N-acyl lysine is a surface-active substance that can reduce interface tension between oil and water. N-acyl lysine was synthesized by calcium oxide amidification of lauric acid and lysine. The study aims to increase lauric acid conversion by observing the effect of substrate ratio, catalyst amount, and solvent ratio, through the preparation and observation of mathematical models using Box Behnken Design and Response Surface Methodology. Optimal conditions are observed in the ratio of lauric acid to lysine 1:2; 1:3; 1:4, catalyst amount 3%; 5%; 7%, and a solvent ratio to lauric acid 1:1; 1:2; 1:3. In this optimal condition, the conversion of lauric acid will increase by more than 80%. The variable amount of catalyst showed a more significant effect in increasing lauric acid conversion. The results showed that all three variables affect the percent conversion with an R2 of 90.32%.

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We studied the sorption properties of tree foliage samples growing in urban anthropogenic landscapes in relation to petroleum products. As sorption material we chose leaf litter of apple-tree (Lat. Malus), birch (Lat. Bitula), oak (Lat. Quircus), and aspen (Lat. Populustremula). The physical and chemical characteristics (moisture, ash content, and bulk density) of the fallen leaves samples were determined. Atomic-emission determination of the content of various elements in acetate-ammonium extracts of selected leaf samples was carried out to evaluate the safety of their use as sorption material. The leaves of an apple tree growing along a busy highway were chosen as an object for evaluation of metal accumulation capacity, and samples of leaves were taken in spring and autumn periods. To assess the background content of elements, samples of apple-tree leaves were also taken away from anthropogenic sources of impact. It was found that the content of heavy metal ions in the leaves of apple-tree under intensive anthropogenic load does not exceed the established standard requirements, respectively; the material in question can be used as a sorbent for purification of water environments from various pollutants. Experiments on purification of model solutions containing oil products were carried out under static and dynamic conditions. It was found that all the leaf samples under consideration possess sorption properties towards oil products to a different degree: the minimum adsorption capacity of aspen leaves - 0.42 mg/g under static and 0.17 mg/g under dynamic conditions, the maximum adsorption capacity of oak leaves - 0.73 and 0.28 mg/g respectively.

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The main objective of this research is to develop an integrated platform for a computer aided design, finite element analysis, and computer aided manufacturing modules (CAD /FEA/CAM) of the deep drawing process for cylindrical cups. The integrated platform was done through the use of programs (VB6), UGS-NX9, and ABAQUS on a personal computer. In this paper, these modules are constructed to facilitate several industrial applications in the process of sheet metal die design and manufacturing. Finally, CAD /FEA/CAM results fora case study are applied experimentally to validate the developed integrated platform. Simulation results provide useful information to address the feasibility of the actual production process.

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Insulation is the name given to processes and systems that prevent unwanted physical effects or events from passing from one side to the other. Within this scope, preventing heat energy from entering or escaping can be considered as one of these operations. This paper aims to evaluate the traditional types of thermal insulation used for walls in Jordan and recommend an effective new wall type. For this reason, the characteristics of the three types of thermal insulation walls were checked. For example, the thermal transmittance and thermal resistance for each type were determined. The obtained results were compared with the result of the recommended model. The results showed that the thermal transmittance of the recommended model has decreased by 65% with respect to the traditional types. Finally, these results would help for developing the Green Building Guide in Jordan through adopting a specific arrangement of insulation layers, which ensures less energy consumption and thus less harm to the environment.

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Tolitoli Regency is an area that often experiences regular floods every year, one of the areas that are often affected by flooding is the Lampasio District, flood disasters that often occur in the District of Lampasio have many impacts on the community and the environment. Based on this background, flood-prone research was carried out in Lampasio District to mitigate disasters. This study uses primary data and secondary data in the form of topographic data, slope, geology, and soil types, as well as rainfall data and land use data. The purpose of this research is to be able to get the level of flood vulnerability with a Geographical Information System. The results of the analysis show that Lampasio District has an area with the highest level of flood vulnerability covering an area of 1,274.31 Ha or 2.04%, then in the area that is included in the moderate flood vulnerability level is 18,765.93 Ha or 30.03% of the total area. , and areas that are included in the low level of vulnerability are 2,444.60 Ha or 67.93% of the total area in Lampasio District.

