68,314 research outputs found
Impact of Stratigraphic Heterogeneity on Hydrocarbon Recovery in Carbonate Reservoirs: Effects of the Continuity of Cemented Sequence Boundaries
Imperial Users onl
Aquaculture systems modeling: an introduction with emphasis on warmwater aquaculture
An introduction to modeling is presented. The basic concepts of systems and models and various types of models and their use in research and in management are described. Guidelines for modeling aquaculture systems are presented: empirical models for the analysis of multivariate datasets and theoretical models based on knowledge of the various processes underlying a system. Examples of two modeling approaches to the production of Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) in ricefields are given in an appendix.Aquaculture systems, Warm-water aquaculture, Modelling
An improved firefly algorithm for optimal microgrid operation with renewable energy
Lately, an electrical network in microgrid system becomes very important to rural or remote areas without connection from primary power grid system. Higher cost of fuels, logistic, spare parts and maintenance affect the cost for operation microgrid generation to supply electrical power for remote areas and rural community. This project proposes an Improved Firefly Algorithm (IFA), which is a improvement of classical Firefly Algorithm (FA) technique using characteristic approach of LĂ©vy flights to solve the optimal microgrid operation. The IFA has been used for optimizing the cost of power generation in microgrid system where daily power balance constraints and generation limits are considered. The microgrid system for this case study considered both of renewable energy plant and conventional generator units. There are two test systems that have been considered as case study. The first test system is a simple microgrid system which consists of three generators. The second test system consists of seven generating units including two wind turbines, three fuel-cell plants and two diesel generators. The IFA method has been implemented using MATLAB software. The results obtained by IFA was compared to FA and other algorithms based on optimal cost, convergence characteristics and robustness to validate the effectiveness of the IFA. It shows that the IFA obtained better results in terms of operating costs compared to FA, Differential Evolution (DE), Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) and Cuckoo Search Algorithm (CSA)
A New Combined Framework for the Cellular Manufacturing Systems Design
Cellular Manufacturing (CM) system has been recognized as an efficient and effective way to improve productivity in a factory. In recent years, there have been continuous research efforts to study different facet of CM system. The literature does not contain much published research on CM design which includes all design aspects. In this paper we provide a framework for the complete CM system design. It combines Axiomatic Design (AD) and Experimental Design (ED) to generate several feasible and potentially profitable designs. The AD approach is used as the basis for establishing a systematic CM systems design structure. ED has been a very useful tool to design and analyze complicated industrial design problems. AD helps secure valid input-factors to the ED. An element of the proposed framework is desmontrate through a numerical example for cell formation with alternative process.Cellular manufacturing; Design methodology Axiomatic Design; Experimental Design.
Linkage between knowledge management practices towards library user’s satisfaction at Malaysian University Libraries
Academic library services have begun to apply various knowledge management (KM)
practices in the provision of library services. KM has been developed to enhance the use
of organizational knowledge through practices and organizational learning. KM
practices include the creation, capture and/or acquisition of knowledge, its retention and
organization, its dissemination and re-use, and general responsiveness to the new
knowledge. The focus of this research is the assessment of KM practices, particularly
creation, acquisition, capture, sharing, recording and preservation, and their effects on
Library User’s Satisfaction (LUS) in Malaysian university libraries. The objective of this
research is the development of a model to enhance KM processes (i.e. Creation,
acquisition, capturing, sharing, recording, and preserving) and to improve library users’
satisfaction. A quantitative approach in research methodology is employed (e.g.
Questionnaire) for the purpose of generating new knowledge and understanding of
library concerns. The findings of this research show that the overall KM practice at six
Malaysian university libraries is at a high level. The findings from the structural model
indicated that two KM processes, namely knowledge creation and acquisition, are not
supported in terms of KM practices at Malaysian university libraries. Other KM
processes, namely capturing, sharing, recording, and preserving are fully supported
towards KM practices in the library. Hence, the major contribution of this research is a
model, namely KM Practice-Library User’s Satisfaction (KMP-LUS) highlighting six
KM processes based on strong Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) fit indices
Holonic supply chain:a study from family-based manufacturing perspective
In the contemporary business environment, to adhere to the need of the customers, caused the shift from mass production to mass-customization. This necessitates the supply chain (SC) to be effective flexible. The purpose of this paper is to seek flexibility through adoption of family-based dispatching rules under the influence of inventory system implemented at downstream echelons of an industrial supply chain network. We compared the family-based dispatching rules in existing literature under the purview of inventory system and information sharing within a supply chain network. The dispatching rules are compared for Average Flow Time performance, which is averaged over the three product families. The performance is measured using extensive discrete event simulation process. Given the various inventory related operational factors at downstream echelons, the present paper highlights the importance of strategically adopting appropriate family-based dispatching rule at the manufacturing end. In the environment of mass customization, it becomes imperative to adopt the family-based dispatching rule from the system wide SC perspective. This warrants the application of intra as well as inter-echelon information coordination. The holonic paradigm emerges in this research stream, amidst the holistic approach and the vital systemic approach. The present research shows its novelty in triplet. Firstly, it provides leverage to manager to strategically adopting a dispatching rule from the inventory system perspective. Secondly, the findings provide direction for the attenuation of adverse impact accruing from demand amplification (bullwhip effect) in the form of inventory levels by appropriately adopting family-based dispatching rule. Thirdly, the information environment is conceptualized under the paradigm of Koestler's holonic theory
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