Length Of Campaign Research Articles

Improved scheduling model for a multistage biopharmaceutical process in a multiproduct facility

This study critically evaluates deterministic and stochastic/evolutionary strategies for long-term scheduling of multiproduct facilities in batch and continuous biopharmaceutical manufacturing, as reported in existing literature using discrete-time and continuous-time models. It identifies key limitations in literature model/algorithm, including (i) real-time storage violation, (ii) real-time violation of shelf-life due to its calculation over a single event, (iii) minimum campaign length calculated over single events leading to suboptimal use of resources, and (iv) early product deliveries. To overcome these limitations, a deterministic mathematical model is proposed extending the existing unit-specific event-based model(s) with additional features including (i) modified material balances, (ii) new minimum campaign length constraints captured over multiple events, (iii) new shelf-life constraints captured over multiple events, (iv) new setup constraints based on product sequencing, (v) updated tightening constraints, (vi) updated sales and penalty constraints for late deliveries, (vii) updated bounds, and (viii) updated objective function. These improved features lead to better modeling in terms of handling intermediate and final product storage without real-time violations of storage and shelf-life, handling of initial setup in production tasks, and timely delivery of final products. The proposed improved model yields up to 36 % increase in profit when applied on four literature examples.

Evaluation of Factors Affecting the MgO–C Refractory Lining Degradation in a Basic Oxygen Furnace

Identification of the factors influencing refractory lining wear and its residual thickness in the basic oxygen furnace (BOF) is a prerequisite for optimizing the steelmaking process. In this study, the factors that contribute significantly to the wear of the refractory lining in the most stressed areas of the banded lining (i.e., the trunnion ring area and slag line area) are identified. Knowledge of the rate at which a given factor acts on refractory wear is closely related to the development of technological procedures aimed at limiting its influence. This research evaluates the technological causes and describes the lining wear mechanism and the thermodynamic parameters of the reactions between the MgO–C metal, slag, and gunning material phases. In researching the topic, real operational data were processed using statistical methods and data analysis, which were supported by thermodynamic modeling of chemical reactions. The results show that the combination of technological factors, mechanical action of the raw materials, blowing and free oxygen in the metal, silicon from the pig iron, and slag viscosity have the greatest influence on the residual thickness of the MgO–C refractory lining in BOFs. Refractory gunning material consumption, its effect on campaign length, and the cost-effectiveness of repair work were also analyzed.

Low‐cost air quality monitoring networks for long‐term field campaigns: A review

AbstractThe application of low‐cost air quality monitoring networks has substantially grown over the last few years, following the technological advances in the production of cheap and portable air pollution sensors, thus potentially greatly increasing the limited spatial information on air quality conditions provided by traditional stations. However, the use of low‐cost air quality sensors still presents many limitations, mostly related to the reliability of their measurements. Despite the increasing number of papers focusing on these issues, some of the challenges connected to the use of low‐cost air quality sensors are still poorly investigated and understood, considering in particular those related to long‐term applications of low‐cost air quality networks and their integration within the reference air quality monitoring system. The present review aims at filling this gap, by analysing the characteristics of low‐cost air quality monitoring networks that were run across long‐term field campaigns, including their geographical location, the pollutants monitored, the type and number of stations employed, and the length of the field campaign, with a particular attention on assessing the aims for their deployment and on the evaluation of their integration within official air quality monitoring networks. Moreover, a critical analysis of the most insightful suggestions and recommendations delivered in the literature, as well as of the relevant critical issues, is presented, highlighting still open research areas and outlining future challenges.

Long-Term Performance of Monolithic Silica Aerogel with Different Hydrophobicities: Physical and Color Rendering Properties after an Accelerated Aging Process.

Due to its excellent properties, monolithic silica aerogel is a promising material for innovative glazing systems. Since glazing systems are exposed to deteriorating agents during building service life, it is essential to investigate the long-term performance of aerogel. In the present paper, several 12.7 mm-thick silica aerogel monoliths produced by a rapid supercritical extraction method were tested, including both hydrophilic and hydrophobic samples. After fabrication and characterization of hydrophobicity, porosity, optical and acoustic properties, and color rendering, the samples were artificially aged by combining temperature and solar radiation effects in an experimental device specifically developed at the University of Perugia. The length of the experimental campaign was determined using acceleration factors (AFs). Temperature AF was evaluated according to the Arrhenius law using thermogravimetric analysis to estimate the aerogel activation energy. A natural service life of 12 years was achieved in about 4 months, and the samples' properties were retested. Contact angle tests supported by FT-IR analysis showed loss of hydrophobicity after aging. Visible transmittance values in the 0.67-0.37 range were obtained for hydrophilic and hydrophobic samples, respectively. The aging process involved optical parameter reduction of only 0.02-0.05. There was also a slight loss in acoustic performance (noise reduction coefficient (NRC) = 0.21-0.25 before aging and NRC = 0.18-0.22 after aging). For hydrophobic panes, color shift values in the 10.2-59.1 and 8.4-60.7 ranges were obtained before and after aging, respectively. The presence of aerogel, regardless of hydrophobicity, results in a deterioration in light-green and azure tones. Hydrophobic samples had lower color rendering performance than hydrophilic aerogel, but this did not worsen after the aging process. This paper makes a significant contribution to the progressive deterioration assessment of aerogel monoliths for applications in sustainable buildings.

