Theoretical evaluation of the efficiency of gas single-stage reciprocating compressor medium pressure units

Science.gov (United States)

Busarov, S. S.; Vasil'ev, V. K.; Busarov, I. S.; Titov, D. S.; Panin, Ju. N.

2017-08-01

Developed earlier and tested in such working fluid as air, the technology of calculating the operating processes of slow-speed long-stroke reciprocating stages let the authors to obtain successful results concerning compression of gases to medium pressures in one stage. In this connection, the question of the efficiency of the application of slow-speed long-stroke stages in various fields of technology and the national economy, where the working fluid is other gas or gas mixture, is topical. The article presents the results of the efficiency evaluation of single-stage compressor units on the basis of such stages for cases when ammonia, hydrogen, helium or propane-butane mixture is used as the working fluid.

Nearly Efficient Likelihood Ratio Tests of the Unit Root Hypothesis

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jansson, Michael; Nielsen, Morten Ørregaard

Seemingly absent from the arsenal of currently available "nearly efficient" testing procedures for the unit root hypothesis, i.e. tests whose local asymptotic power functions are indistinguishable from the Gaussian power envelope, is a test admitting a (quasi-)likelihood ratio interpretation. We...... show that the likelihood ratio unit root test derived in a Gaussian AR(1) model with standard normal innovations is nearly efficient in that model. Moreover, these desirable properties carry over to more complicated models allowing for serially correlated and/or non-Gaussian innovations....

Measuring relative efficiency of applied science and technology universities in province of Semnan, Iran and providing suggestions for merging units

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Abolfazl Danaei

2013-03-01

Full Text Available University of applied science and technology has been designed to create a platform for multilateral activities such as industrial, military and academic in developing countries to promote science and scientific research applications. These universities are responsible to promote practical training in quantitative and qualitative indicators and they provide appropriate infrastructure to implement theoretical graduates to solve practical problems to build necessary infrastructure to transfer modern technology into developing countries. During the past few years, there have been tremendous development on these units but some of them have not been efficient. In this paper, we present an empirical study to measure the relative efficiencies of various units of applied science and technology universities using data envelopment analysis. The proposed model of this paper uses two inputs including human resources as well as total assets and two outputs including the number of graduate students as well as operating profit. The results of the study have indicated that some of the units are inefficient and need to be merged with other units to increase the relative efficiency of these universities.

76 FR 6488 - Notice of Submission of Proposed Information Collection to OMB Conversion of Efficiency Units to...

Science.gov (United States)

2011-02-04

... Proposed Information Collection to OMB Conversion of Efficiency Units to One-Bedroom Units Multifamily... lists the following information: Title of Proposal: Conversion of Efficiency Units to One-Bedroom Units... efficiency units into one bedroom units in certain types of HUD assisted and/or insured housing. The...

Analysis of efficiency of own and franchised units in the Spanish franchise system

OpenAIRE

Leyre Díez Uli; Félix Velicia Martín; Francisco Javier Rondán Cataluña

2017-01-01

In this work, we try to answer a key question: what are the more efficient units in franchising: owned or franchised? The literature on this specific field is very limited. To compare the efficiency of owned and franchised units we use the following variables: average sales per unit, average sales per employee and the average number of employees per unit for owned and franchised establishments. The analyses are carried out using the population of franchise chains, a database with the 1232 fra...

Highly efficient multifunctional metasurface for high-gain lens antenna application

Science.gov (United States)

Hou, Haisheng; Wang, Guangming; Li, Haipeng; Guo, Wenlong; Li, Tangjing

2017-07-01

In this paper, a novel multifunctional metasurface combining linear-to-circular polarization conversion and electromagnetic waves focusing has been proposed and applied to design a high-gain lens antenna working at Ku band. The multifunctional metasurface consists of 15 × 15 unit cells. Each unit cell is composed of four identical metallic layers and three intermediate dielectric layers. Due to well optimization, the multifunctional metasurface can convert the linearly polarized waves generated by the source to circularly polarized waves and focus the waves. By placing a patch antenna operating at 15 GHz at the focal point of the metasurface and setting the focal distance to diameter ratio ( F/ D) to 0.34, we obtain a multifunctional lens antenna. Simulated and measured results coincide well, indicating that the metasurface can convert linearly polarized waves to right-handed circularly polarized waves at 15 GHz with excellent performances in terms of the 3 dB axial ratio bandwidth of 5.3%, realized gain of 16.9 dB and aperture efficiency of 41.2%. Because of the advantages of high gain, competitive efficiency and easy fabrication, the proposed lens antenna has a great potential application in wireless and satellite communication.

A Fuzzy Logic Model to Classify Design Efficiency of Nursing Unit Floors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tuğçe KAZANASMAZ

2010-01-01

Full Text Available This study was conducted to determine classifications for the planimetric design efficiency of certain public hospitals by developing a fuzzy logic algorithm. Utilizing primary areas and circulation areas from nursing unit floor plans, the study employed triangular membership functions for the fuzzy subsets. The input variables of primary areas per bed and circulation areas per bed were fuzzified in this model. The relationship between input variables and output variable of design efficiency were displayed as a result of fuzzy rules. To test existing nursing unit floors, efficiency output values were obtained and efficiency classes were constructed by this model in accordance with general norms, guidelines and previous studies. The classification of efficiency resulted from the comparison of hospitals.

Silicon Nanowire/Polymer Hybrid Solar Cell-Supercapacitor: A Self-Charging Power Unit with a Total Efficiency of 10.5.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Ruiyuan; Wang, Jie; Sun, Teng; Wang, Mingjun; Wu, Changsheng; Zou, Haiyang; Song, Tao; Zhang, Xiaohong; Lee, Shuit-Tong; Wang, Zhong Lin; Sun, Baoquan

2017-07-12

An integrated self-charging power unit, combining a hybrid silicon nanowire/polymer heterojunction solar cell with a polypyrrole-based supercapacitor, has been demonstrated to simultaneously harvest solar energy and store it. By efficiency enhancement of the hybrid nanowire solar cells and a dual-functional titanium film serving as conjunct electrode of the solar cell and supercapacitor, the integrated system is able to yield a total photoelectric conversion to storage efficiency of 10.5%, which is the record value in all the integrated solar energy conversion and storage system. This system may not only serve as a buffer that diminishes the solar power fluctuations from light intensity, but also pave its way toward cost-effective high efficiency self-charging power unit. Finally, an integrated device based on ultrathin Si substrate is demonstrated to expand its feasibility and potential application in flexible energy conversion and storage devices.

Revenue and efficiency in multi-unit uniform-price auctions

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Břeský, Michal

-, č. 384 (2009), s. 1-39 ISSN 1211-3298 Institutional research plan: CEZ:MSM0021620846 Keywords : multi-unit auction * multiple-object auction * market efficiency * optimal selling mechanism Subject RIV: AH - Economics http://www.cerge-ei.cz/pdf/wp/Wp384.pdf

Application of CFB technology for large power generating units and CO2 capture

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ryabov, G. A.; Folomeev, O. M.; Sankin, D. A.; Khaneev, K. V.; Bondarenko, I. G.; Mel'nikov, D. A.

2010-01-01

Data on the development of the circulating fluidized bed (CFB) technology for combustion of fuels in large power generating units are examined. The problems with raising the steam parameters and unit power of boilers with a circulating fluidized bed are examined. With the boiler system at the 460 MW unit at Lagisza (Poland) as an example, the feasibility of raising the efficiency of units with CFB boilers through deep recovery of the heat of the effluent gases and reducing expenditure for in-house needs is demonstrated. Comparative estimates of the capital and operating costs of 225 and 330 MW units are used to determine the conditions for optimum use of CFB boilers in the engineering renovation of thermal power plants in Russia. New areas for the application of CFB technology in CO 2 capture are analyzed in connection with the problem of reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

General Analysis of System Efficiency in Application of Combined Power Plants for Gas-Distribution Station

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. D. Kachan

2004-01-01

Full Text Available The paper proposes utilization of discharged heat of gas-piston engine (GPE or contact steam-gas plants (SGP with the purpose to heat up gas at gas-distribution stations (GDS of combined power plants with turbine and gas-expansion units. Calculations prove significant economic efficiency of the proposed variant in comparison with the application of ordinary gas- turbine units. Technical and economic calculation is used to determine gas-piston engine or contact steam-gas plant power for specific operational conditions of gas-distribution stations and utilization rate of discharged heat.

Revenue and efficiency in multi-unit uniform-price auctions

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Břeský, Michal

2013-01-01

Roč. 82, November (2013), s. 205-217 ISSN 0899-8256 R&D Projects: GA ČR(CZ) GAP402/11/1531 Institutional support: RVO:67985998 Keywords : multi-unit auction * multiple-object auction * market efficiency Subject RIV: AH - Economics Impact factor: 1.025, year: 2013

Energy efficiency and pollution control for thermal units in the Egyptian industry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Said Abdel-wahab; Ismail, W.M.

1999-01-01

Energy conservation and environmental protection project (ECEP) is a Usaid sponsored project. Its main objective is to promote energy conservation and pollution protection in the egyptian industry through a group of demonstrated projects. One of the implemented activities is the boilers and furnaces tune-up program, which aims to increase energy efficiency and reduce pollution. To achieve this objective. (ECEP) distributed 100 electronic portable exhaust gas analyzers to cover eight industrial sectors at six different geographical locations in egypt. These analyzers were used to measure the contents of exhaust gases to help operators tune up their equipment on regular basis. The result is that the firing thermal units operate at the highest possible combustion efficiency to reduce the amount of fuel consumption as well as pollution emissions. The analyzer used measures two types of temperature, five different stack gases, draft and smoke density. moreover it computes the efficiency of combustion as well as Co2 and excess air percentage. Thermal units that rested by these analyzers were consuming a huge amount of fossil fuel from different types. The average combustion efficiency for thermal units tested was improved by 14%, 15% and 28% for boilers, furnaces and diesel respectively

Efficient Market Hypothesis in South Africa: Evidence from Linear and Nonlinear Unit Root Tests

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andrew Phiri

2015-12-01

Full Text Available This study investigates the weak form efficient market hypothesis (EMH for five generalized stock indices in the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE using weekly data collected from 31st January 2000 to 16th December 2014. In particular, we test for weak form market efficiency using a battery of linear and nonlinear unit root testing procedures comprising of the classical augmented Dickey-Fuller (ADF tests, the two-regime threshold autoregressive (TAR unit root tests described in Enders and Granger (1998 as well as the three-regime unit root tests described in Bec, Salem, and Carrasco (2004. Based on our empirical analysis, we are able to demonstrate that whilst the linear unit root tests advocate for unit roots within the time series, the nonlinear unit root tests suggest that most stock indices are threshold stationary processes. These results bridge two opposing contentions obtained from previous studies by concluding that under a linear framework the JSE stock indices offer support in favour of weak form market efficiency whereas when nonlinearity is accounted for, a majority of the indices violate the weak form EMH.

Measure Guideline. Five Steps to Implement the Public Housing Authority Energy-Efficient Unit Turnover Checklist

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Liaukus, Christine [Building American Research Alliance, Kent, WA (United States)

2015-07-09

Five Steps to Implementing the PHA Energy Efficient Unit Turnover Package (ARIES, 2014) is a guide to prepare for the installation of energy efficient measures during a typical public housing authority unit turnover. While a PHA is cleaning, painting and readying a unit for a new resident, there is an opportunity to incorporate energy efficiency measures to further improve the unit's performance. The measures on the list are simple enough to be implemented by in-house maintenance personnel, inexpensive enough to be folded into operating expenses without needing capital budget, and fast enough to implement without substantially changing the number of days between occupancies, a critical factor for organizations where the demand for dwelling units far outweighs the supply. The following guide lays out a five step plan to implement the EE Unit Turnover Package in your PHA, from an initial Self-Assessment through to Package Implementation.

Assessing the energy efficiency of pumps and pump units background and methodology

CERN Document Server

Bernd Stoffel, em Dr-Ing

2015-01-01

Assessing the Energy Efficiency of Pumps and Pump Units, developed in cooperation with Europump, is the first book available providing the background, methodology, and assessment tools for understanding and calculating energy efficiency for pumps and extended products (pumps+motors+drives). Responding to new EU requirements for pump efficiency, and US DOE exploratory work in setting pump energy efficiency guidelines, this book provides explanation, derivation, and illustration of PA and EPA methods for assessing energy efficiency. It surveys legislation related to pump energy eff

Measuring energy efficiency in the United States` economy: A beginning

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1995-10-01

Energy efficiency is a vital component of the Nation`s energy strategy. One of the Department of Energy`s missions are to promote energy efficiency to help the Nation manage its energy resources. The ability to define and measure energy efficiency is essential to this objective. In the absence of consistent defensible measures, energy efficiency is a vague, subjective concept that engenders directionless speculation and confusion rather than insightful analysis. The task of defining and measuring energy efficiency and creating statistical measures as descriptors is a daunting one. This publication is not a final product, but is EIA`s first attempt to define and measure energy efficiency in a systematic and robust manner for each of the sectors and the United States economy as a whole. In this process, EIA has relied on discussions, customer reviews, in-house reviews, and seminars that have focused on energy efficiency in each of the sectors. EIA solicits the continued participation of its customers in further refining this work.

An efficient chaos embedded hybrid approach for hydro-thermal unit commitment problem

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yuan, Xiaohui; Ji, Bin; Yuan, Yanbin; Ikram, Rana M.; Zhang, Xiaopan; Huang, Yuehua

2015-01-01

Highlights: • Thermal unit commitment is considered in hydrothermal generation scheduling (SHTGS). • Two newly proposed promising optimization algorithms are combined to solving SHTGS. • The proposed method is enhanced by integrating a chaotic local search strategy. • Heuristic search strategies are applied to handle the constraints of the SHTGS. • The results verify the proposed method is feasible and efficient for handling SHTGS. - Abstract: This paper establishes a model to deal with the short-term hydrothermal generation scheduling (SHTGS) problem. The problem is composed of three interconnected parts: short-term hydrothermal coordination, thermal unit commitment and economic load dispatch. An efficient hybrid method composed of chaotic backtracking search optimization algorithm and binary charged system search algorithm (CBSA–BCSS) is proposed to solve this problem. In order to analyze the effect of the chaotic map on the performance of the method, three different chaotic maps are adopted to integrate into the proposed method and the corresponding consequences are achieved. Furthermore, efficient heuristic search strategies are adopted to handle with the complicated constraints of the SHTGS system. Finally, a hydrothermal unit commitment system is utilized to verify the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed method. The results demonstrate the efficiency of the hybrid optimization method and the appropriation of the constraint handling strategies. The comparison of the solutions achieved by different methods shows that the proposed method has higher efficiency in terms of solving SHTGS problem

RESEARCHES CONCERNING THE ECONOMIC EFFICIENCY ACHIEVED SUCCESSIVE TO THE APPLICATION OF BIOLOGICALLY-ACTIVE PRODUCTS IN SMOOTH BROME CROP

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

ELENA PEł

2008-05-01

Full Text Available Within any branch of material production, the supervision of the economic effects caused by the applied technologies is an essential requirement. Not only related to the productive activity, but also related to scientific research, designing and other fields of activity, the final goal is represented by the achievement of immediate or far off economic effects. The introduction and generalization into production of the newest technologies of forage production must rely upon calculations of economic efficiency, too. The objective of these calculations is to offer to any producer the possibility to choose among the optimal technologic variants, with great productions per surface unit, of high quality and low costs. The calculations of economic efficiency were carried out during the three years of experimentation. The economic efficiency obtained after the application of biostimulants in smooth brome during the first year of production is expressed through the achievement of a profit per surface unit of 75.85 – 127.00 €/ha. Successive to the calculations of economic efficiency, during the second year of production, the profit per surface unit recorded values between 79.10 – 153.10 €/ha depending upon the applied biostimulant, and during the third year of production the profit obtained per surface unit was 211.05 – 270.70 €/ha.

Impact of Medicare Advantage penetration and hospital competition on technical efficiency of nursing care in US intensive care units.

Science.gov (United States)

Min, Ari; Scott, Linda D; Park, Chang; Vincent, Catherine; Ryan, Catherine J; Lee, Taewha

2018-04-10

This study aimed to evaluate technical efficiency of US intensive care units and determine the effects of environmental factors on technical efficiency in providing quality of nursing care. Data were obtained from the 2014 National Database of Nursing Quality Indicators and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Data envelopment analysis was used to estimate technical efficiency for each intensive care unit. Multilevel modeling was used to determine the effects of environmental factors on technical efficiency. Overall, Medicare Advantage penetration and hospital competition in a market did not create pressure for intensive care units to become more efficient by reducing their inputs. However, these 2 environmental factors showed positive influences on technical efficiency in intensive care units with certain levels of technical efficiency. The implications of the study results for management strategies and health policy may vary according to the levels of technical efficiency in intensive care units. Further studies are needed to examine why and how intensive care units with particular levels of technical efficiency are differently affected by certain environmental factors. Copyright © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

An application of data envelopment analysis for measuring the relative efficiency in banking industry

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mehdi Soltanifar

2014-05-01

Full Text Available Measuring the relative efficiency of banking industry has been a popular subject among both practitioners and academicians. Data envelopment analysis (DEA has been widely applied for different purposes. This paper presents an empirical investigation to measure the relative efficiency of various banks located in province of Semnan, Iran. The proposed study uses DEA method to rank all units and using Anderson and Peterson method (1993 [Andersen, P., & Petersen, N. C. (1993. A procedure for ranking efficient units in data envelopment analysis. Management Science, 39, 1261-1264], we provide some super efficiency for inefficient units. The study also provides reference numbers for inefficient units and gives some target values for all inefficient units.

Lightweight High Efficiency Electric Motors for Space Applications

Science.gov (United States)

Robertson, Glen A.; Tyler, Tony R.; Piper, P. J.

2011-01-01

Lightweight high efficiency electric motors are needed across a wide range of space applications from - thrust vector actuator control for launch and flight applications to - general vehicle, base camp habitat and experiment control for various mechanisms to - robotics for various stationary and mobile space exploration missions. QM Power?s Parallel Path Magnetic Technology Motors have slowly proven themselves to be a leading motor technology in this area; winning a NASA Phase II for "Lightweight High Efficiency Electric Motors and Actuators for Low Temperature Mobility and Robotics Applications" a US Army Phase II SBIR for "Improved Robot Actuator Motors for Medical Applications", an NSF Phase II SBIR for "Novel Low-Cost Electric Motors for Variable Speed Applications" and a DOE SBIR Phase I for "High Efficiency Commercial Refrigeration Motors" Parallel Path Magnetic Technology obtains the benefits of using permanent magnets while minimizing the historical trade-offs/limitations found in conventional permanent magnet designs. The resulting devices are smaller, lower weight, lower cost and have higher efficiency than competitive permanent magnet and non-permanent magnet designs. QM Power?s motors have been extensively tested and successfully validated by multiple commercial and aerospace customers and partners as Boeing Research and Technology. Prototypes have been made between 0.1 and 10 HP. They are also in the process of scaling motors to over 100kW with their development partners. In this paper, Parallel Path Magnetic Technology Motors will be discussed; specifically addressing their higher efficiency, higher power density, lighter weight, smaller physical size, higher low end torque, wider power zone, cooler temperatures, and greater reliability with lower cost and significant environment benefit for the same peak output power compared to typically motors. A further discussion on the inherent redundancy of these motors for space applications will be provided.

The energy efficiency ratio of heat storage in one shell-and-one tube phase change thermal energy storage unit

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, Wei-Wei; Wang, Liang-Bi; He, Ya-Ling

2015-01-01

Highlights: • A parameter to indicate the energy efficiency ratio of PCTES units is defined. • The characteristics of the energy efficiency ratio of PCTES units are reported. • A combined parameter of the physical properties of the working mediums is found. • Some implications of the energy efficiency ratio in design of PCTES units are analyzed. - Abstract: From aspect of energy consuming to pump heat transfer fluid, there is no sound basis on which to create an optimum design of a thermal energy storage unit. Thus, it is necessary to develop a parameter to indicate the energy efficiency of such unit. This paper firstly defines a parameter that indicates the ratio of heat storage of phase change thermal energy storage unit to energy consumed in pumping heat transfer fluid, which is called the energy efficiency ratio, then numerically investigates the characteristics of this parameter. The results show that the energy efficiency ratio can clearly indicate the energy efficiency of a phase change thermal energy storage unit. When the fluid flow of a heat transfer fluid is in a laminar state, the energy efficiency ratio is larger than in a turbulent state. The energy efficiency ratio of a shell-and-tube phase change thermal energy storage unit is more sensitive to the outer tube diameter. Under the same working conditions, within the heat transfer fluids studied, the heat storage property of the phase change thermal energy storage unit is best for water as heat transfer fluid. A combined parameter is found to indicate the effects of both the physical properties of phase change material and heat transfer fluid on the energy efficiency ratio

Efficiency of light curing units in a government dental school.

Science.gov (United States)

Nassar, Hani M; Ajaj, Reem; Hasanain, Fatin

2018-01-01

The light intensity of a light-curing unit is a crucial factor that affects the clinical longevity of resin composites. This study aimed to investigate the efficiency of light-curing units in use at a local governmental dental school for curing conventional and bulk-fill resin materials. A total of 166 light-curing units at three locations were examined, and the brand, type, clinic location, diameter of curing tip, tip cleanliness (using a visual score), and the output (in mW/cm 2 using a digital radiometer) were recorded. Only 23.5% of the units examined had clean tips, with the graduate student clinical area containing the highest percentage of clean tips. Further, tips with poor cleanliness score values were associated with significantly lower output intensities. A small percentage (9.4%) of units was capable of producing intensities higher than 1,200 mW/cm 2 and lower than 600 mW/cm 2 (7.6%). The majority of the low intensity units were located in the undergraduate student area, which also contained the highest number of units with intensities between 900 and 1,200 mW/cm 2 . The output of all the units in service was satisfactory for curing conventional resin composites, and most units were capable of curing bulk-fill resin materials.

High-efficiency silicon solar cells for low-illumination applications

OpenAIRE

Glunz, S.W.; Dicker, J.; Esterle, M.; Hermle, M.; Isenberg, J.; Kamerewerd, F.; Knobloch, J.; Kray, D.; Leimenstoll, A.; Lutz, F.; Oßwald, D.; Preu, R.; Rein, S.; Schäffer, E.; Schetter, C.

2002-01-01

At Fraunhofer ISE the fabrication of high-efficiency solar cells was extended from a laboratory scale to a small pilot-line production. Primarily, the fabricated cells are used in small high-efficiency modules integrated in prototypes of solar-powered portable electronic devices such as cellular phones, handheld computers etc. Compared to other applications of high-efficiency cells such as solar cars and planes, the illumination densities found in these mainly indoor applications are signific...

Estimation on separation efficiency of aluminum from base-cap of spent fluorescent lamp in hammer crusher unit.

Science.gov (United States)

Rhee, Seung-Whee

2017-09-01

In order to separate aluminum from the base-cap of spent fluorescent lamp (SFL), the separation efficiency of hammer crusher unit is estimated by introducing a binary separation theory. The base-cap of SFL is composed by glass fragment, binder, ferrous metal, copper and aluminum. The hammer crusher unit to recover aluminum from the base-cap consists of 3stages of hammer crusher, magnetic separator and vibrating screen. The optimal conditions of rotating speed and operating time in the hammer crusher unit are decided at each stage. At the optimal conditions, the aluminum yield and the separation efficiency of hammer crusher unit are estimated by applying a sequential binary separation theory at each stage. And the separation efficiency between hammer crusher unit and roll crush system is compared to show the performance of aluminum recovery from the base-cap of SFL. Since the separation efficiency can be increased to 99% at stage 3, from the experimental results, it is found that aluminum from the base-cap can be sufficiently recovered by the hammer crusher unit. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Examining the Islamic stock market efficiency: Evidence from nonlinear ESTAR unit root tests

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rahmat Heru Setianto

2015-04-01

Full Text Available This paper empirically examines the efficient market hypothesis (EMH in the Islamic stock market namely Jakarta Islamic Index by emphasizing on the random walk behavior and nonlinearity. In the first step, we employ Brock et al. (1996 test to examine the presence of nonlinear behavior in Jakarta Islamic Index. The evidence of nonlinear behavior in the indices, motivate us to use nonlinear ESTAR unit root test procedure recently developed by Kapetanios et al. (2003 and Kruse (2011. The nonlinear unit root test procedure fail to rejects the null hypothesis of unit root for the indices, suggesting that Jakarta Islamic Index characterized by random walk process supporting the theory of efficient market hypothesis. In addition, Lumsdaine and Papel (LP test identified significant structural breaks in the index series.

Water use efficiency by coffee arabica after glyphosate application

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Felipe Paolinelli de Carvalho

2014-07-01

Full Text Available Many coffee growers apply glyphosate in directed applications, but some phytotoxicity has been noted. It is believed some herbicides can exert a direct or indirect negative effect on photosynthesis by reducing the metabolic rate in a way that can affect the water use efficiency. The objective of this study was to investigate the variables related to water use among coffee cultivars subjected to the application of glyphosate and the effects of each dose. The experiment was conducted in a greenhouse using three varieties of coffee (Coffea arabica, Acaiá (MG-6851, Catucaí Amarelo (2SL and Topázio (MG-1190, and three doses of glyphosate (0.0, 115.2 and 460.8 g acid equivalent ha-1, in a factorial 3 x 3 design. At 15 days after application, a reduction in stomatal conductance was observed, and smaller transpiration rate and water use efficiency were found in the fourth leaf at 15 days after application. There was a decrease in the transpiration rate at 45 DAA, with the Acaiá cultivar showing reductions with 115.2 g ha-1. There was transitory reduction in water use efficiency with glyphosate application, but can affect the growth and production. The Acaiá cultivar showed the highest tolerance to glyphosate because the water use efficiency after herbicide application.

Highly efficient tandem organic light-emitting devices employing an easily fabricated charge generation unit

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Huishan; Yu, Yaoyao; Wu, Lishuang; Qu, Biao; Lin, Wenyan; Yu, Ye; Wu, Zhijun; Xie, Wenfa

2018-02-01

We have realized highly efficient tandem organic light-emitting devices (OLEDs) employing an easily fabricated charge generation unit (CGU) combining 1,4,5,8,9,11-hexaazatriphenylene-hexacarbonitrile with ultrathin bilayers of CsN3 and Al. The charge generation and separation processes of the CGU have been demonstrated by studying the differences in the current density-voltage characteristics of external-carrier-excluding devices. At high luminances of 1000 and 10000 cd/m2, the current efficiencies of the phosphorescent tandem device are about 2.2- and 2.3-fold those of the corresponding single-unit device, respectively. Simultaneously, an efficient tandem white OLED exhibiting high color stability and warm white emission has also been fabricated.

[Analysis of cost and efficiency of a medical nursing unit using time-driven activity-based costing].

Science.gov (United States)

Lim, Ji Young; Kim, Mi Ja; Park, Chang Gi

2011-08-01

Time-driven activity-based costing was applied to analyze the nursing activity cost and efficiency of a medical unit. Data were collected at a medical unit of a general hospital. Nursing activities were measured using a nursing activities inventory and classified as 6 domains using Easley-Storfjell Instrument. Descriptive statistics were used to identify general characteristics of the unit, nursing activities and activity time, and stochastic frontier model was adopted to estimate true activity time. The average efficiency of the medical unit using theoretical resource capacity was 77%, however the efficiency using practical resource capacity was 96%. According to these results, the portion of non-added value time was estimated 23% and 4% each. The sums of total nursing activity costs were estimated 109,860,977 won in traditional activity-based costing and 84,427,126 won in time-driven activity-based costing. The difference in the two cost calculating methods was 25,433,851 won. These results indicate that the time-driven activity-based costing provides useful and more realistic information about the efficiency of unit operation compared to traditional activity-based costing. So time-driven activity-based costing is recommended as a performance evaluation framework for nursing departments based on cost management.

Analysis of the foreign systems for classification and marking the NPP unit components during their application in information systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bylkin, B.K.; Shaposhnikov, V.A.; Sadovoj, Yu.K.; Tikhonovskij, V.L.; Chujko, D.V.

2006-01-01

Procedures accepted and permitted in an information system (IS) to arrange and to rank information drawn up to ensure the information support of decommissioning of an NPP power unit affect the application convenience and efficiency of the IS taken as a whole. The IS supporting the decommissioning efforts stores large volume of information, that is why, the problem to choose systems to ensure information ranking is the urgent one. The paper deals with the analysis of the foreign systems to rank the components used during an NPP operation. Besides, one considers the application of the mentioned systems to arrange and to rank the information on decommissioning of an NPP power unit presented to users [ru

Testing the efficiency of the wine market using unit root tests with sharp and smooth breaks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elie Bouri

2017-12-01

Full Text Available This paper examines the efficient market hypothesis for the wine market using a novel unit root test while accounting for sharp shifts and smooth breaks in the monthly data. We find evidence of structural shifts and nonlinearity in the wine indices. Contrary to the results from conventional linear unit root tests, when we account for sharp shifts and smooth breaks, the unit root null for each of the wine indices has been rejected. Overall, our results suggest that the wine market is inefficient when we incorporate breaks. We provide some practical and policy implications of our findings. Keywords: Wine market, Efficiency, Sharp and smooth breaks, Unit root tests

Improving the efficiency of a chemotherapy day unit: Applying a business approach to oncology

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Lent, W.A.M.; Goedbloed, N.; van Harten, Willem H.

2009-01-01

Aim: To improve the efficiency of a hospital-based chemotherapy day unit (CDU). - Methods: The CDU was benchmarked with two other CDUs to identify their attainable performance levels for efficiency, and causes for differences. Furthermore, an in-depth analysis using a business approach, called lean

Comparison of ultrafiltration and dissolved air flotation efficiencies in industrial units during the papermaking process

OpenAIRE

Monte Lara, Concepción; Ordóñez Sanz, Ruth; Hermosilla Redondo, Daphne; Sánchez González, Mónica; Blanco Suárez, Ángeles

2011-01-01

The efficiency of an ultrafiltration unit has been studied and compared with a dissolved air flotation system to get water with a suited quality to be reused in the process. The study was done at a paper mill producing light weight coated paper and newsprint paper from 100% recovered paper. Efficiency was analysed by removal of turbidity, cationic demand, total and dissolved chemical oxygen demand, hardness, sulphates and microstickies. Moreover, the performance of the ultrafiltration unit an...

Energetic and Exergy Efficiency of a Heat Storage Unit for Building Heating

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hazami, Mejdi; Kooli, Sami; Lazaar, Meriem; Farhat, Abdelhamid; Belghith, Ali

2009-01-01

This paper deals with a numerical and experimental investigation of a daily solar storage system conceived and built in Laboratoire de Maitrise des Technologies de l Energie (LMTE, Borj Cedria). This system consists mainly of the storage unit connected to a solar collector unit. The storage unit consists of a wooden case with dimension of 5 m 3 (5 m x 1m x 1m) filed with fin sand. Inside the wooden case was buried a network of a polypropylene capillary heat exchanger with an aperture area equal to 5 m 2 . The heat collection unit consisted of 5 m 2 of south-facing solar collector mounted at a 37 degree tilt angle. In order to evaluate the system efficiency during the charging period (during the day) and discharging period (during the night) an energy and exergy analyses were applied. Outdoor experiments were also carried out under varied environmental conditions for several consecutive days. Results showed that during the charging period, the average daily rates of thermal energy and exergy stored in the heat storage unit were 400 and 2.6 W, respectively. It was found that the net energy and exergy efficiencies in the charging period were 32 pour cent and 22 pour cent, respectively. During the discharging period, the average daily rates of the thermal energy and exergy recovered from the heat storage unit were 2 kW and 2.5 kW, respectively. The recovered heat from the heat storage unit was used for the air-heating of a tested room (4 m x 3 m x 3 m). The results showed that 30 pour cent of the total heating requirement of the tested room was obtained from the heat storage system during the whole night in cold seasons

Experience with dispersant application: long-path recirculation cleanup trial at Byron Unit 1 during spring 2011 and online addition update

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fruzzetti, K.; Marks, C.; Kreider, M.; Morey, D.; Duncanson, I.; Bates, J.; Sawochka, S.

2012-01-01

The first nuclear application of PAA dispersant to improve corrosion product removal during LPR (Long-path recirculation) cleanup occurred at Byron Unit 1 in spring 2011. The main conclusions and lessons learned are as follows: -) there were no significant problems with application of PAA during LPR with an initial PAA concentration of about 650 ppb; -) a reasonable estimate of the additional iron mass removed due to the presence of PAA is 5-9 kg. The qualification work, application details and an assessment of the results are the first focus of this paper. The second part of this paper summarizes the online experience to date at the Exelon and STP (South Texas Project) plants on the effects of dispersant on -) blowdown iron removal efficiency, -) steam generator heat transfer efficiency and -) ion exchange resin performance

Efficiency-optimized low-cost TDPAC spectrometer using a versatile routing/coincidence unit

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Renteria, M.; Bibiloni, A. G.; Darriba, G. N.; Errico, L. A.; Munoz, E. L.; Richard, D.; Runco, J.

2008-01-01

A highly efficient, reliable, and low-cost γ-γ TDPAC spectrometer, PACAr, optimized for 181 Hf-implanted low-activity samples, is presented. A versatile EPROM-based routing/coincidence unit was developed and implemented to be use with the memory-card-based multichannel analyzer hosted in a personal computer. The excellent energy resolution and very good overall resolution and efficiency of PACAr are analyzed and compare with advanced and already tested fast-fast and slow-fast PAC spectrometers.

Efficiency-optimized low-cost TDPAC spectrometer using a versatile routing/coincidence unit

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Renteria, M., E-mail: renteria@fisica.unlp.edu.ar; Bibiloni, A. G.; Darriba, G. N.; Errico, L. A.; Munoz, E. L.; Richard, D.; Runco, J. [Universidad Nacional de La Plata, Departamento de Fisica, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas (Argentina)

2008-01-15

A highly efficient, reliable, and low-cost {gamma}-{gamma} TDPAC spectrometer, PACAr, optimized for {sup 181}Hf-implanted low-activity samples, is presented. A versatile EPROM-based routing/coincidence unit was developed and implemented to be use with the memory-card-based multichannel analyzer hosted in a personal computer. The excellent energy resolution and very good overall resolution and efficiency of PACAr are analyzed and compare with advanced and already tested fast-fast and slow-fast PAC spectrometers.

High Efficiency Centrifugal Compressor for Rotorcraft Applications

Science.gov (United States)

Medic, Gorazd; Sharma, Om P.; Jongwook, Joo; Hardin, Larry W.; McCormick, Duane C.; Cousins, William T.; Lurie, Elizabeth A.; Shabbir, Aamir; Holley, Brian M.; Van Slooten, Paul R.

2017-01-01

A centrifugal compressor research effort conducted by United Technologies Research Center under NASA Research Announcement NNC08CB03C is documented. The objectives were to identify key technical barriers to advancing the aerodynamic performance of high-efficiency, high work factor, compact centrifugal compressor aft-stages for turboshaft engines; to acquire measurements needed to overcome the technical barriers and inform future designs; to design, fabricate, and test a new research compressor in which to acquire the requisite flow field data. A new High-Efficiency Centrifugal Compressor stage -- splittered impeller, splittered diffuser, 90 degree bend, and exit guide vanes -- with aerodynamically aggressive performance and configuration (compactness) goals were designed, fabricated, and subquently tested at the NASA Glenn Research Center.

Efficiency limits of rehabilitation of the Thermal Power Plant Turceni units

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gheorghiu, D.; Stoenescu, R.; Balcan, I.; Panait, L.; Pressel, S.; Ghioca, L.

1996-01-01

The paper analyses the efficiency limits of the programs A 2 and A 3 of rehabilitation of the TPP Turceni units considering the current economic situation and the power and energy balances in the Romania's National Power System. Starting from the current net income and also, taking into account the performances which can be reached by the units to be rehabilitated, according to the guarantee figures provided by the German Consortium ABB-DBE, one is determined the maximum investment for rehabilitation so that the adjusted net income to be equal to the expenses and adjusted investments (reverse method). (author). 1 fig., 1 tab

High-efficiency and multi-frequency polarization converters based on graphene metasurface with twisting double L-shaped unit structure array

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Ming; Xiao, Xiaofei; Chang, Linzi; Wang, Congyun; Zhao, Deping

2017-07-01

In this work, a high-efficiency and tunable dual-frequency reflective polarization converter composed of graphene metasurface with twisting double L-shaped unit is firstly realized. Numerical results demonstrate that the device can convert a linearly polarized wave to its cross-polarized wave, and meantime it can also convert to a circularly polarized wave. Subsequently, one thickness of 500 nm SiO2 layer sandwiched by two graphene metasurfaces with similar pattern is stacked on the top of the two-layered structure, a four-frequency efficient reflective polarization converters is realized. Above all, those working frequencies can also be dynamically tuned within a large frequency range by adjusting the Fermi energy of the graphene, without reoptimizing and refabricating the nanostructures, which paves a novel way toward developing a controllable polarization converter for mid-infrared applications.

Radioisotope applications on fluidized catalytic cracking units

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Charlton, J.S.

1997-01-01

Radioisotopes are used to trace the flow of all the phases of Fluidized Catalytic Cracking process in oil refineries. The gaseous phases, steam, hydrocarbon vapour and air, are generally traced using a noble-gas isotope, 41 Ar, 79 Kr or 85 Kr. An appropriate tracer for the catalyst is produced by irradiating a catalyst sample in a nuclear reactor. The activation products, 140 La and 24 Na provide appropriate radioactive 'labels' for the catalyst, which is reinjected into the FCC. An advantage of this approach is that it facilitates the study of the behaviour of different particle size fractions. Radioisotopes as sealed sources of gamma radiation are used to measure catalyst density variations and density distributions in critical parts of the unit. An important trend in radioisotope applications is the increasing use of the information they produce as inputs to or as validation of, mathematical process models. In line with the increasing sophistication of the models, the technology is undergoing continuous refinement. Developments include the investigation of more efficient, more convenient tracers, the introduction of systems to facilitate more rapid and comprehensive data acquisition and software refinements for enhanced data analysis

Developing a Collection of Composable Data Translation Software Units to Improve Efficiency and Reproducibility in Ecohydrologic Modeling Workflows

Science.gov (United States)

Olschanowsky, C.; Flores, A. N.; FitzGerald, K.; Masarik, M. T.; Rudisill, W. J.; Aguayo, M.

2017-12-01

Dynamic models of the spatiotemporal evolution of water, energy, and nutrient cycling are important tools to assess impacts of climate and other environmental changes on ecohydrologic systems. These models require spatiotemporally varying environmental forcings like precipitation, temperature, humidity, windspeed, and solar radiation. These input data originate from a variety of sources, including global and regional weather and climate models, global and regional reanalysis products, and geostatistically interpolated surface observations. Data translation measures, often subsetting in space and/or time and transforming and converting variable units, represent a seemingly mundane, but critical step in the application workflows. Translation steps can introduce errors, misrepresentations of data, slow execution time, and interrupt data provenance. We leverage a workflow that subsets a large regional dataset derived from the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model and prepares inputs to the Parflow integrated hydrologic model to demonstrate the impact translation tool software quality on scientific workflow results and performance. We propose that such workflows will benefit from a community approved collection of data transformation components. The components should be self-contained composable units of code. This design pattern enables automated parallelization and software verification, improving performance and reliability. Ensuring that individual translation components are self-contained and target minute tasks increases reliability. The small code size of each component enables effective unit and regression testing. The components can be automatically composed for efficient execution. An efficient data translation framework should be written to minimize data movement. Composing components within a single streaming process reduces data movement. Each component will typically have a low arithmetic intensity, meaning that it requires about the same number of

Separating environmental efficiency into production and abatement efficiency. A nonparametric model with application to U.S. power plants

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hampf, Benjamin

2011-08-15

In this paper we present a new approach to evaluate the environmental efficiency of decision making units. We propose a model that describes a two-stage process consisting of a production and an end-of-pipe abatement stage with the environmental efficiency being determined by the efficiency of both stages. Taking the dependencies between the two stages into account, we show how nonparametric methods can be used to measure environmental efficiency and to decompose it into production and abatement efficiency. For an empirical illustration we apply our model to an analysis of U.S. power plants.

Thermal Efficiency of Cogeneration Units with Multi-Stage Reheating for Russian Municipal Heating Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Evgeny Lisin

2016-04-01

Full Text Available This paper explores the layout of an optimum process for supplying heat to Russian municipal heating systems operating in a market environment. We analyze and compare the standard cogeneration unit design with two-stage reheating of service water coming from controlled extraction locations and layouts that employ three in-line reheaters with heat the supply controlled by a rotary diaphragm and qualitative/quantitative methods (so-called “uncontrolled extraction”. Cogeneration unit designs are benchmarked in terms of their thermal efficiency expressed as a fuel consumption rate. The specific fuel consumption rate on electricity production is viewed as a key parameter of thermal efficiency.

Feasibility for the medium efficiency filter as a postfilter in the air cleaning unit

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lim, H. S.; Jung, D. Y.; Byun, S. C.; Kim, S. H.

2002-01-01

The Air Cleaning Unit (ACU) is provided in a nuclear facility to filter the radioactive materials in gaseous effluents released from the facility during normal operation and during a postulated accident. The Air Cleaning Unit (ACU) consists of pre-HEPA filters, charcoal adsorber, post HEPA filters, fans, etc. The charcoal filters keep on-site dose and off-site effluents ALARA, consistent with regulatory requirements. The function of HEPA filter downstream of charcoal(carbon) adsorber in ACU is to catch potential radioactive carbon dust and to be a backup in the event of failure of upstream HEPA. Previous Regulatory Guide use only post HEPA filter of charcoal adsorber downstream but the Regulatory Guide of current revisions allows use of 95% dust spot efficiency filters in lieu of HEPA at the downstream of the carbon adsorber. In this paper is described that the background information of filters, Current Regulatory Guide of revised by the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the feasibility for the medium efficiency filter as a carbon adsorber post filter in the Air Cleaning Unit

CONCEPT OF AUTOMATIC CONTROL SYSTEM FOR IMPROVING THE EFFICIENCY OF THE ABSORPTION REFRIGERATING UNITS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

O. Titlova

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The general concept of the automatic control systems constructing for increasing the efficiency of the artificial cold production process in the absorption refrigerating units is substantiated. The described automatic control systems provides necessary degree of the ammonia vapor purification from the water in all absorption refrigerating units modes and minimizes heat loss from the dephlegmator surface.

High Efficiency Heat Exchanger for High Temperature and High Pressure Applications

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sienicki, James J. [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States). Nuclear Engineering Division; Lv, Qiuping [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States). Nuclear Engineering Division; Moisseytsev, Anton [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States). Nuclear Engineering Division

2017-09-29

CompRex, LLC (CompRex) specializes in the design and manufacture of compact heat exchangers and heat exchange reactors for high temperature and high pressure applications. CompRex’s proprietary compact technology not only increases heat exchange efficiency by at least 25 % but also reduces footprint by at least a factor of ten compared to traditional shell-and-tube solutions of the same capacity and by 15 to 20 % compared to other currently available Printed Circuit Heat Exchanger (PCHE) solutions. As a result, CompRex’s solution is especially suitable for Brayton cycle supercritical carbon dioxide (sCO2) systems given its high efficiency and significantly lower capital and operating expenses. CompRex has already successfully demonstrated its technology and ability to deliver with a pilot-scale compact heat exchanger that was under contract by the Naval Nuclear Laboratory for sCO2 power cycle development. The performance tested unit met or exceeded the thermal and hydraulic specifications with measured heat transfer between 95 to 98 % of maximum heat transfer and temperature and pressure drop values all consistent with the modeled values. CompRex’s vision is to commercialize its compact technology and become the leading provider for compact heat exchangers and heat exchange reactors for various applications including Brayton cycle sCO2 systems. One of the limitations of the sCO2 Brayton power cycle is the design and manufacturing of efficient heat exchangers at extreme operating conditions. Current diffusion-bonded heat exchangers have limitations on the channel size through which the fluid travels, resulting in excessive solid material per heat exchanger volume. CompRex’s design allows for more open area and shorter fluid proximity for increased heat transfer efficiency while sustaining the structural integrity needed for the application. CompRex is developing a novel improvement to its current heat exchanger design where fluids are directed to alternating

Energy efficient design

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1991-01-01

Solar Applications and Energy Efficiency in Building Design and Town Planning (RER/87/006) is a United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) project of the Governments of Albania, Bulgaria, Cyprus, The Czech and Slovak Federal Republic, France, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Turkey, United Kingdom and Yugoslavia. The project began in 1988 and comes to a conclusion at the end of 1991. It is to enhance the professional skills of practicing architects, engineers and town planners in European countries to design energy efficient buildings which reduce energy consumption and make greater use of passive solar heating and natural cooling techniques. The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (ECE) is the Executing Agency of the project which is implemented under the auspices of the Committee on Energy, General Energy Programme of Work for 1990-1994, sub-programme 5 Energy Conservation and Efficiency (ECE/ENERGY/15). The project has five main outputs or results: an international network of institutions for low energy building design; a state-of-the-art survey of energy use in the built environment of European IPF countries; a simple computer program for energy efficient building design; a design guide and computer program operators' manual; and a series of international training courses in participating European IPF countries. Energy Efficient Design is the fourth output of the project. It comprises the design guide for practicing architects and engineers, for use mainly in mid-career training courses, and the operators' manual for the project's computer program

Improving efficiency of decision making units through BSC-DEA technique

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Amir Reza Khaki

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Performance evaluation is one of the most important techniques to prioritize different decision making units. Data envelopment analysis (DEA, as a non-parametric method, plays an important role for measuring relative efficiency. Balanced score card, on the other hand, is another method to evaluate a business plan based on non-financial perspectives. The integrated BSC-DEA takes advantage of the advantages of both methods' features. In this paper, we propose a BSC-DEA method to rank different decision making units. We consider different financial criteria such as profit-margin, return on assets along with non-financial criteria such as customer satisfaction, advanced services, employee skills to compare the performance of different banks. The results are analyzed and discussed, which could be used for making better decisions.

Data Sorting Using Graphics Processing Units

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. J. Mišić

2012-06-01

Full Text Available Graphics processing units (GPUs have been increasingly used for general-purpose computation in recent years. The GPU accelerated applications are found in both scientific and commercial domains. Sorting is considered as one of the very important operations in many applications, so its efficient implementation is essential for the overall application performance. This paper represents an effort to analyze and evaluate the implementations of the representative sorting algorithms on the graphics processing units. Three sorting algorithms (Quicksort, Merge sort, and Radix sort were evaluated on the Compute Unified Device Architecture (CUDA platform that is used to execute applications on NVIDIA graphics processing units. Algorithms were tested and evaluated using an automated test environment with input datasets of different characteristics. Finally, the results of this analysis are briefly discussed.

Efficient Image Blur in Web-Based Applications

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kraus, Martin

2010-01-01

Scripting languages require the use of high-level library functions to implement efficient image processing; thus, real-time image blur in web-based applications is a challenging task unless specific library functions are available for this purpose. We present a pyramid blur algorithm, which can ...

A robust AHP-DEA method for measuring the relative efficiency: An application of airport industry

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Amin Foroughi

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Measuring the relative efficiency of similar units has been an important topic of research among many researchers. Data envelopment analysis has been one of the most important techniques for measuring the efficiency of different units. However, there are some limitations on using such technique and some people prefer to use other methods such as analytical hierarchy process to measure the relative efficiencies. Besides, uncertainty in the input data is another issue, which makes some misleading results. In this paper, we present an integrated robust DEA-AHP to measure the relative efficiency of similar units. The proposed model of this is believed to capable of presenting better results in terms of efficiency compared with exclusive usage of DEA or AHP. The implementation of the proposed model is demonstrated for a real-world case study of Airport industry and the results are analyzed.

ASSESSMENT OF EFFICIENCY OF APPLICATION OF A NEW BUILDING MATERIAL

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gumba Huta Msuratovich

2012-10-01

Full Text Available Methodical approaches and procedures of implementation of official provisions of Methodical Recommendations are considered in article. Upon completion of analysis of a number of factors, the authors suggest using the option of assessment of efficiency of application of a new construction material through the application of Methodical Recommendations for Assessment of Efficiency of Investment Projects. As for the assimilation of new materials by building companies engaged in construction operations, the recommendation is to assess the business project efficiency upon introduction of each new construction material, and capital investments are the main indicators of efficiency of construction materials, let alone net discounted profit and the payback period. Upon consideration of a number of conditions that underlie the mathematical and economic model that substantiates decision-making in terms of implementation of innovative projects, the project efficiency can be assessed on the basis of an integrated indicator - maximal return on capital investments. The proposed model also takes account of the payback period, although the efficiency of new construction materials does not take account of any positive social effect of their introduction.

Effects of Kaolin Application on Light Absorption and Distribution, Radiation Use Efficiency and Photosynthesis of Almond and Walnut Canopies

Science.gov (United States)

Rosati, Adolfo; Metcalf, Samuel G.; Buchner, Richard P.; Fulton, Allan E.; Lampinen, Bruce D.

2007-01-01

Background and Aims Kaolin applied as a suspension to plant canopies forms a film on leaves that increases reflection and reduces absorption of light. Photosynthesis of individual leaves is decreased while the photosynthesis of the whole canopy remains unaffected or even increases. This may result from a better distribution of light within the canopy following kaolin application, but this explanation has not been tested. The objective of this work was to study the effects of kaolin application on light distribution and absorption within tree canopies and, ultimately, on canopy photosynthesis and radiation use efficiency. Methods Photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) incident on individual leaves within the canopy of almond (Prunus dulcis) and walnut (Juglans regia) trees was measured before and after kaolin application in order to study PAR distribution within the canopy. The PAR incident on, and reflected and transmitted by, the canopy was measured on the same day for kaolin-sprayed and control trees in order to calculate canopy PAR absorption. These data were then used to model canopy photosynthesis and radiation use efficiency by a simple method proposed in previous work, based on the photosynthetic response to incident PAR of a top-canopy leaf. Key Results Kaolin increased incident PAR on surfaces of inner-canopy leaves, although there was an estimated 20 % loss in PAR reaching the photosynthetic apparatus, due to increased reflection. Assuming a 20 % loss of PAR, modelled photosynthesis and photosynthetic radiation use efficiency (PRUE) of kaolin-coated leaves decreased by only 6·3 %. This was due to (1) more beneficial PAR distribution within the kaolin-sprayed canopy, and (2) with decreasing PAR, leaf photosynthesis decreases less than proportionally, due to the curvature of the photosynthesis response-curve to PAR. The relatively small loss in canopy PRUE (per unit of incident PAR), coupled with the increased incident PAR on the leaf surface on

Ranking Decision Making Units with Stochastic Data by Using Coefficient of Variation

OpenAIRE

Lotfi, F.; Nematollahi, N.; Behzadi, M.H.; Mirbolouki, M.

