• Title/Summary/Keyword: Efficiency of operations

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A System Dynamics Model to Analyze the Effects of Investments for Improvement of Environmental Conditions in Nak-Dong River Basin (낙동강 유역 환경개선 투자 효과 분석을 위한 시스템다이내믹스 모델)

  • Park, Suwan;Kim, Kimin
    • Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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    • v.30 no.5
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    • pp.561-569
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    • 2016
  • In this paper a concept of the paradigm shift in the operations of Water and Wastewater systems regarding the production and usage of water was introduced. Based on this concept the interrelationships between the water quality in the upper basin of NakDong River relative to Busan and the degree of satisfaction of the customers on the water supply service in Busan were modeled using the System Dynamics modeling methodology. SamRangJin basin area was determined as the upper basin of Busan after analyzing the relationships between the water quality of MoolGeum water intake point and water quality data of various mid- and upper water intake points along NakDong River. The amount of contaminants generated in SamRangJin basin was modeled using the Gross Regional Domestic Product in the area and the treated amount was calculated using the efficiency of wastewater treatment and the degree of improvement of environmental condition per investment. The water quality at MoolGeum water intake point was modeled to take the effects of the remaining amount of contaminants after treatment and the non-point source contaminants in SamRangJin basin. Using the developed System Dynamics model the effects of the investment for the improvement of environmental condition in SamRangJin basin were compared to the case of alternate water source development for Busan in terms of the degree of satisfaction of the customers on the water supply service in Busan.

Pre-treatment of oily wastewater using a coagulation-DAF process with slit-nozzle (슬릿노즐기반 응집·공기부상공정을 통한 유류폐수 전처리)

  • Choi, Sangki;Kim, Youngmo
    • Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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    • v.32 no.6
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    • pp.479-485
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    • 2018
  • Large amounts of oily wastewater discharged from various industrial operations (petroleum refining, machinery industries and chemical industries) cause serious pollution in the aquatic environment. Although dissolved air flotation (DAF) separating oil pollutants using microbubbles represents current practice, bubble size cannot be selectively controlled, and lots of power is required to generate microbubbles. Therefore, to investigate performance of the DAF process, this study examined the distribution of different sizes of microbubbles resulting from changes in physical shear force via modifying shapes of a slit-nozzle without an additional power supply. Three types of slit-nozzles (different angle, shape and length of the slit-nozzle) were used to analyze the distribution of bubble size. At a slit angle of $60^{\circ}$, shear force was 4.29 times higher than a conventional slit, and particle size distribution (PSD) in the range between 2 and $20{\mu}m$ more than doubled. Treatment efficiency of synthetic oily wastewater through the coagulation-DAF process achieved 90% removal of COD by injecting $FeCl_3$ and PACl of 250 mg/L and 100 mg/L, respectively, and the same performance resulted using $FeCl_3$ of 200 mg/L and PACl of 80 mg/L employing a slit-nozzle angle of $60^{\circ}$. This study shows that a coagulation-DAF process using a modified slit-nozzle can improve the pre-treatment of oily wastewater.

Flexible smart sensor framework for autonomous structural health monitoring

  • Rice, Jennifer A.;Mechitov, Kirill;Sim, Sung-Han;Nagayama, Tomonori;Jang, Shinae;Kim, Robin;Spencer, Billie F. Jr.;Agha, Gul;Fujino, Yozo
    • Smart Structures and Systems
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    • v.6 no.5_6
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    • pp.423-438
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    • 2010
  • Wireless smart sensors enable new approaches to improve structural health monitoring (SHM) practices through the use of distributed data processing. Such an approach is scalable to the large number of sensor nodes required for high-fidelity modal analysis and damage detection. While much of the technology associated with smart sensors has been available for nearly a decade, there have been limited numbers of fulls-cale implementations due to the lack of critical hardware and software elements. This research develops a flexible wireless smart sensor framework for full-scale, autonomous SHM that integrates the necessary software and hardware while addressing key implementation requirements. The Imote2 smart sensor platform is employed, providing the computation and communication resources that support demanding sensor network applications such as SHM of civil infrastructure. A multi-metric Imote2 sensor board with onboard signal processing specifically designed for SHM applications has been designed and validated. The framework software is based on a service-oriented architecture that is modular, reusable and extensible, thus allowing engineers to more readily realize the potential of smart sensor technology. Flexible network management software combines a sleep/wake cycle for enhanced power efficiency with threshold detection for triggering network wide operations such as synchronized sensing or decentralized modal analysis. The framework developed in this research has been validated on a full-scale a cable-stayed bridge in South Korea.

