Search results for: Alternative energy
936 A Large-Eddy Simulation of Vortex Cell flow with Incoming Turbulent Boundary Layer
Authors: Arpiruk Hokpunna, Michael Manhart
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We present a Large-Eddy simulation of a vortex cell with circular shaped. The results show that the flow field can be sub divided into four important zones, the shear layer above the cavity, the stagnation zone, the vortex core in the cavity and the boundary layer along the wall of the cavity. It is shown that the vortex core consits of solid body rotation without much turbulence activity. The vortex is mainly driven by high energy packets that are driven into the cavity from the stagnation point region and by entrainment of fluid from the cavity into the shear layer. The physics in the boundary layer along the cavity-s wall seems to be far from that of a canonical boundary layer which might be a crucial point for modelling this flow.Keywords: Turbulent flow, Large eddy simulations, boundary layer and cavity flow, vortex cell flow.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 8238935 An Overview of the Islamic Banking Development in the United Kingdom, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Nigeria, Kenya and Uganda
Authors: Pradeep Kulshrestha, Maulana Ayoub Ali
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The level of penetration of Islamic banking products and services has recorded a reasonable growth at an exponential rate in many parts of the world. There are many factors which have contributed to this growth including, but not limited to the rapid growth of number of Muslims who are uncomfortable with the conventional ways of banking, interest and higher interest rates scheduled by conventional banks and financial institutions as well as the financial inclusion campaign conducted in many countries. The system is facing legal challenges which open the research fdoor for practitioners and academicians for the sake of finding out solutions to those challenges. This paper tries to investigate the development of the Islamic banking system in the United Kingdom (UK), Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Iran, Kenya, Nigeria and Uganda in order to understand the modalities which have been employed to run an Islamic banking system in the aforementioned countries. The methodology which has been employed in doing this research paper is Doctrinal, of which legislations, policies and other legal tools have been carefully studied and analysed. Again, papers from academic journals, books and financial reports have been deeply analysed for the purpose of enriching the paper and come up with a tangible results. The paper found that in Asia, Malaysia has created the smoothest legal platform for Islamic banking system to work properly in the country. The United Kingdom has tried harder to smooth the banking system without affecting the conventional banking methods and without favouring the operations of Islamic banks. It also tries harder to make UK as an Islamic banking and finance hub in Europe. The entire banking system in Iran is Islamic, while Nigeria has undergone several legal reforms to suit Islamic banking system in the country. Kenya and Uganda are at a different pace in making Islamic Banking system work alongside the conventional banking system.
Keywords: Shariah, Islamic banking, law, alternative banking.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1659934 The Effect of Multipass Cutting in Grinding Operation
Authors: M. A. Kamely, A. Y. Bani Hashim, S. H. Yahaya, H. Sihombing, H. Hazman
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Grinding requires high specific energy and the consequent development of high temperature at tool-workpiece contact zone impairs workpiece quality by inducing thermal damage to the surface. Finishing grinding process requires component to be cut more than one pass. This paper deals with an investigation on the effect of multipass cutting on grinding performance in term of surface roughness and surface defect. An experimental set-up has been developed for this and a detailed comparison has been done with a single pass and various numbers of cutting pass. Results showed that surface roughness increase with the increase in a number of cutting pass. Good surface finish of 0.26μm was obtained for single pass cutting and 0.73μm for twenty pass cutting. It was also observed that the thickness of the white layer increased with the increased in a number of cutting pass.
