Search results for: enrichment factor

Authors: Somayeh Gholami, Meysam Khakbaz

Abstract:

The current-voltage characteristics of a PtSi/p-Si Schottky barrier diode was measured at the temperature of 85 K and from the forward bias region of the I-V curve, the electrical parameters of the diode were measured by three methods. The results obtained from the two methods which considered the series resistance were in close agreement with each other and from them barrier height (
), ideality factor (n) and series resistance () were found to be 0.2045 eV, 2.877 and 14.556 K
respectively. By measuring the I-V characteristics in the temperature range of 85-136 K the electrical parameters were observed to have strong dependency on temperature. The increase of barrier height and decrease of ideality factor with increasing temperature is attributed to the existence of barrier height inhomogeneities in the silicide-semiconductor structure.

Keywords: Schottky diode, barrier height, series resistance, I-V, barrier height inhomogeneities.

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Authors: O. Alizadeh Sahraei, A. Khodadadi, Y. Mortazavi, M. Vesali Naseh, S. Mosadegh

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A composite made of plasma functionalized multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) coated with SnO2 was synthesized by sonochemical precipitation method. Thick layer of this nanocomposite material was used as ethanol sensor at low temperatures. The composite sensitivity for ethanol has increased by a factor of 2 at room temperature and by a factor of 13 at 250°C in comparison to that of pure SnO2. SEM image of nanocomposite material showed MWNTs were embedded in SnO2 matrix and also a higher surface area was observed in the presence of functionalized MWNTs. Greatly improved sensitivity of the composite material to ethanol can be attributed to new gas accessing passes through MWNTs and higher specific surface area.

Keywords: Carbon nanotube, Functionalized, Gas sensor, Low temperature, Nanocomposite, Tin oxide.

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Authors: K. Derradji Belloum, A. Moussi

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Most high-performance ac drives utilize a current controller. The controller switches a voltage source inverter (VSI) such that the motor current follows a set of reference current waveforms. Fixed-band hysteresis (FBH) current control has been widely used for the PWM inverter. We want to apply the same controller for the PWM AC chopper. The aims of the controller is to optimize the harmonic content at both input and output sides, while maintaining acceptable losses in the ac chopper and to control in wide range the fundamental output voltage. Fixed band controller has been simulated and analyzed for a single-phase AC chopper and are easily extended to three-phase systems. Simulation confirmed the advantages and the excellent performance of the modulation method applied for the AC chopper.

Keywords: AC chopper, Current controller, Distortion factor, Hysteresis, Input Power Factor, PWM.

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Authors: A. Amar, N. Burtebayev, Zh. K. Kerimkulov, M. K. Baktybayev, J. T. Burtebayeva, A. K. Morzabayev, S. K. Sakhiev, N. Saduyev, S. B. Sakuta

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Elastic and inelastic scattering of α-particles by ⁹Be nuclei at different incident energies have been analyzed. Optical model parameters (OMPs) of α-particles elastic scattering by ⁹Be at different energies have been obtained. Coupled Reaction Channel (CRC) of elastic scattering, inelastic scattering and transfer reaction has been calculated using Fresco Code. The effect of involving CRC calculations on the analysis of differential cross section has been studied. The transfer reaction of (⁵He) in the reaction ⁹Be(α,⁹Be)α has been studied. The spectroscopic factor of ⁹Be≡α+⁵He has been extracted.

Keywords: Elastic scattering of α-particles, Optical model parameters, Coupled Reaction Channel, the transfer reaction of (5He), the spectroscopic factor of 9Be≡α+5He.

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Authors: S. Ghafoori, A. Al-Harbi, B. Al-Ajmi, A. Al-Shaalan, A. Al-Ajmi, M. Ali Juma

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Seismic methods play an important role in the exploration for hydrocarbon reservoirs. However, the success of the method depends strongly on the reliability of the measured or predicted information regarding the velocity of sound in the media. Speed of sound has been used to study the thermodynamic properties of fluids. In this study, experimental data are reported and analyzed on the speed of sound in toluene and octane binary mixture. Three-factor three-level Box-Benhkam design is used to determine the significance of each factor, the synergetic effects of the factors, and the most significant factors on speed of sound. The developed mathematical model and statistical analysis provided a critical analysis of the simultaneous interactive effects of the independent variables indicating that the developed quadratic models were highly accurate and predictive.