2010-01-01

Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) is a non-parametric technique which is based on mathematical programming for evaluating the efficiency of a set of Decision Making Units (DMUs). Throughout applications, managers encounter with stochastic data and the necessity of having a method that is able to evaluate efficiency and rank efficient units has been under consideration. In this paper considering the concept of coefficient of variation among efficient DMUs, two ranking methods has been proposed. ...

Efficient Statistical Extraction of the Per-Unit-Length Capacitance and Inductance Matrices of Cables with Random Parameters

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

P. Manfredi

2015-05-01

Full Text Available Cable bundles often exhibit random parameter variations due to uncertain or uncontrollable physical properties and wire positioning. Efficient tools, based on the so-called polynomial chaos, exist to rapidly assess the impact of such variations on the per-unit-length capacitance and inductance matrices, and on the pertinent cable response. Nevertheless, the state-of-the-art method for the statistical extraction of the per-unit-length capacitance and inductance matrices of cables suffers from several inefficiencies that hinder its applicability to large problems, in terms of number of random parameters and/or conductors. This paper presents an improved methodology that overcomes the aforementioned limitations by exploiting a recently-published, alternative approach to generate the pertinent polynomial chaos system of equations. A sparse and decoupled system is obtained that provides remarkable benefits in terms of speed, memory consumption and problem size that can be dealt with. The technique is thoroughly validated through the statistical analysis of two canonical structures, i.e. a ribbon cable and a shielded cable with random geometry and position.

Potential high efficiency solar cells: Applications from space photovoltaic research

Science.gov (United States)

Flood, D. J.

1986-01-01

NASA involvement in photovoltaic energy conversion research development and applications spans over two decades of continuous progress. Solar cell research and development programs conducted by the Lewis Research Center's Photovoltaic Branch have produced a sound technology base not only for the space program, but for terrestrial applications as well. The fundamental goals which have guided the NASA photovoltaic program are to improve the efficiency and lifetime, and to reduce the mass and cost of photovoltaic energy conversion devices and arrays for use in space. The major efforts in the current Lewis program are on high efficiency, single crystal GaAs planar and concentrator cells, radiation hard InP cells, and superlattice solar cells. A brief historical perspective of accomplishments in high efficiency space solar cells will be given, and current work in all of the above categories will be described. The applicability of space cell research and technology to terrestrial photovoltaics will be discussed.

Single-unit-cell layer established Bi 2 WO 6 3D hierarchical architectures: Efficient adsorption, photocatalysis and dye-sensitized photoelectrochemical performance

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Huang, Hongwei; Cao, Ranran; Yu, Shixin; Xu, Kang; Hao, Weichang; Wang, Yonggang; Dong, Fan; Zhang, Tierui; Zhang, Yihe

2017-12-01

Single-layer catalysis sparks huge interests and gains widespread attention owing to its high activity. Simultaneously, three-dimensional (3D) hierarchical structure can afford large surface area and abundant reactive sites, contributing to high efficiency. Herein, we report an absorbing single-unit-cell layer established Bi2WO6 3D hierarchical architecture fabricated by a sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate (SDBS)-assisted assembled strategy. The DBS- long chains can adsorb on the (Bi2O2)2+ layers and hence impede stacking of the layers, resulting in the single-unit-cell layer. We also uncovered that SDS with a shorter chain is less effective than SDBS. Due to the sufficient exposure of surface O atoms, single-unit-cell layer 3D Bi2WO6 shows strong selectivity for adsorption on multiform organic dyes with different charges. Remarkably, the single-unit-cell layer 3D Bi2WO6 casts profoundly enhanced photodegradation activity and especially a superior photocatalytic H2 evolution rate, which is 14-fold increase in contrast to the bulk Bi2WO6. Systematic photoelectrochemical characterizations disclose that the substantially elevated carrier density and charge separation efficiency take responsibility for the strengthened photocatalytic performance. Additionally, the possibility of single-unit-cell layer 3D Bi2WO6 as dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC) has also been attempted and it was manifested to be a promising dye-sensitized photoanode for oxygen evolution reaction (ORR). Our work not only furnish an insight into designing single-layer assembled 3D hierarchical architecture, but also offer a multi-functional material for environmental and energy applications.

Target-ion source unit ionization efficiency measurement by method of stable ion beam implantation

CERN Document Server

Panteleev, V.N; Fedorov, D.V; Moroz, F.V; Orlov, S.Yu; Volkov, Yu.M

The ionization efficiency is one of the most important parameters of an on-line used target-ion source system exploited for production of exotic radioactive beams. The ionization efficiency value determination as a characteristic of a target-ion source unit in the stage of its normalizing before on-line use is a very important step in the course of the preparation for an on-line experiment. At the IRIS facility (Petersburg Nuclear Physics Institute, Gatchina) a reliable and rather precise method of the target-ion source unit ionization efficiency measurement by the method of stable beam implantation has been developed. The method worked out exploits an off-line mass-separator for the implantation of the ion beams of selected stable isotopes of different elements into a tantalum foil placed inside the Faraday cup in the focal plane of the mass-separator. The amount of implanted ions has been measured with a high accuracy by the current integrator connected to the Faraday cup. After the implantation of needed a...

Characterization of RNS multiply-add units for power efficient DSP

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Cardarilli, Gian Carlo; Nannarelli, Alberto; Petricca, Massimo

2015-01-01

) for a fused multiply-add unit by taking into account four metrics: area, delay, power consumption, and switching activity. The results of the DSE are verified against the TCS and RNS implementation of parallel FIR filters of different characteristics. In both the DSE and the filter implementation, we consider......In the past decades, the Residue Number System (RNS) has been adopted in DSP as an alternative to the traditional two's complement number system (TCS) because of the savings in area, higher speed and reduced power dissipation. In this work, we perform a comprehensive Design Space Exploration (DSE...... two design corners: maximum speed and minimum area. The experimental results demonstrate that for high data rates and high order filters, the RNS implementation is more power efficient than the TCS because of the reduced switching activity and the larger amount of low-power cells placed in the unit....

Design of a memory-access controller with 3.71-times-enhanced energy efficiency for Internet-of-Things-oriented nonvolatile microcontroller unit

Science.gov (United States)

Natsui, Masanori; Hanyu, Takahiro

2018-04-01

In realizing a nonvolatile microcontroller unit (MCU) for sensor nodes in Internet-of-Things (IoT) applications, it is important to solve the data-transfer bottleneck between the central processing unit (CPU) and the nonvolatile memory constituting the MCU. As one circuit-oriented approach to solving this problem, we propose a memory access minimization technique for magnetoresistive-random-access-memory (MRAM)-embedded nonvolatile MCUs. In addition to multiplexing and prefetching of memory access, the proposed technique realizes efficient instruction fetch by eliminating redundant memory access while considering the code length of the instruction to be fetched and the transition of the memory address to be accessed. As a result, the performance of the MCU can be improved while relaxing the performance requirement for the embedded MRAM, and compact and low-power implementation can be performed as compared with the conventional cache-based one. Through the evaluation using a system consisting of a general purpose 32-bit CPU and embedded MRAM, it is demonstrated that the proposed technique increases the peak efficiency of the system up to 3.71 times, while a 2.29-fold area reduction is achieved compared with the cache-based one.

Premium Efficiency Motor Selection and Application Guide – A Handbook for Industry

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gilbert A. McCoy and John G. Douglass

2014-02-01

This handbook informs new motor purchase decisions by identifying energy and cost savings that can come from replacing motors with premium efficiency units. The handbook provides an overview of current motor use in the industrial sector, including the development of motor efficiency standards, currently available and emerging advanced efficiency motor technologies, and guidance on how to evaluate motor efficiency opportunities. It also several tips on getting the most out of industrial motors, such as how to avoid adverse motor interactions with electronic adjustable speed drives and how to ensure efficiency gains are not lost to undervoltage operation or excessive voltage unbalance.

ICT applications enhancing energy efficiency

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. G. Matani

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Computers, laptops and mobile devices – information technology (IT accounts for 2% of human greenhouse gas emissions worldwide, as evidenced in a study by Global Action Plan, a UK based environmental organization. This figure can be reduced if the green segment, or Green IT, continues to grow. Energy can also be saved through cloud computing, namely the principle of outsourcing the programs and functions of one’s own computer to service providers over the internet. This also means sharing storage capacity with others. This paper highlights the impact of information technology applications towards enhancing energy efficiency of the systems.

Experience with dispersant application: long-path recirculation cleanup trial at Byron unit 1 during spring 2011 and online addition update

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fruzzetti, Keith; Marks, Chuck; Kreider, Marc; Morey, David; Duncanson, Iain; Bates, Joe; Sawochka, Stephen

2012-09-01

The use of dispersants in pressurized water reactors (PWRs) has been extensively qualified by EPRI over the past 14 years. Building on the demonstrated success for reducing the rate of corrosion product accumulation within recirculating steam generators (SGs), dispersant injection has more recently been qualified for application during the post-outage startup long-path recirculation cleanup period and for application during SG wet lay-up. These latter two applications are also of value for plants with once through SGs. Dispersant application during the long-path recirculation (LPR) cleanup process can reduce the amount of corrosion products available for transport to the SGs by more effectively flushing the condensate and feedwater systems prior to initiating flow to the SGs. The first application occurred at Byron 1 in Spring 2011 under EPRI sponsorship. Extensive qualification and preparation led to a successful outcome. Dispersant was added in two batches while the unit was transitioning from short-path to full LPR cleanup. The target maximum concentration was 800 ppb, while the largest measured dispersant concentration during the application was approximately 650 ppb. There were no difficulties in decreasing the dispersant concentration below the target threshold value prior to reaching Mode 1 entry at the conclusion of the cleaning application. The application was very successful, resulting in the following conclusions: - Approximately 10-20 lb (5-9 kg) of additional iron mass was removed during the LPR cleanup as a result of dispersant addition. - It appears that the added cleanup resulting from dispersant addition during the outage caused a significant decrease in the amount of iron transported to the SGs during the early part of the subsequent cycle. Specifically, on the order of 10-15 lb (5-7 kg) less iron was transported than would otherwise have been expected based on prior plant experience. The qualification work, application details, and an assessment

Refractories for Industrial Processing. Opportunities for Improved Energy Efficiency

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hemrick, James G. [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Hayden, H. Wayne [Metals Manufacture Process and Controls Technology, Inc., Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Angelini, Peter [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Moore, Robert E. [R.E. Moore Associates, Maricopa, AZ (United States); Headrick, William L. [R.E. Moore Associates, Maricopa, AZ (United States)

2005-01-01

Refractories are a class of materials of critical importance to manufacturing industries with high-temperature unit processes. This study describes industrial refractory applications and identifies refractory performance barriers to energy efficiency for processing. The report provides recommendations for R&D pathways leading to improved refractories for energy-efficient manufacturing and processing.

Study of the efficiency of some water treatment unit that present in houses in Erbil city-Iraq

Science.gov (United States)

Toma, Janan. Jabbar.; Hanna, Aveen. Matti.

2017-09-01

Many people in Erbil city started more than two decade to put special treatment units in their houses to purified water to become safer for drinking uses. The aim of this study was determine the efficiency of six kind water treatment units which include (two replicate of Crystal Water Purifier, So-Safe Water Filter, R O Water Purifier, Kontec Water Purified and Al-Kawther Purified Water). Water samples were collected in two sites one before and other after treatment unit. Each sample was collect with three replication during May to October-2016. Analyzed for Major cations concentration (calcium, magnesium, sodium and potassium), anions concentration (nitrate and chloride) and hydrogen ion concentration (pH), electrical conductivity (EC), total dissolved solids (TDS), alkalinity and total hardness by using standard methods. The water quality index values for all raw water sample befor and after treatment was good and excellent respectively for drinking purposes. Efficiency of So-Safe Water Filter was 66.32% it means was more efficiency than others special water treatment units while in RO Water Purifier was 27.14%, means less efficiency than other water purifier water under this study. Values for major cations, anions and others chemicals characteristics in the water samples after treatment became lower concentrations than befor treatment, likely an indication that these were removed by treatment. According to guideline of world health organization all of variables except total hardness befor treatment are safe and suitable for drinking purposes.

Efficient Machine Learning Approach for Optimizing Scientific Computing Applications on Emerging HPC Architectures

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Arumugam, Kamesh [Old Dominion Univ., Norfolk, VA (United States)

2017-05-01

the parallel implementation challenges of such irregular applications on different HPC architectures. In particular, we use supervised learning to predict the computation structure and use it to address the control-ow and memory access irregularities in the parallel implementation of such applications on GPUs, Xeon Phis, and heterogeneous architectures composed of multi-core CPUs with GPUs or Xeon Phis. We use numerical simulation of charged particles beam dynamics simulation as a motivating example throughout the dissertation to present our new approach, though they should be equally applicable to a wide range of irregular applications. The machine learning approach presented here use predictive analytics and forecasting techniques to adaptively model and track the irregular memory access pattern at each time step of the simulation to anticipate the future memory access pattern. Access pattern forecasts can then be used to formulate optimization decisions during application execution which improves the performance of the application at a future time step based on the observations from earlier time steps. In heterogeneous architectures, forecasts can also be used to improve the memory performance and resource utilization of all the processing units to deliver a good aggregate performance. We used these optimization techniques and anticipation strategy to design a cache-aware, memory efficient parallel algorithm to address the irregularities in the parallel implementation of charged particles beam dynamics simulation on different HPC architectures. Experimental result using a diverse mix of HPC architectures shows that our approach in using anticipation strategy is effective in maximizing data reuse, ensuring workload balance, minimizing branch and memory divergence, and in improving resource utilization.

Unit testing of AngularJS : A look into writing tests for web application

OpenAIRE

Karttunen, Joel

2016-01-01

This task was assigned by Protacon Solutions Oy with the objective set to study and implement unit testing in AngularJS JavaScript framework as part of the development process of the customer’s application. The thesis focuses on studying the AngularJS framework and if and how its design philosophy complements the unit testing principles. The focus was on studying unit testing via developing unit tests iteratively onto the application created beforehand. The tests were created with Jas...

DEVELOPMENT OF MORE-EFFICIENT GAS FLOODING APPLICABLE TO SHALLOW RESERVOIRS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

William R. Rossen; Russell T. Johns; Gary A. Pope

2003-08-21

The objective of this research is to widen the applicability of gas flooding to shallow oil reservoirs by reducing the pressure required for miscibility using gas enrichment and increasing sweep efficiency with foam. Task 1 examines the potential for improved oil recovery with enriched gases. Subtask 1.1 examines the effect of dispersion processes on oil recovery and the extent of enrichment needed in the presence of dispersion. Subtask 1.2 develops a fast, efficient method to predict the extent of enrichment needed for crude oils at a given pressure. Task 2 develops improved foam processes to increase sweep efficiency in gas flooding. Subtask 2.1 comprises mechanistic experimental studies of foams with N2 gas. Subtask 2.2 conducts experiments with CO{sub 2} foam. Subtask 2.3 develops and applies a simulator for foam processes in field application.

Planar conjugated polymers containing 9,10-disubstituted phenanthrene units for efficient polymer solar cells.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Guangwu; Kang, Chong; Li, Cuihong; Lu, Zhen; Zhang, Jicheng; Gong, Xue; Zhao, Guangyao; Dong, Huanli; Hu, Wenping; Bo, Zhishan

2014-06-01

Four novel conjugated polymers (P1-4) with 9,10-disubstituted phenanthrene (PhA) as the donor unit and 5,6-bis(octyloxy)benzothiadiazole as the acceptor unit are synthesized and characterized. These polymers are of medium bandgaps (2.0 eV), low-lying HOMO energy levels (below -5.3 eV), and high hole mobilities (in the range of 3.6 × 10(-3) to 0.02 cm(2) V(-1) s(-1) ). Bulk heterojunction (BHJ) polymer solar cells (PSCs) with P1-4:PC71 BM blends as the active layer and an alcohol-soluble fullerene derivative (FN-C60) as the interfacial layer between the active layer and cathode give the best power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 4.24%, indicating that 9,10-disubstituted PhA are potential donor materials for high-efficiency BHJ PSCs. © 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Scavenger: Transparent Development of Efficient Cyber Foraging Applications

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kristensen, Mads Darø

2010-01-01

delivering efficient, mobile use of remote computing resources through the use of a custom built mobile code execution environment and a new dual-profiling scheduler. One of the main difficulties within cyber foraging is that it is very challenging for application programmers to develop cyber foraging...

Does decentralization influence efficiency of health units? A study of opinion and perception of health workers in Odisha

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bhuputra Panda

2016-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Health systems in low and middle income countries are struggling to improve efficiency in the functioning of health units of which workforce is one of the most critical building blocks. In India, Rogi Kalyan Samiti (RKS was established at every health unit as institutions of local decision making in order to improve productive efficiency and quality. Measuring efficiency of health units is a complex task. This study aimed at assessing the perception (opinion and satisfaction of health workers about influence of RKS on improving efficiency of peripheral decision making health units (DMHU; examining differences between priority and non-priority set-ups; identifying predictors of satisfaction at work; and discussing suggestions to improve performance. Methods Following a cross-sectional, comparative study design, 130 health workers from 30 institutions were selected through a multi-stage stratified random sampling. A semi-structured questionnaire was administered to assess perception and opinion of health workers about influence of RKS on efficiency of decision making at local level, motivation and performance of staff, and availability of funds; improvement of quality of services, and coordination among co-workers; and participation of community in local decision making. Three districts with highest infant mortality rate (IMR, one each, from 3 zones of Odisha and 3 with lowest IMR were selected on the basis of IMR estimates of 2011. The former constituted priority districts (PD and the latter, non-priority districts (NPD. Composite scores were developed and compared between PD and NPD. Adjusted linear regression was conducted to identify predictors of satisfaction at work. Results A majority of respondents felt that RKS was efficient in decision making that resulted in improvement of all critical parameters of health service delivery, including quality; this was significantly higher in PD. Further, higher proportion of

Automatic examination of nuclear reactor vessels with focused search units. Status and typical application to inspections performed in accordance with ASME code

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Verger, B.; Saglio, R.

1981-05-01

The use of focused search units in nuclear reactor vessel examinations has significantly increased the capability of flaw indication detection and characterization. These search units especially allow a more accurate sizing of indications and a more efficient follow up of their history. In this aspect, they are a unique tool in the area of safety and reliability of installations. It was this type of search unit which was adopted to perform the examinations required within the scope of inservice inspections of all P.W.R. reactors of the French nuclear program. This paper summarizes the results gathered through the 4l examinations performed over the last five years. A typical application of focused search units in automated inspections performed in accordance with ASME code requirements on P.W.R. nuclear reactor vessels is then described

Leveraging Cloud Heterogeneity for Cost-Efficient Execution of Parallel Applications

OpenAIRE

Roloff, Eduardo; Diener, Matthias; Diaz Carreño, Emmanuell; Gaspary, Luciano Paschoal; Navaux, Philippe O.A.

2017-01-01

Public cloud providers offer a wide range of instance types, with different processing and interconnection speeds, as well as varying prices. Furthermore, the tasks of many parallel applications show different computational demands due to load imbalance. These differences can be exploited for improving the cost efficiency of parallel applications in many cloud environments by matching application requirements to instance types. In this paper, we introduce the concept of heterogeneous cloud sy...

Effect of method and time of application on P use efficiency by mustard (Brassica juncea L.)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Singh, S.; Kamath, M.B.

1990-01-01

Radiophosphorus( 32 p) employed in a two years field study to evaluate some techniques of phosphate application in relation to P utilization by mustard as a test crop on I.A.R.I. Farm alluvial soil revealed that split application of phosphate proved superior to other methods of P fertilization as judged by significantly higher values for per cent Pdff and per cent P utilization. Band placement of plain single suprphosphate(SSP) as well as slurry blended SSP 3 to 4 cm below the seed were at par but both were superior to broadcast application of slurry blended SSP in terms of different P uptake parmeters. Fertilizer applied as a traditional practice, i.e, to broadcast it at seeding was least efficiently utilized. Moreover, alternate tagging technique conclusively indicated that mustard crop derived relatively more P from the basal dose than that of side dressed 25 days after seeding. The grain yield response per unit quantity of added P was much higher in favour of split application followed by comparable response of band placement of blended SSP and unblended fertilizer. (author). 12 refs., 2 tabs

Industrial applications using BASF eco-efficiency analysis: perspectives on green engineering principles.

Science.gov (United States)

Shonnard, David R; Kicherer, Andreas; Saling, Peter

2003-12-01

Life without chemicals would be inconceivable, but the potential risks and impacts to the environment associated with chemical production and chemical products are viewed critically. Eco-efficiency analysis considers the economic and life cycle environmental effects of a product or process, giving these equal weighting. The major elements of the environmental assessment include primary energy use, raw materials utilization, emissions to all media, toxicity, safety risk, and land use. The relevance of each environmental category and also for the economic versus the environmental impacts is evaluated using national emissions and economic data. The eco-efficiency analysis method of BASF is briefly presented, and results from three applications to chemical processes and products are summarized. Through these applications, the eco-efficiency analyses mostly confirm the 12 Principles listed in Anastas and Zimmerman (Environ. Sci. Technol. 2003, 37(5), 94A), with the exception that, in one application, production systems based on bio-based feedstocks were not the most eco-efficient as compared to those based on fossil resources. Over 180 eco-efficiency analyses have been conducted at BASF, and their results have been used to support strategic decision-making, marketing, research and development, and communication with external parties. Eco-efficiency analysis, as one important strategy and success factor in sustainable development, will continue to be a very strong operational tool at BASF.

GLOBAL FINANCIAL CRISIS AND UNIT-LINKED INSURANCE MARKETS EFFICIENCY: EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE FROM CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPEAN COUNTRIES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Botoş Horia Mircea

2012-12-01

Full Text Available This paper empirically investigates the impact of the Global financial crisis on the efficiency of four Central and Eastern European emerging unit-linked insurance markets, applying the automatic variance ratio (AVR test of Kim (2009 and variance ratio tests using ranks and signs by Wright (2000 for entire, pre-crisis and crisis periods. This study contributes to the existing literature on efficient market hypothesis with several distinct features: it provides a systematic review of the weak-form market efficiency literature that examines return predictability of the daily ING unit-linked funds prices; also the article aims at monitoring any improvement in the degree of efficiency in time and also examines the relative efficiency of unit-linked insurance markets in pre-crisis and crisis periods. Unit linked insurance are life insurance policies with investment component. In the literature there are few studies investigating the effects of a financial crisis on the potential of predictability and implicitly on the degree of efficiency of financial markets. The occurrence of a market crash or financial crisis is a possible contributing factor of market inefficiency. Most of the studies are focused on the Asian crisis in 1997: Holden et al. (2005 examined the weak-form efficiency of eight emerging Asian stock markets using VR tests before, during and after the Asian crisis; Kim and Shamsuddin (2008 used three different types of multiple VR tests for nine Asian stock markets; the findings reported by Lim et al. (2008 are consistent with those reported by Cheong et al. (2007, in which the highest inefficiency occurs during the crisis period. Todea and Lazar (2010 investigated the effects of the Global crisis on the relative efficiency of ten CEE stock markets, using Generalized Spectral test of Escanciano and Velasco (2006. Wright (2000 proposes the alternative non-parametric variance ratio tests using ranks and signs of return and demonstrates that

Application of ion-exchange unit in uranium extraction process in China (to be continued)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gong Chuanwen

2004-01-01

The application conditions of five different ion exchange units in uranium milling plant and wastewater treatment plant of uranium mine in China are introduced, including working parameters, existing problems and improvements. The advantages and disadvantages of these units are reviewed briefly. The procedure points to be followed in selecting ion exchange unit are recommended in the engineering design. The primary views are presented upon the application prospects of some ion exchange units in uranium extraction process in China

Efficiency Improvement and Quality Initiatives Application in Financial Institutions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

MSc. Ajtene Avdullahi

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Financial institutions in today’s economy have no longer the luxury to improve profit simply by increasing revenue. These firms, due to the significant measuring reductions in the financial services industry needed to improve operational efficiencies and merely support existing processes with fewer resources. This paper explains the benefits of Lean, Six Sigma, Total Quality Management and Lean Six Sigma that have improved organization's performance, by cutting costs and waste, improving their products or services, increasing profitability as well as enhancing customer satisfaction. The applicability of quality management practices in financial institutions in Kosovo is presented and also their efficiency and effectiveness. By analyzing data from Raiffeisen Bank Kosovo, this paper highlights the benefits of Individual and Micro companies customer segment as the result of organizational change and successful application of quality initiatives from financial institutions in Kosovo.

Efficient hash tables for network applications.

Science.gov (United States)

Zink, Thomas; Waldvogel, Marcel

2015-01-01

Hashing has yet to be widely accepted as a component of hard real-time systems and hardware implementations, due to still existing prejudices concerning the unpredictability of space and time requirements resulting from collisions. While in theory perfect hashing can provide optimal mapping, in practice, finding a perfect hash function is too expensive, especially in the context of high-speed applications. The introduction of hashing with multiple choices, d-left hashing and probabilistic table summaries, has caused a shift towards deterministic DRAM access. However, high amounts of rare and expensive high-speed SRAM need to be traded off for predictability, which is infeasible for many applications. In this paper we show that previous suggestions suffer from the false precondition of full generality. Our approach exploits four individual degrees of freedom available in many practical applications, especially hardware and high-speed lookups. This reduces the requirement of on-chip memory up to an order of magnitude and guarantees constant lookup and update time at the cost of only minute amounts of additional hardware. Our design makes efficient hash table implementations cheaper, more predictable, and more practical.

INTERPRETATION AND APPLICATION OF LEGAL ENGLISH LANGUAGE UNITS IN PRACTICE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Semenova, E.V.

2017-03-01

Full Text Available In this article the variety of borrowings, internationalisms, phraseological units, idioms in the professional-oriented texts is considered. It opens an opportunity to understand the statement of a thought and laconicism of its expression, including the field of jurisprudence. The research objective is demonstration the ways of interpretation and application of legal English language units in practice through characteristic features of English legal terminology. Particular attention is paid to the peculiarities of phraseological units and their translation in oral and written speech.

77 FR 38040 - Reestablishment of the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Advisory Committee and Solicitation...

Science.gov (United States)

2012-06-26

... of Reestablishment of the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Advisory Committee and Solicitation.... exports of renewable energy and energy efficiency goods and services, in accordance with applicable United... of U.S. citizens who will represent U.S. companies in the renewable energy and energy efficiency...

Efficiency limits of laser power converters for optical power transfer applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mukherjee, J; Jarvis, S; Sweeney, S J; Perren, M

2013-01-01

We have developed III–V-based high-efficiency laser power converters (LPCs), optimized specifically for converting monochromatic laser radiation at the eye-safe wavelength of 1.55 µm into electrical power. The applications of these photovoltaic cells include high-efficiency space-based and terrestrial laser power transfer and subsequent conversion to electrical power. In addition, these cells also find use in fibre-optic power delivery, remote powering of subcutaneous equipment and several other optical power delivery applications. The LPC design is based on lattice-matched InGaAsP/InP and incorporates elements for photon-recycling and contact design for efficient carrier extraction. Here we compare results from electro-optical design simulations with experimental results from prototype devices studied both in the lab and in field tests. We analyse wavelength and temperature dependence of the LPC characteristics. An experimental conversion efficiency of 44.6% [±1%] is obtained from the prototype devices under monochromatic illumination at 1.55 µm (illumination power density of 1 kW m −2 ) at room temperature. Further design optimization of our LPC is expected to scale the efficiency beyond 50% at 1 kW m −2 . (paper)

Efficiency limits of laser power converters for optical power transfer applications

Science.gov (United States)

Mukherjee, J.; Jarvis, S.; Perren, M.; Sweeney, S. J.

2013-07-01

We have developed III-V-based high-efficiency laser power converters (LPCs), optimized specifically for converting monochromatic laser radiation at the eye-safe wavelength of 1.55 µm into electrical power. The applications of these photovoltaic cells include high-efficiency space-based and terrestrial laser power transfer and subsequent conversion to electrical power. In addition, these cells also find use in fibre-optic power delivery, remote powering of subcutaneous equipment and several other optical power delivery applications. The LPC design is based on lattice-matched InGaAsP/InP and incorporates elements for photon-recycling and contact design for efficient carrier extraction. Here we compare results from electro-optical design simulations with experimental results from prototype devices studied both in the lab and in field tests. We analyse wavelength and temperature dependence of the LPC characteristics. An experimental conversion efficiency of 44.6% [±1%] is obtained from the prototype devices under monochromatic illumination at 1.55 µm (illumination power density of 1 kW m-2) at room temperature. Further design optimization of our LPC is expected to scale the efficiency beyond 50% at 1 kW m-2.

Power efficiency of mineral and organic fertilizers application in crop rotations

OpenAIRE

BOSAK V.M.

2009-01-01

In researches on sod podzolic light loamy soil the application of mineral and organic fertilizers has provided high indicators of agronomic and power efficiency. Entering of mineral fertilizers has raised efficiency of field crop rotations on 19,9-30,3 tha -1 of f.u., as well as entering of organic fertilizers on 5,2-10,8 tha -1 of f.u. at a recoupment of 1 ton of manure of 65,0-131,3 f.u. and 1 kg of NPK of 8,1-9,7 f.u. Power return of application of mineral fertilizers in crop rotations has...

Informative genomic microsatellite markers for efficient genotyping applications in sugarcane.

Science.gov (United States)

Parida, Swarup K; Kalia, Sanjay K; Kaul, Sunita; Dalal, Vivek; Hemaprabha, G; Selvi, Athiappan; Pandit, Awadhesh; Singh, Archana; Gaikwad, Kishor; Sharma, Tilak R; Srivastava, Prem Shankar; Singh, Nagendra K; Mohapatra, Trilochan

2009-01-01

Genomic microsatellite markers are capable of revealing high degree of polymorphism. Sugarcane (Saccharum sp.), having a complex polyploid genome requires more number of such informative markers for various applications in genetics and breeding. With the objective of generating a large set of microsatellite markers designated as Sugarcane Enriched Genomic MicroSatellite (SEGMS), 6,318 clones from genomic libraries of two hybrid sugarcane cultivars enriched with 18 different microsatellite repeat-motifs were sequenced to generate 4.16 Mb high-quality sequences. Microsatellites were identified in 1,261 of the 5,742 non-redundant clones that accounted for 22% enrichment of the libraries. Retro-transposon association was observed for 23.1% of the identified microsatellites. The utility of the microsatellite containing genomic sequences were demonstrated by higher primer designing potential (90%) and PCR amplification efficiency (87.4%). A total of 1,315 markers including 567 class I microsatellite markers were designed and placed in the public domain for unrestricted use. The level of polymorphism detected by these markers among sugarcane species, genera, and varieties was 88.6%, while cross-transferability rate was 93.2% within Saccharum complex and 25% to cereals. Cloning and sequencing of size variant amplicons revealed that the variation in the number of repeat-units was the main source of SEGMS fragment length polymorphism. High level of polymorphism and wide range of genetic diversity (0.16-0.82 with an average of 0.44) assayed with the SEGMS markers suggested their usefulness in various genotyping applications in sugarcane.

76 FR 17391 - Applications for New Awards; United States-Brazil Higher Education Consortia Program

Science.gov (United States)

2011-03-29

... DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Applications for New Awards; United States-Brazil Higher Education...: United States (U.S.)- Brazil Higher Education Consortia Program Notice inviting applications for new... projects that include a plan to work with an institution of higher education (IHE) in another country in...

75 FR 35766 - Establishment of the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Advisory Committee and Solicitation...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-06-23

... International Trade announces the establishment of the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Advisory Committee... services related to renewable energy and energy efficiency in accordance with applicable United States... committee of U.S. citizens who will represent U.S. companies in the renewable energy and energy efficiency...

Efficiency of optical-electronic systems: methods application for the analysis of structural changes in the process of eye grounds diagnosis

Science.gov (United States)

Saldan, Yosyp R.; Pavlov, Sergii V.; Vovkotrub, Dina V.; Saldan, Yulia Y.; Vassilenko, Valentina B.; Mazur, Nadia I.; Nikolaichuk, Daria V.; Wójcik, Waldemar; Romaniuk, Ryszard; Suleimenov, Batyrbek; Bainazarov, Ulan

2017-08-01

Process of eye tomogram obtaining by means of optical coherent tomography is studied. Stages of idiopathic macula holes formation in the process of eye grounds diagnostics are considered. Main stages of retina pathology progression are determined: Fuzzy logic units for obtaining reliable conclusions regarding the result of diagnosis are developed. By the results of theoretical and practical research system and technique of retinal macular region of the eye state analysis is developed ; application of the system, based on fuzzy logic device, improves the efficiency of eye retina complex.

Biomedical applications on the GRID efficient management of parallel jobs

CERN Document Server

Moscicki, Jakub T; Lee Hurng Chun; Lin, S C; Pia, Maria Grazia

2004-01-01

Distributed computing based on the Master-Worker and PULL interaction model is applicable to a number of applications in high energy physics, medical physics and bio-informatics. We demonstrate a realistic medical physics use-case of a dosimetric system for brachytherapy using distributed Grid resources. We present the efficient techniques for running parallel jobs in a case of the BLAST, a gene sequencing application, as well as for the Monte Carlo simulation based on Geant4. We present a strategy for improving the runtime performance and robustness of the jobs as well as for the minimization of the development time needed to migrate the applications to a distributed environment.

Studies and Application of Remote Sensing Retrieval Method of Soil Moisture Content in Land Parcel Units in Irrigation Area

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, H.; Zhao, H. L.; Jiang, Y. Z.; Zang, W. B.

2018-05-01

caused by the research units of pixels, and doesn't involve compromises in the spatial scale and simulating precision like the grid simulation. When the application needs are met, the production efficiency of products can also be improved at a certain degree.

Improving the efficiency of a chemotherapy day unit: applying a business approach to oncology.

Science.gov (United States)

van Lent, Wineke A M; Goedbloed, N; van Harten, W H

2009-03-01

To improve the efficiency of a hospital-based chemotherapy day unit (CDU). The CDU was benchmarked with two other CDUs to identify their attainable performance levels for efficiency, and causes for differences. Furthermore, an in-depth analysis using a business approach, called lean thinking, was performed. An integrated set of interventions was implemented, among them a new planning system. The results were evaluated using pre- and post-measurements. We observed 24% growth of treatments and bed utilisation, a 12% increase of staff member productivity and an 81% reduction of overtime. The used method improved process design and led to increased efficiency and a more timely delivery of care. Thus, the business approaches, which were adapted for healthcare, were successfully applied. The method may serve as an example for other oncology settings with problems concerning waiting times, patient flow or lack of beds.

A COMPARATIVE STUDY of HEALTH UNITS of the 6TH GREEK HEALTH REGION DURING an ECONOMIC CRISIS PERIOD through DATA ENVELOPMENT ANALYSIS METHOD

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Georgios I. Farantos

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The aim of the present study is to investigate the change in relative efficiency through a comparative study on the efficiency of health units within a Greek health region during an economic crisis environment, with the aid of a new application. The study is designed to collect data from the 6th Greek health region and to process that data with the use of Data Envelopment Analysis software. The study methodology extends to the application of the study of efficiency of organisations and the integration of the analysis in an interpretation framework within the economic crisis. The study refers to similar hospital clinics (pathological within one of the largest Greek health regions in order for the results to be comparable. We estimate and calculate the DEA sizes based on the CRS, VRS and SE models of the Health Units of a Greek health region, with the use of a new application which calculates the change of overall relative Efficiency during the crisis. The study of the change in the efficiency of health units leads to useful conclusions on the negative changes in the observed efficiency of the units and the integration of the studies on the change of efficiency in the Integrated crisis management. The study ranks the efficient and inefficient units and suggests ways of improvement. This study allows for further case studies in the future and the completion of the integrated crisis management model through comparative studies on the efficiency of systems.

Energy- and cost-efficient lattice-QCD computations using graphics processing units

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bach, Matthias

2014-07-01

Quarks and gluons are the building blocks of all hadronic matter, like protons and neutrons. Their interaction is described by Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD), a theory under test by large scale experiments like the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN and in the future at the Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research (FAIR) at GSI. However, perturbative methods can only be applied to QCD for high energies. Studies from first principles are possible via a discretization onto an Euclidean space-time grid. This discretization of QCD is called Lattice QCD (LQCD) and is the only ab-initio option outside of the high-energy regime. LQCD is extremely compute and memory intensive. In particular, it is by definition always bandwidth limited. Thus - despite the complexity of LQCD applications - it led to the development of several specialized compute platforms and influenced the development of others. However, in recent years General-Purpose computation on Graphics Processing Units (GPGPU) came up as a new means for parallel computing. Contrary to machines traditionally used for LQCD, graphics processing units (GPUs) are a massmarket product. This promises advantages in both the pace at which higher-performing hardware becomes available and its price. CL2QCD is an OpenCL based implementation of LQCD using Wilson fermions that was developed within this thesis. It operates on GPUs by all major vendors as well as on central processing units (CPUs). On the AMD Radeon HD 7970 it provides the fastest double-precision D kernel for a single GPU, achieving 120GFLOPS. D - the most compute intensive kernel in LQCD simulations - is commonly used to compare LQCD platforms. This performance is enabled by an in-depth analysis of optimization techniques for bandwidth-limited codes on GPUs. Further, analysis of the communication between GPU and CPU, as well as between multiple GPUs, enables high-performance Krylov space solvers and linear scaling to multiple GPUs within a single system. LQCD

Energy- and cost-efficient lattice-QCD computations using graphics processing units

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bach, Matthias

2014-01-01

Quarks and gluons are the building blocks of all hadronic matter, like protons and neutrons. Their interaction is described by Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD), a theory under test by large scale experiments like the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN and in the future at the Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research (FAIR) at GSI. However, perturbative methods can only be applied to QCD for high energies. Studies from first principles are possible via a discretization onto an Euclidean space-time grid. This discretization of QCD is called Lattice QCD (LQCD) and is the only ab-initio option outside of the high-energy regime. LQCD is extremely compute and memory intensive. In particular, it is by definition always bandwidth limited. Thus - despite the complexity of LQCD applications - it led to the development of several specialized compute platforms and influenced the development of others. However, in recent years General-Purpose computation on Graphics Processing Units (GPGPU) came up as a new means for parallel computing. Contrary to machines traditionally used for LQCD, graphics processing units (GPUs) are a massmarket product. This promises advantages in both the pace at which higher-performing hardware becomes available and its price. CL2QCD is an OpenCL based implementation of LQCD using Wilson fermions that was developed within this thesis. It operates on GPUs by all major vendors as well as on central processing units (CPUs). On the AMD Radeon HD 7970 it provides the fastest double-precision D kernel for a single GPU, achieving 120GFLOPS. D - the most compute intensive kernel in LQCD simulations - is commonly used to compare LQCD platforms. This performance is enabled by an in-depth analysis of optimization techniques for bandwidth-limited codes on GPUs. Further, analysis of the communication between GPU and CPU, as well as between multiple GPUs, enables high-performance Krylov space solvers and linear scaling to multiple GPUs within a single system. LQCD

Influence of deleting some of the inputs and outputs on efficiency status of units in DEA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Abbas ali Noora

2013-06-01

Full Text Available One of the important issues in data envelopment analysis (DEA is sensitivity analysis. This study discusses about deleting some of the inputs and outputs and investigates the influence of it on efficiency status of Decision Making Units (DMUs. To this end some models are presented for recognizing this influence on efficient DMUs. Model 2 (Model 3 in section 3 investigates the influence of deleting i(th input (r(th output on an efficient DMU. Thereafter these models are improved for deleting multiple inputs and outputs. Furthermore, a model is presented for recognizing the maximum number of inputs and (or outputs from among specified inputs and outputs which can be deleted, whereas an efficient DMU preserves its efficiency. Finally, the presented models are utilized for a set of DMUs and the results are reported.

An Optimized Multicolor Point-Implicit Solver for Unstructured Grid Applications on Graphics Processing Units

Science.gov (United States)

Zubair, Mohammad; Nielsen, Eric; Luitjens, Justin; Hammond, Dana

2016-01-01

In the field of computational fluid dynamics, the Navier-Stokes equations are often solved using an unstructuredgrid approach to accommodate geometric complexity. Implicit solution methodologies for such spatial discretizations generally require frequent solution of large tightly-coupled systems of block-sparse linear equations. The multicolor point-implicit solver used in the current work typically requires a significant fraction of the overall application run time. In this work, an efficient implementation of the solver for graphics processing units is proposed. Several factors present unique challenges to achieving an efficient implementation in this environment. These include the variable amount of parallelism available in different kernel calls, indirect memory access patterns, low arithmetic intensity, and the requirement to support variable block sizes. In this work, the solver is reformulated to use standard sparse and dense Basic Linear Algebra Subprograms (BLAS) functions. However, numerical experiments show that the performance of the BLAS functions available in existing CUDA libraries is suboptimal for matrices representative of those encountered in actual simulations. Instead, optimized versions of these functions are developed. Depending on block size, the new implementations show performance gains of up to 7x over the existing CUDA library functions.

Techniques and tools for measuring energy efficiency of scientific software applications

CERN Document Server

Abdurachmanov, David; Eulisse, Giulio; Knight, Robert; Niemi, Tapio; Nurminen, Jukka K.; Nyback, Filip; Pestana, Goncalo; Ou, Zhonghong; Khan, Kashif

2014-01-01

The scale of scientific High Performance Computing (HPC) and High Throughput Computing (HTC) has increased significantly in recent years, and is becoming sensitive to total energy use and cost. Energy-efficiency has thus become an important concern in scientific fields such as High Energy Physics (HEP). There has been a growing interest in utilizing alternate architectures, such as low power ARM processors, to replace traditional Intel x86 architectures. Nevertheless, even though such solutions have been successfully used in mobile applications with low I/O and memory demands, it is unclear if they are suitable and more energy-efficient in the scientific computing environment. Furthermore, there is a lack of tools and experience to derive and compare power consumption between the architectures for various workloads, and eventually to support software optimizations for energy efficiency. To that end, we have performed several physical and software-based measurements of workloads from HEP applications running o...

Energy-Efficient Capacitance-to-Digital Converters for Smart Sensor Applications

KAUST Repository

Alhoshany, Abdulaziz

2017-12-01

One of the key requirements in the design of wireless sensor nodes and miniature biomedical devices is energy efficiency. For a sensor node, which is a sensor and readout circuit, to survive on limited energy sources such as a battery or harvested energy, its energy consumption should be minimized. Capacitive sensors are candidates for use in energy-constrained applications, as they do not consume static power and can be used in a wide range of applications to measure different physical, chemical or biological quantities. However, the energy consumption is dominated by the capacitive interface circuit, i.e. the capacitance-to-digital converter (CDC). Several energy-efficient CDC architectures are introduced in this dissertation to meet the demand for high resolution and energy efficiency in smart capacitive sensors. First, we propose an energy-efficient CDC based on a differential successive-approximation data converter. The proposed differential CDC employs an energy-efficient operational transconductance amplifier (OTA) based on an inverter. A wide capacitance range with fine absolute resolution is implemented in the proposed coarse-fine DAC architecture which saves 89% of silicon area. The proposed CDC achieves an energy efficiency figure-of-merit () of 45.8fJ/step, which is the best reported energy efficiency to date. Second, we propose an energy efficient CDC for high-precision capacitive resolution by using oversampling and noise shaping. The proposed CDC achieves 150 aF absolute resolution and an energy efficiency of 187fJ/conversion-step which outperforms state of the art high-precision differential CDCs. In the third and last part, we propose an in-vitro cancer diagnostic biosensor-CMOS platform for low-power, rapid detection, and low cost. The introduced platform is the first to demonstrate the ability to screen and quantify the spermidine/spermine N1 acetyltransferase (SSAT) enzyme which reveals the presence of early-stage cancer, on the surface of a

Efficient Use of Distributed Systems for Scientific Applications

Science.gov (United States)

Taylor, Valerie; Chen, Jian; Canfield, Thomas; Richard, Jacques

2000-01-01

Distributed computing has been regarded as the future of high performance computing. Nationwide high speed networks such as vBNS are becoming widely available to interconnect high-speed computers, virtual environments, scientific instruments and large data sets. One of the major issues to be addressed with distributed systems is the development of computational tools that facilitate the efficient execution of parallel applications on such systems. These tools must exploit the heterogeneous resources (networks and compute nodes) in distributed systems. This paper presents a tool, called PART, which addresses this issue for mesh partitioning. PART takes advantage of the following heterogeneous system features: (1) processor speed; (2) number of processors; (3) local network performance; and (4) wide area network performance. Further, different finite element applications under consideration may have different computational complexities, different communication patterns, and different element types, which also must be taken into consideration when partitioning. PART uses parallel simulated annealing to partition the domain, taking into consideration network and processor heterogeneity. The results of using PART for an explicit finite element application executing on two IBM SPs (located at Argonne National Laboratory and the San Diego Supercomputer Center) indicate an increase in efficiency by up to 36% as compared to METIS, a widely used mesh partitioning tool. The input to METIS was modified to take into consideration heterogeneous processor performance; METIS does not take into consideration heterogeneous networks. The execution times for these applications were reduced by up to 30% as compared to METIS. These results are given in Figure 1 for four irregular meshes with number of elements ranging from 30,269 elements for the Barth5 mesh to 11,451 elements for the Barth4 mesh. Future work with PART entails using the tool with an integrated application requiring

The application of projected conjugate gradient solvers on graphical processing units

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lin, Youzuo; Renaut, Rosemary

2011-01-01

Graphical processing units introduce the capability for large scale computation at the desktop. Presented numerical results verify that efficiencies and accuracies of basic linear algebra subroutines of all levels when implemented in CUDA and Jacket are comparable. But experimental results demonstrate that the basic linear algebra subroutines of level three offer the greatest potential for improving efficiency of basic numerical algorithms. We consider the solution of the multiple right hand side set of linear equations using Krylov subspace-based solvers. Thus, for the multiple right hand side case, it is more efficient to make use of a block implementation of the conjugate gradient algorithm, rather than to solve each system independently. Jacket is used for the implementation. Furthermore, including projection from one system to another improves efficiency. A relevant example, for which simulated results are provided, is the reconstruction of a three dimensional medical image volume acquired from a positron emission tomography scanner. Efficiency of the reconstruction is improved by using projection across nearby slices.

The application of projected conjugate gradient solvers on graphical processing units

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lin, Youzuo [Los Alamos National Laboratory; Renaut, Rosemary [ARIZONA STATE UNIV.

2011-01-26

Graphical processing units introduce the capability for large scale computation at the desktop. Presented numerical results verify that efficiencies and accuracies of basic linear algebra subroutines of all levels when implemented in CUDA and Jacket are comparable. But experimental results demonstrate that the basic linear algebra subroutines of level three offer the greatest potential for improving efficiency of basic numerical algorithms. We consider the solution of the multiple right hand side set of linear equations using Krylov subspace-based solvers. Thus, for the multiple right hand side case, it is more efficient to make use of a block implementation of the conjugate gradient algorithm, rather than to solve each system independently. Jacket is used for the implementation. Furthermore, including projection from one system to another improves efficiency. A relevant example, for which simulated results are provided, is the reconstruction of a three dimensional medical image volume acquired from a positron emission tomography scanner. Efficiency of the reconstruction is improved by using projection across nearby slices.

Some essential techniques for developing efficient petascale applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kale, L V

2008-01-01

Multiple petaflops-lass machines will appear during the coming year, and many multipetaflops machines are on the anvil. It will be a substantial challenge to make existing parallel CSE applications run efficiently on them, and even more challenging to design new applications that can effectively leverage the large computational power of these machines. Multicore chips and SMP nodes are becoming popular and pose challenges of their own. Further, a new set of challenges in productivity arise, especially if we wish to have a broader set of applications and people to use these machines. Reviewed here is a set of techniques that have proved useful in multiple parallel applications that have scaled to tens of thousands of processors, on machines such as the Blue Gene/L, Blue Gene/P, Cray XT3, and XT4. New challenges and potential solutions for the performance issues are identified. Issues presented by multicore chips and SMP nodes also rre addressed. Also reviewed are some new and old ideas for increasing productivity in parallel programming substantially

Evaluation of the operational efficiency of pacifying police units in the state of Rio de Janeiro

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Igor Rosa Dias de Jesus

2014-05-01

Full Text Available The Pacification Police Unit (UPP is a new model for public security and policing, aimed at ensuring local security and, above all, reduce, or even, extinguish violent crime linked to drug trafficking, and approach people and police. The purpose of this article is measuring the operational efficiency of all UPPs installed in the state of Rio de Janeiro by the beginning of 2011 by Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA. For this, it was used the CCR model – input-oriented – developed by Charnes, Cooper and Rhodes, which allows an objective assessment of the overall efficiency, identifying the sources of inefficiencies and the needed targets to achieve the efficiency in each UPP. The results converge to a reduction of the amount of policemen in all communities out of the efficiency frontier.

Structure model of energy efficiency indicators and applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wu, Li-Ming; Chen, Bai-Sheng; Bor, Yun-Chang; Wu, Yin-Chin

2007-01-01

For the purposes of energy conservation and environmental protection, the government of Taiwan has instigated long-term policies to continuously encourage and assist industry in improving the efficiency of energy utilization. While multiple actions have led to practical energy saving to a limited extent, no strong evidence of improvement in energy efficiency was observed from the energy efficiency indicators (EEI) system, according to the annual national energy statistics and survey. A structural analysis of EEI is needed in order to understand the role that energy efficiency plays in the EEI system. This work uses the Taylor series expansion to develop a structure model for EEI at the level of the process sector of industry. The model is developed on the premise that the design parameters of the process are used in comparison with the operational parameters for energy differences. The utilization index of production capability and the variation index of energy utilization are formulated in the model to describe the differences between EEIs. Both qualitative and quantitative methods for the analysis of energy efficiency and energy savings are derived from the model. Through structural analysis, the model showed that, while the performance of EEI is proportional to the process utilization index of production capability, it is possible that energy may develop in a direction opposite to that of EEI. This helps to explain, at least in part, the inconsistency between EEI and energy savings. An energy-intensive steel plant in Taiwan was selected to show the application of the model. The energy utilization efficiency of the plant was evaluated and the amount of energy that had been saved or over-used in the production process was estimated. Some insights gained from the model outcomes are helpful to further enhance energy efficiency in the plant

ENERGY AND EXERGY ANALYSIS OF A POWDER DETERGENT UNIT

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

G. Bektas; F. Balkan

2008-01-01

In the recent years, there is a growing interest on minimization of energy utilization in various plants and thereby improving the performance. As an efficient tool for examining the processes, the exergy analysis gains importance. In the present work, the application of exergy analysis to powder detergent unit of a powder detergent production plant located at Izmir, Turkey were performed y using actual plant operational data. Also the energy analyses were considered for comparison. Although there are a number of energy and exergy analyses in various areas of industry, this study will be likely the first one for powder detergent production. The energy and exergy efficiencies of the equipments were calculated and it was concluded that according to the overall balance around the unit, the energy efficiency was 0.76 and the exergy efficiency was 0.40

ENERGY AND EXERGY ANALYSIS OF A POWDER DETERGENT UNIT

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

G. Bektas; F. Balkan [Ege University, Chemical Engineering Department, Izmir (Turkey)

2008-09-30

In the recent years, there is a growing interest on minimization of energy utilization in various plants and thereby improving the performance. As an efficient tool for examining the processes, the exergy analysis gains importance. In the present work, the application of exergy analysis to powder detergent unit of a powder detergent production plant located at Izmir, Turkey were performed y using actual plant operational data. Also the energy analyses were considered for comparison. Although there are a number of energy and exergy analyses in various areas of industry, this study will be likely the first one for powder detergent production. The energy and exergy efficiencies of the equipments were calculated and it was concluded that according to the overall balance around the unit, the energy efficiency was 0.76 and the exergy efficiency was 0.40.

