High Efficiency CdTe Ink-Based Solar Cells Using Nanocrystals (Fact Sheet)

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Not Available

This NREL Highlight is being developed for the 2015 February Alliance S&T Board meeting and describes a solution-processable ink to produce high-efficiency solar cells using low temperature and simple processing.

[An increase in efficiency of adaptations and a weakening of organism protective reactions in the process of biological evolution].

PubMed

Ivanov, K P

2014-01-01

The main direction of evolution of living organisms is development of the central nervous system and sense organ, an increase of energy exchange development of homoiothermia, development of the more and more complex forms of behavior, an increase in energy expenditure in connection with an increase of the organism activity, and development of adaptation to the habitat. Such fundamental processes were subjected and have been subjected to numerous studies and discussions. However, in different animals there exist different species peculiarities of evolution of physiological functions, from which finally formed are fundamental evolutionary processes. We studied some of these specific processes by dividing them into two categories. The first category is "Increase of efficiency of adaptation" in development of biological evolution. By this term we mean development of amazing by perfection specific physiological mechanisms of adaptive character. The second category is "Weakening of protective organism reactions". By this we understand disturbance of protective mechanisms of the organism immune system, discoordination of movement of leukocytes along microvessels, the absence of efficient collateral circulation in brain and in heart, etc.

Efficiency of English for Academic Purposes Activity in Students' Language Education: Developing the System of External and Internal Perspectives

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zascerinska, Jelena

2010-01-01

The paradigm change from an input based teaching/learning process to an outcome based process (D. Bluma, 2008, p. 673) reveals efficiency of contribution applied to enhance students' learning outcomes to become particularly important for the development of education and culture change in the constantly changing environment. Aim of the research is…

Technology’s present situation and the development prospects of energy efficiency monitoring as well as performance testing & analysis for process flow compressors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, L.; Zhao, Y.; Wang, L.; Yang, Q.; Liu, G.; Tang, B.; Xiao, J.

2017-08-01

In this paper, the background of performance testing of in-service process flow compressors set in user field are introduced, the main technique barriers faced in the field test are summarized, and the factors that result in real efficiencies of most process flow compressors being lower than the guaranteed by manufacturer are analysed. The authors investigated the present operational situation of process flow compressors in China and found that low efficiency operation of flow compressors is because the compressed gas is generally forced to flow back into the inlet pipe for adapting to the process parameters variety. For example, the anti-surge valve is always opened for centrifugal compressor. To improve the operation efficiency of process compressors the energy efficiency monitoring technology was overviewed and some suggestions are proposed in the paper, which is the basis of research on energy efficiency evaluation and/or labelling of process compressors.

On the Optimality of Serial and Parallel Processing in the Psychological Refractory Period Paradigm: Effects of the Distribution of Stimulus Onset Asynchronies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Miller, Jeff; Ulrich, Rolf; Rolke, Bettina

2009-01-01

Within the context of the psychological refractory period (PRP) paradigm, we developed a general theoretical framework for deciding when it is more efficient to process two tasks in serial and when it is more efficient to process them in parallel. This analysis suggests that a serial mode is more efficient than a parallel mode under a wide variety…

High efficiency solar cell processing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ho, F.; Iles, P. A.

1985-01-01

At the time of writing, cells made by several groups are approaching 19% efficiency. General aspects of the processing required for such cells are discussed. Most processing used for high efficiency cells is derived from space-cell or concentrator cell technology, and recent advances have been obtained from improved techniques rather than from better understanding of the limiting mechanisms. Theory and modeling are fairly well developed, and adequate to guide further asymptotic increases in performance of near conventional cells. There are several competitive cell designs with promise of higher performance ( 20%) but for these designs further improvements are required. The available cell processing technology to fabricate high efficiency cells is examined.

Automated Array Assembly, Phase 2

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Carbajal, B. G.

1979-01-01

The solar cell module process development activities in the areas of surface preparation are presented. The process step development was carried out on texture etching including the evolution of a conceptual process model for the texturing process; plasma etching; and diffusion studies that focused on doped polymer diffusion sources. Cell processing was carried out to test process steps and a simplified diode solar cell process was developed. Cell processing was also run to fabricate square cells to populate sample minimodules. Module fabrication featured the demonstration of a porcelainized steel glass structure that should exceed the 20 year life goal of the low cost silicon array program. High efficiency cell development was carried out in the development of the tandem junction cell and a modification of the TJC called the front surface field cell. Cell efficiencies in excess of 16 percent at AM1 have been attained with only modest fill factors. The transistor-like model was proposed that fits the cell performance and provides a guideline for future improvements in cell performance.

Energy efficiency technologies in cement and steel industry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zanoli, Silvia Maria; Cocchioni, Francesco; Pepe, Crescenzo

2018-02-01

In this paper, Advanced Process Control strategies aimed at energy efficiency achievement and improvement in cement and steel industry are proposed. A flexible and smart control structure constituted by several functional modules and blocks has been developed. The designed control strategy is based on Model Predictive Control techniques, formulated on linear models. Two industrial control solutions have been developed, oriented to energy efficiency and process control improvement in cement industry clinker rotary kilns (clinker production phase) and in steel industry billets reheating furnaces. Tailored customization procedures for the design of ad hoc control systems have been executed, based on the specific needs and specifications of the analysed processes. The installation of the developed controllers on cement and steel plants produced significant benefits in terms of process control which resulted in working closer to the imposed operating limits. With respect to the previous control systems, based on local controllers and/or operators manual conduction, more profitable configurations of the crucial process variables have been provided.

Energy-efficient Public Procurement: Best Practice in Program Delivery

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Payne, Christopher; Weber, Andrew; Semple, Abby

2013-02-15

This document illustrates the key issues and considerations involved in implementing energy-efficient public procurement. Our primary sources of information have been our partners in the Super Efficient Equipment and Appliance Deployment (SEAD) Initiative Procurement Working Group. Where applicable, we have highlighted specific ways in which working group participants have successfully overcome barriers to delivering effective programs. The following key points emerge from this analysis of programs for energy-efficient public procurement. Lessons for both developed and developing programs are highlighted throughout the guide. 1. Policy: Policy provides the initiative to begin a transition from first cost to life-cycle cost based purchasingmore » methods and culture. Effective policy is well-communicated, establishes accountability from top to bottom of organizations and simplifies the processes necessary to comply. Flexibility and responsiveness are essential in policy development and implementation. Mandatory and voluntary policies may complement one another. 2. Procurement Criteria: Procurement staff must be confident that energy-efficient procurement criteria offer the best long-term value for their organization’s money and represent real environmental gains. Involving multiple stakeholders at the early stages of the criteria creation process can result in greater levels of cooperation from private industry. Criteria should make comparison of products easy for purchasers and require minimal additional calculations. Criteria will need to be regularly updated to reflect market developments. 3. Training: Resources for the creation of training programs are usually very limited, but well-targeted training is necessary in order for a program to be effective. Training must emphasize a process that is efficient for purchasers and simplifies compliance. Purchaser resources and policy must be well designed for training to be effective. Training program development is an excellent opportunity for collaboration amongst public authorities. 4. Procurement Processes: Many tools and guides intended to help buyers comply with energy-efficient procurement policy are designed without detailed knowledge of the procurement process. A deeper understanding of purchasing pathways allows resources to be better directed. Current research by national and international bodies aims to analyze purchasing pathways and can assist in developing future resources.« less

The study of integrated coal-gasifier molten carbonate fuel cell systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1983-01-01

A novel integration concept for a coal-fueled coal gasifier-molten carbonate fuel cell power plant was studied. Effort focused on determining the efficiency potential of the concept, design, and development requirements of the processes in order to achieve the efficiency. The concept incorporates a methane producing catalytic gasifier of the type previously under development by Exxon Research and Development Corp., a reforming molten carbonate fuel cell power section of the type currently under development by United Technologies Corp., and a gasifier-fuel cell recycle loop. The concept utilizes the fuel cell waste heat, in the form of hydrogen and carbon monoxide, to generate additional fuel in the coal gasifier, thereby eliminating the use of both an O2 plant and a stream bottoming cycle from the power plant. The concept has the potential for achieving coal-pile-to-busbar efficiencies of 50-59%, depending on the process configuration and degree of process configuration and degree of process development requirements. This is significantly higher than any previously reported gasifier-molten carbonate fuel cell system.

Development of a highly efficient oil degumming process using a novel phosphatidylinositol-specific phospholipase C enzyme.

PubMed

Cerminati, Sebastián; Eberhardt, Florencia; Elena, Claudia E; Peirú, Salvador; Castelli, María E; Menzella, Hugo G

2017-06-01

Enzymatic degumming using phospholipase C (PLC) enzymes may be used in environmentally friendly processes with improved oil recovery yields. In this work, phosphatidylinositol-specific phospholipase C (PIPLC) candidates obtained from an in silico analysis were evaluated for oil degumming. A PIPLC from Lysinibacillus sphaericus was shown to efficiently remove phosphatidylinositol from crude oil, and when combined with a second phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylethanolamine-specific phospholipase C, the three major phospholipids were completely hydrolyzed, providing an extra yield of oil greater than 2.1%, compared to standard methods. A remarkably efficient fed-batch Escherichia coli fermentation process producing ∼14 g/L of the recombinant PIPLC enzyme was developed, which may facilitate the adoption of this cost-effective oil-refining process.

Energy Efficiency of Low-Temperature Deaeration of Makeup Water for a District Heating System

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sharapov, V. I., E-mail: vlad-sharapov2008@yandex.ru; Kudryavtseva, E. V.

2016-07-15

It is shown that the temperature of makeup water in district heating systems has a strong effect on the energy efficiency of turbines of thermal power plants. A low-temperature deaeration process that considerably improves the energy efficiency of thermal power plants is developed. The desorbing agent is the gas supplied to the burners of the boiler. The energy efficiency of the process for a typical unit of thermal power plant is assessed.

The GA sulfur-iodine water-splitting process - A status report

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Besenbruch, G. E.; Chiger, H. D.; McCorkle, K. H.; Norman, J. H.; Rode, J. S.; Schuster, J. R.; Trester, P. W.

The development of a sulfur-iodine thermal water splitting cycle is described. The process features a 50% thermal efficiency, plus all liquid and gas handling. Basic chemical investigations comprised the development of multitemperature and multistage sulfuric acid boost reactors, defining the phase behavior of the HI/I2/H2O/H3PO4 mixtures, and development of a decomposition process for hydrogen iodide in the liquid phase. Initial process engineering studies have led to a 47% efficiency, improvements of 2% projected, followed by coupling high-temperature solar concentrators to the splitting processes to reduce power requirements. Conceptual flowsheets developed from bench models are provided; materials investigations have concentrated on candidates which can withstand corrosive mixtures at temperatures up to 400 deg K, with Hastelloy C-276 exhibiting the best properties for containment and heat exchange to I2.

The GA sulfur-iodine water-splitting process - A status report

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Besenbruch, G. E.; Chiger, H. D.; Mccorkle, K. H.; Norman, J. H.; Rode, J. S.; Schuster, J. R.; Trester, P. W.

1981-01-01

The development of a sulfur-iodine thermal water splitting cycle is described. The process features a 50% thermal efficiency, plus all liquid and gas handling. Basic chemical investigations comprised the development of multitemperature and multistage sulfuric acid boost reactors, defining the phase behavior of the HI/I2/H2O/H3PO4 mixtures, and development of a decomposition process for hydrogen iodide in the liquid phase. Initial process engineering studies have led to a 47% efficiency, improvements of 2% projected, followed by coupling high-temperature solar concentrators to the splitting processes to reduce power requirements. Conceptual flowsheets developed from bench models are provided; materials investigations have concentrated on candidates which can withstand corrosive mixtures at temperatures up to 400 deg K, with Hastelloy C-276 exhibiting the best properties for containment and heat exchange to I2.

Time-based analysis of total cost of patient episodes: a case study of hip replacement.

PubMed

Peltokorpi, Antti; Kujala, Jaakko

2006-01-01

Healthcare in the public and private sectors is facing increasing pressure to become more cost-effective. Time-based competition and work-in-progress have been used successfully to measure and improve the efficiency of industrial manufacturing. Seeks to address this issue. Presents a framework for time based management of the total cost of a patient episode and apply it to the six sigma DMAIC-process development approach. The framework is used to analyse hip replacement patient episodes in Päijät-Häme Hospital District in Finland, which has a catchment area of 210,000 inhabitants and performs an average of 230 hip replacements per year. The work-in-progress concept is applicable to healthcare--notably that the DMAIC-process development approach can be used to analyse the total cost of patient episodes. Concludes that a framework, which combines the patient-in-process and the DMAIC development approach, can be used not only to analyse the total cost of patient episode but also to improve patient process efficiency. Presents a framework that combines patient-in-process and DMAIC-process development approaches, which can be used to analyse the total cost of a patient episode in order to improve patient process efficiency.

Determination of GTA Welding Efficiencies

DTIC Science & Technology

1993-03-01

continue on reverse if ncessary andidentify by block number) A method is developed for estimating welding efficiencies for moving arc GTAW processes...Dutta, Co-Advi r Department of Mechanical Engineering ii ABSTRACT A method is developed for estimating welding efficiencies for moving arc GTAW ...17 Figure 10. Miller Welding Equipment ............. ... 18 Figure 11. GTAW Torch Setup for Automatic Welding. . 19 Figure 12

Development of high efficiency thin film polycrystalline silicon solar cells using VEST process

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ishihara, T.; Arimoto, S.; Morikawa, H.

1998-12-31

Thin film Si solar cell has been developed using Via-hole Etching for the Separation of Thin films (VEST) process. The process is based on SOI technology of zone-melting recrystallization (ZMR) followed by chemical vapor deposition (CVD), separation of thin film, and screen printing. Key points for achieving high efficiency are (1) quality of Si films, (2) back surface emitter (BSE), (3) front surface emitter etch-back process, (4) back surface field (BSF) layer thickness and its resistivity, and (5) defect passivation by hydrogen implantation. As a result of experiments, the authors have achieved 16% efficiency (V{sub oc}:0.589V, J{sub sc}:35.6mA/cm{sup 2}, F,F:0.763)more » with a cell size of 95.8cm{sup 2} and the thickness of 77 {micro}m. It is the highest efficiency ever reported for large area thin film Si solar cells.« less

A small electron donor in cobalt complex electrolyte significantly improves efficiency in dye-sensitized solar cells

PubMed Central

Hao, Yan; Yang, Wenxing; Zhang, Lei; Jiang, Roger; Mijangos, Edgar; Saygili, Yasemin; Hammarström, Leif; Hagfeldt, Anders; Boschloo, Gerrit

2016-01-01

Photoelectrochemical approach to solar energy conversion demands a kinetic optimization of various light-induced electron transfer processes. Of great importance are the redox mediator systems accomplishing the electron transfer processes at the semiconductor/electrolyte interface, therefore affecting profoundly the performance of various photoelectrochemical cells. Here, we develop a strategy—by addition of a small organic electron donor, tris(4-methoxyphenyl)amine, into state-of-art cobalt tris(bipyridine) redox electrolyte—to significantly improve the efficiency of dye-sensitized solar cells. The developed solar cells exhibit efficiency of 11.7 and 10.5%, at 0.46 and one-sun illumination, respectively, corresponding to a 26% efficiency improvement compared with the standard electrolyte. Preliminary stability tests showed the solar cell retained 90% of its initial efficiency after 250 h continuous one-sun light soaking. Detailed mechanistic studies reveal the crucial role of the electron transfer cascade processes within the new redox system. PMID:28000672

Approach to Low-Cost High-Efficiency OLED Lighting. Building Technologies Solid State Lighting (SSL) Program Final Report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Pei, Qibing

2017-10-06

This project developed an integrated substrate which organic light emitting diode (OLED) panel developers could employ the integrated substrate to fabricate OLED devices with performance and projected cost meeting the MYPP targets of the Solid State Lighting Program of the Department of Energy. The project optimized the composition and processing conditions of the integrated substrate for OLED light extraction efficiency and overall performance. The process was further developed for scale up to a low-cost process and fabrication of prototype samples. The encapsulation of flexible OLEDs based on this integrated substrate was also investigated using commercial flexible barrier films.

Silicon solar cells by ion implantation and pulsed energy processing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kirkpatrick, A. R.; Minnucci, J. A.; Shaughnessy, T. S.; Greenwald, A. C.

1976-01-01

A new method for fabrication of silicon solar cells is being developed around ion implantation in conjunction with pulsed electron beam techniques to replace conventional furnace processing. Solar cells can be fabricated totally in a vacuum environment at room temperature. Cells with 10% AM0 efficiency have been demonstrated. High efficiency cells and effective automated processing capabilities are anticipated.

Formation of the Integral Ecological Quality Index of the Technological Processes in Machine Building Based on Their Energy Efficiency

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Egorov, Sergey B.; Kapitanov, Alexey V.; Mitrofanov, Vladimir G.; Shvartsburg, Leonid E.; Ivanova, Natalia A.; Ryabov, Sergey A.

2016-01-01

The aim of article is to provide development of a unified assessment methodology in relation to various technological processes and the actual conditions of their implementation. To carry the energy efficiency analysis of the technological processes through comparison of the established power and the power consumed by the actual technological…

Simultaneous hydrolysis and fermentation of unprocessed food waste into ethanol using thermophilic anaerobic bacteria.

PubMed

Dhiman, Saurabh Sudha; David, Aditi; Shrestha, Namita; Johnson, Glenn R; Benjamin, Kenneth M; Gadhamshetty, Venkataramana; Sani, Rajesh K

2017-11-01

The one-pot CRUDE (Conversion of Raw and Untreated Disposal into Ethanol) process was developed for simultaneous hydrolysis and fermentation of unprocessed food waste into ethanol using thermophilic (growing at 65°C) anaerobic bacteria. Unlike existing waste to energy technologies, the CRUDE process obviates the need for any pre-treatment or enzyme addition. A High-Temperature-High-Pressure (HTHP) distillation technique was also applied that facilitated efficient use of fermentation medium, inoculum recycling, and in-situ ethanol collection. For material balancing of the process, each characterized component was represented in terms of C-mol. Recovery of 94% carbon at the end confirmed the operational efficiency of CRUDE process. The overall energy retaining efficiency calculated from sugars to ethanol was 1262.7kJdryweightkg -1 of volatile solids using HTHP. These results suggest that the CRUDE process can be a starting point for the development of a commercial ethanol production process. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Cyberspace Development Dogfight: Tightening the Acquisitions Turn Circle

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-06-01

only attempted to rebrand their poor processes with this new jargon. One programmer, Steve Yegge, likened ‘Agile’ to fad diets , in that there are...were previously possible.[3] The reforms of the 1990’s reduced the “stovepipe” effect where organizations tended to limit communication vertically...efficiency rather than time-to-field efficiency or mission- effectiveness efficiency, although the JUONs process attempts to mitigate this. This is

Review of solar fuel-producing quantum conversion processes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Peterson, D. B.; Biddle, J. R.; Fujita, T.

1984-01-01

The status and potential of fuel-producing solar photochemical processes are discussed. Research focused on splitting water to produce dihydrogen and is at a relatively early stage of development. Current emphasis is primarily directed toward understanding the basic chemistry underlying such quantum conversion processes. Theoretical analyses by various investigators predict a limiting thermodynamic efficiency of 31% for devices with a single photosystem operating with unfocused sunlight at 300 K. When non-idealities are included, it appears unlikely that actual devices will have efficiencies greater than 12 to 15%. Observed efficiencies are well below theoretical limits. Cyclic homogeneous photochemical processes for splitting water have efficiencies considerably less than 1%. Efficiency can be significantly increased by addition of a sacrificial reagent; however, such systems are no longer cyclic and it is doubtful that they would be economical on a commercial scale. The observed efficiencies for photoelectrochemical processes are also low but such systems appear more promising than homogeneous photochemical systems. Operating and systems options, including operation at elevated temperature and hybrid and coupled quantum-thermal conversion processes, are also considered.

Research and Analysis of Image Processing Technologies Based on DotNet Framework

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ya-Lin, Song; Chen-Xi, Bai

Microsoft.Net is a kind of most popular program development tool. This paper gave a detailed analysis concluded about some image processing technologies of the advantages and disadvantages by .Net processed image while the same algorithm is used in Programming experiments. The result shows that the two best efficient methods are unsafe pointer and Direct 3D, and Direct 3D used to 3D simulation development, and the others are useful in some fields while these technologies are poor efficiency and not suited to real-time processing. The experiment results in paper will help some projects about image processing and simulation based DotNet and it has strong practicability.

Fungal Laccases: Production, Function, and Applications in Food Processing

PubMed Central

Brijwani, Khushal; Rigdon, Anne; Vadlani, Praveen V.

2010-01-01

Laccases are increasingly being used in food industry for production of cost-effective and healthy foods. To sustain this trend widespread availability of laccase and efficient production systems have to be developed. The present paper delineate the recent developments that have taken place in understanding the role of laccase action, efforts in overexpression of laccase in heterologous systems, and various cultivation techniques that have been developed to efficiently produce laccase at the industrial scale. The role of laccase in different food industries, particularly the recent developments in laccase application for food processing, is discussed. PMID:21048859

Advanced Research Deposition System (ARDS) for processing CdTe solar cells

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barricklow, Keegan Corey

CdTe solar cells have been commercialized at the Gigawatt/year level. The development of volume manufacturing processes for next generation CdTe photovoltaics (PV) with higher efficiencies requires research systems with flexibility, scalability, repeatability and automation. The Advanced Research Deposition Systems (ARDS) developed by the Materials Engineering Laboratory (MEL) provides such a platform for the investigation of materials and manufacturing processes necessary to produce the next generation of CdTe PV. Limited by previous research systems, the ARDS was developed to provide process and hardware flexibility, accommodating advanced processing techniques, and capable of producing device quality films. The ARDS is a unique, in-line process tool with nine processing stations. The system was designed, built and assembled at the Materials Engineering Laboratory. Final assembly, startup, characterization and process development are the focus of this research. Many technical challenges encountered during the startup of the ARDS were addressed in this research. In this study, several hardware modifications needed for the reliable operation of the ARDS were designed, constructed and successfully incorporated into the ARDS. The effect of process condition on film properties for each process step was quantified. Process development to achieve 12% efficient baseline solar cell required investigation of discrete processing steps, troubleshooting process variation, and developing performance correlations. Subsequent to this research, many advances have been demonstrated with the ARDS. The ARDS consistently produces devices of 12% +/-.5% by the process of record (POR). The champion cell produced to date utilizing the ARDS has an efficiency of 16.2% on low cost commercial sodalime glass and utilizes advanced films. The ARDS has enabled investigation of advanced concepts for processing CdTe devices including, Plasma Cleaning, Plasma Enhanced Closed Space Sublimation (PECSS), Electron Reflector (ER) using Cd1-xMgxTe (CMT) structure and alternative device structures. The ARDS has been instrumental in the collaborative research with many institutions.

Our Application of ISO 9000.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hammond, Jane

2000-01-01

Since a large, underfunded urban Colorado district initiated ISO 9000 reforms, administrators and staff have reviewed 14 central-office departments' processes to improve efficiency and enhance student outcomes. Jefferson County has saved $900,000 annually on purchasing processes, developed a quality curriculum-development process, and improved…

Sensori-Motor Experience Leads to Changes in Visual Processing in the Developing Brain

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

James, Karin Harman

2010-01-01

Since Broca's studies on language processing, cortical functional specialization has been considered to be integral to efficient neural processing. A fundamental question in cognitive neuroscience concerns the type of learning that is required for functional specialization to develop. To address this issue with respect to the development of neural…

Evaluating the process parameters of the dry coating process using a 2(5-1) factorial design.

PubMed

Kablitz, Caroline Désirée; Urbanetz, Nora Anne

2013-02-01

A recent development of coating technology is dry coating, where polymer powder and liquid plasticizer are layered on the cores without using organic solvents or water. Several studies evaluating the process were introduced in literature, however, little information about the critical process parameters (CPPs) is given. Aim of the study was the investigation and optimization of CPPs with respect to one of the critical quality attributes (CQAs), the coating efficiency of the dry coating process in a rotary fluid bed. Theophylline pellets were coated with hydroxypropyl methylcellulose acetate succinate as enteric film former and triethyl citrate and acetylated monoglyceride as plasticizer. A 2(5-1) design of experiments (DOEs) was created investigating five independent process parameters namely coating temperature, curing temperature, feeding/spraying rate, air flow and rotor speed. The results were evaluated by multilinear regression using the software Modde(®) 7. It is shown, that generally, low feeding/spraying rates and low rotor speeds increase coating efficiency. High coating temperatures enhance coating efficiency, whereas medium curing temperatures have been found to be optimum in terms of coating efficiency. This study provides a scientific base for the design of efficient dry coating processes with respect to coating efficiency.

Processing mechanics of alternate twist ply (ATP) yarn technology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Elkhamy, Donia Said

Ply yarns are important in many textile manufacturing processes and various applications. The primary process used for producing ply yarns is cabling. The speed of cabling is limited to about 35m/min. With the world's increasing demands of ply yarn supply, cabling is incompatible with today's demand activated manufacturing strategies. The Alternate Twist Ply (ATP) yarn technology is a relatively new process for producing ply yarns with improved productivity and flexibility. This technology involves self plying of twisted singles yarn to produce ply yarn. The ATP process can run more than ten times faster than cabling. To implement the ATP process to produce ply yarns there are major quality issues; uniform Twist Profile and yarn Twist Efficiency. The goal of this thesis is to improve these issues through process modeling based on understanding the physics and processing mechanics of the ATP yarn system. In our study we determine the main parameters that control the yarn twist profile. Process modeling of the yarn twist across different process zones was done. A computational model was designed to predict the process parameters required to achieve a square wave twist profile. Twist efficiency, a measure of yarn torsional stability and bulk, is determined by the ratio of ply yarn twist to singles yarn twist. Response Surface Methodology was used to develop the processing window that can reproduce ATP yarns with high twist efficiency. Equilibrium conditions of tensions and torques acting on the yarns at the self ply point were analyzed and determined the pathway for achieving higher twist efficiency. Mechanistic modeling relating equilibrium conditions to the twist efficiency was developed. A static tester was designed to zoom into the self ply zone of the ATP yarn. A computer controlled, prototypic ATP machine was constructed and confirmed the mechanistic model results. Optimum parameters achieving maximum twist efficiency were determined in this study. The successful results of this work have led to the filing of a US patent disclosing the method for producing ATP yarns with high yarn twist efficiency using a high convergence angle at the self ply point together with applying ply torque.

A Process Management System for Networked Manufacturing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Tingting; Wang, Huifen; Liu, Linyan

With the development of computer, communication and network, networked manufacturing has become one of the main manufacturing paradigms in the 21st century. Under the networked manufacturing environment, there exist a large number of cooperative tasks susceptible to alterations, conflicts caused by resources and problems of cost and quality. This increases the complexity of administration. Process management is a technology used to design, enact, control, and analyze networked manufacturing processes. It supports efficient execution, effective management, conflict resolution, cost containment and quality control. In this paper we propose an integrated process management system for networked manufacturing. Requirements of process management are analyzed and architecture of the system is presented. And a process model considering process cost and quality is developed. Finally a case study is provided to explain how the system runs efficiently.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Guo, Hua

Combustion represents a key chemical process in energy consumption in modern societies and a clear and comprehensive understanding of the elemental reactions in combustion is of great importance to a number of challenging areas such as engine efficiency and environmental protection. In this award, we proposed to develop new theoretical tools to understand elemental chemical processes in combustion environments. With the support of this DOE grant, we have made significant advances in developing new and more efficient and accurate algorithms to characterize reaction dynamics.

Energy-efficient biomass processing with pulsed electric fields for bioeconomy and sustainable development.

PubMed

Golberg, Alexander; Sack, Martin; Teissie, Justin; Pataro, Gianpiero; Pliquett, Uwe; Saulis, Gintautas; Stefan, Töpfl; Miklavcic, Damijan; Vorobiev, Eugene; Frey, Wolfgang

2016-01-01

Fossil resources-free sustainable development can be achieved through a transition to bioeconomy, an economy based on sustainable biomass-derived food, feed, chemicals, materials, and fuels. However, the transition to bioeconomy requires development of new energy-efficient technologies and processes to manipulate biomass feed stocks and their conversion into useful products, a collective term for which is biorefinery. One of the technological platforms that will enable various pathways of biomass conversion is based on pulsed electric fields applications (PEF). Energy efficiency of PEF treatment is achieved by specific increase of cell membrane permeability, a phenomenon known as membrane electroporation. Here, we review the opportunities that PEF and electroporation provide for the development of sustainable biorefineries. We describe the use of PEF treatment in biomass engineering, drying, deconstruction, extraction of phytochemicals, improvement of fermentations, and biogas production. These applications show the potential of PEF and consequent membrane electroporation to enable the bioeconomy and sustainable development.

Recent progress in high-output-voltage silicon solar cells

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Muelenberg, A.; Arndt, R. A.; Allison, J. F.; Weizer, V.

1980-01-01

The status of the technology associated with the development of high output voltage silicon solar cells is reported. The energy conversion efficiency of a double diffusion process is compared to that of a single diffusion process. The efficiency of a 0.1 ohm/cm solar cell is characterized both before and after covering.

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

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

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.

Increasing the efficiency of designing hemming processes by using an element-based metamodel approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kaiser, C.; Roll, K.; Volk, W.

2017-09-01

In the automotive industry, the manufacturing of automotive outer panels requires hemming processes in which two sheet metal parts are joined together by bending the flange of the outer part over the inner part. Because of decreasing development times and the steadily growing number of vehicle derivatives, an efficient digital product and process validation is necessary. Commonly used simulations, which are based on the finite element method, demand significant modelling effort, which results in disadvantages especially in the early product development phase. To increase the efficiency of designing hemming processes this paper presents a hemming-specific metamodel approach. The approach includes a part analysis in which the outline of the automotive outer panels is initially split into individual segments. By doing a para-metrization of each of the segments and assigning basic geometric shapes, the outline of the part is approximated. Based on this, the hemming parameters such as flange length, roll-in, wrinkling and plastic strains are calculated for each of the geometric basic shapes by performing a meta-model-based segmental product validation. The metamodel is based on an element similar formulation that includes a reference dataset of various geometric basic shapes. A random automotive outer panel can now be analysed and optimized based on the hemming-specific database. By implementing this approach into a planning system, an efficient optimization of designing hemming processes will be enabled. Furthermore, valuable time and cost benefits can be realized in a vehicle’s development process.

Graphic Design in Libraries: A Conceptual Process

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ruiz, Miguel

2014-01-01

Providing successful library services requires efficient and effective communication with users; therefore, it is important that content creators who develop visual materials understand key components of design and, specifically, develop a holistic graphic design process. Graphic design, as a form of visual communication, is the process of…

7 CFR 1219.15 - Industry information.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... efficiency in processing, enhance the development of new markets and marketing strategies, increase marketing efficiency, and enhance the image of Hass avocados and the Hass avocado industry in the United States. ...

7 CFR 1219.15 - Industry information.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... efficiency in processing, enhance the development of new markets and marketing strategies, increase marketing efficiency, and enhance the image of Hass avocados and the Hass avocado industry in the United States. ...

7 CFR 1219.15 - Industry information.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... efficiency in processing, enhance the development of new markets and marketing strategies, increase marketing efficiency, and enhance the image of Hass avocados and the Hass avocado industry in the United States. ...

7 CFR 1219.15 - Industry information.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... efficiency in processing, enhance the development of new markets and marketing strategies, increase marketing efficiency, and enhance the image of Hass avocados and the Hass avocado industry in the United States. ...

Anaerobic digestion of municipal solid waste: Technical developments

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Rivard, C.J.

1996-01-01

The anaerobic biogasification of organic wastes generates two useful products: a medium-Btu fuel gas and a compost-quality organic residue. Although commercial-scale digestion systems are used to treat municipal sewage wastes, the disposal of solid organic wastes, including municipal solid wastes (MSW), requires a more cost-efficient process. Modern biogasification systems employ high-rate, high-solids fermentation methods to improve process efficiency and reduce capital costs. The design criteria and development stages are discussed. These systems are also compared with conventional low-solids fermentation technology.

An Information System Development Method Combining Business Process Modeling with Executable Modeling and its Evaluation by Prototyping

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Okawa, Tsutomu; Kaminishi, Tsukasa; Hirabayashi, Syuichi; Suzuki, Ryo; Mitsui, Hiroyasu; Koizumi, Hisao

The business in the enterprise is closely related with the information system to such an extent that the business activities are difficult without the information system. The system design technique that considers the business process well, and that enables a quick system development is requested. In addition, the demand for the development cost is also severe than before. To cope with the current situation, the modeling technology named BPM(Business Process Management/Modeling)is drawing attention and becoming important as a key technology. BPM is a technology to model business activities as business processes and visualize them to improve the business efficiency. However, a general methodology to develop the information system using the analysis result of BPM doesn't exist, and a few development cases are reported. This paper proposes an information system development method combining business process modeling with executable modeling. In this paper we describe a guideline to support consistency of development and development efficiency and the framework enabling to develop the information system from model. We have prototyped the information system with the proposed method and our experience has shown that the methodology is valuable.

DESIGNING ENVIRONMENTAL, ECONOMIC AND ENERGY EFFICIENT CHEMICAL PROCESSES

EPA Science Inventory

The design and improvement of chemical processes can be very challenging. The earlier energy conservation, process economics and environmental aspects are incorporated into the process development, the easier and less expensive it is to alter the process design. Process emissio...

A communication channel model of the software process

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tausworthe, R. C.

1988-01-01

Reported here is beginning research into a noisy communication channel analogy of software development process productivity, in order to establish quantifiable behavior and theoretical bounds. The analogy leads to a fundamental mathematical relationship between human productivity and the amount of information supplied by the developers, the capacity of the human channel for processing and transmitting information, the software product yield (object size), the work effort, requirements efficiency, tool and process efficiency, and programming environment advantage. Also derived is an upper bound to productivity that shows that software reuse is the only means than can lead to unbounded productivity growth; practical considerations of size and cost of reusable components may reduce this to a finite bound.

A communication channel model of the software process

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tausworthe, Robert C.

1988-01-01

Beginning research into a noisy communication channel analogy of software development process productivity, in order to establish quantifiable behavior and theoretical bounds is discussed. The analogy leads to a fundamental mathematical relationship between human productivity and the amount of information supplied by the developers, the capacity of the human channel for processing and transmitting information, the software product yield (object size) the work effort, requirements efficiency, tool and process efficiency, and programming environment advantage. An upper bound to productivity is derived that shows that software reuse is the only means that can lead to unbounded productivity growth; practical considerations of size and cost of reusable components may reduce this to a finite bound.

How vocabulary size in two languages relates to efficiency in spoken word recognition by young Spanish-English bilinguals

PubMed Central

Marchman, Virginia A.; Fernald, Anne; Hurtado, Nereyda

2010-01-01

Research using online comprehension measures with monolingual children shows that speed and accuracy of spoken word recognition are correlated with lexical development. Here we examined speech processing efficiency in relation to vocabulary development in bilingual children learning both Spanish and English (n=26; 2;6 yrs). Between-language associations were weak: vocabulary size in Spanish was uncorrelated with vocabulary in English, and children’s facility in online comprehension in Spanish was unrelated to their facility in English. Instead, efficiency of online processing in one language was significantly related to vocabulary size in that language, after controlling for processing speed and vocabulary size in the other language. These links between efficiency of lexical access and vocabulary knowledge in bilinguals parallel those previously reported for Spanish and English monolinguals, suggesting that children’s ability to abstract information from the input in building a working lexicon relates fundamentally to mechanisms underlying the construction of language. PMID:19726000

DEVELOPING A CAPE-OPEN COMPLIANT METAL FINISHING FACILITY POLLUTION PREVENTION TOOL (CO-MFFP2T)

EPA Science Inventory

The USEPA is developing a Computer Aided Process Engineering (CAPE) software tool for the metal finishing industry that helps users design efficient metal finishing processes that are less polluting to the environment. Metal finishing process lines can be simulated and evaluated...

The photobiological production of hydrogen: potential efficiency and effectiveness as a renewable fuel.

PubMed

Prince, Roger C; Kheshgi, Haroon S

2005-01-01

Photosynthetic microorganisms can produce hydrogen when illuminated, and there has been considerable interest in developing this to a commercially viable process. Its appealing aspects include the fact that the hydrogen would come from water, and that the process might be more energetically efficient than growing, harvesting, and processing crops. We review current knowledge about photobiological hydrogen production, and identify and discuss some of the areas where scientific and technical breakthroughs are essential for commercialization. First we describe the underlying biochemistry of the process, and identify some opportunities for improving photobiological hydrogen production at the molecular level. Then we address the fundamental quantum efficiency of the various processes that have been suggested, technological issues surrounding large-scale growth of hydrogen-producing microorganisms, and the scale and efficiency on which this would have to be practiced to make a significant contribution to current energy use.

Integrated approaches to the application of advanced modeling technology in process development and optimization

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Allgor, R.J.; Feehery, W.F.; Tolsma, J.E.

The batch process development problem serves as good candidate to guide the development of process modeling environments. It demonstrates that very robust numerical techniques are required within an environment that can collect, organize, and maintain the data and models required to address the batch process development problem. This paper focuses on improving the robustness and efficiency of the numerical algorithms required in such a modeling environment through the development of hybrid numerical and symbolic strategies.

Parallel Ada benchmarks for the SVMS

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Collard, Philippe E.

1990-01-01

The use of parallel processing paradigm to design and develop faster and more reliable computers appear to clearly mark the future of information processing. NASA started the development of such an architecture: the Spaceborne VHSIC Multi-processor System (SVMS). Ada will be one of the languages used to program the SVMS. One of the unique characteristics of Ada is that it supports parallel processing at the language level through the tasking constructs. It is important for the SVMS project team to assess how efficiently the SVMS architecture will be implemented, as well as how efficiently Ada environment will be ported to the SVMS. AUTOCLASS II, a Bayesian classifier written in Common Lisp, was selected as one of the benchmarks for SVMS configurations. The purpose of the R and D effort was to provide the SVMS project team with the version of AUTOCLASS II, written in Ada, that would make use of Ada tasking constructs as much as possible so as to constitute a suitable benchmark. Additionally, a set of programs was developed that would measure Ada tasking efficiency on parallel architectures as well as determine the critical parameters influencing tasking efficiency. All this was designed to provide the SVMS project team with a set of suitable tools in the development of the SVMS architecture.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Romm, J.J.

Many American companies have found that saving energy and cutting pollution dramatically improves the bottom line. But beyond these gains, businesses that launch energy efficiency programs to save money are often astonished to discover unforeseen benefits: energy efficient lighting, heating, cooling, motors, and industrial processes can increase worker productivity, decrease absenteeism, and improve the quality of work performed. Profits created by the jump in worker productivity can exceed energy savings by a factor of ten. Energy efficiency and pollution prevention represent the next wave in manufacturing, following the quality revolution launched by the Japanese in the 1960s. Unless America leadsmore » the lean and clean revolution, economic health will be undermined as other countries develop clean processes and products and US companies suffer competitively. Also, developing countries will leapfrog their wasteful model and buy products and manufacturing processes from foreign firms already practicing lean and clean.« less

Development and Applications of a Modular Parallel Process for Large Scale Fluid/Structures Problems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Guruswamy, Guru P.; Kwak, Dochan (Technical Monitor)

2002-01-01

A modular process that can efficiently solve large scale multidisciplinary problems using massively parallel supercomputers is presented. The process integrates disciplines with diverse physical characteristics by retaining the efficiency of individual disciplines. Computational domain independence of individual disciplines is maintained using a meta programming approach. The process integrates disciplines without affecting the combined performance. Results are demonstrated for large scale aerospace problems on several supercomputers. The super scalability and portability of the approach is demonstrated on several parallel computers.

Development and Applications of a Modular Parallel Process for Large Scale Fluid/Structures Problems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Guruswamy, Guru P.; Byun, Chansup; Kwak, Dochan (Technical Monitor)

2001-01-01

A modular process that can efficiently solve large scale multidisciplinary problems using massively parallel super computers is presented. The process integrates disciplines with diverse physical characteristics by retaining the efficiency of individual disciplines. Computational domain independence of individual disciplines is maintained using a meta programming approach. The process integrates disciplines without affecting the combined performance. Results are demonstrated for large scale aerospace problems on several supercomputers. The super scalability and portability of the approach is demonstrated on several parallel computers.

Process optimization via response surface methodology in the treatment of metal working industry wastewater with electrocoagulation.

PubMed

Guvenc, Senem Yazici; Okut, Yusuf; Ozak, Mert; Haktanir, Birsu; Bilgili, Mehmet Sinan

2017-02-01

In this study, process parameters in chemical oxygen demand (COD) and turbidity removal from metal working industry (MWI) wastewater were optimized by electrocoagulation (EC) using aluminum, iron and steel electrodes. The effects of process variables on COD and turbidity were investigated by developing a mathematical model using central composite design method, which is one of the response surface methodologies. Variance analysis was conducted to identify the interaction between process variables and model responses and the optimum conditions for the COD and turbidity removal. Second-order regression models were developed via the Statgraphics Centurion XVI.I software program to predict COD and turbidity removal efficiencies. Under the optimum conditions, removal efficiencies obtained from aluminum electrodes were found to be 76.72% for COD and 99.97% for turbidity, while the removal efficiencies obtained from iron electrodes were found to be 76.55% for COD and 99.9% for turbidity and the removal efficiencies obtained from steel electrodes were found to be 65.75% for COD and 99.25% for turbidity. Operational costs at optimum conditions were found to be 4.83, 1.91 and 2.91 €/m 3 for aluminum, iron and steel electrodes, respectively. Iron electrode was found to be more suitable for MWI wastewater treatment in terms of operational cost and treatment efficiency.

IMPROVING TACONITE PROCESSING PLANT EFFICIENCY BY COMPUTER SIMULATION, Final Report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

William M. Bond; Salih Ersayin

2007-03-30

This project involved industrial scale testing of a mineral processing simulator to improve the efficiency of a taconite processing plant, namely the Minorca mine. The Concentrator Modeling Center at the Coleraine Minerals Research Laboratory, University of Minnesota Duluth, enhanced the capabilities of available software, Usim Pac, by developing mathematical models needed for accurate simulation of taconite plants. This project provided funding for this technology to prove itself in the industrial environment. As the first step, data representing existing plant conditions were collected by sampling and sample analysis. Data were then balanced and provided a basis for assessing the efficiency ofmore » individual devices and the plant, and also for performing simulations aimed at improving plant efficiency. Performance evaluation served as a guide in developing alternative process strategies for more efficient production. A large number of computer simulations were then performed to quantify the benefits and effects of implementing these alternative schemes. Modification of makeup ball size was selected as the most feasible option for the target performance improvement. This was combined with replacement of existing hydrocyclones with more efficient ones. After plant implementation of these modifications, plant sampling surveys were carried out to validate findings of the simulation-based study. Plant data showed very good agreement with the simulated data, confirming results of simulation. After the implementation of modifications in the plant, several upstream bottlenecks became visible. Despite these bottlenecks limiting full capacity, concentrator energy improvement of 7% was obtained. Further improvements in energy efficiency are expected in the near future. The success of this project demonstrated the feasibility of a simulation-based approach. Currently, the Center provides simulation-based service to all the iron ore mining companies operating in northern Minnesota, and future proposals are pending with non-taconite mineral processing applications.« less

Understanding Acceptance of Software Metrics--A Developer Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Umarji, Medha

2009-01-01

Software metrics are measures of software products and processes. Metrics are widely used by software organizations to help manage projects, improve product quality and increase efficiency of the software development process. However, metrics programs tend to have a high failure rate in organizations, and developer pushback is one of the sources…

Boosting Manufacturing through Modular Chemical Process Intensification

ScienceCinema

None

2018-06-12

Manufacturing USA's Rapid Advancement in Process Intensification Deployment Institute will focus on developing breakthrough technologies to boost domestic energy productivity and energy efficiency by 20 percent in five years through manufacturing processes.

Boosting Manufacturing through Modular Chemical Process Intensification

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

None

2016-12-09

Manufacturing USA's Rapid Advancement in Process Intensification Deployment Institute will focus on developing breakthrough technologies to boost domestic energy productivity and energy efficiency by 20 percent in five years through manufacturing processes.

Development of high-efficiency solar cells on silicon web

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Meier, D. L.

1986-01-01

Achievement of higher efficiency cells by directing efforts toward identifying carrier loss mechanisms; design of cell structures; and development of processing techniques are described. Use of techniques such as deep-level transient spectroscopy (DLTS), laser-beam-induced current (LBIC), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) indicated that dislocations in web material rather than twin planes were primarily responsible for limiting diffusion lengths in the web. Lifetimes and cell efficiencies can be improved from 19 to 120 microns, and 8 to 10.3% (no AR), respectively, by implanting hydrogen at 1500 eV and a beam current density of 2.0 mA/sq cm. Some of the processing improvements included use of a double-layer AR coating (ZnS and MgF2) and an addition of an aluminum back surface reflectors. Cells of more than 16% efficiency were achieved.

Eco-friendly microwave-assisted protocol to prepare hyaluronan-fatty acid conjugates and to induce their self-assembly process.

PubMed

Calce, Enrica; Mercurio, Flavia Anna; Leone, Marilisa; Saviano, Michele; De Luca, Stefania

2016-06-05

An environmentally sustainable and energy-efficient synthetic process has been developed to prepare hyaluronan-based nano-sized material. It consists in a microwave-promoted acylation of the hydroxyl function of the polysaccharide with natural fatty acids, performed under solvent-free conditions. The efficient interaction of the solid reagents with the MW radiation accounts for the obtained high yielded products. The self-assembly process of the obtained compounds very fast occurred in an aqueous medium under MW-radiation, thus allowing the development of a green protocol for the nano-particles preparation. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Atomic Scale Understanding of Poly-Si/SiO2/c-Si Passivated Contacts: Passivation Degradation Due to Metallization

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Aguiar, Jeffery A.; Young, David; Lee, Benjamin

2016-11-21

The key attributes for achieving high efficiency crystalline silicon solar cells include class leading developments in the ability to approach the theoretical limits of silicon solar technology (29.4% efficiency). The push for high efficiency devices is further compounded with the clear need for passivation to reduce recombination at the metal contacts. At the same time there is stringent requirement to retain the same material device quality, surface passivation, and performance characteristics following subsequent processing. The development of passivated silicon cell structures that retain active front and rear surface passivation and overall material cell quality is therefore a relevant and activemore » area of development. To address the potential outcomes of metallization on passivated silicon stack, we report on some common microstructural features of degradation due to metallization for a series of silicon device stacks. A fundamental materials understanding of the metallization process on retaining high-efficiency passivated Si devices is therefore gained over these series of results.« less

When is good, good enough? Methodological pragmatism for sustainable guideline development.

PubMed

Browman, George P; Somerfield, Mark R; Lyman, Gary H; Brouwers, Melissa C

2015-03-06

Continuous escalation in methodological and procedural rigor for evidence-based processes in guideline development is associated with increasing costs and production delays that threaten sustainability. While health research methodologists are appropriately responsible for promoting increasing rigor in guideline development, guideline sponsors are responsible for funding such processes. This paper acknowledges that other stakeholders in addition to methodologists should be more involved in negotiating trade-offs between methodological procedures and efficiency in guideline production to produce guidelines that are 'good enough' to be trustworthy and affordable under specific circumstances. The argument for reasonable methodological compromise to meet practical circumstances is consistent with current implicit methodological practice. This paper proposes a conceptual tool as a framework to be used by different stakeholders in negotiating, and explicitly reporting, reasonable compromises for trustworthy as well as cost-worthy guidelines. The framework helps fill a transparency gap in how methodological choices in guideline development are made. The principle, 'when good is good enough' can serve as a basis for this approach. The conceptual tool 'Efficiency-Validity Methodological Continuum' acknowledges trade-offs between validity and efficiency in evidence-based guideline development and allows for negotiation, guided by methodologists, of reasonable methodological compromises among stakeholders. Collaboration among guideline stakeholders in the development process is necessary if evidence-based guideline development is to be sustainable.

An index-based algorithm for fast on-line query processing of latent semantic analysis

PubMed Central

Li, Pohan; Wang, Wei

2017-01-01

Latent Semantic Analysis (LSA) is widely used for finding the documents whose semantic is similar to the query of keywords. Although LSA yield promising similar results, the existing LSA algorithms involve lots of unnecessary operations in similarity computation and candidate check during on-line query processing, which is expensive in terms of time cost and cannot efficiently response the query request especially when the dataset becomes large. In this paper, we study the efficiency problem of on-line query processing for LSA towards efficiently searching the similar documents to a given query. We rewrite the similarity equation of LSA combined with an intermediate value called partial similarity that is stored in a designed index called partial index. For reducing the searching space, we give an approximate form of similarity equation, and then develop an efficient algorithm for building partial index, which skips the partial similarities lower than a given threshold θ. Based on partial index, we develop an efficient algorithm called ILSA for supporting fast on-line query processing. The given query is transformed into a pseudo document vector, and the similarities between query and candidate documents are computed by accumulating the partial similarities obtained from the index nodes corresponds to non-zero entries in the pseudo document vector. Compared to the LSA algorithm, ILSA reduces the time cost of on-line query processing by pruning the candidate documents that are not promising and skipping the operations that make little contribution to similarity scores. Extensive experiments through comparison with LSA have been done, which demonstrate the efficiency and effectiveness of our proposed algorithm. PMID:28520747

An index-based algorithm for fast on-line query processing of latent semantic analysis.

PubMed

Zhang, Mingxi; Li, Pohan; Wang, Wei

2017-01-01

Latent Semantic Analysis (LSA) is widely used for finding the documents whose semantic is similar to the query of keywords. Although LSA yield promising similar results, the existing LSA algorithms involve lots of unnecessary operations in similarity computation and candidate check during on-line query processing, which is expensive in terms of time cost and cannot efficiently response the query request especially when the dataset becomes large. In this paper, we study the efficiency problem of on-line query processing for LSA towards efficiently searching the similar documents to a given query. We rewrite the similarity equation of LSA combined with an intermediate value called partial similarity that is stored in a designed index called partial index. For reducing the searching space, we give an approximate form of similarity equation, and then develop an efficient algorithm for building partial index, which skips the partial similarities lower than a given threshold θ. Based on partial index, we develop an efficient algorithm called ILSA for supporting fast on-line query processing. The given query is transformed into a pseudo document vector, and the similarities between query and candidate documents are computed by accumulating the partial similarities obtained from the index nodes corresponds to non-zero entries in the pseudo document vector. Compared to the LSA algorithm, ILSA reduces the time cost of on-line query processing by pruning the candidate documents that are not promising and skipping the operations that make little contribution to similarity scores. Extensive experiments through comparison with LSA have been done, which demonstrate the efficiency and effectiveness of our proposed algorithm.

Quality initiatives: lean approach to improving performance and efficiency in a radiology department.

PubMed

Kruskal, Jonathan B; Reedy, Allen; Pascal, Laurie; Rosen, Max P; Boiselle, Phillip M

2012-01-01

Many hospital radiology departments are adopting "lean" methods developed in automobile manufacturing to improve operational efficiency, eliminate waste, and optimize the value of their services. The lean approach, which emphasizes process analysis, has particular relevance to radiology departments, which depend on a smooth flow of patients and uninterrupted equipment function for efficient operation. However, the application of lean methods to isolated problems is not likely to improve overall efficiency or to produce a sustained improvement. Instead, the authors recommend a gradual but continuous and comprehensive "lean transformation" of work philosophy and workplace culture. Fundamental principles that must consistently be put into action to achieve such a transformation include equal involvement of and equal respect for all staff members, elimination of waste, standardization of work processes, improvement of flow in all processes, use of visual cues to communicate and inform, and use of specific tools to perform targeted data collection and analysis and to implement and guide change. Many categories of lean tools are available to facilitate these tasks: value stream mapping for visualizing the current state of a process and identifying activities that add no value; root cause analysis for determining the fundamental cause of a problem; team charters for planning, guiding, and communicating about change in a specific process; management dashboards for monitoring real-time developments; and a balanced scorecard for strategic oversight and planning in the areas of finance, customer service, internal operations, and staff development. © RSNA, 2012.

Removal of natural organic matter in drinking water treatment by coagulation: A comprehensive review.

PubMed

Sillanpää, Mika; Ncibi, Mohamed Chaker; Matilainen, Anu; Vepsäläinen, Mikko

2018-01-01

Natural organic matter (NOM) is a complex matrix of organic substances produced in (or channeled to) aquatic ecosystems via various biological, geological and hydrological cycles. Such variability is posing a serious challenge to most water treatment technologies, especially the ones designed to treat drinking water supplies. Lately, in addition to the fluctuating composition of NOM, a substantial increase of its concentration in fresh waters, and also municipal wastewater effluents, has been reported worldwide, which justifies the urgent need to develop highly efficient and versatile water treatment processes. Coagulation is among the most applied processes for water and wastewater treatment. The application of coagulation to remove NOM from drinking water supplies has received a great deal of attention from researchers around the world because it was efficient and helped avoiding the formation of disinfection by products (DBPs). Nonetheless, with the increased fluctuation of NOM in water (concentration and composition), the efficiency of conventional coagulation was substantially reduced, hence the need to develop enhanced coagulation processes by optimizing the operating conditions (mainly the amount coagulants and pH), developing more efficient inorganic or organic coagulants, as well as coupling coagulation with other water treatment technologies. In the present review, recent research studies dealing with the application of coagulation for NOM removal from drinking water supplies are presented and compared. In addition, integration schemes combining coagulation and other water treatment processes are presented, including membrane filtration, oxidation, adsorption and others processes. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Product Development and its Comparative Analysis by SLA, SLS and FDM Rapid Prototyping Processes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Choudhari, C. M.; Patil, V. D.

2016-09-01

To grab market and meeting deadlines has increased the scope of new methods in product design and development. Industries continuously strive to optimize the development cycles with high quality and cost efficient products to maintain market competitiveness. Thus the need of Rapid Prototyping Techniques (RPT) has started to play pivotal role in rapid product development cycle for complex product. Dimensional accuracy and surface finish are the corner stone of Rapid Prototyping (RP) especially if they are used for mould development. The paper deals with the development of part made with the help of Selective Laser Sintering (SLS), Stereo-lithography (SLA) and Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM) processes to benchmark and investigate on various parameters like material shrinkage rate, dimensional accuracy, time, cost and surface finish. This helps to conclude which processes can be proved to be effective and efficient in mould development. In this research work the emphasis was also given to the design stage of a product development to obtain an optimum design solution for an existing product.

The forest, the trees, and the leaves: Differences of processing across development.

PubMed

Krakowski, Claire-Sara; Poirel, Nicolas; Vidal, Julie; Roëll, Margot; Pineau, Arlette; Borst, Grégoire; Houdé, Olivier

2016-08-01

To act and think, children and adults are continually required to ignore irrelevant visual information to focus on task-relevant items. As real-world visual information is organized into structures, we designed a feature visual search task containing 3-level hierarchical stimuli (i.e., local shapes that constituted intermediate shapes that formed the global figure) that was presented to 112 participants aged 5, 6, 9, and 21 years old. This task allowed us to explore (a) which level is perceptively the most salient at each age (i.e., the fastest detected level) and (b) what kind of attentional processing occurs for each level across development (i.e., efficient processing: detection time does not increase with the number of stimuli on the display; less efficient processing: detection time increases linearly with the growing number of distractors). Results showed that the global level was the most salient at 5 years of age, whereas the global and intermediate levels were both salient for 9-year-olds and adults. Interestingly, at 6 years of age, the intermediate level was the most salient level. Second, all participants showed an efficient processing of both intermediate and global levels of hierarchical stimuli, and a less efficient processing of the local level, suggesting a local disadvantage rather than a global advantage in visual search. The cognitive cost for selecting the local target was higher for 5- and 6-year-old children compared to 9-year-old children and adults. These results are discussed with regards to the development of executive control. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Efficient utilization of greenhouse gases in a gas-to-liquids process combined with CO2/steam-mixed reforming and Fe-based Fischer-Tropsch synthesis.

PubMed

Zhang, Chundong; Jun, Ki-Won; Ha, Kyoung-Su; Lee, Yun-Jo; Kang, Seok Chang

2014-07-15

Two process models for carbon dioxide utilized gas-to-liquids (GTL) process (CUGP) mainly producing light olefins and Fischer-Tropsch (F-T) synthetic oils were developed by Aspen Plus software. Both models are mainly composed of a reforming unit, an F-T synthesis unit and a recycle unit, while the main difference is the feeding point of fresh CO2. In the reforming unit, CO2 reforming and steam reforming of methane are combined together to produce syngas in flexible composition. Meanwhile, CO2 hydrogenation is conducted via reverse water gas shift on the Fe-based catalysts in the F-T synthesis unit to produce hydrocarbons. After F-T synthesis, the unreacted syngas is recycled to F-T synthesis and reforming units to enhance process efficiency. From the simulation results, it was found that the carbon efficiencies of both CUGP options were successfully improved, and total CO2 emissions were significantly reduced, compared with the conventional GTL processes. The process efficiency was sensitive to recycle ratio and more recycle seemed to be beneficial for improving process efficiency and reducing CO2 emission. However, the process efficiency was rather insensitive to split ratio (recycle to reforming unit/total recycle), and the optimum split ratio was determined to be zero.

Shuttle Ground Operations Efficiencies/Technologies (SGOE/T) study. Volume 1: Executive summary

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Scholz, A. L.; Hart, M. T.; Lowry, D. J.

1987-01-01

Methods and technolgoy were defined to reduce the overall operations cost of a major space program. Space Shuttle processing at Kennedy Space Center (KSC) was designed as the working model that would be the source of the operational information. Methods of improving efficiency of ground operations were assessed and technology elements that could reduce cost identified. Emphasis is on: (1) specific technology items and (2) management approaches required to develop and support efficient ground operations. Prime study results are to be recommendations on how to achieve more efficient operations and identification of existing or new technology that would make vehicle processing in both the current program and future programs more efficient and, therefore, less costly.

Nonlinear Dynamic Model-Based Multiobjective Sensor Network Design Algorithm for a Plant with an Estimator-Based Control System

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Paul, Prokash; Bhattacharyya, Debangsu; Turton, Richard

Here, a novel sensor network design (SND) algorithm is developed for maximizing process efficiency while minimizing sensor network cost for a nonlinear dynamic process with an estimator-based control system. The multiobjective optimization problem is solved following a lexicographic approach where the process efficiency is maximized first followed by minimization of the sensor network cost. The partial net present value, which combines the capital cost due to the sensor network and the operating cost due to deviation from the optimal efficiency, is proposed as an alternative objective. The unscented Kalman filter is considered as the nonlinear estimator. The large-scale combinatorial optimizationmore » problem is solved using a genetic algorithm. The developed SND algorithm is applied to an acid gas removal (AGR) unit as part of an integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) power plant with CO 2 capture. Due to the computational expense, a reduced order nonlinear model of the AGR process is identified and parallel computation is performed during implementation.« less

Nonlinear Dynamic Model-Based Multiobjective Sensor Network Design Algorithm for a Plant with an Estimator-Based Control System

DOE PAGES

Paul, Prokash; Bhattacharyya, Debangsu; Turton, Richard; ...

