Phase Of Start-up Research Articles

Recruiting ahead of the curve: a case of EduGorilla

Learning outcomes At the end of this case discussion, the students should be able to analyze the challenges of Strategic Talent Management in the expansion phase of a tech startup; analyze the strategic elements of “Recruiting ahead of the curve”; interpret the application of different employment nodes in creating a differentiated human resource architecture, particularly in the context of an ed-tech startup; recommend Talent Management interventions for Edtech startups. Case overview/synopsis The protagonist in the case Mr. Rohit Manglik started his EdTech startup EduGorilla in year 2020 in the state of Uttar Pradesh in India. His passion for transforming test preparation assistance for competitive examinations coupled with innovative AI and ML-driven testing portals has led to tremendous growth. He has received several rounds of funding, and the investor community is now expecting robust growth and returns. Manglik is now expanding in other states and has already started expanding in the Middle East to attain his ambitious growth targets. His current organization design, structure and talent management approach have worked so far, and he has managed to retain a productive workforce. To cater to its fast-growing client, base the company followed a novice hiring strategy where Manglik decided to overstaff his recruitment team to overcome the challenge of manpower deficit. He has been on a hiring spree primarily driven by anticipated projections. The operations team was hired primarily from the Tier II cities of Uttar Pradesh, which allowed him to balance cost and demand effectively. Manglik planned to expand into Tier-1 cities in India & Middle Eastern countries, but he wondered if his over-hiring approach to the recruitment team a tactic or a long-term strategy. The case will explore the talent management issues in the expansion phase of startups, particularly in the context of emerging markets. Will talent management and HR strategies have to be adapted in the context of different economies of emerging markets? The case explores the talent management strategies of an Edtech startup that is growing tremendously in an emerging market context. Hence, the case will augment the understanding of talent management approaches in a startup. Complexity academic level Postgraduate business management students enrolled in SHRM & Talent Management courses. Prior knowledge of the basic concepts of human resources is required for analyzing the case. The case can also be used in Management Development Programs for senior HR professionals and HR consultants. Supplementary material Teaching notes are available for educators only. Subject code CSS 6: Human Resource Management.

Experimental activities on Sotacarbo 5 MWth gasification demonstration plant

In the field of coal and biomass gasification for distributed power generation, ENEA and Sotacarbo are developing several activities on demonstration plant scale in order to test gasification technologies for combined production of synthesis gas and electric power in medium and small-scale industrial plants.The Sotacarbo pilot platform has been built up to test different plant solutions at different operating conditions; therefore, a very flexible and simple layout has been designed and constructed. Both demonstration and pilot plants are based on an up-draft, air-blown and fixed-bed gasification process, suitable to be fed with both coal and wood chips.In particular, the demonstration unit of the plant platform includes a 5MWth gasifier equipped with a wet scrubber for syngas clean up in equicurrent conditions and a flare.This presentation reports some results of the experimental activities related to the start-up of coal and biomass gasification carried out on a demonstration plant at Sotacarbo Research Centre in the South-West of Sardinia (Italy). The aim is to assess the system behaviour and to evaluate the gasification performance. The experimental activity was carried out in order to check the operability of all components and to improve the knowledge of gasifier operation in the different phase of start-up, run and shut down. A characterization of the process was performed and the modalities and key parameters to achieve standard operating conditions were identified. The ultimate aim is to provide useful data so as to improve the system efficiency and to make electricity generation suitable by an internal combustion engine fed by clean syngas. In particular, during the experimental tests different types of fuel were tested: wood chips, Colombian coal, blends of Colombian coal and wood chips. A steady-state simulation model of the gasification process has been developed in the Aspen Plus v.8 simulation environment. The experimental data were used for a first tuning of the model. The validating activity is still going on with newer experimental data. The aim is to realise a model of the plant able to predicts syngas composition, heating value, cold gas efficiency (CGE) and performance at different operating conditions. The model will be a useful tool for future experimental activities.

Microfranchise emergence and its impact on entrepreneurship

Our investigation uses structuration theory to explore the emergence of a microfranchise whose aim is to raise the income of smallholder farmers in Kenya by enabling an increase in productivity. This longitudinal real time qualitative study tracks the key actions taken in developing the venture, beginning in the conception phase of startup and continuing through to the initial stage of operations. In doing so it focuses on how agency and structure reciprocally influence the resulting social enterprise. The findings indicate that agency is not exclusive to the founders. Rather it was distributed among the micro-franchisor’s stakeholders to significantly shape the nature and scope of the enterprise. While franchising, generally, is not noted to provide autonomy and independence to franchisees, we find the opposite in this emerging market context. Implications are discussed.

