Design Of Production Systems Research Articles

An autonomous hydrogen production system design based on the solid chemical hydride

This paper develops a hydrogen generator prototype that is for fuel cell systems used in portable applications. This generator is designed based on the use of solid-state hydrides with high hydrogen storage capacity in the catalytic hydrolysis reaction. Some using problems such as unstable hydrogen production, one-off service life, heavy or large-volume storage system, and short duty time can be avoided in moveable applications when the use of the produced prototype. In addition, A simulation model and an autonomous control algorithm, which evaluates the hydrogen generation and temperature responses of the prototype, are developed. The results confirm that the performance of a portable and autonomous prototype with 4 parts and 1-hour hydrogen production capacity is enough for small fuel cell applications.

PROCEDURE OF APPLYING THE GENETIC ALGORITHM FOR THE CREATION OF A PRODUCTION LAYOUT

Due to the rapid increase and development of new information technologies, it is now possible to collect real data from the production process, thereby creating an image of a real plant in a virtual environment. The concept of a digital twin in the design of production systems consists of creating a digital twin of the entire production plant, which consists of a digital, real and virtual enterprise, which is a fundamental difference between the design of production systems in the concept of a digital enterprise and in the concept using a digital twin. The paper deals with the methodology of data collection, layout creation and the company's digital twin. The practical benefits of the proposed solution are mainly from the point of view of reducing the necessary time when designing the production layout, especially in the phase of variant design. Closely related to this is the possibility of checking a larger set of solutions, taking into account various limiting conditions. As this proposed solution reduces the time required in the phase of variant design, costs necessary for the creation of a new or changing production layout are reduced.

Principles of Management Systems for Positive Impact Factories

The sustainable design of production systems is essential for the industry’s future viability. In this context, the concept of positive impact factories has recently evolved, striving for a completely loss-free factory benefiting positively its surroundings. To establish a holistic view of this approach in everyday corporate life, it is necessary to develop a management policy with defined process flows in the sense of a dedicated management system. This paper thus reviews the scientific literature on (sustainable) management systems and develops a tailored management system for the example of the ultra-efficiency factory. In doing so, we specifically combine and complement established management systems such as environmental, energy and quality management, as well as compliance, maintenance, and lean management. In order to define an applicable framework, the basic considerations presented here were developed in cooperation with and reviewed by a large German automotive supplier. Thereupon, the results are discussed with regard to the future implementation of the system, and starting points for future research are derived.

Lubricant oil & Diesel analysis based diagnostic framework for machine components & V-Ti ceramics as additives for lubricants and plasticizers

In this paper, typical failures of major engine machinery component’s are analyzed using the knowledge of oil analysis. Information of elements obtained from oil analysis and related details, using the practical knowledge, is used for; analysis of oil thickening, low viscosity analysis, framing decision, maintenance scheduling and diagnostic procedure. Accordingly, systematic procedure is framed using knowledge of different oil elements; viz. Lead, Tin, Copper, Chromium, Silicon, Aluminum and Iron in the context of the corrective action. Poor atomization of diesel fuel related causes are briefed. Novel metal ceramic additives of Vanadium (V) and Titanium (Ti), developed using sol–gel method are detailed and preliminary results are presented with and without additives incorporated in used ester oil with key focus on lowering total acid number (TAN) and saponification value. Density & viscosity are investigated too. One of the key novelty of the work is developing blends of V-Ti (fine powder form) at low temperature safely & inexpensively by using Metal Nitrate (new reactions as a result) as against traditional metal alkoxide in the sol gel method and utilizing them to reduce TAN and saponification of used oil. Developed procedure and ceramics will be useful for practicing engineers, scientists in reducing maintenance, making sustainable product, reducing pollution and new system design using novel materials.

