Search results for: water management

Authors: S. Chuenchooklin

Abstract:

This research was conducted in the Pua Watershed whereas located in the Upper Nan River Basin in Nan province, Thailand. Nan River basin originated in Nan province that comprises of many tributary streams to produce as inflow to the Sirikit dam provided huge reservoir with the storage capacity of 9510 million cubic meters. The common problems of most watersheds were found i.e. shortage water supply for consumption and agriculture utilizations, deteriorate of water quality, flood and landslide including debris flow, and unstable of riverbank. The Pua Watershed is one of several small river basins that flow through the Nan River Basin. The watershed includes 404 km2 representing the Pua District, the Upper Nan Basin, or the whole Nan River Basin, of 61.5%, 18.2% or 1.2% respectively. The Pua River is a main stream producing all year streamflow supplying the Pua District and an inflow to the Upper Nan Basin. Its length approximately 56.3 kilometers with an average slope of the channel by 1.9% measured. A diversion weir namely Pua weir bound the plain and mountainous areas with a very steep slope of the riverbed to 2.9% and drainage area of 149 km2 as upstream watershed while a mild slope of the riverbed to 0.2% found in a river reach of 20.3 km downstream of this weir, which considered as a gauged basin. However, the major branch streams of the Pua River are ungauged catchments namely: Nam Kwang and Nam Koon with the drainage area of 86 and 35 km2 respectively. These upstream watersheds produce runoff through the 3-streams downstream of Pua weir, Jao weir, and Kang weir, with an averaged annual runoff of 578 million cubic meters. They were analyzed using both statistical data at Pua weir and simulated data resulted from the hydrologic modeling system (HEC–HMS) which applied for the remaining ungauged basins. Since the Kwang and Koon catchments were limited with lack of hydrological data included streamflow and rainfall. Therefore, the mathematical modeling: HEC-HMS with the Snyder-s hydrograph synthesized and transposed methods were applied for those areas using calibrated hydrological parameters from the upstream of Pua weir with continuously daily recorded of streamflow and rainfall data during 2008-2011. The results showed that the simulated daily streamflow and sum up as annual runoff in 2008, 2010, and 2011 were fitted with observed annual runoff at Pua weir using the simple linear regression with the satisfied correlation R2 of 0.64, 062, and 0.59, respectively. The sensitivity of simulation results were come from difficulty using calibrated parameters i.e. lag-time, coefficient of peak flow, initial losses, uniform loss rates, and missing some daily observed data. These calibrated parameters were used to apply for the other 2-ungauged catchments and downstream catchments simulated.

Keywords: Streamflow, hydrological model, ungauged catchments.

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Authors: Faisal Aburub, Wael Hadi

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Data mining is the process of extracting useful or hidden information from a large database. Extracted information can be used to discover relationships among features, where data objects are grouped according to logical relationships; or to predict unseen objects to one of the predefined groups. In this paper, we aim to investigate four well-known data mining algorithms in order to predict groundwater areas in Jordan. These algorithms are Support Vector Machines (SVMs), Naïve Bayes (NB), K-Nearest Neighbor (kNN) and Classification Based on Association Rule (CBA). The experimental results indicate that the SVMs algorithm outperformed other algorithms in terms of classification accuracy, precision and F1 evaluation measures using the datasets of groundwater areas that were collected from Jordanian Ministry of Water and Irrigation.

Keywords: Classification, data mining, evaluation measures, groundwater.

