Design description of the Tangaye Village photovoltaic power system

The engineering design of a stand alone photovoltaic (PV) powered grain mill and water pump for the village of Tangaye, Upper Volta is described. The socioeconomic effects of reducing the time required by women in rural areas for drawing water and grinding grain were studied. The suitability of photovoltaic technology for use in rural areas by people of limited technical training was demonstrated. The PV system consists of a 1.8-kW (peak) solar cell array, 540 ampere hours of battery storage, instrumentation, automatic controls, and a data collection and storage system. The PV system is situated near an improved village well and supplies d.c. power to a grain mill and a water pump. The array is located in a fenced area and the mill, battery, instruments, controls, and data system are in a mill building. A water storage tank is located near the well. The system employs automatic controls which provide battery charge regulation and system over and under voltage protection. This report includes descriptions of the engineering design of the system and of the load that it serves; a discussion of PV array and battery sizing methodology; descriptions of the mechanical and electrical designs including the array, battery, controls, and instrumentation; and a discussion of the safety features. The system became operational on March 1, 1979

Operational performance of the photovoltaic-powered grain mill and water pump at Tangaye, Burkina Faso (formerly Upper Volta)

A photovoltaic (PV) system powering a grain mill and water pump was installed in the remote African village of Tangaye, Burkina Faso (formerly Upper Volta) under the sponsorship of the U.S. Agency for International Development (AID) and by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Lewis Research Center (LeRC) in early 1979. The presence reports covers the second two years of operation from April 1981 through June 1983. During this time, the grain mill and water pump were operational 96 and 88 percent of the time respectively, and the PV system generated sufficient electricity to enable the grinding of about 111 metric tons of finely ground flow and the pumping of over 5000 cm sq of water from the 10 m deep well. The report includes a description of the current configuration of the system, a review of system performance, a discussion of the socioeconomic impact of the system on the villagers and a summary of results and conclusions covering the entire four-year period

Operational performance of the photovoltaic-powered grain mill and water pump at Tangaye, Upper Volta

The first two years of operation of a stand alone photovoltaic (PV) power system for the village of Tangaye, Upper Volta in West Africa are described. The purpose of the experiment was to demonstrate that PV systems could provide reliable electrical power for multiple use applications in remote areas where local technical expertise is limited. The 1.8 kW (peak) power system supplies 120-V (d.c.) electrical power to operate a grain mill, a water pump, and mill building lights for the village. The system was initially sized to pump a part of the village water requirements from an existing improved well, and to meet a portion of the village grain grinding requirements. The data, observations, experiences, and conclusions developed during the first two years of operation are discussed. Reports of tests of the mills used in the project are included

Tunisia Renewable Energy Project systems description report

In 1979, the Agency for International Development (AID) initiated a renewable energy project with the Government of Tunisia to develop an institutional capability to plan and institute renewable energy technologies in a rural area. The specific objective of the district energy applications subproject was to demonstrate solar and wind energy systems in a rural village setting. The NASA Lewis Research Center was asked by the AID Near East Bureau to manage and implement this subproject. This report describes the project and gives detailed desciptions of the various systems

Analysis Procedures for Double-Shell Target Concentricity and Wall Thickness

The LLNL Target Fabrication Team (TFT) asked the Center for Non-Destructive Characterization (CNDC) to use CNDC's KCAT or Xradia's Micro computed tomography (CT) system to collect three-dimensional (3D) tomographic data of a set of double-shell targets and determine, among other items, the following: (1) the concentricity of the outer surface of the inner shell with respect to the inner surface of the outer shell with an accuracy of 1-2 micrometers, and (2) the wall thickness uniformity of the outer shell with an accuracy of 1-2 micrometers. The CNDC used Xradia's Micro CT system to collect the data. Bill Brown performed the concentricity analysis, and John Sain performed the wall thickness uniformity analysis. Harry Martz provided theoretical guidance, and Dan Schneberk contributed technical (software) support. This document outlines the analysis procedures used in each case. The double-shell targets, as shown in Figures 1 and 2, consist of an inner shell (or capsule), a two-piece spherical aerogel intermediary shell, and a two-piece spherical outer shell. The three elements are designed and fabricated to be concentric--with the aerogel shell acting as a spacer between the inner shell and outer shell--with no to minimum air gaps in the final assembly. The outer diameters of the aerogel and outer shells are 444 and 550 micrometers, respectively, so the wall thickness of the outer shell is 53 micrometers

Active and passive computed tomography algorithm with a constrained conjugate gradient solution

An active and passive computed tomographic technique (A&PCT) has been developed at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). The technique uses an external radioactive source and active tomography to map the attenuation within a waste drum as a function of mono-energetic gamma-ray energy. Passive tomography is used to localize and identify specific radioactive waste within the same container. The passive data is corrected for attenuation using the active data and this yields a quantitative assay of drum activity. A&PCT involves the development of a detailed system model that combines the data from the active scans with the geometry of the imaging system. Using the system model, iterative optimization techniques are used to reconstruct the image from the passive data. Requirements for high throughput yield measured emission levels in waste barrels that are too low to apply optimization techniques involving the usual Gaussian statistics. In this situation a Poisson distribution, typically used for cases with low counting statistics, is used to create an effective maximum likelihood estimation function. An optimization algorithm, Constrained Conjugate Gradient (CCG), is used to determine a solution for A&PCT quantitative assay. CCG, which was developed at LLNL, has proven to be an efficient and effective optimization method to solve limited-data problems. A detailed explanation of the algorithms used in developing the model and optimization codes is given

Perfusion Assessment in Laparoscopic Left-Sided/Anterior Resection (PILLAR II): A Multi-Institutional Study

BackgroundOur primary objective was to demonstrate the utility and feasibility of the intraoperative assessment of colon and rectal perfusion using fluorescence angiography (FA) during left-sided colectomy and anterior resection. Anastomotic leak (AL) after colorectal resection increases morbidity, mortality, and, in cancer cases, recurrence rates. Inadequate perfusion may contribute to AL. The PINPOINT Endoscopic Fluorescence Imaging System allows for intraoperative assessment of anastomotic perfusion.Study DesignThis is a prospective, multicenter, open-label, clinical trial that assessed the feasibility and utility of FA for intraoperative perfusion assessment during left-sided colectomy and anterior resection at 11 centers in the United States.ResultsA total of 147 patients were enrolled, of whom 139 were eligible for analysis. Diverticulitis (44%), rectal cancer (25%), and colon cancer (21%) were the most prevalent indications for surgery. The mean level of anastomosis was 10 ± 4 cm from the anal verge. Splenic-flexure mobilization was performed in 81% and high ligation of the inferior mesenteric artery in 61.9% of patients. There was a 99% success rate for FA, and FA changed surgical plans in 11 (8%) patients, with the majority of changes occurring at the time of transection of the proximal margin (7%). Overall morbidity rates were 17%. The anastomotic leak rate was 1.4% (n = 2). There were no anastomotic leaks in the 11 patients who had a change in surgical plan based on intraoperative perfusion assessment with FA.ConclusionsPINPOINT is a safe and feasible tool for intraoperative assessment of tissue perfusion during colorectal resection. There were no anastomotic leaks in patients in whom the anastomosis was revised based on inadequate perfusion with FA