as intra particle diffusion contributes to the actual sorption process. The pseudo-second order kinetic model described the MG sorption process with a good fitting.

Keywords: Response surface methodology, Hydrilla verticillata, malachite green, adsorption, central composite design

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Authors: Jefrey Pilusa, Tumisang Seodigeng

Abstract:

This research discusses a South African case study for the potential of utilizing refuse-derived fuel (RDF) obtained from non-burn treatment of health care risk waste (HCRW) as potential feedstock for green energy production. This specific waste stream can be destroyed via non-burn treatment technology involving high-speed mechanical shredding followed by steam or chemical injection to disinfect the final product. The RDF obtained from this process is characterised by a low moisture, low ash, and high calorific value which means it can be potentially used as high-value solid fuel. Due to the raw feed of this RDF being classified as hazardous, the final RDF has been reported to be non-infectious and can blend with other combustible wastes such as rubber and plastic for waste to energy applications. This study evaluated non-burn treatment technology as a possible solution for on-site destruction of HCRW in South African private and public health care centres. Waste generation quantities were estimated based on the number of registered patient beds, theoretical bed occupancy. Time and motion study was conducted to evaluate the logistics viability of on-site treatment. Non-burn treatment technology for HCRW is a promising option for South Africa, and successful implementation of this method depends upon the initial capital investment, operational cost and environmental permitting of such technology; there are other influencing factors such as the size of the waste stream, product off-take price as well as product demand.

Keywords: Autoclave, disposal, fuel, incineration, medical waste.

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Authors: N. Muthukumaran, R. Ravi

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The Simulation based VLSI Implementation of FELICS (Fast Efficient Lossless Image Compression System) Algorithm is proposed to provide the lossless image compression and is implemented in simulation oriented VLSI (Very Large Scale Integrated). To analysis the performance of Lossless image compression and to reduce the image without losing image quality and then implemented in VLSI based FELICS algorithm. In FELICS algorithm, which consists of simplified adjusted binary code for Image compression and these compression image is converted in pixel and then implemented in VLSI domain. This parameter is used to achieve high processing speed and minimize the area and power. The simplified adjusted binary code reduces the number of arithmetic operation and achieved high processing speed. The color difference preprocessing is also proposed to improve coding efficiency with simple arithmetic operation. Although VLSI based FELICS Algorithm provides effective solution for hardware architecture design for regular pipelining data flow parallelism with four stages. With two level parallelisms, consecutive pixels can be classified into even and odd samples and the individual hardware engine is dedicated for each one. This method can be further enhanced by multilevel parallelisms.

Keywords: Image compression, Pixel, Compression Ratio, Adjusted Binary code, Golumb Rice code, High Definition display, VLSI Implementation.

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Authors: Raja Singh Khela, R. K. Bansal, K. S. Sandhu, A. K. Goel

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Self-Excited Induction Generator (SEIG) builds up voltage while it enters in its magnetic saturation region. Due to non-linear magnetic characteristics, the performance analysis of SEIG involves cumbersome mathematical computations. The dependence of air-gap voltage on saturated magnetizing reactance can only be established at rated frequency by conducting a laboratory test commonly known as synchronous run test. But, there is no laboratory method to determine saturated magnetizing reactance and air-gap voltage of SEIG at varying speed, terminal capacitance and other loading conditions. For overall analysis of SEIG, prior information of magnetizing reactance, generated frequency and air-gap voltage is essentially required. Thus, analytical methods are the only alternative to determine these variables. Non-existence of direct mathematical relationship of these variables for different terminal conditions has forced the researchers to evolve new computational techniques. Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) are very useful for solution of such complex problems, as they do not require any a priori information about the system. In this paper, an attempt is made to use cascaded neural networks to first determine the generated frequency and magnetizing reactance with varying terminal conditions and then air-gap voltage of SEIG. The results obtained from the ANN model are used to evaluate the overall performance of SEIG and are found to be in good agreement with experimental results. Hence, it is concluded that analysis of SEIG can be carried out effectively using ANNs.

