Engineering Commons^™

A Fuzzy Identification Method For Nonlinear Systems, İbrahi̇m Eksi̇n, Osman Kaan Erol

Turkish Journal of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences

In this paper, two mathematical ways of building a fuzzy model of both linear and nonlinear systems are presented and compared. In order to determine a model for a nonlinear system, the phase plane is divided into sub-regions and a linear model is assigned for each of these regions. This linear model is represented either in state-space or ARX model form. To determine the pre-selected parameters of the linear system model under study, least-square identification method is used. Then these linear models are arranged in a fuzzy manner to characterize the overall system behavior. The results show that this method …

Control Chart Pattern Recognition Using Artificial Neural Networks, Şeref Sağiroğlu, Erkan Beşdok, Mehmet Erler

Turkish Journal of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences

Precise and fast control chart pattern (CCP) recognition is important for monitoring process environments to achieve appropriate control and to produce high quality products. CCPs can exhibit six types of pattern: normal, cyclic, increasing trend, decreasing trend, upward shift and downward shift. Except for normal patterns, all other patterns indicate that the process being monitored is not functioning correctly and requires adjustment. This paper describes a new type of neural network for speeding up the training process and to compare three training algorithms in terms of speed, performance and parameter complexity for CCP recognition. The networks are multilayered perceptrons trained …

Evaluation Of Extreme Wind Speeds In Relation To The Design Of Coastal Structures In Tanzania, Alfonse Dubi

Tanzania Journal of Engineering and Technology (TJET)

Five distribution functions, FT-I and Weibull with the exponent k = 0.75, 1.0, 1.4 and 2.0 respectively, have been applied to 25-year wind data collected between 1972 and 1996 at Tanga, Dar Es Salaam, Zanzibar and Mtwara Meteorological stations. One maximum value for every year from the full data record was drawn to constitute the annual maxima series for each station. For each of the stations, 2-, 50- and 100-year return wind speeds with corresponding 90% confidence intervals were computed. The distribution functions were fitted to the data by the Least Squares Method. Results from the study show that FT-I …

Defects In Reinforced Concrete Due To Environmental Conditions And Concrete Treatment: A Case Study At The University Of Dar Es Salaam, A. Rubaratuka

Tanzania Journal of Engineering and Technology (TJET)

Concrete is produced by mixing together cement, water and aggregates (i. e. sand and coarse aggregates) in specified proportions. It can do well with compressive forces but it is very weak under tensile forces. To overcome this problem, steel reinforcement are normally added to produce reinforced concrete which can also withstand tensile forces. Experience shows that environmental conditions may have a negative impact on the durability of reinforced concrete structures resulting in development of defects if not properly assessed and appropriate measures adopted to arrest the same at the design and construction stages.

The severity of damages for the investigated …

Strategic Transformation Of Public Enterprises In Tanzania: Action Research Oriented Methodology, M A.M Victor

Tanzania Journal of Engineering and Technology (TJET)

Naturally, enterprises are dynamic in the sense that they can either grow or shrink. Growth is the wish of all owners and particularly of fast growth. We talk of growth here as both increasing the speed of circulation of the working capital profitably and increasing the size or expansion of the fixed assets through retained earnings. Proper management will in most cases assure a gradual growth. However, in some situations, gradual growth may not be sustainable due to global competition and/or some other political changes such as elimination of monopoly. In these situations, enterprises will need a strategic transformation, not …

Production Innovation Through Design Methodology: Development Of A Fuel Pump For Motorists, E. Elias

Tanzania Journal of Engineering and Technology (TJET)

Design Methodology is a discipline of scientific engineering design for provision of solutions to user needs. It is composed of design models (showing the path/procedural steps of design) and design tactics (i.e. techniques, technologies and methods aiding the designer). When rigorously applied, design methodology leads to innovation of products and businesses.

The present paper describes how design methodology was applied to the development of a siphon device (Apump@) for motorists when in need to refill fuel in their vehicles away from petrol stations. The need for the device was realised through the method of Alooking around & deep thinking@ and …

The Effect Of System And Oxygen Partial Pressure On Single Coal Particle Heterogeneous Ignition Temperature Under Conditions Of Negligible Convection; Experimental Observation, H. Katalambula

Tanzania Journal of Engineering and Technology (TJET)

Abstract Under conditions of high volatile concentrations, the influence of oxygen concentration on single coal particle ignition becomes more significant. The high volatile concentration conditions have been simulated by employing a microgravity environment. Results show that under these conditions, the heterogeneous ignition temperature decreases faster with increasing oxygen concentration than under normal conditions. The ignition temperature also decreases with increasing system and oxygen partial pressure under both conditions. Generally, the system and oxygen partial pressure show similar and complimenting effects on ignition temperature.