I/O-Efficient Batched Union-Find and Its Applications to Terrain Analysis

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Agarwal, Pankaj K.; Arge, Lars Allan; Yi, Ke

2006-01-01

Despite extensive study over the last four decades and numerous applications, no I/O-efficient algorithm is known for the union-find problem. In this paper we present an I/O-efficient algorithm for the batched (off-line) version of the union-find problem. Given any sequence of N union and find op...

Experimental evaluation of enthalpy efficiency and gas-phase contaminant transfer in an enthalpy recovery unit with polymer membrane foils

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nie, Jinzhe; Yang, Jianrong; Fang, Lei

2015-01-01

Experimental studies were conducted in a laboratory setting to investigate the enthalpy efficiency and gas-phase contaminant transfer in a polymer membrane enthalpy recovery unit. One commercially available polymer membrane enthalpy recovery unit was used as a reference unit. Simulated indoor air...... and outdoor air by twin chambers was connected to the unit. Three chemical gases were dosed to the indoor exhaust air to mimic indoor air contaminants. Based on the measurements of temperature, humidity ratio, and contaminant concentrations of the indoor exhaust air and outdoor air supply upstream...

Efficiency of application of instantaneous radiation of seeds by plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tsyganov, A.R.; Gordeev, Yu.A.; Poddubnaya, O.V.

2009-01-01

The efficiency of application of instantaneous (impulse) radiation of seeds of spring wheat (Triticum aestivum) and oat (Avena sativa) by plasma was analyzed. Research results showed that presowing treatment of seeds with instantaneous helium radiation in course of 0,01 seconds (the total duration of seed treatment with plasmatron ion source impulses – one second). In course of the practical experiments there was proved possibility of application impulse radiation technologies in modern agricultural production. Seed germination capacity exceeded the control variants on 14%. Results of influence of applied irradiation on length of sprouts, length of roots and their germinating ability were presented. Irradiation efficiency developed in course of plant vegetation. In accordance with research results and accumulated experimental material on presowing seed treatment with impulses of low temperature helium plasma could make it possible to obtain yields with higher capacity and quality with the minimal expenses for seed treatment

An Application of Graphics Processing Units to Geosimulation of Collective Crowd Behaviour

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cjoskāns Jānis

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The goal of the paper is to assess the ways for computational performance and efficiency improvement of collective crowd behaviour simulation by using parallel computing methods implemented on graphics processing unit (GPU. To perform an experimental evaluation of benefits of parallel computing, a new GPU-based simulator prototype is proposed and the runtime performance is analysed. Based on practical examples of pedestrian dynamics geosimulation, the obtained performance measurements are compared to several other available multiagent simulation tools to determine the efficiency of the proposed simulator, as well as to provide generic guidelines for the efficiency improvements of the parallel simulation of collective crowd behaviour.

Coal-Powered Electric Generating Unit Efficiency and Reliability Dialogue: Summary Report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Taylor, Emmanuel [Energetics, Inc., Columbia, MD (United States)

2018-02-01

Coal continues to play a critical role in powering the Nation’s electricity generation, especially for baseload power plants. With aging coal generation assets facing decreased performance due to the state of the equipment, and with challenges exacerbated by the current market pressures on the coal sector, there are opportunities to advance early-stage technologies that can retrofit or replace equipment components. These changes will eventually result in significant improvements in plant performance once further developed and deployed by industry. Research and development in areas such as materials, fluid dynamics, fuel properties and preparation characteristics, and a new generation of plant controls can lead to new components and systems that can help improve the efficiency and reliability of coal-fired power plants significantly, allowing these assets to continue to provide baseload power. Coal stockpiles at electricity generation plants are typically large enough to provide 30 to 60 days of power prior to resupply—significantly enhancing the stability and reliability of the U.S. electricity sector. Falling prices for non-dispatchable renewable energy and mounting environmental regulations, among other factors, have stimulated efforts to improve the efficiency of these coal-fired electric generating units (EGUs). In addition, increased reliance on natural gas and non-dispatchable energy sources has spurred efforts to further increase the reliability of coal EGUs. The Coal Powered EGU Efficiency and Reliability Dialogue brought together stakeholders from across the coal EGU industry to discuss methods for improvement. Participants at the event reviewed performance-enhancing innovations in coal EGUs, discussed the potential for data-driven management practices to increase efficiency and reliability, investigated the impacts of regulatory compliance on coal EGU performance, and discussed upcoming challenges for the coal industry. This report documents the key

High Efficiency Power Converter for Low Voltage High Power Applications

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nymand, Morten

The topic of this thesis is the design of high efficiency power electronic dc-to-dc converters for high-power, low-input-voltage to high-output-voltage applications. These converters are increasingly required for emerging sustainable energy systems such as fuel cell, battery or photo voltaic based......, and remote power generation for light towers, camper vans, boats, beacons, and buoys etc. A review of current state-of-the-art is presented. The best performing converters achieve moderately high peak efficiencies at high input voltage and medium power level. However, system dimensioning and cost are often...

A data envelopment analysis for energy efficiency of coal-fired power units in China

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Song, Chenxi; Li, Mingjia; Zhang, Fan; He, Ya-Ling; Tao, Wen-Quan

2015-01-01

Highlights: • Two kinds of energy efficiency (EE) indices are analyzed and compared. • The influence degrees of different uncontrollable factors on EE are compared. • The influence of load factor on special EE is 82.6% larger than capacity factor. • The influence of cooling method on special EE is 90.32% larger than steam pressure. • The generalized EE indicator is more recommended by the authors. - Abstract: In this article, the non-parametric data envelopment analysis method (DEA) is employed to evaluate energy efficiency (EE) of 34 coal-fired power units in China. Input-oriented CCR (Charnes, Cooper and Rhodes) model is used for EE analysis. Two efficiency indices, generalized EE and special EE are defined and analyzed. The generalized EE is calculated based on four input parameters: coal consumption, oil consumption, water consumption and auxiliary power consumption by power units. The special EE is only based on two input parameters: coal consumption and auxiliary power consumption. Relations between these two EE indices and non-comparable factors including quality of coal, load factor, capacity factor, parameters of main steam and cooling method are studied. Comparison between EE evaluation results of the two indices is conducted. Results show that these two kinds of EE are more sensitive to the load factor than the capacity factor. The influence of the cooling method on EE is larger than that of main steam parameter. The influence of non-comparable factors on the special EE is stronger than that on the generalized EE

Energy Efficient Scheduling of Real Time Signal Processing Applications through Combined DVFS and DPM

OpenAIRE

Nogues , Erwan; Pelcat , Maxime; Menard , Daniel; Mercat , Alexandre

2016-01-01

International audience; This paper proposes a framework to design energy efficient signal processing systems. The energy efficiency is provided by combining Dynamic Frequency and Voltage Scaling (DVFS) and Dynamic Power Management (DPM). The framework is based on Synchronous Dataflow (SDF) modeling of signal processing applications. A transformation to a single rate form is performed to expose the application parallelism. An automated scheduling is then performed, minimizing the constraint of...

Evaluation of virus reduction efficiency in wastewater treatment unit processes as a credit value in the multiple-barrier system for wastewater reclamation and reuse

OpenAIRE

Ito, Toshihiro; Kato, Tsuyoshi; Hasegawa, Makoto; Katayama, Hiroyuki; Ishii, Satoshi; Okabe, Satoshi; Sano, Daisuke

2016-01-01

The virus reduction efficiency of each unit process is commonly determined based on the ratio of virus concentration in influent to that in effluent of a unit, but the virus concentration in wastewater has often fallen below the analytical quantification limit, which does not allow us to calculate the concentration ratio at each sampling event. In this study, left-censored datasets of norovirus (genogroup I and II), and adenovirus were used to calculate the virus reduction efficiency in unit ...

METHODS FOR IMPROVING THE ENERGY EFFICIENCY OF WELL ROD PUMP UNITS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

BRUNMAN1 Vladimir E.

2016-11-01

Full Text Available The concept of oil production energy efficiency improvement of good rod pumps by utilization of kinetic energy of the downward moving rod in capacitor bank is proposed. A mathematical model of the system is developed. Criteria of reduction of the peak values of current, consuming power and elimination of oscillations are obtained. It is shown that the developed system is capable of reducing the consumption of current twice and the peak power by three times. Thus it is possible to reduce operational and capital costs by reducing the cross-section of the feeder cables and decreasing the power of input transformers and diesel generator set if autonomous feeding of pumping units is used

Application of sorption heat pumps for increasing of new power sources efficiency

Science.gov (United States)

Vasiliev, L.; Filatova, O.; Tsitovich, A.

2010-07-01

In the 21st century the way to increase the efficiency of new sources of energy is directly related with extended exploration of renewable energy. This modern tendency ensures the fuel economy needs to be realized with nature protection. The increasing of new power sources efficiency (cogeneration, trigeneration systems, fuel cells, photovoltaic systems) can be performed by application of solid sorption heat pumps, regrigerators, heat and cold accumulators, heat transformers, natural gas and hydrogen storage systems and efficient heat exchangers.

Application of the thermal efficiency analysis software 'EgWin' at existing power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Koda, E.; Takahashi, T.; Nakao, Y.

2008-01-01

'EgWin' is the general purpose software to analyze a thermal efficiency of power system developed in CRIEPI. This software has been used to analyze the existing power generation unit of 30 or more, and the effectiveness has been confirmed. In thermal power plants, it was used for the clarification of the thermal efficiency decrease factor and the quantitative estimation of the influence that each factor gave to the thermal efficiency of the plant. Also it was used for the quantitative estimation of the effect by the operating condition change and the facility remodeling in thermal power, atomic energy, and geothermal power plants. (author)

An overview of development and application of acoustic emission methods in the United States

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hutten, P.H.

1989-01-01

Beneficial uses being made of acoustic emission (AE) technology for flaw or fault detection both inside of and outside of the nuclear industry tend to be obscured by some of the earlier disappointing efforts to utilize the technology. The objective of this paper is to counter that tendency by providing an overview of a variety of AE applications being made in the United States. In addition to nuclear power applications, the paper discusses applications in other nuclear areas, fossil power plant applications, and other industrial uses including aircraft monitoring. Major AE research and development programs in progress in the United States are also summarized. (orig.)

Assessment of Energy Efficiency Improvement in the United States Petroleum Refining Industry

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Morrow, William R. [Ernest Orlando Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Marano, John [JM Energy Consulting, Inc.; Sathaye, Jayant [Ernest Orlando Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Hasanbeigi, Ali [Ernest Orlando Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Xu, Tengfang [Ernest Orlando Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)

2013-02-01

Adoption of efficient process technologies is an important approach to reducing CO₂ emissions, in particular those associated with combustion. In many cases, implementing energy efficiency measures is among the most cost-effective approaches that any refiner can take, improving productivity while reducing emissions. Therefore, careful analysis of the options and costs associated with efficiency measures is required to establish sound carbon policies addressing global climate change, and is the primary focus of LBNL’s current petroleum refining sector analysis for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The analysis is aimed at identifying energy efficiency-related measures and developing energy abatement supply curves and CO₂ emissions reduction potential for the U.S. refining industry. A refinery model has been developed for this purpose that is a notional aggregation of the U.S. petroleum refining sector. It consists of twelve processing units and account s for the additional energy requirements from steam generation, hydrogen production and water utilities required by each of the twelve processing units. The model is carbon and energy balanced such that crud e oil inputs and major refinery sector outputs (fuels) are benchmarked to 2010 data. Estimates of the current penetration for the identified energy efficiency measures benchmark the energy requirements to those reported in U.S. DOE 2010 data. The remaining energy efficiency potential for each of the measures is estimated and compared to U.S. DOE fuel prices resulting in estimates of cost- effective energy efficiency opportunities for each of the twelve major processes. A combined cost of conserved energy supply curve is also presented along with the CO₂ emissions abatement opportunities that exist in the U.S. petroleum refinery sector. Roughly 1,200 PJ per year of primary fuels savings and close to 500 GWh per y ear of electricity savings are potentially cost

Small gas-turbine units for the power industry: Ways for improving the efficiency and the scale of implementation

Science.gov (United States)

Kosoi, A. S.; Popel', O. S.; Beschastnykh, V. N.; Zeigarnik, Yu. A.; Sinkevich, M. V.

2017-10-01

Small power units (market are reviewed. The most promising lines for the development of the new generation of small GTUs are examined. Special emphasis is placed on the three lines selected for improving the efficiency of small GTUs: increasing the fuel efficiency, cutting down the maintenance cost, and integration with local or renewable power sources. It is demonstrated that, as to the specific fuel consumption, small GTUs of the new generation can have an efficiency 20-25% higher than those of the previous generation, require no maintenance between overhauls, and can be capable of efficient integration into intelligent electrical networks with power facilities operating on renewable or local power sources.

The impact of liberalization on the scope of efficiency improvement in electricity-generating portfolios for the United States and Switzerland

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Krey, B.; Zweifel, P. [Socioeconomic Institute, Zurich (Switzerland)

2008-09-15

In this study, Markowitz mean-variance portfolio theory is applied to electricity-generating technologies of the United States and Switzerland. Both an investor (focused on changes in return) and a current user (focused on return in levels) view are adopted to determine efficient frontiers of electricity generation technologies in terms of expected return and risk as of 2003. Since shocks in generation costs per kWh (the inverse of returns) are correlated, Seemingly Unrelated Regression Estimation (SURE) is used to filter out the systematic components of the covariance matrix. Results suggest that risk-averse investors and risk-neutral current users in the United States are considerably closer to their efficiency frontier than their Swiss counterparts. This may be due to earlier and more thorough deregulation of electricity markets in the United States. (orig.)

Energy Efficiency: An Experiential-Based Energy Unit for Youth Ages 13-18

Science.gov (United States)

Poorman, Myken D.; Webster, Nicole

2010-01-01

Not all 16 year olds can buy hybrid cars to help save gas emissions, but they can learn new, easy ways to save energy. Youth are more likely to develop a greater sense of positive impact on the environment if they learn easy and creative ways to use energy more efficiently at a young age. Through the use of practical applications, youth can begin…

Cattle slurry on grassland - application methods and nitrogen use efficiency

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Lalor, S.T.J.

2014-01-01

Cattle slurry represents a significant resource on grassland-based farming systems. The objective of this thesis was to investigate and devise cattle slurry application methods and strategies that can be implemented on grassland farms to improve the efficiency with which nitrogen (N) in

High Efficiency Power Converter for Low Voltage High Power Applications

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nymand, Morten

The topic of this thesis is the design of high efficiency power electronic dc-to-dc converters for high-power, low-input-voltage to high-output-voltage applications. These converters are increasingly required for emerging sustainable energy systems such as fuel cell, battery or photo voltaic based...

Molecular Design of Efficient Organic D-A-π -A Dye Featuring Triphenylamine as Donor Fragment for Application in Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells.

Science.gov (United States)

Ferdowsi, Parnian; Saygili, Yasemin; Zhang, Weiwei; Edvinson, Tomas; Kavan, Ladislav; Mokhtari, Javad; Zakeeruddin, Shaik M; Grätzel, Michael; Hagfeldt, Anders

2018-01-23

A metal-free organic sensitizer, suitable for the application in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs), has been designed, synthesized and characterized both experimentally and theoretically. The structure of the novel donor-acceptor-π-bridge-acceptor (D-A-π-A) dye incorporates a triphenylamine (TPA) segment and 4-(benzo[c][1,2,5]thiadiazol-4-ylethynyl)benzoic acid (BTEBA). The triphenylamine unit is widely used as an electron donor for photosensitizers, owing to its nonplanar molecular configuration and excellent electron-donating capability, whereas 4-(benzo[c][1,2,5]thiadiazol-4-ylethynyl)benzoic acid is used as an electron acceptor unit. The influences of I 3 - /I - , [Co(bpy) 3 ] 3+/2+ and [Cu(tmby) 2 ] 2+/+ (tmby=4,4',6,6'-tetramethyl-2,2'-bipyridine) as redox electrolytes on the DSSC device performance were also investigated. The maximal monochromatic incident photon-to-current conversion efficiency (IPCE) reached 81 % and the solar light to electrical energy conversion efficiency of devices with [Cu(tmby) 2 ] 2+/+ reached 7.15 %. The devices with [Co(bpy) 3 ] 3+/2+ and I 3 - /I - electrolytes gave efficiencies of 5.22 % and 6.14 %, respectively. The lowest device performance with a [Co(bpy) 3 ] 3+/2+ -based electrolyte is attributed to increased charge recombination. © 2018 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

75 FR 47536 - Application Deadline Extended; Executive Green ICT & Energy Efficiency Trade Mission to Mexico...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-08-06

... DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE Application Deadline Extended; Executive Green ICT & Energy Efficiency... are organizing an Executive Green ICT & Energy Efficiency Trade Mission to Mexico City from September... & Communication Technology (ICT)'' solutions, as well as energy efficiency technologies to enter or increase their...

Technical efficiency of primary health units in Kailahun and Kenema districts of Sierra Leone

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kirigia Joses M

2011-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The objectives of the study reported in this paper were to (i estimate the technical efficiency of samples of community health centres (CHCs, community health posts (CHPs and maternal and child health posts (MCHPs in Kailahun and Kenema districts of Sierra Leone, (ii estimate the output increases needed to make inefficient MCHPs, CHCs and CHPs efficient, and (iii explore strategies for increasing technical efficiency of these institutions. Methods This study applies the data envelopment analysis (DEA approach to analyse technical efficiency of random samples of 36 MCHPs, 22 CHCs and 21 CHPs using input and output data for 2008. Results The findings indicate that 77.8% of the MCHPs, 59.1% of the CHCs and 66.7% of the CHPs were variable returns to scale technically inefficient. The average variable returns to scale technical efficiency was 68.2% (SD = 27.2 among the MCHPs, 69.2% (SD = 33.2 among the CHCs and 59% (SD = 34.7 among the CHPs. Conclusion This study reveals significant technical inefficiencies in the use of health system resources among peripheral health units in Kailahun and Kenema districts of Sierra Leone. There is need to strengthen national and district health information systems to routinely track the quantities and prices of resources injected into the health care systems and health service outcomes (indicators of coverage, quality and health status to facilitate regular efficiency analyses.

Ways to increase efficiency of the HTGR coupled with the gas-turbine power conversion unit - HTR2008-58274

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Golovko, V. F.; Kodochigov, N. G.; Vasyaev, A. V.; Shenoy, A.; Baxi, C. B.

2008-01-01

The paper deals with the issue of increasing efficiency of nuclear power plants with the modular high-temperature helium reactor (HTGR) and direct gas turbine cycle. It should be noted that only this combination can highlight the advantages of the HTGR, namely the ability to heat helium to about 1000 deg. C, in comparison with other reactor plants for electricity generation. The HTGR has never been used in the direct gas turbine cycle. At present, several designs of such commercial plants are at the stage of experimental validation of main technical features. In Russia, 'OKB Mechanical Engineering' together with 'General Atomics' (USA) are developing the GT-MHR project with the reactor power of 600 MW, reactor outlet helium temperature of 850 deg. C, and efficiency of about 45.2%; the South African Republic is developing the PBMR project with the reactor power of 400 MW, reactor outlet helium temperature of 900 deg. C, and efficiency of about 42%; and Japan is developing the GTHTR-300 project with the reactor power of 600 MW, reactor outlet helium temperature of 850 deg. C, and efficiency of about 45.6%. As it has been proven by technical and economic estimations, one of the most important factors for successful promotion of reactor designs is their net efficiency, which must be not lower than 47%. A significant advantage of a reactor plant with the HTGR and gas-turbine power conversion unit over the steam cycle is considerable simplification of the power unit layout and reduction of the required equipment and systems (no steam generators, no turbine hall including steam lines, condenser, deaerator, etc.), which makes the gas-turbine power conversion unit more compact and less costly in production, operation and maintenance. However, in spite of this advantage, it seems that in the projects currently being developed, the potential of the gas-turbine cycle and high-temperature reactor to more efficiently generate electricity is not fully used. For example, in modern

Efficiency improvement of variable speed electrical drives for HVAC applications

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Abrahamsen, F.; Blaabjerg, F.; Pedersen, J.K. [Aalborg Univ., Inst. of Energy Technology, Aalborg East (Denmark)

2000-07-01

A large part of the produced electrical energy is consumed by ventilators, pumps and compressors, the so-called HVAC applications. A lot of this energy can be saved by speed control, but even with the large saving obtained alone by introduction of variable speed, it is still essential to optimise the control of the variable speed drive and to optimise the electrical machine with respect to efficiency. Experiments are made with energy optimal induction motor control on a 2.2 kW variable speed pump system. It is demonstrated that 10% of the consumed energy can typically be saved by energy optimal motor control compared with constant V/Hz control. In a comparison of induction motors and permanent magnet synchronous motors for a variable speed pump application it is shown that for 2.2 kW motors an investment in high-efficiency or PM motors are typically paid back within 2.5 years and 7 years respectively. For a 90 kW PM motor the pay-back time would be 24 years. It is today not profitable to use PM motors for variable speed HVAC applications above 2 kW rated motor power. A further study is required to determine this limit in power rating more precisely. (orig.)

Cooling energy efficiency and classroom air environment of a school building operated by the heat recovery air conditioning unit

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, Yang; Zhao, Fu-Yun; Kuckelkorn, Jens; Liu, Di; Liu, Li-Qun; Pan, Xiao-Chuan

2014-01-01

The recently-built school buildings have adopted novel heat recovery ventilator and air conditioning system. Heat recovery efficiency of the heat recovery facility and energy conservation ratio of the air conditioning unit were analytically modeled, taking the ventilation networks into account. Following that, school classroom displacement ventilation and its thermal stratification and indoor air quality indicated by the CO 2 concentration have been numerically modeled concerning the effects of delivering ventilation flow rate and supplying air temperature. Numerical results indicate that the promotion of mechanical ventilation rate can simultaneously boost the dilution of indoor air pollutants and the non-uniformity of indoor thermal and pollutant distributions. Subsequent energy performance analysis demonstrates that classroom energy demands for ventilation and cooling could be reduced with the promotion of heat recovery efficiency of the ventilation facility, and the energy conservation ratio of the air conditioning unit decreases with the increasing temperatures of supplying air. Fitting correlations of heat recovery ventilation and cooling energy conservation have been presented. - Highlights: • Low energy school buildings and classroom environment. • Heat recovery facility operating with an air conditioning unit. • Displacement ventilation influenced by the heat recovery efficiency. • Energy conservation of cooling and ventilation through heat recovery. • Enhancement of classroom environment with reduction of school building energy

Efficient biomass preparation for the utilization as biocoal in industrial applications

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lampe, Karl; Grund, Guido; Erpelding, Richard; Denker, Jurgen [ThyssenKrupp Polysius AG, Beckum (Germany)

2012-11-01

Rising energy costs and regulations on the efficient utilisation of energy resources force plant operators in all industrial sectors to focus on these aspects. Both in power generation as well as in thermal processes, the use of renewable sources is becoming more and more important. In this respect, especially the utilisation of biomass plays an ever-increasing role. The production of biocoal offers a solution to overcome the challenges of a wide range of different feedstock properties and to provide homogenised, biogenic fuels. The main objectives to be achieved in biocoal production are efficient drying, energy densification, bulk density maximisation and grindability optimisation. Here, the torrefaction of biomass presents a suitable and energy-efficient solution. With regard to uniform temperature distribution, temperature control, efficiency and final product quality, the multiple hearth furnace method is the preferred process of ThyssenKrupp Polysius. A double-zone multiple hearth furnace (POLTORR) permits both drying and torrefaction of wet biomasses up to 50% moisture content in one coupled unit. The main advantage of this process is the direct, safe and efficient utilisation of the volatiles released during torrefaction for the drying process by means of post-combustion, thus under favourable conditions, an almost autothermic process can be realized.

CONCEPTUAL BASES OF THE ENERGY EFFICIENT SYSTEM OF MANAGEMENT OF COMBINED UNITS OF WASTEWATER TREATMENT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

V. N. Shtepa

2016-01-01

Full Text Available A critical analysis of the shortcomings of the existing water purification systems is conducted. In order to ensure environmental safety and energy savings it is proposed to use the combined units, including physical, chemical, physical-and-chemical and biological methods. The attention is driven to the fact that the most effective way to maintain current water purification is an adaptive control system. The shortcomings of the management of water treatment units were revealed and it was proposed to produce their synthesis based on the mathematical apparatus of artificial intelligence systems. Taking into account the requirements of the environmental safety and the need in the energy savings, the energy efficiency criteria of combined system functioning has been developed. At an industrial plant (slaughterhouse wastewater treatment the compliance of the production conditions of the criterion has been undertaken that confirmed the criterion relevance and usefulness as applied to the synthesis of energy-efficient control systems. A synthetic control system combined the water treatment plants. Having based on the preliminary research and analysis of the current work in the subject area the architecture of a control system of combined water treatment units that use intelligent technology was developed. The key functional of the unit – information-analytical subsystem of the formation control actions including: multilayer perceptrons self-organization Kohonen network, fuzzy cognitive map. The basic difference between the developed design and its analogues is the ability to adjust the settings of equipment adaptively on the basis of processing sensor data, information on the price of consumables, volley discharges of pollutants, a sudden change in the flow and other force majeure. Adjustment of the parameters of the control system is carried out with the use of experimental and analytical data stored in the knowledge base of technological

Efficient Parallel Kernel Solvers for Computational Fluid Dynamics Applications

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Xian-He

1997-01-01

Distributed-memory parallel computers dominate today's parallel computing arena. These machines, such as Intel Paragon, IBM SP2, and Cray Origin2OO, have successfully delivered high performance computing power for solving some of the so-called "grand-challenge" problems. Despite initial success, parallel machines have not been widely accepted in production engineering environments due to the complexity of parallel programming. On a parallel computing system, a task has to be partitioned and distributed appropriately among processors to reduce communication cost and to attain load balance. More importantly, even with careful partitioning and mapping, the performance of an algorithm may still be unsatisfactory, since conventional sequential algorithms may be serial in nature and may not be implemented efficiently on parallel machines. In many cases, new algorithms have to be introduced to increase parallel performance. In order to achieve optimal performance, in addition to partitioning and mapping, a careful performance study should be conducted for a given application to find a good algorithm-machine combination. This process, however, is usually painful and elusive. The goal of this project is to design and develop efficient parallel algorithms for highly accurate Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations and other engineering applications. The work plan is 1) developing highly accurate parallel numerical algorithms, 2) conduct preliminary testing to verify the effectiveness and potential of these algorithms, 3) incorporate newly developed algorithms into actual simulation packages. The work plan has well achieved. Two highly accurate, efficient Poisson solvers have been developed and tested based on two different approaches: (1) Adopting a mathematical geometry which has a better capacity to describe the fluid, (2) Using compact scheme to gain high order accuracy in numerical discretization. The previously developed Parallel Diagonal Dominant (PDD) algorithm

On economic efficiency of nuclear power unit life extension using steam-gas topping plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kuznetsov, Y.N.; Lisitsa, F.D.; Smirnov, V.G.

2001-01-01

The different options for life extension of the operating nuclear power units have been analyzed in the report with regard for their economic efficiency. A particular attention is given to the option envisaging the reduction of reactor power output and its subsequent compensation with a steam-gas topping plant. Steam generated at its heat-recovery boilers is proposed to be used for the additional loading of the nuclear plant turbine so as to reach its nominal output. It would be demonstrated that the implementation of this option allows to reduce total costs in the period of power plant life extension by 24-29% as compared with the alternative use of the replacing steam-gas unit and the saved resources could be directed, for instance, for decommissioning of a reactor facility. (authors)

An examination of the abandonment of applications for energy efficiency retrofit grants in Ireland

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Collins, Matthew; Curtis, John

2017-01-01

The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) operates the Better Energy Homes (BEH) grant scheme to incentivise residential energy efficiency retrofits, an ongoing scheme which was implemented in 2009. This scheme provides a financial incentive for home owners to engage in energy efficiency retrofits, provided the upgrades meet appropriate energy efficiency standards. This study analyses the BEH data, which is comprised of all applications from March 2009 to October 2015, in order to examine the extent to which applications are abandoned and the determinants thereof. We find that more complicated retrofits are more likely to be abandoned, with variation across certain combinations of retrofit measure. We find lower probabilities of abandonment among certain obligated parties, who are energy retailers obliged by the State to reduce energy consumption in Ireland, while others possess greater likelihoods of abandonment, relative to private retrofits. We find that newer homes are less likely to abandon an application than older homes, as are applications made for apartments, relative to houses. Regional variations exist in abandonment, with rural households more likely to abandon than urban households. A seasonal trend in abandonment is also present, with higher likelihoods of abandonment among applications made during winter. - Highlights: • We use a stated preference approach to model the abandonment of grant applications. • Deeper retrofits are more likely to be abandoned, with variation across measures. • Abandonment is less likely in applications made via obligated energy suppliers. • Regional and Seasonal variations exist in abandonment.

Technical Diagnostics of Ventilation Units for Energy Efficiency and Safety of Operation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kuzin Evgeny

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The article considers the questions of application of technical diagnostics fan installations methods for providing safe operation, the system of the technical maintenance improvement and repair. Due to the feet that one of the most important aspects in fan operation in mining is energy efficiency and energy saving, the lack of the data in the control of the level in vibration of stationary sensors is shown. The necessity of taking into account the geometric parameters of the intake channel has been shown, and also the necessity of creation of the reference masks for the assessment of technical condition and energy efficiency when operating fan installations in mining. The results of technical diagnostics of the main fans using the methods of vibration diagnostics are provided. Aspects of vibration at characteristic points are shown. The necessity for further accumulation of data characterizing vibration for adjustment of the reference masks and more accurate detection of defects and deviations from the energy-efficient mode of operation of the fan installations is given.

Technical Diagnostics of Ventilation Units for Energy Efficiency and Safety of Operation

Science.gov (United States)

Kuzin, Evgeny; Shahmanov, Vitality; Dubinkin, Dmitriy

2017-11-01

The article considers the questions of application of technical diagnostics fan installations methods for providing safe operation, the system of the technical maintenance improvement and repair. Due to the feet that one of the most important aspects in fan operation in mining is energy efficiency and energy saving, the lack of the data in the control of the level in vibration of stationary sensors is shown. The necessity of taking into account the geometric parameters of the intake channel has been shown, and also the necessity of creation of the reference masks for the assessment of technical condition and energy efficiency when operating fan installations in mining. The results of technical diagnostics of the main fans using the methods of vibration diagnostics are provided. Aspects of vibration at characteristic points are shown. The necessity for further accumulation of data characterizing vibration for adjustment of the reference masks and more accurate detection of defects and deviations from the energy-efficient mode of operation of the fan installations is given.

The effects of the integrated application of BSC and ABM to enterprise strategy and efficiency

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Violeta Domanovic

2016-08-01

Full Text Available The shortcomings of an individual application of some managerial innovation models in the domain of management accounting and strategic management in the modern business environment made research into the complementary and integrated application of managerial innovation models inevitable. The aim of the research is to show that the complementary use of the BSC and the ABM in managing enterprise strategy and efficiency eliminates the shortcomings of their individual application. The paper specifies the effects of the application of the BSC and the ABM on the enterprise strategy, particularly emphasizing the role of ICT in the course of implementation, and presents the results of the empirical research into the correlation of the BSC and the ABM regarding the strategy and efficiency of an enterprise. Despite possible problems and limitations, a proper synergic use of respective managerial innovations enables a better implementation of the defined strategies and improves the efficiency of the enterprise in the long run.

Small Ruminant Production System Efficiency under Abu-Dhabi, United Arab Emirates Arid Land Conditions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eihab Fathelrahman

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Sheep and goat production systems in the United Arab Emirates (UAE operate under scarce natural resource constraints. A cross-sectional survey that covered 661 mixed farms, including major sheep and goat production, was conducted in the three regions of Abu Dhabi Emirate (Al-Ain, Western Region and Abu Dhabi city during 2012. A Cobb-Douglas, double-logarithmic stochastic frontier production function and maximum likelihood estimation were applied to estimate important economic derivatives and the associated risk of small ruminant production in this arid area. The highest impact of an input on the output level was found to be labor for raising sheep and alfalfa grass for raising goats. Both labor and alfalfa variables were found to be overutilized for sheep and goat production, respectively. Overall, the results indicate that average technical efficiency is 0.62 for raising sheep and only 0.34 for raising goats in the study area. Technical efficiency analysis included measuring the frequency of farms at each level of estimated technical efficiency in the range between zero and one. Zero for the technical efficiency coefficient indicates a lack of technical efficiency in resource use. The results of this study indicated that only 1% of the sheep farms show a technical efficiency coefficient of 0.25 or less; the same can be said for 41% of goat producers. However, these technical efficiencies were found to be more than 0.75 for 12% and 5% of the sheep and goat farms, respectively. Overall, goat farming in the UAE was found to be less efficient than sheep production. The results also indicated that flock size and type of breed were the most influential factors relative to other factors, and both show a positive relationship with technical efficiency. Other than flock size, factors, such as owners’ years of experience and management practices, were found to be more influential on goat farming system efficiency relative to sheep farming.

OS and Runtime Support for Efficiently Managing Cores in Parallel Applications

OpenAIRE

Klues, Kevin Alan

2015-01-01

Parallel applications can benefit from the ability to explicitly control their thread scheduling policies in user-space. However, modern operating systems lack the interfaces necessary to make this type of “user-level” scheduling efficient. The key component missing is the ability for applications to gain direct access to cores and keep control of those cores even when making I/O operations that traditionally block in the kernel. A number of former systems provided limited support for these c...

Secure and Efficient Transmission of Hyperspectral Images for Geosciences Applications

Science.gov (United States)

Carpentieri, Bruno; Pizzolante, Raffaele

2017-12-01

Hyperspectral images are acquired through air-borne or space-borne special cameras (sensors) that collect information coming from the electromagnetic spectrum of the observed terrains. Hyperspectral remote sensing and hyperspectral images are used for a wide range of purposes: originally, they were developed for mining applications and for geology because of the capability of this kind of images to correctly identify various types of underground minerals by analysing the reflected spectrums, but their usage has spread in other application fields, such as ecology, military and surveillance, historical research and even archaeology. The large amount of data obtained by the hyperspectral sensors, the fact that these images are acquired at a high cost by air-borne sensors and that they are generally transmitted to a base, makes it necessary to provide an efficient and secure transmission protocol. In this paper, we propose a novel framework that allows secure and efficient transmission of hyperspectral images, by combining a reversible invisible watermarking scheme, used in conjunction with digital signature techniques, and a state-of-art predictive-based lossless compression algorithm.

Heuristic Search Theory and Applications

CERN Document Server

Edelkamp, Stefan

2011-01-01

Search has been vital to artificial intelligence from the very beginning as a core technique in problem solving. The authors present a thorough overview of heuristic search with a balance of discussion between theoretical analysis and efficient implementation and application to real-world problems. Current developments in search such as pattern databases and search with efficient use of external memory and parallel processing units on main boards and graphics cards are detailed. Heuristic search as a problem solving tool is demonstrated in applications for puzzle solving, game playing, constra

Evaluating the Efficiency of Intensive Care Unit Departments in Hospitals Affiliated with Yazd University of Medical Sciences Using Data Envelopment Analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mahdieh Abedi

2017-06-01

Conclusion: Excess human and capital resources costs are a heavy burden for hospitals to bear and surplus production factors paly a substantial role in decreasing hospitals’ costs. So, intensive care units with efficiencies of less than 1 are recommended to decrease their excess resources to achieve the optimal efficiency.

Design study on the efficiency of the thermal scheme of power unit of thermal power plants in hot climates

Science.gov (United States)

Sedlov, A.; Dorokhov, Y.; Rybakov, B.; Nenashev, A.

2017-11-01

At the stage of pre-proposals unit of the thermal power plants for regions with a hot climate requires a design study on the efficiency of possible options for the structure of the thermal circuit and a set of key parameters. In this paper, the thermal circuit of the condensing unit powerfully 350 MW. The main feature of the external conditions of thermal power plants in hot climates is the elevated temperature of cooling water of the turbine condensers. For example, in the Persian Gulf region as the cooling water is sea water. In the hot season of the year weighted average sea water temperature of 30.9 °C and during the cold season to 22.8 °C. From the turbine part of the steam is supplied to the distillation-desalination plant. In the hot season of the year heat scheme with pressure fresh pair of 23.54 MPa, temperature 570/560 °C and feed pump with electric drive (EDP) is characterized by a efficiency net of 0.25% higher than thermal schem with feed turbine pump (TDP). However, the supplied power unit with PED is less by 11.6 MW. Calculations of thermal schemes in all seasons of the year allowed us to determine the difference in the profit margin of units of the TDP and EDP. During the year the unit with the TDP provides the ability to obtain the profit margin by 1.55 million dollars more than the unit EDP. When using on the market subsidized price of electricity (Iran) marginal profit of a unit with TDP more at 7.25 million dollars.

Optimal design of compact organic Rankine cycle units for domestic solar applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Barbazza Luca

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Organic Rankine cycle turbogenerators are a promising technology to transform the solar radiation harvested by solar collectors into electric power. The present work aims at sizing a small-scale organic Rankine cycle unit by tailoring its design for domestic solar applications. Stringent design criteria, i. e., compactness, high performance and safe operation, are targeted by adopting a multi-objective optimization approach modeled with the genetic algorithm. Design-point thermodynamic variables, e. g., evaporating pressure, the working fluid, minimum allowable temperature differences, and the equipment geometry, are the decision variables. Flat plate heat exchangers with herringbone corrugations are selected as heat transfer equipment for the preheater, the evaporator and the condenser. The results unveil the hyperbolic trend binding the net power output to the heat exchanger compactness. Findings also suggest that the evaporator and condenser minimum allowable temperature differences have the largest impact on the system volume and on the cycle performances. Among the fluids considered, the results indicate that R1234yf and R1234ze are the best working fluid candidates. Using flat plate solar collectors (hot water temperature equal to 75 °C, R1234yf is the optimal solution. The heat exchanger volume ranges between 6.0 and 23.0 dm3, whereas the thermal efficiency is around 4.5%. R1234ze is the best working fluid employing parabolic solar collectors (hot water temperature equal to 120 °C. In such case the thermal efficiency is around 6.9%, and the heat exchanger volume varies from 6.0 to 18.0 dm3.

Energy consumption, energy efficiency, and consumer perceptions: A case study for the Southeast United States

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Craig, Christopher A.

2016-01-01

Highlights: • Interaction between climate, efficiency, and electricity consumption were examined. • 2450 state residents were surveyed about clean energy and subsidy policies. • Indirect energy efficiency costs negatively influenced electricity consumption. • Cooling degree days were positively related to electricity consumption. • Resident awareness influenced policy perceptions about clean energy and subsidies. - Abstract: This study examined the interaction between climatic variability and residential electricity consumption in a Southeast US state. Residential electricity consumers were surveyed to better understand how to diffuse positive attitudes and behaviors related to energy efficiency (EE) into households. The study found that 16.8% of the variability in residential electricity consumption for heating applications was explained by indirect EE costs. 36.6% of the variability in residential electricity consumption for cooling applications was explained by indirect EE costs and cooling degree days (CDD). A survey of 2450 residential electricity consumers was analyzed using the theory of planned behavior (TPB). Significant findings suggest that those residents are aware of utility EE programs are more likely to participate, view utility company motives more favorably, to support governmental subsidies for EE programs, and to support the use of clean energy by utility companies.

Parameter effect of a phase change thermal energy storage unit with one shell and one finned tube on its energy efficiency ratio and heat storage rate

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, Wei-Wei; Wang, Liang-Bi; He, Ya-Ling

2016-01-01

Highlights: • The parameter effect on the performance of PCTES unit using fins is reported. • The configurations of PCTES unit using fins in optimum performance are suggested. • Two parameters to indicate the effects of PCM and tube material properties are found. • The working conditions of PCTES unit using fins in optimum performance are analyzed. - Abstract: The performance of a phase change thermal energy storage (PCTES) unit using circular finned tube is affected by many parameters. Thorough studies of the parameter effect on the performance of PCTES unit are strongly required in its optimum design process. Based on a reported energy efficiency ratio and a newly defined parameter named the heat storage rate, the parameter effect on the performance of PCTES unit using circular finned tube is numerically investigated. When the fin pitch is greater than 4 times of the inner radius of the tube, the fin height and the fin thickness have little effect on the energy efficiency ratio and the heat storage rate. When the fin pitch is small, the performance of PCTES unit becomes better using large fin height and width. The energy efficiency ratio and the heat storage rate are more sensitive to the outer tube diameter. The performance of PCTES unit using circular finned tube is best when water is used as the heat transfer fluid (HTF). When the fluid flow of HTF is in a laminar state, the energy efficiency ratio and the heat storage rate are larger than that in a turbulent state.

Techniques and tools for measuring energy efficiency of scientific software applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Abdurachmanov, David; Elmer, Peter; Eulisse, Giulio; Knight, Robert; Niemi, Tapio; Pestana, Gonçalo; Khan, Kashif; Nurminen, Jukka K; Nyback, Filip; Ou, Zhonghong

2015-01-01

The scale of scientific High Performance Computing (HPC) and High Throughput Computing (HTC) has increased significantly in recent years, and is becoming sensitive to total energy use and cost. Energy-efficiency has thus become an important concern in scientific fields such as High Energy Physics (HEP). There has been a growing interest in utilizing alternate architectures, such as low power ARM processors, to replace traditional Intel x86 architectures. Nevertheless, even though such solutions have been successfully used in mobile applications with low I/O and memory demands, it is unclear if they are suitable and more energy-efficient in the scientific computing environment. Furthermore, there is a lack of tools and experience to derive and compare power consumption between the architectures for various workloads, and eventually to support software optimizations for energy efficiency. To that end, we have performed several physical and software-based measurements of workloads from HEP applications running on ARM and Intel architectures, and compare their power consumption and performance. We leverage several profiling tools (both in hardware and software) to extract different characteristics of the power use. We report the results of these measurements and the experience gained in developing a set of measurement techniques and profiling tools to accurately assess the power consumption for scientific workloads. (paper)

A general purpose diagnostic technique for marine diesel engines - Application on the main propulsion and auxiliary diesel units of a marine vessel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lamaris, V.T.; Hountalas, D.T.

2010-01-01

Diesel engines are widely used in marine applications (i.e. propulsion and auxiliaries) except from a few cases where gas or steam turbines are used. This is the result of their high efficiency, power concentration and reliability compared to other compatible or alternative power sources. The proper and efficient operation of the engines (main engine and diesel generator units) in marine applications is critical, and therefore techniques or systems that determine engine current condition and detect potential faults are extremely important. Furthermore, it is advantageous when such techniques can be applied on different engine configurations and provide reliable results, because on a vessel usually exist diesel engines of different type, i.e. the main propulsion unit is a large low-speed two-stroke diesel engine while the diesel generators are four-stroke medium or high speed engines. In the present work is described and evaluated for the first time the application of an improved diagnostic technique, developed by the authors, on both the main engine and the auxiliary units of a commercial marine vessel. The diagnostic technique is based on a thermodynamic simulation model. The simulation model embedded in the technique has been modified, namely an existing two-zone model is replaced by a multi-zone one. With this modification it is avoided model constant tuning with the operating conditions. This is extremely important for the diagnostic philosophy of the proposed technique. Using data from engine shop tests, the simulation model is calibrated (i.e. model constants are determined) and the engine reference condition is obtained. The simulation model is then used to estimate the current engine condition, using field measurements (i.e. cylinder pressure measurements, periphery data, etc.). From the results it is revealed that the diagnosis method provides detailed information for the operating condition of both engines and the values of parameters that cannot be

The application of burnup credit for spent fuel operations in the United Kingdom

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bowden, R.

1998-01-01

This paper begins by outlining the structure of the nuclear industry in the United Kingdom. It then sets out the methodology of burnup credit, and provides a brief discussion of the validation and robustness of the calculational route. This leads to a description of both the current and intended applications of burnup credit in the United Kingdom. (author)

Deliberating the risks of nanotechnologies for energy and health applications in the United States and United Kingdom

Science.gov (United States)

Pidgeon, Nick; Harthorn, Barbara Herr; Bryant, Karl; Rogers-Hayden, Tee

2009-02-01

Emerging nanotechnologies pose a new set of challenges for researchers, governments, industries and citizen organizations that aim to develop effective modes of deliberation and risk communication early in the research and development process. These challenges derive from a number of issues including the wide range of materials and devices covered by the term `nanotechnology', the many different industrial sectors involved, the fact that many areas of nanotechnology are still at a relatively early stage of development, and uncertainty about the environmental, health and safety impacts of nanomaterials. Public surveys have found that people in the United States and Europe currently view the benefits of nanotechnologies as outweighing their risks although, overall, knowledge about nanotechnology remains very low. However, surveys cannot easily uncover the ways that people will interpret and understand the complexities of nanotechnologies (or any other topic about which they know very little) when asked to deliberate about it in more depth, so new approaches to engaging the public are needed. Here, we report the results of the first comparative United States-United Kingdom public engagement experiment. Based upon four concurrent half-day workshops debating energy and health nanotechnologies we find commonalities that were unexpected given the different risk regulatory histories in the two countries. Participants focused on benefits rather than risks and, in general, had a high regard for science and technology. Application context was much more salient than nation as a source of difference, with energy applications viewed in a substantially more positive light than applications in health and human enhancement in both countries. More subtle differences were present in views about the equitable distribution of benefits, corporate and governmental trustworthiness, the risks to realizing benefits, and in consumerist attitudes.

Power Efficient Division and Square Root Unit

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Liu, Wei; Nannarelli, Alberto

2012-01-01

Although division and square root are not frequent operations, most processors implement them in hardware to not compromise the overall performance. Two classes of algorithms implement division or square root: digit-recurrence and multiplicative (e.g., Newton-Raphson) algorithms. Previous work....... The proposed unit is compared to similar solutions based on the digit-recurrence algorithm and it is compared to a unit based on the multiplicative Newton-Raphson algorithm....

Resource use efficiency of closed plant production system with artificial light: concept, estimation and application to plant factory.

Science.gov (United States)

Kozai, Toyoki

2013-01-01

Extensive research has recently been conducted on plant factory with artificial light, which is one type of closed plant production system (CPPS) consisting of a thermally insulated and airtight structure, a multi-tier system with lighting devices, air conditioners and fans, a CO2 supply unit, a nutrient solution supply unit, and an environment control unit. One of the research outcomes is the concept of resource use efficiency (RUE) of CPPS.This paper reviews the characteristics of the CPPS compared with those of the greenhouse, mainly from the viewpoint of RUE, which is defined as the ratio of the amount of the resource fixed or held in plants to the amount of the resource supplied to the CPPS.It is shown that the use efficiencies of water, CO2 and light energy are considerably higher in the CPPS than those in the greenhouse. On the other hand, there is much more room for improving the light and electric energy use efficiencies of CPPS. Challenging issues for CPPS and RUE are also discussed.

Efficiencies of forestry best management practices for reducing sediment and nutrient losses in the eastern United States

Science.gov (United States)

Pamela Edwards; Karl W.J. Williard

2010-01-01

Quantifying the effects of forestry best management practices (BMPs) on sediment and nutrient loads is a critical need. Through an exhaustive literature search, three paired forested watershed studies in the eastern United States were found that permitted the calculation of BMP efficiencies--the percent reduction in sediment or nutrients achieved by BMPs. For sediment...

The SEAD global efficiency medal competition: accelerating market transformation for efficient televisions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ravi, Kavita [US Department of Energy, Washington, DC (United States); Bennich, Peter [Swedish Energy Agency (Sweden); Cockburn, John [Natural Resources Canada, Ottawa (Canada); Doi, Naoko [Institute of Energy Economics (Japan); Garg, Sandeep [United Nations Development Programme, New York, NY (United States); Garnaik, S.P. [ICF International (India); Holt, Shane [Energy and Tourism, Canberra (Australia); Walker, Mike [Food and Rural Affairs (United Kingdom); Westbrook-Trenholm, Elizabeth [Natural Resources, Canada, Ottawa (Canada). Office of Energy Efficiency; Lising, Anna [Collaborative Labeling and Appliance Standards Program (United States); Pantano, Steve [Collaborative Labeling and Appliance Standards Program (United States); Khare, Amit [Collaborative Labeling and Appliance Standards Program (United States); Park, Won Young [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab., CA (United States)

2013-10-15

The Global Efficiency Medal competition, a cornerstone activity of the Super-efficient Equipment and Appliance Deployment (SEAD) Initiative, is an awards program that encourages the production and sale of super-efficient products. SEAD is a voluntary multinational government collaboration of the Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM). This winner-takes-all competition recognizes products with the best energy efficiency, guides early adopter purchasers towards the most efficient product choices and demonstrates the levels of energy efficiency achievable by commercially available and emerging technologies. The first Global Efficiency Medals were awarded to the most energy-efficient flat panel televisions; an iconic consumer purchase. SEAD Global Efficiency Medals were awarded to televisions that have proven to be substantially more energy efficient than comparable models available at the time of the competition (applications closed in the end of May 2012). The award-winning TVs consume between 33 to 44 percent less energy per 2 unit of screen area than comparable LED-backlit LCD televisions sold in each regional market and 50 to 60 percent less energy than CCFL-backlit LCD TVs. Prior to the launch of this competition, SEAD conducted an unprecedented international round-robin test (RRT) to qualify TV test laboratories to support verification testing for SEAD awards. The RRT resulted in increased test laboratory capacity and expertise around the world and ensured that the test results from participating regional test laboratories could be compared in a fair and transparent fashion. This paper highlights a range of benefits resulting from this first SEAD awards competition and encourages further investigation of the awards concept as a means to promote energy efficiency in other equipment types.

iPhone application development strategies for efficient mobile design and delivery

CERN Document Server

Hahn, Jim

2011-01-01

iPhone application development is explained here in an accessible treatment for the generalist Library and Information Science (LIS) practitioner. Future information-seeking practices by users will take place across a diverse array of ubiquitous computing devices. iPhone applications represent one of the most compelling new platforms for which to remediate and re-engineer library service. Strategies of efficient mobile design and delivery include adapting computing best practices of data independence and adhering to web standards as articulated by the W3C. These best practices apply across the

AN APPROACH TO EFFICIENT FEM SIMULATIONS ON GRAPHICS PROCESSING UNITS USING CUDA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Björn Nutti

2014-04-01

Full Text Available The paper presents a highly efficient way of simulating the dynamic behavior of deformable objects by means of the finite element method (FEM with computations performed on Graphics Processing Units (GPU. The presented implementation reduces bottlenecks related to memory accesses by grouping the necessary data per node pairs, in contrast to the classical way done per element. This strategy reduces the memory access patterns that are not suitable for the GPU memory architecture. Furthermore, the presented implementation takes advantage of the underlying sparse-block-matrix structure, and it has been demonstrated how to avoid potential bottlenecks in the algorithm. To achieve plausible deformational behavior for large local rotations, the objects are modeled by means of a simplified co-rotational FEM formulation.

