• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.36-44
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• 2016

Constructed wetlands are established efficient technologies and provide sustainable solution for wastewater treatment. Similarly, biochar, which is an organic material, produced by means of pyrolysis, offers simple and low cost techniques to treat water and reduce carbon footprint. Combining both of these technologies can greatly augment the efficiency of the system. The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficiency of constructed wetlands by using biochar as media. Horizontal wetland beds with dimension ($1m{\times}0.33m{\times}0.3m$) were prepared using gravels and biochar, and cultivated with the Canna species. Synthetic wastewater was passed through these beds with average flow rate of $1.2{\times}10^{-7}m^3/sec$ achieving a retention time of three days. Pollutant removal performance was compared between the controlled and experimental wetland beds. This study reveals that the wetland with biochar were more efficient as compared to the wetland with gravels alone with average removal rate of 91.3% COD, 58.3% TN, 58.3% $NH_3$, 92% $NO_3-N$, 79.5% TP, and 67.7% $PO_4$.

• Journal of Drive and Control
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.19-25
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• 2012

This paper explains how eliminating contamination from the manufacturing processes will lead to better product quality and hence the need for reworking, a trouble free commissioning period and greatly improved production efficiency. All of these will reduce costs and energy usage. It will also ensure that the product is delivered to the customer in a condition that will ensure improved reliability and longer life, again reducing both energy and other operating costs. Correctly designing the contamination control measures will achieve and maintain the level of fluid cleanliness that is required by the end user. The filter is critical to cleanliness management and should be selected with the same degree of thought and consideration as for other major components. This paper explains the role that Cleanliness Management plays in the reducing the carbon footprint of systems and processes by making them perform more efficiently for longer periods. It also examines two differing ways of selecting filters to incorporate the features of newer designs, and shows how significant savings in the costs of ownership can be achieved using these approaches.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.47 no.6
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• pp.647-661
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• 2015

The supercritical $CO_2$ (S-$CO_2$) Brayton cycle has recently been gaining a lot of attention for application to next generation nuclear reactors. The advantages of the S-$CO_2$ cycle are high efficiency in the mild turbine inlet temperature region and a small physical footprint with a simple layout, compact turbomachinery, and heat exchangers. Several heat sources including nuclear, fossil fuel, waste heat, and renewable heat sources such as solar thermal or fuel cells are potential application areas of the S-$CO_2$ cycle. In this paper, the current development progress of the S-$CO_2$ cycle is introduced. Moreover, a quick comparison of various S-$CO_2$ layouts is presented in terms of cycle performance.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.32 no.8_spc
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• pp.1296-1305
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• 2019

There have been recent advances concerning research of the feeding and nutrition of dairy goats in a wide array of areas. Ruminally emitted methane and supplementary feedstuffs to a lesser extent make appreciable contributions to the carbon footprint of dairy goats, with the former affected by type of production system and associated dietary characteristics. Unique behavior of goats necessitates careful consideration of the nature of confinement facilities to achieve optimal production by animals differing in social hierarchy. Physiological conditions such as nutritional needs and perhaps health status may influence diet selection by goats in both grazing and confinement settings. Some research suggests that low concentrations of protein and fat in milk of high-yielding dairy goat breeds could involve the type and nature of dietary ingredients as influencing end products of ruminal fermentation. With the relationship between milk urea nitrogen concentration and efficiency of dietary protein utilization, through future research the measure may be a useful tool for diet formulation as in dairy cattle. Effects of dietary inclusion of sources of fats and oils vary considerably depending on their nature, as is also true for byproduct feedstuffs and conventional ones being substituted for. Supplementation of dairy goats with sources of polyunsaturated fatty acids can affect oxidative stress and various feedstuffs influence antioxidant status; however, research addressing the significance of such changes under practical production settings would be beneficial.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.531-542
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• 2021

The study aims to investigate differences between men and women in influence of various socio-demographic factors on choice of mode of transport. For this purpose, a binary logit model of choice probabilities is implemented on survey data of a developing country city. Results indicate women's choice of travel mode to be more environment-friendly than that of men. Well-educated, working and middle-aged individuals appear to be the most likely to choosing more-polluting modes of transport for frequent travelling purposes. Individuals in the sample who are the least socioeconomically well off are found the most likely to be promising for the environment. The findings of this study suggest the future transportation policies toward development of existing infrastructure of greener modes of transportation in the city such as, public transportation services and pedestrian lanes, so as to manage the rising issues of degrading environmental quality. The study highlights how the consideration and inclusion of socio-demographic factors is crucial for policy recommendation regarding curtailing the environmental damages contributed by transportation sector. Because mobility crucially affects all other indicators of empowerment, and women are the ones using green modes extensively, the city's transportation system should be so developed which gives their safety and security due importance.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.385-394
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• 2022

