Search results for "efficiency"
showing 10 items of 1430 documents
Effect of soil permanent grass cover on growth, yield and water status of rainfed olive trees in Sicily
2017
The study was carried out in an olive grove located along the hills of northern Sicily where soil had been managed for decades by chemical weeding. Starting in 2008, one portion of the grove was left non-weeded, and the permanent grass cover was managed by mowing 2-3 times per year in winter and spring. In 2011, 2012 and 2013, yield, average drupe weight, percentage of drupe black color (veraison), trunk circumference, shoot elongation, and leaf relative water content (RWC) were determined on 34 adult trees of the cultivar 'Biancolilla' with uniform size and age. In 2013, soil organic matter content and leaf nutrient concentrations were also determined in the two portions of the grove. As e…
Maximizing water use efficiency in designing microirrigation unit (IrriLab Software)
2016
As the year 2050 approaches, the world population will reach 9 billion - so does the challenge of doubling crop yields. To meet this crop yields demand, the associated dramatic improving of water productivity (WP) must necessarily be accompanied by maximization of water use efficiency (WUE) (Ragab 2011, UNEP 2014). In this work, a recently developed software (IrriLab, https://www.facebook.com/irrilab) moving in this direction is presented. IrriLab is a very simple toll allows to design microirrigation unit optimizing WUE, pressure energy and irrigation unit costs. Irrigation software available in commerce provide microirrigation system designs, by mainly looking at the maximum flow rate uni…
Subsurface drip irrigated potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) with saline water under Tunisian climate
2012
Field experiment was conducted at the Higher Institute of Agronomy of Chott Meriem (Tunisia) during the growing season (2011/2012) to investigate the effects of water quality on water‘s dynamic in soil (water potential, soilcmoisture distribution, water’s stock in soil) and water use efficiency (WUE) to produce potato (Solanum tuberosum L.). Irrigation management treatments were fresh (1 dS m-1) and saline waters (4 dS m-1). Subsurface drip irrigation was used, a rate of 4 L h-1 applied at the same irrigation duration and interval. The results indicate that water content is more uniform using the saline water varies from 15 to 23% than treatment varies from 10 to 26%. The recorded changes o…
Improvement of Oxidative Status, Milk and Cheese Production, and Food Sustainability Indexes by Addition of Durum Wheat Bran to Dairy Cows’ Diet
2019
Durum wheat bran (DWB) is a by-product mostly used in feeding ruminants, contributing to decrease in the utilization of feeds suitable as foods for human consumption, thus improving the sustainability of livestock production. However, the potential benefits of DWB, due to its content in phenolic acids, mainly consisting of ferulic acid with antioxidant properties, have not been well clarified yet. Accordingly, in this experiment, 36 lactating cows divided into three groups received, over a period of 100 days, one of three concentrates including DWB at 0% (DWB0), 10% (DWB10), or 20% (DWB20). The concentrates were formulated to be isoproteic and isoenergetic and, to balance the higher fiber c…
New applications in integrated fixed film activated sludge-membrane bioreactor (IFAS-MBR) systems
2020
Abstract This chapter provides an overview on the development and application of integrated fixed film activated sludge-membrane bioreactor (IFAS-MBR) systems. IFAS-MBRs represent a novel configuration for advanced wastewater treatment, and only a few studies are available in literature. With this aim, the results of some studies on IFAS-MBR systems already published are discussed and compared in this chapter. Literature shows that the influent carbon to nitrogen ratio (C/N) strongly affects the biological process in IFAS-MBR. The organic matter removal efficiency (removed biologically) decreases from 60% to 23.5% with the decrease of influent C/N from 10 to 2 mgCOD mgTN− 1. Nitrogen remova…
BRAZILIAN SOCIAL HOUSING POLICY: TOWARD A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE
2013
In the last decade, Brazil passed through several political and economic reforms that led to significant social changes, among which the reduction of the levels of inequality and extreme poverty. Nowadays considered one of the emerging economies, the country seeks to solidify its position through wide strategies aimed to propose decisive initiatives for a balanced social development, which are deeply affecting local architecture and urban planning. In this scenario social housing design has become, since the last decade, the mirror of a national policy that is implementing robust strategies to achieve high levels of growth. The paper provides an overview of the upgrades achieved in the fiel…
Il quartiere Cappuccinelli a Trapani: per un intervento di retrofit sostenibile attraverso l’uso della vegetazione
2018
La riduzione del consumo di energia primaria e delle emissioni di CO2 nell’aria sono due obiettivi chiave delle politiche internazionali, come dimostrato dagli standard sempre più restrittivi in tema di efficienza energetica degli edifici. Il settore edilizio è considerato, infatti, uno dei più importanti settori strategici al fine di raggiungere questi due obiettivi e per questa ragione le politiche energetiche a livello globale si stanno indirizzando sempre più nella promozione di strategie finalizzate alla regolamentazione della sua efficienza attraverso il progetto di edifici sostenibili. L’articolo intende dimostrare, tramite la presentazione di un caso studio, l’efficacia e la complem…
RELAZIONE TRA PRESTAZIONI MECCANICHE ED ENERGETICHE NELL’ANALISI QUALITATIVA DELLE MURATURE STORICHE - RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MECHANICAL AND ENERGY PER…
2018
L’integrazione fra le esigenze di sicurezza strutturale ed efficienza energetica costituisce l’obiettivo di molteplici ricerche e innovazioni sull’involucro edilizio. nel campo dell’architettura storica, questo connubio appare particolarmente interessante per le murature, delle quali non di rado è complesso caratterizzare in modo affidabile sia le prestazioni meccaniche sia quelle termiche e igrometriche. nell’ambito strutturale come in quello energetico, una descrizione adeguata di tali caratteristiche impone una conoscenza approfondita di materiali e tecniche costruttive locali. in entrambi i campi, peraltro, le esigenze della conservazione incidono sulle possibilità di accurate indagini …
Software for the heat flow evaluation of the nearly-zero houses
2015
The windows in a building are the weakest part for energy saving and reduced consumption. In particular, the choice of window frames and glazing systems directly influences the amount of heat loss through a houses envelope. The paper will show the results of a work developed by PADesign srl company (Accademic Spin off of the Università degli Studi di Palermo). This is a software tool that allows a rapid comparison about the windows thermal performances, by calculating the global thermal transmittance and by showing the trend of the heat flow. The tool has a simple graphical interface that allows the users to select the climate data, the window typologies, the geometric features and the mate…
Advances in Research for Biomimetic Materials
2018
Smart surfaces and materials can play a significant role in intelligent, adaptive and responsive envelopes because of these intrinsic properties. The environmental question and energy efficiency in which the construction sector is involved, is in a process that can not be interrupted and that puts researchers and designers in front of a scientific and design challenge in which it is necessary to contribute to find different ways of study and experimentation on new materials and constructive languages, ranging from the application, to the structural, design and molecular, to mention the main ones. The development of technologies is helping architects of the “biomimetic current” to recreate c…