Search results for: Modulus Optimum criterion

Authors: R. Ramaprabha

Abstract:

This paper presents an extraction of maximum energy from Solar Photovoltaic Array (SPVA) under partial shaded conditions by optimum selection of array size using Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) technique. In this paper a detailed study on the output reduction of different SPVA configurations under partial shaded conditions have been carried out. A generalized MATLAB M-code based software model has been used for any required array size, configuration, shading patterns and number of bypass diodes. Comparative study has been carried out on different configurations by testing several shading scenarios. While the number of shading patterns and the rate of change are very low for stationary SPVA but these may be quite large for SPVA mounted on a mobile platforms. This paper presents the suitability of PSO technique to select optimum configuration for mobile arrays by calculating the global peak (GP) of different configurations and to transfer maximum power to the load.

Keywords: Global peak, Mobile PV arrays, Partial shading, optimization, PSO.

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Authors: K. Shimola, M. Krishnaveni

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This paper examines vulnerability assessment of water resources in a semi-arid basin using the 4-step approach. The vulnerability assessment framework is developed to study the water resources vulnerability which includes the creation of GIS-based vulnerability maps. These maps represent the spatial variability of the vulnerability index. This paper introduces the 4-step approach to assess vulnerability that incorporates a new set of indicators. The approach is demonstrated using a framework composed of a precipitation data for (1975–2010) period, temperature data for (1965–2010) period, hydrological model outputs and the water resources GIS data base. The vulnerability assessment is a function of three components such as exposure, sensitivity and adaptive capacity. The current water resources vulnerability is assessed using GIS based spatio-temporal information. Rainfall Coefficient of Variation, monsoon onset and end date, rainy days, seasonality indices, temperature are selected for the criterion ‘exposure’. Water yield, ground water recharge, evapotranspiration (ET) are selected for the criterion ‘sensitivity’. Type of irrigation and storage structures are selected for the criterion ‘Adaptive capacity’. These indicators were mapped and integrated in GIS environment using overlay analysis. The five sub-basins, namely Arjunanadhi, Kousiganadhi, Sindapalli-Uppodai and Vallampatti Odai, fall under medium vulnerability profile, which indicates that the basin is under moderate stress of water resources. The paper also explores prioritization of sub-basinwise adaptation strategies to climate change based on the vulnerability indices.

Keywords: Adaptive capacity, exposure, overlay analysis, sensitivity, vulnerability.

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Authors: R. Joseph Raviselvan, K. Ramanathan, P. Perumal, M. R. Thansekhar

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Hard coatings are widely used in cutting and forming tool industries. Titanium Nitride (TiN) possesses good hardness, strength, and corrosion resistance. The coating properties are influenced by many process parameters. The coatings were deposited on steel substrate by changing the process parameters such as substrate temperature, nitrogen flow rate and target power in a D.C planer magnetron sputtering. The structure of coatings were analysed using XRD. The hardness of coatings was found using Micro hardness tester. From the experimental data, a regression model was developed and the optimum response was determined using Response Surface Methodology (RSM).

Keywords: Hardness, RSM, sputtering, TiN XRD.

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Authors: Ashish Kumar, Sanjeev Kumar Suman

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This study investigated the influence of Cloisite-15A nanoclay on the physical, performance, and mechanical properties of bitumen binder. Cloisite-15A was blended in the bitumen in variegated percentages from 1% to 9% with increment of 2%. The blended bitumen was characterized using penetration, softening point, and dynamic viscosity using rotational viscometer, and compared with unmodified bitumen equally penetration grade 60/70. The rheological parameters were investigated using Dynamic Shear Rheometer (DSR), and mechanical properties were investigated by using Marshall Stability test. The results indicated an increase in softening point, dynamic viscosity and decrease in binder penetration. Rheological properties of bitumen increase complex modulus, decrease phase angle and improve rutting resistances as well. There was significant improvement in Marshall Stability, rather marginal improvement in flow value. The best improvement in the modified binder was obtained with 5% Cloisite-15A nanoclay.

Keywords: Cloisite-15A, complex shear modulus, phase angle, rutting resistance.