Keywords: Experimental design, octane, speed of sound, toluene.

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Authors: Nasyairi Mat Nasir, Zulhabri Ismail, Faridah Ismail, Sharifah Nur Aina Syed Alwee, Masnizan Che Mat

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The utilisation of Industrial Building System (IBS) in construction industry will lead to a safe site condition since minimum numbers of workers are required to be on-site, timely material delivery, systematic component storage, reduction of construction material and waste. These matters are being promoted in the Construction Industry Master Plan (CIMP 2006-2015). However, the enabling factors of IBS that will foster a safer working environment are indefinite; on that basis a research has been conducted. The purpose of this paper is to discuss and identify the relevant factors towards safety improvement for IBS. A quantitative research by way of questionnaire surveys have been conducted to 314 construction companies. The target group was Grade 5 to Grade 7 contractors registered with Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) which specialise in IBS. The findings disclosed seven factors linked to the safety improvement of IBS construction site in Malaysia. The factors were historical, economic, psychological, technical, procedural, organisational and the environmental factors. From the findings, a psychological factor ranked as the highest and most crucial factor contributing to safer IBS construction site. The psychological factor included the self-awareness and influences from workmates behaviour. Followed by organisational factors, where project management style will encourage the safety efforts. From the procedural factors, it was also found that training was one of the significant factors to improve safety culture of IBS construction site. Another important finding that formed as a part of the environmental factor was storage of IBS components, in which proper planning of the layout would able to contribute to a safer site condition. To conclude, in order to improve safety of IBS construction site, a welltrained and skilled workers are required for IBS projects, thus proper training is permissible and should be emphasised.

Keywords: Enabling Factors, Industrialised Building System, Safety Improvement.

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Authors: Yi-Hsiang Pan

Abstract:

The purpose of this study was to develop a “teachers’ self-efficacy scale for high school physical education teachers (TSES-HSPET)” in Taiwan. This scale is based on the self-efficacy theory of Bandura [1], [2]. This study used exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses to test the reliability and validity. The participants were high school physical education teachers in Taiwan. Both stratified random sampling and cluster sampling were used to sample participants for the study. 350 teachers were sampled in the first stage and 234 valid scales (male 133, female 101) returned. During the second stage, 350 teachers were sampled and 257 valid scales (male 143, female 110, 4 did not indicate gender) returned. The exploratory factor analysis was used in the first stage, and it got 60.77% of total variance for construct validity. The Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of internal consistency was 0.91 for sumscale, and subscales were 0.84 and 0.90. In the second stage, confirmatory factor analysis was used to test construct validity. The result showed that the fit index could be accepted (χ2 (75) =167.94, p <.05, RMSEA =0.07, SRMR=0.05, GFI=0.92, NNFI=0.97, CFI=0.98, PNFI=0.79). Average variance extracted of latent variables were 0.43 and 0.53, which composite reliability are 0.78 and 0.90. It is concluded that the TSES-HSPET is a well-considered measurement instrument with acceptable validity and reliability. It may be used to estimate teachers’ self-efficacy for high school physical education teachers.

Keywords: teaching in physical education, teacher's self-efficacy, teacher's belief

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Authors: Alan Luo, Hunter N. B. Moseley

