Investigating shrinkage and moisture diffusivity of melon seed in a microwave assisted thin layer fluidized bed dryer

This work aimed to investigate the drying behavior of melon seed during combined fluidized bed-microwave drying system. Three drying air temperatures (40, 55 and 70 °C), three microwave powers (270, 450 and 630 W) and three air velocities (0.8, 1.5 and 2.3 m/s) were tested. Five mathematical models were selected to fit the experimental data for drying kinetics, and the results revealed that the Aghbashloo et al. model exhibited, in all cases, the best performance in fitting the experimental data (R² varying from 0.99088 to 0.99998; χ² from 0.00000 to 0.00185 and RMSE from 0.02289 to 0.82316). Calculated values of moisture diffusivity for dried melon seed varied from a minimum of 6.51 × 10?10 to a maximum of 6.59 × 10?9 m²/s under the tested drying conditions. Moisture diffusivity values increased as air temperature and microwave power was increased. Shrinkage values were calculated and found to vary in the range from 46.99 to 15.09 %.     

Emission, reserve and economic load dispatch problem with non-smooth and non-convex cost functions using the hybrid bacterial foraging-Nelder-Mead algorithm

In this paper, a new approach is proposed to solve the economic load dispatch (ELD) problem. Power generation, spinning reserve and emission costs are simultaneously considered in the objective function of the proposed ELD problem. In this condition, if the valve-point effects of thermal units are considered in the proposed emission, reserve and economic load dispatch (ERELD) problem, a non-smooth and non-convex cost function will be obtained. Frequency deviation, minimum frequency limits and other practical constraints are also considered in this problem. For this purpose, ramp rate limit, transmission line losses, maximum emission limit for specific power plants or total power system, prohibited operating zones and frequency constraints are considered in the optimization problem. A hybrid method that combines the bacterial foraging (BF) algorithm with the Nelder-Mead (NM) method (called BF-NM algorithm) is used to solve the problem. In this study, the performance of the proposed BF-NM algorithm is compared with the performance of other classic (non-linear programming) and intelligent algorithms such as particle swarm optimization (PSO) as well as genetic algorithm (GA), differential evolution (DE) and BF algorithms. The simulation results show the advantages of the proposed method for reducing the total cost of the system.     

A novel algorithm for frequency dependent modeling of ferrite ring and its optimum design to study VFTO behaviors within GIS

One of the fundamental issues in gas insulated substations (GIS) which has destructive effects on GIS equipment is the very fast transient over-voltages (VFTOs). This paper models a 400/230 kV substation in order to study the effects of VFTO extensively implemented on EMTP-RV. In addition, the application of ferrite rings for suppressing VFTOs is assessed thoroughly. The main advantage of this paper is its new proposed algorithm according to the ferrite ring frequency dependent modeling that is validated with experimental results. This paper examines the effects of three compositions of the ferrite ring on VFTO suppression. Moreover, it estimates the dimension of the ferrite ring based on the SF6 gas insulation withstand and the maximum effect of ferrite rings on VFTO suppression constraint with the COMSOL multiphysics software. Furthermore, it gains VFTO attenuated percentages due to the installation of the ferrite ring in different GIS nodes. Finally, it analyzes the offered VFTO amendment technique in various GIS switching scenarios.     

Different finite element techniques to predict welding residual stresses in aluminum alloy plates

This study is a 3D thermomechanical finite element (FE) analysis of a single-pass and butt-welded work-hardened aluminum (Al) 5456 plates. It aims to validate the use of FE welding simulations to predict residual stress states in assessing the integrity of welded components. The predicted final residual stresses in the plate from the FE simulations are verified through comparison with experimental measurements. Three techniques are used to simulate the welding process. In the first two approaches, welding deposition is applied by using element birth and interaction techniques. In the third approach, the entire weld zone is simultaneously deposited. Results show a value at approximately the yield strength for longitudinal residual stresses of the welded center of the butt-welded Al alloy plates with a thickness of 2 mm. Considering the application of a comprehensive heat source, along with heat loss modeling and the temperature-dependent properties of the material, the approach without deposition predicts a reasonable distribution of residual stresses. However, the element birth and interaction techniques, compared with the no-deposit technique, provide more accurate results in calculating residual stresses. Furthermore, the element interaction technique, compared with the element birth technique, exhibits higher efficiency and flexibility in modeling the deposition of welded metals as well as less modeling cost.     

Predicting Mechanical Strength of In-Use Firefighter Protective Clothing Using Near-Infrared Spectroscopy

The exact lifespan of in-use firefighter protective clothing is difficult to predict due to the large variations in use between individual garments. Furthermore, testing methods used to evaluate new protective clothing are destructive in nature and could not be applied to in-use garments. Various non-destructive techniques have been proposed for the evaluation of in-use clothing, each possessing its own advantages and disadvantages. The ability of near-infrared spectroscopy to predict the tensile strength of thermally aged fabrics used in protective clothing for wildland firefighters and other workers is investigated here. Fabrics were exposed to heat fluxes from 10 kW/m² to 40 kW/m² for various durations using the cone calorimeter, after which the tensile strength of the fabrics was measured. Temperatures measured during the exposures and results of thermal gravimetric analysis tests were used to interpret changes in tensile strength. Multivariate linear regression was used to develop correlations between the tensile strength and the reflectance values measured between 1500 nm and 2500 nm for new and thermally aged fabrics. It was found that models based on reflectance measurements made at as few as three wavelengths could be used to estimate the tensile strength of the thermally aged specimens.     

