Monitoring Viscosity of Polymer Products on the Reactor Tank Using IoT-based NodeMCU

Viscosity is one of the critical parameters for polymer products; thus, monitoring the viscosity level is very important to know during the production process and production results. The Polymer Company recently suffered heavy losses due to an explosion in one of its reactor engines, the R306 engine. The investigation results show that the viscosity of the polymer is one of the causes of the heavy workload of the machine, when the viscosity is checked manually. This research was conducted based on these conditions, and a viscosity monitoring device was designed for the 306-tank product. The design used QFD visualization for product design and UML for information system design. In this study, polymer viscosity was measured using the falling ball method with an Infrared Sensor E18-D80NK to obtain the viscosity of polymer products. Viscosity data are configured directly with the Internet of Things using the NodeMCU microcontroller. The design results show that the tool can monitor the viscosity in the tank and provide polymer viscosity information in real-time, thus facilitating decision-making and increasing productivity

An Optimal Smart Tank Juice-level Monitoring System for Beverage Industries: A Case Study of Raha Beverages Company Limited, Arusha, Tanzania

This research article was published by IEIESPC(IEIE Transactions on Smart Processing and Computing), Vol. 11, No. 03, 2021Poor monitoring of levels in juice tanks is among the challenges that beverage industries face when pumping liquid from one tank to another. This leads to spilling fluids, faulty juice tests, and industrial accidents. To keep track of the liquid level in a tank, various approaches have been used. Existing technologies are costly and not interactive, and the majority do not benefit individuals with physical disabilities when manual monitoring is needed. The purpose of this paper is to present an optimal smart tank juice-level monitoring system that can be used in beverage industries. The system is able to monitor the juice level within a tank and regulate a pump using voice commands via Alexa and the Amazon Echo Dot. The proposed system was tested and validated, with key findings being that the developed prototype prevented overflowing, accidents, and changes in juice flavor during the dilution process. This paper contributes to the body of knowledge for food and beverage industries in that engineers and operators of beverage industries can monitor the level of juice in a tank, as well as enhance communication when pumping juice from one tank to another in real time

Stormwater Intelligent Control System (2005)

Water restrictions, pollution control, volume balances, and the emergence of stormwater utilities have lead to the development of an automated intelligent system (“I-Water”) for water use and control. With the use of this system, water stored in stormwater ponds or in the surficial aquifer is not discharged to surface waters because it is used to meet water demands, such as, lawn irrigation, environmental protection, agriculture, drinking and industrial uses. The drop in groundwater levels and the increasing use of reclaimed water illustrates a need for alternative water supplies. Ground water depletion is occurring which is adding to the destruction of wetland areas and reduced spring flows. The supply of available reclaimed water continues to rise but so does the demand for irrigation water. The automation, water quality monitoring, and database that an Intelligent Water (“I-Water”) controller provides can make stormwater reuse systems more feasible thus helping to reduce stormwater pollutant loadings, maintain watershed volume balances, and provide an alternative irrigation water supply. Using advanced technology is an efficient and effective way to manage this valuable freshwater resource. Telecommunications has made it possible to monitor water flow, valves, collect data, read instrumentation such as water quality sensors and control things remotely and in \u27real time\u27. Presented in this report is an automated controller integrating multiple sensors, used to collect data that can be monitored daily (if desired) via home or office computers and that can remotely control the flow of water using home or office computers. The automated controller can be operated at the installation site or via telecommunications from a remote site. The “I-Water” will make stormwater volume control using reuse systems more feasible by decreasing O&M costs. Remote on-line monitoring to provide more reliable data at a greater frequency of collection is possible with the “I-Water” or similar systems. The I-Water” will provide access to pollutant monitoring to assure that the stormwater is safe to use for non-potable purposes. The “I-Water” is available for deployment

Emissions Characterization and Particle Size Distribution from a DPF-Equipped Diesel Truck Fueled with Biodiesel Blends

