Application of a physics-based model to predict the performance curves of pumps as turbines

This paper presents the application of a physics-based simulation model, aimed at predicting the performance curves of pumps as turbines (PATs) based on the performance curves of the respective pump. The simulation model implements the equations for estimating head, power and efficiency for both direct and reverse operation. Model tuning on a given machine is performed by using loss coefficients and specific parameters identified by means of an optimization procedure, which simultaneously optimizes both the pump and PAT operation. The simulation model is calibrated in this paper on data taken from the literature, reporting both pump and PAT performance curves for head and efficiency over the entire range of operation. The performance data refer to twelve different centrifugal pumps, running in both pump and PAT mode. The accuracy of the predictions of the physics-based simulation model is quantitatively assessed against both pump and PAT performance curves and best efficiency point. Prediction consistency from a physical point of view is also evaluated

Prediction of compressor efficiency by means of Bayesian Hierarchical Models

The prediction of time evolution of gas turbine performance is an emerging requirement of modern prognostics and health management systems, aimed at improving system reliability and availability, while reducing life cycle costs. In this work, a data-driven Bayesian Hierarchical Model (BHM) is employed to perform a probabilistic prediction of gas turbine future behavior. The BHM approach is applied to field data, taken from the literature and representative of gas turbine degradation over time for a time frame of 7-9 years. The predicted variable is compressor efficiency collected from three power plants characterized by high degradation rate. The capabilities of the BHM prognostic method are assessed by considering two different forecasting approaches, i.e. single-step and multi-step forecast. For the considered field data, the prediction accuracy is very high for both approaches. In fact, the average values of the prediction errors are lower than 0.3% for single-step prediction and lower than 0.6% for multi- step prediction

SOON: The Station Observation Outlier finder

In the climate change era, it is fundamental to monitor the availability of water resources. One of the possible causes for a change in the water availability is related to variations in the meteorological conditions. To track this change, ground-based observations are one of the commonly used measurements. However, these datasets might include both extreme but realistic values and erroneous information. A necessary but not trivial preliminary process for exploiting the observations is to filter the former while retailing the latter. The Station Observation Outlier fiNder (SOON) is a highly innovative algorithm, that identifies errors in large dataflows. SOON can be used on historical datasets as well as in real-time dataflows. A first prototype has been tested on 8 years (2007-2014) of hourly data recorded by about 10000 stations around Europe, which includes 7 meteorological variables: temperature, dewpoint temperature, pressure, precipitation, wind speed, wind gusts, and cloudiness. The dataset belongs to the Ubimet archive and has been provided within the EDI incubator programme

Effect of modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) and UC-C irradiation on postharvest quality of red raspberries

Red raspberries (Rubus idaeus L.) are highly appreciated by consumers. However, their postharvest shelf life scarcely exceeds 5 d under the refrigeration temperatures usually applied during commercialization, due to their high susceptibility to dehydration, softening and rot incidence. Thus, the objective of this study was to investigate the ability of UV-C radiation (UV1: 2 kJ m-2 and UV2: 4 kJ m-2 ), passive modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) with transmission rates (TR) for O2 and CO2 of 1805 mL d-1 and 1570 mL d-1 (MAP1), and 902 mL d-1 and 785 mL d-1 (MAP2), respectively, and the combination of both technologies to prolong raspberries’ shelf life at 6¿ C. Their influence on respiration, physicochemical parameters, and microbiological and nutritional quality was assessed during 12 d of storage. The combination of 4 kJ m-2 UV-C radiation and a packaging film with O2 and CO2 transmission rates of 902 mL d-1 and 785 mL d-1, respectively, produced a synergistic effect against rot development, delaying senescence of the fruit. The UV2MAP2 and MAP2 samples only showed 1.66% rot incidence after 8 d of storage. The UV2MAP2 samples also had higher bioactive content (1.76 g kg-1 of gallic acid equivalents (GAE), 1.08 g kg-1 of catechin equivalents (CE) and 0.32 g kg-1 of cyanidin 3-O-glucoside equivalents (CGE)) than the control samples at the end of their shelf life. Moreover, the mass loss was minimal (0.56%), and fruit color and firmness were maintained during shelf life. However, the rest of the batches were not suitable for commercialization after 4 d due to excessive mold development. © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland

Origin of ferroelectricity in the multiferroic barium fluorides BaMF4

We present a first principles study of the series of multiferroic barium fluorides with the composition BaMF4, where M is Mn, Fe, Co, or Ni. We discuss trends in the structural, electronic, and magnetic properties, and we show that the ferroelectricity in these systems results from the "freezing in" of a single unstable polar phonon mode. In contrast to the case of the standard perovskite ferroelectrics, this structural distortion is not accompanied by charge transfer between cations and anions. Thus, the ferroelectric instability in the multiferroic barium fluorides arises solely due to size effects and the special geometrical constraints of the underlying crystal structure.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures, 3 table

