Plant Performance Research Articles

Technical and Economic Performance Assessment of Solar Milling Plants in Zambia

In 2015, the Zambian government embarked on a proactive endeavor to enhance the accessibility of economical maize meal through the inception of the Solar Powered Milling Plants (SMPs) Project. The Chinese Government and the Government of the Republic of Zambia jointly provided co-financing, supporting this audacious initiative with a significant financial commitment of US$200 million. However, there have been no documented results on the technical and economic performance of the solar milling plants. To this effect, this study aimed to establish the technical and economic performance of the milling plants installed by the Zambia Cooperative Federation. To achieve this, the study sought to: (1) establish the technical operational characteristics of the installed SMPS; (2) establish the factors that influenced the sitting of the plants; (3) determine the economic benefits of the SMPs; and (4) benchmark the technical operating conditions of the installed SMPs. The study employed a mixed methods approach, where benchmarking observations and semi-structured questionnaires were used as data collection instruments. The sample size of the study was 168, comprising cooperative leaders, solar milling plant operators, and community members from the 12 sites in Masaiti, Chikankata, Solwezi, and Kapiri Mposhi districts where the milling plants were installed. The field observations and questionnaires that were used for the study showed that all twelve sites in the Solwezi, Masaiti, Kapiri Mposhi, and Chikankata Districts needed the same amount of power to run, which was between 7.5 kW and 9.0 kW. However, only Site 3 in Solwezi and Sites 4 and 5 in Masaiti Districts strictly followed the standard operation time of 8 hours. The study has also shown that the two main factors that influenced the placement of the solar milling plants were proximity to the main roads of the communities and the availability of land near the Food Reserve Agency(FRA) shades. With regards to economic benefits, the generated results showed that the installed milling plants brought about employment creation as two operators were employed for each of the 12 sites. However, the revenues generated by the solar milling plants were not economically viable for loan repayment. The study recommended that predictive and corrective maintenance, in addition to project management training for cooperatives and operators, be carried out to improve the technical and economic performance of the solar milling plants.

Shift in the effects of invasive soil legacy on subsequent native and invasive trees driven by nitrogen deposition

Invasive plants can interact with soil microbes to enhance their own performance. Such interactive effects may persist and later affect plant performance and their population dynamics. Such ‘invasive soil legacy’ is the specific plant–soil feedback that can affect future invasions, while it is not clear how nitrogen deposition and interspecific competition influence invasive soil legacy. Thus, we collected field soil and conducted a greenhouse experiment to investigate the effects of soil legacy of the invasive tree Rhus typhina on the performance, functional traits and soil microbial communities of R. typhina and the native tree Ailanthus altissima under three nitrogen levels with and without interspecific competition. The experiment revealed that the outcomes of invasive soil legacies were context-specific and depended on local soil nutrient levels and species competition. Specifically, nitrogen addition changed the negative conspecific soil legacy on subsequent R. typhina to a positive effect, while it became negative in A. altissima. The invasive soil legacy promoted the transpirational rate of R. typhina and A. altissima in monoculture, but inhibited it in a mixture under nitrogen deposition. Nitrogen deposition reduced bacteria and fungi biomass of A. altissima in monocultures and mixtures. In contrast, nitrogen deposition decreased bacterial and fungal biomass of R. typhina in monocultures, but enhanced them in mixtures. Therefore, changes in plant growth, transpiration rate and soil microbial biomass might contribute to the different responses of invasive and native plants to invasive soil legacies. Nitrogen deposition and interspecific competition promote the viability of invasive plants from plant–soil feedback and indicate that ranges of subsequent plants might further expand through below-ground process under nitrogen deposition in the future.

Transgenic Expression of Rubisco Accumulation Factor2 and Rubisco Subunits Increases Photosynthesis and Growth in Maize.

