Interactive Effects of Silicon and Soil pH on Growth,Yield and Nutrient Uptake of Maize

Silicon - Priming crop seeds with silicon (Si) to withstand various abiotic stresses is a novel approach. As soil pH affects dissolution of Si pools and Si uptake by plant, evaluation of this...     

Effects of Organic Matter on Physical, Strength, and Volume Change Properties of Compost Amended Expansive Clay

In recent years, the recycling and composting of municipal solid wastes has gained acceptance as an alternative to landfilling and incineration. Compost materials have been used as soil amendments in landscaping, erosion control, expansive soil treatment, and turf management. Compost amended soils are enriched with decomposed organic matter and hence usually exhibit different strength and compressibility in soil behaviors. An experimental investigation was carried out on compost amended soils to understand the effects of decomposed organic matter on strength and volume change properties. Two types of composts, a biosolids compost and a dairy manure compost, and a control cohesive soil were chosen as test materials. Tests conducted on these materials showed that the presence of organic matter enhanced shrinkage resistance and shear strength at low compost proportions (20–30%). At high proportions (beyond 30%), the shear strength reached plateau conditions. One-dimensional vertical swell and secondary consolidation properties increased with an increase in compost proportions. As low proportions of composts yielded better enhancements to most expansive soil properties, it was concluded that compost materials can provide engineering benefits to control soils when used in moderate proportions.     

System performance of a three-phase PV-grid-connected system installed in Thailand: Data monitored analysis

PV-grid-connected systems are worldwide installed because it allows consumer to reduce energy consumption from the electricity grid and to feed the surplus energy back into the grid. The system needs no battery so therefore the system price is very cheap comparing to other PV systems. PV-grid-connected systems are used in buildings that already hooked up to the electrical grid.Finding efficiency of the PV-grid-connected system can be done by using a standard instrument which needs to disconnect the PV arrays from the grid before measurement. The measurement is also difficult and we lose energy during the measurement.This paper will present the system performance of a PV-grid-connected system installed in Thailand by using a monitoring system. The monitored data are installed by acquisition software into a computer. Analysis of monitored data will be done to find out the system performance without disconnecting the PV arrays from the system. The monitored data include solar radiation, PV voltage, PV current, and PV power which has been recorded from a 5 kWp system installed of amorphous silicon PV at Rajamangala University of Technology Suvarnabhumi, Nonthaburi, Thailand. The system performance of the system by using the data monitored is compared to the standard instrument measurement. The paper will give all details about system components, monitoring system, and monitored data. The result of data analysis will be fully given.     

Spatial–temporal enhancements of material flux analysis methods, with application to cadmium management in an agricultural region in Australia

The accumulation of cadmium (Cd) on agricultural lands and the resultant contamination of the food chain are challenging problems for the agricultural sector in Australia. This paper describes a method to estimate spatial accumulation of Cd on agricultural land, to support policy developments that ensure acceptable limits are not exceeded. This method integrates material flux analysis and geographic information system models. It is demonstrated through application to Cd management within the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area (MIA). The results of this study include spatially estimated net Cd balance in MIA soils over the 10 years 1992–2000. Combined with initial estimates of spatial Cd contamination in 1992, this permits estimation of soil Cd concentration in the MIA in 2002. The areas that have high soil Cd concentration have seen increases in Cd levels of 1.5–1.6 times of Cd concentration in 1992. The results are used to evaluate the trend of Cd exceeding an acceptable limit on a spatial basis, and development of an effective policy and limit to control Cd input to soil.     

Effects of UV weathering and a CeO2‐based coating layer on the mechanical and structural changes of wood/PVC composites

Composite samples (WPVCs) of poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) and wood flour were prepared in the PVC:wood weight ratio of 1:1, and the mechanical and structural changes of the composites were assessed in terms of UV aging time and condensation temperature. Acrylic coating containing cerium dioxide as a UV absorber was used for moderation of the mechanical and structural changes of PVC in the WPVC composites. The experimental results indicated that the tensile and flexural properties of the composites monotonically decreased when the aging time was increased, the effect being more pronounced at high condensation temperatures. It was observed that the polyene and yellowness indexes of the WPVC composites increased with UV aging time. The hydrophilicity of the WPVC was quantified by contact angle results and found to increase with increasing UV aging because of hydrogen bonding between ? OH groups on the wood surfaces and water molecules. The acrylic coating containing CeO₂ proposed in this work was sufficiently effective for maintaining the levels of hydrophilicity and mechanical properties of the WPVC composites. J. VINYL ADDIT. TECHNOL., 2011. © 2011 Society of Plastics Engineers     

Material flow of nickel in nickel metal hydride batteries waste and possible circularity improvement in Thailand

Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy - Hybrid vehicles are becoming more popular in Thailand. The battery that is used in hybrid vehicles is nickel metal hydride battery (Ni-MH). However,...     

AMZ Driverless: The full autonomous racing system

This paper presents the algorithms and system architecture of an autonomous racecar. The introduced vehicle is powered by a software stack designed for robustness, reliability, and extensibility. To autonomously race around a previously unknown track, the proposed solution combines state of the art techniques from different fields of robotics. Specifically, perception, estimation, and control are incorporated into one high‐performance autonomous racecar. This complex robotic system, developed by AMZ Driverless and ETH Zürich, finished first overall at each competition we attended: Formula Student Germany 2017, Formula Student Italy 2018 and Formula Student Germany 2018. We discuss the findings and learnings from these competitions and present an experimental evaluation of each module of our solution.