Simulation study on the performance of a counter-rotating savonius vertical axis wind turbine

Wind power is an energy source that is becoming an alternative to burning fossil fuels that may harm the environment during operations due to the emission of harmful gases. In this study, simulation and performance investigations of a counter-rotating vertical axis wind turbine (VAWT) based on the Savonius S-type rotor have been analysed through a computational simulation approach. The foremost motive of this study is to widen the operating wind speed range of the counter-rotating concept in a VAWT while enhancing the conversion efficiency of a single-rotor VAWT system. The 3D simulations were performed based on the K-omega shear stress transport (SST) turbulence model. The results have shown that the counter-rotating model possesses better performance characteristics in terms of torque, power and their corresponding coefficients compared to a single-rotor design of a wind turbine. A maximum output of more than two times was obtained from the new CRWT system compared to that of a single-rotor wind turbine (SRWT). Moreover, the output of the top rotor was higher than the bottom rotor due to the increased higher rotational speed of the top rotor

STUDY ON THE OPPORTUNITIES OF AT-HOME HORMONE TESTING

The increased interest in health and preventive medicine has encouraged people to take better care of their health. Patients have the opportunity of using at home several products and equipment that test and monitor their health condition or response to medication. Home pregnancy tests are accessible and convenient, offering patients confidentiality and fast results in the comfort of their home. Identifying consumers’ information needs on the use of pregnancy tests and observing their behaviour when obtaining results provided by self-testing are important in order to advise women who have resorted to this method

Process design, simulation, and techno-economic analysis of integrated production of furfural and glucose derived from palm oil empty fruit bunches

This study aims to propose a new process design, simulation, and techno-economic analysis of an integrated process plant that produces glucose and furfural from palm oil empty fruit bunches (EFB). In this work, an Aspen Plus-based simulation has been established to develop a process flow diagram of co-production of glucose and furfural along with the mass and energy balances. The plant’s economics are analyzed by calculating the fixed capital income (FCI), operating costs, and working capital. In contrast, profitability is determined using cumulative cash flow (CCF), net present value (NPV), and internal rate of return (IRR). The findings show that the production capacity of 10 kilotons per year (ktpy) of glucose and 4.96 ktpy of furfural with a purity of 98.21 and 99.54%—weight, respectively, was achieved in this study. The FCI is calculated as United States Dollar (USD) 20.80 million, while the working and operating expenses are calculated as USD 3.74 million and USD 16.93 million, respectively. This project achieves USD 7.65 million NPV with a positive IRR of 14.25% and a return on investment (ROI) of 22.06%. The present work successfully develops a profitable integrated process plant that is established with future upscaling parameters and key cost drivers. The findings provided in this work offer a platform and motivation for future research on integrated plants in the food, environment, and energy nexus with the co-location principle

Nutritional status improvement in elderly CKD patients : a systematic review

Purpose Almost all CKD patients have a poor nutritional status, while elderly CKD patients are specifically frail and malnourished. Our aim is to conduct a systematic review of the up to date primary studies that look at methods of improving nutritional status in CKD patients in the elderly demographic. Methods A focussed and sensitive search strategy was applied to the PUBMED database to identify relevant English language articles. Once articles were identified a detailed quality and bias assessment was performed. Two independent researchers (MZ and SM) then subsequently carried out detailed data extraction and analysis and this was subsequently verified by a third researcher (IN). Results A total of 19 studies were included in our systematic review which included 7 non-randomised control trials and 15 randomised controlled trials. The outcomes that we considered to be most relevant for our subject title were: mortality data, SGA, albumin, total protein, isoleucine, leucine, prealbumin, transferrin, leptin, valine, TAG, HDL, LDL and total amino acids. Detailed bias analysis of the different studies was also conducted. Conclusion This is the first systematic review of the literature, so far, on the subject, involving elderly CKD patients. The quality of trials is low, very heterogenic in patients, methods and outcomes. However, we found a positive effect of dietary interventions on the nutritional status of most patients studied, highlighted by improvement in serum albumin and SGA, the most measured outcomes