Efficient Execution of Video Applications on Heterogeneous Multi- and Many-Core Processors

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Pereira de Azevedo Filho, A.

2011-01-01

In this dissertation we present methodologies and evaluations aiming at increasing the efficiency of video coding applications for heterogeneous many-core processors composed of SIMD-only, scratchpad memory based cores. Our contributions are spread in three different fronts: thread-level parallelism

An efficiency improved single-phase PFC converter for electric vehicle charger applications

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Zhu, Dexuan; Tang, Yi; Jin, Chi

2013-01-01

This paper presents an efficiency improved single-phase power factor correction (PFC) converter with its target application to plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) charging systems. The proposed PFC converter features sinusoidal input current, three-level output characteristic, and wide range...

Linked-cone DEA profit ratios and technical efficiency with application to Illinois coal mines

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Thompson, R.G.; Dharmapala, P.S.; Thrall, R.M. [University of Houston, Houston, TX (United States). Dept. of Decision and Information Sciences

1995-04-01

The authors develop a theory stating that Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) profit ratios and technical efficiency measures require separate treatment. This point is illustrated by analysis of an example problem; showing that DEA technical efficiency does not necessarily imply a DEA maximum profit ratio; and that a DEA maximum profit ratio does not necessarily imply DEA technical efficiency. The mathematical framework underlying this argument is provided. Application of the concepts to Illinois coal mining data lends support to the need for separate treatment of DEA technical efficiency and DEA profit ratios. 31 refs., 4 figs., 9 tabs.

Linked-cone DEA profit ratios and technical efficiency with application to Illinois coal mines

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Thompson, R.G.; Dharmapala, P.S.; Thrall, R.M.

1995-01-01

The authors develop a theory stating that Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) profit ratios and technical efficiency measures require separate treatment. This point is illustrated by analysis of an example problem; showing that DEA technical efficiency does not necessarily imply a DEA maximum profit ratio; and that a DEA maximum profit ratio does not necessarily imply DEA technical efficiency. The mathematical framework underlying this argument is provided. Application of the concepts to Illinois coal mining data lends support to the need for separate treatment of DEA technical efficiency and DEA profit ratios. 31 refs., 4 figs., 9 tabs

Ejectors of power plants turbine units efficiency and reliability increasing

Science.gov (United States)

Aronson, K. E.; Ryabchikov, A. Yu.; Kuptsov, V. K.; Murmanskii, I. B.; Brodov, Yu. M.; Zhelonkin, N. V.; Khaet, S. I.

2017-11-01

The functioning of steam turbines condensation systems influence on the efficiency and reliability of a power plant a lot. At the same time, the condensation system operating is provided by basic ejectors, which maintain the vacuum level in the condenser. Development of methods of efficiency and reliability increasing for ejector functioning is an actual problem of up-to-date power engineering. In the paper there is presented statistical analysis of ejector breakdowns, revealed during repairing processes, the influence of such damages on the steam turbine operating reliability. It is determined, that 3% of steam turbine equipment breakdowns are the ejector breakdowns. At the same time, about 7% of turbine breakdowns are caused by different ejector malfunctions. Developed and approved design solutions, which can increase the ejector functioning indexes, are presented. Intercoolers are designed in separated cases, so the air-steam mixture can’t move from the high-pressure zones to the low-pressure zones and the maintainability of the apparatuses is increased. By U-type tubes application, the thermal expansion effect of intercooler tubes is compensated and the heat-transfer area is increased. By the applied nozzle fixing construction, it is possible to change the distance between a nozzle and a mixing chamber (nozzle exit position) for operating performance optimization. In operating conditions there are provided experimental researches of more than 30 serial ejectors and also high-efficient 3-staged ejector EPO-3-80, designed by authors. The measurement scheme of the designed ejector includes 21 indicator. The results of experimental tests with different nozzle exit positions of the ejector EPO-3-80 stream devices are presented. The pressure of primary stream (water steam) is optimized. Experimental data are well-approved by the calculation results.

The application of polyelectrolytes to improve liquid radwaste treatment system radionuclide removal efficiency

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Homyk, W.A.; Spall, M.J.; Vance, J.N.

1990-01-01

At nuclear plants, miscellaneous waste water treated in the liquid radwaste processing system contains a significant fraction of suspended particulate materials ranging in size from a few microns down to the submicron region. The fewer particles that typically exist as colloids are generally negatively charged by virtue of inorganic and organic anions absorbed onto the particle surfaces. Because many of the radionuclides exist as colloids and resist agglomeration and settling they are not easily removed by mechanical filtration or ion exchange processes. The colloidal materials will easily pass through most filters with conventional pore size ratings and through most ion exchange media. This leads to poor decontamination Factors (dFs) and higher radionuclide releases to the environment. A laboratory-scale testing program was conducted at Indian Point Unit No. 2 to determine the effectiveness of the use of organic polyelectrolytes to destabilize colloidal suspensions in liquid radwaste. Destabilizing colloidal suspensions will improve the removal efficiencies of the suspended material by typical filtration and ion exchange processes. The increased removal efficiencies will provide increased dFs in the liquid radwaste treatment system. The testing focused on identifying the specific organic polyelectrolytes and the associated dosages which would be effective in destabilizing the colloidal suspensions on actual waste water samples. The testing also examined the filtration characteristics of the water source to determine filter parameters such as: body feed material, body feed dosages, specific flow rates, etc., which would provide the basis for the design of filtration systems for these applications. The testing effort and the major conclusions from this investigation are given. 4 refs., 8 figs., 2 tabs

Efficient photosensitized splitting of the thymine dimer/oxetane unit on its modifying beta-cyclodextrin by a binding electron donor.

Science.gov (United States)

Tang, Wen-Jian; Song, Qin-Hua; Wang, Hong-Bo; Yu, Jing-Yu; Guo, Qing-Xiang

2006-07-07

Two modified beta-cyclodextrins (beta-CDs) with a thymine dimer and a thymine oxetane adduct respectively, TD-CD and Ox-CD, have been prepared, and utilized to bind an electron-rich chromophore, indole or N,N-dimethylaniline (DMA), to form a supramolecular complex. We have examined the photosensitized splitting of the dimer/oxetane unit in TD-CD/Ox-CD by indole or DMA via an electron-transfer pathway, and observed high splitting efficiencies of the dimer/oxetane unit. On the basis of measurements of fluorescence spectra and splitting quantum yields, it is suggested that the splitting reaction occurs in a supramolecular complex by an inclusion interaction between the modified beta-CDs and DMA or indole. The back electron transfer, which leads low splitting efficiencies for the covalently-linked chromophore-dimer/oxetane compounds, is suppressed in the non-covalently-bound complex, and the mechanism has been discussed.

Challenges encountered by critical care unit managers in the large intensive care units.

Science.gov (United States)

Matlakala, Mokgadi C; Bezuidenhout, Martie C; Botha, Annali D H

2014-04-04

Nurses in intensive care units (ICUs) are exposed regularly to huge demands interms of fulfilling the many roles that are placed upon them. Unit managers, in particular, are responsible for the efficient management of the units and have the responsibilities of planning, organising, leading and controlling the daily activities in order to facilitate the achievement of the unit objectives. The objective of this study was to explore and present the challenges encountered by ICU managers in the management of large ICUs. A qualitative, exploratory and descriptive study was conducted at five hospital ICUs in Gauteng province, South Africa. Data were collected through individual interviews from purposively-selected critical care unit managers, then analysed using the matic coding. Five themes emerged from the data: challenges related to the layout and structure of the unit, human resources provision and staffing, provision of material resources, stressors in the unit and visitors in the ICU. Unit managers in large ICUs face multifaceted challenges which include the demand for efficient and sufficient specialised nurses; lack of or inadequate equipment that goes along with technology in ICU and supplies; and stressors in the ICU that limit the efficiency to plan, organise, lead and control the daily activities in the unit. The challenges identified call for multiple strategies to assist in the efficient management of large ICUs.

Challenges encountered by critical care unit managers in the large intensive care units

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mokgadi C. Matlakala

2014-04-01

Full Text Available Background: Nurses in intensive care units (ICUs are exposed regularly to huge demands interms of fulfilling the many roles that are placed upon them. Unit managers, in particular, are responsible for the efficient management of the units and have the responsibilities of planning, organising, leading and controlling the daily activities in order to facilitate the achievement of the unit objectives. Objectives: The objective of this study was to explore and present the challenges encountered by ICU managers in the management of large ICUs. Method: A qualitative, exploratory and descriptive study was conducted at five hospital ICUs in Gauteng province, South Africa. Data were collected through individual interviews from purposively-selected critical care unit managers, then analysed using the matic coding. Results: Five themes emerged from the data: challenges related to the layout and structure of the unit, human resources provision and staffing, provision of material resources, stressors in the unit and visitors in the ICU. Conclusion: Unit managers in large ICUs face multifaceted challenges which include the demand for efficient and sufficient specialised nurses; lack of or inadequate equipment that goes along with technology in ICU and supplies; and stressors in the ICU that limit the efficiency to plan, organise, lead and control the daily activities in the unit. The challenges identified call for multiple strategies to assist in the efficient management of large ICUs.

Ranking production units according to marginal efficiency contribution

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ghiyasi, Mojtaba; Hougaard, Jens Leth

League tables associated with various forms of service activities from schools to hospitals illustrate the public need for ranking institutions by their productive performance. We present a new method for ranking production units which is based on each units marginal contribution to the technical...

Using the UKROC dataset to make the case for resources to improve cost-efficiency in neurological rehabilitation.

Science.gov (United States)

Turner-Stokes, Lynne; Poppleton, Rob; Williams, Heather; Schoewenaars, Katie; Badwan, Derar

2012-01-01

A key challenge for providers and commissioners of rehabilitation services is to find optimal balance between service costs and outcomes. This article presents a "real-life" application of the UK Rehabilitation Outcomes Collaborative (UKROC) dataset. We undertook a comparative cohort analysis of case-episode data (n = 173) from two specialist neurological rehabilitation units (A and B), to compare the cost-efficiency of two service models. (i) Demographics, casemix and levels of functional dependency on admission and discharge were broadly similar for the two units. (ii) The mean length of stay for Unit A was 1.5 times longer than Unit B, which had 85% higher levels of therapy staffing in relation to occupied bed days so despite higher bed-day costs, Unit B was 20% more cost-efficient overall, for similar gain. (iii) Following analysis, engagement with service commissioners led to successful negotiation of a business plan for service reconfiguration with increased staffing levels for Unit A and further development of local community rehabilitation services. (i) Lower front-end service costs do not always signify optimal cost-efficiency. (ii) Analysis of routinely collected clinical data can be used to engage commissioners and to make the case for resources to maximise efficiency and improve patient care.

Evaluation of Application Methods Efficiency of Zinc and Iron for Canola(Brassica napus L.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ahmad BYBORDI

2010-03-01

Full Text Available In order to evaluation of application method efficiency of zinc and iron microelements in canola, an experiment was conducted in the Agricultural Research Station of Eastern Azerbaijan province in 2008. The experimental design was a RCBD with eight treatments (F1: control, F2: iron, F3: zinc, F4: iron + zinc in the form of soil utility, F5: iron, F6: zinc, F7: iron+ zinc in the form of solution foliar application, and F8: iron + zinc in the form of soil utility and foliar application. Analysis of variance showed that there were significant differences among treatments on given traits, antioxidant enzymes activity, fatty acids percentage, plant height, seed weight to capitulum weight ratio, protein percentage, oil percentage, oil yield, 1000 seed weight, seed yield, nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium percentage of leaves, zinc and iron content of leaves and capitulum diameters. The highest seed yield, oil yield, oil percentage, 1000 seed weight, seed weight to capitulum weight ratio and protein percentage were obtained from the soil and foliar application of iron + zinc treatments (F8. Also, the highest amounts of nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium concentration in leaves were achieved from control treatment which was an indication of non-efficiency of iron and zinc on the absorption rate of these substances in the leaves. The correlation between effective traits on the seed yield, such as, capitalism diameter, number of seed rows in capitulum, seed weight to capitulum weight ratio and 1000 seed weight were positively significant. In general, foliar and soil application of zinc and iron had the highest efficiency in aspect of seed production. The comparison of the various methods of fertilization showed that foliar application was more effective than soil application. Also, micronutrient foliar application increased concentration of elements, especially zinc and iron. Antioxidant enzymes activity was different in response to treatments also the

High efficiency thin-film solar cells for space applications: challenges and opportunities

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Leest, R.H. van

2017-01-01

In theory high efficiency thin-film III-V solar cells obtained by the epitaxial lift-off (ELO) technique offer excellent characteristics for application in space solar panels. The thesis describes several studies that investigate the space compatibility of the thin-film solar cell design developed

Exposure Control Indoors with Wearable Personal Exhaust Unit

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bolashikov, Zhecho Dimitrov; Barova, Maria I.; Melikov, Arsen Krikor

2013-01-01

A wearable personalized ventilation (PV) unit to reduce the risk from airborne disease contamination is reported. The PV unit consists of a nozzle, installed on a headset, which is used to locally exhaust the exhaled air before it mixes with the surroundings. Experiments at 22 °C were performed...... background air distribution at 3, 6 and 12 ACH. The use of the device showed a great potential in reducing the concentration of exhaled air in the room to the level measured under mixing ventilation alone at 12 ACH. The high potential to capture exhaled air, makes the wearable PV applicable as an efficient...

Increasing yield and nitrogen use efficiency of rice through multiple-split fertilizer application

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rallos, R.V.; Rivera, F.G.; Samar, E.D.; Rojales, J.S.; Anida, A.H.

2015-01-01

The low availability of nitrogen (N) is one of the most important limiting factors impeding the increase in rice yield among the various factors. Split N fertilizer applications can play an important role in nutrient management strategy that is productive, profitable and environmentally responsible. In this study, the recoveries and efficiencies of a multiple-split N fertilizer application of were determined using 15N labeled fertilizer, in order to provide science-based foundation for the nitrogen management in sustainable rice production. A lysimeter experiment with five treatments in four replications was set-up T0 (control). T1 (45 kg N ha“- “1), T2 (90 kg N ha“- “1), T3 (135 kg N ha“- “1) and T4 (180 kg N ha“- “1). 15N tracer analysis showed that, on average, only 30% of applied N is recovered by the crop following one time basal application. In contrast, higher fertilizer nitrogen use efficiencies (FNUE) (>50%) were observed following multiple-split N application. The result of FNUE also corroborates with the significant increase in rice grain yield. Many crops, however, have different nutrient requirements, therefore as in all fertilization strategies, it is highly recommended that source, rate, time and place of application should be considered in making split fertilization decisions. (author)

An Efficient and Adaptive Mutual Authentication Framework for Heterogeneous Wireless Sensor Network-Based Applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pardeep Kumar

2014-02-01

Full Text Available Robust security is highly coveted in real wireless sensor network (WSN applications since wireless sensors’ sense critical data from the application environment. This article presents an efficient and adaptive mutual authentication framework that suits real heterogeneous WSN-based applications (such as smart homes, industrial environments, smart grids, and healthcare monitoring. The proposed framework offers: (i key initialization; (ii secure network (cluster formation (i.e., mutual authentication and dynamic key establishment; (iii key revocation; and (iv new node addition into the network. The correctness of the proposed scheme is formally verified. An extensive analysis shows the proposed scheme coupled with message confidentiality, mutual authentication and dynamic session key establishment, node privacy, and message freshness. Moreover, the preliminary study also reveals the proposed framework is secure against popular types of attacks, such as impersonation attacks, man-in-the-middle attacks, replay attacks, and information-leakage attacks. As a result, we believe the proposed framework achieves efficiency at reasonable computation and communication costs and it can be a safeguard to real heterogeneous WSN applications.

An efficient and adaptive mutual authentication framework for heterogeneous wireless sensor network-based applications.

Science.gov (United States)

Kumar, Pardeep; Ylianttila, Mika; Gurtov, Andrei; Lee, Sang-Gon; Lee, Hoon-Jae

2014-02-11

Robust security is highly coveted in real wireless sensor network (WSN) applications since wireless sensors' sense critical data from the application environment. This article presents an efficient and adaptive mutual authentication framework that suits real heterogeneous WSN-based applications (such as smart homes, industrial environments, smart grids, and healthcare monitoring). The proposed framework offers: (i) key initialization; (ii) secure network (cluster) formation (i.e., mutual authentication and dynamic key establishment); (iii) key revocation; and (iv) new node addition into the network. The correctness of the proposed scheme is formally verified. An extensive analysis shows the proposed scheme coupled with message confidentiality, mutual authentication and dynamic session key establishment, node privacy, and message freshness. Moreover, the preliminary study also reveals the proposed framework is secure against popular types of attacks, such as impersonation attacks, man-in-the-middle attacks, replay attacks, and information-leakage attacks. As a result, we believe the proposed framework achieves efficiency at reasonable computation and communication costs and it can be a safeguard to real heterogeneous WSN applications.

An Efficient and Adaptive Mutual Authentication Framework for Heterogeneous Wireless Sensor Network-Based Applications

Science.gov (United States)

Kumar, Pardeep; Ylianttila, Mika; Gurtov, Andrei; Lee, Sang-Gon; Lee, Hoon-Jae

2014-01-01

Robust security is highly coveted in real wireless sensor network (WSN) applications since wireless sensors' sense critical data from the application environment. This article presents an efficient and adaptive mutual authentication framework that suits real heterogeneous WSN-based applications (such as smart homes, industrial environments, smart grids, and healthcare monitoring). The proposed framework offers: (i) key initialization; (ii) secure network (cluster) formation (i.e., mutual authentication and dynamic key establishment); (iii) key revocation; and (iv) new node addition into the network. The correctness of the proposed scheme is formally verified. An extensive analysis shows the proposed scheme coupled with message confidentiality, mutual authentication and dynamic session key establishment, node privacy, and message freshness. Moreover, the preliminary study also reveals the proposed framework is secure against popular types of attacks, such as impersonation attacks, man-in-the-middle attacks, replay attacks, and information-leakage attacks. As a result, we believe the proposed framework achieves efficiency at reasonable computation and communication costs and it can be a safeguard to real heterogeneous WSN applications. PMID:24521942

A Low-Cost Energy-Efficient Cableless Geophone Unit for Passive Surface Wave Surveys.

Science.gov (United States)

Dai, Kaoshan; Li, Xiaofeng; Lu, Chuan; You, Qingyu; Huang, Zhenhua; Wu, H Felix

2015-09-25

The passive surface wave survey is a practical, non-invasive seismic exploration method that has increasingly been used in geotechnical engineering. However, in situ deployment of traditional wired geophones is labor intensive for a dense sensor array. Alternatively, stand-alone seismometers can be used, but they are bulky, heavy, and expensive because they are usually designed for long-term monitoring. To better facilitate field applications of the passive surface wave survey, a low-cost energy-efficient geophone system was developed in this study. The hardware design is presented in this paper. To validate the system's functionality, both laboratory and field experiments were conducted. The unique feature of this newly-developed cableless geophone system allows for rapid field applications of the passive surface wave survey with dense array measurements.

Assessing measures of energy efficiency performance and their application in industry

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tanaka, K.

2008-02-15

This paper explores different measures of energy efficiency performance (hereafter referred to as 'MEEP'): absolute energy consumption, energy intensity, diffusion of specific energy-saving technology and thermal efficiency. It discusses their advantages and disadvantages and their roles within policy frameworks. MEEP may be necessary at several stages during policy design: in a developing regulatory framework; during the actual application; and in evaluation after policy implementation. Policy makers should consider the suitability of MEEP at each of these stages, based on criteria such as reliability, feasibility and verifiability. The paper considers the importance of so-called boundary definitions when measuring energy performance, and how these affect the appropriateness of country comparisons to guide policy decisions. The paper also addresses the limitations of both energy intensity and technology diffusion indicators as measures of energy efficiency performance. A case study on Japan's iron and steel industry illustrates the critical role of proper boundary definitions for a meaningful assessment of energy efficiency in industry. Depending on the boundaries set for the analysis, the energy consumption per ton of crude steel ranges from 16 to 21 GJ. Both a proper understanding of various methods to assess energy efficiency and the linkage with policy objectives and frameworks are important. Using the diffusion rates of specific energy-efficient processes is a technology-oriented approach which seeks to encourage the retrofitting or replacement of less efficient equipment. There are fewer boundary problems using diffusion rates than by calculating energy consumption. 42 refs., 15 figs., 4 tabs., 1 app.

MetReS, an Efficient Database for Genomic Applications.

Science.gov (United States)

Vilaplana, Jordi; Alves, Rui; Solsona, Francesc; Mateo, Jordi; Teixidó, Ivan; Pifarré, Marc

2018-02-01

MetReS (Metabolic Reconstruction Server) is a genomic database that is shared between two software applications that address important biological problems. Biblio-MetReS is a data-mining tool that enables the reconstruction of molecular networks based on automated text-mining analysis of published scientific literature. Homol-MetReS allows functional (re)annotation of proteomes, to properly identify both the individual proteins involved in the processes of interest and their function. The main goal of this work was to identify the areas where the performance of the MetReS database performance could be improved and to test whether this improvement would scale to larger datasets and more complex types of analysis. The study was started with a relational database, MySQL, which is the current database server used by the applications. We also tested the performance of an alternative data-handling framework, Apache Hadoop. Hadoop is currently used for large-scale data processing. We found that this data handling framework is likely to greatly improve the efficiency of the MetReS applications as the dataset and the processing needs increase by several orders of magnitude, as expected to happen in the near future.

High-efficiency VCSEL arrays for illumination and sensing in consumer applications

Science.gov (United States)

Seurin, Jean-Francois; Zhou, Delai; Xu, Guoyang; Miglo, Alexander; Li, Daizong; Chen, Tong; Guo, Baiming; Ghosh, Chuni

2016-03-01

There has been increased interest in vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) for illumination and sensing in the consumer market, especially for 3D sensing ("gesture recognition") and 3D image capture. For these applications, the typical wavelength range of interest is 830~950nm and power levels vary from a few milli-Watts to several Watts. The devices are operated in short pulse mode (a few nano-seconds) with fast rise and fall times for time-of-flight applications (ToF), or in CW/quasi-CW for structured light applications. In VCSELs, the narrow spectrum and its low temperature dependence allows the use of narrower filters and therefore better signal-to-noise performance, especially for outdoor applications. In portable devices (mobile devices, wearable devices, laptops etc.) the size of the illumination module (VCSEL and optics) is a primary consideration. VCSELs offer a unique benefit compared to other laser sources in that they are "surface-mountable" and can be easily integrated along with other electronics components on a printed circuit board (PCB). A critical concern is the power-conversion efficiency (PCE) of the illumination source operating at high temperatures (>50 deg C). We report on various VCSEL based devices and diffuser-integrated modules with high efficiency at high temperatures. Over 40% PCE was achieved in broad temperature range of 0-70 °C for either low power single devices or high power VCSEL arrays, with sub- nano-second rise and fall time. These high power VCSEL arrays show excellent reliability, with extracted mean-time-to-failure (MTTF) of over 500 years at 60 °C ambient temperature and 8W peak output.

Development of an Efficient Meso- scale Multi-phase Flow Solver in Nuclear Applications

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lee, Taehun [City Univ. (CUNY), NY (United States)

2015-10-20

The proposed research aims at formulating a predictive high-order Lattice Boltzmann Equation for multi-phase flows relevant to nuclear energy related application - namely, saturated and sub-cooled boiling in reactors, and liquid- liquid mixing and extraction for fuel cycle separation. An efficient flow solver will be developed based on the Finite Element based Lattice Boltzmann Method (FE- LBM), accounting for phase-change heat transfer and capable of treating multiple phases over length scales from the submicron to the meter. A thermal LBM will be developed in order to handle adjustable Prandtl number, arbitrary specific heat ratio, a wide range of temperature variations, better numerical stability during liquid-vapor phase change, and full thermo-hydrodynamic consistency. Two-phase FE-LBM will be extended to liquid–liquid–gas multi-phase flows for application to high-fidelity simulations building up from the meso-scale up to the equipment sub-component scale. While several relevant applications exist, the initial applications for demonstration of the efficient methods to be developed as part of this project include numerical investigations of Critical Heat Flux (CHF) phenomena in nuclear reactor fuel bundles, and liquid-liquid mixing and interfacial area generation for liquid-liquid separations. In addition, targeted experiments will be conducted for validation of this advanced multi-phase model.

Cost efficiency and optimal scale of electricity distribution firms in Taiwan: An application of metafrontier analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Huang, Y.-J.; Chen, K.-H.; Yang, C.-H.

2010-01-01

This paper analyzes the cost efficiency and optimal scale of Taiwan's electricity distribution industry. Due to the substantial difference in network density, firms may differ widely in production technology. We employ the stochastic metafrontier approach to estimate the cost efficiency of 24 distribution units during the period 1997-2002. Empirical results find that the average cost efficiency is overestimated using the traditional stochastic frontier model, especially for low density regions. The average cost efficiency of the high density group is significantly higher than that of the low density group as it benefits from network economies. This study also calculates both short-term and long-term optimal scales of electricity distribution firms, lending policy implications for the deregulation of the electricity distribution industry.

Modified Current Differencing Unit and its Application for Electronically Reconfigurable Simple First-order Transfer Function

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

SOTNER, R.

2015-02-01

Full Text Available Modified current differencing unit (MCDU and its simple filtering application are introduced in this paper. Modification of the well-known current differencing unit consists in weighted difference of both input currents controlled by adjustable current gain, controllable intrinsic resistance of both current input terminals, and availability of additional voltage terminal(s. Definition of MCDU therefore requires four adjustable parameters (B1, B2, Rp, Rn. A presented active element offers and combines benefits of electronically controllable current conveyor of second generation and current differencing unit and allows synthesis of interesting adjustable applications, which are not available by classical approaches based on simple elements. MCDU brings variability of the transfer function into the structure. It provides several transfer types without necessity of input or output node change by simple electronic tuning. A presented structure represents so-called reconnection-less reconfigurable current-mode filter for realization of all-pass, inverting high-pass, low-pass and direct transfer response. Behavioral model of the MCDU was prepared and carefully tested in filtering application. Spice simulations and measurements confirmed theoretical assumptions.

Efficient, High-Power Mid-Infrared Laser for National Securityand Scientific Applications

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kiani, Leily S. [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)

2017-11-02

The LLNL fiber laser group developed a unique short-wave-infrared, high-pulse energy, highaverage- power fiber based laser. This unique laser source has been used in combination with a nonlinear frequency converter to generate wavelengths, useful for remote sensing and other applications in the mid-wave infrared (MWIR). Sources with high average power and high efficiency in this MWIR wavelength region are not yet available with the size, weight, and power requirements or energy efficiency necessary for future deployment. The LLNL developed Fiber Laser Pulsed Source (FiLPS) design was adapted to Erbium doped silica fibers for 1.55 μm pumping of Cadmium Silicon Phosphide (CSP). We have demonstrated, for the first time optical parametric amplification of 2.4 μm light via difference frequency generation using CSP with an Erbium doped fiber source. In addition, for efficiency comparison purposes, we also demonstrated direct optical parametric generation (OPG) as well as optical parametric oscillation (OPO).

Ecological units: definitions and application.

Science.gov (United States)

Jax, Kurt

2006-09-01

Concepts of ecological units, such as population, community, and ecosystem, are at the basis of ecological theory and research and have increasingly become the focus of conservation strategies. Concepts of these units still suffer from inconsistencies and confusions over terminology. The different concepts are treated here together as a common "conceptual cluster," with similar ecological functions (roles) and similar problems in their definition and use. An analysis of the multitude of existing terms and concepts that have been developed for these units reveals that they differ with respect to at least four basic criteria: (i) the questions as to whether they are defined statistically or via a network of interactions; (ii) if their boundaries are drawn by topographical or process-related criteria; (iii) how high the required internal relationships are; and (iv) if they are perceived as "real" entities or abstractions by an observer The various definitions cannot be easily sorted into just a few types, but they can be characterized by several independent criteria. I argue that serious problems arise if the different possibilities of defining ecological units are not recognized and if the concepts are perceived as self-evident. The different concepts of ecological units should be defined and used in a philosophically informed manner I propose a dual approach to the use of ecological units. Generic meanings of the main concepts (especially population, community, and ecosystem) should be retained only as heuristically useful perspectives, while specific and "operational" definitions of the concepts as units should be developed, depending on specific purposes of their use. Some thoughts on the basic requirements for such definitions and the domains of their uses are briefly explained.

The High-efficiency LED Driver for Visible Light Communication Applications.

Science.gov (United States)

Gong, Cihun-Siyong Alex; Lee, Yu-Chen; Lai, Jyun-Liang; Yu, Chueh-Hao; Huang, Li Ren; Yang, Chia-Yen

2016-08-08

This paper presents a LED driver for VLC. The main purpose is to solve the low data rate problem used to be in switching type LED driver. The GaN power device is proposed to replace the traditional silicon power device of switching LED driver for the purpose of increasing switching frequency of converter, thereby increasing the bandwidth of data transmission. To achieve high efficiency, the diode-connected GaN power transistor is utilized to replace the traditional ultrafast recovery diode used to be in switching type LED driver. This work has been experimentally evaluated on 350-mA output current. The results demonstrate that it supports the data of PWM dimming level encoded in the PPM scheme for VLC application. The experimental results also show that system's efficiency of 80.8% can be achieved at 1-Mb/s data rate.

Application for verification of monitor units of the treatment planning system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Suero Rodrigo, M. A.; Marques Fraguela, E.

2011-01-01

Current estimates algorithms achieve acceptable degree of accuracy. However, operate on the basis of un intuitive models. It is therefore necessary to verify the calculation of monitor units of the treatment planning system (TPS) with those obtained by other independent formalisms. To this end, we have developed an application based on factorization formalism that automates the calculation of dose.

Efficient Protection of Android Applications through User Authentication Using Peripheral Devices

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jinseong Kim

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Android applications store large amounts of sensitive information that may be exposed and exploited. To prevent this security risk, some applications such as Syrup and KakaoTalk use physical device values to authenticate or encrypt application data. However, by manipulating these physical device values, an attacker can circumvent the authentication by executing a Same Identifier Attack and obtain the same application privileges as the user. In our work, WhatsApp, KakaoTalk, Facebook, Amazon, and Syrup were subjected to the Same Identifier Attack, and it was found that an attacker could gain the same privileges as the user, in all five applications. To solve such a problem, we propose a technical scheme—User Authentication using Peripheral Devices. We applied the proposed scheme to a Nexus 5X smartphone running Android version 7.1 and confirmed that the average execution time was 0.005 s, which does not affect the other applications’ execution significantly. We also describe the security aspects of the proposed scheme and its compatibility with the Android platform and other applications. The proposed scheme is practical and efficient in terms of resource usage; therefore, it will be useful for Android users to improve Android application security.

Graphics processing unit based computation for NDE applications

Science.gov (United States)

Nahas, C. A.; Rajagopal, Prabhu; Balasubramaniam, Krishnan; Krishnamurthy, C. V.

2012-05-01

Advances in parallel processing in recent years are helping to improve the cost of numerical simulation. Breakthroughs in Graphical Processing Unit (GPU) based computation now offer the prospect of further drastic improvements. The introduction of 'compute unified device architecture' (CUDA) by NVIDIA (the global technology company based in Santa Clara, California, USA) has made programming GPUs for general purpose computing accessible to the average programmer. Here we use CUDA to develop parallel finite difference schemes as applicable to two problems of interest to NDE community, namely heat diffusion and elastic wave propagation. The implementations are for two-dimensions. Performance improvement of the GPU implementation against serial CPU implementation is then discussed.

Energy-Efficient Wide Datapath Integer Arithmetic Logic Units Using Superconductor Logic

Science.gov (United States)

Ayala, Christopher Lawrence

Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor (CMOS) technology is currently the most widely used integrated circuit technology today. As CMOS approaches the physical limitations of scaling, it is unclear whether or not it can provide long-term support for niche areas such as high-performance computing and telecommunication infrastructure, particularly with the emergence of cloud computing. Alternatively, superconductor technologies based on Josephson junction (JJ) switching elements such as Rapid Single Flux Quantum (RSFQ) logic and especially its new variant, Energy-Efficient Rapid Single Flux Quantum (ERSFQ) logic have the capability to provide an ultra-high-speed, low power platform for digital systems. The objective of this research is to design and evaluate energy-efficient, high-speed 32-bit integer Arithmetic Logic Units (ALUs) implemented using RSFQ and ERSFQ logic as the first steps towards achieving practical Very-Large-Scale-Integration (VLSI) complexity in digital superconductor electronics. First, a tunable VHDL superconductor cell library is created to provide a mechanism to conduct design exploration and evaluation of superconductor digital circuits from the perspectives of functionality, complexity, performance, and energy-efficiency. Second, hybrid wave-pipelining techniques developed earlier for wide datapath RSFQ designs have been used for efficient arithmetic and logic circuit implementations. To develop the core foundation of the ALU, the ripple-carry adder and the Kogge-Stone parallel prefix carry look-ahead adder are studied as representative candidates on opposite ends of the design spectrum. By combining the high-performance features of the Kogge-Stone structure and the low complexity of the ripple-carry adder, a 32-bit asynchronous wave-pipelined hybrid sparse-tree ALU has been designed and evaluated using the VHDL cell library tuned to HYPRES' gate-level characteristics. The designs and techniques from this research have been implemented using

Effects of nitrogen application rate on dry matter redistribution, grain yield, nitrogen use efficiency and photosynthesis in malting barley

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Cai, J; Jiang, D; Wollenweber, Bernd

2012-01-01

The harmonious combination of malting barley yield, quality and nitrogen (N) use-efficiency under nitrogen (N) rates applications was greatly conducive to production in China. The malting barley cultivar Supi 3 was planted during the growing seasons 2005 and 2006 at two contrasting sites in China....... Five nitrogen (N) application rates (0, 75, 150, 225 and 300 kg ha−1) were applied for research of effects of N rates application on grain yield, protein content and N use-efficiency. At both sites and in both years, grain yield increased with increasing N application rates up to 225 kg N ha−1...... with a quadrant model, the optimum N application rates for high grain yield with high nitrogen use-efficiency in malting barley could be indicated. So, the higher yields could be mainly ascribed to the higher accumulation of photoassimilates between anthesis and maturity. In order to achieve high grain yield...

Platform for efficient switching between multiple devices in the intensive care unit.

Science.gov (United States)

De Backere, F; Vanhove, T; Dejonghe, E; Feys, M; Herinckx, T; Vankelecom, J; Decruyenaere, J; De Turck, F

2015-01-01

This article is part of the Focus Theme of METHODS of Information in Medicine on "Managing Interoperability and Complexity in Health Systems". Handheld computers, such as tablets and smartphones, are becoming more and more accessible in the clinical care setting and in Intensive Care Units (ICUs). By making the most useful and appropriate data available on multiple devices and facilitate the switching between those devices, staff members can efficiently integrate them in their workflow, allowing for faster and more accurate decisions. This paper addresses the design of a platform for the efficient switching between multiple devices in the ICU. The key functionalities of the platform are the integration of the platform into the workflow of the medical staff and providing tailored and dynamic information at the point of care. The platform is designed based on a 3-tier architecture with a focus on extensibility, scalability and an optimal user experience. After identification to a device using Near Field Communication (NFC), the appropriate medical information will be shown on the selected device. The visualization of the data is adapted to the type of the device. A web-centric approach was used to enable extensibility and portability. A prototype of the platform was thoroughly evaluated. The scalability, performance and user experience were evaluated. Performance tests show that the response time of the system scales linearly with the amount of data. Measurements with up to 20 devices have shown no performance loss due to the concurrent use of multiple devices. The platform provides a scalable and responsive solution to enable the efficient switching between multiple devices. Due to the web-centric approach new devices can easily be integrated. The performance and scalability of the platform have been evaluated and it was shown that the response time and scalability of the platform was within an acceptable range.

Hygienic efficiency of radioisotope instruments application in motor-car industry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tolokonnikov, M.I.; Lev, M.Ya.; Liberman, A.N.; Chictov, E.D.

1978-01-01

At the Moscow Automobile Works named after I.A. Likhachev, an analysis was made of the hygienic and technologic-economic benefits from use of radioisotope instruments. Radioisotopic sources of radiation are used for research and measuring purposes in various automatic control and monitoring systems, and in evaluating the effectiveness of cleaning facilities. The application of radioisotopic instruments contributes to achieving the maximum possible efficiency of the equipment, to the improvement of working conditions, and to the prevention of environmental pollution

White Paper: Unleashing Energy Efficiency Retrofits Through Energy Performance Contracts in China and the United States

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shen, Bo [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Price, Lynn [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Liu, Manzhi [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Meng, Lu [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Miao, Pei [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Dai, Fan [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Evans, Meredydd [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Yu, Sha [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Roshchanka, Volha [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Halverson, Mark [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)

2015-09-15

Energy performance contracting (EPC) is a mechanism that uses private sector investment and expertise to deploy energy efficiency retrofits in buildings, industries, and other types of facilities. China and the United States both have large, growing EPC markets. This White Paper shares key insights on each market, including strengths and barriers inherent to these markets, compares the two markets, and sets forth options for enhancing EPC markets in each country. The White Paper concludes with recommendations structured around common goals of both countries.

An accurate and efficient method for large-scale SSR genotyping and applications.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Lun; Fang, Zhiwei; Zhou, Junfei; Chen, Hong; Hu, Zhangfeng; Gao, Lifen; Chen, Lihong; Ren, Sheng; Ma, Hongyu; Lu, Long; Zhang, Weixiong; Peng, Hai

2017-06-02

Accurate and efficient genotyping of simple sequence repeats (SSRs) constitutes the basis of SSRs as an effective genetic marker with various applications. However, the existing methods for SSR genotyping suffer from low sensitivity, low accuracy, low efficiency and high cost. In order to fully exploit the potential of SSRs as genetic marker, we developed a novel method for SSR genotyping, named as AmpSeq-SSR, which combines multiplexing polymerase chain reaction (PCR), targeted deep sequencing and comprehensive analysis. AmpSeq-SSR is able to genotype potentially more than a million SSRs at once using the current sequencing techniques. In the current study, we simultaneously genotyped 3105 SSRs in eight rice varieties, which were further validated experimentally. The results showed that the accuracies of AmpSeq-SSR were nearly 100 and 94% with a single base resolution for homozygous and heterozygous samples, respectively. To demonstrate the power of AmpSeq-SSR, we adopted it in two applications. The first was to construct discriminative fingerprints of the rice varieties using 3105 SSRs, which offer much greater discriminative power than the 48 SSRs commonly used for rice. The second was to map Xa21, a gene that confers persistent resistance to rice bacterial blight. We demonstrated that genome-scale fingerprints of an organism can be efficiently constructed and candidate genes, such as Xa21 in rice, can be accurately and efficiently mapped using an innovative strategy consisting of multiplexing PCR, targeted sequencing and computational analysis. While the work we present focused on rice, AmpSeq-SSR can be readily extended to animals and micro-organisms. © The Author(s) 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Nucleic Acids Research.

Resource allocation based on cost efficiency

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dehnokhalaji, Akram; Ghiyasi, Mojtaba; Korhonen, Pekka

2017-01-01

-objective linear programming problem using two different strategies. First, we propose an RA model which keeps the cost efficiencies of units unchanged. This is done assuming fixed technical and allocative efficiencies. The approach is based on the assumption that the decision maker (DM) may not have big changes......In this paper, we consider a resource allocation (RA) problem and develop an approach based on cost (overall) efficiency. The aim is to allocate some inputs among decision making units (DMUs) in such way that their cost efficiencies improve or stay unchanged after RA. We formulate a multi...... in the structure of DMUs within a short term. The second strategy does not impose any restrictions on technical and allocative efficiencies. It guarantees that none of the cost efficiencies of DMUs get worse after RA, and the improvement for units is possible if it is feasible and beneficial. Two numerical...

Comparative efficiency evaluation of buck and hybrid buck DC-DC converters for automotive applications

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pelan, Ovidiu; Cornea, Octavian; Muntean, Nicolae

2014-01-01

This paper presents and discusses design considerations and efficiency investigation of a conventional step-down and a hybrid switched-capacitor DC-DC converter. Three MOSFETs with low on-resistance have been tested for each converter in order to find the most adequate switch for this application....... The experimental results and comparative efficiency graphs were obtained with a 1kW laboratory prototype dedicated for a 42/14V dual voltage automotive system....

Developing Information on Energy Savings and Associated Costs and Benefits of Energy Efficient Emerging Technologies Applicable in California

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Xu, Tengfang; Slaa, Jan Willem; Sathaye, Jayant

2010-12-15

Implementation and adoption of efficient end-use technologies have proven to be one of the key measures for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions throughout the industries. In many cases, implementing energy efficiency measures is among one of the most cost effective investments that the industry could make in improving efficiency and productivity while reducing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Over the years, there have been incentives to use resources and energy in a cleaner and more efficient way to create industries that are sustainable and more productive. With the working of energy programs and policies on GHG inventory and regulation, understanding and managing the costs associated with mitigation measures for GHG reductions is very important for the industry and policy makers around the world and in California. Successful implementation of applicable emerging technologies not only may help advance productivities, improve environmental impacts, or enhance industrial competitiveness, but also can play a significant role in climate-mitigation efforts by saving energy and reducing the associated GHG emissions. Developing new information on costs and savings benefits of energy efficient emerging technologies applicable in California market is important for policy makers as well as the industries. Therefore, provision of timely evaluation and estimation of the costs and energy savings potential of emerging technologies applicable to California is the focus of this report. The overall goal of the project is to identify and select a set of emerging and under-utilized energy-efficient technologies and practices as they are important to reduce energy consumption in industry while maintaining economic growth. Specifically, this report contains the results from performing Task 3 Technology Characterization for California Industries for the project titled Research Opportunities in Emerging and Under-Utilized Energy-Efficient Industrial Technologies, sponsored by

Production System of Peranakan Etawah Goat under Application of Feed Technology: Productivity and Economic Efficiency

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Akhmad Sodiq

2009-09-01

Full Text Available Feed resources are the major constraint in increasing goat production in the village. The main constraints to goat raising are related to feeds (i the high cost of transport of crop residues and grass to the homesteads, (ii the low nutritive value of feeds used, particularly in the dry period. This research was design to evaluate goat productivity and economic efficiency of goat farming under application of feed technology production system in Peranakan Etawah goat farmer group of Gumelar Banyumas Central Java. All farmers were taken as respondents using census methods. On farm research with participative focused group discussion, indepth interview, and farm observation. Descriptive analysis and independent t test methods were used to analyze the data. Results of this study showed that there was a significant improvement goat productivity on production system with the application of feed technology. Body weight at weaning, survival rate till weaning, and doe productivity were increased 7%, 2% and 5%, respectively. There was no evidence of significant different of farmers income and economic efficiency before and after the applied feed technology (P>0.05. The calculation was based on cash flow. Before application, farmers income per year and economic efficiency were Rp14.404.520,00 and 1.21, then insignificantly improve into Rp16.487.100,00 and 1.27, respectively. (Animal Production 11(3: 202-208 (2009 Key Words: Livestock production system, Peranakan Etawah goat, feed technology aplication, productivity and economic efficiency

Loss minimization control and efficiency determination of electric drives in traction applications

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Windisch, Thomas; Hofmann, Wilfried [Technische Univ. Dresden (Germany). Lehrstuhl fuer Elektrische Maschinen und Antriebe

2012-11-01

High-power electric drives in automotive traction applications consume a large part of the disposable electric energy. For this reason the energy efficiency of the drives is of great importance for range and fuel consumption of the hybrid electric vehicle. The paper describes two possible drives with different electric motors from a control point of view. The electric power losses in the drive system are determined depending on the operating point of the machine. With these loss characteristics the control of the drives is optimized to produce minimal losses. Finally the energy efficiency for a realistic urban bus drive cycle is calculated to compare the two types. (orig.)

Application of Prognostic Mesoscale Modeling in the Southeast United States

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Buckley, R.L.

1999-01-01

A prognostic model is being used to provide regional forecasts for a variety of applications at the Savannah River Site (SRS). Emergency response dispersion models available at SRS use the space and time-dependent meteorological data provided by this model to supplement local and regional observations. Output from the model is also used locally to aid in forecasting at SRS, and regionally in providing forecasts of the potential time and location of hurricane landfall within the southeast United States

77 FR 35079 - License Renewal Application for Seabrook Station, Unit 1 ; NextEra Energy Seabrook, LLC

Science.gov (United States)

2012-06-12

... NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION [Docket No. 50-443; NRC-2010-0206] License Renewal Application for Seabrook Station, Unit 1 ; NextEra Energy Seabrook, LLC AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission. ACTION: License renewal application; intent to prepare supplement to draft [[Page 35080

Investigation of Heat Sink Efficiency for Electronic Component Cooling Applications

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Staliulionis, Ž.; Zhang, Zhe; Pittini, Riccardo

2014-01-01

Research and optimisation of cooling of electronic components using heat sinks becomes increasingly important in modern industry. Numerical methods with experimental real-world verification are the main tools to evaluate efficiency of heat sinks or heat sink systems. Here the investigation...... of relatively simple heat sink application is performed using modeling based on finite element method, and also the potential of such analysis was demonstrated by real-world measurements and comparing obtained results. Thermal modeling was accomplished using finite element analysis software COMSOL and thermo...

The application of EMI units for diagnosis of the liver diseases

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Maeda, Hiroko; Kawai, Takeshi; Kanasaki, Yoshiki; Akagi, Hiroaki

1979-01-01

The application of EMI units for diagnosis of the liver diseases was studied. Cases in this report were included 16 normal cases, 20 metastatic liver cancer, 20 primary liver cancer and 9 liver cysts. EMI units of 320 x 320 matrix were changed to those of 64 x 64 matrix, averaging of 25 points with another computer system. Using the EMI units of 64 x 64 matrix, digital expression, histogram, and MAP expression in the resion of interest (R.O.I.) were printed out automatically. Two kinds of R.O.I. were set up, that is, R.O.I.-1 was the area of the liver including hepatic lesions, and R.O.I.-2 was the area of the spleen. The peak values of the EMI units were 0.23 +- 3.51 in the liver cysts, 13.9 +- 3.37 in the metastatic liver cancers, 16.9 +- 3.75 in the primary liver cancers, and 24.7 +- 2.98 in the normal cases. The peak value of the EMI units in the liver cysts was clearly separated from others, but in the primary and metastatic cancers and normal cases, the peak values were overlapped. The EMI units of normal livers were higher than those of spleens, and those of hepatic lesions were lower, in the same slice of the CT scans. Therefore, if the EMI units of liver were lower than those of spleen, it was thought that the presence of hepatic abnormality was suspected. Correct diagnosis rates were 56.9% in the readings of MAP expressions, 67.7% in CT images, and 76.9% in both. In conclusion, correct diagnosis rate of CT images becomes better when combined with the expressions of EMI units. (author)

Does the Future Engineer Force Transition Engineer Units between Offensive and Stability Operations in Ways That Achieve Responsiveness, Versatility, Agility, Effectiveness, and Efficiency?

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

London, David T

2005-01-01

.... The main question is as follows: Does the FEF transition engineer units between offensive and stability operations in ways that achieve responsiveness, versatility, agility, effectiveness, and efficiency...

Pesticide Application and Khat Chewing as Predictors of the Neurological Health Outcomes among Pesticide Applicators in a Vector Control Unit, Saudi Arabia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ahmed A Ismail

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Background: Pesticide applicators are at risk of developing neurological symptoms and neurobehavioral deficits. This risk may increase if the applicator chews stimulant plants like khat. Objective: To examine the sociodemographic and exposure determinants of neurological symptoms presentation, neurobehavioral performance, and cholinesterase activity among pesticide applicators in a vector control unit, Saudi Arabia. Methods: In a cross-sectional study, 30 pesticide applicators and 32 non-applicators from a vector control unit in Jazan region, Saudi Arabia, were studied. The study participants completed an exposure and medical questionnaire, and a neurobehavioral test battery. Their blood samples were also tested for the measurement of butyryl cholinesterase (BChE. Results: The mean blood BChE level was no significantly different between the applicators and non-applicators. Working in pesticide application and chewing khat were significant predictors of the neurological symptoms presentation and neurobehavioral deficits among the study participants. Each factor was associated with about 40% of the symptoms included in the questionnaire. Exposure to pyrethroids was significantly associated with a decrement in symbol digit test latency, tapping (TAP non-preferred hand, and TAP alternating hands measures, representing the executive and motor speed/coordination functions. Khat chewing was associated with TAP preferred and non-preferred hands and serial digit learning measures, representing the memory and motor speed/coordination functions. Conclusions: It seems that being exposed to pyrethroids and chewing khat are associated with neurological and neurobehavioral drawbacks among pesticide applicators.

CURING EFFICIENCY OF DUAL-CURE RESIN CEMENT UNDER ZIRCONIA WITH TWO DIFFERENT LIGHT CURING UNITS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pınar GÜLTEKİN

2015-04-01

Full Text Available Purpose: Adequate polymerization is a crucial factor in obtaining optimal physical properties and a satisfying clinical performance from composite resin materials. The aim of this study was to evaluate the polymerization efficiency of dual-cure resin cement cured with two different light curing units under zirconia structures having differing thicknesses. Materials and Methods: 4 zirconia discs framework in 4 mm diameter and in 0.5 mm, 1 mm and 1.5 mm thickness were prepared using computer-aided design system. One of the 0.5 mm-thick substructures was left as mono-layered whereas others were layered with feldspathic porcelain of same thickness and ceramic samples with 4 different thicknesses (0.5, 1, 1.5 and 2.0 mm were prepared. For each group (n=12 resin cement was light cured in polytetrafluoroethylene molds using Light Emitting Diode (LED or Quartz-Tungsten Halogen (QHT light curing units under each of 4 zirconia based discs (n=96. The values of depth of cure (in mm and the Vickers Hardness Number values (VHN were evaluated for each specimen. Results: The use of LED curing unit produced a greater depth of cure compared to QTH under ceramic discs with 0.5 and 1 mm thickness (p<0.05.At 100μm and 300 μm depth, the LED unit produced significantly greater VHN values compared to the QTH unit (p<0.05. At 500 μm depth, the difference between the VHN values of LED and QTH groups were not statistically significant. Conclusion: Light curing may not result in adequate resin cement polymerization under thick zirconia structures. LED light sources should be preferred over QTH for curing dual-cure resin cements, especially for those under thicker zirconia restorations.