Human-Computer Interaction Based Only on Auditory and Visual Information

  • Sha, Hui;Agah, Arvin
    • Transactions on Control, Automation and Systems Engineering
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    • v.2 no.4
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    • pp.285-297
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    • 2000
  • One of the research objectives in the area of multimedia human-computer interaction is the application of artificial intelligence and robotics technologies to the development of computer interfaces. This involves utilizing many forms of media, integrating speed input, natural language, graphics, hand pointing gestures, and other methods for interactive dialogues. Although current human-computer communication methods include computer keyboards, mice, and other traditional devices, the two basic ways by which people communicate with each other are voice and gesture. This paper reports on research focusing on the development of an intelligent multimedia interface system modeled based on the manner in which people communicate. This work explores the interaction between humans and computers based only on the processing of speech(Work uttered by the person) and processing of images(hand pointing gestures). The purpose of the interface is to control a pan/tilt camera to point it to a location specified by the user through utterance of words and pointing of the hand, The systems utilizes another stationary camera to capture images of the users hand and a microphone to capture the users words. Upon processing of the images and sounds, the systems responds by pointing the camera. Initially, the interface uses hand pointing to locate the general position which user is referring to and then the interface uses voice command provided by user to fine-the location, and change the zooming of the camera, if requested. The image of the location is captured by the pan/tilt camera and sent to a color TV monitor to be displayed. This type of system has applications in tele-conferencing and other rmote operations, where the system must respond to users command, in a manner similar to how the user would communicate with another person. The advantage of this approach is the elimination of the traditional input devices that the user must utilize in order to control a pan/tillt camera, replacing them with more "natural" means of interaction. A number of experiments were performed to evaluate the interface system with respect to its accuracy, efficiency, reliability, and limitation.

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PC Cluster based Parallel Adaptive Evolutionary Algorithm for Service Restoration of Distribution Systems

  • Mun, Kyeong-Jun;Lee, Hwa-Seok;Park, June-Ho;Kim, Hyung-Su;Hwang, Gi-Hyun
    • Journal of Electrical Engineering and Technology
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    • v.1 no.4
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    • pp.435-447
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    • 2006
  • This paper presents an application of the parallel Adaptive Evolutionary Algorithm (AEA) to search an optimal solution of the service restoration in electric power distribution systems, which is a discrete optimization problem. The main objective of service restoration is, when a fault or overload occurs, to restore as much load as possible by transferring the de-energized load in the out of service area via network reconfiguration to the appropriate adjacent feeders at minimum operational cost without violating operating constraints. This problem has many constraints and it is very difficult to find the optimal solution because of its numerous local minima. In this investigation, a parallel AEA was developed for the service restoration of the distribution systems. In parallel AEA, a genetic algorithm (GA) and an evolution strategy (ES) in an adaptive manner are used in order to combine the merits of two different evolutionary algorithms: the global search capability of the GA and the local search capability of the ES. In the reproduction procedure, proportions of the population by GA and ES are adaptively modulated according to the fitness. After AEA operations, the best solutions of AEA processors are transferred to the neighboring processors. For parallel computing, a PC cluster system consisting of 8 PCs was developed. Each PC employs the 2 GHz Pentium IV CPU and is connected with others through switch based fast Ethernet. To show the validity of the proposed method, the developed algorithm has been tested with a practical distribution system in Korea. From the simulation results, the proposed method found the optimal service restoration strategy. The obtained results were the same as that of the explicit exhaustive search method. Also, it is found that the proposed algorithm is efficient and robust for service restoration of distribution systems in terms of solution quality, speedup, efficiency, and computation time.