2017-06-06

Here, a novel sensor network design (SND) algorithm is developed for maximizing process efficiency while minimizing sensor network cost for a nonlinear dynamic process with an estimator-based control system. The multiobjective optimization problem is solved following a lexicographic approach where the process efficiency is maximized first followed by minimization of the sensor network cost. The partial net present value, which combines the capital cost due to the sensor network and the operating cost due to deviation from the optimal efficiency, is proposed as an alternative objective. The unscented Kalman filter is considered as the nonlinear estimator. The large-scale combinatorial optimizationmore » problem is solved using a genetic algorithm. The developed SND algorithm is applied to an acid gas removal (AGR) unit as part of an integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) power plant with CO 2 capture. Due to the computational expense, a reduced order nonlinear model of the AGR process is identified and parallel computation is performed during implementation.« less

Development of numerical processing in children with typical and dyscalculic arithmetic skills—a longitudinal study

PubMed Central

Landerl, Karin

2013-01-01

Numerical processing has been demonstrated to be closely associated with arithmetic skills, however, our knowledge on the development of the relevant cognitive mechanisms is limited. The present longitudinal study investigated the developmental trajectories of numerical processing in 42 children with age-adequate arithmetic development and 41 children with dyscalculia over a 2-year period from beginning of Grade 2, when children were 7; 6 years old, to beginning of Grade 4. A battery of numerical processing tasks (dot enumeration, non-symbolic and symbolic comparison of one- and two-digit numbers, physical comparison, number line estimation) was given five times during the study (beginning and middle of each school year). Efficiency of numerical processing was a very good indicator of development in numerical processing while within-task effects remained largely constant and showed low long-term stability before middle of Grade 3. Children with dyscalculia showed less efficient numerical processing reflected in specifically prolonged response times. Importantly, they showed consistently larger slopes for dot enumeration in the subitizing range, an untypically large compatibility effect when processing two-digit numbers, and they were consistently less accurate in placing numbers on a number line. Thus, we were able to identify parameters that can be used in future research to characterize numerical processing in typical and dyscalculic development. These parameters can also be helpful for identification of children who struggle in their numerical development. PMID:23898310

Automatic Item Generation: A More Efficient Process for Developing Mathematics Achievement Items?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Embretson, Susan E.; Kingston, Neal M.

2018-01-01

The continual supply of new items is crucial to maintaining quality for many tests. Automatic item generation (AIG) has the potential to rapidly increase the number of items that are available. However, the efficiency of AIG will be mitigated if the generated items must be submitted to traditional, time-consuming review processes. In two studies,…

Development and manufacture of reactive-transfer-printed CIGS photovoltaic modules

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Eldada, Louay; Sang, Baosheng; Lu, Dingyuan; Stanbery, Billy J.

2010-09-01

In recent years, thin-film photovoltaic (PV) companies started realizing their low manufacturing cost potential, and grabbing an increasingly larger market share from multicrystalline silicon companies. Copper Indium Gallium Selenide (CIGS) is the most promising thin-film PV material, having demonstrated the highest energy conversion efficiency in both cells and modules. However, most CIGS manufacturers still face the challenge of delivering a reliable and rapid manufacturing process that can scale effectively and deliver on the promise of this material system. HelioVolt has developed a reactive transfer process for CIGS absorber formation that has the benefits of good compositional control, high-quality CIGS grains, and a fast reaction. The reactive transfer process is a two stage CIGS fabrication method. Precursor films are deposited onto substrates and reusable print plates in the first stage, while in the second stage, the CIGS layer is formed by rapid heating with Se confinement. High quality CIGS films with large grains were produced on a full-scale manufacturing line, and resulted in high-efficiency large-form-factor modules. With 14% cell efficiency and 12% module efficiency, HelioVolt started to commercialize the process on its first production line with 20 MW nameplate capacity.

ProSens: integrated production control by automated inspection planning and efficient multisensor metrology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Glaser, Ulf; Li, Zhichao; Bichmann, Stephan, II; Pfeifer, Tilo

2003-05-01

By China's entry into the WTO, Chinese as well as German companies are facing the question, how to minimize the risk of unfamiliar cooperation partners when developing products. The rise of customer demands concerning quality, product diversity and the reduction of expenses require flexibility and efficiency with reliable component suppliers. In order to build and strengthen sino-german cooperations, a manufacturing control using homogenized and efficient measures to assure high quality is of vital importance. Lack of unifications may cause identical measurements conducted at subcontractors or customers to be carried out with different measurement processes which leads to incomparable results. Rapidly growing company cooperations and simultaneously decreasing of manufacturing scope cause substantial difficulties when coordinating joint quality control activities. "ProSens," a sino-german project consortium consisting of industrial users, technology producers and research institutes, aims at improving selected production processes by: Creation of a homogeneous quality awareness in sino-german cooperations. Sensitization for process accompanying metrology at an early stage of product development. Increase of the process performance by the use of integrated metrology. Reduction of production time and cost. Unification of quality control of complex products by means of efficient measurement strategies and CAD-based inspection planning.

An Extreme Learning Machine-Based Neuromorphic Tactile Sensing System for Texture Recognition.

PubMed

Rasouli, Mahdi; Chen, Yi; Basu, Arindam; Kukreja, Sunil L; Thakor, Nitish V

2018-04-01

Despite significant advances in computational algorithms and development of tactile sensors, artificial tactile sensing is strikingly less efficient and capable than the human tactile perception. Inspired by efficiency of biological systems, we aim to develop a neuromorphic system for tactile pattern recognition. We particularly target texture recognition as it is one of the most necessary and challenging tasks for artificial sensory systems. Our system consists of a piezoresistive fabric material as the sensor to emulate skin, an interface that produces spike patterns to mimic neural signals from mechanoreceptors, and an extreme learning machine (ELM) chip to analyze spiking activity. Benefiting from intrinsic advantages of biologically inspired event-driven systems and massively parallel and energy-efficient processing capabilities of the ELM chip, the proposed architecture offers a fast and energy-efficient alternative for processing tactile information. Moreover, it provides the opportunity for the development of low-cost tactile modules for large-area applications by integration of sensors and processing circuits. We demonstrate the recognition capability of our system in a texture discrimination task, where it achieves a classification accuracy of 92% for categorization of ten graded textures. Our results confirm that there exists a tradeoff between response time and classification accuracy (and information transfer rate). A faster decision can be achieved at early time steps or by using a shorter time window. This, however, results in deterioration of the classification accuracy and information transfer rate. We further observe that there exists a tradeoff between the classification accuracy and the input spike rate (and thus energy consumption). Our work substantiates the importance of development of efficient sparse codes for encoding sensory data to improve the energy efficiency. These results have a significance for a wide range of wearable, robotic, prosthetic, and industrial applications.

The production, properties, and applications of thermostable steryl glucosidases.

PubMed

Aguirre, Andres; Eberhardt, Florencia; Hails, Guillermo; Cerminati, Sebastian; Castelli, María Eugenia; Rasia, Rodolfo M; Paoletti, Luciana; Menzella, Hugo G; Peiru, Salvador

2018-02-21

Extremophilic microorganisms are a rich source of enzymes, the enzymes which can serve as industrial catalysts that can withstand harsh processing conditions. An example is thermostable β-glucosidases that are addressing a challenging problem in the biodiesel industry: removing steryl glucosides (SGs) from biodiesel. Steryl glucosidases (SGases) must be tolerant to heat and solvents in order to function efficiently in biodiesel. The amphipathic nature of SGs also requires enzymes with an affinity for water/solvent interfaces in order to achieve efficient hydrolysis. Additionally, the development of an enzymatic process involving a commodity such as soybean biodiesel must be cost-effective, necessitating an efficient manufacturing process for SGases. This review summarizes the identification of microbial SGases and their applications, discusses biodiesel refining processes and the development of analytical methods for identifying and quantifying SGs in foods and biodiesel, and considers technologies for strain engineering and process optimization for the heterologous production of a SGase from Thermococcus litoralis. All of these technologies might be used for the production of other thermostable enzymes. Structural features of SGases and the feasibility of protein engineering for novel applications are explored.

BIOWINOL TECHNOLOGIES: A HYBRID GREEN PROCESS FOR BIOFUEL PRODUCTION – PHASE 2

EPA Science Inventory

The development of hollow fiber membrane (HFM) reactor will result in improved gas utilization that will positively impact overall process efficiencies. Successful completion of this project could result in the development of many decentralized biofuel production systems near ...

Relationships between Lead Halide Perovskite Thin-Film Fabrication, Morphology, and Performance in Solar Cells.

PubMed

Sharenko, Alexander; Toney, Michael F

2016-01-20

Solution-processed lead halide perovskite thin-film solar cells have achieved power conversion efficiencies comparable to those obtained with several commercial photovoltaic technologies in a remarkably short period of time. This rapid rise in device efficiency is largely the result of the development of fabrication protocols capable of producing continuous, smooth perovskite films with micrometer-sized grains. Further developments in film fabrication and morphological control are necessary, however, in order for perovskite solar cells to reliably and reproducibly approach their thermodynamic efficiency limit. This Perspective discusses the fabrication of lead halide perovskite thin films, while highlighting the processing-property-performance relationships that have emerged from the literature, and from this knowledge, suggests future research directions.

Dry fermentation of manure with straw in continuous plug flow reactor: Reactor development and process stability at different loading rates.

PubMed

Patinvoh, Regina J; Kalantar Mehrjerdi, Adib; Sárvári Horváth, Ilona; Taherzadeh, Mohammad J

2017-01-01

In this work, a plug flow reactor was developed for continuous dry digestion processes and its efficiency was investigated using untreated manure bedded with straw at 22% total solids content. This newly developed reactor worked successfully for 230days at increasing organic loading rates of 2.8, 4.2 and 6gVS/L/d and retention times of 60, 40 and 28days, respectively. Organic loading rates up to 4.2gVS/L/d gave a better process stability, with methane yields up to 0.163LCH 4 /gVS added /d which is 56% of the theoretical yield. Further increase of organic loading rate to 6gVS/L/d caused process instability with lower volatile solid removal efficiency and cellulose degradation. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Comprehensive process for the recovery of value and critical materials from electronic waste

DOE PAGES

Diaz, Luis A.; Lister, Tedd E.; Parkman, Jacob A.; ...

2016-04-08

The development of technologies that contribute to the proper disposal and treatment of electronic waste is not just an environmental need, but an opportunity for the recovery and recycle of valuable metals and critical materials. Value elements in electronic waste include gold, palladium, silver, copper, nickel, and rare earth elements (RE). Here, we present the development of a process that enables efficient recycling of metals from scrap mobile electronics. An electro recycling (ER) process, based on the regeneration of Fe 3+ as a weak oxidizer, is studied for the selective recovery of base metals while leaving precious metals for separatemore » extraction at reduced chemical demand. A separate process recovers rare earth oxides from magnets in electronics. Furthermore, recovery and extraction efficiencies ca. 90 % were obtained for the extraction of base metals from the non-ferromagnetic fraction in the two different solution matrices tested (H 2SO 4, and HCl). The effect of the pre-extraction of base metals in the increase of precious metals extraction efficiency was verified. On the other hand, the extraction of rare earths from the ferromagnetic fraction, performed by means of anaerobic extraction in acid media, was assessed for the selective recovery of rare earths. We developed a comprehensive flow sheet to process electronic waste to value products.« less

Exploiting Software Tool Towards Easier Use And Higher Efficiency

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lin, G. H.; Su, J. T.; Deng, Y. Y.

2006-08-01

In developing countries, using data based on instrument made by themselves in maximum extent is very important. It is not only related to maximizing science returns upon prophase investment -- deep accumulations in every aspects but also science output. Based on the idea, we are exploiting a software (called THDP: Tool of Huairou Data Processing). It is used for processing a series of issues, which is met necessary in processing data. This paper discusses its designed purpose, functions, method and specialities. The primary vehicle for general data interpretation is through various techniques of data visualization, techniques of interactive. In the software, we employed Object Oriented approach. It is appropriate to the vehicle. it is imperative that the approach provide not only function, but do so in as convenient a fashion as possible. As result of the software exploiting, it is not only easier to learn data processing for beginner and more convenienter to need further improvement for senior but also increase greatly efficiency in every phrases include analyse, parameter adjusting, result display. Under frame of virtual observatory, for developing countries, we should study more and newer related technologies, which can advance ability and efficiency in science research, like the software we are developing

On Efficient Multigrid Methods for Materials Processing Flows with Small Particles

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Thomas, James (Technical Monitor); Diskin, Boris; Harik, VasylMichael

2004-01-01

Multiscale modeling of materials requires simulations of multiple levels of structural hierarchy. The computational efficiency of numerical methods becomes a critical factor for simulating large physical systems with highly desperate length scales. Multigrid methods are known for their superior efficiency in representing/resolving different levels of physical details. The efficiency is achieved by employing interactively different discretizations on different scales (grids). To assist optimization of manufacturing conditions for materials processing with numerous particles (e.g., dispersion of particles, controlling flow viscosity and clusters), a new multigrid algorithm has been developed for a case of multiscale modeling of flows with small particles that have various length scales. The optimal efficiency of the algorithm is crucial for accurate predictions of the effect of processing conditions (e.g., pressure and velocity gradients) on the local flow fields that control the formation of various microstructures or clusters.

Real-Time Measurement of Machine Efficiency during Inertia Friction Welding.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Tung, Daniel Joseph; Mahaffey, David; Senkov, Oleg

Process efficiency is a crucial parameter for inertia friction welding (IFW) that is largely unknown at the present time. A new method has been developed to determine the transient profile of the IFW process efficiency by comparing the workpiece torque used to heat and deform the joint region to the total torque. Particularly, the former is measured by a torque load cell attached to the non-rotating workpiece while the latter is calculated from the deceleration rate of flywheel rotation. The experimentally-measured process efficiency for IFW of AISI 1018 steel rods is validated independently by the upset length estimated from anmore » analytical equation of heat balance and the flash profile calculated from a finite element based thermal stress model. The transient behaviors of torque and efficiency during IFW are discussed based on the energy loss to machine bearings and the bond formation at the joint interface.« less

Developing an Efficient Computational Method that Estimates the Ability of Students in a Web-Based Learning Environment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lee, Young-Jin

2012-01-01

This paper presents a computational method that can efficiently estimate the ability of students from the log files of a Web-based learning environment capturing their problem solving processes. The computational method developed in this study approximates the posterior distribution of the student's ability obtained from the conventional Bayes…

Production technology for high efficiency ion implanted solar cells

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kirkpatrick, A. R.; Minnucci, J. A.; Greenwald, A. C.; Josephs, R. H.

1978-01-01

Ion implantation is being developed for high volume automated production of silicon solar cells. An implanter designed for solar cell processing and able to properly implant up to 300 4-inch wafers per hour is now operational. A machine to implant 180 sq m/hr of solar cell material has been designed. Implanted silicon solar cells with efficiencies exceeding 16% AM1 are now being produced and higher efficiencies are expected. Ion implantation and transient processing by pulsed electron beams are being integrated with electrostatic bonding to accomplish a simple method for large scale, low cost production of high efficiency solar cell arrays.

A method for predicting optimized processing parameters for surfacing

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Dupont, J.N.; Marder, A.R.

1994-12-31

Welding is used extensively for surfacing applications. To operate a surfacing process efficiently, the variables must be optimized to produce low levels of dilution with the substrate while maintaining high deposition rates. An equation for dilution in terms of the welding variables, thermal efficiency factors, and thermophysical properties of the overlay and substrate was developed by balancing energy and mass terms across the welding arc. To test the validity of the resultant dilution equation, the PAW, GTAW, GMAW, and SAW processes were used to deposit austenitic stainless steel onto carbon steel over a wide range of parameters. Arc efficiency measurementsmore » were conducted using a Seebeck arc welding calorimeter. Melting efficiency was determined based on knowledge of the arc efficiency. Dilution was determined for each set of processing parameters using a quantitative image analysis system. The pertinent equations indicate dilution is a function of arc power (corrected for arc efficiency), filler metal feed rate, melting efficiency, and thermophysical properties of the overlay and substrate. With the aid of the dilution equation, the effect of processing parameters on dilution is presented by a new processing diagram. A new method is proposed for determining dilution from welding variables. Dilution is shown to depend on the arc power, filler metal feed rate, arc and melting efficiency, and the thermophysical properties of the overlay and substrate. Calculated dilution levels were compared with measured values over a large range of processing parameters and good agreement was obtained. The results have been applied to generate a processing diagram which can be used to: (1) predict the maximum deposition rate for a given arc power while maintaining adequate fusion with the substrate, and (2) predict the resultant level of dilution with the substrate.« less

Long-Range Planning Can Improve the Efficiency of Agricultural Research and Development.

DTIC Science & Technology

1981-07-24

planning is not done » Conclusions Recommendat ion Agency comments ADVISORY BODIES HAVE HAD MIXED SUCCESS IN AFFECTING LONG-RANGE PLANNING... kfc r Their efforts have more impact on determining priorities for the short-range budgeting cycle rather than influencing development of long...cultural products, (2) developing an efficient marketing and processing system, (3) conserving natural resources, and (4) im- proving the well-being of

EVALUATING THE ENVIRONMENTAL FRIENDLINESS, ECONOMICS, AND ENERGY EFFICIENCY OF CHEMICAL PROCESSES: HEAT INTEGRATION

EPA Science Inventory

The design and improvement of chemical processes can be very challenging. The earlier energy conservation, process economics and environmental aspects are incorporated into the process development, the easier and less expensive it is to alter the process design. In this work diff...

Concise Review: Process Development Considerations for Cell Therapy

PubMed Central

Brieva, Thomas; Raviv, Lior; Rowley, Jon; Niss, Knut; Brandwein, Harvey; Oh, Steve; Karnieli, Ohad

2015-01-01

The development of robust and well-characterized methods of production of cell therapies has become increasingly important as therapies advance through clinical trials toward approval. A successful cell therapy will be a consistent, safe, and effective cell product, regardless of the cell type or application. Process development strategies can be developed to gain efficiency while maintaining or improving safety and quality profiles. This review presents an introduction to the process development challenges of cell therapies and describes some of the tools available to address production issues. This article will provide a summary of what should be considered to efficiently advance a cellular therapy from the research stage through clinical trials and finally toward commercialization. The identification of the basic questions that affect process development is summarized in the target product profile, and considerations for process optimization are discussed. The goal is to identify potential manufacturing concerns early in the process so they may be addressed effectively and thus increase the probability that a therapy will be successful. Significance The present study contributes to the field of cell therapy by providing a resource for those transitioning a potential therapy from the research stage to clinical and commercial applications. It provides the necessary steps that, when followed, can result in successful therapies from both a clinical and commercial perspective. PMID:26315572

Ranking of options of real estate use by expert assessments mathematical processing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lepikhina, O. Yu; Skachkova, M. E.; Mihaelyan, T. A.

2018-05-01

The article is devoted to the development of the real estate assessment concept. In conditions of multivariate using of the real estate method based on calculating, the integral indicator of each variant’s efficiency is proposed. In order to calculate weights of criteria of the efficiency expert method, Analytic hierarchy process and its mathematical support are used. The method allows fulfilling ranking of alternative types of real estate use in dependence of their efficiency. The method was applied for one of the land parcels located on Primorsky district in Saint Petersburg.

Final Report Collaborative Project. Improving the Representation of Coastal and Estuarine Processes in Earth System Models

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bryan, Frank; Dennis, John; MacCready, Parker

This project aimed to improve long term global climate simulations by resolving and enhancing the representation of the processes involved in the cycling of freshwater through estuaries and coastal regions. This was a collaborative multi-institution project consisting of physical oceanographers, climate model developers, and computational scientists. It specifically targeted the DOE objectives of advancing simulation and predictive capability of climate models through improvements in resolution and physical process representation. The main computational objectives were: 1. To develop computationally efficient, but physically based, parameterizations of estuary and continental shelf mixing processes for use in an Earth System Model (CESM). 2. Tomore » develop a two-way nested regional modeling framework in order to dynamically downscale the climate response of particular coastal ocean regions and to upscale the impact of the regional coastal processes to the global climate in an Earth System Model (CESM). 3. To develop computational infrastructure to enhance the efficiency of data transfer between specific sources and destinations, i.e., a point-to-point communication capability, (used in objective 1) within POP, the ocean component of CESM.« less

Development of early handwriting: Visual-motor control during letter copying.

PubMed

Maldarelli, Jennifer E; Kahrs, Björn A; Hunt, Sarah C; Lockman, Jeffrey J

2015-07-01

Despite the importance of handwriting for school readiness and early academic progress, prior research on the development of handwriting has focused primarily on the product rather than the process by which young children write letters. In contrast, in the present work, early handwriting is viewed as involving a suite of perceptual, motor, and cognitive abilities, which must work in unison if children are to write letters efficiently. To study such coordination, head-mounted eye-tracking technology was used to investigate the process of visual-motor coordination while kindergarten children (N = 23) and adults (N = 11) copied individual letters and strings of letters that differed in terms of their phonemic properties. Results indicated that kindergarten children were able to copy single letters efficiently, as did adults. When the cognitive demands of the task increased and children were presented with strings of letters, however, their ability to copy letters efficiently was compromised: Children frequently interrupted their writing midletter, whereas they did not do so on single letter trials. Yet, with increasing age, children became more efficient in copying letter strings, in part by using vision more prospectively when writing. Taken together, the results illustrate how the coordination of perceptual, motor, and cognitive processes contributes to advances in the development of letter writing skill. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

Development of Early Handwriting: Visual-Motor Control During Letter Copying

PubMed Central

Maldarelli, Jennifer E.; Kahrs, Björn A.; Hunt, Sarah C.; Lockman, Jeffrey J.

2015-01-01

Despite the importance of handwriting for school readiness and early academic progress, prior research on the development of handwriting has focused primarily on the product rather than the process by which young children write letters. In contrast, in the present work, early handwriting is viewed as involving a suite of perceptual, motor and cognitive abilities, which must work in unison if children are to write letters efficiently. To study such coordination, head-mounted eye-tracking technology was used to investigate the process of visual-motor coordination while kindergarten children (N=23) and adults (N=11) copied individual letters and strings of letters that differed in terms of their phonemic properties. Results indicated that kindergarten children were able to copy single letters efficiently, as did adults. When the cognitive demands of the task increased and children were presented with strings of letters, however, their ability to copy letters efficiently was compromised: children frequently interrupted their writing mid-letter, whereas they did not do so on single letter trials. Yet, with increasing age, children became more efficient in copying letter strings, in part by using vision more prospectively when writing. Taken together, the results illustrate how the coordination of perceptual, motor and cognitive processes contributes to advances in the development of letter writing skill. PMID:26029821

Development of a large area space solar cell assembly

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Spitzer, M. B.

1982-01-01

The development of a large area high efficiency solar cell assembly is described. The assembly consists of an ion implanted silicon solar cell and glass cover. The important attributes of fabrication are the use of a back surface field which is compatible with a back surface reflector, and integration of coverglass application and cell fabrications. Cell development experiments concerned optimization of ion implantation processing of 2 ohm-cm boron-doped silicon. Process parameters were selected based on these experiments and cells with area of 34.3 sq cm wre fabricated. The average AMO efficiency of the twenty-five best cells was 13.9% and the best bell had an efficiency of 14.4%. An important innovation in cell encapsulation was also developed. In this technique, the coverglass is applied before the cell is sawed to final size. The coverglass and cell are then sawed as a unit. In this way, the cost of the coverglass is reduced, since the tolerance on glass size is relaxed, and costly coverglass/cell alignment procedures are eliminated. Adhesive investigated were EVA, FEP-Teflon sheet and DC 93-500. Details of processing and results are reported.

Enhancement of Treatment Efficiency of Recalcitrant Wastewater Containing Textile Dyes Using a Newly Developed Iron Zeolite Socony Mobil-5 Heterogeneous Catalyst

PubMed Central

Ahmad, Mushtaq; Asghar, Anam; Abdul Raman, Abdul Aziz; Wan Daud, Wan Mohd Ashri

2015-01-01

Fenton oxidation, an advanced oxidation process, is an efficient method for the treatment of recalcitrant wastewaters. Unfortunately, it utilizes H2O2 and iron-based homogeneous catalysts, which lead to the formation of high volumes of sludge and secondary pollutants. To overcome these problems, an alternate option is the usage of heterogeneous catalyst. In this study, a heterogeneous catalyst was developed to provide an alternative solution for homogeneous Fenton oxidation. Iron Zeolite Socony Mobile-5 (Fe-ZSM-5) was synthesized using a new two-step process. Next, the catalyst was characterized by scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller analysis and tested against a model wastewater containing the azo dye Acid Blue 113. Results showed that the loading of iron particles reduced the surface area of the catalyst from 293.59 to 243.93 m2/g; meanwhile, the average particle size of the loaded material was 12.29 nm. Furthermore, efficiency of the developed catalyst was evaluated by performing heterogeneous Fenton oxidation. Taguchi method was coupled with principal component analysis in order to assess and optimize mineralization efficiency. Experimental results showed that under optimized conditions, over 99.7% degradation and 77% mineralization was obtained, with a 90% reduction in the consumption of the developed catalyst. Furthermore, the developed catalyst was stable and reusable, with less than 2% leaching observed under optimized conditions. Thus, the present study proved that newly developed catalyst has enhanced the oxidation process and reduced the chemicals consumption. PMID:26517827

Enhancement of Treatment Efficiency of Recalcitrant Wastewater Containing Textile Dyes Using a Newly Developed Iron Zeolite Socony Mobil-5 Heterogeneous Catalyst.

PubMed

Ahmad, Mushtaq; Asghar, Anam; Abdul Raman, Abdul Aziz; Wan Daud, Wan Mohd Ashri

2015-01-01

Fenton oxidation, an advanced oxidation process, is an efficient method for the treatment of recalcitrant wastewaters. Unfortunately, it utilizes H2O2 and iron-based homogeneous catalysts, which lead to the formation of high volumes of sludge and secondary pollutants. To overcome these problems, an alternate option is the usage of heterogeneous catalyst. In this study, a heterogeneous catalyst was developed to provide an alternative solution for homogeneous Fenton oxidation. Iron Zeolite Socony Mobile-5 (Fe-ZSM-5) was synthesized using a new two-step process. Next, the catalyst was characterized by scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller analysis and tested against a model wastewater containing the azo dye Acid Blue 113. Results showed that the loading of iron particles reduced the surface area of the catalyst from 293.59 to 243.93 m2/g; meanwhile, the average particle size of the loaded material was 12.29 nm. Furthermore, efficiency of the developed catalyst was evaluated by performing heterogeneous Fenton oxidation. Taguchi method was coupled with principal component analysis in order to assess and optimize mineralization efficiency. Experimental results showed that under optimized conditions, over 99.7% degradation and 77% mineralization was obtained, with a 90% reduction in the consumption of the developed catalyst. Furthermore, the developed catalyst was stable and reusable, with less than 2% leaching observed under optimized conditions. Thus, the present study proved that newly developed catalyst has enhanced the oxidation process and reduced the chemicals consumption.

Laser processes and system technology for the production of high-efficient crystalline solar cells

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mayerhofer, R.; Hendel, R.; Zhu, Wenjie; Geiger, S.

2012-10-01

The laser as an industrial tool is an essential part of today's solar cell production. Due to the on-going efforts in the solar industry, to increase the cell efficiency, more and more laser-based processes, which have been discussed and tested at lab-scale for many years, are now being implemented in mass production lines. In order to cope with throughput requirements, standard laser concepts have to be improved continuously with respect to available average power levels, repetition rates or beam profile. Some of the laser concepts, that showed high potential in the past couple of years, will be substituted by other, more economic laser types. Furthermore, requirements for processing with less-heat affected zones fuel the development of industry-ready ultra short pulsed lasers with pulse widths even below the picosecond range. In 2011, the German Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) had launched the program "PV-Innovation Alliance", with the aim to support the rapid transfer of high-efficiency processes out of development departments and research institutes into solar cell production lines. Here, lasers play an important role as production tools, allowing the fast implementation of high-performance solar cell concepts. We will report on the results achieved within the joint project FUTUREFAB, where efficiency optimization, throughput enhancement and cost reduction are the main goals. Here, the presentation will focus on laser processes like selective emitter doping and ablation of dielectric layers. An indispensable part of the efforts towards cost reduction in solar cell production is the improvement of wafer handling and throughput capabilities of the laser processing system. Therefore, the presentation will also elaborate on new developments in the design of complete production machines.

A General-purpose Framework for Parallel Processing of Large-scale LiDAR Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Z.; Hodgson, M.; Li, W.

2016-12-01

Light detection and ranging (LiDAR) technologies have proven efficiency to quickly obtain very detailed Earth surface data for a large spatial extent. Such data is important for scientific discoveries such as Earth and ecological sciences and natural disasters and environmental applications. However, handling LiDAR data poses grand geoprocessing challenges due to data intensity and computational intensity. Previous studies received notable success on parallel processing of LiDAR data to these challenges. However, these studies either relied on high performance computers and specialized hardware (GPUs) or focused mostly on finding customized solutions for some specific algorithms. We developed a general-purpose scalable framework coupled with sophisticated data decomposition and parallelization strategy to efficiently handle big LiDAR data. Specifically, 1) a tile-based spatial index is proposed to manage big LiDAR data in the scalable and fault-tolerable Hadoop distributed file system, 2) two spatial decomposition techniques are developed to enable efficient parallelization of different types of LiDAR processing tasks, and 3) by coupling existing LiDAR processing tools with Hadoop, this framework is able to conduct a variety of LiDAR data processing tasks in parallel in a highly scalable distributed computing environment. The performance and scalability of the framework is evaluated with a series of experiments conducted on a real LiDAR dataset using a proof-of-concept prototype system. The results show that the proposed framework 1) is able to handle massive LiDAR data more efficiently than standalone tools; and 2) provides almost linear scalability in terms of either increased workload (data volume) or increased computing nodes with both spatial decomposition strategies. We believe that the proposed framework provides valuable references on developing a collaborative cyberinfrastructure for processing big earth science data in a highly scalable environment.

Progress in the Development of Metamorphic Multi-Junction III-V Space-Solar Cells at Essential Research Incorporated

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sinharoy, Samar; Patton, Martin O.; Valko, Thomas M., Sr.; Weizer, Victor G.

2002-01-01

Theoretical calculations have shown that highest efficiency III-V multi-junction solar cells require alloy structures that cannot be grown on a lattice-matched substrate. Ever since the first demonstration of high efficiency metamorphic single junction 1.1 eV and 1.2 eV InGaAs solar cells by Essential Research Incorporated (ERI), interest has grown in the development of multi-junction cells of this type using graded buffer layer technology. ERI is currently developing a dual-junction 1.6 eV InGaP/1.1 eV InGaAs tandem cell (projected practical air-mass zero (AM0), one-sun efficiency of 28%, and 100-sun efficiency of 37.5%) under a Ballistic Missile Defense Command (BMDO) SBIR Phase II program. A second ongoing research effort at ERI involves the development of a 2.1 eV AlGaInP/1.6 eV InGaAsP/1.2 eV InGaAs triple-junction concentrator tandem cell (projected practical AM0 efficiency of 36.5% under 100 suns) under a SBIR Phase II program funded by the Air Force. We are in the process of optimizing the dual-junction cell performance. In case of the triple-junction cell, we have developed the bottom and the middle cell, and are in the process of developing the layer structures needed for the top cell. A progress report is presented in this paper.

Progress in a novel architecture for high performance processing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Zhiwei; Liu, Meng; Liu, Zijun; Du, Xueliang; Xie, Shaolin; Ma, Hong; Ding, Guangxin; Ren, Weili; Zhou, Fabiao; Sun, Wenqin; Wang, Huijuan; Wang, Donglin

2018-04-01

The high performance processing (HPP) is an innovative architecture which targets on high performance computing with excellent power efficiency and computing performance. It is suitable for data intensive applications like supercomputing, machine learning and wireless communication. An example chip with four application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) cores which is the first generation of HPP cores has been taped out successfully under Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) 40 nm low power process. The innovative architecture shows great energy efficiency over the traditional central processing unit (CPU) and general-purpose computing on graphics processing units (GPGPU). Compared with MaPU, HPP has made great improvement in architecture. The chip with 32 HPP cores is being developed under TSMC 16 nm field effect transistor (FFC) technology process and is planed to use commercially. The peak performance of this chip can reach 4.3 teraFLOPS (TFLOPS) and its power efficiency is up to 89.5 gigaFLOPS per watt (GFLOPS/W).

ParaBTM: A Parallel Processing Framework for Biomedical Text Mining on Supercomputers.

PubMed

Xing, Yuting; Wu, Chengkun; Yang, Xi; Wang, Wei; Zhu, En; Yin, Jianping

2018-04-27

A prevailing way of extracting valuable information from biomedical literature is to apply text mining methods on unstructured texts. However, the massive amount of literature that needs to be analyzed poses a big data challenge to the processing efficiency of text mining. In this paper, we address this challenge by introducing parallel processing on a supercomputer. We developed paraBTM, a runnable framework that enables parallel text mining on the Tianhe-2 supercomputer. It employs a low-cost yet effective load balancing strategy to maximize the efficiency of parallel processing. We evaluated the performance of paraBTM on several datasets, utilizing three types of named entity recognition tasks as demonstration. Results show that, in most cases, the processing efficiency can be greatly improved with parallel processing, and the proposed load balancing strategy is simple and effective. In addition, our framework can be readily applied to other tasks of biomedical text mining besides NER.

Indicators and Metrics for Evaluating the Sustainability of Chemical Processes

EPA Science Inventory

A metric-based method, called GREENSCOPE, has been developed for evaluating process sustainability. Using lab-scale information and engineering assumptions the method evaluates full-scale epresentations of processes in environmental, efficiency, energy and economic areas. The m...

Electrochemical regeneration of phenol-saturated activated carbon - proposal of a reactor.

PubMed

Zanella, Odivan; Bilibio, Denise; Priamo, Wagner Luiz; Tessaro, Isabel Cristina; Féris, Liliana Amaral

2017-03-01

An electrochemical process was used to investigate the activated carbon regeneration efficiency (RE) saturated with aromatics. For this purpose, an electrochemical reactor was developed and the operational conditions of this equipment were investigated, which is applied in activated carbon regeneration process. The influence of regeneration parameters such as processing time, the current used, the polarity and the processing fluid (electrolyte) were studied. The performance of electrochemical regeneration was evaluated by adsorption tests, using phenol as adsorbate. The increase in current applied and the process time was found to enhance the RE. Another aspect that indicated a better reactor performance was the type of electrolyte used, showing best results for NaCl. The polarity showed the highest influence on the process, when the cathodic regeneration was more efficient. The electrochemical regeneration process developed in this study presented regeneration capacities greater than 100% when the best process conditions were used, showing that this form of regeneration for activated carbon saturated with aromatics is very promising.

Updated estimation of energy efficiencies of U.S. petroleum refineries.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Palou-Rivera, I.; Wang, M. Q.

2010-12-08

Evaluation of life-cycle (or well-to-wheels, WTW) energy and emission impacts of vehicle/fuel systems requires energy use (or energy efficiencies) of energy processing or conversion activities. In most such studies, petroleum fuels are included. Thus, determination of energy efficiencies of petroleum refineries becomes a necessary step for life-cycle analyses of vehicle/fuel systems. Petroleum refinery energy efficiencies can then be used to determine the total amount of process energy use for refinery operation. Furthermore, since refineries produce multiple products, allocation of energy use and emissions associated with petroleum refineries to various petroleum products is needed for WTW analysis of individual fuels suchmore » as gasoline and diesel. In particular, GREET, the life-cycle model developed at Argonne National Laboratory with DOE sponsorship, compares energy use and emissions of various transportation fuels including gasoline and diesel. Energy use in petroleum refineries is key components of well-to-pump (WTP) energy use and emissions of gasoline and diesel. In GREET, petroleum refinery overall energy efficiencies are used to determine petroleum product specific energy efficiencies. Argonne has developed petroleum refining efficiencies from LP simulations of petroleum refineries and EIA survey data of petroleum refineries up to 2006 (see Wang, 2008). This memo documents Argonne's most recent update of petroleum refining efficiencies.« less

Description and Results of the Air Force Research and Development Program for the Improvement of Maintenance Efficiency.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Foley, John P., Jr.

An overview of the Air Force's Research and Development Program for the Improvement of Maintenance Efficiency is provided. First described are the steps found in any detailed task analysis, a process which results in the complete specification of each task involved in an overall maintenance effort. The factors influencing maintenance effectiveness…

Materials interface engineering for solution-processed photovoltaics.

PubMed

Graetzel, Michael; Janssen, René A J; Mitzi, David B; Sargent, Edward H

2012-08-16

Advances in solar photovoltaics are urgently needed to increase the performance and reduce the cost of harvesting solar power. Solution-processed photovoltaics are cost-effective to manufacture and offer the potential for physical flexibility. Rapid progress in their development has increased their solar-power conversion efficiencies. The nanometre (electron) and micrometre (photon) scale interfaces between the crystalline domains that make up solution-processed solar cells are crucial for efficient charge transport. These interfaces include large surface area junctions between photoelectron donors and acceptors, the intralayer grain boundaries within the absorber, and the interfaces between photoactive layers and the top and bottom contacts. Controlling the collection and minimizing the trapping of charge carriers at these boundaries is crucial to efficiency.

Eco-Efficient Process Improvement at the Early Development Stage: Identifying Environmental and Economic Process Hotspots for Synergetic Improvement Potential.

PubMed

Piccinno, Fabiano; Hischier, Roland; Seeger, Stefan; Som, Claudia

2018-05-15

We present here a new eco-efficiency process-improvement method to highlight combined environmental and costs hotspots of the production process of new material at a very early development stage. Production-specific and scaled-up results for life cycle assessment (LCA) and production costs are combined in a new analysis to identify synergetic improvement potentials and trade-offs, setting goals for the eco-design of new processes. The identified hotspots and bottlenecks will help users to focus on the relevant steps for improvements from an eco-efficiency perspective and potentially reduce their associated environmental impacts and production costs. Our method is illustrated with a case study of nanocellulose. The results indicate that the production route should start with carrot pomace, use heat and solvent recovery, and deactivate the enzymes with bleach instead of heat. To further improve the process, the results show that focus should be laid on the carrier polymer, sodium alginate, and the production of the GripX coating. Overall, the method shows that the underlying LCA scale-up framework is valuable for purposes beyond conventional LCA studies and is applicable at a very early stage to provide researchers with a better understanding of their production process.

Optimal design study of high efficiency indium phosphide space solar cells

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jain, Raj K.; Flood, Dennis J.

1990-01-01

Recently indium phosphide solar cells have achieved beginning of life AMO efficiencies in excess of 19 pct. at 25 C. The high efficiency prospects along with superb radiation tolerance make indium phosphide a leading material for space power requirements. To achieve cost effectiveness, practical cell efficiencies have to be raised to near theoretical limits and thin film indium phosphide cells need to be developed. The optimal design study is described of high efficiency indium phosphide solar cells for space power applications using the PC-1D computer program. It is shown that cells with efficiencies over 22 pct. AMO at 25 C could be fabricated by achieving proper material and process parameters. It is observed that further improvements in cell material and process parameters could lead to experimental cell efficiencies near theoretical limits. The effect of various emitter and base parameters on cell performance was studied.

Process Metallurgy an Enabler of Resource Efficiency: Linking Product Design to Metallurgy in Product Centric Recycling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Reuter, Markus; van Schaik, Antoinette

In this paper the link between process metallurgy, classical minerals processing, product centric recycling and urban/landfill mining is discussed. The depth that has to be achieved in urban mining and recycling must glean from the wealth of theoretical knowledge and insight that have been developed in the past in minerals and metallurgical processing. This background learns that recycling demands a product centric approach, which considers simultaneously the multi-material interactions in man-made complex `minerals'. Fast innovation in recycling and urban mining can be achieved by further evolving from this well developed basis, evolving the techniques and tools that have been developed over the years. This basis has already been used for many years to design, operate and control industrial plants for metal production. This has been the basis for Design for Recycling rules for End-of-Life products. Using, among others, the UNEP Metal Recycling report as a basis (authors are respectively Lead and Main authors of report), it is demonstrated that a common theoretical basis as developed in metallurgy and minerals processing can help much to level the playing field between primary processing, secondary processing, recycling, and urban/landfill mining and product design hence enhancing resource efficiency. Thus various scales of detail link product design with metallurgical process design and its fundamentals.

High-Temperature-Short-Time Annealing Process for High-Performance Large-Area Perovskite Solar Cells.

PubMed

Kim, Minjin; Kim, Gi-Hwan; Oh, Kyoung Suk; Jo, Yimhyun; Yoon, Hyun; Kim, Ka-Hyun; Lee, Heon; Kim, Jin Young; Kim, Dong Suk

2017-06-27

Organic-inorganic hybrid metal halide perovskite solar cells (PSCs) are attracting tremendous research interest due to their high solar-to-electric power conversion efficiency with a high possibility of cost-effective fabrication and certified power conversion efficiency now exceeding 22%. Although many effective methods for their application have been developed over the past decade, their practical transition to large-size devices has been restricted by difficulties in achieving high performance. Here we report on the development of a simple and cost-effective production method with high-temperature and short-time annealing processing to obtain uniform, smooth, and large-size grain domains of perovskite films over large areas. With high-temperature short-time annealing at 400 °C for 4 s, the perovskite film with an average domain size of 1 μm was obtained, which resulted in fast solvent evaporation. Solar cells fabricated using this processing technique had a maximum power conversion efficiency exceeding 20% over a 0.1 cm 2 active area and 18% over a 1 cm 2 active area. We believe our approach will enable the realization of highly efficient large-area PCSs for practical development with a very simple and short-time procedure. This simple method should lead the field toward the fabrication of uniform large-scale perovskite films, which are necessary for the production of high-efficiency solar cells that may also be applicable to several other material systems for more widespread practical deployment.

Factors Affecting the Corporate Decision-Making Process of Air Transport Manufacturers

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ollila, R. G.; Hill, J. D.; Noton, B. R.; Duffy, M. A.; Epstein, M. M.

1976-01-01

Fuel economy is a pivotal question influencing the future sale and utilization of commercial aircraft. The NASA Aircraft Energy Efficiency (ACEE) Program Office has a program intended to accelerate the readiness of advanced technologies for energy efficient aircraft. Because the decision to develop a new airframe or engine is a major financial hazard for manufacturers, it is important to know what factors influence the decision making process. A method is described for identifying and ranking individuals and organizations involved at each stage of commercial air transport development, and the barriers that must be overcome in adopting new technologies.

Cell disruption and lipid extraction for microalgal biorefineries: A review.

PubMed

Lee, Soo Youn; Cho, Jun Muk; Chang, Yong Keun; Oh, You-Kwan

2017-11-01

The microalgae-based biorefinement process has attracted much attention from academic and industrial researchers attracted to its biofuel, food and nutraceutical applications. In this paper, recent developments in cell-disruption and lipid-extraction methods, focusing on four biotechnologically important microalgal species (namely, Chlamydomonas, Haematococcus, Chlorella, and Nannochloropsis spp.), are reviewed. The structural diversity and rigidity of microalgal cell walls complicate the development of efficient downstream processing methods for cell-disruption and subsequent recovery of intracellular lipid and pigment components. Various mechanical, chemical and biological cell-disruption methods are discussed in detail and compared based on microalgal species and status (wet/dried), scale, energy consumption, efficiency, solvent extraction, and synergistic combinations. The challenges and prospects of the downstream processes for the future development of eco-friendly and economical microalgal biorefineries also are outlined herein. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Verification of Functional Fault Models and the Use of Resource Efficient Verification Tools

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bis, Rachael; Maul, William A.

2015-01-01

Functional fault models (FFMs) are a directed graph representation of the failure effect propagation paths within a system's physical architecture and are used to support development and real-time diagnostics of complex systems. Verification of these models is required to confirm that the FFMs are correctly built and accurately represent the underlying physical system. However, a manual, comprehensive verification process applied to the FFMs was found to be error prone due to the intensive and customized process necessary to verify each individual component model and to require a burdensome level of resources. To address this problem, automated verification tools have been developed and utilized to mitigate these key pitfalls. This paper discusses the verification of the FFMs and presents the tools that were developed to make the verification process more efficient and effective.

Light Extraction From Solution-Based Processable Electrophosphorescent Organic Light-Emitting Diodes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Krummacher, Benjamin C.; Mathai, Mathew; So, Franky; Choulis, Stelios; Choong, And-En, Vi

2007-06-01

Molecular dye dispersed solution processable blue emitting organic light-emitting devices have been fabricated and the resulting devices exhibit efficiency as high as 25 cd/A. With down-conversion phosphors, white emitting devices have been demonstrated with peak efficiency of 38 cd/A and luminous efficiency of 25 lm/W. The high efficiencies have been a product of proper tuning of carrier transport, optimization of the location of the carrier recombination zone and, hence, microcavity effect, efficient down-conversion from blue to white light, and scattering/isotropic remission due to phosphor particles. An optical model has been developed to investigate all these effects. In contrast to the common misunderstanding that light out-coupling efficiency is about 22% and independent of device architecture, our device data and optical modeling results clearly demonstrated that the light out-coupling efficiency is strongly dependent on the exact location of the recombination zone. Estimating the device internal quantum efficiencies based on external quantum efficiencies without considering the device architecture could lead to erroneous conclusions.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Simpson, L.

ITN Energy Systems, Inc., and Global Solar Energy, Inc., with the assistance of NREL's PV Manufacturing R&D program, have continued the advancement of CIGS production technology through the development of trajectory-oriented predictive/control models, fault-tolerance control, control-platform development, in-situ sensors, and process improvements. Modeling activities to date include the development of physics-based and empirical models for CIGS and sputter-deposition processing, implementation of model-based control, and application of predictive models to the construction of new evaporation sources and for control. Model-based control is enabled through implementation of reduced or empirical models into a control platform. Reliability improvement activities include implementation of preventivemore » maintenance schedules; detection of failed sensors/equipment and reconfiguration to continue processing; and systematic development of fault prevention and reconfiguration strategies for the full range of CIGS PV production deposition processes. In-situ sensor development activities have resulted in improved control and indicated the potential for enhanced process status monitoring and control of the deposition processes. Substantial process improvements have been made, including significant improvement in CIGS uniformity, thickness control, efficiency, yield, and throughput. In large measure, these gains have been driven by process optimization, which, in turn, have been enabled by control and reliability improvements due to this PV Manufacturing R&D program. This has resulted in substantial improvements of flexible CIGS PV module performance and efficiency.« less

Efficiency of innovative technology in construction industry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stverkova, H.; Vaclavik, V.

2017-10-01

The need for sustainability increasingly influences the development of new technologies, business processes and working practices. Innovations are an important part of all business processes. The aim of innovation is, in particular, to reduce the burden on the environment. The current trend in the construction industry is diamond rope cutting. The aim of the paper is to evaluate the most advanced technology for cutting and removing concrete structures in terms of efficiency.

High Temperature Polybenzimidazole Hollow Fiber Membranes for Hydrogen Separation and Carbon Dioxide Capture from Synthesis Gas

DOE PAGES

Singh, Rajinder P.; Dahe, Ganpat J.; Dudeck, Kevin W.; ...

2014-12-31

Sustainable reliance on hydrocarbon feedstocks for energy generation requires CO₂ separation technology development for energy efficient carbon capture from industrial mixed gas streams. High temperature H₂ selective glassy polymer membranes are an attractive option for energy efficient H₂/CO₂ separations in advanced power production schemes with integrated carbon capture. They enable high overall process efficiencies by providing energy efficient CO₂ separations at process relevant operating conditions and correspondingly, minimized parasitic energy losses. Polybenzimidazole (PBI)-based materials have demonstrated commercially attractive H₂/CO₂ separation characteristics and exceptional tolerance to hydrocarbon fuel derived synthesis (syngas) gas operating conditions and chemical environments. To realize a commerciallymore » attractive carbon capture technology based on these PBI materials, development of high performance, robust PBI hollow fiber membranes (HFMs) is required. In this work, we discuss outcomes of our recent efforts to demonstrate and optimize the fabrication and performance of PBI HFMs for use in pre-combustion carbon capture schemes. These efforts have resulted in PBI HFMs with commercially attractive fabrication protocols, defect minimized structures, and commercially attractive permselectivity characteristics at IGCC syngas process relevant conditions. The H₂/CO₂ separation performance of these PBI HFMs presented in this document regarding realistic process conditions is greater than that of any other polymeric system reported to-date.« less

Research on the development efficiency of regional high-end talent in China: A complex network approach

PubMed Central

Zhang, Wenbin

2017-01-01

In this paper, based on the panel data of 31 provinces and cities in China from 1991 to 2016, the regional development efficiency matrix of high-end talent is obtained by DEA method, and the matrix is converted into a continuous change of complex networks through the construction of sliding window. Using a series of continuous changes in the complex network topology statistics, the characteristics of regional high-end talent development efficiency system are analyzed. And the results show that the average development efficiency of high-end talent in the western region is at a low level. After 2005, the national regional high-end talent development efficiency network has both short-range relevance and long-range relevance in the evolution process. The central region plays an important intermediary role in the national regional high-end talent development system. And the western region has high clustering characteristics. With the implementation of the high-end talent policies with regional characteristics by different provinces and cities, the relevance of high-end talent development efficiency in various provinces and cities presents a weakening trend, and the geographical characteristics of high-end talent are more and more obvious. PMID:29272286

Development of a more efficient process for production of fuel ethanol from bamboo.

PubMed

Sun, Zhao-Yong; Wang, Ting; Tan, Li; Tang, Yue-Qin; Kida, Kenji

2015-06-01

A process for production of fuel ethanol from bamboo treated with concentrated sulfuric acid has been previously proposed. To improve efficiency of the process, we tested saccharification with 70 weight% (wt%) sulfuric acid, acid-sugar separation by ion exclusion, addition of nutrients to the ethanol fermentation, and bioconversion of xylose to xylitol. A high efficiency of both sugar recovery (82.5 %) and acid recovery (97.5 %) was achieved in the saccharification process and in the continuous acid-sugar separation using a modified anion exchange resin, respectively. Reduction of the amount of mineral salts added to the saccharified liquid after acid-sugar separation did not negatively affect performance of the continuous ethanol fermentation. The ethanol yield and productivity were 93.7 % and 6 g/l h, respectively, at 35 °C and pH 4.0. And the ethanol yield and productivity were almost the same even at pH 3.5. Moreover, the xylose remaining in the fermented mash was efficiently converted to xylitol in batch fermentation by Candida tropicalis strain 2.1776. These results demonstrate a more efficient process for the production of fuel ethanol from bamboo.

Development of a process for efficient use of CO2 from flue gases in the production of photosynthetic microorganisms.

PubMed

González-López, C V; Acién Fernández, F G; Fernández-Sevilla, J M; Sánchez Fernández, J F; Molina Grima, E

2012-07-01

A new methodology to use efficiently flue gases as CO(2) source in the production of photosynthetic microorganisms is proposed. The CO(2) is absorbed in an aqueous phase that is then regenerated by microalgae. Carbonated solutions could absorb up to 80% of the CO(2) from diluted gas reaching total inorganic carbon (TIC) concentrations up to 2.0 g/L. The pH of the solution was maintained at 8.0-10.0 by the bicarbonate/carbonate buffer, so it is compatible with biological regeneration. The absorption process was modeled and the kinetic parameters were determined. Anabaena sp. demonstrated to tolerate pH (8.0-10.0) and TIC (up to 2.0 g/L) conditions imposed by the absorption step. Experiments of regeneration of the liquid phase demonstrated the feasibility of the overall process, converting CO(2) into organic matter. The developed process avoids heating to regenerate the liquid whereas maximizing the efficiency of CO(2) use, which is relevant to achieve the commercial production of biofuels from microalgae. Copyright © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Processing technology for high efficiency silicon solar cells

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Spitzer, M. B.; Keavney, C. J.

1985-01-01

Recent advances in silicon solar cell processing have led to attainment of conversion efficiency approaching 20%. The basic cell design is investigated and features of greatest importance to achievement of 20% efficiency are indicated. Experiments to separately optimize high efficiency design features in test structures are discussed. The integration of these features in a high efficiency cell is examined. Ion implantation has been used to achieve optimal concentrations of emitter dopant and junction depth. The optimization reflects the trade-off between high sheet conductivity, necessary for high fill factor, and heavy doping effects, which must be minimized for high open circuit voltage. A second important aspect of the design experiments is the development of a passivation process to minimize front surface recombination velocity. The manner in which a thin SiO2 layer may be used for this purpose is indicated without increasing reflection losses, if the antireflection coating is properly designed. Details are presented of processing intended to reduce recombination at the contact/Si interface. Data on cell performance (including CZ and ribbon) and analysis of loss mechanisms are also presented.

Surface etching technologies for monocrystalline silicon wafer solar cells

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tang, Muzhi

With more than 200 GW of accumulated installations in 2015, photovoltaics (PV) has become an important green energy harvesting method. The PV market is dominated by solar cells made from crystalline silicon wafers. The engineering of the wafer surfaces is critical to the solar cell cost reduction and performance enhancement. Therefore, this thesis focuses on the development of surface etching technologies for monocrystalline silicon wafer solar cells. It aims to develop a more efficient alkaline texturing method and more effective surface cleaning processes. Firstly, a rapid, isopropanol alcohol free texturing method is successfully demonstrated to shorten the process time and reduce the consumption of chemicals. This method utilizes the special chemical properties of triethylamine, which can form Si-N bonds with wafer surface atoms. Secondly, a room-temperature anisotropic emitter etch-back process is developed to improve the n+ emitter passivation. Using this method, 19.0% efficient screen-printed aluminium back surface field solar cells are developed that show an efficiency gain of 0.15% (absolute) compared with conventionally made solar cells. Finally, state-of-the-art silicon surface passivation results are achieved using hydrogen plasma etching as a dry alternative to the classical hydrofluoric acid wet-chemical process. The effective native oxide removal and the hydrogenation of the silicon surface are shown to be the reasons for the excellent level of surface passivation achieved with this novel method.

Advanced model-based control strategies for the intensification of upstream and downstream processing in mAb production.

PubMed

Papathanasiou, Maria M; Quiroga-Campano, Ana L; Steinebach, Fabian; Elviro, Montaña; Mantalaris, Athanasios; Pistikopoulos, Efstratios N

2017-07-01

Current industrial trends encourage the development of sustainable, environmentally friendly processes with minimal energy and material consumption. In particular, the increasing market demand in biopharmaceutical industry and the tight regulations in product quality necessitate efficient operating procedures that guarantee products of high purity. In this direction, process intensification via continuous operation paves the way for the development of novel, eco-friendly processes, characterized by higher productivity and lower production costs. This work focuses on the development of advanced control strategies for (i) a cell culture system in a bioreactor and (ii) a semicontinuous purification process. More specifically, we consider a fed-batch culture of GS-NS0 cells and the semicontinuous Multicolumn Countercurrent Solvent Gradient Purification (MCSGP) for the purification process. The controllers are designed following the PAROC framework/software platform and their capabilities are assessed in silico, against the process models. It is demonstrated that the proposed controllers efficiently manage to increase the system productivity, returning strategies that can lead to continuous, stable process operation. © 2017 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Biotechnol. Prog., 33:966-988, 2017. © 2017 American Institute of Chemical Engineers.

Use of lean and six sigma methodology to improve operating room efficiency in a high-volume tertiary-care academic medical center.

PubMed

Cima, Robert R; Brown, Michael J; Hebl, James R; Moore, Robin; Rogers, James C; Kollengode, Anantha; Amstutz, Gwendolyn J; Weisbrod, Cheryl A; Narr, Bradly J; Deschamps, Claude

2011-07-01

Operating rooms (ORs) are resource-intense and costly hospital units. Maximizing OR efficiency is essential to maintaining an economically viable institution. OR efficiency projects often focus on a limited number of ORs or cases. Efforts across an entire OR suite have not been reported. Lean and Six Sigma methodologies were developed in the manufacturing industry to increase efficiency by eliminating non-value-added steps. We applied Lean and Six Sigma methodologies across an entire surgical suite to improve efficiency. A multidisciplinary surgical process improvement team constructed a value stream map of the entire surgical process from the decision for surgery to discharge. Each process step was analyzed in 3 domains, ie, personnel, information processed, and time. Multidisciplinary teams addressed 5 work streams to increase value at each step: minimizing volume variation; streamlining the preoperative process; reducing nonoperative time; eliminating redundant information; and promoting employee engagement. Process improvements were implemented sequentially in surgical specialties. Key performance metrics were collected before and after implementation. Across 3 surgical specialties, process redesign resulted in substantial improvements in on-time starts and reduction in number of cases past 5 pm. Substantial gains were achieved in nonoperative time, staff overtime, and ORs saved. These changes resulted in substantial increases in margin/OR/day. Use of Lean and Six Sigma methodologies increased OR efficiency and financial performance across an entire operating suite. Process mapping, leadership support, staff engagement, and sharing performance metrics are keys to enhancing OR efficiency. The performance gains were substantial, sustainable, positive financially, and transferrable to other specialties. Copyright © 2011 American College of Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Efficiency improvement of technological preparation of power equipment manufacturing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Milukov, I. A.; Rogalev, A. N.; Sokolov, V. P.; Shevchenko, I. V.

2017-11-01

Competitiveness of power equipment primarily depends on speeding-up the development and mastering of new equipment samples and technologies, enhancement of organisation and management of design, manufacturing and operation. Actual political, technological and economic conditions cause the acute need in changing the strategy and tactics of process planning. At that the issues of maintenance of equipment with simultaneous improvement of its efficiency and compatibility to domestically produced components are considering. In order to solve these problems, using the systems of computer-aided process planning for process design at all stages of power equipment life cycle is economically viable. Computer-aided process planning is developed for the purpose of improvement of process planning by using mathematical methods and optimisation of design and management processes on the basis of CALS technologies, which allows for simultaneous process design, process planning organisation and management based on mathematical and physical modelling of interrelated design objects and production system. An integration of computer-aided systems providing the interaction of informative and material processes at all stages of product life cycle is proposed as effective solution to the challenges in new equipment design and process planning.

I/O efficient algorithms and applications in geographic information systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Danner, Andrew

Modern remote sensing methods such a laser altimetry (lidar) and Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (IfSAR) produce georeferenced elevation data at unprecedented rates. Many Geographic Information System (GIS) algorithms designed for terrain modelling applications cannot process these massive data sets. The primary problem is that these data sets are too large to fit in the main internal memory of modern computers and must therefore reside on larger, but considerably slower disks. In these applications, the transfer of data between disk and main memory, or I/O, becomes the primary bottleneck. Working in a theoretical model that more accurately represents this two level memory hierarchy, we can develop algorithms that are I/O-efficient and reduce the amount of disk I/O needed to solve a problem. In this thesis we aim to modernize GIS algorithms and develop a number of I/O-efficient algorithms for processing geographic data derived from massive elevation data sets. For each application, we convert a geographic question to an algorithmic question, develop an I/O-efficient algorithm that is theoretically efficient, implement our approach and verify its performance using real-world data. The applications we consider include constructing a gridded digital elevation model (DEM) from an irregularly spaced point cloud, removing topological noise from a DEM, modeling surface water flow over a terrain, extracting river networks and watershed hierarchies from the terrain, and locating polygons containing query points in a planar subdivision. We initially developed solutions to each of these applications individually. However, we also show how to combine individual solutions to form a scalable geo-processing pipeline that seamlessly solves a sequence of sub-problems with little or no manual intervention. We present experimental results that demonstrate orders of magnitude improvement over previously known algorithms.