Carbon assimilation by Rubisco is often a limitation to photosynthesis and therefore plant productivity. We have previously shown that transgenic co-expression of the Rubisco large (LS) and small (SS) subunits along with an essential Rubisco assembly factor, Raf1, leads to faster growth, increased photosynthesis, and enhanced chilling tolerance in maize (Zea mays). Maize also requires Rubisco Accumulation Factor2 (Raf2) for full accumulation of Rubisco. Here we have analyzed transgenic maize lines with increased expression of Raf2 or Raf2 plus LS and SS. We show that increasing Raf2 expression alone had minor effects on photosynthesis, whereas expressing RAF2 with Rubisco subunits led to increased Rubisco content, more rapid carbon assimilation, and greater plant height, most notably in plants at least six weeks of age. The magnitude of the effects was similar to what was observed previously for expression of Raf1 together with Rubisco subunits. Taken together, this suggests that increasing the amount of either assembly factor with Rubisco subunits can independently enhance Rubisco abundance and some aspects of plant performance. These results could also imply either synergy, or a degree of functional redundancy for Raf1 and Raf2, the latter of whose precise role in Rubisco assembly is currently unknown.

Effects of Biochar and Compost on Turfgrass Establishment Rates

Organic soil amendments are a sustainable option for modifying soil structure and improving plant performance in the face of abiotic stressors such as drought and soil salinity. Of these amendments, biochar and compost have the added benefits of carbon sequestration and waste recycling. Establishment studies were conducted on tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea Schreb.) (syn., Schedonorus arundinaceus (Schreb.) Dumort and Lolium arundinaceum (Scop.) Holub) to assess the potential inhibition of establishment by compost and biochar products. Both green waste and biosolid compost impaired establishment rates, while biochar did not. In the field study, the green waste treatments were slower to reach 50% coverage than the untreated control or when biochar was added to the soil, but all treatments reached 75% and final coverage at a similar rate. Field application of compost had a positive effect on final root length and volume but a negative effect on tall fescue roots in the greenhouse. The negative effect of higher salts and volatiles in the biosolids compost was reduced when biosolids and biochar were incorporated into the soil simultaneously. This work represents one of the only large-scale field studies on turfgrass establishment comparing the impact of biochar and compost products on turfgrass establishment.

Power plant systems performance assessment with applications of combined pinch and exergy analysis

Steam power plants forms an effective share of global electricity production. Thus, improving such plants performance is crucial to minimize its environmental effects and to enhance operational economy. Al-Mosyab thermal power station in Iraq is considered as a case study of this paper, with an objective of achieving best system performance. A combined pinch & exergy analysis (CPEA) is conducted under actual operating conditions. Further analytical attempt is varying pressure (165, 175, 185) bar, and temperature (450, 550, 620) °C at selected cycle location. Examining thereby the impact of each variable on the system power output, exergy destruction and 2nd low efficiency. The Engineering Equation Solving program (EES) is used for the simulation of each system components under these various operating conditions. The yielded results showed that the maximum mechanical & thermal output are (36.75 & 94.88) % of fuel energy respectively, while, turbine, boiler and condenser irreversibility and 2nd law efficiency are (157.76, 1086.18, 303.19) kJ/kg) and (88.36, 68.97, 28.68) % respectively. The analytical part of the analysis however showed that the high-pressure turbine network output increases by about (1%) with pressure variation, while such increase rise up to (70%) with temperature variation. Final concluded results predicted that best performance could be obtained at maximum pressure and temperature of (175) bar and (620) °C respectively.

The effects of native seed mix composition and sowing density on plant community reassembly in wetlands

AbstractSeed‐based restoration of wetlands is often necessary to improve important ecosystem functions (e.g., invasion resistance and habitat provisioning) and meet society's need for wetland ecosystem services such as supporting recreational activities and improving water quality. However, persistent questions remain about the composition and sowing density of seed mixes needed to restore robust native wetland plant communities. In Great Salt Lake wetlands (Utah, USA), the revegetation of native species is crucial to recovering critical habitat and preventing reinvasion of the invasive, non‐native grass Phragmites australis and other invasive species (e.g., Typha spp.). In greenhouse and field experiments, we investigated the effects of seed mix composition and sowing density on plant community reassembly. We predicted that seed mixes containing native forb species with resource‐preempting traits (e.g., rapid seedling emergence and high aboveground growth rate) and high sowing densities (>5500 pure live seed m−2), would increase native plant light acquisition and establishment, thereby limiting invasive species. To our surprise, the effect of seed mix composition on native plant performance (cover and biomass) varied among the experiments, with distinct differences between plant functional groups arising. Native forb species had the highest performance in the greenhouse, but native grasses performed better in the field. Although multiple seed mix compositions show promise for establishing high native cover and biomass, these mixes may not always suppress invasive species. Interestingly, seed mix composition most often affected plant performance independent of sowing density. However, in one greenhouse experiment, we found that only slow‐growing mixes required a high sowing density to maximize native cover, an indication that the ideal sowing density may depend on the seed mix composition. Our research also supports the idea that in addition to reducing propagules of invasive species via appropriate management strategies, the application of higher sowing densities (>5500 pure live seed m−2) may lead to more favorable outcomes when a high density of invasive plant seeds remains or stressful field conditions are present. This research contributes to knowledge of plant community reestablishment in wetlands and demonstrates how seed‐based restoration strategies can catalyze native species revegetation and, in some situations, reduce the cover of invasive species.

