A COMPREHENSIVE ASSESSMENT METHODOLOGY BASED ON LIFE CYCLE ANALYSIS FOR ON-BOARD PHOTOVOLTAIC SOLAR MODULES IN VEHICLES

This dissertation presents a novel comprehensive assessment methodology for using on-board photovoltaic (PV) solar technologies in vehicle applications. A well-to-wheels life cycle analysis based on a unique energy, greenhouse gas (GHG) emission, and economic perspective is carried out in the context of meeting corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) standards through 2025 along with providing an alternative energy path for the purpose of sustainable transportation. The study includes 14 different vehicles, 3 different travel patterns, in 12 U.S. states and 16 nations using 19 different cost analysis scenarios for determining the challenges and benefits of using on-board photovoltaic (PV) solar technologies in vehicle applications. It develops a tool for decision-makers and presents a series of design requirements for the implementation of on-board PV in automobiles to use during the conceptual design stage, since its results are capable of reflecting the changes in fuel consumption, greenhouse gas emission, and cost for different locations, technological, and vehicle sizes. The decision-supports systems developed include (i) a unique decision support systems for selecting the optimal PV type for vehicle applications using quality function deployment, analytic hierarchy process, and fuzzy axiomatic design, (ii) a unique system for evaluating all non-destructive inspection systems for defects in the PV device to select the optimum system suitable for an automated PV production line. (iii) The development of a comprehensive PV system model that for predicting the impact of using on-board PV based on life cycle assessment perspective. This comprehensive assessment methodology is a novel in three respects. First, the proposed work develops a comprehensive PV system model and optimizes the solar energy to DC electrical power output ratio. Next, it predicts the actual contribution of the on-board PV to reduce fuel consumption, particularly for meeting corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) 2020 and 2025 standards in different scenarios. The model also estimates vehicle range extension via on-board PV and enhances the current understanding regarding the applicability and effective use of on-board PV modules in individual automobiles. Finally, it develops a life cycle assessment (LCA) model (well-to-wheels analysis) for this application. This enables a comprehensive assessment of the effectiveness of an on-board PV vehicle application from an energy consumption, Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emission, and cost life-cycle perspective. The results show that by adding on-board PVs to cover less than 50% of the projected horizontal surface area of a typical passenger vehicle, up to 50% of the total daily miles traveled by a person in the U.S. could be driven by solar energy if using a typical mid-size vehicle, and up to 174% if using a very lightweight and aerodynamically efficient vehicle. In addition, the increase in fuel economy in terms of combined mile per gallon (MPG) at noon for heavy vehicles is between 2.9% to 9.5%. There is a very significant increase for lightweight and aerodynamic efficient vehicles, with MPG increase in the range of 10.7% to 42.2%, depending on location and time of year. Although the results show that the plug-in electric vehicles (EVs) do not always have a positive environmental impact over similar gasoline vehicles considering the well-to-wheel span, the addition of an on-board PV system for both vehicle configurations, significantly reduces cycle emissions (e.g., the equivalent savings of what an average U.S. home produces in a 20 month period). The lifetime driving cost ($per mile) of a gasoline vehicle with adding on-board PV, compared to a pure gasoline vehicle, is lower in regions with more sunlight (e.g., Arizona) even of the current gasoline price in the U.S. ($4.0 per gallon) assuming battery costs will decline over time. Lifetime driving cost ($per mile) of a plug-in EV with added PV versus pure plug-in EV (assuming electricity price 0.18$/kWh) is at least similar, but mostly lower, even in regions with less sunlight (e.g., Massachusetts). In places with low electricity prices (0.13 $/kWh), and with more sunlight, the costs of operating an EV with PV are naturally lower. The study reports a unique observation that placing PV systems on-board for existing vehicles is in some cases superior to the lightweighting approach regarding full fuel-cycle emissions. An added benefit of on-board PV applications is the ability to incorporate additional functionality into vehicles. Results show that an on-board PV system operating in Phoenix, AZ can generate in its lifetime, energy that is the equivalent of what an American average household residential utility customer consumes over a three-year period. However, if the proposed system operates in New Delhi, India, the PV could generate energy in its lifetime that is the equivalent of what an Indian average household residential utility customer consumes over a 33-year period. Consequently, this proposed application transforms, in times of no-use, into a flexible energy generation system that can be fed into the grid and used to power electrical devices in homes and offices. The fact that the output of this system is direct current (DC) electricity rather than alternative current (AC) electricity reduces the wasted energy cost in the generation, transmission, and conversion losses between AC-DC electricity to reach the grid. Thus, this system can potentially reduce the dependency on the grid in third world countries where the energy consumption per home is limited and the grid is unstable or unreliable, or even unavailable

