Increase In Energy Production Research Articles

Observational properties of SNe Ia progenitors close to the explosion

We determine the expected signal in various observational bands of Supernovae Ia progenitors just before the explosion by assuming the rotating Double Degenerate scenario. Our results are valid also for all the evolutionary scenarios invoking rotation as the driving mechanism of the accretion process as well as the evolution up to the explosion. We find that the observational properties depend mainly on the mass of the exploding object, even if the angular momentum evolution after the end of the mass accretion phase and before the onset of C-burning plays a non-negligible role. Just before the explosion the magnitude M_V ranges between 9 and 11 mag, while the colour (F225W-F555W) is about -1.64 mag. The photometric properties remain constant for a few decades before the explosion. During the last few months the luminosity decreases very rapidly. The corresponding decline in the optical bands varies from few hundredths up to one magnitude, the exact value depending on both the WD total mass and the braking efficiency at the end of the mass transfer. This feature is related to the exponentially increasing energy production which drives the formation of a convective core rapidly extending over a large part of the exploding object. Also a drop in the angular velocity occurs. We find that observations in the soft X band (0.5 -2 keV) may be used to check if the SNe Ia progenitors evolution up to explosion is driven by rotation and, hence, to discriminate among different progenitor scenarios.

Fear of crime in an oil boomtown in Western North Dakota

There is limited published research that centers on the fear of crime in communities that have experienced rapid population growth because of increased energy production or an ‘energy boom’. This study examines fear of crime among residents living in an oil boomtown in the Bakken region in western North Dakota. This study is unique as it utilizes a measure of change in residents’ fear of crime resulting from the oil boom in western North Dakota. The main data source for this study includes surveys completed by a random sample of residents living in Williston, North Dakota (n = 380) during the fall of 2015. Williston is considered the epicenter of the oil boom in the Bakken region, and experienced significant changes in population size and composition because of the rapid population growth associated with the oil boom. Findings reveal that personal safety is a significant predictor of general fear of crime, violent crime, property crime, and changes in fear of crime.

Increasing energy productivity in lean production system with energy oriented value-stream mapping

Nowadays, reduction of energy waste becomes a great concern for manufacturing companies. They have to be energy efficient since it provides great saving potential. Hence, this research investigates the energy productivity in an auto body paint shop of an automobile manufacturer. In this study, energy wastages are detected by using the energy value-stream mapping (EVSM) approach based on lean production system. Then, a group of improvement plans are proposed and are evaluated by using a questionnaire which is filed by a group of specialists. Afterward, the proposed plans are assessed by using statistical analysis. Finally, improvement plans are determined by using an integer programming and a goal programming under two scenarios with regard to some defined constraints by the studied company. Furthermore, a sensitivity analysis is conducted to assess the effect of factors on the objective function and the number of improvement plans.

Increasing energy productivity in lean production system with energy oriented value-stream mapping

Nowadays, reduction of energy waste becomes a great concern for manufacturing companies. They have to be energy efficient since it provides great saving potential. Hence, this research investigates the energy productivity in an auto body paint shop of an automobile manufacturer. In this study, energy wastages are detected by using the energy value-stream mapping (EVSM) approach based on lean production system. Then, a group of improvement plans are proposed and are evaluated by using a questionnaire which is filed by a group of specialists. Afterward, the proposed plans are assessed by using statistical analysis. Finally, improvement plans are determined by using an integer programming and a goal programming under two scenarios with regard to some defined constraints by the studied company. Furthermore, a sensitivity analysis is conducted to assess the effect of factors on the objective function and the number of improvement plans.

Chemically Assisted Primary Sedimentation as a tool to improve energy balance of a large wastewater treatment plant

Chemicals addition at the mechanical part of wastewater treatment plant can improve overall treatment efficiency and help in solving some plant’s operational problems. Application of such process in the primary clarifiers, named as Chemically Assisted Primary Sedimentation, can also be a huge step towards energy balance improvement for the whole plant. Use of relatively cheap coagulants, such as ferric or alum salts can be an easy way to increase treatment efficiency significantly, as coagulation and flocculation intensifies followed by chemical precipitation. Additional removal of soluble pollutants and suspended solids increases their load in the primary sludge, avoiding their potential removal in the biological part of the plant. Additional organic matter in the primary sludge allows to produce more gas in the anaerobic digestion process and thus increase energy production by the CHP units. Efficiency of different coagulation agents (PIX 109 and PAX XL3) supported by polymer addition was investigated using real municipal wastewater collected from a large Polish wastewater treatment plant (over 500 000 p.e.) in a series of lab-scale tests. Proper selection of coagulant and potential polymer dosage has a serious impact on the overall costs of this additional treatment and energy balance. Based on obtained results, economic analysis was performed for the same plant to evaluate potential gains and losses of implementing such practice.