Analysis of the impact of carbon dissolution and energy transport on the flow in the hearth of an ironmaking blast furnace by transient CFD simulations

In the ironmaking blast furnace, layers of coke, ferrous burden (sinter, pellets, lump ore) and additions are heated by an uprising gas flow. While the layers are descending, the iron ore is reduced and begins to melt. The liquid products slag and hot metal trickle downwards into the hearth, where they prevail as two immiscible phases filling the voids within the coke bed and with the slag floating on top of the hot metal. As the hearth is lined with carbon blocks, which are eroded by the passing hot metal flow, this region has a major impact on the campaign length of the blast furnace. The blast furnace hearth is drained intermittently by opening the taphole and closing it to end the tap. Hence, the fluid phases in the hearth are in a transient state with the liquid levels constantly varying and the flow conditions being determined by the tapping/non-tapping state. In addition, dissolution of carbon into the hot metal and cooling applied to the refractory affect the local hot metal flow. This work presents a CFD-model, which is capable to calculate the multiphase flow in a 3-dimensional hearth at an industrial scale. The tool allows for modelling of the transient transport processes, including multiple tapping cycles by utilizing new approaches for the transition between tapping/non-tapping and the inflow of liquids into the hearth. Furthermore, the dissolution of carbon, energy transport in the liquids and the locally varying density of hot metal depending on temperature and carbon content are included. With this approach, thermal stratification and circulation effects induced by buoyancy can be described over a period of nearly 8 h, thus covering 4 tapping cycles. In addition to an analysis of energy, carbon content and velocity fields, the transient evolution of tapped hot metal properties (temperature, carbon) are obtained and compared to available plant data.

Minimum detection limits of the TROPOMI satellite sensor across North America and their implications for measuring oil and gas methane emissions

Methane emissions from natural gas are of ever-increasing importance as we struggle to reach Paris climate targets. Locating and measuring emissions from natural gas can be particularly difficult as they are often widely distributed across supply chains. Satellites are increasingly used to measure these emissions, with some such as TROPOMI giving daily coverage worldwide, making locating and quantifying these emissions easier. However, there is little understanding of the real-world detection limits of TROPOMI, which can cause emissions to go undetected or be misattributed. This paper uses TROPOMI and meteorological data to calculate, and create a map of, the minimum detection limits of the TROPOMI satellite sensor across North America for different campaign lengths. We then compared these to emission inventories to determine the quantity of emissions that can be captured by TROPOMI. We find that minimum detection limits vary from 500–8800 kg/h/pixel in a single overpass to 50–1200 kg/h/pixel for a yearlong campaign. This leads to 0.04 % of a year's emissions being captured in a single (day) measurement to 14.4 % in a 1-year measurement campaign. Assuming gas sites contain super-emitters, emissions of between 4.5 % - 10.1 % from a single measurement and 35.6 % - 41.1 % for a yearlong campaign are captured.

Forecast of Observing Time Delay of Strongly Lensed Quasars with the Muztagh-Ata 1.93 m Telescope

