Abstract: The paper presents a computational tool developed for
the evaluation of technical and economic advantages of an innovative
cleaning and conditioning technology of fluidized bed steam/oxygen
gasifiers outlet product gas. This technology integrates into a single
unit the steam gasification of biomass and the hot gas cleaning and
conditioning system. Both components of the computational tool,
process flowsheet and economic evaluator, have been developed
under IPSEpro software. The economic model provides information
that can help potential users, especially small and medium size
enterprises acting in the regenerable energy field, to decide the
optimal scale of a plant and to better understand both potentiality and
limits of the system when applied to a wide range of conditions.
Abstract: The benefits of rooftop greenery systems (such as
energy savings, reduction of greenhouse gas emission for mitigating
climate change and maintaining sustainable development, indoor
temperature control etc.) in buildings are well recognized, however
there remains very little research conducted for quantifying the
benefits in subtropical climates such as in Australia. This study
mainly focuses on measuring/determining temperature profile and air
conditioning energy savings by implementing rooftop greenery
systems in subtropical Central Queensland in Australia. An
experimental set-up was installed at Rockhampton campus of Central
Queensland University, where two standard shipping containers (6m
x 2.4m x 2.4m) were converted into small offices, one with green
roof and one without. These were used for temperature, humidity and
energy consumption data collection. The study found that an energy
savings of up to 11.70% and temperature difference of up to 4°C can
be achieved in March in subtropical Central Queensland climate in
Australia. It is expected that more energy can be saved in peak
summer days (December/February) as temperature difference
between green roof and non-green roof is higher in December-
February.
Abstract: Small tanks, the ancient man-made rain water storage
systems, support the pheasant life and agriculture of the dry zone of
Sri Lanka. Many small tanks were abandoned with time due to
various reasons. Such tanks, rehabilitated in the recent past, were
found to be less sustainable and most of these rehabilitation
approaches have failed. The objective of this research is to assess the
impact of the rehabilitation approaches in the management of small
tanks in the Kurunegala District of Sri Lanka with respect to eight
small tanks. A Sustainability index was developed using seven
indicators representing the ability and commitment of the villagers to
maintain these tanks. The sustainability index of the eight tanks
varied between 79.2 and 47.2 out of a total score of 100. The
conclusion is that, the approaches used for tank rehabilitation have a
significant effect on the sustainability of the management of these
small tanks.
Abstract: The separation of dissolved gas including dissolved oxygen can be used in breathing for a human under water. When one is suddenly wrecked or meets a tsunami, one is instantly drowned and cannot breathe under water. To avoid this crisis, when we meet waves, the dissolved gas separated from water by wave is used, while air can be used to breathe when we are about to escape from water. In this thesis, we investigated the separation characteristics of dissolved gas using the pipe type of hollow fiber membrane with polypropylene and the nude type of one with polysulfone. The hollow fiber membranes with good characteristics under water are used to separate the dissolved gas. The hollow fiber membranes with good characteristics in an air are used to transfer air. The combination of membranes with good separation characteristics under water and good transferring one in an air is used to breathe instantly under water to be alive at crisis. These results showed that polypropylene represented better performance than polysulfone under both of air and water conditions.
Abstract: The previous study of new metal gasket that contact
width and contact stress an important design parameter for optimizing
metal gasket performance. The optimum design based on an elastic
and plastic contact stress was founded. However, the influence of
flange surface roughness had not been investigated thoroughly. The
flange has many kinds of surface roughness. In this study, we
conducted a gasket model include a flange surface roughness effect. A
finite element method was employed to develop simulation solution. A
uniform quadratic mesh used for meshing the gasket material and a
gradually quadrilateral mesh used for meshing the flange. The gasket
model was simulated by using two simulation stages which is forming
and tightening simulation. A simulation result shows that a smoother
of surface roughness has higher slope for force per unit length. This
mean a squeezed against between flange and gasket will be strong. The
slope of force per unit length for gasket 400-MPa mode was higher
than the gasket 0-MPa mode.