Response of endophyte‐infected and endophyte‐free tall fescue plants to partial submergence at two developmental stages

AbstractTall fescue (Festuca arundinacea Schreb.) is a perennial C3 grass species usually associated with the endophyte fungus Epichloë coenophiala that enhances tolerance to biotic and abiotic stresses. Given that the proportion of infected tall fescue plants in the grasslands of the Flooding Pampa (Argentina) has been progressively increasing, it is proposed that endophytes confer tolerance to the stresses characteristic of that environment, especially flooding. Plants from a naturalized population and a commercial cultivar were grown, both with and without endophyte (wild type and AR584 respectively). The plants were subjected to two submergence treatments (i.e., control and partial submergence) in two development stages (5‐leaf stage and beginning of the elongation of internodes). Plant performance (aerial and root biomass, root aerenchyma formation, total root length and root diameter, proportion of reproductive tillers, number of panicles and seeds produced) and endophyte transmission to progeny were evaluated. Endophytes did not alter the ecological fitness of plants under partial submergence. Independently of the water condition, the symbiosis was linked to low biomass in plants from the naturalized population, while the opposite occurred in plants from the cultivar. Partial submergence did not affect the germination of the seeds produced, nor the transmission of the endophyte to the seedlings that originated from them. Our work suggests that the invasion ability of tall fescue in the Flooding Pampa grasslands is not related to an endophyte‐mediated improvement of plants to tolerate water excess.

Exotic plantations differ in "nursing" an understory invader: A probe into invasional meltdown.

Forest plantations most likely promote exotic plant invasion. Using an insitu monitoring method, this study investigated the traits correlated with growth and reproduction of an understory invader, Phytolacca americana L., and ecological factors including understory irradiance, soil stoichiometry and microbial patterns associated with these traits in different exotic plantations of Robinia pseudoacacia L. and Pinus thunbergii Parl. at Mount Lao, Qingdao, China. We found that the traits of P. americana underneath the R. pseudoacacia stand might be situated at the fast side of the trait economic spectrum. The R. pseudoacacia stand appeared to "nurse" P. americana. Furthermore, we intended to explain the nurse effects of R. pseudoacacia stands by examining their ecological factors. First, the R. pseudoacacia stand created understory light attenuation, which matched the sciophilous feature of P. americana. Second, the soil beneath the R. pseudoacacia stand might benefit P. americana more since the soil has greater resource availability. Third, a higher microbial diversity was found in the soil derived from P. americana underneath the R. pseudoacacia stand. A greater abundance of plant pathogens was detected in the soil derived from P. americana in the R. pseudoacacia stand, while more abundant mycorrhizal fungi were detected in the P. thunbergii stand. We speculate that plant pathogens can defend P. americana from aggression from other understory competitors. The mycorrhizal fungi in the P. thunbergii stand might benefit P. americana while simultaneously benefiting other understory plants. Intensive competition from other plants might interfere with P. americana. The potential relationships between plant performance and ecological factors may explain the invasion mechanism of P. americana. The present study provides a novel insight on the facilitative effects of exotic tree plantation on an exotic herb through the modification of soil biota, with implications for the biocontrol of invasive species and forest management and conservation.

