Environmental pollution is currently a major concern globally owing to increase in the world population and advances in industrialization. An automatic waste separation and sorting equipment for small-scale waste sorting systems was constructed in this paper. A two-DoF (two-degree-of-freedom) parallel sorting mechanism as well as a belt waste separation and feeding mechanism were designed, and 3D models of the mechanism were established. Finite element analysis (FEA) was conducted for the sorting mechanism, and kinematic and dynamic analysis and numerical simulation were performed for the waste and sorting mechanism. The simulation results demonstrated that the spherical waste did not roll out of the platform after leaving the slideway. The waste was stabilized at the center of the platform within a short duration with movement of the collecting mechanism of the platform. The system was optimized to reduce waste separation and sorting time. Stability of the waste motion in the equipmen... [more]

Paclitaxel (PX), plant alkaloid, is a chemotherapeutic agent intended for treating a wide variety of cancers. The objective of the present study was to formulate and evaluate the anticancer activity of PX loaded into a nanocarrier, mainly PEGylated nanoemulsion (NE) fabricated with myrrh essential oil. Myrrh essential oil has been estimated previously to show respectable anticancer activity. Surface modification of the formulation with PEG-DSPE would help in avoiding phagocytosis and prolong the residence time in blood circulation. Various NE formulations were developed after operating (22) factorial design, characterized for their particle size, in vitro release, and hemolytic activity. The optimized formula was selected and compared to its naked counterpart in respect to several characterizations. Quantitative amount of protein absorbed on the formulation surfaces and in vitro release with and without serum incubation were evaluated. Ultimately, MTT assay was conducted to distinguish... [more]

Sugarcane molasses is an agricultural by-product containing sucrose. In this study, the exopolysaccharide (M-EPS) produced by Leuconostoc citreum B-2 in molasses-based medium was characterized, optimized, and its application in set yogurt was investigated. The structure analysis, including gel permeation chromatography, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and nuclear magnetic resonance, revealed that the M-EPS was a linear dextran composed of D-glucose units, which were linked by α-(1→6) glycosidic bonds with 19.3% α-(1→3) branches. The M-EPS showed a lower molecular weight than that produced from sucrose. The M-EPS was added into the set yogurt, and then the water holding capacity, pH, and microstructure of set yogurt were evaluated. Compared with the controls, the addition of M-EPS improved the water holding capacity and reduced the pH of set yogurt. Meanwhile, the structure of the three-dimensional network was also observed in the set yogurt containing M-EPS, indicating that M-... [more]

Focused on the troubles and defects introduced by the traditional single form of electric vehicle transmission, this paper proposes an electro-hydraulic power coupled electric vehicle based on the working principle of an electro-hydraulic power integrated drive system for light-duty cargo vehicles. The integration of the planetary row into the drive system allows the interconversion of mechanical, electrical, and hydraulic energy. By describing the system structure and composition, several working conditions during automobile driving are proposed, and the working principle of every circumstance is introduced. Simultaneously, the article determines the preliminary optimal ratio with the battery’s state of charge (SOC) as the constraint. Then, the orthogonal test matrix of electro-hydraulic ratios and speed thresholds for each operating condition is established according to Taguchi’s method. The impact of each optimized parameter on the motor torque and hydraulic torque as well as the SO... [more]

The pressure swing adsorption (PSA) process has been considered a promising method for gas separation and purification. However, experimental methods are time-consuming, and it is difficult to obtain the detailed changes in variables in the PSA process. This review focuses on the numerical research developed to realize the modelling, optimization and control of the cyclic PSA process. A complete one-dimensional mathematical model, including adsorption bed, auxiliary devices, boundary conditions and performance indicators, is summarized as a general modelling approach. Key simplified assumptions and special treatments for energy balance are discussed for model reliability. Numerical optimization models and control strategies are reviewed for the PSA process as well. Relevant attention is given to the combination of deep-learning technology with artificial-intelligence-based optimization algorithms and advanced control strategies. Challenges to further improvements in the adsorbent datab... [more]