Abstract: This work considered the thermodynamic feasibility
of scrubbing volatile organic compounds into biodiesel in view of
designing a gas treatment process with this absorbent. A detailed
vapour – liquid equilibrium investigation was performed using the
original UNIFAC group contribution method. The four biodiesels
studied in this work are methyl oleate, methyl palmitate, methyl
linolenate and ethyl stearate. The original UNIFAC procedure was
used to estimate the infinite dilution activity coefficients of 13
selected volatile organic compounds in the biodiesels. The
calculations were done at the VOC mole fraction of 9.213x10-8. Ethyl
stearate gave the most favourable phase equilibrium. A close
agreement was found between the infinite dilution activity coefficient
of toluene found in this work and those reported in literature.
Thermodynamic models can efficiently be used to calculate vast
amount of phase equilibrium behaviour using limited number of
experimental data.
Abstract: Reservoirs with high pressures and temperatures
(HPHT) that were considered to be atypical in the past are now
frequent targets for exploration. For downhole oilfield drilling tools
and components, the temperature and pressure affect the mechanical
strength. To address this issue, a finite element analysis (FEA) for
206.84 MPa (30 ksi) pressure and 165°C has been performed on the
pressure housing of the measurement-while-drilling/logging-whiledrilling
(MWD/LWD) density tool.
The density tool is a MWD/LWD sensor that measures the density
of the formation. One of the components of the density tool is the
pressure housing that is positioned in the tool. The FEA results are
compared with the experimental test performed on the pressure
housing of the density tool. Past results show a close match between
the numerical results and the experimental test. This FEA model can
be used for extreme HPHT and ultra HPHT analyses, and/or optimal
design changes.
Abstract: Solid fuel transient burning behavior under oxidizer
gas flow is numerically investigated. It is done using analysis of the
regression rate responses to the imposed sudden and oscillatory
variation at inflow properties. The conjugate problem is considered
by simultaneous solution of flow and solid phase governing
equations to compute the fuel regression rate. The advection
upstream splitting method is used as flow computational scheme in
finite volume method. The ignition phase is completely simulated to
obtain the exact initial condition for response analysis. The results
show that the transient burning effects which lead to the combustion
instabilities and intermittent extinctions could be observed in solid
fuels as the solid propellants.
Abstract: Inorganic nanoparticles filled polymer composites
have extended their multiple functionalities to various applications,
including mechanical reinforcement, gas barrier, dimensional
stability, heat distortion temperature, flame-retardant, and thermal
conductivity. Sodium stearate-modified calcium carbonate (CaCO3)
nanoparticles were prepared using surface modification method. The
results showed that sodium stearate attached to the surface of CaCO3
nanoparticles with the chemical bond. The effect of modified CaCO3
nanoparticles on thermal properties of polypropylene (PP) was
studied by means of differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and
Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). It was found that CaCO3
significantly affected the crystallization temperature and
crystallization degree of PP. Effect of the modified CaCO3 content on
mechanical properties of PP/CaCO3 nanocomposites was also
studied. The results showed that the modified CaCO3 can effectively
improve the mechanical properties of PP. In comparison with PP, the
impact strength of PP/CaCO3 nanocomposites increased by about
65% and the hardness increased by about 5%.
Abstract: The aim of this study was to compare the solubility of selected volatile organic compounds in water and silicon oil using the simple static headspace method. The experimental design allowed equilibrium achievement within 30 – 60 minutes. Infinite dilution activity coefficients and Henry-s law constants for various organics representing esters, ketones, alkanes, aromatics, cycloalkanes and amines were measured at 303K. The measurements were reproducible with a relative standard deviation and coefficient of variation of 1.3x10-3 and 1.3 respectively. The static determined activity coefficients using shaker flasks were reasonably comparable to those obtained using the gas liquid - chromatographic technique and those predicted using the group contribution methods mainly the UNIFAC. Silicon oil chemically known as polydimethysiloxane was found to be better absorbent for VOCs than water which quickly becomes saturated. For example the infinite dilution mole fraction based activity coefficients of hexane is 0.503 and 277 000 in silicon oil and water respectively. Thus silicon oil gives a superior factor of 550 696. Henry-s law constants and activity coefficients at infinite dilution play a significant role in the design of scrubbers for abatement of volatile organic compounds from contaminated air streams. This paper presents the phase equilibrium of volatile organic compounds in very dilute aqueous and polymeric solutions indicating the movement and fate of chemical in air and solvent. The successful comparison of the results obtained here and those obtained using other methods by the same authors and in literature, means that the results obtained here are reliable.