Assessment of the degradation efficiency of full-scale biogas plants: A comparative study of degradation indicators.

PubMed

Li, Chao; Nges, Ivo Achu; Lu, Wenjing; Wang, Haoyu

2017-11-01

Increasing popularity and applications of the anaerobic digestion (AD) process has necessitated the development and identification of tools for obtaining reliable indicators of organic matter degradation rate and hence evaluate the process efficiency especially in full-scale, commercial biogas plants. In this study, four biogas plants (A1, A2, B and C) based on different feedstock, process configuration, scale and operational performance were selected and investigated. Results showed that the biochemical methane potential (BMP) based degradation rate could be use in incisively gauging process efficiency in lieu of the traditional degradation rate indicators. The BMP degradation rates ranged from 70 to 90% wherein plants A2 and C showed the highest throughput. This study, therefore, corroborates the feasibility of using the BMP degradation rate as a practical tool for evaluating process performance in full-scale biogas processes and spots light on the microbial diversity in full-scale biogas processes. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Development of high efficiency (14 percent) solar cell array module

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Iles, P. A.; Khemthong, S.; Olah, S.; Sampson, W. J.; Ling, K. S.

1980-01-01

Most effort was concentrated on development of procedures to provide large area (3 in. diameter) high efficiency (16.5 percent AM1, 28 C) P+NN+ solar cells. Intensive tests with 3 in. slices gave consistently lower efficiency (13.5 percent). The problems were identified as incomplete formation of and optimum back surface field (BSF), and interaction of the BSF process and the shallow P+ junction. The problem was shown not to be caused by reduced quality of silicon near the edges of the larger slices.

An Ada implementation of the network manager for the advanced information processing system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nagle, Gail A.

1986-01-01

From an implementation standpoint, the Ada language provided many features which facilitated the data and procedure abstraction process. The language supported a design which was dynamically flexible (despite strong typing), modular, and self-documenting. Adequate training of programmers requires access to an efficient compiler which supports full Ada. When the performance issues for real time processing are finally addressed by more stringent requirements for tasking features and the development of efficient run-time environments for embedded systems, the full power of the language will be realized.

Application of Two-Sided Matching to Internal Labor of the Hellenic Navy

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-03-01

were developed, leading to the introduction of various choice programs that allow parents to pick schools for their children within or outside...any nature (i.e., military) plays a crucial role towards the direction of efficiency and effectiveness. A well-designed assignment process is a handy...v ABSTRACT The assignment process in an organization of any nature (i.e., military) plays a crucial role towards the direction of efficiency and

Simplified procedures for correlation of experimentally measured and predicted thrust chamber performance

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Powell, W. B.

1973-01-01

Thrust chamber performance is evaluated in terms of an analytical model incorporating all the loss processes that occur in a real rocket motor. The important loss processes in the real thrust chamber were identified, and a methodology and recommended procedure for predicting real thrust chamber vacuum specific impulse were developed. Simplified equations for the calculation of vacuum specific impulse are developed to relate the delivered performance (both vacuum specific impulse and characteristic velocity) to the ideal performance as degraded by the losses corresponding to a specified list of loss processes. These simplified equations enable the various performance loss components, and the corresponding efficiencies, to be quantified separately (except that interaction effects are arbitrarily assigned in the process). The loss and efficiency expressions presented can be used to evaluate experimentally measured thrust chamber performance, to direct development effort into the areas most likely to yield improvements in performance, and as a basis to predict performance of related thrust chamber configurations.

Adaptation of in-situ microscopy for crystallization processes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bluma, A.; Höpfner, T.; Rudolph, G.; Lindner, P.; Beutel, S.; Hitzmann, B.; Scheper, T.

2009-08-01

In biotechnological and pharmaceutical engineering, the study of crystallization processes gains importance. An efficient analytical inline sensor could help to improve the knowledge about these processes in order to increase efficiency and yields. The in-situ microscope (ISM) is an optical sensor developed for the monitoring of bioprocesses. A new application for this sensor is the monitoring in downstream processes, e.g. the crystallization of proteins and other organic compounds. This contribution shows new aspects of using in-situ microscopy to monitor crystallization processes. Crystals of different chemical compounds were precipitated from supersaturated solutions and the crystal growth was monitored. Exemplified morphological properties and different forms of crystals could be distinguished on the basis of offline experiments. For inline monitoring of crystallization processes, a special 0.5 L stirred tank reactor was developed and equipped with the in-situ microscope. This reactor was utilized to carry out batch experiments for crystallizations of O-acetylsalicyclic acid (ASS) and hen egg white lysozyme (HEWL). During the whole crystallization process, the in-situ microscope system acquired images directly from the crystallization broth. For the data evaluation, an image analysis algorithm was developed and implemented in the microscope analysis software.

Recovery of high-purity silver directly from dilute effluents by an emulsion liquid membrane-crystallization process.

PubMed

Tang, Bing; Yu, Guojun; Fang, Jianzhang; Shi, Taihong

2010-05-15

An emulsion liquid membrane (ELM)-crystallization process, using hypophosphorous acid as a reducing agent in the internal aqueous phase, has been developed for the purpose of recovering high-purity silver directly from dilute industrial effluents (waste rinse water). After pretreatment with HNO(3), silver in waste rinse water can be reliably recovered with high efficiency through the established process. The main parameters in the process of ELM-crystallization include the concentration of carrier in the membrane phase, the concentration of reducing agent in the internal aqueous phase, and the treatment ratio, which influence the recovery efficiency to various extents and must be controlled carefully. The results indicated that more than 99.5% (wt.) of the silver ions in the external aqueous phase were extracted by the ELM-crystallization process, with an average efficiency of recovery of 99.24% (wt.) and a purity of 99.92% (wt.). The membrane phase can be used repeatedly without loss of the efficiency of recovery. Copyright (c) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Hydrodynamic cavitation as a strategy to enhance the efficiency of lignocellulosic biomass pretreatment.

PubMed

Terán Hilares, Ruly; Ramos, Lucas; da Silva, Silvio Silvério; Dragone, Giuliano; Mussatto, Solange I; Santos, Júlio César Dos

2018-06-01

Hydrodynamic cavitation (HC) is a process technology with potential for application in different areas including environmental, food processing, and biofuels production. Although HC is an undesirable phenomenon for hydraulic equipment, the net energy released during this process is enough to accelerate certain chemical reactions. The application of cavitation energy to enhance the efficiency of lignocellulosic biomass pretreatment is an interesting strategy proposed for integration in biorefineries for the production of bio-based products. Moreover, the use of an HC-assisted process was demonstrated as an attractive alternative when compared to other conventional pretreatment technologies. This is not only due to high pretreatment efficiency resulting in high enzymatic digestibility of carbohydrate fraction, but also, by its high energy efficiency, simple configuration, and construction of systems, besides the possibility of using on the large scale. This paper gives an overview regarding HC technology and its potential for application on the pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass. The parameters affecting this process and the perspectives for future developments in this area are also presented and discussed.

76 FR 70376 - Efficiency and Renewables Advisory Committee; Notice of Meeting

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-11-14

...-Voltage Dry-Type Distribution Transformers. The Liquid Immersed and Medium-Voltage Dry- Type Group (MV... of distribution transformers, as authorized by the Energy Policy Conservation Act (EPCA) of 1975, as... negotiated rulemaking process to develop proposed energy efficiency standards for distribution transformers...

Guidelines for Energy-Efficient Sustainable Schools.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nicklas, Michael; Bailey, Gary; Rosemain, Pascale; Olin, Samuel

These guidelines present optional strategies to be considered in designing schools to be more energy efficient and sustainable. The guidelines are organized by the following design and construction process: site selection; selection of A & E design team; programming and goal setting; schematic design; design development; construction…

Chemical Fabrication Used to Produce Thin-Film Materials for High Power-to- Weight-Ratio Space Photovoltaic Arrays

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hepp, Aloysius F.; Rybicki, George C.; Raffaelle, Ryne P.; Harris, Jerry D.; Hehemann, David G.; Junek, William; Gorse, Joseph; Thompson, Tracy L.; Hollingsworth, Jennifer A.; Buhro, William E.

2000-01-01

The key to achieving high specific power (watts per kilogram) space solar arrays is the development of a high-efficiency, thin-film solar cell that can be fabricated directly on a flexible, lightweight, space-qualified durable substrate such as Kapton (DuPont) or other polyimide or suitable polymer film. Cell efficiencies approaching 20 percent at AM0 (air mass zero) are required. Current thin-film cell fabrication approaches are limited by either (1) the ultimate efficiency that can be achieved with the device material and structure or (2) the requirement for high-temperature deposition processes that are incompatible with all presently known flexible polyimide or other polymer substrate materials. Cell fabrication processes must be developed that will produce high-efficiency cells at temperatures below 400 degrees Celsius, and preferably below 300 degress Celsius to minimize the problems associated with the difference between the coefficients of thermal expansion of the substrate and thin-film solar cell and/or the decomposition of the substrate.

A new integrated evaluation method of heavy metals pollution control during melting and sintering of MSWI fly ash.

PubMed

Li, Rundong; Li, Yanlong; Yang, Tianhua; Wang, Lei; Wang, Weiyun

2015-05-30

Evaluations of technologies for heavy metal control mainly examine the residual and leaching rates of a single heavy metal, such that developed evaluation method have no coordination or uniqueness and are therefore unsuitable for hazard control effect evaluation. An overall pollution toxicity index (OPTI) was established in this paper, based on the developed index, an integrated evaluation method of heavy metal pollution control was established. Application of this method in the melting and sintering of fly ash revealed the following results: The integrated control efficiency of the melting process was higher in all instances than that of the sintering process. The lowest integrated control efficiency of melting was 56.2%, and the highest integrated control efficiency of sintering was 46.6%. Using the same technology, higher integrated control efficiency conditions were all achieved with lower temperatures and shorter times. This study demonstrated the unification and consistency of this method. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Engineered Emitters for Improved Silicon Photovoltaics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kamat, Ronak A.

In 2014, installation of 5.3GW of new Photovoltaic (PV) systems occurred in the United States, raising the total installed capacity to 16.36GW. Strong growth is predicted for the domestic PV market with analysts reporting goals of 696GW by 2020. Conventional single crystalline silicon cells are the technology of choice, accounting for 90% of the installations in the global commercial market. Cells made of GaAs offer higher efficiencies, but at a substantially higher cost. Thin film technologies such as CIGS and CdTe compete favorably with multi-crystalline Si (u-Si), but at 20% efficiency, still lag the c-Si cell in performance. The c-Si cell can be fabricated to operate at approximately 25% efficiency, but commercially the efficiencies are in the 18-21% range, which is a direct result of cost trade-offs between process complexity and rapid throughput. With the current cost of c-Si cell modules at nearly 0.60/W. The technology is well below the historic metric of 1/W for economic viability. The result is that more complex processes, once cost-prohibitive, may now be viable. An example is Panasonic's HIT cell which operates in the 22-24% efficiency range. To facilitate research and development of novel PV materials and techniques, RIT has developed a basic solar cell fabrication process. Student projects prior to this work had produced cells with 12.8% efficiency using p type substrates. This thesis reports on recent work to improve cell efficiencies while simultaneously expanding the capability of the rapid prototyping process. In addition to the p-Si substrates, cells have been produced using n-Si substrates. The cell emitter, which is often done with a single diffusion or implant has been re-engineered using a dual implant of the same dose. This dual-implanted emitter has been shown to lower contact resistance, increase Voc, and increase the efficiency. A p-Si substrate cell has been fabricated with an efficiency of 14.6% and n-Si substrate cell with a 13.5% efficiency. Further improvements could be made through the incorporation of a front-surface field, surface texturing and nitride ARC.

An efficient route to bispecific antibody production using single-reactor mammalian co-culture

PubMed Central

Shatz, Whitney; Ng, Domingos; Dutina, George; Wong, Athena W.; Sonoda, Junichiro; Scheer, Justin M.

2016-01-01

ABSTRACT Bispecific antibodies have shown promise in the clinic as medicines with novel mechanisms of action. Lack of efficient production of bispecific IgGs, however, has limited their rapid advancement. Here, we describe a single-reactor process using mammalian cell co-culture production to efficiently produce a bispecific IgG with 4 distinct polypeptide chains without the need for parallel processing of each half-antibody or additional framework mutations. This method resembles a conventional process, and the quality and yield of the monoclonal antibodies are equal to those produced using parallel processing methods. We demonstrate the application of the approach to diverse bispecific antibodies, and its suitability for production of a tissue specific molecule targeting fibroblast growth factor receptor 1 and klotho β that is being developed for type 2 diabetes and other obesity-linked disorders. PMID:27680183

Efficiency, costs and benefits of AOPs for removal of pharmaceuticals from the water cycle.

PubMed

Tuerk, J; Sayder, B; Boergers, A; Vitz, H; Kiffmeyer, T K; Kabasci, S

2010-01-01

Different advanced oxidation processes (AOP) were developed for the treatment of highly loaded wastewater streams. Optimisation of removal and improvement of efficiency were carried out on a laboratory, semiworks and pilot plant scale. The persistent cytostatic drug cyclophosphamide was selected as a reference substance regarding elimination and evaluation of the various oxidation processes because of its low degradability rate. The investigated processes are cost-efficient and suitable regarding the treatment of wastewater streams since they lead to efficient elimination of antibiotics and antineoplastics. A total reduction of toxicity was proven by means of the umuC-test. However, in order to reduce pharmaceuticals from the water cycle, it must be considered that the input of more than 80 % of the pharmaceuticals entering wastewater treatment systems results from private households. Therefore, advanced technologies should also be installed at wastewater treatment plants.

Quarterly Report: Microchannel-Assisted Nanomaterial Deposition Technology for Photovoltaic Material Production

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Palo, Daniel R.

2011-04-26

Quarterly report to ITP for Nanomanufacturing program. Report covers FY11 Q2. The primary objective of this project is to develop a nanomanufacturing process which will reduce the manufacturing energy, environmental discharge, and production cost associated with current nano-scale thin-film photovoltaic (PV) manufacturing approaches. The secondary objective is to use a derivative of this nanomanufacturing process to enable greener, more efficient manufacturing of higher efficiency quantum dot-based photovoltaic cells now under development. The work is to develop and demonstrate a scalable (pilot) microreactor-assisted nanomaterial processing platform for the production, purification, functionalization, and solution deposition of nanomaterials for photovoltaic applications. The highmore » level task duration is shown. Phase I consists of a pilot platform for Gen II PV films along with parallel efforts aimed at Gen III PV quantum dot materials. Status of each task is described.« less

Refractory metals for ARPS AMTEC cells

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Svedberg, R.C.; Sievers, R.C.

1998-07-01

Alkali Metal Thermal-to-Electric Converter (AMTEC) cells for the Advanced Radioisotope Power Systems (ARPS) program are being developed with refractory metals and alloys as the basic structural materials. AMTEC cell efficiency increases with cell operating temperature. For space applications, long term reliability and high efficiency are essential and refractory metals were selected because of their high temperature strength, low vapor pressure, and compatibility with sodium. However, refractory metals are sensitive to oxygen, nitrogen and hydrogen contamination and refractory metal cells cannot be processed in air. Because of this sensitivity, new manufacturing and processing techniques are being developed. In addition to structuralmore » elements, development of other refractory metal components for the AMTEC cells, such as the artery and evaporator wicks, pinchoff tubes and feedthroughs are required. Changes in cell fabrication techniques and processing procedures being implemented to manufacture refractory metal cells are discussed.« less

A modified indirect mathematical model for evaluation of ethanol production efficiency in industrial-scale continuous fermentation processes.

PubMed

Canseco Grellet, M A; Castagnaro, A; Dantur, K I; De Boeck, G; Ahmed, P M; Cárdenas, G J; Welin, B; Ruiz, R M

2016-10-01

To calculate fermentation efficiency in a continuous ethanol production process, we aimed to develop a robust mathematical method based on the analysis of metabolic by-product formation. This method is in contrast to the traditional way of calculating ethanol fermentation efficiency, where the ratio between the ethanol produced and the sugar consumed is expressed as a percentage of the theoretical conversion yield. Comparison between the two methods, at industrial scale and in sensitivity studies, showed that the indirect method was more robust and gave slightly higher fermentation efficiency values, although fermentation efficiency of the industrial process was found to be low (~75%). The traditional calculation method is simpler than the indirect method as it only requires a few chemical determinations in samples collected. However, a minor error in any measured parameter will have an important impact on the calculated efficiency. In contrast, the indirect method of calculation requires a greater number of determinations but is much more robust since an error in any parameter will only have a minor effect on the fermentation efficiency value. The application of the indirect calculation methodology in order to evaluate the real situation of the process and to reach an optimum fermentation yield for an industrial-scale ethanol production is recommended. Once a high fermentation yield has been reached the traditional method should be used to maintain the control of the process. Upon detection of lower yields in an optimized process the indirect method should be employed as it permits a more accurate diagnosis of causes of yield losses in order to correct the problem rapidly. The low fermentation efficiency obtained in this study shows an urgent need for industrial process optimization where the indirect calculation methodology will be an important tool to determine process losses. © 2016 The Society for Applied Microbiology.

Effective sulfur and energy recovery from hydrogen sulfide through incorporating an air-cathode fuel cell into chelated-iron process.

PubMed

Sun, Min; Song, Wei; Zhai, Lin-Feng; Cui, Yu-Zhi

2013-12-15

The chelated-iron process is among the most promising techniques for the hydrogen sulfide (H2S) removal due to its double advantage of waste minimization and resource recovery. However, this technology has encountered the problem of chelate degradation which made it difficult to ensure reliable and economical operation. This work aims to develop a novel fuel-cell-assisted chelated-iron process which employs an air-cathode fuel cell for the catalyst regeneration. By using such a process, sulfur and electricity were effectively recovered from H2S and the problem of chelate degradation was well controlled. Experiment on a synthetic sulfide solution showed the fuel-cell-assisted chelated-iron process could maintain high sulfur recovery efficiencies generally above 90.0%. The EDTA was preferable to NTA as the chelating agent for electricity generation, given the Coulombic efficiencies (CEs) of 17.8 ± 0.5% to 75.1 ± 0.5% for the EDTA-chelated process versus 9.6 ± 0.8% to 51.1 ± 2.7% for the NTA-chelated process in the pH range of 4.0-10.0. The Fe (III)/S(2-) ratio exhibited notable influence on the electricity generation, with the CEs improved by more than 25% as the Fe (III)/S(2-) molar ratio increased from 2.5:1 to 3.5:1. Application of this novel process in treating a H2S-containing biogas stream achieved 99% of H2S removal efficiency, 78% of sulfur recovery efficiency, and 78.6% of energy recovery efficiency, suggesting the fuel-cell-assisted chelated-iron process was effective to remove the H2S from gas streams with favorable sulfur and energy recovery efficiencies. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Translational science: past, present, and future.

PubMed

Curry, Stephen H

2008-02-01

The concept of translational science is at least 15 years old. However, in its most recent incarnation, it represents the identification of a funding category designed to encourage academic participation in a critical stage of the drug discovery and product development process. It is hoped that this will make the process both shorter and more efficient. In this review, the author first considers the historical development of the pharmaceutical R&D process. The place of translational science in the process, the scientific techniques involved, and aspects of the business environment necessary for its success are then considered. Translational science does not displace preclinical development. Both concepts are relevant to the paramount importance of successfully and expeditiously bridging the gap between preclinical science and clinical testing, "from bench to bedside." Translational science is particularly likely to stimulate biomarker research in the universities and related business community and will probably give a modest boost to early clinical testing and commercialization of discoveries within the academic setting. Whether there will be a consequent improvement in the quality and efficiency of the overall process remains to be seen.

Crystallization using reverse micelles and water-in-oil microemulsion systems: the highly selective tool for the purification of organic compounds from complex mixtures.

PubMed

Kljajic, Alen; Bester-Rogac, Marija; Klobcar, Andrej; Zupet, Rok; Pejovnik, Stane

2013-02-01

The active pharmaceutical ingredient orlistat is usually manufactured using a semi-synthetic procedure, producing crude product and complex mixtures of highly related impurities with minimal side-chain structure variability. It is therefore crucial for the overall success of industrial/pharmaceutical application to develop an effective purification process. In this communication, we present the newly developed water-in-oil reversed micelles and microemulsion system-based crystallization process. Physiochemical properties of the presented crystallization media were varied through surfactants and water composition, and the impact on efficiency was measured through final variation of these two parameters. Using precisely defined properties of the dispersed water phase in crystallization media, a highly efficient separation process in terms of selectivity and yield was developed. Small-angle X-ray scattering, high-performance liquid chromatography, mass spectrometry, and scanning electron microscopy were used to monitor and analyze the separation processes and orlistat products obtained. Typical process characteristics, especially selectivity and yield in regard to reference examples, were compared and discussed. Copyright © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Efficient 10 kW diode-pumped Nd:YAG rod laser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Akiyama, Yasuhiro; Takada, Hiroyuki; Sasaki, Mitsuo; Yuasa, Hiroshi; Nishida, Naoto

2003-03-01

As a tool for high speed and high precision material processing such as cutting and welding, we developed a rod-type all-solid-state laser with an average power of more than 10 kW, an electrical-optical efficiency of more than 20%, and a laser head volume of less than 0.05 m3. We developed a highly efficient diode pumped module, and successfully obtained electrical-optical efficiencies of 22% in CW operation and 26% in QCW operation at multi-kW output powers. We also succeeded to reduce the laser head volume, and obtained the output power of 12 kW with an efficiency of 23%, and laser head volume of 0.045 m3. We transferred the technology to SHIBAURA mechatronics corp., who started to provide the LD pumped Nd:YAG laser system with output power up to 4.5 kW. We are now continuing development for further high power laser equipment.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Erga, O.; Finborud, A.

Cost-effective FGD processes with high SO{sub 2} removal efficiencies are required for fossil-fired power plants. With high-sulfur fuel, conventional limestone processes are less ideal, and regenerative processes with SO{sub 2} recovery may offer important advantages. The Elsorb process, which is being developed by the Norwegian company Elkem Technology a.s., is a regenerable SO{sub 2} recovery process which operates on the principle of chemical absorption followed by regeneration by evaporation. The process is based on the use of a chemical stable sodium phosphate buffer in high concentration. It combines high cleaning efficiency with high cyclic absorption capacity, moderate energy requirement, andmore » very little oxidation losses. The process produces SO{sub 2} (g) which can be converted into liquid SO{sub 2}, sulfuric acid or elemental sulfur. The Elsorb process has been pilot tested on flue gas from a coal-fired boiler with very promising results, concerning cleaning efficiency and oxidation losses of SO{sub 2}. The first commercial Elsorb plant has been installed for treating incinerated Claus tail gas. Preliminary data regarding cleaning efficiency are in accordance with the pilot tests. However, unexpected high consumption of make-up chemicals were encountered. The existing incinerator is now to be modified. Complete data for the Elsorb plant should be available later this year. 1 fig.« less

Smart information system for gachon university gil hospital.

PubMed

Park, Dong Kyun; Jung, Eun Young; Jeong, Byung Hui; Moon, Byung Chan; Kang, Hyung Wook; Tchah, Hann; Han, Gi Seong; Cheng, Woo Sung; Lee, Young Ho

2012-03-01

In this research, the hospital information system of Gachon University Gil hospital is introduced and a future strategy for hospital information systems is proposed. This research introduces the development conditions of hospital information system at Gachon University Gil hospital, information about the development of the enterprise resource planning (ERP), a medical service process improvement system, and the personal health record (PHR) system. The medical service process and work efficiency were improved through the medical service process improvement system, which is the most common hospital information system at Gachon University Gil hospital and which includes an emergency medical service system, an online evaluation system and a round support system. Gachon University Gil hospital developed medical service improvement systems to increase work efficiency of medical team and optimized the systems to prove the availability of high-quality medical services for patients and their families. The PHR-based personalized health care solution is under development and will provide higher quality medical service for more patients in the future.

Smart Information System for Gachon University Gil Hospital

PubMed Central

Jung, Eun Young; Jeong, Byung Hui; Moon, Byung Chan; Kang, Hyung Wook; Tchah, Hann; Han, Gi Seong; Cheng, Woo Sung; Lee, Young Ho

2012-01-01

Objectives In this research, the hospital information system of Gachon University Gil hospital is introduced and a future strategy for hospital information systems is proposed. Methods This research introduces the development conditions of hospital information system at Gachon University Gil hospital, information about the development of the enterprise resource planning (ERP), a medical service process improvement system, and the personal health record (PHR) system. Results The medical service process and work efficiency were improved through the medical service process improvement system, which is the most common hospital information system at Gachon University Gil hospital and which includes an emergency medical service system, an online evaluation system and a round support system. Conclusions Gachon University Gil hospital developed medical service improvement systems to increase work efficiency of medical team and optimized the systems to prove the availability of high-quality medical services for patients and their families. The PHR-based personalized health care solution is under development and will provide higher quality medical service for more patients in the future. PMID:22509476

Reconfigurable Very Long Instruction Word (VLIW) Processor

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Velev, Miroslav N.

2015-01-01

Future NASA missions will depend on radiation-hardened, power-efficient processing systems-on-a-chip (SOCs) that consist of a range of processor cores custom tailored for space applications. Aries Design Automation, LLC, has developed a processing SOC that is optimized for software-defined radio (SDR) uses. The innovation implements the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) RazorII voltage management technique, a microarchitectural mechanism that allows processor cores to self-monitor, self-analyze, and selfheal after timing errors, regardless of their cause (e.g., radiation; chip aging; variations in the voltage, frequency, temperature, or manufacturing process). This highly automated SOC can also execute legacy PowerPC 750 binary code instruction set architecture (ISA), which is used in the flight-control computers of many previous NASA space missions. In developing this innovation, Aries Design Automation has made significant contributions to the fields of formal verification of complex pipelined microprocessors and Boolean satisfiability (SAT) and has developed highly efficient electronic design automation tools that hold promise for future developments.

Staged, High-Pressure Oxy-Combustion Technology: Development and Scale-Up

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Axelbaum, Richard; Kumfer, Benjamin; Gopan, Akshay

The immediate need for a high efficiency, low cost carbon capture process has prompted the recent development of pressurized oxy-combustion. With a greater combustion pressure the dew point of the flue gas is increased, allowing for effective integration of the latent heat of flue gas moisture into the Rankine cycle. This increases the net plant efficiency and reduces costs. A novel, transformational process, named Staged, Pressurized Oxy-Combustion (SPOC), achieves additional step changes in efficiency and cost reduction by significantly reducing the recycle of flue gas. The research and development activities conducted under Phases I and II of this project (FE0009702)more » include: SPOC power plant cost and performance modeling, CFD-assisted design of pressurized SPOC boilers, theoretical analysis of radiant heat transfer and ash deposition, boiler materials corrosion testing, construction of a 100 kWth POC test facility, and experimental testing. The results of this project have advanced the technology readiness level (TRL) of the SPOC technology from 1 to 5.« less

Probabilistic cost-benefit analysis of disaster risk management in a development context.

PubMed

Kull, Daniel; Mechler, Reinhard; Hochrainer-Stigler, Stefan

2013-07-01

Limited studies have shown that disaster risk management (DRM) can be cost-efficient in a development context. Cost-benefit analysis (CBA) is an evaluation tool to analyse economic efficiency. This research introduces quantitative, stochastic CBA frameworks and applies them in case studies of flood and drought risk reduction in India and Pakistan, while also incorporating projected climate change impacts. DRM interventions are shown to be economically efficient, with integrated approaches more cost-effective and robust than singular interventions. The paper highlights that CBA can be a useful tool if certain issues are considered properly, including: complexities in estimating risk; data dependency of results; negative effects of interventions; and distributional aspects. The design and process of CBA must take into account specific objectives, available information, resources, and the perceptions and needs of stakeholders as transparently as possible. Intervention design and uncertainties should be qualified through dialogue, indicating that process is as important as numerical results. © 2013 The Author(s). Journal compilation © Overseas Development Institute, 2013.

Gender, globalisation, and democracy.

PubMed

Walby, S

2000-03-01

This article discusses the link between gender, globalization and democracy in relation to women¿s empowerment. Analyzing gender relations within the processes of development planning involves five approaches: 1) welfare, 2) equity, 3) anti-poverty, 4) efficiency, and 5) empowerment. In addition, a new approach, which combines efficiency and empowerment, must be added to highlight the problematic nature of the direction of causality assumed by traditional theory of development. The rise on women's representation in national parliament can be attributed to the increase of women's economic power and women's political struggles. However, promotion of globalization produces new opportunities for feminist politics, as well as difficulties, which include: the emergent position of productive engagement in which an efficient economy and democratic society are seen as interdependent; and increase in parliamentary representation correlates with increased paid employment for women. In conclusion, the author underscores that globalization is a gendered process which is restructuring social relations on a large scale and the challenges it bring provide opportunities for women in development.

Highly efficient conversion of plant oil to bio-aviation fuel and valuable chemicals by combination of enzymatic transesterification, olefin cross-metathesis, and hydrotreating.

PubMed

Wang, Meng; Chen, Mojin; Fang, Yunming; Tan, Tianwei

2018-01-01

The production of fuels and chemicals from renewable resources is increasingly important due to the environmental concern and depletion of fossil fuel. Despite the fast technical development in the production of aviation fuels, there are still several shortcomings such as a high cost of raw materials, a low yield of aviation fuels, and poor process techno-economic consideration. In recent years, olefin metathesis has become a powerful and versatile tool for generating new carbon-carbon bonds. The cross-metathesis reaction, one kind of metathesis reaction, has a high potential to efficiently convert plant oil into valuable chemicals, such as α-olefin and bio-aviation fuel by combining with a hydrotreatment process. In this research, an efficient, four-step conversion of plant oil into bio-aviation fuel and valuable chemicals was developed by the combination of enzymatic transesterification, olefin cross-metathesis, and hydrotreating. Firstly, plant oil including oil with poor properties was esterified to fatty acid methyl esters by an enzyme-catalyzed process. Secondly, the fatty acid methyl esters were partially hydrotreated catalytically to transform poly-unsaturated fatty acid such as linoleic acid into oleic acid. The olefin cross-metathesis then transformed the oleic acid methyl ester (OAME) into 1-decene and 1-decenoic acid methyl ester (DAME). The catalysts used in this process were prepared/selected in function of the catalytic reaction and the reaction conditions were optimized. The carbon efficiency analysis of the new process illustrated that it was more economically feasible than the traditional hydrotreatment process. A highly efficient conversion process of plant oil into bio-aviation fuel and valuable chemicals by the combination of enzymatic transesterification, olefin cross-metathesis, and hydrotreatment with prepared and selected catalysts was designed. The reaction conditions were optimized. Plant oil was transformed into bio-aviation fuel and a high value α-olefin product with high carbon utilization.

Indigenous Knowledge for Development: Opportunities and Challenges.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gorjestani, Nicolas

Indigenous knowledge is a critical factor for sustainable development. Empowerment of local communities is a prerequisite for the integration of indigenous knowledge in the development process. The integration of appropriate indigenous knowledge systems into development programs has already contributed to efficiency, effectiveness, and sustainable…

A Methodology to Apply Business Process Reengineering within the Brazilian Aeronautical Ministry

DTIC Science & Technology

1999-03-01

systems of the agency are designed, developed , maintained, and used effectively and efficiently. Defense Directives Within DoD the regulations that...over the last two years in an attempt to develop the best and most efficient and effective approach to BPR in DoD. The tasks to be performed are: 1...how I would develop my research. To my classmates, GIR/GIS class 98S, and also class 99D, thank you all for the encouragement and wisdom you gave me

High-Efficiency Polycrystalline Thin Film Tandem Solar Cells.

PubMed

Kranz, Lukas; Abate, Antonio; Feurer, Thomas; Fu, Fan; Avancini, Enrico; Löckinger, Johannes; Reinhard, Patrick; Zakeeruddin, Shaik M; Grätzel, Michael; Buecheler, Stephan; Tiwari, Ayodhya N

2015-07-16

A promising way to enhance the efficiency of CIGS solar cells is by combining them with perovskite solar cells in tandem devices. However, so far, such tandem devices had limited efficiency due to challenges in developing NIR-transparent perovskite top cells, which allow photons with energy below the perovskite band gap to be transmitted to the bottom cell. Here, a process for the fabrication of NIR-transparent perovskite solar cells is presented, which enables power conversion efficiencies up to 12.1% combined with an average sub-band gap transmission of 71% for photons with wavelength between 800 and 1000 nm. The combination of a NIR-transparent perovskite top cell with a CIGS bottom cell enabled a tandem device with 19.5% efficiency, which is the highest reported efficiency for a polycrystalline thin film tandem solar cell. Future developments of perovskite/CIGS tandem devices are discussed and prospects for devices with efficiency toward and above 27% are given.

Efficient processing of two-dimensional arrays with C or C++

USGS Publications Warehouse

Donato, David I.

2017-07-20

Because fast and efficient serial processing of raster-graphic images and other two-dimensional arrays is a requirement in land-change modeling and other applications, the effects of 10 factors on the runtimes for processing two-dimensional arrays with C and C++ are evaluated in a comparative factorial study. This study’s factors include the choice among three C or C++ source-code techniques for array processing; the choice of Microsoft Windows 7 or a Linux operating system; the choice of 4-byte or 8-byte array elements and indexes; and the choice of 32-bit or 64-bit memory addressing. This study demonstrates how programmer choices can reduce runtimes by 75 percent or more, even after compiler optimizations. Ten points of practical advice for faster processing of two-dimensional arrays are offered to C and C++ programmers. Further study and the development of a C and C++ software test suite are recommended.Key words: array processing, C, C++, compiler, computational speed, land-change modeling, raster-graphic image, two-dimensional array, software efficiency

A critical review on factors influencing fermentative hydrogen production.

PubMed

Kothari, Richa; Kumar, Virendra; Pathak, Vinayak V; Ahmad, Shamshad; Aoyi, Ochieng; Tyagi, V V

2017-03-01

Biohydrogen production by dark fermentation of different waste materials is a promising approach to produce bio-energy in terms of renewable energy exploration. This communication has reviewed various influencing factors of dark fermentation process with detailed account of determinants in biohydrogen production. It has also focused on different factors such as improved bacterial strain, reactor design, metabolic engineering and two stage processes to enhance the bioenergy productivity from substrate. The study also suggest that complete utilization of substrates for biological hydrogen production requires the concentrated research and development for efficient functioning of microorganism with integrated application for energy production and bioremediation. Various studies have been taken into account here, to show the comparative efficiency of different substrates and operating conditions with inhibitory factors and pretreatment option for biohydrogen production. The study reveals that an extensive research is needed to observe field efficiency of process using low cost substrates and integration of dark and photo fermentation process. Integrated approach of fermentation process will surely compete with conventional hydrogen process and replace it completely in future.

Near real-time, on-the-move software PED using VPEF

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Green, Kevin; Geyer, Chris; Burnette, Chris; Agarwal, Sanjeev; Swett, Bruce; Phan, Chung; Deterline, Diane

2015-05-01

The scope of the Micro-Cloud for Operational, Vehicle-Based EO-IR Reconnaissance System (MOVERS) development effort, managed by the Night Vision and Electronic Sensors Directorate (NVESD), is to develop, integrate, and demonstrate new sensor technologies and algorithms that improve improvised device/mine detection using efficient and effective exploitation and fusion of sensor data and target cues from existing and future Route Clearance Package (RCP) sensor systems. Unfortunately, the majority of forward looking Full Motion Video (FMV) and computer vision processing, exploitation, and dissemination (PED) algorithms are often developed using proprietary, incompatible software. This makes the insertion of new algorithms difficult due to the lack of standardized processing chains. In order to overcome these limitations, EOIR developed the Government off-the-shelf (GOTS) Video Processing and Exploitation Framework (VPEF) to be able to provide standardized interfaces (e.g., input/output video formats, sensor metadata, and detected objects) for exploitation software and to rapidly integrate and test computer vision algorithms. EOIR developed a vehicle-based computing framework within the MOVERS and integrated it with VPEF. VPEF was further enhanced for automated processing, detection, and publishing of detections in near real-time, thus improving the efficiency and effectiveness of RCP sensor systems.

An Exponential Luminous Efficiency Model for Hypervelocity Impact into Regolith

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Swift, W. R.; Moser, D. E.; Suggs, R. M.; Cooke, W. J.

2011-01-01

The flash of thermal radiation produced as part of the impact-crater forming process can be used to determine the energy of the impact if the luminous efficiency is known. From this energy the mass and, ultimately, the mass flux of similar impactors can be deduced. The luminous efficiency, eta, is a unique function of velocity with an extremely large variation in the laboratory range of under 6 km/s but a necessarily small variation with velocity in the meteoric range of 20 to 70 km/s. Impacts into granular or powdery regolith, such as that on the moon, differ from impacts into solid materials in that the energy is deposited via a serial impact process which affects the rate of deposition of internal (thermal) energy. An exponential model of the process is developed which differs from the usual polynomial models of crater formation. The model is valid for the early time portion of the process and focuses on the deposition of internal energy into the regolith. The model is successfully compared with experimental luminous efficiency data from both laboratory impacts and from lunar impact observations. Further work is proposed to clarify the effects of mass and density upon the luminous efficiency scaling factors. Keywords hypervelocity impact impact flash luminous efficiency lunar impact meteoroid 1

Energy efficient engine high pressure turbine ceramic shroud support technology report

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nelson, W. A.; Carlson, R. G.

1982-01-01

This work represents the development and fabrication of ceramic HPT (high pressure turbine) shrouds for the Energy Efficient Engine (E3). Details are presented covering the work performed on the ceramic shroud development task of the NASA/GE Energy Efficient Engine (E3) component development program. The task consists of four phases which led to the selection of a ZrO2-BY2O3 ceramic shroud material system, the development of an automated plasma spray process to produce acceptable shroud structures, the fabrication of select shroud systems for evaluation in laboratory, component, and CF6-50 engine testing, and finally, the successful fabrication of ZrO2-8Y2O3/superpeg, engine quality shrouds for the E3 engine.

Efficient Regular Perovskite Solar Cells Based on Pristine [70]Fullerene as Electron-Selective Contact.

PubMed

Collavini, Silvia; Kosta, Ivet; Völker, Sebastian F; Cabanero, German; Grande, Hans J; Tena-Zaera, Ramón; Delgado, Juan Luis

2016-06-08

[70]Fullerene is presented as an efficient alternative electron-selective contact (ESC) for regular-architecture perovskite solar cells (PSCs). A smart and simple, well-described solution processing protocol for the preparation of [70]- and [60]fullerene-based solar cells, namely the fullerene saturation approach (FSA), allowed us to obtain similar power conversion efficiencies for both fullerene materials (i.e., 10.4 and 11.4 % for [70]- and [60]fullerene-based devices, respectively). Importantly, despite the low electron mobility and significant visible-light absorption of [70]fullerene, the presented protocol allows the employment of [70]fullerene as an efficient ESC. The [70]fullerene film thickness and its solubility in the perovskite processing solutions are crucial parameters, which can be controlled by the use of this simple solution processing protocol. The damage to the [70]fullerene film through dissolution during the perovskite deposition is avoided through the saturation of the perovskite processing solution with [70]fullerene. Additionally, this fullerene-saturation strategy improves the performance of the perovskite film significantly and enhances the power conversion efficiency of solar cells based on different ESCs (i.e., [60]fullerene, [70]fullerene, and TiO2 ). Therefore, this universal solution processing protocol widens the opportunities for the further development of PSCs. © 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Kinetic Monte Carlo Simulations of Scintillation Processes in NaI(Tl)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kerisit, Sebastien; Wang, Zhiguo; Williams, Richard T.; Grim, Joel Q.; Gao, Fei

2014-04-01

Developing a comprehensive understanding of the processes that govern the scintillation behavior of inorganic scintillators provides a pathway to optimize current scintillators and allows for the science-driven search for new scintillator materials. Recent experimental data on the excitation density dependence of the light yield of inorganic scintillators presents an opportunity to incorporate parameterized interactions between excitations in scintillation models and thus enable more realistic simulations of the nonproportionality of inorganic scintillators. Therefore, a kinetic Monte Carlo (KMC) model of elementary scintillation processes in NaI(Tl) is developed in this paper to simulate the kinetics of scintillation for a range of temperatures and Tl concentrations as well as the scintillation efficiency as a function of excitation density. The ability of the KMC model to reproduce available experimental data allows for elucidating the elementary processes that give rise to the kinetics and efficiency of scintillation observed experimentally for a range of conditions.

Integrated aerodynamic-structural design of a forward-swept transport wing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Haftka, Raphael T.; Grossman, Bernard; Kao, Pi-Jen; Polen, David M.; Sobieszczanski-Sobieski, Jaroslaw

1989-01-01

The introduction of composite materials is having a profound effect on aircraft design. Since these materials permit the designer to tailor material properties to improve structural, aerodynamic and acoustic performance, they require an integrated multidisciplinary design process. Futhermore, because of the complexity of the design process, numerical optimization methods are required. The utilization of integrated multidisciplinary design procedures for improving aircraft design is not currently feasible because of software coordination problems and the enormous computational burden. Even with the expected rapid growth of supercomputers and parallel architectures, these tasks will not be practical without the development of efficient methods for cross-disciplinary sensitivities and efficient optimization procedures. The present research is part of an on-going effort which is focused on the processes of simultaneous aerodynamic and structural wing design as a prototype for design integration. A sequence of integrated wing design procedures has been developed in order to investigate various aspects of the design process.

Comparative Assessment of Gasification Based Coal Power Plants with Various CO2 Capture Technologies Producing Electricity and Hydrogen

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Seven different types of gasification-based coal conversion processes for producing mainly electricity and in some cases hydrogen (H2), with and without carbon dioxide (CO2) capture, were compared on a consistent basis through simulation studies. The flowsheet for each process was developed in a chemical process simulation tool “Aspen Plus”. The pressure swing adsorption (PSA), physical absorption (Selexol), and chemical looping combustion (CLC) technologies were separately analyzed for processes with CO2 capture. The performances of the above three capture technologies were compared with respect to energetic and exergetic efficiencies, and the level of CO2 emission. The effect of air separation unit (ASU) and gas turbine (GT) integration on the power output of all the CO2 capture cases is assessed. Sensitivity analysis was carried out for the CLC process (electricity-only case) to examine the effect of temperature and water-cooling of the air reactor on the overall efficiency of the process. The results show that, when only electricity production in considered, the case using CLC technology has an electrical efficiency 1.3% and 2.3% higher than the PSA and Selexol based cases, respectively. The CLC based process achieves an overall CO2 capture efficiency of 99.9% in contrast to 89.9% for PSA and 93.5% for Selexol based processes. The overall efficiency of the CLC case for combined electricity and H2 production is marginally higher (by 0.3%) than Selexol and lower (by 0.6%) than PSA cases. The integration between the ASU and GT units benefits all three technologies in terms of electrical efficiency. Furthermore, our results suggest that it is favorable to operate the air reactor of the CLC process at higher temperatures with excess air supply in order to achieve higher power efficiency. PMID:24578590

Comparative Assessment of Gasification Based Coal Power Plants with Various CO2 Capture Technologies Producing Electricity and Hydrogen.

PubMed

Mukherjee, Sanjay; Kumar, Prashant; Hosseini, Ali; Yang, Aidong; Fennell, Paul

2014-02-20

Seven different types of gasification-based coal conversion processes for producing mainly electricity and in some cases hydrogen (H 2 ), with and without carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) capture, were compared on a consistent basis through simulation studies. The flowsheet for each process was developed in a chemical process simulation tool "Aspen Plus". The pressure swing adsorption (PSA), physical absorption (Selexol), and chemical looping combustion (CLC) technologies were separately analyzed for processes with CO 2 capture. The performances of the above three capture technologies were compared with respect to energetic and exergetic efficiencies, and the level of CO 2 emission. The effect of air separation unit (ASU) and gas turbine (GT) integration on the power output of all the CO 2 capture cases is assessed. Sensitivity analysis was carried out for the CLC process (electricity-only case) to examine the effect of temperature and water-cooling of the air reactor on the overall efficiency of the process. The results show that, when only electricity production in considered, the case using CLC technology has an electrical efficiency 1.3% and 2.3% higher than the PSA and Selexol based cases, respectively. The CLC based process achieves an overall CO 2 capture efficiency of 99.9% in contrast to 89.9% for PSA and 93.5% for Selexol based processes. The overall efficiency of the CLC case for combined electricity and H 2 production is marginally higher (by 0.3%) than Selexol and lower (by 0.6%) than PSA cases. The integration between the ASU and GT units benefits all three technologies in terms of electrical efficiency. Furthermore, our results suggest that it is favorable to operate the air reactor of the CLC process at higher temperatures with excess air supply in order to achieve higher power efficiency.

The Development of Word Processing and Its Implications for the Business Education Profession.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ober, B. Scot

In an attempt to deal with the paperwork explosion occurring in business offices, administrative management has developed the concept of word processing as a means of increasing office efficiency. Thus, the purpose of this study was to provide business educators with information on this new management tool and to identify those skills needed by…

Simultaneous spin-coating and solvent annealing: Manipulating the active layer morphology to a power conversion efficiency of 9.6% in polymer solar cells

DOE PAGES

He, Zhicai; Liu, Feng; Wang, Cheng; ...

2015-08-20

Here, we developed a simultaneous spin-coating/solvent-annealing process and demonstrated morphology optimization for PTB7 based organic photovoltaics. This novel processing method enhances the edge-on crystalline content in thin films and induces the formation of weak PCBM aggregates. As a result, the efficiency of polymer solar cells increased from 9.2% to a certified high efficiency of 9.61%, owing to an enhanced short-circuit current (J sc, 18.4 mA cm –2vs. 17. 5 mA cm –2) and an improved fill factor.

Electronic Two-Transition-Induced Enhancement of Emission Efficiency in Polymer Light-Emitting Diodes

PubMed Central

Chen, Ren-Ai; Wang, Cong; Li, Sheng; George, Thomas F.

2013-01-01

With the development of experimental techniques, effective injection and transportation of electrons is proven as a way to obtain polymer light-emitting diodes (PLEDs) with high quantum efficiency. This paper reveals a valid mechanism for the enhancement of quantum efficiency in PLEDs. When an external electric field is applied, the interaction between a negative polaron and triplet exciton leads to an electronic two-transition process, which induces the exciton to emit light and thus improve the emission efficiency of PLEDs. PMID:28809346

A Petri Net-Based Software Process Model for Developing Process-Oriented Information Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Yu; Oberweis, Andreas

Aiming at increasing flexibility, efficiency, effectiveness, and transparency of information processing and resource deployment in organizations to ensure customer satisfaction and high quality of products and services, process-oriented information systems (POIS) represent a promising realization form of computerized business information systems. Due to the complexity of POIS, explicit and specialized software process models are required to guide POIS development. In this chapter we characterize POIS with an architecture framework and present a Petri net-based software process model tailored for POIS development with consideration of organizational roles. As integrated parts of the software process model, we also introduce XML nets, a variant of high-level Petri nets as basic methodology for business processes modeling, and an XML net-based software toolset providing comprehensive functionalities for POIS development.

Efficiency improvement of an antibody production process by increasing the inoculum density.

PubMed

Hecht, Volker; Duvar, Sevim; Ziehr, Holger; Burg, Josef; Jockwer, Alexander

2014-01-01

Increasing economic pressure is the main driving force to enhance the efficiency of existing processes. We developed a perfusion strategy for a seed train reactor to generate a higher inoculum density for a subsequent fed batch production culture. A higher inoculum density can reduce culture duration without compromising product titers. Hence, a better capacity utilization can be achieved. The perfusion strategy was planned to be implemented in an existing large scale antibody production process. Therefore, facility and process constraints had to be considered. This article describes the initial development steps. Using a proprietary medium and a Chinese hamster ovary cell line expressing an IgG antibody, four different cell retention devices were compared in regard to retention efficiency and reliability. Two devices were selected for further process refinement, a centrifuge and an inclined gravitational settler. A concentrated feed medium was developed to meet facility constraints regarding maximum accumulated perfundate volume. A 2-day batch phase followed by 5 days of perfusion resulted in cell densities of 1.6 × 10(10) cells L(-1) , a 3.5 fold increase compared to batch cultivations. Two reactor volumes of concentrated feed medium were needed to achieve this goal. Eleven cultivations were carried out in bench and 50 L reactors showing acceptable reproducibility and ease of scale up. In addition, it was shown that at least three perfusion phases can be combined within a repeated perfusion strategy. © 2014 American Institute of Chemical Engineers.

High-power ultrasonic processing: Recent developments and prospective advances

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gallego-Juarez, Juan A.

2010-01-01

Although the application of ultrasonic energy to produce or to enhance a wide variety of processes have been explored since about the middle of the 20th century, only a reduced number of ultrasonic processes have been established at industrial level. However, during the last ten years the interest in ultrasonic processing has revived particularly in industrial sectors where the ultrasonic technology may represent a clean and efficient tool to improve classical existing processes or an innovation alternative for the development of new processes. Such seems to be the case of relevant sectors such as food industry, environment, pharmaceuticals and chemicals manufacture, machinery, mining, etc where power ultrasound is becoming an emerging technology for process development. The possible major problem in the application of high-intensity ultrasound on industrial processing is the design and development of efficient power ultrasonic systems (generators and reactors) capable of large scale successful operation specifically adapted to each individual process. In the area of ultrasonic processing in fluid media and more specifically in gases, the development of the steppedplate transducers and other power ge with extensive radiating surface has strongly contributed to the implementation at semi-industrial and industrial stage of several commercial applications, in sectors such as food and beverage industry (defoaming, drying, extraction, etc), environment (air cleaning, sludge filtration, etc...), machinery and process for manufacturing (textile washing, paint manufacture, etc). The development of different cavitational reactors for liquid treatment in continuous flow is helping to introduce into industry the wide potential of the area of sonochemistry. Processes such as water and effluent treatment, crystallization, soil remediation, etc have been already implemented at semi-industrial and/or industrial stage. Other single advances in sectors like mining or energy have also to be mentioned. The objective of this paper is to review some recent developments in ultrasonic processing to show the present situation and the prospective progresses of high-power ultrasonics as an innovative technology in many industrial sectors.

All-Solution-Processed Metal-Oxide-Free Flexible Organic Solar Cells with Over 10% Efficiency.

PubMed

Song, Wei; Fan, Xi; Xu, Bingang; Yan, Feng; Cui, Huiqin; Wei, Qiang; Peng, Ruixiang; Hong, Ling; Huang, Jiaming; Ge, Ziyi

2018-05-16

All-solution-processing at low temperatures is important and desirable for making printed photovoltaic devices and also offers the possibility of a safe and cost-effective fabrication environment for the devices. Herein, an all-solution-processed flexible organic solar cell (OSC) using poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly-(styrenesulfonate) electrodes is reported. The all-solution-processed flexible devices yield the highest power conversion efficiency of 10.12% with high fill factor of over 70%, which is the highest value for metal-oxide-free flexible OSCs reported so far. The enhanced performance is attributed to the newly developed gentle acid treatment at room temperature that enables a high-performance PEDOT:PSS/plastic underlying substrate with a matched work function (≈4.91 eV), and the interface engineering that endows the devices with better interface contacts and improved hole mobility. Furthermore, the flexible devices exhibit an excellent mechanical flexibility, as indicated by a high retention (≈94%) of the initial efficiency after 1000 bending cycles. This work provides a simple route to fabricate high-performance all-solution-processed flexible OSCs, which is important for the development of printing, blading, and roll-to-roll technologies. © 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Estimating multi-period global cost efficiency and productivity change of systems with network structures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tohidnia, S.; Tohidi, G.

2018-02-01

The current paper develops three different ways to measure the multi-period global cost efficiency for homogeneous networks of processes when the prices of exogenous inputs are known at all time periods. A multi-period network data envelopment analysis model is presented to measure the minimum cost of the network system based on the global production possibility set. We show that there is a relationship between the multi-period global cost efficiency of network system and its subsystems, and also its processes. The proposed model is applied to compute the global cost Malmquist productivity index for measuring the productivity changes of network system and each of its process between two time periods. This index is circular. Furthermore, we show that the productivity changes of network system can be defined as a weighted average of the process productivity changes. Finally, a numerical example will be presented to illustrate the proposed approach.

Process modelling of biomass conversion to biofuels with combined heat and power.

PubMed

Sharma, Abhishek; Shinde, Yogesh; Pareek, Vishnu; Zhang, Dongke

2015-12-01

A process model has been developed to study the pyrolysis of biomass to produce biofuel with heat and power generation. The gaseous and solid products were used to generate heat and electrical power, whereas the bio-oil was stored and supplied for other applications. The overall efficiency of the base case model was estimated for conversion of biomass into useable forms of bio-energy. It was found that the proposed design is not only significantly efficient but also potentially suitable for distributed operation of pyrolysis plants having centralised post processing facilities for production of other biofuels and chemicals. It was further determined that the bio-oil quality improved using a multi-stage condensation system. However, the recycling of flue gases coming from combustor instead of non-condensable gases in the pyrolyzer led to increase in the overall efficiency of the process with degradation of bio-oil quality. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Combined Brayton-JT cycles with refrigerants for natural gas liquefaction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chang, Ho-Myung; Park, Jae Hoon; Lee, Sanggyu; Choe, Kun Hyung

2012-06-01

Thermodynamic cycles for natural gas liquefaction with single-component refrigerants are investigated under a governmental project in Korea, aiming at new processes to meet the requirements on high efficiency, large capacity, and simple equipment. Based upon the optimization theory recently published by the present authors, it is proposed to replace the methane-JT cycle in conventional cascade process with a nitrogen-Brayton cycle. A variety of systems to combine nitrogen-Brayton, ethane-JT and propane-JT cycles are simulated with Aspen HYSYS and quantitatively compared in terms of thermodynamic efficiency, flow rate of refrigerants, and estimated size of heat exchangers. A specific Brayton-JT cycle is suggested with detailed thermodynamic data for further process development. The suggested cycle is expected to be more efficient and simpler than the existing cascade process, while still taking advantage of easy and robust operation with single-component refrigerants.

High efficiency processing for reduced amplitude zones detection in the HRECG signal

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dugarte, N.; Álvarez, A.; Balacco, J.; Mercado, G.; Gonzalez, A.; Dugarte, E.; Olivares, A.

2016-04-01

Summary - This article presents part of a more detailed research proposed in the medium to long term, with the intention of establishing a new philosophy of electrocardiogram surface analysis. This research aims to find indicators of cardiovascular disease in its early stage that may go unnoticed with conventional electrocardiography. This paper reports the development of a software processing which collect some existing techniques and incorporates novel methods for detection of reduced amplitude zones (RAZ) in high resolution electrocardiographic signal (HRECG).The algorithm consists of three stages, an efficient processing for QRS detection, averaging filter using correlation techniques and a step for RAZ detecting. Preliminary results show the efficiency of system and point to incorporation of techniques new using signal analysis with involving 12 leads.

Nonisothermal glass molding for the cost-efficient production of precision freeform optics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vu, Anh-Tuan; Kreilkamp, Holger; Dambon, Olaf; Klocke, Fritz

2016-07-01

Glass molding has become a key replication-based technology to satisfy intensively growing demands of complex precision optics in the today's photonic market. However, the state-of-the-art replicative technologies are still limited, mainly due to their insufficiency to meet the requirements of mass production. This paper introduces a newly developed nonisothermal glass molding in which a complex-shaped optic is produced in a very short process cycle. The innovative molding technology promises a cost-efficient production because of increased mold lifetime, less energy consumption, and high throughput from a fast process chain. At the early stage of the process development, the research focuses on an integration of finite element simulation into the process chain to reduce time and labor-intensive cost. By virtue of numerical modeling, defects including chill ripples and glass sticking in the nonisothermal molding process can be predicted and the consequent effects are avoided. In addition, the influences of process parameters and glass preforms on the surface quality, form accuracy, and residual stress are discussed. A series of experiments was carried out to validate the simulation results. The successful modeling, therefore, provides a systematic strategy for glass preform design, mold compensation, and optimization of the process parameters. In conclusion, the integration of simulation into the entire nonisothermal glass molding process chain will significantly increase the manufacturing efficiency as well as reduce the time-to-market for the mass production of complex precision yet low-cost glass optics.

Road to Grid Parity through Deployment of Low-Cost 21.5% N-Type Si Solar Cells

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Velundur, Vijay

This project seeks to develop and deploy differentiated 21.5% efficient n-type Si solar cells while reaching the SunShot module cost goal of ≤ $0.50/W. This objective hinges on development of enabling low cost technologies that simplify the manufacturing process and reduce overall processing costs. These comprise of (1) Boron emitter formation and passivation; (2) Simplified processing process for emitter and BSF layers; and (3) Advanced metallization for the front and back contacts.

Manufacturing Squares: An Integrative Statistical Process Control Exercise

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Coy, Steven P.

2016-01-01

In the exercise, students in a junior-level operations management class are asked to manufacture a simple product. Given product specifications, they must design a production process, create roles and design jobs for each team member, and develop a statistical process control plan that efficiently and effectively controls quality during…

78 FR 53436 - Improving Performance of Federal Permitting and Review of Infrastructure Projects

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-08-29

... an efficient decision-making process within each agency; to the extent possible, unifying and... IIP Process, the developer is encouraged to inform DOE in writing as soon as possible of its decision... to improve the performance of Federal siting, permitting, and review processes for infrastructure...

IMPLEMENTATION OF A CAPE-OPEN COMPLIANT PROCESS SIMULATOR USING MICROSOFT'S VISUAL STUDIO.NET AND THE .NET FRAMEWORK

EPA Science Inventory

The United States Environmental Protection Agency is developing a Computer
Aided Process Engineering (CAPE) software tool for the metal finishing
industry that helps users design efficient metal finishing processes that
are less polluting to the environment. Metal finish...

Air Force Research Laboratory Success Stories: A Review of 1997/1998

DTIC Science & Technology

1999-03-01

one year). Assuming that 60 percent of the electrical power required for these sites could be generated with solar cells , the higher efficiency AMTEC ...engineers ability to meet the cost goal of the Mars Pathfinder program. Accomplishment High efficiency solar cells and non-rechargeable batteries developed...integrated manufacturing system to efficiently mix low volume and high volume processing. MPCL metrics have been defined in categories which reflect

ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLIER ALTERNATIVES TO ORGANIC SYNTHESES

EPA Science Inventory

An overview of the research activity at the USEPA AWBERC Research Center in general and the Sustainable Technology Division with specific reference to clean process development will be presented. Several examples of clean and efficient chemical processes will be highlighted that ...

