Detection of water leakage in buried pipes using infrared technology; a comparative study of using high and low resolution infrared cameras for evaluating distant remote detection

Water is one of the most precious commodities around the world. However, significant amount of water is lost daily in many countries through broken and leaking pipes. This paper investigates the use of low and high resolution infrared systems to detect water leakage in relatively dry countries. The overall aim is to develop a non-contact and high speed system that could be used to detect leakage in pipes remotely via the effect of the change in humidity on the temperature of the ground due to evaporation. A small scale experimental test rig has been constructed to simulate water leakage in The Great Man- Made River Project in Libya, taking into consideration the dryness level of the desert sand and the scaled dimensions of the system. The results show that the infrared technology is an effective technology in detecting water leakage in pipes. The low resolution system has been found as valuable as the high resolution system in detecting water leakage. The results indicate the possibility of distant remote detection of leakage in water systems using infrared technologies which could be mobilised using drones, helium balloons, aeroplanes or other similar technologies

An innovative design and evaluation of a stratified hot water storage system - the Water Snake

The increase in energy prices and the demand to reduce carbon emission is attracting the attention to the implementation of diverse heating technologies such as heat pumps, solar energy, gas boilers, CHP and electric heaters. Heating applications for integrated technologies include district heating, domestic small scale applications and commercial large scale buildings. Thermal storage is likely to become key to energy efficient heating. A stratified hot water tank will play an important role in the integration of several heating technologies that operate efficiently at different level of temperatures with reduced implementation cost. This paper describes the concept and the assessment of the ‘Water Snake’, a novel low cost concept of a stratified hot water tank. The results show that the new concept could provide efficient stratification at a very low cost using this invention

Rapid evaluation of micro-scale photovoltaic solar energy systems using empirical methods combined with deep learning neural networks to support systems' manufacturers

Solar energy is becoming one of the most attractive renewable sources. In many cases, due to a wide range of financial or installation limitations, off-grid small scale micro power panels are favoured as modular systems to power lighting in gardens or to be integrated together to power small devices such as mobile phone chargers and distributed smart city facilities and services. Manufacturers and systems' integrators have a wide range of options of micro-scale photo voltaic panels to choose from. This makes the selection of the right panel a challenging task and risky investment. To address this and to help manufacturers, this paper suggests and evaluates a novel approach based on integrating empirical lab-testing with short-term real data and neural networks to assess the performance of micro-scale photovoltaic panels and their suitability for a specific application in specific environment. The paper outlines the combination of lab testing power output under seasonal and hourly conditions during the year combined with environmental and operating conditions such as temperature, dust accumulation and tilt angle performance. Based on the lab results, a short in-situ experimental work is implemented and the performance over the year in the selected location in Kuwait is evaluated using deep learning neural networks. The findings of this approach are compared with simulation and long-term real data. The results show a maximum error of 23% of the neural network output when compared with the actual data, and a correlation values with previous work within 87.3% and 91.9% which indicate that the proposed approach could provide an experimental rapid and accurate assessment of the expected power output. Hence, supporting the rapid decision-making process for manufacturers and reducing investment risks

Assessment of a novel technology for a stratified hot water energy storage – the water snake

The increasing demand to enhance sustainability and reduce carbon emission and pollution is attracting the attention for im plementing and integrat ing diverse heating technologies such as heat pumps, solar energy, gas boilers, Combined Heat and Power (CHP), and electric heaters. Integrated technologies for heating include low and high temperature district heating, domestic small- scale applications and commercial large-scale buildings. Energy from flooded coalmines and water from other sources could also play a vital role in improving energy efficiency of heati ng and cooling applications. Stratified thermal storage are likely to significantly contribute to energy efficient heating, particularly when implementing a mixed-appro ach of diverse technologies. A stratified hot water tank, and naturally stratified reservoirs, are expected to play a central role in the integration of several heating technologies that operate efficiently at different levels of temperature with reduced cost. This paper presents a new innovative technology to improve stratification, namely 'the water snake', and an automated test rig to evaluate the new stratification method for energy utilisation using energy storage of hot water. An automated system is utilised to evaluate the performance. The results indicate that the test rig has been successful for the automated testing of the technology. Moreover, the results show that the water snake, as a new technology for stratification, is successful in minimising mixing and turbulence inside the thermal energy storage. The results prove that the technology could be implemented for a wide range of applications to enhance the efficiency of heating systems in buildings as well as district heating and cooling applications