Mathematical Modelling Of Road Bumps, E. S. Massawe

Tanzania Journal of Engineering and Technology (TJET)

In this paper, a general mathematical model that may be used for construction of a road bump on an inclined road is developed. It is shown that if the parameters for the inclination are set to zero, the resulting model reflects the special case of a flat road. Existing experiences are briefly highlighted and a case study was done on different locations along the University Road to demonstrate the developed model.

The Behaviour Of Reinforced Block-Work Walls In Axial Tension, Laurent Shirima

Tanzania Journal of Engineering and Technology (TJET)

Reinforced blockwork with horizontally laid reinforcing bars is used for walls in liquid retaining structures in developing countries. This is the case where, the level of technology in terms of skills and equipment is not in a position to allow successful construction of reinforced concrete walls. Blockwork walls are very sensitive to cracking which cannot be prevented by reinforcement. The major problem for designers is the behaviour of such walls in tension caused by hydrostatic pressure of the stored liquid. This paper reports results of a research work to study the behaviour of reinforced blockwork walls in tension. It was …

Application Of Vibrational Techniques In Determination Of Dynamic Properties Of Agricultural Products-State Of The Arton Of Vibrational Techniques In Determination Of Dynamic Properties Of Agricultural Products-State Of The Art, Silas Kajuna

Tanzania Journal of Engineering and Technology (TJET)

Vibration is one of the techniques employed in the determination of dynamic properties of fruits and vegetables. It entails generation of a mechanical or acoustic vibrational signal which is propagated through the flesh of the agricultural material. A transducer is either attached or held close to the specimen to monitor the propagation of the signal through the specimen. The manner in which the signal is transmitted through the material is analyzed, and the dynamic properties of the specimen which relate to its firmness or its internal being are derived. The technique has been around for the past 30 years or …

Evaluation Of Soil Conservation Measures: A Case Study In Mbinga District, Ruvuma Region, Tanzania, S. Y. Thadei

Tanzania Journal of Engineering and Technology (TJET)

A study on soil conservation measures was conducted in two villages, Tukuzi and Mahenge, in Mbinga District, Ruvuma Region, Tanzania. The results showed that the ngoro farming system was effective in controlling soil erosion by water on both steep and gentle slopes. Sediments collected from ngoro had high concentrations of plant nutrients such as available phosphorus (P), total nitrogen (N), organic carbon (OC) and exchangeable bases. This was probably due to nutrients released from decomposed grass bundles buried in the soil. In preventing soil erosion, ngoro and bench terraces were equally effective, while contour ditches were as effective as ridges …

Production Of Fermentable Sugars From Waterhyacinth By High-Temperature Dilute-Acid Hydrolysis Method, J. H. Y. Katima

Tanzania Journal of Engineering and Technology (TJET)

A study on acid-catalyzed hydrolysis of Waterhyacinth (WH) biomass for production of monomeric sugars has been done. Waterhyacinth (Eichhornia Crassipes) plants were obtained from Lake Victoria. A yield of 18.5% w/w fermentable sugars was achieved during hydrolysis of oven-dried Waterhyacinth (ODWH) biomass at 220°C and 1.5% w/w H₂SO₄ acid. The waterhyacinth (WH) hydrolysates obtained from a high-temperature dilute-acid hydrolysis were rich in six-carbon (C₆) sugars (glucose) which could be fermented to ethanol. The production of fermentable sugars from waterhyacinth biomass is a promising new opportunity for its economic value which can in turn accelerate its rate of harvest and utilization.

Estimation Of Volatile Cloud Density For Single Coal Particles Using Microgravity Condition, H. Katalambula

Tanzania Journal of Engineering and Technology (TJET)

Single coal particle’s volatile cloud density has been estimated by employing a microgravity condition. The volatile yield was found to decrease with pressure while the density was found to increase, indicating that volatiles occupies less space when under pressure and hence causing some volatiles to be retained within the particle. The volatile cloud density was also found to increase with volatile yield suggesting volatile composition changes with yield. The effect of heating rate on volatile yield was found to be the same as reported by other investigators where the yield increased with heating rate.

Concrete Cracking In Coastal Areas, S. R. Mpinzire

Tanzania Journal of Engineering and Technology (TJET)

The paper discusses cracking and corrosion of reinforced concrete (RC) structures in coastal zones where aggressive action of salt burdened air is the primary cause of concrete deterioration. Case studies are presented, along with discussion of possible remedies including local demolition, reconstruction and epoxy injection as well as concrete treatment.