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Authors: Ayodele Adekunle Faiyetole, Olumide Olawale Jegede

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This paper presents the experimental design and needs justifications for a localized intelligent parking system (L-IPS), ideal for quasi-close communities with increasing vehicular volume that depends on limited or constant parking facilities. For a constant supply in parking facilities, the demand for an increasing vehicular volume could lead to poor time conservation or extended travel time, traffic congestion or impeded mobility, and safety issues. Increased negative environmental and economic externalities are other associated and consequent downsides of disparities in demand and supply. This L-IPS is designed using a microcontroller, ultrasonic sensors, LED indicators, such that the current status, in terms of parking spots availability, can be known from the main entrance to the community or a parking zone on a LCD screen. As an advanced traffic management system (ATMS), the L-IPS is designed to resolve aspects of infrastructure-to-driver (I2D) communication and parking detection issues. Thus, this L-IPS can act as a timesaver for users by helping them know the availability of parking spots. Providing on-time, informed routing, to a next preference or seamless moving to berth on the available spot on a proximate facility as the case may be. Its use could also increase safety and increase mobility, and fuel savings and costs, therefore, reducing negative environmental and economic externalities due to transportation systems.

Keywords: Intelligent parking systems, localized intelligent parking system, intelligent transport systems, advanced traffic management systems, infrastructure-to-drivers communication.

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Authors: Babajide O. Ogungbesan, Rajneesh Kumar, Mohamed Sassi

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Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) is a very toxic gas that is produced in very large quantities in the oil and gas industry. It cannot be flared to the atmosphere and Claus process based gas plants are used to recover the sulfur and convert the hydrogen to water. In this paper, we present optical characterization of an atmospheric pressure microwave plasma torch for H2S dissociation into hydrogen and sulfur. The torch is operated at 2.45 GHz with power up to 2 kW. Three different gases can simultaneously be injected in the plasma torch. Visual imaging and optical emission spectroscopy are used to characterize the plasma for varying gas flow rates and microwave power. The plasma length, emission spectra and temperature are presented. The obtained experimental results validate our earlier published simulation results of plasma torch.

Keywords: Atmospheric pressure microwave plasma, gas dissociation, optical emission spectroscopy.

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Authors: Pei-Syuan Ruan, Ya-Chi Yu, Shao-Wen Chen, Jin-Der Lee, Jong-Rong Wang, Chunkuan Shih

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This study investigated the void fraction characteristics under low superficial gas velocity (J_g) and low superficial fluid velocity (J_f) conditions in a 3x3 rod bundle geometry. Three arrangements of conductivity probes were set to measure the void fraction at various cross-sectional regions, including rod-gap, sub-channel and rod-wall regions. The experimental tests were performed under the flow conditions of J_g = 0-0.236 m/s and J_f = 0-0.142 m/s, and the time-averaged void fractions were recorded at each flow condition. It was observed that while the superficial gas velocity increases, the small bubbles started to cluster together and become big bubbles. As the superficial fluid velocity increases, the local void fractions of the three test regions will get closer and the bubble distribution will be more uniform across the cross section.

Keywords: Conductivity probes, rod bundles, two-phase flow, void fraction.

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Authors: T. Kosáros, D. Gál, F. Pekár, Gy. Lakatos

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Periphyton development and composition were studied in three different treatments: (i) two fishpond units of wetland-type wastewater treatment pond systems, (ii) two fishponds in combined intensive-extensive fish farming systems and (iii) three traditional polyculture fishponds. Results showed that amounts of periphyton developed in traditional polyculture fishponds (iii) were different compared to the other treatments (i and ii), where the main function of ponds was stated wastewater treatment. Negative correlation was also observable between water quality parameters and periphyton production. The lower trophity, halobity and saprobity level of ponds indicated higher amount of periphyton. The dry matter content of periphyton was significantly higher in the samples, which were developed in traditional polyculture fishponds (2.84±3.02 g m-2 day-1, whereby the ash content in dry matter 74%), than samples taken from (i) (1.60±2.32 g m-2 day-1, 61%) and (ii) fishponds (0.65±0.45 g m-2 day-1, 81%).

