Multimodel Operability Framework for Design of Modular and Intensified Energy Systems

In this dissertation, a novel operability framework is introduced for the process design of modular and intensified energy systems that are challenged by complexity and highly constrained environments. Previously developed process operability approaches are reviewed and further developed in terms of theory, application, and software infrastructure. An optimization-based multilayer operability framework is introduced for process design of nonlinear energy systems. In the first layer of this framework, a mixed-integer linear programming (MILP)-based iterative algorithm considers the minimization of footprint and achievement of process intensification targets. Then, in the second layer, an operability analysis is performed to incorporate key features of optimality and feasibility accounting for the system achievability and flexibility. The outcome of this framework consists of a set of modular designs, considering both the aspects of size and process operability. For this study and throughout this dissertation, the nonlinear system is represented by multiple linearized models, which results in lower computational expense and more efficient quantification of operability regions. A systematic techno-economic analysis framework is also proposed for costing intensified modular systems. Conventional costing techniques are extended to allow estimation of capital and operating costs of modular units. Economy of learning concepts are included to consider the effect of experience curves on purchase costs. Profitability measures are scaled with respect to production of a chemical of interest for comparison with plants of traditional scale. Scenarios in which the modular technology presents break-even or further reduction in cost when compared to the traditional process are identified as a result. A framework for the development of process operability algorithms is provided as a software infrastructure outcome. Generated codes from the developed approaches are included in an open-source platform that will give researchers from academia and industry access to the algorithms. This platform has the purpose of dissemination and future improvement of process operability algorithms and methods. To show versatility and efficacy of the developed approaches, a variety of applications are considered as follows: a membrane reactor for direct methane aromatization conversion to hydrogen and benzene (DMA-MR), the classical shower problem in process operability, a power plant cycling application for power generation with penetration of renewable energy sources, and a newly developed modular hydrogen unit. Applications to DMA-MR subsystems demonstrate employment of the multilayer framework to find a region with modular design candidates, which are then ranked according to an operability index. The most operable design is determined and contrasted with the optimal design with respect to process intensification in terms of footprint minimization, showing that optimality at fixed nominal operations does not necessarily ensure the best system operability. For the modular hydrogen unit application, the developed process operability framework provides guidelines for obtaining modular designs that are highly integrated and flexible with respect to disturbances in inlet natural gas composition. The modular hydrogen unit is also used for demonstration of the proposed techno-economic analysis framework. A comparison with a benchmark conventional steam methane reforming plant shows that the modular hydrogen unit can benefit from the economy of learning. An assembled modular steam methane reforming plant is used to map the decrease in natural gas price that must be needed for the plant to break even when compared to traditional technologies. Scenarios in which the natural gas price is low allow break-even cost for both individual hydrogen units and the assembled modular plant. The economy of learning must produce a reduction of 40% or less in capital cost when the natural gas price is under 0.02 US$/Sm3. This result suggests that the synthesized modular hydrogen process has potential to be economically feasible under these conditions. The developed tools can be used to accelerate the deployment and manufacturing of standardized modular energy systems

Designing the Smart Operator 4.0 for Human Values: A Value Sensitive Design Approach

Emerging technologies such as cloud computing, augmented and virtual reality, artificial intelligence and robotics, among others, are transforming the field of manufacturing and industry as a whole in unprecedent ways. This fourth industrial revolution is consequentially changing how operators that have been crucial to industry success go about their practices in industrial environments. This short paper briefly introduces the notion of the Operator 4.0 as well as how this novel way of conceptualizing the human operator necessarily implicates human values in the technologies that constitute it. Similarly, the design methodology known as value sensitive design (VSD) is drawn upon to discuss how these Operator 4.0 technologies can be design for human values and, conversely, how a potential value-sensitive Operator 4.0 can be used to strengthen the VSD methodology in developing novel technologies

O patrimônio museal e os novos lugares de memória

SIAM. Series Iberoamericanas de Museología. Año 3, Vol.

Parametri di intensità sismica per la stima degli spostamenti permanenti di pendii omogenei

Gli attuali criteri di progettazione in condizioni sismiche si avvalgono di procedure legate alla valutazione della prestazione del sistema espressa in termini di perdite quantificabili (costi di riparazione), di funzionalità o di beni inestimabili (vite umane, beni storico-culturali). In tale ottica il parametro rappresentativo della risposta è correlato attraverso procedure più o meno sofisticate a uno o più parametri che descrivano le caratteristiche del moto sismico. La scelta di tali parametri deve essere effettuata attraverso criteri di efficienza e sufficienza (cfr. p.es. Tothong & Luco, 2007; Luco & Cornell, 2007) inoltre devono poter essere prevedibili attraverso opportune leggi di ricorrenza. In tale ambito, la presente nota propone una applicazione dei criteri citati per la stima della curva di pericolosità degli spostamenti cosismici dei pendii e per la valutazione critica dell’efficienza dei parametri di intensità del moto considerati significativi. In particolare vengono confrontate alcune relazioni indicate nella letteratura nazionale ed internazionale, e viene presentata una relazione che tiene conto dell’intensità di Housner, IH, quale parametro efficace per la stima degli spostamenti. Per la previsione del parametro IH viene proposta, inoltre, una legge di attenuazione in funzione di magnitudo e distanza