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Many macromolecular structure entries in the Protein Data Bank (PDB) have a range of regional (localized) quality issues, be it derived from X-ray crystallography, Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, or other experimental approaches. However, most PDB entries are judged by global quality metrics like R-factor, R-free, and resolution for X-ray crystallography or backbone phi-psi distribution statistics and average restraint violations for NMR. Regional quality is often ignored when PDB entries are re-used for a variety of structurally based analyses. The binding of ligands, especially ligands involved in energy metabolism, is of particular interest in many structurally focused protein studies. Using a regional quality metric that provides chemically interpretable information from electron density maps, a significant number of outliers in regional structural quality was detected across X-ray crystallographic PDB entries for proteins bound to biochemically critical ligands. In this study, a series of analyses was performed to evaluate both specific and general potential factors that could promote these outliers. In particular, these potential factors were the minimum distance to a metal ion, the minimum distance to a crystal contact, and the isotropic atomic b-factor. To evaluate these potential factors, Fisher’s exact tests were performed, using regional quality criteria of outlier (top 1%, 2.5%, 5%, or 10%) versus non-outlier compared to a potential factor metric above versus below a certain outlier cutoff. The results revealed a consistent general effect from region-specific normalized b-factors but no specific effect from metal ion contact distances and only a very weak effect from crystal contact distance as compared to the b-factor results. These findings indicate that no single specific potential factor explains a majority of the outlier ligand-bound regions, implying that human error is likely as important as these other factors. Thus, all factors, including human error, should be considered when regions of low structural quality are detected. Also, the downstream re-use of protein structures for studying ligand-bound conformations should screen the regional quality of the binding sites. Doing so prevents misinterpretation due to the presence of structural uncertainty or flaws in regions of interest.

Keywords: Biomacromolecular structure, coenzyme, electron density discrepancy analysis, X-ray crystallography.

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Authors: Birendra Kumar Bohara

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Steel bracings are used to improve the seismic behaviors of the structures. In this study, 8, 12 and 16 story reinforced concrete (RC) buildings with steel bracings are used in three base shear contributions (25%, 50% and 75%) in the columns. With the help of pushover analysis and capacity curves, the overstrength factors, ductility factors and ductility reduction factors are investigated for braced RC buildings. It is observed that when the base shear contribution in the columns increases the ductility reduction factor also increases. The results show that when the time period of the structures increases, the ductility reduction factors of the structures decrease.

Keywords: Steel bracing, overstrength factor, ductility, ductility reduction factors, base shear contributions.

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Authors: Bhupeshwaran Mani, S. Radha, A. Jawahar, A. Sivasubramanian

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Here, we study the characteristic feature of conventional (ON-OFF keying) and soliton based transmission system. We consider 20Gbps transmission system implemented with Conventional Single Mode Fiber (C-SMF) to examine the role of Gaussian pulse which is the characteristic of conventional propagation and Hyperbolic-secant pulse which is the characteristic of soliton propagation in it. We note the influence of these pulses with respect to different dispersion lengths and soliton period in conventional and soliton system respectively and evaluate the system performance in terms of Quality factor. From the analysis, we could prove that the soliton pulse has the consistent performance even for long distance without dispersion compensation than the conventional system as it is robust to dispersion. For the length of transmission of 200Km, soliton system yielded Q of 33.958 while the conventional system totally exhausted with Q=0.

Keywords: Soliton, dispersion length, Soliton period, Return-tozero (RZ), Q-factor.

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Authors: Jovana Petrović, Ivana Lončarević, Vesna Tumbas Šaponjac, Biljana Pajin, Danica Zarić

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Pomace, a by-product from fruit processing industry is the potential source of valuable bioactive. Cookies are popular, ready to eat and low price foods; therefore, enrichment of these products is of great importance. In this work, bioactive compounds extracted from cherry pomace, encapsulated in soy and whey proteins, have been incorporated in cookies, replacing 10 (SP10 and WP10) and 15% of wheat flour (SP15 and WP15). Cookie geometry (diameter (D), thickness (T) and spread ratio (D/T)), cookie weight, cookie hardness and cookie surface colour were measured. Sensory characteristics are also examined. The results show that encapsulated cherry pomace bioactives have positively influenced the cookie mass. Diameter, redness (a* value) and cookie hardness increased. Sensory evaluation of cookies, revealed that up to 15% substitution of wheat flour with WP encapsulate produced acceptable cookies similar to the control (100% wheat flour) cookies.

Keywords: Cherry pomace, polyphenols, microencapsulation, cookies, physical characteristics.

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Authors: M. Nassereddine, J. Rizk, G. Nasserddine

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High Voltage (HV) transmission lines are widely spread around residential places. They take all forms of shapes: concrete, steel, and timber poles. Earth grid always form part of the HV transmission structure, whereat soil resistivity value is one of the main inputs when it comes to determining the earth grid requirements. In this paper, the soil structure and its implication on the electrode resistance of HV transmission poles will be explored. In Addition, this paper will present simulation for various soil structures using IEEE and Australian standards to verify the computation with CDEGS software. Furthermore, the split factor behavior under different soil resistivity structure will be presented using CDEGS simulations.

