Outsourcing and scheduling for a two-machine flow shop with release times

This article addresses a two-machine flow shop scheduling problem where jobs are released intermittently and outsourcing is allowed. The first operations of outsourced jobs are processed by the first subcontractor, they are transported in batches to the second subcontractor for processing their second operations, and finally they are transported back to the manufacturer. The objective is to select a subset of jobs to be outsourced, to schedule both the in-house and the outsourced jobs, and to determine a transportation plan for the outsourced jobs so as to minimize the sum of the makespan and the outsourcing and transportation costs. Two mathematical models of the problem and several necessary optimality conditions are presented. A solution approach is then proposed by incorporating the dominance properties with an ant colony algorithm. Finally, computational experiments are conducted to evaluate the performance of the models and solution approach.     

The removal of cephalexin antibiotic in aqueous solutions by ultrasonic waves/hydrogen peroxide/nickel oxide nanoparticles (US/H2O2/NiO) hybrid process

ABSTRACT

Antibiotics are non-biodegradable and can remain for a long time at aquatic environments and they have a big potential bio-accumulation in the environment. The antibiotics are broadly metabolized by humans, animals and plants and they or their metabolites, after metabolization, are entered into the aquatic environment. This study aimed to optimize the operational parameters by Taguchi design and to carry out the kinetic studies for removal of cephalexin antibiotic from aqueous solutions by US/H₂O₂/NiO hybrid process. This experimental study was performed on a laboratory scale in a 500 mL pyrex-made reactor. The main operational parameters to influence the US/H₂O₂/NiO process were identified as the initial concentration of CEX (20–80 mg/L), hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) (10–40 mL/L), NiO nanoparticle (2.5–10 mg/L) and reaction time (15–90 min) and therefore, the influence of these factors were studied. Under optimum conditions (pH = 3, reaction time = 90 min, CEX = 40 mg/L, NiO = 7.5 mg/L and H₂O₂ = 30 mL/L) and using the US/H₂O₂/NiO process, the removal efficiencies of CEX, COD and TOC were 93.86%, 72.46% and 54.55%, respectively. The percentage contribution of each factor was also determined. Results introduced the solution pH as the most powerful factor, and its percentage contribution value was up to 94% in the studied process. It was also identified that the removal of CEX antibiotic using the hybrid process obeys the pseudo-first-order kinetics.     

Analysis of gross error rates in operation of commercial nuclear power stations

Experience in operation of US commercial nuclear power plants is reviewed over a 25-moth period. The reports accumulated in that period on events of human error and component failure are examined to evaluate gross operator error rates. The impact of such errors on plant operation and safety is examined through the use of proper taxonomies of error, tasks and failures. Four categories of human errors are considered; namely, operator, maintenance, installation and administrative. The computed error rates are used to examine appropriate operator models for evaluation of operator reliability. Human error rates are found to be significant to a varying degree in both BWR and PWR. This emphasizes the import of considering human factors in safety and reliability analysis of nuclear systems. The results also indicate that human errors, and especially operator errors, do indeed follow the exponential reliability model.     

Adiabatic solution of a tilted hydrostatic thrust bearing

Solutions are presented for thermal effects on tilted hydrostatic thrust bearings. The governing Reynolds equation is solved simultaneously with the adiabatic energy equation by finite difference methods. The results show that thermal effects are significant at higher values of the bearing number and the tilt parameter.     

Homogenous and Heterogeneous Catalytic Activity of Azo-Linked Schiff Base Complexes of Mn(II), Cu(II) and Co(II)

Abstract  

Azo linked Schiff-base[L] complexes of Mn(II)(1), Cu(II)(2) and Co(II)(3) obtained by template method, in the reaction of 4-(benzeneazo) salicylaldehyde with 1,2-propanediamine in the present of metal acetate, respectively. Complexes are used as catalyst for oxidation of cyclohexene with tert-butylhydroperoxide (TBHP); oxidation of cyclohexene catalyzed by these complexes gave 2-cyclohexene-1-one and 2-cyclohexene-1-ol as major products. Conversion of cyclohexene achieved was 95–100% with (1), (2) and (3), with selectivity of 57, 92 and 100% for 2-cyclohexene-1-one, respectively. The encapsulated Cu(II) complex (Cu–NaY) catalyzes the oxidation of cyclohexene using TBHP as oxidant in good yield. (Cu–NaY) under optimized reaction condition gave three reaction products. A maximum of 100% conversion of cyclohexene has been achieved where selectivity of 2-cyclohexene-1-one was 83%.     

