Materials and Energy Research CenterInternational Journal of Engineering1025-249528620150601A New Approach for Determination of Neck-Pore Size Distribution of Porous Membranes via Bubble Point Data82383172521ENMehrzad ArjmandiDepartment of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Eng, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, IranOmid PirouzramDepartment of Chemical Engineering,, kurdistanJournal Article19700101Reliable estimation of the porous membranes neck-pore size distribution (NPSD) is the key element in the design and operation of all membrane separation processes. In this paper, a new approach is presented for reliable of NPSD of porous membranes using wet flow-state bubble point test data. For this purpose, a robust method based on the linear regularization theory is developed to extract NPSD of membranes from bubble point test data. The performance of the proposed method is tested using various experimental data. The predicted results clearly demonstrate that the proposed method can successfully predict the proper NPSD from a set of bubble point test data.Materials and Energy Research CenterInternational Journal of Engineering1025-249528620150601Microwave Pretreatment of Fresh Water Hyacinth (Eichhornia Crassipes) in Batch Anaerobic Digestion Tank (RESEARCH NOTE)83284072522ENDini Tri MardianiChemical Engineering, University of DiponegoroBudiyono BudiyonoChemical Engineering, University of DiponegoroSiswo SumardionoChemical Engineering, University of DiponegoroJournal Article19700101The purpose of the research was to study the effect of microwave power inpretreatment of fresh waterhyacinth on biogas production. The variations of microwave power levels are 240; 400; 560 and 800 W. The variations of microwave heating time are 5; 7 and 9 min. The unpretreated fresh water hyacinth are used as control. The result of research showed that the microwave pretreatment of fresh water hyacinth improved biogas production. Microwave pretreatment had a positive impact on anaerobic biodegradability of fresh waterhyacinth.Almost all pretreatedfresh water hyacinthproduced biogas were higher compare tounpretreated fresh water hyacinth.The maximum of biogas production from freshwater hyacinth was obtained at 560 W for 7 of microwave pretreatment. In this condition, pretreated fresh water hyacinthresulted biogas production of 75,125 mL/g TS.The unpretreated fresh water hyacinth produced biogas of 37,5625 mL/g TS. The highest value of kinetic constants of biogas yield potential (A), the maximum biogas production rate (U) and the duration of lag phase were78.2300 mL/g TS; 2.2653 mL/(g TS.day); 4.6031 day, recpectively.Materials and Energy Research CenterInternational Journal of Engineering1025-249528620150601Batch Kinetics and Modeling of Alkaline Protease Production by Isolated Bacillus sp. (RESEARCH NOTE)84184772523ENMasoud ZamaniChemical Engineering, University of GuilanGholam KhayatiChemical Engineering, University of GuilanJournal Article19700101The aim of this study was the use of fish waste hydrolysate (FWH) as a substrate for alkaline protease production using isolated Bacillus sp. in a batch system. Then the fermentation kinetics of enzyme production was studied. The results show that with the addition of FWH to the fermentation medium with a final concentration of 4% (optimal concentration), alkaline protease value reached a maximum value (89 U/ml), which is 63% higher than that of the control medium. Also fermentation kinetics of alkaline protease by isolated Bacillus sp. was studied. Several kinetic models were evaluated; the combination of the Moser and Boulton kinetic model gave the best prediction. This nonlinear mathematical model performed satisfactory on biomass, substrate, and enzyme predictions.Materials and Energy Research CenterInternational Journal of Engineering1025-249528620150601Investigation of Carbon Dioxide Adsorption on Amino-Functionalized Mesoporous Silica84885472524ENMansoor AnbiaResearch Laboratory of Nanoporous Materials, Iran University of Science and TechnologySamira SalehiChemistry, Iran University of Science and TechnologyJournal Article19700101Carbon dioxide (CO2) adsorption on unfunctionalized and amino-functionalized SBA-3 materials are investigated and compared in this study. The synthesized materials are characterized by various techniques such as X-ray diffraction (XRD), Brunauer-Emmet-Teller (BET) method, Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) and Scanning electron microscopy (SEM).The isotherms of these materials have been measured using volumetric method at 298 K up to 5 bar. The adsorption capacity of CO2 by mesoporous silica was enhanced through functionalization with amine groups. It is observed that the pentaethylene hexamine functionalized SBA-3 (SBA-3/PEHA) shows a higher adsorption capacity towards CO2 compared to other adsorbents.Materials and Energy Research CenterInternational Journal of Engineering1025-249528620150601Phosphorus Removal from Dairy Wastewater in Batch Systems under Simultaneous Aerobic/Anaerobic Conditions: