A perspective of the Malaysian highway energy consumption and future power supply

In this short communication, we discuss the energy consumption trends in the Malaysian road transport sector, with a special emphasis on the energy losses due to vehicle aerodynamic drag on highways. The recent trends of energy consumption in the Malaysian road transport sector are reviewed. It is evidently shown that the aerodynamic losses represented exceed 1.2. MTOE annually since 2002. A novel concept of vertical-axis wind turbine (VAWT) farms for harvesting aerodynamic energy losses on Malaysian highways is preliminarily proposed. The novel concept aims at providing a sustainable and green energy source for the lighting of the highway network in the country

When, how and for whom changes in engagement happen:A transition analysis of instructional variables

The pace of our knowledge on online engagement has not been at par with our need to understand the temporal dynamics of online engagement, the transitions between engagement states, and the factors that influence a student being persistently engaged, transitioning to disengagement, or catching up and transitioning to an engaged state. Our study addresses such a gap and investigates how engagement evolves or changes over time, using a person-centered approach to identify for whom the changes happen and when. We take advantage of a novel and innovative multistate Markov model to identify what variables influence such transitions and with what magnitude, i.e., to answer the why. We use a large data set of 1428 enrollments in six courses (238 students). The findings show that online engagement changes differently —across students— and at different magnitudes —according to different instructional variables and previous engagement states. Cognitively engaging instructions helped cognitively engaged students stay engaged while negatively affecting disengaged students. Lectures —a resource that requires less mental energy— helped improve disengaged students. Such differential effects point to the different ways interventions can be applied to different groups, and how different groups may be supported. A balanced, carefully tailored approach is needed to design, intervene, or support students' engagement that takes into account the diversity of engagement states as well as the varied response magnitudes that intervention may incur across diverse students’ profiles

A course agnostic approach to predicting student success from VLE log data using recurrent neural networks

We describe a method of improving the accuracy of a learning analytics system through the application of a Recurrent Neural Network over all students in a University, regardless of course. Our target is to discover how well a student will do in a class given their interaction with a virtual learning environment. We show how this method performs well when we want to predict how well students will do, even if we do not have a model trained based on their specific course

Performance analysis of wells turbine blades using the entropy generation minimization method

Wells turbine concept depends on utilizing the oscillating air column generated over marine waves to drive a turbine. As a matter of fact, previous researches on the performance analysis of such turbine were based on the first law of thermodynamics only. Nonetheless, the actual useful energy loss cannot be completely justified by the first law because it does not distinguish between the quantity and the quality of energy. Therefore, the present work investigates the second law efficiency and entropy generation characteristics around different blades that are used in Wells turbine under oscillating flow conditions. The work is performed by using time-dependent CFD models of different NACA airfoils under sinusoidal flow boundary conditions. Numerical investigations are carried out for the incompressible viscous flow around the blades to obtain the entropy generation due to viscous dissipation. It is found that the value of second law efficiency of the NACA0015 airfoil blade is higher by approximately 1.5% than the second law efficiency of the NACA0012, NACA0020 and NACA0021 airfoils. Furthermore, it is found that the angle of attack radically affects the second law efficiency and such effect is quantified for NACA0015 for angle of attack ranging from -15° to 25°

Computational fluid dynamics study of dusty air flow over NACA 63415 airfoil for wind turbine applications

Gulf and South African countries have enormous potential for wind energy. However, the emergence of sand storms in this region postulates performance and reliability challenges on wind turbines. This study investigates the effects of debris flow on wind turbine blade performance. In this paper, two-dimensional incompressible Navier-Stokes equations and the transition SST turbulence model are used to analyze the aerodynamic performance of NACA 63415 airfoil under clean and sandy conditions. The numerical simulation of the airfoil under clean surface condition is performed at Reynolds number 460×103, and the numerical results have a good consistency with the experimental data. The Discrete Phase Model has been used to investigate the role sand particles play in the aerodynamic performance degradation. The pressure and lift coefficients of the airfoil have been computed under different sand particles flow rates. The performance of the airfoil under different angle of attacks has been studied. Results showed that the blade lift coefficient can deteriorate by 28% in conditions relevant to the Gulf and South African countries sand storms. As a result, the numerical simulation method has been verified to be economically available for accurate estimation of the sand particles effect on the wind turbine blades

Numerical Study for a Marine Current Turbine Blade Performance under Varying Angle of Attack

Energy generation from marine currents is a promising technology for sustainable development. The success of using marine current turbines to tap the ocean hydrodynamic energy depends on predicting the hydrodynamic characteristics and performance of such turbines. This paper presents an analysis of the two-dimensional flow using commercial CFD software over a marine current turbine blade. The 2D flow is simulated for HF-SX NACA foil modified from S1210 NACA foil at various angles of attack with Reynolds number of 19×104, which represents the marine current flow. The hydrofoil is designed with considerations for lift and drag coefficients. The flow is simulated by solving the steady-state Navier-Stokes equations coupled with the k-ω shear stress transport (SST) turbulence model. The aim of this work is to study the effect of the angle of attack on the lift and drag coefficients. The computational domain is composed of non-homogenous structured meshing, with sufficient refinement of the domain near the foil blade in order to capture the boundary layer effects. Hence, all calculations are done at constant flow velocity while varying the angle attack for every model tested. The results have shown that the drag and lift coefficient, Cd and Cl coefficient increases with increasing the value of the angle of attack, ratio Cl/Cd curve related on performance at the peak 7o angle of attack

Perspectives of Emirati Married Women in Higher Education

Abstract United Arab Emirates (UAE) women have enthusiastically taken advantage of the educational opportunities available for all after the discovery of oil. Their access to higher education has expanded considerably, opening new opportunities to them for participation and career development. This exploratory study has attempted to gain an insight into the challenges married female Emirati students undergo during their learning journey to pursue the Bachelor of Education teaching degree. The study also examines motivating factors and strategies, albeit individual and/or institutional serving as support factors. The research has been positioned within a socio-cultural framework of the UAE context. This article delineates the complexities of balancing married life juxtaposed with the demands of being a student teacher within a 21 st century tomorrow's multicultural perspective school framework. The need for tertiary level supportive services empowering and inspiring these students is also discussed within the daily life family reality, community and society at large