Soft sensor development for Mooney viscosity prediction in rubber mixing process based on GMMDJITGPR algorithm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Kai; Chen, Xiangguang; Wang, Li; Jin, Huaiping

2017-01-01

In rubber mixing process, the key parameter (Mooney viscosity), which is used to evaluate the property of the product, can only be obtained with 4-6h delay offline. It is quite helpful for the industry, if the parameter can be estimate on line. Various data driven soft sensors have been used to prediction in the rubber mixing. However, it always not functions well due to the phase and nonlinear property in the process. The purpose of this paper is to develop an efficient soft sensing algorithm to solve the problem. Based on the proposed GMMD local sample selecting criterion, the phase information is extracted in the local modeling. Using the Gaussian local modeling method within Just-in-time (JIT) learning framework, nonlinearity of the process is well handled. Efficiency of the new method is verified by comparing the performance with various mainstream soft sensors, using the samples from real industrial rubber mixing process.

Google matrix of business process management

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abel, M. W.; Shepelyansky, D. L.

2011-12-01

Development of efficient business process models and determination of their characteristic properties are subject of intense interdisciplinary research. Here, we consider a business process model as a directed graph. Its nodes correspond to the units identified by the modeler and the link direction indicates the causal dependencies between units. It is of primary interest to obtain the stationary flow on such a directed graph, which corresponds to the steady-state of a firm during the business process. Following the ideas developed recently for the World Wide Web, we construct the Google matrix for our business process model and analyze its spectral properties. The importance of nodes is characterized by PageRank and recently proposed CheiRank and 2DRank, respectively. The results show that this two-dimensional ranking gives a significant information about the influence and communication properties of business model units. We argue that the Google matrix method, described here, provides a new efficient tool helping companies to make their decisions on how to evolve in the exceedingly dynamic global market.

A Cobb Douglas Stochastic Frontier Model on Measuring Domestic Bank Efficiency in Malaysia

PubMed Central

Hasan, Md. Zobaer; Kamil, Anton Abdulbasah; Mustafa, Adli; Baten, Md. Azizul

2012-01-01

Banking system plays an important role in the economic development of any country. Domestic banks, which are the main components of the banking system, have to be efficient; otherwise, they may create obstacle in the process of development in any economy. This study examines the technical efficiency of the Malaysian domestic banks listed in the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange (KLSE) market over the period 2005–2010. A parametric approach, Stochastic Frontier Approach (SFA), is used in this analysis. The findings show that Malaysian domestic banks have exhibited an average overall efficiency of 94 percent, implying that sample banks have wasted an average of 6 percent of their inputs. Among the banks, RHBCAP is found to be highly efficient with a score of 0.986 and PBBANK is noted to have the lowest efficiency with a score of 0.918. The results also show that the level of efficiency has increased during the period of study, and that the technical efficiency effect has fluctuated considerably over time. PMID:22900009

A Cobb Douglas stochastic frontier model on measuring domestic bank efficiency in Malaysia.

PubMed

Hasan, Md Zobaer; Kamil, Anton Abdulbasah; Mustafa, Adli; Baten, Md Azizul

2012-01-01

Banking system plays an important role in the economic development of any country. Domestic banks, which are the main components of the banking system, have to be efficient; otherwise, they may create obstacle in the process of development in any economy. This study examines the technical efficiency of the Malaysian domestic banks listed in the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange (KLSE) market over the period 2005-2010. A parametric approach, Stochastic Frontier Approach (SFA), is used in this analysis. The findings show that Malaysian domestic banks have exhibited an average overall efficiency of 94 percent, implying that sample banks have wasted an average of 6 percent of their inputs. Among the banks, RHBCAP is found to be highly efficient with a score of 0.986 and PBBANK is noted to have the lowest efficiency with a score of 0.918. The results also show that the level of efficiency has increased during the period of study, and that the technical efficiency effect has fluctuated considerably over time.

Eco-efficiency improvements in industrial water-service systems: assessing options with stakeholders.

PubMed

Levidow, Les; Lindgaard-Jørgensen, Palle; Nilsson, Asa; Skenhall, Sara Alongi; Assimacopoulos, Dionysis

2014-01-01

The well-known eco-efficiency concept helps to assess the economic value and resource burdens of potential improvements by comparison with the baseline situation. But eco-efficiency assessments have generally focused on a specific site, while neglecting wider effects, for example, through interactions between water users and wastewater treatment (WWT) providers. To address the methodological gap, the EcoWater project has developed a method and online tools for meso-level analysis of the entire water-service value chain. This study investigated improvement options in two large manufacturing companies which have significant potential for eco-efficiency gains. They have been considering investment in extra processes which can lower resource burdens from inputs and wastewater, as well as internalising WWT processes. In developing its methodology, the EcoWater project obtained the necessary information from many agents, involved them in the meso-level assessment and facilitated their discussion on alternative options. Prior discussions with stakeholders stimulated their attendance at a workshop to discuss a comparative eco-efficiency assessment for whole-system improvement. Stakeholders expressed interest in jointly extending the EcoWater method to more options and in discussing investment strategies. In such ways, optimal solutions will depend on stakeholders overcoming fragmentation by sharing responsibility and knowledge.

Laboratory automation of high-quality and efficient ligand-binding assays for biotherapeutic drug development.

PubMed

Wang, Jin; Patel, Vimal; Burns, Daniel; Laycock, John; Pandya, Kinnari; Tsoi, Jennifer; DeSilva, Binodh; Ma, Mark; Lee, Jean

2013-07-01

Regulated bioanalytical laboratories that run ligand-binding assays in support of biotherapeutics development face ever-increasing demand to support more projects with increased efficiency. Laboratory automation is a tool that has the potential to improve both quality and efficiency in a bioanalytical laboratory. The success of laboratory automation requires thoughtful evaluation of program needs and fit-for-purpose strategies, followed by pragmatic implementation plans and continuous user support. In this article, we present the development of fit-for-purpose automation of total walk-away and flexible modular modes. We shared the sustaining experience of vendor collaboration and team work to educate, promote and track the use of automation. The implementation of laboratory automation improves assay performance, data quality, process efficiency and method transfer to CRO in a regulated bioanalytical laboratory environment.

Towards a generalized energy prediction model for machine tools

PubMed Central

Bhinge, Raunak; Park, Jinkyoo; Law, Kincho H.; Dornfeld, David A.; Helu, Moneer; Rachuri, Sudarsan

2017-01-01

Energy prediction of machine tools can deliver many advantages to a manufacturing enterprise, ranging from energy-efficient process planning to machine tool monitoring. Physics-based, energy prediction models have been proposed in the past to understand the energy usage pattern of a machine tool. However, uncertainties in both the machine and the operating environment make it difficult to predict the energy consumption of the target machine reliably. Taking advantage of the opportunity to collect extensive, contextual, energy-consumption data, we discuss a data-driven approach to develop an energy prediction model of a machine tool in this paper. First, we present a methodology that can efficiently and effectively collect and process data extracted from a machine tool and its sensors. We then present a data-driven model that can be used to predict the energy consumption of the machine tool for machining a generic part. Specifically, we use Gaussian Process (GP) Regression, a non-parametric machine-learning technique, to develop the prediction model. The energy prediction model is then generalized over multiple process parameters and operations. Finally, we apply this generalized model with a method to assess uncertainty intervals to predict the energy consumed to machine any part using a Mori Seiki NVD1500 machine tool. Furthermore, the same model can be used during process planning to optimize the energy-efficiency of a machining process. PMID:28652687

Towards a generalized energy prediction model for machine tools.

PubMed

Bhinge, Raunak; Park, Jinkyoo; Law, Kincho H; Dornfeld, David A; Helu, Moneer; Rachuri, Sudarsan

2017-04-01

Energy prediction of machine tools can deliver many advantages to a manufacturing enterprise, ranging from energy-efficient process planning to machine tool monitoring. Physics-based, energy prediction models have been proposed in the past to understand the energy usage pattern of a machine tool. However, uncertainties in both the machine and the operating environment make it difficult to predict the energy consumption of the target machine reliably. Taking advantage of the opportunity to collect extensive, contextual, energy-consumption data, we discuss a data-driven approach to develop an energy prediction model of a machine tool in this paper. First, we present a methodology that can efficiently and effectively collect and process data extracted from a machine tool and its sensors. We then present a data-driven model that can be used to predict the energy consumption of the machine tool for machining a generic part. Specifically, we use Gaussian Process (GP) Regression, a non-parametric machine-learning technique, to develop the prediction model. The energy prediction model is then generalized over multiple process parameters and operations. Finally, we apply this generalized model with a method to assess uncertainty intervals to predict the energy consumed to machine any part using a Mori Seiki NVD1500 machine tool. Furthermore, the same model can be used during process planning to optimize the energy-efficiency of a machining process.

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

PubMed

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.

Flat-plate solar array project process development area process research of non-CZ silicon material

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1985-01-01

Three sets of samples were laser processed and then cell processed. The laser processing was carried out on P-type and N-type web at laser power levels from 0.5 joule/sq cm to 2.5 joule/sq cm. Six different liquid dopants were tested (3 phosphorus dopants, 2 boron dopants, 1 aluminum dopant). The laser processed web strips were fabricated into solar cells immediately after laser processing and after various annealing cycles. Spreading resistance measurements made on a number of these samples indicate that the N(+)P (phosphorus doped) junction is approx. 0.2 micrometers deep and suitable for solar cells. However, the P(+)N (or P(+)P) junction is very shallow ( 0.1 micrometers) with a low surface concentration and resulting high resistance. Due to this effect, the fabricated cells are of low efficiency. The maximum efficiency attained was 9.6% on P-type web after a 700 C anneal. The main reason for the low efficiency was a high series resistance in the cell due to a high resistance back contact.

Evaluation of a time efficient immunization strategy for anti-PAH antibody development

PubMed Central

Li, Xin; Kaattari, Stephen L.; Vogelbein, Mary Ann; Unger, Michael A.

2016-01-01

The development of monoclonal antibodies (mAb) with affinity to small molecules can be a time-consuming process. To evaluate shortening the time for mAb production, we examined mouse antisera at different time points post-immunization to measure titer and to evaluate the affinity to the immunogen PBA (pyrene butyric acid). Fusions were also conducted temporally to evaluate antibody production success at various time periods. We produced anti-PBA antibodies 7 weeks post-immunization and selected for anti-PAH reactivity during the hybridoma screening process. Moreover, there were no obvious sensitivity differences relative to antibodies screened from a more traditional 18 week schedule. Our results demonstrate a more time efficient immunization strategy for anti-PAH antibody development that may be applied to other small molecules. PMID:27282486

Operationally efficient propulsion system study (OEPSS) data book. Volume 7; Launch Operations Index (LOI) Design Features and Options

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ziese, James M.

1992-01-01

A design tool of figure of merit was developed that allows the operability of a propulsion system design to be measured. This Launch Operations Index (LOI) relates Operations Efficiency to System Complexity. The figure of Merit can be used by conceptual designers to compare different propulsion system designs based on their impact on launch operations. The LOI will improve the design process by making sure direct launch operations experience is a necessary feedback to the design process.

Review of the workshop on low-cost polysilicon for terrestrial photovoltaic solar cell applications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lutwack, R.

1986-01-01

Topics reviewed include: polysilicon material requirements; effects of impurities; requirements for high-efficiency solar cells; economics; development of silane processes; fluidized-bed processor development; silicon purification; and marketing.

Organic and perovskite solar cells: Working principles, materials and interfaces.

PubMed

Marinova, Nevena; Valero, Silvia; Delgado, Juan Luis

2017-02-15

In the last decades organic solar cells (OSCs) have been considered as a promising photovoltaic technology with the potential to provide reasonable power conversion efficiencies combined with low cost and easy processability. Unexpectedly, Perovskite Solar Cells (PSCs) have experienced unprecedented rise in Power Conversion Efficiency (PCE) thus emerging as a highly efficient photovoltaic technology. OSCs and PSCs are two different kind of devices with distinct charge generation mechanism, which however share some similarities in the materials processing, thus standard strategies developed for OSCs are currently being employed in PSCs. In this article, we recapitulate the main processes in these two types of photovoltaic technologies with an emphasis on interfacial processes and interfacial modification, spotlighting the materials and newest approaches in the interfacial engineering. We discuss on the relevance of well-known materials coming from the OSCs field, which are now being tested in the PSCs field, while maintaining a focus on the importance of the material design for highly efficient, stable and accessible solar cells. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Report: Efficiency of EPA’s Rule Development Process Can Be Better Measured Through Improved Management and Information

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Report #13-P-0167, February 28, 2013. Rule development is one of the Agency’s principal tasks. EPA develops rules to carry out the environmental and public health protection laws passed by Congress.

Development of a low-pressure materials pre-treatment process for improved energy efficiency

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, Kwanghee; You, Byung Don

2017-09-01

Low pressure materials pre-treatment process has been developed as an alternative to the existing high-temperature sludge drying, limestone calcination, and limonite dehydroxylation. Using the thermodynamic equilibrium relationship between temperature and pressure represented by the Clausius-Clapeyron equation, the operational temperature of these reactions could be lowered at reduced pressure for increased energy efficiency. For industrial sludge drying, the evaporation rate was controlled by interfacial kinetics showing a constant rate with time and significant acceleration in the reaction could be observed with reduced pressure. At this modified reaction rate under low pressure, the rate was also partially controlled by mass transfer. Temperature of limestone calcination was lowered, but the reaction was limited at the calculated equilibrium temperature of the Clausius-Clapeyron equation and slightly higher temperatures were required. The energy consumption during limestone calcination and limonite dehydroxylation were evaluated, where lower processing pressures could enhance the energy efficiency for limestone calcination, but limonite dehydroxylation could not achieve energy-savings due to the greater power consumption of the vacuum pump under lower pressure and reduced temperatures.

Polymer:fullerene solar cells: materials, processing issues, and cell layouts to reach power conversion efficiency over 10%, a review

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Etxebarria, Ikerne; Ajuria, Jon; Pacios, Roberto

2015-01-01

In spite of the impressive development achieved by organic photovoltaics throughout the last decades, especially in terms of reported power conversion efficiencies, there are still important technological and fundamental obstacles to circumvent before they can be implemented into reliable and long-lasting applications. Regarding device processing, the synthesis of highly soluble polymeric semiconductors first, and then fullerene derivatives, was initially considered as an important breakthrough that would definitely change the fabrication of photovoltaics once and for all. The potential and the expectation raised by this technology is such that it is very difficult to keep track of the most significant progresses being now published in different and even monographic journals. In this paper, we review the development of polymeric solar cells from its origin to the most efficient devices published to date. We separate these achievements into three different categories traditionally followed by the scientific community to push devices over 10% power conversion efficiency: active materials, strategies-fabrication/processing procedures-that can mainly modify the active film morphology, and all the different cell layout/architectures that have been used in order to extract as high a photocurrent as possible from the Sun. The synthesis of new donors, the use of additives and postprocessing techniques, buffer interlayers, inverted and tandem designs are some of the most important aspects that are reviewed in detail in this paper. All have equally contributed to develop this technology and bring it at the doors of commercialization.

Low-temperature-processed efficient semi-transparent planar perovskite solar cells for bifacial and tandem applications

PubMed Central

Fu, Fan; Feurer, Thomas; Jäger, Timo; Avancini, Enrico; Bissig, Benjamin; Yoon, Songhak; Buecheler, Stephan; Tiwari, Ayodhya N.

2015-01-01

Semi-transparent perovskite solar cells are highly attractive for a wide range of applications, such as bifacial and tandem solar cells; however, the power conversion efficiency of semi-transparent devices still lags behind due to missing suitable transparent rear electrode or deposition process. Here we report a low-temperature process for efficient semi-transparent planar perovskite solar cells. A hybrid thermal evaporation–spin coating technique is developed to allow the introduction of PCBM in regular device configuration, which facilitates the growth of high-quality absorber, resulting in hysteresis-free devices. We employ high-mobility hydrogenated indium oxide as transparent rear electrode by room-temperature radio-frequency magnetron sputtering, yielding a semi-transparent solar cell with steady-state efficiency of 14.2% along with 72% average transmittance in the near-infrared region. With such semi-transparent devices, we show a substantial power enhancement when operating as bifacial solar cell, and in combination with low-bandgap copper indium gallium diselenide we further demonstrate 20.5% efficiency in four-terminal tandem configuration. PMID:26576667

Robust efficient video fingerprinting

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Puri, Manika; Lubin, Jeffrey

2009-02-01

We have developed a video fingerprinting system with robustness and efficiency as the primary and secondary design criteria. In extensive testing, the system has shown robustness to cropping, letter-boxing, sub-titling, blur, drastic compression, frame rate changes, size changes and color changes, as well as to the geometric distortions often associated with camcorder capture in cinema settings. Efficiency is afforded by a novel two-stage detection process in which a fast matching process first computes a number of likely candidates, which are then passed to a second slower process that computes the overall best match with minimal false alarm probability. One key component of the algorithm is a maximally stable volume computation - a three-dimensional generalization of maximally stable extremal regions - that provides a content-centric coordinate system for subsequent hash function computation, independent of any affine transformation or extensive cropping. Other key features include an efficient bin-based polling strategy for initial candidate selection, and a final SIFT feature-based computation for final verification. We describe the algorithm and its performance, and then discuss additional modifications that can provide further improvement to efficiency and accuracy.

Low-temperature-processed efficient semi-transparent planar perovskite solar cells for bifacial and tandem applications.

PubMed

Fu, Fan; Feurer, Thomas; Jäger, Timo; Avancini, Enrico; Bissig, Benjamin; Yoon, Songhak; Buecheler, Stephan; Tiwari, Ayodhya N

2015-11-18

Semi-transparent perovskite solar cells are highly attractive for a wide range of applications, such as bifacial and tandem solar cells; however, the power conversion efficiency of semi-transparent devices still lags behind due to missing suitable transparent rear electrode or deposition process. Here we report a low-temperature process for efficient semi-transparent planar perovskite solar cells. A hybrid thermal evaporation-spin coating technique is developed to allow the introduction of PCBM in regular device configuration, which facilitates the growth of high-quality absorber, resulting in hysteresis-free devices. We employ high-mobility hydrogenated indium oxide as transparent rear electrode by room-temperature radio-frequency magnetron sputtering, yielding a semi-transparent solar cell with steady-state efficiency of 14.2% along with 72% average transmittance in the near-infrared region. With such semi-transparent devices, we show a substantial power enhancement when operating as bifacial solar cell, and in combination with low-bandgap copper indium gallium diselenide we further demonstrate 20.5% efficiency in four-terminal tandem configuration.

Improvement of the Performance of an Electrocoagulation Process System Using Fuzzy Control of pH.

PubMed

Demirci, Yavuz; Pekel, Lutfiye Canan; Altinten, Ayla; Alpbaz, Mustafa

2015-12-01

The removal efficiencies of electrocoagulation (EC) systems are highly dependent on the initial value of pH. If an EC system has an acidic influent, the pH of the effluent increases during the treatment process; conversely, if such a system has an alkaline influent, the pH of the effluent decreases during the treatment process. Thus, changes in the pH of the wastewater affect the efficiency of the EC process. In this study, we investigated the dynamic effects of pH. To evaluate approaches for preventing increases in the pH of the system, the MATLAB/Simulink program was used to develop and evaluate an on-line computer-based system for pH control. The aim of this work was to study Proportional-Integral-Derivative (PID) control and fuzzy control of the pH of a real textile wastewater purification process using EC. The performances and dynamic behaviors of these two control systems were evaluated based on determinations of COD, colour, and turbidity removal efficiencies.

Optimization Control of the Color-Coating Production Process for Model Uncertainty

PubMed Central

He, Dakuo; Wang, Zhengsong; Yang, Le; Mao, Zhizhong

2016-01-01

Optimized control of the color-coating production process (CCPP) aims at reducing production costs and improving economic efficiency while meeting quality requirements. However, because optimization control of the CCPP is hampered by model uncertainty, a strategy that considers model uncertainty is proposed. Previous work has introduced a mechanistic model of CCPP based on process analysis to simulate the actual production process and generate process data. The partial least squares method is then applied to develop predictive models of film thickness and economic efficiency. To manage the model uncertainty, the robust optimization approach is introduced to improve the feasibility of the optimized solution. Iterative learning control is then utilized to further refine the model uncertainty. The constrained film thickness is transformed into one of the tracked targets to overcome the drawback that traditional iterative learning control cannot address constraints. The goal setting of economic efficiency is updated continuously according to the film thickness setting until this reaches its desired value. Finally, fuzzy parameter adjustment is adopted to ensure that the economic efficiency and film thickness converge rapidly to their optimized values under the constraint conditions. The effectiveness of the proposed optimization control strategy is validated by simulation results. PMID:27247563

Optimization Control of the Color-Coating Production Process for Model Uncertainty.

PubMed

He, Dakuo; Wang, Zhengsong; Yang, Le; Mao, Zhizhong

2016-01-01

Optimized control of the color-coating production process (CCPP) aims at reducing production costs and improving economic efficiency while meeting quality requirements. However, because optimization control of the CCPP is hampered by model uncertainty, a strategy that considers model uncertainty is proposed. Previous work has introduced a mechanistic model of CCPP based on process analysis to simulate the actual production process and generate process data. The partial least squares method is then applied to develop predictive models of film thickness and economic efficiency. To manage the model uncertainty, the robust optimization approach is introduced to improve the feasibility of the optimized solution. Iterative learning control is then utilized to further refine the model uncertainty. The constrained film thickness is transformed into one of the tracked targets to overcome the drawback that traditional iterative learning control cannot address constraints. The goal setting of economic efficiency is updated continuously according to the film thickness setting until this reaches its desired value. Finally, fuzzy parameter adjustment is adopted to ensure that the economic efficiency and film thickness converge rapidly to their optimized values under the constraint conditions. The effectiveness of the proposed optimization control strategy is validated by simulation results.

Analysis and Evaluation of Processes and Equipment in Tasks 2 and 4 of the Low-cost Solar Array Project

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wolf, M.

1979-01-01

To facilitate the task of objectively comparing competing process options, a methodology was needed for the quantitative evaluation of their relative cost effectiveness. Such a methodology was developed and is described, together with three examples for its application. The criterion for the evaluation is the cost of the energy produced by the system. The method permits the evaluation of competing design options for subsystems, based on the differences in cost and efficiency of the subsystems, assuming comparable reliability and service life, or of competing manufacturing process options for such subsystems, which include solar cells or modules. This process option analysis is based on differences in cost, yield, and conversion efficiency contribution of the process steps considered.

A multi-stage oil-water-separating process design for the sea oil spill recovery robot

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Min-ge; Wu, Jian-guo; Lin, Xinhua; Wang, Xiao-ming

2018-03-01

Oil spill have the most common pollution to the marine ecological environment. In the late stage of physical method recovery, because of the thin oil and the strong sea breeze, the recovery vessels has low efficiency and high energy consumption. This paper develops a multi-stage oil-water-separating process carried by the sea oil spill recovery robot in severe conditions. This design consists of three separation process, among which both the first and third process adopt corrugated sheets horizontal oil-water separator, while the second is hydraulic rotary breaker. This design also equiptment with rectifier and cyclone separator and other important components. This process has high flexibility and high recovery efficiency. The implement effect is significant.

Pharmaceutical process chemistry: evolution of a contemporary data-rich laboratory environment.

PubMed

Caron, Stéphane; Thomson, Nicholas M

2015-03-20

Over the past 20 years, the industrial laboratory environment has gone through a major transformation in the industrial process chemistry setting. In order to discover and develop robust and efficient syntheses and processes for a pharmaceutical portfolio with growing synthetic complexity and increased regulatory expectations, the round-bottom flask and other conventional equipment familiar to a traditional organic chemistry laboratory are being replaced. The new process chemistry laboratory fosters multidisciplinary collaborations by providing a suite of tools capable of delivering deeper process understanding through mechanistic insights and detailed kinetics translating to greater predictability at scale. This transformation is essential to the field of organic synthesis in order to promote excellence in quality, safety, speed, and cost efficiency in synthesis.

Hubert: Software for efficient analysis of in-situ nuclear forward scattering experiments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vrba, Vlastimil; Procházka, Vít; Smrčka, David; Miglierini, Marcel

2016-10-01

Combination of short data acquisition time and local investigation of a solid state through hyperfine parameters makes nuclear forward scattering (NFS) a unique experimental technique for investigation of fast processes. However, the total number of acquired NFS time spectra may be very high. Therefore an efficient way of the data evaluation is needed. In this paper we report the development of Hubert software package as a response to the rapidly developing field of in-situ NFS experiments. Hubert offers several useful features for data files processing and could significantly shorten the evaluation time by using a simple connection between the neighboring time spectra through their input and output parameter values.

Algorithms for solving large sparse systems of simultaneous linear equations on vector processors

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

David, R. E.

1984-01-01

Very efficient algorithms for solving large sparse systems of simultaneous linear equations have been developed for serial processing computers. These involve a reordering of matrix rows and columns in order to obtain a near triangular pattern of nonzero elements. Then an LU factorization is developed to represent the matrix inverse in terms of a sequence of elementary Gaussian eliminations, or pivots. In this paper it is shown how these algorithms are adapted for efficient implementation on vector processors. Results obtained on the CYBER 200 Model 205 are presented for a series of large test problems which show the comparative advantages of the triangularization and vector processing algorithms.

Individual Differences in Lexical Processing at 18 Months Predict Vocabulary Growth in Typically Developing and Late-Talking Toddlers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fernald, Anne; Marchman, Virginia A.

2012-01-01

Using online measures of familiar word recognition in the looking-while-listening procedure, this prospective longitudinal study revealed robust links between processing efficiency and vocabulary growth from 18 to 30 months in children classified as typically developing (n = 46) and as "late talkers" (n = 36) at 18 months. Those late talkers who…

Numerical investigation of the staged gasification of wet wood

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Donskoi, I. G.; Kozlov, A. N.; Svishchev, D. A.; Shamanskii, V. A.

2017-04-01

Gasification of wooden biomass makes it possible to utilize forestry wastes and agricultural residues for generation of heat and power in isolated small-scale power systems. In spite of the availability of a huge amount of cheap biomass, the implementation of the gasification process is impeded by formation of tar products and poor thermal stability of the process. These factors reduce the competitiveness of gasification as compared with alternative technologies. The use of staged technologies enables certain disadvantages of conventional processes to be avoided. One of the previously proposed staged processes is investigated in this paper. For this purpose, mathematical models were developed for individual stages of the process, such as pyrolysis, pyrolysis gas combustion, and semicoke gasification. The effect of controlling parameters on the efficiency of fuel conversion into combustible gases is studied numerically using these models. For the controlling parameter are selected heat inputted into a pyrolysis reactor, the excess of oxidizer during gas combustion, and the wood moisture content. The process efficiency criterion is the gasification chemical efficiency accounting for the input of external heat (used for fuel drying and pyrolysis). The generated regime diagrams represent the gasification efficiency as a function of controlling parameters. Modeling results demonstrate that an increase in the fraction of heat supplied from an external source can result in an adequate efficiency of the wood gasification through the use of steam generated during drying. There are regions where it is feasible to perform incomplete combustion of the pyrolysis gas prior to the gasification. The calculated chemical efficiency of the staged gasification is as high as 80-85%, which is 10-20% higher that in conventional single-stage processes.

Microfabrication of microsystem-enabled photovoltaic (MEPV) cells

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nielson, Gregory N.; Okandan, Murat; Cruz-Campa, Jose L.; Resnick, Paul J.; Wanlass, Mark W.; Clews, Peggy J.; Pluym, Tammy C.; Sanchez, Carlos A.; Gupta, Vipin P.

2011-02-01

Microsystem-Enabled Photovoltaic (MEPV) cells allow solar PV systems to take advantage of scaling benefits that occur as solar cells are reduced in size. We have developed MEPV cells that are 5 to 20 microns thick and down to 250 microns across. We have developed and demonstrated crystalline silicon (c-Si) cells with solar conversion efficiencies of 14.9%, and gallium arsenide (GaAs) cells with a conversion efficiency of 11.36%. In pursuing this work, we have identified over twenty scaling benefits that reduce PV system cost, improve performance, or allow new functionality. To create these cells, we have combined microfabrication techniques from various microsystem technologies. We have focused our development efforts on creating a process flow that uses standard equipment and standard wafer thicknesses, allows all high-temperature processing to be performed prior to release, and allows the remaining post-release wafer to be reprocessed and reused. The c-Si cell junctions are created using a backside point-contact PV cell process. The GaAs cells have an epitaxially grown junction. Despite the horizontal junction, these cells also are backside contacted. We provide recent developments and details for all steps of the process including junction creation, surface passivation, metallization, and release.

CFD studies on biomass thermochemical conversion.

PubMed

Wang, Yiqun; Yan, Lifeng

2008-06-01

Thermochemical conversion of biomass offers an efficient and economically process to provide gaseous, liquid and solid fuels and prepare chemicals derived from biomass. Computational fluid dynamic (CFD) modeling applications on biomass thermochemical processes help to optimize the design and operation of thermochemical reactors. Recent progression in numerical techniques and computing efficacy has advanced CFD as a widely used approach to provide efficient design solutions in industry. This paper introduces the fundamentals involved in developing a CFD solution. Mathematical equations governing the fluid flow, heat and mass transfer and chemical reactions in thermochemical systems are described and sub-models for individual processes are presented. It provides a review of various applications of CFD in the biomass thermochemical process field.

CFD Studies on Biomass Thermochemical Conversion

PubMed Central

Wang, Yiqun; Yan, Lifeng

2008-01-01

Thermochemical conversion of biomass offers an efficient and economically process to provide gaseous, liquid and solid fuels and prepare chemicals derived from biomass. Computational fluid dynamic (CFD) modeling applications on biomass thermochemical processes help to optimize the design and operation of thermochemical reactors. Recent progression in numerical techniques and computing efficacy has advanced CFD as a widely used approach to provide efficient design solutions in industry. This paper introduces the fundamentals involved in developing a CFD solution. Mathematical equations governing the fluid flow, heat and mass transfer and chemical reactions in thermochemical systems are described and sub-models for individual processes are presented. It provides a review of various applications of CFD in the biomass thermochemical process field. PMID:19325848

An efficient solution of real-time data processing for multi-GNSS network

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gong, Xiaopeng; Gu, Shengfeng; Lou, Yidong; Zheng, Fu; Ge, Maorong; Liu, Jingnan

2017-12-01

Global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) are acting as an indispensable tool for geodetic research and global monitoring of the Earth, and they have been rapidly developed over the past few years with abundant GNSS networks, modern constellations, and significant improvement in mathematic models of data processing. However, due to the increasing number of satellites and stations, the computational efficiency becomes a key issue and it could hamper the further development of GNSS applications. In this contribution, this problem is overcome from the aspects of both dense linear algebra algorithms and GNSS processing strategy. First, in order to fully explore the power of modern microprocessors, the square root information filter solution based on the blocked QR factorization employing as many matrix-matrix operations as possible is introduced. In addition, the algorithm complexity of GNSS data processing is further decreased by centralizing the carrier-phase observations and ambiguity parameters, as well as performing the real-time ambiguity resolution and elimination. Based on the QR factorization of the simulated matrix, we can conclude that compared to unblocked QR factorization, the blocked QR factorization can greatly improve processing efficiency with a magnitude of nearly two orders on a personal computer with four 3.30 GHz cores. Then, with 82 globally distributed stations, the processing efficiency is further validated in multi-GNSS (GPS/BDS/Galileo) satellite clock estimation. The results suggest that it will take about 31.38 s per epoch for the unblocked method. While, without any loss of accuracy, it only takes 0.50 and 0.31 s for our new algorithm per epoch for float and fixed clock solutions, respectively.

Human Factors Operability Timeline Analysis to Improve the Processing Flow of the Orion Spacecraft

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Schlierf, Roland; Stambolian, Damon B.; Miller, Darcy; Posanda, Juan; Haddock, Mike; Haddad, Mike; Tran, Donald; Henderson, Gena; Barth, Tim

2010-01-01

The Constellation Program (CxP) Orion vehicle goes through several areas and stages of processing before its launched at the Kennedy Space Center. In order to have efficient and effective processing, all of the activities need to be analyzed. This was accomplished by first developing a timeline of events that included each activity, and then each activity was analyzed by operability experts and human factors experts with spacecraft processing experience. This papers focus is to explain the results and the process for developing this human factors operability timeline analysis to improve the processing flow of Orion.

The report of Task Group 100 of the AAPM: Application of risk analysis methods to radiation therapy quality management

PubMed Central

Huq, M. Saiful; Fraass, Benedick A.; Dunscombe, Peter B.; Gibbons, John P.; Mundt, Arno J.; Mutic, Sasa; Palta, Jatinder R.; Rath, Frank; Thomadsen, Bruce R.; Williamson, Jeffrey F.; Yorke, Ellen D.

2016-01-01

The increasing complexity of modern radiation therapy planning and delivery challenges traditional prescriptive quality management (QM) methods, such as many of those included in guidelines published by organizations such as the AAPM, ASTRO, ACR, ESTRO, and IAEA. These prescriptive guidelines have traditionally focused on monitoring all aspects of the functional performance of radiotherapy (RT) equipment by comparing parameters against tolerances set at strict but achievable values. Many errors that occur in radiation oncology are not due to failures in devices and software; rather they are failures in workflow and process. A systematic understanding of the likelihood and clinical impact of possible failures throughout a course of radiotherapy is needed to direct limit QM resources efficiently to produce maximum safety and quality of patient care. Task Group 100 of the AAPM has taken a broad view of these issues and has developed a framework for designing QM activities, based on estimates of the probability of identified failures and their clinical outcome through the RT planning and delivery process. The Task Group has chosen a specific radiotherapy process required for “intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT)” as a case study. The goal of this work is to apply modern risk-based analysis techniques to this complex RT process in order to demonstrate to the RT community that such techniques may help identify more effective and efficient ways to enhance the safety and quality of our treatment processes. The task group generated by consensus an example quality management program strategy for the IMRT process performed at the institution of one of the authors. This report describes the methodology and nomenclature developed, presents the process maps, FMEAs, fault trees, and QM programs developed, and makes suggestions on how this information could be used in the clinic. The development and implementation of risk-assessment techniques will make radiation therapy safer and more efficient. PMID:27370140

The report of Task Group 100 of the AAPM: Application of risk analysis methods to radiation therapy quality management

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Huq, M. Saiful, E-mail: HUQS@UPMC.EDU

The increasing complexity of modern radiation therapy planning and delivery challenges traditional prescriptive quality management (QM) methods, such as many of those included in guidelines published by organizations such as the AAPM, ASTRO, ACR, ESTRO, and IAEA. These prescriptive guidelines have traditionally focused on monitoring all aspects of the functional performance of radiotherapy (RT) equipment by comparing parameters against tolerances set at strict but achievable values. Many errors that occur in radiation oncology are not due to failures in devices and software; rather they are failures in workflow and process. A systematic understanding of the likelihood and clinical impact ofmore » possible failures throughout a course of radiotherapy is needed to direct limit QM resources efficiently to produce maximum safety and quality of patient care. Task Group 100 of the AAPM has taken a broad view of these issues and has developed a framework for designing QM activities, based on estimates of the probability of identified failures and their clinical outcome through the RT planning and delivery process. The Task Group has chosen a specific radiotherapy process required for “intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT)” as a case study. The goal of this work is to apply modern risk-based analysis techniques to this complex RT process in order to demonstrate to the RT community that such techniques may help identify more effective and efficient ways to enhance the safety and quality of our treatment processes. The task group generated by consensus an example quality management program strategy for the IMRT process performed at the institution of one of the authors. This report describes the methodology and nomenclature developed, presents the process maps, FMEAs, fault trees, and QM programs developed, and makes suggestions on how this information could be used in the clinic. The development and implementation of risk-assessment techniques will make radiation therapy safer and more efficient.« less

The report of Task Group 100 of the AAPM: Application of risk analysis methods to radiation therapy quality management.

PubMed

Huq, M Saiful; Fraass, Benedick A; Dunscombe, Peter B; Gibbons, John P; Ibbott, Geoffrey S; Mundt, Arno J; Mutic, Sasa; Palta, Jatinder R; Rath, Frank; Thomadsen, Bruce R; Williamson, Jeffrey F; Yorke, Ellen D

2016-07-01

The increasing complexity of modern radiation therapy planning and delivery challenges traditional prescriptive quality management (QM) methods, such as many of those included in guidelines published by organizations such as the AAPM, ASTRO, ACR, ESTRO, and IAEA. These prescriptive guidelines have traditionally focused on monitoring all aspects of the functional performance of radiotherapy (RT) equipment by comparing parameters against tolerances set at strict but achievable values. Many errors that occur in radiation oncology are not due to failures in devices and software; rather they are failures in workflow and process. A systematic understanding of the likelihood and clinical impact of possible failures throughout a course of radiotherapy is needed to direct limit QM resources efficiently to produce maximum safety and quality of patient care. Task Group 100 of the AAPM has taken a broad view of these issues and has developed a framework for designing QM activities, based on estimates of the probability of identified failures and their clinical outcome through the RT planning and delivery process. The Task Group has chosen a specific radiotherapy process required for "intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT)" as a case study. The goal of this work is to apply modern risk-based analysis techniques to this complex RT process in order to demonstrate to the RT community that such techniques may help identify more effective and efficient ways to enhance the safety and quality of our treatment processes. The task group generated by consensus an example quality management program strategy for the IMRT process performed at the institution of one of the authors. This report describes the methodology and nomenclature developed, presents the process maps, FMEAs, fault trees, and QM programs developed, and makes suggestions on how this information could be used in the clinic. The development and implementation of risk-assessment techniques will make radiation therapy safer and more efficient.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Junhua Jiang; Ted Aulich

An electrolytic renewable nitrogen fertilizer process that utilizes wind-generated electricity, N{sub 2} extracted from air, and syngas produced via the gasification of biomass to produce nitrogen fertilizer ammonia was developed at the University of North Dakota Energy & Environmental Research Center. This novel process provides an important way to directly utilize biosyngas generated mainly via the biomass gasification in place of the high-purity hydrogen which is required for Haber Bosch-based production of the fertilizer for the production of the widely used nitrogen fertilizers. Our preliminary economic projection shows that the economic competitiveness of the electrochemical nitrogen fertilizer process strongly dependsmore » upon the cost of hydrogen gas and the cost of electricity. It is therefore expected the cost of nitrogen fertilizer production could be considerably decreased owing to the direct use of cost-effective 'hydrogen-equivalent' biosyngas compared to the high-purity hydrogen. The technical feasibility of the electrolytic process has been proven via studying ammonia production using humidified carbon monoxide as the hydrogen-equivalent vs. the high-purity hydrogen. Process optimization efforts have been focused on the development of catalysts for ammonia formation, electrolytic membrane systems, and membrane-electrode assemblies. The status of the electrochemical ammonia process is characterized by a current efficiency of 43% using humidified carbon monoxide as a feedstock to the anode chamber and a current efficiency of 56% using high-purity hydrogen as the anode gas feedstock. Further optimization of the electrolytic process for higher current efficiency and decreased energy consumption is ongoing at the EERC.« less

[The need to develop demographic census systems for Latin America].

PubMed

Silva, A

1987-01-01

The author presents the case for developing new software packages specifically designed to process population census information for Latin America. The focus is on the problems faced by developing countries in handling vast amounts of data in an efficient way. First, the basic methods of census data processing are discussed, then brief descriptions of some of the available software are included. Finally, ways in which data processing programs could be geared toward and utilized for improving the accuracy of Latin American censuses in the 1990s are proposed.

Prefield methods: streamlining forest or nonforest determinations to increase inventory efficiency

Treesearch

Sara Goeking; Gretchen Moisen; Kevin Megown; Jason Toombs

2009-01-01

Interior West Forest Inventory and Analysis has developed prefield protocols to distinguish forested plots that require field visits from nonforested plots that do not require field visits. Recent innovations have increased the efficiency of the prefield process. First, the incorporation of periodic inventory data into a prefield database increased the amount of...

Efficient and mechanically robust stretchable organic light-emitting devices by a laser-programmable buckling process

PubMed Central

Yin, Da; Feng, Jing; Ma, Rui; Liu, Yue-Feng; Zhang, Yong-Lai; Zhang, Xu-Lin; Bi, Yan-Gang; Chen, Qi-Dai; Sun, Hong-Bo

2016-01-01

Stretchable organic light-emitting devices are becoming increasingly important in the fast-growing fields of wearable displays, biomedical devices and health-monitoring technology. Although highly stretchable devices have been demonstrated, their luminous efficiency and mechanical stability remain impractical for the purposes of real-life applications. This is due to significant challenges arising from the high strain-induced limitations on the structure design of the device, the materials used and the difficulty of controlling the stretch-release process. Here we have developed a laser-programmable buckling process to overcome these obstacles and realize a highly stretchable organic light-emitting diode with unprecedented efficiency and mechanical robustness. The strained device luminous efficiency −70 cd A−1 under 70% strain - is the largest to date and the device can accommodate 100% strain while exhibiting only small fluctuations in performance over 15,000 stretch-release cycles. This work paves the way towards fully stretchable organic light-emitting diodes that can be used in wearable electronic devices. PMID:27187936

A theoretical study on hot charge-transfer states and dimensional effects of organic photocells based on an ideal diode model.

PubMed

Shimazaki, Tomomi; Nakajima, Takahito

2017-05-21

This paper discusses an ideal diode model with hot charge-transfer (CT) states to analyze the power conversion efficiency of an organic photocell. A free carrier generation mechanism via sunlight in an organic photocell consists of four microscopic processes: photon absorption, exciton dissociation, CT, and charge separation. The hot CT state effect has been actively investigated to understand the charge separation process. We previously reported a theoretical method to calculate the efficiency of the charge separation process via a hot CT state (T. Shimazaki et al., Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2015, 17, 12538 and J. Chem. Phys., 2016, 144, 234906). In this paper, we integrate the simulation method into the ideal photocell diode model and calculate several properties such as short circuit current, open circuit voltage, and power conversion efficiency. Our results highlight that utilizing the dimensional (entropy) effect together with the hot CT state can play an essential role in developing more efficient organic photocell devices.

Latent human error analysis and efficient improvement strategies by fuzzy TOPSIS in aviation maintenance tasks.

PubMed

Chiu, Ming-Chuan; Hsieh, Min-Chih

2016-05-01

The purposes of this study were to develop a latent human error analysis process, to explore the factors of latent human error in aviation maintenance tasks, and to provide an efficient improvement strategy for addressing those errors. First, we used HFACS and RCA to define the error factors related to aviation maintenance tasks. Fuzzy TOPSIS with four criteria was applied to evaluate the error factors. Results show that 1) adverse physiological states, 2) physical/mental limitations, and 3) coordination, communication, and planning are the factors related to airline maintenance tasks that could be addressed easily and efficiently. This research establishes a new analytic process for investigating latent human error and provides a strategy for analyzing human error using fuzzy TOPSIS. Our analysis process complements shortages in existing methodologies by incorporating improvement efficiency, and it enhances the depth and broadness of human error analysis methodology. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd and The Ergonomics Society. All rights reserved.

Energy conversion and storage program

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cairns, E. J.

1992-03-01

The Energy Conversion and Storage Program applies chemistry and materials science principles to solve problems in: (1) production of new synthetic fuels; (2) development of high-performance rechargeable batteries and fuel cells; (3) development of advanced thermochemical processes for energy conversion; (4) characterization of complex chemical processes; and (5) application of novel materials for energy conversion and transmission. Projects focus on transport-process principles, chemical kinetics, thermodynamics, separation processes, organic and physical chemistry, novel materials, and advanced methods of analysis. Electrochemistry research aims to develop advanced power systems for electric vehicle and stationary energy storage applications. Topics include identification of new electrochemical couples for advanced rechargeable batteries, improvements in battery and fuel-cell materials, and the establishment of engineering principles applicable to electrochemical energy storage and conversion. Chemical Applications research includes topics such as separations, catalysis, fuels, and chemical analyses. Included in this program area are projects to develop improved, energy-efficient methods for processing waste streams from synfuel plants and coal gasifiers. Other research projects seek to identify and characterize the constituents of liquid fuel-system streams and to devise energy-efficient means for their separation. Materials Applications research includes the evaluation of the properties of advanced materials, as well as the development of novel preparation techniques. For example, the use of advanced techniques, such as sputtering and laser ablation, are being used to produce high-temperature superconducting films.

An Evolutionary History of Oriented Strandboard (OSB)

Treesearch

John I. Zerbe; Zhiyong Cai; George B. Harpole

2015-01-01

To improve wood utilization efficiency, oriented strandboard (OSB) was developed; 80% of the wood removed from the forest can now be processed into marketable products. This manuscript describes the history of developing this most profitable wood product, OSB, and the early FPL contribution in development.

Instructional System Development.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Department of the Air Force, Washington, DC.

The manual presents a technology of instructional design and a model for developing and conducting efficient and cost effective Air Force instructional systems. Chapter 1 provides an overview of Instructional System Development (ISD). Chapters 2-6 each focus on a step of the process: analysis of system requirements; definition of…

Maximizing root/rhizosphere efficiency to improve crop productivity and nutrient use efficiency in intensive agriculture of China.

PubMed

Shen, Jianbo; Li, Chunjian; Mi, Guohua; Li, Long; Yuan, Lixing; Jiang, Rongfeng; Zhang, Fusuo

2013-03-01

Root and rhizosphere research has been conducted for many decades, but the underlying strategy of root/rhizosphere processes and management in intensive cropping systems remain largely to be determined. Improved grain production to meet the food demand of an increasing population has been highly dependent on chemical fertilizer input based on the traditionally assumed notion of 'high input, high output', which results in overuse of fertilizers but ignores the biological potential of roots or rhizosphere for efficient mobilization and acquisition of soil nutrients. Root exploration in soil nutrient resources and root-induced rhizosphere processes plays an important role in controlling nutrient transformation, efficient nutrient acquisition and use, and thus crop productivity. The efficiency of root/rhizosphere in terms of improved nutrient mobilization, acquisition, and use can be fully exploited by: (1) manipulating root growth (i.e. root development and size, root system architecture, and distribution); (2) regulating rhizosphere processes (i.e. rhizosphere acidification, organic anion and acid phosphatase exudation, localized application of nutrients, rhizosphere interactions, and use of efficient crop genotypes); and (3) optimizing root zone management to synchronize root growth and soil nutrient supply with demand of nutrients in cropping systems. Experiments have shown that root/rhizosphere management is an effective approach to increase both nutrient use efficiency and crop productivity for sustainable crop production. The objectives of this paper are to summarize the principles of root/rhizosphere management and provide an overview of some successful case studies on how to exploit the biological potential of root system and rhizosphere processes to improve crop productivity and nutrient use efficiency.

Nanostructured Materials Developed for Solar Cells

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bailey, Sheila G.; Castro, Stephanie L.; Raffaelle, Ryne P.; Fahey, Stephen D.; Gennett, Thomas; Tin, Padetha

2004-01-01

There has been considerable investigation recently regarding the potential for the use of nanomaterials and nanostructures to increase the efficiency of photovoltaic devices. Efforts at the NASA Glenn Research Center have involved the development and use of quantum dots and carbon nanotubes to enhance inorganic and organic cell efficiencies. Theoretical results have shown that a photovoltaic device with a single intermediate band of states resulting from the introduction of quantum dots offers a potential efficiency of 63.2 percent. A recent publication extended the intermediate band theory to two intermediate bands and calculated a limiting efficiency of 71.7 percent. The enhanced efficiency results from converting photons of energy less than the band gap of the cell by an intermediate band. The intermediate band provides a mechanism for low-energy photons to excite carriers across the energy gap by a two-step process.

GPU applications for data processing

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Vladymyrov, Mykhailo, E-mail: mykhailo.vladymyrov@cern.ch; Aleksandrov, Andrey; INFN sezione di Napoli, I-80125 Napoli

2015-12-31

Modern experiments that use nuclear photoemulsion imply fast and efficient data acquisition from the emulsion can be performed. The new approaches in developing scanning systems require real-time processing of large amount of data. Methods that use Graphical Processing Unit (GPU) computing power for emulsion data processing are presented here. It is shown how the GPU-accelerated emulsion processing helped us to rise the scanning speed by factor of nine.

Lightweight, high-opacity paper : process costs and energy use reduction

Treesearch

John H. Klungness; Fabienne Pianta; Mathew L. Stroika; Marguerite Sykes; Freya Tan; Said AbuBakr

1999-01-01

Fiber loading is an environmentally friendly, energy efficient, and economical method for depositing precipitated calcium carbonate (PCC) partly within pulp fibers. Fiber loading can easily be done within the existing pulp processing system. This paper is a review of the process development from bench-scale to industrial-scale demonstrations, with additional...

The potential of novel infrared food processing technologies: case studies of those developed at the USDA-ARS

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Infrared (IR) radiation heating has been considered as an alternative to current food and agricultural processing methods for improving product quality and safety, increasing energy and processing efficiency, and reducing water and chemical usage. As part of the electromagnetic spectrum, IR has the ...

The Architecture, Dynamics, and Development of Mental Processing: Greek, Chinese, or Universal?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Demetriou, A.; Kui, Z.X.; Spanoudis, G.; Christou, C.; Kyriakides, L.; Platsidou, M.

2005-01-01

This study compared Greeks with Chinese, from 8 to 14 years of age, on measures of processing efficiency, working memory, and reasoning. All processes were addressed through three domains of relations: verbal/propositional, quantitative, and visuo/spatial. Structural equations modelling and rating scale analysis showed that the architecture and…

Simple and Efficient Technique for Spatial/Temporal Composite Imagery

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-08-01

visible spectrum between 412nm and 869nm, three bands at 500m and two bands at 250m. The MODIS data was processed using the Automated Processing System2...Version 3.6 developed by the Naval Research Labo- ratory (NRL). The Automated Processing System (APS) is a collection of software programs assembled

A hybrid optimization approach in non-isothermal glass molding

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vu, Anh-Tuan; Kreilkamp, Holger; Krishnamoorthi, Bharathwaj Janaki; Dambon, Olaf; Klocke, Fritz

2016-10-01

Intensively growing demands on complex yet low-cost precision glass optics from the today's photonic market motivate the development of an efficient and economically viable manufacturing technology for complex shaped optics. Against the state-of-the-art replication-based methods, Non-isothermal Glass Molding turns out to be a promising innovative technology for cost-efficient manufacturing because of increased mold lifetime, less energy consumption and high throughput from a fast process chain. However, the selection of parameters for the molding process usually requires a huge effort to satisfy precious requirements of the molded optics and to avoid negative effects on the expensive tool molds. Therefore, to reduce experimental work at the beginning, a coupling CFD/FEM numerical modeling was developed to study the molding process. This research focuses on the development of a hybrid optimization approach in Non-isothermal glass molding. To this end, an optimal configuration with two optimization stages for multiple quality characteristics of the glass optics is addressed. The hybrid Back-Propagation Neural Network (BPNN)-Genetic Algorithm (GA) is first carried out to realize the optimal process parameters and the stability of the process. The second stage continues with the optimization of glass preform using those optimal parameters to guarantee the accuracy of the molded optics. Experiments are performed to evaluate the effectiveness and feasibility of the model for the process development in Non-isothermal glass molding.

Unified Model for the Overall Efficiency of Inlets Sampling from Horizontal Aerosol Flows

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hangal, Sunil Pralhad

When sampling aerosols from ambient or industrial air environments, the sampled aerosol must be representative of the aerosol in the free stream. The changes that occur during sampling must be assessed quantitatively so that sampling errors can be compensated for. In this study, unified models have been developed for the overall efficiency of tubular sharp-edged inlets sampling from horizontal aerosol flows oriented at 0 to 90^circ relative to the wind direction in the vertical (pitch) and horizontal plane(yaw). In the unified model, based on experimental data, the aspiration efficiency is represented by a single equation with different inertial parameters at 0 to 60^ circ and 45 to 90^circ . Tnt transmission efficiency is separated into two components: one due to gravitational settling in the boundary layer and the other due to impaction. The gravitational settling component is determined by extending a previously developed isoaxial sampling model to nonisoaxial sampling. The impaction component is determined by a new model that quantifies the particle losses caused by wall impaction. The model also quantifies the additional particle losses resulting from turbulent motion in the vena contracta which is formed in the inlet when the inlet velocity is higher than the wind velocity. When sampling aerosols in ambient or industrial environments with an inlet, small changes in wind direction or physical constraints in positioning the inlet in the system necessitates the assessment of sampling efficiency in both the vertical and horizontal plane. The overall sampling efficiency of tubular inlets has been experimentally investigated in yaw and pitch orientations at 0 to 20 ^circ from horizontal aerosol flows using a wind tunnel facility. The model for overall sampling efficiency has been extended to include both yaw and pitch sampling based on the new data. In this model, the difference between yaw and pitch is expressed by the effect of gravity on the impaction process inside the inlet described by a newly developed gravity effect angle. At yaw, the gravity effect angle on the wall impaction process does not change with sampling angle. At pitch, the gravity effect on the impaction process results in particle loss increase for upward and decrease for downward sampling. Using the unified model, graphical representations have been developed for sampling at small angles. These can be used in the field to determine the overall sampling efficiency of inlets at several operating conditions and the operating conditions that result in an acceptable sampling error. Pitch and diameter factors have been introduced for relating the efficiency values over a wide range of conditions to those of a reference condition. The pitch factor determines the overall sampling efficiency at pitch from yaw values, and the diameter factor determines the overall sampling efficiency at different inlet diameters.

Estimation of Transpiration and Water Use Efficiency Using Satellite and Field Observations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Choudhury, Bhaskar J.; Quick, B. E.

2003-01-01

Structure and function of terrestrial plant communities bring about intimate relations between water, energy, and carbon exchange between land surface and atmosphere. Total evaporation, which is the sum of transpiration, soil evaporation and evaporation of intercepted water, couples water and energy balance equations. The rate of transpiration, which is the major fraction of total evaporation over most of the terrestrial land surface, is linked to the rate of carbon accumulation because functioning of stomata is optimized by both of these processes. Thus, quantifying the spatial and temporal variations of the transpiration efficiency (which is defined as the ratio of the rate of carbon accumulation and transpiration), and water use efficiency (defined as the ratio of the rate of carbon accumulation and total evaporation), and evaluation of modeling results against observations, are of significant importance in developing a better understanding of land surface processes. An approach has been developed for quantifying spatial and temporal variations of transpiration, and water-use efficiency based on biophysical process-based models, satellite and field observations. Calculations have been done using concurrent meteorological data derived from satellite observations and four dimensional data assimilation for four consecutive years (1987-1990) over an agricultural area in the Northern Great Plains of the US, and compared with field observations within and outside the study area. The paper provides substantive new information about interannual variation, particularly the effect of drought, on the efficiency values at a regional scale.

Multiscale Interfacial Strategy to Engineer Mixed Metal-Oxide Anodes toward Enhanced Cycling Efficiency.

PubMed

Ma, Yue; Tai, Cheuk-Wai; Li, Shaowen; Edström, Kristina; Wei, Bingqing

2018-06-13

Interconnected macro/mesoporous structures of mixed metal oxide (MMO) are developed on nickel foam as freestanding anodes for Li-ion batteries. The sustainable production is realized via a wet chemical etching process with bio-friendly chemicals. By means of divalent iron doping during an in situ recrystallization process, the as-developed MMO anodes exhibit enhanced levels of cycling efficiency. Furthermore, this atomic-scale modification coherently synergizes with the encapsulation layer across a micrometer scale. During this step, we develop a quasi-gel-state tri-copolymer, i.e., F127-resorcinol-melamine, as the N-doped carbon source to regulate the interfacial chemistry of the MMO electrodes. Electrochemical tests of the modified Fe x Ni 1- x O@NC-NiF anode in both half-cell and full-cell configurations unravel the favorable suppression of the irreversible capacity loss and satisfactory cyclability at the high rates. This study highlights a proof-of-concept modification strategy across multiple scales to govern the interfacial chemical process of the electrodes toward better reversibility.

Optimization of Processing and Modeling Issues for Thin Film Solar Cell Devices Including Concepts for The Development of Polycrystalline Multijunctions: Annual Report; 24 August 1998-23 August 1999

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Birkmire, R.W.; Phillips, J.E.; Shafarman, W.N.

2000-08-25

This report describes results achieved during phase 1 of a three-phase subcontract to develop and understand thin-film solar cell technology associated to CuInSe{sub 2} and related alloys, a-Si and its alloys, and CdTe. Modules based on all these thin films are promising candidates to meet DOE long-range efficiency, reliability, and manufacturing cost goals. The critical issues being addressed under this program are intended to provide the science and engineering basis for the development of viable commercial processes and to improve module performance. The generic research issues addressed are: (1) quantitative analysis of processing steps to provide information for efficient commercial-scalemore » equipment design and operation; (2) device characterization relating the device performance to materials properties and process conditions; (3) development of alloy materials with different bandgaps to allow improved device structures for stability and compatibility with module design; (4) development of improved window/heterojunction layers and contacts to improve device performance and reliability; and (5) evaluation of cell stability with respect to illumination, temperature, and ambient and with respect to device structure and module encapsulation.« less

The developmental processes for NANDA International Nursing Diagnoses.

PubMed

Scroggins, Leann M

2008-01-01

This study aims to provide a step-by-step procedural guideline for the development of a nursing diagnosis that meets the necessary criteria for inclusion in the NANDA International and NNN classification systems. The guideline is based on the processes developed by the Diagnosis Development Committee of NANDA International and includes the necessary processes for development of Actual, Wellness, Health Promotion, and Risk nursing diagnoses. Definitions of Actual, Wellness, Health Promotion, and Risk nursing diagnoses along with inclusion criteria and taxonomy rules have been incorporated into the guideline to streamline the development and review processes for submitted diagnoses. A step-by-step procedural guideline will assist the submitter to move efficiently and effectively through the submission process, resulting in increased submissions and enhancement of the NANDA International and NNN classification systems.

Microwave-Assisted Ignition for Improved Internal Combustion Engine Efficiency

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

DeFilippo, Anthony Cesar

The ever-present need for reducing greenhouse gas emissions associated with transportation motivates this investigation of a novel ignition technology for internal combustion engine applications. Advanced engines can achieve higher efficiencies and reduced emissions by operating in regimes with diluted fuel-air mixtures and higher compression ratios, but the range of stable engine operation is constrained by combustion initiation and flame propagation when dilution levels are high. An advanced ignition technology that reliably extends the operating range of internal combustion engines will aid practical implementation of the next generation of high-efficiency engines. This dissertation contributes to next-generation ignition technology advancement by experimentally analyzing a prototype technology as well as developing a numerical model for the chemical processes governing microwave-assisted ignition. The microwave-assisted spark plug under development by Imagineering, Inc. of Japan has previously been shown to expand the stable operating range of gasoline-fueled engines through plasma-assisted combustion, but the factors limiting its operation were not well characterized. The present experimental study has two main goals. The first goal is to investigate the capability of the microwave-assisted spark plug towards expanding the stable operating range of wet-ethanol-fueled engines. The stability range is investigated by examining the coefficient of variation of indicated mean effective pressure as a metric for instability, and indicated specific ethanol consumption as a metric for efficiency. The second goal is to examine the factors affecting the extent to which microwaves enhance ignition processes. The factors impacting microwave enhancement of ignition processes are individually examined, using flame development behavior as a key metric in determining microwave effectiveness. Further development of practical combustion applications implementing microwave-assisted spark technology will benefit from predictive models which include the plasma processes governing the observed combustion enhancement. This dissertation documents the development of a chemical kinetic mechanism for the plasma-assisted combustion processes relevant to microwave-assisted spark ignition. The mechanism includes an existing mechanism for gas-phase methane oxidation, supplemented with electron impact reactions, cation and anion chemical reactions, and reactions involving vibrationally-excited and electronically-excited species. Calculations using the presently-developed numerical model explain experimentally-observed trends, highlighting the relative importance of pressure, temperature, and mixture composition in determining the effectiveness of microwave-assisted ignition enhancement.