The man with the iron fist

This audio documentary is about Mohamed Pasha Mahmoud, who was the Prime Minister of Egypt, under the rule of kings’ Fouad and Farouk. Abdelhamid Mahmoud takes the listeners on a journey that explores Mahmoud’s character, political achievements, influence and personality through the eyes of his grandchildren, and people who wrote Egyptian history. The documentary takes the listener through a journey of exploring Mohamed Mahmoud\u27s character and political contributions while being in the street of Mohamed Mahmoud, in Downtown Cairo. After interviewing two of Mahmoud\u27s grandsons, and former Egyptian Minister of Culture, and a prominent political writer, the listener will grab a basic understanding of who Mohamed Mahmoud was

EXTRACTING DEPTH INFORMATION FROM STEREO VISION SYSTEM, USING A CORRELATION AND A FEATURE BASED METHODS

This thesis presents a new method to extract depth information from stereo-vision acquisitions using a feature and a correlation based approaches. The main implementation of the proposed method is in the area of Autonomous Pick & Place, using a robotic manipulator. Current vision-guided robotics are still based on a priori training and teaching steps, and still suffer from long response time. The study uses a stereo triangulation setup where two Charged Coupled Devices CCDs are arranged to acquire the scene from two different perspectives. The study discusses the details of two methods to calculate the depth; firstly a correlation matching routine is programmed using a Square Sum Difference SSD algorithm to search for the corresponding points from the left and the right images. The SSD is further modified using an adjustable Region Of Interest ROI along with a center of gravity based calculations. Furthermore, the two perspective images are rectified to reduce the required processing time. Secondly, a feature based approach is proposed to match the objects from the two perspectives. The proposed method implements a search kernel based on the 8-connected neighbor principle. The reported error in depth using the feature method is found to be around 1.2 m

Dynamics of Steroid Secretions in Rats

In spite of the vast information available on hormone secretions and their levels in blood, there is a paucity of information in age related changes in the dynamics of steroid metabolism in male rats. Also, few investigations exist concerning the metabolic clearance rates (M.C.R.) of steroids in blood of female rats. This thesis consists of two parts, the first part deals with changes in M.C.R. in aging male rats and the second part in pregnant rats. It examined these changes relative to testosterone (T), estradiol (E2), and progesterone (P), using the non-equilibrium single dose injection method. 3H-steroids were administered via the cannulated jugular vein. Sequential blood samplings were obtained up to 150 min. 3H-steroids were extracted, processed by Sephadex LH-20 column chromatography and the radioactive steroids were quantified with liquid scintillation spectrometer. Results were analysed by the computer using the \u27peel-off\u27 method for a two-compartment model. In aging studies M.C.R. and production rate of T were found significantly higher in young male rats when compared with aged rats. Half-life (t ½ β) in the outer pool was significantly higher in the old rats than in young rats while t ½ α in the inner pool did not change significantly between both aging groups. However, the M.C.R. for E2 and P remained unchanged in both groups. Chronically castrated animals of both age groups showed significant decline in M.C.R. of T and increased in t ½ β when compared with their respective intact controls. M.C.R. of T in young or old castrated rats previously injected with T were restored to values similar to those young intact rats. From these results it is concluded that the age-related changes in M.C.R. of testosterone are due to an interaction of testicular dysfunction and androgen status of animal. In the second part of the study, non-pregnant, pregnant (D-10 and D-20) and post-partum rats were used. The M.C.R. of E2 in D-20 rats was found to be significantly higher when compared with other groups. In post-partum rats the M.C.R. of E2 was significantly higher than those of non-pregnancy or D-10 of pregnancy. All values for t ½ α of E2 were found to be similar for all groups. t ½ β of E2 in D-20 was greatly lower than both non-pregnancy and D-10 gestation. However, the M.C.R. of P remained unchanged in all female groups. The fast component (t ½ α) of P was significantly higher in post-partum than in D-10, meanwhile it did not change in other groups. The slow component (t ½ β) of P was higher in non-pregnant rats compared with D-10, other groups remained unchanged. The M.C.R. of T was significantly lower in non-pregnant rats than in post-partum rats, other groups remain unchanged. t ½ α of T was significantly higher in post-partum rats than in D-20 and D-10 of pregnancy. There was no change in t ½ β of T between all groups. It is evident that changes in metabolic clearance rates of different steroids vary according to their respective roles in pregnancy reflecting physiological demands