Keywords: Cylindrical grinding, Multipass cutting, Surface roughness, Surface defect.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2578933 A Decade of Creating an Alternative Banking System in Tanzania: The Current State of Affairs of Islamic Banks
Authors: Pradeep Kulshrestha, Maulana Ayoub Ali
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The concept of financial inclusion has been tabled in the whole world where practitioners, academicians, policy makers and economists are working hard to look for the best possible opportunities in order to enable the whole society to be in the banking cycle. The Islamic banking system is considered to be one of the said opportunities. Countries like the United Kingdom, United States of America, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, the whole of the United Arab Emirates and many African countries have accommodated the aspect of Islamic banking in the conventional banking system as one of the financial inclusion strategies. This paper tries to analyse the current state of affairs of the Islamic Banking system in Tanzania in order to understand the improvement of the provision of Islamic banking products and services in the said country. The paper discusses the historical background of the banking system in Tanzania, the level of penetration of banking products and services and the coming of the Islamic banking system in the country. Furthermore, the paper discusses banking regulatory bodies, legal instruments governing banking operations as well as number of legal challenges facing Islamic banking operations in the country. Following a critical literature review, the paper discovered that there is no legal instrument which talks about the introduction and provision of Islamic banking system in Tanzania. Furthermore, the Islamic banking system was considered as a banking product which is absolutely incorrect because Islamic banking is considered to be as a banking system of its own. In addition to that, it has been discovered that lack of a proper regulatory system and legal instruments to harmonize the conventional and Islamic banking systems has resulted in the closure of one Islamic window in the country, which in the end affects the credibility of the newly introduced banking system. In its conclusive remarks, the paper suggests that Tanzania should work on all legal challenges affecting the smooth operations of the Islamic banking system. This can be in a way of adopting various Islamic banking legal models which are used in countries like Malaysia and others, or a borrowing legal harmonization process which has been adopted by the UK, Uganda, Nigeria and Kenya.
Keywords: Islamic banking, Islamic Windows, regulations, banks.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 913932 A Modified Spiral Search Algorithm and Its Embedded System Architecture Design
Authors: Nikolaos Kroupis, Minas Dasygenis, Dimitrios Soudris, Antonios Thanailakis
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One of the most growing areas in the embedded community is multimedia devices. Multimedia devices incorporate a number of complicated functions for their operation, like motion estimation. A multitude of different implementations have been proposed to reduce motion estimation complexity, such as spiral search. We have studied the implementations of spiral search and identified areas of improvement. We propose a modified spiral search algorithm, with lower computational complexity compared to the original spiral search. We have implemented our algorithm on an embedded ARM based architecture, with custom memory hierarchy. The resulting system yields energy consumption reduction up to 64% and performance increase up to 77%, with a small penalty of 2.3 dB, in average, of video quality compared with the original spiral search algorithm.
Keywords: Spiral Search, Motion Estimation, Embedded Systems, Low Power
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1769931 The Growth of E-Commerce and Online Dispute Resolution in Developing Nations: An Analysis
Authors: Robin V. Cupido
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Online dispute resolution has been identified in many countries as a viable alternative for resolving conflicts which have arisen in the so-called digital age. This system of dispute resolution is developing alongside the Internet, and as new types of transactions are made possible by our increased connectivity, new ways of resolving disputes must be explored. Developed nations, such as the United States of America and the European Union, have been involved in creating these online dispute resolution mechanisms from the outset, and currently have sophisticated systems in place to deal with conflicts arising in a number of different fields, such as e-commerce, domain name disputes, labour disputes and conflicts arising from family law. Specifically, in the field of e-commerce, the Internet’s borderless nature has served as a way to promote cross-border trade, and has created a global marketplace. Participation in this marketplace boosts a country’s economy, as new markets are now available, and consumers can transact from anywhere in the world. It would be especially advantageous for developing nations to be a part of this global marketplace, as it could stimulate much-needed investment in these nations, and encourage international co-operation and trade. However, for these types of transactions to proliferate, an effective system for resolving the inevitable disputes arising from such an increase in e-commerce is needed. Online dispute resolution scholarship and practice is flourishing in developed nations, and it is clear that the gap is widening between developed and developing nations in this regard. The potential for implementing online dispute resolution in developing countries has been discussed, but there are a number of obstacles that have thus far prevented its continued development. This paper aims to evaluate the various political, infrastructural and socio-economic challenges faced in developing nations, and to question how these have impacted the acceptance and development of online dispute resolution, scholarship and training of online dispute resolution practitioners and, ultimately, developing nations’ readiness to participate in cross-border e-commerce.Keywords: Developing countries, feasibility, online dispute resolution, progress.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2043930 Bioremediation of Phenanthrene by Monocultures and Mixed Culture Bacteria Isolated from Contaminated Soil