Influence of evenness of poultry manure application on grain crops productivity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

T. Yu. Anisimova

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Possibility of increase of efficiency of poultry manure application due to more evenness of fertilizer application into the soil was investigated. Machines with a wide range of regulation of an application rate, for example ROU-6 with interval from 4 to 80 t/ha are for this purpose necessary. Efficiency of poultry manure application for grain crops was increased due to using of machines of drum type with optimum doses fertilizing (12-16 t/ha. An assessment of efficiency was carried out. The drums rotation speed, shovel quantity and shape, their installation angle and a design of the directing board were determined. The developed modified working of a spreader of drum type allowed to reduce unevenness of width fertilizing by 12-14 percent, on length of unit pass - by 5 percent. It was established that if the dose increases more than 8 t/ha, the crop productivity growths not significant. At reduction of fertilizing unevenness from 97 to 72 percent yield losses decrease by 54.4 percent. At reduction of fertilizing unevenness more than 97 percent, efficiency worsens by 58 percent. Poultry manure spreading by the machine and tractor unit MTZ-82.1 + ROU-6M afforded an yield by 38 percent higher, in comparison with the machine and tractor unit T-150K + PRT-10. At decrease in unevenness from 82 to 43 percent of barley loss decreased by 29 percent. It was revealed that spreading by machine ROU-6M provided a yield increase by 8.6 percent more, than by machine PRT-10. Yield losses because of spreading unevenness made: by the PRT-10 operating - 30 percent; by the ROU-6M operating - 0.33 percent. The grain yield increase was higher thanks to more evenness of fertilizer application by ROU-6M with the new spreading working element.

Dispersant Application during SG Wet Layup at SK Unit 1

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kwon, Hyukchul; Lee, Dooho; Sung, Kibang [KHNP Central Institute, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2014-05-15

The corrosion products in the feedwater are deposited onto the steam generators (SGs) despite the effort to control them within limit of impurity. This deposit is one of causes for occurrence of SCC (Stress Corrosion Cracking), water level fluctuation and further corrosion of SGs. To minimize corrosion and remove deposit, the nuclear power plants apply high pH to the secondary system and SG chemical cleaning, respectively. But these methods can be costly and carry risks of extended outages or incomplete cleaning. Another method is an on-line dispersant application. The role of dispersant is to make deposit suspended in the SGs. Then, the suspended deposit is discharged to the blowdown system. The iron removal is increased in the blowdown system during the dispersant application. Additional significant benefit in the form of reduced corrosion product transport may be obtained through applying dispersant in the SGs wet lay operational mode. This method helps to reduce the total SGs loading without affecting critical outage activities and with minimal additional effort on the part of the utilities. This study provides the results of the dispersant application trial during the SG wet layup at SK Unit 1. As the PAA concentrations were increased, the corrosion rates of Alloy 690 and SA 106 Gr.B were increased. The corrosion rate of Alloy 690 was 2 times less than that of SA 106 Gr.B at 100 ppm of PAA based on the electrochemical experimental. There were no significant feasibility problems with application of PAA during the SG wet layup. The reasonable estimation of the additional mass removed by the presence of PAA during SGs wet layup is 460 g. The iron removal depended on PAA concentration injected based on the comparative results of the SK Unit 1 and TMI-1. It is expected that injection of PAA into the SG result in a significant decrease in the amount of iron transported to the SGs during the startup.

Chillers and cold water units. Special issue; Chillers en koudwateraggregaten. Thema

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Van Zwam, P. [GEA Refrigeration Components Benelux, Den Bosch (Netherlands); Meijer, W. [Daikin Airconditioning Netherlands, Rotterdam (Netherlands); Torsy, E. [Trane Airconditioning, Soest (Netherlands); Berends, E. [GEA Grenco Refrigeration, Den Bosch (Netherlands); Havenaar, D. (ed.)

2010-05-15

In five articles attention is paid to several aspects of chillers and cold water units: (1) reduction of refrigerants and increase of the COP; (2) realization of high partial load efficiency in mono-screw compressors; (3) energy efficient innovation for cooling and heat pump systems; (4) application of modern chiller technology for a skating rink of Sportboulevard, Dordrecht, Netherlands; and (5) the use of propane as a refrigerant in air-cooled cold water units. [Dutch] In vijf artikelen wordt aandacht besteed aan verschillende aspecten van chillers en koudwateraggregaten: (1) minimaliseren van koudemiddeleninhoud en verhogen van de COP; (2) realisatie van hoge deellastrendementen met mono-schroefcompressoren; (3) energie efficiente innovaties voor koelmachine- en warmtepompsystemen; (4) toepassing van moderne chillertechnologie in de ijshal van Sportboulevard Dordrecht; en (5) het gebruik van propaan als koudemiddel in luchtgekoelde koudwateraggregaten.

An analysis of mobile whole blood collection labor efficiency.

Science.gov (United States)

Rose, William N; Dayton, Paula J; Raife, Thomas J

2011-07-01

Labor efficiency is desirable in mobile blood collection. There are few published data on labor efficiency. The variability in the labor efficiency of mobile whole blood collections was analyzed. We determined to improve our labor efficiency using lean manufacturing principles. Workflow changes in mobile collections were implemented with the goal of minimizing labor expenditures. To measure success, data on labor efficiency measured by units/hour/full-time equivalent (FTE) were collected. The labor efficiency in a 6-month period before the implementation of changes, and in months 1 to 6 and 7 to 12 after implementation was analyzed and compared. Labor efficiency in the 6-month period preceding implementation was 1.06 ± 0.4 units collected/hour/FTE. In months 1 to 6, labor efficiency declined slightly to 0.92 ± 0.4 units collected/hour/FTE (p = 0.016 vs. preimplementation). In months 7 to 12, the mean labor efficiency returned to preimplementation levels of 1.09 ±0.4 units collected/hour/FTE. Regression analysis correlating labor efficiency with total units collected per drive revealed a strong correlation (R(2) = 0.48 for the aggregate data from all three periods), indicating that nearly half of labor efficiency was associated with drive size. The lean-based changes in workflow were subjectively favored by employees and donors. The labor efficiency of our mobile whole blood drives is strongly influenced by size. Larger drives are more efficient, with diminishing returns above 40 units collected. Lean-based workflow changes were positively received by employees and donors. © 2011 American Association of Blood Banks.

WEAK EFFICIENCY ON THE STOCK EXCHANGE MARKET: AN EMPIRICAL STUDY ON ISE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

SİBEL DUMAN ATAN

2013-06-01

Full Text Available Markets which returns of share certificate are reflected completely whole information, describe as effective. In a weak-form efficiency market, all past price activity were reflected with current price and it isn’t obtaining an above the normal return to use with past price activity in markets. In this paper, we aim to provide the efficiency level of ISE market using fifteen minutes and session frequency data for the 03 January 2003 – 30 December 2005 period. In order to test the efficiency of ISE we use firstly ADF and KPSS unit root tests and secondly ELW fractionally integrated estimator developed by Shimotsu and Philips (2005. According to application we found that ISE is weakly efficient market.

On Improving Efficiency of Differential Evolution for Aerodynamic Shape Optimization Applications

Science.gov (United States)

Madavan, Nateri K.

2004-01-01

Differential Evolution (DE) is a simple and robust evolutionary strategy that has been proven effective in determining the global optimum for several difficult optimization problems. Although DE offers several advantages over traditional optimization approaches, its use in applications such as aerodynamic shape optimization where the objective function evaluations are computationally expensive is limited by the large number of function evaluations often required. In this paper various approaches for improving the efficiency of DE are reviewed and discussed. These approaches are implemented in a DE-based aerodynamic shape optimization method that uses a Navier-Stokes solver for the objective function evaluations. Parallelization techniques on distributed computers are used to reduce turnaround times. Results are presented for the inverse design of a turbine airfoil. The efficiency improvements achieved by the different approaches are evaluated and compared.

Are wildfire management resources in the United States efficiently allocated to protect resources at risk? A case study from Montana

Science.gov (United States)

Derek T. O' Donnell; Tyron J. Venna; David E. Calkin

2014-01-01

Federal wildfire management agencies in the United States are under substantial pressure to reduce and economically justify their expenditures. To support economically efficient management of wildfires, managers need better estimates of the resource benefits and avoided damage costs associated with alternative wildfire management strategies. This paper reports findings...

An outlier robust unit root test with an application to the extended Nelson-Plosser data

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Lucas, André

1995-01-01

This paper considers unit root tests based on robust estimators with a high breakdown point and high efficiency. The asymptotic distribution of these tests is derived. Critical values for the test are obtained via simulation. It is found that the size of the classical OLS based Dickey-Fuller test

Data Center Energy Efficiency Standards in India: Preliminary Findings from Global Practices

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Raje, Sanyukta; Maan, Hermant; Ganguly, Suprotim; Singh, Tanvin; Jayaram, Nisha; Ghatikar, Girish; Greenberg, Steve; Kumar, Satish; Sartor, Dale

2015-06-01

Global data center energy consumption is growing rapidly. In India, information technology industry growth, fossil-fuel generation, and rising energy prices add significant operational costs and carbon emissions from energy-intensive data centers. Adoption of energy-efficient practices can improve the global competitiveness and sustainability of data centers in India. Previous studies have concluded that advancement of energy efficiency standards through policy and regulatory mechanisms is the fastest path to accelerate the adoption of energy-efficient practices in the Indian data centers. In this study, we reviewed data center energy efficiency practices in the United States, Europe, and Asia. Using evaluation metrics, we identified an initial set of energy efficiency standards applicable to the Indian context using the existing policy mechanisms. These preliminary findings support next steps to recommend energy efficiency standards and inform policy makers on strategies to adopt energy-efficient technologies and practices in Indian data centers.

Energy efficiency opportunities in the brewery industry

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Worrell, Ernst; Galitsky, Christina; Martin, Nathan

2002-06-28

Breweries in the United States spend annually over $200 Million on energy. Energy consumption is equal to 3-8% of the production costs of beer, making energy efficiency improvement an important way to reduce costs, especially in times of high energy price volatility. After a summary of the beer making process and energy use, we examine energy efficiency opportunities available for breweries. We provide specific primary energy savings for each energy efficiency measure based on case studies that have implemented the measures, as well as references to technical literature. If available, we have also listed typical payback periods. Our findings suggest that there may still be opportunities to reduce energy consumption cost-effectively for breweries. Major brewing companies have and will continue to spend capital on cost effective measures that do not impact the quality of the beer. Further research on the economics of the measures, as well as their applicability to different brewing practices, is needed to assess implementation of selected technologies at individual breweries.

Privacy-Free Garbled Circuits with Applications To Efficient Zero-Knowledge

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Frederiksen, Tore Kasper; Nielsen, Jesper Buus; Orlandi, Claudio

In the last few years garbled circuits (GC) have been elevated from being merely a component in Yao’s protocol for secure two-party computation, to a cryptographic primitive in its own right, following the growing number applications that use GCs. Zero-Knowledge (ZK) protocols is one...... of these examples: In a recent paper Jawurek et al. [JKO13] showed that GCs can be used to construct efficient ZK for unstructured languages. In this work we show that due to the property of this particular scenario (i.e., one of the party knows all the secret input bits, and therefore all intermediate values...... in the computation), we can construct more efficient garbled schemes specifically tailored to this goal. As a highlight of our result, in one of our constructions only one encryption per gate needs to be communicated and XOR gates never require any cryptographic operation. In addition to making a step forward...

[Nutrient use efficiency and yield-increasing effect of single basal application of rice specific controlled release fertilizer].

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Jiansheng; Xu, Peizhi; Tang, Shuanhu; Zhang, Fabao; Xie, Chunsheng

2005-10-01

A series of pot and field experiments and field demonstrations showed that in comparing with the commonly used specific-fertilizers containing same amounts of nutrients, single basal application of rice-specific controlled release fertilizer could increase the use efficiency of N and P by 12.2% - 22.7% and 7.0% - 35.0%, respectively in pot experiment, and the use efficiency of N by 17.1% in field experiment. In 167 field demonstrations successively conducted for 3 years in various rice production areas of Guangdong Province, single basal application of the fertilizer saved the application rate of N and P by 22.1% and 21.8%, respectively, and increased the yield by 8.2%, compared with normal split fertilization.

A novel dinuclear Ru(II) complex having a bridging ligand of a rigid and extended structure. Incorporation of an anthraquinone unit and efficient emission quenching

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mishra, L.; Choi, Chang-Shik; Araki, Koji

1997-01-01

Dinuclear Ru(II) complex having extended conjugation within the bridging ligand was prepared by coupling of the Ru(II) polypyridyl complex having a benzoyl-substituted phenazine unit with diaminoanthraquinone in one step, in which emission from the excited Ru(II) center was efficiently quenched through the anthraquinone unit. (author)

The application of fuzzy control on energy saving for multi-unit room air-conditioners

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chiou, C.B.; Chiou, C.H.; Chu, C.M.; Lin, S.L.

2009-01-01

Most research, on energy saving methods for air-conditioners have focused on large chillers as its subject. As most school offices, laboratories, and classrooms are equipped with unitary systems for air-conditioning, this paper discusses methods for energy savings with regard to unitary systems. This paper will put forward the fuzzy temperature control method for multi-unit air-conditioners to enhance energy efficiency. The results show that the use of fuzzy control is efficient for energy saving as well as causing temperature control be steadier, even if there is a change to the thermal loading, the fuzzy control system is able to control the air-conditioning in stable conditions

Polymer electrolyte fuel cell mini power unit for portable application

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Urbani, F.; Squadrito, G.; Barbera, O.; Giacoppo, G.; Passalacqua, E. [CNR-ITAE, via Salita S. Lucia sopra Contesse n. 5, 98126 S. Lucia, Messina (Italy); Zerbinati, O. [Universita del Piemonte Orientale, Dip. di Scienze dell' Ambiente e della Vita, via Bellini 25/g, 15100 Alessandria (Italy)

2007-06-20

This paper describes the design, realisation and test of a power unit based on a polymer electrolyte fuel cell, operating at room temperature, for portable application. The device is composed of an home made air breathing fuel cell stack, a metal hydride tank for H{sub 2} supply, a dc-dc converter for power output control and a fan for stack cooling. The stack is composed by 10 cells with an active surface of 25 cm{sup 2} and produces a rated power of 15 W at 6 V and 2 A. The stack successfully runs with end-off fed hydrogen without appreciable performance degradation during the time. The final assembled system is able to generate 12 W at 9.5 V, and power a portable DVD player for 3 h in continuous. The power unit has collected about 100 h of operation without maintenance. (author)

License renewal in the United States

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brons, Jack

2002-01-01

Full text: Nuclear plants in the United States are licensed for 40 years, a length specified in the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, which laid out much of the regulatory basis for the commercial nuclear industry. The Act, however, made provision for license renewal. The original 40-year license period was chosen arbitrarily by the U.S. Congress because it was the typical period over which utilities recovered their investment in electricity generating plants. Nuclear plants, however, are subject to a rigorous program of Nuclear Regulatory Commission oversight, maintenance and equipment replacement. In effect, they must be in the same operating condition on the last day of their licenses as they were on the first. As the industry matured, it became apparent that there was no physical limitation on the continued operation of nuclear plants past 40 years. The industry turned its attention toward license renewal. When the issue was first raised, the NRC considered stringent process equivalent to seeking a new operating license for each plant. The complexity, length and cost of the process made it unlikely that many nuclear plants would seek license renewal. The nuclear industry worked successfully with NRC on the application of generic principles to license renewal, however, and in 1995, the NRC issued an efficient, tightly-focused rule that made license renewal a safe, viable option. To extend the operating license for a reactor, a company must demonstrate to the NRC that aging effects will be adequately managed during the renewal terms, thus ensuring equipment functionality. The rule allows licensees to apply for extensions of up to 20 years. The first license renewal application was filed in 1998 by the owner of the two-unit Calvert Cliffs plant. Shortly thereafter, an application was filed for the three-unit Oconee Nuclear Station. The NRC renewed the licenses for all five units in 2000, and since then, five more licenses have been renewed. The NRC has received 37

Monitoring tools for energy efficiency in Europe

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2002-07-01

This document brings together the different definitions of the indicators used in the European Odyssee project on energy efficiency indicators. This project was initiated in 1990. It benefits from the combined support of the SAVE programme of the European Commission, of Ademe and of 15 national Efficiency Agencies within the European network of energy efficiency agencies. The objective of the project is to develop and maintain indicators that enable to review progress in energy efficiency and CO{sub 2} emissions abatement, by sector, end-use, etc.. for each country and the EU as a whole. To reach this objective, all data and indicators are stored in a common database called ODYSSEE that is regularly updated. A common methodology is used to produce comparative energy efficiency indicators from the database. The definitions presented in this document concern: 1) the general points (energy intensity, consumption, savings, efficiency, the unit consumption effect and index, the technological effect or savings, the substitution effect and the behavioural/management effect); 2) the macro-indicators (primary and final energy intensities at constant structure, at purchasing power parities, at reference economic structure); 3) industry (energy intensity of industry/manufacturing, of industry at constant structure and at reference structure, unit consumption of steel, cement etc.., process effect); 4) transports (energy intensity, unit consumption of vehicles, average specific consumption, test specific consumption, unit consumption, specific consumption, behavioural energy savings; 5) households and services (unit consumption, specific consumption, energy intensity of households, appliances); 6) transformations (apparent efficiency of energy sector or transformations, efficiency at constant fuel mix, efficiency of electricity sector). The same work is made for the 'key energy efficiency indicators', for the 'aggregate energy efficiency indicators' for

Economic efficiency of application of innovative materials and structures in high-rise construction

Science.gov (United States)

Golov, Roman; Dikareva, Varvara; Gorshkov, Roman; Agarkov, Anatoly

2018-03-01

The article is devoted to the analysis of technical and economic efficiency of application of tube confined concrete structures in high-rise construction. The study of comparative costs of materials with the use of different supporting columns was carried out. The main design, operational, technological and economic advantages of the tube confined concrete technology were evaluated, conclusions were drawn about the high strength and deformation properties of axial compression of steel tubes filled with high-strength concrete. The efficiency of the tube confined concrete use is substantiated, which depends mainly on the scale factor and percentage of reinforcement affecting its load-bearing capacity.

Modeling technical efficiency of inshore fishery using data envelopment analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Rahman, Rahayu; Zahid, Zalina; Khairi, Siti Shaliza Mohd; Hussin, Siti Aida Sheikh

2016-10-01

Fishery industry contributes significantly to the economy of Malaysia. This study utilized Data Envelopment Analysis application in estimating the technical efficiency of fishery in Terengganu, a state on the eastern coast of Peninsular Malaysia, based on multiple output, i.e. total fish landing and income of fishermen with six inputs, i.e. engine power, vessel size, number of trips, number of workers, cost and operation distance. The data were collected by survey conducted between November and December 2014. The decision making units (DMUs) involved 100 fishermen from 10 fishery areas. The result showed that the technical efficiency in Season I (dry season) and Season II (rainy season) were 90.2% and 66.7% respectively. About 27% of the fishermen were rated to be efficient during Season I, meanwhile only 13% of the fishermen achieved full efficiency 100% during Season II. The results also found out that there was a significance difference in the efficiency performance between the fishery areas.

Application of tape unit in data acquisition system and its maintenance and trouble shoot

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xing Jianping; Qian Xicheng

1995-01-01

Application of magnetic tape unit in data acquisition system of DEC computer imported from German and its maintenance as well as trouble shoot is described. The system is used for nuclear data acquisition and processing

Miscellaneous and Electronic Loads Energy Efficiency Opportunities for Commercial Buildings: A Collaborative Study by the United States and India

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ghatikar, Girish [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Cheung, Iris [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Lanzisera, Steven [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Wardell, Bob [Infosys Technologies Limited; Deshpande, Manoj [Infosys Technologies Limited; Ugarkar, Jayraj [Infosys Technologies Limited

2013-04-01

This report documents the technical evaluation of a collaborative research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) project that aims to address energy efficiency of Miscellaneous and Electronic Loads (MELs) (referred to as plug loads interchangeably in this report) using load monitoring and control devices. The goal s of this project are to identify and provide energy efficiency and building technologies to exemplary information technology (IT) office buildings, and to assist in transforming markets via technical assistance and engagement of Indian and U.S. stakeholders. This report describes the results of technology evaluation and United States – India collaboration between the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Infosys Technologies Limited (India), and Smartenit, Inc. (U.S.) to address plug - load efficiency. The conclusions and recommendations focus on the larger benefits of such technologies and their impacts on both U.S. and Indian stakeholders.

Modeling Small Scale Solar Powered ORC Unit for Standalone Application

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Enrico Bocci

2012-01-01

Full Text Available When the electricity from the grid is not available, the generation of electricity in remote areas is an essential challenge to satisfy important needs. In many developing countries the power generation from Diesel engines is the applied technical solution. However the cost and supply of fuel make a strong dependency of the communities on the external support. Alternatives to fuel combustion can be found in photovoltaic generators, and, with suitable conditions, small wind turbines or microhydroplants. The aim of the paper is to simulate the power generation of a generating unit using the Rankine Cycle and using refrigerant R245fa as a working fluid. The generation unit has thermal solar panels as heat source and photovoltaic modules for the needs of the auxiliary items (pumps, electronics, etc.. The paper illustrates the modeling of the system using TRNSYS platform, highlighting standard and “ad hoc” developed components as well as the global system efficiency. In the future the results of the simulation will be compared with the data collected from the 3 kW prototype under construction in the Tuscia University in Italy.

The Text of the Agreement for the Application of Agency Safeguards to United States Reactor Facilities

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1964-08-14

The text of the Agreement between the Agency and the Government of the United States of America for the application of Agency safeguards to United States reactor facilities, which was signed on 15 June 1964 and entered into force on 1 August 1964, is reproduced in this document for the information of all Members.

Grain intermodal terminals: evaluation of pure technical efficiency by Data Envelopment Analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maria Gabriela Mendonça Peixoto

Full Text Available Abstract This paper aimed to verify if terminals with productive efficiency also have pure technical efficiency, using DEA (Data Envelopment Analysis technique. The research approach was the qualitative-quantitative or mixed, with exploratory purpose; the research method defined was the case study (multicases; data were collected through interviews using a structured questionnaire and non-probability for convenience sampling. While the application of Charnes, Cooper and Rhodes (CCR model observed that only three (4, 7 and 11, of the twelve analyzed Decision Making Units (DMUs have total technical efficiency, through Banker, Charnes and Cooper (BCC model, it was possible to observe that these terminals were the only ones with pure technical efficiency. The three inefficient DMUs (1, 2 and 12 showed pure technical efficiency, suggesting that these terminals might present probable scale operations’ inefficiency, aspect not addressed in this paper.

Highly accurate determination of relative gamma-ray detection efficiency for Ge detector and its application

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Miyahara, H.; Mori, C.; Fleming, R.F.; Dewaraja, Y.K.

1997-01-01

When quantitative measurements of γ-rays using High-Purity Ge (HPGe) detectors are made for a variety of applications, accurate knowledge of oy-ray detection efficiency is required. The emission rates of γ-rays from sources can be determined quickly in the case that the absolute peak efficiency is calibrated. On the other hand, the relative peak efficiencies can be used for determination of intensity ratios for plural samples and for comparison to the standard source. Thus, both absolute and relative detection efficiencies are important in use of γ-ray detector. The objective of this work is to determine the relative gamma-ray peak detection efficiency for an HPGe detector with the uncertainty approaching 0.1% . We used some nuclides which emit at least two gamma-rays with energies from 700 to 2400 keV for which the relative emission probabilities are known with uncertainties much smaller than 0.1%. The relative peak detection efficiencies were calculated from the measurements of the nuclides, 46 Sc, 48 Sc, 60 Co and 94 Nb, emitting two γ- rays with the emission probabilities of almost unity. It is important that various corrections for the emission probabilities, the cascade summing effect, and the self-absorption are small. A third order polynomial function on both logarithmic scales of energy and efficiency was fitted to the data, and the peak efficiency predicted at certain energy from covariance matrix showed the uncertainty less than 0.5% except for near 700 keV. As an application, the emission probabilities of the 1037.5 and 1212.9 keV γ-rays for 48 Sc were determined using the function of the highly precise relative peak efficiency. Those were 0.9777+0,.00079 and 0.02345+0.00017 for the 1037.5 and 1212.9 keV γ-rays, respectively. The sum of these probabilities is close to unity within the uncertainty which means that the certainties of the results are high and the accuracy has been improved considerably

SmartCell: An Energy Efficient Coarse-Grained Reconfigurable Architecture for Stream-Based Applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Liang Cao

2009-01-01

Full Text Available This paper presents SmartCell, a novel coarse-grained reconfigurable architecture, which tiles a large number of processor elements with reconfigurable interconnection fabrics on a single chip. SmartCell is able to provide high performance and energy efficient processing for stream-based applications. It can be configured to operate in various modes, such as SIMD, MIMD, and systolic array. This paper describes the SmartCell architecture design, including processing element, reconfigurable interconnection fabrics, instruction and control process, and configuration scheme. The SmartCell prototype with 64 PEs is implemented using 0.13  m CMOS standard cell technology. The core area is about 8.5  , and the power consumption is about 1.6 mW/MHz. The performance is evaluated through a set of benchmark applications, and then compared with FPGA, ASIC, and two well-known reconfigurable architectures including RaPiD and Montium. The results show that the SmartCell can bridge the performance and flexibility gap between ASIC and FPGA. It is also about 8% and 69% more energy efficient than Montium and RaPiD systems for evaluated benchmarks. Meanwhile, SmartCell can achieve 4 and 2 times more throughput gains when comparing with Montium and RaPiD, respectively. It is concluded that SmartCell system is a promising reconfigurable and energy efficient architecture for stream processing.

THE ROLE OF ECONOMIC EFFICIENCY OF ACCOMMODATION UNITS IN DETERMINATION OF PURCHASE INTENTIONS OF TOURIST SERVICES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Simona Cristina Martin

2014-10-01

Full Text Available The indicators of demand distribution for various types of accommodation provide information regarding changing tourist preferences for different ways of tourist accommodation. Appreciation of economic efficiency for hotels activity is done through quantitative results obtained in accommodation units. For this purpose it uses, currently, a partial or synthetic indicators system. Taking into account the fact that, in appreciation of hotel business, it must start from the premise that it may not be fully reflected only in terms of economic results, but also through social results, appear obvious the need to maintain costs at a level that satisfies both requirements at the same time. Achieving superior social-financial indicators, remains one of the main goals also in hotel activities, but do not be overlooked the fact that it is necessary that these indicators must be obtained by ensuring a higher level of satisfaction of consumers requirements. Only simultaneous achievement of these two objectives can provide raising efficiency in accommodation sector.

Application of an efficient Bayesian discretization method to biomedical data

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gopalakrishnan Vanathi

2011-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Several data mining methods require data that are discrete, and other methods often perform better with discrete data. We introduce an efficient Bayesian discretization (EBD method for optimal discretization of variables that runs efficiently on high-dimensional biomedical datasets. The EBD method consists of two components, namely, a Bayesian score to evaluate discretizations and a dynamic programming search procedure to efficiently search the space of possible discretizations. We compared the performance of EBD to Fayyad and Irani's (FI discretization method, which is commonly used for discretization. Results On 24 biomedical datasets obtained from high-throughput transcriptomic and proteomic studies, the classification performances of the C4.5 classifier and the naïve Bayes classifier were statistically significantly better when the predictor variables were discretized using EBD over FI. EBD was statistically significantly more stable to the variability of the datasets than FI. However, EBD was less robust, though not statistically significantly so, than FI and produced slightly more complex discretizations than FI. Conclusions On a range of biomedical datasets, a Bayesian discretization method (EBD yielded better classification performance and stability but was less robust than the widely used FI discretization method. The EBD discretization method is easy to implement, permits the incorporation of prior knowledge and belief, and is sufficiently fast for application to high-dimensional data.

Shapley value-based multi-objective data envelopment analysis application for assessing academic efficiency of university departments

Science.gov (United States)

Abing, Stephen Lloyd N.; Barton, Mercie Grace L.; Dumdum, Michael Gerard M.; Bongo, Miriam F.; Ocampo, Lanndon A.

2018-02-01

This paper adopts a modified approach of data envelopment analysis (DEA) to measure the academic efficiency of university departments. In real-world case studies, conventional DEA models often identify too many decision-making units (DMUs) as efficient. This occurs when the number of DMUs under evaluation is not large enough compared to the total number of decision variables. To overcome this limitation and reduce the number of decision variables, multi-objective data envelopment analysis (MODEA) approach previously presented in the literature is applied. The MODEA approach applies Shapley value as a cooperative game to determine the appropriate weights and efficiency score of each category of inputs. To illustrate the performance of the adopted approach, a case study is conducted in a university in the Philippines. The input variables are academic staff, non-academic staff, classrooms, laboratories, research grants, and department expenditures, while the output variables are the number of graduates and publications. The results of the case study revealed that all DMUs are inefficient. DMUs with efficiency scores close to the ideal efficiency score may be emulated by other DMUs with least efficiency scores.

76 FR 71510 - Meeting of the Assembly of the Administrative Conference of the United States

Science.gov (United States)

2011-11-18

... administrative agencies, the President, Congress, and the Judicial Conference of the United States regarding the... participation and efficiency in the rulemaking process, reduce unnecessary litigation in the regulatory process, improve the use of science in the regulatory process, and improve the effectiveness of laws applicable to...

75 FR 54116 - Notice of Intent To Grant Partially Exclusive License of the United States Patent Application No...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-09-03

... coatings, side dressing, lawn application and starter ground cover) and applications in the fields of soil... announcement. ADDRESSES: United States Army Engineer Research and Development Center, Attn: CEERD-OT (Ms. Bea...

Efficient development of web applications for remote participation using Ruby on Rails

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Emoto, M.; Yoshida, M.; Iwata, C.; Inagaki, S.; Nagayama, Y.

2010-01-01

Large-scale experiments such as ITER require international collaboration, and remote participation plays an important role in carrying out such experiments. Web-based applications are useful tools for scientists participating in experiments remotely using personal computers. Since the participants typically download web-based applications to their computer each time they access the web servers, they do not need to install extra software in order to use these applications. In addition, the application developers do not need to distribute the latest program files each time they are modified, thus reducing maintenance costs for remote participation systems. For these reasons, we have been developing web-based applications for the LHD experiments at NIFS. In a previous study, we showed the benefits of using Ruby on Rails (RoR) to develop web-based applications for analysis code. We thought this approach would also be useful for developing applications for remote participation. Therefore, we have developed several web-based applications using RoR for participating in the LHD experiments. These applications include a data viewer and a scheduler of experiments. The main reason to adopt RoR for this purpose is its efficiency for developing web-based applications. For example, to develop a data viewer, we used an existing program running on an X-Windows System. Using RoR, we could minimize the modifications of the existing programs to add web interfaces. In this paper, we will report a web-based application developed using RoR for the LHD experiment. We will also discuss the benefits of using RoR in developing remote participation tools.

Measuring energy efficiency under heterogeneous technologies using a latent class stochastic frontier approach: An application to Chinese energy economy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lin, Boqiang; Du, Kerui

2014-01-01

The importance of technology heterogeneity in estimating economy-wide energy efficiency has been emphasized by recent literature. Some studies use the metafrontier analysis approach to estimate energy efficiency. However, for such studies, some reliable priori information is needed to divide the sample observations properly, which causes a difficulty in unbiased estimation of energy efficiency. Moreover, separately estimating group-specific frontiers might lose some common information across different groups. In order to overcome these weaknesses, this paper introduces a latent class stochastic frontier approach to measure energy efficiency under heterogeneous technologies. An application of the proposed model to Chinese energy economy is presented. Results show that the overall energy efficiency of China's provinces is not high, with an average score of 0.632 during the period from 1997 to 2010. - Highlights: • We introduce a latent class stochastic frontier approach to measure energy efficiency. • Ignoring technological heterogeneity would cause biased estimates of energy efficiency. • An application of the proposed model to Chinese energy economy is presented. • There is still a long way for China to develop an energy efficient regime

Security central processing unit applications in the protection of nuclear facilities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Goetzke, R.E.

1987-01-01

New or upgraded electronic security systems protecting nuclear facilities or complexes will be heavily computer dependent. Proper planning for new systems and the employment of new state-of-the-art 32 bit processors in the processing of subsystem reports are key elements in effective security systems. The processing of subsystem reports represents only a small segment of system overhead. In selecting a security system to meet the current and future needs for nuclear security applications the central processing unit (CPU) applied in the system architecture is the critical element in system performance. New 32 bit technology eliminates the need for program overlays while providing system programmers with well documented program tools to develop effective systems to operate in all phases of nuclear security applications

Impacts of manure application on soil environment, rainfall use efficiency and crop biomass under dryland farming.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Xiaojuan; Jia, Zhikuan; Liang, Lianyou; Yang, Baoping; Ding, Ruixia; Nie, Junfeng; Wang, Junpeng

2016-02-12

Because of inadequate nutrient and water supply, soils are often unproductive in Northwest China. We studied the effects of manure application at low (LM 7.5  t ha(-1)), medium (MM 15 t ha(-1)), and high (HM 22.5 t ha(-1)) rates combined with fixed levels of chemical fertilizers on maize growth and rainfall use efficiency compared with chemical fertilizers (CK) under semi-arid conditions over a three-year period. HM and MM treatments could significantly increase soil water storage (0-120 cm) at tasseling stage of maize compared with LM treatment and CK (P < 0.05). Dry matter accumulation and rainfall use efficiency increased as manure application rate increasing (P < 0.05). HM treatment significantly increased rainfall use efficiency by 6.5-12.7% at big trumpeting - tasseling stage compared with LM and MM treatments. HM and MM treatments increased rainfall use efficiency by 8.6-18.1% at tasseling - grain filling stage compared with CK. There was no significant difference on biomass between HM and MM treatments at grain filling and maturity stages of maize in 2009 and 2010.

NASA satellite communications application research. Phase 2: Efficient high power, solid state amplifier for EFH communications

Science.gov (United States)

Benet, James

1993-01-01

The final report describes the work performed from 9 Jun. 1992 to 31 Jul. 1993 on the NASA Satellite Communications Application Research (SCAR) Phase 2 program, Efficient High Power, Solid State Amplifier for EHF Communications. The purpose of the program was to demonstrate the feasibility of high-efficiency, high-power, EHF solid state amplifiers that are smaller, lighter, more efficient, and less costly than existing traveling wave tube (TWT) amplifiers by combining the output power from up to several hundred solid state amplifiers using a unique orthomode spatial power combiner (OSPC).

Evaluating efficiency levels comparatively: Data envelopment analysis application for Turkish textile and apparel industry

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Canan Saricam

2012-12-01

Full Text Available Purpose: The purpose of this study is to show the usage of DEA in efficiency measurement.Design/methodology/approach: The efficiencies of textile and apparel companies were analyzed by input-oriented DEA model under variable return to scale assumption. The textile and apparel companies quoted in Istanbul Stock Exchange for the period 2003 and 2008 were evaluated in terms of efficiency level providing a framework for the calculation of input excesses and output shortages.Findings: The analysis revealed that the average efficiency scores of the apparel industry was higher than the textile industry and two industries together. The companies in the apparel industry should overcome the lack of insufficient level of exports whereas the textile industry needs to increase gross value added in order to be more efficient.Research limitations/implications: Because of missing data, four companies from textile industry and one company from apparel industry were ignored although they took place in the records of Istanbul Stock Exchange.Practical implications: This study provided a framework for DEA application in determination and comparison of efficiency performance in an industry level.Originality/value: Selecting the groups compared as textile industry, apparel industry and the two industries in general allowed discussing the comparative efficiencies of two industries eliminating the industry specific pitfalls.

Performance Assessment in Management: an application to the health care system of the Brazilian Navy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marcelino José Jorge

2013-08-01

Full Text Available Budgetary restrictions have become much more binding for the Brazilian Navy and both users’ access to health services provided by the Navy Health Service as well as hospitals’ access to new technologies appears to be endangered. This paper aims to evaluate the efficiency of naval hospitals in the light of these concerns, with a view toward designing better managerial tools to enhance health services in the Brazilian Navy. The paper presents an application of Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA to the study of productive efficiency in selected hospital units of the Brazilian Navy in order to suggest improvements on the use of productive resources by the Navy Health Service. Productive efficiency of hospital units located throughout the country are measured and compared. Data Envelopment Analysis models were used to calculate an efficient frontier for the seven naval hospitals assessed and to identify the group of relatively efficient naval hospitals which were used as benchmarks for calculating the pro-efficiency operation plans for the inefficient units.

An efficient continuous flow helium cooling unit for Moessbauer experiments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Herbert, I.R.; Campbell, S.J.

1976-01-01

A Moessbauer continuous flow cooling unit for use with liquid helium over the temperature range 4.2 to 300K is described. The cooling unit can be used for either absorber or source studies in the horizontal plane and it is positioned directly on top of a helium storage vessel. The helium transfer line forms an integral part of the cooling unit and feeds directly into the storage vessel so that helium losses are kept to the minimum. The helium consumption is 0.12 l h -1 at 4.2 K decreasing to 0.055 l h -1 at 40 K. The unit is top loading and the exchange gas cooled samples can be changed easily and quickly. (author)

High Efficiency Nanostructured III-V Photovoltaics for Solar Concentrator Application

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hubbard, Seth

2012-09-12

The High Efficiency Nanostructured III-V Photovoltaics for Solar Concentrators project seeks to provide new photovoltaic cells for Concentrator Photovoltaics (CPV) Systems with higher cell efficiency, more favorable temperature coefficients and less sensitivity to changes in spectral distribution. The main objective of this project is to provide high efficiency III-V solar cells that will reduce the overall cost per Watt for power generation using CPV systems.This work is focused both on a potential near term application, namely the use of indium arsenide (InAs) QDs to spectrally "tune" the middle (GaAs) cell of a SOA triple junction device to a more favorable effective bandgap, as well as the long term goal of demonstrating intermediate band solar cell effects. The QDs are confined within a high electric field i-region of a standard GaAs solar cell. The extended absorption spectrum (and thus enhanced short circuit current) of the QD solar cell results from the increase in the sub GaAs bandgap spectral response that is achievable as quantum dot layers are introduced into the i-region. We have grown InAs quantum dots by OMVPE technique and optimized the QD growth conditions. Arrays of up to 40 layers of strain balanced quantum dots have been experimentally demonstrated with good material quality, low residual stain and high PL intensity. Quantum dot enhanced solar cells were grown and tested under simulated one sun AM1.5 conditions. Concentrator solar cells have been grown and fabricated with 5-40 layers of QDs. Testing of these devices show the QD cells have improved efficiency compared to baseline devices without QDs. Device modeling and measurement of thermal properties were performed using Crosslight APSYS. Improvements in a triple junction solar cell with the insertion of QDs into the middle current limiting junction was shown to be as high as 29% under one sun illumination for a 10 layer stack QD enhanced triple junction solar cell. QD devices have strong

Energy efficiency vs. performance of the numerical solution of PDEs: An application study on a low-power ARM-based cluster

Science.gov (United States)

Göddeke, Dominik; Komatitsch, Dimitri; Geveler, Markus; Ribbrock, Dirk; Rajovic, Nikola; Puzovic, Nikola; Ramirez, Alex

2013-03-01

Power consumption and energy efficiency are becoming critical aspects in the design and operation of large scale HPC facilities, and it is unanimously recognised that future exascale supercomputers will be strongly constrained by their power requirements. At current electricity costs, operating an HPC system over its lifetime can already be on par with the initial deployment cost. These power consumption constraints, and the benefits a more energy-efficient HPC platform may have on other societal areas, have motivated the HPC research community to investigate the use of energy-efficient technologies originally developed for the embedded and especially mobile markets. However, lower power does not always mean lower energy consumption, since execution time often also increases. In order to achieve competitive performance, applications then need to efficiently exploit a larger number of processors. In this article, we discuss how applications can efficiently exploit this new class of low-power architectures to achieve competitive performance. We evaluate if they can benefit from the increased energy efficiency that the architecture is supposed to achieve. The applications that we consider cover three different classes of numerical solution methods for partial differential equations, namely a low-order finite element multigrid solver for huge sparse linear systems of equations, a Lattice-Boltzmann code for fluid simulation, and a high-order spectral element method for acoustic or seismic wave propagation modelling. We evaluate weak and strong scalability on a cluster of 96 ARM Cortex-A9 dual-core processors and demonstrate that the ARM-based cluster can be more efficient in terms of energy to solution when executing the three applications compared to an x86-based reference machine.

Minimum number of transfer units and reboiler duty for multicomponent distillation columns

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pleşu, Valentin; Bonet Ruiz, Alexandra Elena; Bonet, Jordi; Llorens, Joan; Iancu, Petrica

2013-01-01

Some guidelines to evaluate distillation columns, considering only basic thermodynamic data and principles, are provided in this paper. The method allows a first insight to the problem by simple calculations, without requiring column variables to ensure rational use of energy and low environmental impact. The separation system is approached by two complementary ways: minimum and infinite reflux flow rate. The minimum reflux provides the minimum energy requirements, and the infinite reflux provides the feasibility conditions. The difficulty of separation can be expressed in terms of number of transfer units (NTU). The applicability of the method is not mathematically limited by the number of components in the mixture. It is also applicable to reactive distillation. Several mixtures, including reactive distillation, are rigorously simulated as illustrative examples, to verify the applicability of the approach. The separation of the mixtures, performed by distillation columns, is feasible if a minimum NTU can be calculated between the distillate and bottom products. Once verified the feasibility of the separation, the maximum thermal efficiency depends only on boiling point of bottom and distillate streams. The minimum energy requirements corresponding to the reboiler can be calculated from the maximum thermal efficiency, and the variation of entropy and enthalpy of mixing between distillate and bottom streams. -- Highlights: • Feasibility analysis complemented with difficulty of separation parameters • Minimum and infinite reflux simplified models for distillation columns • Minimum number of transfer units (NTU) for packed columns at early design stages • Calculation of minimum energy distillation requirements at early design stages • Thermodynamic cycle approach and efficiency for distillation columns

State of the art and trends of radiometric methods for measuring the mass per unit area

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bernhardt, R.

1984-01-01

The determination of the mass per unit area by means of transmission or backscattering methods is one of the traditional radioisotope applications. Microelectronics have essentially contributed to the noticeable progress achieved in the development of radiometric instruments for mass per unit area measurements. The use of microcomputers led to both a reliable solution of the main problem of processing the measured data - the correlation of the mass per unit area value with the detector signal under nonlinear calibration conditions - and a considerable increase in the efficiency of the measuring equipment

Efficiency Evaluation of Portuguese Hotels in the Algarve using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ricardo Samuel Lisboa Pereira Oliveira

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Objective – To analyse the efficiency levels of company owners of four and five-star hotels in the Algarve in Portugal for the years 2005 to 2007. Variables with quantitative and monetary units were used corresponding to two different models applied. An analysis to the slacks and peers of companies was also performed. Design/methodology/approach – Using data envelopment analysis (DEA methodology to evaluate the efficiency of 28 hotels in the Portuguese Algarve. Findings - Tourism has an importance universally recognized. This sector has an high economic, social, cultural and environmental impact level. Global destinations and greater competitiveness have turned efficiency into a major issue in the hotel industry nowadays. In Portugal, the Algarve is the region with more tourism (70%, and it is also the area that attracts more foreign demand. The application of frontier techniques to the hotel sector is still scarce in Portugal but innovating. Practical implications – The results suggest that the model, which adopted inputs with monetary units, has higher levels of efficiency. High levels of inefficiency were found and the hotel best practices were identified. It was concluded that the efficiency differences of the results are related to the managerial practices, the use of weak infrastructure (low season, the seasonality and the institutional and contextual environment.

Investigation of humidity control via membrane separation for advanced Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) application

Science.gov (United States)

Newbold, D. D.; Ray, R. J.; Pledger, W. A.; Mccray, S. B.; Brown, M. F.

1989-01-01

This paper describes the development of a membrane-based process for dehumidifying the Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU). The membrane process promises to be smaller, lighter, and more energy efficient than the other technologies for dehumidification. The dehydration membranes were tested for 90 days at conditions expected to be present in the EMU. The results of these tests indicate that membrane-based technology can effectively control humidity in the EMU.

The application of short-term efficiency analysis in diagnosing occupational voice disorders

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ewa Niebudek-Bogusz

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Background: An objective determination of the range of vocal efficiency is rather difficult. The aim of the study was to assess the possibility of application of short-term acoustic efficiency analysis in diagnosing occupational voice disorders. Material and Methods: The study covered 98 people (87 women and 11 men diagnosed with occupational dysphonia through videostroboscopic examination. The control group comprised 100 people (81 women and 19 men with normal voices. The short-term acoustic analysis was carried out by means of DiagnoScope software, including classical parameters (Jitter group, Shimmer group and the assessment of noise degree NHR, as well as new short-term efficiency parameters determined in a short time period during sustained phonation of the vowel “a.” The results were then compared. Results: The values of all the examined classical parameters were considerably higher in the study group of pathological voices than in the control group of normal voices (p = 0.00. The aerodynamic parameter, maximum phonation time, was significantly shorter by over 0.5 s in the study group than in the control group. The majority of the acoustic efficiency parameters were also considerably worse in the study group of subjects with occupational dysphonia than in the control group (p = 0.00. Moreover, the correlation between the efficiency parameters and most of the classical acoustic parameters in the study group implies that for the voices with occupational pathology the decreased efficiency of the vocal apparatus is reflected in the acoustic voice structure. Conclusions: Efficiency parameters determined during short-term acoustic analysis can be an objective indicator of the decreased phonatory function of the larynx, useful in diagnosing occupational vocal pathology. Med Pr 2015;66(2:225–234

Power conversion unit for the South African direct cycle HTGR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liebenberg, J.J.

1997-01-01

The system parameters chosen to optimise the thermal efficiency of the Eskom PBMR whilst maintaining component simplicity is discussed. Power Conversion Unit components, which are now at a preliminary design stage comprise a precooler, two turbo units consisting of a turbine driven compressor, recuperator and a power turbine, driving an alternator. Design aspects of every component is mentioned and the inventory method of poorer control is explained with reference to start-up and and shut-down events, the system an effective load following device, down to 4% of full power. Application of the same design principles for HTGRs smaller than 25 MWe is discussed. (author)

Construction method of pre assembled unit of bolt sphere grid

Science.gov (United States)

Hu, L. W.; Guo, F. L.; Wang, J. L.; Bu, F. M.

2018-03-01

The traditional construction of bolt sphere grid has many disadvantages, such as high cost, large amount of work at high altitude and long construction period, in order to make up for these shortcomings, in this paper, a new and applicable construction method is explored: setting up local scaffolding, installing the bolt sphere grid starting frame on the local scaffolding, then the pre assembled unit of bolt sphere grid is assembled on the ground, using small hoisting equipment to lift pre assembled unit to high altitude and install. Compared with the traditional installation method, the construction method has strong practicability and high economic efficiency, and has achieved good social and economic benefits.

Efficiency of chlorophyll in gross primary productivity: A proof of concept and application in crops.

Science.gov (United States)

Gitelson, Anatoly A; Peng, Yi; Viña, Andrés; Arkebauer, Timothy; Schepers, James S

2016-08-20

One of the main factors affecting vegetation productivity is absorbed light, which is largely governed by chlorophyll. In this paper, we introduce the concept of chlorophyll efficiency, representing the amount of gross primary production per unit of canopy chlorophyll content (Chl) and incident PAR. We analyzed chlorophyll efficiency in two contrasting crops (soybean and maize). Given that they have different photosynthetic pathways (C3 vs. C4), leaf structures (dicot vs. monocot) and canopy architectures (a heliotrophic leaf angle distribution vs. a spherical leaf angle distribution), they cover a large spectrum of biophysical conditions. Our results show that chlorophyll efficiency in primary productivity is highly variable and responds to various physiological and phenological conditions, and water availability. Since Chl is accessible through non-destructive, remotely sensed techniques, the use of chlorophyll efficiency for modeling and monitoring plant optimization patterns is practical at different scales (e.g., leaf, canopy) and under widely-varying environmental conditions. Through this analysis, we directly related a functional characteristic, gross primary production with a structural characteristic, canopy chlorophyll content. Understanding the efficiency of the structural characteristic is of great interest as it allows explaining functional components of the plant system. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

Research on optimization of combustion efficiency of thermal power unit based on genetic algorithm

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Qiongyang

2018-04-01

In order to improve the economic performance and reduce pollutant emissions of thermal power units, the characteristics of neural network in establishing boiler combustion model are analyzed based on the analysis of the main factors affecting boiler efficiency by using orthogonal method. In addition, on the basis of this model, the genetic algorithm is used to find the best control amount of the furnace combustion in a certain working condition. Through the genetic algorithm based on real number encoding and roulette selection is concluded: the best control quantity at a condition of furnace combustion can be combined with the boiler combustion system model for neural network training. The precision of the neural network model is further improved, and the basic work is laid for the research of the whole boiler combustion optimization system.

Delayed Slater determinant update algorithms for high efficiency quantum Monte Carlo

Science.gov (United States)

McDaniel, T.; D'Azevedo, E. F.; Li, Y. W.; Wong, K.; Kent, P. R. C.

2017-11-01

Within ab initio Quantum Monte Carlo simulations, the leading numerical cost for large systems is the computation of the values of the Slater determinants in the trial wavefunction. Each Monte Carlo step requires finding the determinant of a dense matrix. This is most commonly iteratively evaluated using a rank-1 Sherman-Morrison updating scheme to avoid repeated explicit calculation of the inverse. The overall computational cost is, therefore, formally cubic in the number of electrons or matrix size. To improve the numerical efficiency of this procedure, we propose a novel multiple rank delayed update scheme. This strategy enables probability evaluation with an application of accepted moves to the matrices delayed until after a predetermined number of moves, K. The accepted events are then applied to the matrices en bloc with enhanced arithmetic intensity and computational efficiency via matrix-matrix operations instead of matrix-vector operations. This procedure does not change the underlying Monte Carlo sampling or its statistical efficiency. For calculations on large systems and algorithms such as diffusion Monte Carlo, where the acceptance ratio is high, order of magnitude improvements in the update time can be obtained on both multi-core central processing units and graphical processing units.