Tricky topology: Persistence of folded human telomeric i-motif DNA at ambient temperature and neutral pH

i-Motifs are four-stranded DNA structures formed from sequences rich in cytosine, held together by hemi-protonated cytosine-cytosine base pairs. These structures have been utilized extensively as pH-switches in DNA-based nanotechnology. Recently there has been an increasing interest in i-motif structures in biology, fuelled by examples of when these can form under neutral conditions. Herein we describe a cautionary tale regarding handling of i-motif samples. Using CD and UV spectroscopy we show that it is important to be consistent in annealing i-motif DNA samples as at neutral pH, i-motif unfolding kinetics is dependent on the time allowed for annealing and equilibration. We describe how the quadruplex structure formed by the human telomeric i-motif sequence can be shown to form and persist in the same conditions of neutral pH and ambient temperature in which, once at thermodynamic equilibrium, it exists predominantly as a random coil. This study has implications not only for work with i-motif DNA structures, but also in the uses and applications of these in nanotechnological devices

SHERIF ABDELHAMID MAHMOUD ABDELHAMID

In petroleum industry, knowing the properties of the rock formation is an essential step and requirement before any job e.g. exploration or drilling and the selection of equipment. Also it’s of great importance to understand the effect that some factors have on different aspects and properties of the rock formation. Defining the relationship between the rock formation permeability and the compaction pressure acting upon it, helps facilitate the work on the rock formation and also allow modification and enhancing the production. Therefore, a simplified equation to define this relationship has a great advantage and is highly required. This study is aiming to define and verify the nature of the relationship between the permeability of the rock formation and the compaction pressure acting on the formation and the ratio by which the pressure causes the permeability to decrease. Then a mathematical model will be produced to provide a simplified understanding to that relationship at certain condition

Optimizing the Dynamic Performance of a Wind Driven Standalone DFIG Using an Advanced Control Algorithm

The article seeks to improve the dynamic performance of a standalone doubly fed induction generator (DFIG) which driven by a wind turbine, with the help of an effective control approach. The superiority of the designed predictive controller can be confirmed through evaluating the performance of the DFIG under other control algorithm, which is the model predictive direct torque control (MPDTC), model predictive current control (MPCC) as classic types of control. Firstly, the operating principles of the two controllers are described in details. After that, a comprehensive comparison is performed among the dynamic performances of the designed MPDTC, MPCC techniques and the predictive control strategy, so we can easily present the merits and deficiencies of each control scheme to be able to easily select the most appropriate algorithm to be utilized with the DFIG. The comparison is carried out in terms of system simplicity, dynamic response, ripples’ content, number of performed commutations and total harmonic distortion (THD). The results of the comparison prove the effectiveness and validation of our proposed predictive controller; as it achieves the system simplicity, its dynamic response is faster than that of MPDTC and MPCC, it presents a lower content of ripples compared to MPDTC and MPCC. Moreover, it can minimize the computational burden, remarkably. Furthermore, the numerical results are showing a marked reduction in the THD with a percentage of 2.23 % compared to MPDTC and 1.8 % compared to MPCC. For these reasons, it can be said that the formulated controller is the most convenient to be used with the DFIG to achieve the best dynamic performance

A User-Centred Principle Based Transparency Approach for Intelligent Environments

Intelligent Environments (IEs) can enhance the experiences of their users in a variety of contexts, such as healthcare, energy management, and education. Despite these enhancements, some people do not accept IE technologies to be embedded in their living environments. Numerous studies link this lack of acceptability to users’ trust and attempt to address the trust issue by considering users’ requirements such as privacy, security and reliability. In this paper, we address the concept of trust from the perspective of transparency by adopting the existing transparency reference models designed for software requirements engineering in the context of IEs. Based on the outcome of applying these reference models, we propose a human-centred principle-based transparency framework for IEs. We hope that this framework aids the researchers and developers in the IE community, and that the suggested transparency principles provide a solid foundation for transparent IE systems

Seismic Fragility and uncertainty Analysis of Concrete Gravity Dams under Near-Fault Ground Motions

Throughout the world there are numerous concrete gravity dam has been made in areas of very high seismicity with least attention to seismic actions. Dam safety during and after an earthquake, is the objective of the present study. The failure of a dam in a seismic excitation has dramatic consequences in terms of loss of human lives and financial losses. In the present work, an analytical fragility analysis was performed in order to characterize the seismic vulnerability of concrete gravity dams by using a numerical simulation procedure to model sources of uncertainty that could impact dam performance, with combination with non-linear dynamic response analysis. The seismic fragility of concrete gravity dams under near-fault ground motions was performed and compared to assess their performance against seismic hazards. An uncertainty analysis is also carried out to evaluate the effectiveness of the Latin Hypercube Sampling method using different combinations of performance thresholds through fragility analysis. A case study was considered, it is about the dam of Oued el Fodda on the Oued Chelif River, West Algeria. This dam was designed in the early 1930s

Analysis of Farm Land Tenure in Western Oklahoma

Agricultural Economic