Keywords: Earth Grid, EPR, High Voltage, Soil Resistivity Structure, Split Factor, Step Voltage, Touch Voltage.

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Authors: Firas Mohamad Al-Sabek

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The purpose of the paper is to examine the most critical and important factor which will affect the implementation of Total Quality Management (TQM) in the construction industry in the United Arab Emirates. It also examines the most effected Project outcome from implementing TQM. A framework was also proposed depending on the literature studies. The method used in this paper is a quantitative study. A survey with a sample of 60 respondents was created and distributed in a construction company in Abu Dhabi, which includes 15 questions to examine the most critical factor that will affect the implementation of TQM in addition to the most effected project outcome from implementing TQM. The survey showed that management commitment is the most important factor in implementing TQM in a construction company. Also it showed that Project cost is most effected outcome from the implementation of TQM. Management commitment is very important for implementing TQM in any company. If the management loose interest in quality then everyone in the organization will do so. The success of TQM will depend mostly on the top of the pyramid. Also cost is reduced and money is saved when the project team implement TQM. While if no quality measures are present within the team, the project will suffer a commercial failure. Based on literature, more factors can be examined and added to the model. In addition, more construction companies could be surveyed in order to obtain more accurate results. Also this study could be conducted outside the United Arab Emirates for further enchantment.

Keywords: Construction project, total quality management, management commitment, cost, theoretical framework.

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Authors: Bashir Ahmmad, Kensaku Kanomata, Fumihiko Hirose

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The effect of carbon materials on TiO₂ for the photocatalytic hydrogen gas production from water / alcohol mixtures was investigated. Single walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs), multi walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs), carbon nanofiber (CNF), fullerene (FLN), graphite (GP), and graphite silica (GS) were used as co-catalysts by directly mixing with TiO₂. Drastic synergy effects were found with increase in the amount of hydrogen gas by a factor of ca. 150 and 100 for SWNTs and GS with TiO₂, respectively. Moreover, the increment factor of hydrogen production reached to 180, when the mixture of SWNTs and TiO₂ were smashed in an agate mortar before photocatalytic reactions. The order of H₂ gas production for these carbon materials was SWNTs > GS >> MWNTs > FLN > CNF > GP. To maximize the hydrogen production from SWNTs/TiO₂, various parameters of experimental condition were changed. Also, a comparison between Pt/TiO₂, SWNTs/TiO₂ and GS/TiO₂ was made for the amount of H₂ gas production. Finally, the recyclability of SWNTs/TiO₂or GS/TiO₂ was tested.

Keywords: Photocatalysis, carbon materials, alcohol reforming, hydrogen production, titanium oxide.

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Authors: Mónika Bartalné-Berceli, Eszter Izsó, Szilveszter Gergely, András Salgó

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Presently a significant portion of the Earth's population does not have access to healthy food. Either because they cannot afford it or because they do not know which one are they. The aim of the VII th Framework Chance project (Nr. 266331) supported by the European Union has been to develop relatively cheap food with favourable nutritional value and it should have acceptable quality for consumers. As one task of the project we manufactured bread products as a basic food. We examined the enrichment of bread products with four kinds of bran, with a special milling product of grain industry (aleurone-rich flour) and with a soy-based sprouted additive. The applied concentration of the six mentioned additives has been optimized and the physical properties of the bread products were monitored. The weight/density of the enriched breads increased a bit, however the volume and height decreased slightly compared to the corresponding data of the control bread. The optimized composition of the final product is favourably affected by these additives having highly preferred composition from nutritional point of view.

Keywords: Aleurone-rich flour, Brans, Bread products, Sprouted soybean, YASO.