Biodiesel may be derived from either plant or animal sources, and is usually employed as a compression ignition fuel in a blend with petroleum diesel (PD). Emissions differences between vehicles operated on biodiesel blends and PD have been published previously, but data do not cover the latest engine technologies. Prior studies have shown that biodiesel offers advantages in reducing particulate matter, with either no advantage or a slight disadvantage for oxides of nitrogen emissions. Literature also suggests that diesel engine exhaust particle number emissions are dominated by nucleation mode particles (NMPs) if present, while the mass emissions are dominated by accumulation mode particles (AMPs). This thesis describes a recent study on the emissions impact and exhaust particles size distribution and composition, under steady state condition, of a 2007 medium heavy duty diesel truck (MHDDT) fueled with two biodiesel blends, B20A and B20B, and PD. The truck was tested in a chassis dynamometer laboratory using three steady state driving cycles. The cycles include vehicle run at 20 mph for 30 minutes (MD1), 32 mph for 30 minutes (MD2) and 50 mph for 20 minutes (MD3). Emissions were measured using a full exhaust dilution tunnel equipped with a subsonic venturi and secondary dilution for PM sampling. A fast particle spectrometer (DMS 500) was used to measure the particle number concentration and size distribution from the vehicle exhaust.;The study showed that emissions were more speed dependent than fuel type. For any given cycle, the differences in CO2 and NOx tailpipe emissions produced by the PD, B20A and B20B were statistically insignificant with variations of between 0.5-1.4%, and 0.5-3.4%, respectively at 95% confidence level. The results further showed that, for MD2, CO2 emissions produced were lowest with corresponding highest fuel economy (miles per gallon (mpg) of fuel consumed). The NOx emissions produced for B20A and B20B were slightly higher than those of PD, except for MD2. Generally, low particulate matter (PM) emissions were produced from the test results due to the truck diesel particulate filter (DPF). The carbon monoxide (CO) and hydrocarbon (HC) emissions were also low, with HC being difficult to quantify as a result of oxidation in the DPF.;Analysis of the exhaust particle data showed that, for all of the driving modes, the exhaust particles existed in two distinct modes with the particle number concentration dominated by the NMPs for all three test fuels. The particle mass concentration, dominated by the AMPs, substantially correlated with the pattern observed in the gravimetric PM mass emissions measurement. It was observed that factors such as DPF loading, dilution conditions (temperature, humidity) that are not fuel related strongly affected particle size formation especially in the NMP range. It was also observed that the total exhaust particle number concentration and the geometric mean diameter (GMD) increased with propulsion power. However, the GMD values were typically in the range of 25-40 nm for all driving modes and fuel type combinations. This is further confirmation that exhaust particles were dominated by nanoparticles that have been reported to cause respiratory diseases and other health effects in humans

A tripartite organelle platform links growth factor receptor signaling to mitochondrial metabolism

One open question in the biology of growth factor receptors is how a quantitative input (i.e., ligand concentration) is decoded by the cell to produce specific response(s). Here, we show that an EGFR endocytic mechanism, non-clathrin endocytosis (NCE), which is activated only at high ligand concentrations and targets receptor to degradation, requires a tripartite organelle platform involving the plasma membrane (PM), endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and mitochondria. At these contact sites, EGFR-dependent, ER-generated Ca2+ oscillations are sensed by mitochondria, leading to increased metabolism and ATP production. Locally released ATP is required for cortical actin remodeling and EGFR-NCE vesicle fission. The same biochemical circuitry is also needed for an effector function of EGFR, i.e., collective motility. The multiorganelle signaling platform herein described mediates direct communication between EGFR signaling and mitochondrial metabolism, and is predicted to have a broad impact on cell physiology as it is activated by another growth factor receptor, HGFR/MET.Endocytic control of receptor signaling is emerging as more complex than mere signal attenuation. Here, authors describe an interorganelle platform formed during EGFR endocytosis that allows communication between EGFR and mitochondrial metabolism

Innovative micro-NMR/MRI functionality utilizing flexible electronics and control systems