Keywords: Artificial substrate, fishpond, periphyton, waterquality

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Authors: P. Rattanapoltee, P. Kaewkannetra

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According to biodiesel from microalgae is an attractive fuel for several reasons such as renewable, biodegradable and environmental friendly. Thus, this study, green microalgae Scenedesmus acutus PPNK1 isolated from natural water, was selected based on high growth rates, easy cultivation and high lipid content. The Nile red fluorescence method has been successfully applied to the determination of lipids in S. acutus PPNK1. The combination of the method to the lipid composition in algal cells showed the yellow fluorescence under fluorescent microscope. Interestingly, maximum cell numbers and biomass concentration were obtained at 5.44´10⁷ cells/mL and 1.60 g/L when it was cultivated in BG-11 medium while in case of BG-11 with nitrogen deprivation (N 0.25 g/L), accumulated lipid content in cells (44.67%) was achieved that was higher than that found in case of BG-11 medium at about 2 times (22.63%).

Keywords: Biodiesel, Lipid, Microalgae, Nile red.

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Authors: Inta Volodko, Valentina Koliskina

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Linear stability analysis of wake-shear layers in twophase shallow flows is performed in the present paper. Twodimensional shallow water equations are used in the analysis. It is assumed that the fluid contains uniformly distributed solid particles. No dynamic interaction between the carrier fluid and particles is expected in the initial moment. The stability calculations are performed for different values of the particle loading parameter and two other parameters which characterize the velocity ratio and the velocity deficit. The results show that the particle loading parameter has a stabilizing effect on the flow while the increase in the velocity ratio or in the velocity deficit destabilizes the flow.

Keywords: Linear stability, Shallow flows, Wake-shear flows.

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Authors: Görkem Ülkü, Esin A. Güvel, Nesrin Köken, Nilgün Kızılcan

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This study presents synthesis of novel block copolymers of thienyl end capped ethoxylated nonyl phenol and pyrrole via chemical oxidative polymerization. Ethoxylated nonyl phenol (ENP) was reacted with 2-thiophenecarbonyl chloride in order to synthesize a macromonomer containing thienyl end-group (ENPThC). Then copolymers of ENP-ThC and pyrrole were synthesized by chemical oxidative polymerization using iron (III) chloride as an oxidant. ENP-ThC served both as a macromonomer and an emulsifier for pyrrole with poor solubility in water. The synthesized block copolymers (ENP-ThC-b-PPy) were characterized by spectroscopic analysis and the electrical conductivities were investigated with 4-point probe technique.

Keywords: End capped polymer, ethoxylated nonyl phenol, heterophase polymerization, polypyrrole.

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Authors: Salina Budin, Shaira Ismail

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Students learn effectively in a learning environment with a suitable teaching approach that matches their learning preferences. The main objective of the study is to examine the learning preferences amongst the students in the Science and Technology (S&T), and Social Science (SS) fields of study at the Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM), Pulau Pinang. The measurement instrument is based on the Dunn and Dunn Learning Styles which measure five elements of learning styles; environmental, sociological, emotional, physiological and psychological. Questionnaires are distributed amongst undergraduates in the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Faculty of Business Management. The respondents comprise of 131 diploma students of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and 111 degree students of the Faculty of Business Management. The results indicate that, both S&T and SS students share a similar learning preferences on the environmental aspect, emotional preferences, motivational level, learning responsibility, persistent level in learning and learning structure. Most of the S&T students are concluded as analytical learners and the majority of SS students are global learners. Both S&T and SS students are concluded as visual learners, preferred to be in an active mobility in a relaxing and enjoying mode with some light of refreshments during the learning process and exhibited reflective characteristics in learning. Obviously, the S&T students are considered as left brain dominant, whereas the SS students are right brain dominant. The findings highlighted that both categories of students exhibited similar learning preferences except on psychological preferences.

Keywords: Learning preferences, Dunn and Dunn learning style, teaching approach, science and technology, social science.

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Authors: Morteza Khaleghi Meybodi, Hossein Bisadi

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Explosive forming is one of the unconventional techniques in which, most commonly, the water is used as the pressure transmission medium. One of the newest methods in explosive forming is gas detonation forming which uses a normal shock wave derived of gas detonation, to form sheet metals. For this purpose a detonation is developed from the reaction of H2+O2 mixture in a long cylindrical detonation tube. The detonation wave goes through the detonation tube and acts as a blast load on the steel blank and forms it. Experimental results are compared with a finite element model; and the comparison of the experimental and numerical results obtained from strain, thickness variation and deformed geometry is carried out. Numerical and experimental results showed approximately 75 – 90 % similarity in formability of desired shape. Also optimum percent of gas mixture obtained when we mix 68% H2 with 32% O2.

