Carbon dioxide capture from Flue gases

Global warming and climate change are believed to be caused by the greenhouse effect. CO2 has been regarded as the main contributor to global climate change which directly results in serious environmental problems. Half of the anthropogenic CO2 emission sources are emitted from the combustion of fossil fuels in industries and power plants worldwide. The absorption behavior of Carbon dioxide from flue gases can be studied using conventional absorber and polymeric hollow fiber membrane contractors. An industrial absorber data was compared with simulated data using hollow fiber membrane contractor using the gPROMs software package. In this analysis, with the absorbent solution flowing in the inner side of the fiber bore and the pure gas in the shell, the module was operated in a non-wetted mode. The derived coupled, non-linear partial differential equations were solved by backward finite difference method. The Diethanolamine (DEA) was used as absorbent. The outlet absorbed Carbon dioxide concentration was simulated and studied with respect to the liquid velocity, initial amine concentration and external mass transfer coefficient. The analysis includes the effects of the diameter and length of the fibers on the liquid outlet gas concentration as a function of the liquid velocity in the fiber. It was found that the liquid velocity and initial absorbent concentrations, as well as the fiber inner diameter and length, have a tremendous effect on the Carbon dioxide removal performance

ワジ流域における土砂動態の評価および予測のためのモニタリングおよびモデリング技術の統合化に関する研究

京都大学新制・課程博士博士(工学)甲第25260号工博第5219号京都大学大学院工学研究科都市社会工学専攻(主査)教授 角 哲也, 教授 山上 路生, 教授 中谷 加奈学位規則第4条第1項該当Doctor of Philosophy (Engineering)Kyoto UniversityDGA

A Framework for Providing Augmented Reality as a Service Provided by Cloud Computing for E-Learning

The main objective of the proposed study is to develop an e-learning system using augmented reality technology one of the main problems faces using AR in education is the huge computational power needed to transfer 2D animation to enrich learning facilities. Such problem increases when using smart mobile devices that suffer from hardware limitation. A promising framework is used to utilize cloud services to support augmented reality applications on the cloud. Such method significantly reduces consumption of memory and processing units when dealing with large size videos or images. Hence the augmented reality processing is speeded up to meet the requirements of E-learning systems. The proposed work was conducted on 100 students from different academic levels in the first semester of the year 2022. Three experiments were conducted for different fields of education including two-dimensional images using Unity Program (3D Software) to draw 3D objects and Vufoira software development kit. The experimental results showed promising results as the application has the flexibility to work on different platforms. Moreover the consumed memory to run the application is reduced significantly. The results also showed high performance for the application when drawing complex 3D images and when dealing with different animations. The study supported with a detailed questioner that proofs the importance of AR in the field of E-learning

Effects of time, temperature, and solvent ratio on the extraction of non-extractable polyphenols with anticancer activity of barhi date palm kernels extracts using response surface methodology

Abstract: Dietary polyphenols exist in two forms; extractable polyphenols (EPP) or compounds solubilised by aqueous/organic solvents, and non-extractable polyphenols (NEPP) or compounds remain in the corresponding residues after the extraction. At present, most researchers focus on EEP fractions, while NEPP is neglected. Thus, this study aimed to release NEPP from the remaining powder residue of Barhi date palm kernels (BDPK) with acid hydrolysis. The related extraction conditions were determined and optimised using response surface methodology (RSM) for maximisation of NEPP with highest cytotoxic and antioxidant activities. The face-centred central composite design (FCCCD) was used to establish treatments based on three independent variables, namely; extraction temperature, time, and solvent/sample ratio. Under the optimal conditions, the experimental values for DPPH radical-scavenging capacity of NEPP (IC50=57.52µg/mL), and cytotoxicity of NEPP against A549 and HT29 cells were IC50=17.4 µg/mL and 31.4µg/mL, respectively. The experimental values were in agreement with those predicted by RSM models, confirming the suitability of the model employed and the success of RSM for optimisation of the extraction conditions for NEPP from BDPK. These results indicate that NEPP from industrial date fruit waste could be a promising candidate as natural antioxidants with significant antiproliferation effect against A549 and HT29 cancer cells in-vitro

Hepatic or Cystic Artery Pseudoaneurysms Following a Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy : Literature review of aetiopathogenesis, presentation, diagnosis and management

Pseudoaneurysms (PSAs) of the hepatic and/or cystic artery are a rare complication following a laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC). Generally, PSA cases present with haemobilia several weeks following the procedure. Transarterial embolisation (TAE) is considered the optimal management approach. We report a 70-year-old woman who presented to the Sultan Qaboos University Hospital, Muscat, Oman, in 2016 with massive hemoperitoneum two weeks after undergoing a LC procedure in another hospital. She was successfully managed using coil TAE. An extensive literature review revealed 101 cases of hepatic or cystic artery PSAs following a LC procedure. Haemobilia was the main presentation (85.1%) and the mean time of postoperative presentation was 36 days. The hepatic artery was involved in most cases (88.1%), followed by the cystic artery (7.9%) and a combination of both (4.0%). Most cases were managed with TAE (72.3%), with a 94.5% success rate. The overall mortality rate was 2.0%

