Pah I. Chen and Vladimir T. Borovansky
A bibliographic system has been developed at the University of Petroleum and Minerals, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, for gathering, organizing and disseminating the solar energy…
Abstract
A bibliographic system has been developed at the University of Petroleum and Minerals, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, for gathering, organizing and disseminating the solar energy information pertaining to the Middle East. This paper presents the structure of the system, and some facts and findings on solar energy information based upon analysis of the bibliography.
Congcong Liu, Chong Wang, Keping Ye, Yun Bai, Xiaobo Yu, Chunbao Li and Guanghong Zhou
The purpose of this paper is to elucidate the influences of the animal fat and fatty acid type on the formation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and to propose a…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to elucidate the influences of the animal fat and fatty acid type on the formation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and to propose a formation mechanism of PAHs in fat during electric roasting, which is a method of non-direct-contact-flame heating.
Design/methodology/approach
The effects of animal fats and model fat on the formation of PAHs were valued on the basis of the ultra high-performance liquid chromatography data. The corresponding products of the FAME pyrolysis were detected by TG-FTIR. The proposal formation mechanism of PAHs was based on the summary of the literature.
Findings
Contrary to the International Agency for Research on Cancer, DF had higher risk with 280.53 ng/g of concentration after being roasted than the others animal fats of red meat in terms of PAHs formation. This research also ensured the importance of fat on PAHs formation, the concentration of PAHs in pure fats was higher after being electric roasted than that in meat patties and juice which made from corresponding animal fat. What is more, during pure animal fats and meat products being processed, less PAHs formed in the fat with lower extent of unsaturation and lower content of linolenate. In the same way, methyl linolenate demonstrated the significant increasement to PAHs formation compared to the other fatty acids. And, the number of carbon atom and the extent of unsaturation in fatty acid affects the formation of PAHs during roasting. The detection of alkene and alkane allows to propose a formation mechanism of PAHs during model fat being heated. Further study is required to elucidate the confirm moleculars during the formation of PAHs.
Originality/value
This work studied the effect of the carbon atom number and the unsaturation extent of fats and model fats on the formation of PAHs. This work also assure the important of alkene and alkane on the pyrolysis of model fats. This study also researched the formation and distribution of PAHs in pure fats and meat products after being heated.
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Marion L. Mitchell, Loretta McKinnon, Leanne M Aitken, Sarah Weber, Sean Birgan and Sharon Sykes
The number of disasters has increased by 30 per cent worldwide in the past 30 years. Nurses constitute the largest clinical group within a hospital and their ability to respond to…
Abstract
Purpose
The number of disasters has increased by 30 per cent worldwide in the past 30 years. Nurses constitute the largest clinical group within a hospital and their ability to respond to disasters is crucial to the provision of quality patient care. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate a four-year disaster preparedness partnership between two tertiary hospitals from the perspective of executive staff, senior clinical managers and specialist nurses. The national disaster response centre was situated in one hospital and the other hospital was located 3,500 km away.
Design/methodology/approach
The intervention involved selected nurses working at the partner hospital to enable familiarisation with policies, procedures and layout in the event of a request for back-up in the event of a national disaster. A mixed-methods design was used to elicit the strengths and limitations of the partnership. Surveys, in-depth interviews and focus groups were used.
Findings
In total, 67 participants provided evaluations including ten executive staff, 17 clinical management nurses and 38 nurses from the disaster response team. Improvements in some aspects of communication were recommended. The successful recruitment of highly skilled and committed nurses was a strength. A disaster exercise resulted in 79 per cent of nurses, able and willing to go immediately to the partner hospital for up to 14 days.
Research limitations/implications
During the four year partnership, no actual disaster occurred that required support. This limited the ability to fully trial the partnership in an authentic manner. The disaster exercise, although helpful in trialling the processes and assessing nurse availability, it has some limitations.
Originality/value
This innovative partnership successfully prepared specialist nurses from geographically distant hospitals for a disaster response. This together with a willingness to be deployed enhanced Australia’s capacity in the event of a disaster.
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Sumit Kumar Gautam, R. Suresh, Ved Prakash Sharma and Meena Sehgal
The purpose of this paper is to assess the exposure of cooks in rural India (55 households) to the indoor air pollution levels emitted from burning of different fuels, i.e. cow…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to assess the exposure of cooks in rural India (55 households) to the indoor air pollution levels emitted from burning of different fuels, i.e. cow dung, wood, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and propane natural gas(PNG) kerosene for cooking purposes.
Design/methodology/approach
Indoor air quality was monitored during cooking hours in 55 rural households to estimate the emissions of PM10, PM2.5, CO, NO2, VOCs and polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). While, PM10 and PM2.5 were monitored using personal dust samplers on quartz filter paper, CO and VOCs were monitored using on line monitors. The PM10 and PM2.5 mass collected on filter papers was processed to analyse the presence of PAHs using GC.