Global Warming has been driven majorly by the consumption of fossil fuels. Harnessing energy from wind is viable solution towards reducing carbon footprint created due to burning such fuels, However, wind turbines have their problems of flow separation and aerodynamic stall to tackle with. In an attempt to delay the stall angle and improve the aerodynamic characteristics of the NACA 0015 symmetrical aerofoil, lateral cylindrical ridges were attached to its suction surface, at chord positions ranging from 0.1c to 0.5c. The characteristics of the original and ridged aerofoils were obtained using simultaneous pressure readings taken in a wind tunnel, at a free stream Reynolds number of R_e = 2.81 × 10⁵ for a wide range of free stream angles of attack ranging from -45° to 45°. Depending on the ridge size, a delay in stall angle varying from 5° to 20° was achieved together with the maximum increase in lift in the post-stall phases. Additionally, efforts were made to identify the optimum position for each ridge.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.55 no.2
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• pp.587-594
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• 2023

This study investigates the impacts of nuclear energy consumption on environmental quality from a different perspective by focusing on carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, ecological footprint, and load capacity factor. In this context, the South Korea case, which is a leading country producing and consuming nuclear energy, is investigated by considering also economic growth, and the 1997 Asian crisis from 1977 to 2018. To this end, the study employs the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) approach. Different from previous literature, this study proposes a load capacity curve (LCC) and tests the LCC and environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypotheses simultaneously. The analysis results reveal that (i) the LCC and EKC hypotheses are valid in South Korea; (ii) nuclear energy has an improving effect on the environmental quality; (iii) renewable energy does not have a significant long-term impact on the environment; (iv) the 1997 Asian crisis had an increasing effect on the load capacity factor; (v) South Korea has not yet reached the turning point, identified as $55,411, where per capita income improves environmental quality. Overall, the results show the validity of the LCC and EKC hypotheses and prove the positive contribution of nuclear energy to South Korea's green development strategies.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.86 no.5
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• pp.687-704
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• 2023

This study aims to examine the structural response of glass fibre-reinforced polymer (Glass-FRP) reinforced geopolymer electronic waste aggregate concrete (GEWC) compression elements under axial compression for sustainable development. The research includes the fabrication of nine GEWC circular compression elements with different reinforcement ratios and a 3-D nonlinear finite element model using ABAQUS. The study involves a detailed parametric analysis to examine the impact of various parameters on the behavior of GEWC compression elements. The results indicate that reducing the vertical distance of glass-FRP ties improves the ductility of GEWC compression elements, and those with eight longitudinal rebars have higher axial load-carrying capacities. The finite element predictions were in good agreement with the testing results, and the put forwarded empirical model shows higher accuracy than previous models by involving the confinement effect of lateral glass-FRP ties on the axial strength of GEWC compression elements. This research work contributes to minimizing the carbon footprint of cement manufacturing and electronic waste materials for sustainable development.

• International conference on construction engineering and project management
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• 2022.06a
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• pp.975-983
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• 2022

This paper presents an innovative way of integrating scheduling and project controls with the environmental impact of a construction project to track, monitor, and manage environmental emissions at the activity level. As a starting point, scheduling and project controls help monitor the status of a project to provide an assessment of the duration and sequence of activities. Additionally, project schedules can also reflect resource allocation and costs associated with various phases of a construction project. Owners, contractors and construction managers closely monitor tasks or activities on the critical path(s) and/or longest path(s) calculated through network based scheduling techniques. However, existing industry practices do not take into account environmental impact associated with each activity during the life cycle of a project. Although the environmental impact of a project may be tracked in various ways, that tracking is not tied to the project schedule and, as such, generally is not updated when schedules are revised. In this research, a Cradle to Gate approach is used to estimate environmental emissions associated with each activity of a sample project schedule. The research group has also investigated the potential determination of scenarios of lowest environmental emissions, just as project managers currently determine scenarios with lowest cost or time. This methodology can be scaled up for future work to develop a library of unit emissions associated with commonly used construction materials and equipment. This will be helpful for project owners, contractors, and construction managers to monitor, manage, and reduce the carbon footprint associated with various projects.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.409-422
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• 2022

The use of calcium sulfoaluminate (CSA) cement as a rapid-hardening cement admixture or eco-friendly alternate for ordinary Portland cement (OPC) has been attempted over the years, but the cost of CSA cement and availability of suitable aluminium resource prevent its wide practical application. To propose an effective ground improvement design in sandy soil, this study aims at blending a certain percentage of CSA with OPC to find an optimum blend that would have fast-setting behavior with a lower carbon footprint than OPC without compromising the mechanical properties of the cemented sand. Compared to the 100% CSA case, initial speed of strength development of blended cement is relatively low as it is mixed with OPC. It is found that 80% OPC and 20% CSA blend has low initial strength but eventually produces equivalent ultimate strength (28 days curing) to that of CSA treated sand. The specific OPC-CSA blend (80:20) exhibits significantly higher strength gain than using pure OPC, thus allowing effective geotechnical designs for sustainable and controlled ground improvement. Further parametric studies were conducted for the blended cement under various curing conditions, cement contents, and curing times. Wet-cured cement treated sand had 33% lower strength than that of dry-cured samples, while the stiffness of wet-cured samples was 25% lower than that of dry-cured samples.