Rare Earth Elements Around the Barakah Nuclear Power Plant, UAE

© 2020, International Association for Mathematical Geosciences. Rare earth element (REE) contamination has major consequences for the environment and humans. Some forms of REEs have more serious environmental impacts than others. It is thus crucial to monitor their levels in areas where they are expected to be released. Concentrations of 13 REEs (La, Pr, Nd, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb, and Lu) around the Barakah nuclear power plant (NPP) area, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE), were measured. Shore, soil, and marine samples were collected. REE concentrations were measured using inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy. On average, REE concentrations were highest in the soil samples, followed by the marine samples and then the shore samples. La and Nd were the most abundant REEs in the soil, marine, and shore. The average (La/Yb)n ratios for shore, soil, and marine samples were 8.96, 9.75, and 9.39, respectively. The REE concentrations were strongly positively correlated with Al2O3 values, suggesting low mobility of the REEs in the Barakah NPP area. Light REEs (LREEs) were more enriched than heavy REEs (HREEs). The shore samples have minor enrichments in La and Tm. Otherwise, based on enrichment factors that do not exceed 1.2 and geoaccumulation indices that were all below zero, the Barakah NPP area was considered uncontaminated with REEs. This area was not polluted according to the pollution load indices (0.67, 0.52, and 0.17 for shore, soil, and marine sediments, respectively). The spatial distribution maps show the highest concentrations of REEs in the south area of the Barakah NPP. Overall, the Barakah NPP area does not have any alarming REE concentrations, and the baseline values were provided as a reference for future comparisons

Does Green Supply Chain Management Influence to Suppliers’ Performance? Mediating Role of Social Capital

Present study is ascertain to elaborate the role of green supply chain management towards the suppliers’ performance. Further, the role of social capital as a potential mediator is also explored in the Thai business to business (B2B) context. Data was collected by using the survey questionnaires. Different statistical tests for measurement model and hypothesis testing respectively. Findings highlighted that suppliers’ performance both in environmental and operational terms improves due to the GSCM practices. Furthermore, it also appeared to be the major interpreter for the social capital (rationale and structural). In addition, results also supported the multidimensional impact of social capital on suppliers’ performance. Lastly, both dimensions of the social capital proved to be significant mediator for the relationship between green supply chain management practices and suppliers’ performance. This study comes with the valuable insights to develop understanding about the key role of green supply chain practice and social capital to enhance the suppliers’ performance

A preliminary study of porous ceramics with carbon black contents

This paper is a study of porous ceramics from a mixture of clay (kaolinite), silica (silicon dioxide), and feldspar by adding the carbon black (CB) with different contents. The results were presented in terms of apparent porosity, relative density, microstructure and porous characteristic, flexural strength and phase formation. As observed, the sintering at 1200 ℃ is the optimum temperature in this work. In comparison to the samples without CB content, the apparent porosity and relative density of ceramics are highly dependent on the CB contents. This might be attributed to the presence of porous structure as seen in SEM images on the fracture surface of ceramics. It also revealed that the addition of CB resulted in smaller pore sizes and a more uniform pore distribution. The creation of pores in porous ceramics was mainly attributed to the loss of shape of CB microspheres at high temperatures, as observed from SEM. The flexural strength of the sintered samples exhibited an average decrease from 60 to 55 MPa due to the presence of CB, which is typically known to reduce the mechanical properties with high porosity. In XRD results, the muscovite phase is represented by a few of peaks with significant intensities, while the rest peaks are of undetermined phase. The strongest peak at a 26° of 2θ angle, suggesting the presence of potassium and aluminium in the form of silicate minerals

Mobile laser scanning to spatially update the city infrastructure networks.

This research discusses a more efficient geospatial monitoring technique for city infrastructure networks. It will concentrate on polyethylene city infrastructure materials, where power, water and communication networks are covered or protected by polyethylene materials. A technical comparison is conducted between current and proposed geospatial monitoring techniques in order to develop an overall performance evaluation. The mobile laser scanning technology achieved the best performance evaluation, where detailed data analysis and collection, mobile laser missions, modeling and interpretation, and system geometrical corrections for location and orientation have also been conducted. Prior to conducting the performance evaluation, the research investigates mobile laser behavior and recognition capabilities with respect to Polyethylene City infrastructure materials. After analyzing the mobile laser pulses behavior, and its correlations with the mission ground speed and exposed scanned surface, it is concluded that the mobile laser pulses response is constant for the Polyethylene City infrastructure materials. The concluded mobile laser pulses constant is utilized to develop a mathematical model for re-planning the mobile laser scanning missions to obtain the best model for monitoring the Polyethylene City infrastructure networks