Comparison of efficacy and modes of action of two high-potential biocontrol Bacillus strains and commercial biocontrol products against Botrytis cinerea in table grapes

In table grapes (cv. Thomson Seedless), the antifungal activity against Botrytis cinerea was further analysed and compared between two high potential bacterial biological control agent (BCA) strains, Bacillus velezensis BUZ-14 and B. ginsengihumi S38. Two commercial biocontrol products (BPs), served as standards of comparison, Amylo-X (R) and Serenade Max (R), also based on Bacillus BCA strains. The main mode of action quantified for all the strains was antibiosis due to hydrosoluble and volatile metabolites and their combinations. The BUZ-14 strain was the most active BCA strain, demonstrating significant disease reduction exceeding 60 % when used in the culture form grown in 863 medium, including living cells (LCs) and cell-free supernatant (CFS). Both BPs exhibited significantly reduced efficacy of their CFS fraction (< 10 %) compared with that of the two BCA strains, confirming their high antibiosis potential. The novel methodology allowed us to demonstrate the significant effect of the BCA culture medium on volatilome (VOC) antagonist efficacy. The S38 strain achieved the highest disease reduction (90 %) owing to the greatest production of VOCs in the richest MOLP (Medium Optimum Lipopetide Production) culture medium, whereas grape juice was the least favourable medium for VOC efficacy for both bacterial strains (BUZ14 and S38). The overall poor activity of living Bacillus cells in all the BCA and BPs tested is discussed based on the low capacity of the BCA strains to grow in the berry. Then, the presence of living cells is also discussed with the possibility that these cells are not required in field applications of such BCA strains in this genus. Moreover, different environmental suboptimal conditions, including temperature (22 and 27 degrees C) and relative humidity (RH) (100 and 85-95 %), were tested, and BUZ-14 exhibited the highest Botrytis reduction at both temperatures and RH values. However, no significant differences were observed between temperatures or RH values for the same BCA. Further studies in vineyard conditions and applications, such as biofumigation or active packaging, will be performed to confirm the new findings reported in this investigation

Complex Systems Science: Dreams of Universality, Reality of Interdisciplinarity

Using a large database (~ 215 000 records) of relevant articles, we empirically study the "complex systems" field and its claims to find universal principles applying to systems in general. The study of references shared by the papers allows us to obtain a global point of view on the structure of this highly interdisciplinary field. We show that its overall coherence does not arise from a universal theory but instead from computational techniques and fruitful adaptations of the idea of self-organization to specific systems. We also find that communication between different disciplines goes through specific "trading zones", ie sub-communities that create an interface around specific tools (a DNA microchip) or concepts (a network).Comment: Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology (2012) 10.1002/asi.2264

Deflections in Magnet Fringe Fields

A transverse multipole expansion is derived, including the longitudinal components necessarily present in regions of varying magnetic field profile. It can be used for exact numerical orbit following through the fringe field regions of magnets whose end designs introduce no extraneous components, {\it i.e.} fields not required to be present by Maxwell's equations. Analytic evaluations of the deflections are obtained in various approximations. Mainly emphasized is a ``straight-line approximation'', in which particle orbits are treated as straight lines through the fringe field regions. This approximation leads to a readily-evaluated figure of merit, the ratio of r.m.s. end deflection to nominal body deflection, that can be used to determine whether or not a fringe field can be neglected. Deflections in ``critical'' cases (e.g. near intersection regions) are analysed in the same approximation.Comment: To be published in Physical Review

Potential of a new strain of Bacillus amyloliquefaciens BUZ-14 as a biocontrol agent of postharvest fruit diseases

The biocontrol potential of the Bacillus amyloliquefaciens strain BUZ-14 was tested against the main postharvest diseases of orange, apple, grape and stone fruit. After characterizing the temperature and pH growth curves of strain BUZ-14, its in vitro antifungal activity was determined against Botrytis cinerea, Monilinia fructicola, M. laxa, Penicillium digitatum, P. expansum and P. italicum. Subsequently, in vivo activity was tested against these pathogens by treating fruit with cells, endospores and cell-free supernatants. The in vitro results showed that BUZ-14 inhibited the growth of all the pathogens tested corresponding to the least susceptible species, P. italicum, and the most susceptible, M. laxa. In vivo tests corroborated these results as most of the treatments decreased the incidence of brown rot in stone fruit from 100% to 0%, establishing 107 CFU mL-1 as the minimum inhibitory concentration. For the Penicillium species a preventive treatment inhibited P. digitatum and P. italicum growth in oranges and reduced P. expansum incidence in apples from 100% to 20%. Finally, it has been demonstrated that BUZ-14 was able to survive and to control brown rot in peaches stored at cool temperatures, making it a very suitable biocontrol agent for application during the post-harvest storage and marketing of horticultural products