Turbulence and Transport of Passive Scalar in Magnetohydrodynamic Channel Flow

An imposed magnetic field influences the flow structure and transport characteristics of a moving electrically conducting fluid. Such magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) flows are ubiquitous in nature and technological applications, for example in casting of steel and aluminum and growth of semiconductor crystals. In many situations, the effect of the magnetic field is combined with that of mean shear and occurs in the presence of transport of heat and admixtures. In the performed doctoral research, extensive Direct Numerical Simulations (DNS) are conducted for the flows of an electrically conducting fluid in a channel with imposed magnetic field. The cases of wall-normal, spanwise and streamwise orientations of the magnetic field are considered. The strength of the magnetic field varies in such a way that the flow transitions from fully turbulent state to slightly below the laminarization threshold. The main goal of the investigation is to understand the flow transformation and the effect of the magnetic field on the characteristics of the transport of a passive scalar (e.g. temperature or admixture). It is found how the magnetic field affects the scalar distribution and the rate the turbulent transport across the channel. In the range of the magnetic field strengths considered, the effect is strong in the cases of the wall-normal and spanwise magnetic field, but weaker in the case of the streamwise field. A major outcome of the study is the establishment of a nearly linear dependency of the turbulent scalar flux of the magnetic interaction parameter (the Stuart number). One-dimensional models, of flow field and scalar distribution with approximations of eddy diffusivity and eddy viscosity are developed on the basis of the computational results. Scalar transport and perturbation dynamics are also investigated for the channel flow with spanwise magnetic field for the flow regime characterized by the large-scale intermittency characterized by long periods of nearly laminar, nearly two-dimensional behavior interrupted by brief turbulent bursts.Ph.D.College of Engineering & Computer ScienceUniversity of Michigan-Dearbornhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/142809/1/Dey Final Dissertation.pdfDescription of Dey Final Dissertation.pdf : Dissertatio

Green supply chain performance measurement using the analytic hierarchy process:a comparative analysis of manufacturing organisations

The main purpose of this research is to develop and deploy an analytical framework for measuring the environmental performance of manufacturing supply chains. This work's theoretical bases combine and reconcile three major areas: supply chain management, environmental management and performance measurement. Researchers have suggested many empirical criteria for green supply chain (GSC) performance measurement and proposed both qualitative and quantitative frameworks. However, these are mainly operational in nature and specific to the focal company. This research develops an innovative GSC performance measurement framework by integrating supply chain processes (supplier relationship management, internal supply chain management and customer relationship management) with organisational decision levels (both strategic and operational). Environmental planning, environmental auditing, management commitment, environmental performance, economic performance and operational performance are the key level constructs. The proposed framework is then applied to three selected manufacturing organisations in the UK. Their GSC performance is measured and benchmarked by using the analytic hierarchy process (AHP), a multiple-attribute decision-making technique. The AHP-based framework offers an effective way to measure and benchmark organisations’ GSC performance. This study has both theoretical and practical implications. Theoretically it contributes holistic constructs for designing a GSC and managing it for sustainability; and practically it helps industry practitioners to measure and improve the environmental performance of their supply chain. © 2013 Copyright Taylor and Francis Group, LLC. CORRIGENDUM DOI 10.1080/09537287.2012.751186 In the article ‘Green supply chain performance measurement using the analytic hierarchy process: a comparative analysis of manufacturing organisations’ by Prasanta Kumar Dey and Walid Cheffi, Production Planning & Control, 10.1080/09537287.2012.666859, a third author is added which was not included in the paper as it originally appeared. The third author is Breno Nunes

