Abstract: Important executive decisions on oil and gas production stimulation in Eastern Siberia have been recently taken. There are unique and large fields of oil, gas, and gas-condensate in Eastern Siberia. The Talakan, Koyumbinskoye, Yurubcheno-Tahomskoye, Kovykta, Chayadinskoye fields are supposed to be developed first. It will result in an abrupt increase in environmental load on the nature of Eastern Siberia. In Eastern Siberia, the introduction of ecological imperatives in hydrocarbon production is still realistic. Underground water movement is the one of the most important factors of the ecosystems condition management. Oil and gas production is associated with the forced displacement of huge water masses, mixing waters of different composition, and origin that determines the extent of anthropogenic impact on water drive systems and their protective reaction. An extensive hydrogeological system of the depression type is identified in the pre-salt deposits here. Pressure relieve here is steady up to the basement. The decrease of the hydrodynamic potential towards the basement with such a gradient resulted in reformation of the fields in process of historical (geological) development of the Nepsko-Botuobinskaya anteclise. The depression hydrodynamic systems are characterized by extremely high isolation and can only exist under such closed conditions. A steady nature of water movement due to a strictly negative gradient of reservoir pressure makes it quite possible to use environmentally-harmful liquid substances instead of water. Disposal of the most hazardous wastes is the most expedient in the deposits of the crystalline basement in certain structures distant from oil and gas fields. The time period for storage of environmentally-harmful liquid substances may be calculated by means of the geological time scales ensuring their complete prevention from releasing into environment or air even during strong earthquakes. Disposal of wastes of chemical and nuclear industries is a matter of special consideration. The existing methods of storage and disposal of wastes are very expensive. The methods applied at the moment for storage of nuclear wastes at the depth of several meters, even in the most durable containers, constitute a potential danger. The enormous size of the depression system of the Nepsko-Botuobinskaya anteclise makes it possible to easily identify such objects at the depth below 1500 m where nuclear wastes will be stored indefinitely without any environmental impact. Thus, the water drive system of the Nepsko-Botuobinskaya anteclise is the ideal object for large-volume injection of environmentally harmful liquid substances even if there are large oil and gas accumulations in the subsurface. Specific geological and hydrodynamic conditions of the system allow the production of hydrocarbons from the subsurface simultaneously with the disposal of industrial wastes of oil and gas, mining, chemical, and nuclear industries without any environmental impact.
Abstract: The purpose of this paper aims for a geotechnical analysis based on experimental physical and mechanical characteristics of Miocene marl situated at Medea region in Algeria. More than 150 soil samples were taken in the investigation part of the North-South Highway which extends over than 53 km from Chiffa in the North to Berrouaghia in the South of Algeria. The analysis of data in terms of Atterberg limits, plasticity index, and clay content reflects an acceptable correlation justified by a high coefficient of regression which was compared with the previous works in the region. Finally, approximated equations that serve as a guideline for geotechnical design locally have been suggested.
Abstract: After Yogyakarta earthquake in 2006, the main problem that occurred in the first yard of Prambanan Temple is ponding area that occurred after rainfall. Soil characterization needs to be determined by conducting several processes, especially permeability coefficient (k) in both saturated and unsaturated conditions to solve this problem. More accurate and efficient field testing procedure is required to obtain permeability data that present the field condition. One of the field permeability test equipment is Constant Discharge procedure to determine the permeability coefficient. Necessary adjustments of the Constant Discharge procedure are needed to be determined especially the value of geometric factor (F) to improve the corresponding value of permeability coefficient. The value of k will be correlated with the value of volumetric water content (θ) of an unsaturated condition until saturated condition. The principle procedure of Constant Discharge model provides a constant flow in permeameter tube that flows into the ground until the water level in the tube becomes constant. Constant water level in the tube is highly dependent on the tube dimension. Every tube dimension has a shape factor called the geometric factor that affects the result of the test. Geometric factor value is defined as the characteristic of shape and radius of the tube. This research has modified the geometric factor parameters by using empty material tube method so that the geometric factor will change. Saturation level is monitored by using soil moisture sensor. The field test results were compared with the results of laboratory tests to validate the results of the test. Field and laboratory test results of empty tube material method have an average difference of 3.33 x 10-4 cm/sec. The test results showed that modified geometric factor provides more accurate data. The improved methods of constant discharge procedure provide more relevant results.
