Towards a liberalized Turkish natural gas market: a SWOT analysis

Turkey is currently in the process of restructuring and liberalization of its natural gas market. However, Turkish Petroleum Pipeline Corporation’s (BOTAS) monopoly of more than 80% of natural gas imports, and ranging subsidized gas prices from the beginning, mainly for power generators but also for households and the industry, are among the factors preventing the formation of a fully competitive and liberal market. Hence, the primary aim of this study is to gain insight into the private sector view of the restructuring process, through a qualitative inquiry, including an industry-wide survey and a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats (SWOT) analysis. This study reveals the various internal (Strengths and Weaknesses) and external (Opportunities and Threats) factors, the degree of importance of each factor for the future of the industry, and the level of consistency between these aforementioned assessments. Based on the consensus reached among the Turkish Natural Gas industry representatives, policy recommendations are provided. Results suggest that market liberalization and increase in private sector involvement are the two strengths agreed upon. Likewise, competitive structuring is evaluated as a critical factor for transparency and efficiency, rather than being simply infrastructure-based development. In addition, the participants concur on the importance of increasing share of LNG in the total natural gas supply.     

Optical soliton solutions of the cubic-quintic non-linear Schrödinger’s equation including an anti-cubic term

A wide range of problems in different fields of the applied sciences especially non-linear optics is described by non-linear Schrödinger’s equations (NLSEs). In the present paper, a specific type of NLSEs known as the cubic-quintic non-linear Schrödinger’s equation including an anti-cubic term has been studied. The generalized Kudryashov method along with symbolic computation package has been exerted to carry out this objective. As a consequence, a series of optical soliton solutions have formally been retrieved. It is corroborated that the generalized form of Kudryashov method is a direct, effectual, and reliable technique to deal with various types of non-linear Schrödinger’s equations.     

Wireless multimedia sensor and actor networks for the next generation power grid

Electrical power grid is undergoing a major renovation, to meet the power quality and power availability demands of the 21st century. The new power grid, which is also called as the smart grid, aims to integrate the recent technological advancements in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) field to the power engineering field. The present smart grid implementations focus on smart meter based utility-to-meter and utility-to-customer communications. Although these features provide significant improvements on the customer management side, in the following decades, grid management will be one of the major ICT-dominant fields. Recently, adoption of Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) for the power grid is gaining wide attention from the industry and the academia. Scalar sensor measurements bring valuable insights, however they can provide limited set of information. In the next generation power grid, limited-sensing, Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) based, centrally controlled operational architecture will be replaced with wireless connected, low-cost, multimedia sensors combined with distributed decision-making and acting systems, working in coordination with a supervisory software tool. In this paper, we discuss the potential applications and the challenges of employing wireless multimedia sensor and actor network (WMSAN) for the smart grid.     

Analysis of volatile flavour components by dynamic headspace analysis/gas chromatography-mass spectrometry in roasted pistachio extracts using supercritical carbon dioxide extraction and sensory analysis

In this study, optimum process parameters for supercritical carbon dioxide (CO₂) (SC-CO₂) extraction of roasted pistachio (Pistacia vera L.) were investigated by depending on amount of the characteristic flavouring components (α-pinene, limonene-D, α-terpinolene and β-myrcene). The extracts were analysed by DHA/GC-MS for determination of the volatile compounds and the optimum process parameters were decided as 200 g, 350 Bar, 70°C, 75 g _CO2/min and 60 min. In the pistachio extracts obtained having the optimum process parameters, α-pinene, β-myrcene, limonene-D and α-terpinolene were detected as 24.47 g/100 g, 0.52 g/100 g, 2.25 g/100 g and 5.70 g/100 g among 31 volatile compounds in total, respectively. The fatty acid composition of the extract, which had the most desirable taste and flavour, was detected by gas chromatography using fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) preparation. The fatty acid composition analysis showed that the pistachio extract had included mostly oleic acid (67.51%, w/w) and linoleic acid (17.85%, w/w).     

New type of anhydrous organic electrolyte based on carboxylic acid functional triazole as model system

The model system of dicarboxylic acid functionalized 1H-1,2,3-triazole-terminated alkyl oligomers is presented as a new approach for obtaining high proton conductivity in proton solvating heterocycles covalently bound via spacers. The model materials have been characterized by FT-IR and NMR spectroscopy. Thermal stabilities were examined with thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) was used to measure melting and crystallization temperatures. The influence of spacer length on proton conductivity was investigated by AC impedance spectroscopy. Analysis of conductivity and permittivity measurements revealed the contribution of local dynamics and proton mobility on conduction mechanism which gives rise to proton conductivities of up to 10^?5 S/cm at 120 °C in completely water-free pristine materials.     

Performance evaluation of distributed localization techniques for mobile underwater acoustic sensor networks

Underwater sensor networks (USN) are used for tough oceanographic missions where human operation is dangerous or impossible. In the common mobile USN architecture, sensor nodes freely float several meters below the surface and move with the force of currents. One of the significant challenges of the mobile USN is localization. In this paper, we compare the performance of three localization techniques; Dive and Rise Localization (DNRL), Proxy Localization (PL) and Large-Scale Localization (LSL). DNRL, PL and LSL are distributed, range-based localization schemes and they are suitable for large-scale, three dimensional, mobile USNs. Our simulations show that, DNRL and LSL can localize more than 90% of the underwater nodes with high accuracy while LSL has higher energy consumption and higher overhead than DNRL. The localization success and accuracy of PL is lower than the other techniques however it can localize underwater nodes faster when small number of beacons are employed.     

Polyphenol oxidase potentials of three wild mushroom species harvested from Lişer High Plateau,Trabzon

Crude enzyme extracts were prepared from Armillaria mellea (A. mellea), Lepista nuda (L. nuda) and Hypholoma fasciculare (H. fasciculare), which were harvested from the Li?er High Plateau-Maçka (Trabzon, Turkey). The crude polyphenol oxidase (PPO) extracts from each mushroom were highly active against 4-methylcatechol. Native polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, stained by L-3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine, showed the polyphenol oxidase potentials. The optimum pH value, for each enzyme, was 7.0. When enzyme extracts were incubated at pH 7.0 for 24 h at 4 °C, it was observed that L. nuda and H. fasciculare enzyme activities decreased by about 26% and 18%, respectively, but, A. mellea enzyme activity increased by about 11%. The temperature optima of A. mellea, L. nuda and H. fasciculare were, respectively, 30, 30 and 20 °C. Cr³⁺ and Cu²⁺ ions inhibited each activity. Also, sodium metabisulphite and ascorbic acid were strong inhibitors of the enzyme activities.     

Investigation of the changes of P2O5 content of phosphate rock during simultaneous calcination/sulfation

In this study, the changes of P₂O₅ content of phosphate rock during simultaneous calcination/sulfation in a fluidized-bed were investigated. P₂O₅ determination was carried out on samples with and without quenching of sulfated rock. The effects of the temperature and particle size on P₂O₅ content of either sample were determined. It was found that the decrease in process temperature favorably increased the P₂O₅ content of the sulfated samples. Since the calcination was the dominant reaction during the early stages of the process, there was an initial increase in P₂O₅ content of the sulfated samples. However, at later stages, there was a decrease in P₂O₅ extent of sulfated samples with an increase in the extent of CaSO₄ formed during the reaction. The P₂O₅ extent, on the other hand, increased with decreasing particle size. The results showed that P₂O₅ content of 23.27% in raw ore may be increased up to 36% following the quenching of sulfated samples.