Simulation Modeling of Intelligent Control Algorithms for Constructing Autonomous Power Supply Systems with Improved Energy Efficiency

The paper considers the issue of supplying autonomous robots by solar batteries. Low efficiency of modern solar batteries is a critical issue for the whole industry of renewable energy. The urgency of solving the problem of improved energy efficiency of solar batteries for supplying the robotic system is linked with the task of maximizing autonomous operation time. Several methods to improve the energy efficiency of solar batteries exist. The use of MPPT charge controller is one these methods. MPPT technology allows increasing the power generated by the solar battery by 15 – 30%. The most common MPPT algorithm is the perturbation and observation algorithm. This algorithm has several disadvantages, such as power fluctuation and the fixed time of the maximum power point tracking. These problems can be solved by using a sufficiently accurate predictive and adaptive algorithm. In order to improve the efficiency of solar batteries, autonomous power supply system was developed, which included an intelligent MPPT charge controller with the fuzzy logic-based perturbation and observation algorithm. To study the implementation of the fuzzy logic apparatus in the MPPT algorithm, in Matlab/Simulink environment, we developed a simulation model of the system, including solar battery, MPPT controller, accumulator and load. Results of the simulation modeling established that the use of MPPT technology had increased energy production by 23%; introduction of the fuzzy logic algorithm to MPPT controller had greatly increased the speed of the maximum power point tracking and neutralized the voltage fluctuations, which in turn reduced the power underproduction by 2%.

Experimental and CFD analysis of rotary multi vane expander for small capacity generation

Every year, Indonesia's population increase so as energy demand. To fulfill Indonesia's energy needs, the capacity of energy production should be increased. Indonesia government has made a solution by propose 35.000 MW program to increase energy production and electrification ratio in Indonesia. An insulated area where electricity did not reach, has many problem to get electricity such as limited infrastructure, low fuel energy content, and expensive turbine. To solve these problem, multi-vane expander (MVE) can be used to extract the low energy and is cheap. MVE have many advantages such as cheap, easy to manufacture, able to operate with 2 phase, and able to low speed operation. But, the disadvantage of this type of expander is leakage. In this paper, experimental and CFD analysis of MVE are conducted. The experiment generated power of 25.7 watt with isentropic and volumetric efficiency of 11.6% and 11.7% by using operating condition of 1.5 bar, 115.6 °C, 626 rpm, and mass flow rate of 80 kg/h. The CFD model of the expander is created with the same dimension and operating conditions as experimental. The result for isentropic efficiency is inversely proportional with mass flow rate and for volumetric efficiency, power, and expander rotation are directly proportional with mass flow rate.

Analysis of company operating feasibility using Energy Productivity Ratio (EPR)

This research is conducted in a company engaged in the manufacture of pesticides. The company has never measured it's energy productivity. The company is only based on production targets and financial benefits achieved each year. One method that can be used in productivity measurement and operational feasibility is Energy Productivity Ratio (EPR). EPR is expressed as the ratio of energy output to the energy input. The feasibility of the company's operation can be seen from the energy productivity value. The purpose of research conducted to 1) Measure the level of energy productivity 2) Measuring the feasibility of the company's operations 3) Identify the factors that influence the value of energy productivity ratio (EPR) and 4) Provide proposed steps to increase energy productivity. EPR is made by collecting data on material requirements, power requirements, machine and equipment data and the number of products produced. After doing the calculation of energy input and energy output, the final step is to calculate the value of Energy Productivity Ratio (EPR). By this research we know the company is feasible to operate because the value of EPR> 1, although it must be repaired to increase the value.