Abstract: In wireless sensor networks, locality and positioning information can be captured using Global Positioning System (GPS). This message can be congregated initially from spot to identify the system. Users can retrieve information of interest from a wireless sensor network (WSN) by injecting queries and gathering results from the mobile sink nodes. Routing is the progression of choosing optimal path in a mobile network. Intermediate node employs permutation of device nodes into teams and generating cluster heads that gather the data from entity cluster’s node and encourage the collective data to base station. WSNs are widely used for gathering data. Since sensors are power-constrained devices, it is quite vital for them to reduce the power utilization. A tree-based data fusion clustering routing algorithm (TBDFC) is used to reduce energy consumption in wireless device networks. Here, the nodes in a tree use the cluster formation, whereas the elevation of the tree is decided based on the distance of the member nodes to the cluster-head. Network simulation shows that this scheme improves the power utilization by the nodes, and thus considerably improves the lifetime.
Abstract: Cross-docking includes receiving products supplied by a set of suppliers, unloading them from inbound trucks (ITs) at strip doors, consolidating and handling these products to stack doors based on their destinations, loading them into outbound trucks (OTs); then, delivering these products to customers. An effective assignment of the trucks to the doors would enhance the advantages of the cross-docking (e.g. reduction of the handling costs). This paper addresses the truck-to-door assignment problem in a cross-dock in which assignment of the ITs to the strip doors as well as assignment of the OTs to the stacks doors is determined so that total material handling cost in the cross-dock is minimized. Capacity constraints are applied for the ITs, OTs, strip doors, and stack doors. We develop a Quadratic Programming (QP) to formulate the problem. To solve it, the model is coded in LINGO software to specify the best assignment of the trucks to the doors.
Abstract: The Greater flamingo is considered the flagship species of wetlands across semi-arid and Saharan regions of Africa, especially Chotts and Sebkhas, which also concentrate significant numbers of bird species. Flamingos have different status (wintering and breeder) which vary between sites in different parts of Algeria. We conducted surveys and recorded banded flamingos across distinct regions within two climatic belts: semi-arid (Hauts Plateaux) and arid (Sahara), showing the importance of these sites in the migratory flyways particularly the relation between West Mediterranean and West Africa populations. The distribution of Greater flamingos varied between sites and seasons, where the concentrations mainly were in the wide, lees deep and salt lakes. Many of the sites (17) in the surveyed area were regularly supporting at least 1% of the regional population during winter. The analysis of Greater flamingos behaviour in different climatic regions in relation showed that the feeding is the dominant diurnal activity with rates exceeding 60% of the time. While feeding varies between seasons, and showed a negative relationship with the degree of disturbance.
Abstract: The present work reports an effect of surface- modification of indium tin oxide (ITO) particles with chemicals on their electronic conductivity properties. Examined chemicals were polyvinyl alcohol (nonionic polymer), poly(diallyl dimethyl ammonium chloride) (cationic polymer), poly(sodium 4-styrene-sulfonate) (anionic polymer), (2-aminopropyl) trimethoxy silane (APMS) (silane coupling agent with amino group), and (3-mercaptopropyl) trimethoxy silane (MPS) (silane coupling agent with thiol group). For all the examined chemicals, volume resistivities of surface-modified ITO particles did not increase much when they were aged in air at 80 oC, compared to a volume resistivity of un-surface-modified ITO particles. Increases in volume resistivities of ITO particles surface-modified with the silane coupling agents were smaller than those with the polymers, since hydrolysis of the silane coupling agents and condensation of generated silanol and OH groups on ITO particles took place to provide efficient immobilization of them on particles. The APMS gave an increase in volume resistivity smaller than the MPS, since a larger solubility in water of APMS providing a larger amount of APMS immobilized on particles.
Abstract: A mobile ad hoc network (MANET) is a wireless communication network where nodes that are not within direct transmission range establish their communication via the help of other nodes to forward data. Routing protocols in MANETs are usually categorized as proactive. Tree Based Opportunistic Routing (TBOR) finds a multipath link based on maximum probability of the throughput. The simulation results show that the presented method is performed very well compared to the existing methods in terms of throughput, delay and routing overhead.