Das zentrale Thema dieser Arbeit ist die Entwicklung und Integration von flexibler Elektronik für Mikro-Magnetresonanz (MR)-Anwendungen. Zwei wichtige Anwendungen wurden in der Dissertation behandelt; eine Anwendung auf dem Gebiet der Magnetresonanztomographie (MRI) und die andere auf dem Gebiet der Kernspinresonanz (NMR). Die MRI-Anwendung konzentriert sich auf die Lösung der Sicherheits- und Zuverlässigkeitsaspekte von MR-Kathetern. Die NMR-Anwendung stellt einen neuartigen Ansatz zur Steigerung des Durchsatzes bei der NMR-Spektroskopie vor. Der erste Teil der Dissertation behandelt die verschiedenen Technologien die zur Herstellung flexibler Elektronik auf der Mikroskala entwickelt wurden. Die behandelten MR-Anwendungen erfordern die Herstellung von Induktoren, Kondensatoren und Dioden auf flexiblen Substraten. Die erste Technologie, die im Rahmen der Mikrofabrikation behandelt wird, ist das Aufbringen einer leitfähigen Startschicht auf flexiblen Substraten. Es wurden verschiedene Techniken getestet und verglichen. Die entwickelte Technologie ermöglicht die Herstellung einer mehrschichtigen leitfähigen Struktur auf einem flexiblen Substrat (50 $\mu$m Dicke), die sich zum Umwickeln eines schlanken Rohres (>0,5 mm Durchmesser) eignet. Die zweite Methode ist der Tintenstrahldruck von Kondensatoren mit hoher Dichte und niedrigem Verlustkoeffizienten. Zwei dielektrische Tinten auf Polymerbasis wurden synthetisiert, durch die Dispersion von TiO$_2$ und BaTiO$_3$ in Benzocyclobuten (BCB) Polymer. Die im Tintenstrahldruckverfahren hergestellten Kondensatoren zeigen eine relativ hohe Kapazität pro Flächeneinheit von bis zu 69 pFmm$^{-2}$ und erreichen dabei einen Qualitätsfaktor (Q) von etwa 100. Außerdem wurde eine Technik für eine tintenstrahlgedruckte gleichrichtende Schottky-Diode entwickelt. Die letzte behandelte Technologie ist die Galvanisierung der leitenden Startschichten. Die Galvanik ist eine gut erforschte Technologie und ein sehr wichtiger Prozess auf dem Gebiet der Mikrofabrikation. Sie ist jedoch in hohem Maße von der Erfahrung des Bedieners abhängig. Darüber hinaus ist eine präzise Steuerung der Galvanikleistung erforderlich, insbesondere bei der Herstellung kleiner Strukturen, wobei sich die Pulsgalvanik als ein Verfahren erwiesen hat, das ein hohes Maß an Kontrolle über die abgeschiedene Struktur bietet. In diesem Zusammenhang wurde eine hochflexible Stromquelle auf Basis einer Mikrocontroller-Einheit entwickelt, um Genauigkeit in die Erstellung optimaler Galvanikrezepte zu bringen. Die Stromquelle wurde auf Basis einer modifizierten Howland-Stromquelle (MHCS) unter Verwendung eines Hochleistungs-Operationsverstärkers (OPAMP) aufgebaut. Die Stromquelle wurde validiert und verifiziert, und ihre hohe Leistungsfähigkeit wurde durch die Durchführung einiger schwieriger Anwendungen demonstriert, von denen die wichtigste die Verbesserung der Haftung der im Tintenstrahldruckverfahren gedruckten Startschicht auf flexiblen Substraten ist. Der zweite Teil der Dissertation befasst sich mit interventioneller MRT mittels MR-Katheter. MR-Katheter haben potenziell einen erheblichen Einfluss auf den Bereich der minimalinvasiven medizinischen Eingriffe. Implantierte längliche Übertragungsleiter und Detektorspulen wirken wie eine Antenne und koppeln sich an das MR-Hochfrequenz (HF)-Sendefeld an und machen so den Katheter während des Einsatzes in einem MRT-Scanner sichtbar. Durch diese Kopplung können sich die Leiter jedoch erhitzen, was zu einer gefährlichen Erwärmung