Effect of temperature and retention period on biogas production from lignocellulosic material

The extensive utilization of biogas for energy needs of rural dwellers would reduce their dependence on fossil fuels and fuelwoods and henoe camplement Government afforestation programes. In this investigation, effect of temperature and retention period on biogas production from lignooellulosic material, hereafter referred to as cow dung were studied. Maximum gas production was dotained at thermophilic temperature. The results of the effect of retention period shows that gas production was qotimum at 4th and 7th weeks of production.     

SECANT-FUZZY LINEAR REGRESSION METHOD FOR HARMONIC COMPONENTS ESTIMATION IN A POWER SYSTEM

In order to avoid unnecessary damage of electrical equipments and installations,high quality power should be delivered to the end user and strict control on frequency should be made, Therefore, it is important to estimate the power system's harmonic components with higher accuracy. This paper presents a new approach for estimating harmonic component in a power system using secant - fuzzy linear regression method. In this approach the non - sinusoidal voltage or current waveform is written as I linear function. The coefficient of this function is assumed to be fuzzy number with a membership function that has center and spread value. The time dependent quantity is written as Taylor series with two different time dependent quantities. The objective is to use the sample obtained from the transmission line to find the power system harmonic components and frequencies. We used an experimental voltage signal from a sub power station as a numerical test.     

Thermal stability of indium-tin-oxide/n-GaAs Schottky diodes

The thermal degradation of ITO Schottky contacts on GaAs has been studied. The rectifying contacts show rapid degradation with heating and could have serious implications for optoelectronic devices that operate at elevated temperatures.<>     

Electro-optical characteristics of indium tin oxide (ITO) films: effect of thermal annealing

The effect of thermal annealing on the electrical and optical characteristics of ITO films prepared by reactive sputtering and thermal evaporation have been studied. The effect of the thermal annealing is to improve the conductivity and the optical transmission in the shorter wavelength region. The conductivity of the films increases with annealing temperature, this behaviour is associated with grain growth in the film.     

On the bounded-real and positive-real conditions for affine nonlinear state-delayed systems and applications to stability

In this paper, bounded-real conditions for affine nonlinear state-delayed systems are derived using the concept of dissipativeness. Necessary and sufficient conditions for the system to be dissipative and to have finite L₂-gain also referred to as the bounded-real condition are given. The implications on the stability of the system and feedback interconnections of such systems are also considered. Finally, an equivalent of the positive-real lemma is derived and its implications on stability of the system and feedback interconnections of such systems are similarly discussed.     

Tribological Performance of UHMWPE/GNPs Nanocomposite Coatings for Solid Lubrication in Bearing Applications

Ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE)/ graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs) nanocomposite coatings were developed to reduce friction and wear in the absence of liquid lubrication. UHMWPE nanocomposite powders with different loadings (0.25, 1, and 2 wt.%) of GNPs were prepared and electrostatic spraying technique was then used to deposit the nanocomposite powders on aluminum alloy to form a thin coating. Friction and wear tests were conducted on the coatings against a flat-end pin, made of hardened tool steel to determine the best loading of GNPs. That was further tested to investigate the effect of sliding speed and contact pressure on its tribological properties and to establish coating operating limits. Results showed that UHMWPE nanocomposite coating reinforced with 1 wt.% GNPs showed the best tribological performance. It reduced wear rate by about 51% as compared to the pristine UHMWPE coating. The coating sustained a maximum sliding speed of 1 m/s at a contact pressure of 4 MPa equivalent to a pressure and velocity (PV) value of 4 MPa.m/s.     

Physicochemical,mineralogy,and thermo-kinetic characterisation of newly discovered Nigerian coals under pyrolysis and combustion conditions

In this study,the physicochemical,microstructural,mineralogical,thermal,and kinetic properties of three newly discovered coals from Akunza (AKZ),Ome (OME),and S...     

Effect of some operating parameters on biogas production rate

In order to enhance the performance of a biogas generation process and prevent process failure, certain operataing parameters need to be controlled. This article presents the results of a series of studies in which the effect of temperature, pH, carbon -nitrogen ratio and retention time on biogas production from cowdung were investigated     

Decentralized Backstepping Control of a Quadrotor with Tilted-rotor under Wind Gusts

International Journal of Control, Automation and Systems - Conventional unmanned aerial vehicles, quadrotor have a plethora of applications for civilian and military purposes. Quadrotors as the...