Farmers' preferences for adopting on-farm concentration of raw milk: Results from a discrete choice experiment in Germany

Milk concentrates are used in the manufacturing of dairy products such as yogurt and cheese or are processed into milk powder. Processes for the nonthermal separation of water and valuable milk ingredients are becoming increasingly widespread at farm level. The technical barriers to using farm-manufactured milk concentrate in dairies are minimal, hence the suspicion that the practice of on-farm raw milk concentration is still fairly uncommon for economic reasons. This study, therefore, set out to investigate farmers' potential willingness to adopt a raw milk concentration plant. The empirical analysis was based on discrete choice experiments with 75 German dairy farmers to identify preferences and the possible adoption of on-farm raw milk concentration. The results showed that, in particular, farmers who deemed the current milk price to be insufficient viewed on-farm concentration using membrane technology as an option for diversifying their milk sales. We found no indication that adoption would be impeded by a lack of trustworthy information on milk processing technologies or capital.     

Cyclic thermal shock resistance for MgAlON–MgO composites obtained with additions of spent MgO–C brick: Microstructure characteristics,thermal shock parameter and thermal shock mechanism

Thermal shock parameters (R, R''', R'''' and R_st) of MgAlON–MgO composites obtained with additions of spent MgO–C brick were calculated using measured mechanical properties and thermal expansion coefficient, determining their resistance to fracture initiation and crack propagation. The cyclic thermal shock experiments of MgAlON–MgO composites performed from 1398 K to ambient temperature indicate that as number of thermal shock cycle increases, retained strength ratio of MgAlON and MgAlON–4.2 wt%MgO sharply decrease and then keep constant, while that of MgAlON–10.5 wt%MgO and MgAlON–15.7 wt%MgO slowly decrease. The reason for the difference is that MgAlON and MgAlON–4.2 wt%MgO show low value of R''' and R'''', and high value of R and R_st. Moreover, precipitation of impurity containing Fe may play a positive role in improvement of thermal shock resistance of MgAlON–MgO composites. MgAlON?4.2 wt%MgO has the maximum retained strength (55 MPa) even after 5 thermal shock cycles, which is expected to be used in the metallurgical industry.     

基于改进灰狼优化算法的服务功能链映射算法

随着工业互联网、车联网、元宇宙等新型互联网应用的兴起，网络的低时延、可靠性、安全性、确定性等方面的需求正面临严峻挑战。采用网络功能虚拟化技术在虚拟网络部署过程中，存在服务功能链映射效率低与部署资源开销大等问题，联合考虑节点激活成本、实例化开销，以最小化平均部署网络成本为优化目标建立了整数线性规划模型，提出基于改进灰狼优化算法的服务功能链映射（improved grey wolf optimization based service function chain mapping，IMGWO-SFCM）算法。该算法在标准灰狼优化算法基础上添加了基于无环K最短路径（K shortest path，KSP）问题算法的映射方案搜索、映射方案编码以及基于反向学习与非线性收敛改进三大策略，较好地平衡了其全局搜索及局部搜索能力，实现服务功能链映射方案的快速确定。仿真结果显示，该算法在保证更高的服务功能链请求接受率下，相较于对比算法降低了11.86%的平均部署网络成本。     

An optimal configuration for hybrid SOFC,gas turbine,and Proton Exchange Membrane Electrolyzer using a developed Aquila Optimizer

In this research, a technical, economic and environmental analysis has been proposed to a Hybrid Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) system-based hybrid system including biomass, gas turbine, and Proton Exchange Membrane Electrolyzer. A multi-objective optimization technique has been utilized to improve the overall product cost and the exergy effectiveness based on a developed version of Aquila Optimizer (DAO). The main idea of using the developed version is to improve the accuracy and the precision of the original Aquila optimizer. The system is then authenticated in terms of energy/exergy effectiveness, and energy-economic efficiency. The achievements indicate that employing the optimization algorithm for different configurations provided satisfying results for the system.     

Automated prediction system of household energy consumption in cities using web crawler and optimized artificial intelligence

The supply of electrical energy is critical to convenient and comfortable living. However, people consume a large amount of energy, contributing to an energy crisis and global warming, and damaging some ecological cycles. Residential electricity consumption has greater elasticity than industrial and business consumption; it therefore has high energy-saving potential. This work establishes an automated platform, which provides information about residential electricity consumption in each city in Taiwan. Machine learning was used to forecast future residential electricity demand. A nature-inspired optimization method was applied to enhance the accuracy of the best machine learner, yielding an even better hybrid ensemble model. Performance measures indicate that the resulting model is accurate and provides effective information for reference. An automatic web-based system based on the model was combined with a web crawler and scheduled to run automatically to provide information on monthly residential electricity consumption in each county and city. By providing energy consumption information across the country, power providers and government can discuss policy and set different goals for energy use. The results of this study can facilitate the early implementation of energy-saving and carbon emission-reducing in cities and aid utility companies in establishing energy conservation guidelines.     

红心火龙果发酵液喷雾干燥工艺优化及红心火龙果籽油的研究

以红心火龙果发酵液作为研究对象,通过优化喷雾干燥工艺制备粉剂,最佳工艺条件为:20%麦芽糊精,进液量:10mL/min,进口温度为120℃,出口温度为65℃;得到的粉剂为紫红色粉末,益生菌含量达到108cfu/g以上,口感酸甜。将发酵后的火龙果籽进行提取,得到的火龙果籽油含有丰富的十六酸、亚油酸和油酸。     

Effects of structural parameters on water film properties of transpiring wall reactor

Corrosion and salt deposition problems severely restrict the industrialization of supercritical water oxidation. Transpiring wall reactor can effectively weaken these two problems by a protective water film. In this work, methanol was selected as organic matter, and the influences of vital structural parameters on water film properties and organic matter removal were studied via numerical simulation. The results indicate that higher than 99% of methanol conversion could be obtained and hardly affected by transpiration water layer, transpiring wall porosity and inner diameter. Increasing layer and porosity reduced reactor center temperature, but inner diameter's influence was lower relatively. Water film temperature reduced but coverage rate raised as layer, porosity, and inner diameter increased. Notably, the whole reactor was in supercritical state and coverage rate was only approximately 85% in the case of one layer. Increasing reactor length affected slightly the volume of the upper supercritical zone but enlarged the subcritical zone.     

基于重要度排序的配电自动化终端优化布局方法

针对配电自动化终端优化布局问题，提出了一种基于重要度排序的终端优化布局方法。首先以等年值综合费用为目标函数，供电可靠性和投入产出比为双重约束建立了配电自动化终端优化布局模型。然后通过分析配电自动化终端对供电可靠性提升的影响，给出各个节点的“二遥”及“三遥”终端安装重要度定义及计算公式。最后采用枚举法确定最优终端安装数量，基于节点终端安装重要度排序确定终端的最优安装位置。该方法考虑了已布局节点对剩余节点终端安装重要度的影响，能够在降低计算量的同时兼顾布局合理性。运用所提方法RBTS-BUS2系统及扩充模型进行终端优化布局并与智能优化算法的布局结果进行对比，验证了本文方法的有效性及优越性。