Intermediate Facilities Research Articles

Modification of Waste Treatment Planning Model in Intermediate Treatment Facilities

Modification of Waste Treatment Planning Model in Intermediate Treatment Facilities

Waste to Energy in Sunter, Jakarta, Indonesia: Plans and Challenges

Waste-to-energy (WtE) power plants in waste management have been applied widespread because it is considered the best waste management solution compared to other waste management technologies. However, Jakarta has relied heavily on landfills regarding its waste management. Bantargebang landfill has been the only landfill owned by Jakarta and has been operating since 1989, so it has almost reached its capacity limit. Thus, to solve the problem, the Provincial Government of Jakarta has planned to build an Intermediate Treatment Facility (ITF) in a WtE power plant in Sunter. This article aims to find out the plans and the challenges of WtE in Sunter, Jakarta. This research was conducted with a literature study on waste to energy in several countries that have applied it to their waste management systems and literature related to the progress of waste to energy development in Indonesia especially ITF Sunter, and the challenges that must be done faced. Based on the literature study, building an ITF is one of the Jakarta Provincial Government’s responsibilities. However, the composition and characteristics of the waste tend to be lower than (WtE) standards, so the waste cannot be effectively processed. Therefore, the use of a pre-treatment facility should be considered.

Design of a multi-user CO2 intermediate storage facility in the Grenland region of Norway

This paper describes a design and pre-feasibility study of a multi-user intermediate CO2 storage facility in the Grenland region of Norway, considering upstream and downstream issues. The study focuses on the principles for designing and installing a generic hub facility so that the results can be considered at other sites. The pre-feasibility study found that design pressures of 7 and 15 bar are feasible transport conditions; moreover, it showed that economies of scale might reduce the total cost for a CO2 network. It is recognised that cooperation across the chain is crucial in managing impurities due to the likely diverse sources of CO2. An intermediate storage facility can support the continuous supply of CO2 via a pipeline system for reservoir injection, improving the integrity of the injection well and equipment and the reservoir performance. A mixed-integer linear programming optimisation model has been developed for sizing and costing intermediate storage hubs of CO2 in Grenland and shipping connections between them and stationary emitters. The model considers an aggregated flow of 2 million tonnes per annum of CO2 for 30 years. The 7 bar design pressure has shown lower total costs when compared with the 15 bar scenario. This is due to the higher costs for shipping and intermediate storage when operating at higher pressure, which is larger than the cost reduction from liquefying CO2 to a higher pressure and higher temperature than those required for a 7 bar scenario. The estimated levelised costs were 21,6 € tonne−1 at 7 bar pressure and 27,8 € tonne−1 at 15 bar pressure.

Abstract 10045: Higher Morbidity, Mortality and Healthcare Resource Utilization in Admissions for Congestive Heart Failure with Concomitant Aspiration Pneumonia: National Inpatient Sample Analysis

Introduction: Data on the burden of congestive heart failure (CHF) in aspiration pneumonia (AP) patients is sparse. Our aim is to study the burden, morbidity and outcomes of CHF on AP patients. Methods: We queried the National Inpatient Sample (2015 October-2017) to identify admissions for AP in patients with CHF vs without CHF using relevant ICD-codes. Primary outcomes reported were all-cause mortality and pulmonary morbidity. Secondary outcomes included patient disposition, LOS and utilization of hospital resources. Results: We included 14,38,034 aspiration pneumonia (AP) hospitalizations amongst which 3,33,975 had associated CHF (23.2%). AP-CHF cohort often included older (79 [68-87]), white (74.8% vs 72.6%), male (54.7% vs 45.3%) patients admitted non-electively with Medicare insurance at Urban teaching facilities compared to AP only cohort (p<0.001) (Table 1) . AP-CHF cohort was more often associated with valvular disease, pulmonary circulation disease, peripheral vascular disease, chronic pulmonary disease, hypertension (secondary/complicated), diabetes mellitus, hyperlipidemia and obesity compared to AP-only cohort. AP-CHF cohort had lower rates of alcohol abuse, drug abuse and smoking. AP- CHF cohort had higher adjusted odds of all-cause mortality (aOR 1.14 95% CI 1.13-1.15, p<0.001), ARDS (aOR 2.27), respiratory failure (aOR 1.77), severe sepsis with septic shock (aOR 1.34) and requirement of respiratory support (aOR 1.40) compared to AP only cohort. AP-CHF cohort was more often discharged to short-term or intermediate facility and had longer stay with higher hospital charges compared to AP only cohort. Conclusion: Based on our analysis it can be concluded that nearly one-fourth of AP hospitalizations have concomitant CHF and that is associated with higher morbidity, mortality and complications ultimately leading to higher hospital resource utilization.