Application of Response Surface Methodology85586372525ENMalihe AminiEnvironment, Jiroft UniversityJournal Article19700101The objective of this paper is simultaneous of aerobic and anaerobic process for phosphorus removal from a dairy wastewater. The system consists of a granular sequencing batch reactor (SBR) working under alternating aerobic/anaerobic conditions. In order to analyze the process, four significant variables viz. MLSS, COD/N ratio, aeration time and cycling time and four dependent parameters as the process responses were studied using a central composite design (CCD) under response surface methodology (RSM). The percentage removal of PO43- and amount of SVI, MLSS, MLVSS, in batch runs were 98.34%, 44.03 ml/g, 5646.97 mg/l and 4435.99 mg/l, respectively. This study shows that the high removal of phosphors from dairy wastewater with microbial granules cultivated under the alternating aerobic–anaerobic conditions has been achieved successfully in batch systems.Materials and Energy Research CenterInternational Journal of Engineering1025-249528620150601Improved Behaviour of Accordion Metallic Dampers Affected by the Increasing Number of Layers86487072526ENF. Nateghistructure, IIEESJournal Article19700101In recent years, thin-walled accordion tubes under axial cyclic loading due to their appropriate energy absorption mechanism and behavioral characteristics were suggested as hysteretic metallic dampers. The effectiveness of accordion metallic damper (AMD) to protect and mitigate the response of structures under seismic loading is well established both experimentally and analytically. In this paper for the purpose of improvement, the effects of increasing the number of accordion tube layers on the damping behavior of AMD investigated experimentally and analytically. Experimental studies were conducted on single layer and two layer specimens under axial cyclic loading by dynamic universal actuator. Using the experimental results, analytical studies based on finite element method and inelastic dynamic analysis have been carried out on a series of single and multi-layer AMD models. The results obtained from studies conducted in this regard show that due to the more stable behavior and interaction effects, an increase in the number of layers has a great effect on the amount of dissipated energy, loading capacity and the other behavioral characteristics.Materials and Energy Research CenterInternational Journal of Engineering1025-249528620150601Comparison of the Progressive Collapse Resistance of Seismically Designed Steel Shear Wall Frames And Special Steel Moment Frames87187972527ENShima JaliliCivil Engineering, University of UrmiaMohammad Reza SheidaiiCivil Engineering, Faculty of Eng., Urmia University0000-0002-9606-0205Journal Article19700101In this study, the progressive collapse potential of seismically designed steel plate shear wall (SPSW) systems is investigated using the alternate path method, and their performances are compared with those of the conventional special moment frame (SMF) systems. Nonlinear static and dynamic analyses are conducted to follow the progressive collapse of the structures, and their ability of absorbing the destructive effects of member loss is investigated. The obtained results show that when a corner or a middle column in the first story of the SPSWs is removed, the rest of the structure is not able to provide an appropriate alternative path for redistributing the generated loads caused by member loss, and therefore the structure presents a high potential for progressive collapse. However, by changing the lateral load resisting system of these buildings with the SMFs, the progressive collapse resisting capacity of the buildings increases significantly. Materials and Energy Research CenterInternational Journal of Engineering1025-249528620150601Improving Dark Channel Prior for Single Image Dehazing88088772528ENSekineh AsadiFaculty of Engineering, University of MazandaranFaeze AzariComputer Engineering, University of ShahroodHamid HassanpourJournal Article19700101This paper proposes an improved dark channel prior for removing haze from images. Dark channel prior is an effective method for removing haze. Dark channel is an image in the same size as the hazy image which is obtained by dividing the RGB images into windows and for each window, the minimum of each R, G and B channels are calculated. Then again the minimum of these three values is calculated and is replaced on all pixels in that window. For removing haze from images by dark channel prior, it is necessary to find transmission coefficient of haze and for this, airlight must be estimated. By having these factors, haze-free images can be restored. The dark channel prior method does not yield favorable results for some images, especially for those containing smooth regions. To overcome on this deficiency of the dark channel prior approach, the hazy image is initially segmented into smooth and non-smooth regions in this paper. Then for removing haze from smooth regions, the Gamma correction approach is used for