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Authors: Jhalique Jane R. Fojas, Ernesto J. Del Rosario

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The dilute acid pretreatment and enzymatic saccharification of lignocellulosic substrate, cogon grass (Imperata cylindrical, L.) was optimized prior ethanol fermentation using simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) method. The optimum pretreatment conditions, temperature, sulfuric acid concentration, and reaction time were evaluated by determining the maximum sugar yield at constant enzyme loading. Cogon grass, at 10% w/v substrate loading, has optimum pretreatment conditions of 126°C, 0.6% v/v H2SO4, and 20min reaction time. These pretreatment conditions were used to optimize enzymatic saccharification using different enzyme combinations. The maximum saccharification yield of 36.68mg/mL (71.29% reducing sugar) was obtained using 25FPU/g-cellulose cellulase complex combined with 1.1% w/w of cellobiase, ß-glucosidase, and 0.225% w/w of hemicellulase complex, after 96 hours of saccharification. Using the optimum pretreatment and saccharification conditions, SSF of treated substrates was done at 37°C for 120 hours using industrial yeast strain HBY3, Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The ethanol yield for cogon grass at 4% w/w loading was 9.11g/L with 5.74mg/mL total residual sugar.

Keywords: Acid pretreatment, bioethanol, biomass, cogon grass, fermentation, lignocellylose, SSF.

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Authors: H. Naghawi, R. Al-Ajarmeh, R. Allouzi, A. AlKlub, K. Masarwah, A. AL-Quraini, M. Abu-Sarhan

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The main objective of this paper is to evaluate the use of plastic waste as a low cost asphalt binder modifier. For this purpose Marshall mix design procedure was used. Marshall mix design procedure seeks to select the Optimum Binder Content (OBC) to be added to a specific aggregate blend resulting in a mixture that satisfies the desired properties of strength and durability. In order to evaluate the plastic waste modified (PWM) asphalt mixtures, the OBC for the conventional asphalt mix was first identified, and then different percentages of crushed plastic waste by weight of the identified OBC were tested. Marshall test results for the modified asphalt mixtures were analyzed to find the optimum PWM content. Finally, the static indirect tensile strength (IDT) was determined for all mixtures using the splitting tensile test. It was found that PWM content of 7.43% by weight of OBC is recommended as the optimum PWM content needed for enhancing the performance of asphalt mixtures. It enhanced stability by 42.56%, flow by 89.91% and strength by 13.54%. This would lead to a more durable pavement by improving the pavement resistance to fatigue cracking and rutting.

Keywords: Binder content modifier, Marshall test, plastic waste, polyethylene terephthalate.

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Authors: N. R. Putra, A. H. Abdul Aziz, A. S. Zaini, Z. Idham, F. Idrus, M. Z. Bin Zullyadini, M. A. Che Yunus

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The content of omega-3 in soybean oil is important in the development of infants and is an alternative for the omega-3 in fish oils. The investigation of extraction of soybean oil is needed to obtain the bioactive compound in the extract. Supercritical carbon dioxide extraction is modern and green technology to extract herbs and plants to obtain high quality extract due to high diffusivity and solubility of the solvent. The aim of this study was to obtain the optimum condition of soybean oil extraction by modified supercritical carbon dioxide. The soybean oil was extracted by using modified supercritical carbon dioxide (SC-CO₂) under the temperatures of 40, 60, 80 °C, pressures of 150, 250, 350 Bar, and constant flow-rate of 10 g/min as the parameters of extraction processes. An experimental design was performed in order to optimize three important parameters of SC-CO₂ extraction which are pressure (X₁), temperature (X₂) to achieve optimum yields of soybean oil. Box Behnken Design was applied for experimental design. From the optimization process, the optimum condition of extraction of soybean oil was obtained at pressure 338 Bar and temperature 80 °C with oil yield of 2.713 g. Effect of pressure is significant on the extraction of soybean oil by modified supercritical carbon dioxide. Increasing of pressure will increase the oil yield of soybean oil.

Keywords: Soybean oil, SC-CO2 extraction, yield, optimization.