des Gewebes führt und eine breite Anwendung dieser Technologie bisher verhindert hat. Ein alternativer Ansatz besteht darin, einen Resonator an der Katheterspitze induktive mit einer Oberflächenspule außerhalb des Körpers zu koppeln. Allerdings könnte sich auch dieser Mikroresonator an der Katheterspitze während der Anregungsphase erwärmen. Außerdem ändert sich die Sichtbarkeit der Katheterspitze, wenn sich die axiale Ausrichtung des Katheters während der Bewegung ändert, und kann verloren gehen, wenn die Magnetfelder des drahtlosen Resonators und der externen Spule orthogonal sind. In diesem Beitrag wird die Abstimmkapazität des Mikrodetektors des Katheters drahtlos über eine Impulsfolgensteuerung gesteuert, die an einen HF-Abstimmkreis gesendet wird, der in eine Detektorspule integriert ist. Der integrierte Schaltkreis erzeugt Gleichstrom aus dem übertragenen HF Signal zur Steuerung der Kapazität aus der Ferne, wodurch ein intelligenter eingebetteter abstimmbarer Detektor an der Katheterspitze entsteht. Während der HF-Übertragung erfolgt die Entkopplung durch eine Feinabstimmung der Detektorbetriebsfrequenz weg von der Larmor-Frequenz. Zusätzlich wird ein neuartiges Detektordesign eingeführt, das auf zwei senkrecht ausgerichteten Mikro-Saddle-Spulen basiert, die eine konstante Sichtbarkeit des Katheters für den gesamten Bereich der axialen Ausrichtungen ohne toten Winkel gewährleisten. Das System wurde experimentell in einem 1T MRT-Scanner verifiziert. Der dritte Teil der Dissertation befasst sich mit dem Durchsatz von NMR-Spektroskopie. Flussbasierte NMR ist eine vielversprechende Technik zur Verbesserung des NMR-Durchsatzes. Eine häufige Herausforderung ist jedoch das relativ große Totvolumen im Schlauch, der den NMR-Detektor speist. In diesem Beitrag wird ein neuartiger Ansatz für vollautomatische NMR-Spektroskopie mit hohem Durchsatz und verbesserter Massensensitivität vorgestellt. Der entwickelte Ansatz wird durch die Nutzung von Mikrofluidik-Technologien in Kombination mit Dünnfilm-Mikro-NMR-Detektoren verwirklicht. Es wurde ein passender NMR-Sensor mit einem mikrofluidischen System entwickelt, das Folgendes umfasst: i) einen Mikro-Sattel-Detektor für die NMR-Spektroskopie und ii) ein Paar Durchflusssensoren, die den NMR-Detektor flankieren und an eine Mikrocontrollereinheit angeschlossen sind. Ein mikrofluidischer Schlauch wird verwendet, um eine Probenserie durch den Sondenkopf zu transportieren, die einzelnen Probenbereiche sind durch eine nicht mischbare Flüssigkeit getrennt, das System erlaubt im Prinzip eine unbegrenzte Anzahl an Proben. Das entwickelte System verfolgt die Position und Geschwindigkeit der Proben in diesem zweiphasigen Fluss und synchronisiert die NMR-Akquisition. Der entwickelte kundenspezifische Sondenkopf ist Plug-and-Play-fähig mit marktüblichen NMR-Systemen. Das System wurde erfolgreich zur Automatisierung von flussbasierten NMR-Messungen in einem 500 MHz NMR-System eingesetzt. Der entwickelte Mikro-NMR-Detektor ermöglicht hochauflösende Spektroskopie mit einer NMR-Empfindlichkeit von 2,18 nmol s$^{1/2}$ bei Betrieb der Durchflusssensoren. Die Durchflusssensoren wiesen eine hohe Empfindlichkeit bis zu einem absoluten Unterschied von 0,2 in der relativen Permittivität auf, was eine Differenzierung zwischen den meisten gängigen Lösungsmitteln ermöglichte. Es wurde gezeigt, dass eine vollautomatische NMR-Spektroskopie von neun verschiedenen 120 $\mu$L Proben innerhalb von 3,6 min oder effektiv 15,3 s pro Probe erreicht werden konnte

