2,518 research outputs found
Implementing Environmental Indexing and Monitoring at the Technological University of Panama
The Technological University of Panama (UTP) is positioning itself as a leader in sustainability in Panama. Our team developed a sustainability reporting plan for UTP that allows comparison to other universities and provides clear steps for improvement on campus. We also prototyped a wireless air quality sensor network as another facet of UTP\u27s environmental reporting. Recommendations include offering general sustainability courses, implementing an expanded air quality monitoring network, and installing resource efficient appliances in the ongoing construction
Socio-economic and Environmental Perspectives of Sustainable Watershed Eco-System in Union Territory of Pondicherry
The study conducted in the Karaikal region of the Union Territory of Pondicherry during 2004-05 has made a comparison of watershed and conventional systems. The crop diversification index has been found 0.28 in watershed and 0.32 in the conventional system. The study has revealed that nearly all the farmers in the watershed and only 40 per cent in the conventional system apply organic fertilizers. Moreover, farmers apply more fertilizers in the conventional (235 kg/ha) than watershed (210 kg/ha) system. The index of yield stability for all the crops has been found to be 0.98 in the watershed and 0.84 in the conventional system. The gross return has been found higher by 11.65 per cent, and net return by 32.18 per cent in the watershed than the conventional system. The input self-sufficiency ratio has been found to be 0.52 in the watershed and 0.47 in the conventional system. The analysis has indicated that if the agricultural income were considered, there has been no significant variation in food security in the two systems. The analysis has further revealed that there is a potential in promoting watershed system of farming for which it is necessary to devise policies that will provide incentives to watershed farmers both directly and indirectly. Until effective biological measures of soil fertilization are introduced, polices could be adopted to promote the application of biological and chemical fertilizers in a balanced way, so as to maintain soil structure and sustain or increase crop yields.Agricultural and Food Policy,
Hybrid techniques to enhance solar thermal: the way forward
Solar is one of the pillars for clean and environment friendly energy. The drawback of the solar is the interruption during the night and cloudy and rainy weather. This paper presents the authorās experience on enhancing the solar thermal systems by integration techniques with either other energy resources or thermal energy storages (TES). The present works includes the hybrid solar drying through integration with thermal backup unit. The experimental results on hybrid drying showed enhancement of 64.1% for Empty Fruit Bunch, and 61.1% for chili pepper, compared with open solar mode drying. Secondly, solar water heating was proved to be sufficient to supply hot water during the day and night time by integration with TES. The experimented system was able to maintain the water hot up to the next morning. On large scale and industrial application, experimental results on modified inclined solar chimney had shown enhancement via integration with wasted flue gas. By this technique, the system was developed to operate 24 hours a day. The efficiency was enhanced by 100% in case of hybrid operation compared with solar mode operation. The research results are demonstrating that the integration techniques can contribute effectively in enhancing the performance of the thermal solar systems.The author acknowledges Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS for providing the financial, technical and logistic support to execute the solar hybrid program. The program is sponsored under many internal research funds, e.g. STIRF no. 24/07.08, STIRF no. 44/08.09, URIF 19/2012 and URIF 22/2013. Ministry of Higher Education of Malaysia is acknowledged for providing the research fund of the solar hybrid drying program under PRGS scheme
Energy-Efficient Power Allocation in OFDM Systems with Wireless Information and Power Transfer
This paper considers an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM)
downlink point-to-point system with simultaneous wireless information and power
transfer. It is assumed that the receiver is able to harvest energy from noise,
interference, and the desired signals.
We study the design of power allocation algorithms maximizing the energy
efficiency of data transmission (bit/Joule delivered to the receiver). In
particular, the algorithm design is formulated as a high-dimensional non-convex
optimization problem which takes into account the circuit power consumption,
the minimum required data rate, and a constraint on the minimum power delivered
to the receiver. Subsequently, by exploiting the properties of nonlinear
fractional programming, the considered non-convex optimization problem, whose
objective function is in fractional form, is transformed into an equivalent
optimization problem having an objective function in subtractive form, which
enables the derivation of an efficient iterative power allocation algorithm. In
each iteration, the optimal power allocation solution is derived based on dual
decomposition and a one-dimensional search. Simulation results illustrate that
the proposed iterative power allocation algorithm converges to the optimal
solution, and unveil the trade-off between energy efficiency, system capacity,
and wireless power transfer: (1) In the low transmit power regime, maximizing
the system capacity may maximize the energy efficiency. (2) Wireless power
transfer can enhance the energy efficiency, especially in the interference
limited regime.Comment: 6 pages, Accepted for presentation at the IEEE International
Conference on Communications (ICC) 201
A high speed Tri-Vision system for automotive applications
Purpose: Cameras are excellent ways of non-invasively monitoring the interior and exterior of vehicles. In particular, high speed stereovision and multivision systems are important for transport applications such as driver eye tracking or collision avoidance. This paper addresses the synchronisation problem which arises when multivision camera systems are used to capture the high speed motion common in such applications.
Methods: An experimental, high-speed tri-vision camera system intended for real-time driver eye-blink and saccade measurement was designed, developed, implemented and tested using prototype, ultra-high dynamic range, automotive-grade image sensors specifically developed by E2V (formerly Atmel) Grenoble SA as part of the European FP6 project ā sensation (advanced sensor development for attention stress, vigilance and sleep/wakefulness monitoring).