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Authors: Tarunjit S. Butalia, William E. Wolfe

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This study demonstrates the use of Class F fly ash in combination with lime or lime kiln dust in the full depth reclamation (FDR) of asphalt pavements. FDR, in the context of this paper, is a process of pulverizing a predetermined amount of flexible pavement that is structurally deficient, blending it with chemical additives and water, and compacting it in place to construct a new stabilized base course. Test sections of two structurally deficient asphalt pavements were reclaimed using Class F fly ash in combination with lime and lime kiln dust. In addition, control sections were constructed using cement, cement and emulsion, lime kiln dust and emulsion, and mill and fill. The service performance and structural behavior of the FDR pavement test sections were monitored to determine how the fly ash sections compared to other more traditional pavement rehabilitation techniques. Service performance and structural behavior were determined with the use of sensors embedded in the road and Falling Weight Deflectometer (FWD) tests. Monitoring results of the FWD tests conducted up to 2 years after reclamation show that the cement, fly ash+LKD, and fly ash+lime sections exhibited two year resilient modulus values comparable to open graded cement stabilized aggregates (more than 750 ksi). The cement treatment resulted in a significant increase in resilient modulus within 3 weeks of construction and beyond this curing time, the stiffness increase was slow. On the other hand, the fly ash+LKD and fly ash+lime test sections indicated slower shorter-term increase in stiffness. The fly ash+LKD and fly ash+lime section average resilient modulus values at two years after construction were in excess of 800 ksi. Additional longer-term testing data will be available from ongoing pavement performance and environmental condition data collection at the two pavement sites.

Keywords: Coal fly ash, full depth reclamation, FWD, pavement rehabilitation

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Authors: Anant Oonsivilai, Wichai Srisuruk, Boonruang Marungsri, Thanatchai Kulworawanichpong

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Optimal routing in communication networks is a major issue to be solved. In this paper, the application of Tabu Search (TS) in the optimum routing problem where the aim is to minimize the computational time and improvement of quality of the solution in the communication have been addressed. The goal is to minimize the average delays in the communication. The effectiveness of Tabu Search method is shown by the results of simulation to solve the shortest path problem. Through this approach computational cost can be reduced.

Keywords: Communication networks, optimum routing network, tabu search algorithm, shortest path.

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Authors: Marzieh Moosavi- Nasab, Safoora Pashangeh, Maryam Rafsanjani

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Xanthan gum is a microbial polysaccharide of great commercial significance. The purpose of this study was to select the optimum fermentation time for xanthan gum production by Xanthomonas campestris (NRRL-B-1459) using 10% sugar beet molasses as a carbon source. The pre-heating of sugar beet molasses and the supplementation of the medium were investigated in order to improve xanthan gum production. Maximum xanthan gum production in fermentation media (9.02 g/l) was observed after 4 days shaking incubation at 25°C and 240 rpm agitation speed. A solution of 10% sucrose was used as a control medium. Results indicated that the optimum period for xanthan gum production in this condition was 4 days.

Keywords: Biomass, Molasses, Xanthan gum, Xanthomonascampestris

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Authors: A. Magesh, B. Preetha, T. Viruthagiri

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Direct fermentation of 226 white rose tapioca stem to ethanol by Fusarium oxysporum was studied in a batch reactor. Fermentation of ethanol can be achieved by sequential pretreatment using dilute acid and dilute alkali solutions using 100 mesh tapioca stem particles. The quantitative effects of substrate concentration, pH and temperature on ethanol concentration were optimized using a full factorial central composite design experiment. The optimum process conditions were then obtained using response surface methodology. The quadratic model indicated that substrate concentration of 33g/l, pH 5.52 and a temperature of 30.13oC were found to be optimum for maximum ethanol concentration of 8.64g/l. The predicted optimum process conditions obtained using response surface methodology was verified through confirmatory experiments. Leudeking-piret model was used to study the product formation kinetics for the production of ethanol and the model parameters were evaluated using experimental data.

