Design, development, and characterization of low distortion advanced semitransparent photovoltaic glass for buildings applications

Aesthetic appearance of building-integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) products, such as semi-transparent PV (STPV) glass, is crucial for their widespread adoption and contribution to the net-zero energy building (NZEB) goal. However, the visual distortion significantly limits the aesthetics of STPV glass. In this study, we investigate the distortion effect of transparent periodic-micropattern-based thin-film PV (PMPV) panels available in the market. To minimize the visual distortion of such PMPV glass panel types, we design and develop an aperiodic micropattern-based PV (APMP) glass that significantly reduces visual distortion. The developed APMP glass demonstrates a haze ratio of 3.7% compared to the 10.7% of PMPV glass. Furthermore, the developed AMPV glass shows an average visible transmittance (AVT) of 58.3% which is around 1.3 times higher than that of AMPV glass (43.8%). Finally, the measured CIELAB values (L* = 43.2, a* = −1.55, b* = −2.86.) indicate that our developed AMPV glass possesses excellent color neutrality, which makes them suitable for commercial applications. Based on the characterization results, this study will have a significant impact on the areas of smart window glasses that can play a vital role in developing a sustainable environment and enhancing the aesthetical appearance of net-zero energy buildings (NZEB)

Challenges and Prospects of Poultry Industry in Bangladesh

Poultry industry is one of the most promising sectors for Bangladesh. This industry can provide various opportunities to increase GDP growth rate plus equitable distribution through arranging food security as well as ensuring self -employment, creating purchasing power and reducing poverty at a large scale. About 44 per cent of daily human intake of animal protein comes from livestock products. The poultry industry has been supplying quality protein to the people of Bangladesh at the lowest price in the world. The study outlined major concerns focusing on the entire problems. The followings points have been finally consider as comprehensive issues; lack of quality chicks, high price of feed, marketing problem, insufficient bank loan, lack of quality vaccine, the vaccine price is very high and bird flu. It is observed that to import poultry related products huge amount of valuable foreign exchange will be spent. We have proposed for providing subsidy to the local industry and protect safeguard to the local entrepreneurs of the poultry industry. Keywords: Poultry, Problem, Prospect, Dropping, Banglades

Coordination and Supply Chain Optimization of Agricultural Products in Bangladesh under Uncertainty

In this study, we developed four different mathematical formulations for the coordination and three stage supply chain optimization of agricultural products in Bangladesh. This research, we assumed that the farmers-retailers-distributors are coordinated by jointly participation their information. To developed a Mixed Integer Linear Programming (MILP) model and analyze the situation of inadequate production capacity for the producer as the reason for shortages. The producers will coverage these shortages by outsourcing, which decided very beginning of the SCN. This plays a very important role in deciding so as to mitigate these challenges and to extend the system performance and individual gain of the SCN. The coordinated mechanism among the participants of the market has been prominent to realize the best answer. The SCN was modeled using a formulation in MILP that maximizes the total profit and also to validate our proposed model, analyzed the total profit for real data and normal distribution data for various parameters. The formulated MILP model were solved by a mathematical programming language (AMPL) and results obtained by appropriate solver MINOS. Numerical example with the sensitivity of several parameters has been deployed to validate the models. We conclude from this study, profit of all participants increased by SCN coordination system without ant additional investment

Optical and chromaticity properties of metal-dielectric composite-based multilayer thin-film structures prepared by RF magnetron sputtering

Coated glass products, and especially the low-emissivity coatings, have become a common building material used in modern architectural projects. More recently, these material systems became common in specialized glazing systems featuring solar energy harvesting. Apart from achieving the stability of optical parameters in multilayer coatings, it is also important to have improved control over the design of visual color properties of the coated glass. We prepare metal-dielectric composite (MDC)-based multilayer thin-film structures using the radio frequency (RF)-magnetron sputtering deposition and report on their optical and chromaticity properties in comparison with these obtained using pure metal-based Dielectric/Metal/Dielectric (DMD) trilayer structures of similar compositions. Experimentally achieved Hunter L, a, b values of MDC-based multilayer building blocks of coatings provide a new outlook on the engineering of future-generation optical coatings with better color consistency and developing approaches to broaden the range of achievable color coordinates and better environmental stability

Coordination and Three-Stage Supply Chain Optimization of Agricultural Products in Bangladesh Under Uncertainties