Tracking Single Units in Chronic, Large Scale, Neural Recordings for Brain Machine Interface Applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ahmed eEleryan

2014-07-01

Full Text Available In the study of population coding in neurobiological systems, tracking unit identity may be critical to assess possible changes in the coding properties of neuronal constituents over prolonged periods of time. Ensuring unit stability is even more critical for reliable neural decoding of motor variables in intra-cortically controlled brain-machine interfaces (BMIs. Variability in intrinsic spike patterns, tuning characteristics, and single-unit identity over chronic use is a major challenge to maintaining this stability, requiring frequent daily calibration of neural decoders in BMI sessions by an experienced human operator. Here, we report on a unit-stability tracking algorithm that efficiently and autonomously identifies putative single-units that are stable across many sessions using a relatively short duration recording interval at the start of each session. The algorithm first builds a database of features extracted from units' average spike waveforms and firing patterns across many days of recording. It then uses these features to decide whether spike occurrences on the same channel on one day belong to the same unit recorded on another day or not. We assessed the overall performance of the algorithm for different choices of features and classifiers trained using human expert judgment, and quantified it as a function of accuracy and execution time. Overall, we found a trade-off between accuracy and execution time with increasing data volumes from chronically implanted rhesus macaques, with an average of 12 seconds processing time per channel at ~90% classification accuracy. Furthermore, 77% of the resulting putative single-units matched those tracked by human experts. These results demonstrate that over the span of a few months of recordings, automated unit tracking can be performed with high accuracy and used to streamline the calibration phase during BMI sessions.

The Efficiency of Requesting Process for Formal Business-Documents in Indonesia: An Implementation of Web Application Base on Secure and Encrypted Sharing Process

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aris Budi Setyawan

2014-12-01

Full Text Available In recent business practices, the need of the formal document for business, such as the business license documents, business domicile letters, halal certificates, and other formal documents, is desperately needed and becomes its own problems for businesses, especially for small and medium enterprises. One stop service unit that was conceived and implemented by the government today, has not been fully integrated yet. Not all permits (related with formal document for business can be completed and finished in one place, businesses are still have to move from one government department to another government department to get a formal document for their business. With these practices, not only a lot of the time and cost will be sacrificed, but also businesses must always fill out a form with the same field. This study aims to assess and identify the problem, especially on applying the formal document for business, and use it as inputs for the development of a web application based on secure and encrypted sharing process. The study starts with a survey of 200 businesses that have applied the formal document for their business, to map the initial conditions of applying the formal document for business in Indonesia . With these applications that are built based on these needs, it is expected that not only the time, cost, and physical effort from both parties are becoming more efficient, but also the negative practices of bureaucratic and economic obstacles in business activities can be minimized, so the competitiveness of business and their contribution for national economy will increase.Keywords : Formal documents, Efficiencies, Web application, Secure and encrypted sharing process, SMEs

Application of porous medium for efficiency improvement of a concentrated solar air heating system

Science.gov (United States)

Prasartkaew, Boonrit

2018-01-01

The objective of this study is to evaluate the thermal efficiency of a concentrated solar collector for a high temperature air heating system. The proposed system consists of a 25-m2 focused multi-flat-mirror solar heliostat equipped with a porous medium solar collector/receiver which was installed on the top of a 3-m tower, called ‘tower receiver’. To know how the system efficiency cloud be improved by using porous medium, the proposed system with and without porous medium were tested and the comparative study was performed. The experimental results reveal that, for the proposed system, application of porous medium is promising, the efficiency can be increased about 2 times compared to the conventional one. In addition, due to the porous medium used in this study was the waste material with very low cost. It can be summarized that the substantial efficiency improvement with very low investment cost of the proposed system seem to be a vital measures for addressing the energy issues.

Thin film CdTe based neutron detectors with high thermal neutron efficiency and gamma rejection for security applications

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Smith, L.; Murphy, J.W. [Materials Science and Engineering, University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, TX 75080 (United States); Kim, J. [Korean Research Institute of Standards and Science, Daejeon 305-600 (Korea, Republic of); Rozhdestvenskyy, S.; Mejia, I. [Materials Science and Engineering, University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, TX 75080 (United States); Park, H. [Korean Research Institute of Standards and Science, Daejeon 305-600 (Korea, Republic of); Allee, D.R. [Flexible Display Center, Arizona State University, Phoenix, AZ 85284 (United States); Quevedo-Lopez, M. [Materials Science and Engineering, University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, TX 75080 (United States); Gnade, B., E-mail: beg031000@utdallas.edu [Materials Science and Engineering, University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, TX 75080 (United States)

2016-12-01

Solid-state neutron detectors offer an alternative to {sup 3}He based detectors, but suffer from limited neutron efficiencies that make their use in security applications impractical. Solid-state neutron detectors based on single crystal silicon also have relatively high gamma-ray efficiencies that lead to false positives. Thin film polycrystalline CdTe based detectors require less complex processing with significantly lower gamma-ray efficiencies. Advanced geometries can also be implemented to achieve high thermal neutron efficiencies competitive with silicon based technology. This study evaluates these strategies by simulation and experimentation and demonstrates an approach to achieve >10% intrinsic efficiency with <10{sup −6} gamma-ray efficiency.

The Efficient Market Hypothesis: Is It Applicable to the Foreign Exchange Market?

OpenAIRE

Nguyen, James

2004-01-01

The study analyses the applicability of the efficient market hypothesis to the foreign exchange market by testing the profitability of the filter rule on the spot market. The significance of the returns was validated by comparing them to the returns from randomly generated shuffled series via bootstrap methods. The results were surprising. For the total period (1984-2003) small filter rules could deliver significant returns indicating an inefficient foreign exchange market. However, once the ...

Increasing the efficiency of heating systems by reducing the flue gas temperature below the dew point

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kremer, H.

1981-06-01

This paper deals with the fundamentals and technical possibilities of increasing the combustion efficiency of gas-fired heating units for domestic heating by cooling the flue gases below their water vapor saturation temperature. The improvement of the efficiency can be more than 15% in comparison even to modern warm water heating boilers. Important however is the availability of cooling fluids of sufficiently low temperatures which could be recirculated heating water, freshwater and air. Different possible applications of this method are discussed in detail.

[THE APPLICATION OF SHORT-TERM EFFICIENCY ANALYSIS IN DIAGNOSING OCCUPATIONAL VOICE DISORDERS].

Science.gov (United States)

Niebudek-Bogusz, Ewa; Just, Marcin; Tyc, Michał; Wiktorowicz, Justyna; Morawska, Joanna; Śliwińska-Kowalska, Mariola

2015-01-01

An objective determination of the range of vocal efficiency is rather difficult. The aim of the study was to assess the possibility of application of short-term acoustic efficiency analysis in diagnosing occupational voice disorders. The study covered 98 people (87 women and 11 men) diagnosed with occupational dysphonia throuigh videostroboscopic examination. The control group comprised 100 people (81 women and 19 men) with normal voices. The short-term acoustic analysis was carried out by means of DiagnoScope software, including classical parameters (Jitter group, Shimmer group and the assessment of noise degree NHR), as well as new short-term efficiency parameters determined in a short time period during sustained phonation of the vowel "a." The results were then compared. Results: The values of all the examined classical parameters were considerably higher in the study group of pathological voices than in the control group of normal voices (p = 0.00). The aerodynamic parameter, maximum phonation time, was significantly shorter by over 0.5 s in the study group than in the control group. The majority of the acoustic efficiency parameters were also considerably worse in the study group of subjects with occupational dysphonia than in the control group (p = 0.00). Moreover, the correlation between the efficiency parameters and most of the classical acoustic parameters in the study group implies that for the voices with occupational pathology the decreased efficiency of the vocal apparatus is reflected in the acoustic voice structure. Effliciency parameters determined during short-term acoustic analysis can be an objective indicator of the decreased phonatory function of the larnx, useful in diagnosing occupational vocal pathology.

Scale and scope economies in Mexican private medical units.

Science.gov (United States)

Keith, Jorge; Prior, Diego

2014-01-01

To evaluate technical efficiency and potential presence of scale and scope economies in Mexican private medical units (PMU) that will improve management decisions. We used data envelopment analysis methods with inputs and outputs for 2 105 Mexican PMU published in 2010 by the Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía from the "Estadística de Unidades Médicas Privadas con Servicio de Hospitalización (PEC-6-20-A)" questionnaire. The application of the models used in the paper found that there is a marginal presence of economies of scale and scope in Mexican PMU. PMU in Mexico must focus to deliver their services on a diversified structure to achieve technical efficiency.

Dynamical Origin of Highly Efficient Energy Dissipation in Soft Magnetic Nanoparticles for Magnetic Hyperthermia Applications

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Min-Kwan; Sim, Jaegun; Lee, Jae-Hyeok; Kim, Miyoung; Kim, Sang-Koog

2018-05-01

We explore robust magnetization-dynamic behaviors in soft magnetic nanoparticles in single-domain states and find their related high-efficiency energy-dissipation mechanism using finite-element micromagnetic simulations. We also make analytical derivations that provide deeper physical insights into the magnetization dynamics associated with Gilbert damping parameters under applications of time-varying rotating magnetic fields of different strengths and frequencies and static magnetic fields. Furthermore, we find that the mass-specific energy-dissipation rate at resonance in the steady-state regime changes remarkably with the strength of rotating fields and static fields for given damping constants. The associated magnetization dynamics are well interpreted with the help of the numerical calculation of analytically derived explicit forms. The high-efficiency energy-loss power can be obtained using soft magnetic nanoparticles in the single-domain state by tuning the frequency of rotating fields to the resonance frequency; what is more, it is controllable via the rotating and static field strengths for a given intrinsic damping constant. We provide a better and more efficient means of achieving specific loss power that can be implemented in magnetic hyperthermia applications.

An efficient hysteresis modeling methodology and its implementation in field computation applications

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Adly, A.A., E-mail: adlyamr@gmail.com [Electrical Power and Machines Dept., Faculty of Engineering, Cairo University, Giza 12613 (Egypt); Abd-El-Hafiz, S.K. [Engineering Mathematics Department, Faculty of Engineering, Cairo University, Giza 12613 (Egypt)

2017-07-15

Highlights: • An approach to simulate hysteresis while taking shape anisotropy into consideration. • Utilizing the ensemble of triangular sub-regions hysteresis models in field computation. • A novel tool capable of carrying out field computation while keeping track of hysteresis losses. • The approach may be extended for 3D tetra-hedra sub-volumes. - Abstract: Field computation in media exhibiting hysteresis is crucial to a variety of applications such as magnetic recording processes and accurate determination of core losses in power devices. Recently, Hopfield neural networks (HNN) have been successfully configured to construct scalar and vector hysteresis models. This paper presents an efficient hysteresis modeling methodology and its implementation in field computation applications. The methodology is based on the application of the integral equation approach on discretized triangular magnetic sub-regions. Within every triangular sub-region, hysteresis properties are realized using a 3-node HNN. Details of the approach and sample computation results are given in the paper.

Software Graphics Processing Unit (sGPU) for Deep Space Applications

Science.gov (United States)

McCabe, Mary; Salazar, George; Steele, Glen

2015-01-01

A graphics processing capability will be required for deep space missions and must include a range of applications, from safety-critical vehicle health status to telemedicine for crew health. However, preliminary radiation testing of commercial graphics processing cards suggest they cannot operate in the deep space radiation environment. Investigation into an Software Graphics Processing Unit (sGPU)comprised of commercial-equivalent radiation hardened/tolerant single board computers, field programmable gate arrays, and safety-critical display software shows promising results. Preliminary performance of approximately 30 frames per second (FPS) has been achieved. Use of multi-core processors may provide a significant increase in performance.

The application experience of ethanol amine at KORI unit 4

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Sang-hak; Park, Jong-il; Lee, Jae-won; Kim, Guem-Soo

2004-01-01

The secondary system water chemistry in the KORI PWR units has been well controlled by reducing the corrosion in the tubes of the steam generators; the pH agent has been changing from ammonia to ethanol amine (ETA) (1.8 to 2.0 ppm). For example, the iron concentration in the system was reduced by 40 to 70% compared with ammonia treatment. The paper presents the detailed information, such as ETA injection concentration and the variation of pH, concentration of organic acid products, and irons in the system, and a significant change on sludge after ETA application. (S. Ohno)

Efficient Propulsion Structure with an Axial Flux Rotary Converter for HEV Drive Unit

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ales Havel

2011-01-01

Full Text Available This paper describes an efficient axial flux arrangement of the four quadrant rotary converter for hybrid electric vehicles. The design of the axial flux wound stator and both axial flux squirrel cage rotors is based on the arrangement of radial air gap induction motor and permanent magnet synchronous motor. The method of constant magnetic circuit volume is utilized for dimensions conversion, which results into basic dimensions of stator and rotor discs in axial flux conception. This allows the creation of real 3D models in the CAD application. Finally, the finite element simulations of electromagnetic induction in the axial flux stator pack are presented in the concluding part of this paper.

Bank branch operating efficiency: evaluation with data envelopment analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Roozbeh Talebi Zarinkamar

2014-10-01

Full Text Available Measuring the relative efficiency of similar units has been a popular research especially when the units were mostly non-financial. Even, similar financial units may not be necessarily evaluated based on traditional financial figures such as return of equities, return of assets, etc. In this paper, we present an empirical investigation to measure the relative efficiency of 30 branches of an Iranian bank named Bank Mellat. The study considers four inputs including operating expenses, interest paid, capital expenditures and fixed assets. In addition, we use customers’ bank deposit, commissions and loans paid as output parameters. Using three different data envelopment analyses, the study measures the relative efficiencies of all units. The preliminary results indicate that most banks were working under desirable level of efficiency.

Is Efficiency Enough? Towards a New Framework for Carbon Savingsin the California Residential Sector

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Moezzi, Mithra; Diamond, Rick

2005-10-01

The overall implementation of energy efficiency in the United States is not adequately aligned with the environmental benefits claimed for efficiency, because it does not consider absolute levels of energy use, pollutant emissions, or consumption. In some ways, promoting energy efficiency may even encourage consumption. A more effective basis for environmental policy could be achieved by recognizing the degree and nature of the synchronization between environmental objectives and efficiency. This research seeks to motivate and initiate exploration of alternative ways of defining efficiency or otherwise moderating energy use toward reaching environmental objectives, as applicable to residential electricity use in California. The report offers three main recommendations: (1) produce definitions of efficiency that better integrate absolute consumption, (2) attend to the deeper social messages of energy efficiency communications, and (3) develop a more critical perspective on benefits and limitations of energy efficiency for delivering environmental benefits. In keeping with the exploratory nature of this project, the report also identifies ten questions for further investigation.

Palo Verde Generating Station, Units 4 and 5. License application, general information

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1978-01-01

A license application for two more Palo Verde reactors, Units 4 and 5, is presented. The two PWR reactors have a nominal net generating power each of 1,270 MW(e). Containments are steel-lined prestressed cylindrical structures with hemispherical domes. The reactors are replicas of Palo Verde 1, 2 and 3 (see DOCKETS 50528, 50529 and 50530) using the standard Combustion Engineering System 80 (see DOCKET-STN-50470)

Potential energy savings by using direct current for residential applications

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Diaz, Enrique Rodriguez; Quintero, Juan Carlos Vasquez; Guerrero, Josep M.

2017-01-01

improvement in the power converter units. However, for residential applications, the efficiency is not always improved. A grid connected residential microgrid, with renewable energy sources (RES), energy storage systems (ESS) and local loads, is presented in this work. The microgrid has been modelled...

SI units in radiology

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Iyer, P S [Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Bombay (India). Div. of Radiation Protection

1978-11-01

The proposal of the International Commission on Radiation Units and Measurements that the special units of radiation and radioactivity-roentgen, rad, rem and curie-be replaced by the International System (SI) of Units has been accepted by international bodies. This paper reviews the resons for introducing the new units and their features. The relation between the special units and the corresponding SI units is discussed with examples. In spite of anticipated difficulties, the commission recommends a smooth and efficient changeover to the SI units in ten years.

32 CFR 552.69 - Application by companies to solicit on military installations in the United States, its...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

....69 Application by companies to solicit on military installations in the United States, its territories, or the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. Before a company may be accredited to solicit on a military installation, the commander must receive a letter of application, signed by the company's president or vice...

The Text of the Agreement for the Application of Agency Safeguards to Four United States Reactor Facilities

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1962-05-24

The text of the Agreement between the Agency and the United States of America for the application of Agency safeguards to four United States reactor facilities, which was signed on 30 March 1962 and will enter into force on 1 June 1962, is reproduced in this document for the information of all Members of the Agency.

Energy Efficient Microlith-Based Catalytic Reactor and Recuperator for Air Quality Control Applications

Science.gov (United States)

Vilekar, Saurabh A.; Hawley, Kyle; Junaedi, Christian; Crowder, Bruce; Prada, Julian; Mastanduno, Richard; Perry, Jay L.; Kayatin, Matthew J.

2017-01-01

Precision Combustion, Inc. (PCI) and NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) have been developing, characterizing, and optimizing high temperature catalytic oxidizers (HTCO) based on PCI’s patented Microlith technology to meet the requirements of future extended human spaceflight explorations. Previous efforts focused on integrating PCI’s HTCO unit with a compact, simple recuperative heat exchanger to reduce the overall system size and weight. Significant improvement was demonstrated over traditional approaches of integrating the HTCO with an external recuperative heat exchanger. While the critical target performance metrics were achieved, the thermal effectiveness of PCI’s recuperator remained a potential area of improvement to further reduce the energy requirements of the integrated system. Using the same material combinations and an improved recuperator design, the redesigned prototype has experimentally demonstrated 20 – 30% reduction (flow dependent) in steady state power consumption compared to the earlier prototype without compromising the destruction efficiency of methane and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Moreover, design modifications and improvements allow our redesigned prototype to be more easily manufactured compared to traditional brazed plate-fin recuperator designs. The redesigned prototype was delivered to MSFC for validation testing. Here, we report and discuss the performance of the improved prototype HTCO unit with a high efficiency recuperative heat exchanger based on testing at PCI and MSFC. The device is expected to provide a reliable and robust means of disposing of trace levels of methane and VOCs by oxidizing them into carbon dioxide and water in order to maintain clean air in enclosed spaces, such as crewed spacecraft cabins.

Efficient techniques for wave-based sound propagation in interactive applications

Science.gov (United States)

Mehra, Ravish

Sound propagation techniques model the effect of the environment on sound waves and predict their behavior from point of emission at the source to the final point of arrival at the listener. Sound is a pressure wave produced by mechanical vibration of a surface that propagates through a medium such as air or water, and the problem of sound propagation can be formulated mathematically as a second-order partial differential equation called the wave equation. Accurate techniques based on solving the wave equation, also called the wave-based techniques, are too expensive computationally and memory-wise. Therefore, these techniques face many challenges in terms of their applicability in interactive applications including sound propagation in large environments, time-varying source and listener directivity, and high simulation cost for mid-frequencies. In this dissertation, we propose a set of efficient wave-based sound propagation techniques that solve these three challenges and enable the use of wave-based sound propagation in interactive applications. Firstly, we propose a novel equivalent source technique for interactive wave-based sound propagation in large scenes spanning hundreds of meters. It is based on the equivalent source theory used for solving radiation and scattering problems in acoustics and electromagnetics. Instead of using a volumetric or surface-based approach, this technique takes an object-centric approach to sound propagation. The proposed equivalent source technique generates realistic acoustic effects and takes orders of magnitude less runtime memory compared to prior wave-based techniques. Secondly, we present an efficient framework for handling time-varying source and listener directivity for interactive wave-based sound propagation. The source directivity is represented as a linear combination of elementary spherical harmonic sources. This spherical harmonic-based representation of source directivity can support analytical, data

Efficient alignment of pyrosequencing reads for re-sequencing applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Russo Luis MS

2011-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Over the past few years, new massively parallel DNA sequencing technologies have emerged. These platforms generate massive amounts of data per run, greatly reducing the cost of DNA sequencing. However, these techniques also raise important computational difficulties mostly due to the huge volume of data produced, but also because of some of their specific characteristics such as read length and sequencing errors. Among the most critical problems is that of efficiently and accurately mapping reads to a reference genome in the context of re-sequencing projects. Results We present an efficient method for the local alignment of pyrosequencing reads produced by the GS FLX (454 system against a reference sequence. Our approach explores the characteristics of the data in these re-sequencing applications and uses state of the art indexing techniques combined with a flexible seed-based approach, leading to a fast and accurate algorithm which needs very little user parameterization. An evaluation performed using real and simulated data shows that our proposed method outperforms a number of mainstream tools on the quantity and quality of successful alignments, as well as on the execution time. Conclusions The proposed methodology was implemented in a software tool called TAPyR--Tool for the Alignment of Pyrosequencing Reads--which is publicly available from http://www.tapyr.net.

Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) Part B Permit Application for Production Associated Units at the Oak Ridge Y-12 Plant

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1994-09-01

This is the RCRA required permit application for Radioactive and Hazardous Waste Management at the Oak Ridge Y-12 Plant for the following units: Building 9206 Container Storage Unit; Building 9212 Container Storage Unit; Building 9720-12 Container Storage Unit; Cyanide Treatment Unit. All four of these units are associated with the recovery of enriched uranium and other metals from wastes generated during the processing of nuclear materials.

Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) Part B Permit Application for Production Associated Units at the Oak Ridge Y-12 Plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1994-09-01

This is the RCRA required permit application for Radioactive and Hazardous Waste Management at the Oak Ridge Y-12 Plant for the following units: Building 9206 Container Storage Unit; Building 9212 Container Storage Unit; Building 9720-12 Container Storage Unit; Cyanide Treatment Unit. All four of these units are associated with the recovery of enriched uranium and other metals from wastes generated during the processing of nuclear materials

Concepts d'efficience et de productivité de l'eau (synthèse bibliographique

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kambou, D.

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Water efficiency and productivity concepts. A review. Water efficiency and productivity indicators are used in many scientific disciplines, usually to account for water losses that occur during its use, or products generated per unit of water consumed. The interpretation of these indicators is very diverse in the literature. However, the majority of definitions consider water efficiency as a measure of the effectiveness of irrigation, and view water productivity as a measure of the effectiveness of the physiological processes of both biomass production and crop yield formation, linked to the actual consumption of water by the crops. Thus, the consensus seems to be for water application efficiency (Ea to be considered as the ratio of actual evapotranspiration to the water applied and productivity as the ratio of yield to actual evapotranspiration. The point of divergence relates fundamentally to the understanding of the constituent expressions of productivity (PE, product/"water consumed" and efficiency of water application (Ea, "water consumed"/"applied water". Indeed, the term "water consumed" is referred to variously by several authors as "actual evapotranspiration", "gross irrigation plus rainfall", "evapotranspiration plus water lost at the plot but beneficial to other users", etc. Furthermore, while providing more details on the concepts of efficiency and water productivity, this review shows that the factors affecting these indicators have not yet been sufficiently elucidated. Thus, one of the axes of investigation could be to model the application efficiency of water firstly, according to water management practices and secondly, in terms of productivity levels in relation to the crop establishment period.

Energy efficiency analysis of Organic Rankine Cycles with scroll expanders for cogenerative applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Clemente, Stefano; Micheli, Diego; Reini, Mauro; Taccani, Rodolfo

2012-01-01

Highlights: ► We present an ORC model composed of a scroll 1D model and a cycle thermodynamic one. ► High-series production components from HVAC field are considered to reduce costs. ► Couplings of the micro-CHP with low-temperature heat sources are analyzed. ► Small and low-cost CHP systems with acceptable electrical efficiency are realizable. ► Higher electrical efficiency are possible modifying the scroll geometry. -- Abstract: Small scale Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) systems has been the object of a large number of studies in the last decade, because of their suitability for energy recovery and cogenerative applications. The paper presents an ORC numerical model and its applications to two different case studies; the code has been obtained by combining a one-dimensional model of a scroll machine and a thermodynamic model of a whole ORC system. Series production components, such as scroll compressors, from HVAC field, have been first considered in order to reduce costs, because this is a critical issue for small scale energy recovery and cogeneration systems. The detailed model of the scroll machine is capable to calculate the performances of both a compressor and an expander, as function of the geometry of the device and of the working fluid. The model has been first tested and validated by comparing its outputs with experimental tests on a commercial scroll compressor, then used to calculate the working curves of commercial scroll machines originally designed as compressors in the HVAC field, but operating as expanders. The model of the expander has been then integrated in the thermodynamic model of the ORC system. A series of comparisons have been carried out in order to evaluate how the performances are influenced by cycle parameters, scroll geometry and working fluid for different applications. The results confirm the feasibility of small scale CHP systems with acceptable electrical efficiency, taking into account the low-temperature thermal source

The Vibration Monitoring of the Gascompressor Units with Application of Hurst's Statistics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zakharov, O V; Novichkov, S V; Kochetkov, A V

2016-01-01

The gascompressor units work in the unsteady regime which depends on many internal and external factors. For the solution of problems of control, management and forecasting the statistical assessment of a condition of object in real time according to noisy observations of one realization of stochastic process is carried out. The traditional spectral analysis on the basis of Fast Fourier Transformation in this case is inefficient if time scale is much less than duration, which is subject to the analysis. Therefore for monitoring of a condition of the equipment it is offered to use Hurst's statistics by means of which it is possible to investigate quantitatively law of development of a vibration signal and unambiguously to analyze a condition of the gascompressor units. Calculation of economic efficiency from introduction of such technology of monitoring will provide decrease on average by 2.5% of a consumption of gas and specific costs of capital repairs of the gascompressor units at the expense of increase in a total operating time by 20%. (paper)

Efficiency of Nb-Doped ZnO Nanoparticles Electrode for Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells Application

Science.gov (United States)

Anuntahirunrat, Jirapat; Sung, Youl-Moon; Pooyodying, Pattarapon

2017-09-01

The technological of Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) had been improved for several years. Due to its simplicity and low cost materials with belonging to the part of thin films solar cells. DSSCs have numerous advantages and benefits among the other types of solar cells. Many of the DSSC devices had use organic chemical that produce by specific method to use as thin film electrodes. The organic chemical that widely use to establish thin film electrodes are Zinc Oxide (ZnO), Titanium Dioxide (TiO2) and many other chemical substances. Zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles had been used in DSSCs applications as thin film electrodes. Nanoparticles are a part of nanomaterials that are defined as a single particles 1-100 nm in diameter. From a few year ZnO widely used in DSSC applications because of its optical, electrical and many others properties. In particular, the unique properties and utility of ZnO structure. However the efficiency of ZnO nanoparticles based solar cells can be improved by doped various foreign impurity to change the structures and properties. Niobium (Nb) had been use as a dopant of metal oxide thin films. Using specification method to doped the ZnO nanoparticles thin film can improved the efficiencies of DSSCs. The efficiencies of Nb-doped ZnO can be compared by doping 0 at wt% to 5 at wt% in ZnO nanoparticles thin films that prepared by the spin coating method. The thin film electrodes doped with 3 at wt% represent a maximum efficiencies with the lowest resistivity of 8.95×10-4 Ω·cm.

MIRD Commentary: Proposed Name for a Dosimetry Unit Applicable to Deterministic Biological Effects-The Barendsen (Bd)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sgouros, George; Howell, R. W.; Bolch, Wesley E.; Fisher, Darrell R.

2009-01-01

The fundamental physical quantity for relating all biologic effects to radiation exposure is the absorbed dose, the energy imparted per unit mass of tissue. Absorbed dose is expressed in units of joules per kilogram (J/kg) and is given the special name gray (Gy). Exposure to ionizing radiation may cause both deterministic and stochastic biologic effects. To account for the relative effect per unit absorbed dose that has been observed for different types of radiation, the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) has established radiation weighting factors for stochastic effects. The product of absorbed dose in Gy and the radiation weighting factor is defined as the equivalent dose. Equivalent dose values are designated by a special named unit, the sievert (Sv). Unlike the situation for stochastic effects, no well-defined formalism and associated special named quantities have been widely adopted for deterministic effects. The therapeutic application of radionuclides and, specifically, -particle emitters in nuclear medicine has brought to the forefront the need for a well-defined dosimetry formalism applicable to deterministic effects that is accompanied by corresponding special named quantities. This commentary reviews recent proposals related to this issue and concludes with a recommendation to establish a new named quantity

Discrete-Event Execution Alternatives on General Purpose Graphical Processing Units

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Perumalla, Kalyan S.

2006-01-01

Graphics cards, traditionally designed as accelerators for computer graphics, have evolved to support more general-purpose computation. General Purpose Graphical Processing Units (GPGPUs) are now being used as highly efficient, cost-effective platforms for executing certain simulation applications. While most of these applications belong to the category of time-stepped simulations, little is known about the applicability of GPGPUs to discrete event simulation (DES). Here, we identify some of the issues and challenges that the GPGPU stream-based interface raises for DES, and present some possible approaches to moving DES to GPGPUs. Initial performance results on simulation of a diffusion process show that DES-style execution on GPGPU runs faster than DES on CPU and also significantly faster than time-stepped simulations on either CPU or GPGPU.

Regulating manure application discharges from concentrated animal feeding operations in the United States

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Centner, Terence J.; Feitshans, Theodore A.

2006-01-01

In the United States, reducing pollution from agriculture has received attention due to data suggesting that this is the leading source of impairment of many waterbodies. The federal government revised its regulations governing concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) to enhance governmental oversight over sources of pollution. For the application of manure resulting in pollutant discharges, CAFOs need to implement nutrient management plans. A federal court affirmed the ability of the US federal government to oversee the application of manure from CAFOs that have discharges. Simultaneously, owners and operators of CAFOs who have implemented an appropriate nutrient management plan may forgo securing a permit if their discharges qualify under the agricultural stormwater discharge exemption. - New rules applying to the application of manure by large concentrated animal feeding operations should reduce water contamination

Device for X-ray fluorescence logging with PRK-1-36 controlled remote unit

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Volfshtejn, P.M.; Kireev, V.A.; Peskov, V.N.

1981-01-01

To conduct studies in the long-wave energy range, a well logging device with a remote detection unit controlled with the help of DPM-30 electric motor has been developed. A current circuit of signal pick-up from a proportional counter is used. The circuit allows to decrease the length of the outside unit to 180 mm, sag being 130 mm long. It is shown that under conditions intensive cavernity of ore intervals and technically complicated well logs the application of PRK-1-36 units instead of SKR-300 devices permits to obtain more representative results, decrease the accident rate and increase the efficiency of investigations where X-ray fluorescence logging is used [ru

Device for X-ray fluorescence logging with PRK-1-36 controlled remote unit

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Volfshtejn, P M; Kireev, V A; Peskov, V N [Vsesoyuznyj Nauchno-Issledovatel' skij i Proektno-Konstruktorskij Inst. Geofizicheskikh Issledovanij Geologorazvedochnykh Skvazhin, Oktyabr' skij (USSR)

1981-01-01

To conduct studies in the long-wave energy range, a well logging device with a remote detection unit controlled with the help of DPM-30 electric motor has been developed. A current circuit of signal pick-up from a proportional counter is used. The circuit allows to decrease the length of the outside unit to 180 mm, sag being 130 mm long. It is shown that under conditions intensive cavernity of ore intervals and technically complicated well logs the application of PRK-1-36 units instead of SKR-300 devices permits to obtain more representative results, decrease the accident rate and increase the efficiency of investigations where X-ray fluorescence logging is used.

Efficiency of mobile dental unit in public health programs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nitin Gupta

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Almost all dental Colleges run a mobile dental operation for people living in far inaccessible areas who are not able to avail dental care. Mobile dental clinics provide a mode of reaching the unreached by delivering dental care in areas where alternative i.e. private practitioners and fixed clinics are unavailable or inaccessible. Oral diseases account for high morbidity in the community which is compounded by the gross mal-distribution of provision of oral health services in India. In order to ensure accessibility to basic oral health services innovative models of service delivery are being explored. In this context the health economics of mobile oral health care is critically evaluated in this paper. Thus a cost analysis was undertaken to determine the operating expenses for the existing mobile dental unit. Requisite permission of Head of institution was obtained and data was extracted from the records of the mobile dental unit for the year 2014-15.Information on the operating expenses was collected. Costing was done using step down accounting method. Total operating cost of the unit for the year 2014-15 was Rs. 184888/-.Unit cost for each camp was Rs.3625/- and for each patient Rs.76/-. Mobile dental programs can play a vital role in providing access to care to underserved populations and ensuring their mission requires long-term planning. Careful cost analysis based on sound assumptions is of utmost importance.

An Actuator Control Unit for Safety-Critical Mechatronic Applications with Embedded Energy Storage Backup

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sergio Saponara

2016-03-01

Full Text Available This paper presents an actuator control unit (ACU with a 450-J embedded energy storage backup to face safety critical mechatronic applications. The idea is to ensure full operation of electric actuators, even in the case of battery failure, by using supercapacitors as a local energy tank. Thanks to integrated switching converter circuitry, the supercapacitors provide the required voltage and current levels for the required time to guarantee actuator operation until the system enters into safety mode. Experimental results are presented for a target application related to the control of servomotors for a robotized prosthetic arm. Mechatronic devices for rehabilitation or assisted living of injured and/or elderly people are available today. In most cases, they are battery powered with lithium-based cells, providing high energy density and low weight, but at the expense of a reduced robustness compared to lead-acid- or nickel-based battery cells. The ACU of this work ensures full operation of the wearable robotized arm, controlled through acceleration and electromyography (EMG sensor signals, even in the case of battery failure, thanks to the embedded energy backup unit. To prove the configurability and scalability of the proposed solution, experimental results related to the electric actuation of the car door latch and of a robotized gearbox in vehicles are also shown. The reliability of the energy backup device has been assessed in a wide temperature range, from −40 to 130 °C, and in a durability test campaign of more than 10,000 cycles. Achieved results prove the suitability of the proposed approach for ACUs requiring a burst of power of hundreds of watts for only a few seconds in safety-critical applications. Alternatively, the aging and temperature characterizations of energy backup units is limited to supercapacitors of thousands of farads for high power applications (e.g., electric/hybrid propulsion and with a temperature range limited to

Effect of Nitrogen Foliar Application on Canola Yield (Brassica napus L. and Nitrogen Efficiency across Different Sowing Dates

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S Doori

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Introduction Between oil seeds, from the quality, quantity and nutrition index point of view, canola has the top level . Because of the solubility of N fertilizers, the time of urea application, is very important and one of the main reasons of the reduction in N application efficiency is utilization of urea in an inappropriate time. By precisely foliar application of nitrogen, the efficiency of nitrogen transformation to the grain will be very high because in this method the leaf is considered the main organ of nitrogen uptake and a low amount of absorbed nitrogen was transferred to the root and entered the soil. The more division of N application in growth stages and in accordance with plant need and foliar application result in increasing nitrogen use efficiency. The delay in sowing will result in the reduction of yield and this is due to low LAI, and thus low radiation absorb in vegetable phase and shorter reproductive phase with high temperature in flowering and subsequent stages that result in low prolific silique and make disorder in transferring stored material to grain. In this experiment using N foliar application to decrease the adverse effect of delay in sowing is objective. Materials and Methods The experiment was conducted in 2013-2014 in Ramin Agriculture and Natural Resource University of Khuzestan. Experiment was conducted as split plots in a randomized complete blocks design with three replications. In this experiment sowing date]optimum sowing (27 November, 17 December and late sowing (30 December [were assigned to main plots and several time of N-foliar application with 5 percent density from urea (20 liter per ha, ]TO (control, T1 (foliar N application in rosette stage, T2 (foliar N application in budding stage, T3 (foliar N application in flowering stage[ were placed in sub-plots in randomized way. Fertilizing was based on the results of soil examination. Therefore, 162 kg ha-1 of pure nitrogen (from resource urea in the way

Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) Part B permit application for Production Associated Units at the Oak Ridge Y-12 Plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1995-05-01

Attention is focused on permit applications for the following units: Building 9206 Container Storage Unit; Building 9212 Container Storage Unit; Building 9720-12 Container Storage Unit; and Cyanide Treatment Unit. This report addresses the following areas: facility description; waste characteristics; process information; ground water monitoring; procedures to prevent hazards; contingency plan; personnel training; closure plan, post closure plant, and financial requirements; record keeping; other federal laws; organic air emissions; solid waste management units; and certification

Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) Part B permit application for Production Associated Units at the Oak Ridge Y-12 Plant

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1995-05-01

Attention is focused on permit applications for the following units: Building 9206 Container Storage Unit; Building 9212 Container Storage Unit; Building 9720-12 Container Storage Unit; and Cyanide Treatment Unit. This report addresses the following areas: facility description; waste characteristics; process information; ground water monitoring; procedures to prevent hazards; contingency plan; personnel training; closure plan, post closure plant, and financial requirements; record keeping; other federal laws; organic air emissions; solid waste management units; and certification.

Application of United Nations Framework Classification – 2009 (UNFC-2009) to nuclear fuel resources

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tulsidas, Harikrishnan; Li Shengxiang; Van Gosen, Bradley

2014-01-01

United Nations Framework Classification for Fossil Fuel and Mineral Reserves and Resources 2009: • Generic, principles-based system: – Applicable to both solid minerals and fluids; • Applications in: – International energy studies; – National resource reporting; – Company project management; – Financial reporting; • 3-D classification of resources on the basis of: – Socio-economic criteria (E); – Project maturity (technical feasibility) (F); – Geological knowledge (G); • A key goal of UNFC-2009 is to provide a tool to facilitate global communications: – Uses a numerical coding system; – Language independent reporting

Power recovery method for testing the efficiency of the ECD of an integrated generation unit for offshore wind power and ocean wave energy

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

CHEN WeiXing; GAO Feng; MENG XiangDun; REN AnYe; HU Yan

2017-01-01

Offshore wind power and ocean wave energy are clean,renewable and rich resources.The integrated generation unit for the two kinds of energy is introduced.The energy conversion device (ECD) is utilized to convert the mechanical energy absorbed from the wind power and wave energy into the hydraulic energy,the conversion efficiency of which is significant.In this paper,a power recovery method for testing the efficiency of the ECD is proposed.A simulation desktop is developed to validate the proposed method.The efficiency of the ECD is influenced by the hydraulic cylinders and the mechanical transmission.Here,the static efficiency of the hydraulic cylinders of the ECD is tested first.The results show that the static mechanical efficiency is about 95 ％ and that the volumetric efficiency is over 99％.To test the effects induced by the mechanical transmission of the ECD,each hydraulic cylinder of the ECD is substituted with two springs.Then the power loss of the ECDM under different rotational speeds is obtained.Finally,a test platform is built and the efficiency of the ECD under different rotational speeds and pressures is obtained.The results show that the efficiency is about 80％.

Application of gold nanoparticles for improved drug efficiency

Science.gov (United States)

Shittu, K. O.; Bankole, M. T.; Abdulkareem, A. S.; Abubakre, O. K.; Ubaka, A. U.

2017-09-01

Due to increasing resistance of microorganisms towards current antibiotics, there is a need for new or enhanced antibiotics. Nanotechnology is a technology that enhances the use of gold nanoparticles (AuNP) in area of medical applications, especially as a drug carrier for targeted drug delivery. In this research, AuNPs was synthesized using biological method via bioreduction of Piper guineense aqueous leaf extract on tetra gold chloride, characterized using UV-Vis spectrophometer, DLS, TEM/EDS and FTIR. The synthesized AuNPs was covalently functionalized with polyethylene glycol and encapsulated with Lincomycin and in vitro dissolution methods was used to evaluate the potential performance of the formulated nanodrug. The nanodrug has highest release efficiency at the 9th minutes (23.4 mg ml-1 for 40 °C) and (29.5 mg ml-1 for 60 °C) compared with the non-nanodrug. The antibacterial potential of the nanodrug was seen on the gram-positive bacteria of Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus pyogenes with highest inhibitions of 18 mm (at 40 °C) and 16 mm (at 60 °C) for S. aureus, and 16 mm for S. pyogenes (both at 40 °C and 60 °C). The bacteria growth inhibition continued and lasted for 15 min, while that of non-nanodrug lasted for 9 min with lesser growth inhibition compared to the formulated nanodrug. This work shows that the presence of the AuNPs increased the release efficiency of lincomycin even at a lower concentration and also bacteria growth inhibition thereby suggesting the effectiveness of the nanodrug formulation.

Thermal efficiency improvements - an imperative for nuclear generating stations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hassanien, S.; Rouse, S.

1997-01-01

A one and a half percent thermal performance improvement of Ontario Hydro's operating nuclear units (Bruce B, Pickering B, and Darlington) means almost 980 GWh are available to the transmission system (assuming an 80% capacity factor). This is equivalent to the energy consumption of 34,000 electrically-heated homes in Ontario, and worth more than $39 million in revenue to Ontario Hydro Nuclear Generation. Improving nuclear plant thermal efficiency improves profitability (more GWh per unit of fuel) and competitiveness (cost of unit energy), and reduces environmental impact (less spent fuel and nuclear waste). Thermal performance will naturally decrease due to the age of the units unless corrective action is taken. Most Ontario Hydro nuclear units are ten to twenty years old. Some common causes for loss of thermal efficiency are: fouling and tube plugging of steam generators, condensers, and heat exchangers; steam leaks in the condenser due to valve wear, steam trap and drain leaks; deposition, pitting, cracking, corrosion, etc., of turbine blades; inadequate feedwater metering resulting from corrosion and deposition. This paper stresses the importance of improving the nuclear units' thermal efficiency. Ontario Hydro Nuclear has demonstrated energy savings results are achievable and affordable. Between 1994 and 1996, Nuclear reduced its energy use and improved thermal efficiency by over 430,000 MWh. Efficiency improvement is not automatic - strategies are needed to be effective. This paper suggests practical strategies to systematically improve thermal efficiency. (author)

Qualitative Analysis Results for Applications of a New Fire Probabilistic Safety Assessment Method to Ulchin Unit 3

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kang, Daeil; Kim, Kilyoo; Jang, Seungcheol

2013-01-01

The fire PRA Implementation Guide has been used for performing a fire PSA for NPPs in Korea. Recently, US NRC and EPRI developed a new fire PSA method, NUREG/CR-6850, to provide state-of-the-art methods, tools, and data for the conduct of a fire PSA for a commercial nuclear power plant (NPP). Due to the limited budget and man powers for the development of KSRP, hybrid PSA approaches, using NUREG/CR-6850 and Fire PRA Implementation Guide, will be employed for conducting a fire PSA of Ulchin Unit 3. In this paper, the qualitative analysis results for applications of a new fire PSA method to Ulchin Unit 3 are presented. This paper introduces the qualitative analysis results for applications of a new fire PSA method to Ulchin Unit 3. Compared with the previous industry, the number of fire areas for quantification identified and the number of equipment selected has increased

Time efficient optimization of instance based problems with application to tone onset detection

OpenAIRE

Bauer, Nadja; Friedrichs, Klaus; Weihs, Claus

2016-01-01

A time efficient optimization technique for instance based problems is proposed, where for each parameter setting the target function has to be evaluated on a large set of problem instances. Computational time is reduced by beginning with a performance estimation based on the evaluation of a representative subset of instances. Subsequently, only promising settings are evaluated on the whole data set. As application a comprehensive music onset detection algorithm is introduce...

White OLED devices and processes for lighting applications

Science.gov (United States)

Ide, Nobuhiro; Tsuji, Hiroya; Ito, Norihiro; Matsuhisa, Yuko; Houzumi, Shingo; Nishimori, Taisuke

2010-05-01

In these days, the basic performances of white OLEDs are dramatically improved and application of OLEDs to "Lighting" is expected to be true in the near future. We have developed various technologies for OLED lighting with the aid of the Japanese governmental project, "High-efficiency lighting based on the organic light-emitting mechanism." In this project, a white OLED with high efficiency (37 lm/W) and high quality emission characteristics (CRI of 95 with a small variation of chromaticity in different directions and chromaticity just on the black-body radiation curve) applicable to "Lighting" was realized by a two-unit structure with a fluorescent deep blue emissive unit and a phosphorescent green and red emissive unit. Half-decay lifetime of this white OLED at 1,000 cd/m2 was over 40,000 h. A heat radiative, thin encapsulation structure (less than 1 mm) realized a very stable emission at high luminance of over 3,000 cd/m2. A new deposition source with a hot-wall and a rate controllable valve was developed. Thickness uniformity within +/- 3% at high deposition rate of over 8 nm/s, high material utilization of over 70 %, and repeatable deposition rate controllability were confirmed.

Technical and scale efficiency in public and private Irish nursing homes - a bootstrap DEA approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Ni Luasa, Shiovan; Dineen, Declan; Zieba, Marta

2016-10-27

This article provides methodological and empirical insights into the estimation of technical efficiency in the nursing home sector. Focusing on long-stay care and using primary data, we examine technical and scale efficiency in 39 public and 73 private Irish nursing homes by applying an input-oriented data envelopment analysis (DEA). We employ robust bootstrap methods to validate our nonparametric DEA scores and to integrate the effects of potential determinants in estimating the efficiencies. Both the homogenous and two-stage double bootstrap procedures are used to obtain confidence intervals for the bias-corrected DEA scores. Importantly, the application of the double bootstrap approach affords true DEA technical efficiency scores after adjusting for the effects of ownership, size, case-mix, and other determinants such as location, and quality. Based on our DEA results for variable returns to scale technology, the average technical efficiency score is 62 %, and the mean scale efficiency is 88 %, with nearly all units operating on the increasing returns to scale part of the production frontier. Moreover, based on the double bootstrap results, Irish nursing homes are less technically efficient, and more scale efficient than the conventional DEA estimates suggest. Regarding the efficiency determinants, in terms of ownership, we find that private facilities are less efficient than the public units. Furthermore, the size of the nursing home has a positive effect, and this reinforces our finding that Irish homes produce at increasing returns to scale. Also, notably, we find that a tendency towards quality improvements can lead to poorer technical efficiency performance.

Efficient Adjoint Computation of Hybrid Systems of Differential Algebraic Equations with Applications in Power Systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Abhyankar, Shrirang [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); Anitescu, Mihai [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); Constantinescu, Emil [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); Zhang, Hong [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)

2016-03-31

Sensitivity analysis is an important tool to describe power system dynamic behavior in response to parameter variations. It is a central component in preventive and corrective control applications. The existing approaches for sensitivity calculations, namely, finite-difference and forward sensitivity analysis, require a computational effort that increases linearly with the number of sensitivity parameters. In this work, we investigate, implement, and test a discrete adjoint sensitivity approach whose computational effort is effectively independent of the number of sensitivity parameters. The proposed approach is highly efficient for calculating trajectory sensitivities of larger systems and is consistent, within machine precision, with the function whose sensitivity we are seeking. This is an essential feature for use in optimization applications. Moreover, our approach includes a consistent treatment of systems with switching, such as DC exciters, by deriving and implementing the adjoint jump conditions that arise from state and time-dependent discontinuities. The accuracy and the computational efficiency of the proposed approach are demonstrated in comparison with the forward sensitivity analysis approach.

Scale and scope economies in Mexican private medical units

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jorge Keith

2014-07-01

Full Text Available Objective. To evaluate technical efficiency and potential presence of scale and scope economies in Mexican private medical units (PMU that will improve management decisions. Materials and methods. We used data envelopment analysis methods with inputs and outputs for 2 105 Mexican PMU published in 2010 by the Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía from the “Estadística de Unidades Médicas Privadas con Servicio de Hospitalización (PEC-6-20-A” questionnaire. Results. The application of the models used in the paper found that there is a marginal presence of economies of scale and scope in Mexican PMU. Conclusions. PMU in Mexico must focus to deliver their services on a diversified structure to achieve technical efficiency.

COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF APPLICATION EFFICIENCY OF ORTHOGONAL TRANSFORMATIONS IN FREQUENCY ALGORITHMS FOR DIGITAL IMAGE WATERMARKING

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vladimir A. Batura

2014-11-01

Full Text Available The efficiency of orthogonal transformations application in the frequency algorithms of the digital watermarking of still images is examined. Discrete Hadamard transform, discrete cosine transform and discrete Haar transform are selected. Their effectiveness is determined by the invisibility of embedded in digital image watermark and its resistance to the most common image processing operations: JPEG-compression, noising, changing of the brightness and image size, histogram equalization. The algorithm for digital watermarking and its embedding parameters remain unchanged at these orthogonal transformations. Imperceptibility of embedding is defined by the peak signal to noise ratio, watermark stability– by Pearson's correlation coefficient. Embedding is considered to be invisible, if the value of the peak signal to noise ratio is not less than 43 dB. Embedded watermark is considered to be resistant to a specific attack, if the Pearson’s correlation coefficient is not less than 0.5. Elham algorithm based on the image entropy is chosen for computing experiment. Computing experiment is carried out according to the following algorithm: embedding of a digital watermark in low-frequency area of the image (container by Elham algorithm, exposure to a harmful influence on the protected image (cover image, extraction of a digital watermark. These actions are followed by quality assessment of cover image and watermark on the basis of which efficiency of orthogonal transformation is defined. As a result of computing experiment it was determined that the choice of the specified orthogonal transformations at identical algorithm and parameters of embedding doesn't influence the degree of imperceptibility for a watermark. Efficiency of discrete Hadamard transform and discrete cosine transformation in relation to the attacks chosen for experiment was established based on the correlation indicators. Application of discrete Hadamard transform increases

DRIRU I/SKIRU - The application of the DTG to spacecraft attitude control. [Dynamically-Tuned Gyro for Inertial Reference Unit systems

Science.gov (United States)

Swanson, C. O.

1982-01-01

The dynamically tuned gyro (DTG) was developed to replace the floated, rate integrating gyro used for space attitude control, as the DTG fulfills cost, performance, and reliability requirements not satisfied by its predecessor. The use of this gyro in the Dry Gyro Inertial Reference Unit I (DRIRU I) marked the first application of a DTG in a spacecraft attitude reference unit. Design and performance characteristics of DTG application in the Singer-Kearfott Inertial Reference Unit (SKIRU) are outlined, for example its minimal weight (7 lb), and operational reliability. The DTG has accomplished 156,000 failure-free hours, and a chart, logging test performance, indicates that this and other requirements were more than sufficiently satisfied. The unit has an unparalleled life span, with several units still operating after 70,000 to 130,000 hours, and a random drift which always remains under 0.0005 deg/h. Potential for improvements, such as drift performance, are considered.

Homothetic Efficiency: Theory and Applications

NARCIS (Netherlands)

J. Heufer (Jan); Hjertstrand, P. (Per)

2017-01-01

textabstractWe provide a nonparametric revealed preference approach to demand analysis based on homothetic efficiency. Homotheticity is widely assumed (often implicitly) because it is a convenient and often useful restriction. However, this assumption is rarely tested, and data rarely satisfy

High-Efficiency Isolated Photovoltaic Microinverter Using Wide-Band Gap Switches for Standalone and Grid-Tied Applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yu-Chen Liu

2018-03-01

Full Text Available An isolated photovoltaic micro-inverter for standalone and grid-tied applications is designed and implemented to achieve high efficiency. System configuration and design considerations, including the proposed active-clamp forward-flyback resonant converter for the DC-DC stage and a dual-frequency full-bridge inverter for the DC-AC stage, are analyzed and discussed. A prototype microinverter system is built and tested. Experimental results verify the feasibility of the proposed system, which achieves 95% power conversion efficiency at full load.

