DEVELOPMENT OF AN EFFECTIVE ENERGY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM IN POWER PLANTS OF PAKISTAN

In many regions of the world the management of energy conserves is a challenging task. Numerous factors inclusive of economic, environmental and political are having substantial effects on energy management practices, leading to a variety of reservations in appropriate decision making. Energy Management System (EnMS) provides a standardized roadmap for organization efficiency, effectiveness and profitability. By using the EnMS techniques, energy losses could be reduced, and there is substantial saving of fuel which could be used for further power generation. ISO50001:2011 is the standard that deals with EnMS. The objective of the current research work is to pinpoint the optimal approaches in the development of Energy Management Systems (EnMS) of a Combined Cycle Power Plant (CCPP). The CCPP was analyzed for a period of six months for the development of EnMS. Results showed that there were saving of 8.13 × 106 BTUs of energy which means a saving of Rs.480000 per day, which will keep on increasing as a result of the implementation of the developed EnMS, hence improving the overall efficiency of the system. The results obtained from the current research could be utilized as a guide for the further design and operation of the industrial energy management system

MODELLING OF OPTIMIZED STAND-ALONE PV SYSTEM FOR BASIC DOMESTIC ENERGY USE IN PAKISTAN

Energy is a basic and vital for sustainable economic development of any developing country including Pakistan. A renewable energy solution for the energy crisis in a densely populated city of Lahore, Pakistan is presented in this article. PVsyst software is used to design a stand-alone PV system to tailor the basic energy demand for household requirements. Geographical and climatic study exposes that Pakistan has enormous potential of solar energy with average value of 5-6 kWh/m2/day or 1800-2200 kWh/ m2/annum. Accordingly, present research proved that this technology is a viable clean energy source. The modelled system has met the maximum demand using nominal space on roof top along with battery storage, leaving sufficient space for further expansion of the system to meet increase energy demand. As a result, the system has shown a promising sign and proves its feasibility for the region with energy loss consideration.&nbsp

Numerical optimization of (FTO/ZnO/CdS/CH₃NH₃SnI₃/GaAs/Au) perovskite solar cell using solar capacitance simulator with efficiency above 23% predicted

The presented study deals with the investigations of the methyl ammonium tin halide (CH3NH3SnI3) based perovskite solar cells for optimized device performance using solar capacitance simulations software. Several necessary parameters such as metal work functions, thickness of structural layers, charge carrier’s mobility and defect density have been explored to evaluate the device performance. Calculations reveal that for the best efficiency of device the maximum thickness of the perovskite (CH3NH3SnI3) absorber layer must be 4.2 μm. The thickness values of 0.01 μm for ZnO electron transport layer (ETL), 0.871 μm for GaAs hole transport layer and 0.001 μm for CdS buffer layer have been found which proved to be optimum for maximum power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 23.80% for the device. The variation of open circuit voltage (Voc), Short circuit current (Jsc), Fill Factor (FF %), quantum efficiency (QE) against thickness of all layers and interface defect densities in FTO/ZnO/CdS/CH3NH3SnI3/GaAs/Au composition have been critically explored and their crucial role for the device performance has been reported. Heterojunctions between ZnO-ETL and CdS buffer layers have shown improved device performance and PCE. Current investigations may prove to be useful for designing and fabrication of climate friendly, non-toxic and highly efficient solar cells

Project managers' personality and project success : moderating role of external environmental factors

Successful project completion is a challenging phenomenon for project managers. Various factors play an indispensable role in the success of a project. The objective of this study is to examine the role of project managers’ personalities in project success with the moderating role of external environmental factors i.e., political, economic, social. The study includes 145 project managers from 36 large‐scale construction projects, from both the public and private sectors. The big five personality model was used to evaluate the personality traits of project managers and triple constraint criteria (cost, time, and quality) was used to gauge project success. Data has been collected through a well‐structured questionnaire. The analysis of data indicated that personality traits like extraversion and openness are positive predictors of project success, whereas conscientiousness, agreeableness, and neuroticism did not have any direct relationship with project success. Importantly, the findings of this study concluded that external environmental factors—like political, economic, and social— moderately influence the link of specific project managers’ personality traits to project success. The role of external environmental factors as moderators has been discussed. The findings indicate the essential personality traits, as well as the role of external factors for achieving project success. The research contributions have relevance to both theory and practice and provide a deeper insight that is useful for individuals, organizations, researchers, practitioners, and decision‐makers

Industrial Plant Controller: A Design of a Web based Data Acquisition System

With the exploited use of embedded devices the need for web based data acquisition systems is increasing day by day. In this paper we have discussed all the design components needed to build a state of the art web based data acquisition system except the design of the low level data acquisition hardware which is pretty much standardized at present. Client Side, Server Side and the Technical Process side are the three major subsystems which are inter-linked to each other over the internet in any web based data acquisition system. We have presented a standardized design architecture which will be suitable for nearly all the industries/domains requiring such a system. The design for the client side include design of a simple client view station needed to see just the critical alarms and alerts, design of a detailed remote monitoring station for getting an insight of all the key metrics and generating all kind of required reports, and design of a remote control station for getting the adequate control of the technical process for supervisory operations. The server side for the web based data acquisition system can either be designed as a simple data warehouse for logging all the raw data from the technical process or a sophisticated monitoring station fulfilling all the industrial needs for process monitoring and reporting. The design of server side for the supervisory control requires all the components of monitoring station as well as additional subsystems devising its fully featured command and control part. The industrial plant/site can be controlled/monitored through a local on site server which is then connected to the main server and its data can also be collected in the similar fashion or different devices/nodes can be directly connected to the main server over the Internet