As a completely independent method, the measurement of time delay of strongly lensed quasars (TDSL) are crucial to resolve the Hubble tension. Extensive monitoring is required but so far limited to a small sample of strongly lensed quasars. Together with several partner institutes, Beijing Normal University is constructing a 1.93 m reflector telescope at the Muztagh-Ata site in west China, which has the world class observing conditions with median seeing of 0.″82 and median sky brightness of 21.74 in V-band during the dark time. The telescope will be equipped with both a three-channel imager/photometer which covers 3500–11,000 Å wavelength band, and a low-medium resolution (λ/δ λ = 500/2000/7500) spectrograph. In this paper, we investigate the capability of the Muztagh-Ata 1.93 m telescope in measuring time delays of strongly lensed quasars. We generate mock strongly lensed quasar systems and light curves with microlensing effects based on five known strongly lensed quasars, i.e., RX J1131-1231, HE 0435-1223, PG 1115+080, WFI 2033-4723 and SDSS 1206+4332. In particular, RX J1131-1231 is generated based on the lens modeling results of Suyu et al. Due to the lack of enough information, the other four systems are calculated by a simple analytical approximation. According to simulations, for RX J1131-like systems (wide variation in time delay between images) the TDSL measurement can be achieved with the precision about Δt = 0.5 day with four seasons campaign length and 1 day cadence. This accuracy is comparable to the up-coming TDCOSMO project. And it would be better when the campaign length keeps longer and with high cadence. As a result, the capability of the Muztagh-Ata 1.93 m telescope allows it to join the network of TDSL observatories. It will enrich the database for strongly lensed quasar observations and make more precise measurements of time delays, especially considering the unique coordinate of the site.

Innovation in Power Maneuvering Mode for NPP Hanhikivi with WWER- 1200 reactor

The possible innovative methods of maneuvering are investigated on the example of NPP Hanhikivi with WWER-1200 reactor in a frame of AES-2006 project. Stationary fuel loading analysis was performed for the for the most significant graph of daily manoeuvring (100-50-100)% Nnom with the rate of power change 1-5 % Nnom per minute, that are the European Utility Requirements. The improvement is ensured by maintaining a constant average coolant temperature in the core "Tav = const" (by changing the pressure in SGs) and a constant boron content in the primary coolant "CB = const". The change of power and Xenon concentration during power manoeuvring is compensated by special movement of the special chosen grey CRs in the core instead of CB change. CB is changed in usual way only for fuel burnup compensation during reactor campaign. The mode "Tav = const" is normally used for the control of power of PWRs in wide diapason and it reduces the amount of radioactive primary water discharges and the mechanical fatigue of the RCS components. Implementation of both – main mode "Tav = const" and auxiliary mode "CB = const" leads to positive effect of synergy. The mode "Tav = const" facilitates the implementation of the mode "CB = const" very much, and they together allow to completely eliminate the production of liquid waste during maneuvering and ensure load following practically for the full length of reactor campaign. Presence of large CRs quantity (121 pieces) in the WWER-1200 allows using part of them as grey CRs without safety violation due to small decrease of EP efficiency. The efficiency of grey CRs is 2-3 times less than of usual black CRs that allows more softly maintain criticality, AO and power peaking factors in their acceptable diapasons at CB = const. Analysis is performed with Russian 3D code BIPR-7 only for neutronics aspects without considering strength cyclic characteristics of the equipment and nuclear fuel.

Analysis of Thermal Interactions in the Slag Pots for Transporting Copper Slags

During the processes of copper production, post-reaction slags are formed and must be transported to storage sites as waste. The working conditions of the slag ladles are extreme, incl. due to the high reactivity of copper slag and the cyclicality of the operation of the slag ladles. The material of the vat walls is exposed to intense factors: chemical in the form of a liquid phase and temperature in the form of high gradients (thermal shocks). Which leads to a reduction in the campaign length of a single vat. The paper discusses the issues related to the operation of smelting slag pots depending on the insulating material. The aim of the work is to analyze the thermal interactions during the filling of the pots. The conclusions from the presented research are a proposal of actions aimed at extending the working time of the slag pots between repairs related to operation, as well as in terms of the total working time. The analyzes of thermal decomposition on the external and internal surfaces of slag pots with "artificially compressed" calcium milk Ca(OH)2 on the entire surface of the slag pots, which were carried out in the presented work, gave very similar results as during the modeling of steel slag pot. The use of a heat-resistant concrete layer at the bottom of the pots significantly reduces the damage zone and extends the working time.

When fashion meets crowdfunding: exploring sustainable and innovative features of online campaigns

PurposeThis paper analyses the factors that make fashion-product crowdfunding campaigns successful. The authors argue that crowdfunding is an innovative and functional way of bringing new fashion items to the market. The purpose of this paper is to answer the question whether product innovation, lifecycle and sustainability have a positive effect on the success of fashion crowdfunding campaigns. The findings highlight that the success of the fashion crowdfunding campaigns depends on creators' adherence to the values of the platform which they use to raise capital.Design/methodology/approachA total of 300 fashion crowdfunding projects running between the 17th of October and the 15th of December 2017 were collected from Kickstarter – the world's largest crowdfunding platform based on reward-based all-or-nothing model. Two-step binomial logistic regression was used to analyse the data.FindingsThe model predicted a significant increase in the odds of success for the fashion items crowdfunded during the first-time production, and innovative and environmentally sustainable products with a higher price range of rewards. In line with previous literature, regression analyses predicted a significant effect of the control variables of goal amount (negative) and the number of rewards (positive). Contrary to previous studies, neither the presence of a video nor the campaign length predicted success.Originality/valueThe novel findings of this study contribute to the literature by providing an analysis of success factors of fashion items on crowdfunding platforms. The results show that innovative, environmentally sustainable and higher-priced products produced by early-stage ventures are better welcomed by the audiences.