Abstract- In this study presents three stage supply chain network (SCN) coordination and profit optimization of agricultural products considering several uncertainties. Most of the agricultural products are in general cost expensive with high risk in probability due to its fluctuating prices. To developed a Mixed Integer Linear Programming (MILP) model and analyze the situation of insufficient production capacity for the producer as the reason for shortages. In this study to investigated supply chain network (SCN) are two distinct freelance supply organizations. SCN management has the difficulties for the disconnected and freelance economic people. Further, fast technological changes and high fight build SCN a lot of complicated. The problem of locating distribution centers (DCs) is one among the foremost necessary problems in design of SCN. The models are applied to a real case of optimization the profit before and after coordination and also to analyze the sensitivity under demand and cost uncertainty. The MILP models consider the facilities are coordinated by mutually sharing information with each other among producer, retailer and distributor. The formulated MILP model is solved by using a mathematical programming language (AMPL) and results obtained by appropriate solver MINOS. Numerical example with the sensitivity of various parameters has been deployed to validate the models. Results show that after coordination, the individual profits could be increased without any extra investment

Energy engineering approach for rural areas cattle farmers in Bangladesh to reduce covid-19 impact on food safety

© 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This paper reports on the optimization of thin-film coating-assisted, self-sustainable, off-grid hybrid power generation systems for cattle farming in rural areas of Bangladesh. Bangladesh is a lower middle-income country with declining rates of poverty among its 160 million people due to persistent economic growth in conjunction with balanced agricultural improvements. Most of the rural households adopt a mixed farming system by cultivating crops and simultaneously rearing livestock. Among the animals raised, cattle are considered as the most valuable asset for the small-/medium-scale farmers in terms of their meat and milk production. Currently, along with the major health issue, the COVID-19 pandemic is hindering the world’s economic growth and has thrust millions into unemployment; Bangladesh is also in this loop. However, natural disasters such as COVID-19 pandemic and floods, largely constrain rural smallholder cattle farmers from climbing out of their poverty. In particular, small-and medium-scale cattle farmers face many issues that obstruct them from taking advantage of market opportunities and imposing a greater burden on their families and incomes. An appropriate measure can give a way to make those cattle farmers’ businesses both profitable and sustainable. Optimization of thin-film coating-assisted, self-sustainable, off-grid hybrid power generation system for cattle farming is a new and forward-looking approach for sustainable development of the livestock sector. In this study, we design and optimize a thin-film coating-assisted hybrid (photovoltaic battery generator) power system by using the Hybrid Optimization of Multiple Energy Resources (HOMER, Version 3.14.0) simulation tool. An analysis of the results has suggested that the off-grid hybrid system is more feasible for small-and medium-scale cattle farming systems with long-term sustainability to overcome the significant challenges faced by smallholder cattle farmers in Bangladesh

Lactic Acid Bacteria Exopolysaccharides Producers: A Sustainable Tool for Functional Foods

Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) used in the food industry, mainly for the production of dairy products, are able to synthetize exopolysaccharides (EPS). EPS play a central role in the assessment of rheological and sensory characteristics of dairy products since they positively influence texture and organoleptic properties. Besides these, EPS have gained relevant interest for pharmacological and nutraceutical applications due to their biocompatibility, non-toxicity and biodegradability. These bioactive compounds may act as antioxidant, cholesterol-lowering, antimicrobial and prebiotic agents. This review provides an overview of exopolysaccharide-producing LAB, with an insight on the factors affecting EPS production, their dairy industrial applications and health benefits

Effects of Rice Straw Supplemented with Urea and Molasses on Intermediary Metabolism of Plasma Glucose and Leucine in Sheep

An isotope dilution method using [U-13C]glucose and [1-13C]leucine (Leu) was conducted to evaluate the effects of rice straw supplemented with urea and molasses (RSUM-diet) on plasma glucose and Leu turnover rates in sheep. Nitrogen (N) balance, rumen fermentation characteristics and blood metabolite concentrations were also determined. Four sheep were fed either mixed hay (MH-diet), or a RSUM-diet with a crossover design for two 21 days period. Feed allowance was computed on the basis of metabolizable energy at maintenance level. The isotope dilution method was performed as the primed-continuous infusion on day 21 of each dietary period. Nitrogen intake was lower (p = 0.01) for the RSUM-diet and N digestibility did not differ (p = 0.57) between diets. Concentrations of rumen total volatile fatty acids tended to be higher (p = 0.09) for the RSUM-diet than the MH-diet. Acetate concentration in the rumen did not differ (p = 0.38) between diets, whereas propionate concentration was higher (p = 0.01) for the RSUM-diet compared to the MH-diet. Turnover rates as well as concentrations of plasma glucose and Leu did not differ between diets. It can be concluded that kinetics of plasma glucose and Leu metabolism were comparable between the RSUM-diet and the MH-diet, and rumen fermentation characteristics were improved in sheep fed the RSUM-diet compared to the MH-diet