Search results for "Cost reduction"
showing 10 items of 20 documents
Biodegradability Prediction of Fragrant Molecules by Molecular Topology
2016
Biodegradability is a key property in the development of safer fragrances. In this work we present a green methodology for its preliminary assessment. The structure of various fragrant molecules is characterized by computing a large set of topological indices. Those relevant to biodegradability are selected by means of a hybrid stepwise selection method to build a linear classifier. This model is compared with a more complex artificial neural network trained with the indices previously found. After validation, the models show promise for time and cost reduction in the development of new, safer fragrances. The methodology presented could easily be adapted to many quasi-big data problems in R…
Cost Reduction in Irrigation Networks by an Efficient Use of Pressure Reducing Valves
1992
The cost effective design of hydraulic networks has been traditionally studied from the point of view of the relationship between hydraulic variables and economic parameters, with piping being the main element studied. The reason is clear: the piping is by far the most costly item of a projected network. However it is not usual to find an explicit consideration of the influence that pipe thickness has on the cost of the network because of the added difficulty that this aspect poses to formulating the problem of optimization. In irrigation networks, which are typically branched, it is advisable to place Pressure Reducing Valves (PRV’s) to fulfil three main goals: 1) to control the flow rate …
Analysis, design, and evaluation of a high frequency inductor to reduce manufacturing cost, and improve the efficiency of a PV inverter
2013
Photovoltaic inverters are the major functional units of the photovoltaic systems. Therefore, efficiency and cost are vitally important in the design, and operation of the PV system. Magnetic components are the bulkiest component and highly affect the efficiency of the galvanically isolated PV inverter and design of such component generally involves a compromise between the reduction of core loss at the expense of increased winding loss or vice versa. The loss characteristics of the magnetic material itself present a fundamental limitation on core loss reduction, implying that the intrinsic reduction of core loss density depends on magnetic material improvements. Hence, the essential tradeo…
Suitability of the ASA Model in Nigeria
2010
This paper looks at the lending methodology adopted by ASA International in Nigeria and how the model is suited for operations within the Nigerian microfinance sector. It begins by examining the critical success factors that contribute towards ASA having a lean operations, how it manages operations efficiencies, and finally makes a set of recommendations that Nigerian Microfinance Institutions could adopt.
A synthesis of feasible control methods for floating offshore wind turbine system dynamics
2021
Abstract During the past decade, the development of offshore wind energy has transitioned from near shore with shallow water to offshore middle-depth water regions. Consequently, the energy conversion technology has shifted from bottom-fixed wind turbines to floating offshore wind turbines. Floating offshore wind turbines are considered more suitable, but their cost is still very high. One of the main reasons for this is that the system dynamics control method is not well-adapted, thereby affecting the performance and reliability of the wind turbine system. The additional motion of the platform tends to compromise the system’s performance in terms of power maximization, power regulation, an…
Software Defined Machine-to-Machine Communication for Smart Energy Management in Power Grids
2020
The successful realization of smart energy management relies on ubiquitous and reliable information exchange among millions of sensors and actuators deployed in the field with little or no human intervention. This motivates us to introduce a unified communication framework for smart energy management by exploring the integration of software-defined networking (SDN) with M2M communication. In this chapter, the overall design of the software-defined M2M (SD-M2M) framework is presented, with an emphasis on its technical contributions to cost reduction, fine granularity resource allocation, and end-to-end QoS guarantee. Then, a case study is conducted for a electric vehicle energy management sy…
Stationary battery systems in the main world markets: Part 1: Overview of the state-of-the-art
2017
The role of energy storage systems (ESSs) is becoming more and more important in modern power grids, mainly because of the higher penetration of intermittent renewable energy sources (RESs), such as solar and wind power, spurred by advantageous support policies carried out in several countries. The fluctuation nature of the energy produced by RESs is indeed leading to emerging power quality issues or to renewable curtailments. ESSs can be used to balance generation and demand of electricity over time, allowing a higher penetration of RESs into the power network. The energy storage industry is evolving rapidly, and new electrochemical technologies are entering the market. Besides, most elect…
A new preprocessing and control board for the phase 2 electronics of AGATA experiment
2016
The electronics of AGATA HPGe segmented gamma ray detector faces a new challenge in the search of a bigger integration and cost reduction for the phase 2 of the experiment going beyond 45 crystals. This opportunity can be used to introduce a new architecture based on commercial standards while keeping backward compatibility with current electronics. In this sense, new FPGA devices and fast Ethernet links can be used to ease the preprocessing and control task and allowing for processor farms to distribute the processing load. At the same time, modularity should be a key feature of the design in the aim to make it upgradable in time and technology. This paper presents the design of a new prep…
Incremental forming of friction stir welded taylored sheets
2006
In the last decade sheet metal forming market has undergone substantial mutations since the development of more efficient strategies in terms of flexibility and cost reduction is strictly due. Such requirements are not consistent with traditional metal stamping processes which are characterized by complex equipment, capital and tooling costs; thus the industrial application of such processes is economically convenient just for large scale productions. For this reason most of the research work developed in the last years has been focused on the development of new sheet forming processes able to achieve the above discussed goals. Contemporary, with particular reference to the automotive indus…
Assessing the efficiency of wastewater treatment plants in an uncertain context: a DEA with tolerances approach
2012
Abstract As the number of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) has increased, the economics associated with their management have become more relevant. The efficiency assessment is therefore a useful tool for cost reduction. For this purpose, Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) is a highly suitable technique, since it is a holistic approach that aggregates performance indicators into a single index. However, one of the most common criticisms of DEA models is that information on uncertainty estimates is not provided. To overcome this limitation, we assess efficiency by using a DEA model with statistical tolerances for both inputs and outputs. This model is applied to a sample of Spanish WWTPs. Th…