Authors: A. Fazilah, I. Darah, I. Noraznawati
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Three different bacteria capable of degrading phenanthrene were isolated from hydrocarbon contaminated site. In this study, the phenanthrene-degrading activity by defined monoculture was determined and mixed culture was identified as Acinetobacter sp. P3d, Bacillus sp. P4a and Pseudomonas sp. P6. All bacteria were able to grow in a minimal salt medium saturated with phenanthrene as the sole source of carbon and energy. Phenanthrene degradation efficiencies by different combinations (consortia) of these bacteria were investigated and their phenanthrene degradation was evaluated by gas chromatography. Among the monocultures, Pseudomonas sp. P6 exhibited 58.71% activity compared to Acinetobacter sp. P3d and Bacillus sp. P4a which were 56.97% and 53.05%, respectively after 28 days of cultivation. All consortia showed high phenanthrene elimination which were 95.64, 79.37, 87.19, 79.21% for Consortia A, B, C and D, respectively. The results indicate that all of the bacteria isolated may effectively degrade target chemical and have a promising application in bioremediation of hydrocarbon contaminated soil purposes.Keywords: Acinetobacter sp. P3d, Bacillus sp. P4a, consortia, phenanthrene, Pseudomonas sp. P6.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1155929 Magneto-Optical Properties in Transparent Region of Implanted Garnet Films
Authors: Lali Kalanadzde
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We investigated magneto-optical Kerr effect in transparent region of implanted ferrite-garnet films for the (YBiCa)3(FeGe)5O12. The implantation process was carried out at room temperature by Ne+ ions with energy of 100 KeV and with various doses (0.5-2.5) 1014 ion/cm2. We discovered that slight deviation of the plane of external alternating magnetic field from plane of sample leads to appearance intensive magneto-optical maximum in transparent region of garnet films ħω=0.5-2.0 eV. In the proceeding, we have also found that the deviation of polarization plane from P- component of incident light leads to the appearance of the similar magneto-optical effects in this region. The research of magnetization processes in transparent region of garnet films showed that the formation of magneto-optical effects in region ħω=0.5-2.3 eV has a rather complex character.
Keywords: Ferrite-garnet films, ion implantation, magneto-optical, thin films.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1313928 Some Physical and Mechanical Properties of Jujube Fruit
Authors: D. Zare, H. Safiyari, F. Salmanizade
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In this study, some physical and mechanical properties of jujube fruits, were measured and compared at constant moisture content of 15.5% w.b. The results showed that the mean length, width and thickness of jujube fruits were 18.88, 16.79 and 15.9 mm, respectively. The mean projected areas of jujube perpendicular to length, width, and thickness were 147.01, 224.08 and 274.60 mm2, respectively. The mean mass and volume were 1.51 g and 2672.80 mm3, respectively. The arithmetic mean diameter, geometric mean diameter and equivalent diameter varied from 14.53 to 20 mm, 14.5 to 19.94 mm, and 14.52 to 19.97 mm, respectively. The sphericity, aspect ratio and surface area of jujube fruits were 0.91, 0.89 and 926.28 mm2, respectively. Whole fruit density, bulk density and porosity of jujube fruits were measured and found to be 1.52 g/cm3, 0.3 g/cm3 and 79.3%, respectively. The angle of repose of jujube fruit was 14.66° (±0.58°). The static coefficient of friction on galvanized iron steel was higher than that on plywood and lower than that on glass surface. The values of rupture force, deformation, hardness and energy absorbed were found to be between 11.13-19.91N, 2.53- 4.82mm, 3.06-5.81N mm and 20.13-39.08 N/mm, respectively.Keywords: Mechanical and Physical properties, Jujube fruits, friction coefficient
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1803927 Experimental Analysis of Diesel Hydrotreating Reactor to Development a Simplified Tool for Process Real- time Optimization
Authors: S.Shokri, S.Zahedi, M.Ahmadi Marvast, B. Baloochi, H.Ganji
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In this research, a systematic investigation was carried out to determine the optimum conditions of HDS reactor. Moreover, a suitable model was developed for a rigorous RTO (real time optimization) loop of HDS (Hydro desulfurization) process. A systematic experimental series was designed based on CCD (Central Composite design) and carried out in the related pilot plant to tune the develop model. The designed variables in the experiments were Temperature, LHSV and pressure. However, the hydrogen over fresh feed ratio was remained constant. The ranges of these variables were respectively equal to 320-380ºC, 1- 21/hr and 50-55 bar. a power law kinetic model was also developed for our further research in the future .The rate order and activation energy , power of reactant concentration and frequency factor of this model was respectively equal to 1.4, 92.66 kJ/mol and k0=2.7*109 .