Electronic nose implementation for biomedical applications

The growing rate of diabetes and undiagnosed diabetes related diseases is becoming a worldwide major health concern. The motivation of this thesis was to make use of a technology called the ‘electronic nose’ (eNose) for diagnosing diseases. It presents a comprehensive study on metabolic and gastro-intestinal disorders, choosing diabetes as a target disease. Using eNose technology with urinary volatile organic compounds (VOCs) is attractive as it allows non-invasive monitoring of various molecular constituents in urine. Trace gases in urine are linked to metabolic reactions and diseases. Therefore, urinary volatile compounds were used for diagnosis purposes in this thesis. The literature on existing eNose technologies, their pros and cons and applications in biomedical field was thoroughly reviewed, especially in detecting headspace of urine. Since the thesis investigates urinary VOCs, it is important to discover the stability of urine samples and their VOCs in time. It was discovered that urine samples lose their stability and VOCs emission after 9 months. A comprehensive study with 137 diabetic and healthy control urine samples was done to access the capability of commercially available eNose instruments for discrimination between these two groups. Metal oxide gas sensor based commercial eNose (Fox 4000, AlphaMOS Ltd) and field asymmetric ion mobility spectrometer (Lonestar, Owlstone Ltd) were used to analyse volatiles in urinary headspace. Both technologies were able to distinguish both groups with sensitivity and specificity of more than 90%. Then the project moved onto developing a Non-dispersive infrared (NDIR) sensor system that is non-invasive, low-cost, precise, rapid, simple and patient friendly, and can be used at both hospitals and homes. NDIR gas sensing is one of the most widely used optical gas detection techniques. NDIR system was used for diagnosing diabetes and gastro related diseases from patient’s wastes. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first and only developed tuneable NDIR eNose system. The developed optical eNose is able to scan the whole infrared range between 3.1μm and 10.5 μm with step size of 20 nm. To simulate the effect of background humidity and temperature on the sensor response, a gas test rig system that includes gas mixture, VOC generator, humidity generator and gas analyser was designed to enable the user to have control of gas flow, humidity and temperature. This also helps to find out system’s sensitivity and selectivity. Finally, after evaluating the sensitivity and selectivity of optical eNose, it was tested on simple and complex odours. The results were promising in discriminating the odours. Due to insufficient sample batches received from the hospital, synthetic urine samples were purchased, and diabetic samples were artificially made. The optical eNose was able to successfully separate artificial diabetic samples from non-diabetic ones

ESSE 2017. Proceedings of the International Conference on Environmental Science and Sustainable Energy

Environmental science is an interdisciplinary academic field that integrates physical-, biological-, and information sciences to study and solve environmental problems. ESSE - The International Conference on Environmental Science and Sustainable Energy provides a platform for experts, professionals, and researchers to share updated information and stimulate the communication with each other. In 2017 it was held in Suzhou, China June 23-25, 2017

Monitoring, Modelling and Management of Water Quality

Different types of pressures, such as nutrients, micropollutants, microbes, nanoparticles, microplastics, or antibiotic-resistant genes, endanger the quality of water bodies. Evidence-based pollution control needs to be built on the three basic elements of water governance: Monitoring, modeling, and management. Monitoring sets the empirical basis by providing space- and time-dependent information on substance concentrations and loads, as well as driving boundary conditions for assessing water quality trends, water quality statuses, and providing necessary information for the calibration and validation of models. Modeling needs proper system understanding and helps to derive information for times and locations where no monitoring is done or possible. Possible applications are risk assessments for exceedance of quality standards, assessment of regionalized relevance of sources and pathways of pollution, effectiveness of measures, bundles of measures or policies, and assessment of future developments as scenarios or forecasts. Management relies on this information and translates it in a socioeconomic context into specific plans for implementation. Evaluation of success of management plans again includes well-defined monitoring strategies. This book provides an important overview in this context

Glass Ceramics Composites Fabricated from Coal Fly Ash and Waste Glass

Great quantities of coal ash are produced in thermal power plants which present a double problem to the society: economical and environmental. This waste is a result of burning of coal at temperatures between 1100-14500C. Fly ash available as fine powder presents a source of important oxides SiO2, Al2O3, Fe2O3, MgO, Na2O, but also consist of small amount of ecologically hazardous oxides such as Cr2O3, NiO, MnO. The combination of the fly ash with waste glass under controlled sintering procedure gave bulk glass-ceramics composite material. The principle of this procedure is presented as a multi barrier concept (1). Many researches have been conducted the investigations for utilization of fly ash as starting material for various glass–ceramics production (2-4). Using waste glass ecologically hazardous components are fixed at the molecular level in the silicate phase and the fabricated new glass-ceramic composites possess significantly higher mechanical properties. The aim of this investigation was to fabricate dense glass ceramic composites using fly ash and waste glass with the potential for its utilization as building material