Application of X-ray scanning and tomography to evaluate the filtercake removal efficiency

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lopes, R.T.; Oliveira, L.F. de; Miranda, C.R.; Leite, J.C.

2004-01-01

The removal of the filtercake formed during the drilling operation is essential for a successful cementing job. Nowadays, the use of synthetic base fluids brings the necessity of proceeding new evaluations of the efficiency of the washes in removing the filtercake and to guarantee the wettability inversion of the formation from oil to waterwet. It is presented here the application of X-ray tomographic scanning to evaluate the filtercake removal efficiency performed by different washes. This technique uses a natural core with a perforation, where a filtercake is formed by circulating a drilling fluid. The wash is circulated through this perforation and the filtercake removal efficiency is measured precisely by computer tomography scanning. This procedure enables the filtercake removal visualization during the wash circulation through the formation and from the data obtained from the X-ray tomography it is possible to select the most appropriate wash for a given drilling fluid, as well as to predict the necessary contact time between the wash and the formation to achieve an appropriate filtercake removal

Application of Six Sigma methodology to a cataract surgery unit.

Science.gov (United States)

Taner, Mehmet Tolga

2013-01-01

The article's aim is to focus on the application of Six Sigma to minimise intraoperative and post-operative complications rates in a Turkish public hospital cataract surgery unit. Implementing define-measure-analyse-improve and control (DMAIC) involves process mapping, fishbone diagrams and rigorous data-collection. Failure mode and effect analysis (FMEA), pareto diagrams, control charts and process capability analysis are applied to redress cataract surgery failure root causes. Inefficient skills of assistant surgeons and technicians, low quality of IOLs used, wrong IOL placement, unsystematic sterilisation of surgery rooms and devices, and the unprioritising network system are found to be the critical drivers of intraoperative-operative and post-operative complications. Sigma level was increased from 2.60 to 3.75 subsequent to extensive training of assistant surgeons, ophthalmologists and technicians, better quality IOLs, systematic sterilisation and air-filtering, and the implementation of a more sophisticated network system. This article shows that Six Sigma measurement and process improvement can become the impetus for cataract unit staff to rethink their process and reduce malpractices. Measuring, recording and reporting data regularly helps them to continuously monitor their overall process and deliver safer treatments. This is the first Six Sigma ophthalmology study in Turkey.

Electrical energy efficiency technologies and applications

CERN Document Server

Sumper, Andreas

2012-01-01

The improvement of electrical energy efficiency is fast becoming one of the most essential areas of sustainability development, backed by political initiatives to control and reduce energy demand. Now a major topic in industry and the electrical engineering research community, engineers have started to focus on analysis, diagnosis and possible solutions. Owing to the complexity and cross-disciplinary nature of electrical energy efficiency issues, the optimal solution is often multi-faceted with a critical solutions evaluation component to ensure cost effectiveness. This single-source refer

Efforts to perform safe and efficient decommissioning for Tsuruga Power Station Unit 1

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Saito, Shiro; Yamauchi, Toyoaki; Austin, Colin R.

2017-01-01

Tsuruga Power Station Unit-1 (Tsuruga-1) started commercial operation in March 1970, and the decision to terminate operation was made in 2015. In April 2016, JAPC signed an agreement with Energy Solutions (ES) on strategic cooperation for domestic D and D projects for introduction of successful international experiences. As a first step in this cooperation, D and D know-how developed by ES in the US is being applied to Tsuruga-1 with verifying its applicability to domestic D and D projects. One of the efforts is human resource development. JAPC has also started introduction of ES's project management method to the Tsuruga-1 project for solid project management and the base line is currently being prepared. Regarding the waste disposal paths, application document of approval for measurement and evaluation of clearance material was submitted in September 2016. However the disposal paths for waste are not established in Japan. It is necessary to cooperate with the government, utilities and local stakeholders to establish waste disposal paths. Because it is also important to obtain the understanding from local communities, JAPC and ES will try positively to utilize local companies for D and D works. JAPC and ES believe that their relationship will ensure success of the Tsuruga-1 NPP decommissioning project. (author)

Efficient interfacing of light and surface plasmon polaritons for quantum optics applications

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Eran, Kot

interaction are the window to the underlying quantum world. It is no surprise then that there has always been push to find more, and gain better control over systems in which this interaction can be studied. In the past two decades, this end was further motivated as applications were envisioned to coherent...... control of matter. These include applications such as efficient photon collection, single-photon switching and transistors, and long-range optical coupling of quantum bits for quantum communications. However, generating and controlling strong coherent interaction between otherwise very weakly interacting...... light and quantum emitters proves a difficult task. Current days solutions range from cavities, atomic ensembles, photonic band gaps structures, ion traps and optical latices are all being improved and studied but none has yet to emerge as superior. Recently, another proposal for such a strong coupling...

Turkey's energy efficiency assessment: White Certificates Systems and their applicability in Turkey

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Duzgun, B.; Komurgoz, G.

2014-01-01

The last decade has seen an increase in the importance of energy efficiency and the sustainable use of energy resources due to their significant benefits for reducing a country's dependence on foreign energy resources and increasing awareness on environmental problems. Turkey aims to reduce its energy intensity by 20% up to 2023, and in order to accomplish this target, the country plans to use energy more effectively in various industries and develop financial mechanisms for energy efficiency. Although much effort has been made to improve energy efficiency, additional policies such as marked-based incentives are still necessary. This article deals with one of the many market-based energy efficiency policies, called Tradable White Certificates (WhC) or Energy Efficiency Obligations. The current situation of the energy field in Turkey and energy consumption by industries is presented first in this paper, followed by potentials for energy efficiency in each industry and energy efficiency policies. Furthermore, the theory and applicability of a WhC System is introduced and discussed in terms of market conditions, choice of obligated participants and market mechanisms and barriers for the Turkish electricity and natural gas market to benefit from the residential and industrial energy savings potential. - Highlights: • Energy efficiency is the most effective way to reduce foreign energy dependency. • Turkey aims reducing at least 20% of energy intensity in the year 2023. • Energy consumption of industry is 35% of total energy consumption in Turkey. • Marked based policy elements create new opportunities in environmental markets. • WhC System can be implemented in PMUM under the control of regulatory authority

A more efficient way to shape metal-organic framework (MOF) powder materials for hydrogen storage applications

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Ren, Jianwei

2015-04-01

Full Text Available operation time. This granulation approach is a more efficient way to shape MOF-type powder materials into application-specific configurations compared to the mechanical pressing method. The pellets could be conveniently packed in a small hydrogen storage...

Optimization of emission color and efficiency of organic light emitting diodes for lighting applications

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Seidel, Stefan; Krause, Ralf [Department of Materials Science VI, University of Erlangen-Nuernberg (Germany); Siemens AG, CT MM 1, Erlangen (Germany); Kozlowski, Fryderyk; Schmid, Guenter; Hunze, Arvid [Siemens AG, CT MM 1, Erlangen (Germany); Winnacker, Albrecht [Department of Materials Science VI, University of Erlangen-Nuernberg (Germany)

2008-07-01

In recent years the performance of organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) has reached a level where OLED lighting presents an interesting application target. Research activities therefore focus amongst other things on the development of high efficient and stable white light emitting devices. We demonstrate how the color coordinates can be adjusted to achieve a warm white emission spectrum, whereas the OLED stack contains phosphorescent red and green dyes combined with a fluorescent blue one. Detailed results are presented with respect to a variation of layer thicknesses and dopant concentrations of the emission layers. Furthermore the influence of various dye molecules and hence different energy level alignments between host and dopants on color and efficiency will be discussed.

Protocol Additional to the Agreement between the United States of America and the International Atomic Energy Agency for the Application of Safeguards in the United States of America

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2009-01-01

The text of the Protocol Additional to the Agreement between the United States of America and the International Atomic Energy Agency for the Application of Safeguards in the United States of America is reproduced in this document for the information of all Members. The Board of Governors approved the Additional Protocol on 11 June 1998. It was signed in Vienna on 12 June 1998

Efficiency of early application of immunomodulators in combined effect of radiation and thermal injury

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Makarov, G.F.

1989-01-01

Medical effect of thymus preparations (thymoline, thymoptine) and levamysole under combined radiation-thermal injury is studied. Experimental results have shown that early application of certain immunostimulators under combined radiation-thermal injury of medium criticality is low-efficient. Their ability to sufficiently increase the antibody synthesis is manifested only under combined action of burns and irradiation in non-lethal doses. 5 refs

EnviroAtlas - Inorganic phosphorus fertilizer application for 2012 by 12-digit HUC for the Conterminous United States

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — This EnviroAtlas national map displays the application rate of inorganic phosphorus (P) fertilizer on agricultural land in the conterminous United States (excluding...

Framing car fuel efficiency : linearity heuristic for fuel consumption and fuel-efficiency ratings

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Schouten, T.M.; Bolderdijk, J.W.; Steg, L.

2014-01-01

People are sensitive to the way information on fuel efficiency is conveyed. When the fuel efficiency of cars is framed in terms of fuel per distance (FPD; e.g. l/100 km), instead of distance per units of fuel (DPF; e.g. km/l), people have a more accurate perception of potential fuel savings. People

Multipurpose units: combining of technological operations of a soil cultivating and seeding

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

D. A. Petukhov

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The modern domestic market of technique for grain crops seeding differs variety of machines brands and types. The intensive type technologies combining technological operations of a soil cultivating and grain crops seeding in one pass are more widely used. The authors have established that one-operational units in new machine park have to be replaced multipurpose, universal and combined machines. Such approach will reduce number of machines in grain production from 20-30 to 5-6 name titles. Possibilities of multipurpose sowing units for simultaneous fertilizers application, soil cultivating and weeds destruction were analyzed. It was specified that nowadays there are several technologies types with two, four or six operations overlapping. Operational performance, technological and economical efficiency of the best multipurpose and also efficiency of technological operations overlapping at grain crops cultivating in the conditions of their real operation and at a trial establishment in the Kuban research institute of information and technical and economic studies of agro-industrial complex engineering and technical services were studied. Tit was defined that use of multipurpose sowing units and also studied efficiency of decreases operational costs by 48-71 percent, fuel consumption - by 41-76 percent and reduces labor input by 72-80 percent. Thus grain crops seeding is possible in optimal agrotime because of 4-6 technological operations overlapping in one pass.

Minimizing Total Busy Time with Application to Energy-efficient Scheduling of Virtual Machines in IaaS clouds

OpenAIRE

Quang-Hung, Nguyen; Thoai, Nam

2016-01-01

Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) clouds have become more popular enabling users to run applications under virtual machines. Energy efficiency for IaaS clouds is still challenge. This paper investigates the energy-efficient scheduling problems of virtual machines (VMs) onto physical machines (PMs) in IaaS clouds along characteristics: multiple resources, fixed intervals and non-preemption of virtual machines. The scheduling problems are NP-hard. Most of existing works on VM placement reduce ...

Fast SPT-Term Allocation and Efficient FPGA Implementation of FIR Filters for Software Defined Radio Applications

OpenAIRE

Bae, Choonghoon; Moteki, Takayuki; Kim, Minseok; Ichige, Koichi; Arai, Hiroyuki

2009-01-01

This paper presents a fast SPT-term allocation scheme and an efficient FPGA implementation of FIR filters for Software Defined Radio (SDR) applications. Direct conversion method based on RF direct sampling is nowadays widely used in SDR applications. Fast and accurate digital filters are required for RF direct sampling and processing in direct conversion, however such filters often require large digital circuit area. Signed-Power-of-Two (SPT) terms will be suitable for fast processing and eff...

Optimal design of compact organic Rankine cycle units for domestic solar applications

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Barbazza, Luca; Pierobon, Leonardo; Mirandola, Alberto

2014-01-01

criteria, i.e., compactness, high performance and safe operation, are targeted by adopting a multi-objective optimization approach modeled with the genetic algorithm. Design-point thermodynamic variables, e.g., evaporating pressure, the working fluid, minimum allowable temperature differences......Organic Rankine cycle turbogenerators are a promising technology to transform the solar radiation harvested by solar collectors into electric power. The present work aims at sizing a small-scale organic Rankine cycle unit by tailoring its design for domestic solar applications. Stringent design...

Enhanced Solar Photoelectrochemical Conversion Efficiency of ZnO:Cu Electrodes for Water-Splitting Application

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rekha Dom

2013-01-01

Full Text Available n-type ZnO:Cu photoanodes were fabricated by simple spray pyrolysis deposition technique. Influence of low concentration (range ~10−4–10−1% of Cu doping in hexagonal ZnO lattice on its photoelectrochemical performance has been investigated. The doped photoanodes displayed 7-time enhanced conversion efficiencies with respect to their undoped counterpart, as estimated from the photocurrents generated under simulated solar radiation. This is the highest enhancement in the solar conversion efficiency reported so far for the Cu-doped ZnO. This performance is attributed to the red shift in the band gap of the Cu-doped films and is in accordance with the incident-photon-current-conversion efficiency (IPCE measurements. Electrochemical studies reveal an n-type nature of these photoanodes. Thus, the study indicates a high potential of doped ZnO films for solar energy applications, in purview of the development of simple nanostructuring methodologies.

Efficient and compact hyperspectral imager for space-borne applications

Science.gov (United States)

Pisani, Marco; Zucco, Massimo

2017-11-01

In the last decades Hyperspectral Imager (HI) have become irreplaceable space-borne instruments for an increasing number of applications. A number of HIs are now operative onboard (e.g. CHRIS on PROBA), others are going to be launched (e.g. PRISMA, EnMAP, HyspIRI), many others are at the breadboard level. The researchers goal is to realize HI with high spatial and spectral resolution, having low weight and contained dimensions. The most common HI technique is based on the use of a dispersive mean (a grating or a prism) or on the use of band pass filters (tunable or linear variable). These approaches have the advantages of allowing compact devices. Another approach is based on the use of interferometer based spectrometers (Michelson or Sagnac type). The advantage of the latter is a very high efficiency in light collection because of the well-known Felgett and Jaquinot principles.

Application of heterogeneous blading systems is the way for improving efficiency of centrifugal energy pumps

Science.gov (United States)

Pochylý, F.; Haluza, M.; Fialová, S.; Dobšáková, L.; Volkov, A. V.; Parygin, A. G.; Naumov, A. V.; Vikhlyantsev, A. A.; Druzhinin, A. A.

2017-11-01

The results of independent research implemented by the teams of authors representing the Brno University of technology (Czech Republic) and Moscow Power Engineering Institute National Research University (Russia) are presented and compared. The possibilities for improving the energy efficiency of slow-speed centrifugal pumps (with a specific speed coefficient n s engineering—in thermal power stations, in heat electric-power stations, in nuclear power plants, and in boiler rooms—were investigated. These are supply pumps, condensate pumps, precharge pumps, etc. The pumps with such values of n s are widely used in some technological cycles of oil-and-gas and chemical industries too. The research was focused on achieving the shape of the pump efficiency characteristics providing a significant extension of its effective working zone and increasing its integrated efficiency. The results were obtained based on new approaches to the formation of a blading system of an impeller of a slow-speed centrifugal pump different from the traditional blading system. The analytical dependences illustrating the influence of individual geometry of a blading system on the efficiency were presented. The possibilities of purposeful changing of its structure were demonstrated. It was experimentally confirmed that use of the innovative blading system makes it possible to increase the pump efficiency by 1-4% (in the experiments for the pumps with n s = 33 and 55) and to extend its efficient working zone approximately by 15-20% (in the experiment for the pumps with n s = 33 and 66). The latter is especially important for the supply pumps of NPP power units. The experimental results for all investigated pumps are presented in comparison with the characteristics of the efficiency provided by the blading systems designed by traditional methods.

A portable high-efficiency electromagnetic energy harvesting system using supercapacitors for renewable energy applications in railroads

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang, Xingtian; Zhang, Zutao; Pan, Hongye; Salman, Waleed; Yuan, Yanping; Liu, Yujie

2016-01-01

Graphical abstract: In this study, we develop a portable high-efficiency electromagnetic energy harvesting system with supercapacitors that converts the energy of track vibrations into electricity. The generated electricity is stored in the supercapacitors and used in remote areas for safety facilities or in standby power supplies for rail-side equipment. The proposed system consists of a mechanical transmission and a rectifier. Acting as the energy input and transmission, Gears and a rack amplify the small vibrations of the track, and one-way bearings enhance efficiency by transforming bidirectional motion to unidirectional rotation. Supercapacitors are used in the energy harvesting system for the first time. The supercapacitors permit the storage of energy from rapidly changing transient currents and a steady power supply for external loads. The proposed system is demonstrated through dynamic simulations, which show the rapid response of the system. An efficiency of 55.5% is demonstrated in bench tests, verifying that the proposed electromagnetic energy harvesting system is effective and practical in renewable energy applications for railroads. - Highlights: • A frequently ignored source of energy, railroad track vibrations, is harvested. • A novel conversion mechanism is designed to maximize efficiency. • Supercapacitors are included in the electromagnetic energy harvesting system. • A portable design is proposed for wider application. - Abstract: As the demand for alternative sources of energy has increased, harvesting abundant environmental energy such as vibration energy including track vibrations in railway systems has attracted greater attention. In this study, we develop a portable high-efficiency electromagnetic energy harvesting system with supercapacitors that converts the energy of track vibrations into electricity. The generated electricity is stored in the supercapacitors and used in remote areas for safety facilities or in standby power

Application of holographic elements in displays and planar illuminators

Science.gov (United States)

Putilin, Andrew; Gustomiasov, Igor

2007-05-01

Holographic Optical Elements (HOE's) on planar waveguides can be used to design the planar optics for backlit units, color selectors or filters, lenses for virtual reality displays. The several schemes for HOE recording are proposed to obtain planar stereo backlit unit and private eye displays light source. It is shown in the paper that the specific light transformation grating permits to construct efficient backlit units for display holograms and LCD. Several schemes of reflection/transmission backlit units and scattering films based on holographic optical elements are also proposed. The performance of the waveguide HOE can be optimized using the parameters of recording scheme and etching parameters. The schemes of HOE application are discussed and some experimental results are shown.

Is Malaysian Stock Market Efficient? Evidence from Threshold Unit Root Tests

OpenAIRE

Qaiser Munir; Kasim Mansur

2009-01-01

This paper investigates the behavior of Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange Composite Index (KLCI) for the period from 1980:1 to 2008:8 using a two-regime threshold autoregressive (TAR) model with an autoregressive unit root developed by Caner and Hansen [Threshold autoregression with a unit roots, Econometrics 69 (6) (2001) 1555-1596] which allows testing nonlinearity and nonstationarity simultaneously. Our finding indicates that the KLCI is a nonlinear series that is characterized by a unit root pr...

Sensitivity of super-efficient data envelopment analysis results to individual decision-making units: an example of surgical workload by specialty.

Science.gov (United States)

Dexter, Franklin; O'Neill, Liam; Xin, Lei; Ledolter, Johannes

2008-12-01

We use resampling of data to explore the basic statistical properties of super-efficient data envelopment analysis (DEA) when used as a benchmarking tool by the manager of a single decision-making unit. Our focus is the gaps in the outputs (i.e., slacks adjusted for upward bias), as they reveal which outputs can be increased. The numerical experiments show that the estimates of the gaps fail to exhibit asymptotic consistency, a property expected for standard statistical inference. Specifically, increased sample sizes were not always associated with more accurate forecasts of the output gaps. The baseline DEA's gaps equaled the mode of the jackknife and the mode of resampling with/without replacement from any subset of the population; usually, the baseline DEA's gaps also equaled the median. The quartile deviations of gaps were close to zero when few decision-making units were excluded from the sample and the study unit happened to have few other units contributing to its benchmark. The results for the quartile deviations can be explained in terms of the effective combinations of decision-making units that contribute to the DEA solution. The jackknife can provide all the combinations contributing to the quartile deviation and only needs to be performed for those units that are part of the benchmark set. These results show that there is a strong rationale for examining DEA results with a sensitivity analysis that excludes one benchmark hospital at a time. This analysis enhances the quality of decision support using DEA estimates for the potential ofa decision-making unit to grow one or more of its outputs.

EnviroAtlas - Phosphorus application as manure for 2012 by 12-digit HUC for the Conterminous United States

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — This EnviroAtlas national map displays the application rate of phosphorus (P) as manure on croplands in the conterminous United States (excluding Hawaii and Alaska)...

Energy efficiency public service advertising campaign

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gibson-Grant, Amanda [Advertising Council, New York, NY (United States)

2015-06-12

The Advertising Council (“the Ad Council”) and The United States Department of Energy (DOE) created and launched a national public service advertising campaign designed to promote energy efficiency. The objective of the Energy Efficiency campaign was to redefine how consumers approach energy efficiency by showing that saving energy can save homeowners money.

Ultra-wideband high-efficiency reflective linear-to-circular polarization converter based on metasurface at terahertz frequencies.

Science.gov (United States)

Jiang, Yannan; Wang, Lei; Wang, Jiao; Akwuruoha, Charles Nwakanma; Cao, Weiping

2017-10-30

The polarization conversion of electromagnetic (EM) waves, especially linear-to-circular (LTC) polarization conversion, is of great significance in practical applications. In this study, we propose an ultra-wideband high-efficiency reflective LTC polarization converter based on a metasurface in the terahertz regime. It consists of periodic unit cells, each cell of which is formed by a double split resonant square ring, dielectric layer, and fully reflective gold mirror. In the frequency range of 0.60 - 1.41 THz, the magnitudes of the reflection coefficients reach approximately 0.7, and the phase difference between the two orthogonal electric field components of the reflected wave is close to 90° or -270°. The results indicate that the relative bandwidth reaches 80% and the efficiency is greater than 88%, thus, ultra-wideband high-efficiency LTC polarization conversion has been realized. Finally, the physical mechanism of the polarization conversion is revealed. This converter has potential applications in antenna design, EM measurement, and stealth technology.

Effect of nitrogen fertilizer application timing on nitrogen use efficiency and grain yield of winter wheat in Ireland

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Efretuei A.

2016-06-01

Full Text Available The objectives of this work were to determine the effects of initiating application of fertilizer nitrogen (N to winter wheat at different growth stages (GSs on grain yield and N use efficiency (NUE. A factorial experiment was carried out in two growing seasons (2011 and 2012 with five timings of first N application (GS 24/26 [tillering], GS 30, GS 31, GS 32 or GS 37 and an unfertilized control, two sowing densities (100 and 400 seeds/m2 and a cattle slurry treatment (with or without slurry. The latter was included to simulate variation in soil N supply (SNS. Delaying the first application of N from the tillering stage until GS 30 had no significant effect on grain yield in either year. Further delaying the initial N application until GS 31 caused a significant yield reduction in 2011, in comparison to GS 30 application, but not in 2012. Differences in efficiency of recovery and use of fertilizer N by the crop among the first three application timings were small. There was no evidence to support alteration in the timing of the first application of N in response to low plant density. Slurry application did not influence SNS, so the interaction between SNS and fertilizer N application timing could not be determined. It is concluded that in order to maximise yield and NUE, the first N application should be applied to winter wheat between late tillering and GS 30 and that delaying the first N until GS 31 can lead to yield reductions compared to the yield obtained with earlier application.

77 FR 27499 - Destra Capital Investments LLC and Destra Unit Investment Trust; Notice of Application

Science.gov (United States)

2012-05-10

... SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION [Investment Company Act Release No. 30059; 812-13574-01] Destra Capital Investments LLC and Destra Unit Investment Trust; Notice of Application May 3, 2012. AGENCY...) of the Investment Company Act of 1940 (``Act'') for an exemption from sections 2(a)(32), 2(a)(35), 14...

76 FR 61769 - Destra Capital Investments LLC and Destra Unit Investment Trust; Notice of Application

Science.gov (United States)

2011-10-05

... SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION [Investment Company Act Release No. 29825; 812-13575] Destra Capital Investments LLC and Destra Unit Investment Trust; Notice of Application September 29, 2011. AGENCY... 12(d)(1)(J) of the Investment Company Act of 1940 (``Act'') for an exemption from sections 12(d)(1)(A...

The medical examination in United States immigration applications: the potential use of genetic testing leads to heightened privacy concerns.

Science.gov (United States)

Burroughs, A Maxwell

2005-01-01

The medical examination has been an integral part of the immigration application process since the passing of the Immigration Act of 1891. Failing the medical examination can result in denial of the application. Over the years the medical examination has been expanded to include questioning about diseases that are scientifically shown to be rooted in an individual's genetic makeup. Recent advances in the fields of genomics and bioinformatics are making accurate and precise screening for these conditions a reality. Government policymakers will soon be faced with decisions regarding whether or not to sanction the use of these newly-developed genetic tests in the immigration application procedure. The terror threat currently facing the United States may ultimately bolster the argument in favor of genetic testing and/or DNA collection of applicants. However, the possibility of a government mandate requiring genetic testing raises a host of ethical issues; including the threat of eugenics and privacy concerns. Genetic testing has the ability to uncover a wealth of sensitive medical information about an individual and currently there are no medical information privacy protections afforded to immigration applicants. This article examines the potential for genetic testing in the immigration application process and the ethical issues surrounding this testing. In particular, this article explores the existing framework of privacy protections afforded to individuals living in the United States and how this and newly-erected standards like those released by the Health and Human Services (HHS) might apply to individuals seeking to immigrate to the United States.

A battery-fuel cell hybrid auxiliary power unit for trucks: Analysis of direct and indirect hybrid configurations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Samsun, Remzi Can; Krupp, Carsten; Baltzer, Sidney; Gnörich, Bruno; Peters, Ralf; Stolten, Detlef

2016-01-01

Highlights: • A battery-fuel cell hybrid auxiliary power unit for heavy duty vehicles is reported. • Comparison of direct and indirect hybrids using representative load profiles. • Evaluation based on validated fuel cell system and battery models. • Indirect hybrid with constant fuel cell load yields 29.3% hybrid system efficiency. • Fuel cell should be pre-heated using waste heat from the diesel engine during drive. - Abstract: The idling operation of engines in heavy duty vehicles to cover electricity demand during layovers entails significant fuel consumption and corresponding emissions. Indeed, this mode of operation is highly inefficient and a noteworthy contributor to the transportation sector’s aggregate carbon dioxide emissions. Here, a potential solution to this wasteful practice is outlined in the form of a hybrid battery-fuel cell system for application as an auxiliary power unit for trucks. Drawing on experimentally-validated fuel cell and battery models, several possible hybrid concepts are evaluated and direct and indirect hybrid configurations analyzed using a representative load profile. The results indicate that a direct hybrid configuration is only applicable if the load demand profile does not deviate strongly from the assumed profile. Operation of an indirect hybrid with a constant fuel cell load yields the greatest hybrid system efficiency, at 29.3%, while battery size could be reduced by 87% if the fuel cell is operated at the highest dynamics. Maximum efficiency in truck applications can be achieved by pre-heating the system prior to operation using exhaust heat from the motor, which increased system efficiency from 25.3% to 28.1%, including start-up. These findings confirm that hybrid systems could offer enormous fuel savings and constitute a sizeable step on the path toward energy-efficient and environmentally-friendly heavy duty vehicles that does not necessitate a fuel switch.

78 FR 35073 - Compass Efficient Model Portfolios, LLC and Compass EMP Funds Trust; Notice of Application

Science.gov (United States)

2013-06-11

... Balanced Fund, Compass EMP Multi-Asset Growth Fund, Compass EMP Alternative Strategies Fund, Compass EMP Balanced Volatility Weighted Fund, Compass EMP Growth Volatility Weighted Fund, and Compass EMP... Efficient Model Portfolios, LLC and Compass EMP Funds Trust; Notice of Application June 4, 2013. AGENCY...

RCRA Part A Permit Application for Waste Management Activities at the Nevada Test Site, Part B Permit Application Hazardous Waste Storage Unit, Nevada Test Site, and Part B Permit Application - Explosives Ordnance Disposal Unit (EODU)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2010-01-01

The Area 5 Hazardous Waste Storage Unit (HWSU) was established to support testing, research, and remediation activities at the Nevada Test Site (NTS), a large-quantity generator of hazardous waste. The HWSU, located adjacent to the Area 5 Radioactive Waste Management Site (RWMS), is a prefabricated, rigid steel-framed, roofed shelter used to store hazardous nonradioactive waste generated on the NTS. No offsite generated wastes are managed at the HWSU. Waste managed at the HWSU includes the following categories: Flammables/Combustibles; Acid Corrosives; Alkali Corrosives; Oxidizers/Reactives; Toxics/Poisons; and Other Regulated Materials (ORMs). A list of the regulated waste codes accepted for storage at the HWSU is provided in Section B.2. Hazardous wastes stored at the HWSU are stored in U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) compliant containers, compatible with the stored waste. Waste transfer (between containers) is not allowed at the HWSU and containers remain closed at all times. Containers are stored on secondary containment pallets and the unit is inspected monthly. Table 1 provides the metric conversion factors used in this application. Table 2 provides a list of existing permits. Table 3 lists operational Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) units at the NTS and their respective regulatory status.

RCRA Part A Permit Application for Waste Management Activities at the Nevada Test Site, Part B Permit Application Hazardous Waste Storage Unit, Nevada Test Site, and Part B Permit Application - Explosives Ordnance Disposal Unit (EODU)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NSTec Environmental Programs

2010-06-17

The Area 5 Hazardous Waste Storage Unit (HWSU) was established to support testing, research, and remediation activities at the Nevada Test Site (NTS), a large-quantity generator of hazardous waste. The HWSU, located adjacent to the Area 5 Radioactive Waste Management Site (RWMS), is a prefabricated, rigid steel-framed, roofed shelter used to store hazardous nonradioactive waste generated on the NTS. No offsite generated wastes are managed at the HWSU. Waste managed at the HWSU includes the following categories: Flammables/Combustibles; Acid Corrosives; Alkali Corrosives; Oxidizers/Reactives; Toxics/Poisons; and Other Regulated Materials (ORMs). A list of the regulated waste codes accepted for storage at the HWSU is provided in Section B.2. Hazardous wastes stored at the HWSU are stored in U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) compliant containers, compatible with the stored waste. Waste transfer (between containers) is not allowed at the HWSU and containers remain closed at all times. Containers are stored on secondary containment pallets and the unit is inspected monthly. Table 1 provides the metric conversion factors used in this application. Table 2 provides a list of existing permits. Table 3 lists operational Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) units at the NTS and their respective regulatory status.

Energy efficiency and capacity retention of Ni–MH batteries for storage applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhu, Wenhua H.; Zhu, Ying; Davis, Zenda; Tatarchuk, Bruce J.

2013-01-01

Highlights: ► Ni–MH battery energy efficiency was evaluated at full and partial state-of-charge. ► State-of-charge and state-of-recharge were studied by voltage changes and capacity measurement. ► Capacity retention of the NiMH-B2 battery was 70% after fully charge and 1519 h of storage. ► The inefficient charge process started at ca. 90% of rated capacity when charged at ⩽0.2 C rate. ► Battery durability and low self-discharge strategies are analyzed and discussed for energy storage needs. - Abstract: The Ni–MH batteries were tested for battery energy storage characteristics, including the effects of battery charge or discharge at different rates. The battery energy efficiency and capacity retention were evaluated through measuring the charge/discharge capacities and energies during full and partial state-of-charge (SoC) operations. Energy efficiency results were obtained at various charge input levels and different charge and discharge rates. The inefficient charging process started to take place at ca. 90% state-of-recharge (SoR) when charged at no more than 0.2 C rate. For the NiMH-B2 battery after an approximately full charge (∼100% SoC at 120% SoR and a 0.2 C charge/discharge rate), the capacity retention was obtained as 83% after 360 h of storage, and 70% after 1519 h of storage. The energy efficiency was decreased from 74.0% to 50% after 1519 h of storage time. The Coulomb efficiency was initially 83.34%, and was reduced to 57.95% after 1519 h of storage. The battery has relatively higher energy efficiency at approximately 50% SoC. The energy efficiency was calculated to be more than 92% when the NiMH-C3 battery was charged to 30–70% SoC then discharged to 0% SoC at a 0.2 C charge/discharge rate. In consideration of energy efficiency, charge acceptance, capacity retention rate, and power output needs, as well as Nelson’s analysis on HEV power requirements, the Ni–MH battery is appropriate to work at ca. 50 ± 10% SoC with an

APPLICATION FEATURES OF SPATIAL CONDUCTOMETRY SENSORS IN MODELLING OF COOLANT FLOW MIXING IN NUCLEAR POWER UNIT EQUIPMENT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. A. Barinov

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Coolant flow mixing processes with different temperatures and concentrations of diluted additives widely known in nuclear power units operation. In some cases these processes make essential impact on the resource and behavior of the nuclear unit during transient and emergency situations. The aim of the study was creation of measurement system and test facility to carry out basic tests and to embed spatial conductometry method in investigation practice of turbulent coolant flows. In the course of investigation measurement system with sensors and experimental facility was designed, several first tests were carried out. A special attention was dedicated to calibration and clarification of conductometry sensor application methodologies in studies of turbulent flow characteristics. Investigations involved method of electrically contrast tracer jet with concurrent flow in closed channel of round crosssection. The measurements include both averaged and unsteady realizations of measurement signal. Experimental data processing shows good agreement with other tests acquired from another measurement systems based on different physical principles. Calibration functions were acquired, methodical basis of spatial conductometry measurement system application was created. Gathered experience of spatial sensor application made it possible to formulate the principles of further investigation that involve large-scale models of nuclear unit equipment. Spatial wire-mesh sensors proved to be a perspective type of eddy resolving measurement devices.

Optimization Solutions for Improving the Performance of the Parallel Reduction Algorithm Using Graphics Processing Units

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ion LUNGU

2012-01-01

Full Text Available In this paper, we research, analyze and develop optimization solutions for the parallel reduction function using graphics processing units (GPUs that implement the Compute Unified Device Architecture (CUDA, a modern and novel approach for improving the software performance of data processing applications and algorithms. Many of these applications and algorithms make use of the reduction function in their computational steps. After having designed the function and its algorithmic steps in CUDA, we have progressively developed and implemented optimization solutions for the reduction function. In order to confirm, test and evaluate the solutions' efficiency, we have developed a custom tailored benchmark suite. We have analyzed the obtained experimental results regarding: the comparison of the execution time and bandwidth when using graphic processing units covering the main CUDA architectures (Tesla GT200, Fermi GF100, Kepler GK104 and a central processing unit; the data type influence; the binary operator's influence.

Energy-Efficient Supermarket Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning in Humid Climates in the United States

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Clark, J. [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

2015-03-01

Supermarkets are energy-intensive buildings that consume the greatest amount of electricity per square foot of building of any building type in the United States and represent 5% of total U.S. commercial building primary energy use (EIA 2005). Refrigeration and heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems are responsible for a large proportion of supermarkets’ total energy use. These two systems sometimes work together and sometimes compete, but the performance of one system always affects the performance of the other. To better understand these challenges and opportunities, the Commercial Buildings team at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory investigated several of the most promising strategies for providing energy-efficient HVAC for supermarkets and quantified the resulting energy use and costs using detailed simulations. This research effort was conducted on behalf of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Commercial Building Partnerships (CBP) (Baechler et al. 2012; Parrish et al. 2013; Antonopoulos et al. 2014; Hirsch et al. 2014). The goal of CBP was to reduce energy use in the commercial building sector by creating, testing, and validating design concepts on the pathway to net zero energy commercial buildings. Several CBP partners owned or operated buildings containing supermarkets and were interested in optimizing the energy efficiency of supermarket HVAC systems in hot-humid climates. These partners included Walmart, Target, Whole Foods Market, SUPERVALU, and the Defense Commissary Agency.

Geothermal Exploration Policy Mechanisms: Lessons for the United States from International Applications

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Speer, Bethany [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Economy, Ryan [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Lowder, Travis [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Schwabe, Paul [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Regenthal, Scott [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

2014-05-01

This report focuses on five of the policy types that are most relevant to the U.S. market and political context for the exploration and confirmation of conventional hydrothermal (geothermal) resources in the United States: (1) drilling failure insurance, (2) loan guarantees, (3) subsidized loans, (4) capital subsidies, and (5) government-led exploration. It describes each policy type and its application in other countries and regions. It offers policymakers a guide for drafting future geothermal support mechanisms for the exploration-drilling phase of geothermal development.

Efficient Energy Sensitization of C 60 and Application to Organic Photovoltaics

KAUST Repository

Trinh, Cong

2013-08-14

Fullerenes are currently the most popular electron-acceptor material used in organic photovoltaics (OPVs) due to their superior properties, such as good electron conductivity and efficient charge separation at the donor/acceptor interface. However, low absorptivity in the visible spectral region is a significant drawback of fullerenes. In this study, we have designed a zinc chlorodipyrrin derivative (ZCl) that absorbs strongly in the visible region (450-600 nm) with an optical density 7-fold higher than a C60 film. ZCl efficiently transfers absorbed photoenergy to C60 in mixed films. Application of ZCl as an energy sensitizer in OPV devices leads to an increase in the photocurrent from the acceptor layer, without changing the other device characteristics, i.e., open circuit voltage and fill factor. For example, C 60-based OPVs with and without the sensitizer give 4.03 and 3.05 mA/cm2, respectively, while both have VOC = 0.88 V and FF = 0.44. Our ZCl sensitization approach improves the absorbance of the electron-acceptor layer while still utilizing the beneficial characteristics of C60 in OPVs. © 2013 American Chemical Society.

Efficient Energy Sensitization of C 60 and Application to Organic Photovoltaics

KAUST Repository

Trinh, Cong; Kirlikovali, Kent O.; Bartynski, Andrew N.; Tassone, Christopher J.; Toney, Michael F.; Burkhard, George F.; McGehee, Michael D.; Djurovich, Peter I.; Thompson, Mark E.

2013-01-01

Fullerenes are currently the most popular electron-acceptor material used in organic photovoltaics (OPVs) due to their superior properties, such as good electron conductivity and efficient charge separation at the donor/acceptor interface. However, low absorptivity in the visible spectral region is a significant drawback of fullerenes. In this study, we have designed a zinc chlorodipyrrin derivative (ZCl) that absorbs strongly in the visible region (450-600 nm) with an optical density 7-fold higher than a C60 film. ZCl efficiently transfers absorbed photoenergy to C60 in mixed films. Application of ZCl as an energy sensitizer in OPV devices leads to an increase in the photocurrent from the acceptor layer, without changing the other device characteristics, i.e., open circuit voltage and fill factor. For example, C 60-based OPVs with and without the sensitizer give 4.03 and 3.05 mA/cm2, respectively, while both have VOC = 0.88 V and FF = 0.44. Our ZCl sensitization approach improves the absorbance of the electron-acceptor layer while still utilizing the beneficial characteristics of C60 in OPVs. © 2013 American Chemical Society.

Active and passive beam application design guide for global application

CERN Document Server

Rimmer, Julian

2015-01-01

The Active and Passive Beam Application Design Guide is the result of collaboration by worldwide experts to give system designers a current, authoritative guide on successfully applying active and passive beam technology. Active and Passive Beam Application Design Guide provide energy-efficient methods of cooling, heating, and ventilating indoor areas, especially spaces that require individual zone control and where internal moisture loads are moderate. The systems are simple to operate, with low maintenance requirements. This book is an essential resource for consulting engineers, architects, owners, and contractors who are involved in the design, operation, and installation of these systems. Building on REHVA’s Chilled Beam Application Guidebook, this new guide provides up-to-date tools and advice for designing, commissioning, and operating chilled-beam systems to achieve a determined indoor climate, and includes examples of active and passive beam calculations and selections. Dual units (SI and I-P) are...

An Effective Transform Unit Size Decision Method for High Efficiency Video Coding

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chou-Chen Wang

2014-01-01

Full Text Available High efficiency video coding (HEVC is the latest video coding standard. HEVC can achieve higher compression performance than previous standards, such as MPEG-4, H.263, and H.264/AVC. However, HEVC requires enormous computational complexity in encoding process due to quadtree structure. In order to reduce the computational burden of HEVC encoder, an early transform unit (TU decision algorithm (ETDA is adopted to pruning the residual quadtree (RQT at early stage based on the number of nonzero DCT coefficients (called NNZ-EDTA to accelerate the encoding process. However, the NNZ-ETDA cannot effectively reduce the computational load for sequences with active motion or rich texture. Therefore, in order to further improve the performance of NNZ-ETDA, we propose an adaptive RQT-depth decision for NNZ-ETDA (called ARD-NNZ-ETDA by exploiting the characteristics of high temporal-spatial correlation that exist in nature video sequences. Simulation results show that the proposed method can achieve time improving ratio (TIR about 61.26%~81.48% when compared to the HEVC test model 8.1 (HM 8.1 with insignificant loss of image quality. Compared with the NNZ-ETDA, the proposed method can further achieve an average TIR about 8.29%~17.92%.

Novel diyne-bridged dyes for efficient dye-sensitized solar cells

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fang, Jing-Kun, E-mail: fjk@njust.edu.cn [Department of Chemistry, School of Chemical Engineering, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Xiaolingwei Street No. 200, Nanjing, 210094 (China); Sun, Tengxiao [Department of Chemistry, School of Chemical Engineering, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Xiaolingwei Street No. 200, Nanjing, 210094 (China); Tian, Yi [Advanced Institute for Materials Research, Tohoku University, 2-1-1 Katahira, Aoba-ku, Sendai, 980-8577 (Japan); Zhang, Yingjun, E-mail: ZhangYingjun@hec.cn [HEC Pharm Group, HEC R& D Center, Dongguan, 523871 (China); Jin, Chuanfei [HEC Pharm Group, HEC R& D Center, Dongguan, 523871 (China); Xu, Zhimin; Fang, Yu; Hu, Xiangyu; Wang, Haobin [Department of Chemistry, School of Chemical Engineering, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Xiaolingwei Street No. 200, Nanjing, 210094 (China)

2017-07-01

Three new metal free organic dyes (FSD101-103) were synthesized to investigate the influence of diyne unit on dye molecules. FSD101 and FSD102 with diyne unit and FSD103 with monoyne unit were applied as sensitizers in the dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). The optical and electrochemical properties, theoretical studies, and photovoltaic parameters of DSSCs sensitized by these dyes were systematically investigated. By replacing the monoyne unit with a diyne unit, FSD101 exhibited broader absorption spectrum, lower IP, higher EA, lower band gap energy, higher oscillator strength, more efficient electron injection ability, broader IPCE response range and higher τ{sub e} in comparison with FSD103. Hence, DSSC sensitized by FSD101 showed higher J{sub sc} and V{sub oc} values, and demonstrated a power conversion efficiency of 3.12%, about 2-fold as that of FSD103 (1.55%). FSD102 showed similar results as FSD101, with a power conversion efficiency of 2.98%, despite a stronger electron withdraw cyanoacrylic acid group was introduced. This may be due to the lower efficiency of the electron injection from dye to TiO{sub 2} and lower τ{sub e} of FSD102 than that of FSD101. These results indicate that the performance of DSSCs can be significantly improved by introducing a diyne unit into this type of organic dyes. - Highlights: • Diyne-bridge was introduced into dye molecules by a transition-metal-free protocol. • Power conversion efficiency grows from 1.55% to 3.12% by replacing monoyne unit with diyne unit. • FSD101 with diyne unit shows the highest electron lifetime resulting in a higher V{sub oc}.

Efficiently mapping structure-property relationships of gas adsorption in porous materials: application to Xe adsorption.

Science.gov (United States)

Kaija, A R; Wilmer, C E

2017-09-08

Designing better porous materials for gas storage or separations applications frequently leverages known structure-property relationships. Reliable structure-property relationships, however, only reveal themselves when adsorption data on many porous materials are aggregated and compared. Gathering enough data experimentally is prohibitively time consuming, and even approaches based on large-scale computer simulations face challenges. Brute force computational screening approaches that do not efficiently sample the space of porous materials may be ineffective when the number of possible materials is too large. Here we describe a general and efficient computational method for mapping structure-property spaces of porous materials that can be useful for adsorption related applications. We describe an algorithm that generates random porous "pseudomaterials", for which we calculate structural characteristics (e.g., surface area, pore size and void fraction) and also gas adsorption properties via molecular simulations. Here we chose to focus on void fraction and Xe adsorption at 1 bar, 5 bar, and 10 bar. The algorithm then identifies pseudomaterials with rare combinations of void fraction and Xe adsorption and mutates them to generate new pseudomaterials, thereby selectively adding data only to those parts of the structure-property map that are the least explored. Use of this method can help guide the design of new porous materials for gas storage and separations applications in the future.

High Efficiency Driving Electronics for General Illumination LED Luminaires

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Upadhyay, Anand

2012-10-31

New generation of standalone LED driver platforms developed, which are more efficient These LED Drivers are more efficient (≥90%), smaller in size ( 0.15 in3/watt), lower in cost ( 12 cents/watt in high volumes in millions of units). And these products are very reliable having an operating life of over 50,000 hours. This technology will enable growth of LED light sources in the use. This will also help in energy saving and reducing total life cycle cost of LED units. Two topologies selected for next generation of LED drivers: 1) Value engineered single stage Flyback topology. This is suitable for low powered LED drivers up to 50W power. 2) Two stage boost power factor correction (PFC) plus LLC half bridge platform for higher powers. This topology is suitable for 40W to 300W LED drivers. Three new product platforms were developed to cover a wide range of LED drivers: 1) 120V 40W LED driver, 2) Intellivolt 75W LED driver, & 3) Intellivolt 150W LED driver. These are standalone LED drivers for rugged outdoor lighting applications. Based on these platforms number of products are developed and successfully introduced in the market place meeting key performance, size and cost goals.

Energy Efficiency and Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction Through Electrification Program atTanjungEnim Mine Business Unit of PT Bukit Asam (Persero Tbk.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Iko Gusman

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Current global economic conditions have made the coal prices become uncertain. PT Bukit Asam (PTBA has taken corporate action by improving operational efficiency, cost control, develop coal diversification product and also optimizationin the mining operation. One of the operational efficiency programs for cost control in mining operation system is the Electrification Program. This program changed mining operations previously dominated by fuel-based mining system transformed into an electricity-based mining system for an electricshovel continue with the conventional truck. Implementation of Mining Systems with electric-based mining equipment divided into several stages for short-term and long-term targets. Electrification program consist of 7 Units Electric Shovel (PC3000-6E and 40 Units Rigid DT (Belaz75135 with target20 Million BCM in 2017 located inBanko West Mine. PTBA through the electrification program has succeeded in reducing energy consumption by 333,861.74 GJoule/Years and reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 15,058.49 Ton CO2e/Year. Electrification program has successfully contributed for environmental sustainability by reducing energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions in accordance with the vision of PTBA into a world-class energy company that cares about the environment.

Octasaccharide is the minimal length unit required for efficient binding of cyclophilin B to heparin and cell surface heparan sulphate.

Science.gov (United States)

Vanpouille, Christophe; Denys, Agnès; Carpentier, Mathieu; Pakula, Rachel; Mazurier, Joël; Allain, Fabrice

2004-09-01

Cyclophilin B (CyPB) is a heparin-binding protein first identified as a receptor for cyclosporin A. In previous studies, we reported that CyPB triggers chemotaxis and integrin-mediated adhesion of T-lymphocytes by way of interaction with two types of binding sites. The first site corresponds to a signalling receptor; the second site has been identified as heparan sulphate (HS) and appears crucial to induce cell adhesion. Characterization of the HS-binding unit is critical to understand the requirement of HS in pro-adhesive activity of CyPB. By using a strategy based on gel mobility shift assays with fluorophore-labelled oligosaccharides, we demonstrated that the minimal heparin unit required for efficient binding of CyPB is an octasaccharide. The mutants CyPB(KKK-) [where KKK- refers to the substitutions K3A(Lys3-->Ala)/K4A/K5A] and CyPB(DeltaYFD) (where Tyr14-Phe-Asp16 has been deleted) failed to interact with octasaccharides, confirming that the Y14FD16 and K3KK5 clusters are required for CyPB binding. Molecular modelling revealed that both clusters are spatially arranged so that they may act synergistically to form a binding site for the octasaccharide. We then demonstrated that heparin-derived octasaccharides and higher degree of polymerization oligosaccharides inhibited the interaction between CyPB and fluorophore-labelled HS chains purified from T-lymphocytes, and strongly reduced the HS-dependent pro-adhesive activity of CyPB. However, oligosaccharides or heparin were unable to restore adhesion of heparinase-treated T-lymphocytes, indicating that HS has to be present on the cell membrane to support the pro-adhesive activity of CyPB. Altogether, these results demonstrate that the octasaccharide is likely to be the minimal length unit required for efficient binding of CyPB to cell surface HS and consequent HS-dependent cell responses.