Robots are being increasingly utilized for various operations in industrial and household applications. One such application is for spray painting, wherein atomized paint particles are sprayed on a surface to coat the surface with paint. As there are different models of robots available for the job, it becomes crucial to select the best among them. Multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) techniques are widely used in various fields to tackle selection problems where there are many conflicting criteria and several alternatives. This work focuses on selecting the best robot among twelve alternatives based on seven criteria, among which payload, speed, and reach are beneficial criteria while mechanical weight, repeatability, cost, and power consumption are cost criteria. Five MCDM techniques, namely combination distance-based assessment (CODAS), complex proportional assessment (COPRAS), combined compromise solution (CoCoSo), multi-attributive border approximation area comparison (MABAC), an... [more]

Non-wood biomass is particularly attractive as a cellulose source because of the lower lignin content. However, optimal cellulose extraction conditions are required as lignin content varies between plant sources. Further, the use of organic acids in place of harsh mineral acids is of interest in “greening” the cellulose production process. This study sought to establish optimum parameters for the extraction of cellulose microfibers (CMFs) from hemp (Cannabis sativa) biomass, using maleic and formic acids. Hemp fibers were pre-treated in NaOH (4 wt%) and aqueous chlorite in acetate buffer before ultrasonic treatment to break down bundles. The CMFs produced were compared with those generated from sulfuric acid hydrolysis. Response surface methodology (RSM) was used to determine combinations of three processing conditions, including acid concentration (45−64%), hydrolysis time (30−90 min), and temperature (45−65 °C). A central composite design (RSM-CCD) model with 21 experimental runs was... [more]

spores have important biological applications; however, high spore-cell densities and sporulation efficiencies in fermentation is poorly reported. This study systematically analyzed the spore densities and formation efficiency of B. subtilis BSNK-5 in different culture substrates. A response surface regression equation was established based on the results of single factor and Box−Behnken experimental designs. The optimal medium formulation, as predicted from the equation, consisted of soluble starch at 3 g·L−1, soybean flour at 12 g·L−1, and MgSO4 at 5 g·L−1. The spore yield reached 2.43 × 109 CFU·mL−1, and the sporulation rate was 83.3%, which was nearly three times higher than before optimization using an optimized medium at 36 °C and 200 rpm for 60 h.

In order to enhance the hydraulic performance of the volute pump, the Kriging model and genetic algorithm (GA) were used to optimize the 3D diffuser of the volute pump, and the hydraulic performance of the optimized model was compared and analyzed with the original model. The volute pump diffuser model was parameterized by BladeGen software. A total of 14 parameters such as the distance between the leading and trailing edges and the central axis, and the inlet and outlet vane angle were selected as design variables, and the efficiency under the design condition was taken as the optimization objective. A total of 70 sets of sample data were randomly selected in the design space to train and test the Kriging model. The optimal solution was obtained by GA. The shape and inner flow of the optimized diffuser were compared with those of the original diffuser. The research results showed that the Kriging model can effectively establish the high-precision mathematical function between the desi... [more]

Robots and robotic systems have become an inevitable part of modern industrial settings. Robotics systems are being introduced for various household services as well. As the interactions between the workspace of robots and humans increases, there is an increased likelihood of unintended harm being caused by the robots to humans due to collisions or abrupt contact. To mitigate this, active and passive compliant mechanisms must be introduced in these systems. In this study, a design optimization case study is carried out for the optimization of a passive compliance mechanism achieved with variable stiffness joints realized by the use of permanent magnets. Three design parameters of the systems, namely, inner stator width, outer stator width, and magnet height, are considered. The objective is to minimize the weight and maximize the maximum torque. A nature-inspired metaheuristic hybridized with a multi-criteria decision-making method is introduced to achieve this. The Non-dominated Sorti... [more]