Keywords: Fusarium oxysporum, Lignocellulosic biomass, Product formation kinetics, Statistical experimental design

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Authors: Kevin Fong-Rey Liu, Ken Yeh, Cheng-Wu Chen, Han-Hsi Liang

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Environmental aspects plays a central role in environmental management system (EMS) because it is the basis for the identification of an organization-s environmental targets. The existing methods for the assessment of environmental aspects are grouped into three categories: risk assessment-based (RA-based), LCA-based and criterion-based methods. To combine the benefits of these three categories of research, this study proposes an integrated framework, combining RA-, LCA- and criterion-based methods. The integrated framework incorporates LCA techniques for the identification of the causal linkage for aspect, pathway, receptor and impact, uses fuzzy logic to assess aspects, considers fuzzy conditions, in likelihood assessment, and employs a new multi-criteria decision analysis method - multi-criteria and multi-connection comprehensive assessment (MMCA) - to estimate significant aspects in EMS. The proposed model is verified, using a real case study and the results show that this method successfully prioritizes the environmental aspects.

Keywords: Environmental management system, environmental aspect, risk assessment, life cycle assessment.

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Authors: Vijaya K. Srivastava, Davide Spinello

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This paper presents performance of two robust gradient-based heuristic optimization procedures based on 3ⁿ enumeration and tunneling approach to seek global optimum of constrained integer problems. Both these procedures consist of two distinct phases for locating the global optimum of integer problems with a linear or non-linear objective function subject to linear or non-linear constraints. In both procedures, in the first phase, a local minimum of the function is found using the gradient approach coupled with hemstitching moves when a constraint is violated in order to return the search to the feasible region. In the second phase, in one optimization procedure, the second sub-procedure examines 3ⁿ integer combinations on the boundary and within hypercube volume encompassing the result neighboring the result from the first phase and in the second optimization procedure a tunneling function is constructed at the local minimum of the first phase so as to find another point on the other side of the barrier where the function value is approximately the same. In the next cycle, the search for the global optimum commences in both optimization procedures again using this new-found point as the starting vector. The search continues and repeated for various step sizes along the function gradient as well as that along the vector normal to the violated constraints until no improvement in optimum value is found. The results from both these proposed optimization methods are presented and compared with one provided by popular MS Excel solver that is provided within MS Office suite and other published results.

Keywords: Constrained integer problems, enumerative search algorithm, Heuristic algorithm, tunneling algorithm.

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Authors: Mohammad Reza Soltani, Mohammad Farahani, Javad Sepahi Younsi

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Heat source addition to the axisymmetric supersonic inlet may improve the performance parameters, which will increase the inlet efficiency. In this investigation the heat has been added to the flow field at some distance ahead of an axisymmetric inlet by adding an imaginary thermal source upstream of cowl lip. The effect of heat addition on the drag coefficient, mass flow rate and the overall efficiency of the inlet have been investigated. The results show that heat addition causes flow separation, hence to prevent this phenomena, roughness has been added on the spike surface. However, heat addition reduces the drag coefficient and the inlet mass flow rate considerably. Furthermore, the effects of position, size, and shape on the inlet performance were studied. It is found that the thermal source deflects the flow streamlines. By improper location of the thermal source, the optimum condition has been obtained. For the optimum condition, the drag coefficient is considerably reduced and the inlet mass flow rate and its efficiency have been increased slightly. The optimum shape of the heat source is obtained too.

Keywords: Drag coefficient, heat source, performanceparameters, supersonic inlet.

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Authors: Kamran Turkoglu, Ugur Ozdemir, Melike Nikbay, Elbrous M. Jafarov

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In this paper, an automatic control system design based on Integral Squared Error (ISE) parameter optimization technique has been implemented on longitudinal flight dynamics of an UAV. It has been aimed to minimize the error function between the reference signal and the output of the plant. In the following parts, objective function has been defined with respect to error dynamics. An unconstrained optimization problem has been solved analytically by using necessary and sufficient conditions of optimality, optimum PID parameters have been obtained and implemented in control system dynamics.

Keywords: Optimum Design, KKT Conditions, UAV, Longitudinal Flight Dynamics, ISE Parameter Optimization.

