Search results for "work"
showing 10 items of 14511 documents
Pumps as turbines (PATs) in water distribution networks affected by intermittent service
2013
A hydraulic model was developed in order to evaluate the potential energy recovery from the use of centrifugal pumps as turbines (PATs) in a water distribution network characterized by the presence of private tanks. The model integrates the Global Gradient Algorithm (GGA), with a pressure-driven model that permits a more realistic representation of the influence on the network behaviour of the private tanks filling and emptying. The model was applied to a real case study: a District Metered Area in Palermo (Italy). Three different scenarios were analysed and compared with a baseline scenario (Scenario 0 – no PAT installed) to identify the system configuration with added PATs that permits th…
Current trends in scientific research on global warming: A bibliometric analysis
2019
[EN] The objective of this paper is to contribute to a better understanding of the scientific knowledge in global warming, as well as to investigate the evolution of the research knowledge through the published papers included in Web of Science database. A bibliometric and social network analyses was performed to obtain indicators of scientific productivity, impact and collaboration between researchers, institutions and countries. A subject analysis was also carried out taking into account the key words assigned to papers and subject areas of journals. A number of 1,672 articles were analysed since 2005 until 2014. The most productive journals were Journal of Climate (n = 95) and the most f…
Potential Vorticity Dynamics of Forecast Errors: A Quantitative Case Study
2018
Abstract Synoptic-scale error growth near the tropopause is investigated from a process-based perspective. Following previous work, a potential vorticity (PV) error tendency equation is derived and partitioned into individual contributions to yield insight into the processes governing error growth near the tropopause. Importantly, we focus here on the further amplification of preexisting errors and not on the origin of errors. The individual contributions to error growth are quantified in a case study of a 6-day forecast. In this case, localized mesoscale error maxima have formed by forecast day 2. These maxima organize into a wavelike pattern and reach the Rossby wave scale around forecast…
Mechanisms of Banner Cloud Formation
2013
Abstract Banner clouds are clouds in the lee of steep mountains or sharp ridges. Their formation has previously been hypothesized as due to three different mechanisms: (i) vertical uplift in a lee vortex (which has a horizontal axis), (ii) adiabatic expansion along quasi-horizontal trajectories (the so-called Bernoulli effect), and (iii) a mixing cloud (i.e., condensation through mixing of two unsaturated air masses). In the present work, these hypotheses are tested and quantitatively evaluated against each other by means of large-eddy simulation. The model setup is chosen such as to represent idealized but prototypical conditions for banner cloud formation. In this setup the lee-vortex mec…
Statistical downscaling and attribution of air temperature change patterns in the Valencia region (1948–2011)
2015
This study is based on the statistical downscaling and spatial interpolation of high-resolution temperatures (90 m) over the 1948–2011 period performed for the Valencia Region (east Iberian Peninsula) after considering local topographical factors in the fine-scale distribution of temperatures. The objective was to detect the areas that were potentially more vulnerable to air temperature change. This allowed the detection of local climate change patterns, which were analyzed and found to be consistent in spatial and temporal terms. These patterns indicate a more marked warming tendency in higher parts of reliefs and their slopes. However, this tendency is less pronounced in bottoms of valley…
Spatial diversity of chlorine residual in a drinking water distribution system: application of an integrated fuzzy logic technique
2014
A reduction in the concentration of chlorine, which is used as a chemical disinfectant for water in drinking water distribution systems, can be considered to be an index of the progressive deterioration of water quality. In this work, attention is given to the spatial distribution of the residual chlorine in drinking water distribution systems. The criterion for grouping the water-quality parameters normally used is highly subjective and often based on data that are not correctly identified. In this paper, a cluster analysis based on fuzzy logic is applied. The advantage of the proposed procedure is that it allows a user to identify (in an automatic way and without any specific assumption) …
A study on the fragmentation of sulfuric acid and dimethylamine clusters inside an atmospheric pressure interface time-of-flight mass spectrometer
2022
Abstract. Sulfuric acid and dimethylamine vapours in the atmosphere can form molecular clusters, which participate in new particle formation events. In this work, we have produced, measured, and identified clusters of sulfuric acid and dimethylamine using an electrospray ionizer coupled with a planar-differential mobility analyser, connected to an atmospheric pressure interface time-of-flight mass spectrometer (ESI–DMA–APi-TOF MS). This set-up is suitable for evaluating the extent of fragmentation of the charged clusters inside the instrument. We evaluated the fragmentation of 11 negatively charged clusters both experimentally and using a statistical model based on quantum chemical data. Th…
Application of an O-ring pinch device as a constant-pressure inlet (CPI) for airborne sampling
2020
We present a novel and compact design of a constant-pressure inlet (CPI) developed for use in airborne aerosol mass spectrometry. In particular, the inlet system is optimized for aerodynamic lenses commonly used in aerosol mass spectrometers, in which efficient focusing of aerosol particles into a vacuum chamber requires a precisely controlled lens pressure, typically of a few hectopascals. The CPI device can also be used in condensation particle counters (CPCs), cloud condensation nucleus counters (CCNCs), and gas-phase sampling instruments across a wide range of altitudes and inlet pressures. The constant pressure is achieved by changing the inner diameter of a properly scaled O-ring that…
Nano photoelectron ioniser chip using LaB6 for ambient pressure trace gas detection
2012
A detector including a nanoscaled ioniser chip that surmounts the limitation of conventional photo ionisation detectors is presented. Here, ionisable gaseous substances can be detected by photoelectrons accelerated to the ionisation potential of the incoming gaseous molecules. Thin lanthanum hexaboride (LaB"6) films deposited by pulsed laser technique (PLD) serve as the air stable photocathode material representing the basis of the ioniser chip of the detector. Besides the analysis of the emission behaviour of the photocathode in vacuum and at atmospheric pressure, the detection of different volatile alcohols using the detector with a low-energy UV LED instead of a PID (VUV photon source) w…
A reliable CSMA protocol for high performance broadcast communications in a WSN
2014
Wireless Sensor Networks have been identified as a promising technology to efficiently perform distributed monitoring, tracking and control tasks. In order to accomplish them, since fast decisions are generally required, high values of throughput must be obtained. Additionally, a high packet reception rate is important to avoid wasting energy due to unsuccessful transmissions. These communication requirements are more easily satisfied by exploiting the broadcast nature of the wireless medium, which allows several simultaneous receptions through a unique node transmission. We propose a Medium Access Control protocol that ensures, simultaneously, high values of throughput and a high packet re…