The environmental and technical benefits of renewable energy sources make expanding their use essential in our lives. The main source of renewable energy used in this work is photovoltaic energy. Photovoltaic cells are a clean energy source dependent on solar irradiance to generate electricity from sunlight. The identification of solar cell variables is one of the main items in the simulation and modeling of photovoltaic models. The models used in this work are triple-diode, double-diode, and single-diode solar cells. A novel optimization method called weighted mean of vectors (INFO) is applied for estimating the solar cell variables in the three models. The fitness function of identification is to minimize the root-mean-square error (RMSE) between the measured data of current and the data of simulated current based on the parameters identified from the algorithms. The INFO technique is compared with another seven methods: Harris hawk optimization (HHO), tunicate swarm algorithm (TSA),... [more]

Proteases that can remain active under extreme conditions such as high temperature, pH, and salt concentration are widely applicable in the commercial sector. The majority of the proteases are rendered useless under harsh conditions in industries. Therefore, there is a need to search for new proteases that can tolerate and function in harsh conditions, thus improving their commercial value. In this study, 142 bacterial isolates were isolated from diverse alkaline soil habitats. The two highest protease-producing bacterial isolates were identified as Bacillus subtilis S1 and Bacillus amyloliquefaciens KSM12, respectively, based on 16S rRNA sequencing. Optimal protease production was detected at pH 8, 37 °C, 48 h, 5% (w/v) NaCl for Bacillus subtilis S1 (99.8 U/mL) and pH 9, 37 °C, 72 h, 10% (w/v) NaCl for Bacillus amyloliquefaciens KSM12 (94.6 U/mL). The molecular weight of these partially purified proteases was then assessed on SDS-PAGE (17 kDa for Bacillus subtilis S1 and 65 kDa for Ba... [more]

Reducing direct carbon emissions in the transport sector is crucial for carbon neutrality. It is a considerable challenge to achieve substantial CO2 emissions reductions while satisfying rapidly growing traffic demands. Previous studies cannot be applied directly in long-term planning for the transport sector with rapid demand growth. To bridge this gap, a multi-regional model is proposed in this paper to quantify the optimal decarbonisation path for the transport sector in order to save costs. Considering modal shift and infrastructure construction, this model regards the transport sector as a whole and China is taken as a case study. The results show that electricity and hydrogen will be the major fuels of the transport sector in the future, accounting for 45 percent and 25 percent of fuel demands in 2060. This means that the electricity used by the transport sector accounts for 10 percent of the electricity consumed by the whole of society. The results reflect that freight transport... [more]

Liquid fertilizers are mainly applied by spraying liquid fertilizer on the surface of crop leaves and by deep openings between rows. The first causes considerable environmental pollution, and the second can easily cause to damage the root system of crops. In this study, corn crops were taken as the study object and an efficient deep-hole application method for liquid fertilizer based on alternate drilling was proposed. The needle body is driven by the spur gear wheel system in a caving mechanism to puncture holes alternately in a vertical posture and high-speed punctures are implemented with less disturbance to the soil. The cylindrical hollow cam of the mechanism is controlled so that the fertilizer needle sprays fertilizer when injected into soil and stops injecting when pulled out of the soil. Based on the bench test, fertilizer injecting performance and energy saving performance of the differential two-way fertilizer supply distribution device were analyzed and the head loss for en... [more]

Every decision maker’s internal scale is different based on a myriad of possible factors unique to that decision maker. Conflicting criteria within and between alternatives in multicriteria decision making can create negative effects within the weighting schemes and amplify preference biases and scale disparities between decision makers in a group decision context. Additionally, the weighting of group decision-making frameworks can intensify the already skewed criteria values. When making judgments against requirements, it may be preferable to reduce scale trend distortions between decision makers as much as possible. Previous research supports that certain information presentation modes can significantly reduce preference bias and strengthen criteria independence against requirements through cross alternative anchoring. This paper expands that research and proposes a new optimization model for strengthening criteria independence and consensus in group decision making. Initial results... [more]