Couple-stress nanofluid flow comprising gyrotactic microbes subject to convective boundary conditions: Numerical solution

Couple-stress nanofluids have multiple potential applications in numerous industrial and engineering sectors, such as energy production, medical diagnostics, thermal control systems, and the aerospace industry. Couple-stress nanofluids have the ability to improve the heat exchange properties and elevate the performance of nuclear power plants, solar panels, and other renewable energy sources. Therefore, in the current analysis, a non-homogeneous nanofluid model is considered to examine the non-Newtonian Casson nanofluid flow across a prolonging sheet. The flow has been studied under the significance of generalized Fourier’s and Fick’s laws, convective boundary conditions, and the heat source/sink. The modeled equations are simplified into a dimensionless lowest-order system of ordinary differential equations by using similarity transformation. The numerical outcomes are achieved by using the “ND-Solve” approach. It has been noticed that the energy field decreases because of the Prandtl number’s impacts, whereas it increases with the increase in the heat radiation parameter. The couple-stress nanoliquid’s velocity decreases vs increasing values of the magnetic field and mixed convection parameter. The influence of thermal relaxation and couple-stress parameters falls off the energy field. Furthermore, the intensifying effect of Rayleigh number and buoyancy ratio increases the fluid temperature.

Aeluropus littoralis stress-associated protein promotes water deficit resilience in engineered durum wheat

Global climate change-related water deficit negatively affect the growth, development and yield performance of multiple cereal crops, including durum wheat. Therefore, the improvement of water-deficit stress tolerance in durum wheat varieties in arid and semiarid areas has become imperative for food security. Herein, we evaluated the water deficiency resilience potential of two marker-free transgenic durum wheat lines (AlSAP-lines: K9.3 and K21.3) under well-watered and water-deficit stress conditions at both physiological and agronomic levels. These two lines overexpressed the AlSAP gene, isolated from the halophyte grass Aeluropus littoralis, encoding a stress-associated zinc finger protein containing the A20/AN1 domains. Under well-watered conditions, the wild-type (WT) and both AlSAP-lines displayed comparable performance concerning all the evaluated parameters. Ectopic transgene expression exerted no adverse effects on growth and yield performance of the durum wheat plants. Under water-deficit conditions, no significant differences in the plant height, leaf number, spike length, and spikelet number were observed between AlSAP-lines and WT plants. However, compared to WT, the AlSAP-lines exhibited greater dry matter production, greater flag leaf area, improved net photosynthetic rate, stomatal conductance, and water use efficiency. Notably, the AlSAP-lines displayed 25 % higher grain yield (GY) than the WT plants under water-deficit conditions. The RT-qPCR-based selected stress-related gene (TdDREB1, TdLEA, TdAPX1, and TdBlt101-2) expression analyses indicated stress-related genes enhancement in AlSAP-durum wheat plants under both well-watered and water-deficit conditions, potentially related to the water-deficit resilience. Collectively, our findings support that the ectopic AlSAP expression in durum wheat lines enhances water-deficit resilience ability, thereby potentially compensate for the GY loss in arid and semi-arid regions.

A Parameter Optimization Design and Numerical Calculation Method for Circular Heliostat Field

Solar energy is a low-carbon, eco-friendly, clean energy source that is easily converted into heat and electricity, making the study of solar thermal power generation technology of great significance and with broad application prospects. To improve the performance of solar power plants, it is necessary to reasonably arrange the light reflectors. Both denser heliostats are needed to ensure enough light can be concentrated into the solar collector, thereby improving the power of the power station; at the same time, waste of material must be prevented, striving to increase output thermal power per unit mirror area. This paper is based on the background of the 2023 CUMCM Problem A. Firstly, it analyzes parameters such as the optical efficiency of the original heliostat field, the annual average output power, and the annual average thermal power output per unit mirror area. Secondly, based on the data provided in the appendix, it analyzes the distribution pattern of the heliostat field and establishes an optimization design model for the heliostat field. Next, the optimization design model of the heliostat field is solved using discrete numerical calculation methods. Finally, according to the results of the model solution, the placement positions of the heliostats, the size of the mirrors, and the installation height are adjusted to improve the annual average thermal power output per unit mirror area, thereby achieving an optimized design of the heliostat field.