Abstract: Nigerian bread is baked with vitamin A fortified wheat flour. Study aimed at determining its contribution to preschoolers- vitamin A nutriture. A cross-sectional/experimental study was carried out in four poor-urban Local Government Areas (LGAs) of Metropolitan Lagos, Nigeria. A pretested food frequency questionnaire was administered to randomly selected mothers of 1600 preschoolers (24-59 months). Retinyl Palmitate content of fourteen bread samples randomly collected from bakeries in all LGAs was analyzed at 0 and 5 days at 25oC using High Performance Liquid Chromatography. Data analysis was done at p
Abstract: The research object was wheat bread. Experiments
were carried out at the Faculty of Food Technology of the Latvia
University of Agriculture. An active packaging in combination with
modified atmosphere (MAP, CO2 60% and N2 40%) was examined
and compared with traditional packaging in air ambiance. Polymer
Multibarrier 60, PP and OPP bags were used. Influence of iron based
oxygen absorber in sachets of 100 cc obtained from Mitsubishi Gas
Chemical Europe Ageless® was tested on the quality during the shelf
of wheat bread. Samples of 40±4 g were packaged in polymer
pouches (110 mm x 120 mm), hermetically sealed by MULTIVAC
C300 vacuum chamber machine, and stored in room temperature
+21.0±0.5 °C. The physiochemical properties – weight losses,
moisture content, hardness, pH, colour, changes of atmosphere
content (CO2 and O2) in headspace of packs, and microbial
conditions were analysed before packaging and in the 7th, 14th, 21st
and 28th days of storage.
Abstract: This document details the process of developing a
wireless device that captures the basic movements of the foot (plantar
flexion, dorsal flexion, abduction, adduction.), and the knee
movement (flexion). It implements a motion capture system by using
a hardware based on optical fiber sensors, due to the advantages in
terms of scope, noise immunity and speed of data transmission and
reception. The operating principle used by this system is the detection
and transmission of joint movement by mechanical elements and
their respective measurement by optical ones (in this case infrared).
Likewise, Visual Basic software is used for reception, analysis and
signal processing of data acquired by the device, generating a 3D
graphical representation in real time of each movement. The result is
a boot in charge of capturing the movement, a transmission module
(Implementing Xbee Technology) and a receiver module for
receiving information and sending it to the PC for their respective
processing.
The main idea with this device is to help on topics such as
bioengineering and medicine, by helping to improve the quality of
life and movement analysis.
Abstract: In this paper, a Biochemical Methane Potential (BMP)
test provides a measure of the energy production potential from codigestion
between the frozen seafood wastewater and the decanter
cake. The experiments were conducted in laboratory-scale. The
suitable ratio of the frozen seafood wastewater and the decanter cake
was observed in the BMP test. The ratio of the co-digestion between
the frozen seafood wastewater and the decanter cake has impacts on
the biogas production and energy production potential. The best
performance for energy production potential using BMP test
observed from the 180 ml of the frozen seafood wastewater and 10 g
of the decanter cake ratio. This ratio provided the maximum methane
production at 0.351 l CH4/g TCODremoval. The removal efficiencies
are 76.18%, 83.55%, 43.16% and 56.76% at TCOD, SCOD, TS and
VS, respectively. The result can be concluded that the decanter cake
can improve the energy production potential of the frozen seafood
wastewater. The energy provides from co-digestion between frozen
seafood wastewater and decanter cake approximately 19x109
MJ/year in Thailand.
Abstract: This study was to investigate the performance of
hybrid solvents blended between primary, secondary, or tertiary
amines and piperazine (PZ) for CO2 removal from flue gas in terms
of CO2 absorption capacity and regeneration efficiency at 90 oC.
Alkanolamines used in this work were monoethanolamine (MEA),
diethanolamine (DEA), and triethanolamine (TEA). The CO2
absorption was experimentally examined under atmospheric pressure
and room temperature. The results show that MEA blend with PZ
provided the maximum CO2 absorption capacity of 0.50 mol
CO2/mol amine while TEA provided the minimum CO2 absorption
capacity of 0.30 mol CO2/mol amine. TEA was easier to regenerate
for both first cycle and second cycle with less loss of absorption
capacity. The regeneration efficiency of TEA was 95.09 and 92.89 %,
for the first and second generation cycles, respectively.