Keywords: Self-Excited Induction Generator, Artificial NeuralNetworks, Exciting Capacitance and Saturated magnetizingreactance.

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Authors: PoiSim Khiew, MuiYen Ho, ThianKhoonTan, WeeSiong Chiu, Roslinda Shamsudin, Muhammad Azmi Abd-Hamid, ChinHua Chia

Abstract:

In the present work, we have developed a symmetric electrochemical capacitor based on the nanostructured iron oxide (Fe3O4)-activated carbon (AC) nanocomposite materials. The physical properties of the nanocomposites were characterized by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) analysis. The electrochemical performances of the composite electrode in 1.0 M Na2SO3 and 1.0 M Na2SO4 aqueous solutions were evaluated using cyclic voltammetry (CV) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The composite electrode with 4 wt% of iron oxide nanomaterials exhibits the highest capacitance of 86 F/g. The experimental results clearly indicate that the incorporation of iron oxide nanomaterials at low concentration to the composite can improve the capacitive performance, mainly attributed to the contribution of the pseudocapacitance charge storage mechanism and the enhancement on the effective surface area of the electrode. Nevertheless, there is an optimum threshold on the amount of iron oxide that needs to be incorporated into the composite system. When this optimum threshold is exceeded, the capacitive performance of the electrode starts to deteriorate, as a result of the undesired particle aggregation, which is clearly indicated in the SEM analysis. The electrochemical performance of the composite electrode is found to be superior when Na2SO3 is used as the electrolyte, if compared to the Na2SO4 solution. It is believed that Fe3O4 nanoparticles can provide favourable surface adsorption sites for sulphite (SO3 2-) anions which act as catalysts for subsequent redox and intercalation reactions.

Keywords: Metal oxide nanomaterials, Electrochemical Capacitor, Double Layer Capacitance, Pseduocapacitance

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Authors: Khoo Shin Yee, Lian Yee Cheng, Ong Zhi Chao, Zubaidah Ismail, Siamak Noroozi

Abstract:

Structural frequency response testing is accurate in identifying the dynamic characteristic of a machinery structure. In practical perspective, conventional structural frequency response testing such as experimental modal analysis with impulse technique (also known as “impulse testing”) has limitation especially on its long acquisition time. The high acquisition time is mainly due to the redundancy procedure where the engineer has to repeatedly perform the test in 3 directions, namely the axial-, horizontal- and vertical-axis, in order to comprehensively define the dynamic behavior of a 3D structure. This is unfavorable to numerous industries where the downtime cost is high. This study proposes to reduce the testing time by using oblique impact. Theoretically, a single oblique impact can induce significant vibration responses and vibration modes in all the 3 directions. Hence, the acquisition time with the implementation of the oblique impulse technique can be reduced by a factor of three (i.e. for a 3D dynamic system). This study initiates an experimental investigation of impulse testing with oblique excitation. A motor-driven test rig has been used for the testing purpose. Its dynamic characteristic has been identified using the impulse testing with the conventional normal impact and the proposed oblique impact respectively. The results show that the proposed oblique impulse testing is able to obtain all the desired natural frequencies in all 3 directions and thus providing a feasible solution for a fast and time effective way of conducting the impulse testing.

Keywords: Frequency response function, impact testing, modal analysis, oblique angle, oblique impact.

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Authors: Mohammad Shariful Islam, Shamima Nasrin, Md. Shahidul Islam, Farzana Rahman Moury

Abstract:

Protection of slope and embankment from erosion has become an important issue in Bangladesh. The constructions of strong structures require large capital, integrated designing, high maintenance cost. Strong structure methods have negative impact on the environment and sometimes not function for the design period. Plantation of vetiver system along the slopes is an alternative solution. Vetiver not only serves the purpose of slope protection but also adds green environment reducing pollution. Vetiver is available in almost all the districts of Bangladesh. This paper presents the application of vetiver system with geo-jute, for slope protection and erosion control of embankments and slopes. In-situ shear tests have been conducted on vetiver rooted soil system to find the shear strength. The shear strength and effective soil cohesion of vetiver rooted soil matrix are respectively 2.0 times and 2.1 times higher than that of the bared soil. Similar trends have been found in direct shear tests conducted on laboratory reconstituted samples. Field trials have been conducted in road embankment and slope protection with vetiver at different sites. During the time of vetiver root growth the soil protection has been accomplished by geo-jute. As the geo-jute degrades with time, vetiver roots grow and take over the function of geo-jutes. Slope stability analyses showed that vegetation increase the factor of safety significantly.

Keywords: Erosion, geo-jute, green technology, vegetation.

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Authors: Marco Lopes, Pedro D. Gaspar, Maria P. Simões

Abstract:

This paper reviews the different concepts that have been investigated concerning the mechanization of fruit thinning as well as multiple working principles and solutions that have been developed for feature extraction of horticultural products, both in the field and industrial environments. The research should be committed towards selective methods, which inevitably need to incorporate some kinds of sensor technology. Computer vision often comes out as an obvious solution for unstructured detection problems, although leaves despite the chosen point of view frequently occlude fruits. Further research on non-traditional sensors that are capable of object differentiation is needed. Ultrasonic and Near Infrared (NIR) technologies have been investigated for applications related to horticultural produce and show a potential to satisfy this need while simultaneously providing spatial information as time of flight sensors. Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) technology also shows a huge potential but it implies much greater costs and the related equipment is usually much larger, making it less suitable for portable devices, which may serve a purpose on smaller unstructured orchards. Portable devices may serve a purpose on these types of orchards. In what concerns sensor methods, on-tree fruit detection, major challenge is to overcome the problem of fruits’ occlusion by leaves and branches. Hence, nontraditional sensors capable of providing some type of differentiation should be investigated.

Keywords: Fruit thinning, horticultural field, portable devices, sensor technologies.

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Authors: Mohamad Reza. Mohaghegh, Majid. Malek Jafarian

Abstract:

This research proposes an algorithm for the simulation of time-periodic unsteady problems via the solution unsteady Euler and Navier-Stokes equations. This algorithm which is called Time Spectral method uses a Fourier representation in time and hence solve for the periodic state directly without resolving transients (which consume most of the resources in a time-accurate scheme). Mathematical tools used here are discrete Fourier transformations. It has shown tremendous potential for reducing the computational cost compared to conventional time-accurate methods, by enforcing periodicity and using Fourier representation in time, leading to spectral accuracy. The accuracy and efficiency of this technique is verified by Euler and Navier-Stokes calculations for pitching airfoils. Because of flow turbulence nature, Baldwin-Lomax turbulence model has been used at viscous flow analysis. The results presented by the Time Spectral method are compared with experimental data. It has shown tremendous potential for reducing the computational cost compared to the conventional time-accurate methods, by enforcing periodicity and using Fourier representation in time, leading to spectral accuracy, because results verify the small number of time intervals per pitching cycle required to capture the flow physics.

Keywords: Time Spectral Method, Time-periodic unsteadyflow, Discrete Fourier transform, Pitching airfoil, Turbulence flow

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Authors: Cornelia-Eugenia Munteanu

Abstract:

The goal of this paper is to present the diagnostic contribution that the screening instrument, Mini-Mental State Examination-2: Expanded Version (MMSE-2:EV), brings in detecting the cognitive impairment or in monitoring the progress of degenerative disorders. The diagnostic signification is underlined by the interpretation of the MMSE-2:EV scores, resulted from the test application to patients with mild and major neurocognitive disorders. The cases were selected from current practice, in order to cover vast and significant neurocognitive pathology: mild cognitive impairment, Alzheimer’s disease, vascular dementia, mixed dementia, Parkinson’s disease, conversion of the mild cognitive impairment into Alzheimer’s disease. The MMSE-2:EV version was used: it was applied one month after the initial assessment, three months after the first reevaluation and then every six months, alternating the blue and red forms. Correlated with age and educational level, the raw scores were converted in T scores and then, with the mean and the standard deviation, the z scores were calculated. The differences of raw scores between the evaluations were analyzed from the point of view of statistic signification, in order to establish the progression in time of the disease. The results indicated that the psycho-diagnostic approach for the evaluation of the cognitive impairment with MMSE-2:EV is safe and the application interval is optimal. In clinical settings with a large flux of patients, the application of the MMSE-2:EV is a safe and fast psychodiagnostic solution. The clinicians can draw objective decisions and for the patients: it does not take too much time and energy, it does not bother them and it doesn’t force them to travel frequently.