Multi-criteria solar power plant siting problem solution using a GIS-Taguchi loss function based interval type-2 fuzzy approach: The case of Kars Province/Turkey

The determination of the areas where the solar power plant will be installed is of great importance for the performance of the solar power plant. Solar and hydroelectric energy are the most widely used renewable energy sources in Kars province. Site selection for these power plants is an important factor in terms of reducing the installation cost of the solar power plant and achieving maximum efficiency during operation. Determining the areas where the power plants will be installed is a very complex and difficult to analyse spatial decision making problem. In this study, firstly GIS is used as a mapping method to obtain the locations of both solar power plants in Susuz, Arpaçay, Akkaya, Kars city centre, Selim, Digor, Kağızman and Sarıkamıș districts of Kars province and then Taguchi loss function based interval type-2 fuzzy approach is applied to the problem. In order to obtain more accurate results, the results of the two methods (GIS and Taguchi loss function based interval type-2 fuzzy approach) were also compared. According to the solar power plant map obtained, it was determined that the total area of suitable areas is 78600 km2.

The role of phenomics and genomics in delineating the genetic basis of complex traits in millets.

Millets, comprising a diverse group of small-seeded grains, have emerged as vital crops with immense nutritional, environmental, and economic significance. The comprehension of complex traits in millets, influenced by multifaceted genetic determinants, presents a compelling challenge and opportunity in agricultural research. This review delves into the transformative roles of phenomics and genomics in deciphering these intricate genetic architectures. On the phenomics front, high-throughput platforms generate rich datasets on plant morphology, physiology, and performance in diverse environments. This data, coupled with field trials and controlled conditions, helps to interpret how the environment interacts with genetics. Genomics provides the underlying blueprint for these complex traits. Genome sequencing and genotyping technologies have illuminated the millet genome landscape, revealing diverse gene pools and evolutionary relationships. Additionally, different omics approaches unveil the intricate information of gene expression, protein function, and metabolite accumulation driving phenotypic expression. This multi-omics approach is crucial for identifying candidate genes and unfolding the intricate pathways governing complex traits. The review highlights the synergy between phenomics and genomics. Genomically informed phenotyping targets specific traits, reducing the breeding size and cost. Conversely, phenomics identifies promising germplasm for genomic analysis, prioritizing variants with superior performance. This dynamic interplay accelerates breeding programs and facilitates the development of climate-smart, nutrient-rich millet varieties and hybrids. In conclusion, this review emphasizes the crucial roles of phenomics and genomics in unlocking the genetic enigma of millets.

Thermal analysis and dynamic attributes of a sustainable CSP-fossil hybrid power plant utilizing organic Rankine cycles for enhanced plant performance

The increasing global demand for energy, driven by population growth, highlights the need for sustainable solutions to ensure a sustainable future. This article outlines the design and optimization process of a 1 MW CSP-Fossil hybrid power plant that examines the utilization of toluene and cyclohexane as working fluids within three distinct Organic Rankine cycle (ORC) configurations (simple, recuperated, and with Open Feed Organic Heater). This study aims to propose a sustainable and effective solution for satisfying energy needs while addressing the intermittent nature of solar resources by enhancing system architecture and incorporating fossil fuel technologies. The solar field design has been based on a Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) system, which generated 44% of the total energy output from renewable solar sources. The analysis takes into consideration a selection of criteria, notably thermal efficiency, overall efficiency, power generation capacity, and cost-effectiveness. The selection of relevant performance indicators, evaluation of alternative ORC configurations and working fluids, and optimization of the solar multiple and thermal storage capacity are included among the criteria for conducting the parametric investigation. Based on the investigation, it has been determined that the ORC configuration, which includes a recuperator and utilizes cyclohexane as the working fluid, demonstrates the most favorable design. This configuration offers enhanced efficiency and improved performance. Additionally, it is determined that a solar multiple value of 1.7 and the integration of a 12-hour thermal energy storage system are optimal. This led to a 4-5 hour increase in the availability of daily power generation, thereby improving the reliability and flexibility of the CSP plant. The incorporation of fossil fuels into the hybrid CSP-Fossil plant results in a notable enhancement of the Capacity Utilization Factor (CUF). This improvement guarantees uninterrupted energy generation even when solar resources are limited. The implications of the findings are significant for the future development of CSP systems. These findings provide valuable insights into enhancing energy efficiency and tackling sustainability challenges.