Human Factors, Ergonomics and Industry 4.0 in the Oil & Gas Industry: A Bibliometric Analysis

Over the last few years, the Human Factors and Ergonomics (HF/E) discipline has significantly benefited from new human-centric engineered digital solutions of the 4.0 industrial age. Technologies are creating new socio-technical interactions between human and machine that minimize the risk of design-induced human errors and have largely contributed to remarkable improvements in terms of process safety, productivity, quality, and workers’ well-being. However, despite the Oil&Gas (O&G) sector is one of the most hazardous environments where human error can have severe consequences, Industry 4.0 aspects are still scarcely integrated with HF/E. This paper calls for a holistic understanding of the changing role and responsibilities of workers in the O&G industry and aims at investigating to what extent, what type of, and how academic publications in the O&G field integrate HF/E and Industry 4.0 in their research. Bibliometric analysis has been conducted to provide useful insights to researchers and practitioners and to assess the status quo. Our findings show that academic publications have mainly focused on simulation-based training to increase process safety whereas revealed the lack of specific studies on the application of cognitive solutions, such as Augmented Reality-enabled tools or Intelligent Fault Detection and Alarm Management solutions

Correlated Mott insulators in a strong electric field: The effects of phonon renormalization

We characterize the response of a Mott insulating system to a static electric field in terms of its conducting and spectral properties. Dissipation is included by a coupling to fermionic baths and to either optical or acoustic phonons. This paper extends and completes the analysis made in a previous work by the authors [arXiv:2207.01921]. In the present work phonons are included diagrammatically within the Migdal approximation by also including self-consistency from the electronic feedback. The nonequilibrium steady-state is addressed by means of the dynamical mean-field theory based on the nonequilibrium Green's function approach, while the so-called auxiliary master equation approach is employed as impurity solver. With optical phonons the self-consistency suppresses the steady-state current at the onset of the metallic phase with respect to the nonself-consistent case. This is due to the interaction of phonons with the hot electrons of the lattice which increases their temperature, thus providing a less effective relaxation channel for the current-induced Joule heat. In addition, in the case of optical phonons the results are essentially independent of the temperature of the fermionic baths, as the latter is sensibly smaller than their characteristic frequency. On the other hand, with acoustic phonons the steady-state current is slightly suppressed by the self-consistent treatment only at field strengths close to half of the gap, away from the metallic phase, and especially at very small phonon frequency. Also, in this case the results seem to slightly depend on the temperature of the fermionic baths.Comment: 14 pages, 19 figures, comments are welcom

Las publicaciones en el campo universitario de los estudios de traducción e interpretación en Venezuela: Construcción y análisis exploratorio de una base de datos bibliográfica de acceso abierto en línea

Treball final de Màster Universitari en Investigació en Traducció i Interpretació. Codi: SBK013. Curs acadèmic 2021/2022El presente trabajo explora la institucionalización del campo de los estudios de traducción en interpretación en Venezuela a través de sus publicaciones y de las epistemologías del conocimiento y de la ignorancia creadas. En un país con un 2,7 % de población censada hablante de lenguas indígenas y en el que la traducción ha tenido tradicionalmente un papel esencial (Bastin 1996), la traducción como campo disciplinario se ha mantenido en los márgenes del contexto universitario, unida a disciplinas conexas. Para contribuir a las obras que indagan en ese fenómeno, este trabajo de fin de máster recogerá las obras de investigación publicadas en Venezuela cuyos datos bibliográficos estén disponibles en línea y analizará los intereses mayoritarios, así como los relegados. Se consideran también los trabajos de grado de las universidades venezolanas. Los resultados del presente trabajo dejan ver cuestiones de interés sobre el campo universitario de la investigación en los ETI en Venezuela. Entre ellos, destacamos que este campo se enfoca muy claramente a objetos y métodos propios de disciplinas afines, principalmente, la lingüística y los estudios literarios. Dentro de esos objetos, llama la atención la ausencia de estudios sobre traducción e interpretación en lenguas indígenas, así como la preponderancia de la traducción sobre la interpretación. Se observa asimismo que el sistema universitario venezolano, pese a declarar como deber contribuir a hacer avanzar el conocimiento, parece orientar a su profesorado más a formar en investigación que a realizar investigaciones propias. Como contribución adicional de este trabajo de fin de máster se ofrece en abierto la base de datos bibliográfica creada con la expectativa de que pueda servir a otros trabajos que indaguen en la institucionalización de los ETI en el ámbito universitario de Venezuela

O princípio da dignidade da pessoa humana na ordem constitucional luso-brasileira : uma análise através dos hard cases