Wear-Model-Based Analysis of the State of Blast Furnace Hearth

The condition and state of the hearth of the blast furnace is of considerable importance since the life length of the refractories governs the campaign length of the furnace, but it is also of significance as it affects the drainage of iron and slag and the hot metal temperature and composition. The paper analyses the hearth of a blast furnace using a model of the lining wear based on the solution of an inverse heat conduction problem, studying the changes in the lining state throughout the campaign. Different operation states are detected, characterized by smooth and efficient hot metal production and by erratic behavior with large disturbances in the hearth state. During the periods of poor performance, the hearth exhibits a cycling state with stages of excessive skull growth on the unworn refractory, followed by periods of dissolution of the skull and lining erosion. An explanation of the transitions is sought by a stating and solving a force balance for the deadman with the aim to clarify whether it is floating or sitting. A connection between the thermal cycles in the hearth and the hot metal sulfur content is finally demonstrated.

Modeling of Energy Consumption and Reduction of Pollutant Emissions in a Walking Beam Furnace Using the Expert Method—Case Study

This paper presents an algorithm for modeling electricity and natural gas consumption in a walking furnace with the use of artificial intelligence and simulation methods, depending on the length of the rolling campaign and the established rolling program. This algorithm is the basis for the development of a proposal for a set of minimum requirements characterizing the Best Available Techniques (BAT) for beam furnaces intended for hot rolling, taking into account the requirements set out in national regulations and the recommendations described in the BREF reference documents. This information should be taken into account when drawing up an application for an integrated permit, as well as when setting emission limit values. Based on the constructed algorithm, it was shown that depending on their type and technical specification, the analyzed projects will offer measurable economic benefits in the form of reducing the amount of energy consumed by 1,076,400 kWh during the implementation of 50 rolling campaigns to reduce gas by 14,625 GJ and environmental benefits in the form of reduction of pollutant emissions into the atmosphere 80–360 g/Mg. The constructed algorithm was validated in the Dosimis-3 program, based on a discrete event-driven simulation. Thanks to this representation of the model, its user can interactively participate in changes that take place in the model and thus evaluate its behavior. The model, verified in real conditions, can be the basic source of information for making effective operational technological decisions related to the preparation of production at the rolling mill as part of planning and long-term activities.

Investigative study of the radiation damage on fuel clad of miniature neutron source reactor using computational tools

Core conversion requires some evaluation of the reactor safety. Changes to the reactivity worth, shutdown margin, power density and material properties are crucial to the proper functioning of the reactor. The focus of this article is to study the neutron flux distribution in the reactor core and radiation damage on candidate clads. The Ghana Research Reactor-1 (GHARR-1) operates at maximum power of 30 kW in order to attain a flux of 1.0× 1012 n·cm–2·s for the high enriched uranium core. Using the GHARR-1 core geometry, considering 348 fuel pins, the multiplication factor (Keff) is calculated at enrichments of 10%, 12.5%, 16%, 20%, 30% and 90.2%. The spectrum of neutron flux generated in the 26 group is also calculated at the specified enrichments. The ion/particle interactions with the targets (clad) were studied in the Stopping and Range of Ion in Matter code to establish the best clad material based on recorded defects and vacancies generated. From the calculations and simulations, the best choice from the candidate clads based on the assessment is SiC. The calculation of the fuel campaign length gives 7.5 years. The defects sustained by the prospective clad showed low susceptibility to swelling and other forms of deformation.

Phasing out the blast furnace to meet global climate targets

Phasing out the blast furnace to meet global climate targets

Dynamic budget allocation for social media advertising campaigns: optimization and learning

This paper suggests a method for optimizing a dynamic budget allocation policy for an advertising campaign posted through a social network (e.g., Facebook, Instagram). The method, which considers unique features of social network marketing, yields an optimal targeted budget allocation policy over time for a single ad campaign and minimizes the campaign's length, given a specific budget and a desired level of exposure of each marketing segment. The model incorporates a general ‘effectiveness function’ that determines the relationship between the value of an advertising bid at a given time and the number of newly exposed users at that time. We develop closed-form solutions for dynamic budget allocation for several forms of the effectiveness function. We apply the approach to data obtained from a real-life ad campaign and show how a curve fitting regression procedure can estimate the shape and the parameters of the effectiveness function. Numerical simulations show the extent to which the optimal advertising policy is sensitive to the problem parameters.