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Authors: R. AlGhamdi, S. Drew, S. Alkhalaf

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This paper explores the issues that influence online retailing in Saudi Arabia. Retailers in Saudi Arabia have been reserved in their adoption of electronically delivered aspects of their business. Despite the fact that Saudi Arabia has the largest and fastest growth of ICT marketplaces in the Arab region, e-commerce activities are not progressing at the same speed. Only very few Saudi companies, mostly medium and large companies from the manufacturing sector, are involved in e-commerce implementation. Based on qualitative data collected by conducting interviews with 16 retailers and 16 potential customers in Saudi Arabia, several factors influencing online retailing diffusion in Saudi Arabia are identified. However, government support comes the highest and most influencing factor for online retailing growth as identified by both parties; retailers and potential customers in Saudi Arabia.

Keywords: government support, key factor, online retailing growth, Saudi Arabia

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Authors: Paulo Gomes, Adelaide Figueiredo

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We consider n individuals described by p standardized variables, represented by points of the surface of the unit hypersphere S_n-1. For a previous choice of n individuals we suppose that the set of observables variables comes from a mixture of bipolar Watson distribution defined on the hypersphere. EM and Dynamic Clusters algorithms are used for identification of such mixture. We obtain estimates of parameters for each Watson component and then a partition of the set of variables into homogeneous groups of variables. Additionally we will present a factor analysis model where unobservable factors are just the maximum likelihood estimators of Watson directional parameters, exactly the first principal component of data matrix associated to each group previously identified. Such alternative model it will yield us to directly interpretable solutions (simple structure), avoiding factors rotations.

Keywords: Dynamic Clusters algorithm, EM algorithm, Factor analysis model, Hierarchical Clustering, Watson distribution.

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Authors: Yi-Ping Fang, Yi-Ting Wong

Abstract:

Transcription factor p53 has a powerful tumor suppressing function that is associated with many cancers. However, p53 of the molecular weight was higher make the limitation across to skin or cell membrane. Thymidine dinucleotide (pTT), an oligonucleotide, can activate the p53 transcription factor. pTT is a hydrophilic and negative charge oligonucleotide, which delivery in to cell membrane need an appropriate carrier. The aim of this study was to improve the bioavailability of the nucleotide fragment, thymidine dinucleotide (pTT), using elasic liposome carriers to deliver the drug into the skin. The study demonstrate that dioleoylphosphocholine (DOPC) incorporated with sodium cholate at molar ratio 1:1 can archived the particle size about 220 nm. This elastic liposome could penetration through skin from stratum corneum to whole epidermis by confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM). Moreover, we observed the the slight increase in generation of p53 by western blot.

Keywords: Elastic liposome, Tymidine dinucleotide, p53, Topical delivery

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Authors: R. Krishnamoorthy, N. Amudhavalli, M.K. Sivakkolunthu

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X-ray mammography is the most effective method for the early detection of breast diseases. However, the typical diagnostic signs such as microcalcifications and masses are difficult to detect because mammograms are of low-contrast and noisy. In this paper, a new algorithm for image denoising and enhancement in Orthogonal Polynomials Transformation (OPT) is proposed for radiologists to screen mammograms. In this method, a set of OPT edge coefficients are scaled to a new set by a scale factor called OPT scale factor. The new set of coefficients is then inverse transformed resulting in contrast improved image. Applications of the proposed method to mammograms with subtle lesions are shown. To validate the effectiveness of the proposed method, we compare the results to those obtained by the Histogram Equalization (HE) and the Unsharp Masking (UM) methods. Our preliminary results strongly suggest that the proposed method offers considerably improved enhancement capability over the HE and UM methods.

Keywords: mammograms, image enhancement, orthogonalpolynomials, contrast improvement

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Authors: Sarah Majid Ansari, Serjosha Wulf, Matthias Görke

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In times of global warming and the increasing shortage of resources, sustainable production is becoming more and more inevitable. Companies cannot only heighten their competitiveness but also contribute positively to environmental protection through efficient energy and resource consumption. Regarding this, technical solutions are often preferred during production, although organizational and process-related approaches also offer great potential. This project focuses on reducing resource usage, with a special emphasis on the human factor. It is the aspiration to develop a methodology that systematically implements and embeds suitable and individual measures and methods regarding resource efficiency throughout the entire production. The measures and methods established help employees handle resources and energy more sensitively. With this in mind, this paper also deals with the difficulties that can occur during the sensitization of employees and the implementation of these measures and methods. In addition, recommendations are given on how to avoid such difficulties.