Strain response analysis of adhesively bonded extended composite wind turbine blade suffering unsteady aerodynamic loads

Abstract Extending blades of wind turbine in service is the most effective method for increasing energy production. Adhesively bonding technology increases less mass and has simpler operation process, which is more suitable for extending blades in service. But unsteady aerodynamic loads on the blades due to stochastic turbulent inflow may lead to fatigue damage and even failure. This paper presented a study on strain response and fatigue life of adhesively bonded extended composite wind turbine blade suffering unsteady aerodynamic loads. Firstly, a loading method that applies periodic distributed aerodynamic loads on the blade was proposed to accurately simulate the unsteady distributed loads on the real extended blades in service. Secondly, strain response behaviors to unsteady aerodynamic loads and strain distribution behaviors in the adhesively bonded area were revealed. Finally, fatigue damage was predicted with unsteady aerodynamic load spectrums, rainflow cycle-counting algorithm, Goodman diagram and Miner's linear superposition principle. Based on the findings obtained from this study, the feasibility of adhesively bonding technology for extending blade was affirmed and a few potential future directions of study were addressed to reduce the risk of adhesively bonded structures.

Dietary energy drives the dynamic response of bovine rumen viral communities

BackgroundRumen microbes play a greater role in host energy acquisition than that of gut-associated microbes in monogastric animals. Although genome-enabled advancements are providing access to the vast diversity of uncultivated microbes, our understanding of variables shaping rumen microbial communities is in its infancy. Viruses have been shown to impact microbial populations through a myriad of processes, including cell lysis and reprogramming of host metabolism. However, little is known about the processes shaping the distribution of rumen viruses or how viruses may modulate microbial-driven processes in the rumen. To this end, we investigated how rumen bacterial and viral community structure and function responded in five steers fed four randomized dietary treatments in a crossover design.ResultsTotal digestible nutrients (TDN), a measure of dietary energy, best explained the variation in bacterial and viral communities. Additional ecological drivers of viral communities included dietary zinc content and microbial functional diversity. Using partial least squares regression, we demonstrate significant associations between the abundances of 267 viral populations and variables driving the variation in rumen viral communities. While rumen viruses were dynamic, 14 near ubiquitous viral populations were identified, suggesting the presence of a core rumen virome largely comprised of novel viruses. Moreover, analysis of virally encoded auxiliary metabolic genes (AMGs) indicates rumen viruses have glycosidic hydrolases to potentially augment the breakdown of complex carbohydrates to increase energy production. Other AMGs identified have a role in redirecting carbon to the pentose phosphate pathway and one carbon pools by folate to boost viral replication.ConclusionsWe demonstrate that rumen bacteria and viruses have differing responses and ecological drivers to dietary perturbation. Our results show that rumen viruses have implications for understanding the structuring of the previously identified core rumen microbiota and impacting microbial metabolism through a vast array of AMGs. AMGs in the rumen appear to have consequences for microbial metabolism that are largely in congruence with the current paradigm established in marine systems. This study provides a foundation for future hypotheses regarding the dynamics of viral-mediated processes in the rumen.

Exocrine pancreas glutamate secretion help to sustain enterocyte nutritional needs under protein restriction.

Glutamine (Gln) is the most concentrated amino acid in blood and considered conditionally essential. Its requirement is increased during physiological stress, such as malnutrition or illness, despite its production by muscle and other organs. In the malnourished state, Gln has been suggested to have a trophic effect on the exocrine pancreas and small intestine. However, the Gln transport capacity, the functional relationship of these two organs, and the potential role of the Gln-glutamate (Glu) cycle are unknown. We observed that pancreatic acinar cells express lower levels of Glu than Gln transporters. Consistent with this expression pattern, the rate of Glu influx into acinar cells was approximately sixfold lower than that of Gln. During protein restriction, acinar cell glutaminase expression was increased and Gln accumulation was maintained. Moreover, Glu secretion by acinar cells into pancreatic juice and thus into the lumen of the small intestine was maintained. In the intestinal lumen, Glu absorption was preserved and Glu dehydrogenase expression was augmented, potentially providing the substrates for increasing energy production via the TCA cycle. Our findings suggest that one mechanism by which Gln exerts a positive effect on exocrine pancreas and small intestine involves the Gln metabolism in acinar cells and the secretion of Glu into the small intestine lumen. The exocrine pancreas acinar cells not only avidly accumulate Gln but metabolize Gln to generate energy and to synthesize Glu for secretion in the pancreatic juice. Secreted Glu is suggested to play an important role during malnourishment in sustaining small intestinal homeostasis. NEW & NOTEWORTHY Glutamine (Gln) has been suggested to have a trophic effect on exocrine pancreas and small intestine in malnourished states, but the mechanism is unknown. In this study, we suggest that this trophic effect derives from an interorgan relationship between exocrine pancreas and small intestine for Gln-glutamate (Glu) utilization involving the uptake and metabolism of Gln in acinar cells and secretion of Glu into the lumen of the small intestine.