Joint Action of Trichoderma atroviride and a Vegetal Derived-Protein Hydrolysate Improves Performances of Woodland Strawberry in Italy

Woodland strawberry (Fragaria vesca L.) is an underutilized plant species that could benefit from the use of biostimulants to improve crop productivity and fruit quality. The scope of the present study was to appraise the influence of two biostimulants (Trichoderma atroviride and plant protein hydrolysate)—used either alone or combined—on the plant performance and economic profitability of two woodland strawberry genotypes (‘Alpine’ and ‘Regina delle Valli’). Overall, data showed that ‘Alpine’ had the highest productive performances, whereas ‘Regina delle Valli’ revealed the highest fruit qualitative traits. T. atroviride inoculation and V-PH application significantly boosted plant marketable yield (+20.5% for T. atroviride and +12.9% for V-PH), total sugars (+1.9% for Trichoderma and +1.4% for V-PH) and anthocyanins (+14.1% for T. atroviride and +9.8% for V-PH) compared to non-treated plants. Plants supplied with both biostimulants had a higher marketable yield (+34.8%), mean fruit weight (+6.0%), fruit dry matter (+13.8%), total sugars (+3.5%), ascorbic acid (+12.7%), flavonoid (+26.3%) and anthocyanins (+29.9%) compared to non-treated plants. Furthermore, our study revealed that the highest fruit polyphenol concentration was recorded in both genotypes treated with the combination of biostimulants and in ‘Regina delle Valli’ sprayed with V-PH, whereas the highest antioxidant activity was found in ‘Regina delle Valli’ fruit when plants were supplied with both biostimulants. Our study pointed out that the application of microbial and non-microbial biostimulants, especially in combination, might be a useful strategy for improving the performances of underutilized species and, therefore, encouraging their cultivation, valorization and economic profitability (+6208.3 EUR /ha when plants were exposed to both biostimulants).

Evaluation of a concentrated solar power plant under meteorological and climatological forcing

The performance of renewable energy-conversion systems depends strongly on the background climate and ambient meteorological conditions. However, common approaches to simulating such systems use aggregated climatic data as forcing. Given strong variability in the climate, along with possible future long-term changes, it is important to understand the trade-offs between high-resolution forcing data and representative data. Here we simulate a concentrated solar power plant driven by hourly-resolved reanalysis data using both air and water-based cooling systems. These simulations allow us to analyze plant performance under realistic meteorological variability at two locations. In addition, we simulate the plant under average climatic conditions, where all sub-seasonal and interannual variability has been removed. These simulations are cheaper to run, but do not represent extreme values in the forcing. Our analysis shows that variability in the direct normal irradiance (DNI) is a critical factor for simulating the plant realistically. We show that where (and when) DNI variability is low, average forcing provides a realistic picture of power output. Average forcing can also provide a good estimate of how the plant will perform on average. However, in cases where understanding how robustly the plant performs, it is critical to include realistic variability in the input data.

Analysis of the effect of high falling water on the performance of hydroelectric power plants using whirpool type turbines

A hydroelectric power plant (PLTA) uses the flow of water as a source of energy. Evaluating the output of hydropower facilities, including the optimal height of the waterfall, turbine torque, electrical power, generator power, and generated efficiency, was the aim of the study. This study intends to investigate the power, torque, and efficiency that may be produced by a hydroelectric power plant with a whirlpool-type turbine, as well as how the height of falling water influences the operation of the plant. The experiment in this study measures three different waterfall heights with five different blade configurations. The study on the hydropower prototype involved three trials that collected data on torque, power, efficiency, waterfall height, and water discharge. The PLTA Prototype's best potential head in Test 3 was determined to be 0.01143, with a height of 0.67 meters, no sluice, and a diameter of 0.0625 meters. The lowest water outflow was discovered at a head of 0.55 meters with a water debit of 0.01036. The third attempt, which featured a sluice opening with a diameter of 0.0625 meters and a height of 0.67 meters (head), used the most water power in the experiment. The testing yielded the following results: 75.13 watts of water power, 5.16 watts of generator power, 0.233 N.m. of torque, 2.63 watts of turbine power with a generator load 3.73 watts without one, and 6.87% efficiency. Data gathered from the hydropower prototype's operation can be used to construct testing instruments for use in laboratories

Evaluation of the Performance of Wastewater Treatment Plant at Steel Mill Karachi, Pakistan