Findings
Results revealed that cow dung is the most polluting fuel with maximum emissions of PM10, PM 2.5, VOCs, CO, NO2 and Benzene followed by wood and kerosene. Interestingly kerosene combustion emits the highest amount of PAHs. Emissions for all the fuels show the presence of carcinogenic PAHs which could be a serious health concern. The composition of LPG/PNG leads to reductions of pollutants because of better combustion process. LPG which is largely propane and butane, and PNG which is 90 per cent methane prove to be healthier fuels. Based on the results, the authors suggest that technological intervention is required to replace the traditional stoves with improved fuel efficient stoves.
Practical implications
The prevailing weather condition and design of the kitchen in these rural houses severely affect the concentration of pollutants in the kitchen as winter season combined with inadequate ventilation leads to reduced dispersion and accumulation of air pollutants in small kitchens.
Originality/value
The present study provides a detailed analysis of impact of widely‐used cooking practices in India. Even today, countries such as India rely on biomass for cooking practices exposing the cooks to high level of carcinogenic pollutants. Further, women and girls are the most threatened group as they are the primary cooks in these rural Indian settings. Based on the results, the authors suggest that technological as well as policy intervention is required to replace the traditional stoves with improved fuel efficient stoves.
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The purpose of this paper is to study the soot formation and evolution by using this newly developed Lagrangian particle tracking with weighted fraction Monte Carlo (LPT-WFMC…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to study the soot formation and evolution by using this newly developed Lagrangian particle tracking with weighted fraction Monte Carlo (LPT-WFMC) method.
Design/methodology/approach
The weighted soot particles are used in this MC framework and is tracked using Lagrangian approach. A detailed soot model based on the LPT-WFMC method is used to study the soot formation and evolution in ethylene laminar premixed flames.
Findings
The LPT-WFMC method is validated by both experimental and numerical results of the direct simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) and Multi-Monte Carlo (MMC) methods. Compared with DSMC and MMC methods, the stochastic error analysis shows this new LPT-WFMC method could further extend the particle size distributions (PSDs) and improve the accuracy for predicting soot PSDs at larger particle size regime.
Originality/value
Compared with conventional weighted particle schemes, the weight distributions in LPT-WFMC method are adjustable by adopting different fraction functions. As a result, the number of numerical soot particles in each size interval could be also adjustable. The stochastic error of PSDs in larger particle size regime can also be minimized by increasing the number of numerical soot particles at larger size interval.
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Hoong Sang Wong and Chen Chen Yong
This chapter provided systematic and comprehensive analysis on trawl fisheries management and conservation measures in the Straits of Malacca. Detailed analysis is conducted on…
Abstract
This chapter provided systematic and comprehensive analysis on trawl fisheries management and conservation measures in the Straits of Malacca. Detailed analysis is conducted on Malaysian fishery management framework particularly domestic country's trawl fishery status, legal structure, input-control strategies, ecosystem protection plan, pollution, law enforcement, and complementary measures that designed to reduce and prevent overfishing in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of Malacca Straits. Gaps and challenges found in existing trawl fisheries literature are presented followed by recommendations for improvement in the management and conservation of trawl fisheries.
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Mohamed Ibrahim N.H., M. Udayakumar, Sivan Suresh, Suvanjan Bhattacharyya and Mohsen Sharifpur
This study aims to investigate the insights of soot formation such as rate of soot coagulation, rate of soot nucleation, rate of soot surface growth and soot surface oxidation in…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to investigate the insights of soot formation such as rate of soot coagulation, rate of soot nucleation, rate of soot surface growth and soot surface oxidation in ethylene/hydrogen/nitrogen diffusion jet flame at standard atmospheric conditions, which is very challenging to capture even with highly sophisticated measuring systems such as Laser Induced Incandescence and Planar laser-induced fluorescence. The study also aims to investigate the volume of soot in the flame using soot volume fraction and to understand the global correlation effect in the formation of soot in ethylene/hydrogen/nitrogen diffusion jet flame.
Design/methodology/approach
A large eddy simulation (LES) was performed using box filtered subgrid-scale tensor. A filtered and residual component of the governing equations such as continuity, momentum, energy and species are resolved and modeled, respectively. All the filtered and residual components are numerically solved using the ILU method by considering PISO pressure–velocity solver. All the hyperbolic flux uses the QUICK algorithm, and an elliptic flux uses SOU to evaluate face values. In all the cases, Courant–Friedrichs–Lewy (CFL) conditions are maintained unity.
Findings
The findings are as follows: soot volume fraction (SVF) as a function of a flame-normalized length for three different Reynolds number configurations (Re = 15,000, Re = 8,000 and Re = 5,000) using LES; soot gas phase and particulate phase insights such as rate of soot nucleation, rate of soot coagulation, rate of soot surface growth and soot surface oxidation for three different Reynolds number configurations (Re = 15,000, Re = 8,000 and Re = 5,000); and soot global correction using total soot volume in the flame volume as a function of Reynolds number and Froude number.
Originality/value
The originality of this study includes the following: coupling LES turbulent model with chemical equilibrium diffusion combustion conjunction with semi-empirical Brookes Moss Hall (BMH) soot model by choosing C6H6 as a soot precursor kinetic pathway; insights of soot formations such as rate of soot nucleation, soot coagulation rate, soot surface growth rate and soot oxidation rate for ethylene/hydrogen/nitrogen co-flow flame; and SVF and its insights study for three inlet fuel port configurations having the three different Reynolds number (Re = 15,000, Re = 8,000 and Re = 5,000).