Los Alamos National Security, LLC Request for Information on how industry may partner with the Laboratory on KIVA software.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Mcdonald, Kathleen Herrera

2016-02-29

KIVA is a family of Fortran-based computational fluid dynamics software developed by LANL. The software predicts complex fuel and air flows as well as ignition, combustion, and pollutant-formation processes in engines. The KIVA models have been used to understand combustion chemistry processes, such as auto-ignition of fuels, and to optimize diesel engines for high efficiency and low emissions. Fuel economy is heavily dependent upon engine efficiency, which in turn depends to a large degree on how fuel is burned within the cylinders of the engine. Higher in-cylinder pressures and temperatures lead to increased fuel economy, but they also create moremore » difficulty in controlling the combustion process. Poorly controlled and incomplete combustion can cause higher levels of emissions and lower engine efficiencies.« less

Spitzer Space Telescope Sequencing Operations Software, Strategies, and Lessons Learned

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bliss, David A.

2006-01-01

The Space Infrared Telescope Facility (SIRTF) was launched in August, 2003, and renamed to the Spitzer Space Telescope in 2004. Two years of observing the universe in the wavelength range from 3 to 180 microns has yielded enormous scientific discoveries. Since this magnificent observatory has a limited lifetime, maximizing science viewing efficiency (ie, maximizing time spent executing activities directly related to science observations) was the key operational objective. The strategy employed for maximizing science viewing efficiency was to optimize spacecraft flexibility, adaptability, and use of observation time. The selected approach involved implementation of a multi-engine sequencing architecture coupled with nondeterministic spacecraft and science execution times. This approach, though effective, added much complexity to uplink operations and sequence development. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) manages Spitzer s operations. As part of the uplink process, Spitzer s Mission Sequence Team (MST) was tasked with processing observatory inputs from the Spitzer Science Center (SSC) into efficiently integrated, constraint-checked, and modeled review and command products which accommodated the complexity of non-deterministic spacecraft and science event executions without increasing operations costs. The MST developed processes, scripts, and participated in the adaptation of multi-mission core software to enable rapid processing of complex sequences. The MST was also tasked with developing a Downlink Keyword File (DKF) which could instruct Deep Space Network (DSN) stations on how and when to configure themselves to receive Spitzer science data. As MST and uplink operations developed, important lessons were learned that should be applied to future missions, especially those missions which employ command-intensive operations via a multi-engine sequence architecture.

Proceedings of the 25th Project Integration Meeting

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Phillips, M.

1985-01-01

Topics addressed include: silicon sheet growth and characterization, silicon material, process development, high-efficiency cells, environmental isolation, engineering sciences, and reliability physics.

Effects of floc and bubble size on the efficiency of the dissolved air flotation (DAF) process.

PubMed

Han, Mooyoung; Kim, Tschung-il; Kim, Jinho

2007-01-01

Dissolved air flotation (DAF) is a method for removing particles from water using micro bubbles instead of settlement. The process has proved to be successful and, since the 1960s, accepted as an alternative to the conventional sedimentation process for water and wastewater treatment. However, limited research into the process, especially the fundamental characteristics of bubbles and particles, has been carried out. The single collector collision model is not capable of determining the effects of particular characteristics, such as the size and surface charge of bubbles and particles. Han has published a set of modeling results after calculating the collision efficiency between bubbles and particles by trajectory analysis. His major conclusion was that collision efficiency is maximum when the bubbles and particles are nearly the same size but have opposite charge. However, experimental verification of this conclusion has not been carried out yet. This paper describes a new method for measuring the size of particles and bubbles developed using computational image analysis. DAF efficiency is influenced by the effect of the recycle ratio on various average floc sizes. The larger the recycle ratio, the higher the DAF efficiency at the same pressure and particle size. The treatment efficiency is also affected by the saturation pressure, because the bubble size and bubble volume concentration are controlled by the pressure. The highest efficiency is obtained when the floc size is larger than the bubble size. These results, namely that the highest collision efficiency occurs when the particles and bubbles are about the same size, are more in accordance with the trajectory model than with the white water collector model, which implies that the larger the particles, the higher is the collision efficiency.

Development of efficiency module of organization of Arctic sea cargo transportation with application of neural network technologies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sobolevskaya, E. Yu; Glushkov, S. V.; Levchenko, N. G.; Orlov, A. P.

2018-05-01

The analysis of software intended for organizing and managing the processes of sea cargo transportation has been carried out. The shortcomings of information resources are presented, for the organization of work in the Arctic and Subarctic regions of the Far East: the lack of decision support systems, the lack of factor analysis to calculate the time and cost of delivery. The architecture of the module for calculating the effectiveness of the organization of sea cargo transportation has been developed. The simulation process has been considered, which is based on the neural network. The main classification factors with their weighting coefficients have been identified. The architecture of the neural network has been developed to calculate the efficiency of the organization of sea cargo transportation in Arctic conditions. The architecture of the intellectual system of organization of sea cargo transportation has been developed, taking into account the difficult navigation conditions in the Arctic. Its implementation will allow one to provide the management of the shipping company with predictive analytics; to support decision-making; to calculate the most efficient delivery route; to provide on demand online transportation forecast, to minimize the shipping cost, delays in transit, and risks to cargo safety.

Minimizing energy dissipation of matrix multiplication kernel on Virtex-II

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Choi, Seonil; Prasanna, Viktor K.; Jang, Ju-wook

2002-07-01

In this paper, we develop energy-efficient designs for matrix multiplication on FPGAs. To analyze the energy dissipation, we develop a high-level model using domain-specific modeling techniques. In this model, we identify architecture parameters that significantly affect the total energy (system-wide energy) dissipation. Then, we explore design trade-offs by varying these parameters to minimize the system-wide energy. For matrix multiplication, we consider a uniprocessor architecture and a linear array architecture to develop energy-efficient designs. For the uniprocessor architecture, the cache size is a parameter that affects the I/O complexity and the system-wide energy. For the linear array architecture, the amount of storage per processing element is a parameter affecting the system-wide energy. By using maximum amount of storage per processing element and minimum number of multipliers, we obtain a design that minimizes the system-wide energy. We develop several energy-efficient designs for matrix multiplication. For example, for 6×6 matrix multiplication, energy savings of upto 52% for the uniprocessor architecture and 36% for the linear arrary architecture is achieved over an optimized library for Virtex-II FPGA from Xilinx.

Spoken word recognition by Latino children learning Spanish as their first language*

PubMed Central

HURTADO, NEREYDA; MARCHMAN, VIRGINIA A.; FERNALD, ANNE

2010-01-01

Research on the development of efficiency in spoken language understanding has focused largely on middle-class children learning English. Here we extend this research to Spanish-learning children (n=49; M=2;0; range=1;3–3;1) living in the USA in Latino families from primarily low socioeconomic backgrounds. Children looked at pictures of familiar objects while listening to speech naming one of the objects. Analyses of eye movements revealed developmental increases in the efficiency of speech processing. Older children and children with larger vocabularies were more efficient at processing spoken language as it unfolds in real time, as previously documented with English learners. Children whose mothers had less education tended to be slower and less accurate than children of comparable age and vocabulary size whose mothers had more schooling, consistent with previous findings of slower rates of language learning in children from disadvantaged backgrounds. These results add to the cross-linguistic literature on the development of spoken word recognition and to the study of the impact of socioeconomic status (SES) factors on early language development. PMID:17542157

OPTICAL FIBER SENSOR TECHNOLOGIES FOR EFFICIENT AND ECONOMICAL OIL RECOVERY

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Anbo Wang; Kristie L. Cooper; Gary R. Pickrell

2003-06-01

Efficient recovery of petroleum reserves from existing oil wells has been proven to be difficult due to the lack of robust instrumentation that can accurately and reliably monitor processes in the downhole environment. Commercially available sensors for measurement of pressure, temperature, and fluid flow exhibit shortened lifetimes in the harsh downhole conditions, which are characterized by high pressures (up to 20 kpsi), temperatures up to 250 C, and exposure to chemically reactive fluids. Development of robust sensors that deliver continuous, real-time data on reservoir performance and petroleum flow pathways will facilitate application of advanced recovery technologies, including horizontal and multilateralmore » wells. This is the final report for the four-year program ''Optical Fiber Sensor Technologies for Efficient and Economical Oil Recovery'', funded by the National Petroleum Technology Office of the U.S. Department of Energy, and performed by the Center for Photonics Technology of the Bradley Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Virginia Tech from October 1, 1999 to March 31, 2003. The main objective of this research program was to develop cost-effective, reliable optical fiber sensor instrumentation for real-time monitoring of various key parameters crucial to efficient and economical oil production. During the program, optical fiber sensors were demonstrated for the measurement of temperature, pressure, flow, and acoustic waves, including three successful field tests in the Chevron/Texaco oil fields in Coalinga, California, and at the world-class oil flow simulation facilities in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Research efforts included the design and fabrication of sensor probes, development of signal processing algorithms, construction of test systems, development and testing of strategies for the protection of optical fibers and sensors in the downhole environment, development of remote monitoring capabilities allowing real-time monitoring of the field test data from virtually anywhere in the world, and development of novel data processing techniques. Comprehensive testing was performed to systematically evaluate the performance of the fiber optic sensor systems in both lab and field environments.« less

Is Your Ethics Committee Efficient? Using “IRB Metrics” as a Self-Assessment Tool for Continuous Improvement at the Faculty of Tropical Medicine, Mahidol University, Thailand

PubMed Central

Adams, Pornpimon; Kaewkungwal, Jaranit; Limphattharacharoen, Chanthima; Prakobtham, Sukanya; Pengsaa, Krisana; Khusmith, Srisin

2014-01-01

Tensions between researchers and ethics committees have been reported in several institutions. Some reports suggest researchers lack confidence in the quality of institutional review board (IRB) reviews, and that emphasis on strict procedural compliance and ethical issues raised by the IRB might unintentionally lead to delays in correspondence between researchers and ethics committees, and/or even encourage prevarication/equivocation, if researchers perceive committee concerns and criticisms unjust. This study systematically analyzed the efficiency of different IRB functions, and the relationship between efficiency and perceived quality of the decision-making process. The major purposes of this study were thus (1) to use the IRB Metrics developed by the Faculty of Tropical Medicine, Mahidol University, Thailand (FTM-EC) to assess the operational efficiency and perceived effectiveness of its ethics committees, and (2) to determine ethical issues that may cause the duration of approval process to be above the target limit of 60 days. Based on a literature review of definitions and methods used and proposed for use, in assessing aspects of IRB quality, an “IRB Metrics” was developed to assess IRB processes using a structure-process-outcome measurement model. To observe trends in the indicators evaluated, data related to all protocols submitted to the two panels of the FTM-EC (clinical and non-clinical), between January 2010–September 2013, were extracted and analyzed. Quantitative information based on IRB Metrics structure-process-outcome illuminates different areas for internal-process improvement. Ethical issues raised with researchers by the IRB, which were associated with the duration of the approval process in protocol review, could be considered root causes of tensions between the parties. The assessment of IRB structure-process-outcome thus provides a valuable opportunity to strengthen relationships and reduce conflicts between IRBs and researchers, with positive outcomes for all parties involved in the conduct of human-subject research. PMID:25406085

High-Efficiency Flexible Solar Cells Based on Organometal Halide Perovskites.

PubMed

Wang, Yuming; Bai, Sai; Cheng, Lu; Wang, Nana; Wang, Jianpu; Gao, Feng; Huang, Wei

2016-06-01

Flexible and light-weight solar cells are important because they not only supply power to wearable and portable devices, but also reduce the transportation and installation cost of solar panels. High-efficiency organometal halide perovskite solar cells can be fabricated by a low-temperature solution process, and hence are promising for flexible-solar-cell applications. Here, the development of perovskite solar cells is briefly discussed, followed by the merits of organometal halide perovskites as promising candidates as high-efficiency, flexible, and light-weight photovoltaic materials. Afterward, recent developments of flexible solar cells based on perovskites are reviewed. © 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

An Exponential Luminous Efficiency Model for Hypervelocity Impact into Regolith

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Swift, Wesley R.; Moser, D.E.; Suggs, Robb M.; Cooke, W.J.

2010-01-01

The flash of thermal radiation produced as part of the impact-crater forming process can be used to determine the energy of the impact if the luminous efficiency is known. From this energy the mass and, ultimately, the mass flux of similar impactors can be deduced. The luminous efficiency, Eta is a unique function of velocity with an extremely large variation in the laboratory range of under 8 km/s but a necessarily small variation with velocity in the meteoric range of 20 to 70 km/s. Impacts into granular or powdery regolith, such as that on the moon, differ from impacts into solid materials in that the energy is deposited via a serial impact process which affects the rate of deposition of internal (thermal) energy. An exponential model of the process is developed which differs from the usual polynomial models of crater formation. The model is valid for the early time portion of the process and focuses on the deposition of internal energy into the regolith. The model is successfully compared with experimental luminous efficiency data from laboratory impacts and from astronomical determinations and scaling factors are estimated. Further work is proposed to clarify the effects of mass and density upon the luminous efficiency scaling factors

Determination of struvite crystallization mechanisms in urine using turbidity measurement.

PubMed

Triger, Aurélien; Pic, Jean-Stéphane; Cabassud, Corinne

2012-11-15

Sanitation improvement in developing countries could be achieved through wastewater treatment processes. Nowadays alternative concepts such as urine separate collection are being developed. These processes would be an efficient way to reduce pollution of wastewater while recovering nutrients, especially phosphorus, which are lost in current wastewater treatment methods. The precipitation of struvite (MgNH(4)PO(4)∙6H(2)O) from urine is an efficient process yielding more than 98% phosphorus recovery with very high reaction rates. The work presented here aims to determine the kinetics and mechanisms of struvite precipitation in order to supply data for the design of efficient urine treatment processes. A methodology coupling the resolution of the population balance equation to turbidity measurement was developed, and batch experiments with synthetic and real urine were performed. The main mechanisms of struvite crystallization were identified as crystal growth and nucleation. A satisfactory approximation of the volumetric crystal size distribution was obtained. The study has shown the low influence on the crystallization process of natural organic matter contained in real urine. It has also highlighted the impact of operational parameters. Mixing conditions can create segregation and attrition which influence the nucleation rate, resulting in a change in crystals number, size, and thus final crystal size distribution (CSD). Moreover urine storage conditions can impact urea hydrolysis and lead to spontaneous struvite precipitation in the stock solution also influencing the final CSD. A few limits of the applied methodology and of the proposed modelling, due to these phenomena and to the turbidity measurement, are also discussed. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Identify involved agencies addressing safety when freight centers are planned and developed : project summary.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2017-01-01

This project aimed to improve coordination and : cooperation among various entities in the : planning process for developing safer and more : efficient connections between intermodal : facilities and the highway network. Coordination : and cooperatio...

What basic number processing measures in kindergarten explain unique variability in first-grade arithmetic proficiency?

PubMed

Bartelet, Dimona; Vaessen, Anniek; Blomert, Leo; Ansari, Daniel

2014-01-01

Relations between children's mathematics achievement and their basic number processing skills have been reported in both cross-sectional and longitudinal studies. Yet, some key questions are currently unresolved, including which kindergarten skills uniquely predict children's arithmetic fluency during the first year of formal schooling and the degree to which predictors are contingent on children's level of arithmetic proficiency. The current study assessed kindergarteners' non-symbolic and symbolic number processing efficiency. In addition, the contribution of children's underlying magnitude representations to differences in arithmetic achievement was assessed. Subsequently, in January of Grade 1, their arithmetic proficiency was assessed. Hierarchical regression analysis revealed that children's efficiency to compare digits, count, and estimate numerosities uniquely predicted arithmetic differences above and beyond the non-numerical factors included. Moreover, quantile regression analysis indicated that symbolic number processing efficiency was consistently a significant predictor of arithmetic achievement scores regardless of children's level of arithmetic proficiency, whereas their non-symbolic number processing efficiency was not. Finally, none of the task-specific effects indexing children's representational precision was significantly associated with arithmetic fluency. The implications of the results are 2-fold. First, the findings indicate that children's efficiency to process symbols is important for the development of their arithmetic fluency in Grade 1 above and beyond the influence of non-numerical factors. Second, the impact of children's non-symbolic number processing skills does not depend on their arithmetic achievement level given that they are selected from a nonclinical population. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Factors limiting device efficiency in organic photovoltaics.

PubMed

Janssen, René A J; Nelson, Jenny

2013-04-04

The power conversion efficiency of the most efficient organic photovoltaic (OPV) cells has recently increased to over 10%. To enable further increases, the factors limiting the device efficiency in OPV must be identified. In this review, the operational mechanism of OPV cells is explained and the detailed balance limit to photovoltaic energy conversion, as developed by Shockley and Queisser, is outlined. The various approaches that have been developed to estimate the maximum practically achievable efficiency in OPV are then discussed, based on empirical knowledge of organic semiconductor materials. Subsequently, approaches made to adapt the detailed balance theory to incorporate some of the fundamentally different processes in organic solar cells that originate from using a combination of two complementary, donor and acceptor, organic semiconductors using thermodynamic and kinetic approaches are described. The more empirical formulations to the efficiency limits provide estimates of 10-12%, but the more fundamental descriptions suggest limits of 20-24% to be reachable in single junctions, similar to the highest efficiencies obtained for crystalline silicon p-n junction solar cells. Closing this gap sets the stage for future materials research and development of OPV. Copyright © 2013 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Electrondriven processes in polyatomic molecules

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

McKoy, Vincent

2017-03-20

This project developed and applied scalable computational methods to obtain information about low-energy electron collisions with larger polyatomic molecules. Such collisions are important in modeling radiation damage to living systems, in spark ignition and combustion, and in plasma processing of materials. The focus of the project was to develop efficient methods that could be used to obtain both fundamental scientific insights and data of practical value to applications.

The Development of English Language Teaching Skills for Graduate Students through the Process of Learning by Doing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Likitrattanaporn, Wannakarn

2017-01-01

The purposes of this investigation were (1) to examine the findings of effectiveness of the process of learning-by-doing; (2) to develop students' skill of designing English teaching materials and teaching English language; and (3) to determine an efficient format of learning-by-doing used for training student-teachers in the skill of teaching…

Rapid Freeform Sheet Metal Forming: Technology Development and System Verification

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kiridena, Vijitha; Verma, Ravi; Gutowski, Timothy

The objective of this project is to develop a transformational RApid Freeform sheet metal Forming Technology (RAFFT) in an industrial environment, which has the potential to increase manufacturing energy efficiency up to ten times, at a fraction of the cost of conventional technologies. The RAFFT technology is a flexible and energy-efficient process that eliminates the need for having geometry-specific forming dies. The innovation lies in the idea of using the energy resource at the local deformation area which provides greater formability, process control, and process flexibility relative to traditional methods. Double-Sided Incremental Forming (DSIF), the core technology in RAFFT, ismore » a new concept for sheet metal forming. A blank sheet is clamped around its periphery and gradually deformed into a complex 3D freeform part by two strategically aligned stylus-type tools that follow a pre-described toolpath. The two tools, one on each side of the blank, can form a part with sharp features for both concave and convex shapes. Since deformation happens locally, the forming force at any instant is significantly decreased when compared to traditional methods. The key advantages of DSIF are its high process flexibility, high energy-efficiency, low capital investment, and the elimination of the need for massive amounts of die casting and machining. Additionally, the enhanced formability and process flexibility of DSIF can open up design spaces and result in greater weight savings.« less

High-rate two-phase process for the anaerobic degradation of cellulose, employing rumen microorganisms for an efficient acidogenesis

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gijzen, H.J.; Zwart, K.B.; Verhagen, F.J.M.

1988-04-05

A novel two-stage anaerobic process for the microbial conversion of cellulose into biogas has been developed. In the first phase, a mixed population of rumen bacteria and ciliates was used in the hydrolysis and fermentation of cellulose. The volatile fatty acids (VFA) produced in this acidogenic reactor were subsequently converted into biogas in a UASB-type methanogenic reactor. A stepwise increase of the loading rate from 11.9 to 25.8 g volatile solids/L reactor volume/day (g VS/L/day) did not affect the degradation efficiency in the acidogenic reactor, whereas the methanogenic reactor appeared to be overloaded at the highest loading rate. Cellulose digestionmore » was almost complete at all loading rates applied. The two-stage anaerobic process was also tested with a closed fluid circuit. In this instance total methane production was 0.438 L CH/sub 4//g VS added, which is equivalent to 98% of the theoretical value. The application of rumen microorganisms in combination with a high-rate methane reactor is proposed as a means of efficient anaerobic degradation of cellulosic residues to methane. Because this newly developed two-phase system is based on processes and microorganisms from the ruminant, it will be referred to as Rumen Derived Anaerobic Digestion (RUDAD)-process.« less

A strategic planning methodology for aircraft redesign

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Romli, Fairuz Izzuddin

Due to a progressive market shift to a customer-driven environment, the influence of engineering changes on the product's market success is becoming more prominent. This situation affects many long lead-time product industries including aircraft manufacturing. Derivative development has been the key strategy for many aircraft manufacturers to survive the competitive market and this trend is expected to continue in the future. Within this environment of design adaptation and variation, the main market advantages are often gained by the fastest aircraft manufacturers to develop and produce their range of market offerings without any costly mistakes. This realization creates an emphasis on the efficiency of the redesign process, particularly on the handling of engineering changes. However, most activities involved in the redesign process are supported either inefficiently or not at all by the current design methods and tools, primarily because they have been mostly developed to improve original product development. In view of this, the main goal of this research is to propose an aircraft redesign methodology that will act as a decision-making aid for aircraft designers in the change implementation planning of derivative developments. The proposed method, known as Strategic Planning of Engineering Changes (SPEC), combines the key elements of the product redesign planning and change management processes. Its application is aimed at reducing the redesign risks of derivative aircraft development, improving the detection of possible change effects propagation, increasing the efficiency of the change implementation planning and also reducing the costs and the time delays due to the redesign process. To address these challenges, four research areas have been identified: baseline assessment, change propagation prediction, change impact analysis and change implementation planning. Based on the established requirements for the redesign planning process, several methods and tools that are identified within these research areas have been abstracted and adapted into the proposed SPEC method to meet the research goals. The proposed SPEC method is shown to be promising in improving the overall efficiency of the derivative aircraft planning process through two notional aircraft system redesign case studies that are presented in this study.

Biohydrogen Production: Strategies to Improve Process Efficiency through Microbial Routes

PubMed Central

Chandrasekhar, Kuppam; Lee, Yong-Jik; Lee, Dong-Woo

2015-01-01

The current fossil fuel-based generation of energy has led to large-scale industrial development. However, the reliance on fossil fuels leads to the significant depletion of natural resources of buried combustible geologic deposits and to negative effects on the global climate with emissions of greenhouse gases. Accordingly, enormous efforts are directed to transition from fossil fuels to nonpolluting and renewable energy sources. One potential alternative is biohydrogen (H2), a clean energy carrier with high-energy yields; upon the combustion of H2, H2O is the only major by-product. In recent decades, the attractive and renewable characteristics of H2 led us to develop a variety of biological routes for the production of H2. Based on the mode of H2 generation, the biological routes for H2 production are categorized into four groups: photobiological fermentation, anaerobic fermentation, enzymatic and microbial electrolysis, and a combination of these processes. Thus, this review primarily focuses on the evaluation of the biological routes for the production of H2. In particular, we assess the efficiency and feasibility of these bioprocesses with respect to the factors that affect operations, and we delineate the limitations. Additionally, alternative options such as bioaugmentation, multiple process integration, and microbial electrolysis to improve process efficiency are discussed to address industrial-level applications. PMID:25874756

Biohydrogen production: strategies to improve process efficiency through microbial routes.

PubMed

Chandrasekhar, Kuppam; Lee, Yong-Jik; Lee, Dong-Woo

2015-04-14

The current fossil fuel-based generation of energy has led to large-scale industrial development. However, the reliance on fossil fuels leads to the significant depletion of natural resources of buried combustible geologic deposits and to negative effects on the global climate with emissions of greenhouse gases. Accordingly, enormous efforts are directed to transition from fossil fuels to nonpolluting and renewable energy sources. One potential alternative is biohydrogen (H2), a clean energy carrier with high-energy yields; upon the combustion of H2, H2O is the only major by-product. In recent decades, the attractive and renewable characteristics of H2 led us to develop a variety of biological routes for the production of H2. Based on the mode of H2 generation, the biological routes for H2 production are categorized into four groups: photobiological fermentation, anaerobic fermentation, enzymatic and microbial electrolysis, and a combination of these processes. Thus, this review primarily focuses on the evaluation of the biological routes for the production of H2. In particular, we assess the efficiency and feasibility of these bioprocesses with respect to the factors that affect operations, and we delineate the limitations. Additionally, alternative options such as bioaugmentation, multiple process integration, and microbial electrolysis to improve process efficiency are discussed to address industrial-level applications.

Process Correlation Analysis Model for Process Improvement Identification

PubMed Central

Park, Sooyong

2014-01-01

Software process improvement aims at improving the development process of software systems. It is initiated by process assessment identifying strengths and weaknesses and based on the findings, improvement plans are developed. In general, a process reference model (e.g., CMMI) is used throughout the process of software process improvement as the base. CMMI defines a set of process areas involved in software development and what to be carried out in process areas in terms of goals and practices. Process areas and their elements (goals and practices) are often correlated due to the iterative nature of software development process. However, in the current practice, correlations of process elements are often overlooked in the development of an improvement plan, which diminishes the efficiency of the plan. This is mainly attributed to significant efforts and the lack of required expertise. In this paper, we present a process correlation analysis model that helps identify correlations of process elements from the results of process assessment. This model is defined based on CMMI and empirical data of improvement practices. We evaluate the model using industrial data. PMID:24977170

Process correlation analysis model for process improvement identification.

PubMed

Choi, Su-jin; Kim, Dae-Kyoo; Park, Sooyong

2014-01-01

Software process improvement aims at improving the development process of software systems. It is initiated by process assessment identifying strengths and weaknesses and based on the findings, improvement plans are developed. In general, a process reference model (e.g., CMMI) is used throughout the process of software process improvement as the base. CMMI defines a set of process areas involved in software development and what to be carried out in process areas in terms of goals and practices. Process areas and their elements (goals and practices) are often correlated due to the iterative nature of software development process. However, in the current practice, correlations of process elements are often overlooked in the development of an improvement plan, which diminishes the efficiency of the plan. This is mainly attributed to significant efforts and the lack of required expertise. In this paper, we present a process correlation analysis model that helps identify correlations of process elements from the results of process assessment. This model is defined based on CMMI and empirical data of improvement practices. We evaluate the model using industrial data.

Efficient Construction of Discrete Adjoint Operators on Unstructured Grids by Using Complex Variables

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nielsen, Eric J.; Kleb, William L.

2005-01-01

A methodology is developed and implemented to mitigate the lengthy software development cycle typically associated with constructing a discrete adjoint solver for aerodynamic simulations. The approach is based on a complex-variable formulation that enables straightforward differentiation of complicated real-valued functions. An automated scripting process is used to create the complex-variable form of the set of discrete equations. An efficient method for assembling the residual and cost function linearizations is developed. The accuracy of the implementation is verified through comparisons with a discrete direct method as well as a previously developed handcoded discrete adjoint approach. Comparisons are also shown for a large-scale configuration to establish the computational efficiency of the present scheme. To ultimately demonstrate the power of the approach, the implementation is extended to high temperature gas flows in chemical nonequilibrium. Finally, several fruitful research and development avenues enabled by the current work are suggested.

Efficient Construction of Discrete Adjoint Operators on Unstructured Grids Using Complex Variables

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nielsen, Eric J.; Kleb, William L.

2005-01-01

A methodology is developed and implemented to mitigate the lengthy software development cycle typically associated with constructing a discrete adjoint solver for aerodynamic simulations. The approach is based on a complex-variable formulation that enables straightforward differentiation of complicated real-valued functions. An automated scripting process is used to create the complex-variable form of the set of discrete equations. An efficient method for assembling the residual and cost function linearizations is developed. The accuracy of the implementation is verified through comparisons with a discrete direct method as well as a previously developed handcoded discrete adjoint approach. Comparisons are also shown for a large-scale configuration to establish the computational efficiency of the present scheme. To ultimately demonstrate the power of the approach, the implementation is extended to high temperature gas flows in chemical nonequilibrium. Finally, several fruitful research and development avenues enabled by the current work are suggested.

Induction Consolidation of Thermoplastic Composites Using Smart Susceptors

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Matsen, Marc R

2012-06-14

This project has focused on the area of energy efficient consolidation and molding of fiber reinforced thermoplastic composite components as an energy efficient alternative to the conventional processing methods such as autoclave processing. The expanding application of composite materials in wind energy, automotive, and aerospace provides an attractive energy efficiency target for process development. The intent is to have this efficient processing along with the recyclable thermoplastic materials ready for large scale application before these high production volume levels are reached. Therefore, the process can be implemented in a timely manner to realize the maximum economic, energy, and environmental efficiencies.more » Under this project an increased understanding of the use of induction heating with smart susceptors applied to consolidation of thermoplastic has been achieved. This was done by the establishment of processing equipment and tooling and the subsequent demonstration of this fabrication technology by consolidating/molding of entry level components for each of the participating industrial segments, wind energy, aerospace, and automotive. This understanding adds to the nation's capability to affordably manufacture high quality lightweight high performance components from advanced recyclable composite materials in a lean and energy efficient manner. The use of induction heating with smart susceptors is a precisely controlled low energy method for the consolidation and molding of thermoplastic composites. The smart susceptor provides intrinsic thermal control based on the interaction with the magnetic field from the induction coil thereby producing highly repeatable processing. The low energy usage is enabled by the fact that only the smart susceptor surface of the tool is heated, not the entire tool. Therefore much less mass is heated resulting in significantly less required energy to consolidate/mold the desired composite components. This energy efficiency results in potential energy savings of {approx}75% as compared to autoclave processing in aerospace, {approx}63% as compared to compression molding in automotive, and {approx}42% energy savings as compared to convectively heated tools in wind energy. The ability to make parts in a rapid and controlled manner provides significant economic advantages for each of the industrial segments. These attributes were demonstrated during the processing of the demonstration components on this project.« less

JAtlasView: a Java atlas-viewer for browsing biomedical 3D images and atlases.

PubMed

Feng, Guangjie; Burton, Nick; Hill, Bill; Davidson, Duncan; Kerwin, Janet; Scott, Mark; Lindsay, Susan; Baldock, Richard

2005-03-09

Many three-dimensional (3D) images are routinely collected in biomedical research and a number of digital atlases with associated anatomical and other information have been published. A number of tools are available for viewing this data ranging from commercial visualization packages to freely available, typically system architecture dependent, solutions. Here we discuss an atlas viewer implemented to run on any workstation using the architecture neutral Java programming language. We report the development of a freely available Java based viewer for 3D image data, descibe the structure and functionality of the viewer and how automated tools can be developed to manage the Java Native Interface code. The viewer allows arbitrary re-sectioning of the data and interactive browsing through the volume. With appropriately formatted data, for example as provided for the Electronic Atlas of the Developing Human Brain, a 3D surface view and anatomical browsing is available. The interface is developed in Java with Java3D providing the 3D rendering. For efficiency the image data is manipulated using the Woolz image-processing library provided as a dynamically linked module for each machine architecture. We conclude that Java provides an appropriate environment for efficient development of these tools and techniques exist to allow computationally efficient image-processing libraries to be integrated relatively easily.

Thermally regenerative hydrogen/oxygen fuel cell power cycles

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Morehouse, J. H.

1986-01-01

Two innovative thermodynamic power cycles are analytically examined for future engineering feasibility. The power cycles use a hydrogen-oxygen fuel cell for electrical energy production and use the thermal dissociation of water for regeneration of the hydrogen and oxygen. The TDS (thermal dissociation system) uses a thermal energy input at over 2000 K to thermally dissociate the water. The other cycle, the HTE (high temperature electrolyzer) system, dissociates the water using an electrolyzer operating at high temperature (1300 K) which receives its electrical energy from the fuel cell. The primary advantages of these cycles is that they are basically a no moving parts system, thus having the potential for long life and high reliability, and they have the potential for high thermal efficiency. Both cycles are shown to be classical heat engines with ideal efficiency close to Carnot cycle efficiency. The feasibility of constructing actual cycles is investigated by examining process irreversibilities and device efficiencies for the two types of cycles. The results show that while the processes and devices of the 2000 K TDS exceed current technology limits, the high temperature electrolyzer system appears to be a state-of-the-art technology development. The requirements for very high electrolyzer and fuel cell efficiencies are seen as determining the feasbility of the HTE system, and these high efficiency devices are currently being developed. It is concluded that a proof-of-concept HTE system experiment can and should be conducted.

The potential of value management (VM) to improve the consideration of energy efficiency within pre-construction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tahir, Mohamad Zamhari; Nawi, Mohd Nasrun Mohd; Rajemi, Mohamad Farizal

2016-08-01

Energy demand and consumption in buildings will rise rapidly in the near future because of several social economics factors and this situation occurs not only in developed countries but also in developing countries such as Malaysia. There is demand towards building with energy efficiency features at this time, however most of the current buildings types are still being constructed with conventional designs, thus contribute to inefficient of energy consumption during the operation stage of the building. This paper presents the concept and the application of Value Management (VM) approach and its potential to improve consideration of energy efficiency within pre-construction process. Based on the relevant literatures, VM has provides an efficient and effective delivery system to fulfill the objectives and client's requirements. Generally in this paper, VM is discussed and scrutinized with reference to previous studies to see how these concepts contribute to better optimize the energy consumption in a building by seeking the best value energy efficiency through the design and construction process. This paper will not draw any conclusion but rather a preliminary research to propose the most energy efficiency measures to reliably accomplish a function that will meet the client's needs, desires and expectations. For further research in future, simple quantitative industry survey and VM workshops will be conducted to validate and further improve the research.

An algebraic equation solution process formulated in anticipation of banded linear equations.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1971-01-01

A general method for the solution of large, sparsely banded, positive-definite, coefficient matrices is presented. The goal in developing the method was to produce an efficient and reliable solution process and to provide the user-programmer with a p...

How current ginning processes affect fiber length uniformity index

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

There is a need to develop cotton ginning methods that improve fiber characteristics that are compatible with the newer and more efficient spinning technologies. A literature search produced recent studies that described how current ginning processes affect HVI fiber length uniformity index. Resul...

Flow Chemistry for Designing Sustainable Chemical Synthesis (journal article)

EPA Science Inventory

An efficiently designed continuous flow chemical process can lead to significant advantages in developing a sustainable chemical synthesis or process. These advantages are the direct result of being able to impart a higher degree of control on several key reactor and reaction par...

Optimization of Process Parameters for High Efficiency Laser Forming of Advanced High Strength Steels within Metallurgical Constraints

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sheikholeslami, Ghazal; Griffiths, Jonathan; Dearden, Geoff; Edwardson, Stuart P.

Laser forming (LF) has been shown to be a viable alternative to form automotive grade advanced high strength steels (AHSS). Due to their high strength, heat sensitivity and low conventional formability show early fractures, larger springback, batch-to-batch inconsistency and high tool wear. In this paper, optimisation of the LF process parameters has been conducted to further understand the impact of a surface heat treatment on DP1000. A FE numerical simulation has been developed to analyse the dynamic thermo-mechanical effects. This has been verified against empirical data. The goal of the optimisation has been to develop a usable process window for the LF of AHSS within strict metallurgical constraints. Results indicate it is possible to LF this material, however a complex relationship has been found between the generation and maintenance of hardness values in the heated zone. A laser surface hardening effect has been observed that could be beneficial to the efficiency of the process.

Curtailing Perovskite Processing Limitations via Lamination at the Perovskite/Perovskite Interface

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Van Hest, Marinus F; Moore, David; Klein, Talysa

Standard layer-by-layer solution processing methods constrain lead-halide perovskite device architectures. The layer below the perovskite must be robust to the strong organic solvents used to form the perovskite while the layer above has a limited thermal budget and must be processed in nonpolar solvents to prevent perovskite degradation. To circumvent these limitations, we developed a procedure where two transparent conductive oxide/transport material/perovskite half stacks are independently fabricated and then laminated together at the perovskite/perovskite interface. Using ultraviolet-visible absorption spectroscopy, external quantum efficiency, X-ray diffraction, and time-resolved photoluminesence spectroscopy, we show that this procedure improves photovoltaic properties of the perovskite layer.more » Applying this procedure, semitransparent devices employing two high-temperature oxide transport layers were fabricated, which realized an average efficiency of 9.6% (maximum: 10.6%) despite series resistance limitations from the substrate design. Overall, the developed lamination procedure curtails processing constraints, enables new device designs, and affords new opportunities for optimization.« less

Advanced medical imaging protocol workflow-a flexible electronic solution to optimize process efficiency, care quality and patient safety in the National VA Enterprise.

PubMed

Medverd, Jonathan R; Cross, Nathan M; Font, Frank; Casertano, Andrew

2013-08-01

Radiologists routinely make decisions with only limited information when assigning protocol instructions for the performance of advanced medical imaging examinations. Opportunity exists to simultaneously improve the safety, quality and efficiency of this workflow through the application of an electronic solution leveraging health system resources to provide concise, tailored information and decision support in real-time. Such a system has been developed using an open source, open standards design for use within the Veterans Health Administration. The Radiology Protocol Tool Recorder (RAPTOR) project identified key process attributes as well as inherent weaknesses of paper processes and electronic emulators of paper processes to guide the development of its optimized electronic solution. The design provides a kernel that can be expanded to create an integrated radiology environment. RAPTOR has implications relevant to the greater health care community, and serves as a case model for modernization of legacy government health information systems.

Kinetic Monte Carlo simulations of scintillation processes in NaI(Tl)

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kerisit, Sebastien N.; Wang, Zhiguo; Williams, Richard

2014-04-26

Developing a comprehensive understanding of the processes that govern the scintillation behavior of inorganic scintillators provides a pathway to optimize current scintillators and allows for the science-driven search for new scintillator materials. Recent experimental data on the excitation density dependence of the light yield of inorganic scintillators presents an opportunity to incorporate parameterized interactions between excitations in scintillation models and thus enable more realistic simulations of the nonproportionality of inorganic scintillators. Therefore, a kinetic Monte Carlo (KMC) model of elementary scintillation processes in NaI(Tl) is developed in this work to simulate the kinetics of scintillation for a range of temperaturesmore » and Tl concentrations as well as the scintillation efficiency as a function of excitation density. The ability of the KMC model to reproduce available experimental data allows for elucidating the elementary processes that give rise to the kinetics and efficiency of scintillation observed experimentally for a range of conditions.« less

Using a Polytope to Estimate Efficient Production Functions of Joint Product Processes.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Simpson, William A.

In the last decade, a modeling technique has been developed to handle complex input/output analyses where outputs involve joint products and there are no known mathematical relationships linking the outputs or inputs. The technique uses the geometrical concept of a six-dimensional shape called a polytope to analyze the efficiency of each…

Microalgal drying and cell disruption--recent advances.

PubMed

Show, Kuan-Yeow; Lee, Duu-Jong; Tay, Joo-Hwa; Lee, Tse-Min; Chang, Jo-Shu

2015-05-01

Production of intracellular metabolites or biofuels from algae involves various processing steps, and extensive work on laboratory- and pilot-scale algae cultivation, harvesting and processing has been reported. As algal drying and cell disruption are integral processes of the unit operations, this review examines recent advances in algal drying and disruption for nutrition or biofuel production. Challenges and prospects of the processing are also outlined. Engineering improvements in addressing the challenges of energy efficiency and cost-effective and rigorous techno-economic analyses for a clearer prospect comparison between different processing methods are highlighted. Holistic life cycle assessments need to be conducted in assessing the energy balance and the potential environmental impacts of algal processing. The review aims to provide useful information for future development of efficient and commercially viable algal food products and biofuels production. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Proposal of Heuristic Algorithm for Scheduling of Print Process in Auto Parts Supplier

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Matsumoto, Shimpei; Okuhara, Koji; Ueno, Nobuyuki; Ishii, Hiroaki

We are interested in the print process on the manufacturing processes of auto parts supplier as an actual problem. The purpose of this research is to apply our scheduling technique developed in university to the actual print process in mass customization environment. Rationalization of the print process is depending on the lot sizing. The manufacturing lead time of the print process is long, and in the present method, production is done depending on worker’s experience and intuition. The construction of an efficient production system is urgent problem. Therefore, in this paper, in order to shorten the entire manufacturing lead time and to reduce the stock, we reexamine the usual method of the lot sizing rule based on heuristic technique, and we propose the improvement method which can plan a more efficient schedule.

[Definition and stabilization of processes II. Clinical Processes in a Urology Department].

PubMed

Pascual, Carlos; Luján, Marcos; Mora, José Ramón; Diz, Manuel Ramón; Martín, Carlos; López, María Carmen

2015-01-01

New models in clinical management seek a clinical practice based on quality, efficacy and efficiency, avoiding variability and improvisation. In this paper we have developed one of the most frequent clinical processes in our speciality, the process based on DRG 311 or transurethral procedures without complications. Along it we will describe its components: Stabilization form, clinical trajectory, cost calculation, and finally the process flowchart.

Control of the dehydration process in production of intermediate-moisture meat products: a review.

PubMed

Chang, S F; Huang, T C; Pearson, A M

1996-01-01

IM meat products are produced by lowering the aw to 0.90 to 0.60. Such products are stable at ambient temperature and humidity and are produced in nearly every country in the world, especially in developing areas where refrigeration is limited or unavailable. Traditionally IM meats use low cost sources of energy for drying, such as sun drying, addition of salt, or fermentation. Products produced by different processes are of interest since they do not require refrigeration during distribution and storage. Many different IM meat products can be produced by utilizing modern processing equipment and methods. Production can be achieved in a relatively short period of time and their advantages during marketing and distribution can be utilized. Nevertheless, a better understanding of the principles involved in heat transfer and efficiency of production are still needed to increase efficiency of processing. A basic understanding of the influence of water vapor pressure and sorption phenomena on water activity can materially improve the efficiency of drying of IM meats. Predrying treatments, such as fermentation and humidity control, can also be taken advantage of during the dehydration process. Such information can lead to process optimization and reduction of energy costs during production of IM meats. The development of sound science-based methods to assure the production of high-quality and nutritious IM meats is needed. Finally, such products also must be free of pathogenic microorganisms to assure their success in production and marketing.

Development and fabrication of a solar cell junction processing system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bunker, S.

1981-01-01

A solar cell junction processing system was developed and fabricated. A pulsed electron beam for the four inch wafers is being assembled and tested, wafers were successfully pulsed, and solar cells fabricated. Assembly of the transport locks is completed. The transport was operated successfully but not with sufficient reproducibility. An experiment test facility to examine potential scaleup problems associated with the proposed ion implanter design was constructed and operated. Cells were implanted and found to have efficiency identical to the normal Spire implant process.

Application of System Operational Effectiveness Methodology to Space Launch Vehicle Development and Operations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Watson, Michael D.; Kelley, Gary W.

2012-01-01

The Department of Defense (DoD) defined System Operational Effectiveness (SOE) model provides an exceptional framework for an affordable approach to the development and operation of space launch vehicles and their supporting infrastructure. The SOE model provides a focal point from which to direct and measure technical effectiveness and process efficiencies of space launch vehicles. The application of the SOE model to a space launch vehicle's development and operation effort leads to very specific approaches and measures that require consideration during the design phase. This paper provides a mapping of the SOE model to the development of space launch vehicles for human exploration by addressing the SOE model key points of measurement including System Performance, System Availability, Technical Effectiveness, Process Efficiency, System Effectiveness, Life Cycle Cost, and Affordable Operational Effectiveness. In addition, the application of the SOE model to the launch vehicle development process is defined providing the unique aspects of space launch vehicle production and operations in lieu of the traditional broader SOE context that examines large quantities of fielded systems. The tailoring and application of the SOE model to space launch vehicles provides some key insights into the operational design drivers, capability phasing, and operational support systems.

Development of a strategy for energy efficiency improvement in a Kraft process based on systems interactions analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mateos-Espejel, Enrique

The objective of this thesis is to develop, validate, and apply a unified methodology for the energy efficiency improvement of a Kraft process that addresses globally the interactions of the various process systems that affect its energy performance. An implementation strategy is the final result. An operating Kraft pulping mill situated in Eastern Canada with a production of 700 adt/d of high-grade bleached pulp was the case study. The Pulp and Paper industry is Canada's premier industry. It is characterized by large thermal energy and water consumption. Rising energy costs and more stringent environmental regulations have led the industry to refocus its efforts toward identifying ways to improve energy and water conservation. Energy and water aspects are usually analyzed independently, but in reality they are strongly interconnected. Therefore, there is a need for an integrated methodology, which considers energy and water aspects, as well as the optimal utilization and production of the utilities. The methodology consists of four successive stages. The first stage is the base case definition. The development of a focused, reliable and representative model of an operating process is a prerequisite to the optimization and fine tuning of its energy performance. A four-pronged procedure has been developed: data gathering, master diagram, utilities systems analysis, and simulation. The computer simulation has been focused on the energy and water systems. The second stage corresponds to the benchmarking analysis. The benchmarking of the base case has the objectives of identifying the process inefficiencies and to establish guidelines for the development of effective enhancement measures. The studied process is evaluated by a comparison of its efficiency to the current practice of the industry and by the application of new energy and exergy content indicators. The minimum energy and water requirements of the process are also determined in this step. The third stage is the core of the methodology; it represents the formulation of technically feasible energy enhancing options. Several techniques are applied in an iterative procedure to cast light on their synergies and counter-actions. The objective is to develop a path for improving the process so as to maximize steam savings while minimizing the investment required. The fourth stage is the implementation strategy. As the existing process configuration and operating conditions vary from process to process it is important to develop a strategy for the implementation of energy enhancement programs in the most advantageous way for each case. A three-phase strategy was selected for the specific case study in the context of its management strategic plan: the elimination of fossil fuel, the production of power and the liberation of steam capacity. A post-benchmarking analysis is done to quantify the improvement of the energy efficiency. The performance indicators are computed after all energy enhancing measures have been implemented. The improvement of the process by applying the unified methodology results in substantially more steam savings than by applying individually the typical techniques that it comprises: energy savings of 5.6 GJ/adt (27% of the current requirement), water savings of 32 m3/adt (34% of the current requirement) and an electricity production potential of 44.5MW. As a result of applying the unified methodology the process becomes eco-friendly as it does not require fossil fuel for producing steam; its water and steam consumptions are below the Canadian average and it produces large revenues from the production of green electricity.

Direct Harmonic Linear Navier-Stokes Methods for Efficient Simulation of Wave Packets

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Streett, C. L.

1998-01-01

Wave packets produced by localized disturbances play an important role in transition in three-dimensional boundary layers, such as that on a swept wing. Starting with the receptivity process, we show the effects of wave-space energy distribution on the development of packets and other three-dimensional disturbance patterns. Nonlinearity in the receptivity process is specifically addressed, including demonstration of an effect which can enhance receptivity of traveling crossflow disturbances. An efficient spatial numerical simulation method is allowing most of the simulations presented to be carried out on a workstation.

Use of adaptive walls in 2D tests

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Archambaud, J. P.; Chevallier, J. P.

1984-01-01

A new method for computing the wall effects gives precise answers to some questions arising in adaptive wall concept applications: length of adapted regions, fairings with up and downstream regions, residual misadjustments effects, reference conditions. The acceleration of the iterative process convergence and the development of an efficient technology used in CERT T2 wind tunnels give in a single run the required test conditions. Samples taken from CAST 7 tests demonstrate the efficiency of the whole process to obtain significant results with considerations of tridimensional case extension.

Thermal Model Development for Ares I-X

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Amundsen, Ruth M.; DelCorso, Joe

2008-01-01

Thermal analysis for the Ares I-X vehicle has involved extensive thermal model integration, since thermal models of vehicle elements came from several different NASA and industry organizations. Many valuable lessons were learned in terms of model integration and validation. Modeling practices such as submodel, analysis group and symbol naming were standardized to facilitate the later model integration. Upfront coordination of coordinate systems, timelines, units, symbols and case scenarios was very helpful in minimizing integration rework. A process for model integration was developed that included pre-integration runs and basic checks of both models, and a step-by-step process to efficiently integrate one model into another. Extensive use of model logic was used to create scenarios and timelines for avionics and air flow activation. Efficient methods of model restart between case scenarios were developed. Standardization of software version and even compiler version between organizations was found to be essential. An automated method for applying aeroheating to the full integrated vehicle model, including submodels developed by other organizations, was developed.

Modelling the molecular mechanisms of aging

PubMed Central

Mc Auley, Mark T.; Guimera, Alvaro Martinez; Hodgson, David; Mcdonald, Neil; Mooney, Kathleen M.; Morgan, Amy E.

2017-01-01

The aging process is driven at the cellular level by random molecular damage that slowly accumulates with age. Although cells possess mechanisms to repair or remove damage, they are not 100% efficient and their efficiency declines with age. There are many molecular mechanisms involved and exogenous factors such as stress also contribute to the aging process. The complexity of the aging process has stimulated the use of computational modelling in order to increase our understanding of the system, test hypotheses and make testable predictions. As many different mechanisms are involved, a wide range of models have been developed. This paper gives an overview of the types of models that have been developed, the range of tools used, modelling standards and discusses many specific examples of models that have been grouped according to the main mechanisms that they address. We conclude by discussing the opportunities and challenges for future modelling in this field. PMID:28096317

Waste heat recovery systems in the sugar industry: An Indian perspective

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Madnaik, S.D.; Jadhav, M.G.

1996-04-01

This article identifies the key role of the sugar industry in the rural development of developing countries. The Indian sugar industry, already second largest among the country`s processing industries, shows even greater potential, according to the Plan Documents (shown in a table). The potential of waste heat in sugar processing plants, which produce white crystal sugar using the double sulphitation clarification process, is estimated at 5757.9 KJ/kg of sugar. Efficient waste heat recovery (WHR) systems could help arrest the trend of increasing production costs. This would help the sugar industry not only in India, but in many other countries asmore » well. The innovative methods suggested and discussed briefly in this article include dehydration of prepared cane, bagasse drying, and juice heating using waste heat. These methods can reduce the cost of energy in sugar production by at least 10% and improve efficiency and productivity.« less

Origin of poor doping efficiency in solution processed organic semiconductors.

PubMed

Jha, Ajay; Duan, Hong-Guang; Tiwari, Vandana; Thorwart, Michael; Miller, R J Dwayne

2018-05-21

Doping is an extremely important process where intentional insertion of impurities in semiconductors controls their electronic properties. In organic semiconductors, one of the convenient, but inefficient, ways of doping is the spin casting of a precursor mixture of components in solution, followed by solvent evaporation. Active control over this process holds the key to significant improvements over current poor doping efficiencies. Yet, an optimized control can only come from a detailed understanding of electronic interactions responsible for the low doping efficiencies. Here, we use two-dimensional nonlinear optical spectroscopy to examine these interactions in the course of the doping process by probing the solution mixture of doped organic semiconductors. A dopant accepts an electron from the semiconductor and the two ions form a duplex of interacting charges known as ion-pair complexes. Well-resolved off-diagonal peaks in the two-dimensional spectra clearly demonstrate the electronic connectivity among the ions in solution. This electronic interaction represents a well resolved electrostatically bound state, as opposed to a random distribution of ions. We developed a theoretical model to recover the experimental data, which reveals an unexpectedly strong electronic coupling of ∼250 cm -1 with an intermolecular distance of ∼4.5 Å between ions in solution, which is approximately the expected distance in processed films. The fact that this relationship persists from solution to the processed film gives direct evidence that Coulomb interactions are retained from the precursor solution to the processed films. This memory effect renders the charge carriers equally bound also in the film and, hence, results in poor doping efficiencies. This new insight will help pave the way towards rational tailoring of the electronic interactions to improve doping efficiencies in processed organic semiconductor thin films.

Optimization of business processes in banks through flexible workflow

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Postolache, V.

2017-08-01

This article describes an integrated business model of a commercial bank. There are examples of components that go into its composition: wooden models and business processes, strategic goals, organizational structure, system architecture, operational and marketing risk models, etc. The practice has shown that the development and implementation of the integrated business model of the bank significantly increase operating efficiency and its management, ensures organizational and technology stable development. Considering the evolution of business processes in the banking sector, should be analysed their common characteristics. From the author’s point of view, a business process is a set of various activities of a commercial bank in which “Input” is one or more financial and material resources, as a result of this activity and “output” is created by banking product, which is some value to consumer. Using workflow technology, management business process efficiency issue is a matter of managing the integration of resources and sequence of actions aimed at achieving this goal. In turn, it implies management of jobs or functions’ interaction, synchronizing of the assignments periods, reducing delays in the transmission of the results etc. Workflow technology is very important for managers at all levels, as they can use it to easily strengthen the control over what is happening in a particular unit, and in the bank as a whole. The manager is able to plan, to implement rules, to interact within the framework of the company’s procedures and tasks entrusted to the system of the distribution function and execution control, alert on the implementation and issuance of the statistical data on the effectiveness of operating procedures. Development and active use of the integrated bank business model is one of the key success factors that contribute to long-term and stable development of the bank, increase employee efficiency and business processes, implement the strategic objectives.

Combined mesophilic anaerobic and thermophilic aerobic digestion process for high-strength food wastewater to increase removal efficiency and reduce sludge discharge.

PubMed

Jang, H M; Park, S K; Ha, J H; Park, J M

2014-01-01

In this study, a process that combines the mesophilic anaerobic digestion (MAD) process with thermophilic aerobic digestion (TAD) for high-strength food wastewater (FWW) treatment was developed to examine the removal of organic matter and methane production. All effluent discharged from the MAD process was separated into solid and liquid portions. The liquid part was discarded and the sludge part was passed to the TAD process for further degradation. Then, the digested sludge from the TAD process was recycled back to the MAD unit to achieve low sludge discharge from the combined process. The reactor combination was operated in two phases: during Phase I, 40 d of total hydraulic retention time (HRT) was applied; during Phase II, 20 d was applied. HRT of the TAD process was fixed at 5 d. For a comparison, a control process (single-stage MAD) was operated with the same HRTs of the combined process. Our results indicated that the combined process showed over 90% total solids, volatile solids and chemical oxygen demand removal efficiencies. In addition, the combined process showed a significantly higher methane production rate than that of the control process. Consequently, the experimental data demonstrated that the combined MAD-TAD process was successfully employed for high-strength FWW treatment with highly efficient organic matter reduction and methane production.

A high-efficiency real-time digital signal averager for time-of-flight mass spectrometry.

PubMed

Wang, Yinan; Xu, Hui; Li, Qingjiang; Li, Nan; Huang, Zhengxu; Zhou, Zhen; Liu, Husheng; Sun, Zhaolin; Xu, Xin; Yu, Hongqi; Liu, Haijun; Li, David D-U; Wang, Xi; Dong, Xiuzhen; Gao, Wei

2013-05-30

Analog-to-digital converter (ADC)-based acquisition systems are widely applied in time-of-flight mass spectrometers (TOFMS) due to their ability to record the signal intensity of all ions within the same pulse. However, the acquisition system raises the requirement for data throughput, along with increasing the conversion rate and resolution of the ADC. It is therefore of considerable interest to develop a high-performance real-time acquisition system, which can relieve the limitation of data throughput. We present in this work a high-efficiency real-time digital signal averager, consisting of a signal conditioner, a data conversion module and a signal processing module. Two optimization strategies are implemented using field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) to enhance the efficiency of the real-time processing. A pipeline procedure is used to reduce the time consumption of the accumulation strategy. To realize continuous data transfer, a high-efficiency transmission strategy is developed, based on a ping-pong procedure. The digital signal averager features good responsiveness, analog bandwidth and dynamic performance. The optimal effective number of bits reaches 6.7 bits. For a 32 µs record length, the averager can realize 100% efficiency with an extraction frequency below 31.23 kHz by modifying the number of accumulation steps. In unit time, the averager yields superior signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) compared with data accumulation in a computer. The digital signal averager is combined with a vacuum ultraviolet single-photon ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometer (VUV-SPI-TOFMS). The efficiency of the real-time processing is tested by analyzing the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from ordinary printed materials. In these experiments, 22 kinds of compounds are detected, and the dynamic range exceeds 3 orders of magnitude. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Image Processing In Laser-Beam-Steering Subsystem

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lesh, James R.; Ansari, Homayoon; Chen, Chien-Chung; Russell, Donald W.

1996-01-01

Conceptual design of image-processing circuitry developed for proposed tracking apparatus described in "Beam-Steering Subsystem For Laser Communication" (NPO-19069). In proposed system, desired frame rate achieved by "windowed" readout scheme in which only pixels containing and surrounding two spots read out and others skipped without being read. Image data processed rapidly and efficiently to achieve high frequency response.

The potential of novel infrared food processing technologies: case studies of those developed at the USDA-ARS WRRC and the University of California Davis

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Infrared (IR) radiation heating has been considered as an alternative to current food and agricultural processing methods for improving product quality and safety, increasing energy and processing efficiency, and reducing water and chemical usage. As part of the electromagnetic spectrum, IR has the ...

Economic analysis of fuel ethanol production from hulled barley by the EDGE (Enhanced Dry Grind Enzymatic) process

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

A cost model was developed for fuel ethanol production from barley based on the EDGE (Enhanced Dry Grind Enzymatic) process (Nghiem, et al., 2008). In this process, in addition to beta-glucanases, which is added to reduce the viscosity of the barley mash for efficient mixing, another enzyme, beta-...

78 FR 62322 - Hydropower Regulatory Efficiency Act of 2013; Notice of Rescheduled Two-Year Licensing Process...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-10-16

... at non-powered dams and closed-loop pumped storage projects in compliance with section 6 of the... process for licensing hydropower development at non-powered dams and closed-loop pumped storage projects...-powered dam versus closed- loop pumped storage) affect the steps included in a two-year process? 3.9...