Keywords: Statistical model, Multiphase Reactors, Gas oil, Hydrodesulfurization, Optimization, Kinetics
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2686926 Clients’ Priorities in Design and Delivery of Green Projects: South African Perspective
Authors: Charles Mothobiso
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This study attempts to identify the client’s main priority when delivering green projects. The aim is to compare whether clients’ interests are similar when delivering conventional buildings as compared to green buildings. Private clients invest more in green buildings as compared to government and parastatal entities. Private clients prioritize on maximizing a return on investment and they mainly invest in energy-saving buildings that have low life cycle costs. Private clients are perceived to be more knowledgeable about the benefits of green building projects as compared to government and parastatal clients. A shortage of expertise and managerial skill leads to the low adaptation of green buildings in government and parastatal projects. Other factors that seem to prevent the adoption of green buildings are the preparedness of the supply chain within the industry and inappropriate procurement strategies adopted by clients.Keywords: Construction clients, design team, green buildings procurement.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1210925 Main Elements of Soft Cost in Green Buildings
Authors: Nurul Zahirah M.A., N. Zainul Abidin
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Green buildings have been commonly cited to be more expensive than conventional buildings. However, limited research has been conducted to clearly identify elements that contribute to this cost differential. The construction cost of buildings can be typically divided into “hard" costs and “soft" cost elements. Using a review analysis of existing literature, the study identified six main elements in green buildings that contribute to the general cost elements that are “soft" in nature. The six elements found are insurance, developer-s experience, design cost, certification, commissioning and energy modeling. Out of the six elements, most literatures have highlighted the increase in design cost for green design as compared to conventional design due to additional architectural and engineering costs, eco-charettes, extra design time, and the further need for a green consultant. The study concluded that these elements of soft cost contribute to the green premium or cost differential of green buildings.Keywords: Green building, cost differential, soft cost, intangible cost.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2777924 Study of MHD Oblique Stagnation Point Assisting Flow on Vertical Plate with Uniform Surface Heat Flux
Authors: Phool Singh, Ashok Jangid, N.S. Tomer, Deepa Sinha
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The aim of this paper is to study the oblique stagnation point flow on vertical plate with uniform surface heat flux in presence of magnetic field. Using Stream function, partial differential equations corresponding to the momentum and energy equations are converted into non-linear ordinary differential equations. Numerical solutions of these equations are obtained using Runge-Kutta Fehlberg method with the help of shooting technique. In the present work the effects of striking angle, magnetic field parameter, Grashoff number, the Prandtl number on velocity and heat transfer characteristics have been discussed. Effect of above mentioned parameter on the position of stagnation point are also studied.Keywords: Heat flux, Oblique stagnation point, Mixedconvection, Magneto hydrodynamics
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1918923 A Case Study on Performance of Isolated Bridges under Near-Fault Ground Motion
Authors: Daniele Losanno, H. A. Hadad, Giorgio Serino
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This paper presents a numerical investigation on the seismic performance of a benchmark bridge with different optimal isolation systems under near fault ground motion. Usually, very large displacements make seismic isolation an unfeasible solution due to boundary conditions, especially in case of existing bridges or high risk seismic regions. Hence, near-fault ground motions are most likely to affect either structures with long natural period range like isolated structures or structures sensitive to velocity content such as viscously damped structures. The work is aimed at analyzing the seismic performance of a three-span continuous bridge designed with different isolation systems having different levels of damping. The case study was analyzed in different configurations including: (a) simply supported, (b) isolated with lead rubber bearings (LRBs), (c) isolated with rubber isolators and 10% classical damping (HDLRBs), and (d) isolated with rubber isolators and 70% supplemental damping ratio. Case (d) represents an alternative control strategy that combines the effect of seismic isolation with additional supplemental damping trying to take advantages from both solutions. The bridge is modeled in SAP2000 and solved by time history direct-integration analyses under a set of six recorded near-fault ground motions. In addition to this, a set of analysis under Italian code provided seismic action is also conducted, in order to evaluate the effectiveness of the suggested optimal control strategies under far field seismic action. Results of the analysis demonstrated that an isolated bridge equipped with HDLRBs and a total equivalent damping ratio of 70% represents a very effective design solution for both mitigation of displacement demand at the isolation level and base shear reduction in the piers also in case of near fault ground motion.