Keywords: Implementation, human factor, production plant, resource efficiency.

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Authors: Youn-Sung Kim, Jin-Ho Jo, Mi-Sung Kim, Jae-Kun Lee

Abstract:

Accelerated life cycle test is applied to various products or components in order to reduce the time of life cycle test in industry. It must be considered for many test conditions according to the product characteristics for the test and the selection of acceleration parameter is especially very important. We have carried out the general life cycle test and the accelerated life cycle test by applying the acceleration factor (AF) considering the characteristics of brushless DC (BLDC) motor for washing machine. The final purpose of this study is to verify the validity by analyzing the results of the general life cycle test and the accelerated life cycle test. It will make it possible to reduce the life test time through the reasonable accelerated life cycle test.

Keywords: Accelerated life cycle test, reliability test, motor for washing machine, brushless dc motor test.

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Authors: B. Malekynia

Abstract:

The anomalous generation of plasma blocks by interaction of petawatt-picosecond laser pulses permits side-on ignition of uncompressed solid fusion fuel following an improved application of the hydrodynamic Chu-model for deuterium-tritium. The new possibility of side-on laser ignition depends on accelerated ions and produced ions beams of high energy particles by the nonlinear ponderomotive force of the laser pulse in the plasma block, a re-evaluation of the early hydrodynamic analysis for ignition of inertial fusion by including inhibition factor, collective effect of stopping power of alpha particles and the energy loss rate reabsorption to plasma by the protons of plasma blocks being reduced by about a factor 40.

Keywords: Block ignition, Charged particles, Reabsorption, Skin layer ponderomotive acceleration.

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Authors: Naser Zourikalatehsamad, Seyed Abdorreza Payambarpour, Ibrahim Alwashali, Zahra Abdolkarimi

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The paper aims to evaluate the effect of online advertising on consumer purchase behavior in Malaysian organizations. The paper has potential to extend and refine theory. A survey was distributed among Students of UTM university during the winter 2014 and 160 responses were collected. Regression analysis was used to test the hypothesized relationships of the model. Result shows that the predictors (cost saving factor, convenience factor and customized product or services) have positive impact on intention to continue seeking online advertising.

Keywords: Consumer purchase, convenience, customized product, cost saving, customization, flow theory, mass communication, online advertising ads, online advertising measurement, online advertising mechanism, online intelligence system, self-confidence, willingness to purchase.

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Authors: Thanawit Buafai, Siyathorn Khunon

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This paper aims to explore the satisfaction levels of tourism product components on the island of Samui by studying the cultural dimension relationships of Hofsted’s classic theory. Both the six Hofsted cultural dimensions and tourism production satisfaction measures have been of interest worldwide. Therefore, the challenge of this study is to re-confirm previous research results in the ever-changing current contexts of the modern globalized business era. Self-rated questionnaires were employed to collect data from six nationalities of tourists in Samui, totaling 386 samples. The reliability of this research methodology was 0.967. Correlation was applied to analyze the relationships. The results indicate that Masculinity is significantly related to tourism destination satisfaction for every factor, while the other five cultural dimensions are related to some factors of tourism satisfaction. Surprisingly, tourist satisfaction toward the bar/restaurant factor is significantly correlated with all six cultural dimensions.

Keywords: Cultural dimensions, tourism products, Samui, Thailand.

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Authors: O. O. Olawusi-Peters, O. E. Aguda, F. O. Okoye

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Investigations on the accumulation of heavy metals in water and sediments of river Ogbese were carried out between December 2010 and February 2011 using Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer. Etheria elliptica a sessile organism was also used to determine the concentration of heavy metal in the aquatic environmental. In water, Cu had the highest concentration (0.55 – 0.13 mg/l ±0.1) while in sediments, the highest value obtained was in Fe (1.46-3.89mg/l±0.27). The minimum concentrations recorded were in Pb; which was below detectable level. The result also revealed that the shell accumulate more heavy metals than the flesh of the mussel with Cu in the shell exhibiting a negative correlation with all the metals in the flesh. However, the condition factor (K) value is 6.44, an indication of good health. The length-weight relationship is expressed as W = -0.48 x L 1.94 (r2 = 0.29) showing the growth pattern to be negatively allometric.