Innovative Application Study Of Label-free Concept In Packaging Design

The lack of an objective evaluation system and monitoring system for product design has led to an endless stream of "formalism" in product engineering, exacerbating the current situation of excessive and disproportionate product design, and even creating an economic and social hazard. This paper focuses on the important role of the "label-free" concept in the design of beverage packaging products, based on three aspects: national environmental protection, product differentiation, and international market trends, while conducting experimental research through data collection and project studies. The aim is to solve the problem of resource waste and environmental pollution caused by beverage packaging through this new design trend.

“It’s cleaner, definitely”: Collaborative Process in Audio Production

Working from vague client instructions, how do audio producers collaborate to diagnose what specifically is wrong with a piece of music, where the problem is and what to do about it? This paper presents a design ethnography that uncovers some of the ways in which two music producers co-ordinate their understanding of complex representations of pieces of music while working together in a studio. Our analysis shows that audio producers constantly make judgements based on audio and visual evidence while working with complex digital tools, which can lead to ambiguity in assessments of issues. We show how multimodal conduct guides the process of work and that complex media objects are integrated as elements of interaction by the music producers. The findings provide an understanding how people currently collaborate when producing audio, to support the design of better tools and systems for collaborative audio production in the future.

Molecular dynamics and steady-state process simulation coupled research on CCLG system design for cleaner production of EG

BackgroundThe CO2 capture technologies such as chemical-looping gasification (CLG) and reformation (CLR) receive more and more attention under the globally warming environment. In this paper, the mechanism of coal chemical-looping gasification (CCLG) process with copper-based oxygen carrier is analyzed by molecular dynamics (MD) simulation and steady-state process simulation to produce high purity ethylene glycol (EG). MethodsFirstly, the effect of temperature and mass ratio of coal and CuO on CCLG process are investigated with gasification experiments. Secondly, the MD simulations in ReaxFF force field are performed in purpose of obtaining the micro-level information and cross-reference with experimental results. Finally, an innovative process to produce high purity EG is designed based on CCLG process from the above simulations and experiment results. Significant findingsThe results of gasification experiments show that the optimal reaction temperature is 850°C and the optimal mass ratio of coal to CuO is 1:1.5. The results obtained from the MD simulations are found accordant with the experimental results. The EG targeted CCLG process basically meets the mass ratio required by the production of EG, and the CO2 emissions of the whole process is only 0.018 kg-CO2/kg-EG.

Design of a Hydrogen Production System Considering Energy Consumption, Water Consumption, CO2 Emissions and Cost

CO2 emissions associated with hydrogen production can be reduced replacing steam methane reforming with electrolysis using renewable electricity with a trade-off of increasing energy consumption, water consumption and cost. In this research, a linear programming optimization model of a hydrogen production system that considers simultaneously energy consumption, water consumption, CO2 emissions and cost on a cradle-to-gate basis was developed. The model was used to evaluate the impact of CO2 intensity on the optimum design of a hydrogen production system for Japan considering different stakeholders’ priorities. Hydrogen is produced using steam methane reforming and electrolysis. Electricity sources include grid, wind, solar photovoltaic, geothermal and hydro. Independent of the stakeholders’ priorities, steam methane reforming dominates hydrogen production for cradle-to-gate CO2 intensities larger than 9 kg CO2/kg H2, while electrolysis using renewable electricity dominates for lower cradle-to-gate CO2 intensities. Reducing the cradle-to-gate CO2 intensity increases energy consumption, water consumption and specific cost of hydrogen production. For a cradle-to-gate CO2 intensity of 0 kg CO2/kg H2, the specific cost of hydrogen production varies between 8.81 and 13.6 USD/kg H2; higher than the specific cost of hydrogen production targeted by the Japanese government in 2030 of 30 JPY/Nm3, 3.19 USD/kg H2.

