Search results for " Simulation"
showing 10 items of 4034 documents
Distributed Consensus in Noncooperative Inventory Games
2009
This paper deals with repeated nonsymmetric congestion games in which the players cannot observe their payoffs at each stage. Examples of applications come from sharing facilities by multiple users. We show that these games present a unique Pareto optimal Nash equilibrium that dominates all other Nash equilibria and consequently it is also the social optimum among all equilibria, as it minimizes the sum of all the players’ costs. We assume that the players adopt a best response strategy. At each stage, they construct their belief concerning others probable behavior, and then, simultaneously make a decision by optimizing their payoff based on their beliefs. Within this context, we provide a …
Multiobjective GRASP with Path Relinking
2015
In this paper we review and propose different adaptations of the GRASP metaheuristic to solve multiobjective combinatorial optimization problems. In particular, we describe several alternatives to specialize the construction and improvement components of GRASP when two or more objectives are considered. GRASP has been successfully coupled with Path Relinking for single-objective optimization. Moreover, we propose different hybridizations of GRASP and Path Relinking for multiobjective optimization. We apply the proposed GRASP with Path Relinking variants to two combinatorial optimization problems, the biobjective orienteering problem and the biobjective path dissimilarity problem. We report …
CFD simulation of a membrane distillation module channel
2009
The interest towards the use of membrane distillation (MD) processes for seawater desalination has been rising recently due to the ease of coupling MD with waste and/or solar thermal energy. Notwithstanding the flexibility of the process and its potential for further developments in membrane performances, one of the main drawbacks is the thermal efficiency reduction caused by temperature polarization. Because of such phenomenon, only a small amount of the driving force potentially available for the separation process, i.e. the temperature difference between evaporating and condensing fluids, is actually used for the separation. In order to reduce temperature polarization a study on the effe…
Architectural technologies for life environment: Spent coffee ground reuse in lime-based mortars. A preliminary assessment for innovative green therm…
2022
Spent coffee ground, the residue obtained from the brewing process, is the primary unavoidable (inedible) waste from the coffee consumption. As coffee production and beverage consumption are increasing worldwide, a more sustainable waste management is required since the usual disposal in landfill is a liability to both humans and the environment. This paper is aimed at showing a possible alternative reuse of coffee ground wastes in novel green building materials intended for thermo-plastering applications in construction, in a circular economy context. Coffee waste was used in various percentages (up to 17.5%) to assess the engineering performance of the produced bio-composite mortars. The …
Energy modelling studies of enhanced glazing.
2009
The research on new “energy materials” is a very interesting field of study in the direction of energy saving control in the building construction sector. Lots of studies have been carrying on to develop new enhanced glazing, new synthesis and analysing procedures but simulating their real behaviour is often very difficult and expensive. The easiest way to test the energy performance of new enhanced glazing, in this work doped vanadium (IV) dioxide thermochromic glazing, is to simulate the way they would respond if they were installed in a building. The software used to perform such simulations is Energy Plus™ which is an energy analysis and thermal load simulation program. The aim of this …
Optimisation of Thermochromic Thin Films on Glass; Design of Intelligent Windows
2010
Theoretically thermochromic glazing has the potential to reduce energy consumption in buildings by allowing visible light for day lighting, reducing unwanted solar gain during the cooling season, while allowing useful solar gain in the heating season. In this study building simulation is used to predict the savings made by novel thermochromic glazing coatings compared to standard products, for locations with different climates. The results suggest that thermochromic glazing can have a significant energy saving effect compared to current approaches.
Computer Simulations of the Electric Interactions between the Phospholipid Head-Groups and Ionic Admixtures in the Membrane Surface
2001
Some phospholipids (e.g. lecithin) form a system of electric dipoles on the membrane surface layer. In the case of lecithin the positive dipole charge is located on the choline and the negative one on the phosphoric molecule group. These dipoles are arranged almost parallel to the membrane surface. Taking the dipole membrane structure as a base for further investigations, a computer model of the electrostatic interaction between the dipole system and the ionic admixture was investigated. The model presumes hexagonal centered or a rectangular flat geometry of the 121 dipoles distribution. The dipoles may rotate freely around round the motionless symmetry axis perpendicular to the system surf…
Relations frequency hypermatrices in mutual, conditional and joint entropy-based information indices.
2012
Graph-theoretic matrix representations constitute the most popular and significant source of topological molecular descriptors (MDs). Recently, we have introduced a novel matrix representation, named the duplex relations frequency matrix, F, derived from the generalization of an incidence matrix whose row entries are connected subgraphs of a given molecular graph G. Using this matrix, a series of information indices (IFIs) were proposed. In this report, an extension of F is presented, introducing for the first time the concept of a hypermatrix in graph-theoretic chemistry. The hypermatrix representation explores the n-tuple participation frequencies of vertices in a set of connected subgrap…
Finite-size effects of Kirkwood–Buff integrals from molecular simulations
2017
The modelling of thermodynamic properties of liquids from local density fluctuations is relevant to many chemical and biological processes. The Kirkwood–Buff (KB) theory connects the microscopic structure of isotropic liquids with macroscopic properties such as partial derivatives of activity coefficients, partial molar volumes and compressibilities. Originally, KB integrals were formulated for open and infinite systems which are difficult to access with standard Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulations. Recently, KB integrals for finite and open systems were formulated (J Phys Chem Lett. 2013;4:235). From the scaling of KB integrals for finite subvolumes, embedded in larger reservoirs, with the…
Reprocessed polylactide: Studies of thermo-oxidative decomposition
2012
The combustion process of virgin and reprocessed polylactide (PLA) was simulated by multi-rate linear non-isothermal thermogravimetric experiments under O2. A complete methodology that accounted on the thermal stability and emission of gases was thoroughly developed. A new model, Thermal Decomposition Behavior, and novel parameters, the Zero-Decomposition Temperatures, were used to test the thermal stability of the materials under any linear heating rate. The release of gases was monitored by Evolved Gas Analysis with in-line FT-IR analysis. In addition, a kinetic analysis methodology that accounted for variable activation parameters showed that the decomposition process could be driven by …