Keywords: Isolated bridges, optimal design, near-fault motion, supplemental damping.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1271922 Flight Control of Vectored Thrust Aerial Vehicle by Neural Network Predictive Controller for Enhanced Situational Awareness
Authors: Igor Astrov, Mikhail Pikkov, Rein Paluoja
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This paper focuses on a critical component of the situational awareness (SA), the control of autonomous vertical flight for vectored thrust aerial vehicle (VTAV). With the SA strategy, we proposed a flight control procedure to address the dynamics variation and performance requirement difference of flight trajectory for an unmanned helicopter model with vectored thrust configuration. This control strategy for chosen model of VTAV has been verified by simulation of take-off and forward maneuvers using software package Simulink and demonstrated good performance for fast stabilization of motors, consequently, fast SA with economy in energy can be asserted during search-and-rescue operations.
Keywords: Neural network predictive controller, situational awareness, vectored thrust aerial vehicle.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1502921 Highly Efficient Low Power Consumption Tracking Solar Cells for White LED-Based Lighting System
Authors: Theerawut Jinayim, Somchai Arunrungrasmi, Tanes Tanitteerapan, Narong Mungkung
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Although White LED lighting systems powered by solar cells have presented for many years, they are not widely used in today application because of their cost and low energy conversion efficiency. The proposed system use the dc power generated by fixed solar cells module to energize White LED light sources that are operated by directly connected White LED with current limitation resistors, resulting in much more power consumption. This paper presents the use of white LED as a general lighting application powered by tracking solar cells module and using pulse to apply the electrical power to the White LED. These systems resulted in high efficiency power conversion, low power consumption, and long light of the white LED.Keywords: Efficiency, lighting, light-emitting diode, pulse, Solar, white LED.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2387920 Analysis of SEIG for a Wind Pumping Plant Using Induction Motor
Authors: A. Abbou, H. Mahmoudi, M. Akherraz
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In contrast to conventional generators, self-excited induction generators are found to be most suitable machines for wind energy conversion in remote and windy areas due to many advantages over grid connected machines. This papers presents a Self-Excited Induction Generator (SEIG) driven by wind turbine and supplying an induction motor which is coupled to a centrifugal pump. A method to describe the steady state performance based on nodal analysis is presented. Therefore the advanced knowledge of the minimum excitation capacitor value is required. The effects of variation of excitation capacitance on system and rotor speed under different loading conditions have been analyzed and considered to optimize induction motor pump performances.
Keywords: SEIG, Induction Motor, Centrifugal Pump, capacitance requirements, wind rotor speed.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2316919 Laboratory Investigations on the Utilization of Recycled Construction Aggregates in Asphalt Mixtures
Authors: Farzaneh Tahmoorian, Bijan Samali, John Yeaman
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Road networks are increasingly expanding all over the world. The construction and maintenance of the road pavements require large amounts of aggregates. Considerable usage of various natural aggregates for constructing roads as well as the increasing rate at which solid waste is generated have attracted the attention of many researchers in the pavement industry to investigate the feasibility of the application of some of the waste materials as alternative materials in pavement construction. Among various waste materials, construction and demolition wastes, including Recycled Construction Aggregate (RCA) constitute a major part of the municipal solid wastes in Australia. Creating opportunities for the application of RCA in civil and geotechnical engineering applications is an efficient way to increase the market value of RCA. However, in spite of such promising potentials, insufficient and inconclusive data and information on the engineering properties of RCA had limited the reliability and design specifications of RCA to date. In light of this, this paper, as a first step of a comprehensive research, aims to investigate the feasibility of the application of RCA obtained from construction and demolition wastes for the replacement of part of coarse aggregates in asphalt mixture. As the suitability of aggregates for using in asphalt mixtures is determined based on the aggregate characteristics, including physical and mechanical properties of the aggregates, an experimental program is set up to evaluate the physical and mechanical properties of RCA. This laboratory investigation included the measurement of compressive strength and workability of RCA, particle shape, water absorption, flakiness index, crushing value, deleterious materials and weak particles, wet/dry strength variation, and particle density. In addition, the comparison of RCA properties with virgin aggregates has been included as part of this investigation and this paper presents the results of these investigations on RCA, basalt, and the mix of RCA/basalt.
