A hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) experimental test-bench is suggested for a rotodynamic pump in this paper. The HIL simulator is composed of two separate modules and two variable-speed drive (VSD) systems that are connected with the help of a programmable logical controller (PLC) and a process field bus unit. One of the fundamental components of the suggested simulation approach is the mathematical representation of a rotodynamic pump system embedded into HIL. A number of tests were conducted in order to study the suggested simulation approach. The experiments demonstrated the developed system’s adaptability and precision in replicating the behavior of the rotodynamic pump in various operation modes. A special user interface for the HIL simulation allows for changing the types of preloaded pump characteristics, reading the output data, and controlling operational parameters. The obtained simulation results showed that the proposed approach can be suitable for research purposes.

Today, fog and cloud computing environments can be used to further develop the Internet of Things (IoT). In such environments, task scheduling is very efficient for executing user requests, and the optimal scheduling of IoT task requests increases the productivity of the IoT-fog-cloud system. In this paper, a hybrid meta-heuristic (MH) algorithm is developed to schedule the IoT requests in IoT-fog-cloud networks using the Aquila Optimizer (AO) and African Vultures Optimization Algorithm (AVOA) called AO_AVOA. In AO_AVOA, the exploration phase of AVOA is improved by using AO operators to obtain the best solution during the process of finding the optimal scheduling solution. A comparison between AO_AVOA and methods of AVOA, AO, Firefly Algorithm (FA), particle swarm optimization (PSO), and Harris Hawks Optimization (HHO) according to performance metrics such as makespan and throughput shows the high ability of AO_AVOA to solve the scheduling problem in IoT-fog-cloud networks.

Soaking is an important step in making tempeh. Tempeh fermentation normally involves the natural presence of proteolytic bacteria capable of producing protease enzymes to break down peptide bonds in protein molecules. This study evaluated the protein and amino acid content of Jack bean tempeh (Canavalia ensiformis) soaked in distilled water during natural fermentation for 12, 24, 36, and 48 h. In this study, the crude proteins were determined using the Kjeldahl technique, amino acids were determined from protein hydrolysis, and proteolytic bacteria were enumerated for Total Plate Counts and further identified using Vitek 2.0 Compact System. The results showed that soaked Jack beans have higher protein and amino acid content, with sixteen essential and non-essential amino acids required for human bodies. The protein content of soaked Jack beans varied from 35% at 12 h to 32% at 24 and 36 h and 33% at 48 h. Soaking for 12 h yielded the highest amino acid concentration of 38,000 mg/kg L-g... [more]

Time, cost, and quality are critical factors that impact the production of intelligent manufacturing enterprises. Achieving optimal values of production parameters is a complex problem known as an NP-hard problem, involving balancing various constraints. To address this issue, a workflow multi-objective optimization algorithm, based on the dynamic virtual staged pruning (DVSP) strategy, was proposed to optimize multi-stage nonlinear production processes. The algorithm establishes a virtual workflow model based on the actual production process and proposes a pruning strategy to eliminate the indirect constraint relationship between tasks. A virtual hierarchical strategy is employed to divide the task node set, and the Pareto optimal service set is calculated through backward iteration in stages. The optimal path is generated through forward scheduling, and the global optimal solution is obtained. The algorithm was compared with the minimum critical path algorithm (MCP) and the partial c... [more]

Differences in the synthesis methods can affect the performance of nanocomposite materials. The synthesis methods of SiO2-based nanocomposite pour point depressants synthesized by chemical hybrid are mostly in situ polymerization and chemical grafting. However, there are still some gaps in the synthesis of nanocomposites using chemical grafting. In this paper, the amino-modified Nano-SiO2 and octamethyl methacrylate-maleic anhydride copolymer was used to prepare PM18-g-NSiO2 by an amidation reaction, and the product was compared with PM18/SiO2 prepared by the solution blending method. The characterization results of FT-IR and SEM showed that the chemical bond formed between PM18 and NSiO2 and PM18-g-NSiO2 showed a more regular morphology structure. The results of rheological tests showed that the optimal concentration of PM18-g-NSiO2 and PM18/SiO2 is 300 mg·kg−1, but the decrease of PM18-g-NSiO2 is 19 °C, while the decrease of PM18/SiO2 is only 13 °C. The lowest viscosity of model oil... [more]