Keywords: Explosive forming, High strain rate, Gas detonation, Finite element analysis.

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Authors: S. A. Kondratyev, O. I. Ibragimova

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The authors discuss the collecting abilities of desorbable species (DS) of saturated fatty acids. The DS species of the reagent are understood as species capable of moving from the surface of the mineral particle to the bubble at the moment of the rupture of the interlayer of liquid separating these objects of interaction. DS species of carboxylic acids (molecules and ionic-molecular complexes) have the ability to spread over the surface of the bubble. The rate of their spreading at pH 7 and 10 over the water surface is determined. The collectibility criterion of saturated fatty acids is proposed. The values of forces exerted by the spreading DS species of reagents on liquid in the interlayer and the liquid flow rate from the interlayer are determined.

Keywords: Criterion of action of physically adsorbed reagent, flotation, saturated fatty acids, surface pressure.

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Authors: G. Momen, R. Jafari, M. Farzaneh

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Two different superhydrophobic surfaces were elaborated and their oil repellency behavior was evaluated using several liquid with different surface tension. A silicone rubber/SiO2 nanocomposite coated (A) on aluminum substrate by “spin-coating" and the sample B was an anodized aluminum surface covered by Teflon-like coating. A high static contact angle about ∼162° was measured for two prepared surfaces on which the water droplet rolloff. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showed the presence of micro/nanostructures for both sample A and B similar to that of lotus leaf. However the sample A presented significantly different behaviour of wettability against the low surface tension liquid. Sample A has been wetted totally by oil (dodecan) droplet while sample B showed oleophobic behaviour. Oleophobic property of Teflon like coating can be contributed to the presence of CF2 and CF3 functional group which was shown by XPS analysis.

Keywords: Oleophobic, Superhydrophobic, Aluminum surface, Nano-texture.

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Authors: Csilla M. Szabó

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In Hungary, the society has changed a lot for the past 25 years, and these changes could be detected in educational situations as well. The number and the intensity of conflicts have been increased in most fields of life, as well as at schools. Teachers have difficulties to be able to handle school conflicts. What is more, the new net generation, generation Z has values and behavioural patterns different from those of the previous one, which might generate more serious conflicts at school, especially with teachers who were mainly socialising in a traditional teacher – student relationship. In Hungary, the bill CCIV of 2011 declared the foundation of Institutes of Teacher Training in higher education institutes. One of the tasks of the Institutes is to survey the competences and needs of teachers working in public education and to provide further trainings and services for them according to their needs and requirements. This job is supported by the Social Renewal Operative Programs 4.1.2.B. The professors of a college carried out a questionnaire and surveyed the needs and the requirements of teachers working in the region. Based on the results, the professors of the Institute of Teacher Training decided to meet the requirements of teachers and to launch short teacher further training courses in spring 2015. One of the courses is going to focus on school conflict management through mediation. The aim of the pilot course is to provide conflict management techniques for teachers and to present different mediation techniques to them. The theoretical part of the course (5 hours) will enable participants to understand the main points and the advantages of mediation, while the practical part (10 hours) will involve teachers in role plays to learn how to cope with conflict situations applying mediation. We hope if conflicts could be reduced, it would influence school atmosphere in a positive way and the teaching – learning process could be more successful and effective.

Keywords: Conflict resolution, generation Z, mediation, teacher training.

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Authors: Li Wu

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Plant ecological stoichiometry, which is one of the most important tools to connect the components among different levels of ecosystem, has obtained increasingly extensive concern, especially on its responses to the environmental gradients. Based on the published literatures and datasets, this article focused on reviewing the variable responses of plant foliar ecological stoichiometry to the climatic factors, such as temperature, water, elevated CO₂, and found that foliar ecological stoichiometry responded dynamically to climatic variations among different regions and different growth forms. Then, research status and deficiency were summarized and the expectation on studying the relationships between plant C, N and P ecological stoichiometry and environmental variations which can provide a reference to understand how plants will respond to global change in the future was pointed out.