Keywords: Asphalt, basalt, pavement, recycled aggregate.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 970918 Modeling Cost Structure for Assessment Production Cost of Algal - Biofue
Authors: A. Eman Mohammed
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Algae-based fuel are considered a promising sources of clean energy, and because it has many advantages over traditional biofuel, research and business ventures have driven into developing and producing Algal-biofuel. But its production stages create a cost structure that it is not competitive with traditional fuels. Therefore, cost becomes the main obstacle in commercial production purpose. However, the present research which aims at using cost structure model, and designed MS-Dose program, to investigate the a mount of production cost and determined the parameter had great effect on it, second to measured the amount of contribution rate of algae in process the pollution by capturing Co2 from air . The result generated from the model shows that the production cost of biomass is between $0.137 /kg for 100 ha and $0.132 /kg for 500 ha which was less than cost of other studies, while gallon costs between $3.4 - 3.5, more than traditional sources of oil about $1 ,which regarded as a rate of contribution of algal in capturing CO2 from air.Keywords: Cost Structure Model, Operation Costs(Production Cost), Capital Costs, Algae.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2027917 Effect of the Rise/Span Ratio of a Spherical Cap Shell on the Buckling Load
Authors: Peter N. Khakina, Mohammed I. Ali, Enchun Zhu, Huazhang Zhou, Baydaa H. Moula
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Rise/span ratio has been mentioned as one of the reasons which contribute to the lower buckling load as compared to the Classical theory buckling load but this ratio has not been quantified in the equation. The purpose of this study was to determine a more realistic buckling load by quantifying the effect of the rise/span ratio because experiments have shown that the Classical theory overestimates the load. The buckling load equation was derived based on the theorem of work done and strain energy. Thereafter, finite element modeling and simulation using ABAQUS was done to determine the variables that determine the constant in the derived equation. The rise/span was found to be the determining factor of the constant in the buckling load equation. The derived buckling load correlates closely to the load obtained from experiments.Keywords: Buckling, Finite element, Rise/span ratio, Sphericalcap
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2140916 Emotion Recognition Using Neural Network: A Comparative Study
Authors: Nermine Ahmed Hendy, Hania Farag
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Emotion recognition is an important research field that finds lots of applications nowadays. This work emphasizes on recognizing different emotions from speech signal. The extracted features are related to statistics of pitch, formants, and energy contours, as well as spectral, perceptual and temporal features, jitter, and shimmer. The Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) was chosen as the classifier. Working on finding a robust and fast ANN classifier suitable for different real life application is our concern. Several experiments were carried out on different ANN to investigate the different factors that impact the classification success rate. Using a database containing 7 different emotions, it will be shown that with a proper and careful adjustment of features format, training data sorting, number of features selected and even the ANN type and architecture used, a success rate of 85% or even more can be achieved without increasing the system complicity and the computation time
Keywords: Classification, emotion recognition, features extraction, feature selection, neural network
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 4698915 A Study of the Relation of Wave Height and Erosion at Bangkhuntien Shoreline, Thailand
Authors: Prasertsak Ekphisutsuntorn, Prungchan Wongwises, Chaiyuth Chinnarasri, Usa Humphries, Suphat Vongvisessomjai
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In this paper, the significant wave height at the Upper Gulf of Thailand and the changing of wave height at Bangkhuntien shoreline were simulated by using the Simulating WAves Nearshore Model (SWAN) version 40.51. The simulated results indicated that the significant wave height by SWAN model corresponded with the observed data. The results showed that the maximum significant wave height at the Bangkhuntien shoreline were 1.06-2.05 m. and the average significant wave height at the Bangkhuntien shoreline were 0.30-0.47 m. The significant wave height can be used to calculate the erosion through the Bangkhuntien shoreline. The erosion rates at the Bangkhuntien shoreline were prepared by using the aerial photo and they were about 1.80 m/yr. from 1980- 1986, 4.75 m/yr from 1987-1993, 15.28 m/yr from 1994-1996 and 10.03 m/yr from 1997-2002. The relation between the wave energy and the erosion were in good agreement. Therefore, the significant wave height was one of the major factors of the erosion at the Bangkhuntien shoreline.