Sustainable development in circular agriculture: An illustrative bee↺legume↺poultry example

AbstractCircular economic principals of production are based on material flows through the system with minimum external inputs, recycling of resources, generating minimum waste, emissions, or pollution. Agriculture presents a major opportunity for the utilization of wastes, by‐products and co‐products in the development of a circular economy via the design of circular agricultural production systems and the creation of new sustainable value chains. The present work outlines an illustrative example of a circular bee↺legume↺poultry agricultural production system, based on the premise that: (1) there is an urgent need to prioritize pollinator stewardship and pollinator ecosystem restoration to counteract pollinator decline, (2) the EU Plant Protein Plan fosters EU‐grown plant proteins including local legumes, and (3) poultry production is the most important segment of the animal production industry, and the fastest growing agricultural sub‐sector. For the successful implementation of circular agriculture, multidisciplinary research is needed regarding all sectors involved, as well as practical evaluations and the realization of proof of concept depending on the geographical location. For sustainable circular agricultural practices to be adopted by agriculturists and agricultural workers, a culture shift is needed, with close cooperation between all actors involved.

A scalable model for EPA and fatty acid production by Phaeodactylum tricornutum.

Large-scale photoautotrophic production of microalgae has the potential to provide a sustainable supply of omega-3 fatty acids (eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA)) for human and animal nutrition. This study presents a kinetic model for the EPA-producing microalga Phaeodactylum tricornutum in photoautotrophic conditions, with light and nitrogen being the growth limiting factors. The model was developed using a dataset obtained from bench-scale (5 L) cultures and was successfully validated against pilot-scale (50 L) cultures. This model is the first to predict the biomass and total fatty acid accumulation along with the EPA concentrations in the biomass and total fatty acid fraction for microalgae. The model was used to develop an optimized repeated-batch strategy; implementation of this led to increases in the biomass and EPA productivities of 50 and 20% respectively. This clearly indicates the potential of the model to be used as a tool in the design, optimization and scale-up of microalgal systems for EPA production.

Influence of obstacle morphology on safety of nuclear hydrogen production system

The safety of the nuclear hydrogen production system is a key issue that cannot be ignored in the future commercialization. The reasonable arrangement of obstacles can effectively improve the safety of the system under accident conditions. In this paper, based on the high-pressure hydrogen storage tank model of a nuclear hydrogenation plant, two mechanisms by which obstacles can effectively improve safety are analyzed. In order to determine the obstacle design scheme with outstanding effect, the response surface methodology is used to study the influence of the structural parameters and spatial position parameters of obstacles of different shapes, and the comprehensive performance of different obstacles is compared by the TNO multi-energy method. The results show that the semi-cylindrical surface can control the separation distance within 141 m at a lower processing cost, which has good engineering utilization value. This study can provide a valuable reference for the design of nuclear hydrogen production systems.

Particle swarm optimization algorithm with Gaussian exponential model to predict daily and monthly global solar radiation in Northeast China.

Reliable global solar radiation (Rs) information is crucial for the design and management of solar energy systems for agricultural and industrial production. However, Rs measurements are unavailable in many regions of the world, which impedes the development and application of solar energy. To accurately estimate Rs, particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm integrating Gaussian exponential model (GEM) was proposed for estimating daily and monthly global Rs in Northeast China. The PSO-GEM was compared with four other machine learning models and two empirical models to assess its applicability using daily meteorological data from 1997 to 2016 from four stations in Northeast China. The results showed that in different stations, the PSO-GEM with full climatic data as inputs showed the highest accuracy to estimate daily Rs with RMSE, RRMSE, MAE, R2, and Ens values of 1.045-1.719MJm-2d-1, 7.6-12.7%, 0.801-1.283MJm-2d-1, 0.953-0.981, and 0.946-0.977, respectively. The PSO-GEM showed the highest accuracy to estimate monthly Rs with RMSE, RRMSE, MAE, R2, and Ens values of 0.197-0.575MJm-2d-1, 1.5-7.0%, 0.137-0.499MJm-2d-1, 0.999-1, and 0.992-0.999, respectively. Overall, the PSO-GEM had the highest accuracy under different inputs and is recommended for modeling daily and monthly Rs in Northeast China.