Keywords: Climatic variations, terrestrial plant, foliar ecological stoichiometry, temperature, precipitation, drought, elevated CO2.

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Authors: Bu Seog Ju, Woo Young Jung

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The cost of damage to the non-structural systems in critical facilities like nuclear power plants and hospitals can exceed 80% of the total cost of damage during an earthquake. The failure of nonstructural components, especially, piping systems led to leakage of water and subsequent shut-down of hospitals immediately after the event. Consequently, the evaluation of performance of these types of structural configurations has become necessary to mitigate the risk and to achieve reliable designs. This paper focuses on a methodology to evaluate the static and dynamic characteristics of complex actual piping system based on NFPA-13 and SMACNA guidelines. The result of this study revealed that current piping system subjected to design lateral force and design spectrum based on UBC-97 was failed in both cases and mode shapes between piping system and building structure were very different

Keywords: Nonstructural component, piping, hospital, seismic, bracing.

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Authors: Ahmed Barakat, Nourhan A. Saad, Mahmoud Hammad

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Tracking and monitoring agricultural products, cold chain activities, and transportation in real-time can effectively ensure both the quality and safety of agricultural products, as well as reduce overall logistics costs. Effective supply chain practices are one of the main requirements for enhancing agricultural business in Egypt. Cold chain is among the best practices for the storage and transportation of perishable goods and has potential within the agricultural sector in Egypt. This practice has the scope of reducing the wastage of food and increasing the profitability with a reduction in costs. Even though it has several implementation challenges for the farmers, traders, and people involved in the entire supply chain, it has highlighted better benefits for all and for the export of goods for the economic progression for Egypt. The aim of this paper is to explore cold supply chain practices for the agriculture sector in Egypt, to enhance the export performance of fresh goods. In this context, this study attempts to explore those aspects of the performance of cold supply chain practices that can enhance the functioning of the agriculture sector in Egypt from the perspective of export companies (traders) and farmers. Based on the empirical results obtained by data collection from the farmers and traders, the study argues that there is a significant association between cold supply chain practices and enhancement of the agriculture value chain. The paper thus highlights the contribution of the study with final conclusions and limitations with scope for future research.

Keywords: Agriculture sector, cold chain management, export companies, non-traded goods, supply chain management.

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Authors: Matthias Schmidt, Steffen C. Eickemeyer, Prof. Peter Nyhuis

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Guaranteeing the availability of the required parts at the scheduled time represents a key logistical challenge. This is especially important when several parts are required together. This article describes a tool that supports the positioning in the area of conflict between low stock costs and a high service level for a consumer.

Keywords: Systems Modeling, Manufacturing Systems, Simulation & Control, logistics and supply chain management

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Authors: Rasool Razmi, Mohammad Hossein Sedaghat, Reza Janamiri, Amir Hatampou

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This work concerns on experimentally investigation of surfactant flooding in fractured porous media. In this study a series of water and surfactant injection processes were performed on micromodels initially saturated with a heavy crude oil. Eight fractured glass micromodels were used to illustrate effects of surfactant types and concentrations on oil recovery efficiency in presence of fractures with different properties i.e. fracture orientation, length and number of fractures. Two different surfactants with different concentrations were tested. The results showed that surfactant flooding would be more efficient by using SDS surfactant aqueous solution and also by locating injection well in a proper position respect to fracture properties. This study demonstrates different physical and chemical conditions that affect the efficiency of this method of enhanced oil recovery.

Keywords: Displacement, Fractured five-spot systems, Heavy oil, Surfactant flooding.