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The fuel injection rate of a diesel piezo injector was measured using a scale and a positive displacement flow meter (PDFM). The measurement results of the injected fuel quantity were compared in each case. The piezo injector was driven by a microcontroller. The piezo injector driver is designed to charge and discharge current to the piezo injector. The control signal was generated by a microcontroller. The fuel injection durations used in this study were 0.5, 1.0 and 2.0 ms. the common rail pressure was controlled under the three conditions of 30, 100, and 150 MPa. The injected fuel mass per injection was calculated from the total injected fuel mass when the fuel injection was repeated 500 times. The lower the rail pressure, the greater the variation in the injected fuel mass. Variations in the injected fuel quantity per injection with the injection duration were reduced with longer fuel injection durations. In all injection conditions, the accuracy of the scale was higher than that of the PDFM.

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Dynamic Vibration Absorber (DVA) consisting of a simple mass-stiffness mechanism has typically been designed to attenuate excessive vibrations in machines and structures operating at or near their resonant frequencies. This undamped DVA, namely the auxiliary system, helps to reduce the amplitude of the main system by creating the "anti-node" and theoretically lags 180: of the excitation force in order to suppress the vibration amplitude of the main system. DVA demonstrates unused and wasted energy that can potentially be harvested for other purposes. Energy harvesting from the vibration object, which in this case is the DVA, is a technique used to convert unwanted vibrations into electrical energy. This paper will address the effect of the DVA parameters chosen on the basis of the Randy Fox Method (RFM) and its effectiveness will be experimentally tested. The piezoelectric transducer is mounted on the DVA and the energy produced in the form of the generated voltage is measured at different widths of 30 mm, 40 mm and 50 mm for three different tuned mass positions. The experimental results reveal that a single piezoelectric transducer can generate up to 40 millivolts at an operating frequency that excites the original natural frequencies of the main system. It is observed that with the proper selection of parameters, the vibration amplitude of the main system is attenuated effectively along with the sufficient energy that can be harvested.

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Study on performance of PVD-coated Ceramic Metal (TiCN-based substrate/TiCN/TiN) cutting tool applied for turning of AISI 4340 steel with hardness of 50 HRC is the objective of research reported in this paper. The performance was studied through some machinability aspects, i.e. tool wear, cutting time, surface roughness and power. The design of experiment was done by Taguchi with cutting speed, feed and depth of cut as the independent variables and the machinability aspects as the responses. The results of study show that flank wear was observed as the tool wear mode and it was attributed to abrasive wear mechanism. Cutting time gained by the cutting tool was reliable, surface roughness was at the quality of smooth turned, and as the surface roughness, power was recorded reasonable for finish turning. As this study recommends the PVD-coated Cermet for finish turning operation and thus, surface roughness becomes the primary response. Optimization was carried out for surface roughness. Since surface roughness was one among 4 responses, the multi objective genetic algorithm technique was utilized. The result of optimization and the confirmation test showed a good agreement where the optimum surface roughness was about (0.5308-0.5450) microns. It was resulted at cutting speed of 130 m/min, feed of 0.1 mm/rev, and depth of cut of 0.1 mm.

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A study is made to enhance the performance of the sub frame in YJ3128 type dump truck by reducing the vibration, weight and provide uniform load in static condition. A three different case studies has been made by modeling the sub frame with three different cross section namely C, I and Rectangular sections. The work is performed by varying the position of the cross members in the sub frame and validate through FEM approach. The dimension and material for this study is taken from the existing model of YJ3128 type dump truck. Based on the comparison of theoretical and analytical results of max principal stress and deflection, the optimized sub frame has been identified. It is mainly utilized in carrying the power train unit of the heavy duty vehicle that are used in mining's, construction sites and highways for transporting sands and gravels.