Keywords: Condition factor, Etheria elliptica, heavy metals, River Ogbese.

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Authors: A. Al-Rashidi, A. El-Hamalawi

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In this paper, a performance study was conducted to investigate single and dual-axis PV systems to generate electricity in five different sites in Kuwait. Relevant data were obtained by using two sources for validation purposes. A commercial software, PVsyst, was used to analyse the data, such as metrological data and other input parameters, and compute the performance parameters such as capacity factor (CF) and final yield (YF). The results indicated that single and dual-axis PV systems would be very beneficial to electricity generation in Kuwait as an alternative source to conventional power plants, especially with the increased demand over time. The ranges were also found to be competitive in comparison to leading countries using similar systems. A significant increase in CF and YF values around 24% and 28.8% was achieved related to the use of single and dual systems, respectively.

Keywords: Single-axis and dual-axis photovoltaic systems, capacity factor, final yield, renewable energy, Kuwait.

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Authors: Halle Bakhteeyar, Azadeh Maroufmashat, Abbas Maleki, Sourena Sattari Khavas

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In this paper, five options of Iran’s gas flare recovery have been compared via MCDM method. For developing the model, the weighing factor of each indicator an AHP method is used via the Expert-choice software. Several cases were considered in this analysis. They are defined where the priorities were defined always keeping one criterion in first position, while the priorities of the other criteria were defined by ordinal information defining the mutual relations of the criteria and the respective indicators. The results, show that amongst these cases, priority is obtained for CHP usage where availability indicator is highly weighted while the pipeline usage is obtained where environmental indicator highly weighted and the injection priority is obtained where economic indicator is highly weighted and also when the weighing factor of all the criteria are the same the Injection priority is obtained.

Keywords: Flare, Gas, Iran.

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Authors: P. Bárta

Abstract:

Increasing demand on the performance of Subsea Production Systems (SPS) suggests a need for more detailed investigation of fluid behavior taking place in subsea equipment. Complete CFD cool down analyses of subsea equipment are very time demanding. The objective of this paper is to investigate a Locked CFD approach, which enables significant reduction of the computational time and at the same time maintains sufficient accuracy during thermal cool down simulations. The result comparison of a dead leg simulation using the Full CFD and the three LCFD-methods confirms the validity of the locked flow field assumption for the selected case. For the tested case the LCFD simulation speed up by factor of 200 results in the absolute thermal error of 0.5 °C (3% relative error), speed up by factor of 10 keeps the LCFD results within 0.1 °C (0.5 % relative error) comparing to the Full CFD.

Keywords: CFD, Locked Flow Field, Speed up of CFD simulation time, Subsea

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Authors: Dana M. Ragab, Jasim A Ghaeb

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The Voltage Unbalance Factor (VUF) index is recommended to evaluate system performance under unbalanced operation. However, its calculation requires complex algebra which limits its use in the field. Furthermore, one system cycle is required at least to detect unbalance using the VUF. Ideally unbalance mitigation must be performed within 10 ms for 50 Hz systems. In this work, a linear relation for VUF evaluation in three-phase electrical power system using space vector (SV) is derived. It is proposed to determine the voltage unbalance quickly and accurately and to overcome the constraints associated with the traditional methods of VUF evaluation. Aqaba-Qatrana-South Amman (AQSA) power system is considered to study the system performance under unbalanced conditions. The results show that both the complexity of calculations and the time required to evaluate VUF are reduced significantly.

Keywords: Power quality, space vector, unbalance evaluation.

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Authors: Jan Doutreloigne

Abstract:

The main goal of this paper is to develop a switching amplifier with optimized power efficiency for analog signals with a very high crest factor such as audio or DSL signals. Theoretical calculations show that a switching amplifier architecture based on multi-level pulse width modulation outperforms all other types of linear or switching amplifiers in that respect. Simulations on a 2 W multi-level switching audio amplifier, designed in a 50 V 0.35 mm IC technology, confirm its superior performance in terms of power efficiency. A real silicon implementation of this audio amplifier design is currently underway to provide experimental validation.

Keywords: Audio amplifier, multi-level switching amplifier, power efficiency, pulse width modulation, PWM, self-oscillating amplifier.

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