Search results for " CONDITIONING"
showing 10 items of 400 documents
Life Cycle Assessment Performance Comparison of Small Solar Thermal Cooling Systems with Conventional Plants Assisted with Photovoltaics
2012
Abstract Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) allows for the consideration of energy consumption and environmental impacts associated with all the stages of a product's life, from the cradle to the grave . Starting from the results obtained in the IEA SHC Task 38 framework for the LCA of small solar assisted heat driven chillers, the application of such methodology has been extended to systems with a conventional compression chiller assisted by a photovoltaic plant. This study aims to provide a more comprehensive investigation through a comparison of these two families of solar assisted cooling systems (with solar thermal or PV), which is an important topic for studies concerning the research of eff…
Energy and economic assessment of desiccant cooling systems coupled with single glazed air and hybrid PV/thermal solar collectors for applications in…
2009
Abstract This paper presents a detailed analysis of the energy and economic performance of desiccant cooling systems (DEC) equipped with both single glazed standard air and hybrid photovoltaic/thermal (PV/t) collectors for applications in hot and humid climates. The use of ‘solar cogeneration’ by means of PV/t hybrid collectors enables the simultaneous production of electricity and heat, which can be directly used by desiccant air handling units, thereby making it possible to achieve very energy savings. The present work shows the results of detailed simulations conducted for a set of desiccant cooling systems operating without any heat storage. System performance was investigated through h…
Exergoeconomic analysis as support in decision-making for the design and operation of multiple chiller systems in air conditioning applications
2020
Abstract Multiple-chillers systems represent viable solutions for medium/large-scale air conditioning applications characterized by variable cooling demand. The energy efficiency of such systems is influenced by the number of chillers, the combination of cooling capacities, and the load-sharing among the units. Large efforts have been devoted to developing efficient operation strategies for these systems, but rules of thumb are usually adopted for selecting cooling capacities thus leaving room for energy and economic savings. In this paper, exergoeconomic analysis is proposed as a promising method to identify near-optimal design and operation strategies, due to the capability of exergoecono…
Life cycle performance assessment of small solar thermal cooling systems and conventional plants assisted with photovoltaics
2014
Starting from the results of a Life Cycle Assessment of small solar assisted heat driven chillers, the application of such methodology has been extended to systems with a conventional compression chiller assisted by a photovoltaic plant (PV). This study aims to provide a comprehensive compared investigation of these two families of solar assisted cooling systems (with solar thermal or PV). Results indicate that, in many cases, the systems with the PV grid connected plant performed best. In addition, two more configurations were investigated to further define the PV assisted systems, which minimise their interaction with the grid through the use of electricity storages. These systems performed…
Chemical and dimensional evolution of cationic ions exchange resins in cement pastes
2013
Ion exchange resins (IERs) are widely used by the nuclear industry to decontaminate radioactive effluents. After use they are usually encapsulated in cementitious materials. However, the solidified waste forms can exhibit a strong expansion, possibly leading to cracking. Its origin is not well understood as well as the conditions when it occurs.In this work, the interactions between cationic resins in the Na+ or Ca2+ form and tricalcium silicate (C3S), Portland cement (CEM I) or Blastfurnace slag cement (CEM III/C) are investigated at an early age in order to gain a better understanding of the expansion process.The results show that during the hydration of a paste of C3S or CEM I containing…
Bilaterally recorded multiple-unit activity of the cingulate cortex during head turning conditioning with unilateral medial forebrain bundle stimulat…
1993
Cats were conditioned to turn their heads using a tone conditioned stimulus (CS) and medial forebrain bundle stimulation (MFB) unconditioned stimulus (US). The CS+ was delivered to one ear at a time, in random order, followed by the US. A tone of a different frequency was used as a CS-. The cats learned to respond differentially to the CSs showing head movements of greater acceleration to the CS+ than CS- over sessions. Bilateral recordings of cingulate cortex multiple-unit activity showed increased response amplitudes over sessions and larger responses in the hemisphere ipsilateral to the US. Since ipsilateral multiple-unit responses did not differ for the CSs, the asymmetry was probably d…
Asymmetries in classically conditioned head movements and cingulate cortex slow potentials in cats.
1991
Presuming that conditioned head movements in the cat indicate a preference for a specific direction, asymmetries were also expected to be found in bilaterally recorded cingulate cortex slow potentials to a symmetrical tone stimulus during discriminative conditioning. Conditioned stimuli (CS, 1000 and 2500 Hz tones) were delivered through two miniature loudspeakers fitted to the head in front of both ears. The unconditioned stimulus (US) was an electrical stimulation of either the left or right lateral hypothalamus yielding, in addition to its rewarding effects, an unconditioned head turning response (UR) either to the left, right, forwards or upwards. Discrimination learning appeared as mor…
Unilateral medial forebrain bundle activation selectively enhances conditioned orienting head turns and ipsilateral cingulate cortex evoked field res…
1994
Effects of a unilateral medial forebrain bundle (MFB) stimulation unconditioned stimulus (US) on conditioned head turn and bilateral cingulate cortex field potentials were studied in cats. Conditioned stimuli (CSs) of different frequences were given randomly to either ear. The CS+ was followed by the US, and the CS— was presented alone. Before conditioning most cats predominantly turned toward the ear to which the CSs were presented, whereas after conditioning the head turns were in one direction, most prominently contralateral to the US. Negative field potentials were greater in the cingulate cortex ipsilateral to the US than in the cingulate cortex contralateral to the US. Cross correlati…
Regulation of type IV collagen gene expression and degradation in fast and slow muscles during dexamethasone treatment and exercise.
2003
Glucocorticoids have anti-anabolic effects on many tissues and can cause muscle atrophy. However, their effects on type IV collagen gene expression and degradation in skeletal muscle have not been studied previously. Rats were treated daily with dexamethasone or saline. Half the groups of experimental and control animals were also subjected to daily endurance or uphill running exercise to determine the possible preventive effects of exercise. After an experimental period of 3 or 10 days, the extensor digitorum longus, soleus and tibialis anterior muscles were studied. Dexamethasone treatment for 10 days reduced muscle weight and type IV collagen mRNA abundance in all muscles. Gene expressio…
Tonically Active Neurons in the Monkey Striatum are Sensitive to Sensory Events in a Manner that Reflects their Predictability in Time
2002
It is now well established that tonically active neurons (TANs) in the monkey striatum respond to motivationally relevant sensory events, such as conditioned stimuli to which the animal had to react correctly to obtain reward. Recent findings obtained in our laboratory suggested that stimulus prediction may influence the responsiveness of the TANs. In the present study we specifically investigated the effects of temporal aspects of prediction on the responses of single TANs recorded both in the caudate nucleus and putamen of two macaque monkeys. Three different behavioral situations were employed: (1) an instrumental task, in which a visual stimulus triggering a rewarded movement was preced…