Due to their low concentration and complex nature, the low-cost online and real-time monitoring of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs) is a challenge. In this paper, based on a coupling adsorption model of activated carbon and the relationship of PCDD/Fs and flue gas, an online monitoring system with real-time control of final PCDD/F emissions was built for the tracing and control of PCDD/F emissions in municipal solid waste incinerators (MSWIs). According to the online monitoring system, the effects of activated carbon concentration, the specific surface area of activated carbon (AC), operating temperature, contact time, fly ash concentration, residence carbon concentration of fly ash, and the lime concentration of final PCDD/F emissions were discussed. These MSWI operating parameters for reaching standards of 0.1 ng international toxic equivalents (TEQ)/Nm3 and 0.05 ng TEQ/Nm3 were summarized by the predicting model based on several published... [more]

Conventional wastewater treatment plants (CWTPs) are intensive energy consumers. New technologies are emerging for wastewater treatment such as microbial electrolysis cells (MECs) that can simultaneously treat wastewater and generate hydrogen as a renewable energy source. Mathematical modeling of single and dual-chamber microbial electrolysis cells (SMEC and DMEC) has been developed based on microbial population growth in this study. The model outputs were validated successfully with previous works, and are then used for comparisons between the SMEC and DMEC regarding the hydrogen production rate (HPR). The results reveal that the daily HPR in DMEC is higher than in SMEC, with about 0.86 l H2 and 0.52 l H2, respectively, per 1 L of wastewater. Moreover, the results have been used to compare the HPR in water electrolysis (WE) processes and MECs. WE consume 51 kWh to generate 1 kg of hydrogen, while SMEC and DMEC require only 30 kWh and 24.5 kWh, respectively.

We are witnessing the growth of microgrid technology and the development of electric vehicles (EVs) in the world. These microgrids seek demand response (DR) and energy storage for better management of their resources. In this research, microgrids, including wind turbines, photovoltaics, battery charging/discharging, and compressed air energy storage (CAES), are considered. We will consider two scenarios under uncertainty: (a) planning a microgrid and DR without considering CAES, and (b) planning a microgrid and DR considering CAES. The cost of charging the battery in the second study decreased by $0.66 compared to the first study. The battery is charged with a difference of $0.7 compared to the case of the first study. We will also pay for unsupplied energy and excess energy in this microgrid. Then, we test the scheduling of vehicles to the grid (V2G) in the IEEE 33-bus network. The first framework for increasing network flexibility is the use of EVs as active loads. The scheduling of... [more]

In many process engineering fields, gas-particle fluidized beds are widely used. In fluidized bed research, the discrete element method, or DEM, has been a powerful tool for design and operation purposes. However, with the use of Type-A powders, fluid catalytic cracking or FCC particles being classical cases, they have hardly been reported in DEM simulations of fast fluidization. This study paid close attention to the suitable selection of a stiffness constant and a DEM time step. To reflect their respective effects and complicated interactions, a so-called relative DEM time step was defined. The drag coefficient was correlated using the energy-minimization multi-scale (EMMS) approach to reasonably calculate the gas−solid interaction. Six representative cases with different relative time step values were chosen to simulate a micro-fluidized bed of Type-A FCC powders. The results showed that DEM employing EMMS-based drag force was able to greatly enlarge the suitable range of relative t... [more]