Nano-graphene oxide carboxylation for efficient bioconjugation applications: a quantitative optimization approach

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Imani, Rana; Emami, Shahriar Hojjati, E-mail: semami@aut.ac.ir [Amirkabir University of Technology, Department of Biomedical Engineering (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Faghihi, Shahab, E-mail: shahabeddin.faghihi@mail.mcgill.ca, E-mail: sfaghihi@nigeb.ac.ir [National Institute of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, Tissue Engineering and Biomaterials Division (Iran, Islamic Republic of)

2015-02-15

A method for carboxylation of graphene oxide (GO) with chloroacetic acid that precisely optimizes and controls the efficacy of the process for bioconjugation applications is proposed. Quantification of COOH groups on nano-graphene oxide sheets (NGOS) is performed by novel colorimetric methylene blue (MB) assay. The GO is synthesized and carboxylated by chloroacetic acid treatment under strong basic condition. The size and morphology of the as-prepared NGOS are characterized by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The effect of acid to base molar ratio on the physical, chemical, and morphological properties of NGOS is analyzed by Fourier-transformed infrared spectrometry (FTIR), UV–Vis spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), AFM, and zeta potential. For evaluation of bioconjugation efficacy, the synthesized nano-carriers with different carboxylation ratios are functionalized by octaarginine peptide sequence (R8) as a biomolecule model containing amine groups. The quantification of attached R8 peptides to graphene nano-sheets’ surface is performed with a colorimetric-based assay which includes the application of 2,4,6-Trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid (TNBS). The results show that the thickness and lateral size of nano-sheets are dramatically decreased to 0.8 nm and 50–100 nm after carboxylation process, respectively. X-ray analysis shows the nano-sheets interlaying space is affected by the alteration of chloroacetic acid to base ratio. The MB assay reveals that the COOH groups on the surface of NGOS are maximized at the acid to base ratio of 2 which is confirmed by FTIR, XRD, and zeta potential. The TNBS assay also shows that bioconjugation of the optimized carboxylated NGOS sample with octaarginine peptide is 2.5 times more efficient compared to bare NGOS. The present work provides evidence that treatment of GO by chloroacetic acid under an optimized condition would create a functionalized high

Nano-graphene oxide carboxylation for efficient bioconjugation applications: a quantitative optimization approach

Science.gov (United States)

Imani, Rana; Emami, Shahriar Hojjati; Faghihi, Shahab

2015-02-01

A method for carboxylation of graphene oxide (GO) with chloroacetic acid that precisely optimizes and controls the efficacy of the process for bioconjugation applications is proposed. Quantification of COOH groups on nano-graphene oxide sheets (NGOS) is performed by novel colorimetric methylene blue (MB) assay. The GO is synthesized and carboxylated by chloroacetic acid treatment under strong basic condition. The size and morphology of the as-prepared NGOS are characterized by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The effect of acid to base molar ratio on the physical, chemical, and morphological properties of NGOS is analyzed by Fourier-transformed infrared spectrometry (FTIR), UV-Vis spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), AFM, and zeta potential. For evaluation of bioconjugation efficacy, the synthesized nano-carriers with different carboxylation ratios are functionalized by octaarginine peptide sequence (R8) as a biomolecule model containing amine groups. The quantification of attached R8 peptides to graphene nano-sheets' surface is performed with a colorimetric-based assay which includes the application of 2,4,6-Trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid (TNBS). The results show that the thickness and lateral size of nano-sheets are dramatically decreased to 0.8 nm and 50-100 nm after carboxylation process, respectively. X-ray analysis shows the nano-sheets interlaying space is affected by the alteration of chloroacetic acid to base ratio. The MB assay reveals that the COOH groups on the surface of NGOS are maximized at the acid to base ratio of 2 which is confirmed by FTIR, XRD, and zeta potential. The TNBS assay also shows that bioconjugation of the optimized carboxylated NGOS sample with octaarginine peptide is 2.5 times more efficient compared to bare NGOS. The present work provides evidence that treatment of GO by chloroacetic acid under an optimized condition would create a functionalized high surface

Nano-graphene oxide carboxylation for efficient bioconjugation applications: a quantitative optimization approach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Imani, Rana; Emami, Shahriar Hojjati; Faghihi, Shahab

2015-01-01

A method for carboxylation of graphene oxide (GO) with chloroacetic acid that precisely optimizes and controls the efficacy of the process for bioconjugation applications is proposed. Quantification of COOH groups on nano-graphene oxide sheets (NGOS) is performed by novel colorimetric methylene blue (MB) assay. The GO is synthesized and carboxylated by chloroacetic acid treatment under strong basic condition. The size and morphology of the as-prepared NGOS are characterized by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The effect of acid to base molar ratio on the physical, chemical, and morphological properties of NGOS is analyzed by Fourier-transformed infrared spectrometry (FTIR), UV–Vis spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), AFM, and zeta potential. For evaluation of bioconjugation efficacy, the synthesized nano-carriers with different carboxylation ratios are functionalized by octaarginine peptide sequence (R8) as a biomolecule model containing amine groups. The quantification of attached R8 peptides to graphene nano-sheets’ surface is performed with a colorimetric-based assay which includes the application of 2,4,6-Trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid (TNBS). The results show that the thickness and lateral size of nano-sheets are dramatically decreased to 0.8 nm and 50–100 nm after carboxylation process, respectively. X-ray analysis shows the nano-sheets interlaying space is affected by the alteration of chloroacetic acid to base ratio. The MB assay reveals that the COOH groups on the surface of NGOS are maximized at the acid to base ratio of 2 which is confirmed by FTIR, XRD, and zeta potential. The TNBS assay also shows that bioconjugation of the optimized carboxylated NGOS sample with octaarginine peptide is 2.5 times more efficient compared to bare NGOS. The present work provides evidence that treatment of GO by chloroacetic acid under an optimized condition would create a functionalized high

Black Fox Station, Units 1 and 2. Application for construction permits and operating licenses

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1975-01-01

An application to construct and operate Black Fox Station, Units 1 and 2, is presented. The two BWR type reactors will have a rated core thermal power of 3579 MW(t) and a net electrical power of approximately 1150 MW(e). The facility will be located in Inola Township, 23 miles east of Tulsa on the east side of the Verdigris River in Rogers County, Oklahoma

Graphene- gold based nanocomposites applications in cancer diseases; Efficient detection and therapeutic tools.

Science.gov (United States)

Al-Ani, Lina A; AlSaadi, Mohammed A; Kadir, Farkaad A; Hashim, Najihah M; Julkapli, Nurhidayatullaili M; Yehye, Wageeh A

2017-10-20

Early detection and efficient treatment of cancer disease remains a drastic challenge in 21st century. Throughout the bulk of funds, studies, and current therapeutics, cancer seems to aggressively advance with drug resistance strains and recurrence rates. Nevertheless, nanotechnologies have indeed given hope to be the next generation for oncology applications. According to US National cancer institute, it is anticipated to revolutionize the perspectives of cancer diagnosis and therapy. With such success, nano-hybrid strategy creates a marvelous preference. Herein, graphene-gold based composites are being increasingly studied in the field of oncology, for their outstanding performance as robust vehicle of therapeutic agents, built-in optical diagnostic features, and functionality as theranostic system. Additional modes of treatments are also applicable including photothermal, photodynamic, as well as combined therapy. This review aims to demonstrate the various cancer-related applications of graphene-gold based hybrids in terms of detection and therapy, highlighting the major attributes that led to designate such system as a promising ally in the war against cancer. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Tariff regulation with energy efficiency goals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Abrardi, Laura; Cambini, Carlo

2015-01-01

We study the optimal tariff structure that could induce a regulated utility to promote energy efficiency by its customers given that it is privately informed about the effectiveness of its effort on demand reduction. The regulator should optimally offer a menu of incentive compatible two-part tariffs. If the firm's energy efficiency activities have a high impact on demand reduction, the consumer should pay a high fixed fee but a low per unit price, approximating the tariff structure to a decoupling policy, which strengthens the firm's incentives to pursue energy conservation. Instead, if the firm's effort to adopt energy efficiency actions is scarcely effective, the tariff is characterized by a low fixed fee but a high price per unit of energy consumed, thus shifting the incentives for energy conservation on consumers. The optimal tariff structure also depends on the cost of the consumer's effort (in case the consumer can also adopt energy efficiency measures) and on the degree of substitutability between the consumer's and the firm's efforts. - Highlights: • We study the optimal tariff structure that induces an utility to adopt energy efficiency activities. • The regulator optimally offer a menu of incentive compatible two-part tariffs. • If energy efficiency activities have a high effectiveness, decoupling emerges as a solution. • If the energy efficiency actions are less effective, the tariff has a higher per unit price and lower fixed fee. • The optimal tariff structure also depends on the degree of substitutability between the consumer's and the firm's efforts

An estimate of the second law thermodynamic efficiency of the various units comprising an Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS)

Science.gov (United States)

Chatterjee, Sharmista; Seagrave, Richard C.

1993-01-01

The objective of this paper is to present an estimate of the second law thermodynamic efficiency of the various units comprising an Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS). The technique adopted here is based on an evaluation of the 'lost work' within each functional unit of the subsystem. Pertinent information for our analysis is obtained from a user interactive integrated model of an ECLSS. The model was developed using ASPEN. A potential benefit of this analysis is the identification of subsystems with high entropy generation as the most likely candidates for engineering improvements. This work has been motivated by the fact that the design objective for a long term mission should be the evaluation of existing ECLSS technologies not only the basis of the quantity of work needed for or obtained from each subsystem but also on the quality of work. In a previous study Brandhorst showed that the power consumption for partially closed and completely closed regenerable life support systems was estimated as 3.5 kw/individual and 10-12 kw/individual respectively. With the increasing cost and scarcity of energy resources, our attention is drawn to evaluate the existing ECLSS technologies on the basis of their energy efficiency. In general the first law efficiency of a system is usually greater than 50 percent. From literature, the second law efficiency is usually about 10 percent. The estimation of second law efficiency of the system indicates the percentage of energy degraded as irreversibilities within the process. This estimate offers more room for improvement in the design of equipment. From another perspective, our objective is to keep the total entropy production of a life support system as low as possible and still ensure a positive entropy gradient between the system and the surroundings. The reason for doing so is as the entropy production of the system increases, the entropy gradient between the system and the surroundings decreases, and the

Silicon-Carbide Power MOSFET Performance in High Efficiency Boost Power Processing Unit for Extreme Environments

Science.gov (United States)

Ikpe, Stanley A.; Lauenstein, Jean-Marie; Carr, Gregory A.; Hunter, Don; Ludwig, Lawrence L.; Wood, William; Del Castillo, Linda Y.; Fitzpatrick, Fred; Chen, Yuan

2016-01-01

Silicon-Carbide device technology has generated much interest in recent years. With superior thermal performance, power ratings and potential switching frequencies over its Silicon counterpart, Silicon-Carbide offers a greater possibility for high powered switching applications in extreme environment. In particular, Silicon-Carbide Metal-Oxide- Semiconductor Field-Effect Transistors' (MOSFETs) maturing process technology has produced a plethora of commercially available power dense, low on-state resistance devices capable of switching at high frequencies. A novel hard-switched power processing unit (PPU) is implemented utilizing Silicon-Carbide power devices. Accelerated life data is captured and assessed in conjunction with a damage accumulation model of gate oxide and drain-source junction lifetime to evaluate potential system performance at high temperature environments.

Characteristics and Sampling Efficiency of Eight-Unit Linear Slot Impactor (EULSI)

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Kesavan, Jana S

2006-01-01

...%, respectively. The l-mum PSL and Bg particles yielded a sampling efficiency of 2l% + 3 and 17% + 12 respectively. The standard deviation for the measured sampling efficiency of the Bg particles was higher...

Efficiency of emergency exercises

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zander, N.; Sogalla, M.

2011-01-01

In order to cope with accidents beyond the design basis within German nuclear power plants which possibly lead to relevant radiological consequences, the utilities as well as the competent authorities exist emergency organisations. The efficiency, capacity for teamwork and preparedness of such organisations should be tested by regular, efficient exercise activities. Such activities can suitably be based on scenarios which provide challenging tasks for all units of the respective emergency organisation. Thus, the demonstration and further development of the efficiency of the respective organisational structures, including their ability to collaborate, is promoted. (orig.)

The influence of selected parameters on the efficiency and economic charactersistics of the oxy-type coal unit with a membrane-cryogenic oxygen separator

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kotowicz Janusz

2016-03-01

Full Text Available In this paper a 600 MW oxy-type coal unit with a pulverized bed boiler and a membrane-cryogenic oxygen separator and carbon capture installation was analyzed. A membrane-cryogenic oxygen separation installation consists of a membrane module and two cryogenic distillation columns. In this system oxygen is produced with the purity equal to 95%. Installation of carbon capture was based on the physical separation method and allows to reduce the CO2 emission by 90%. In this work the influence of the main parameter of the membrane process – the selectivity coefficient, on the efficiency of the coal unit was presented. The economic analysis with the use of the break-even point method was carried out. The economic calculations were realized in view of the break-even price of electricity depending on a coal unit availability.

E-SAP: efficient-strong authentication protocol for healthcare applications using wireless medical sensor networks.

Science.gov (United States)

Kumar, Pardeep; Lee, Sang-Gon; Lee, Hoon-Jae

2012-01-01

A wireless medical sensor network (WMSN) can sense humans' physiological signs without sacrificing patient comfort and transmit patient vital signs to health professionals' hand-held devices. The patient physiological data are highly sensitive and WMSNs are extremely vulnerable to many attacks. Therefore, it must be ensured that patients' medical signs are not exposed to unauthorized users. Consequently, strong user authentication is the main concern for the success and large scale deployment of WMSNs. In this regard, this paper presents an efficient, strong authentication protocol, named E-SAP, for healthcare application using WMSNs. The proposed E-SAP includes: (1) a two-factor (i.e., password and smartcard) professional authentication; (2) mutual authentication between the professional and the medical sensor; (3) symmetric encryption/decryption for providing message confidentiality; (4) establishment of a secure session key at the end of authentication; and (5) professionals can change their password. Further, the proposed protocol requires three message exchanges between the professional, medical sensor node and gateway node, and achieves efficiency (i.e., low computation and communication cost). Through the formal analysis, security analysis and performance analysis, we demonstrate that E-SAP is more secure against many practical attacks, and allows a tradeoff between the security and the performance cost for healthcare application using WMSNs.

E-SAP: Efficient-Strong Authentication Protocol for Healthcare Applications Using Wireless Medical Sensor Networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hoon-Jae Lee

2012-02-01

Full Text Available A wireless medical sensor network (WMSN can sense humans’ physiological signs without sacrificing patient comfort and transmit patient vital signs to health professionals’ hand-held devices. The patient physiological data are highly sensitive and WMSNs are extremely vulnerable to many attacks. Therefore, it must be ensured that patients’ medical signs are not exposed to unauthorized users. Consequently, strong user authentication is the main concern for the success and large scale deployment of WMSNs. In this regard, this paper presents an efficient, strong authentication protocol, named E-SAP, for healthcare application using WMSNs. The proposed E-SAP includes: (1 a two-factor (i.e., password and smartcard professional authentication; (2 mutual authentication between the professional and the medical sensor; (3 symmetric encryption/decryption for providing message confidentiality; (4 establishment of a secure session key at the end of authentication; and (5 professionals can change their password. Further, the proposed protocol requires three message exchanges between the professional, medical sensor node and gateway node, and achieves efficiency (i.e., low computation and communication cost. Through the formal analysis, security analysis and performance analysis, we demonstrate that E-SAP is more secure against many practical attacks, and allows a tradeoff between the security and the performance cost for healthcare application using WMSNs.

Autoclaved aerated concrete : shaping the evolution of residential construction in the United States.

OpenAIRE

Bukoski, Steven C.

1998-01-01

CIVINS (Civilian Institutions) Thesis document Precast Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (AAC) is a proven construction material used in Europe for over 70 years. Introduced to the United States in 1990, construction thus far is limited to commercial and custom borne applications. Premium benefits include energy efficiency and resistance to natural disaster and pests. Despite being the leading residential construction material in Europe and Japan, lumber is the leading material of choice in the ...

Application Technology Research Unit

Data.gov (United States)

Federal Laboratory Consortium — To conduct fundamental and developmental research on new and improved application technologies to protect floricultural, nursery, landscape, turf, horticultural, and...

PHYSICO-CHEMICAL EVALUATION OF AN EFFLUENT TREATED IN ANAEROBIC BIODIGESTER REGARDING ITS EFFICIENCE AND APPLICATION AS FERTILIZER

OpenAIRE

Lopes da Silva, Wilson Tadeu; de Novaes, Antonio Pereira; Kuroki, Vivian; de Almeida Martelli, Lilian Fernanda; Magnoni Junior, Lourenco

2012-01-01

PHYSICO-CHEMICAL EVALUATION OF AN EFFLUENT TREATED IN ANAEROBIC BIODIGESTER REGARDING ITS EFFICIENCE AND APPLICATION AS FERTILIZER. The use of biodigester for basic and environmental sanitation has large demand in Brazil. A biodigester was built to treat conjunctly the human and pig feces and urine, regarding to its future application in rural small towns. The results show that the biodigester can reduce 90% of COD and BOD and, up to 99.99% of thermotolerant coliforms. The treated effluent ha...

Development and application of soil coupled heat pump

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Lu

2017-05-01

Soil coupled heat pump technology is a new clean heating mode, is the world's most energy efficient heating one of the ways. And because of the use of renewable geothermal resources with high heating performance so more and more people's attention. Although the use of soil-coupled heat pumps has been in use for more than 50 years (the first application in the United States), the market penetration of this technology is still in its infancy. This paper will focus on the development, characteristics and application of the coupled heat pump.

The Text of an Agreement between the Agency and the United Kingdom for the Application of Safeguards

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1973-02-06

The text of the Agreement of 14 December 1972 between the Agency and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland for the application of safeguards is reproduced in this document for the information of all Members.

The lower limit of interval efficiency in Data Envelopment Analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bijan Rahmani Parchikolaei

2015-05-01

Full Text Available In data envelopment analysis technique, the relative efficiency of the homogenous decision making units is calculated. These calculations are done based on the classical model of linear programming such as CCR,BCC,.... Because of maximizing the weighted sum of outputs to that in inputs of one unit under certain conditions, the obtained efficiency in all of these models is the upper limit of exact relative efficiency. In other words, the efficiency is calculatedfrom the optimistic viewpoint. To caculated the lower limit of efficiency, i.e. the efficiency obtained from a pessimistic viewpoint for certain weights, the existing models cannot calculate the exact lower limit and in some cases, there exist some models that show an incorrect lower limit. Through the model introduced in the present study, we can calculate the exact lower limit of the interval efficiency. The designed model can be obtained by minimizing the ratio of weighted sum of outputs to that of inputs for every unit under certion conditions. The exact lower limit can be calculated in all states through our adopted model.

Radioisotope devices and sanitary control over its application in the units and institutions of Army and Navy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Velichkin, E.V.; Rymarchuk, A.A.; Shishkanov, A.P.

1991-01-01

Sanitary control over the use of radioisotope devices (RID) is considered. To avoid losses of radioactive sources, an attention is paid to the order of RID account, their storage and issue, writing off unfit devices and sources and their burial. The role of military medical personnel grows. They must provide efficiency of safety of radioactive substance use in the units of Army and Navy

Advances in the development of remote sensing technology for agricultural applications

Science.gov (United States)

Powers, J. E.; Erb, R. B.; Hall, F. G.; Macdonald, R. B.

1979-01-01

The application of remote sensing technology to crop forecasting is discussed. The importance of crop forecasts to the world economy and agricultural management is explained, and the development of aerial and spaceborne remote sensing for global crop forecasting by the United States is outlined. The structure, goals and technical aspects of the Large Area Crop Inventory Experiment (LACIE) are presented, and main findings on the accuracy, efficiency, applicability and areas for further study of the LACIE procedure are reviewed. The current status of NASA crop forecasting activities in the United States and worldwide is discussed, and the objectives and organization of the newly created Agriculture and Resources Inventory Surveys through Aerospace Remote Sensing (AgRISTARS) program are presented.

Fuel cell programs in the United States for stationary power applications

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Singer, M.

1996-04-01

The Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Fossil Energy, is participating with the private sector in sponsoring the development of molten carbonate fuel cell (MCFC) and solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) technologies for application in the utility, commercial and industrial sectors. Phosphoric acid fuel cell (PAFC) development was sponsored by the Office of Fossil Energy in previous years and is now being commercialized by the private sector. Private sector participants with the Department of Energy include the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), the Gas Research institute (GRI), electric and gas utilities, universities, manufacturing companies and their suppliers. through continued government and private sector support, fuel cell systems are emerging power generation technologies which are expected to have significant worldwide impacts. An industry with annual sales of over a billion dollars is envisioned early in the 21st century. PAFC power plants have begun to enter the marketplace and MCFC and SOFC power plants are expected to be ready to enter the marketplace in the late 1990s. In support of the efficient and effective use of our natural resources, the fuel cell program seeks to increase energy efficiency and economic effectiveness of power generation. This is to be accomplished through effectiveness of power generation. This is accomplished through the development and commercialization of cost-effective, efficient and environmentally desirable fuel cell systems which will operate on fossil fuels in multiple and end use sectors.

Agronomic Characteristics Related to Grain Yield and Nutrient Use Efficiency for Wheat Production in China.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Limin Chuan

Full Text Available In order to make clear the recent status and trend of wheat (Triticum aestivum L. production in China, datasets from multiple field experiments and published literature were collected to study the agronomic characteristics related to grain yield, fertilizer application and nutrient use efficiency from the year 2000 to 2011. The results showed that the mean grain yield of wheat in 2000-2011 was 5950 kg/ha, while the N, P2O5 and K2O application rates were 172, 102 and 91 kg/ha on average, respectively. The decrease in N and P2O5 and increase in K2O balanced the nutrient supply and was the main reason for yield increase. The partial factor productivity (PFP, kg grain yield produced per unit of N, P2O5 or K2O applied values of N (PFP-N, P (PFP-P and K (PFP-K were in the ranges of 29.5~39.6, 43.4~74.9 and 44.1~76.5 kg/kg, respectively. While PFP-N showed no significant changes from 2000 to 2010, both PFP-P and PFP-K showed an increased trend over this period. The mean agronomic efficiency (AE, kg grain yield increased per unit of N, P2O5 or K2O applied values of N (AEN, P (AEP and K (AEK were 9.4, 10.2 and 6.5 kg/kg, respectively. The AE values demonstrated marked inter-annual fluctuations, with the amplitude of fluctuation for AEN greater than those for AEP and AEK. The mean fertilizer recovery efficiency (RE, the fraction of nutrient uptake in aboveground plant dry matter to the nutrient of fertilizer application values of N, P and K in the aboveground biomass were 33.1%, 24.3% and 28.4%, respectively. It was also revealed that different wheat ecological regions differ greatly in wheat productivity, fertilizer application and nutrient use efficiency. In summary, it was suggested that best nutrient management practices, i.e. fertilizer recommendation applied based on soil testing or yield response, with strategies to match the nutrient input with realistic yield and demand, or provided with the 4R's nutrient management (right time, right rate, right

A Bootstrap Neural Network Based Heterogeneous Panel Unit Root Test: Application to Exchange Rates

OpenAIRE

Christian de Peretti; Carole Siani; Mario Cerrato

2010-01-01

This paper proposes a bootstrap artificial neural network based panel unit root test in a dynamic heterogeneous panel context. An application to a panel of bilateral real exchange rate series with the US Dollar from the 20 major OECD countries is provided to investigate the Purchase Power Parity (PPP). The combination of neural network and bootstrapping significantly changes the findings of the economic study in favour of PPP.

Letter Writing as a Tool To Increase Client Motivation To Change: Application to an Inpatient Crisis Unit.

Science.gov (United States)

Tubman, Jonathan G.; Montgomery, Marilyn J.; Wagner, Eric F.

2001-01-01

Describes the application of a letter writing exercise as a motivational technique for group counseling in contemporary crisis unit settings. Discusses guidelines and implications for clinical practice with clients with multiple, chronic problems. (Contains 37 references and 1 table.) (GCP)

IMPROVING THE METHODS OF ESTIMATION OF THE UNIT TRAIN EFFECTIVENESS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dmytro KOZACHENKO

2016-09-01

Full Text Available The article presents the results of studies of freight transportation by unit trains. The article is aimed at developing the methods of the efficiency evaluation of unit train dispatch on the basis of full-scale experiments. Duration of the car turnover is a random variable when dispatching the single cars and group cars, as well as when dispatching them as a part of a unit train. The existing methodologies for evaluating the efficiency of unit trains’ make-up are based on the use of calculation methodologies and their results can give significant errors. The work presents a methodology that makes it possible to evaluate the efficiency of unit train shipments based on the processing of results of experimental travels using the methods of mathematical statistics. This approach provides probabilistic estimates of the rolling stock use efficiency for different approaches to the organization of car traffic volumes, as well as establishes the effect for each of the participants in the transportation process.

Quality Function Deployment: Application to Chemotherapy Unit Services

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Neda Hashemi

2015-10-01

Full Text Available Background: Today’s healthcare organizations are challenged by pressures to meet growing population demands and enhance community health through improving service quality. Quality function deployment is one of the widely-used customerdriven approaches for health services development. In the current study, quality function deployment is used to improve the quality of chemotherapy unit services. Methods: First, we identified chemotherapy outpatient unit patients as chemotherapy unit customers. Then, the Delphi technique and component factor analysis with orthogonal rotation was employed to determine their expectations. Thereafter, data envelopment analysis was performed to specify user priorities. We determined the relationships between patients’ expectations and service elements through expert group consensus using the Delphi method and the relationships between service elements by Pearson correlation. Finally, simple and compound priorities of the service elements were derived by matrix calculation. Results: Chemotherapy unit patients had four main expectations: access, suitable hotel services, satisfactory and effective relationships, and clinical services. The chemotherapy unit has six key service elements of equipment, materials, human resources, physical space, basic facilities, and communication and training. There were four-level relationships between the patients’ expectations and service elements, with mostly significant correlations between service elements. According to the findings, the functional group of basic facilities was the most critical factor, followed by materials. Conclusion: The findings of the current study can be a general guideline as well as a scientific, structured framework for chemotherapy unit decision makers in order to improve chemotherapy unit services.

Efficient 3D movement-based kernel density estimator and application to wildlife ecology

Science.gov (United States)

Tracey-PR, Jeff; Sheppard, James K.; Lockwood, Glenn K.; Chourasia, Amit; Tatineni, Mahidhar; Fisher, Robert N.; Sinkovits, Robert S.

2014-01-01

We describe an efficient implementation of a 3D movement-based kernel density estimator for determining animal space use from discrete GPS measurements. This new method provides more accurate results, particularly for species that make large excursions in the vertical dimension. The downside of this approach is that it is much more computationally expensive than simpler, lower-dimensional models. Through a combination of code restructuring, parallelization and performance optimization, we were able to reduce the time to solution by up to a factor of 1000x, thereby greatly improving the applicability of the method.

An approach to industrial application: influence of black liquor and pH on xylanase efficiency in bleaching of eucalyptus kraft pulp

OpenAIRE

Fillat Latorre, Úrsula; Roncero Vivero, María Blanca; Bassa, Alexandre; Sacón, Vera Maria

2010-01-01

To obtain a more realistic appraisal of the potential efficiency of xylanases in the industrial bleaching, the influence of pH and the presence of black liquor (measured as COD) on the bleaching efficiency of two commercial xylanases was studied at high temperature. These pH’s, CODs, and temperatures are close to those used in the storage tower of the B fiber line in Jacareı´ unit of Fibria (Brazil). The pulp samples obtained after each bleaching stage were analyzed for kappa number, brigh...

The Future of Utility Customer-Funded Energy Efficiency Programs in the United States: Projected Spending and Savings to 2025

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Barbose, Galen [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Goldman, Charles [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Hoffman, Ian [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Billingsley, Megan [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)

2012-09-11

We develop projections of future spending on, and savings from, energy efficiency programs funded by electric and gas utility customers in the United States, under three scenarios through 2025. Our analysis, which updates a previous LBNL study, relies on detailed bottom-up modeling of current state energy efficiency policies, regulatory decisions, and demand-side management and utility resource plans. The three scenarios are intended to represent a range of potential outcomes under the current policy environment (i.e., without considering possible major new policy developments). By 2025, spending on electric and gas efficiency programs (excluding load management programs) is projected to double from 2010 levels to $9.5 billion in the medium case, compared to $15.6 billion in the high case and $6.5 billion in the low case. Compliance with statewide legislative or regulatory savings or spending targets is the primary driver for the increase in electric program spending through 2025, though a significant share of the increase is also driven by utility DSM planning activity and integrated resource planning. Our analysis suggests that electric efficiency program spending may approach a more even geographic distribution over time in terms of absolute dollars spent, with the Northeastern and Western states declining from over 70% of total U.S. spending in 2010 to slightly more than 50% in 2025, with the South and Midwest splitting the remainder roughly evenly. Under our medium case scenario, annual incremental savings from customer-funded electric energy efficiency programs increase from 18.4 TWh in 2010 in the U.S. (which is about 0.5% of electric utility retail sales) to 28.8 TWh in 2025 (0.8% of retail sales). These savings would offset the majority of load growth in the Energy Information Administration’s most recent reference case forecast, given specific assumptions about the extent to which future energy efficiency program savings are captured in that forecast

Fuel Cells in Distributed Power Market Applications in the United States

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rastler, D.

2002-01-01

This paper reviews results from EPRI market analysis, which examined the technical and economic market potential of fuel cells in distributed power markets in the United States. A methodology and approach for developing realistic quantitative estimates of market potential in competitive electricity markets is presented. Market size estimates for phosphoric acid, polymer exchange membrane, high temperature fuel cells (carbonate and solid oxide systems) and ultra-high efficient fuel cell hybrids are estimated. Market potentials are reviewed for fuel cells systems ranging in size from 3 kW up to 20-30 MW in scale and underlying assumptions are provided. The results and implications are discussed in relation to the changing U.S. electric utility market structures. Results will be of value to energy companies and to fuel cell developers seeking to understand revenue sales estimates, market size, and most profitable segments for fuel cells in the competitive US electric markets. (author)

Analysis of railroad energy efficiency in the United States.

Science.gov (United States)

2013-05-01

The purpose of this study is to provide information about railroad fuel efficiency that may be useful in evaluating transportation energy policies and assessing the sustainability of potential projects. The specific objectives are to (1) develop rail...

Tuning the dielectric properties of thiourea analog crystals for efficient nonlinear optical applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sabari Girisun, T.C.; Dhanuskodi, S.

2010-01-01

Materials with low dielectric constant have attracted a great deal of interest in the field of nonlinear applications and microelectronic industry. Metal complexes of thiourea with group II transition metals (Zn, Cd) as central atom and period III elements (S, Cl) were synthesized by chemical reaction method and single crystals were grown from aqueous solution by slow evaporation method. By parallel plate capacitor technique, the dielectric response, dissipation factor, ac conductivity and impedance of virgin and metal complexes have been studied in the frequency (100 Hz to 5 MHz) and temperature (303-423 K) ranges. Metal complexes of thiourea with cadmium substitute have a low dielectric constant less than 10. Also the presence of chlorine in the metal complex induces noncentro symmetric structure. Hence the role of group II transition metals and period III elements in tuning the dielectric properties for efficient nonlinear applications has been studied.

Economic efficiency of application of solar window

Science.gov (United States)

Shapoval, Stepan

2017-12-01

Priority and qualitatively new direction in the fuel and energy sector is renewable energy. This paper describes a feasibility study of using solar window in the system of solar heat supply. The article presents literature data about the effectiveness of the use of solar systems in other countries. The results confirm a sufficient efficiency of solar heat supply with using solar Windows. Insights based on practical experience and mathematical calculations, which are aimed at a detailed explanation of economic efficiency of the proposed construction.

Finding stability regions for preserving efficiency classification of variable returns to scale technology in data envelopment analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Zamani, P.; Borzouei, M.

2016-12-01

This paper addresses issue of sensitivity of efficiency classification of variable returns to scale (VRS) technology for enhancing the credibility of data envelopment analysis (DEA) results in practical applications when an additional decision making unit (DMU) needs to be added to the set being considered. It also develops a structured approach to assisting practitioners in making an appropriate selection of variation range for inputs and outputs of additional DMU so that this DMU be efficient and the efficiency classification of VRS technology remains unchanged. This stability region is simply specified by the concept of defining hyperplanes of production possibility set of VRS technology and the corresponding halfspaces. Furthermore, this study determines a stability region for the additional DMU within which, in addition to efficiency classification, the efficiency score of a specific inefficient DMU is preserved and also using a simulation method, a region in which some specific efficient DMUs become inefficient is provided.

Applications of Temporal Reasoning to Intensive Care Units

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. M. Juarez

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Intensive Care Units (ICUs are hospital departments that focus on the evolution of patients. In this scenario, the temporal dimension plays an essential role in understanding the state of the patients from their temporal information. The development of methods for the acquisition, modelling, reasoning and knowledge discovery of temporal information is, therefore, useful to exploit the large amount of temporal data recorded daily in the ICU. During the past decades, some subfields of Artificial Intelligence have been devoted to the study of temporal models and techniques to solve generic problems and towards their practical applications in the medical domain. The main goal of this paper is to present our view of some aspects of practical problems of temporal reasoning in the ICU field, and to describe our practical experience in the field in the last decade. This paper provides a non-exhaustive review of some of the efforts made in the field and our particular contributions in the development of temporal reasoning methods to partially solve some of these problems. The results are a set of software tools that help physicians to better understand the patient's temporal evolution.

Efficient analysis of mode profiles in elliptical microcavity using dynamic-thermal electron-quantum medium FDTD method.

Science.gov (United States)

Khoo, E H; Ahmed, I; Goh, R S M; Lee, K H; Hung, T G G; Li, E P

2013-03-11

The dynamic-thermal electron-quantum medium finite-difference time-domain (DTEQM-FDTD) method is used for efficient analysis of mode profile in elliptical microcavity. The resonance peak of the elliptical microcavity is studied by varying the length ratio. It is observed that at some length ratios, cavity mode is excited instead of whispering gallery mode. This depicts that mode profiles are length ratio dependent. Through the implementation of the DTEQM-FDTD on graphic processing unit (GPU), the simulation time is reduced by 300 times as compared to the CPU. This leads to an efficient optimization approach to design microcavity lasers for wide range of applications in photonic integrated circuits.

Constructing organic D-A-π-A-featured sensitizers with a quinoxaline unit for high-efficiency solar cells: the effect of an auxiliary acceptor on the absorption and the energy level alignment.

Science.gov (United States)

Pei, Kai; Wu, Yongzhen; Wu, Wenjun; Zhang, Qiong; Chen, Baoqin; Tian, He; Zhu, Weihong

2012-06-25

Four organic D-A-π-A-featured sensitizers (TQ1, TQ2, IQ1, and IQ2) have been studied for high-efficiency dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). We employed an indoline or a triphenylamine unit as the donor, cyanoacetic acid as the acceptor/anchor, and a thiophene moiety as the conjugation bridge. Additionally, an electron-withdrawing quinoxaline unit was incorporated between the donor and the π-conjugation unit. These sensitizers show an additional absorption band covering the broad visible range in solution. The contribution from the incorporated quinoxaline was investigated theoretically by using DFT and time-dependent DFT. The incorporated low-band-gap quinoxaline unit as an auxiliary acceptor has several merits, such as decreasing the band gap, optimizing the energy levels, and realizing a facile structural modification on several positions in the quinoxaline unit. As demonstrated, the observed additional absorption band is favorable to the photon-to-electron conversion because it corresponds to the efficient electron transitions to the LUMO orbital. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) Bode plots reveal that the replacement of a methoxy group with an octyloxy group can increase the injection electron lifetime by a factor of 2.4. IQ2 and TQ2 can perform well without any co-adsorbent, successfully suppress the charge recombination from TiO(2) conduction band to I(3)(-) in the electrolyte, and enhance the electron lifetime, resulting in a decreased dark current and enhanced open circuit voltage (V(oc)) values. By using a liquid electrolyte, DSSCs based on dye IQ2 exhibited a broad incident photon-to-current conversion efficiency (IPCE) action spectrum and high efficiency (η=8.50 %) with a short circuit current density (J(sc)) of 15.65 mA cm(-2), a V(oc) value of 776 mV, a fill factor (FF) of 0.70 under AM 1.5 illumination (100 mW cm(-2)). Moreover, the overall efficiency remained at 97% of the initial value after 1000 h of visible

Investigating the efficiency of IEEE 802.15.4 for medical monitoring applications.

Science.gov (United States)

Pelegris, P; Banitsas, K

2011-01-01

Recent advancements in wireless communications technologies bring us one step closer to provide reliable Telecare services as an alternative to patients staying in a hospital mainly for monitoring purposes. In this research we investigate the efficiency of IEEE 802.15.4 in a simple scenario where a patient is being monitored using an ECG and a blood analysis module. This approach binds well with assisted living solutions, by sharing the network infrastructure for both monitoring and control while taking advantage of the low power features of the protocol. Such applications are becoming more and more realistic to implement as IEEE 802.15.4 compatible hardware becomes increasingly available. Our aim is to examine the impact of Beacon and Superframe Order in the medium access delay, dropped packets, end to end delay, average retransmission attempts and consumed power focusing on this bandwidth demanding situation where the network load does not allow low duty cycles, in order to draw some conclusions on the effect that this will have to telemonitoring applications.

Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) Part B permit application for tank storage units at the Oak Ridge Y-12 Plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1994-05-01

In compliance with the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), this report discusses information relating to permit applications for three tank storage units at Y-12. The storage units are: Building 9811-1 RCRA Tank Storage Unit (OD-7); Waste Oil/Solvent Storage Unit (OD-9); and Liquid Organic Solvent Storage Unit (OD-10). Numerous sections discuss the following: Facility description; waste characteristics; process information; groundwater monitoring; procedures to prevent hazards; contingency plan; personnel training; closure plan, post closure plan, and financial requirements; record keeping; other federal laws; organic air emissions; solid waste management units; and certification. Sixteen appendices contain such items as maps, waste analyses and forms, inspection logs, equipment identification, etc

Predicting multiprocessing efficiency on the Cray multiprocessors in a (CTSS) time-sharing environment/application to a 3-D magnetohydrodynamics code

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mirin, A.A.

1988-01-01

A formula is derived for predicting multiprocessing efficiency on Cray supercomputers equipped with the Cray Time-Sharing System (CTSS). The model is applicable to an intensive time-sharing environment. The actual efficiency estimate depends on three factors: the code size, task length, and job mix. The implementation of multitasking in a three-dimensional plasma magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) code, TEMCO, is discussed. TEMCO solves the primitive one-fluid compressible MHD equations and includes resistive and Hall effects in Ohm's law. Virtually all segments of the main time-integration loop are multitasked. The multiprocessing efficiency model is applied to TEMCO. Excellent agreement is obtained between the actual multiprocessing efficiency and the theoretical prediction

Numerical Design of Megawatt Gyrotron with 120 GHz Frequency and 50% Efficiency for Plasma Fusion Application

Science.gov (United States)

Kumar, Nitin; Singh, Udaybir; Kumar, Anil; Bhattacharya, Ranajoy; Singh, T. P.; Sinha, A. K.

2013-02-01

The design of 120 GHz, 1 MW gyrotron for plasma fusion application is presented in this paper. The mode selection is carried out considering the aim of minimum mode competition, minimum cavity wall heating, etc. On the basis of the selected operating mode, the interaction cavity design and beam-wave interaction computation are carried out by using the PIC code. The design of triode type Magnetron Injection Gun (MIG) is also presented. Trajectory code EGUN, synthesis code MIGSYN and data analysis code MIGANS are used in the MIG designing. Further, the design of MIG is also validated by using the another trajectory code TRAK. The design results of beam dumping system (collector) and RF window are also presented. Depressed collector is designed to enhance the overall tube efficiency. The design study confirms >1 MW output power with tube efficiency around 50% (with collector efficiency).

CHARACTERIZING COSTS, SAVINGS AND BENEFITS OF A SELECTION OF ENERGY EFFICIENT EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES IN THE UNITED STATES

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Xu, T.; Slaa, J.W.; Sathaye, J.

2010-12-15

Implementation and adoption of efficient end-use technologies have proven to be one of the key measures for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions throughout the industries. In many cases, implementing energy efficiency measures is among one of the most cost effective investments that the industry could make in improving efficiency and productivity while reducing CO2 emissions. Over the years, there have been incentives to use resources and energy in a cleaner and more efficient way to create industries that are sustainable and more productive. With the working of energy programs and policies on GHG inventory and regulation, understanding and managing the costs associated with mitigation measures for GHG reductions is very important for the industry and policy makers around the world. Successful implementation of emerging technologies not only can help advance productivities and competitiveness but also can play a significant role in mitigation efforts by saving energy. Providing evaluation and estimation of the costs and energy savings potential of emerging technologies is the focus of our work in this project. The overall goal of the project is to identify and select emerging and under-utilized energy-efficient technologies and practices as they are important to reduce energy consumption in industry while maintaining economic growth. This report contains the results from performing Task 2"Technology evaluation" for the project titled"Research Opportunities in Emerging and Under-Utilized Energy-Efficient Industrial Technologies," which was sponsored by California Energy Commission and managed by CIEE. The project purpose is to analyze market status, market potential, and economic viability of selected technologies applicable to the U.S. In this report, LBNL first performed re-assessments of all of the 33 emerging energy-efficient industrial technologies, including re-evaluation of the 26 technologies that were previously identified by Martin et al. (2000) and

The Application Potential of Eco-Efficiency for Greening Company

Science.gov (United States)

Prasaja, Lukman Eka; Hadiyanto

2018-02-01

Eco-Efficiency emerged in the 1990s as a measure of "the efficiency that ecological sources use to meet human needs." As a tool in economic and environmental integration, Eco-efficiency needs to be promoted further so that regulation in government and industrial management can include it as an important instrument. This paper provides several approaches that can help various industries to develop effective eco-efficiency principles. The approach used is to maximize the role of the Steering Committee of the company's internal environment. Utilization of natural resources such as water, forests, mines and energy needs need to be balanced with Eco-Efficiency so that natural exploitation can be well controlled so that sustainable development aspired by the world can be realized.

Image processing applications: From particle physics to society

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sotiropoulou, C.-L.; Citraro, S.; Dell'Orso, M.; Luciano, P.; Gkaitatzis, S.; Giannetti, P.

2017-01-01

We present an embedded system for extremely efficient real-time pattern recognition execution, enabling technological advancements with both scientific and social impact. It is a compact, fast, low consumption processing unit (PU) based on a combination of Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) and the full custom associative memory chip. The PU has been developed for real time tracking in particle physics experiments, but delivers flexible features for potential application in a wide range of fields. It has been proposed to be used in accelerated pattern matching execution for Magnetic Resonance Fingerprinting (biomedical applications), in real time detection of space debris trails in astronomical images (space applications) and in brain emulation for image processing (cognitive image processing). We illustrate the potentiality of the PU for the new applications.

Efficient Energy use in Different Applications

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Johansson, Lars

2007-05-15

There is a steadily growing awareness for environmental issues caused by the increased energy use, mainly in the industrial world. The use of fossil fuels has reached the point where it can not be looked at as an endless source. The resources are decreasing at a pace where alternative energy sources will be a necessity for this and future generations. Global warming, due to increased concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, has become one of the most important issues on the political agenda at all levels. A widespread opinion is that energy conservation technologies are needed and a shift towards renewable energy sources is required to attain a sustainable development of our society and a progress in the developing countries. This thesis is focusing on two different energy conservation technologies in different applications. The open absorption system, a modification of an absorption heat pump is a promising technique in moist air processes, recovering the latent heat in the air and decreasing the total heat demand. The technology has been tested in two full scale pilot plants at a sawmill operating four timber dryers and another unit installed at an indoor swimming pool. The technique has had positive outcomes in both operational and energy conservation respects. It has been shown that the energy demand was decreased considerably in both applications. The investment cost has proved to be relatively high, but optimization of operational parameters shows a potential to decrease the initial investment and make the technology more competitive. Pressurized entrained-flow high temperature black liquor gasification (PEHT-BLG), developed by Chemrec AB, is another novel technique presented in this thesis. Black liquor is an important by-product in the papermaking process. Chemicals and energy is recovered in the conventional recovery boiler where superheated steam is produced to generate electricity and process heat. The cooking chemicals are recovered from the

Optimal Assignment Problem Applications of Finite Mathematics to Business and Economics. [and] Difference Equations with Applications. Applications of Difference Equations to Economics and Social Sciences. [and] Selected Applications of Mathematics to Finance and Investment. Applications of Elementary Algebra to Finance. [and] Force of Interest. Applications of Calculus to Finance. UMAP Units 317, 322, 381, 382.

Science.gov (United States)

Gale, David; And Others

Four units make up the contents of this document. The first examines applications of finite mathematics to business and economies. The user is expected to learn the method of optimization in optimal assignment problems. The second module presents applications of difference equations to economics and social sciences, and shows how to: 1) interpret…

An Efficiency Comparison of MBA Programs: Top 10 versus Non-Top 10

Science.gov (United States)

Hsu, Maxwell K.; James, Marcia L.; Chao, Gary H.

2009-01-01

The authors compared the cohort group of the top-10 MBA programs in the United States with their lower-ranking counterparts on their value-added efficiency. The findings reveal that the top-10 MBA programs in the United States are associated with statistically higher average "technical and scale efficiency" and "scale efficiency", but not with a…

High-efficiency wind turbine

Science.gov (United States)

Hein, L. A.; Myers, W. N.

1980-01-01

Vertical axis wind turbine incorporates several unique features to extract more energy from wind increasing efficiency 20% over conventional propeller driven units. System also features devices that utilize solar energy or chimney effluents during periods of no wind.

An Inductive Link-Based Wireless Power Transfer System for Biomedical Applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. A. Adeeb

2012-01-01

Full Text Available A wireless power transfer system using an inductive link has been demonstrated for implantable sensor applications. The system is composed of two primary blocks: an inductive power transfer unit and a backward data communication unit. The inductive link performs two functions: coupling the required power from a wireless power supply system enabling battery-less, long-term implant operation and providing a backward data transmission path. The backward data communication unit transmits the data to an outside reader using FSK modulation scheme via the inductive link. To demonstrate the operation of the inductive link, a board-level design has been implemented with high link efficiency. Test results from a fabricated sensor system, composed of a hybrid implementation of custom-integrated circuits and board-level discrete components, are presented demonstrating power transmission of 125 mW with a 12.5% power link transmission efficiency. Simultaneous backward data communication involving a digital pulse rate of up to 10 kbps was also observed.

Efficiency of fipronil in the control of the mound-building termite, Nasutitermes sp. (Isoptera: Termitidae) in sugarcane

OpenAIRE

Melo Fo, Reinaldo M.; Veiga, Antônio F.S.L.

1998-01-01

The efficiency of fipronil was evaluated in field conditions at different dosages and two formulations, against Nasutitermes sp. (isopteran: Termitidae) in sugarcane (Sccharum sp.). Termite mounds were indentified, measured and drilled until cellulosic chamber to allow insecticide application. Nine treatments were tested with ten replications in a completely randomized design and each termite mound considered as an experimental unit. after 50 days the termite mounds were opened and the mortal...

Application of fuzzy inference system to increase efficiency of management decision-making in agricultural enterprises

OpenAIRE

Balanovskаya, Tetiana Ivanovna; Boretska, Zoreslava Petrovna

2014-01-01

Application of fuzzy inference system to increase efficiency of management decision- making in agricultural enterprises. Theoretical and methodological issues, practical recommendations on improvement of management decision-making in agricultural enterprises to increase their competitiveness have been intensified and developed in the article. A simulation example of a quality management system for agricultural products on the basis of the theory of fuzzy sets and fuzzy logic has been proposed...

Energy efficiency analysis and impact evaluation of the application of thermoelectric power cycle to today's CHP systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Chen, Min; Lund, Henrik; Rosendahl, Lasse

2010-01-01

benefits, together with the environmental impact of this deployment, will then be estimated. By using the Danish thermal energy system as a paradigm, this paper will consider the TEG application to district heating systems and power plants through the EnergyPLAN model, which has been created to design......High efficiency thermoelectric generators (TEG) can recover waste heat from both industrial and private sectors. Thus, the development and deployment of TEG may represent one of the main drives for technological change and fuel substitution. This paper will present an analysis of system efficiency...... configurations for combustion systems. The feasible deployment of TEG in various CHP plants will be examined in terms of heat source temperature range, influences on CHP power specification and thermal environment, as well as potential benefits. The overall conversion efficiency improvements and economic...

ENHANCING THE OPERATIONAL EFFICIENCY OF DIRECT CURRENT DRIVE BASED ON USE OF SUPERCONDENSER POWER STORAGE UNITS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

А. M. Mukha

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Purpose.The scientific work is intended to analyse the expansion of the load range and the implementation of regeneration braking (RB of the direct current drive by using the supercondenser power storage units. Methodology.To solve the problem, we use the methods of the electric drive theory, impulse electronics and the method of calculation of transient electromagnetic processes in linear electric circuits in the presence of super-condensers therein. Findings.The stiffness of the mechanical and electromechanical characteristics of a series motor is significantly increased, which makes it possible to use a DC drive under load, much smaller than 15…20% of the nominal one. Numerical calculations of the operation process of the supercondenser power storage unit were fulfilled with a sharp decrease in the load of a traction electric motor of a direct current electric locomotive. The possibility of RB of the direct current drive with the series motor is substantiated. The equations of the process of charging and discharging of super-condenser storage unit in RB mode are solved. The authors examined the effect of capacitance on the nature of maintaining the excitation current of an electric motor in the mode of small loads.Originality.The paper developed theoretical approaches for the transformation of soft (mechanical and electromechanical characteristics into hard ones of DC series motors. For the first time a new, combined method of the series motor RB is proposed and substantiated. Further development obtained the methods for evaluating the storage unit parameters, taking into account the criteria for reliable parallel operation of super-condensers with an electric motor field. Practical value.The proposed and substantiated transformation of soft characteristics into stiff ones allows us to use general-purpose electric drives with series motors and at low loads, and in traction electric drives - to reduce the intensity of electric stockwheel

Modelling of a Hybrid Energy System for Autonomous Application

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yang He

2013-10-01

Full Text Available A hybrid energy system (HES is a trending power supply solution for autonomous devices. With the help of an accurate system model, the HES development will be efficient and oriented. In spite of various precise unit models, a HES system is hardly developed. This paper proposes a system modelling approach, which applies the power flux conservation as the governing equation and adapts and modifies unit models of solar cells, piezoelectric generators, a Li-ion battery and a super-capacitor. A generalized power harvest, storage and management strategy is also suggested to adapt to various application scenarios.

Energy efficiency indicators for high electric-load buildings

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Aebischer, Bernard; Balmer, Markus A.; Kinney, Satkartar; Le Strat, Pascale; Shibata, Yoshiaki; Varone, Frederic

2003-06-01

Energy per unit of floor area is not an adequate indicator for energy efficiency in high electric-load buildings. For two activities, restaurants and computer centres, alternative indicators for energy efficiency are discussed.

Effect of Plant Density, Rate and Split Application of Nitrogen Fertilizer on Quality Characteristics and Nitrogen Use Efficiency of Safflower under Weed Competition

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M Fuladvand

2015-09-01

Full Text Available In order to evaluation of plant density, rate and method of nitrogen fertilizer split application on quality characteristics and nitrogen use efficiency of safflower (Sofeh variety under weed competition a field experiment was carried out in field research Yasouj University in 2013. This experiment was a factorial based on randomized complete block design with three replications. First factor was a two levels plant density (20 and 40 plants m-2 and second factor was nitrogen rate application on nine levels. That included; non nitrogen application and 75 and 150 kgN ha-1 nitrogen application that both used with four split method. Split methods were included; S1 (%50 in pre planting stage - %50 in stem elongation stage, S2 (%25 in pre planting stage - %75 in stem elongation stage, S3 (%25 in pre planting stage - %50 in stem elongation stage -%25 in flowering stage and S4 (%25 in pre planting stage - %25 in stem elongation stage - %25 in flowering stage. Also in this experiment, weed did not control. Results showed that whit increasing crop density, oil yield and protein grain yield increased by 20 percent and nitrogen utilization efficiency increased by 10 percent. The highest oil yield (50.25 g m-2 was obtained from 75 kg ha-1 nitrogen with three-stage split application (S4. Finally, results showed that increasing nitrogen fertilizer application decreased nitrogen utilization efficiency but three-stage split method application increased this trait.