contrast enhancement. Finally, for non-smooth regions, depending to the severity of haze, dark channel prior might be applied several times. The subjective and objective image quality assessments attest superiority of the proposed method compared to dark channel prior in haze removing.Materials and Energy Research CenterInternational Journal of Engineering1025-249528620150601A MEMS Capacitive Microphone Modelling for Integrated Circuits88889572529ENJavad AhmadnejadElecterical Engineering, Babol University of TechnologyBahram Azizollah GanjiElectrical Engineering, Babol University of TechnologyJournal Article19700101In this paper, a model for MEMS capacitive microphone is presented for integrated circuits. The microphone has a diaphragm thickness of 1 μm, 0.5 × 0.5 mm2 dimension, and an air gap of 1.0 μm. Using the analytical and simulation results, the important features of MEMS capacitive microphone such as pull-in voltage and sensitivity are obtained 3.8v and 6.916 mV/Pa, respectively while there is no pressure on the diaphragm. The microphone also has a capacitance of 2.3 pF. Using the relation between the capacitance and pressure signal, a 3 ports model for the MEMS microphone is proposed. To bias the microphone, a 2.3 V DC and a 1 GΩ resistor is used. The voltage and current signal of the microphone is proportional to the applied pressure of the acoustic wave. A RC filter is added to circuit to eliminate the low band frequency (≤ 20 Hz) noises. The microphone shows good response to amplitude and frequency changes versus applied pressure signal.Materials and Energy Research CenterInternational Journal of Engineering1025-249528620150601Resource Constrained Project Scheduling with Material Ordering: Two Hybridized Meta-Heuristic Approaches (TECHNICAL NOTE)89690272530ENS.T.A. NiakiIndustrial Engineering, Sharif University of TechnologyAmir Abbas NajafiIndustrial Engineering, K.N. Toosi University of Technology0000-0001-5671-0827Nima ZoraghiIndustrial Engineering, Islamic Azad University, Qazvin BranchB. AbbasiSchool of Mathematical and Geospatial Sciences, RMIT UniversityJournal Article19700101Resource constrained project scheduling problem (RCPSP) is mainly investigated with the objective of either minimizing project makespan or maximizing project net present value. However, when material planning plays a key role in a project, the existing models cannot help determining material ordering plans to minimize material costs. In this paper, the RCPSP incorporated with the material ordering problem is first formulated into a NP-hard optimization model. Then, two hybridized meta-heuristic algorithms are proposed to solve the integrated problem. In addition, statistical methods are employed to tune the parameters of both algorithms. Finally, computational results for a set of test problems taken from the project scheduling problem library (PSPLIB) are presented.Materials and Energy Research CenterInternational Journal of Engineering1025-249528620150601Solving Re-entrant No-wait Flow Shop Scheduling Problem90391272531ENM.R. Amin NaseriDepartment of Industrial Engineering, Tarbiat Modares UniversitySaeed Tasouji HassanpourIndustral Engineering, Tarbiat Modares University of TehranN. NahavandiSchool of Industrial and Systems Engineering, Tarbiat Modares University,Tehran, Iran0000-0002-1445-6557Journal Article19700101In this study, we consider the production environment of no-wait reentrant flow shop with the objective of minimizing makespan of the jobs. In a reentrant flow shop, at least one job should visit at least one of the machines more than once. In a no-wait flowshop scheduling problem, when the process of a specific job begins on the first machine, it should constantly be processed without waiting in the line of any machine until its processing is completed on the last one. Integration of the properties of both of these environments, which is applied in many industries such as robotic industries, is not investigated separately. First, we develop a mathematical model for the problem and then we present three methods to solve it. Therefore, we construct simulated annealing (SA), genetic algorithm (GA) and a bottleneck based heuristic (BB) algorithms that solve the problem. Finally, the efficiency of the proposed methods is numerically analyzed.Materials and Energy Research CenterInternational Journal of Engineering1025-249528620150601A Common Weight Data Envelopment Analysis Approach for Material Selection91392172532ENI. ShokrSchool of Industrial Engineering, University of TehranS. A. TorabiSchool of Industrial Engineering, University of Tehran0000-0002-9764-9679Journal Article19700101Material selection is one of the major problems in manufacturing environments since the improper selected material may lead to fail in the production processes and result in customer dissatisfaction and cost inefficiency. Every material has different properties which should be considered as major criteria during the material selection procedure. Selection criteria could be quantitative or qualitative. Quantifying the