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Authors: Majid Riahi Samani, Seyed Mehdi Borghei

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Absorptive characteristics of polyaniline synthesized in mixture of water and acetonitrile in 50/50 volume ratio was studied. Synthesized polyaniline in powder shape is used as an adsorbent to remove toxic hexavalent chromium from aqueous solutions. Experiments were conducted in batch mode with different variables such as agitation time, solution pH and initial concentration of hexavalent chromium. Removal mechanism is the combination of surface adsorption and reduction. The equilibrium time for removal of Cr(T) and Cr(VI) was about 2 and 10 minutes respectively. The optimum pH for total chromium removal occurred at pH 7 and maximum hexavalent chromium removal took place under acidic condition at pH 3. Investigating the isothermal characteristics showed that the equilibrium adsorption data fitted both Freundlich-s and Langmuir-s isotherms. The maximum adsorption of chromium was calculated 36.1 mg/g for polyaniline

Keywords: Polyaniline, Chromium, acetonitrile, Adsorption

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Authors: Lucie Vodova, Radomir Sokolar, Jitka Hroudova

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Stoneware clay, fired clay (as a grog), calcite waste and class C fly ash in various mixing rations were the basic raw materials for the mixture for production of dry pressed ceramic tiles. Mechanical properties (water absorption, bulk density, apparent porosity, flexural strength) as well as mineralogical composition were studied on samples with different source of calcium oxide after firing at 900, 1000, 1100 and 1200°C. It was found that samples with addition of calcite waste contain dmisteinbergit and anorthite. This minerals help to improve the strength of the body and reduce porosity fired at lower temperatures. Class C fly ash has not significantly influence on properties of the fired body as calcite waste.

Keywords: Ceramic tiles, class C fly ash, calcite waste, calcium oxide, anorthite.

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Authors: Shatirah Akib, Teuku K. Syamsura, S.M. Shirazi, Moatasem M. Fayyadh, Budhi Primasari

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The purpose of this paper is to summarize the following protection of scouring countermeasures by using Bentonite-Enhanced Sand (BES) mixtures. The concept of underground improvement is being used in this study to reduce the void of the sand. The sand bentonite mixture was used to bond the ground soil conditions surrounding the pile of integral bridge. The right composition of sand bentonite mixture was proposed based on previous findings. The swelling effect of bentonite also was investigated to ensure there is no adverse impact to the structure of the integral bridge. ScourScour, another name for severe erosion, occurs when the erosive capacity of water resulting from natural and manmade events exceeds the ability of earth materials to resist its effects. According to AASHTO LRFD Specifications (Section C3.7.5), scour is the most common reason for the collapse of highway bridges in the United States

Keywords: bentonite, integral bridge, possible protection, scouring

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Authors: Kgomotso Matobole, Pascal Mwenge, Tumisang Seodigeng

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The global urbanisation and worldwide economic growth have caused a high rate of food waste generation, resulting in environmental pollution. Food waste disposed on landfills decomposes to produce methane (CH₄), a greenhouse gas. Inadequate waste management practices contribute to food waste polluting the environment. Thus effective organic fraction of municipal solid waste (OFMSW) management and treatment are attracting widespread attention in many countries. This problem can be minimised by the employment of anaerobic digestion process, since food waste is rich in organic matter and highly biodegradable, resulting in energy generation and waste volume reduction. The current study investigated the Biomethane Potential (BMP) of the Vaal University of Technology canteen food waste using anaerobic digestion. Tests were performed on canteen food waste, as a substrate, with total solids (TS) of 22%, volatile solids (VS) of 21% and moisture content of 78%. The tests were performed in batch reactors, at a mesophilic temperature of 37 °C, with two different types of inoculum, primary and digested sludge. The resulting CH₄ yields for both food waste with digested sludge and primary sludge were equal, being 357 Nml/g VS. This indicated that food waste form this canteen is rich in organic and highly biodegradable. Hence it can be used as a substrate for the anaerobic digestion process. The food waste with digested sludge and primary sludge both fitted the first order kinetic model with k for primary sludge inoculated food waste being 0.278 day^-1 with R² of 0.98, whereas k for digested sludge inoculated food waste being 0.034 day^-1, with R² of 0.847.