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Authors: Hassnen M. Jafer, W. Atherton, F. Ruddock, E. Loffill

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This study represents the results of an experimental work using two types of fly ashes as a cement replacement in soft soil stabilisation. The fly ashes (FA1 and FA2) used in this study are by-products resulting from an incineration processes between 800 and 1200 ˚C. The stabilised soil in this study was an intermediate plasticity silty clayey soil with medium organic matter content. The experimental works were initially conducted on soil treated with different percentages of FA1 (0, 3, 6, 9, 12, and 15%) to identify the optimum FA1 content. Then FA1 was chemically activated by FA2 which has high alkalinity by blending the optimum content of FA1 with different portions of FA2. The improvement levels were evaluated dependent on the results obtained from consistency limits and compaction tests along with the results of unconfined compressive strength (UCS) tests which were conducted on specimens of soil treated with FA1 and FA2 and exposed to different periods of curing (zero, 7, 14, and 28 days). The results indicated that the FA1 and FA2 used in this study effectively improved the physical and geotechnical properties of the soft soil where the index of plasticity (IP) was decreased significantly from 21 to 13.17 with 12% of FA1; however, there was a slight increase in IP with the use of FA2. Meanwhile, 12% of FA1 was identified as the optimum percentage improving the UCS of stabilised soil significantly. Furthermore, FA2 was found effective as a chemical activator to FA1 where the UCS was improved significantly after using FA2.

Keywords: Soft soil stabilisation, waste materials, unconfined compressive strength.

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Authors: Yi-Jie Lin, Jyh-Cherng Chen

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The fly ash of waste incineration processes is usually hazardous and the disposal or reuse of waste incineration fly ash is difficult. In this study, the waste incineration fly ash was converted to useful zeolites by the alkali fusion and hydrothermal synthesis method. The influence of different operating conditions (the ratio of Si/Al, the ratio of hydrolysis liquid to solid, and hydrothermal time) was investigated to seek the optimum operating conditions for the synthesis of zeolite from waste incineration fly ash. The results showed that concentrations of heavy metals in the leachate of Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure (TCLP) were all lower than the regulatory limits except lead. The optimum operating conditions for the synthesis of zeolite from waste incineration fly ash by the alkali fusion and hydrothermal synthesis method were Si/Al=40, NaOH/ash=1.5, alkali fusion at 400 ^oC for 40 min, hydrolysis with Liquid to Solid ratio (L/S)= 200 at 105 ^oC for 24 h, and hydrothermal synthesis at 105 ^oC for 24 h. The specific surface area of fly ash could be significantly increased from 8.59 m²/g to 651.51 m²/g (synthesized zeolite). The influence of different operating conditions on the synthesis of zeolite from waste incineration fly ash followed the sequence of Si/Al ratio > hydrothermal time > hydrolysis L/S ratio. The synthesized zeolites can be reused as good adsorbents to control the air or wastewater pollutants. The purpose of fly ash detoxification, reduction and waste recycling/reuse is achieved successfully.

Keywords: Alkali fusion, hydrothermal, fly ash, zeolite.

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Authors: Sajad Farokhi, Siti Mariyam Shamsuddin, Jan Flusser, Usman Ullah Sheikh

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Although face recognition seems as an easy task for human, automatic face recognition is a much more challenging task due to variations in time, illumination and pose. In this paper, the influence of time-lapse on visible and thermal images is examined. Orthogonal moment invariants are used as a feature extractor to analyze the effect of time-lapse on thermal and visible images and the results are compared with conventional Principal Component Analysis (PCA). A new triangle square ratio criterion is employed instead of Euclidean distance to enhance the performance of nearest neighbor classifier. The results of this study indicate that the ideal feature vectors can be represented with high discrimination power due to the global characteristic of orthogonal moment invariants. Moreover, the effect of time-lapse has been decreasing and enhancing the accuracy of face recognition considerably in comparison with PCA. Furthermore, our experimental results based on moment invariant and triangle square ratio criterion show that the proposed approach achieves on average 13.6% higher in recognition rate than PCA.