Fruit and vegetables (FV) are the major source of bioactive compounds for human beings. FV supply chains are complex and sensitive due to various features, including the seasonality of products, variations in demand, and short shelf-lives. The amount of waste in FV supply chains is significant compared with other supply chains as 44% of fresh FV produced globally are wasted in the food chain. This large amount of waste has a significant impact on the economy, food security, available natural resources, and the environment. To reduce food losses in the fresh food supply chain (FFSC), the root causes of waste must be first identified. While a number of researchers have investigated food losses in Australia, most only consider a specific stage in the supply chain and multiple stages in the FFSC are often overlooked. Additionally, the impact of advanced storage technologies, packing, handling, and transport on food losses should be investigated. Furthermore, supply chain practices are chan... [more]

This paper proposes a model for determining deformation in the upper 50% of an ice borehole. Based on this model, the borehole deformation of DK-1 at Dome A was studied. Furthermore, the effects of surface temperature, temperature gradient, surface snow density, and drilling fluid density on borehole deformation were investigated. The results showed that borehole shrinking, expansion, and mixed existence occurred simultaneously in DK-1. Borehole deformation increased with increasing surface temperature, while temperature gradient had a minimal effect. Borehole deformation also increased with increasing surface snow density and decreasing drilling fluid density when the borehole shrank; however, the situation was reversed when the borehole expanded. The influence of ice temperature was dominant in deformation. However, when depth exceeded 1200 m, the sensitivity of ice borehole deformation in the direction of the minimum principal stress increased with an increase in drilling fluid dens... [more]

Accurate prediction of the remaining useful life (RUL) of rolling bearings can effectively ensure the safety of complicated machinery and equipment in service. However, the diversity of rolling bearing degradation processes makes it difficult for deep learning-based RUL prediction methods to improve prediction accuracy further and provide generalizability for engineering applications. This study proposed a novelty RUL prediction model for rolling bearings based on a bi-channel hierarchical vision transformer to reduce the impact of the above problems on prediction accuracy improvement. Firstly, hierarchical vision transformer network structures based on different-sized patches were employed to extract depth features containing more degradation processes information from input samples. Second, the dual channel fusion method is implemented into classic RUL prediction networks based on a multi-layer fully connected network to improve prediction accuracy. With two distinct validation exper... [more]

The actual driving conditions of electric vehicles (EVs) are complex and changeable. Limited by road adhesion conditions, it is necessary to give priority to ensuring safety, taking into account the energy recovery ratio of the vehicle during braking to obtain better braking quality. In this work, an electric vehicle with an EHB (electro-hydraulic braking) system whose braking force adaptive distribution control strategy is studied. Firstly, the vehicle dynamics model, including seven degrees of freedom, tire, drive motor, main reducer, battery pack, and braking system, was constructed, which is attributed to the vehicle configuration and braking system scheme. Second, based on curve I and ECE regulations, the adaptive braking force distribution control strategy was formulated by taking the maximum regenerative braking torque as the inflection point, the synchronous adhesion coefficient as the desired point, and the battery SOC, road adhesion coefficient, and braking strength as the th... [more]

Penetration grouting technology is an important technical means to improve the mechanical properties of gravel soil layers, and the time-varying characteristics of Newtonian fluid viscosity have an important influence on the morphology and effect of penetration grouting. However, these time-varying properties are not considered in the current research on the mechanism of Newtonian fluid penetration grouting. In this paper, by studying the basic rheological equation of Newtonian fluids and its dynamic viscosity time-varying law, the penetration motion equation of viscosity time-varying Newtonian fluids is discussed, by means of theoretical analysis and experimental research. Based on this, the time-varying viscosity Newtonian fluid columnar penetration grouting diffusion mechanism (TVNCPGDM) equation is derived, the application scope of the equation is analyzed and a grouting experiment is designed to verify it. The results show that the theoretical value of the grouting diffusion radiu... [more]

For the flexible regulation requirements of new power systems with a high proportion of new energy, this paper proposes a multi-point distributed energy storage system control method based on the idea of multi-agent cooperative control. On the one hand, the method transforms and upgrades the strategies of each distributed battery energy storage control system to make it a terminal agent with active response and control functions; on the other hand, a coordination agent is set between the power grid and each terminal agent, the coordinated control of the distributed energy storage system is realized by the information interaction between the coordination agent and the terminal agent. The simulation results show that the method can fully exploit the aggregate regulation ability of the distributed energy storage system, quickly stabilize the frequency fluctuation of new energy, and support the safe and economical operation of the system.

Carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) is a key area of research for CO2 abatement. To that end, CO2 capture, transport and storage has accrued several decades of development. However, for successful implementation of CCUS, utilisation or conversion of CO2 to valuable products is important. Electrochemical conversion of the captured CO2 to desired products provides one such route. This technique requires a cathode “electrocatalyst” that could favour the desired product selectivity. Copper (Cu) is unique, the only metal “electrocatalyst” demonstrated to produce C2 products including ethylene. In order to achieve high-purity Cu deposits, electrodeposition is widely acknowledged as a straightforward, scalable and relatively inexpensive method. In this review, we discuss in detail the progress in the developments of electrodeposited copper, oxide/halide-derived copper, copper-alloy catalysts for conversion of CO2 to valuable products along with the future challenges.

Work-flow scheduling is for finding the allocation method to achieve optimal resource utilization. In the scheduling process, constraints, such as time, cost and quality, need to be considered. How to balance these parameters is a NP-hard problem, and the nonlinear manufacturing process increases the difficulty of scheduling, so it is necessary to provide an effective heuristic algorithm. Aiming at these problems, a multi-objective nonlinear virtual work-flow model was set up, and a multi-objective staged scheduling optimization algorithm with the objectives of minimizing cost and time and maximizing quality was proposed. The algorithm includes three phases: the virtualization phase abstracts tasks and services into virtual nodes to generate a virtual work-flow model; the virtual scheduling phase divides optimized segments and obtains the solution set through reverse iteration; the generation phase obtains the scheduling path according to the Pareto dominance. The proposed algorithm pe... [more]

In an axial granular bed filter (GBF), a new mesoscale simulation approach is obtained by combining the macroscopic calculation models, i.e., the equations of the total pressure drop and dust-removal efficiency into the porous media model and the source term of the conservation equations. After grid-dependent tests and experimental validation, the effects of different conditions, i.e., granular bed height L, superficial gas velocity ug, dust diameter dp, dust concentration cp, granular diameter dg, initial bed voidage ε0, and filtration time t, on the pressure drop and dust-removal efficiency are investigated. The results show that the pressure drop is related to the inertial and viscous resistance terms, which increase with increasing L, ug, cp and t and decreasing ε and dg. The dust-removal efficiency is related to the Reynolds number, effective Stokes number, and equivalent granular diameter ratio. It increases with increasing L, ug, dp and t (small values), and decreasing cp, ε, an... [more]

In order to handle the corrosion of underwater production pipe sinks in deepwater oil fields, a non-solid phase silicone plugging agent, an external clamp, and an underwater injection tool are combined in this paper’s innovative pipeline repair technique proposal. The optimal main agent to curing the agent ratio for non-solid phase silicone plugging agents was found to be 100:25, which was achieved through an experimental examination of the curing process. The compressive and cementing strength changes in the curd plugging agent were disclosed by testing and evaluating the mechanical behavior of the plugging agent. In addition, the limits of the compressive and cementing strength were found to be 143 MPa and 11.6 MPa, respectively. Based on this, a computational-fluid-dynamics(CFD)-based analytical approach of the complicated flow field in a deep sea environment on the eroding impact of a plugging agent was developed. Through numerical simulation testing, the mathematical relationship... [more]

The separation of immiscible liquids is critical in many industrial processes, such as water treatment, different extraction processes, the petroleum industry, food production, and medicine. This work provides an overview of present research on the separation of liquid mixtures. A brief summary of the thermodynamic basis is provided, covering phase equilibrium, phase diagrams, and thermodynamic properties of phases. Additionally, the fundamentals of dispersion, necessary for discussing liquid−liquid separation, are presented. Subsequently, different liquid−liquid separation methods are discussed, highlighting their advantages and limitations. These methods include decanters, coalescers, centrifugal separators, membranes and electro-coalescers for liquid−liquid separation. Phase properties, dispersion formation, and time and space constraints specify the most efficient separation method. Phase recycling is also briefly discussed as a method to reduce the environmental impact of liquid−l... [more]