Keywords: Anaerobic digestion, biogas, biomethane potential, food waste.

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Authors: Muhammad Naeem, Abdus Salam, Muhammad Asghar Bashir, Abir Ishtiaq, Qurat-ul-Ane Gillani and Asma Salam

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In the present study, 49 Hybrid (Catla catla ♂ x Labeo rohita ♀) were sampled from Al-Raheem Fish Hatchery, Village Ali Pure Shamali, Jhang Road, 18 Km from Muzaffar Garh using a cast net and Live fishes were transported to research laboratory. Mean percentage for water found 79.13 %, ash 6.58 %, fat 2.22 % and protein content 12.06 % in whole wet body weight. It was observed that body constituents were found increasing in the same proportion with an increase in body weight while significant proportional increase was observed with total length. However, condition factor remained insignificant (P>0.05) with body constituents.

Keywords: Hybrid fish, Body composition, Condition factor, Predictive equations

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Authors: Muhammed Ordu, Eren Demir, Chris Tofallis

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Over the past decade, the non-elective admissions in the UK have increased significantly. Taking into account limited resources (i.e. beds), the related service managers are obliged to manage their resources effectively due to the non-elective admissions which are mostly admitted to inpatient specialities via A&E departments. Geriatric medicine is one of specialities that have long length of stay for the non-elective admissions. This study aims to develop a discrete event simulation model to understand how possible increases on non-elective demand over the next 12 months affect the bed occupancy rate and to determine required number of beds in a geriatric medicine speciality in a UK hospital. In our validated simulation model, we take into account observed frequency distributions which are derived from a big data covering the period April, 2009 to January, 2013, for the non-elective admission and the length of stay. An experimental analysis, which consists of 16 experiments, is carried out to better understand possible effects of case studies and scenarios related to increase on demand and number of bed. As a result, the speciality does not achieve the target level in the base model although the bed occupancy rate decreases from 125.94% to 96.41% by increasing the number of beds by 30%. In addition, the number of required beds is more than the number of beds considered in the scenario analysis in order to meet the bed requirement. This paper sheds light on bed management for service managers in geriatric medicine specialities.

Keywords: Bed management, bed occupancy rate, discrete event simulation, geriatric medicine, non-elective admission.

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Authors: Fridhi Hadia, Soua Wadhah, Hidouri Ammar, Omri Ahmed

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In this research, the effects of the engine parameters like compression ratios and steam injection on igniting timing and emission characteristics have been investigated numerically. The in-cylinder temperature and pressure at four different compression ratios have been compared with numerical results, and they show a good agreement with the published data. Two different fuels have been used in this study: Isooctane (IC₈H₁₈), and ethanol (C₂H₅OH). The increasing of the compression ratio (CR) advances the ignition timing, decreases the burn duration and increases the temperature and the pressure. The injection of water vapor lower than 40% decreased the peak temperature and slowed the combustion rate which leads to a lower NOx emission.

Keywords: Compression ratio, emission, HCCI engine, ignition timing, steam injection.

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Authors: A. Peter Amala Sujith, T.V. Hymavathi, P. Yasoda Devi

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Lutein is a dietary oxycarotenoid which is found to reduce the risks of Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD). Supercritical fluid extraction of lutein esters from marigold petals was carried out and was found to be much effective than conventional solvent extraction. The saponification of pre-concentrated lutein esters to produce free lutein was studied which showed a composition of about 88% total carotenoids (UV-VIS spectrophotometry) and 90.7% lutein (HPLC). The lipase catalyzed hydrolysis of lutein esters in conventional medium was investigated. The optimal temperature, pH, enzyme concentration and water activity were found to be 50°C, 7, 15% and 0.33 respectively and the activity loss of lipase was about 25% after 8 times re-use in at 50°C for 12 days. However, the lipase catalyzed hydrolysis of lutein esters in conventional media resulted in poor conversions (16.4%).