Keywords: Infrared Face recognition, Time-lapse, Zernike moment invariants

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Authors: H. Binti Ya’akob, C. Siew Chin, A. Abd Aziz, I. Ware, M. Fauzi Abd Jalil, N. Rashidah Ahmed, R. Sabtu

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Labisia pumila (LP) plant extract has the potential to be applied in cosmeceutical products due to its anti-photoaging properties. The main purpose of this study was to improve transdermal delivery of LP by encapsulating LP in niosomes. Niosomes loaded LPs were prepared by coacervation phase separation method using non-ionic surfactant (Span 60), labrasol, and cholesterol. The optimum formula obtained were Span 60, labrasol and cholesterol at the mole ratio of 6:1:4. At the optimum formulation, the niosome obtained significantly improved the quality of transdermal penetration of LP compared to free LP.

Keywords: Labisia pumila, niosomes, transdermal, quality.

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Authors: Haitam Emhemad, Brian Agnew, David Greenwood

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Amongst the many priorities facing Libya following the 2011 uprising is the provision of a transport infrastructure that will meet the nation’s needs and not undermine its prospects for economic prosperity as with many developing economies non-technical issues such as management, planning and financing are the major barriers to the efficient and effective provision of transport infrastructure. This is particularly true in the case of the effective incorporation of sustainability criteria, and the research upon which this paper is based involves the examination of alternative ways of approaching this problem. It is probably fair to say that criteria that relate to sustainability have not, historically, featured strongly in Libya’s approach to the development of its transport infrastructure. However, the current reappraisal of how best to redevelop the country’s transport infrastructure that has been afforded by recent events may offer the opportunity to alter this. The research examines recent case studies from a number of countries to explore ways in which sustainability has been included as a criterion for planning and procurement decisions. There will also be an in-depth investigation into the Libyan planning and legislative context to examine the feasibility of the introduction of such sustainability criteria into the process of planning and procurement of Libya’s transport infrastructure.

Keywords: Libya Reconstruction, Sustainability criteria, Transport Infrastructure.

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Authors: Behrouz Mosayebi Dehkordi

Abstract:

Simultaneous effects of temperature, immersion time, salt concentration, sucrose concentration, pressure and convective dryer temperature on the combined osmotic dehydration - convective drying of edible button mushrooms were investigated. Experiments were designed according to Central Composite Design with six factors each at five different levels. Response Surface Methodology (RSM) was used to determine the optimum processing conditions that yield maximum water loss and rehydration ratio and minimum solid gain and shrinkage in osmotic-convective drying of edible button mushrooms. Applying surfaces profiler and contour plots optimum operation conditions were found to be temperature of 39 °C, immersion time of 164 min, salt concentration of 14%, sucrose concentration of 53%, pressure of 600 mbar and drying temperature of 40 °C. At these optimum conditions, water loss, solid gain, rehydration ratio and shrinkage were found to be 63.38 (g/100 g initial sample), 3.17 (g/100 g initial sample), 2.26 and 7.15%, respectively.

Keywords: Dehydration, Mushroom, Optimization, Osmotic, Response Surface Methodology

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Authors: Behrouz Mosayebi Dehkordi

Abstract:

Simultaneous effects of temperature, immersion time, salt concentration, sucrose concentration, pressure and convective dryer temperature on the combined osmotic dehydration - convective drying of edible button mushrooms were investigated. Experiments were designed according to Central Composite Design with six factors each at five different levels. Response Surface Methodology (RSM) was used to determine the optimum processing conditions that yield maximum water loss and rehydration ratio and minimum solid gain and shrinkage in osmotic-convective drying of edible button mushrooms. Applying surfaces profiler and contour plots optimum operation conditions were found to be temperature of 39 °C, immersion time of 164 min, salt concentration of 14%, sucrose concentration of 53%, pressure of 600 mbar and drying temperature of 40 °C. At these optimum conditions, water loss, solid gain, rehydration ratio and shrinkage were found to be 63.38 (g/100 g initial sample), 3.17 (g/100 g initial sample), 2.26 and 7.15%, respectively.