Design and fabrication of a novel self-powered solid-state neutron detector

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

LiCausi, Nicholas

There is a strong interest in intercepting special nuclear materials (SNM) at national and international borders and ports for homeland security applications. Detection of SNM such as U and Pu is often accomplished by sensing their natural or induced neutron emission. Such detector systems typically use thermal neutron detectors inside a plastic moderator. In order to achieve high detection efficiency gas filled detectors are often used; these detectors require high voltage bias for operation, which complicates the system when tens or hundreds of detectors are deployed. A better type of detector would be an inexpensive solid-state detector that can be mass-produced like any other computer chip. Research surrounding solid-state detectors has been underway since the late 1990's. A simple solid-state detector employs a planar solar-cell type p-n junction and a thin conversion material that converts incident thermal neutrons into detectable alpha-particles and 7Li ions. Existing work has typically used 6LiF or 10B as this conversion layer. Although a simple planar detector can act as a highly portable, low cost detector, it is limited to relatively low detection efficiency (˜10%). To increase the efficiency, 3D perforated p-i-n silicon devices were proposed. To get high efficiency, these detectors need to be biased, resulting in increased leakage current and hence detector noise. In this research, a new type of detector structure was proposed, designed and fabricated. Among several detector structures evaluated, a honeycomb-like silicon p-n structure was selected, which is filled with natural boron as the neutron converter. A silicon p+-n diode formed on the thin silicon wall of the honeycomb structure detects the energetic alpha-particles emitted from the boron conversion layer. The silicon detection layer is fabricated to be fully depleted with an integral step during the boron filling process. This novel feature results in a simplified fabrication process. Three key advantages of the novel devices are theoretical neutron detection efficiency of ˜48%, a self-passivating structure that reduces leakage current and detector operation with no bias resulting in extremely low device noise. Processes required to fabricate the 3D type detector were explored and developed in this thesis. The detector capacitance and processing steps have been simulated with MEDICI and TSuprem-4, respectively. Lithography masks were then designed using Cadence. The fabrication process development was conducted in line with standard CMOS grade integrated circuit processing to allow for simple integration with existing fabrication facilities. A number of new processes were developed including the low pressure chemical vapor deposition of conformal boron films using diborane on very high aspect-ratio trenches and holes. Development also included methods for "wet" chemical etching and "dry" reactive ion etching of the deposited boron films. Fabricated detectors were characterized with the transmission line method, 4-point probe, I-V measurements and C-V measurements. Finally the detector response to thermal neutrons was studied. Characterization has shown significant reduction in reverse leakage current density to ˜8x10-8 A/cm2 (nearly 4 orders of magnitude over the previously published data). Results show that the fabrication process developed is capable of producing efficient (˜22.5%) solid-state thermal neutron detectors.

Somatic embryogenesis for efficient micropropagation of guava (Psidium guajava L.).

PubMed

Akhtar, Nasim

2013-01-01

Guava (Psidium guajava L.) is well known for edible fruit, environment friendly pharmaceutical and commercial products for both national and international market. The conventional propagation and in vitro organogenesis do not meet the demand for the good quality planting materials. Somatic embryogenesis for efficient micropropagation of guava (P. guajava L.) has been developed to fill up the gap. Somatic embryogenesis and plantlets regeneration are achieved from 10-week post-anthesis zygotic embryo explants by 8-day inductive treatment with different concentrations of 2,4-dichlorophenoxy acetic acid (2,4-D) on MS agar medium containing 5% sucrose. Subsequent development and maturation of somatic embryos occur after 8 days on MS basal medium supplemented with 5% sucrose without plant growth regulator. The process of somatic embryogenesis shows the highest relative efficiency in 8-day treatment of zygotic embryo explants with 1.0 mg L(-1) 2,4-D. High efficiency germination of somatic embryos and plantlet regeneration takes place on half strength semisolid MS medium amended with 3% sucrose within 2 weeks of subculture. Somatic plantlets are grown for additional 2 weeks by subculturing in MS liquid growth medium containing 3% sucrose. Well-grown plantlets from liquid medium have survived very well following 2-4 week hardening process. The protocol of somatic embryogenesis is optimized for high efficiency micropropagation of guava species.

Adverse outcome pathway networks: Development, analytics and applications

EPA Science Inventory

The US EPA is developing more cost effective and efficient ways to evaluate chemical safety using high throughput and computationally based testing strategies. An important component of this approach is the ability to translate chemical effects on fundamental biological processes...

Adverse outcome pathway networks I: Development and applications

EPA Science Inventory

The US EPA is developing more cost effective and efficient ways to evaluate chemical safety using high throughput and computationally based testing strategies. An important component of this approach is the ability to translate chemical effects on fundamental biological processes...

Trends towards Distance Education of Nursing Education in Turkey

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Senyuva, Emine

2011-01-01

The contemporary world, developments, changes, transformations, globalization, information and communication technologies developments, diversification of the educational environment and life-long education to become compulsory in education, learning-teaching process efficiency and effectiveness in their discussion raises, while the educational…

An efficient quantum algorithm for spectral estimation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Steffens, Adrian; Rebentrost, Patrick; Marvian, Iman; Eisert, Jens; Lloyd, Seth

2017-03-01

We develop an efficient quantum implementation of an important signal processing algorithm for line spectral estimation: the matrix pencil method, which determines the frequencies and damping factors of signals consisting of finite sums of exponentially damped sinusoids. Our algorithm provides a quantum speedup in a natural regime where the sampling rate is much higher than the number of sinusoid components. Along the way, we develop techniques that are expected to be useful for other quantum algorithms as well—consecutive phase estimations to efficiently make products of asymmetric low rank matrices classically accessible and an alternative method to efficiently exponentiate non-Hermitian matrices. Our algorithm features an efficient quantum-classical division of labor: the time-critical steps are implemented in quantum superposition, while an interjacent step, requiring much fewer parameters, can operate classically. We show that frequencies and damping factors can be obtained in time logarithmic in the number of sampling points, exponentially faster than known classical algorithms.

A quantitative description for efficient financial markets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Immonen, Eero

2015-09-01

In this article we develop a control system model for describing efficient financial markets. We define the efficiency of a financial market in quantitative terms by robust asymptotic price-value equality in this model. By invoking the Internal Model Principle of robust output regulation theory we then show that under No Bubble Conditions, in the proposed model, the market is efficient if and only if the following conditions hold true: (1) the traders, as a group, can identify any mispricing in asset value (even if no one single trader can do it accurately), and (2) the traders, as a group, incorporate an internal model of the value process (again, even if no one single trader knows it). This main result of the article, which deliberately avoids the requirement for investor rationality, demonstrates, in quantitative terms, that the more transparent the markets are, the more efficient they are. An extensive example is provided to illustrate the theoretical development.

Materials Genome Initiative

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Vickers, John

2015-01-01

The Materials Genome Initiative (MGI) project element is a cross-Center effort that is focused on the integration of computational tools to simulate manufacturing processes and materials behavior. These computational simulations will be utilized to gain understanding of processes and materials behavior to accelerate process development and certification to more efficiently integrate new materials in existing NASA projects and to lead to the design of new materials for improved performance. This NASA effort looks to collaborate with efforts at other government agencies and universities working under the national MGI. MGI plans to develop integrated computational/experimental/ processing methodologies for accelerating discovery and insertion of materials to satisfy NASA's unique mission demands. The challenges include validated design tools that incorporate materials properties, processes, and design requirements; and materials process control to rapidly mature emerging manufacturing methods and develop certified manufacturing processes

Improving brain injury cognitive rehabilitation by personalized telerehabilitation services: Guttmann neuropersonal trainer.

PubMed

Solana, Javier; Cáceres, César; García-Molina, Alberto; Opisso, Eloy; Roig, Teresa; Tormos, José M; Gómez, Enrique J

2015-01-01

Cognitive rehabilitation aims to remediate or alleviate the cognitive deficits appearing after an episode of acquired brain injury (ABI). The purpose of this work is to describe the telerehabilitation platform called Guttmann Neuropersonal Trainer (GNPT) which provides new strategies for cognitive rehabilitation, improving efficiency and access to treatments, and to increase knowledge generation from the process. A cognitive rehabilitation process has been modeled to design and develop the system, which allows neuropsychologists to configure and schedule rehabilitation sessions, consisting of set of personalized computerized cognitive exercises grounded on neuroscience and plasticity principles. It provides remote continuous monitoring of patient's performance, by an asynchronous communication strategy. An automatic knowledge extraction method has been used to implement a decision support system, improving treatment customization. GNPT has been implemented in 27 rehabilitation centers and in 83 patients' homes, facilitating the access to the treatment. In total, 1660 patients have been treated. Usability and cost analysis methodologies have been applied to measure the efficiency in real clinical environments. The usability evaluation reveals a system usability score higher than 70 for all target users. The cost efficiency study results show a relation of 1-20 compared to face-to-face rehabilitation. GNPT enables brain-damaged patients to continue and further extend rehabilitation beyond the hospital, improving the efficiency of the rehabilitation process. It allows customized therapeutic plans, providing information to further development of clinical practice guidelines.

A ten-step process to develop case management plans.

PubMed

Tahan, Hussein A

2002-01-01

The use of case management plans has contained cost and improved quality of care successfully. However, the process of developing these plans remains a great challenge for healthcare executives, in this article, the author presents the answer to this challenge by discussing a 10-step formal process that administrators of patient care services and case managers can adapt to their institutions. It also can be used by interdisciplinary team members as a practical guide to develop a specific case management plan. This process is applicable to any care setting (acute, ambulatory, long term, and home care), diagnosis, or procedure. It is particularly important for those organizations that currently do not have a deliberate and systematic process to develop case management plans and are struggling with how to improve the efficiency and productivity of interdisciplinary teams charged with developing case management plans.

An exergy approach to efficiency evaluation of desalination

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ng, Kim Choon; Shahzad, Muhammad Wakil; Son, Hyuk Soo; Hamed, Osman A.

2017-05-01

This paper presents an evaluation process efficiency based on the consumption of primary energy for all types of practical desalination methods available hitherto. The conventional performance ratio has, thus far, been defined with respect to the consumption of derived energy, such as the electricity or steam, which are susceptible to the conversion losses of power plants and boilers that burned the input primary fuels. As derived energies are usually expressed by the units, either kWh or Joules, these units cannot differentiate the grade of energy supplied to the processes accurately. In this paper, the specific energy consumption is revisited for the efficacy of all large-scale desalination plants. In today's combined production of electricity and desalinated water, accomplished with advanced cogeneration concept, the input exergy of fuels is utilized optimally and efficiently in a temperature cascaded manner. By discerning the exergy destruction successively in the turbines and desalination processes, the relative contribution of primary energy to the processes can be accurately apportioned to the input primary energy. Although efficiency is not a law of thermodynamics, however, a common platform for expressing the figures of merit explicit to the efficacy of desalination processes can be developed meaningfully that has the thermodynamic rigor up to the ideal or thermodynamic limit of seawater desalination for all scientists and engineers to aspire to.

Integrating metabolic modeling and population heterogeneity analysis into optimizing recombinant protein production by Komagataella (Pichia) pastoris.

PubMed

Theron, Chrispian W; Berrios, Julio; Delvigne, Frank; Fickers, Patrick

2018-01-01

The methylotrophic yeast Komagataella (Pichia) pastoris has become one of the most utilized cell factories for the production of recombinant proteins over the last three decades. This success story is linked to its specific physiological traits, i.e., the ability to grow at high cell density in inexpensive culture medium and to secrete proteins at high yield. Exploiting methanol metabolism is at the core of most P. pastoris-based processes but comes with its own challenges. Co-feeding cultures with glycerol/sorbitol and methanol is a promising approach, which can benefit from improved understanding and prediction of metabolic response. The development of profitable processes relies on the construction and selection of efficient producing strains from less efficient ones but also depends on the ability to master the bioreactor process itself. More specifically, how a bioreactor processes could be monitored and controlled to obtain high yield of production. In this review, new perspectives are detailed regarding a multi-faceted approach to recombinant protein production processes by P. pastoris; including gaining improved understanding of the metabolic pathways involved, accounting for variations in transcriptional and translational efficiency at the single cell level and efficient monitoring and control of methanol levels at the bioreactor level.

Modelling of fluoride removal via batch monopolar electrocoagulation process using aluminium electrodes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Amri, N.; Hashim, M. I.; Ismail, N.; Rohman, F. S.; Bashah, N. A. A.

2017-09-01

Electrocoagulation (EC) is a promising technology that extensively used to remove fluoride ions efficiently from industrial wastewater. However, it has received very little consideration and understanding on mechanism and factors that affecting the fluoride removal process. In order to determine the efficiency of fluoride removal in EC process, the effect of operating parameters such as voltage and electrolysis time were investigated in this study. A batch experiment with monopolar aluminium electrodes was conducted to identify the model of fluoride removal using empirical model equation. The EC process was investigated using several parameters which include voltage (3 - 12 V) and electrolysis time (0 - 60 minutes) at a constant initial fluoride concentration of 25 mg/L. The result shows that the fluoride removal efficiency increased steadily with increasing voltage and electrolysis time. The best fluoride removal efficiency was obtained with 94.8 % removal at 25 mg/L initial fluoride concentration, voltage of 12 V and 60 minutes electrolysis time. The results indicated that the rate constant, k and number of order, n decreased as the voltage increased. The rate of fluoride removal model was developed based on the empirical model equation using the correlation of k and n. Overall, the result showed that EC process can be considered as a potential alternative technology for fluoride removal in wastewater.

Kinetics and efficiency of the hydrated electron-induced dehalogenation by the sulfite/UV process.

PubMed

Li, Xuchun; Fang, Jingyun; Liu, Guifang; Zhang, Shujuan; Pan, Bingcai; Ma, Jun

2014-10-01

Hydrated electron (e(aq)(-)), which is listed among the most reactive reducing species, has great potential for removal and detoxification of recalcitrant contaminants. Here we provided quantitative insight into the availability and conversion of e(aq)(-) in a newly developed sulfite/UV process. Using monochloroacetic acid as a simple e(aq)(-)-probe, the e(aq)(-)-induced dehalogenation kinetics in synthetic and surface water was well predicted by the developed models. The models interpreted the complex roles of pH and S(IV), and also revealed the positive effects of UV intensity and temperature quantitatively. Impacts of humic acid, ferrous ion, carbonate/bicarbonate, and surface water matrix were also examined. Despite the retardation of dehalogenation by electron scavengers, the process was effective even in surface water. Efficiency of the process was discussed, and the optimization approaches were proposed. This study is believed to better understand the e(aq)(-)-induced dehalogenation by the sulfite/UV process in a quantitative manner, which is very important for its potential application in water treatment. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Tension-Enhanced Hydrogen Evolution Reaction on Vanadium Disulfide Monolayer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pan, Hui

2016-02-01

Water electrolysis is an efficient way for hydrogen production. Finding efficient, cheap, and eco-friendly electrocatalysts is essential to the development of this technology. In the work, we present a first-principles study on the effects of tension on the hydrogen evolution reaction of a novel electrocatalyst, vanadium disulfide (VS2) monolayer. Two electrocatalytic processes, individual and collective processes, are investigated. We show that the catalytic ability of VS2 monolayer at higher hydrogen coverage can be efficiently improved by escalating tension. We find that the individual process is easier to occur in a wide range of hydrogen coverage and the collective process is possible at a certain hydrogen coverage under the same tension. The best hydrogen evolution reaction with near-zero Gibbs free energy can be achieved by tuning tension. We further show that the change of catalytic activity with tension and hydrogen coverage is induced by the change of free carrier density around the Fermi level, that is, higher carrier density, better catalytic performance. It is expected that tension can be a simple way to improve the catalytic activity, leading to the design of novel electrocatalysts for efficient hydrogen production from water electrolysis.

Characteristics, Process Parameters, and Inner Components of Anaerobic Bioreactors

PubMed Central

Abdelgadir, Awad; Chen, Xiaoguang; Liu, Jianshe; Xie, Xuehui; Zhang, Jian; Zhang, Kai; Wang, Heng; Liu, Na

2014-01-01

The anaerobic bioreactor applies the principles of biotechnology and microbiology, and nowadays it has been used widely in the wastewater treatment plants due to their high efficiency, low energy use, and green energy generation. Advantages and disadvantages of anaerobic process were shown, and three main characteristics of anaerobic bioreactor (AB), namely, inhomogeneous system, time instability, and space instability were also discussed in this work. For high efficiency of wastewater treatment, the process parameters of anaerobic digestion, such as temperature, pH, Hydraulic retention time (HRT), Organic Loading Rate (OLR), and sludge retention time (SRT) were introduced to take into account the optimum conditions for living, growth, and multiplication of bacteria. The inner components, which can improve SRT, and even enhance mass transfer, were also explained and have been divided into transverse inner components, longitudinal inner components, and biofilm-packing material. At last, the newly developed special inner components were discussed and found more efficient and productive. PMID:24672798

Characteristics, process parameters, and inner components of anaerobic bioreactors.

PubMed

Abdelgadir, Awad; Chen, Xiaoguang; Liu, Jianshe; Xie, Xuehui; Zhang, Jian; Zhang, Kai; Wang, Heng; Liu, Na

2014-01-01

The anaerobic bioreactor applies the principles of biotechnology and microbiology, and nowadays it has been used widely in the wastewater treatment plants due to their high efficiency, low energy use, and green energy generation. Advantages and disadvantages of anaerobic process were shown, and three main characteristics of anaerobic bioreactor (AB), namely, inhomogeneous system, time instability, and space instability were also discussed in this work. For high efficiency of wastewater treatment, the process parameters of anaerobic digestion, such as temperature, pH, Hydraulic retention time (HRT), Organic Loading Rate (OLR), and sludge retention time (SRT) were introduced to take into account the optimum conditions for living, growth, and multiplication of bacteria. The inner components, which can improve SRT, and even enhance mass transfer, were also explained and have been divided into transverse inner components, longitudinal inner components, and biofilm-packing material. At last, the newly developed special inner components were discussed and found more efficient and productive.

TDat: An Efficient Platform for Processing Petabyte-Scale Whole-Brain Volumetric Images.

PubMed

Li, Yuxin; Gong, Hui; Yang, Xiaoquan; Yuan, Jing; Jiang, Tao; Li, Xiangning; Sun, Qingtao; Zhu, Dan; Wang, Zhenyu; Luo, Qingming; Li, Anan

2017-01-01

Three-dimensional imaging of whole mammalian brains at single-neuron resolution has generated terabyte (TB)- and even petabyte (PB)-sized datasets. Due to their size, processing these massive image datasets can be hindered by the computer hardware and software typically found in biological laboratories. To fill this gap, we have developed an efficient platform named TDat, which adopts a novel data reformatting strategy by reading cuboid data and employing parallel computing. In data reformatting, TDat is more efficient than any other software. In data accessing, we adopted parallelization to fully explore the capability for data transmission in computers. We applied TDat in large-volume data rigid registration and neuron tracing in whole-brain data with single-neuron resolution, which has never been demonstrated in other studies. We also showed its compatibility with various computing platforms, image processing software and imaging systems.

Fermi-level effects in semiconductor processing: A modeling scheme for atomistic kinetic Monte Carlo simulators

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Martin-Bragado, I.; Castrillo, P.; Jaraiz, M.; Pinacho, R.; Rubio, J. E.; Barbolla, J.; Moroz, V.

2005-09-01

Atomistic process simulation is expected to play an important role for the development of next generations of integrated circuits. This work describes an approach for modeling electric charge effects in a three-dimensional atomistic kinetic Monte Carlo process simulator. The proposed model has been applied to the diffusion of electrically active boron and arsenic atoms in silicon. Several key aspects of the underlying physical mechanisms are discussed: (i) the use of the local Debye length to smooth out the atomistic point-charge distribution, (ii) algorithms to correctly update the charge state in a physically accurate and computationally efficient way, and (iii) an efficient implementation of the drift of charged particles in an electric field. High-concentration effects such as band-gap narrowing and degenerate statistics are also taken into account. The efficiency, accuracy, and relevance of the model are discussed.

Catalytic asymmetric epoxidation of alpha,beta-unsaturated amides: efficient synthesis of beta-aryl alpha-hydroxy amides using a one-pot tandem catalytic asymmetric epoxidation-Pd-catalyzed epoxide opening process.

PubMed

Nemoto, Tetsuhiro; Kakei, Hiroyuki; Gnanadesikan, Vijay; Tosaki, Shin-Ya; Ohshima, Takashi; Shibasaki, Masakatsu

2002-12-11

The catalytic asymmetric epoxidation of alpha,beta-unsaturated amides using Sm-BINOL-Ph3As=O complex was succeeded. Using 5-10 mol % of the asymmetric catalyst, a variety of amides were epoxidized efficiently, yielding the corresponding alpha,beta-epoxy amides in up to 99% yield and in more than 99% ee. Moreover, the novel one-pot tandem process, one-pot tandem catalytic asymmetric epoxidation-Pd-catalyzed epoxide opening process, was developed. This method was successfully utilized for the efficient synthesis of beta-aryl alpha-hydroxy amides, including beta-aryllactyl-leucine methyl esters. Interestingly, it was found that beneficial modifications on the Pd catalyst were achieved by the constituents of the first epoxidation, producing a more suitable catalyst for the Pd-catalyzed epoxide opening reaction in terms of chemoselectivity.

Finite Element Modelling and Analysis of Conventional Pultrusion Processes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Akishin, P.; Barkanov, E.; Bondarchuk, A.

2015-11-01

Pultrusion is one of many composite manufacturing techniques and one of the most efficient methods for producing fiber reinforced polymer composite parts with a constant cross-section. Numerical simulation is helpful for understanding the manufacturing process and developing scientific means for the pultrusion tooling design. Numerical technique based on the finite element method has been developed for the simulation of pultrusion processes. It uses the general purpose finite element software ANSYS Mechanical. It is shown that the developed technique predicts the temperature and cure profiles, which are in good agreement with those published in the open literature.

Genetic Modification of Short Rotation Poplar Biomass Feedstock for Efficient Conversion to Ethanol

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Dinus, R.J.

2000-08-30

The Bioenergy Feedstock Development Program, Environmental Sciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory is developing poplars (Populus species and hybrids) as sources of renewable energy, i.e., ethanol. Notable increases in adaptability, volume productivity, and pest/stress resistance have been achieved via classical selection and breeding and intensified cultural practices. Significant advances have also been made in the efficiencies of harvesting and handling systems. Given these and anticipated accomplishments, program leaders are considering shifting some attention to genetically modifying feedstock physical and chemical properties, so as to improve the efficiency with which feedstocks can be converted to ethanol. This report provides an in-depthmore » review and synthesis of opportunities for and feasibilities of genetically modifying feedstock qualities via classical selection and breeding, marker-aided selection and breeding, and genetic transformation. Information was collected by analysis of the literature, with emphasis on that published since 1995, and interviews with prominent scientists, breeders, and growers. Poplar research is well advanced, and literature is abundant. The report therefore primarily reflects advances in poplars, but data from other species, particularly other shortrotation hardwoods, are incorporated to fill gaps. An executive summary and recommendations for research, development, and technology transfer are provided immediately after the table of contents. The first major section of the report describes processes most likely to be used for conversion of poplar biomass to ethanol, the various physical and chemical properties of poplar feedstocks, and how such properties are expected to affect process efficiency. The need is stressed for improved understanding of the impact of change on both overall process and individual process step efficiencies. The second part documents advances in trait measurement instrumentation and methodology. The importance of these and future developments is emphasized, since trait measurement constitutes the largest cost associated with adding additional traits to improvement efforts, regardless of genetic approach. In subsequent sections, recent and projected advances in classical selection and breeding, marker-aided selection, and genetic transformation are documented and used to evaluate the feasibility of individual approaches. Interviews with specialists engaged in research and development on each approach were given particular emphasis in gauging feasibilities and defining future needs and directions. Summaries of important findings and major conclusions are presented at the end of individual sections. Closing portions describe the targeted workshop, conducted in December 1999 and list interviewees and literature cited in the text. Information obtained at the workshop was used to improve accuracy, refine conclusions, and recommend priorities for future research, development, and technology transfer.« less

An Instructional Theory for Learner Control: Revisited.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chung, Jaesam; Davies, Ivor K.

This study develops a prescriptive theory of learner control for educators to support the learner's decision making in the learning process and to manage more efficiently their instructional processes. The theoretical framework of learner control in conjunction with the self-regulation of learning, learner characteristics, and learner motivation…

Manufacturing Processes: New Methods for the "Materials Age." Resources in Technology.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Technology Teacher, 1990

1990-01-01

To make the best use of new materials developed for everything from computers to artificial hearts to more fuel-efficient cars, improved materials syntheses and manufacturing processes are needed. This instructional module includes teacher materials, a student quiz, and possible student outcomes. (JOW)

A Multiprocessor SoC Architecture with Efficient Communication Infrastructure and Advanced Compiler Support for Easy Application Development

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Urfianto, Mohammad Zalfany; Isshiki, Tsuyoshi; Khan, Arif Ullah; Li, Dongju; Kunieda, Hiroaki

This paper presentss a Multiprocessor System-on-Chips (MPSoC) architecture used as an execution platform for the new C-language based MPSoC design framework we are currently developing. The MPSoC architecture is based on an existing SoC platform with a commercial RISC core acting as the host CPU. We extend the existing SoC with a multiprocessor-array block that is used as the main engine to run parallel applications modeled in our design framework. Utilizing several optimizations provided by our compiler, an efficient inter-communication between processing elements with minimum overhead is implemented. A host-interface is designed to integrate the existing RISC core to the multiprocessor-array. The experimental results show that an efficacious integration is achieved, proving that the designed communication module can be used to efficiently incorporate off-the-shelf processors as a processing element for MPSoC architectures designed using our framework.

Hybrid Perovskite/Perovskite Heterojunction Solar Cells.

PubMed

Hu, Yinghong; Schlipf, Johannes; Wussler, Michael; Petrus, Michiel L; Jaegermann, Wolfram; Bein, Thomas; Müller-Buschbaum, Peter; Docampo, Pablo

2016-06-28

Recently developed organic-inorganic hybrid perovskite solar cells combine low-cost fabrication and high power conversion efficiency. Advances in perovskite film optimization have led to an outstanding power conversion efficiency of more than 20%. Looking forward, shifting the focus toward new device architectures holds great potential to induce the next leap in device performance. Here, we demonstrate a perovskite/perovskite heterojunction solar cell. We developed a facile solution-based cation infiltration process to deposit layered perovskite (LPK) structures onto methylammonium lead iodide (MAPI) films. Grazing-incidence wide-angle X-ray scattering experiments were performed to gain insights into the crystallite orientation and the formation process of the perovskite bilayer. Our results show that the self-assembly of the LPK layer on top of an intact MAPI layer is accompanied by a reorganization of the perovskite interface. This leads to an enhancement of the open-circuit voltage and power conversion efficiency due to reduced recombination losses, as well as improved moisture stability in the resulting photovoltaic devices.

Development of a Novel Brayton-Cycle Cryocooler and Key Component Technologies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nieczkoski, S. J.; Mohling, R. A.

2004-06-01

Brayton-cycle cryocoolers are being developed to provide efficient cooling in the 6 K to 70 K temperature range. The cryocoolers are being developed for use in space and in terrestrial applications where combinations of long lifetime, high efficiency, compactness, low mass, low vibration, flexible interfacing, load variability, and reliability are essential. The key enabling technologies for these systems are a mesoscale expander and an advanced oil-free scroll compressor. Both these components are nearing completion of their prototype development phase. The emphasis on the component and system development has been on invoking fabrication processes and techniques that can be evolved to further reduction in scale tending toward cryocooler miniaturization.

Characteristics of a semi-custom library development system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Yancey, M.; Cannon, R.

1990-01-01

Standard cell and gate array macro libraries are in common use with workstation computer aided design (CAD) tools for application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) semi-custom application and have resulted in significant improvements in the overall design efficiencies as contrasted with custom design methodologies. Similar design methodology enhancements in providing for the efficient development of the library cells is an important factor in responding to the need for continuous technology improvement. The characteristics of a library development system that provides design flexibility and productivity enhancements for the library development engineer as he provides libraries in the state-of-the-art process technologies are presented. An overview of Gould's library development system ('Accolade') is also presented.

Streamers and their applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pemen, A. J. M.

2011-10-01

In this invited lecture we give an overview of our 15 years of experience on streamer plasma research. Efforts are directed to integrating the competence areas of plasma physics, pulsed power technology and chemical processing. The current status is the development of a large scale pulsed corona system for gas treatment. Applications on biogas conditioning, VOC removal, odor abatement and control of traffic emissions have been demonstrated. Detailed research on electrical and chemical processes resulted in a boost of efficiencies. Energy transfer efficiency to the plasma was raised to above 90%. Simultaneous improvement of the plasma chemistry resulted in a highly efficient radical generation: O-radical production up to 50% of the theoretical maximum has been achieved. A major challenge in pulsed power driven streamers is to unravel, understand and ultimately control the complex interactions between the transient plasma, electrical circuits, and process. Even more a challenge is to yield electron energies that fit activation energies of the process. We will discuss our ideas on adjusting pulsed power waveforms and plasma reactor settings to obtain more controlled catalytic processing: the ``Chemical Transistor'' concept.

The Brain as a Distributed Intelligent Processing System: An EEG Study

PubMed Central

da Rocha, Armando Freitas; Rocha, Fábio Theoto; Massad, Eduardo

2011-01-01

Background Various neuroimaging studies, both structural and functional, have provided support for the proposal that a distributed brain network is likely to be the neural basis of intelligence. The theory of Distributed Intelligent Processing Systems (DIPS), first developed in the field of Artificial Intelligence, was proposed to adequately model distributed neural intelligent processing. In addition, the neural efficiency hypothesis suggests that individuals with higher intelligence display more focused cortical activation during cognitive performance, resulting in lower total brain activation when compared with individuals who have lower intelligence. This may be understood as a property of the DIPS. Methodology and Principal Findings In our study, a new EEG brain mapping technique, based on the neural efficiency hypothesis and the notion of the brain as a Distributed Intelligence Processing System, was used to investigate the correlations between IQ evaluated with WAIS (Whechsler Adult Intelligence Scale) and WISC (Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children), and the brain activity associated with visual and verbal processing, in order to test the validity of a distributed neural basis for intelligence. Conclusion The present results support these claims and the neural efficiency hypothesis. PMID:21423657

How to achieve optimal organization of primary care service delivery at system level: lessons from Europe.

PubMed

Pelone, Ferruccio; Kringos, Dionne S; Spreeuwenberg, Peter; De Belvis, Antonio G; Groenewegen, Peter P

2013-09-01

To measure the relative efficiency of primary care (PC) in turning their structures into services delivery and turning their services delivery into quality outcomes. Cross-sectional study based on the dataset of the Primary Healthcare Activity Monitor for Europe project. Two Data Envelopment models were run to compare the relative technical efficiency. A sensitivity analysis of the resulting efficiency scores was performed. PC systems in 22 European countries in 2009/2010. Model 1 included data on PC governance, workforce development and economic conditions as inputs and access, coordination, continuity and comprehensiveness of care as outputs. Model 2 included the previous process dimensions as inputs and quality indicators as outputs. There is relatively reasonable efficiency in all countries at delivering as many as possible PC processes at a given level of PC structure. It is particularly important to invest in economic conditions to achieve an efficient structure-process balance. Only five countries have fully efficient PC systems in turning their services delivery into high quality outcomes, using a similar combination of access, continuity and comprehensiveness, although they differ on the adoption of coordination of services. There is a large variation in efficiency levels obtained by countries with inefficient PC in turning their services delivery into quality outcomes. Maximizing the individual functions of PC without taking into account the coherence within the health-care system is not sufficient from a policymaker's point of view when aiming to achieve efficiency.

Laser-zone growth in a Ribbon-To-Ribbon, RTR, process silicon sheet growth development for the large area silicon sheet task of the low cost silicon solar array project

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gurtler, R. W.; Baghdadi, A.

1977-01-01

A ribbon-to-ribbon process was used for routine growth of samples for analysis and fabrication into solar cells. One lot of solar cells was completely evaluated: ribbon solar cell efficiencies averaged 9.23% with a highest efficiency of 11.7%. Spherical reflectors have demonstrated significant improvements in laser silicon coupling efficiencies. Material analyses were performed including silicon photovoltage and open circuit photovoltage diffusion length measurements, crystal morphology studies, modulus of rupture measurements, and annealing/gettering studies. An initial economic analysis was performed indicating that ribbon-to-ribbon add-on costs of $.10/watt might be expected in the early 1980's.

Solution-processed air-stable mesoscopic selenium solar cells

DOE PAGES

Zhu, Menghua; Hao, Feng; Ma, Lin; ...

2016-07-28

Crystalline selenium (c-Se) is a direct band gap semiconductor and has been developed for detector applications for more than 30 years. While most advances have been made using vacuum deposition processes, it remains a challenge to prepare efficient c-Se devices directly from solution. We demonstrate a simple solution process leading to uniform and high-crystallinity selenium films under ambient conditions. A combination of ethylenediamine (EDA) and hydrazine solvents was found to be effective in dissolving selenium powder and forming highly concentrated solutions. These can be used to infiltrate a mesoporous titanium dioxide layer and form a smooth and pinhole-free capping overlayer.more » Efficient light-induced charge injection from the crystalline selenium to TiO 2 was observed using transient absorption spectroscopy. A small amount of EDA addition in the hydrazine solution was found to improve the film coverage significantly, and on the basis of the finding, we are able to achieve up to 3.52% power conversion efficiency solar cells with a fill factor of 57%. Lastly, these results provide a method to control the crystalline selenium film and represent significant progress in developing low-cost selenium-based solar cells.« less

Investigation of the charge boost technology for the efficiency increase of closed sorption thermal energy storage systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rohringer, C.; Engel, G.; Köll, R.; Wagner, W.; van Helden, W.

2017-10-01

The inclusion of solar thermal energy into energy systems requires storage possibilities to overcome the gap between supply and demand. Storage of thermal energy with closed sorption thermal energy systems has the advantage of low thermal losses and high energy density. However, the efficiency of these systems needs yet to be increased to become competitive on the market. In this paper, the so-called “charge boost technology” is developed and tested via experiments as a new concept for the efficiency increase of compact thermal energy storages. The main benefit of the charge boost technology is that it can reach a defined state of charge for sorption thermal energy storages at lower temperature levels than classic pure desorption processes. Experiments are conducted to provide a proof of principle for this concept. The results show that the charge boost technology does function as predicted and is a viable option for further improvement of sorption thermal energy storages. Subsequently, a new process application is developed by the author with strong focus on the utilization of the advantages of the charge boost technology over conventional desorption processes. After completion of the conceptual design, the theoretical calculations are validated via experiments.

Phase holograms in silver halide emulsions without a bleaching step

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Belendez, Augusto; Madrigal, Roque F.; Pascual, Inmaculada V.; Fimia, Antonio

2000-03-01

Phase holograms in holographic emulsions are usually obtained by two bath processes (developing and bleaching). In this work we present a one step method to reach phase holograms with silver-halide emulsions. Which is based on the variation of the conditions of the typical developing processes of amplitude holograms. For this, we have used the well-known chemical developer, AAC, which is composed by ascorbic acid as a developing agent and sodium carbonate anhydrous as accelerator. Agfa 8E75 HD and BB-640 plates were used to obtain these phase gratings, whose colors are between yellow and brown. In function of the parameters of this developing method the resulting diffraction efficiency and optical density of the diffraction gratings were studied. One of these parameters studied is the influence of the grain size. In the case of Agfa plates diffraction efficiency around 18% with density < 1 has been reached, whilst with the BB-640 emulsion, whose grain is smaller than that of the Agfa, diffraction efficiency near 30% has been obtained. The resulting gratings were analyzed through X-ray spectroscopy showing the differences of the structure of the developed silver when amplitude and transmission gratings are obtained. The angular response of both (transmission and amplitude) gratings were studied, where minimal transmission is showed at the Braggs angle in phase holograms, whilst a maximal value is obtained in amplitude gratings.

Energy-Saving Melting and Revert Reduction Technology (E-SMARRT): Final Summary Report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

White, Thornton C

2014-03-31

Energy-Saving Melting and Revert Reduction Technology (E-SMARRT) is a balanced portfolio of R&D tasks that address energy-saving opportunities in the metalcasting industry. E-SMARRT was created to: • Improve important capabilities of castings • Reduce carbon footprint of the foundry industry • Develop new job opportunities in manufacturing • Significantly reduce metalcasting process energy consumption and includes R&D in the areas of: • Improvements in Melting Efficiency • Innovative Casting Processes for Yield Improvement/Revert Reduction • Instrumentation and Control Improvement • Material properties for Casting or Tooling Design Improvement The energy savings and process improvements developed under E-SMARRT have been mademore » possible through the unique collaborative structure of the E-SMARRT partnership. The E-SMARRT team consisted of DOE’s Office of Industrial Technology, the three leading metalcasting technical associations in the U.S: the American Foundry Society; the North American Die Casting Association; and the Steel Founders’ Society of America; and SCRA Applied R&D, doing business as the Advanced Technology Institute (ATI), a recognized leader in distributed technology management. This team provided collaborative leadership to a complex industry composed of approximately 2,000 companies, 80% of which employ less than 100 people, and only 4% of which employ more than 250 people. Without collaboration, these new processes and technologies that enable energy efficiencies and environment-friendly improvements would have been slow to develop and had trouble obtaining a broad application. The E-SMARRT R&D tasks featured low-threshold energy efficiency improvements that are attractive to the domestic industry because they do not require major capital investment. The results of this portfolio of projects are significantly reducing metalcasting process energy consumption while improving the important capabilities of metalcastings. Through June 2014, the E-SMARRT program predicts an average annual estimated savings of 59 Trillion BTUs per year over a 10 year period through Advanced Melting Efficiencies and Innovative Casting Processes. Along with these energy savings, an estimated average annual estimate of CO2 reduction per year over a ten year period is 3.56 Million Metric Tons of Carbon Equivalent (MM TCE).« less

The development and implementation of the Chronic Care Management Programme in Counties Manukau.

PubMed

Wellingham, John; Tracey, Jocelyn; Rea, Harold; Gribben, Barry

2003-02-21

To develop an effective and efficient process for the seamless delivery of care for targeted patients with specific chronic diseases. To reduce inexplicable variation and maximise use of available resources by implementing evidence-based care processes. To develop a programme that is acceptable and applicable to the Counties Manukau region. A model for the management of people with chronic diseases was developed. Model components and potential interventions were piloted. For each disease project, a return on investment was calculated and external evaluation was undertaken. The initial model was subsequently modified and individual disease projects aligned to it. The final Chronic Care Management model, agreed in September 2001, described a single common process. Key components were the targeting of high risk patients, organisation of cost effective interventions into a system of care, and an integrated care server acting as a data warehouse with a rules engine, providing flags and reminders. Return on investment analysis suggested potential savings for each disease component from $277 to $980 per person per annum. For selected chronic diseases, introduction of an integrated chronic care management programme, based on internationally accepted best practice processes and interventions can make significant savings, reducing morbidity and improving the efficiency of health delivery in the Counties Manukau region.

Highly Efficient and Fully Solution-Processed Inverted Light-Emitting Diodes with Charge Control Interlayers.

PubMed

Fu, Yan; Jiang, Wei; Kim, Daekyoung; Lee, Woosuk; Chae, Heeyeop

2018-05-23

In this work, we developed a charge control sandwich structure around QD layers for the inverted QLEDs, the performance of which is shown to exceed that of the conventional QLEDs in terms of the external quantum efficiency (EQE) and the current efficiency (CE). The QD light-emitting layer (EML) is sandwiched with two ultrathin interfacial layers: one is a poly(9-vinlycarbazole) (PVK) layer to prevent excess electrons, and the other is a polyethylenimine ethoxylated (PEIE) layer to reduce the hole injection barrier. The sandwich structure resolves the imbalance between injected holes and electrons and brings the level of balanced charge carriers to a maximum. We demonstrated the highly improved performance of 89.8 cd/A of current efficiency, 22.4% of external quantum efficiency, and 72 814 cd m -2 of maximum brightness with the solution-processed inverted QLED. This sandwich structure (PVK/QD/PEIE), as a framework, can be applied to various QLED devices for enhancing performance.

Development of a Rolling Process Design Tool for Use in Improving Hot Roll Slab Recovery

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Couch, R; Becker, R; Rhee, M

2004-09-24

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory participated in a U. S. Department of Energy/Office of Industrial Technology sponsored research project 'Development of a Rolling Process Design Tool for Use in Improving Hot Roll Slab Recovery', as a Cooperative Agreement TC-02028 with the Alcoa Technical Center (ATC). The objective of the joint project with Alcoa is to develop a numerical modeling capability to optimize the hot rolling process used to produce aluminum plate. Product lost in the rolling process and subsequent recycling, wastes resources consumed in the energy-intensive steps of remelting and reprocessing the ingot. The modeling capability developed by project partners willmore » be used to produce plate more efficiently and with reduced product loss.« less

International Comparison of Water Resources Utilization Efficiency in the Silk Road Economic Belt

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yan, Long; Ma, Jing; Deng, Wei; Wang, Yong

2018-03-01

In order to get knowledge of the standard of water utilization of the Silk Road Economic Belt from international point of view, the paper analyzes the annual variation of water resources utilization in the Silk Road Economic Belt, and compares with other typical countries. The study shows that Water resources utilization efficiency has been greatly improved in recent 20 years and the water consumption per USD 10000 of GDP has been declined 87.97%. the improvement of industrial water consumption efficiency is the key driving factors for substantial decrease in water consumption.The comparison of water utilization and human development shows that the higher HDI the country is, the more efficient water utilization the country has. water consumption per USD 10000 of GDP in country with HDI>0.9 is 194m³, being 8.5% of that in country with HDI from 0.5 to 0.6. On the premise of maintaining the stable economic and social development of the Silk Road Economic Belt, the realization of the control target of total water consumption must depend on the strict control over the disorderly expansion of irrigated area, the change in the mode of economic growth, the implementation of the development strategy for new industrialization and urbanization, vigorous development of the processing industry with low water consumption as well as the high-tech and high value-added industry. Only in this way, the control target of total water consumption can be realized in the process of completing the industrialization task.

A Molecular Sensor To Characterize Arenavirus Envelope Glycoprotein Cleavage by Subtilisin Kexin Isozyme 1/Site 1 Protease.

PubMed

Oppliger, Joel; da Palma, Joel Ramos; Burri, Dominique J; Bergeron, Eric; Khatib, Abdel-Majid; Spiropoulou, Christina F; Pasquato, Antonella; Kunz, Stefan

2016-01-15

Arenaviruses are emerging viruses including several causative agents of severe hemorrhagic fevers in humans. The advent of next-generation sequencing technology has greatly accelerated the discovery of novel arenavirus species. However, for many of these viruses, only genetic information is available, and their zoonotic disease potential remains unknown. During the arenavirus life cycle, processing of the viral envelope glycoprotein precursor (GPC) by the cellular subtilisin kexin isozyme 1 (SKI-1)/site 1 protease (S1P) is crucial for productive infection. The ability of newly emerging arenaviruses to hijack human SKI-1/S1P appears, therefore, to be a requirement for efficient zoonotic transmission and human disease potential. Here we implement a newly developed cell-based molecular sensor for SKI-1/S1P to characterize the processing of arenavirus GPC-derived target sequences by human SKI-1/S1P in a quantitative manner. We show that only nine amino acids flanking the putative cleavage site are necessary and sufficient to accurately recapitulate the efficiency and subcellular location of arenavirus GPC processing. In a proof of concept, our sensor correctly predicts efficient processing of the GPC of the newly emergent pathogenic Lujo virus by human SKI-1/S1P and defines the exact cleavage site. Lastly, we employed our sensor to show efficient GPC processing of a panel of pathogenic and nonpathogenic New World arenaviruses, suggesting that GPC cleavage represents no barrier for zoonotic transmission of these pathogens. Our SKI-1/S1P sensor thus represents a rapid and robust test system for assessment of the processing of putative cleavage sites derived from the GPCs of newly discovered arenavirus by the SKI-1/S1P of humans or any other species, based solely on sequence information. Arenaviruses are important emerging human pathogens that can cause severe hemorrhagic fevers with high mortality in humans. A crucial step in productive arenavirus infection of human cells is the processing of the viral envelope glycoprotein by the cellular subtilisin kexin isozyme 1 (SKI-1)/site 1 protease (S1P). In order to break the species barrier during zoonotic transmission and cause severe disease in humans, newly emerging arenaviruses must be able to hijack human SKI-1/S1P efficiently. Here we implement a newly developed cell-based molecular sensor for human SKI-1/S1P to characterize the processing of arenavirus glycoproteins in a quantitative manner. We further use our sensor to correctly predict efficient processing of the glycoprotein of the newly emergent pathogenic Lujo virus by human SKI-1/S1P. Our sensor thus represents a rapid and robust test system with which to assess whether the glycoprotein of any newly emerging arenavirus can be efficiently processed by human SKI-1/S1P, based solely on sequence information. Copyright © 2015, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Energy Efficiency Opportunities in Highway Lodging Buildings: Development of 50% Energy Savings Design Technology Packages

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Jiang, Wei; Gowri, Krishnan; Thornton, Brian A.

2010-06-30

This paper presents the process, methodology, and assumptions for development of the 50% Energy Savings Design Technology Packages for Highway Lodging Buildings, a design guidance document that provides specific recommendations for achieving 50% energy savings in roadside motels (highway lodging) above the requirements of ANSI/ASHRAE/IESNA Standard 90.1-2004. This 50% solution represents a further step toward realization of the U.S. Department of Energy’s net-zero energy building goal, and go beyond the 30% savings in the Advanced Energy Design Guide series (upon which this work was built). This work can serve as the technical feasibility study for the development of a 50%more » saving Advanced Energy Design Guide for highway lodging, and thus should greatly expedite the development process. The purpose of this design package is to provide user-friendly design assistance to designers, developers, and owners of highway lodging properties. It is intended to encourage energy-efficient design by providing prescriptive energy-efficiency recommendations for each climate zone that attains the 50% the energy savings target. This paper describes the steps that were taken to demonstrate the technical feasibility of achieving a 50% reduction in whole-building energy use with practical and commercially available technologies. The energy analysis results are presented, indicating the recommended energy-efficient measures achieved a national-weighted average energy savings of 55%, relative to Standard 90.1-2004. The cost-effectiveness of the recommended technology package is evaluated and the result shows an average simple payback of 11.3 years.« less

Establishment of a high accuracy geoid correction model and geodata edge match

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xi, Ruifeng

This research has developed a theoretical and practical methodology for efficiently and accurately determining sub-decimeter level regional geoids and centimeter level local geoids to meet regional surveying and local engineering requirements. This research also provides a highly accurate static DGPS network data pre-processing, post-processing and adjustment method and a procedure for a large GPS network like the state level HRAN project. The research also developed an efficient and accurate methodology to join soil coverages in GIS ARE/INFO. A total of 181 GPS stations has been pre-processed and post-processed to obtain an absolute accuracy better than 1.5cm at 95% of the stations, and at all stations having a 0.5 ppm average relative accuracy. A total of 167 GPS stations in Iowa and around Iowa have been included in the adjustment. After evaluating GEOID96 and GEOID99, a more accurate and suitable geoid model has been established in Iowa. This new Iowa regional geoid model improved the accuracy from a sub-decimeter 10˜20 centimeter to 5˜10 centimeter. The local kinematic geoid model, developed using Kalman filtering, gives results better than third order leveling accuracy requirement with 1.5 cm standard deviation.

A vacuum flash-assisted solution process for high-efficiency large-area perovskite solar cells

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Xiong; Bi, Dongqin; Yi, Chenyi; Décoppet, Jean-David; Luo, Jingshan; Zakeeruddin, Shaik Mohammed; Hagfeldt, Anders; Grätzel, Michael

2016-07-01

Metal halide perovskite solar cells (PSCs) currently attract enormous research interest because of their high solar-to-electric power conversion efficiency (PCE) and low fabrication costs, but their practical development is hampered by difficulties in achieving high performance with large-size devices. We devised a simple vacuum flash-assisted solution processing method to obtain shiny, smooth, crystalline perovskite films of high electronic quality over large areas. This enabled us to fabricate solar cells with an aperture area exceeding 1 square centimeter, a maximum efficiency of 20.5%, and a certified PCE of 19.6%. By contrast, the best certified PCE to date is 15.6% for PSCs of similar size. We demonstrate that the reproducibility of the method is excellent and that the cells show virtually no hysteresis. Our approach enables the realization of highly efficient large-area PSCs for practical deployment.

An analytical probabilistic model of the quality efficiency of a sewer tank

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Balistrocchi, Matteo; Grossi, Giovanna; Bacchi, Baldassare

2009-12-01

The assessment of the efficiency of a storm water storage facility devoted to the sewer overflow control in urban areas strictly depends on the ability to model the main features of the rainfall-runoff routing process and the related wet weather pollution delivery. In this paper the possibility of applying the analytical probabilistic approach for developing a tank design method, whose potentials are similar to the continuous simulations, is proved. In the model derivation the quality issues of such devices were implemented. The formulation is based on a Weibull probabilistic model of the main characteristics of the rainfall process and on a power law describing the relationship between the dimensionless storm water cumulative runoff volume and the dimensionless cumulative pollutograph. Following this approach, efficiency indexes were established. The proposed model was verified by comparing its results to those obtained by continuous simulations; satisfactory agreement is shown for the proposed efficiency indexes.

Conjugated polyelectrolyte hole transport layer for inverted-type perovskite solar cells

PubMed Central

Choi, Hyosung; Mai, Cheng-Kang; Kim, Hak-Beom; Jeong, Jaeki; Song, Seyeong; Bazan, Guillermo C.; Kim, Jin Young; Heeger, Alan J.

2015-01-01

Organic–inorganic hybrid perovskite materials offer the potential for realization of low-cost and flexible next-generation solar cells fabricated by low-temperature solution processing. Although efficiencies of perovskite solar cells have dramatically improved up to 19% within the past 5 years, there is still considerable room for further improvement in device efficiency and stability through development of novel materials and device architectures. Here we demonstrate that inverted-type perovskite solar cells with pH-neutral and low-temperature solution-processable conjugated polyelectrolyte as the hole transport layer (instead of acidic PEDOT:PSS) exhibit a device efficiency of over 12% and improved device stability in air. As an alternative to PEDOT:PSS, this work is the first report on the use of an organic hole transport material that enables the formation of uniform perovskite films with complete surface coverage and the demonstration of efficient, stable perovskite/fullerene planar heterojunction solar cells. PMID:26081865

Efficient development and processing of thermal math models of very large space truss structures

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Warren, Andrew H.; Arelt, Joseph E.; Lalicata, Anthony L.

1993-01-01

As the spacecraft moves along the orbit, the truss members are subjected to direct and reflected solar, albedo and planetary infra-red (IR) heating rates, as well as IR heating and shadowing from other spacecraft components. This is a transient process with continuously changing heating loads and the shadowing effects. The resulting nonuniform temperature distribution may cause nonuniform thermal expansion, deflection and stress in the truss elements, truss warping and thermal distortions. There are three challenges in the thermal-structural analysis of the large truss structures. The first is the development of the thermal and structural math models, the second - model processing, and the third - the data transfer between the models. All three tasks require considerable time and computer resources to be done because of a very large number of components involved. To address these challenges a series of techniques of automated thermal math modeling and efficient processing of very large space truss structures were developed. In the process the finite element and finite difference methods are interfaced. A very substantial reduction of the quantity of computations was achieved while assuring a desired accuracy of the results. The techniques are illustrated on the thermal analysis of a segment of the Space Station main truss.

Contribution of hot-melt extrusion technology to advance drug delivery in the 21st century.

PubMed

Tiwari, Roshan V; Patil, Hemlata; Repka, Michael A

2016-01-01

Hot-melt extrusion (HME) technology is applied successfully in the plastic, rubber and food industry. HME has also emerged as an important technology for drug delivery applications in pharmaceutical research and manufacturing because of its process automation and low-cost scale-up properties, which reduce labor costs and capital investment. There are a number of commercial FDA-approved HME-derived products, signifying the commercial feasibility of this novel technique in drug delivery applications. HME is a highly efficient, solvent-free continuous processing technique for the development of solid dispersions; thus, research efforts to develop sustained, modified and targeted drug delivery systems to improve the solubility and bioavailability of poorly water-soluble active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) are of interest. This review focuses on both the innovations and applications of HME in the production of pharmaceutical formulations, and on the significant findings of the general principles regarding formulation and process development via HME as described in published articles. Challenges faced by pharmaceutical companies to produce efficient drug formulations may be partly overcome by HME's advantages - high drug-loading capacity, good content uniformity, cost-effectiveness, and ease of processing scale-up. Nevertheless, HME's high processing temperatures may be an obstacle if adequate knowledge about the product's formulation is lacking.

Multi-agent Negotiation Mechanisms for Statistical Target Classification in Wireless Multimedia Sensor Networks

PubMed Central

Wang, Xue; Bi, Dao-wei; Ding, Liang; Wang, Sheng

2007-01-01

The recent availability of low cost and miniaturized hardware has allowed wireless sensor networks (WSNs) to retrieve audio and video data in real world applications, which has fostered the development of wireless multimedia sensor networks (WMSNs). Resource constraints and challenging multimedia data volume make development of efficient algorithms to perform in-network processing of multimedia contents imperative. This paper proposes solving problems in the domain of WMSNs from the perspective of multi-agent systems. The multi-agent framework enables flexible network configuration and efficient collaborative in-network processing. The focus is placed on target classification in WMSNs where audio information is retrieved by microphones. To deal with the uncertainties related to audio information retrieval, the statistical approaches of power spectral density estimates, principal component analysis and Gaussian process classification are employed. A multi-agent negotiation mechanism is specially developed to efficiently utilize limited resources and simultaneously enhance classification accuracy and reliability. The negotiation is composed of two phases, where an auction based approach is first exploited to allocate the classification task among the agents and then individual agent decisions are combined by the committee decision mechanism. Simulation experiments with real world data are conducted and the results show that the proposed statistical approaches and negotiation mechanism not only reduce memory and computation requirements in WMSNs but also significantly enhance classification accuracy and reliability. PMID:28903223

Arsenic remediation from drinking water using Fenton's reagent with slow sand filter.

PubMed

Jasudkar, Dipali; Rakhunde, Rupali; Deshpande, Leena; Labhasetwar, Pawan; Juneja, H D

2012-12-01

This paper describes the development of a remediation approach based on the pre-oxidation using Fenton's reagent and the subsequent removal of arsenic (As) through sand filtration from drinking water. The efficiency of the process was carried out including As(III) and As(V) with various concentration ratios up to 3,000 ppb. Efficient removal of As was observed within WHO guideline value of 10 ppb. The recoveries of samples were found to be 98 % ± 2.5 %. The process was applied to field samples, where results show considerable reduction in As concentrations. This process is cost effective for treatment of drinking water with high concentration of As.

Lightweighting Automotive Materials for Increased Fuel Efficiency and Delivering Advanced Modeling and Simulation Capabilities to U.S. Manufacturers

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hale, Steve

Abstract The National Center for Manufacturing Sciences (NCMS) worked with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), to bring together research and development (R&D) collaborations to develop and accelerate the knowledgebase and infrastructure for lightweighting materials and manufacturing processes for their use in structural and applications in the automotive sector. The purpose/importance of this DOE program: • 2016 CAFÉ standards. • Automotive industry technology that shall adopt the insertion of lightweighting material concepts towards manufacturing of production vehicles. • Development and manufacture of advanced research tools for modeling and simulation (M&S) applications to reduce manufacturing andmore » material costs. • U.S. competitiveness that will help drive the development and manufacture of the next generation of materials. NCMS established a focused portfolio of applied R&D projects utilizing lightweighting materials for manufacture into automotive structures and components. Areas that were targeted in this program: • Functionality of new lightweighting materials to meet present safety requirements. • Manufacturability using new lightweighting materials. • Cost reduction for the development and use of new lightweighting materials. The automotive industry’s future continuously evolves through innovation, and lightweight materials are key in achieving a new era of lighter, more efficient vehicles. Lightweight materials are among the technical advances needed to achieve fuel/energy efficiency and reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions: • Establish design criteria methodology to identify the best materials for lightweighting. • Employ state-of-the-art design tools for optimum material development for their specific applications. • Match new manufacturing technology to production volume. • Address new process variability with new production-ready processes.« less

Is Emotion Recognition Impaired in Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tracy, Jessica L.; Robins, Richard W.; Schriber, Roberta A.; Solomon, Marjorie

2011-01-01

Researchers have argued that individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) use an effortful "systematizing" process to recognize emotion expressions, whereas typically developing (TD) individuals use a more holistic process. If this is the case, individuals with ASDs should show slower and less efficient emotion recognition, particularly for…

Near infared spectroscopy in the forest products industry

Treesearch

Chi-Leung So; Brian K. Via; Leslie H. Groom; Lawrence R. Schimleck; Todd F. Shupe; Stephen S. Kelley; Timothy G. Rials

2004-01-01

Improving manufacturing efficiency and increasing product worth requires the right combination of actions throughout the manufacturing process. Many innovations have been developed over the last several decades to achieve these goals. Innovations typically work their way backwards in the manufacturing process, with an increasing level of monitoring occurring at the end...

Development of Encoding and Decision Processes in Visual Recognition.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Newcombe, Nora; MacKenzie, Doris L.

This experiment examined two processes which might account for developmental increases in accuracy in visual recognition tasks: age-related increases in efficiency of scanning during inspection, and age-related increases in the ability to make decisions systematically during test. Critical details necessary for recognition were highlighted as…

Processing Determinism

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

O'Grady, William

2015-01-01

I propose that the course of development in first and second language acquisition is shaped by two types of processing pressures--internal efficiency-related factors relevant to easing the burden on working memory and external input-related factors such as frequency of occurrence. In an attempt to document the role of internal factors, I consider…

Continuous recovery of valine in a model mixture of amino acids and salt from Corynebacterium bacteria fermentation using a simulated moving bed chromatography.

PubMed

Park, Chanhun; Nam, Hee-Geun; Jo, Se-Hee; Wang, Nien-Hwa Linda; Mun, Sungyong

2016-02-26

The economical efficiency of valine production in related industries is largely affected by the performance of a valine separation process, in which valine is to be separated from leucine, alanine, and ammonium sulfate. Such separation is currently handled by a batch-mode hybrid process based on ion-exchange and crystallization schemes. To make a substantial improvement in the economical efficiency of an industrial valine production, such a batch-mode process based on two different separation schemes needs to be converted into a continuous-mode separation process based on a single separation scheme. To address this issue, a simulated moving bed (SMB) technology was applied in this study to the development of a continuous-mode valine-separation chromatographic process with uniformity in adsorbent and liquid phases. It was first found that a Chromalite-PCG600C resin could be eligible for the adsorbent of such process, particularly in an industrial scale. The intrinsic parameters of each component on the Chromalite-PCG600C adsorbent were determined and then utilized in selecting a proper set of configurations for SMB units, columns, and ports, under which the SMB operating parameters were optimized with a genetic algorithm. Finally, the optimized SMB based on the selected configurations was tested experimentally, which confirmed its effectiveness in continuous separation of valine from leucine, alanine, ammonium sulfate with high purity, high yield, high throughput, and high valine product concentration. It is thus expected that the developed SMB process in this study will be able to serve as one of the trustworthy ways of improving the economical efficiency of an industrial valine production process. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Optimizing the recovery of copper from electroplating rinse bath solution by hollow fiber membrane.

