Introductory Chapter: Recent Advances

Chapter Excerpt: This book proposes the most important researches in electrical resistivity and conductivity modeling, measurement, estimation and sensing methods, and implications. Electrical conductivity and electrical resistivity are very important properties for different materials. The goal of the book achieved via presenting new and modern case studies for sensing methods of electrical resistivity, resistivity modeling of frozen soil, measurement of the electrical resistivity for unconventional structures, estimation of hydrological parameters from geoelectric measurements, and assessment of cryoprotectant concentration by electrical conductivity measurement. It presents different methods to measure resistivity for both liquid and solid materials by explaining two, three, and four pole as well as toroidal resistivity cells ..

Absorption and Desorption of Hydrogen in Metal Hydrides

The purpose of this project is to study the reaction rate during the absorption process of hydrogen in metal hydrides. Magnesium Hydride (MgH2) was chosen to be the metal hydride material for the storage medium. A car was modelled to calculate the theoretical consumption of hydrogen fuel during an hour drive at a constant cruising speed. The reaction equilibrium constant was derived from Vant Hoff equation with variable values of operating conditions. Then, the rate equation role was to determine the reaction rate of the absorption process of hydrogen by magnesium. This report contains new aspects, which show the conditions of obtaining hydrogenation rates and represents new approach of improvement of hydrogen absorption process in light metals, such as magnesium, that can provide promising results for the hydrogen storage applications

Progressive collapse analysis of RC building frames with different seismic design levels

Progressive collapse prevention of buildings has recently become the focus of many researchers, design engineers, and officials all over the world particularly after the failure of the twin World Trade Center towers, New York City, USA in September 2001 and the increasing terrorist acts against governmental buildings. The progressive collapse is defined in the commentary of the American Society of Civil Engineers Standard 7-02 Minimum Design Loads for Buildings and Other Structures (ASCE 7-02) as “the spread of an initial local failure from element to element, eventually resulting in the collapse of an entire structure or a disproportionately large part of it . To date, there is no design code for blast resistant building design and progressive collapse prevention, but only design guideline sexist which are prepared by different bodies like Departments of defense (DoD) in USA as well as other countries and the General Service Administration (GSA) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). While design for progressive collapse prevention is possible at design stage, it becomes more challenging for already existing buildings. On the other hand, almost all recently designed and constructed buildings are designed for seismic resistance according to the seismic zone they are located in according to existing codes. Seismic design provisions allows for higher resistance to lateral reversible loads, and more ductility of structural frames and systems. Determining how much such provision adds to the building resistance to progressive collapse help when upgrading existing building for progressive collapse or when designing new ones. Furthermore, utilizing this seismic resistance and added ductility saves when designing for progressive collapse. This research focuses on identifying the effect of seismic design level on resisting progressive collapse. In this research the progressive collapse of three-story, multi-bay reinforced concrete structure is conducted. The procedure was conducted according to GSA and DoD guidelines. At first the building was designed according to Egyptian Code of Practice for design and construction of concrete structures (ECP203-2007). Three different levels of seismic design are considered by assuming that the building can be located in seismic zones 1, 3, and 5 according to the Egyptian Code for Calculating Loads and Forces on Structures and Buildings (201-2003). GSA guidelines and procedures are followed for progressive collapse analysis. All the three stages; gravity load, seismic load, and progressive collapse load analyses; are performed using commercially general purpose software computer program, SAP2000, that is available in the Construction lab, AUC. . Nonlinear static analysis was carried out where plastic hinges were allowed to form at designated locations of maximum moment. A total of 39 design and analysis case were considered and the results were analyzed to evaluate the effect of the different parameters on the building performance and its resistance to progressive collapse. The resistance to progressive collapse is measured by the number of formed plastic hinges and the resulting failed beams. The relationship between the seismic design levels, the slab thickness, number of formed plastic hinges and failed beams are presented graphically. The results showed that the vulnerability to progressive collapse becomes less as the seismic design level increased in higher seismic zone. This is mainly due to the increased member capacity, added ductility, and the seismic requirement for reinforcement details. It was also found that the slab membrane and bending actions contribute significantly in resisting progressive collapse and thus must be considered in the analysis