performance measures of qualitative criteria is an inevitable issue in the multi criteria decision making (MCDM) problems. In this paper, the common weight data envelopment analysis (CWDEA) model proposed by Hatefi et al. [27] is applied for material selection problem which accounts for both quantitative and qualitative criteria in an effective manner. However, through a numerical example borrowed from the literature, it is shown that the proposed method by Hatefi et al. [27] is not able to produce a full ranking vector our problem. Accordingly, the problem is resolved under different normalization methods and the resulting ranking vectors are then aggregated by the linear assignment method.Materials and Energy Research CenterInternational Journal of Engineering1025-249528620150601Comprehensive Decision Modeling of Reverse Logistics System: A Multi-criteria Decision Making Model by using Hybrid Evidential Reasoning Approach and TOPSIS (TECHNICAL NOTE)92293172533ENAliakbar HasaniIndustrial Engineering and Management, Shahrood University of Technology, Shahrood, IranJournal Article19700101In the last two decades, product recovery systems have received increasing attention due to several reasons such as new governmental regulations and economic advantages. One of the most important activities of these systems is to assign returned products to suitable reverse manufacturing alternatives. Uncertainty of returned products in terms of quantity, quality, and time complicates the decision making process. In this study, a new approach based on Evidential Reasoning Approach (ERA) and Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) is proposed to deal with alternative (recovery system) selection via considering a comprehensive model in reverse logistics. Application of ERA helps us to take into account the experts’ quantitative and qualitative opinions in an uncertain environment due to various reasons such as incomplete assessment as well as imprecise and missing information simultaneously. Then, TOPSIS is used to rank alternatives that were evaluated by ERA. Finally, a case study in the automotive industry is used to demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed method in selecting suitable reverse manufacturing alternatives.Materials and Energy Research CenterInternational Journal of Engineering1025-249528620150601Influence of Different Fillers on Natural Rubber Composites to Assess Mechanical Performance93293972534ENSenthilKumar MDepartment of Mechanical Engineering,, SKR Engineering CollegeLakshmanan TDepartment of Mechanical Engineering,, SA Engineering CollegeManvelRaj TDepartment of Mechanical Engineering,, Sri Krishna Engineering CollegeChandran VeluDepartment of Mechanical Engineering,, SKR Engineering CollegeJournal Article19700101Effect of different fillers on natural rubber compounds was investigated through curing, mechanical properties and morphology studies for improving mechanical performance of rubber articles. In this work, natural rubber blends with Silica as Single-filler compounds, and blends with Silica and Carbon black as Bi-filler compounds were considered. Then, natural rubber blends with Silica, Carbon black, and Waste Tyre Rubber (WTR) particles as Tri-filler compounds were synthesized by a two - roll mill in specified operating conditions. In addition, natural rubber vulcanizate was prepared by using the same process. The different proportions were presented in Bi and Tri-filler compounds (10, 20, 25, 30, 40 phr) on CB and CB-WTR respectively, whereas Silica was fixed at 20 phr. Curing characteristics showed that scorch time and optimum cure time significantly decreased with compared to natural rubber(NR) vulcanizate in all filler ranges. Whereas, minimum and maximum torque increased trend in all filler ranges. Cure rate index (CRI) also present and it showed significant good variation with the NR vulcanizate. Mechanical properties showed that tensile strength increased up to 30phr of CB in Bi-filler and it increased up to 10 phr with the addition of CB-WTR in Tri-filler compounds. Elongation at break decreased trend in Bi-filler and Tri-filler compounds, whereas maximum value was observed in single-filler compound. Hardness increased trend with addition of CB-WTR in Tri-filler, and it increased up to 25phr in Bi filler compounds. Tensile Modulus increased up to 25phr in Tri-filler and it increased trend in Bi-filler compounds. Tear strength increased up to 20phr and 25phr in Bi and Tri-fillers respectively. Morphological study showed that better filler dispersion and good interfacial adhesion by the natural rubber matrix increased the tensile strength and opposite in tear strength. Among the rubber materials tested, Bi-filler compounds were found to be more suitable for improving the mechanical performance in the rubber applications.Materials and Energy Research CenterInternational Journal of Engineering1025-249528620150601A Numerical Investigation on Aerodynamic Coefficients of Solar Troughs Considering Terrain Effects and Vortex Shedding94094872535ENFariborz Kargar, Niroo