Keywords: Dehydration, mushroom, optimization, osmotic, response surface methodology.

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Authors: B. Jabbari, N. Tahouni, M. H. Panjeshahi

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In this study the integration of an absorption heat pump (AHP) with the concentration section of an industrial pulp and paper process is investigated using pinch technology. The optimum design of the proposed water-lithium bromide AHP is then achieved by minimizing the total annual cost. A comprehensive optimization is carried out by relaxation of all stream pressure drops as well as heat exchanger areas involving in AHP structure. It is shown that by applying genetic algorithm optimizer, the total annual cost of the proposed AHP is decreased by 18% compared to one resulted from simulation.

Keywords: Absorption Heat Pump, Genetic Algorithm, Kraft Industry, Pinch Technology

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Authors: A. A. M. Azoddein, R. M. Yunus, N. M. Sulaiman, A. B. Bustary, K. Sabar

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Microbes have been used to solve environmental problems for many years. The role of microorganism to sequester, precipitate or alter the oxidation state of various heavy metals has been extensively studied. Treatment using microorganism interacts with toxic metal are very diverse. The purpose of this research is to remove the mercury using Pseudomonas putida (P. putida), pure culture ATTC 49128 at optimum growth parameters such as techniques of culture, acclimatization time and speed of incubator shaker. Thus, in this study, the optimum growth parameters of P. putida were obtained to achieve the maximum of mercury removal. Based on the optimum parameters of P. putida for specific growth rate, the removal of two different mercury concentration, 1 ppm and 4 ppm were studied. From mercury nitrate solution, a mercuryresistant bacterial strain which is able to reduce from ionic mercury to metallic mercury was used to reduce ionic mercury. The overall levels of mercury removal in this study were between 80% and 89%. The information obtained in this study is of fundamental for understanding of the survival of P. putida ATTC 49128 in mercury solution. Thus, microbial mercury removal is a potential bioremediation for wastewater especially in petrochemical industries in Malaysia.

Keywords: Pseudomonas putida, growth kinetic, biosorption, mercury, petrochemical wastewater.

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Authors: Carlos Alberto Riveros, Edwin Fabián García, Javier Enrique Rivero

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The measured data obtained from sensors in continuous monitoring of civil structures are mainly used for modal identification and damage detection. Therefore, when modal identification analysis is carried out the quality in the identification of the modes will highly influence the damage detection results. It is also widely recognized that the usefulness of the measured data used for modal identification and damage detection is significantly influenced by the number and locations of sensors. The objective of this study is the numerical implementation of two widely known optimum sensor placement methods in beam-like structures.

Keywords: Optimum sensor placement, structural damage detection, modal identification, beam-like structures.

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Authors: Mostafa Jafarian Abyaneh, Khashayar Jafari, Vahab Toufigh

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The cost of experiments on different types of concrete has raised the demand for prediction of their behavior with numerical analysis. In this research, an advanced numerical model has been presented to predict the complete elastic-plastic behavior of polymer concrete (PC), high-strength concrete (HSC), high performance concrete (HPC) along with different steel fiber contents under uniaxial compression. The accuracy of the numerical response was satisfactory as compared to other conventional simple models such as Mohr-Coulomb and Drucker-Prager. In order to predict the complete elastic-plastic behavior of specimens including softening behavior, disturbed state concept (DSC) was implemented by nonlinear finite element analysis (NFEA) and hierarchical single surface (HISS) failure criterion, which is a failure surface without any singularity.

Keywords: Disturbed state concept, hierarchical single surface, failure criterion, high performance concrete, high-strength concrete, nonlinear finite element analysis, polymer concrete, steel fibers, uniaxial compression test.