Effects of water extracts of apple and pomegranate peel on the quality of orange squash

<p><em>Punica granatum</em> (pomegranate) and Malus domestica (apple) are rich source of bioactive compounds i.e. phenolics components, anthocyanins and tannins that can be potential preservative agents. The aim of the present research plan was to evaluate the quality characteristics of orange squash after addition of aqueous extracts of apple and pomegranate peels. For this purpose aqueous extracts of pomegranate and apple peels were added in orange squash and then the final product was examined for physiochemical and sensory attributes during storage. Results of current study demonstrated that physico-chemical parameters of orange squash significantly changed with the storage period in all the treatments in such a way that total soluble solids (°Brix) were gradually decreased but the acidity increased. Sensory examination result of orange squash revealed that color, flavor and taste were decreased with the passage of time in all the treatments but preservative and 100% apple peel extract were upto acceptable level. Whereas 50% preservative and 50% pomegranate extract and 100% pomegranate extract were highly rejected.</p

ynthetic berberine derivatives as potential new drugs

The modern process of new drug discovery and development is an exciting, yet a challenging, endeavor. Although it can result in significant financial income and meet the medical needs of patients, it ultimately may result in failure. To achieve a fast and successful new product discovery and development process, natural products which are evolutionarily optimized as drug-like molecules have gained great attention as better potential sources of new chemical entities. Historically, plant species containing berberine are used in various traditional phytotherapy. However, despite the various therapeutic effects it exerts, berberine is not yet developed into a drug product. Addressing the barriers that hinder its successful development and the efforts made to overcome them is thus crucial. The toxicological and pharmacokinetic properties of berberine are the main barriers towards its development into a marketed drug product. It has low aqueous solubility, poor absorption, fast metabolism, and wide tissue distribution which lead to low bioavailability limiting its clinical application. Synthetic berberine derivatives with improved properties are suggested as better alternatives for further development and future therapeutic application. Hence, this paper summarizes the preclinical research studies conducted in the last decade to reveal the therapeutic potential of synthetic berberine derivatives for the treatment of various diseases and hence achieve successful berberine-based drug development in the future. To exploit the value of natural products as a source of leads for the development of effective drugs, collaboration among the different discovery and development scientists is essential

Role of Surgical Feeding Gastrostomy in Patients Requiring Prolonged Nutrition in a Neurosurgical Department

Objective: To build up the nutritional status of the neurosurgical patients with an easy and practical way. Patients and Methods: This prospective study was conducted in Neurosurgery department of Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences Islamabad in a six months’ time. In total thirty adult patients of either gender with H/O road traffic accident with severe head injury and GCS less than 8/15, persistent vegetative state, brain tumor patients who had developed lower cranial nerve palsies were included in the study. 28 for two way Foleys catheter was used in feeding gastrostomy. Results: Thirty patients, with the median age of 35 years (range, 18-55 years) underwent feeding gastrostomy. Before the gastrostomy tube insertion, 18 patients had enteral nutrition by a nasogastric tube and 10 had parenteral nutrition (PN), with a median duration of 14.5 (range, 4-60) and 12 (range, 7-25) days, respectively. Two patients accidentally pulled out the gastrostomy tubes 10 and 11 days after insertion. Buried bumper syndrome developed in 1 patient. Two patients died 8 and 34 days after the procedure in the neurosurgical ICU. Twenty-eight patients were discharged from the hospital while being fed via the gastrostomy tubes. In 11 patients who were able to resume oral feeding, the tube was removed, with a median interval of 62 (range, 25-150) days. There was no Procedure-related mortality. Conclusion: An improvised method of nutritional support according to our circumstances. This study can be extended to other surgical and medical patients who need nutritional support for longer period of time.&nbsp

Professionalism in medical students at a private medical college in Karachi, Pakistan

Objective: To determine levels of professionalism in undergraduate medical students at a private medical college and assess how changes emerge during their training. Methods: The study was conducted at Aga Khan University, a tertiary care teaching hospital, during November and December 2011. Freshmen, Year 3 and Year 5 students were requested to fill out a questionnaire. It was designed to assess the participants\\u27 levels of professionalism and how they perceived the professional environment around them by incorporating previously described scales. The questionnaire was re-validated on a random sample of practising clinicians at the same hospital. SPSS 17 was used for statistical analysis. Results: The study sample comprised 204 participants. The mean score for level of individual professionalism was 7.72±3.43. Only 13 (6.4%) students had a score one standard deviation above the faculty mean. About 24 (11.8%) were one standard deviation and 35 (17.2%) were 2 standard deviations below the faculty mean. The remaining 130 (63.7%) were \u3e2 standard deviations below the faculty mean. Considering the level of education, the mean score for level of professionalism was 8.00±3.39 for freshmen, 6.85±3.41 for year 3 students, and 8.40±3.34 for year 5 students. Conclusion: The currently employed teaching practices inculcating the values of professionalism in medical students are serving as a buffer to maintain the pre-training levels of professionalism from declining