Keywords: MMSE-2, dementia, cognitive impairment, neuropsychology.

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Authors: Ana Paula P. dos Santos, Claudia R. Andrade, Edson L. Zaparoli

Abstract:

Gas turbine air inlet cooling is a useful method for increasing output for regions where significant power demand and highest electricity prices occur during the warm months. Inlet air cooling increases the power output by taking advantage of the gas turbine-s feature of higher mass flow rate when the compressor inlet temperature decreases. Different methods are available for reducing gas turbine inlet temperature. There are two basic systems currently available for inlet cooling. The first and most cost-effective system is evaporative cooling. Evaporative coolers make use of the evaporation of water to reduce the gas turbine-s inlet air temperature. The second system employs various ways to chill the inlet air. In this method, the cooling medium flows through a heat exchanger located in the inlet duct to remove heat from the inlet air. However, the evaporative cooling is limited by wet-bulb temperature while the chilling can cool the inlet air to temperatures that are lower than the wet bulb temperature. In the present work, a thermodynamic model of a gas turbine is built to calculate heat rate, power output and thermal efficiency at different inlet air temperature conditions. Computational results are compared with ISO conditions herein called "base-case". Therefore, the two cooling methods are implemented and solved for different inlet conditions (inlet temperature and relative humidity). Evaporative cooler and absorption chiller systems results show that when the ambient temperature is extremely high with low relative humidity (requiring a large temperature reduction) the chiller is the more suitable cooling solution. The net increment in the power output as a function of the temperature decrease for each cooling method is also obtained.

Keywords: Absorption chiller, evaporative cooling, gas turbine, turbine inlet cooling.

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Authors: Chaiyakrit Raoupatham, Ram Hari Dhakal, Chalermchai Wanichlamlert

Abstract:

Fresh concrete has one of dynamic properties known as slump. Slump of concrete is design to compatible with placing method. Due to hydration reaction of cement, the slump of concrete is loss through time. Therefore, delayed concrete probably get reject because slump is unacceptable. In order to recover the slump of delayed concrete the second dose of superplasticizer (naphthalene based type F) is added into the system, the slump recovery can be done as long as the concrete is not setting. By adding superplasticizer as solution for recover unusable slump loss concrete may affects other concrete properties. Therefore, this paper was observed setting times and compressive strength of concrete after being re-dose with chemical admixture type F (superplasticizer, naphthalene based) for slump recovery. The concrete used in this study was fly ash concrete with fly ash replacement of 0%, 30% and 50% respectively. Concrete mix designed for test specimen was prepared with paste content (ratio of volume of cement to volume of void in the aggregate) of 1.2 and 1.3, water-to-binder ratio (w/b) range of 0.3 to 0.58, initial dose of superplasticizer (SP) range from 0.5 to 1.6%. The setting times of concrete were tested both before and after re-dosed with different amount of second dose and time of dosing. The research was concluded that addition of second dose of superplasticizer would increase both initial and final setting times accordingly to dosage of addition. As for fly ash concrete, the prolongation effect was higher as the replacement of fly ash increase. The prolongation effect can reach up to maximum about 4 hours. In case of compressive strength, the re-dosed concrete has strength fluctuation within acceptable range of ±10%.

Keywords: Compressive strength, Fly ash concrete, Second dose of superplasticizer, Slump recovery, Setting times.

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