Site Evaluation: The Second Crucial Phase of Startup in Clinical Research

Site Evaluation: The Second Crucial Phase of Startup in Clinical Research

Feasibility Analysis: The First Crucial Phase of Startup in Clinical Research

Feasibility Analysis: The First Crucial Phase of Startup in Clinical Research

Flow transients in un-started and started modes of vacuum ejector operation

An experimental study has been carried out to investigate the nature of transients in vacuum ejector flows during start-up and the dynamics in flow characteristics. The results show that the secondary stream induction progresses with non-uniform rates with the ramping primary jet pressure during start-up. The initial evacuation period is subjected to gradual and highly perturbed secondary fluid entrainment. In this phase, the secondary stream induction by the shear layer is asymmetric leading to an un-even vacuum generation in the secondary chamber. In the second phase, the secondary pressure fluctuations are found to be ceased for a critical primary jet pressure followed by a rapid induction of the secondary fluid till the primary jet expands to the diffuser wall. The transition from the first phase to the second phase is caused by the secondary stream flow choking in the diffuser. Following the second phase, a stable stage exists in the third phase in which the vacuum pressure decreases only marginally. Any further attempt to increase the secondary chamber vacuum level beyond the third phase, by increasing the primary jet total pressure, results in flow reversal into the secondary chamber, spoiling the already achieved vacuum level. In the fourth phase of start-up, a complicated shock interaction transformation from a Mach reflection (MR) to regular reflection (RR) occurs within the diffuser. It is also observed that the primary jet pressures for the minimum secondary chamber pressure, the minimum secondary pressure, and the primary pressure for MR-RR transformation decrease initially with increase in diffuser length and then increase. It is found that the decreasing and increasing trends are caused by the pressure recovery and Fanno effects, respectively.

Experimental study on the start-up with dry gases from normal cell temperatures in self-humidified proton exchange membrane fuel cells

In this study, the start-up characteristics of PEMFCs (proton exchange membrane fuel cells) was investigated with dry gases from normal cell temperatures above 0 °C. Firstly, the effects of flow arrangements (co-flow and counter-flow) were evaluated at a starting cell temperature of 25 °C. Then, the start-up was successful in both arrangements, but it showed better performance with counter-flow. In addition, the hydrogen concentration was measured and it showed that hydrogen crossover contributes to the membrane hydration and the first phase of dry start-up. However, although the cell temperature rose above 45 °C after start-up form 25 °C with counter-flow arrangement, the restart-up after shut-down failed at a starting cell temperature of 45 °C regardless of flow arrangements. Considering the needs of restart-up, the available starting cell temperature should be improved. For this, after first sub-step of start-up process, relatively low flow rates were maintained to retain produced water without purge so that the membrane can be hydrated sufficiently. With this modified process, denominated as WSP (water storage process) in this study, the dry start-up became successful at a starting cell temperature of 45 °C and the cell performance was remarkably improved especially with counter-flow arrangement.

A floating coverage system for digestate liquid fraction storage

Anaerobic digestion is booming in the nations of Europe. In fact, Italy alone has approximately 500 plants in operation or in some phase of start-up. Previous studies have made evident the potential that lies in digested manure residual biogas. Nevertheless, much of the potential goes unrealized when enormous amounts of digestate are produced, but are then stored in uncovered tanks. This research work designed, constructed, and tested a low-cost digestate storage tank cover system capable of abating CO2eq atmospheric emissions and then recovering the biogas. The experiment, carried out at a 1MW electric anaerobic digestion plant, demonstrated that collecting the residual biogas from the digested liquid fraction storage tank made it possible to avoid atmospheric emissions of up to 1260t CO2eq annually and to increase the methane yield of the installation by 3%.

Dynamic Modeling of a Compact Heat Exchange Reformer for High Temperature Fuel Cell Systems

Solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC) are the most advanced energy system with the highest thermal efficiency. Current trend of research is on less than 10 kW scale, which requires compact fuel processing systems. Even if internal reforming in the stack is also a possible option, it causes significant temperature gradients and thermal stress. As an alternative, a compact heat exchange reformer (CHER) with a plate-fin co-flow or counter-flow configuration is proposed. Such a system integrates the heat management and reforming in one compact unit. This paper focuses on simulation of transient characteristics of CHER during the initial phase of start-up of small SOFC systems. Steam reforming (SR) and water-gas shift (WGS) reactions are chosen as the most appropriate reforming model. CHER is modeled as two-dimensional array of finite control volumes, and they are modeled with transient energy equations and dynamic molar balance equations. In addition, both reaction enthalpy and convection heat transfer between the catalyst-coated fins and fuel-steam mixture channels are considered. Several parametric simulations are performed as methane steam as a primary fuel mixture as a function of different operating temperature, steam-to-carbon ratio at the inlet, pressure gradient across the CHER, channel length, and flow configuration (co-flow and counter-flow).