Modelling and Simulation of Grid Connected Lithium-Ion Battery Using HOMER

In order to improve battery technology understanding the capacity fading method in batteries is very important. Battery models can be used to predict their behavior under various operating conditions. Here we proposed a simple dynamic model of lithium-ion battery with MATLAB/Simulink to observe the output characteristics of this energy storage device. Dynamic simulations are carried out, including the observation of the changes in battery terminal output voltage under different discharging/charging, temperature and cycling conditions. The simulation studies are presented for proving that the model is useful. At the end we will use this energy storage device to interconnect with HOMER. Then different possibilities of producing electricity from various renewable energy sources like solar, wind etc. will be discussed by using HOMER. MATLAB software, Simulink, HOMER and Power System toolbox are used in modeling and simulation process

PRODUCTION ECONOMICS OF EGYPTIAN COTTON IN THE SALT-AFFECTED LAND

Water is the natural resource that exerts the greatest constraint on Egypt\u27s agricultural production system. Most of Egypt\u27s cultivated lands depend on irrigation from Nile. However, Egypt’s agriculture is under pressure to justify its use of water resource, which is scarce due to increased competition for water resources. The water management problem is currently increasing in the context of the ongoing national transition from a government-controlled market with government intervention in the management of all activities to a free-market economy. Furthermore, due to the ambitious programs of desert agricultural development, the shortage of water supplies is becoming more serious after El Nahdda dam. Issues of equitable distribution of dwindling water supplies are becoming more serious and more is needed to assure fair access to water and more efficient use and allocation of it. On the other hand, accumulation of excessive salt in irrigated soils of Egypt negatively affects crop yields, reduce the effectiveness of irrigation, ruin soil structure, and affect other soil properties. High level of water table and shortage in irrigation supply in the salt-affected land doubles from the harmful effects of salinity problems. Consequently, the average productivity of the cultivated crops in salt-affected land is less than the half of corresponding averages at the national level. Cotton is the one of the main cultivated summer crops in the salt-affected land in Egypt. The main objective of the study is studying the production economics of cotton in the salt-affected land. The impacts of production factors used to produce cotton crop in salt-affected land will identify and measure. The various combinations of manure and irrigation water inputs which produce or yield equal production to cotton producers will derive and identify. The impacts of technical changes on the quantities produced of cotton and on the optimal and maximum-profit production levels will measure. The relationship between the quantity produced and the production costs of cotton crop will estimate and investigate. The levels of optimal and maximizing profits for the studied crop in the salt-affected land will identify and determine

Organic Solar Cell by Inkjet Printing—An Overview

In recent years, organic solar cells became more attractive due to their flexible power devices and the potential for low-cost manufacturing. Inkjet printing is a very potential manufacturing technique of organic solar cells because of its low material usage, flexibility, and large area formation. In this paper, we presented an overall review on the inkjet printing technology as well as advantages of inkjet-printing, comparison of inkjet printing with other printing technologies and its potential for organic solar cells (OSCs). Here we highlighted in more details about the viability of environment-friendly and cost-effective, non-halogenated indium tin oxide (ITO) free large scale roll to roll production of the OSC by inkjet printing technology. The challenges of inkjet printing like the viscosity limitations, nozzle clogging, coffee ring effect, and limitation of printability as well as dot spacing are also discussed. Lastly, some of the improvement strategies for getting the higher efficiency of the OSCs have been suggested

Performance Investigation of Three Combined Airfoils Bladed Small Scale Horizontal Axis wind Turbine by BEM and CFD Analysis

The present work is based on the comparative study between “Blade-Element- Momentum” (BEM) analysis and “Computational-Fluid-Dynamics” (CFD) analysis of small-scale horizontal axis wind turbine blade. In this study, the pitch is considered as fixed and rotor speed is variable. Firstly, the aerodynamic characteristics of three different specialized airfoils were analyzed to get optimum design parameters of wind turbine blade. Then BEM was performed with the application of the open source wind turbine design and performance computation software Q-Blade v0.6. After that, CFD simulation was done by Ansys CFX software. Here, k-ω “Shear-Stress-Transport” (SST) model was conducted for three-dimensional visualization of turbine performance. However, the best coefficient of performance was observed at 6˚ angle of attack. At this angle of attack, in the case of BEM, the highest coefficient of performance was 0.47 whereby CFD analysis, it was 0.43. Both studies showed good performance prediction which was a positive step to accelerate the continuous revolution in wind energy sector