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The GPS signals when transmitted from the satellite have power of 27 W. As they reach the receiver antenna on the earths surface, the power measured is too low around 10 -16 W. So, the acquisition and tracking of GPS signals become a big challenge. Acquisition and tracking of GPS signal are the initial stages in the software GPS receiver. Acquisition stage detects the signal coming from the satellite and provides rough estimate of code phase (code delay) and doppler frequency. Tracking phase provides the sheer estimate of the code phase and doppler frequency, which helps us to determine the distance between the receiver and the satellite transmitting the signal. In hardware GPS receivers a specialized chip is being designed for performing acquisition and tracking algorithms. While in software GPS receivers, the signal processing tasks are performed in software. Thereby, increasing the control and flexibility on the tasks performed. It also becomes easy to incorporate any changes in algorithms or approaches in the future. In this paper we have demonstrated the acquisition and tracking of GPS signals data affected by ionospheric scintillation using software GPS receiver. The acquisition of GPS signals is implemented using Parallel code phase algorithm and its tracking using DLL/PLL.

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The influence of brown coal and coal production waste on the bloating of bentonite clay was experimentally investigated for the purpose of optimizing the heat-insulation properties of fire-resistant expanded-clay granulates. The bloating coefficients and bulk densities of the expanded-clay granulate samples with additives showed clear dependence on firing temperature. Coal production waste and brown coal were both found to be suitable as intensifiers of beneficial bloating in bentonite clays of the Kyngrak-Keles deposit, Kazakhstan. In both cases, expanded-clay granulates with high heat-insulation effect and low bulk density was produced. X-ray diffractometry, electron microscopy, and differential thermal analysis helped reveal the bulk chemical and elemental compositions of the additives. This study establishes a quantitative compositional basis for heat-insulation granulate performance, opening up economical pathways to enhancing the energy efficiency of buildings and structures while increasing fire safety, environmental friendliness, and resistance to a range of climatic conditions.

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Use of geosynthetics in civil engineering has advanced rapidly in recent years and it has been popular in railways construction. Geosynthetics provide an important option to improve track support stabilization and to reduce the track maintenance costs. In the present paper, a reinforced railway track has been modelled using the finite element method (FEM). The principal aim of the study is to investigate the influence of geogrids reinforcement in the railway track behaviour. The results show that the reinforcement can provide a significant contribution to improve the performance of railways tracks.

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ANSI 304 austenitic steel is alloy steel with high Ni and Cr content, and this steel has high strength, heat resistance, corrosion resistance, is not magnetized, and is especially easy to weld. However, regarding the welding process of ANSI 304 steel, the heat-affected area is very sensitive and leads to hot cracking of the weld metal. The higher hot crack forming characteristics of the Austenitic group than other alloys, along with a higher coefficient of thermal expansion, lower coefficient of thermal conductivity, welding mode, etc., are the factors that strongly affect the quality of ANSI 304 steel welds. Tensile strength and fatigue strength of welds are two important parameters characterizing the life and safety of the structure. In this paper, an experimental method is used to evaluate the influence of welding materials, welding mode, and weld geometry parameters on the tensile strength of welds when welding ANSI 304 steel pipes. Thereby, find the optimal set of welding mode parameters to fabricate the test samples. Using the Weibull distribution function and Loga normal distribution function, the fatigue graph and fatigue regression equation are built to evaluate the fatigue strength of ANSI 304 steel pipe welds.

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Aquaculture is one of the most promising industries in agricultural sector. Fish as one of aquacultures contributions, is considered as a substantial source of protein for people around the world. However, one issue confronting the small-scale aqua farmers is the current practice of conventional water quality monitoring which is tedious and time consuming. These current evaluation methods of water quality are laboratory-based tests that required fresh supplies of chemicals, qualified staff and water samples. In this study, an innovative real-time water quality monitoring system for aquaculture application is proposed. The system utilized electronics sensors, microcontroller and SMS technology for notification purposes. There are four parameters were monitored namely: pH, temperature, dissolved oxygen and ammonia. Results of evaluation performance show that there were only minimal errors in the values of the parameters considered in the proposed device as compared with that of a standard device. The device functioned according to its purpose with high degree of accuracy. The said device is a potential innovative solution to small-scale aqua farmers in mitigating fish kill, thus, increasing yield production.