The purpose of this study is to evaluate how well Steel Mill Karachi's wastewater treatment system works. Wastewater treatment facilities employ the activated sludge technique. Several influent and effluent locations allowed for the collection of influent and effluent samples. A number of physicochemical parameters, such as total dissolved solids (TDS), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5), total suspended solids (TSS), chemical oxygen demand (COD), electric conductivity (EC), pH, and other metals, such as potassium (K), iron (Fe), sulphate (SO4-2), calcium (Ca), sodium (Na), zinc (Zn), and magnesium (Mg), were measured in order to evaluate the effectiveness of wastewater treatment plants. In a lab environment, the sample's analysis findings were compared to Sindh Environmental Quality Standards (SEQS) for Pakistan. EC, BOD5, COD, SO4-2, Ca, Mg, Na, K, TDS, TSS, EC, BOD5, COD, SO4-2, Ca, Mg, Na, K, Fe, and Zn were removed to different degrees: 42.93%, 60.33%, 43.63%, 51.53%, 40.5%, 35.56%, 26.33%, 22.12%, 34.09%, 20.75%, 55.87%, 22.12%, and 76.10%. Only two metrics, the COD and Zn concentrations, were over the SEQS limits, keeping other effluent results parameters within the limits. Additionally, it is advised that proper maintenance be carried out to increase the effectiveness of wastewater treatment plants.

Using leaf economic spectrum and photosynthetic acclimation to evaluate the potential performance of wintersweet under future climate conditions.

The function of landscape plants on the ecosystem can alleviate environmental issues of urbanization and global change. Global changes due to elevated CO2 affect plant growth and survival, but there is a lack of quantitative methods to evaluate the adaptability of landscape plants to future climate conditions. Leaf traits characterized by leaf economic spectrum (LES) are the universal currency for predicting the impact on plant ecosystem functions. Elevated CO2 usually leads to photosynthetic acclimation (PC), characterised by decreased photosynthetic capacity. Here, we proposed a theoretical and practical framework for the use of LES and PC to project the potential performance of landscape plants under future climatic conditions through principal component analysis, structural equation modelling, photosynthetic restriction analysis and nitrogen allocation analysis. We used wintersweet (an important landscaping species) to test the feasibility of this framework under elevated CO2 and different nitrogen (N) supplies. We found that elevated CO2 decreased the specific leaf area but increased leaf N concentration. The results suggest wintersweet may be characterized by an LES with high leaf construction costs, low photosynthetic return, and robust stress resistance. Elevated CO2 reduced photosynthetic capacity and stomatal conductance but increased photosynthetic rate and leaf area. These positive physio-ecological traits, e.g., larger leaf area (canopy), higher water use efficiency and stress resistance, may lead to improved performance of wintersweet under the predicted future climatic conditions. The results suggest planting more wintersweet in urban landscaping may be an effective adaptive strategy to climate change.

Optimization of the on-power refueling strategy for the slightly enriched uranium core of Atucha-II NPP

The development of an on-power refueling strategy requires meticulous consideration due to its impact on relevant reactor parameters during operation. The rapid increase in computational power promotes the use of heuristic (or metaheuristic) methods for optimizing systems with numerous core calculations, such as designing a refueling strategy. Building on the previous success of optimizing the on-power refueling strategy for the Atucha-I core using the Simulated Annealing algorithm, the approach was extended to design an enhanced refueling strategy for the future use of slightly enriched uranium fuel in Atucha-II. Previous efforts manually achieved an acceptable refueling strategy, consistent with 3 irradiation paths, each having 3 burnup zones. The primary goal of the optimization was to reduce the usage of the refueling machine, a critical component for plant availability and performance. To achieve this, the number of burnup zones for the optimization was set at 2 per irradiation path. An acceptable optimized refueling strategy was obtained and, subsequently, manual refinements were introduced to improve the time-average channel power distribution. To assess the feasibility of the obtained 2-burnup-zones per path refueling strategy, a simulation of the reactor operation including on-power refueling consistent with this refueling strategy was conducted for 4 years at full power. The simulation predicts a 25.6 % reduction in the refueling machine’s use at full power and savings of 2.9 fuel assemblies per year compared to operation with the 3-burnup-zones per path refueling strategy. The compelling advantages in the performance of the 2-burnup-zones per path refueling strategy have led to its formal adoption as the new official refueling strategy for the design phase of the use of slightly enriched uranium fuel in the Atucha-II core.