Weakly nonlinear theory for oscillating wave surge converters in a channel

We present a weakly nonlinear theory on the natural modes’ resonance of an array of oscillating wave surge converters (OWSCs) in a channel. We first derive the evolution equation of the Stuart–Landau type for the gate oscillations in uniform and modulated incident waves and then evaluate the nonlinear effects on the energy conversion performance of the array. We show that the gates are unstable to side-band perturbations so that a Benjamin–Feir instability similar to the case of Stokes’ waves is possible. The non-autonomous dynamical system presents period doubling bifurcations and strange attractors. We also analyse the competition of two natural modes excited by one incident wave. For weak damping and power take-off coefficient, the dynamical effects on the generated power of the OWSCs are investigated. We show that the occurrence of subharmonic resonance significantly increases energy production.

THIAMINE SUPPLEMENT THERAPY IMPROVES EJECTION FRACTION VALUE IN STAGE II HEART FAILURE PATIENTS

Thiamine, also called vitamin B1, is a water soluble vitamin that is involved in the formation of ATP in cells. The active metabolite of thiamine is a co-enzyme thiamine pyrophosphate (TPP) that plays an active role in carbohydrate metabolism and the formation of amino acid binding conjugates. Directly, thiamine may increase energy production in heart muscle cells through such mechanism, whereas in conditions of heart failure, a decrease in the contractility of heart muscle may be found. Therefore, thiamine supplementation is needed in stage II heart failure patients due to long-term use of furosemide that triggers the thiamine deficiency condition. Thiamine supplementation here is enabled to increase heart cells contractility which may ultimately increase the ejection fraction value of the heart muscle as a parameter of heart work efficiency measurement. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of thiamine administration as a therapeutic supplement in stage II of heart failure patients on the ejection fraction rate changes in pre and post thiamine supplement therapy for 28 days. The study was conducted using Cross Sectional Prospective Observational Analysis method between April and August 2016 in male patients with NYHA II heart failure who received furosemide therapy meeting the inclusion criteria at Heart Clinic Jemursari Islamic Hospital, Surabaya. Patients who fulfilled the inclusion and exclusion criteria in this study were 32 patients, 16 control patients and 16 treatment group patients between the ages of 35-75 years. During this study, after supplementation of thiamine 300 mg/day, 16 patients in the treatment group experienced an increase in ejection fraction rate (13.5%). The result of paired t test p=0.000 (p<α; α=0,05) showed significant difference between ejection fraction rate of pre and post thiamin supplementation. This study concluded that thiamine supplement therapy of 300 mg/day could increase the ejection fraction rate in patients of stage II heart failure.