Grape pomace (grape skin and seeds) and stems are major by-products of winemaking, of lignocellulosic nature. The aim of this study was to value grape pomace and stems to produce prebiotic oligosaccharides (OS). Grapes from Touriga Nacional and Marselan cultivars (Vitis vinifera L.) were used for conventional red winemaking. The total of extractives, obtained by sequential extraction with dichloromethane, ethanol, and water, was approx. 64.0% (d.w.) for both pomaces, and 46.2% and 59.5% for Marselan and Touriga Nacional stems, respectively. Lignin contents in Marselan stems (26.4%) and pomace (20.4%) were higher than in Touriga Nacional pomace (19.3%) or stems (17.3%). Polysaccharides (hemicelluloses and cellulose) represented 9 and 8.2% of Marselan and Touriga pomaces, and 22.3 and 18.7% of respective stems. After extractives removal, the pomaces and stems were submitted to a hydrothermal treatment (autohydrolysis) to release oligosaccharides from the hemicellulose fraction. Autohydro... [more]

Multi-response optimization problems investigation is a crucial element in initiatives designed to enhance quality and overall productivity for manufacturing processes. Since no particular algorithm can be employed for all multi-response problems, defining the method that is utilized as a problem-solving technique is a vital step in the process factors optimization. Identifying a formal procedure of implementing the improvement approach in a multi-criteria decision-making problem is a critical need to ensure the consistency and sustainability of the enhancement methods. In this study, a Plan−Do−Check−Act (PDCA) framework is implemented for a case study in the food industry under which a multi-response optimization problem is investigated. The design of experiment (DOE) is used to examine the effect of process parameters on the quality responses by using the Taguchi method to find the optimal setting for each parameter. An orthogonal array (OA) and signal-to-noise (SNR) ratio is employe... [more]

Aiming at the problem of the difficult separation of film in the process of farmland residual film recovery, a clamping conveying residual film recovery device was designed and studied. The device was mainly composed of a clamp plate, clamp plate conveying chain, chain wheel drive shaft, and the residual film conveying chain and frame. Firstly, the structure and working principle of the device are introduced. The tensile properties of the residual film are investigated to determine the relationship between the average clamping force, the height of the clamp plate, the spacing of the clamp plate, and the rotational speed of the sprocket. Then, the mechanical properties of the residual film are discussed. The influence weight of each factor on the film impurity separation rate is summarized by single factor tests. The regression equation between the factors and film impurity separation rate is established. The results of the variance analysis of regression equation show that the film imp... [more]

The demand for new novel flavour and fragrance (F&F) molecules has boosted the need for a systematic approach to designing fragrance molecules. However, the F&F-related industry still relies heavily on experimental approaches or on existing databases without considering the consequences resulting from changes in concentration, which could omit potential fragrances. Computer-aided molecular design (CAMD) has great potential to identify novel molecular structures to be used as fragrances. Using CAMD for this purpose requires models to predict the olfaction properties of molecules. A rough set-based machine learning (RSML) approach is used to develop an interpretable predictive model for odour characteristics in this work. New rule-based models are generated from RSML based on the dilution and a number of different topological indices which identify the structure-odour relationship of fragrance molecules. The most prominent rules are selected and formulated as constraints in a CAMD optimi... [more]

An experimentally validated CFD model was developed for lab-scale arsenic (As) fixed-bed columns using COMSOL Multiphysics. The effects of key factors such as the adsorbent bed depth, the feed flow rate, and the initial As concentration (conc.) on the overall As removal performance were investigated. Subsequently, the CFD was combined with response surface methodology (RSM) to optimize process conditions and examine main and interaction effects of these factors on model responses, i.e., the As removal efficiency and the bed saturation time. The ANOVA results suggested that quadratic regression models were highly significant for both responses. The established regression model equations predicted the response values closer to CFD measurements. It was found that, compared with the initial As conc. and the feed flow rate, the effect of the bed depth was more significant. Moreover, both the As removal efficiency and the bed saturation time were increased reasonably with the increasing bed... [more]