Identification of Cacao Mild Mosaic Virus (CaMMV) and Cacao Yellow Vein-Banding Virus (CYVBV) in Cocoa (Theobroma cacao) Germplasm.

Cocoa, Theobroma cacao, is an important tropical perennial crop grown widely in the humid tropics. The exchange of cocoa germplasm between germplasm collections and breeding centres is vital for varietal development. Intermediate quarantine facilities, such as the International Cocoa Quarantine Centre, Reading UK (ICQC-R) play a vital role in ensuring the transfer of germplasm whilst minimising the risk of spreading pests and diseases. Current screening procedures combine visual inspection and molecular techniques, which are effective in detecting Cocoa swollen shoot virus (CSSV), a badnavirus, which causes severe losses but are restricted to West Africa. However, the detection of latent or mild virus infections that produce no visual symptoms has been a challenge. Recently two badnavirus species of cocoa producing mild symptoms, cacao mild mosaic virus (CaMMV) and cacao yellow vein-banding virus (CYVBV), have been sequenced. Here, we report new assays for the detection of these two species, for the first time in non-symptomatic accessions. Evolutionary and bioinformatic analyses of the viruses suggest their most recent source was from Trinidad, though there is historic evidence that these viruses may have their origin in South America and then become widespread globally over the last century. We also report a novel colorimetric Loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assay for the detection of CYVBV. This simple and accurate method could be employed in field virus testing.

Low mortality of people living with diabetes mellitus diagnosed with COVID-19 and managed at a field hospital in Western Cape Province, South Africa.

The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was declared an international pandemic by the World Health Organization in March 2020. Throughout the pandemic, the association between diabetes mellitus (DM) and more severe COVID-19 has been well described internationally, with limited data, however, on South Africa (SA). The role of field hospitals in the management of patients with COVID-19 in SA has not yet been described. To describe the mortality and morbidity of people living with DM (PLWD) and comorbid COVID-19, as well as to shed light on the role of intermediate facilities in managing DM and COVID-19 during the pandemic. This is a single-centre cross-sectional descriptive study that included all patients with confirmed COVID-19 and pre-existing or newly diagnosed DM (of any type) admitted to the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC) Intermediate Care Bed Facility from June 2020 to August 2020. This study presents the profile of patients admitted to the CTICC, and reports on the clinical outcome of PLWD diagnosed with COVID-19, and additionally determines some associations between risk factors and death or escalation of care in this setting. There were 1447 admissions at the CTICC, with a total of 674 (46.6%) patients who had confirmed DM, of whom 125 (19%) were newly diagnosed diabetics and 550 (81%) had pre-existing DM. Included in this group were 57 referrals from the telemedicine platform - a platform that identified high-risk diabetic patients with COVID-19 in the community, and linked them directly to hospital inpatient care. Of the 674 PLWD admitted, 593 were discharged alive, 45 were escalated to tertiary hospital requiring advanced care and 36 died. PLWD who died were older, had more comorbidities (specifically chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, congestive cardiac failure and chronic kidney disease) and were more likely to be on insulin. In a resource-limited environment, interdisciplinary and interfacility collaboration ensured that complicated patients with DM and COVID-19 were successfully managed in a field hospital setting. Telemedicine offered a unique opportunity to identify high-risk patients in the community and link them to in-hospital monitoring and care. Future studies should explore ways to optimise this collaboration, as well as to explore possibilities for early identification and management of high-risk patients.

The logistics dualization in question: Evidence from the Paris metropolitan area

We examine the logistics dualization in the Paris metropolitan area using a database revealing the stock of logistics facilities. By introducing a new typology of logistics facilities, we are able to call into question the idea of a logistics dualism. We identify a third segment of the logistics real estate market, which is neither suburban nor urban. The existence of intermediate logistics facilities demonstrates that the metropolitan logistics landscape is more complex than a simple dual structure suggests. Our analyses highlight the mechanisms of the logistics real estate market, the role of public policy, and issues related to the development of metropolitan areas.