Abstract: This paper reports the effects of laser energy on the characteristics of bubbles generated in the weld zone and the formation of new chemical bonds at the Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET)/Ti joint interface in laser joining of PET to Ti. The samples were produced by using different laser energies ranging from 1.5 J – 6 J in steps of 1.5 J, while all other joining parameters remained unchanged. The types of chemical bonding at the joint interface were analysed by the x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) depth-profiling method. The results show that the characteristics of the bubbles and the thickness of the chemically bonded interface, which contains the laser generated bonds of Ti–C and Ti–O, increase markedly with increasing laser energy input. The tensile failure load of the joint depends on the combined effect of the amount and distribution of the bubbles formed and the chemical bonding intensity of the joint interface.
Abstract: Image segmentation is the concept of splitting the images into several images. Image Segmentation algorithm is used to manipulate the process of image segmentation. The advantage of ABC is that it conducts every worldwide exploration and inhabitant exploration for iteration. Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) and Evolutionary Particle Swarm Optimization (EPSO) encompass a number of search problems. Cleverness Artificial Bee Colony algorithm has been imposed to increase the performance of a neighborhood search. The simulation results clearly show that the presented ABC methods outperform the existing methods. The result shows that the algorithms can be used to implement the manipulator for grasping of colored objects. The efficiency of the presented method is improved a lot by comparing to other methods.
Abstract: In this study, pomegranate skin, a material suitable for the conditions in Algeria, was chosen as adsorbent material for removal of lead in an aqueous solution. Biosorption studies were carried out under various parameters such as mass adsorbent particle, pH, contact time, the initial concentration of metal, and temperature. The experimental results show that the percentage of biosorption increases with an increase in the biosorbent mass (0.25 g, 0.035 mg/g; 1.25 g, 0.096 mg/g). The maximum biosorption occurred at pH value of 8 for the lead. The equilibrium uptake was increased with an increase in the initial concentration of metal in solution (Co = 4 mg/L, qt = 1.2 mg/g). Biosorption kinetic data were properly fitted with the pseudo-second-order kinetic model. The best fit was obtained by the Langmuir model with high correlation coefficients (R2 > 0.995) and a maximum monolayer adsorption capacity of 0.85 mg/g for lead. The adsorption of the lead was exothermic in nature (ΔH° = -17.833 kJ/mol for Pb (II). The reaction was accompanied by a decrease in entropy (ΔS° = -0.056 kJ/K. mol). The Gibbs energy (ΔG°) increased from -1.458 to -0.305 kJ/mol, respectively for Pb (II) when the temperature was increased from 293 to 313 K.
Abstract: Environmental contamination is a major problem being faced by the society today. Industrial, agricultural, and domestic wastes, due to the rapid development in the technology, are discharged in the several receivers. Generally, this discharge is directed to the nearest water sources such as rivers, lakes, and seas. While the rates of development and waste production are not likely to diminish, efforts to control and dispose of wastes are appropriately rising. Wastewaters from textile industries represent a serious problem all over the world. They contain different types of synthetic dyes which are known to be a major source of environmental pollution in terms of both the volume of dye discharged and the effluent composition. From an environmental point of view, the removal of synthetic dyes is of great concern. Among several chemical and physical methods, adsorption is a promising technique due to the ease of use and low cost compared to other applications in the process of discoloration, especially if the adsorbent is inexpensive and readily available. The focus of the present study was to assess the potentiality of Brahea edulis (BE) for the removal of synthetic dye Yellow bemacid (YB) from aqueous solutions. The results obtained here may transfer to other dyes with a similar chemical structure. Biosorption studies were carried out under various parameters such as mass adsorbent particle, pH, contact time, initial dye concentration, and temperature. The biosorption kinetic data of the material (BE) was tested by the pseudo first-order and the pseudo-second-order kinetic models. Thermodynamic parameters including the Gibbs free energy ΔG, enthalpy ΔH, and entropy ΔS have revealed that the adsorption of YB on the BE is feasible, spontaneous, and endothermic. The equilibrium data were analyzed by using Langmuir, Freundlich, Elovich, and Temkin isotherm models. The experimental results show that the percentage of biosorption increases with an increase in the biosorbent mass (0.25 g: 12 mg/g; 1.5 g: 47.44 mg/g). The maximum biosorption occurred at around pH value of 2 for the YB. The equilibrium uptake was increased with an increase in the initial dye concentration in solution (Co = 120 mg/l; q = 35.97 mg/g). Biosorption kinetic data were properly fitted with the pseudo-second-order kinetic model. The best fit was obtained by the Langmuir model with high correlation coefficient (R2 > 0.998) and a maximum monolayer adsorption capacity of 35.97 mg/g for YB.