Human-centric production system simulation in mixed reality: An exemplary case of logistic facility design

A production system with manual operations tends to suffer from variations in system performance induced by individual differences of human actions. To re-design the system under such uncertainty can be time-consuming without the support of advanced simulation tools. Hence, this research proposes a novel idea of production system simulation in mixed reality (MR) that facilitates production planning involving human operators. An exemplary case of logistic facility design demonstrates a MR-based planning tool implementing this idea. In this case, a manager and an operator, both wearing a HoloLens, simultaneously collaborate in a facility constructed by overlaying virtual equipment with existing one in real environment. The manager attempts to adjust the production parameters in the facility to reach a new target created by mixed-model production, while the operator accomplishes manual tasks related to material transportation and storage. The planning results show that the MR tool is advantageous over traditional simulation software in terms of planning quality and flexibility. This work validates the feasibility of MR as a new approach to realizing human-centric production system design.

A skill- and feature-based approach to planning process monitoring in assembly planning

Frequent changes in customer needs and large product variety are forcing manufacturing companies to move from mass production to mass customization. Customized production can be achieved by introducing reconfigurable production systems (RMS). The customized flexibility and several characteristics of RMSs provide many opportunities in terms of process and production planning. However, those characteristics greatly increase the complexity of the design and planning of production systems. This paper presents a decision support system relying on a skill-based approach to design a reconfigurable assembly line considering the planning of assembly processes and monitoring. The proposed decision aid system is modular in design and is composed of four modules. The main input data is a CAD model of a new product variant for the identification of the assembly and monitoring requirements. Besides, a current assembly system layout with its resource descriptions exists. In the first developed module, assembly-by-disassembly and a skill-based approach are used to generate different assembly plans. In the second module, feature recognition and skill-based approaches generate process monitoring alternatives. The third module uses a linear program (LP) that aims to minimize the total cost of workstation activation and reconfiguration, as well as cycle time, and to maximize the process quality of the assembly tasks. A user-based generative model design approach is applied to optimize the values of three objective functions. In the fourth and final module, a simulation of the optimized assembly plan allows either the validation of the assembly plan and process monitoring plan or initiates a new iteration due to their infeasibility. To further demonstrate how the proposed methodology works, some computational experiments are provided for two use cases.

Computer-Aided Design Methods in Virtual Reality Product Development

In order to improve the effectiveness of virtual reality product design, this paper combines the computer-aided design method to construct a virtual reality product development system and analyzes the elements, architecture, and calculation steps of the virtual reality model in detail. Moreover, from the research on the color appearance phenomenon, this paper leads to the improvement direction of improving the virtual reality model. In addition, this paper discusses the advantages of the virtual reality product design model and its feasibility as a PCS link space to undertake the task of color appearance transformation. The experimental research analysis shows that the virtual reality product design system based on computer-aided technology proposed in this paper has good effects and can effectively improve the effect of virtual reality product design.

Secondary Development of CAD Software for the Construction of Mechanical Product Design System

Computer-Aided Design and Applications is an international journal on the applications of CAD and CAM. It publishes papers in the general domain of CAD plus in emerging fields like bio-CAD, nano-CAD, soft-CAD, garment-CAD, PLM, PDM, CAD data mining, CAD and the internet, CAD education, genetic algorithms and CAD engines. The journal is aimed at all developers and users of CAD technology to ptovide CAD solutions for various stages of design and manufacturing. The journal publishes all about Computer-Aided Design and Computer-Aided technologies.

Interactive Product Design System Based on Intelligent Space Decomposition Technology and Internet of Things Technology

In order to improve the effect of interactive product design, this paper combines intelligent space decomposition technology and Internet of Things technology to construct an interactive product design system. Moreover, this paper applies the interactive signal transmission technology to the interactive product design to improve the real-time information transmission quality of the interactive product. In addition, this paper selects the appropriate filter as the hardware foundation of the system, proposes the overall concept of digital constant ratio timing, and provides sufficient theoretical support for the analog-digital mixing and digital processing links involved in the system. Finally, this paper constructs a system model and combines the experimental research to verify that the interactive product design system based on the intelligent space decomposition technology and the Internet of Things technology can effectively improve the product design effect.