Results : The developed system can sustain frame rates of 59.8 Hz at the full stereovision resolution of 1280āĆā480 but this can reach 750 Hz when a 10 k pixel Region of Interest (ROI) is used, with a maximum global shutter speed of 1/48000 s and a shutter efficiency of 99.7%. The data can be reliably transmitted uncompressed over standard copper Camera-LinkĀ® cables over 5 metres. The synchronisation error between the left and right stereo images is less than 100 ps and this has been verified both electrically and optically. Synchronisation is automatically established at boot-up and maintained during resolution changes. A third camera in the set can be configured independently. The dynamic range of the 10bit sensors exceeds 123 dB with a spectral sensitivity extending well into the infra-red range.
Conclusion: The system was subjected to a comprehensive testing protocol, which confirms that the salient requirements for the driver monitoring application are adequately met and in some respects, exceeded. The synchronisation technique presented may also benefit several other automotive stereovision applications including near and far-field obstacle detection and collision avoidance, road condition monitoring and others.Partially funded by the EU FP6 through the IST-507231 SENSATION project.peer-reviewe
HSE Document Repository for Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS
In recent years, increasing awareness of organisations around the world can be seen in terms of sustainability and environmental management. Higher learning institutions are also actively participating in numerous campaigns to reduce their environmental impacts. Different approaches have been introduced by these organisations as it is influenced by the nature of business and the size of the organisation. Thus, it is of utmost importance for an organisation to take part in this global effort towards better compliance with applicable laws, regulations, and other environmentally oriented requirements. However, the current practice of environmental management of Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS seems quite lacking in a few areas. Therefore, the aim of this research is to study how other universities have incorporated environmental management systems in support of the organizationās sustainability agenda. This will lead towards the development of a web-based HSE Document Repository for Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS as the first step to implement Environmental Management System (EMS). In this research, the focus is placed on the Health, Safety & Environment department of the university as the goal of this department correlates with many environmental aspects. Interviews with the department have been conducted as a mean of needs analysis and to obtain the user requirements. The results obtained showed a few gaps in the current practices of the department in terms of document sharing and expiry dates tracking. After the completion of development, system testing was done where HSE executive and UTP employees participated. Most users agreed that the system achieve its objective in trying to increase the departmentās efficiency and communication effectiveness. The system has successfully solve the problem and is very user-friendly with its direct design of interfaces
Waste Management Plan for the Technological University of Panama: Campus Victor Levi Sasso
With relatively new infrastructure, a rapidly growing population, and a desire for a more sustainable campus, the Technological University of Panama (UTP) seeks to create an advanced waste management system that accommodates all types of waste. By gathering information concerning current waste management, engaging with stakeholders, researching methods for recycling in Panama, and predicting future waste of the campus, we were able to create a comprehensive waste management plan for UTP emphasizing recycling and incorporating all classifications of waste
Carbon Foot Print Calculator
A carbon footprint is the measure of the environmental impact of a particular individual or organization's lifestyle or operation, measured in units of carbon dioxide. Increased carbon footprint yields global warming which is defined as the rise in the average temperature of Earth's atmosphere and oceans since the late 19th century and its projected continuation.
The objective of this project is to calculate carbon footprint of Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS (UTP). The carbon footprint has been estimated after identifying main contributors to the carbon footprint and selecting criteria of calculating. A special calculator has been developed to estimate contribution of UTP to the carbon footprint. The model was developed using Microsoft Excel for simplicity and the results showed that it is capable of predicting the Co2 emissions. Furthermore, the study examined contribution of different emission sources such as transportation and electricity to UTP carbon footprint
Total Water Management System
The purpose of this pilot project is to embark on a total water management system (TWMS)
that enables the efficient and effective management of water by addressing both quantity and
quality aspects through real time water quality monitoring, water usage monitoring and water
leakage monitoring in water distribution network.
TWMS is a previous project embarked on by Universiti Teknologi PERONAS (UTP)
research community, which is a wireless sensor network (WSN) testbed set up in one of the
research laboratories in UTP.
In this project, the major work shall focus on implementing a wireless solution in UTP
students' villages, to provide a WSN data collection for monitoring and analysis purposes
hence the objective is to find an optimal water management solution.
The targeted monitoring and control setup would be the wash rooms located at the selected
levels and selected houses of each male and female village. Wireless sensors that are installed
on the strategic water pipes will be used to measure the water usage, water leakage, and water
quality. All data collected would be transmitted automatically to a lab server for storage,
archive, and analysis. Command and control signaling can be transmitted wirelessly to
control the possible leakages.
The outcome of this project shall provide vital statistics and information on the managing and
control of water losses, which ultimately may contribute to the improvement of the
sustainability of clean water supply and distribution. Moreover this project might provide a
platform for wireless sensor technology to become a strategic enabler for a total water
management syste
A quantitative approach to assessing the technical and economic performance of source containment options for contaminated aquifers
5noThe containment of contaminant plumes to protect groundwater from pollution is recognized as a frequent need in brownfield redevelopment. Plume containment can be physical, with slurry walls, jet grouting etc., or hydraulic, with wells capturing the subsurface flow that crosses the contaminated front (Pump & Treat), or a combination of both types. The choice of the most suitable technique is a difficult task, since various aspects must be taken into consideration. In this paper, we present a framework for evaluating barriers in terms of effectiveness and efficiency, along with a simplified approach for the evaluation of capital and operational costs. The contaminant mass discharge escaping from the containment system is a robust indicator of its effectiveness, and can be derived from modelling results. The abstracted water flowrate is a key indicator of the efficiency and sustainability of each option, especially in the long term. The methodology is tested in a simplified case study and in a real one, highlighting the relevance of modelling results in guiding the choice and design of contaminant source containment systems.openopenCasasso A.; Salomone A.; Bianco C.; Prassede G.; Sethi R.Casasso, A.; Salomone, A.; Bianco, C.; Prassede, G.; Sethi, R
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