Physicist Tapped to Turn Embattled Institute Into a Fully Fledged University

Appointed president-elect of the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology this summer, physicist Jonathan Dorfan will steer OIST through the final phase of start-up and enroll its first graduate students in 2012. Science interviewed him about his plans for the university.

Thermal and stability considerations for a supercritical water-cooled fast reactor with downward-flow channels during power-raising phase of plant startup

This paper describes study on the procedure of raising the reactor thermal power and the reactor coolant flow rate during the power-raising phase of plant startup for the supercritical water-cooled fast reactor (SWFR), which is selected as one of the Generation IV reactor concepts. Since part of the seed fuel assemblies and all the blanket fuel assemblies of the SWFR are cooled by downward flow, the feedwater from the reactor vessel inlet nozzle to the mixing plenum located below the core is distributed among these fuel assemblies and the downcomer. The flow rate distribution as the function of both the reactor thermal power and the feedwater flow rate, which are the design parameters for the power-raising phase, is obtained by the thermal hydraulic calculations. Based on the flow rate distribution, thermal analyses and thermal–hydraulic stability analyses are carried out in order to obtain the available region of the reactor thermal power and the feedwater flow rate for the power-raising phase. The criteria for the “available” region are the maximum cladding surface temperature (MCST) and the decay ratio of thermal–hydraulic stability in three “hot” channels; two seed assemblies with upward/downward flow and a blanket assembly. The effects of various heat transfer correlations and axial power distributions are also studied.

Evolution of microorganisms in thermophilic-dry anaerobic digestion

Microbial population dynamics were studied during the start-up and stabilization periods in thermophilic-dry anaerobic digestion at lab-scale. The experimental protocol was defined to quantify Eubacteria and Archaea using Fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) in a continuously stirred tank reactor (CSTR), without recycling solids. The reactor was subjected to a programme of steady-state operation over a range of the retention times from 40 to 25 days, with an organic loading rate between 4.42 and 7.50 kg volatile solid/m 3/day. Changes in microbial concentrations were linked to traditional performance parameters such as biogas production and VS removal. The relations of Eubacteria: Archaea and H 2-utilising methanogens:acetate-utilising methanogens were 88:12 and 11:1, respectively, during start-up stage. Hydrogenotrophic methanogens, although important in the initial phase of the reactor start-up, were displaced by acetoclastic methanogens at steady-state, thus their relation were 7:32, respectively. The methane yield coefficient, the methane content in the biogas and VS removal were stabilized around 0.30 LCH 4/gCOD, 50% and 80%, respectively. Methanogenic population correlated well with performance measurements.

Canadian Nascent Entrepreneurs’ Start-up Efforts: Outcomes and Individual Influences on Sustainability

Of the people who attempt to start a business, how many actually bring their venture to fruition? Until now, the answer to this question has eluded researchers, because of the difficulty in identifying and contacting people in the gestation phase of business start-up. In overcoming this sampling challenge, the research upon which this article is based tracks the start-up efforts of 151 Canadian nascent entrepreneurs (individuals engaging in activities to start a business from scratch) over a two-year period. In addition to providing new insights into the dynamics of small business .births. and .deaths,. the paper explores the role individual-level factors play in sustaining efforts to start a business. While finding no significant differences in personal background factors (socio-demographic, work, and career backgrounds) within the sample, certain aspects of personal context and personal predispositions were shown to differentiate those who disengaged from the start-up process from those who persevered. Problem-solving style and goal orientation were especially significant. The implications of the findings are discussed.

A Linear Stability Analysis of Supercritical Water Reactors, (I)

This paper summarizes the analysis results of the thermal-hydraulic stability of a high-temperature reactor cooled and moderated by supercritical-pressure light water (SCLWR-H). A linear stability analysis code in the frequency domain was developed to study the thermal-hydraulic stability of SCLWR-H at constant supercritical pressure. The analysis method is based on linearization by perturbation of numerically-discretized one-dimensional single-channel single-phase conservation equations. The effect of water rods on stability is considered. The thermal-hydraulic stability of SCLWR-H for full-power and partial-power normal operations was investigated by frequency domain method. Our analysis reveals that though SCLWR-H has low coolant flow rate and large density change in the core, the thermal-hydraulic stability can be maintained both at normal operation and during power raising phase of constant pressure startup by applying an orifice pressure drop coefficient at the inlet of the fuel assemblies. A parametric study was also carried out to determine the parameters affecting the stability.