Analysis of air emissions and greenhouse gases in woody biomass production chain

The whole world is trying to increase energy production from renewable energy sources. Biomass, mainly solid fuel (e.g. wood chips, sawdust, etc.), takes first place in Lithuania's efforts to increase energy production from renewables. There are a lot off studies about minimization of greenhouse gases (GHGs) during biomass combustion for energy production due to biogenic CO2. Unfortunately, such aspects as biofuel production, including biomass collection in harvesting sites, delivery to special interim sites, processing, produced biofuel transportation to combustion plants is rarely estimated in this studies. A considerable amount of diesel fuel is used within these processes by various mechanisms (e.g., skidders, tractors, crushers, chippers, etc.); therefore woody biomass production and delivery processes have significant environmental impact to air quality and climate change due to air emissions (CO, NOx, NMVOC, PM, NH3) and GHGs (CO2, N2O, NH4) from off-road and road mobile sources. This paper presents the method of evaluation and results of analysis of material and energy flows of wood chips production from traditional raw materials – firewood and forest logging waste (residues). It was estimated that up to 0.038 toe of diesel fuel is used for one toe of produced woody biomass, incl. over 52% - for biofuel delivery to combustion plant; 0.293 kg of air emissions and over 22.5 kg of GHGs are emitted to the air during production of one tonne of wood chips. Results of comparison analysis show that in case of biofuel production from logging residues, volume of GHGs is 57% higher in comparison to wood chips are produced from firewood. Several recommendations how to minimize significant environmental impact due to usage of logging residues to energy purposes are presented in article. Received environmental indicators can be successfully used for further detailed life-cycle assessment of woody biomass production and usage for alternative energy.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.erem.73.2.18806

Comparison of sodium hydroxide and calcium hydroxide pretreatments of giant reed for enhanced enzymatic digestibility and methane production

NaOH pretreatment with leachate reuse and Ca(OH)2 pretreatment were compared for improved enzymatic digestibility and biogas production from giant reed, a promising energy crop. The NaOH pretreatment with leachate reuse increased glucose yields during enzymatic hydrolysis by 2.6-fold, and methane yields during anaerobic digestion by 1.4- to 1.6-fold. However, NaOH pretreatment had a negative net benefit (i.e., revenue from increased energy production minus chemical cost). Pretreatment with 7–20% Ca(OH)2 not only improved glucose yield and methane yield by up to 2.3-fold and 1.4-fold, respectively, but also obtained a net benefit of $1.1–5.8/tonne dry biomass. Thus, Ca(OH)2 pretreatment was shown to be more feasible than NaOH pretreatment for biogas production from giant reed.

Contingency Analysis Post-Processing With Advanced Computing and Visualization

Contingency analysis is a critical function widely used in energy management systems to assess the impact of power system component failures. Its outputs are important for power system operation for improved situational awareness, power system planning studies, and power market operations. With the increased complexity of power system modeling and simulation introduced by increased energy production and demand, the penetration of renewable energy and fast deployment of smart grid devices, and the trend of operating grids closer to their capacity for better efficiency, more and more contingencies must be executed and analyzed quickly to ensure grid reliability and accuracy for the power market. Currently, many researchers have proposed different techniques to accelerate the computational speed of contingency analysis, but not much work has been published on how to post-process the large amount of contingency outputs quickly. This paper proposes a parallel post-processing function that can analyze contingency analysis outputs faster and display them in a web-based visualization tool to help power engineers improve their efficiency by fast information digestion. Case studies using an ESCA-60 bus system and a Western Electricity Coordinating Council planning system are presented to demonstrate the functionality of the parallel post-processing technique and the web-based visualization tool.

Proteomic analysis reveals large amounts of decomposition enzymes and major metabolic pathways involved in algicidal process of Trametes versicolor F21a

A recent algicidal mode indicates that fungal mycelia can wrap and eliminate almost all co-cultivated algal cells within a short time span. However, the underlying molecular mechanism is rarely understood. We applied proteomic analysis to investigate the algicidal process of Trametes versicolor F21a and identified 3,754 fungal proteins. Of these, 30 fungal enzymes with endo- or exoglycosidase activities such as β-1,3-glucanase, α-galactosidase, α-glucosidase, alginate lyase and chondroitin lyase were significantly up-regulated. These proteins belong to Glycoside Hydrolases, Auxiliary Activities, Carbohydrate Esterases and Polysaccharide Lyases, suggesting that these enzymes may degrade lipopolysaccharides, peptidoglycans and alginic acid of algal cells. Additionally, peptidase, exonuclease, manganese peroxidase and cytochrome c peroxidase, which decompose proteins and DNA or convert other small molecules of algal cells, could be other major decomposition enzymes. Gene Ontology and KEGG pathway enrichment analysis demonstrated that pyruvate metabolism and tricarboxylic acid cycle pathways play a critical role in response to adverse environment via increasing energy production to synthesize lytic enzymes or uptake molecules. Carbon metabolism, selenocompound metabolism, sulfur assimilation and metabolism, as well as several amino acid biosynthesis pathways could play vital roles in the synthesis of nutrients required by fungal mycelia.

