Topic Review
Hydrogen-Assisted Aging Applied to Storage and Sealing Materials
Hydrogen is a possible alternative to fossil fuels in achieving a sustainable energy future. Unlike other, older energy sources, the suitability of materials for storing, distributing, and sealing systems in a hydrogen environment has not been comprehensively studied. Aging, the extended exposure of a material to an environmental condition, with hydrogen causes degradation and damage to materials that differ from other technologies. Improved understanding of the physical and chemical mechanisms of degradation due to a gaseous hydrogen atmosphere allows to better select and develop materials that are best suited to carrier and sealing applications. Damage to materials from aging is inevitable with exposure to high-pressure hydrogen.
  • 894
  • 16 Oct 2023
Topic Review
Energy Efficiency Improvement
The school buildings represent an energivorus sector of the real estate where different efficiency actions are necessary. Literature shows how the design of a multi-energy system offers numerous advantages, however, there are problems related to the integration of cogeneration units with renewable energy sources due to the low flexibility of the first one and the high degree of uncertainty of the latter. The authors provide an alternative solution through the analysis of a case study consisting of a Multiple Energy System on three Sicilian schools, focusing on the system's operational strategy, on design and sizing of components and trying to exploit the energy needs complementarity of buildings instead of integrating the conventional energy storage systems. Not considering school activities in summer, it was decided to install a cogeneration unit sized on winter thermal loads, whereas the electricity demand not covered was reduced with photovoltaic systems designed to maximizing production for seasonal use and with loads concentrated in the morning hours. The effectiveness of this idea, which can be replicated for similar users and areas, is proved by a payback-time less than 11 years and a reduction of 31.77%, of the CO2 emissions.
  • 894
  • 10 Nov 2020
Topic Review
Trends in Agricultural Energy System
Agricultural energy system is a typical integrated cooling, heating and power system.
  • 894
  • 30 Mar 2021
Topic Review
Quad Flat No-leads Package
Flat no-leads packages such as quad-flat no-leads (QFN) and dual-flat no-leads (DFN) physically and electrically connect integrated circuits to printed circuit boards. Flat no-leads, also known as micro leadframe (MLF) and SON (small-outline no leads), is a surface-mount technology, one of several package technologies that connect ICs to the surfaces of PCBs without through-holes. Flat no-lead is a near chip scale plastic encapsulated package made with a planar copper lead frame substrate. Perimeter lands on the package bottom provide electrical connections to the PCB. Flat no-lead packages include an exposed thermal pad to improve heat transfer out of the IC (into the PCB). Heat transfer can be further facilitated by metal vias in the thermal pad. The QFN package is similar to the quad-flat package (QFP), and a ball grid array (BGA).
  • 894
  • 11 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Airborne Wind Energy Systems
Because of the near-term risk of extreme weather events and other adverse consequences from climate change and, at least in the longer term, global fossil fuel depletion, there is worldwide interest in shifting to noncarbon energy sources, especially renewable energy (RE). Because of possible limitations on conventional renewable energy sources, researchers have looked for ways of overcoming these shortcomings by introducing radically new energy technologies. For wind energy, a possible alternative is airborne wind turbines.
  • 893
  • 14 Jan 2021
Topic Review
Metal Ion Detection by Glutathione
Low cost, sensitive, selective, and rapid methods for heavy metal ion (HMI) detection are of growing demand, and HMI biosensors have great potential in meeting this need due to their timeliness, cost-effectiveness and convenience in operation. The most widely reported peptide probe for HMI detection is glutathione (GSH), especially in case of lead ion (Pb2+) detection. GSH is highly stable, cost-effective, and easy to immobilize on a sensor. 
  • 893
  • 10 Jun 2021
Topic Review
Soft Computing Applications
Air quality models simulate the atmospheric environment systems and provide increased domain knowledge and reliable forecasting. They provide early warnings to the population and reduce the number of measuring stations. Due to the complexity and non-linear behavior associated with air quality data, soft computing models became popular in air quality modeling (AQM). This study critically investigates, analyses, and summarizes the existing soft computing modeling approaches. Among the many soft computing techniques in AQM, this article reviews and discusses artificial neural network (ANN), support vector machine (SVM), evolutionary ANN and SVM, the fuzzy logic model, neuro-fuzzy systems, the deep learning model, ensemble, and other hybrid models. Besides, it sheds light on employed input variables, data processing approaches, and targeted objective functions during modeling. The discussion in this paper will help to determine the suitability and appropriateness of a particular model for a specific modeling context.
  • 893
  • 22 Feb 2021
Topic Review
Transparent Wood Composites
Transparent wood composites are novel wood materials which have up to 90% transparency and some higher mechanical properties than wood itself, made for the first time in 1992. When these materials are made commercially available, a significant benefit is expected due to their inherent biodegradable properties; however, this has the axiomatic disadvantage of being problematic for long-term construction. These materials are significantly more biodegradable than glass and plastics. Transparent wood is also shatterproof. On the other hand, concerns may be relevant due to the use of non-biodegradable plastics for long-lasting purposes such as in buildings. File:Example of Transparent Wood and Light diffusion.webm
  • 893
  • 11 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Wide Band Gap Devices
A decisive property that regulates semiconductor’s electrical and optical properties is the band gap, which is an important physical parameter for designating a wide band gap (WBG) semiconductor, and is defined as the energy needed for electrons to transition to the conduction band from the valence band. The magnetic property of the semiconducting materials also plays an important role for choosing of power devices in terms of energy efficiency with hysteresis and eddy current losses. The WBG semiconductor materials exhibit larger band gaps (2–4 eV) than their silicon (1–1.5 eV) counterparts and offer greater power efficiency, lower overall cost, smaller size, lighter weight, and lower energy consumption. WBG-based components in semiconductor devices permit its operation at high temperatures, which can be problematic when using conventional silicon semiconductors with smaller band gaps. The wider the bandgap, the higher the temperature at which the semiconductor power devices can function.
  • 892
  • 23 Dec 2022
Topic Review
Heart Rate Monitoring of Livestock
For all homoeothermic living organisms, heart rate (HR) is a core variable to control the metabolic energy production in the body, which is crucial to realize essential bodily functions. Consequently, HR monitoring is becoming increasingly important in research of farm animals, not only for production efficiency, but also for animal welfare. Real-time HR monitoring for humans has become feasible though there are still shortcomings for continuously accurate measuring. This paper is an effort to estimate whether it is realistic to get a continuous HR sensor for livestock that can be used for long term monitoring. The review provides the reported techniques to monitor HR of living organisms by emphasizing their principles, advantages, and drawbacks. Various properties and capabilities of these techniques are compared to check the potential to transfer the mostly adequate sensor technology of humans to livestock in term of application. Based upon this review, we conclude that the photoplethysmographic (PPG) technique seems feasible for implementation in livestock. Therefore, we present the contributions to overcome challenges to evolve to better solutions. Our study indicates that it is realistic today to develop a PPG sensor able to be integrated into an ear tag for mid-sized and larger farm animals for continuously and accurately monitoring their HRs.
  • 892
  • 16 Nov 2020
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