Fuel Supplier Selection for Large Scale UK bioenergy Schemes

This article presents a potential method to assist developers of future bioenergy schemes when selecting from available suppliers of biomass materials. The method aims to allow tacit requirements made on biomass suppliers to be considered at the design stage of new developments. The method used is a combination of the Analytical Hierarchy Process and the Quality Function Deployment methods (AHP-QFD). The output of the method is a ranking and relative weighting of the available suppliers which could be used to improve optimization algorithms such as linear and goal programming. The paper is at a conceptual stage and no results have been obtained. The aim is to use the AHP-QFD method to bridge the gap between treatment of explicit and tacit requirements of bioenergy schemes; allowing decision makers to identify the most successful supply strategy available

A multi-objective particle swarm optimization algorithm for business sustainability analysis of small and medium sized enterprises

Sustainability is the major issue of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) all across the globe. Although SMEs contribute to GDP of any country their negative contribution to environment is also significant. Prior studies on SMEs’ sustainability mainly classified into three categories—the correlation between environmental and social practices with economic performance, sustainable supply chain performance measurement, and empirical research on sustainability practices. There is no study that objectively derives the sustainable structure of SMEs through optimal combination of sustainability practices (inputs) and performance (outputs). Therefore, the main objective of this paper is to generate optimal structure of sustainable SMEs by combining neural network and particle swarm algorithm while considering Multi-Objective framework. The study uses data from 54 SMEs of Normandy in France and 30 SMEs of Midlands in the UK. The data was gathered through questionnaire survey. As we do not have the explicit expression of our objective functions, we train a neural network on our databases in order to enable the generation of value of the different objectives for any profile. We design and run a multi-objective version of particle swarm optimization (MPSO) to generate efficient companies’ structures. The weighted sum method is then used for different weights. The comparison of observed data and the results of the PSO analysis facilitates to derive improvement measures for each individual SME

Impact of Lean and Sustainability Oriented Innovation on Sustainability Performance of Small and Medium Sized Enterprises: A Data Envelopment Analysis-based framework

Lean and Sustainability Oriented Innovation both enhance competitiveness of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in a sustainable way. Lean is efficiency focused, whereas Sustainability Oriented Innovation emphasizes on responsiveness. Although lean and sustainability oriented innovation have been separately researched, there is a gap in knowledge on the combined effect of lean and sustainability oriented innovation (SOI) on SMEs Supply Chain sustainability. SMEs have limited resources and face numerous competition. Therefore, their supply chain sustainability can only be achieved through most appropriate trade-off between economic, environment and social aspects of business. The purpose of this paper is to understand the combined effect of sustainability oriented innovation and lean practices, on supply chain sustainability performance of SMEs. The study uses a Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) based framework and applies this to a group of SMEs within the Eastern part of India. Lean and sustainability oriented innovation are considered as input criteria, and economic, operational, environmental and social aspects are considered as output criteria of the proposed framework. DEA segregates inefficient SMEs and suggests at least a SME to benchmark. Subsequently, the study undertakes qualitative approach to suggest improvement measures for the inefficient SMEs. The results reveal that combined lean and SOI helps achieve SMEs' supply chain sustainability. The findings are useful for policy makers and Individual SMEs' owners and managers to undertake measures for improving sustainability. Theoretically this research contributes a DEA-based framework to study the effect of combined lean and SOI on sustainability that helps improving SMEs’ sustainability performance

Combined quality function deployment and logical framework analysis to improve quality of emergency care in Malta