Research InstituteRamin MehdipourMecanical Engineering, Tafresh UniversityZahra BaniamerianMechanical Engineering, Tafresh UniversityJournal Article19700101Recently, increase in the cost of fossil fuels and taking into consideration the environmental effects of exploiting them, caused many researchers and governments to find some ways to make use of renewable energies more cost-effectively. Solar energy is a category of renewable energies which could be harvested via several technologies. One of the most practical methods is using parabolic troughs. In solar power plants, many parabolic troughs are set in parallel rows in order to concentrate the solar power onto a tube absorber. In designing and manufacturing parabolic troughs and their structures, it is essential to take into account the wind force. Any negligence in considering the wind force could be concluded in losing the accuracy and efficiency. In this article, the aerodynamic coefficients of parabolic solar troughs have been investigated using CFD methods. The variations of aerodynamic coefficients considering terrain effects, the angle of collectors and the gap between mirrors have been studied. Also, it will be demonstrated that in order to properly align trough collector in solar farms, it is essential to study the vortices shed created at the behind of parabolic troughs and its effects on collectors’ structures in the result of wind interaction. At the end and as an illustration, the drag and lift coefficients of collectors have been calculated in Yazd power plant.Materials and Energy Research CenterInternational Journal of Engineering1025-249528620150601Pollutants Emissions of Filling Stations and Their Impact on the Air Quality (RESEARCH NOTE)94995572536ENIkechukwu OnwuamazeMechanical Engineering, Petroleum Training Institute, Effurum WarriIjioma OrjiMechanical Engineering, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, AwkaUgochukwu OkonkwoMechanical Engineering, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, AwkaJournal Article19700101This study investigated pollutants emissions from filling stations and their impact on the air quality. Gas monitors were employed to identify the different pollutants present in the ambient air of the study areas. The results showed that the most prominent pollutants present in the ambient air are the volatile organic compounds followed by methane, then carbon monoxide. Measurements were taken at the controls at distances between 20 to 200m.The pollutants concentration recorded at the study areas showed that the level of pollutants exceeded the FEPA air quality guidelines. There are few exceptions in pollutants like the particulate matter which was found to be at concentrations within the FEPA limits. Regression analysis of the pollutants at the controls showed that only the volatile organic compounds and methane are the only significant pollutants present in the ambient air primarily because of the presence of the filling stations. These two pollutants showed a strong negative correlation with distance from the study area. While the regression curve for the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) shows a nearly perfect curve with exponential functions as its regression equations, that of methane is linear. Specifically, both VOCs and methane have a correlation coefficient (R) that is above 0.9 for the study areas. Hence a conclusion was drawn from the findings that the primary pollutant to consider when building filling station are the VOCs and methane and that the minimum safe distance to site a filling station is a distance of 80m away from residential areas.Materials and Energy Research CenterInternational Journal of Engineering1025-249528620150601Numerical Simulation of Cavitation in Mixed Flow Pump95696372537ENRouzbeh ShafaghatMechanical Engineering, Babol University of Technology0000-0003-4827-5727Yousef VazifeshenasMechanical Engineering, Babol University of TechnologyJournal Article19700101The purpose of this study is to investigate the performance and three-dimensional behavior of the flow in a mixed flow pump and the way cavitation phenomenon is affected by different parameters such as fluid temperature, pump speed and flow rate. Computational fluid dynamic software FLUENT 6.3 was utilized to simulate the whole flow field of the pump. RNG k-ε model combined with standard wall functions is chosen to deal with the turbulent feature of the problem. The studied pump has four blades mounted on a conical hub which form the rotary part and nine static vanes afterward as the stationary part. So the rotor-stator interaction was treated with a Multiple Reference Frame (MRF) technique. Different cases were analyzed for different flow rates and different pump speeds. While the flow rates variation and the pump revolution change cavitation occurrence widely, the temperature variations caused by weather changes during a year has little effect on cavitation. The cavitation region which is defined by the saturation pressure in that temperature was shown for various cases on a blade