Abstract: Groundlessness of application probability-statistic methods are especially shown at an early stage of the aviation GTE technical condition diagnosing, when the volume of the information has property of the fuzzy, limitations, uncertainty and efficiency of application of new technology Soft computing at these diagnosing stages by using the fuzzy logic and neural networks methods. It is made training with high accuracy of multiple linear and nonlinear models (the regression equations) received on the statistical fuzzy data basis. At the information sufficiency it is offered to use recurrent algorithm of aviation GTE technical condition identification on measurements of input and output parameters of the multiple linear and nonlinear generalized models at presence of noise measured (the new recursive least squares method (LSM)). As application of the given technique the estimation of the new operating aviation engine D30KU-154 technical condition at height H=10600 m was made.
Abstract: A study on the performance of TCP Vegas versus
different TCP variants in homogeneous and heterogeneous wired
networks are performed via simulation experiment using network
simulator (ns-2). This performance evaluation prepared a comparison
medium for the performance evaluation of enhanced-TCP Vegas in
wired network and for wireless network. In homogeneous network,
the performance of TCP Tahoe, TCP Reno, TCP NewReno, TCP
Vegas and TCP SACK are analyzed. In heterogeneous network, the
performances of TCP Vegas against TCP variants are analyzed. TCP
Vegas outperforms other TCP variants in homogeneous wired
network. However, TCP Vegas achieves unfair throughput in
heterogeneous wired network.
Abstract: In this paper a hybrid technique of Genetic Algorithm
and Simulated Annealing (HGASA) is applied for Fractal Image
Compression (FIC). With the help of this hybrid evolutionary
algorithm effort is made to reduce the search complexity of matching
between range block and domain block. The concept of Simulated
Annealing (SA) is incorporated into Genetic Algorithm (GA) in order
to avoid pre-mature convergence of the strings. One of the image
compression techniques in the spatial domain is Fractal Image
Compression but the main drawback of FIC is that it involves more
computational time due to global search. In order to improve the
computational time along with acceptable quality of the decoded
image, HGASA technique has been proposed. Experimental results
show that the proposed HGASA is a better method than GA in terms
of PSNR for Fractal image Compression.
Abstract: Considering today-s increasing speed of change,
radical and innovative improvement - Kaikaku, is a necessity parallel
to continuous incremental improvement - Kaizen, especially for
SME-s in order to attain the competitive edge needed to be profitable.
During 2011, a qualitative single case study with the objective of
realizing a kaikaku in production has been conducted. The case study
was run as a one year project using a collaborative approach
including both researchers and company representatives. The case
study was conducted with the purpose of gaining further knowledge
about kaikaku realization as well as its implications. The empirical
results provide insights about the great productivity results achieved
by applying a specific kaikaku realization approach. However, it also
sheds light on the difficulty and contradiction of combining
innovation management and production system development.
Abstract: This paper present some preliminary work on the
preparation and physicochemical caracterization of nanocomposite
MFI-alumina structures based on alumina hollow fibres. The fibers
are manufactured by a wet spinning process. α-alumina particles were
dispersed in a solution of polysulfone in NMP. The resulting slurry is
pressed through the annular gap of a spinneret into a precipitation
bath. The resulting green fibres are sintered. The mechanical strength
of the alumina hollow fibres is determined by a three-point-bending
test while the pore size is characterized by bubble-point testing. The
bending strength is in the range of 110 MPa while the average pore
size is 450 nm for an internal diameter of 1 mm and external diameter
of 1.7 mm. To characterize the MFI membranes various techniques
were used for physicochemical characterization of MFI–ceramic
hollow fibres membranes: The nitrogen adsorption, X-ray
diffractometry, scanning electron microscopy combined with X
emission microanalysis. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and
Energy Dispersive Microanalysis by the X-ray were used to observe
the morphology of the hollow fibre membranes (thickness,
infiltration into the carrier, defects, homogeneity). No surface film,
has been obtained, as observed by SEM and EDX analysis and
confirmed by high temperature variation of N2 and CO2 gas
permeances before cation exchange. Local analysis and characterise
(SEM and EDX) and overall (by ICP elemental analysis) were
conducted on two samples exchanged to determine the quantity and
distribution of the cation of cesium on the cross section fibre of the
zeolite between the cavities.