A modelling framework to support integrated design of production systems at early design stages

Multidisciplinary, large scale, and dynamic essence of production-logistic systems make their design knowledge complex. As a result, designers from different disciplines mostly design these systems with sequential approaches. This does not address the impact of single design decisions on overall system performance, which may lead to inconsistencies between different disciplines or failures. This paper aims to realise the integrated design of such systems by introducing a framework that incorporates Systems Engineering and Object-Oriented methods to develop a model that holistically embodies design knowledge of such systems. This model is constructed in Finite-State-Machine formalism to achieve an executable architecture and integrated with optimization models to allow simulation of alternatives and to observe the impact of design decisions on system behaviour. Supportive algorithms are introduced for refinements of design alternatives according to the simulation results. A fuzzy assessment approach is introduced to also assess the alternatives against qualitative criteria. The framework integrates simulation and fuzzy assessment results and performs a multi-criteria assessment to select an alternative for the detailed design. Therefore, the framework can stand as a decision support framework at early design stages, giving insights to designers about the impact of single design decisions on system overall performance and satisfaction of various objectives.

Exploring Alternatives for Sustainable Development of Mixed Vegetable Beef-cattle Family Farm Systems in Southern Uruguay

Sustainability of most vegetable family farms in Southern Uruguay is threatened by low income and the deterioration of natural resources. This study quantified the effect of the inclusion of different alternatives of livestock production in the structure, and economic and environmental performance of different types of vegetable farms. Based on two farms as case studies, we conducted a model based exploratory study at farm scale. The results suggested that the inclusion of livestock production in vegetable family farms is a key factor in reducing erosion of the cultivated area. To reduce erosion, the model reduced the area of vegetables per farm, while expanding the area of forage production. As a consequence, family farm income (IF) was reduced between 12 % and 31 % depending on the case studied. However, we could design production systems with erosion lower than the tolerance limit for the soil type and higher IF, relative to the target, in both farms. From the livestock production alternatives evaluated, the most appropriate ones to include in vegetable production systems are fattening steers or heifers in cycles of 14 to 18 months, due to lower cost for restocking and less use of concentrates, reducing capital requirements and dependence on external inputs.

A Reconfigurable Multirobot Cooperation Workcell for Personalized Manufacturing

Most robotic systems designed for mass manufacturing are optimized for a specific type of product. They generally lack the ability to adapt to low-volume customized products. In this article, we present a system based on a modular design for manufacturing personalized medical stent graft implants. The concept is based on learning-by-demonstration by integrating real-time 3-D vision, multirobot collaboration, and personalization to guide the robots to learn and execute tasks continuously with adaptation to different implant geometry. The system is optimized to generate customized and collision-free paths for efficient object manipulation and task completion. We show that the system is generalizable to different stent graft designs and the proposed multirobot system can seamlessly work together with high efficiency without collisions. The results have also suggested its usability for other manipulation tasks, especially for flexible production of customized products where bimanual or multirobot cooperation is required. <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Note to Practitioners</i> —The motivation of this article is the problem of automatic sewing of personalized stent grafts (a tailor-made artificial vessel). Existing personalized stent grafts are mostly hand sewn, which is time consuming and often undersupplied. Automating such process can significantly improve the production and this requires a sewing system that can handle different designs. This article suggests a new schema to design a robotic system to handle personalized designs. The first methodology is modularized design to separate the task into a repetitive part and a personalized part, each handled by a module. The second methodology is to find the best relative pose between the modules such that the robots can complete their task within their working space and with minimum motion. This ensures that a stent graft can be sewn feasibly and with the lowest cost. Computational results show this approach can find optimal solution for different personalized stent grafts and preliminary on robot experiment verifies that this approach is feasible. Please note that this approach is not limited to sewing personalized stent graft. The schema can be applied to solve similar problem of customized product motion planning and system design.