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Authors: Hayder Kamil Shanbara, Felicite Ruddock, William Atherton, Nassier A. Nassir

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Cold bitumen emulsion mixture (CBEM) offers a series benefits as compared with hot mix asphalt (HMA); these include environmental factors, energy saving, the resolution of logistical challenges that can characterise hot mix, and the potential to reserve funds. However, this mixture has some problems similar to any bituminous mixtures as it has low early strength, long curing time that needed to obtain the maximum performance, high air voids and considered inferior to HMA. Thus, CBEM has been used in limited applications such as lightly trafficked roads, footways and reinstatements. This laboratory study describes the development of CBEM using ordinary Portland cement (OPC) instead of the traditional mineral filler. Stiffness modulus, moisture damage and temperature sensitivity tests were used to evaluate the mechanical properties of the produced mixtures. The study concluded that there is a substantial improvement in the mechanical properties and moisture damage resistance of CBEMs containing OPC. Also, the produced cement modified CBEM shows a considerable lower thermal sensitivity than the conventional CBEM.

Keywords: Cold bitumen emulsion mixture, moisture damage, OPC, stiffness modulus, temperature sensitivity.

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Authors: Satish Kumar, Arun Kumar Gupta, Pankaj Chandna

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The present work analyses different parameters of pressure die casting to minimize the casting defects. Pressure diecasting is usually applied for casting of aluminium alloys. Good surface finish with required tolerances and dimensional accuracy can be achieved by optimization of controllable process parameters such as solidification time, molten temperature, filling time, injection pressure and plunger velocity. Moreover, by selection of optimum process parameters the pressure die casting defects such as porosity, insufficient spread of molten material, flash etc. are also minimized. Therefore, a pressure die casting component, carburetor housing of aluminium alloy (Al2Si2O5) has been considered. The effects of selected process parameters on casting defects and subsequent setting of parameters with the levels have been accomplished by Taguchi-s parameter design approach. The experiments have been performed as per the combination of levels of different process parameters suggested by L18 orthogonal array. Analyses of variance have been performed for mean and signal-to-noise ratio to estimate the percent contribution of different process parameters. Confidence interval has also been estimated for 95% consistency level and three conformational experiments have been performed to validate the optimum level of different parameters. Overall 2.352% reduction in defects has been observed with the help of suggested optimum process parameters.

Keywords: Aluminium Casting, Pressure Die Casting, Taguchi Methodology, Design of Experiments

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Authors: Walid A. M. Ghoneim, Hamdy A. Ashour, Asmaa E. Abdo

Abstract:

In this paper, linear analysis of a Switched Reluctance Generator (SRG) model is applied on the most common configurations (4/2, 6/4 and 8/6) for both conventional short-pitched and fully-pitched designs, in order to determine the optimum stator/rotor pole angles at which the maximum output voltage is generated per unit excitation current. This study is focused on SRG analysis and design as a proposed solution for renewable energy applications, such as wind energy conversion systems. The world’s potential to develop the renewable energy technologies through dedicated scientific researches was the motive behind this study due to its positive impact on economy and environment. In addition, the problem of rare earth metals (Permanent magnet) caused by mining limitations, banned export by top producers and environment restrictions leads to the unavailability of materials used for rotating machines manufacturing. This challenge gave authors the opportunity to study, analyze and determine the optimum design of the SRG that has the benefit to be free from permanent magnets, rotor windings, with flexible control system and compatible with any application that requires variable-speed operation. In addition, SRG has been proved to be very efficient and reliable in both low-speed or high-speed applications. Linear analysis was performed using MATLAB simulations based on the (Modified generalized matrix approach) of Switched Reluctance Machine (SRM). About 90 different pole angles combinations and excitation patterns were simulated through this study, and the optimum output results for each case were recorded and presented in detail. This procedure has been proved to be applicable for any SRG configuration, dimension and excitation pattern. The delivered results of this study provide evidence for using the 4-phase 8/6 fully pitched SRG as the main optimum configuration for the same machine dimensions at the same angular speed.

Keywords: Generalized matrix approach, linear analysis, renewable applications, switched reluctance generator, SRG.

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Authors: N.Subramanian, U.K.Misra

Abstract:

The aim of this paper is to introduce and study a new concept of strong double χ2 (M,A, Δ) of fuzzy numbers and also some properties of the resulting sequence spaces of fuzzy numbers were examined.

Keywords: Modulus function, fuzzy number, metric space.

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