Three activated carbons with different physicochemical characteristics are prepared and their N2 isotherms at 77 K and CO2 isotherms at 273 K are determined. The energetic interaction between three activated carbons with different physicochemical properties, and two hydrocarbons as pure liquids and as binary mixtures at different concentrations, was characterized by determining the enthalpy of immersion, in order to evaluate the effect of adsorbents and adsorbates, as well as that of the addition of another adsorbate to the system. For the pure solvents, the enthalpy of immersion (ΔHi) is higher for the aromatic compound (−94.98 to −128.80 J g−1) than for the aliphatic compound (−16.36 to −53.35 J g−1); for the mixtures, the values are between −36.39 and −98.37 J g−1, where the interaction increases with the solid that was subjected to thermal treatment and presented the lowest content of surface oxygenated groups, while the energetic parameter decreases with the solid that presents ch... [more]

In this work, we present and characterise an experimental setup that allows the generation of porous packings from nanosuspensions. By defined positioning and drying of solid-containing droplets, large-scale porous structures can be generated. Examples of such structures are shown and characterised. Operational challenges are presented, and it is discussed how they can be overcome to allow the maximum degree of freedom in packing generation.

Reliable and user-friendly discrimination of coffee bean integrity and quantification of adulteration in the coffee bean processing value chain would be vital for ensuring consumer trust in quality control and traceability management. In this research, a portable short-wave NIR spectroscopy coupled with chemometric data analysis was employed under different pre-treatments to develop a rapid detection technique. Different pre-processing treatments (multiplicative scatter correction; MSC, standard normal variant; SNV, first derivative; FD) together with multivariate techniques; support vector machine (SVM), linear discriminant analysis (LDA), neural network (NN), and random forest (RF) were comparatively assessed using accuracy and correlation coefficient (R) for discrimination and quantification. The results showed that the FD-LDA model had 97.78% and 100 % in both the calibration set and prediction set. In comparison, the SPA-PLS model had R = 0.9711 and 0.9897 in both the calibration... [more]

Improving the accuracy of PV power prediction is conducive to PV participation in economic dispatch and power market transactions in the distribution network, as well as safe dispatch and operation of the grid. Considering that the selection of highly correlated historical data can improve the accuracy of PV power prediction, this study proposes an integrated PV power prediction method based on a multi-resolution similarity consideration that considers both trend similarity and detail similarity. Firstly, using irradiance as the similarity variable, similar-days were selected using grey correlation analysis to form a set of similar data to control the similarity, with the overall trend of the day to be predicted at a macro level. Using irradiance to calculate the similarity at each specific point in time via Euclidean distance, similar-times were identified to form another set of similar data to consider the degree of similarity in detail. The above approach enables the selection of si... [more]

Although desalinations with renewables were introduced some time ago, conventional desalination units are still applied. Conventional desalinations account for 90% of desalinations worldwide. Yet, they have two significant issues: a high demand for energy and a high level of environmental contaminants. Such issues are studied and remedies are suggested in the current study. Varieties of biofuel blends in dual and ternary bases are investigated experimentally for indirect desalination. Results showed that ternary blends can introduce lower desalination potentials than fossil fuels by about 4−7%. The best ternary blends for the indirect desalination process are iBE, followed by niB, and finally EM. The EGT of iBE is greater than niB and EM by about 1.1 and 1.2%, respectively. Both n-butanol/iso-butanol−gasoline dual blends introduced an almost similar desalination potential as the ternary blends (e.g., lower desalination by about 4.4 and 4.7%). Nevertheless, bio-ethanol/bio-methanol−gaso... [more]