Keywords: significant wave height, erosion, SWAN, relation, Bangkhuntien shoreline
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2018914 Promoting Electric Vehicles for Sustainable Urban Transport: How to Do It This Time Right
Authors: Reinhard Haas, Amela Ajanovic
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In recent years various types of electric vehicles has gained again increasing attention as an environmentally benign technology in transport. Especially for urban areas with high local pollution this Zero-emission technology (at the point of use) is considered to provide proper solutions. Yet, the bad economics and the limited driving ranges are still major barriers for a broader market penetration of battery electric vehicles (BEV) and of fuel cell vehicles (FCV). The major result of our analyses is that the most important precondition for a further dissemination of BEV in urban areas are emission-free zones. This is an instrument which allows the promotion of BEV without providing excessive subsidies. In addition, it is important to note that the full benefits of EV can only be harvested if the electricity used is produced from renewable energy sources. That is to say, it has to be ensured that the use of BEV in urban areas is clearly linked to a green electricity purchase model. And moreover, the introduction of a CO2- emission-based tax system would support this requirement.Keywords: Electric vehicles, economics, policies, history.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1825913 Passive Seismic Energy Dissipation Mechanisms for Smart Green Structural System (SGSS)
Authors: Daniel Y. Abebe, Dongyoung Lim, Gyumyong Gwak, Jaehyouk Choi
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The design philosophy of building structure has been changing time to time. The reason for this is because of an increase of human inertest, an improved building materials and technology that will impact how we live, to speed up construction period and natural effect which includes earthquake disasters and environmental effect. One technique which takes in to account the above case is using a prefabricable structural system. In which each and every structural element is designed and prefabricated and assembled on a site so that the construction speed is increased and the environmental impact is also enhanced. This system has an immense advantage such as: reduce construction cost, reusable, recyclable, speed up construction period and less environmental effect. In this study, it is tried to present some of the developed and evaluated structural elements of building structures.
Keywords: Eccentrically braced frame, Natural disaster, Prefabricable structural, Removable link, SGSS.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1942912 Numerical Evaluation of Nusselt Number on the Hot Wall in Square Enclosure Filled with Nanofluid
Authors: A. Ghafouri, A. Falavand Jozaei, M. Salari
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In this paper, effects of using Alumina-water nanofluid on the rate of heat transfer have been investigated numerically. Physical model is a square enclosure with insulated top and bottom horizontal walls, while the vertical walls are kept at different constant temperatures. Two appropriate models are used to evaluate the viscosity and thermal conductivity of nanofluid. The governing stream-vorticity equations are solved using a second order central finite difference scheme, coupled to the conservation of mass and energy. The study has been carried out for the Richardson number 0.1 to 10 and the solid volume fraction 0 to 0.04. Results are presented by isotherms lines, average Nusselt number and normalized Nusselt number in different range of φ and Ri for forced, combined and natural convection dominated regime. It is found that higher heat transfer rate is predicted when the effects of nanoparticle is taken into account.