The impact of loading restrictions on the two-echelon location routing problem

The two-echelon location routing problem (2E-LRP) arises in freight distribution when goods available at different origins are delivered to their respective destinations via intermediate facilities. The literature concerning the 2E-LRP considers freight capacities of vehicles to be scalars, while customer demands are additive volumes of individual items. However, ignoring the real dimensions of items and vehicles can lead to infeasible load plans in practice. Further investigation is thus required to study the impact of realistic loading restrictions on the 2E-LRP, algorithms for the problem and the quality of the solutions produced by those algorithms. This paper introduces a generalized 2E-LRP with two-dimensional loading restrictions (2E-LRP2L). To investigate how exactly one should handle these restrictions we introduce a heuristic optimization method combined with different loading strategies and evaluate their performance on instances derived from real-world data. Given that we are introducing a new problem, the quality of our heuristic is assessed by comparing it against state-of-the-art 2E-LRP methods on benchmark instances. The results indicate that the proposed method is highly competitive, finding most best-known solutions as well as providing some new ones.

A study on vehicle routing problem with inter loading facilities

In this article, we discuss variant of the multi-depot vehicle routing problem where depots can act as intermediate replenishment facilities along the route of a vehicle. This problem is a generalization of the Vehicle Routing Problem (VRP). In the sequel we developed a Lexi-Search algorithm based “Pattern Recognition Technique” to solve this problem which takes care of simple combinatorial structure of the problem and computational results are reported.In this paper, we consider a real-world problem with a loaded vehicle. The vehicle is available for pickup and delivery service. Single-commodity cargo, that is, same cargo type, is present at the customer sites. The vehicle is able to carry out a Pickup and delivery service of such cargo among the customers. By starting and ending at the origin depot, the vehicle follows a route without having a predefined sequence of Pickup and delivery services.

A branch-and-price algorithm for two-echelon electric vehicle routing problem

Motivated by express and e-commerce companies’ distribution practices, we study a two-echelon electric vehicle routing problem. In this problem, fuel-powered vehicles are used to transport goods from a depot to intermediate facilities (satellites) in the first echelon, whereas electric vehicles, which have limited driving ranges and need to be recharged at recharging stations, are used to transfer goods from the satellites to customers in the second echelon. We model the problem as an arc flow model and decompose the model into a master problem and pricing subproblem. We propose a branch-and-price algorithm to solve it. We use column generation to solve the restricted master problem to provide lower bounds. By enumerating all the subsets of the satellites, we generate feasible columns by solving the elementary shortest path problem with resource constraints in the first echelon. Then, we design a bidirectional labeling algorithm to generate feasible routes in the second echelon. Comparing the performance of our proposed algorithm with that of CPLEX in solving a set of small-sized instances, we demonstrate the former’s effectiveness. We further assess our algorithm in solving two sets of larger scale instances. We also examine the impacts of some model parameters on the solution.

Estimating the generation of recycled metals from obsolete motorcycles in Vietnam for ELV management

The demand for various modes of transportation has significantly increased around the world due to rapid urbanization, the increase in population, and changes in lifestyle. This inevitably is associated with a significant increase in the number of end-of-life vehicles (ELVs). In particular, the number of obsolete motorcycles is rapidly increasing in developing countries. In Vietnam, environmental pollution and the dissipation of resources are the consequences of not having a system to properly treat and recycle obsolete motorcycles. Towards finding a solution to these problems, the focus of this study was to develop the compositional data by disassembling a motorcycle and then estimating the number of obsolete motorcycles and the amount of material contained in them. A population balance model, logistic function, and Weibull distribution were used to estimate this data for the period 2010–2030 in Vietnam. The results indicate that the number of obsolete motorcycles in 2030 will be 2.6 times more than in 2010. Finally, to consider the appropriate management strategy of obsolete motorcycles in Vietnam, the feasibility of intermediate treatment facilities is determined through a techno-economic assessment.