A device for improving the visual clarity and dimension of veins

Vascular access for venepuncture and peripheral intravenous cannulation is a common procedure within health care. First-attempt cannula insertion success rate has been found to be lower in some patient groups. Multiple unsuccessful cannulation attempts have negative impacts for both patients and practitioners. This article reports on research investigating the effectiveness of an innovative device called the Vacuderm—a single-use tourniquet with added manual vacuum pump—in increasing vein dimensions, temperature difference between vein and its surrounding and visual clarity through an additional effect of creating a vacuum on top of the tourniquet. A randomised crossover design was used in this study for looking at the vein visibility, dimensions and thermal behaviour using infrared thermography. Dorsal areas of both hands were assessed in a random crossover study of 20 healthy volunteers with and without the application of the Vacuderm. The results show significant increase in venous diameter and venous cross-sectional area with highly significant increase in vein clarity caused by using the Vacuderm, which creates a negative pressure for transient suction in addition to its vein occlusion effect

A novel approach for communicating with patients suffering from completely locked-in-syndrome (CLIS) via thoughts: brain computer interface system using EEG signals and artificial intelligence

This paper investigates the development of an intelligent system method to address completely locked-in-syndrome (CLIS) that is caused by some illnesses such as Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) as the most predominant type of Motor Neuron Disease (MND). In the last stages of ALS and despite the limitations in body movements, patients however will have a fully functional brain and cognitive capabilities and able to feel pain but fail to communicate. This paper aims to address the CLIS problem by utilizing EEG signals that human brain generates when thinking about a specific feeling or imagination as a way to communicate. The aim is to develop a low-cost and affordable system for patients to use to communicate with carers and family members. In this paper, the novel implementation of the ASPS (Automated Sensor and Signal Processing Selection) approach for feature extraction of EEG is presented to select the most suitable Sensory Characteristic Features (SCFs) to detect human thoughts and imaginations. Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) are used to verify the results. The findings show that EEG signals are able to capture imagination information that can be used as a means of communication; and the ASPS approach allows the selection of the most important features for reliable communication. This paper explains the implementation and validation of ASPS approach in brain signal classification for bespoke arrangement. Hence, future work will present the results of relatively high number of volunteers, sensors and signal processing methods

Towards more sustainable urban transportation for NetZero cities: assessing air quality and risk for e-scooter users using sensor fusion and artificial intelligence

The need to develop smart and NetZero cities and reduce carbon emission is driving innovation in cities around the world to use electric transportation technologies. Among that the use of e-scooters. Nottingham (UK) is one of the cities that has an e-scooter scheme where people could rent e-scooters to travel around the city. However, in the current situation, to ensure pedestrian safety e-scooters need to be ridden on the road amongst cars, most of them are fossil fuelled. This gives rise to two potential risks for e-scooter users: the air quality that they breathe and the physical risk of being near cars, where drivers may not be familiar with seeing e-scooters on the road. This paper uses a mixed methods approach by conducting surveys to drivers and e-scooter users, jointly with an experimental work to monitor the journey of e-scooter users combining air quality, GPS data and 360 degrees camera footage to assess the risk to e-scooter riders using sensor fusion and artificial intelligence. The results indicate that the suggested novel methodology is effective in understanding the current limitations and the potential air quality and physical risks to e-scooter users

How clean is the air you breathe? Air quality during commuting using various transport modes in Nottingham

Air quality has developed into a significant global issue and its negative effect on human health, wellbeing and ultimately the effect of shortening of life expectancy is becoming a pressing concern. Such concerns are most acute in cities in the UK. Although many cities, including Nottingham, are taking significant measures to enhance air quality, there was limited work focusing on the individual's experience during commuting. This paper suggests a novel approach for measuring commuting air quality through quantifying particulate matters PM2.5 and PM10, using the city of Nottingham as a case study. Portable low-cost systems comprising of a GPS sensor and an Aeroqual pollution data logger were used to capture data and develop the sensor fusion via newly developed software. Data was collected from a variety of transport modes comprising bike, bus, car, tram and walking to provide evidence on relative particulate levels and 2D and 3D data maps were produced to communicate the relative pollution levels in a publicly assessable manner. The study found as expected particulate pollution to be higher during peak hours and typically closer to the city. However whilst the lowest particulate concentrations were found on the Tram the highest were for cyclists contrary to the literature. The project encompasses a democratic crowd sourced approach to data collection by enabling the public to gather data via their daily commute, increasing people's awareness of the air quality in their locality. The acquired data permitted a range of comparisons considering differing times of day and zones such as the city centre and surrounding residential areas in the City council boundary