Structure refinement of Pb-6Sb alloy

Structure refinement of Pb-6Sb alloy was investigated experimentally using two techniques: first by adding a grain refiner of 0.02% Ag₂Se to the liquid alloy, and second by introducing mechanical stirring of the molten alloy during its cooling from above the melting point to a temperature in the mushy zone. Four different stirring speeds of 400, 700, 900 and 1100 r.p.m. were used. The alloy was allowed to cool to room temperature at different cooling rates. Cooling rate, solidification rate, grain size and primary particle size were measured.Currently on leave of absence at the Jordan University of Science and Technology, Irbid, Jordan.     

Design and implementation of LQG\LTR controller for a magnetic telemanipulation system-performance evaluation and energy saving

This paper deals with designing a telemanipulation system (TMS) for microrobotics applications. The TMS uses magnetic levitation technology for the three-dimensional (3-D) manipulation of a microrobot. The TMS is made up of two separate components: a magnetic drive unit and a microrobot. The magnetic drive unit is developed to generate the magnetic field for propelling the microrobot in an enclosed environment. The drive unit consists of electromagnets, a disc pole-piece for connecting the magnetic poles, and a yoke. To handle the 3-D high precision motion control of the microrobot, experimental magnetic field measurements coupled with numerical analysis were done to identify the dynamic model of levitation. This approach leads to the design of a linear quadratic gaussian (LQG) control system, based on the derived state-space model. Based on the PID controller performance, the LQG controller provides considerable improvement in transient response and cross coupling errors. The 3-D motion control capability of the LQG control method is verified experimentally, and it is demonstrated that the microrobot can be operated in the TMS workspace, vertical range of 30?mm and the horizontal range of $32\times 32\,{\text{mm}}^2$ , with RMS error on the order of $10\,\upmu {\text{m}}$ in the vertical and $2.2\,\upmu {\text{m}}$ in the horizontal direction. In the vertical motion, the cross coupling error of the LQG controller is nine times smaller than that of the PID controller. A pre-magnetized pole-piece is proposed to compensate for gravity effect and reduces the system??s energy consumption. This pole-piece provides 66% energy saving for the system??s workspace operations.     

Modeling of Alkali Pretreatment of Rice Husk Using Response Surface Methodology and Artificial Neural Network

Rice husk as a widely available lignocellulosic material was subjected to an alkaline pretreatment process. The alkaline pretreatment was carried out under various conditions. The influence of process parameters, such as pretreatment time, solid loading, and NaOH concentration, on the glucose and xylose yields were investigated by means of appropriate models. The maximum glucose and xylose yields obtained under optimum pretreatment condition were 68.82% and 53.77%, respectively. Response surface methodology (RSM) and artificial neural network were used to model the pretreatment processes. Both modeling methodologies were statistically compared by means of the coefficient of determination and relative mean square error. It was concluded that the artificial neural network shows a somewhat better performance compared to RSM.     

A Combined Experimental and Theoretical Approach to Study Temperature and Moisture Dynamic Characteristics of Intermittent Paddy Rice Drying

Intermittent drying of paddy rice is fully investigated both theoretically and experimentally. A model is developed to describe simultaneous heat and mass transfer for the drying stages and mass transfer for the tempering ones. The model is considered for both cylindrical and spherical geometries. The model excels in considering non-constant paddy rice and air physical properties as well as surface vaporization and convection. The consequent equations are numerically solved with finite-difference method of line using implicit Runge–Kutta. Furthermore, a set of experiments is conducted in a laboratory-scale fluidized bed dryer to estimate the moisture diffusivity of rice and evaluate the effects of different parameters. Two correlations for moisture diffusivity are derived for each geometry based on the experimental results. It is noteworthy that the geometry choice leads to significantly different moisture diffusivities. As a result, the diffusivity values obtained for spherical presentation is 2.64 times greater than that of cylinder. Moreover, the cylindrical model fits the experimental results more precisely, especially for tempering stage (AARD_cyl = 1.03%; AARD_sph = 1.53%). Model results reveal that thermal equilibrium is quickly reached within the first 2 min. Air velocity shows no influential effect on drying upon establishment of fluidized condition. In addition, drying rate is drastically improved after applying the tempering stage. A definition for tempering stage efficiency is also proposed which shows that 3 h tempering will be 80% efficient for the studied case. Rising temperature significantly improves the drying rate, while it does not contribute much in the tempering efficiency.