Abstract: Recently, copper and manganese-containing systems are recognized as active and selective catalysts in many oxidation reactions. The main idea of this study is to obtain more information about γ-Al2O3 supported Cu-La catalysts and to evaluate their activity to simultaneous oxidation of CO, CH3OH and dimethyl ether (DME). The catalysts were synthesized by impregnation of support with a mixed aqueous solution of nitrates of copper, manganese and lanthanum under different conditions. XRD, HRTEM/EDS, TPR and thermal analysis were performed to investigate catalysts’ bulk and surface properties. The texture characteristics were determined by Quantachrome Instruments NOVA 1200e specific surface area and pore analyzer. The catalytic measurements of single compounds oxidation were carried out on continuous flow equipment with a four-channel isothermal stainless steel reactor in a wide temperature range. On the basis of XRD analysis and HRTEM/EDS, it was concluded that the active component of the mixed Cu-Mn-La/γ–alumina catalysts strongly depends on the Cu/Mn molar ratio and consisted of at least four compounds – CuO, La2O3, MnO2 and Cu1.5Mn1.5O4. A homogeneous distribution of the active component on the carrier surface was found. The chemical composition strongly influenced catalytic properties. This influence was quite variable with regards to the different processes.
Abstract: Mobile ad hoc network (MANET) is a self-configuring network of mobile node connected without wires. A Fuzzy Logic Based Collaborative watchdog approach is used to reduce the detection time of misbehaved nodes and increase the overall truthfulness. This methodology will increase the secure efficient routing by detecting the Black Holes attacks. The simulation results proved that this method improved the energy, reduced the delay and also improved the overall performance of the detecting black hole attacks in MANET.
Abstract: The environmental fate of organic contaminants in soils is influenced significantly by the pH, texture of soil, water content and also presence of organic matter. In this study, biodegradation of endosulfan isomers was studied in two different soils (Soil A and Soil B) that have contrasting properties in terms of their texture, pH, organic content, etc. Two Nocardia sp., which were isolated from soil, were used for degradation of endosulfan. Soils were contaminated with commercial endosulfan. Six sets were maintained from two different soils, contaminated with different endosulfan concentrations for degradation experiments. Inoculated and uninoculated mineral media with Nocardia isolates were added to the soils and mixed. Soils were incubated at a certain temperature (30 °C) during ten weeks. Residue endosulfan and its metabolites’ concentrations were determined weekly during the incubation period. The changes of the soil microorganisms were investigated weekly.
Abstract: Belt conveyors play an important role in continuous dry bulk material transport, especially at the mining industry. Speed control is expected to reduce the energy consumption of belt conveyors. Transient operation is the operation of increasing or decreasing conveyor speed for speed control. According to literature review, current research rarely takes the conveyor dynamics in transient operation into account. However, in belt conveyor speed control, the conveyor dynamic behaviors are significantly important since the poor dynamics might result in risks. In this paper, the potential risks in transient operation will be analyzed. An existing finite element model will be applied to build a conveyor model, and simulations will be carried out to analyze the conveyor dynamics. In order to realize the soft speed regulation, Harrison’s sinusoid acceleration profile will be applied, and Lodewijks estimator will be built to approximate the required acceleration time. A long inclined belt conveyor will be studied with two major simulations. The conveyor dynamics will be given.
Abstract: The influence of canned cycles and cutting parameters on hole quality in cryogenic drilling has been investigated experimentally and analytically. A three-level, three-parameter experiment was conducted by using the design-of-experiment methodology. The three levels of independent input parameters were the following: for canned cycles—a chip-breaking canned cycle (G73), a spot drilling canned cycle (G81), and a deep hole canned cycle (G83); for feed rates—0.2, 0.3, and 0.4 mm/rev; and for cutting speeds—60, 75, and 100 m/min. The selected work and tool materials were aluminum 6061-6T and high-speed steel (HSS), respectively. For cryogenic cooling, liquid nitrogen (LN2) was used and was applied externally. The measured output parameters were the three widely used quality characteristics of drilled holes—diameter error, circularity, and surface roughness. Pareto ANOVA was applied for analyzing the results. The findings revealed that the canned cycle has a significant effect on diameter error (contribution ratio 44.09%) and small effects on circularity and surface finish (contribution ratio 7.25% and 6.60%, respectively). The best results for the dimensional accuracy and surface roughness were achieved by G81. G73 produced the best circularity results; however, for dimensional accuracy, it was the worst level.