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Based on a rigorous solution of the problem, analytical expressions are obtained for calculating the diffraction of the electromagnetic field of a grounded cable on a conducting spheroid in seawater. The calculations are based on the original method of the authors of the analytical continuation of the exact solution of the problem on direct current in the frequency domain, by decomposing the electric field of the spheroid in multipoles. Moreover, the analysis of the solution allows us to represent the secondary electric field of the spheroid as the field of an equivalent dipole. Graphs of the flow characteristics of a conducting spheroid are given.

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The heart is the blood pumping unit for all mammals which involves transporting the blood throughout the whole body at acertain pressure, velocity, and frequency. This paper focuses on the review of the experimental and computational simulation study on the heart valve and fluid flow characteristics concerning the method, similarities, and limitations on the parameters involved such as heart structure design, fluid properties, and effect of heart valves. There are a few methods to study the working principle of the heart and valves. Many researchers are more familiar with the numerical method than the experimental method. However, experimental modeling of heart structure will give a better understanding and visualize of the heart muscle, valve movement, and fluid flow pattern in the heart chamber.

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Studies of swirl spray have received considerable attention due to its importance in numerous applications such as combustion, agriculture, drug delivery, and perfumes. The present study investigates the characteristics of sprays emanating from a simplex atomizers with different diameters of discharge orifice and flow rates. Spray cone angle, breakup length and air core diameter are recorded repeatedly and thier respective averaged values along with the standard deviation are presented. It is found that the size of the discharge orifice does play a significant role in determining the characteristics of the emanating sprays, while the role of flow rates (i.e. the injection pressure) is only prominent for determining spray cone angle and breakup length.

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Sulfur dioxide is one of the most commonly found gases, which contaminates the air, damages human health and the environment. To reduce the damage, it is important to control the emissions on power stations, as the major part of sulfur dioxide in the atmosphere is produced during electric energy generation on power plants. The present work describes flue gas desulfurization process optimizing strategy using data mining. Determining the relationship between process parameters and the actual efficiency of the absorption process is an important task for improving the performance of flue gas desulfurization plants and optimizing future plants. To predict the efficiency of cleaning from SO2 emissions, a model of wet flue gas desulfurization was developed, which combines a mathematical model and an artificial neural network. The optimization modified genetic method of flue gas desulfurization process based on artificial neural network was developed. It affords to represent the time series characteristics and factual efficiency influence on desulfurization and increase its precision of prediction. The vital difference between this developed genetic method and other similar methods is in using adaptive mutation that uses the level of population development in working process. It means that less important genes will mutate in chromosome more probable than high suitability genes. It increases accuracy and their role in searching. The comparison exercise of the developed method and other methods was done with the result that the new method gives the smallest predictive error (in the amount of released SO2) and helps to decrease the time in prediction of efficiency of flue gas desulfurization. The results allow to use this method to increase efficiency in flue gas desulfurization process and to reduce SO2 emissions into the atmosphere.

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The spinal cord is a disease that can cause disabilities and affects the patients to carry out daily tasks. In this case study, the patient could not pinch the fingers but could flexion and extension of the wrist. The objectives of this study are to design and develop a customized adaptive device to help the respective patient. The model was developed based on the engineering design process to select the best design. The model was named Tenodesis Grip Enchance Orthosis (T-GEO) and further analyses using computational analysis to predict the product's performance. Then, the model was fabricated using 3D printing technology. Three different concepts were introduced, and the best design was selected using the Pugh method. The findings suggested the product functioned well and capable of helping the patient regain the ability to pitch.

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Over the years, extensive discussions on the flow topology havesparked a motivation for deeper studies on the process of vortex formation and the periodic behaviour of the reattachment profile. Despite a clear methodology, such flow topology studies have not yet covered the majority of airfoil types. This study considers three low Reynolds number Selig airfoils. The computational fluid dynamics simulations carried out involve the airflow passing these models. The attention is given mainly on the separation bubble, vortex shedding and reattachment point. The corresponding effects on airfoils aerodynamic performance are observed. The method is validated against an established mathematical relationship to indicate that both simulations and analysis technique are reliable. The results are applicable in micro aerial vehicles field where the airfoils are those of low Reynolds number.