Muitos são os dilemas que cercam o princípio da Dignidade da Pessoa Humana nos dias atuais e, para além da problemática da sua ineficácia social, o princípio enfrenta, do mesmo modo, dificuldades que decorrem da ausência de consenso quanto ao seu conteúdo. A diversidade das suas fundamentações filosóficas e fontes históricas, a sua incidência sobre temas extremamente controvertidos na perspectiva moral, política e religiosa, o pluralismo social que caracteriza as sociedades hodiernas, bem como a elevada abertura semântica do princípio, contribuem para tornar a interpretação da Dignidade da Pessoa Humana um campo fecundo para embates travados em diferentes esferas, como nas Cortes Constitucionais, no Parlamento, na opinião pública e na academia. Sendo assim, é de extrema valia um estudo que aborde não somente a formulação da noção de respeito à dignidade da pessoa humana nas convenções e outros instrumentos internacionais, mas, bem como seu processo de constitucionalização nos ordenamentos jurídicos dos Estados de Direito. Isso porque a Dignidade da Pessoa Humana, sendo considerada valor-fonte, norma suprema e princípio fundamental, deve ter, per si, sua necessária e minuciosa apreciação pelos tribunais constitucionais. Sobre essa temática, vale a atenção aos casos de direitos fundamentais em conflito, os quais terão como fator uniformizador e valor interpretativo a própria Dignidade da Pessoa Humana que irá fazer as vezes da balança da justiça, sopesando os bens e os interesses dos lados contrapostos das demandas e verificando, ponderadamente, quais reflexos da Dignidade não o são, ou são minimamente relativizados. Esse sistema de ponderação de direitos é realizado por meio da análise de casos de difíceis soluções, academicamente chamados de hard cases os quais servem, na atualidade, basicamente, como um fiscalizador da atuação do Estado no que concerne à proteção e promoção da Dignidade da Pessoa Humana.The Human Dignity in the present days is surrounding by many problems. And beyond the issue of social inefficiency, the principle faces, likewise, difficulties arising from the lack of consensus as to their content. The diversity of its philosophical foundations and historical sources, their impact on deeply controversial issues from a moral perspective, political and religious, social pluralism that characterizes contemporary societies, as well as high semantic opening of principle, contributes to making the interpretation of the Human dignity fertile ground for battles fought in different spheres, such as the judiciary, the Parliament, the public and academy. Therefore, it is extremely valuable a study that addresses not only the formulation of the notion of respect for human dignity in the conventions and other international instruments, but as well as its constitutional process in the legal systems of the law states. That's because the Human Dignity, considered source value, the supreme norm and fundamental principle, must have, a necessary and thorough examination by the constitutional courts. About this theme, it is important to pay attention to cases of fundamental rights in conflict, which will have as a unifying factor and interpretation of the very Human Dignity that will make sometimes the scales of justice, weighing the goods and the interests of the opposing sides of demands and checking, deliberately, which Dignity reflexes are not, or are minimally relativized. This rights weighting system is carried out through the analysis of cases of difficult solutions, academically called hard cases which serves today as basically a supervisor´s state´s operation concerning the human dignity protection and human dignity promotion

A prova e a verdade no processo civil

A presente monografia tem por objetivo analisar a relação entre a prova judicial e a verdade no processo civil. Este liame é de extrema importância dentro da sistemática processual, pois atinge todas as fases do procedimento comum, desde a postulação até a decisão judicial. A investigação do tema procura elucidar, em apertada síntese, como a busca pela verdade no processo se dá por meio das provas: se é possível reconstruir fatos pretéritos, permitindo o alcance de essência de sua verdade. Para tal, utilizou-se como metodologia a pesquisa bibliográfica de alguns dos mais importantes autores do processo civil que estudaram o assunto. O resultado da pesquisa possibilitou traçar um panorama geral sobre o instituto da prova judicial no processo civil e como o tema da verdade se insere neste contexto. Desse modo, foi possível concluir que a busca pela verdade encontra limites na própria natureza humana, não sendo possível alcançá-la em sua essência. A prova judicial é um meio pelo qual serão construídas as narrativas que permitam ao julgador a maior aproximação possível da verdade, resultando em decisões judiciais elaboradas a partir da dialética entre os sujeitos do processo e do exercício da hermenêutica, resultando em juízos de verossimilhança

Knowledge and use of medicinal plants by local specialists in an region of Atlantic Forest in the state of Pernambuco (Northeastern Brazil)

The study of local knowledge about natural resources is becoming increasingly important in defining strategies and actions for conservation or recuperation of residual forests. This study therefore sought to: collect information from local populations concerning the use of Atlantic Forest medicinal plants; verify the sources of medicinal plants used; determine the relative importance of the species surveyed, and; calculate the informant consensus factor in relation to medicinal plant use. Data was obtained using semi-structured forms to record the interviewee's personal information and topics related to the medicinal use of specific plants. The material collected represent 125 plants, distributed among 61 botanical families, with little participation of native plants. This study demonstrated that local people tend to agree with each other in terms of the plants used to treat blood-related problems, but cite a much more diverse group of plants to treat problems related to the respiratory and digestive systems – two important categories in studies undertaken in different parts of the world. The local medicinal flora is largely based on plants that are either cultivated or obtained from anthropogenic zones, possibly due to the use and access restrictions of the legally protected neighboring forest. Despite these restrictions, the species with the highest use-value by this community was Pithecellobium cochliocarpum (Gomez) Macb., a native plant of the Atlantic Forest