Operational data analysis of MSF desalination plants. A case study of Jeddah I

Monthly operation and maintenance reports of the oldest large MSF plant in Saudi Arabia, Jeddah I, are analyzed to extract information or generic operation and design problems and to seek means for the mitigation of such problems. The accumulated records are quantified to provide estimates of equipment failure rates. Three systems are found to be the major contributors to plant outage namely, make-up water, brine recycle and sea water intake systems. Root causes of the plant unscheduled shutdowns or reductions in water production are assessed to examine generic reasons for deviations of MSF systems from standard expected performance.     

A novel symmetrical 4H–SiC MESFET: an effective way to improve the breakdown voltage

In this paper, a novel symmetrical structure (SS) of 4H–SiC metal semiconductor field effect transistor (MESFET) as an effective way to improve the breakdown voltage is presented. The key idea in this work is to improve the breakdown voltage, maximum output power density, and frequency parameters of the device using a symmetrical structure with recessed gate. The SS-MESFET modifies the electric field in the drift layer significantly. The influence of the SS-MESFET on the saturation current, breakdown voltage \((\hbox {V}_{\mathrm{BR}})\), and small-signal characteristics of the SS-MESFET are studied by numerical device simulation. Using two-dimensional device simulation, we demonstrate that the breakdown voltage \((\hbox {V}_{\mathrm{BR}})\) improved by factors 2.5 and 3.3 in comparison with an asymmetrical conventional MESFET structure (AC-MESFET) and a symmetrical conventional MESFET structure (SC-MESFET), respectively. Also, the maximum output power density \((\hbox {P}_{\mathrm{max}})\) improved about by 93 and 250 % in comparison with the AC-MESFET and SC-MESFET structures, respectively. So, the SS-MESFET shows the superior maximum available gain (MAG), unilateral power gain (U), and current gain \((\hbox {h}_{12})\) which is presenting the proposed structure is more suitable device for high power microwave applications.     

Cured melamine systems as thick fire-retardant layers deposited by combination of plasma technology and dip-coating

Melamine and melamine resins are widely used as fire-retardants for polymer building materials. Cured melamine systems are used in heat-sensitive items, such as furniture and window frames and sills. In this work, differently cured methylated poly(melamine-co-formaldehyde) (cmPMF) resins were used as fire-retardant coverage for poly(styrene) (PS) and poly(ethylene) (PE) building materials. Such polymer layers should have several tenths of micrometers thickness to produce sufficient fire retardancy. These thick layers were produced by dip-coating. To promote sufficient adhesion of such thick coating to the polyolefin substrates, also in the case of high temperatures occurring at fire exposure, the polymer substrates were firstly coated with a few hundred nanometer thick adhesion-promoting plasma polymer layer. Such thin plasma polymer layers were deposited by low-pressure plasma polymerization of allyl alcohol (ppAAl). It was assumed that the hydroxyl groups of ppAAl interact with the melamine resin; therefore, ppAAl was well suited as adhesion promoter for thick melamine resin coatings. Chemical structure and composition of polymer films were investigated using infrared-attenuated total reflectance and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Peel strengths of coatings were measured. After peeling, the peeled polymer surfaces were also investigated using optical microscopy and XPS the layers for identification of the locus of peel front propagation. Thermal properties were analyzed using TGA (thermo-gravimetric analyses). Finally, the fire-retardant properties of such thick coated polymers were evaluated by exposure to flames.