Operation and Maintenance of Small-Scale Biogas Digesters: Scoping Review and Bibliometric Analysis of Literature

Biogas technology has matured over the years and is gaining acceptance; however, challenges with optimum operation and maintenance of digesters are a massive hurdle for developing countries that threaten the successful adoption of the technology. The failures of biogas digesters leading to the low diffusion of the technology in developing countries have been attributed to several factors spanning from social to technical. This study employed a scoping review and bibliometric analysis to synthesize literature in the Scopus database to map and discuss scientific knowledge. The synthesized data suggest the need for real-time monitoring systems for the optimal operations and maintenance of small-scale biogas digesters. A bibliometric analysis with the VOSviewer software of the study suggested that there is limited research output from developing countries such as Ghana. It, therefore, necessitates the need for conscious commitments from stakeholders to invest resources to advance research to address the challenge.

WSN hardware for automotive applications: Preliminary results for the case of public transportation

The ubiquitous nature and great potential of Wireless Sensors Network has not yet been fully exploited in automotive applications. This work deals with the choice of the cost-effective hardware required to face the challenges and issues proposed by the new trend in the development of intelligent transportation systems. With this aim, a preliminary WSN architecture is proposed. Several commercially available open-source platforms are compared and the Raspberry Pi stood out as a suitable and viable solution. The sensing layer is designed with two goals. Firstly, accelerometric, temperature, and relative humidity sensors were integrated on a dedicated PCB to test if mechanical or environmental stresses during bus rides could be harmful to the device or to its performances. The physical quantities are monitored automatically to alert the driver, thus improving the quality of service. Then, the rationale and functioning of the management and service layer is presented. The proposed cost-effective WSN node was employed and tested to transmit messages and videos, while investigating if any quantitative relationship exists between these operations and the environmental and operative conditions experienced by the hardware

A review of the 'smart technology' currently being explored globally and its potential impact upon the construction industry on a micro level

The following paper will review literature that covers the use of ‘Smart Technology’ and ‘Big Data’ in the context of Smart Cities currently being explored globally. By investigating into the perceived benefits of implementing the digital economy in to essential infrastructure the paper will look at how the construction industry can benefit. The literature covered found that through the adoption of Smart Technology within a Smart City framework there are benefits available for all industries; such as greater efficiencies and forecasting ability, resulting in savings. However the integration of real time data on-site could possess great potential for construction managers as they look to make more informed and accurate decisions. However the extents of the benefits are unclear as many pieces of literature state that the potential use of Big Data is almost unimaginable currently. Urbanisation is forcing city authorities to adopt more strategic approaches to their decision making processes which has resulted in the emergence of ‘Smart Cities’. Case studies around the globe have shown promising and innovative potential for a range of stakeholders. These are promising signs for the industry as it still seeks considerable investment and testing before it can be scaled up. However further work should look to investigate first-hand how construction managers could benefit from open source ‘Big Data’ collected by city authorities. This would add evidence to the many theoretical benefits that are possible

Towards 6G-Enabled Internet of Things with IRS-Empowered Backscatter-Assisted WPCNs

Wireless powered communication networks (WPCNs) are expected to play a key role in the forthcoming 6G systems. However, they have not yet found their way to large-scale practical implementations due to their inherent shortcomings such as the low efficiency of energy transfer and information transmission. In this thesis, we aim to study the integration of WPCNs with other novel technologies of backscatter communication and intelligent reflecting surface (IRS) to enhance the performance and improve the efficiency of these networks so as to prepare them for being seamlessly fitted into the 6G ecosystem. We first study the incorporation of backscatter communication into conventional WPCNs and investigate the performance of backscatter-assisted WPCNs (BS-WPCNs). We then study the inclusion of IRS into the WPCN environment, where an IRS is used for improving the performance of energy transfer and information transmission in WPCNs. After that, the simultaneous integration of backscatter communication and IRS technologies into WPCNs is investigated, where the analyses show the significant performance gains that can be achieved by this integration

Marshall Space Flight Center Research and Technology Report 2019

Today, our calling to explore is greater than ever before, and here at Marshall Space Flight Centerwe make human deep space exploration possible. A key goal for Artemis is demonstrating and perfecting capabilities on the Moon for technologies needed for humans to get to Mars. This years report features 10 of the Agencys 16 Technology Areas, and I am proud of Marshalls role in creating solutions for so many of these daunting technical challenges. Many of these projects will lead to sustainable in-space architecture for human space exploration that will allow us to travel to the Moon, on to Mars, and beyond. Others are developing new scientific instruments capable of providing an unprecedented glimpse into our universe. NASA has led the charge in space exploration for more than six decades, and through the Artemis program we will help build on our work in low Earth orbit and pave the way to the Moon and Mars. At Marshall, we leverage the skills and interest of the international community to conduct scientific research, develop and demonstrate technology, and train international crews to operate further from Earth for longer periods of time than ever before first at the lunar surface, then on to our next giant leap, human exploration of Mars. While each project in this report seeks to advance new technology and challenge conventions, it is important to recognize the diversity of activities and people supporting our mission. This report not only showcases the Centers capabilities and our partnerships, it also highlights the progress our people have achieved in the past year. These scientists, researchers and innovators are why Marshall and NASA will continue to be a leader in innovation, exploration, and discovery for years to come