Keywords: Nanofluid, Heat Transfer Enhancement, Square Enclosure, Nusselt number.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2335911 Analysis of Polymer Surface Modifications due to Discharges Initiated by Water Droplets under High Electric Fields
Authors: Michael G. Danikas, Ramanujam Sarathi, Pavlos Ramnalis, Stefanos L. Nalmpantis
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This paper investigates the influence of various parameters on the behaviour of water droplets on polymeric surfaces under high electric fields. An inclined plane test was carried out to understand the droplet behaviour in strong electric field. Parameters such as water droplet conductivity, droplet volume, polymeric surface roughness and droplet positioning with respect to the electrodes were studied. The flashover voltage is affected by all aforementioned parameters. The droplet positioning is in some cases more vital than the droplet volume. Surface damages were analysed using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) studies and by Energy dispersive X-ray Analysis (EDAX). It is observes that magnitude of discharge have direct influence on amount of surface daKeywords: Water droplet, polymeric surface, hydrophobicity, partial discharges, SEM, EDAX.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2029910 Development of an Intelligent Tool for Planning the Operation
Authors: T. R. Alencar, P. T. Leite
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Several optimization algorithms specifically applied to the problem of Operation Planning of Hydrothermal Power Systems have been developed and are used. Although providing solutions to various problems encountered, these algorithms have some weaknesses, difficulties in convergence, simplification of the original formulation of the problem, or owing to the complexity of the objective function. Thus, this paper presents the development of a computational tool for solving optimization problem identified and to provide the User an easy handling. Adopted as intelligent optimization technique, Genetic Algorithms and programming language Java. First made the modeling of the chromosomes, then implemented the function assessment of the problem and the operators involved, and finally the drafting of the graphical interfaces for access to the User. The program has managed to relate a coherent performance in problem resolution without the need for simplification of the calculations together with the ease of manipulating the parameters of simulation and visualization of output results.Keywords: Energy, Optimization, Hydrothermal Power Systemsand Genetic Algorithms
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1697909 Comparative Study of Ecological City Criteria in Traditional Iranian Cities
Authors: Zahra Yazdani Paraii, Zohreh Yazdani Paraei
Abstract:
Many urban designers and planners have been involved in the design of environmentally friendly or nature adaptable urban development models due to increase in urban populations in the recent century, limitation on natural resources, climate change, and lack of enough water and food. Ecological city is one of the latest models proposed to accomplish the latter goal. In this work, the existing establishing indicators of the ecological city are used regarding energy, water, land use and transportation issues. The model is used to compare the function of traditional settlements of Iran. The result of investigation shows that the specifications and functions of the traditional settlements of Iran fit well into the ecological city model. It is found that the inhabitants of the old cities and villages in Iran had founded ecological cities based on their knowledge of the environment and its natural opportunities and limitations.
Keywords: Ecological city, traditional city, urban design, environment.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1261908 Dissolution Leaching Kinetics of Ulexite in Disodium Hydrogen Phosphate Solutions
Authors: Betül Özgenç Kaya, Soner Kuslu, Sabri Çolak, Turan Çalban
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Ulexite (Na2O.2CaO.5B2O3.16H2O) is boron mineral that is found in large quantities in the Turkey and world. In this study, the dissolution of this mineral in the disodium hydrogen phosphate solutions has been studied. Temperature, concentration, stirring speed, solid liquid ratio and particle size were selected as parameters. The experimental results were successfully correlated by linear regression using Statistica program. Dissolution curves were evaluated shrinking core models for solid-fluid systems. It was observed that increase in the reaction temperature and decrease in the solid/liquid ratio causes an increase the dissolution rate of ulexite. The activation energy was found to be 63.4 kJ/mol. The leaching of ulexite was controlled by chemical reaction.
Keywords: Disodium hydrogen phosphate, Leaching kinetics, Ulexite.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2150907 Low-Cost Space-Based Geoengineering: An Assessment Based on Self-Replicating Manufacturing of in-Situ Resources on the Moon
Authors: Alex Ellery
Abstract:
Geoengineering approaches to climate change mitigation are unpopular and regarded with suspicion. Of these, space-based approaches are regarded as unworkable and enormously costly. Here, a space-based approach is presented that is modest in cost, fully controllable and reversible, and acts as a natural spur to the development of solar power satellites over the longer term as a clean source of energy. The low-cost approach exploits self-replication technology which it is proposed may be enabled by 3D printing technology. Self-replication of 3D printing platforms will enable mass production of simple spacecraft units. Key elements being developed are 3D-printable electric motors and 3D-printable vacuum tube-based electronics. The power of such technologies will open up enormous possibilities at low cost including space-based geoengineering.
Keywords: 3D printing, in-situ resource utilization, self-replication technology, space-based geoengineering.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1101