Strategic Planning for the Contract-Managed Hospital Foodservice Through QFD Methodology (QFD 기법을 이용한 병원 위탁급식 운영전략 수립)

  • 양일선;박수연;김현아;박문경;신서영;이해영
    • Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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    • v.8 no.5
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    • pp.744-754
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    • 2003
  • At present, health care industries throughout the world are struggling with the challenges to set up financial structures as cost-effective ways and means of satisfying customer needs for health care services. Many hospitals consign foodservice management to foodservice companies for the purpose of efficiency. The companies taking charge of hospital foodservice are also striving to gain an advantage over keen competitions. This study applied Quality Function Deployment(QFD) to one hospital (which will be shown as $\ulcorner$A hospital$\lrcorner$ below) managed by a contract foodservice company for the purpose of strategy planning to provide sustainable competitive advantage. First of all, this study scanned internal and external environment of $\ulcorner$A hospital$\lrcorner$ by means of a Quality Measurement Tool and a fieldwork study. With the result of environment scanning, this study elicited 20 strategies through SWOT analysis, which were categorized by 4 perspectives such as financial, customer, internal process, learning and growth perspectives. Finally, the priorities of 20 strategies were extracted from QFD methodology. According to the results obtained by applying QFD to $\ulcorner$A hospital$\lrcorner$'s foodservice, the strategies which $\ulcorner$A hospital$\lrcorner$ foodservice was obliged to introduce and implement were : the specialization of Children's hospital foodservice, scientific foodservice management through the standardization of foodservice operations, the maintenance of sanitary quality through sanitary system, the remodeling of facilities, the introduction of new equipment, the prompt and accurate response to customer needs, the development of appropriate patient menus, the provision of competitively priced meals for patient selection, the development of a demand forecast model by considering the characteristics of a children's hospital, improvement of productivity and the reduction of labor costs through the employment of experienced employees based on their seniority.

Simulation of One-way Carsharing Systems : Operating Parameters and Relocation Policy Analysis (시뮬레이션을 활용한 편도 카쉐어링 시스템의 최적 운영 조건 및 차량 재배치 알고리즘에 대한 연구)

  • Park, SeJoon;Yu, Wooyeon;Park, Yunsun
    • Journal of Korean Society of Industrial and Systems Engineering
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    • v.42 no.3
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    • pp.61-69
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    • 2019
  • The concept of carsharing involves sharing a small number of reserved cars to be used individually by a larger number of people as required. This study examines the operating parameters of one-way carsharing systems in order to determine the appropriate operating conditions that minimizes the lost sales rate. Five operating parameters are tested in this study: the number of stations, the average number of vehicles per station, the rate of one-way trip, the average number of staffs per station, and the relocation policy. The performance of round-trip carsharing systems is also compared to that of one-way carsharing systems. A simulation model is developed and simulations are performed to determine the appropriate combination of operating parameter and levels. The simulation results show that the average number of vehicles per station is the most critical parameter. Other key findings obtained from this research are as follows. First, applying the appropriate relocation policy to one-way carsharing systems can allow more customers to rent vehicles than the traditional round-trip carsharing systems. Second, the appropriate relocation policy should be selected based on the average number of vehicles per station in order to minimize the lost sales rate. Third, the number of stations does not affect the lost sales rate. This study findings will provide tools to understand impact of the carsharing system parameters on the efficiency of the carsharing operations.

Supplementation of guanidinoacetic acid and rumen-protected methionine increased growth performance and meat quality of Tan lambs

  • Zhang, Jian Hao;Li, Hai Hai;Zhang, Gui Jie;Zhang, Ying Hui;Liu, Bo;Huang, Shuai;Guyader, Jessie;Zhong, Rong Zhen
    • Animal Bioscience
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    • v.35 no.10
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    • pp.1556-1565
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    • 2022
  • Objective: Tan lambs (n = 36, 3 mo old, 19.1±0.53 kg) were used to assess effects of dietary guanidinoacetic acid (GAA) and rumen-protected methionine (RPM) on growth performance, carcass traits, meat quality, and serum parameters. Methods: Lambs were randomly assigned to three treatment groups, with 6 pens per group and 2 lambs per pen. Dietary treatments were: basal diet alone (I); basal diet supplemented with 0.08% GAA+0.06% RPM (II); and basal diet supplemented with 0.08% GAA+0.08% RPM (III). Diets were provided three times a day for 90 d. Intake per pen was recorded daily and individual lamb body weight (BW) was measured monthly. Carcass traits were measured after slaughter and meat quality at the end of the experiment, blood samples were taken on a subgroup of lambs for analysis of indicators mostly related to protein metabolism. Results: Final BW and average daily gain for the first and second month, and for the entire experiment were greater in Treatment II compared to Treatment I (p<0.05), whereas feed to gain ratio was lower (p<0.05). Treatment II had the optimal dressing percentage and net meat weight proportion, as well as crude protein and intramuscular fat concentrations in muscles. Treatment II improved meat quality, as indicated by the greater water holding capacity, pH after 45 min and 48 h, and lower shear force and cooking loss. Dietary supplementation of GAA and RPM also increased the meat color a* and b* values at 24 h. Finally, Treatment II increased total protein, and serum concentrations of albumin and creatinine, but decreased serum urea nitrogen concentrations, indicating improved protein efficiency. Conclusion: In this study, 0.08% GAA+0.06% RPM supplementation improved growth performance and meat quality of Tan lambs.