Mission Aware Energy Saving Strategies For Army Ground Vehicles

Fuel energy is a basic necessity for this planet and the modern technology to perform many activities on earth. On the other hand, quadrupled automotive vehicle usage by the commercial industry and military has increased fuel consumption. Military readiness of Army ground vehicles is very important for a country to protect its people and resources. Fuel energy is a major requirement for Army ground vehicles. According to a report, a department of defense has spent nearly $13.6 billion on fuel and electricity to conduct ground missions. On the contrary, energy availability on this plant is slowly decreasing. Therefore, saving energy in Army ground vehicles is very important. Army ground vehicles are embedded with numerous electronic systems to conduct missions such as silent and normal stationary surveillance missions. Increasing electrical energy consumption of these systems is influencing higher fuel consumption of the vehicle. To save energy, the vehicles can use any of the existing techniques, but they require complex, expensive, and time consuming implementations. Therefore, cheaper and simpler approaches are required. In addition, the solutions have to save energy according to mission needs and also overcome size and weight constraints of the vehicle. Existing research in the current literature do not have any mission aware approaches to save energy. This dissertation research proposes mission aware online energy saving strategies for stationary Army ground vehicles to save energy as well as to meet the electrical needs of the vehicle during surveillance missions. The research also proposes theoretical models of surveillance missions, fuzzy logic models of engine and alternator efficiency data, and fuzzy logic algorithms. Based on these models, two energy saving strategies are proposed for silent and normal surveillance type of missions. During silent mission, the engine is on and batteries power the systems. During normal surveillance mission, the engine is on, gear is on neutral position, the vehicle is stationary, and the alternator powers the systems. The proposed energy saving strategy for silent surveillance mission minimizes unnecessary battery discharges by controlling the power states of systems according to the mission needs and available battery capacity. Initial experiments show that the proposed approach saves 3% energy when compared with the baseline strategy for one scenario and 1.8% for the second scenario. The proposed energy saving strategy for normal surveillance mission operates the engine at fuel-efficient speeds to meet vehicle demand and to save fuel. The experiment and simulation uses a computerized vehicle model and a test bench to validate the approach. In comparison to vehicles with fixed high-idle engine speed increments, experiments show that the proposed strategy saves fuel energy in the range of 0-4.9% for the tested power demand range of 44-69 kW. It is hoped to implement the proposed strategies on a real Army ground vehicle to start realizing the energy savings

A novel smart energy management as a service over a cloud computing platform for nanogrid appliances

There will be a dearth of electrical energy in the world in the future due to exponential increase in electrical energy demand of rapidly growing world population. With the development of Internet of Things (IoT), more smart appliances will be integrated into homes in smart cities that actively participate in the electricity market by demand response programs to efficiently manage energy in order to meet this increasing energy demand. Thus, with this incitement, the energy management strategy using a price-based demand response program is developed for IoT-enabled residential buildings. We propose a new EMS for smart homes for IoT-enabled residential building smart devices by scheduling to minimize cost of electricity, alleviate peak-to-average ratio, correct power factor, automatic protective appliances, and maximize user comfort. In this method, every home appliance is interfaced with an IoT entity (a data acquisition module) with a specific IP address, which results in a wide wireless system of devices. There are two components of the proposed system: software and hardware. The hardware is composed of a base station unit (BSU) and many terminal units (TUs). The software comprises Wi-Fi network programming as well as system protocol. In this study, a message queue telemetry transportation (MQTT) broker was installed on the boards of BSU and TU. In this paper, we present a low-cost platform for the monitoring and helping decision making about different areas in a neighboring community for efficient management and maintenance, using information and communication technologies. The findings of the experiments demonstrated the feasibility and viability of the proposed method for energy management in various modes. The proposed method increases effective energy utilization, which in turn increases the sustainability of IoT-enabled homes in smart cities. The proposed strategy automatically responds to power factor correction, to protective home appliances, and to price-based demand response programs to combat the major problem of the demand response programs, which is the limitation of consumer’s knowledge to respond upon receiving demand response signals. The schedule controller proposed in this paper achieved an energy saving of 6.347 kWh real power per day, this paper achieved saving 7.282 kWh apparent power per day, and the proposed algorithm in our paper saved $2.3228388 per day

Clean energy and environment: combating climate change by Hong Kong researchers and professionals

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