Impact of Externalities on the Design and Management of Multimodal Logistic Networks

It is now widely accepted that the locations of intermediate facilities, such as logistics platforms or inland ports, are key elements of multimodal freight distribution networks and heavily influence their effectiveness. This crucial role of localization decisions is even more significant if we consider their impact on the external costs of the entire logistic corridor, with reference to the cost components associated with environmental sustainability. This paper faces a facility location problem concerning a port system network serving inbound container flows arriving by sea and travelling via road and/or rail towards the hinterland. The aim is to evaluate the impact of externalities on the overall management of the distribution network, including location decisions, flow routing and transport mode choice. We present a Mixed Integer Linear Programming (MILP) model having the goal of minimizing both the location and shipping costs, while accounting for external cost components. In particular, as a novel environmental issue, we propose three different objective functions including congestion, air pollution, and, incidentally, noise and infrastructure deterioration. We allow the containerized flows to be split among several capacitated facilities and road and rail transport modalities. The reported computational experimentation refers to different intermodal freight logistic networks through real data derived from the logistic network departing from the maritime terminals associated with the port of the Ligurian region towards their main destinations in the north-west side of Italy. Finally, we evaluate the impact on both flows and total costs due to a closure or a capacity reduction on some links of the network. The evidence of the impact of sustainability external costs on the design and management of the multimodal logistic network under analysis is emphasized.

Factors of psychiatric emergencies affecting boarding time in the emergency department

IntroductionPsychiatric emergencies are acute disturbances in thought, behavior or mood which require immediate medical intervention. As a substantial number of patients with mental illness present as psychiatric emergencies, the sustainability and management of psychiatric emergency services becomes significant.ObjectivesIn this study we aimed to examine the factors associated with psychiatric emergency care, taking the boarding time in the emergency department as primary outcome measure.MethodsCharts of 466 psychiatric emergency cases admitted to the Hacettepe University Emergency Department (ED) between December 2018 – September 2019 were evaluated. Boarding time (BT) in the ED, presence of self-harm, psychotic symptoms and agitation were noted.ResultsIn the examined period, number of patients admitted increased with time significantly (r= 0.562, p <0.01). However, increase in the number of patients was not correlated with an increase in BT. Patients with psychotic symptoms had greater BT compared to non-psychotic patients (7.01 hours vs. 11.24 hours, T= -2.796 df = 182.717 p <0.01). Patients with self-harm also had greater BT (7.47 hours vs. 9.85 hours, T = -2.013 df = 433 p <0.05). Patients with self-harm in relation with previous suicidal ideation displayed significantly a longer BT when compared with patients admitted due to self-harm without any suicidal plan (U=2572,5 p<0.01).ConclusionsA significant increase in BT with psychosis and self-harm due to a suicidal plan supports the need of intermediate facilities between the ED and inpatient units, as such facilities would create a positive impact in the care of psychotic and suicidal patients.

A novel bi-objective credibility-based fuzzy model for municipal waste collection with hard time windows

In this study, a bi-objective vehicle routing mathematical model was proposed, in which the main objectives were minimizing the total economic cost, as well as the whole time for municipal waste collection. The considered waste collection network included bins, multiple depots, multiple heterogeneous vehicles, multiple intermediate facilities, and a landfill. Besides, in each day, municipal waste was collected several times in various hard time windows by heterogeneous vehicles, which all used vehicles could trip more than once per time window. It should be noted that the amount of waste generated was uncertain, which a fuzzy credibility theory was used to cope with this uncertainty. The exact solutions of some small problems were generated by the augmented ε-constraint method. Due to the complexity of this problem in more substantial sizes, the metaheuristic of Non-dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm II (NSGA-II) was used. Since the performance of metaheuristic algorithms is quite sensitive to their parameters, we used the self-adaptive method to tune the parameters of NSGA-II and also compared the results with the Taguchi method. The initial solutions of the metaheuristic approach were generated by a novel heuristic algorithm. Also, the waste collection vehicle routing problem of one of Tehran’s regions was solved by the proposed model. After solving this model, the presented Pareto optimal solutions showed the total economic cost and the total time of the waste collection were improved by about 1.4% and 1.1%, respectively, which means a significant reduction, due to the high volume of costs and time.

Design of a Multi-user Intermediate Storage Facility in the Grenland Region of Norway