To improve the battery state of charge (SOC) of the electric vehicle (EV), this paper proposes a master−slave electro-hydraulic hybrid electric vehicle (MSEH-HEV). The MSEH-HEV uses a planetary row as the core transmission component to realize the interconversion between mechanical energy, hydraulic energy and electrical energy. Meanwhile, this paper introduces the six working modes in vehicle operation, matches the parameters of key components to the requirements of the vehicle’s performance and designs a rule-based control strategy to dominate the energy distribution and the operating mode switching. The research uses AMESim and Simulink to perform a co-simulation of the MSEH-HEV, and the superiority of MSEH-HEV is testified by comparing it with an AMESim licensed EV. The simulation results show that in the Economic Commission for Europe (ECE) and the Extra Urban Driving Cycle (EUDC), the MSEH-HEV has a 15% reduction in battery consumption, and the motor peak torque is greatly reduce... [more]

Desalination is set to become a major source of drinking water in several Middle Eastern countries over the coming decades. Solar distillation is a simple power-independent method of water desalination, which can be carried out in active or passive modes. This study is among the first attempts to investigate the possibility of desalinating brackish groundwater resources under the threat of saltwater intrusion in the southern areas of Razavi Khorasan province in Iran. For this purpose, a pilot solar distillation unit was constructed to analyze the effects of the unit orientation, depth of the water pool, atmospheric conditions, input salinity, and flow continuity on the solar distillation performance. The results showed that the unit exhibited the highest efficiency when it had a 3 cm deep water pool. It was oriented facing southward while operating a continuous flow for at least 3 days under sunny weather conditions. It was found that among the studied parameters, the unit orientation... [more]

This study undertakes the line balancing problem while allocating reconfigurable machines to different workstations. A multi-objective model is used to analyze the position of workstations, assignment of configurations to workstations, and operation scheduling in a reconfigurable manufacturing environment. A model is presented that comprises the objectives of the Total Time (TT), the Line Efficiency Index (LEI), and the Customer Satisfaction Index (CSI). The objective is to minimize the completion time and maximize the efficiency of a production line. The proposed model combines the Simple Line Balancing Problems Type 2 and Type E in the form of SLBP-2E. The presented problems are addressed by using a heuristic solution approach due to non-polynomial hard formulation. The heuristic approach is designed to assess different solutions based on no repositioning, separate repositioning of workstations and configuration, and simultaneous repositioning of workstations and configurations. A de... [more]

Currently, reducing energy consumption and fossil fuel emissions are key factors placed in the first position on the European agenda. District heating technology is an attractive solution, able to satisfy the energy and environmental goals of policymakers and designers. In line with this, a different approach to planning a district heating grid based on the optimization of building clusters is presented. The case study is Wilhelmsburg, a district of Hamburg city. This approach also investigates the usage of industrial waste heat as the grid’s heat source, which is CO2-neutral. First, the data acquisition regarding the buildings’ location and heat demand are described in detail. Based on the derived data and the source of the industrial waste heat, the district heating grid is created by clustering the buildings and connecting the obtained nodes. Furthermore, the grid’s efficiency is improved by eliminating nodes, which are too distant from the heat source, or have lower heat demand. Fi... [more]

Based on a combination of physical and simulation experiments, a set of basic physical characteristic parameters and contact parameters suitable for granular fungal fertilizers were calibrated, which up to now have received little attention. The physical morphological characteristic parameters (overall dimension, 1000 grain weight, density, and moisture content), mechanical characteristic parameters (Poisson’s ratio, elastic modulus, and shear modulus), and contact parameters (static friction coefficient, rolling friction coefficient and recovery coefficient) of particles were measured through physical experiments. The parameters were screened for significance using the Plackett−Burman test. The results showed that the impact recovery coefficient, static friction coefficient, and rolling friction coefficient for the granular fungal fertilizer particles had a significant effect on the repose angle. The best range for the three parameters was determined using the steepest climbing test.... [more]