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This study is done to develop a concrete damage condition rating examination method for existing buildings based on visual assessment, changing it from a qualitative assessment to an assessment that can be measured quantitatively. Structural damage greatly affects building safety and will result in reduced building performance, or even building failure. Existing building structure damage is caused by many factors, one of which is poor construction implementation. To identify the extent of damage done, concrete structure condition rating assessment needs to be performed on the existing building. Assessment must be performed, either on functioning buildings or on post-disaster buildings, in order to provide an image of a buildings condition and provide alternative steps that can be taken for a building in a bad condition. Right now, there is no clear reference that can be used to perform concrete damage condition rating assessment on existing building structure, so assessment results tend to be qualitative. This research suggests a concrete damage condition rating assessment method based on visual assessment. This assessment method has a scale and a condition rating reference, so that the resulted concrete damage condition rating assessment can be measured quantitatively. Aside from that, this assessment method also considers the critical weight and damage area of each concrete structure element on existing buildings. That way, the resulted assessment method can accommodate the need for visual-based concrete damage condition rating assessment for existing buildings.

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In recent years, the multilevel DC/AC static converters are increasingly used for their benefits especially in terms of reduction of total harmonic distortion (THD) of the output current and reduced voltage stress on semiconductors at switching moments. In this article, a parallel structure of inverter is proposed for systems using photovoltaic panels. Although the proposed structure requires a number of voltage sources more than that used in other structures proposed in the literature, this structure has the advantage of being simple, contains only semiconductors for switching (no additional components as switching capacitors are required), and easy logic of control of semiconductors. The used modulation is based on the sinusoidal fundamental frequency pulse width modulation technique with single carrier. The proposed structure with its command scheme is adapted to voltage source inverter (VSI) applications. The inverter performances are evaluated through simulations in Matlab-Simulink environment on a nine-level inverter example.

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Identifying the pest and eradicating one of the significant and challenging tasks to the farmers in the agriculture field. It is considered to be one of the devaluating processes while farming and it pushes cultivation productivity to face a downfall. Usually farmers follow conventional approaches to the diminish growth of pests and propagate the productivity. Recently researchers incorporate machine learning methods to classify the categories of pest present in the paddy crop through various images practically. This paper deals with Artificial Neural Networks that is used to identify ten kinds of pest. There are 3549 images available in the data repository. An augmentation methodology is incorporated to support large dataset via machine learning process. A noise removed leaf images are preprocessed and given as input. Sobel operator based edge detection is used to Segment the ROI of processed images Advanced Feature extraction methods are incorporated to clearly sort out the three important criteria of the images like Shape, Intensity and Texture. The proposed model validates the images through ANN and accurate results are produced in pest image classification.

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With the increase in the number of devices every day, the modern telecommunication world has been advancing to cater to the needs of every individual and has introduced the use of different frequency bands for different applications. This paper presents a multi-band antenna design tuning into different frequency bands which include 1.6 GHz, 2.4 GHz and 3 GHz using RF switches. The design is simulated using Ansys HFSS and the results for the same at the three frequency bands are presented here.

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The current paper presents a review of literature on the performance of the Combined Cycle Gas Turbine (CCGT) Power Plant. Focus is placed on the modelling of CCGT and optimization techniques. Available literature emphasizes the importance of CCGT as an effort to increase the efficiency of Gas Turbines (GT) through heat recovery. Using standard models that have wide consensus, the review highlights on various factors that affect the performance of CCGT. Performance, as measured by relative efficiency, is viewed as the ability to effectively use existing resources optimally. The review notes several optimization techniques based on existing and new models including operational, design, and environmental factors.

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Municipal Solid Waste management is an important part of modern city planning. Under the present scenario, the appropriate selection of treatment and disposal technique for Municipal Solid Waste management under multi-criteria decision making approach is a key factor for newly developed urban areas. In the study, an effort is made to ascertain the most suitable Municipal Solid Waste Management technique for the developing urban town named Udaipur of the state of Tripura, India through Analytical Hierarchy process under Multi-criteria decision making atmosphere. The study shows the Sanitary Landfilling which is the most appropriate technique for the urban body to dispose the municipal solid waste followed by Composting and Vermicomposting. This result interprets the rural bias of the study area.

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