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Michael R. Edelstein and Catherine McVay Hughes
The City of New York was suddenly and deliberately attacked on September 11, 2001, killing thousands of people and leaving unbelievable destruction. Thirty-eight buildings and…
Abstract
The City of New York was suddenly and deliberately attacked on September 11, 2001, killing thousands of people and leaving unbelievable destruction. Thirty-eight buildings and structures were destroyed or damaged, including seven buildings in the World Trade Center site completely leveled. Almost five years later, two very large contaminated buildings, Deutsche Bank at 130 Liberty Street and Fiterman Hall of Borough of Manhattan Community College, have yet to be cleaned up and demolished. Some 30 million square feet of commercial space was lost. Transportation was disrupted, including the loss of the World Trade Center PATH station, the 1/9 subway line and portions of Route 9A and Church Street. Cars were not allowed south of Canal Street for a week. For Americans this was a terrorist attack and a crime. It was a time for mourning losses and responding to disaster. There was the shock that something like this could happen. And there was more. The destruction of the WTC also posed competing environmental, economic and social threats.
Allen Y. Chang, Yu-Yung Li, Min-Hsiung Hung and Ting-Fan Yen
The purpose of this paper is to describe the development of a novel mobile monitoring and control (MC) framework with active-push and plug-and-play capabilities. This proposed…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to describe the development of a novel mobile monitoring and control (MC) framework with active-push and plug-and-play capabilities. This proposed framework is particularly designed to addresses the shortcomings of the traditional factory MC systems in sharing information over the internet, protecting the system security, delivering warning messages, and deploying monitoring points.
Design/methodology/approach
By leveraging web service technology, mobile devices, and wireless communication, this paper describes the methodology and approach for designing a MC server, a wireless monitoring module (WMM), an intelligent v-Machine, two active-push mechanisms, a pocket PC application, and a smart phone application.
Findings
The designed WMM enables the monitoring points to be deployed in a mobile manner. The proposed mobile MC framework (MMCF) can timely detect abnormalities of appliances and equipment and turn off appliances in dangerous situations through WMM. It can also instantly deliver various warning contents to the mobile devices carried by the responsible persons. The v-Machine is built based on virtual metrology (VM) technology and can predict production precision of machined workpieces.
Research limitations/implications
With the successful design and testing of the novel MMCF, this framework can obviously be used for many more applications and developments.
Practical implications
The authors' implement a factory MC system based on the proposed framework and conduct various integration tests on two electric appliances and a practical CNC machine tool in a factory. Testing results shows that the factory MC system works smoothly according the design goals and can overcome the shortcomings of traditional factory MC systems. The MC system also presents good performances, instantly delivering warning contents with a size ranging from 1K bytes to 10M bytes to the users within few seconds.
Social implications
The proposed MMCF exploits various automation technologies to detect equipment's abnormalities, reduce the rate of product defects caused by human errors, reinforce security, prevent accidents, and ensure the safety of operations.
Originality/value
The proposed MMCF can effectively promote existing factory MC systems to achieve the merits of mobile MC, which is a unique contribution of this work, compared to previous studies. The results of this study can be applied to a variety of industrial automation applications, including factory automation and assembly automation.
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Salim Ahmed, Khushboo Kumari and Durgeshwer Singh
Petroleum hydrocarbons are naturally occurring flammable fossil fuels used as conventional energy sources. It has carcinogenic, mutagenic properties and is considered a hazardous…
Abstract
Purpose
Petroleum hydrocarbons are naturally occurring flammable fossil fuels used as conventional energy sources. It has carcinogenic, mutagenic properties and is considered a hazardous pollutant. Soil contaminated with petroleum hydrocarbons adversely affects the properties of soil. This paper aim to remove pollutants from the environment is an urgent need of the hour to maintain the proper functioning of soil ecosystems.
Design/methodology/approach
The ability of micro-organisms to degrade petroleum hydrocarbons makes it possible to use these microorganisms to clean the environment from petroleum pollution. For preparing this review, research papers and review articles related to petroleum hydrocarbons degradation by micro-organisms were collected from journals and various search engines.
Findings
Various physical and chemical methods are used for remediation of petroleum hydrocarbons contaminants. However, these methods have several disadvantages. This paper will discuss a novel understanding of petroleum hydrocarbons degradation and how micro-organisms help in petroleum-contaminated soil restoration. Bioremediation is recognized as the most environment-friendly technique for remediation. The research studies demonstrated that bacterial consortium have high biodegradation rate of petroleum hydrocarbons ranging from 83% to 89%.
Social implications
Proper management of petroleum hydrocarbons pollutants from the environment is necessary because of their toxicity effects on human and environmental health.
Originality/value
This paper discussed novel mechanisms adopted by bacteria for biodegradation of petroleum hydrocarbons, aerobic and anaerobic biodegradation pathways, genes and enzymes involved in petroleum hydrocarbons biodegradation.