Establishment of the roof model and optimization of the working face length in top coal caving mining

  • Chang-Xiang Wang;Qing-Heng Gu;Meng Zhang;Cheng-Yang Jia;Bao-Liang Zhang;Jian-Hang Wang
    • Geomechanics and Engineering
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    • v.36 no.5
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    • pp.427-440
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    • 2024
  • This study concentrates on the 301 comprehensive caving working face, notable for its considerable mining height. The roof model is established by integrating prior geological data and the latest borehole rock stratum's physical and mechanical parameters. This comprehensive approach enables the determination of lithology, thickness, and mechanical properties of the roof within 50 m of the primary mining coal seam. Utilizing the transfer rock beam theory and incorporating mining pressure monitoring data, the study delves into the geometric parameters of the direct roof, basic roof movement, and roof pressure during the initial mining process of the 301 comprehensive caving working face. The direct roof of the mining working face is stratified into upper and lower sections. The lower direct roof consists of 6.0 m thick coarse sandstone, while the upper direct roof comprises 9.2 m coarse sandstone, 2.6 m sandy mudstone, and 2.8 m medium sandstone. The basic roof stratum, totaling 22.1 m in thickness, includes layers such as silty sand, medium sandstone, sandy mudstone, and coal. The first pressure step of the basic roof is 61.6 m, with theoretical research indicating a maximum roof pressure of 1.62 MPa during periodic pressure. Extensive simulations and analyses of roof subsidence and advanced abutment pressure under varying working face lengths. Optimal roof control effect is observed when the mining face length falls within the range of 140 m-155 m. This study holds significance as it optimizes the working face length in thick coal seams, enhancing safety and efficiency in coal mining operations.

Improvement of ${\beta}-glucosidase$ Activity of Olea europaea Fruit Extracts Processed by Membrane Technology

  • Mazzei, R.;Giomo, L.;Spadafora, A.;Mazzuca, S.;Drioli, E.
    • Korean Membrane Journal
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    • v.8 no.1
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    • pp.58-66
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    • 2006
  • The ${\beta}-glucosidase$ from olive fruit is of particular interest compared to the ones from other sources because it has shown to have high specifity to convert the oleuropein into dialdehydes, which have antibacterial activity and are of high interest for their application in the food and pharmaceutical fields. The enzyme is not yet commercially available and advanced clean and safe technologies for its purification able to maintain the functional stability are foreseen. The purification of this protein from fruit extracts has been already tempted by electrophoresis but either enzyme deactivation or high background with unclear profiles occurred. In this work, fruit extracts obtained from the ripening stage that showed the highest enzyme activity have been processed by diafiltration and ultrafiltration. Asymmetric membranes made of polyamide or polysulphone having 50 and 30 kDa molecular weight cut-off, respectively, were tested for the diafiltration process. Ultrafiltration membranes made of polyethersulfone with 4 kDa molecular weight cut-off were used to concentrate the dia-filtered permeate solutions. The efficiency of the separation processes was evaluated byenzyme activity tests using the hydrolysis of p-D-nitrophenyl-${\beta}$-D-glucopyranoside (pNPGlc) as reaction model. Qualitative and quantitative electrophoresis were applied to analyze the composition of protein solution before and after the membrane separation; in addition dot blot and western blot analyses were applied to verify the presence of ${\beta}-glucosidase$ in the processed fractions. The overall results showed that the ${\beta}-glucosidase$ functional stability was preserved during the membrane operations and the removal of 20 kDa proteins allowed to increase the specific activity of the enzyme of about 52% compared to the one present in the initial fruit extract.