PubMed

Oskay, Kürşad Oğuz; Kul, Mehmet

2015-01-01

This study aimed to recover and remove copper from industrial model wastewater solution by non-dispersive solvent extraction (NDSX). Two mathematical models were developed to simulate the performance of an integrated extraction-stripping process, based on the use of hollow fiber contactors using the response surface method. The models allow one to predict the time dependent efficiencies of the two phases involved in individual extraction or stripping processes. The optimal recovery efficiency parameters were determined as 227 g/L of H2SO4 concentration, 1.22 feed/strip ratio, 450 mL/min flow rate (115.9 cm/min. flow velocity) and 15 volume % LIX 84-I concentration in 270 min by central composite design (CCD). At these optimum conditions, the experimental value of recovery efficiency was 95.88%, which was in close agreement with the 97.75% efficiency value predicted by the model. At the end of the process, almost all the copper in the model wastewater solution was removed and recovered as CuSO4.5H2O salt, which can be reused in the copper electroplating industry.

Highly efficient and autocatalytic H2₂ dissociation for CO₂ reduction into formic acid with zinc.

PubMed

Jin, Fangming; Zeng, Xu; Liu, Jianke; Jin, Yujia; Wang, Lunying; Zhong, Heng; Yao, Guodong; Huo, Zhibao

2014-03-28

Artificial photosynthesis, specifically H2O dissociation for CO2 reduction with solar energy, is regarded as one of the most promising methods for sustainable energy and utilisation of environmental resources. However, a highly efficient conversion still remains extremely challenging. The hydrogenation of CO2 is regarded as the most commercially feasible method, but this method requires either exotic catalysts or high-purity hydrogen and hydrogen storage, which are regarded as an energy-intensive process. Here we report a highly efficient method of H2O dissociation for reducing CO2 into chemicals with Zn powder that produces formic acid with a high yield of approximately 80%, and this reaction is revealed for the first time as an autocatalytic process in which an active intermediate, ZnH(-) complex, serves as the active hydrogen. The proposed process can assist in developing a new concept for improving artificial photosynthetic efficiency by coupling geochemistry, specifically the metal-based reduction of H2O and CO2, with solar-driven thermochemistry for reducing metal oxide into metal.

Highly efficient and autocatalytic H2O dissociation for CO2 reduction into formic acid with zinc

PubMed Central

Jin, Fangming; Zeng, Xu; Liu, Jianke; Jin, Yujia; Wang, Lunying; Zhong, Heng; Yao, Guodong; Huo, Zhibao

2014-01-01

Artificial photosynthesis, specifically H2O dissociation for CO2 reduction with solar energy, is regarded as one of the most promising methods for sustainable energy and utilisation of environmental resources. However, a highly efficient conversion still remains extremely challenging. The hydrogenation of CO2 is regarded as the most commercially feasible method, but this method requires either exotic catalysts or high-purity hydrogen and hydrogen storage, which are regarded as an energy-intensive process. Here we report a highly efficient method of H2O dissociation for reducing CO2 into chemicals with Zn powder that produces formic acid with a high yield of approximately 80%, and this reaction is revealed for the first time as an autocatalytic process in which an active intermediate, ZnH− complex, serves as the active hydrogen. The proposed process can assist in developing a new concept for improving artificial photosynthetic efficiency by coupling geochemistry, specifically the metal-based reduction of H2O and CO2, with solar-driven thermochemistry for reducing metal oxide into metal. PMID:24675820

On the next generation of reliability analysis tools

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Babcock, Philip S., IV; Leong, Frank; Gai, Eli

1987-01-01

The current generation of reliability analysis tools concentrates on improving the efficiency of the description and solution of the fault-handling processes and providing a solution algorithm for the full system model. The tools have improved user efficiency in these areas to the extent that the problem of constructing the fault-occurrence model is now the major analysis bottleneck. For the next generation of reliability tools, it is proposed that techniques be developed to improve the efficiency of the fault-occurrence model generation and input. Further, the goal is to provide an environment permitting a user to provide a top-down design description of the system from which a Markov reliability model is automatically constructed. Thus, the user is relieved of the tedious and error-prone process of model construction, permitting an efficient exploration of the design space, and an independent validation of the system's operation is obtained. An additional benefit of automating the model construction process is the opportunity to reduce the specialized knowledge required. Hence, the user need only be an expert in the system he is analyzing; the expertise in reliability analysis techniques is supplied.

The ED-inpatient dashboard: Uniting emergency and inpatient clinicians to improve the efficiency and quality of care for patients requiring emergency admission to hospital.

PubMed

Staib, Andrew; Sullivan, Clair; Jones, Matt; Griffin, Bronwyn; Bell, Anthony; Scott, Ian

2017-06-01

Patients who require emergency admission to hospital require complex care that can be fragmented, occurring in the ED, across the ED-inpatient interface (EDii) and subsequently, in their destination inpatient ward. Our hospital had poor process efficiency with slow transit times for patients requiring emergency care. ED clinicians alone were able to improve the processes and length of stay for the patients discharged directly from the ED. However, improving the efficiency of care for patients requiring emergency admission to true inpatient wards required collaboration with reluctant inpatient clinicians. The inpatient teams were uninterested in improving time-based measures of care in isolation, but they were motivated by improving patient outcomes. We developed a dashboard showing process measures such as 4 h rule compliance rate coupled with clinically important outcome measures such as inpatient mortality. The EDii dashboard helped unite both ED and inpatient teams in clinical redesign to improve both efficiencies of care and patient outcomes. © 2016 Australasian College for Emergency Medicine and Australasian Society for Emergency Medicine.

Test of VPHGS in SHSG for use at cryogenic temperatures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Insaustia, Maider; Garzón, Francisco; Mas-Abellán, P.; Madrigal, R.; Fimia, A.

2017-05-01

Silver halide sensitized gelatin (SHSG) processes are interesting because they combine the spectral and energetic sensitivity of a photographic emulsions with good optical quality and high diffraction efficiency of dichromate gelatin (DCG). Previous papers had been demonstrated that it is possible to obtain diffraction efficiencies near to 90% with Agfa- Gevaert plates and Colour Holographic plates in SHSG transmission gratings. In this communication, we report on the performances measured at room temperature and in cryogenic conditions of a set of volume phase holographic gratings(VPHGs) manufactured with SHSG process aimed at their use in astronomical instrumentations. Two set of diffraction gratings has been manufactured using different processing. The first with SHSG process and the second with typical bleached process (developed with AAC and bleached in R-10). In both cases the plate was BB640, ultrafine grain emulsions with a nominal thickness of 9 μm. The recording was performed with asymmetric geometry a 30° degrees between the light beams of wavelength 632.8 nm (He-Ne laser), which give a raise a spectral frequency of 800 l/m. The exposure was between 46 to 2048 μJ/cm2. The results give us information about Bragg plane modification and reduction of diffraction efficiency when we introduced the VPHG to 77° K. In the case of SHSG process the final diffraction efficiency after cryogenic temperature are better at some exposure energy than previous measurements at room temperature. This experimental result give us possibilities to applied SHSG process in Astrophysics applications.

Complex Processes from Dynamical Architectures with Time-Scale Hierarchy

PubMed Central

Perdikis, Dionysios; Huys, Raoul; Jirsa, Viktor

2011-01-01

The idea that complex motor, perceptual, and cognitive behaviors are composed of smaller units, which are somehow brought into a meaningful relation, permeates the biological and life sciences. However, no principled framework defining the constituent elementary processes has been developed to this date. Consequently, functional configurations (or architectures) relating elementary processes and external influences are mostly piecemeal formulations suitable to particular instances only. Here, we develop a general dynamical framework for distinct functional architectures characterized by the time-scale separation of their constituents and evaluate their efficiency. Thereto, we build on the (phase) flow of a system, which prescribes the temporal evolution of its state variables. The phase flow topology allows for the unambiguous classification of qualitatively distinct processes, which we consider to represent the functional units or modes within the dynamical architecture. Using the example of a composite movement we illustrate how different architectures can be characterized by their degree of time scale separation between the internal elements of the architecture (i.e. the functional modes) and external interventions. We reveal a tradeoff of the interactions between internal and external influences, which offers a theoretical justification for the efficient composition of complex processes out of non-trivial elementary processes or functional modes. PMID:21347363

Management of local economic and ecological system of coal processing company

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kiseleva, T. V.; Mikhailov, V. G.; Karasev, V. A.

2016-10-01

The management issues of local ecological and economic system of coal processing company - coal processing plant - are considered in the article. The objectives of the research are the identification and the analysis of local ecological and economic system (coal processing company) performance and the proposals for improving the mechanism to support the management decision aimed at improving its environmental safety. The data on the structure of run-of-mine coal processing products are shown. The analysis of main ecological and economic indicators of coal processing enterprises, characterizing the state of its environmental safety, is done. The main result of the study is the development of proposals to improve the efficiency of local enterprise ecological and economic system management, including technical, technological and business measures. The results of the study can be recommended to industrial enterprises to improve their ecological and economic efficiency.

The principles of ultrasound and its application in freezing related processes of food materials: A review.

PubMed

Cheng, Xinfeng; Zhang, Min; Xu, Baoguo; Adhikari, Benu; Sun, Jincai

2015-11-01

Ultrasonic processing is a novel and promising technology in food industry. The propagation of ultrasound in a medium generates various physical and chemical effects and these effects have been harnessed to improve the efficiency of various food processing operations. Ultrasound has also been used in food quality control as diagnostic technology. This article provides an overview of recent developments related to the application of ultrasound in low temperature and closely related processes such as freezing, thawing, freeze concentration and freeze drying. The applications of high intensity ultrasound to improve the efficiency of freezing process, to control the size and size distribution of ice crystals and to improve the quality of frozen foods have been discussed in considerable detail. The use of low intensity ultrasound in monitoring the ice content and to monitor the progress of freezing process has also been highlighted. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Applying Process Improvement Methods to Clinical and Translational Research: Conceptual Framework and Case Examples

PubMed Central

Selker, Harry P.; Leslie, Laurel K.

2015-01-01

Abstract There is growing appreciation that process improvement holds promise for improving quality and efficiency across the translational research continuum but frameworks for such programs are not often described. The purpose of this paper is to present a framework and case examples of a Research Process Improvement Program implemented at Tufts CTSI. To promote research process improvement, we developed online training seminars, workshops, and in‐person consultation models to describe core process improvement principles and methods, demonstrate the use of improvement tools, and illustrate the application of these methods in case examples. We implemented these methods, as well as relational coordination theory, with junior researchers, pilot funding awardees, our CTRC, and CTSI resource and service providers. The program focuses on capacity building to address common process problems and quality gaps that threaten the efficient, timely and successful completion of clinical and translational studies. PMID:26332869

A high volume cost efficient production macrostructuring process. [for silicon solar cell surface treatment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chitre, S. R.

1978-01-01

The paper presents an experimentally developed surface macro-structuring process suitable for high volume production of silicon solar cells. The process lends itself easily to automation for high throughput to meet low-cost solar array goals. The tetrahedron structure observed is 0.5 - 12 micron high. The surface has minimal pitting with virtually no or very few undeveloped areas across the surface. This process has been developed for (100) oriented as cut silicon. Chemi-etched, hydrophobic and lapped surfaces were successfully texturized. A cost analysis as per Samics is presented.

Process Development of Gallium Nitride Phosphide Core-Shell Nanowire Array Solar Cell

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chuang, Chen

Dilute Nitride GaNP is a promising materials for opto-electronic applications due to its band gap tunability. The efficiency of GaNxP1-x /GaNyP1-y core-shell nanowire solar cell (NWSC) is expected to reach as high as 44% by 1% N and 9% N in the core and shell, respectively. By developing such high efficiency NWSCs on silicon substrate, a further reduction of the cost of solar photovoltaic can be further reduced to 61$/MWh, which is competitive to levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) of fossil fuels. Therefore, a suitable NWSC structure and fabrication process need to be developed to achieve this promising NWSC. This thesis is devoted to the study on the development of fabrication process of GaNxP 1-x/GaNyP1-y core-shell Nanowire solar cell. The thesis is divided into two major parts. In the first parts, previously grown GaP/GaNyP1-y core-shell nanowire samples are used to develop the fabrication process of Gallium Nitride Phosphide nanowire solar cell. The design for nanowire arrays, passivation layer, polymeric filler spacer, transparent col- lecting layer and metal contact are discussed and fabricated. The property of these NWSCs are also characterized to point out the future development of Gal- lium Nitride Phosphide NWSC. In the second part, a nano-hole template made by nanosphere lithography is studied for selective area growth of nanowires to improve the structure of core-shell NWSC. The fabrication process of nano-hole templates and the results are presented. To have a consistent features of nano-hole tem- plate, the Taguchi Method is used to optimize the fabrication process of nano-hole templates.

Process development and exergy cost sensitivity analysis of a hybrid molten carbonate fuel cell power plant and carbon dioxide capturing process

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mehrpooya, Mehdi; Ansarinasab, Hojat; Moftakhari Sharifzadeh, Mohammad Mehdi; Rosen, Marc A.

2017-10-01

An integrated power plant with a net electrical power output of 3.71 × 105 kW is developed and investigated. The electrical efficiency of the process is found to be 60.1%. The process includes three main sub-systems: molten carbonate fuel cell system, heat recovery section and cryogenic carbon dioxide capturing process. Conventional and advanced exergoeconomic methods are used for analyzing the process. Advanced exergoeconomic analysis is a comprehensive evaluation tool which combines an exergetic approach with economic analysis procedures. With this method, investment and exergy destruction costs of the process components are divided into endogenous/exogenous and avoidable/unavoidable parts. Results of the conventional exergoeconomic analyses demonstrate that the combustion chamber has the largest exergy destruction rate (182 MW) and cost rate (13,100 /h). Also, the total process cost rate can be decreased by reducing the cost rate of the fuel cell and improving the efficiency of the combustion chamber and heat recovery steam generator. Based on the total avoidable endogenous cost rate, the priority for modification is the heat recovery steam generator, a compressor and a turbine of the power plant, in rank order. A sensitivity analysis is done to investigate the exergoeconomic factor parameters through changing the effective parameter variations.

Biocatalyzed processes for production of commodity chemicals: Assessment of future research advances for N-butanol production

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ingham, J. D.

1984-01-01

This report is a summary of assessments by Chem Systems Inc. and a further evaluation of the impacts of research advances on energy efficiency and the potential for future industrial production of acetone-butanol-ethanol (ABE) solvents and other products by biocatalyzed processes. Brief discussions of each of the assessments made by CSI, followed by estimates of minimum projected energy consumption and costs for production of solvents by ABE biocatalyzed processes are included. These assessments and further advances discussed in this report show that substantial decreases in energy consumption and costs are possible on the basis of specific research advances; therefore, it appears that a biocatalyzed process for ABE can be developed that will be competitive with conventional petrochemical processes for production of n-butanol and acetone. (In this work, the ABE process was selected and utilized only as an example for methodology development; other possible bioprocesses for production of commodity chemicals are not intended to be excluded.) It has been estimated that process energy consumption can be decreased by 50%, with a corresponding cost reduction of 15-30% (in comparison with a conventional petrochemical process) by increasing microorganism tolerance to n-butanol and efficient recovery of product solvents from the vapor phase.

Image gathering, coding, and processing: End-to-end optimization for efficient and robust acquisition of visual information

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Huck, Friedrich O.; Fales, Carl L.

1990-01-01

Researchers are concerned with the end-to-end performance of image gathering, coding, and processing. The applications range from high-resolution television to vision-based robotics, wherever the resolution, efficiency and robustness of visual information acquisition and processing are critical. For the presentation at this workshop, it is convenient to divide research activities into the following two overlapping areas: The first is the development of focal-plane processing techniques and technology to effectively combine image gathering with coding, with an emphasis on low-level vision processing akin to the retinal processing in human vision. The approach includes the familiar Laplacian pyramid, the new intensity-dependent spatial summation, and parallel sensing/processing networks. Three-dimensional image gathering is attained by combining laser ranging with sensor-array imaging. The second is the rigorous extension of information theory and optimal filtering to visual information acquisition and processing. The goal is to provide a comprehensive methodology for quantitatively assessing the end-to-end performance of image gathering, coding, and processing.

An investigation for the development of an integrated optical data preprocessor

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Verber, C. M.; Vahey, D. W.; Kenan, R. P.; Wood, V. E.; Hartman, N. F.; Chapman, C. M.

1978-01-01

The successful fabrication and demonstration of an integrated optical circuit designed to perform a parallel processing operation by utilizing holographic subtraction to simultaneously compare N analog signal voltages with N predetermined reference voltages is summarized. The device alleviates transmission, storage and processing loads of satellite data systems by performing, at the sensor site, some preprocessing of data taken by remote sensors. Major accomplishments in the fabrication of integrated optics components include: (1) fabrication of the first LiNbO3 waveguide geodesic lens; (2) development of techniques for polishing TIR mirrors on LiNbO3 waveguides; (3) fabrication of high efficiency metal-over-photoresist gratings for waveguide beam splitters; (4) demonstration of high S/N holographic subtraction using waveguide holograms; and (5) development of alignment techniques for fabrication of integrated optics circuits. Important developments made in integrated optics are the discovery and suggested use of holographic self-subtraction in LiNbO3, development of a mathematical description of the operating modes of the preprocessor, and the development of theories for diffraction efficiency and beam quality of two dimensional beam defined gratings.

Space-planning and structural solutions of low-rise buildings: Optimal selection methods

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gusakova, Natalya; Minaev, Nikolay; Filushina, Kristina; Dobrynina, Olga; Gusakov, Alexander

2017-11-01

The present study is devoted to elaboration of methodology used to select appropriately the space-planning and structural solutions in low-rise buildings. Objective of the study is working out the system of criteria influencing the selection of space-planning and structural solutions which are most suitable for low-rise buildings and structures. Application of the defined criteria in practice aim to enhance the efficiency of capital investments, energy and resource saving, create comfortable conditions for the population considering climatic zoning of the construction site. Developments of the project can be applied while implementing investment-construction projects of low-rise housing at different kinds of territories based on the local building materials. The system of criteria influencing the optimal selection of space-planning and structural solutions of low-rise buildings has been developed. Methodological basis has been also elaborated to assess optimal selection of space-planning and structural solutions of low-rise buildings satisfying the requirements of energy-efficiency, comfort and safety, and economical efficiency. Elaborated methodology enables to intensify the processes of low-rise construction development for different types of territories taking into account climatic zoning of the construction site. Stimulation of low-rise construction processes should be based on the system of approaches which are scientifically justified; thus it allows enhancing energy efficiency, comfort, safety and economical effectiveness of low-rise buildings.

Surface Modification of Naturally Available Biomass for Enhancement of Heavy Metal Removal Efficiency, Upscaling Prospects, and Management Aspects of Spent Biosorbents: A Review.

PubMed

Ramrakhiani, Lata; Ghosh, Sourja; Majumdar, Swachchha

2016-09-01

Heavy metal pollution in water emerges as a severe socio-environmental problem originating primarily from the discharge of industrial wastewater. In view of the toxic, non-biodegradable, and persistent nature of most of the heavy metal ions, remediation of such components becomes an absolute necessity. Biosorption is an emerging tool for bioremediation that has gained momentum for employing low-cost biological materials with effective metal binding capacities. Even though biological materials possess excellent metal adsorption abilities, they show poor mechanical strength and low rigidity. Other disadvantages include solid-liquid separation problems, possible biomass swelling, lower efficiency for regeneration or reuse, and frequent development of high pressure drop in the column mode that limits its applications under real conditions. To improve the biosorption efficiency, biomasses need to be modified with a simple technique for selective/multi-metal adsorption. This review is intended to cover discussion on biomass modification for enhanced biosorption efficiency, mechanism studies using various instrumental/analytical techniques, and future direction for research and development including the fate of spent biosorbent. In most of the previously published researches, difficulty of the process in scaling up has not been addressed. The current article outlines the application potential of biosorbents in the development of hybrid technology integrated with membrane processes for water and wastewater treatment in industrial scale.

A system identification approach for developing model predictive controllers of antibody quality attributes in cell culture processes

PubMed Central

Schmitt, John; Beller, Justin; Russell, Brian; Quach, Anthony; Hermann, Elizabeth; Lyon, David; Breit, Jeffrey

2017-01-01

As the biopharmaceutical industry evolves to include more diverse protein formats and processes, more robust control of Critical Quality Attributes (CQAs) is needed to maintain processing flexibility without compromising quality. Active control of CQAs has been demonstrated using model predictive control techniques, which allow development of processes which are robust against disturbances associated with raw material variability and other potentially flexible operating conditions. Wide adoption of model predictive control in biopharmaceutical cell culture processes has been hampered, however, in part due to the large amount of data and expertise required to make a predictive model of controlled CQAs, a requirement for model predictive control. Here we developed a highly automated, perfusion apparatus to systematically and efficiently generate predictive models using application of system identification approaches. We successfully created a predictive model of %galactosylation using data obtained by manipulating galactose concentration in the perfusion apparatus in serialized step change experiments. We then demonstrated the use of the model in a model predictive controller in a simulated control scenario to successfully achieve a %galactosylation set point in a simulated fed‐batch culture. The automated model identification approach demonstrated here can potentially be generalized to many CQAs, and could be a more efficient, faster, and highly automated alternative to batch experiments for developing predictive models in cell culture processes, and allow the wider adoption of model predictive control in biopharmaceutical processes. © 2017 The Authors Biotechnology Progress published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of American Institute of Chemical Engineers Biotechnol. Prog., 33:1647–1661, 2017 PMID:28786215

Genetic variation among sorghum and Brachypodium distachyon accessions for biological conversion efficiency

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Using the well-developed microbial system, Clostridium phytofermentans, we developed an assay that provides the ability to measure the impact of pretreatment, conversion processes, and microbial and plant genetic diversity of digestibility, and thereby determine the potential effects of numerous var...

Usability in product design--the importance and need for systematic assessment models in product development--Usa-Design Model (U-D) ©.

PubMed

Merino, Giselle Schmidt Alves Díaz; Teixeira, Clarissa Stefani; Schoenardie, Rodrigo Petry; Merino, Eugenio Andrés Diáz; Gontijo, Leila Amaral

2012-01-01

In product design, human factors are considered as an element of differentiation given that today's consumer demands are increasing. Safety, wellbeing, satisfaction, health, effectiveness, efficiency, and other aspects must be effectively incorporated into the product development process. This work proposes a usability assessment model that can be incorporated as an assessment tool. The methodological approach is settled in two stages. First a literature review focus specifically on usability and developing user-centred products. After this, a model of usability named Usa-Design (U-D©) is presented. Consisted of four phases: understanding the use context, pre-preliminary usability assessment (efficiency/effectiveness/satisfaction); assessment of usability principles and results, U-D© features are modular and flexible, allowing principles used in Phase 3 to be changed according to the needs and scenario of each situation. With qualitative/quantitative measurement scales of easy understanding and application, the model results are viable and applicable throughout all the product development process.

Warehouses information system design and development

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Darajatun, R. A.; Sukanta

2017-12-01

Materials/goods handling industry is fundamental for companies to ensure the smooth running of their warehouses. Efficiency and organization within every aspect of the business is essential in order to gain a competitive advantage. The purpose of this research is design and development of Kanban of inventory storage and delivery system. Application aims to facilitate inventory stock checks to be more efficient and effective. Users easily input finished goods from production department, warehouse, customer, and also suppliers. Master data designed as complete as possible to be prepared applications used in a variety of process logistic warehouse variations. The author uses Java programming language to develop the application, which is used for building Java Web applications, while the database used is MySQL. System development methodology that I use is the Waterfall methodology. Waterfall methodology has several stages of the Analysis, System Design, Implementation, Integration, Operation and Maintenance. In the process of collecting data the author uses the method of observation, interviews, and literature.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lott, P. Aaron; Woodward, Carol S.; Evans, Katherine J.

Performing accurate and efficient numerical simulation of global atmospheric climate models is challenging due to the disparate length and time scales over which physical processes interact. Implicit solvers enable the physical system to be integrated with a time step commensurate with processes being studied. The dominant cost of an implicit time step is the ancillary linear system solves, so we have developed a preconditioner aimed at improving the efficiency of these linear system solves. Our preconditioner is based on an approximate block factorization of the linearized shallow-water equations and has been implemented within the spectral element dynamical core within themore » Community Atmospheric Model (CAM-SE). Furthermore, in this paper we discuss the development and scalability of the preconditioner for a suite of test cases with the implicit shallow-water solver within CAM-SE.« less

Foster Wheeler's Solutions for Large Scale CFB Boiler Technology: Features and Operational Performance of Łagisza 460 MWe CFB Boiler

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hotta, Arto

During recent years, once-through supercritical (OTSC) CFB technology has been developed, enabling the CFB technology to proceed to medium-scale (500 MWe) utility projects such as Łagisza Power Plant in Poland owned by Poludniowy Koncern Energetyczny SA. (PKE), with net efficiency nearly 44%. Łagisza power plant is currently under commissioning and has reached full load operation in March 2009. The initial operation shows very good performance and confirms, that the CFB process has no problems with the scaling up to this size. Also the once-through steam cycle utilizing Siemens' vertical tube Benson technology has performed as predicted in the CFB process. Foster Wheeler has developed the CFB design further up to 800 MWe with net efficiency of ≥45%.

Techniques of EMG signal analysis: detection, processing, classification and applications

PubMed Central

Hussain, M.S.; Mohd-Yasin, F.

2006-01-01

Electromyography (EMG) signals can be used for clinical/biomedical applications, Evolvable Hardware Chip (EHW) development, and modern human computer interaction. EMG signals acquired from muscles require advanced methods for detection, decomposition, processing, and classification. The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the various methodologies and algorithms for EMG signal analysis to provide efficient and effective ways of understanding the signal and its nature. We further point up some of the hardware implementations using EMG focusing on applications related to prosthetic hand control, grasp recognition, and human computer interaction. A comparison study is also given to show performance of various EMG signal analysis methods. This paper provides researchers a good understanding of EMG signal and its analysis procedures. This knowledge will help them develop more powerful, flexible, and efficient applications. PMID:16799694

Highlight on Bottlenecks in Food Allergen Analysis: Detection and Quantification by Mass Spectrometry.

PubMed

Planque, Mélanie; Arnould, Thierry; Renard, Patricia; Delahaut, Philippe; Dieu, Marc; Gillard, Nathlie

2017-07-01

Food laboratories have developed methods for testing allergens in foods. The efficiency of qualitative and quantitative methods is of prime importance in protecting allergic populations. Unfortunately, food laboratories encounter barriers to developing efficient methods. Bottlenecks include the lack of regulatory thresholds, delays in the emergence of reference materials and guidelines, and the need to detect processed allergens. In this study, ultra-HPLC coupled to tandem MS was used to illustrate difficulties encountered in determining method performances. We measured the major influences of both processing and matrix effects on the detection of egg, milk, soy, and peanut allergens in foodstuffs. The main goals of this work were to identify difficulties that food laboratories still encounter in detecting and quantifying allergens and to sensitize researchers to them.

Water: the bloodstream of the biosphere.

PubMed

Ripl, Wilhelm

2003-12-29

Water, the bloodstream of the biosphere, determines the sustainability of living systems. The essential role of water is expanded in a conceptual model of energy dissipation, based on the water balance of whole landscapes. In this model, the underlying role of water phase changes--and their energy-dissipative properties--in the function and the self-organized development of natural systems is explicitly recognized. The energy-dissipating processes regulate the ecological dynamics within the Earth's biosphere, in such a way that the development of natural systems is never allowed to proceed in an undirected or random way. A fundamental characteristic of self-organized development in natural systems is the increasing role of cyclic processes while loss processes are correspondingly reduced. This gives a coincidental increase in system efficiency, which is the basis of growing stability and sustainability. Growing sustainability can be seen as an increase of ecological efficiency, which is applicable at all levels up to whole landscapes. Criteria for necessary changes in society and for the design of the measures that are necessary to restore sustainable landscapes and waters are derived.

Water: the bloodstream of the biosphere.

PubMed Central

Ripl, Wilhelm

2003-01-01

Water, the bloodstream of the biosphere, determines the sustainability of living systems. The essential role of water is expanded in a conceptual model of energy dissipation, based on the water balance of whole landscapes. In this model, the underlying role of water phase changes--and their energy-dissipative properties--in the function and the self-organized development of natural systems is explicitly recognized. The energy-dissipating processes regulate the ecological dynamics within the Earth's biosphere, in such a way that the development of natural systems is never allowed to proceed in an undirected or random way. A fundamental characteristic of self-organized development in natural systems is the increasing role of cyclic processes while loss processes are correspondingly reduced. This gives a coincidental increase in system efficiency, which is the basis of growing stability and sustainability. Growing sustainability can be seen as an increase of ecological efficiency, which is applicable at all levels up to whole landscapes. Criteria for necessary changes in society and for the design of the measures that are necessary to restore sustainable landscapes and waters are derived. PMID:14728789

[The correlations between aging of the human body, oxidative stress and reduced efficiency of repair systems].

PubMed

Michalak, Aleksandra; Krzeszowiak, Jakub; Markiewicz-Górka, Iwona

2014-12-15

The article presents an current knowledge overview about the importance of oxidative stress and reduced efficiency of repair processes during the aging process of the human body. Oxidative damage to cellular macromolecules (proteins, lipids, nucleic acids), are formed under the influence of reactive oxygen species (ROS). They are the part of important mechanism which is responsible for the process of aging and the development of many diseases. The most important effects result from DNA damage, due to the mutations formation, which can lead to the development of tumors. However, a well-functioning repair systems (i.a. homologous recombination) remove the damage and prevent harmful changes in the cells. Lipid peroxidation products also cause oxidative modification of nucleic acids (and proteins). Proteins and fats also have repair systems, but much simpler than those responsible for the repair of nucleic acids. Unfortunately, with increasing age, they are more weakened, which contributes to increase numbers of cell damage, and consequently development of diseases specific to old age: cancer, neurodegenerative diseases or atherosclerosis.

Detailed Modeling of Physical Processes in Electron Sources for Accelerator Applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chubenko, Oksana; Afanasev, Andrei

2017-01-01

At present, electron sources are essential in a wide range of applications - from common technical use to exploring the nature of matter. Depending on the application requirements, different methods and materials are used to generate electrons. State-of-the-art accelerator applications set a number of often-conflicting requirements for electron sources (e.g., quantum efficiency vs. polarization, current density vs. lifetime, etc). Development of advanced electron sources includes modeling and design of cathodes, material growth, fabrication of cathodes, and cathode testing. The detailed simulation and modeling of physical processes is required in order to shed light on the exact mechanisms of electron emission and to develop new-generation electron sources with optimized efficiency. The purpose of the present work is to study physical processes in advanced electron sources and develop scientific tools, which could be used to predict electron emission from novel nano-structured materials. In particular, the area of interest includes bulk/superlattice gallium arsenide (bulk/SL GaAs) photo-emitters and nitrogen-incorporated ultrananocrystalline diamond ((N)UNCD) photo/field-emitters. Work supported by The George Washington University and Euclid TechLabs LLC.

Impact of food processing and detoxification treatments on mycotoxin contamination.

PubMed

Karlovsky, Petr; Suman, Michele; Berthiller, Franz; De Meester, Johan; Eisenbrand, Gerhard; Perrin, Irène; Oswald, Isabelle P; Speijers, Gerrit; Chiodini, Alessandro; Recker, Tobias; Dussort, Pierre

2016-11-01

Mycotoxins are fungal metabolites commonly occurring in food, which pose a health risk to the consumer. Maximum levels for major mycotoxins allowed in food have been established worldwide. Good agricultural practices, plant disease management, and adequate storage conditions limit mycotoxin levels in the food chain yet do not eliminate mycotoxins completely. Food processing can further reduce mycotoxin levels by physical removal and decontamination by chemical or enzymatic transformation of mycotoxins into less toxic products. Physical removal of mycotoxins is very efficient: manual sorting of grains, nuts, and fruits by farmers as well as automatic sorting by the industry significantly lowers the mean mycotoxin content. Further processing such as milling, steeping, and extrusion can also reduce mycotoxin content. Mycotoxins can be detoxified chemically by reacting with food components and technical aids; these reactions are facilitated by high temperature and alkaline or acidic conditions. Detoxification of mycotoxins can also be achieved enzymatically. Some enzymes able to transform mycotoxins naturally occur in food commodities or are produced during fermentation but more efficient detoxification can be achieved by deliberate introduction of purified enzymes. We recommend integrating evaluation of processing technologies for their impact on mycotoxins into risk management. Processing steps proven to mitigate mycotoxin contamination should be used whenever necessary. Development of detoxification technologies for high-risk commodities should be a priority for research. While physical techniques currently offer the most efficient post-harvest reduction of mycotoxin content in food, biotechnology possesses the largest potential for future developments.

A novel cell factory for efficient production of ethanol from dairy waste.

PubMed

Liu, Jianming; Dantoft, Shruti Harnal; Würtz, Anders; Jensen, Peter Ruhdal; Solem, Christian

2016-01-01

Sustainable and economically feasible ways to produce ethanol or other liquid fuels are becoming increasingly relevant due to the limited supply of fossil fuels and the environmental consequences associated with their consumption. Microbial production of fuel compounds has gained a lot of attention and focus has mostly been on developing bio-processes involving non-food plant biomass feedstocks. The high cost of the enzymes needed to degrade such feedstocks into its constituent sugars as well as problems due to various inhibitors generated in pretreatment are two challenges that have to be addressed if cost-effective processes are to be established. Various industries, especially within the food sector, often have waste streams rich in carbohydrates and/or other nutrients, and these could serve as alternative feedstocks for such bio-processes. The dairy industry is a good example, where large amounts of cheese whey or various processed forms thereof are generated. Because of their nutrient-rich nature, these substrates are particularly well suited as feedstocks for microbial production. We have generated a Lactococcus lactis strain which produces ethanol as its sole fermentation product from the lactose contained in residual whey permeate (RWP), by introducing lactose catabolism into a L. lactis strain CS4435 (MG1363 Δ(3) ldh, Δpta, ΔadhE, pCS4268), where the carbon flow has been directed toward ethanol instead of lactate. To achieve growth and ethanol production on RWP, we added corn steep liquor hydrolysate (CSLH) as the nitrogen source. The outcome was efficient ethanol production with a titer of 41 g/L and a yield of 70 % of the theoretical maximum using a fed-batch strategy. The combination of a low-cost medium from industrial waste streams and an efficient cell factory should make the developed process industrially interesting. A process for the production of ethanol using L. lactis and a cheap renewable feedstock was developed. The results demonstrate that it is possible to achieve sustainable bioconversion of waste products from the dairy industry (RWP) and corn milling industry (CSLH) to ethanol and the process developed shows great potential for commercial realization.

A testing-coverage software reliability model considering fault removal efficiency and error generation.

PubMed

Li, Qiuying; Pham, Hoang

2017-01-01

In this paper, we propose a software reliability model that considers not only error generation but also fault removal efficiency combined with testing coverage information based on a nonhomogeneous Poisson process (NHPP). During the past four decades, many software reliability growth models (SRGMs) based on NHPP have been proposed to estimate the software reliability measures, most of which have the same following agreements: 1) it is a common phenomenon that during the testing phase, the fault detection rate always changes; 2) as a result of imperfect debugging, fault removal has been related to a fault re-introduction rate. But there are few SRGMs in the literature that differentiate between fault detection and fault removal, i.e. they seldom consider the imperfect fault removal efficiency. But in practical software developing process, fault removal efficiency cannot always be perfect, i.e. the failures detected might not be removed completely and the original faults might still exist and new faults might be introduced meanwhile, which is referred to as imperfect debugging phenomenon. In this study, a model aiming to incorporate fault introduction rate, fault removal efficiency and testing coverage into software reliability evaluation is developed, using testing coverage to express the fault detection rate and using fault removal efficiency to consider the fault repair. We compare the performance of the proposed model with several existing NHPP SRGMs using three sets of real failure data based on five criteria. The results exhibit that the model can give a better fitting and predictive performance.

Development of energy consumption and energy efficiency potential in the Brazilian industrial sector according to the Integrated Energy Planning Model (IEPM)

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Tolmasquim, M.T.; Szklo, A.S.; Cohen, C.

This paper presents the development of energy consumption in the Brazilian industrial sector and energy efficiency potential based on the analysis undertaken through a model developed in the Energy Planning Program at COPPE/UFRJ, known as the Integrated Energy Planning Model (IEPM). The study starts by presenting the IEPM, which is a technical and economic parameter-based model designed to forecast energy supplies and consumption for all economic sectors in Brazil, within three scenarios. Outlines of all three scenarios are presented, as they were constructed according to certain specific assumptions. The industrial sector was broken down into eleven sub-sectors: food and beverages,more » ceramics, cement, iron and steel, mining and pelletizing, ferroalloys, non-ferrous metals and others (metallurgy), chemicals, pulp and paper, textiles and other industries (MME, 1998). All these sub-sectors will also be presented as well as the results of the scenario forecasts. Results deriving from these forecasts come from very specific studies that analyze all process steps in each sub-sector in order to propose energy replacements, efficiency improvements of structural production alterations that result in major potential energy consumption reductions. Last but not least, this paper gives the development forecasts deriving from the three scenarios over ten years, with their contributions to energy efficiency in the Brazilian industrial sector, showing that the authors can reduce energy consumption in the Brazilian industrial sector by: substituting less efficient processes by more efficient ones, through the conversion of final energy into usable energy, basically, in the cement and aluminum industries; replacing equipment and energy sources; modifying product mix of several industries (pulp and paper), assigning top priority to producing goods with higher added value that are less energy intensive, and, finally, reducing the share held by some energy intensive sectors in the industrial output.« less

Using Performance Measures in the Federal Budget Process

DTIC Science & Technology

1993-07-01

developed in private sector , the primary measure of perfor- three different ways. The first is by budgeting mance for an organization as a whole is...example, a mass transit agency that in the private sector . This subjectivity has led stresses efficiency as a primary value would to the development of more...Public Sector 1 Obstacles to Measuring the Performance of Federal Agencies 3 How Can Performance Measurement Affect the Budget Process? 7 Conclusion 9

Computed Tomography and Thermography Increases CMC Material and Process Development Efficiency and Testing Effectiveness

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Effinger, Michael; Beshears, Ron; Hufnagle, David; Walker, James; Russell, Sam; Stowell, Bob; Myers, David

2002-01-01

Nondestructive characterization techniques have been used to steer development and testing of CMCs. Computed tomography is used to determine the volumetric integrity of the CMC plates and components. Thermography is used to determine the near surface integrity of the CMC plates and components. For process and material development, information such as density uniformity, part delamination, and dimensional tolerance conformity is generated. The information from the thermography and computed tomography is correlated and then specimen cutting maps are superimposed on the thermography images. This enables for tighter data and potential explanation of off nominal test data. Examples of nondestructive characterization utilization to make decisions in process and material development and testing are presented.

Use of parallel computing in mass processing of laser data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Będkowski, J.; Bratuś, R.; Prochaska, M.; Rzonca, A.

2015-12-01

The first part of the paper includes a description of the rules used to generate the algorithm needed for the purpose of parallel computing and also discusses the origins of the idea of research on the use of graphics processors in large scale processing of laser scanning data. The next part of the paper includes the results of an efficiency assessment performed for an array of different processing options, all of which were substantially accelerated with parallel computing. The processing options were divided into the generation of orthophotos using point clouds, coloring of point clouds, transformations, and the generation of a regular grid, as well as advanced processes such as the detection of planes and edges, point cloud classification, and the analysis of data for the purpose of quality control. Most algorithms had to be formulated from scratch in the context of the requirements of parallel computing. A few of the algorithms were based on existing technology developed by the Dephos Software Company and then adapted to parallel computing in the course of this research study. Processing time was determined for each process employed for a typical quantity of data processed, which helped confirm the high efficiency of the solutions proposed and the applicability of parallel computing to the processing of laser scanning data. The high efficiency of parallel computing yields new opportunities in the creation and organization of processing methods for laser scanning data.

Kinetic Monte Carlo simulation of the efficiency roll-off, emission color, and degradation of organic light-emitting diodes (Presentation Recording)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Coehoorn, Reinder; van Eersel, Harm; Bobbert, Peter A.; Janssen, Rene A. J.

2015-10-01

The performance of Organic Light Emitting Diodes (OLEDs) is determined by a complex interplay of the charge transport and excitonic processes in the active layer stack. We have developed a three-dimensional kinetic Monte Carlo (kMC) OLED simulation method which includes all these processes in an integral manner. The method employs a physically transparent mechanistic approach, and is based on measurable parameters. All processes can be followed with molecular-scale spatial resolution and with sub-nanosecond time resolution, for any layer structure and any mixture of materials. In the talk, applications to the efficiency roll-off, emission color and lifetime of white and monochrome phosphorescent OLEDs [1,2] are demonstrated, and a comparison with experimental results is given. The simulations show to which extent the triplet-polaron quenching (TPQ) and triplet-triplet-annihilation (TTA) contribute to the roll-off, and how the microscopic parameters describing these processes can be deduced properly from dedicated experiments. Degradation is treated as a result of the (accelerated) conversion of emitter molecules to non-emissive sites upon a triplet-polaron quenching (TPQ) process. The degradation rate, and hence the device lifetime, is shown to depend on the emitter concentration and on the precise type of TPQ process. Results for both single-doped and co-doped OLEDs are presented, revealing that the kMC simulations enable efficient simulation-assisted layer stack development. [1] H. van Eersel et al., Appl. Phys. Lett. 105, 143303 (2014). [2] R. Coehoorn et al., Adv. Funct. Mater. (2015), publ. online (DOI: 10.1002/adfm.201402532)

A very efficient RCS data compression and reconstruction technique, volume 4

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tseng, N. Y.; Burnside, W. D.

1992-01-01

A very efficient compression and reconstruction scheme for RCS measurement data was developed. The compression is done by isolating the scattering mechanisms on the target and recording their individual responses in the frequency and azimuth scans, respectively. The reconstruction, which is an inverse process of the compression, is granted by the sampling theorem. Two sets of data, the corner reflectors and the F-117 fighter model, were processed and the results were shown to be convincing. The compression ratio can be as large as several hundred, depending on the target's geometry and scattering characteristics.

Introduction of Nano-seconds Pulsed Discharge Plasma and its Applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Namihira, Takao; Wang, Douyan; Matsumoto, Takao; Okada, Sho; Akiyama, Hidenori

During the decades, the developments of high power semiconductor switch, magnetic core and etc have allowed us to manufacture the pulsed power source having higher energy transfer efficiency. As the results, the pulsed discharge has been recognized as one of the promised non-thermal plasma to practical use. In this paper, a generation process, electron energy, impedance and a temperature of the pulsed discharge plasma would be explained. In addition, a nano-seconds pulsed discharge plasma would be introduced as the non-thermal plasma processing giving us the highest energy efficiency and be demonstrated it.

Self-optimisation and model-based design of experiments for developing a C-H activation flow process.

PubMed

Echtermeyer, Alexander; Amar, Yehia; Zakrzewski, Jacek; Lapkin, Alexei

2017-01-01

A recently described C(sp 3 )-H activation reaction to synthesise aziridines was used as a model reaction to demonstrate the methodology of developing a process model using model-based design of experiments (MBDoE) and self-optimisation approaches in flow. The two approaches are compared in terms of experimental efficiency. The self-optimisation approach required the least number of experiments to reach the specified objectives of cost and product yield, whereas the MBDoE approach enabled a rapid generation of a process model.

Recent Improvements in the FDNS CFD Code and its Associated Process

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

West, Jeff S.; Dorney, Suzanne M.; Turner, Jim (Technical Monitor)

2002-01-01

This viewgraph presentation gives an overview on recent improvements in the Finite Difference Navier Stokes (FDNS) computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code and its associated process. The development of a utility, PreViewer, has essentially eliminated the creeping of simple human error into the FDNS Solution process. Extension of PreViewer to encapsulate the Domain Decompression process has made practical the routine use of parallel processing. The combination of CVS source control and ATS consistency validation significantly increases the efficiency of the CFD process.

Development and Implementation of Efficiency-Improving Analysis Methods for the SAGE III on ISS Thermal Model Originating

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Liles, Kaitlin; Amundsen, Ruth; Davis, Warren; Scola, Salvatore; Tobin, Steven; McLeod, Shawn; Mannu, Sergio; Guglielmo, Corrado; Moeller, Timothy

2013-01-01

The Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment III (SAGE III) instrument is the fifth in a series of instruments developed for monitoring aerosols and gaseous constituents in the stratosphere and troposphere. SAGE III will be delivered to the International Space Station (ISS) via the SpaceX Dragon vehicle in 2015. A detailed thermal model of the SAGE III payload has been developed in Thermal Desktop (TD). Several novel methods have been implemented to facilitate efficient payload-level thermal analysis, including the use of a design of experiments (DOE) methodology to determine the worst-case orbits for SAGE III while on ISS, use of TD assemblies to move payloads from the Dragon trunk to the Enhanced Operational Transfer Platform (EOTP) to its final home on the Expedite the Processing of Experiments to Space Station (ExPRESS) Logistics Carrier (ELC)-4, incorporation of older models in varying unit sets, ability to change units easily (including hardcoded logic blocks), case-based logic to facilitate activating heaters and active elements for varying scenarios within a single model, incorporation of several coordinate frames to easily map to structural models with differing geometries and locations, and streamlined results processing using an Excel-based text file plotter developed in-house at LaRC. This document presents an overview of the SAGE III thermal model and describes the development and implementation of these efficiency-improving analysis methods.

Process development for single-crystal silicon solar cells

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bohra, Mihir H.

Solar energy is a viable, rapidly growing and an important renewable alternative to other sources of energy generation because of its abundant supply and low manufacturing cost. Silicon still remains the major contributor for manufacturing solar cells accounting for 80% of the market share. Of this, single-crystal solar cells account for half of the share. Laboratory cells have demonstrated 25% efficiency; however, commercial cells have efficiencies of 16% - 20% resulting from a focus on implementation processes geared to rapid throughput and low cost, thereby reducing the energy pay-back time. An example would be the use of metal pastes which dissolve the dielectric during the firing process as opposed to lithographically defined contacts. With current trends of single-crystal silicon photovoltaic (PV) module prices down to 0.60/W, almost all other PV technologies are challenged to remain cost competitive. This presents a unique opportunity in revisiting the PV cell fabrication process and incorporating moderately more expensive IC process practices into PV manufacturing. While they may drive the cost toward a 1/W benchmark, there is substantial room to "experiment", leading to higher efficiencies which will help maintain the overall system cost. This work entails a turn-key process designed to provide a platform for rapid evaluation of novel materials and processes. A two-step lithographic process yielding a baseline 11% - 13% efficient cell is described. Results of three studies have shown improvements in solar cell output parameters due to the inclusion of a back-surface field implant, a higher emitter doping and also an additional RCA Clean.

Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge: 1996 Small Business Award

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge 1996 award winner, Donlar, developed thermal polyaspartate, a nontoxic, biodegradable, biobased polymer made in a highly efficient process for use in agriculture, water treatment, etc.

Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge: 1998 Greener Reaction Conditions Award

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge 1998 award winner, Argonne National Laboratory, developed an efficient, membrane-based process to synthesize lactate esters from sugars. These esters can replace toxic solvents.

36 CFR 910.63 - Rehabilitation.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... DEVELOPMENT AREA Glossary of Terms § 910.63 Rehabilitation. Rehabilitation means the process of adapting improvements on real property to make possible an efficient contemporary use achieved by means of a combination...

The Energy-Efficient Quarry: Towards improved understanding and optimisation of energy use and minimisation of CO2 generation in the aggregates industry.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hill, Ian; White, Toby; Owen, Sarah

2014-05-01

Extraction and processing of rock materials to produce aggregates is carried out at some 20,000 quarries across the EU. All stages of the processing and transport of hard and dense materials inevitably consume high levels of energy and have consequent significant carbon footprints. The FP7 project "the Energy Efficient Quarry" (EE-Quarry) has been addressing this problem and has devised strategies, supported by modelling software, to assist the quarrying industry to assess and optimise its energy use, and to minimise its carbon footprint. Aggregate quarries across Europe vary enormously in the scale of the quarrying operations, the nature of the worked mineral, and the processing to produce a final market product. Nevertheless most quarries involve most or all of a series of essential stages; deposit assessment, drilling and blasting, loading and hauling, and crushing and screening. The process of determining the energy-efficiency of each stage is complex, but is broadly understood in principle and there are numerous sources of information and guidance available in the literature and on-line. More complex still is the interaction between each of these stages. For example, using a little more energy in blasting to increase fragmentation may save much greater energy in later crushing and screening, but also generate more fines material which is discarded as waste and the embedded energy in this material is lost. Thus the calculation of the embedded energy in the waste material becomes an input to the determination of the blasting strategy. Such feedback loops abound in the overall quarry optimisation. The project has involved research and demonstration operations at a number of quarries distributed across Europe carried out by all partners in the EE-Quarry project, working in collaboration with many of the major quarrying companies operating in the EU. The EE-Quarry project is developing a sophisticated modelling tool, the "EE-Quarry Model" available to the quarrying industry on a web-based platform. This tool guides quarry managers and operators through the complex, multi-layered, iterative, process of assessing the energy efficiency of their own quarry operation. They are able to evaluate the optimisation of the energy-efficiency of the overall quarry through examining both the individual stages of processing, and the interactions between them. The project is also developing on-line distance learning modules designed for Continuous Professional Development (CPD) activities for staff across the quarrying industry in the EU and beyond. The presentation will describe development of the model, and the format and scope of the resulting software tool and its user-support available to the quarrying industry.

High-throughput heterogeneous catalyst research

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Turner, Howard W.; Volpe, Anthony F., Jr.; Weinberg, W. H.

2009-06-01

With the discovery of abundant and low cost crude oil in the early 1900's came the need to create efficient conversion processes to produce low cost fuels and basic chemicals. Enormous investment over the last century has led to the development of a set of highly efficient catalytic processes which define the modern oil refinery and which produce most of the raw materials and fuels used in modern society. Process evolution and development has led to a refining infrastructure that is both dominated and enabled by modern heterogeneous catalyst technologies. Refineries and chemical manufacturers are currently under intense pressure to improve efficiency, adapt to increasingly disadvantaged feedstocks including biomass, lower their environmental footprint, and continue to deliver their products at low cost. This pressure creates a demand for new and more robust catalyst systems and processes that can accommodate them. Traditional methods of catalyst synthesis and testing are slow and inefficient, particularly in heterogeneous systems where the structure of the active sites is typically complex and the reaction mechanism is at best ill-defined. While theoretical modeling and a growing understanding of fundamental surface science help guide the chemist in designing and synthesizing targets, even in the most well understood areas of catalysis, the parameter space that one needs to explore experimentally is vast. The result is that the chemist using traditional methods must navigate a complex and unpredictable diversity space with a limited data set to make discoveries or to optimize known systems. We describe here a mature set of synthesis and screening technologies that together form a workflow that breaks this traditional paradigm and allows for rapid and efficient heterogeneous catalyst discovery and optimization. We exemplify the power of these new technologies by describing their use in the development and commercialization of a novel catalyst for the hydrodesulfurization of gasoline distillates having 50% more selectivity and 30% more activity for sulfur removal than the state-of-the-art commercial reference.

Quantitative Method for Simultaneous Analysis of Acetaminophen and 6 Metabolites.

PubMed

Lammers, Laureen A; Achterbergh, Roos; Pistorius, Marcel C M; Romijn, Johannes A; Mathôt, Ron A A

2017-04-01

Hepatotoxicity after ingestion of high-dose acetaminophen [N-acetyl-para-aminophenol (APAP)] is caused by the metabolites of the drug. To gain more insight into factors influencing susceptibility to APAP hepatotoxicity, quantification of APAP and metabolites is important. A few methods have been developed to simultaneously quantify APAP and its most important metabolites. However, these methods require a comprehensive sample preparation and long run times. The aim of this study was to develop and validate a simplified, but sensitive method for the simultaneous quantification of acetaminophen, the main metabolites acetaminophen glucuronide and acetaminophen sulfate, and 4 Cytochrome P450-mediated metabolites by using liquid chromatography with mass spectrometric (LC-MS) detection. The method was developed and validated for the human plasma, and it entailed a single method for sample preparation, enabling quick processing of the samples followed by an LC-MS method with a chromatographic run time of 9 minutes. The method was validated for selectivity, linearity, accuracy, imprecision, dilution integrity, recovery, process efficiency, ionization efficiency, and carryover effect. The method showed good selectivity without matrix interferences. For all analytes, the mean process efficiency was >86%, and the mean ionization efficiency was >94%. Furthermore, the accuracy was between 90.3% and 112% for all analytes, and the within- and between-run imprecision were <20% for the lower limit of quantification and <14.3% for the middle level and upper limit of quantification. The method presented here enables the simultaneous quantification of APAP and 6 of its metabolites. It is less time consuming than previously reported methods because it requires only a single and simple method for the sample preparation followed by an LC-MS method with a short run time. Therefore, this analytical method provides a useful method for both clinical and research purposes.

Antimicrobial nanoparticle-coated electrostatic air filter with high filtration efficiency and low pressure drop.

PubMed

Sim, Kyoung Mi; Park, Hyun-Seol; Bae, Gwi-Nam; Jung, Jae Hee

2015-11-15

In this study, we demonstrated an antimicrobial nanoparticle-coated electrostatic (ES) air filter. Antimicrobial natural-product Sophora flavescens nanoparticles were produced using an aerosol process, and were continuously deposited onto the surface of air filter media. For the electrostatic activation of the filter medium, a corona discharge electrification system was used before and after antimicrobial treatment of the filter. In the antimicrobial treatment process, the deposition efficiency of S. flavescens nanoparticles on the ES filter was ~12% higher than that on the pristine (Non-ES) filter. In the evaluation of filtration performance using test particles (a nanosized KCl aerosol and submicron-sized Staphylococcus epidermidis bioaerosol), the ES filter showed better filtration efficiency than the Non-ES filter. However, antimicrobial treatment with S. flavescens nanoparticles affected the filtration efficiency of the filter differently depending on the size of the test particles. While the filtration efficiency of the KCl nanoparticles was reduced on the ES filter after the antimicrobial treatment, the filtration efficiency was improved after the recharging process. In summary, we prepared an antimicrobial ES air filter with >99% antimicrobial activity, ~92.5% filtration efficiency (for a 300-nm KCl aerosol), and a ~0.8 mmAq pressure drop (at 13 cm/s). This study provides valuable information for the development of a hybrid air purification system that can serve various functions and be used in an indoor environment. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Simulation based energy-resource efficient manufacturing integrated with in-process virtual management

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Katchasuwanmanee, Kanet; Cheng, Kai; Bateman, Richard

2016-09-01

As energy efficiency is one of the key essentials towards sustainability, the development of an energy-resource efficient manufacturing system is among the great challenges facing the current industry. Meanwhile, the availability of advanced technological innovation has created more complex manufacturing systems that involve a large variety of processes and machines serving different functions. To extend the limited knowledge on energy-efficient scheduling, the research presented in this paper attempts to model the production schedule at an operation process by considering the balance of energy consumption reduction in production, production work flow (productivity) and quality. An innovative systematic approach to manufacturing energy-resource efficiency is proposed with the virtual simulation as a predictive modelling enabler, which provides real-time manufacturing monitoring, virtual displays and decision-makings and consequentially an analytical and multidimensional correlation analysis on interdependent relationships among energy consumption, work flow and quality errors. The regression analysis results demonstrate positive relationships between the work flow and quality errors and the work flow and energy consumption. When production scheduling is controlled through optimization of work flow, quality errors and overall energy consumption, the energy-resource efficiency can be achieved in the production. Together, this proposed multidimensional modelling and analysis approach provides optimal conditions for the production scheduling at the manufacturing system by taking account of production quality, energy consumption and resource efficiency, which can lead to the key competitive advantages and sustainability of the system operations in the industry.

Design and implementation of H.264 based embedded video coding technology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mao, Jian; Liu, Jinming; Zhang, Jiemin

2016-03-01

In this paper, an embedded system for remote online video monitoring was designed and developed to capture and record the real-time circumstances in elevator. For the purpose of improving the efficiency of video acquisition and processing, the system selected Samsung S5PV210 chip as the core processor which Integrated graphics processing unit. And the video was encoded with H.264 format for storage and transmission efficiently. Based on S5PV210 chip, the hardware video coding technology was researched, which was more efficient than software coding. After running test, it had been proved that the hardware video coding technology could obviously reduce the cost of system and obtain the more smooth video display. It can be widely applied for the security supervision [1].

Carotenoid coloration is related to fat digestion efficiency in a wild bird

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Madonia, Christina; Hutton, Pierce; Giraudeau, Mathieu; Sepp, Tuul

2017-12-01

Some of the most spectacular visual signals found in the animal kingdom are based on dietarily derived carotenoid pigments (which cannot be produced de novo), with a general assumption that carotenoids are limited resources for wild organisms, causing trade-offs in allocation of carotenoids to different physiological functions and ornamentation. This resource trade-off view has been recently questioned, since the efficiency of carotenoid processing may relax the trade-off between allocation toward condition or ornamentation. This hypothesis has so far received little exploratory support, since studies of digestive efficiency of wild animals are limited due to methodological difficulties. Recently, a method for quantifying the percentage of fat in fecal samples to measure digestive efficiency has been developed in birds. Here, we use this method to test if the intensity of the carotenoid-based coloration predicts digestive efficiency in a wild bird, the house finch ( Haemorhous mexicanus). The redness of carotenoid feather coloration (hue) positively predicted digestion efficiency, with redder birds being more efficient at absorbing fats from seeds. We show for the first time in a wild species that digestive efficiency predicts ornamental coloration. Though not conclusive due to the correlative nature of our study, these results strongly suggest that fat extraction might be a crucial but overlooked process behind many ornamental traits.

Systems and Cascades in Cognitive Development and Academic Achievement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bornstein, Marc H.; Hahn, Chun-Shin; Wolke, Dieter

2013-01-01

A large-scale ("N" = 552) controlled multivariate prospective 14-year longitudinal study of a developmental cascade embedded in a developmental system showed that information-processing efficiency in infancy (4 months), general mental development in toddlerhood (18 months), behavior difficulties in early childhood (36 months),…

A performance improvement case study in aircraft maintenance and its implications for hazard identification.

PubMed

Ward, Marie; McDonald, Nick; Morrison, Rabea; Gaynor, Des; Nugent, Tony

2010-02-01

Aircraft maintenance is a highly regulated, safety critical, complex and competitive industry. There is a need to develop innovative solutions to address process efficiency without compromising safety and quality. This paper presents the case that in order to improve a highly complex system such as aircraft maintenance, it is necessary to develop a comprehensive and ecologically valid model of the operational system, which represents not just what is meant to happen, but what normally happens. This model then provides the backdrop against which to change or improve the system. A performance report, the Blocker Report, specific to aircraft maintenance and related to the model was developed gathering data on anything that 'blocks' task or check performance. A Blocker Resolution Process was designed to resolve blockers and improve the current check system. Significant results were obtained for the company in the first trial and implications for safety management systems and hazard identification are discussed. Statement of Relevance: Aircraft maintenance is a safety critical, complex, competitive industry with a need to develop innovative solutions to address process and safety efficiency. This research addresses this through the development of a comprehensive and ecologically valid model of the system linked with a performance reporting and resolution system.