This paper describes a design and pre-feasibility study of a multi-user intermediate CO2 storage facility in the Grenland region of Norway considering upstream and downstream issues. The study focuses on the principles for design and installation of a generic hub facility, so the results can be utilised at other sites. The pre-feasibility study found that design pressures of 7 and 15 bar pressures are feasible transport conditions; moreover, showed that economies of scale might reduce the total cost for a CO2 network. It is recognised that cooperation across the chain is crucial in the management of impurities, due to the likely diverse sources of CO2 stream composition. An intermediate storage facility can support the continuous supply of CO2 via a pipeline system for reservoir injection, therefore improving the integrity of the injection well and equipment and the reservoir performance. A mixed integer linear programming optimisation model has been developed for sizing and costing two intermediate storage HUBs of CO2 in Grenland and Kollsnes and shipping connection between them. The model considers a flow of 2 mtpa of CO2 for 27 years. The 7 bar design pressure has shown lower total costs when compared with the 15 bar scenario. This is due to the higher costs for shipping and intermediate storage when operating at higher pressure, which is larger than the cost reduction from liquefying CO2 to a higher pressure and higher temperature than those required for a 7 bar scenario. The estimated levelised costs were 11.7 €/tonne at 7 bar pressure and 13.2 €/tonne at 15 bar pressure.

Approach to the Solution of the Optimum Control Problem of the Water Supply System

This paper considers the problem of optimal control of branched water supply systems. To control the system, the problem of optimal distribution of products is delivered whereas non-linear programming problems are applied. We consider a system for providing products, consisting of magistral and distribution pipelines, taking products from the magistral pipeline. Each distribution line has many warehouses. Products are taken into the system using the main intake facility and transferred between the warehouses using intermediate distribution facilities. To eliminate the deficiencies in management, tasks are set to determine the necessary intensities of product supply in the facilities, allowing timely provision of consumers with the necessary volume of products, to minimize losses, product discharges of facilities in the system during a certain control period.

Crossing the Line to Electronic Medical Records in Subsaharian Africa: An Obstetric and Neonatal Information System with Perinatal Indicators Dashboard

Objectives: This study reports our experience in the use of a perinatal electronic medical record, E_Perinatal, by giving examples of its potential for the analysis of clinical data and the involvement of the indicators produced in the improvement of Emergency Obstetric and Neonatal Care in Africa.
 Methodology: This is a study that was conducted in the scenario of a Level II Health Centre in Senegal. The methodology of the study followed the following steps: an inventory of the use of electronic tools in labour wards in Senegal, an exploratory survey of the scenario of obstetric and neonatal care, simultaneous elaboration of an electronic medical record in obstetrics and neonatology and selection of obstetric and neonatal care indicators to automatically generated and implement the information system. The recording was retrospective and continuous from January 2015 to December 2016.
 Results: This database automates the storage of obstetric data, including antenatal care, obstetric ultrasound, hospital admissions, prescribing, etc., providing easy access to patient data from anywhere in the hospital, produce timely reports and graphs to refer to clinician correspondents, store and electronically transfer birth data to authorities, and store data for ad hoc queries and search statistics.
 Conclusion: E_Perinatal has demonstrated in a scenario of an intermediate health facility its usefulness and ease of use. Scaling up in a developing country will help to better understand the real problems and help to reduce maternal and neonatal mortality.

Development of model of optimal control of water supply system

This paper considers the problem of optimal control of branched water supply systems. To control the system, the problem of optimal distribution of products is developed whereas non-linear programming problems are applied. We consider a system for providing products, consisting of magistral and distribution pipelines, taking products from the magistral pipeline. Each distribution line has many warehouses. Products are taken into the system using the main intake facility and transferred between the warehouses using intermediate distribution facilities. To eliminate the deficiencies in management, tasks are set to determine the necessary intensities of product supply in the facilities, allowing timely provision of consumers with the necessary volume of products, to minimize losses, product discharges of facilities in the system during a certain control period.

Process of the shift support to the caring at home of the children with sever motor and intellectual disabilities aiming at the discharge through intermediate facility from NICU

Process of the shift support to the caring at home of the children with sever motor and intellectual disabilities aiming at the discharge through intermediate facility from NICU

A study on vehicle routing problem with inter loading facilities

In this article, we discuss variant of the multi-depot vehicle routing problem where depots can act as intermediate replenishment facilities along the route of a vehicle. This problem is a generalization of the Vehicle Routing Problem (VRP). In the sequel we developed a Lexi-Search algorithm based “Pattern Recognition Technique” to solve this problem which takes care of simple combinatorial structure of the problem and computational results are reported.In this paper, we consider a real-world problem with a loaded vehicle. The vehicle is available for pickup and delivery service. Single-commodity cargo, that is, same cargo type, is present at the customer sites. The vehicle is able to carry out a Pickup and delivery service of such cargo among the customers. By starting and ending at the origin depot, the vehicle follows a route without having a predefined sequence of Pickup and delivery services.