The 2020 campaign in Europe

In 2020, the beet campaign in many European countries began later and was shorter than usual. Sugar production was of 14.50 mn t in 2020/21 was 1.76 mn t or 10.9% lower than last year. The paper describes the passing of the campaign in Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, France, the Netherlands, Austria and Poland in respect to climate, beet area, yields, production, campaign length and investments.

Dead-Man Behavior in the Blast Furnace Hearth—A Brief Review

The blast furnace campaign length is today usually restricted by the hearth life, which is strongly related to the drainage and behavior of the coke bed in the hearth, usually referred to as the dead man. Because the hearth is inaccessible and the conditions are complex, knowledge and understanding of the state of the dead man are still limited compared to other parts of the blast furnace process. Since a number of publications have studied different aspects of the dead man in the literature, the purpose of the current review is to compile the findings and knowledge in a comprehensive document. We mainly focus on contributions with respect to the dead man state, and those assessing its influence on the hearth performance in terms of liquid flow patterns, lining wear and drainage behavior. A set of common modeling approaches in this specific furnace area is also briefly presented. The aim of the review is also to deepen the understanding and stimulate further research on open questions related to the dead man in the blast furnace hearth.

Assessing museums' daylighting adequacy without annual measurement campaign: Dataset of a confrontation between measured and simulated illuminance values inside the Cetacean Gallery of the Charterhouse of Calci.

Lighting Cultural Heritage is a complex task: light is necessary for the act of seeing, it can even enhance the visual experience [1,2], in addition proper lighting can significantly cut down energy consumptions [3], but on the same time it has detrimental effects on exhibits, especially daylight. In order to safeguard the exhibits from damages, national and international standards provide specific recommendations for exhibits’ exposure, based on their photosensitivity category. These recommendations are the annual luminous exposure(LO) and the Maximum Illuminance Level (Emax), museums’ curators have to verify that the display lighting conditions comply with the standards. Historical buildings are often converted into museums but, as their original purpose was different, the lighting conditions are often inadequate (e.g. too much uncontrolled daylight), therefore the lighting conditions’ adequacy of the space should be assessed [4]. As the name suggest the annual luminous exposure requires an annual monitoring campaign, unfortunately it often happens that exhibits have been exposed incorrectly for prolonged periods, and therefore it is very important to evaluate the need of a fast intervention. In this casuistry a prolonged measurement campaign is not acceptable. Simulations can help running a great number of analysis while reducing the length and expenses of a measurements campaign, however their previsions must be validated. This paper provides the data acquired through measurements and simulations inside the Cetacean Gallery of the Monumental Charterhouse of Calci, near Pisa (Tuscany Region, Italy). The data comprehends horizontal and vertical illuminance measurements, recorded on December the 6th, and simulations run in Grasshopper with the plugins Honeybee+ and Ladybug. The data are related to the research article entitled “Application of climate-based daylight simulation to assess lighting conditions of space and artworks in historical buildings: the case study of Cetacean Gallery of the Monumental Charterhouse of Calci”, published on the Journal of Cultural Heritage [5].

The 2019/20 beet campaign – Suiker Unie

As in the rest of Europe the dry and hot summer of 2019 was, like in 2018, affecting the sugar yield and the beet quality parameters. However, heavy rainfall by the end of September resulted also in other issues as a low pol content and high tare figures. Despite the low sugar content, beet yield was quite on normal levels, resulting in a campaign length of about 130 days at all three factories. The beet cultivation and harvest, main investments and process disturbances of the 2019/20 campaign at the three factories Anklam (D), Dinteloord (NL) and Vierverlaten (NL) are discussed.

Hot Blast System Development: Technology, Operations, Campaign Management

The hot blast system is a key ancillary plant equipment with respect to safe and stable operations during a long blast furnace campaign. Hot blast stove designs have been optimized to such an extent that, in some cases, their lifetimes have surpassed the campaign lengths of the associated blast furnaces by a substantial margin, with the exception of the burner and a few critical areas. This article presents recent developments with respect to designing, building new and operating existing hot blast systems for a long lifetime and at optimized performance. These developments include fundamental improvements such as dome combustion designs as well as increasingly comprehensive packages for inspection, assessment, and maintenance techniques. Examples of such techniques are burner replacement with the hot blast system at operating temperature, improved double shell approaches and TOFD measurement applications.