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to develop an integrated patient-focused analytical framework to improve quality of care in accident and emergency (A&E) unit of a Maltese hospital. Design/methodology/approach – The study adopts a case study approach. First, a thorough literature review has been undertaken to study the various methods of healthcare quality management. Second, a healthcare quality management framework is developed using combined quality function deployment (QFD) and logical framework approach (LFA). Third, the proposed framework is applied to a Maltese hospital to demonstrate its effectiveness. The proposed framework has six steps, commencing with identifying patients’ requirements and concluding with implementing improvement projects. All the steps have been undertaken with the involvement of the concerned stakeholders in the A&E unit of the hospital. Findings – The major and related problems being faced by the hospital under study were overcrowding at A&E and shortage of beds, respectively. The combined framework ensures better A&E services and patient flow. QFD identifies and analyses the issues and challenges of A&E and LFA helps develop project plans for healthcare quality improvement. The important outcomes of implementing the proposed quality improvement programme are fewer hospital admissions, faster patient flow, expert triage and shorter waiting times at the A&E unit. Increased emergency consultant cover and faster first significant medical encounter were required to start addressing the problems effectively. Overall, the combined QFD and LFA method is effective to address quality of care in A&E unit. Practical/implications – The proposed framework can be easily integrated within any healthcare unit, as well as within entire healthcare systems, due to its flexible and user-friendly approach. It could be part of Six Sigma and other quality initiatives. Originality/value – Although QFD has been extensively deployed in healthcare setup to improve quality of care, very little has been researched on combining QFD and LFA in order to identify issues, prioritise them, derive improvement measures and implement improvement projects. Additionally, there is no research on QFD application in A&E. This paper bridges these gaps. Moreover, very little has been written on the Maltese health care system. Therefore, this study contributes demonstration of quality of emergency care in Malta

Digitizing grey portions of e-governance

Purpose: The purpose of this research paper is to assess e-governance efficacy in various sectors of India. The paper develops on Grey System Theory (GST) methodology and enlightens grey portions of e-governance in select sectors. Research study identifies few grey criteria which affect implementation of information and communication technology (ICT) applications to support sustainable e-governance. Such criteria are related to information security breaches, information technology (IT) policy implementation, investments and strategic advantages for the various sector developments. Design/methodology/approach: Considering “information” as a sensitive element to security for administration and part of dark portion to Indian economy, GST-based COmplex PRroportional ASsessment (COPRAS-G) method is adopted to assess the e-governance efficacy. The method provides flexible multicriteria decision-making (MCDM) approach to assess e-governance in prioritizing the sector alternatives of future strategic development. Priority order of select sectors is estimated, and COPRAS-G method is used in the research study to support decision-making on e-governance. Study compares ten major gross domestic product-dependent sectors based on few grey criteria. These criteria are chosen based on authors’ perspective on this study and feedback received from government officials of district levels under the Digital India-training programme. To address the subjectivity that lies in e-governance grey areas of sector, criteria are also weighted using fuzzy scale. Later methodology-based results are presented to draw a strategic road map for strategic development of the country. Findings: On applying COPRAS-G method to predict pessimistic, optimistic and realistic scenarios of e-governance implementation across the ten sectors, high priory order in realistic scenario of results shows that implementation of ICT applications for e-governance should be in the sectors such as environment, climate change and in the railways. Industrial sector is also ranked as the preferred one over the other sectors on the basis of e-governance efficacy assessment. Research limitations/implications: Here COPRAS-G method is used as MCDM techniques. However, few other MCDM techniques such as GRA, DRSA, VIKOR, SMAA, SWARA and SAW can be also explored to outrank various Indian sectors to deal with subjectivity in decision-making. Practical implications: Implementation of ICT applications to support e-governance varies from sector to sector. ICT-based governance involves high degree of complexity in driving the operations for development of respective sectors. Therefore, government and policymakers need more flexibility to overcome present barriers of sector development. Such research can support decision-making where GST-based COPRAS-G method is able to capture and address the breaches of information security. Moreover, management concern for sector development has been presented on the basis of pessimistic, optimistic and realistic scenarios more precisely. Social implications: The results can provide guidance to the academicians, policymakers and public sectors highlighting various possible measures to handle the security breaches in multi-facet intention of sustainable development. The outcomes from MCDM framework can also help in drawing a rough trajectory of strategy, i.e. development of ICTs applications and e-governance process. Originality/value: This paper can supplement and act as the support for decision-making in conflicting situations on different flexible scenarios. Moreover, such work can synergize conflicting ideas of decision makers, academics and various other stakeholders of the Indian IT sector