"Efficiency Space" - A Framework for Evaluating Joint Evaporation and Runoff Behavior

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Koster, Randal

2014-01-01

At the land surface, higher soil moisture levels generally lead to both increased evaporation for a given amount of incoming radiation (increased evaporation efficiency) and increased runoff for a given amount of precipitation (increased runoff efficiency). Evaporation efficiency and runoff efficiency can thus be said to vary with each other, motivating the development of a unique hydroclimatic analysis framework. Using a simple water balance model fitted, in different experiments, with a wide variety of functional forms for evaporation and runoff efficiency, we transform net radiation and precipitation fields into fields of streamflow that can be directly evaluated against observations. The optimal combination of the functional forms the combination that produces the most skillful stream-flow simulations provides an indication for how evaporation and runoff efficiencies vary with each other in nature, a relationship that can be said to define the overall character of land surface hydrological processes, at least to first order. The inferred optimal relationship is represented herein as a curve in efficiency space and should be valuable for the evaluation and development of GCM-based land surface models, which by this measure are often found to be suboptimal.

Measuring Efficiency of Tunisian Schools in the Presence of Quasi-Fixed Inputs: A Bootstrap Data Envelopment Analysis Approach

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Essid, Hedi; Ouellette, Pierre; Vigeant, Stephane

2010-01-01

The objective of this paper is to measure the efficiency of high schools in Tunisia. We use a statistical data envelopment analysis (DEA)-bootstrap approach with quasi-fixed inputs to estimate the precision of our measure. To do so, we developed a statistical model serving as the foundation of the data generation process (DGP). The DGP is…

Development of high-efficiency solar cells on thin silicon through design optimization and defect passivation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sheoran, Manav

The focus of this research is to investigate the potential of lower quality cast multicrystalline Si (mc-Si) as well as thin single and mc-Si cells. The overall goal of this research is to improve fundamental understanding of the hydrogen passivation of defects in low-cost Si and the fabrication of high-efficiency solar cells on thin crystalline silicon through low-cost technology development. This is addressed by a combination of five research tasks. The key results of these tasks are summarized below. A novel method was developed to determine the concentration and flux of H diffusing into the Si. The understanding of defect passivation acquired in task 1 was used to fabricate high-efficiency solar cells on cast mc-Si wafers. An optimized co-firing process was developed, which resulted in ˜17% efficient 4 cm2 screen-printed solar cells with single-layer AR coating, and no surface texturing or selective emitter. The HEM mc-Si wafer gave an average efficiency of 16.5%, with a maximum of 16.9%. The identical process applied to the un-textured Float zone (FZ) wafers gave an efficiency of 17.2%. These cells were fabricated using the same simple, manufacturable process involving POCl3 diffusion for a 45 O/sq emitter, PECVD SiNx:H deposition for single-layer antireflection coating and rapid co-firing of a Ag grid, an Al back contact, and Al-BSF formation in a belt furnace. A high-efficiency of 17.1% was achieved on high sheet-resistance HEM mc-Si with good quality contacts. The effects of changing several device parameters on the efficiency of the solar cells was modeled with PC1D and guidelines were established to improve the efficiency from ˜17% to over 20% cells on low lifetime (100 mus), thin (140 mum) silicon wafers. The understanding of enhanced defect hydrogenation and the optimized fabrication sequence was applied to fabricate high-efficiency solar cells on top, middle, and bottom regions of several mc-Si ingots. Screen-printed solar cells were fabricated on different regions of four boron doped ingots and one gallium doped ingot. High post-diffusion and post-hydrogenation lifetime values were obtained, which resulted in high-screen printed cell efficiencies of . 15.9% for wafers from all the regions and ingots, except for the bottom region of the lower-resistivity boron-doped ingot and the gallium-doped ingot. Using a lower-resistivity boron-doped mc-Si ingot did not improve the efficiency. Solar cells fabricated on the first two ingots grown by a novel process, which produced single-crystal Si wafers by HEM casting method, achieved efficiencies of 16% and 17.2% on planar and textured surfaces, respectively. Lifetime in the middle region of both the ingots exceeded 100 mus after cell processing; however top and bottom regions had lower lifetimes due to the impurities that could not be gettered or passivated. Due to the single-crystal nature of the mono-cast ingots, the wafers were textured easily, which decreased the front surface reflectance from 11.8 to 5.3% and resulted in an enhanced Jsc by ˜3mA/cm2. Large area (100 cm2) solar cells fabricated from the middle regions of this novel mono-cast material achieved an efficiency of 16.5%. The mono-cast grown by the HEM process is still under optimization, however, these results show that the material has a great potential for achieving high-efficiencies at a lower cost. Since the cost of Si material alone is ˜50% in a PV module, attempts were made to fabricate thin Si cells with full area Al-BSF and to identify the key factors responsible for efficiency loss in thin cells with conventional Al-BSF. It was found that the high BSRV (300-400 cm/s) and low back surface reflectance (BSR) (63-70%) associated with the full area Al-BSF were the major reasons for the reduced performance of thin cells. Model calculations showed that a BSRV of . 100 cm/s and BSR of ≤ 95% can virtually eliminate the efficiency gap between 300 mum and 115 mum thick cells for these ≥ 200 mus bulk lifetime wafers. Manufacturing cost modeling showed that reducing the mc-Si wafer thickness from 300 mum to 115-150 mum reduces the module manufacturing cost in spite of ˜1% lower cell efficiency. Full area Al-BSF cells suffered efficiency loss upon thinning due to a relatively higher BSRV and poor BSR of Al-BSF. Therefore, in attempts were made to fabricate, characterize and model, a device structure with local back-surface field. Thin solar cells, without any bowing, were fabricated using the dielectric passivated structure and screen-printed contacts. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

Photovoltaic Materials

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Duty, C.; Angelini, J.; Armstrong, B.

The goal of the current project was to help make the US solar industry a world leader in the manufacture of thin film photovoltaics. The overall approach was to leverage ORNL’s unique characterization and processing technologies to gain a better understanding of the fundamental challenges for solar cell processing and apply that knowledge to targeted projects with industry members. ORNL has the capabilities in place and the expertise required to understand how basic material properties including defects, impurities, and grain boundaries affect the solar cell performance. ORNL also has unique processing capabilities to optimize the manufacturing process for fabrication ofmore » high efficiency and low cost solar cells. ORNL recently established the Center for Advanced Thin-film Systems (CATS), which contains a suite of optical and electrical characterization equipment specifically focused on solar cell research. Under this project, ORNL made these facilities available to industrial partners who were interested in pursuing collaborative research toward the improvement of their product or manufacturing process. Four specific projects were pursued with industrial partners: Global Solar Energy is a solar industry leader in full scale production manufacturing highly-efficient Copper Indium Gallium diSelenide (CIGS) thin film solar material, cells and products. ORNL worked with GSE to develop a scalable, non-vacuum, solution technique to deposit amorphous or nanocrystalline conducting barrier layers on untextured stainless steel substrates for fabricating high efficiency flexible CIGS PV. Ferro Corporation’s Electronic, Color and Glass Materials (“ECGM”) business unit is currently the world’s largest supplier of metallic contact materials in the crystalline solar cell marketplace. Ferro’s ECGM business unit has been the world's leading supplier of thick film metal pastes to the crystalline silicon PV industry for more than 30 years, and has had operational cells and modules in the field for 25 years. Under this project, Ferro leveraged world leading analytical capabilities at ORNL to characterize the paste-to-silicon interface microstructure and develop high efficiency next generation contact pastes. Ampulse Corporation is developing a revolutionary crystalline-silicon (c-Si) thin-film solar photovoltaic (PV) technology. Utilizing uniquely-textured substrates and buffer materials from the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), and breakthroughs in Hot-Wire Chemical Vapor Deposition (HW-CVD) techniques in epitaxial silicon developed at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Ampulse is creating a solar technology that is tunable in silicon thickness, and hence in efficiency and economics, to meet the specific requirements of multiple solar PV applications. This project focused on the development of a high rate deposition process to deposit Si, Ge, and Si1-xGex films as an alternate to hot-wire CVD. Mossey Creek Solar is a start-up company with great expertise in the solar field. The primary interest is to create and preserve jobs in the solar sector by developing high-yield, low-cost, high-efficiency solar cells using MSC-patented and -proprietary technologies. The specific goal of this project was to produce large grain formation in thin, net-shape-thickness mc-Si wafers processed with high-purity silicon powder and ORNL's plasma arc lamp melting without introducing impurities that compromise absorption coefficient and carrier lifetime. As part of this project, ORNL also added specific pieces of equipment to enhance our ability to provide unique insight for the solar industry. These capabilities include a moisture barrier measurement system, a combined physical vapor deposition and sputtering system dedicated to cadmium-containing deposits, adeep level transient spectroscopy system useful for identifying defects, an integrating sphere photoluminescence system, and a high-speed ink jet printing system. These tools were combined with others to study the effect of defects on the performance of crystalline silicon and thin film solar cells, to explore non-vacuum ink-based approaches to solar cell production, as well as large-scale and low-cost deposition and processing of thin film CdTe material.« less

Development of an efficient anaerobic co-digestion process for garbage, excreta, and septic tank sludge to create a resource recycling-oriented society.

PubMed

Sun, Zhao-Yong; Liu, Kai; Tan, Li; Tang, Yue-Qin; Kida, Kenji

2017-03-01

In order to develop a resource recycling-oriented society, an efficient anaerobic co-digestion process for garbage, excreta and septic tank sludge was studied based on the quantity of each biomass waste type discharged in Ooki machi, Japan. The anaerobic digestion characteristics of garbage, excreta and 5-fold condensed septic tank sludge (hereafter called condensed sludge) were determined separately. In single-stage mesophilic digestion, the excreta with lower C/N ratios yielded lower biogas volumes and accumulated higher volumes of volatile fatty acid (VFA). On the other hand, garbage allowed for a significantly larger volatile total solid (VTS) digestion efficiency as well as biogas yield by thermophilic digestion. Thus, a two-stage anaerobic co-digestion process consisting of thermophilic liquefaction and mesophilic digestion phases was proposed. In the thermophilic liquefaction of mixed condensed sludge and household garbage (wet mass ratio of 2.2:1), a maximum VTS loading rate of 24g/L/d was achieved. In the mesophilic digestion of mixed liquefied material and excreta (wet mass ratio of 1:1), biogas yield reached approximately 570ml/g-VTS fed with a methane content of 55% at a VTS loading rate of 1.0g/L/d. The performance of the two-stage process was evaluated by comparing it with a single-stage process in which biomass wastes were treated separately. Biogas production by the two-stage process was found to increase by approximately 22.9%. These results demonstrate the effectiveness of a two-stage anaerobic co-digestion process in enhancement of biogas production. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Politics of National Planning: The Chilean Case

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schiefelbein, Ernesto

1975-01-01

In developing countries ideology plays an important role in the political process, for the level of disorganization forces political leaders to look for support and loyalty rather than efficiency. (Author)

Proceedings of the conference on Coal Feeding Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1977-01-01

Development of coal feed systems for coal gasification, fluidized bed combustion, and magnetohydrodynamic applications is discussed. Process operations experience, energy conversion efficiency, and environment effects are among the factors considered.

High-Efficiency Nitride-Base Photonic Crystal Light Sources

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

James Speck; Evelyn Hu; Claude Weisbuch

2010-01-31

The research activities performed in the framework of this project represent a major breakthrough in the demonstration of Photonic Crystals (PhC) as a competitive technology for LEDs with high light extraction efficiency. The goals of the project were to explore the viable approaches to manufacturability of PhC LEDS through proven standard industrial processes, establish the limits of light extraction by various concepts of PhC LEDs, and determine the possible advantages of PhC LEDs over current and forthcoming LED extraction concepts. We have developed three very different geometries for PhC light extraction in LEDs. In addition, we have demonstrated reliable methodsmore » for their in-depth analysis allowing the extraction of important parameters such as light extraction efficiency, modal extraction length, directionality, internal and external quantum efficiency. The information gained allows better understanding of the physical processes and the effect of the design parameters on the light directionality and extraction efficiency. As a result, we produced LEDs with controllable emission directionality and a state of the art extraction efficiency that goes up to 94%. Those devices are based on embedded air-gap PhC - a novel technology concept developed in the framework of this project. They rely on a simple and planar fabrication process that is very interesting for industrial implementation due to its robustness and scalability. In fact, besides the additional patterning and regrowth steps, the process is identical as that for standard industrially used p-side-up LEDs. The final devices exhibit the same good electrical characteristics and high process yield as a series of test standard LEDs obtained in comparable conditions. Finally, the technology of embedded air-gap patterns (PhC) has significant potential in other related fields such as: increasing the optical mode interaction with the active region in semiconductor lasers; increasing the coupling of the incident light into the active region of solar cells; increasing the efficiency of the phosphorous light conversion in white light LEDs etc. In addition to the technology of embedded PhC LEDs, we demonstrate a technique for improvement of the light extraction and emission directionality for existing flip-chip microcavity (thin) LEDs by introducing PhC grating into the top n-contact. Although, the performances of these devices in terms of increase of the extraction efficiency are not significantly superior compared to those obtained by other techniques like surface roughening, the use of PhC offers some significant advantages such as improved and controllable emission directionality and a process that is directly applicable to any material system. The PhC microcavity LEDs have also potential for industrial implementation as the fabrication process has only minor differences to that already used for flip-chip thin LEDs. Finally, we have demonstrated that achieving good electrical properties and high fabrication yield for these devices is straightforward.« less

Image-Processing Software For A Hypercube Computer

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lee, Meemong; Mazer, Alan S.; Groom, Steven L.; Williams, Winifred I.

1992-01-01

Concurrent Image Processing Executive (CIPE) is software system intended to develop and use image-processing application programs on concurrent computing environment. Designed to shield programmer from complexities of concurrent-system architecture, it provides interactive image-processing environment for end user. CIPE utilizes architectural characteristics of particular concurrent system to maximize efficiency while preserving architectural independence from user and programmer. CIPE runs on Mark-IIIfp 8-node hypercube computer and associated SUN-4 host computer.

Morphology evolution in high-performance polymer solar cells processed from nonhalogenated solvent

DOE PAGES

Cai, Wanzhu; Liu, Peng; Jin, Yaocheng; ...

2015-05-26

A new processing protocol based on non-halogenated solvent and additive is developed to produce polymer solar cells with power conversion efficiencies better than those processed from commonly used halogenated solvent-additive pair. Morphology studies show that good performance correlates with a finely distributed nanomorphology with a well-defined polymer fibril network structure, which leads to balanced charge transport in device operation.

Ultraviolet (UV) Oxidation Final Report CRADA No. TC-0350-92

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wang, F.; Oster, S.

This CRADA was a collaborative agreement between the above parties to develop a more efficient ultraviolet (UV) oxidation process than the existing commercial processes. The proposed new process would be capable of completely mineralizing the organic constiruents in aqueous mixedwastes (wastes that contain both radioactive and organic constiruents) and converting them into ordinary radioactive wastes, which would mean cheaper and easier disposal.

Distributed processing for features improvement in real-time portable medical devices.

PubMed

Mercado, Erwin John Saavedra

2008-01-01

Portable biomedical devices are being developed and incorporated in daily life. Nevertheless, their standalone capacity is diminished due to the lack of processing power required to face such duties as for example, signal artifacts robustness in EKG monitor devices. The following paper presents a multiprocessor architecture made from simple microcontrollers to provide an increase in processing performance, power consumption efficiency and lower cost.

In-Process Metrology And Control Of Large Optical Grinders

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Anderson, D. S.; Ketelsen, D.; Kittrell, W. Cary; Kuhn, Wm; Parks, R. E.; Stahl, P.

1987-01-01

The advent of rapid figure generation at the University of Arizona has prompted the development of rapid metrology techniques. The success and efficiency of the generating process is highly dependent on timely and accurate measurements to update the feedback loop between machine and optician. We will describe the advantages and problems associated with the in-process metrology and control systems used at the Optical Sciences Center.

Using GC-FID to Quantify the Removal of 4-sec-Butylphenol from NGS Solvent by NaOH

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sloop, Jr., Frederick V.; Moyer, Bruce A.

2014-12-01

A caustic wash of the solvent used in the Next-Generation Caustic-Side Solvent Extraction (NG-CSSX) process was found to remove the modifier breakdown product 4-sec-butylphenol (SBP) with varying efficiency depending on the aqueous NaOH concentration. Recent efforts at ORNL have aimed at characterizing the flowsheet chemistry and reducing the technical uncertainties of the NG-CSSX process. One technical uncertainty has been the efficacy of caustic washing of the solvent for the removal of lipophilic anions, in particular, the efficient removal of SBP, an important degradation product of the solvent modifier, Cs-7SB. In order to make this determination, it was necessary to developmore » a sensitive and reliable analytical technique for the detection and quantitation of SBP. This report recounts the development of a GC-FID-based (Gas Chromatography Flame Ionization Detection) technique for analyzing SBP and the utilization of the technique to subsequently confirm the ability of the caustic wash to efficiently remove SBP from the Next Generation Solvent (NGS) used in NG-CSSX. In particular, the developed technique was used to monitor the amount of SBP removed from a simple solvent and the full NGS by contact with sodium hydroxide wash solutions over a range of concentrations. The results show that caustic washing removes SBP with effectively the same efficiency as it did in the original Caustic-Side Solvent Extraction (CSSX) process.« less

Two-sided friction stir riveting by extrusion: A process for joining dissimilar materials

DOE PAGES

Evans, William T.; Cox, Chase D.; Strauss, Alvin M.; ...

2016-06-25

Two-sided friction stir riveting (FSR) by extrusion is an innovative process developed to rapidly, efficiently, and securely join dissimilar materials. This process extends a previously developed one sided friction stir extrusion process to create a strong and robust joint by producing a continuous, rivet-like structure through a preformed hole in one of the materials with a simultaneous, two-sided friction stir spot weld. The two-sided FSR by extrusion process securely joins the dissimilar materials together and effectively locks them in place without the use of any separate materials or fasteners. Lastly, in this paper we demonstrate the process by joining aluminummore » to steel and illustrate its potential application to automotive and aerospace manufacturing processes.« less

78 FR 48655 - Multistakeholder Meeting To Develop Consumer Data Privacy Code of Conduct Concerning Mobile...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-08-09

... Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights applies in specific business contexts.\\2\\ On July 12, 2012, NTIA convened... most efficiently; how future processes might make stakeholder participation easier and more effective; and how future processes might start with one or more sessions that provide factual background on a...

Near Infrared Spectroscopy in the Forest Products Industry, Forest Products Journal

Treesearch

Chi-Leung So; Brian K. Via; Leslie H. Groom; Laurence R. Schimleck; Todd F. Shupe; Stephen S. Kelley; Timothy G. Rials

2004-01-01

Improving manufacturing efficiency and increasing product worth requires the right combination of actions throughout the manufacturing process. Many innovations have been developed over the last several decades to achieve these goals. Innovations typically work their way backwards in the manufacturing process, with an increasing level of monitoring occurring at the...

Processing Efficiency in Preschoolers' Memory Span: Individual Differences Related to Age and Anxiety

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Visu-Petra, Laura; Miclea, Mircea; Cheie, Lavinia; Benga, Oana

2009-01-01

In self-paced auditory memory span tasks, the microanalysis of response timing measures represents a developmentally sensitive measure, providing insights into the development of distinct processing rates during recall performance. The current study first examined the effects of age and trait anxiety on span accuracy (effectiveness) and response…

Effects of air injection during sap processing on maple syrup color, chemical composition and flavor volatiles.

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Air injection (AI) is a maple sap processing technology reported to increase the efficiency of maple syrup production by increasing production of more economically valuable light-colored maple syrup, and reducing development of loose scale mineral precipitates in syrup, and scale deposits on evapora...

Design, Test, Redesign: Simulation in Technology, Engineering, and Design Education Classrooms

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Swinson, Ronnie; Clark, Aaron C.; Ernst, Jeremy V.; Sutton, Kevin

2016-01-01

Today's engineers, designers, and technologists are often thrust into the role of problem solver, from the initial design phase of a product or process all the way to final development. Many engineers in manufacturing environments are tasked with solving problems and continuously improving processes to enhance company profitability, efficiency,…

Solid-Liquid and Liquid-Liquid Mixing Laboratory for Chemical Engineering Undergraduates

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pour, Sanaz Barar; Norca, Gregory Benoit; Fradette, Louis; Legros, Robert; Tanguy, Philippe A.

2007-01-01

Solid-liquid and liquid-liquid mixing experiments have been developed to provide students with a practical experience on suspension and emulsification processes. The laboratory focuses on the characterization of the process efficiency, specifically the influence of the main operating parameters and the effect of the impeller type. (Contains 2…

Cognitive Proficiency Index for the Canadian Edition of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Fourth Edition

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Saklofske, Donald H.; Zhu, Jianjun; Coalson, Diane L.; Raiford, Susan E.; Weiss, Lawrence G.

2010-01-01

The Cognitive Proficiency Index (CPI) developed for the most recent Wechsler intelligence scales comprises the working memory and processing speed subtests. It reflects the proficiency and efficiency of cognitive processing and provides another lens for analyzing children's abilities assessed by the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children--Fourth…

A Product Evaluation of the Selective Abandonment Process for School Budgeting

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Loofe, Christopher M.

2016-01-01

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the degree to which the Selective Abandonment budget process objectives were achieved by analyzing stakeholder perceptions. Use of this evaluation may enable the district to become more effective, efficient, and more fiscally responsible when developing future program budgeting plans. Program evaluation was…

Blastocyst microinjection automation.

PubMed

Mattos, Leonardo S; Grant, Edward; Thresher, Randy; Kluckman, Kimberly

2009-09-01

Blastocyst microinjections are routinely involved in the process of creating genetically modified mice for biomedical research, but their efficiency is highly dependent on the skills of the operators. As a consequence, much time and resources are required for training microinjection personnel. This situation has been aggravated by the rapid growth of genetic research, which has increased the demand for mutant animals. Therefore, increased productivity and efficiency in this area are highly desired. Here, we pursue these goals through the automation of a previously developed teleoperated blastocyst microinjection system. This included the design of a new system setup to facilitate automation, the definition of rules for automatic microinjections, the implementation of video processing algorithms to extract feedback information from microscope images, and the creation of control algorithms for process automation. Experimentation conducted with this new system and operator assistance during the cells delivery phase demonstrated a 75% microinjection success rate. In addition, implantation of the successfully injected blastocysts resulted in a 53% birth rate and a 20% yield of chimeras. These results proved that the developed system was capable of automatic blastocyst penetration and retraction, demonstrating the success of major steps toward full process automation.

Prospects for development of hydrocarbon raw materials resources reproduction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vertakova, Y. V.; Babich, T. N.; Polozhentseva, Y. S.; Zvyagintsev, G. L.

2017-10-01

The article presents data on the influence of factors in the field of innovative technology of thermocatalytic depolymerization of solid household wastes (SHW) on the efficiency and prospects for the development of technogenic hydrocarbon raw materials resource reproduction. Process thermodynamics, reactions kinetics, the mechanism of thermolysis of secondary polymers in organic solvents have been studied by means of laboratory experiments. It is shown that different morphological groups of wastes dissolve practically at the same rate at temperatures of 250-310°C. A homogeneous product is formed in the liquid phase; the spread of values for the elements lies in the interval of 1.5-4.5 %; technological requirements of the stages of formation of boiler fuels are satisfied. Using the principles of patent analysis, new techniques of processing household waste components are proposed. The basics of energy-efficient and energy-saving processes of technogenic hydrocarbon raw materials resource reproduction have been laid. The possibility of increasing the production payback and intensification is shown. Ecological and demographic safety for population and technical and economic benefits from SHW processing are achieved.

Global cardiovascular device innovation: Japan-USA synergies: Harmonization by Doing (HBD) program, a consortium of regulatory agencies, medical device industry, and academic institutions.

PubMed

Uchida, Takahiro; Ikeno, Fumiaki; Ikeda, Koji; Suzuki, Yuka; Todaka, Koji; Yokoi, Hiroyoshi; Thompson, Gary; Krucoff, Mitchel; Saito, Shigeru

2013-01-01

Global medical devices have become more popular, but investment money for medical device development is not easily available in the market. Worldwide health-care budget constraints mean that efficient medical device development has become essential. To achieve efficient development, globalization is a key to success. Spending large amounts of money in different regions for medical device development is no longer feasible. In order to streamline processes of global medical device development, an academic, governmental, and industrial consortium, called the Harmonization by Doing program, has been set up. The program has been operating between Japan and the USA since 2003. The program has 4 working groups: (1) Global Cardiovascular Device Trials; (2) Study on Post-Market Registry; (3) Clinical Trials; and (4) Infrastructure and Methodology Regulatory Convergence and Communication. Each working group has as its goals the achievement of speedy and efficient medical device development in Japan and the USA. The program has held multiple international meetings to deal with obstacles against efficient medical device development. This kind of program is very important to deliver novel medical devices. Involvement of physicians in this type of activity is also very helpful to achieve these goals.

Expression of recombinant staphylokinase in the methylotrophic yeast Hansenula polymorpha

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background Currently, the two most commonly used fibrinolytic agents in thrombolytic therapy are recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (rt-PA) and streptokinase (SK). Whereas SK has the advantage of substantially lower costs when compared to other agents, it is less effective than either rt-PA or related variants, has significant allergenic potential, lacks fibrin selectivity and causes transient hypotensive effects in high dosing schedules. Therefore, development of an alternative fibrinolytic agent having superior efficacy to SK, approaching that of rt-PA, together with a similar or enhanced safety profile and advantageous cost-benefit ratio, would be of substantial importance. Pre-clinical data suggest that the novel fibrinolytic recombinant staphylokinase (rSAK), or related rSAK variants, could be candidates for such development. However, since an efficient expression system for rSAK is still lacking, it has not yet been fully developed or evaluated for clinical purposes. This study’s goal was development of an efficient fermentation process for the production of a modified, non-glycosylated, biologically active rSAK, namely rSAK-2, using the well-established single cell yeast Hansenula polymorpha expression system. Results The development of an efficient large scale (80 L) Hansenula polymorpha fermentation process of short duration for rSAK-2 production is described. It evolved from an initial 1mL HTP methodology by successive scale-up over almost 5 orders of magnitude and improvement steps, including the optimization of critical process parameters (e.g. temperature, pH, feeding strategy, medium composition, etc.). Potential glycosylation of rSAK-2 was successfully suppressed through amino acid substitution within its only N-acetyl glycosylation motif. Expression at high yields (≥ 1g rSAK-2/L cell culture broth) of biologically active rSAK-2 of expected molecular weight was achieved. Conclusion The optimized production process described for rSAK-2 in Hansenula polymorpha provides an excellent, economically superior, manufacturing platform for a promising therapeutic fibrinolytic agent. PMID:23253823

[Effect of pilot UASB-SFSBR-MAP process for the large scale swine wastewater treatment].

PubMed

Wang, Liang; Chen, Chong-Jun; Chen, Ying-Xu; Wu, Wei-Xiang

2013-03-01

In this paper, a treatment process consisted of UASB, step-fed sequencing batch reactor (SFSBR) and magnesium ammonium phosphate precipitation reactor (MAP) was built to treat the large scale swine wastewater, which aimed at overcoming drawbacks of conventional anaerobic-aerobic treatment process and SBR treatment process, such as the low denitrification efficiency, high operating costs and high nutrient losses and so on. Based on the treatment process, a pilot engineering was constructed. It was concluded from the experiment results that the removal efficiency of COD, NH4(+) -N and TP reached 95.1%, 92.7% and 88.8%, the recovery rate of NH4(+) -N and TP by MAP process reached 23.9% and 83.8%, the effluent quality was superior to the discharge standard of pollutants for livestock and poultry breeding (GB 18596-2001), mass concentration of COD, TN, NH4(+) -N, TP and SS were not higher than 135, 116, 43, 7.3 and 50 mg x L(-1) respectively. The process developed was reliable, kept self-balance of carbon source and alkalinity, reached high nutrient recovery efficiency. And the operating cost was equal to that of the traditional anaerobic-aerobic treatment process. So the treatment process could provide a high value of application and dissemination and be fit for the treatment pf the large scale swine wastewater in China.

Hydrogen arcjet technology

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sankovic, John M.; Hamley, John A.; Haag, Thomas W.; Sarmiento, Charles J.; Curran, Francis M.

1991-01-01

During the 1960's, a substantial research effort was centered on the development of arcjets for space propulsion applications. The majority of the work was at the 30 kW power level with some work at 1-2 kW. At the end of the research effort, the hydrogen arcjet had demonstrated over 700 hours of life in a continuous endurance test at 30 kW, at a specific impulse over 1000 s, and at an efficiency of 0.41. Another high power design demonstrated 500 h life with an efficiency of over 0.50 at the same specific impulse and power levels. At lower power levels, a life of 150 hours was demonstrated at 2 kW with an efficiency of 0.31 and a specific impulse of 935 s. Lack of a space power source hindered arcjet acceptance and research ceased. Over three decades after the first research began, renewed interest exists for hydrogen arcjets. The new approach includes concurrent development of the power processing technology with the arcjet thruster. Performance data were recently obtained over a power range of 0.3-30 kW. The 2 kW performance has been repeated; however, the present high power performance is lower than that obtained in the 1960's at 30 kW, and lifetimes of present thrusters have not yet been demonstrated. Laboratory power processing units have been developed and operated with hydrogen arcjets for the 0.1 kW to 5 kW power range. A 10 kW power processing unit is under development and has been operated at design power into a resistive load.

Efficient Time-Domain Imaging Processing for One-Stationary Bistatic Forward-Looking SAR Including Motion Errors

PubMed Central

Xie, Hongtu; Shi, Shaoying; Xiao, Hui; Xie, Chao; Wang, Feng; Fang, Qunle

2016-01-01

With the rapid development of the one-stationary bistatic forward-looking synthetic aperture radar (OS-BFSAR) technology, the huge amount of the remote sensing data presents challenges for real-time imaging processing. In this paper, an efficient time-domain algorithm (ETDA) considering the motion errors for the OS-BFSAR imaging processing, is presented. This method can not only precisely handle the large spatial variances, serious range-azimuth coupling and motion errors, but can also greatly improve the imaging efficiency compared with the direct time-domain algorithm (DTDA). Besides, it represents the subimages on polar grids in the ground plane instead of the slant-range plane, and derives the sampling requirements considering motion errors for the polar grids to offer a near-optimum tradeoff between the imaging precision and efficiency. First, OS-BFSAR imaging geometry is built, and the DTDA for the OS-BFSAR imaging is provided. Second, the polar grids of subimages are defined, and the subaperture imaging in the ETDA is derived. The sampling requirements for polar grids are derived from the point of view of the bandwidth. Finally, the implementation and computational load of the proposed ETDA are analyzed. Experimental results based on simulated and measured data validate that the proposed ETDA outperforms the DTDA in terms of the efficiency improvement. PMID:27845757

High speed finite element simulations on the graphics card

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Huthwaite, P.; Lowe, M. J. S.

A software package is developed to perform explicit time domain finite element simulations of ultrasonic propagation on the graphical processing unit, using Nvidia’s CUDA. Of critical importance for this problem is the arrangement of nodes in memory, allowing data to be loaded efficiently and minimising communication between the independently executed blocks of threads. The initial stage of memory arrangement is partitioning the mesh; both a well established ‘greedy’ partitioner and a new, more efficient ‘aligned’ partitioner are investigated. A method is then developed to efficiently arrange the memory within each partition. The technique is compared to a commercial CPU equivalent,more » demonstrating an overall speedup of at least 100 for a non-destructive testing weld model.« less

A Multifunctional Envelope-Type Nano Device Containing a pH-Sensitive Cationic Lipid for Efficient Delivery of Short Interfering RNA to Hepatocytes In Vivo.

PubMed

Sato, Yusuke; Harashima, Hideyoshi; Kohara, Michinori

2016-01-01

Various types of nanoparticles have been developed with the intent of efficiently delivering short interfering RNA (siRNA) to hepatocytes to date. To achieve efficient SiRNA delivery, various aspects of the delivery processes and physical properties need to be considered. We recently developed an original lipid nanoparticle, a multifunctional envelope-type nano device (MEND) containing YSK05, a pH-sensitive cationic lipid (YSK05-MEND). The YSK05-MEND with SiRNA in its formulation showed hepatocyte-specific uptake and robust gene silencing in hepatocytes after intravenous administration. Here, we describe the procedure used in the preparation and characterization method of the YSK05-MEND.

Development of Fully-Integrated Micromagnetic Actuator Technologies

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-07-13

nonexistent because of certain design and fabrication challenges— primarily the inability to integrate high-performance, permanent - magnet ( magnetically ... efficiency necessary for certain applications. To enable the development of high-performance magnetic actuator technologies, the original research plan...developed permanent - magnet materials in more complex microfabrication process flows Objective 2: Design, model, and optimize a novel multi- magnet

Professional Development and Learning by General Teachers Implementing Functional Behavioural Assessment in Thai Inclusive Classrooms

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Opartkiattikul, Watinee; Arthur-Kelly, Michael; Dempsey, Ian

2016-01-01

Functional Behavioural Assessment (FBA) is identified as a research-based approach used in many Western schools to support student behaviour. This study aimed to assist Thai classroom teachers by providing a professional development and learning programme in FBA to develop an effective and efficient process to address behaviour problems and allow…

Progress towards an Optimization Methodology for Combustion-Driven Portable Thermoelectric Power Generation Systems

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Krishnan, Shankar; Karri, Naveen K.; Gogna, Pawan K.

2012-03-13

Enormous military and commercial interests exist in developing quiet, lightweight, and compact thermoelectric (TE) power generation systems. This paper investigates design integration and analysis of an advanced TE power generation system implementing JP-8 fueled combustion and thermal recuperation. Design and development of a portable TE power system using a JP-8 combustor as a high temperature heat source and optimal process flows depend on efficient heat generation, transfer, and recovery within the system are explored. Design optimization of the system required considering the combustion system efficiency and TE conversion efficiency simultaneously. The combustor performance and TE sub-system performance were coupled directlymore » through exhaust temperatures, fuel and air mass flow rates, heat exchanger performance, subsequent hot-side temperatures, and cold-side cooling techniques and temperatures. Systematic investigation of this system relied on accurate thermodynamic modeling of complex, high-temperature combustion processes concomitantly with detailed thermoelectric converter thermal/mechanical modeling. To this end, this work reports on design integration of systemlevel process flow simulations using commercial software CHEMCADTM with in-house thermoelectric converter and module optimization, and heat exchanger analyses using COMSOLTM software. High-performance, high-temperature TE materials and segmented TE element designs are incorporated in coupled design analyses to achieve predicted TE subsystem level conversion efficiencies exceeding 10%. These TE advances are integrated with a high performance microtechnology combustion reactor based on recent advances at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). Predictions from this coupled simulation established a basis for optimal selection of fuel and air flow rates, thermoelectric module design and operating conditions, and microtechnology heat-exchanger design criteria. This paper will discuss this simulation process that leads directly to system efficiency power maps defining potentially available optimal system operating conditions and regimes. This coupled simulation approach enables pathways for integrated use of high-performance combustor components, high performance TE devices, and microtechnologies to produce a compact, lightweight, combustion driven TE power system prototype that operates on common fuels.« less

Superoxide radical and UV irradiation in ultrasound assisted oxidative desulfurization (UAOD): A potential alternative for greener fuels

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chan, Ngo Yeung

This study is aimed at improving the current ultrasound assisted oxidative desulfurization (UAOD) process by utilizing superoxide radical as oxidant. Research was also conducted to investigate the feasibility of ultraviolet (UV) irradiation-assisted desulfurization. These modifications can enhance the process with the following achievements: (1) Meet the upcoming sulfur standards on various fuels including diesel fuel oils and residual oils; (2) More efficient oxidant with significantly lower consumption in accordance with stoichiometry; (3) Energy saving by 90%; (4) Greater selectivity in petroleum composition. Currently, the UAOD process and subsequent modifications developed in University of Southern California by Professor Yen's research group have demonstrated high desulfurization efficiencies towards various fuels with the application of 30% wt. hydrogen peroxide as oxidant. The UAOD process has demonstrated more than 50% desulfurization of refractory organic sulfur compounds with the use of Venturella type catalysts. Application of quaternary ammonium fluoride as phase transfer catalyst has significantly improved the desulfurization efficiency to 95%. Recent modifications incorporating ionic liquids have shown that the modified UAOD process can produce ultra-low sulfur, or near-zero sulfur diesels under mild conditions with 70°C and atmospheric pressure. Nevertheless, the UAOD process is considered not to be particularly efficient with respect to oxidant and energy consumption. Batch studies have demonstrated that the UAOD process requires 100 fold more oxidant than the stoichiometic requirement to achieve high desulfurization yield. The expected high costs of purchasing, shipping and storage of the oxidant would reduce the practicability of the process. The excess use of oxidant is not economically desirable, and it also causes environmental and safety issues. Post treatments would be necessary to stabilize the unspent oxidant residual to prevent the waste stream from becoming reactive or even explosive. High energy consumption is another drawback in the UAOD process. A typical 10 minutes ultrasonication applied in the UAOD process to achieve 95% desulfurization for 20g of diesel requires 450 kJ of energy, which is equivalent to approximately 50% of the energy that can be provided by the treated diesel. This great expenditure of energy is impractical for industries to adopt. In this study, modifications of the UAOD process, including the application of superoxide and selection of catalysts, were applied to lower the oxidant dosage and to improve the applicability towards heavy-distillates such as residual oil. The results demonstrated that the new system required 80% less oxidant as compared to previous generations of UAOD process without the loss of desulfurization efficiency. The new system demonstrated its suitability towards desulfurizing commercial mid-distillates including jet fuels, marine gas oil and sour diesel. This process also demonstrated a new method to desulfurize residual oil with high desulfurization yields. The new process development has been supported by Eco Energy Solutions Inc., Reno, Nevada and Intelligent Energy Inc., Long Beach, California. A feasibility study on UV assisted desulfurization by replacing ultrasound with UV irradiation was also conducted. The study demonstrated that the UV assisted desulfurization process consumes 90% less energy than the comparable process using ultrasonication. These process modifications demonstrated over 98% desulfurization efficiency on diesel oils and more than 75% on residual oils with significantly less oxidant and energy consumption. Also the feasibility to desulfurize commercial sour heavy oil was demonstrated. Based on the UAOD process and the commercialized modifications by Wan and Cheng, the feasible applications of superoxide and UV irradiation in the UAOD process could provide deep-desulfurization on various fuels with practical cost.

Beam shaping as an enabler for new applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guertler, Yvonne; Kahmann, Max; Havrilla, David

2017-02-01

For many years, laser beam shaping has enabled users to achieve optimized process results as well as manage challenging applications. The latest advancements in industrial lasers and processing optics have taken this a step further as users are able to adapt the beam shape to meet specific application requirements in a very flexible way. TRUMPF has developed a wide range of experience in creating beam profiles at the work piece for optimized material processing. This technology is based on the physical model of wave optics and can be used with ultra short pulse lasers as well as multi-kW cw lasers. Basically, the beam shape can be adapted in all three dimensions in space, which allows maximum flexibility. Besides adaption of intensity profile, even multi-spot geometries can be produced. This approach is very cost efficient, because a standard laser source and (in the case of cw lasers) a standard fiber can be used without any special modifications. Based on this innovative beam shaping technology, TRUMPF has developed new and optimized processes. Two of the most recent application developments using these techniques are cutting glass and synthetic sapphire with ultra-short pulse lasers and enhanced brazing of hot dip zinc coated steel for automotive applications. Both developments lead to more efficient and flexible production processes, enabled by laser technology and open the door to new opportunities. They also indicate the potential of beam shaping techniques since they can be applied to both single-mode laser sources (TOP Cleave) and multi-mode laser sources (brazing).

Highly Efficient Erythritol Recovery from Waste Erythritol Mother Liquor by a Yeast-Mediated Biorefinery Process.

PubMed

Wang, Siqi; Wang, Hengwei; Lv, Jiyang; Deng, Zixin; Cheng, Hairong

2017-12-20

Erythritol, a natural sugar alcohol, is produced industrially by fermentation and crystallization, but this process leaves a large amount of waste erythritol mother liquor (WEML) which contains more than 200 g/L erythritol as well as other polyol byproducts. These impurities make it very difficult to crystallize more erythritol. In our study, an efficient process for the recovery of erythritol from the WEML is described. The polyol impurities were first identified by high-performance liquid chromatography and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, and a yeast strain Candida maltosa CGMCC 7323 was then isolated to metabolize those impurities to purify erythritol. Our results demonstrated that the process could remarkably improve the purity of erythritol and thus make the subsequent crystallization easier. This newly developed strategy is expected to have advantages in WEML treatment and provide helpful information with regard to green cell factories and zero-waste processing.

Ni Based Powder Reconditioning and Reuse for LMD Process

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Renderos, M.; Girot, F.; Lamikiz, A.; Torregaray, A.; Saintier, N.

LMD is an additive manufacturing process based on the injection of metallic powder into a melt-pool created by a heat laser source on a substrate. One of the benefits of this technology is the reduction of the wasted material since it is a near-shape process. Moreover one of the main drawbacks is the relatively low efficiency of the trapped powder, which can be loss than 5% in some cases. The non-trapped powder represents a significant cost in the LMD process, since powder metal material is very expensive and usually is not reused. This article proposes a methodology of the reconditioning and posterior reuse of a nickel base powder commonly used in the aerospace industry, with the main objectives of cost saving, higher environmental cleanup and increase of the overall efficiency in the LMD process. The results are checked by the development of a prototype part built up from reused powder.

An efficient process for lactic acid production from wheat straw by a newly isolated Bacillus coagulans strain IPE22.

PubMed

Zhang, Yuming; Chen, Xiangrong; Luo, Jianquan; Qi, Benkun; Wan, Yinhua

2014-04-01

A thermophilic lactic acid (LA) producer was isolated and identified as Bacillus coagulans strain IPE22. The strain showed remarkable capability to ferment pentose, hexose and cellobiose, and was also resistant to inhibitors from lignocellulosic hydrolysates. Based on the strain's promising features, an efficient process was developed to produce LA from wheat straw. The process consisted of biomass pretreatment by dilute sulfuric acid and subsequent SSCF (simultaneous saccharification and co-fermentation), while the operations of solid-liquid separation and detoxification were avoided. Using this process, 46.12 g LA could be produced from 100g dry wheat straw with a supplement of 10 g/L corn steep liquid powder at the cellulase loading of 20 FPU (filter paper activity units)/g cellulose. The process by B. coagulans IPE22 provides an economical route to produce LA from lignocellulose. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Talking to children matters: Early language experience strengthens processing and builds vocabulary

PubMed Central

Weisleder, Adriana; Fernald, Anne

2016-01-01

Infants differ substantially in their rates of language growth, and slower growth predicts later academic difficulties. This study explored how the amount of speech to infants in Spanish-speaking families low in socioeconomic status (SES) influenced the development of children's skill in real-time language processing and vocabulary learning. All-day recordings of parent-infant interactions at home revealed striking variability among families in how much speech caregivers addressed to their child. Infants who experienced more child-directed speech became more efficient in processing familiar words in real time and had larger expressive vocabularies by 24 months, although speech simply overheard by the child was unrelated to vocabulary outcomes. Mediation analyses showed that the effect of child-directed speech on expressive vocabulary was explained by infants’ language-processing efficiency, suggesting that richer language experience strengthens processing skills that facilitate language growth. PMID:24022649

Quality assurance after process changes of the production of a therapeutic antibody.

PubMed

Brass, J M; Krummen, K; Moll-Kaufmann, C

1996-12-01

Process development for the production of a therapeutic humanised antibody is a very complex operation. It involves recombinant genetics, verification of a strong expression system, gene amplification, characterisation of a stable host cell expression system, optimisation and design of the mammalian cell culture fermentation system and development of an efficient recovery process resulting in high yields and product quality. Rapid progress in the field and the wish of some pharmaceutical companies for outsourcing their production are the driving forces for process changes relatively late in the development phase. This literature survey is aimed at identifying the limits of acceptable process changes in up scaling of the fermentation and down stream processing of biopharmaceuticals and defining the demand in production validation to prove product equivalency and identity of the isolated, purified therapeutic antibody.

Characterization of a highly efficient chevron-shaped anti-contamination device

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fiore, M.; Vermeersch, O.; Forte, M.; Casalis, G.; François, C.

2016-04-01

This paper is devoted to the characterization of an optimized chevron-shaped anti-contamination device (ACD). This device can prevent efficiently the propagation of turbulence from the fuselage along the attachment line (hypothetical streamline that spreads the flow going to suction side and the one going to pressure side) of swept wings and enables the development of a new laminar boundary layer downstream. More specifically, the aim is to prevent boundary-layer transition along the attachment line by a contamination process. This process is characterized by the typical Reynolds number overline{R} and the associated Poll's criterion. Thus, ACD efficiency will be expressed in terms of overline{R} values. Some experiments performed on a new numerically optimized ACD have shown its ability to prevent leading-edge contamination up to overline{R} values close to the natural transition process of the laminar boundary layer along the attachment line. The corresponding stability analysis of the laminar boundary layer is made using the Görtler-Hämmerlin stability approach. The study is completed with the different transition processes that can occur downstream the attachment line, around the airfoil, especially with crossflow analysis.

A frontier analysis approach for benchmarking hospital performance in the treatment of acute myocardial infarction.

PubMed

Stanford, Robert E

2004-05-01

This paper uses a non-parametric frontier model and adaptations of the concepts of cross-efficiency and peer-appraisal to develop a formal methodology for benchmarking provider performance in the treatment of Acute Myocardial Infarction (AMI). Parameters used in the benchmarking process are the rates of proper recognition of indications of six standard treatment processes for AMI; the decision making units (DMUs) to be compared are the Medicare eligible hospitals of a particular state; the analysis produces an ordinal ranking of individual hospital performance scores. The cross-efficiency/peer-appraisal calculation process is constructed to accommodate DMUs that experience no patients in some of the treatment categories. While continuing to rate highly the performances of DMUs which are efficient in the Pareto-optimal sense, our model produces individual DMU performance scores that correlate significantly with good overall performance, as determined by a comparison of the sums of the individual DMU recognition rates for the six standard treatment processes. The methodology is applied to data collected from 107 state Medicare hospitals.

Copper recovery and gold enrichment from waste printed circuit boards by mediated electrochemical oxidation.

PubMed

Fogarasi, Szabolcs; Imre-Lucaci, Florica; Imre-Lucaci, Arpád; Ilea, Petru

2014-05-30

The present study aims to develop an eco-friendly chemical-electrochemical process for the simultaneous recovery of copper and separation of a gold rich residue from waste printed circuit boards (WPCBs). The process was carried out by employing two different types of reactors coupled in series: a leaching reactor with a perforated rotating drum, for the dissolution of base metals and a divided electrochemical reactor for the regeneration of the leaching solution with the parallel electrowinning of copper. The process performances were evaluated on the basis of the dissolution efficiency, current efficiency and specific energy consumptions. Finally a process scale up was realized taking into consideration the optimal values of the operating parameters. The laboratory scale leaching plant allowed the recovery of a high purity copper deposit (99.04wt.%) at a current efficiency of 63.84% and specific energy consumption of 1.75kWh/kg cooper. The gold concentration in the remained solid residue was 25 times higher than the gold concentration in the initial WPCB samples. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

New algorithms for processing time-series big EEG data within mobile health monitoring systems.

PubMed

Serhani, Mohamed Adel; Menshawy, Mohamed El; Benharref, Abdelghani; Harous, Saad; Navaz, Alramzana Nujum

2017-10-01

Recent advances in miniature biomedical sensors, mobile smartphones, wireless communications, and distributed computing technologies provide promising techniques for developing mobile health systems. Such systems are capable of monitoring epileptic seizures reliably, which are classified as chronic diseases. Three challenging issues raised in this context with regard to the transformation, compression, storage, and visualization of big data, which results from a continuous recording of epileptic seizures using mobile devices. In this paper, we address the above challenges by developing three new algorithms to process and analyze big electroencephalography data in a rigorous and efficient manner. The first algorithm is responsible for transforming the standard European Data Format (EDF) into the standard JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) and compressing the transformed JSON data to decrease the size and time through the transfer process and to increase the network transfer rate. The second algorithm focuses on collecting and storing the compressed files generated by the transformation and compression algorithm. The collection process is performed with respect to the on-the-fly technique after decompressing files. The third algorithm provides relevant real-time interaction with signal data by prospective users. It particularly features the following capabilities: visualization of single or multiple signal channels on a smartphone device and query data segments. We tested and evaluated the effectiveness of our approach through a software architecture model implementing a mobile health system to monitor epileptic seizures. The experimental findings from 45 experiments are promising and efficiently satisfy the approach's objectives in a price of linearity. Moreover, the size of compressed JSON files and transfer times are reduced by 10% and 20%, respectively, while the average total time is remarkably reduced by 67% through all performed experiments. Our approach successfully develops efficient algorithms in terms of processing time, memory usage, and energy consumption while maintaining a high scalability of the proposed solution. Our approach efficiently supports data partitioning and parallelism relying on the MapReduce platform, which can help in monitoring and automatic detection of epileptic seizures. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

High-Performance Polymer Solar Cells Based on a Wide-Bandgap Polymer Containing Pyrrolo[3,4- f ]benzotriazole-5,7-dione with a Power Conversion Efficiency of 8.63%

DOE PAGES

Lan, Liuyuan; Chen, Zhiming; Hu, Qin; ...

2016-04-25

In article 1600032, an efficient new wide-bandgap polymer based on a novel moiety of pyrrolo[3,4-f]benzotriazole-5,7-dione (TZBI) is developed by Lei Ying, Feng Lui, Thomas P. Russel, Fei Huang, and co-workers. The new chemistry enables fine electronic structure tuning and solution-processed single-junction polymer solar cells provided a remarkable power conversion efficiency of 8.63%. Full electrical and structural characterization reveales that TZBI is a promising building block for the application in highly efficient organic photovoltaics.

Enhancing Photon Utilization Efficiency for Astaxanthin Production from Haematococcus lacustris Using a Split-Column Photobioreactor.

PubMed

Kim, Z-Hun; Park, Hanwool; Lee, Ho-Sang; Lee, Choul-Gyun

2016-07-28

A split-column photobioreactor (SC-PBR), consisting of two bubble columns with different sizes, was developed to enhance the photon utilization efficiency in an astaxanthin production process from Haematococcus lacustris. Among the two columns, only the smaller column of SC-PBR was illuminated. Astaxanthin productivities and photon efficiencies of the SC-PBRs were compared with a standard bubble-column PBR (BC-PBR). Astaxanthin productivity of SC-PBR was improved by 28%, and the photon utilization efficiencies were 28-366% higher than the original BC-PBR. The results clearly show that the effective light regime of SC-PBR could enhance the production of astaxanthin.

Brain responses and looking behavior during audiovisual speech integration in infants predict auditory speech comprehension in the second year of life

PubMed Central

Kushnerenko, Elena; Tomalski, Przemyslaw; Ballieux, Haiko; Potton, Anita; Birtles, Deidre; Frostick, Caroline; Moore, Derek G.

2013-01-01

The use of visual cues during the processing of audiovisual (AV) speech is known to be less efficient in children and adults with language difficulties and difficulties are known to be more prevalent in children from low-income populations. In the present study, we followed an economically diverse group of thirty-seven infants longitudinally from 6–9 months to 14–16 months of age. We used eye-tracking to examine whether individual differences in visual attention during AV processing of speech in 6–9 month old infants, particularly when processing congruent and incongruent auditory and visual speech cues, might be indicative of their later language development. Twenty-two of these 6–9 month old infants also participated in an event-related potential (ERP) AV task within the same experimental session. Language development was then followed-up at the age of 14–16 months, using two measures of language development, the Preschool Language Scale and the Oxford Communicative Development Inventory. The results show that those infants who were less efficient in auditory speech processing at the age of 6–9 months had lower receptive language scores at 14–16 months. A correlational analysis revealed that the pattern of face scanning and ERP responses to audiovisually incongruent stimuli at 6–9 months were both significantly associated with language development at 14–16 months. These findings add to the understanding of individual differences in neural signatures of AV processing and associated looking behavior in infants. PMID:23882240

Recovery of succinic acid produced by fermentation of a metabolically engineered Mannheimia succiniciproducens strain.

PubMed

Song, Hyohak; Huh, Yun Suk; Lee, Sang Yup; Hong, Won Hi; Hong, Yeon Ki

2007-12-01

There have recently been much advances in the production of succinic acid, an important four-carbon dicarboxylic acid for many industrial applications, by fermentation of several natural and engineered bacterial strains. Mannheimia succiniciproducens MBEL55E isolated from bovine rumen is able to produce succinic acid with high efficiency, but also produces acetic, formic and lactic acids just like other anaerobic succinic acid producers. We recently reported the development of an engineered M. succiniciproducens LPK7 strain which produces succinic acid as a major fermentation product while producing much reduced by-products. Having an improved succinic acid producer developed, it is equally important to develop a cost-effective downstream process for the recovery of succinic acid. In this paper, we report the development of a simpler and more efficient method for the recovery of succinic acid. For the recovery of succinic acid from the fermentation broth of LPK7 strain, a simple process composed of a single reactive extraction, vacuum distillation, and crystallization yielded highly purified succinic acid (greater than 99.5% purity, wt%) with a high yield of 67.05wt%. When the same recovery process or even multiple reactive extraction steps were applied to the fermentation broth of MBEL55E, lower purity and yield of succinic acid were obtained. These results suggest that succinic acid can be purified in a cost-effective manner by using the fermentation broth of engineered LPK7 strain, showing the importance of integrating the strain development, fermentation and downstream process for optimizing the whole processes for succinic acid production.

Methods of reducing energy consumption of the oxidant supply system for MHD/steam power plants

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Juhasz, A. J.

1983-01-01

An in-depth study was conducted to identify possible improvements to the oxidant supply system for combined cycle MHD power plants which would lead to higher thermal efficiency and reduction in the cost of electricity, COE. Results showed that the oxidant system energy consumption could be minimized when the process was designed to deliver a product O2 concentration of 70 mole percent. The study also led to the development of a new air separation process, referred to as liquid pumping and internal compression. MHD system performance calculations show that the new process would permit an increase in plant thermal efficiency of 0.6 percent while allowing more favorable tradeoffs between magnetic energy and oxidant system capacity requirements.

Methods of reducing energy consumption of the oxidant supply system for MHD/steam power plants

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Juhasz, A. J.

1983-01-01

An in-depth study was conducted to identify possible improvements to the oxidant supply system for combined cycle MHD power plants which would lead to higher thermal efficiency and reduction in the cost of electricity, COE. Results showed that the oxidant system energy consumption could be minimized when the process was designed to deliver a product O2 concentration of 70 mole percent. The study also led to the development of a new air separation process, referred to as 'liquid pumping and internal compression'. MHD system performance calculations show that the new process would permit an increase in plant thermal efficiency of 0.6 percent while allowing more favorable tradeoffs between magnetic energy and oxidant system capacity requirements.

Correlated ion and neutral time of flight technique combined with velocity map imaging: Quantitative measurements for dissociation processes in excited molecular nano-systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Berthias, F.; Feketeová, L.; Della Negra, R.; Dupasquier, T.; Fillol, R.; Abdoul-Carime, H.; Farizon, B.; Farizon, M.; Märk, T. D.

2018-01-01

The combination of the Dispositif d'Irradiation d'Agrégats Moléculaire with the correlated ion and neutral time of flight-velocity map imaging technique provides a new way to explore processes occurring subsequent to the excitation of charged nano-systems. The present contribution describes in detail the methods developed for the quantitative measurement of branching ratios and cross sections for collision-induced dissociation processes of water cluster nano-systems. These methods are based on measurements of the detection efficiency of neutral fragments produced in these dissociation reactions. Moreover, measured detection efficiencies are used here to extract the number of neutral fragments produced for a given charged fragment.

Successfully use agglomeration for size enlargement

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Pietsch, W.

1996-04-01

The processing of fine and ultrafine particles by size enlargement finds an ever increasing application. At the same time, undesirable agglomeration such as buildup, caking, bridging, and uncontrolled aggregation of fine particles can occur during processing and handling of these particulate solids. This article will provide a survey of the phenomena of agglomeration and discuss the unit operation of size enlargement by agglomeration. This article is also an invitation, particularly to young engineers, to become interested in agglomeration. Considering that mechanical process technologies are requiring more energy every year than any other group of consumers and efficiencies are typically inmore » the single digits or teens at best, considerable rewards can be expected from the development of scientifically modified, more energy-efficient methods and equipment.« less

Advanced high efficiency wraparound contact solar cell

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Scott-Monck, J. A.; Uno, F. M.; Thornhill, J. W.

1977-01-01

A significant advancement in the development of thin high efficiency wraparound contact silicon solar cells has been made by coupling space and terrestrial processing procedures. Although this new method for fabricating cells has not been completely reduced to practice, some of the initial cells have delivered over 20 mW/sq cm when tested at 25 C under AMO intensity. This approach not only yields high efficiency devices, but shows promise of allowing complete freedom of choice in both the location and size of the wraparound contact pad area.

Advanced high efficiency wraparound contact solar cell

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Scott-Monck, J. A.; Uno, F. M.; Thornhill, J. W.

1977-01-01

A significant advancement in the development of thin high efficiency wraparound contact silicon solar cells has been made by coupling space and terrestrial processing procedures. Although this new method for fabricating cells has not been completely reduced to practice, some of the initial cells have delivered over 20 mW/sq cm when tested at 25 C under AMO intensity. This approach not only yields high efficiency devices, but shows promise of allowing complete freedom of choice in both the location and size of the wraparound contact pad area

Knowledge sifters in MDA technologies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kravchenko, Yuri; Kursitys, Ilona; Bova, Victoria

2018-05-01

The article considers a new approach to efficient management of information processes on the basis of object models. With the help of special design tools, a generic and application-independent application model is created, and then the program is implemented in a specific development environment. At the same time, the development process is completely based on a model that must contain all the information necessary for programming. The presence of a detailed model provides the automatic creation of typical parts of the application, the development of which is amenable to automation.

Development of the hybrid sulfur cycle for use with concentrated solar heat. I. Conceptual design

DOE PAGES

Gorensek, Maximilian B.; Corgnale, Claudio; Summers, William A.

2017-07-27

We propose a detailed conceptual design of a solar hybrid sulfur (HyS) cycle. Numerous design tradeoffs, including process operating conditions and strategies, methods of integration with solar energy sources, and solar design options were considered. A baseline design was selected, and process flowsheets were developed. Pinch analyses were performed to establish the limiting energy efficiency. Detailed material and energy balances were completed, and a full stream table prepared. Design assumptions include use of: location in the southwest US desert, falling particle concentrated solar receiver, indirect heat transfer via pressurized helium, continuous operation with thermal energy storage, liquid-fed electrolyzer with PBImore » membrane, and bayonet-type acid decomposer. Thermochemical cycle efficiency for the HyS process was estimated to be 35.0%, LHV basis. The solar-to-hydrogen (STH) energy conversion ratio was 16.9%. This thus exceeds the Year 2015 DOE STCH target of STH >10%, and shows promise for meeting the Year 2020 target of 20%.« less