Abstract: In the past 10 years, computers and cellphones have become one of the most important factors in our lives, and one which has a tremendously negative impact on our muscles. Muscle tension may be one of the causes of sleep disturbance. Tension in the shoulders and neck can affect blood circulation to the muscles. This research uses a dry needling treatment to reduce muscle tension in order to determine if the strain in the head and shoulders can influence sleep duration. All 38 patients taking part in the testing suffered from tinnitus and have been experiencing disturbed sleep for at least one to five years. Even after undergoing drug therapy treatments and traditional acupuncture therapies, their sleep disturbances have not shown any improvement. After five to 10 dry needling treatments, 24 of the patients reported an improvement in their sleep duration. Five patients considered themselves to be completely recovered, while 12 patients experienced no improvement. This study investigated these pathogenic and therapeutic problems. The standard treatment for sleep disturbances is drug-based therapy; the results of most standard treatments are unfortunately negative. The result of this clinical research has demonstrated that: The possible cause of sleep disturbance for a lot of patients is the result of tensions in the neck and shoulder muscles. Blood circulation to those muscles is also influenced by the duration of sleep. Hypertonic neck and shoulder muscles are considered to impact sleeping patterns and lead to disturbed sleep. Poor posture, often adopted while speaking on the phone, is one of the main causes of hypertonic neck and shoulder muscle problems. The dry needling treatment specifically focuses on the release of muscle tension.
Abstract: A jet pump is a type of pump that accelerates the flow of a secondary fluid (driven fluid) by introducing a motive fluid with high velocity into a converging-diverging nozzle. Jet pumps are also known as adductors or ejectors depending on the motivator phase. The ejector's motivator is of a gaseous nature, usually steam or air, while the educator's motivator is a liquid, usually water. Jet pumps are devices that use air bubbles and are widely used in wastewater treatment processes. In this work, we will discuss about the characteristics of the jet pump and the computational simulation of this device. To find the optimal angle and depth for the air pipe, so as to achieve the maximal air volumetric flow rate, an experimental apparatus was constructed to ascertain the best geometrical configuration for this new type of jet pump. By using 3D printing technology, a series of jet pumps was printed and tested whilst aspiring to maximize air flow rate dependent on angle and depth of the air pipe insertion. The experimental results show a major difference of up to 300% in performance between the different pumps (ratio of air flow rate to supplied power) where the optimal geometric model has an insertion angle of 600 and air pipe insertion depth ending at the center of the mixing chamber. The differences between the pumps were further explained by using CFD for better understanding the reasons that affect the airflow rate. The validity of the computational simulation and the corresponding assumptions have been proved experimentally. The present research showed high degree of congruence with the results of the laboratory tests. This study demonstrates the potential of using of the jet pump in many practical applications.
Abstract: The aim of this study was to estimate the digestibility of the fruit internal skin of different varieties of hazelnuts to propose hazelnut fruit skin as an alternative feed source as roughage in ruminant nutrition. In 2015, the fruit internal skins of three different varieties of round hazelnuts (RH), pointed hazelnuts (PH) and almond hazelnuts (AH) were obtained from hazelnut processing factory then their crude nutrients analysis were carried out. Organic matter digestibility (OMD) and metabolisable energy (ME) values of hazelnut fruit skins were estimated from gas measured by in vitro gas production method. Their antioxidant activities were determined by spectrophotometric method. Crude nutrient values of three different varieties were; organic matter (OM): 87.83, 87.81 and 87.78%), crude protein (CP): 5.97, 5.93 and 5.89%, neutral detergent fiber (NDF): 30.30, 30.29 and 30.29%, acid detergent fiber (ADF): 48.68, 48.67 and 48.66% and acid detergent lignin (ADL): 25.43, 25.43 and 25.39% respectively. OMD from 24 h incubation time of RH, PH and AH were 22.04, 22.46 and 22.74%; MEGP values were 3.69, 3.75 and 3.79 MJ/kg DM; and antioxidant activity values were 94.60, 94.54 and 94.52 IC 50 mg/mL respectively. The fruit internal skin of different varieties of hazelnuts may be considered as an alternative roughage for ruminant nutrition regarding to their crude and digestible nutritive values. Moreover, hazelnut fruit skin has a rich antioxidant content so it may be used as a feed additive for both ruminant and non-ruminant animals.