Identifying crop water stress using deep learning models

Neural Computing and Applications - The identification of water stress is a major challenge for timely and effective irrigation to ensure global food security and sustainable agriculture. Several...     

Estimation of greenhouse gas emissions from municipal wastewater treatment systems in India

Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions generated from municipal wastewater treatment plants in India is estimated in this study. The emissions from the wastewater treatment process as well as from the electricity used during the treatment process are estimated by using the methodology of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The present treatment plants of capacity 15 997 million litres per day (MLD) contributes towards GHG emissions of 7.3 Mt of CO₂‐eq/year. The future GHG emissions would depend upon the treatment technology used for treating 34 109 MLD of untreated wastewater. The highest GHG emissions would occur if all new wastewater treatment plants are based on upflow anaerobic sludge blanket technology, 19.66 Mt CO₂‐eq/year and lowest if sequential batch reactor technology is adopted, 2.93 MtCO₂‐eq/year.     

A software system for anticipating the size and shape of submerged arc welds

A software system for computing the size and shape of bead-on-plate submerged arc (SA) welds is described in this presentation. The system is based on algorithms originated by McGlone et al., Chandel et al. and Yang et al. Essentially the system consists of a specially designed interface for welding/materials/design/fabrication engineers, automated plotting for parametric studies, a simplified data base for storing/editing/retrieving frequently used welding parameters and pictorial graphics for displaying weld size and shape. The use of the system in engineering practice is discussed at some length.     

The Effect of Process Variables on the Flux Consumption in Submerged Arc Welding

The effect of submerged arc welding parameters on flux consumption was studied. It was found that the flux consumption increases with increasing current, voltage and electrode extension. For the same welding parameters the flux consumption is higher for straight polarity compared to reverse polarity. From the results it was concluded that any welding parameter that influences melting rate also influences flux consumption.     

The potential impacts of climate-change policy on freshwater use in thermoelectric power generation

Climate change policy involving a price on carbon would change the mix of power plants and the amount of water they withdraw and consume to generate electricity. We analyze what these changes could entail for electricity generation in the United States under four climate policy scenarios that involve different costs for emitting CO₂ and different technology options for reducing emissions out to the year 2030. The potential impacts of the scenarios on the U.S. electric system are modeled using a modified version of the U.S. National Energy Modeling System and water-use factors for thermoelectric power plants derived from electric utility data compiled by the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Under all the climate-policy scenarios, freshwater withdrawals decline 2–14% relative to a business-as-usual (BAU) scenario of no U.S. climate policy. Furthermore, water use decreases as the price on CO₂ under the climate policies increases. At relatively high carbon prices (>$50/tonne CO₂), however, retrofitting coal plants to capture CO₂ increases freshwater consumption compared to BAU in 2030. Our analysis suggests that climate policies and a carbon price will reduce both electricity generation and freshwater withdrawals compared to BAU unless a substantial number of coal plants are retrofitted to capture CO₂.     

A Study of Some Thermophysical Parameters in Glassy \mathrm{{Se}}_{80}\mathrm{{Te}}_{20} and \mathrm{{Se}}_{80}\mathrm{{Te}}_{10}\mathrm{{M}}_{10} (Cd, In, and Sb) Alloys

The present paper reports a comparative study of some thermophysical properties (thermal conductivity, thermal diffusivity, thermal effusivity, and specific heat per unit volume) for $\mathrm{{Se}}_{80}\mathrm{{Te}}_{20}$ Se 80 Te 20 and $\mathrm{{Se}}_{80}\mathrm{{Te}}_{10}\mathrm{{M}}_{10}$ Se 80 Te 10 M 10 (Cd, In, and Sb) alloys. The transient plane source technique is used for this purpose. The thermal conductivity is highest for $\mathrm{{Se}}_{80}\mathrm{{Te}}_{10}\mathrm{{In}}_{10}$ Se 80 Te 10 In 10 as compared to the other ternary alloys. This is explained in terms of the thermal conductivity of additive elements Cd, In, and Sb. The composition dependence of the thermal diffusivity and specific heat per unit volume is also discussed.     

Deposition characteristics of coal ash slurries at higher concentrations

High concentration slurry disposal system (HCSD) for transportation of coal ash to ash ponds from coal fired thermal power plants using pipelines has emerged as an economical and environmental friendly method. Coal Ash in slurry form is deposited in the ash pond and hence the deposition characteristics at higher concentrations (C_w >60% by weight) are very important. The settled solid profile in the ash pond at high concentrations is of great interest to the ash pond designers. The present study is an attempt to establish the relationship between the settled solid profile and the physical/rheological properties of coal ash slurry at high concentrations. The settled solid profile is experimentally measured in terms of cone angle for slurries of fly ash as well as mixture of fly ash (FA) and bottom ash (BA) in the ratio of 4:1 at high concentrations. The values of cone angle if the slurries are poured on either a pervious or impervious bed have also been measured. The results obtained from the experiments show that the cone angle depends on rheological properties like yield stress and Bingham plastic viscosity which in turn depend on various properties like solid concentration, particle size distribution etc. Also, cone angle for fly ash slurry is higher than that for the mixture of FA and BA slurry at any given concentration. Further, it was also observed from the experiments that cone angle is higher for pervious bed as compared to impervious bed for both types of slurries.