Time-dependent optimization of initiation phase of the outer PF coil-only inductive start-up of NSTX plasmas

Dynamic modelling of the inductive plasma start-up utilizing only the outer poloidal field (PF) coils without using an in-board Ohmic solenoid was performed for the National Spherical Torus eXperiment (NSTX) based on the static calculation result. A time-dependent calculation using the two-dimensional axisymmetric dynamic code and the plasma evolution code enabled us to find the appropriate waveform of the NSTX PF coils that satisfied various start-up conditions, such as the formation and sustainment of field null, a significant amount of magnetic flux for further plasma current ramp-up, sufficient size of the Et · Bt/B⊥ = 0.1 kV m−1 contour for successful breakdown, force balance condition, etc. Among many sets of solutions possibly satisfying the aforementioned conditions, the result introduced in this report also meets the requirement imposed by the power supply system. With the obtained current waveform of the PF coils, it is shown that the hexapole quality field null can be sustained for at least 6 ms with a reasonably large size. The available induction flux at the expected starting time of the breakdown period is as large as 0.15 Wb, with which the plasma current can ramp up to a few hundred kiloamperes, based on experience from the conventional in-board Ohmic solenoid start-up on NSTX. The size of the Et · Bt/B⊥ = 0.1 kV m−1 contour, in which successful breakdown occurred in the presence of strong pre-ionization on DIII-D, is as large as more than 30 cm, and sustains for several milliseconds. An analysis for the force balance and the field index shows that the plasma produced can be stable for radial as well as vertical perturbations during the initial start-up phase.

A Linear Stability Analysis of Supercritical Water Reactors, (I) Thermal-Hydraulic Stability

This paper summarizes the analysis results of the thermal-hydraulic stability of a high-temperature reactor cooled and moderated by supercritical-pressure light water (SCLWR-H). A linear stability analysis code in the frequency domain was developed to study the thermal-hydraulic stability of SCLWR-H at constant supercritical pressure. The analysis method is based on linearization by perturbation of numerically-discretized one-dimensional single-channel single-phase conservation equations. The effect of water rods on stability is considered. The thermal-hydraulic stability of SCLWR-H for full-power and partial-power normal operations was investigated by frequency domain method. Our analysis reveals that though SCLWR-H has low coolant flow rate and large density change in the core, the thermal-hydraulic stability can be maintained both at normal operation and during power raising phase of constant pressure startup by applying an orifice pressure drop coefficient at the inlet of the fuel assemblies. A parametric study was also carried out to determine the parameters affecting the stability.

Influence of C:N ratio on the start-up of up-flow anaerobic filter reactors

The long duration of the start-up period is a major drawback of the anaerobic wastewater treatment systems. A better understanding of the factors affecting biomass aggregation and adhesion, the two main mechanisms of biomass retention, could make the start-up more efficient and rapid. The objective of the present work is to determine the effect of the carbon:nitrogen ratio on the efficiency of biomass retention in upflow anaerobic filters. For this purpose, two substrates of two different C:N ratios (nitrogen limited, NL, and nitrogen balanced, NB) were considered. In fed-batch operation it was shown that a nitrogen limitation in the very first phase of reactor start-up seems to enhance appreciably biomass adhesion. A feeding strategy to upflow anaerobic filters, consisting on maintaining a N limitation during the first two weeks resulted in a more efficient biomass retention, with a higher specific methanogenic activity. By using this policy, the total methanogenic capacity attained after 4 weeks exceeded that obtained in the system fed with the balanced substrate from the beginning of the operation by 20%.

Simulation of the high-pressure mercury discharge lamp during the middle phase of start-up (medium mercury pressure)

This paper deals with the modelling of the medium pressure Hg and Hg-Ar positive column (Hg pressure range 5-350 Torr). The aim of this work is to simulate, in a first approximation, the middle phase of the Hg high-pressure lamp warm-up. In this approach, the main assumption is that time evolution of the discharge can be divided into a succession of stationary sub-phases characterized by the Hg partial pressure. Thus, we present here a self-consistent steady-state collisional-radiative model describing the middle sub-phase. This model includes volume recombination of Hg atomic and molecular ions, as well as several atom-atom inelastic scattering mechanisms. Calculations are carried out for both pure Hg and Hg-Ar discharges. Our results, which are in good agreement with experimental data from the literature, confirm that plasma thermalization occurs in the middle start-up phase (electron and gas temperatures become equal during this phase). Furthermore, this simulation shows the importance of different elementary processes, like atom-atom inelastic scattering, for the medium pressure plasma description. In fact, these mechanisms cannot be neglected until LTE conditions are reached.

Totally Computer Automated Control System in a Thermal Power Unit

One of the most advanced computer control systems for supercritical thermal power plants is discussed. The system consists of a sophisticated man-machine interface to support operators' supervisory tasks and diagnosis functions to improve plant reliability, especially during the phase of startup of the plant. Optimal control system implemented in the plant is also briefly described. By the adoption of this system high reliability of the plant was realized, and the operators' burden was considerably reduced. The units equipped with this system has been contributing to the power system operation of the Kyushu Electric Power Company.