Keywords: lutein, preconcentration, saponification, lipase

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Authors: N. Utaberta, N. Sharifi, M. Surat, A. I. Che-Ani, N.M. Tawil

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Iran has diverse climates and each have established distinct properties in their area. The extent and intensity of climatic factors effects on the lives of people living in various regions of Iran is so great that it cannot be simply ignored. In a large part of Iran known as the Central Plateau there is no precipitation for more than half of the year and dry weather and scarcity of fresh water pose an ever present problem for the people of these regions while in north of Iran upon the southern shores of the Caspian Sea the people face 80% humidity caused by the sea and 2 meters of annual precipitation. This article tries to review the past experiences of local architecture of Iran-s various regions so that they can be used to reshape and redirect the urban areas and structure of Iran-s current cities to provide environmental comfort by minimum use of fossil fuels.

Keywords: Urban Passage, Architecture in Iran, Urban Structure, Climatic Comfort

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Authors: Mohammed Ali Ahmed, Vaughan Coffey, Bo Xia

Abstract:

Quality management systems (QMSs) in the construction industry are often implemented to ensure that sufficient effort is made by companies to achieve the required levels of quality for clients. Attainment of these quality levels can result in greater customer satisfaction, which is fundamental to ensure long-term competitiveness for construction companies. However, the construction sector is still lagging behind other industries in terms of its successful adoption of QMSs, due to the relative lack of acceptance of the benefits of these systems among industry stakeholders, as well as from other barriers related to implementing them. Thus, there is a critical need to undertake a detailed and comprehensive exploration of adoption of QMSs in the construction sector. This paper comprehensively investigates in the construction sector setting, the impacts of all the salient factors surrounding successful implementation of QMSs in building organizations, especially those of external factors. This study is part of an ongoing PhD project, which aims to develop a new framework that integrates both internal and external factors affecting QMS implementation. To achieve the paper aim and objectives, interviews will be conducted to define the external factors influencing the adoption of QMSs, and to obtain holistic critical success factors (CSFs) for implementing these systems. In the next stage of data collection, a questionnaire survey will be developed to investigate the prime barriers facing the adoption of QMSs, the CSFs for their implementation, and the external factors affecting the adoption of these systems. Following the survey, case studies will be undertaken to validate and explain in greater detail the real effects of these factors on QMSs adoption. Specifically, this paper evaluates the effects of the external factors in terms of their impact on implementation success within the selected case studies. Using findings drawn from analyzing the data obtained from these various approaches, specific recommendations for the successful implementation of QMSs will be presented, and an operational framework will be developed. Finally, through a focus group, the findings of the study and the new developed framework will be validated. Ultimately, this framework will be made available to the construction industry to facilitate the greater adoption and implementation of QMSs. In addition, deployment of the applicable recommendations suggested by the study will be shared with the construction industry to more effectively help construction companies to implement QMSs, and overcome the barriers experienced by businesses, thus promoting the achievement of higher levels of quality and customer satisfaction.

Keywords: Barriers, critical success factors, external factors, internal factors, quality management systems.

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Authors: Ali F. Alta'ee, Ong S. Hun, Sima Sh. Alian, Ismail M. Saaid

Abstract:

Permeability reduction induced by asphaltene precipitation during gas injection is one of the serious problems in the oil industry. This problem can lead to formation damage and decrease the oil production rate. In this work, Malaysian light oil sample has been used to investigate the effect CO2 injection and Water Alternating Gas (WAG) injection on permeability reduction. In this work, dynamic core flooding experiments were conducted to study the effect of CO2 and WAG injection on the amount of asphaltene precipitated. Core properties after displacement were inspected for any permeability reduction to study the effect of asphaltene precipitation on rock properties. The results showed that WAG injection gave less asphaltene precipitation and formation damage compared to CO2 injection. The study suggested that WAG injection can be one of the important factors of managing asphaltene precipitation.

Keywords: Asphaltene Precipitation, Permeability Reduction, CO2 Injection, WAG Injection.

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