Search results for "Design"
showing 10 items of 5885 documents
Membrane distillation: Solar and waste heat driven demonstration plants for desalination
2013
Abstract The development of small to medium size, autonomous and robust desalination units is needed to establish an independent water supply in remote areas. This is the motivation for research on alternative desalination processes. Membrane distillation (MD) seems to meet the specific requirements very well. This work is focused on experimental studies on full scale demonstration systems, utilizing a parallel multi MD-module setup. Three different plant concepts are introduced, one of them is waste heat driven and two of them are powered by solar thermal collectors. Design parameters and system design are presented. After the analysis of plant operation a comparison among the plants as we…
Steady State and Dynamic Models of Multistage Flash Desalination: A Review
2010
This article focuses on a review of literature studies on steady state and dynamic modeling of the multistage flash desalination process (MSF). The review shows that both steady state and dynamic models are based on lumped parameter approach. Differences in literature models are found in the assumptions used to model the flashing stage in addition to the correlations used to determine the heat transfer coefficients, thermodynamic losses, thermodynamic and transport properties. Interestingly, literature indicates a rapid progress made in software used for coding and solution of the model equations. The review shows a limited number of literature models for the internals of the flashing stage…
Development of a Membrane Distillation module for solar energy seawater desalination
2012
Abstract Membrane Distillation (MD) processes are gaining growing interest among novel desalination technologies, in particular for small scale applications also coupled with non-conventional energy sources. In the present work an original laboratory scale planar geometry Membrane Distillation unit was designed, built and tested for future coupling with solar energy. Though conceptually simple, the original geometry was developed in order to allow for multi-stage arrangement, compactness, internal heat recovery and possible integration with a polymeric heat exchanger for final brine heating by means of solar energy or waste heat. The laboratory scale unit was tested in order to investigate …
On-body to on-body channel characterization
2011
Interest in on-body communication channels is growing as the use of wireless devices increases in medical, consumer and military sensor applications. This paper presents an experimental investigation and analysis of the narrowband on-body propagation channel. This analysis considers each of the factors affecting the channel during a range of stationary and motion activities in different environments with actual wireless mote devices on the body. Use of such motes allows greater freedom in the subject's movements and the inclusion of real-world indoor and outdoor environments in a test sequence. This paper identifies and analyses the effect of the different components of the signal propagati…
Shear strength of High-strength concrete beams: modeling and design recommendations
2014
Abstract In the present paper, the flexural and the shear resistance of high strength reinforced concrete (HSC) beams with longitudinal bars, in the presence of transverse stirrups is analyzed both theoretically and experimentally. The experimental researches here presented are parts of previous researches carried out by the author. Researches refer to HSC beams with high percentages of steel bars failing in shear and in flexure. From the analytical point of view, a model based on the evaluation of the resistance contribution due to beam and arch actions including bond splitting and concrete crushing failure modes is developed and presented. The model was verified against available experime…
Performance of the Shape of Partial Discharge Signal Wireless Probes
2013
This paper focuses on the evaluation of the performances of three different antenna sensors suitable of Partial Discharge (PD) measurements. Monopole, triangular and spherical antennas were simulated by means of the surface moment method. The transmitting system is modeled by a power electronic device with a fault current between two metal plate. The shape of the simulated transmitted and received signals have been compared to verify the sensor the provides the best fidelity among the three. The auto-correlation function and the Pearson correlation index are adopted here for the comparison. A discussion on the dynamic characteristic of the different antenna probes and their use in different…
Using and Extending the SPEM Specifications to Represent Agent Oriented Methodologies
2009
Situational Method Engineering used for constructing ad-hoc agent oriented design processes is grounded on a well defined set of phases that are principally based on reuse of components coming from existing agent design processes; these components have to be stored in a repository. The identification and extraction of these components could take large advantages from the existence of a standardized representation of the design processes they come from. In this paper we illustrate our solution based on SPEM 2.0 specifications for modelling agent design processes and extending them when necessary to meet the specific needs we faced in our experiments.
Automatic Computation of Local Comfort Conditions in Buildings
2000
Publisher Summary A method for the automatic calculation of local comfort conditions in moderate indoor environment is been described in this chapter. It provides, among its output features, graphical maps of the PMV patterns. The program has been implemented on the commonly used operating system, and is characterized by a friendly usability, even by noncomputer expert users. The output of the code can be obtained not only in a graphical way but also in numerical formats. By using the program in conjunction with computer codes that provide the energy demand for climatization of buildings, it would be possible to evaluate the energy savings achieved in correspondence with the various adopted…
Influence of material properties variability on springback and thinning in sheet stamping processes: a stochastic analysis
2010
A very critical issue for stamping operations is the improvement of process robustness. The reliability of final results, in fact, strongly depends on the intrinsic variability due to stochastic behavior of many parameters, namely, operative ones and material properties. A given process performance may undergo a variation around the value which would be obtained neglecting stochastic behaviors of the operative or material parameters (i.e., considering a deterministic parameters behavior). Such variation introduces a significant source of uncertainty within the process design: a possible consequence may be the rejection of some stamped parts. In this paper, reliability analyses aimed to evid…
A robust calibration methodology for an On-Board Diagnostic car system
2006
New car models are now by law equipped with on-board diagnostic (OBD) systems aimed at monitoring the state of health of strategic components that ensure low levels of polluting exhaust emissions. During development phases, for each new car model, the OBD system must be finely calibrated. This article presents a robust calibration methodology taking into account sources of variability mainly due to production process, operating, and environmental conditions. The methodology enables us to evaluate the false alarm and failure to detect risks intrinsically related to the adopted calibration. An application concerning an upstream oxygen sensor monitored by the OBD is presented.