Energy consumption, tourism development, and environmental degradation in Sri Lanka

ABSTRACTThis study examines whether energy consumption and tourism development provide evidence to support the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis in Sri Lanka. Results of the study show that carbon emissions, income, tourism development, and energy consumption are cointegrated in the long run. The long-run estimates do not support the presence of the EKC hypothesis in Sri Lanka. Energy consumption adds to environmental degradation in both short run and long run, while tourism development aggravates environmental degradation in the long run. This study recommends that Sri Lanka can reduce environmental degradation without hindering its economic growth; however, it has to increase energy production from renewable resources as the country’s location provides suitable alternatives for energy production in the form of tide and wind energy in the coastal provinces, while the central provinces offer suitable sites for small hydro-electric projects.

Impacts of climate change on building energy demands in the intra-Americas region

It was recently reported a regional warming in the intra-Americas region where sea surface temperature exhibited increases exceeding 0.15 °C/decade and an accelerated air temperature rise that could impact building energy demands per capita (EDC). Reanalysis data is used herein to quantify the impacts of these warming trends on EDC. Results of the analysis depict a Southern Greater Antilles and inland South America with a positive annual EDC rate of 1–5 kWh per year. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Representative Concentration Pathways (RCP) 2.6 and 4.5 scenarios were selected to analyze energy demand changes in the twenty-first century. A multi-model ensemble forecasts an EDC increase of 9.6 and 23 kWh/month in the RCP2.6 and RCP4.5 at the end of the twenty-first century, which may increase average building cooling loads in the region by 7.57 GW (RCP2.6) and 8.15 GW (RCP4.5), respectively. Furthermore, 4 of 9 (RCP2.6) and 7 of 9 (RCP4.5) of the major countries in this region have EDCs ranging between 1887 and 2252 kWh/year at the end of this century. Therefore, increased energy production and improved energy infrastructure will be required to maintain ideal indoor building conditions at the end of the twenty-first century in these tropical coastal regions as consequence of a warmer climate.

Effect of metformin chemoprevention on metabolomics profiles in Li-Fraumeni Syndrome (LFS).

1556 Background: LFS is a highly-penetrant, autosomal dominant, cancer predisposition disorder characterized by early onset cancer; germline mutations in TP53are present in 70% of LFS. We previously observed metformin inhibition on mitochondrial function in LFS patients. Metformin may reduce TCA cycle and glycolytic intermediates during cellular transformation, indicating inhibition of complex I of the mitochondria. To further explore this, we performed untargeted metabolomics profiling on stored serum of study participants. To our knowledge, there are no previous studies of metabolomics profiling in LFS patients treated with metformin. Methods: Adult LFS patients (≥18 years old) were enrolled for 20 weeks. Metformin was initiated at 500 mg per day and increased in 500 mg dose increments every two weeks to a maintenance dose of 2000 mg of metformin. Patients were taken off metformin for the last six weeks of the study (week 20). Global biochemical profiles were determined in human serum samples collected in 21 patients, each providing one sample at baseline, week 14 (on 2000 mg metformin) and week 20 (off metformin). Metabolomics analyses were performed by Metabolon, Inc. Results: Treatment with metformin induced a strong metabolic signature of increased fatty acid beta-oxidation in LFS patients. Acylcarnitines, long chain fatty acids, and 3-hydroxy fatty acids were significantly elevated following metformin treatment. TCA cycle intermediates, aconitate, malate, and fumarate were also increased as were levels of ketone body 3-hydroxybutyrate (BHBA)indicating robust β-oxidation, presumably to support increased energy production via the TCA cycle. Clearance of metformin results in normalization of levels to comparable baseline values, indicating a causal role of metformin in these changes. Conclusions: Global metabolomics profiling suggests an increase in TCA cycle intermediates and a strong signature of fatty acid oxidation with metformin treatment in LFS, suggesting metformin effect on the mitochondria and TCA cycle is more dynamic than previously shown. LFS patients may have distinct metabolic profiles which may be altered by treatment with metformin. Funding: ASCO Young Investigator’s Award 2016. Clinical trial information: NCT01981525.