The Development Of Groundwater For Water Supply, C. F. Mhilu

Tanzania Journal of Engineering and Technology (TJET)

ABSTRACT This paper presents results of groundwater investigations carried out at Yombo Dovya Village, Temeke District in Dar es Salaam Region. The study has included hydrogeological and geoelectric resistivity sounding survey data obtained at the test site in Yombo village. The results of this investigation based on the application of vertical electrical sounding probe predictions have indicated the existence of reasonable amounts of groundwater resource for development. To verify these results borehole drilling tests were also conducted at the same site (Borehole No. DSM 79/99), and the results obtained by this method compares very well with those obtained earlier by …

Measurement Of Markstein Lengths In Laminar Spherical Explosion Flames, E .M.J Mushi

Tanzania Journal of Engineering and Technology (TJET)

Schlieren photography was used to record the development of spherical flames in a combustion bomb. Flame speed and flame stretch were evaluated from the data and used to evaluate Markstein lengths and numbers. The results indicate a strong influence of both the spark discharge energy and equivalence ratio. Low spark discharge energy is observed to give rise to more unstable flames compared to high energy sparks. It is observed that for the range of energy tested, 80 and 400 mJ gave the best stability for the flames. For equivalence ratio less or equal to 1.225 an 80 mJ discharge results …

Aviation Disaster Primer: Psychologies Of Error, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article describes common psychological phenomena that often mitigate against accurate induction and deduction of the causes of aviation disasters.

Trends. The Egyptair 990 Crash: A Misconception About Psychological Screening, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

The article discusses the common, publicly promulgated misconception about psychological screening of pilots and other aircrew members in the aftermath of the EgyptAir 990 crash.

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Building Services Engineering

No abstract provided.

Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopic Study Of Scn- Adsorbed At The Copper And Gold Nanowire Arrays, Jian-Lin Yao, Guo-Ping Pan, Kuan-Hong Xue, Yong Xie, Jing Tang, Bin Ren, Dong-Mei Sun, Bing-Wei Mao, Zhong-Qun Tian

Journal of Electrochemistry

Two-dimensional arrays of Cu and Au nanowires have been fabricated by template synthesis method, using the anodic aluminum oxidation films as the template. The morphology of the nanowire array was monitored by atomic force microscope (AFM) in the dissolution processes of the alumina film. Based on the probe molecule strategy, the spectral feature of SCN^- adsorbed at the Cu and Au nanowires with different diameters has been investigated by surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS). The results reveal that the intensity of the SERS bands depends on the length of the exposed nanowires. The C≡N stretching vibration frequency (ν_{CN …}

The Electrochemical Behaviors Of Superoxide Dismutase At Promoter Modified Gold Electrode, Xia-Qin Wu, Xiao-Yun Meng, Zhe-Su Wang, Zong-Rang Zhang

Journal of Electrochemistry

The electron-transfer process of superoxide dismutase was investigated by cyclic voltammetry at the 4,4'-dithiodipyridine, L-cysteine, histidine and arginine modified gold wire electrodes repectively. The quasi-reversible behavior was observed at L-cysteine modified gold electrode. An irreversible electrochemical behavior has been observed at hisdinine modified gold wire electrode.

Electro-Oxidation Of Phenol On Sno2/Ti Electrodes Prepared By Thermal Oxidation, Qing-Song Zhang, Hui-Huang Wu

Journal of Electrochemistry

A SnO₂/Ti electrode prepared by thermal oxidation was used as the anode for galvanostatic electrolysis in acidic solution containing phenol, the time-dependances of phenol concentration, chemical oxygen demand in solution(COD) and instantaneous current efficiency were determined during electrolysis. The results show that with the SnO₂/Ti anode instead of Pt, the COD significantly decreases at the same charge passage, and average current efficiency of oxidation increases by three times. The mechanism for phenol oxidation at two electrodes was discussed.

Prparation Of Nanocrystaline Tio2(Anatase) With High Thermal And Textural Sability By Electrochemical Method, Dao-Bao Chu, Xing-Fu Zhou, Chang-Jian Lin, Jian-Guang Tang

Journal of Electrochemistry

Titanium alkoxides were prepared by anodic dissolution of metallic titanium in absolute ethanol in the presence of HN(C₂H₅)₂·HCl (electro-conductive additives). The solution was directly hydrolyzed to prepare nanocrystalline of TiO₂ (about 10nm)by a sol-gel process. The precursor gels was calcined at T =450 ℃ and 720 ℃ for 30 min, and nanocrystalline of TiO₂ (anatase) with high textural and thermal stability was obtained. FTIR, XRD, TEM were used to characterize the structure of titanium alkoxides and nanocrystalline of TiO₂. The characteristics of nanocrystalline of TiO₂ was depended on the …

The Studies Of The (Photo) Electrochemical Character On The Electrodeposited Silver Indium Selenium Thin Films, Shao-Ai Xie, Xun-Nan Deng, You-Jin Kua

Journal of Electrochemistry

A photoelectrochemical cell (PEC) is constructed, using an AgInSe₂ film photoanode made from electrodeposition and a platinium electrode in aqueous polyiodide or polysufide electrolyte. The V_oc and I_sc of PEC have been tested and measured, and the effect of chemical decoration on the photoanodes also studied.

Studies On Methods Of Fuel Cells Electrodes Preparation, Jun Gu, Sheng Sui, Guang-Qiang Li, Zhitong Sui

Journal of Electrochemistry

In fuel cells, the structure of electrodes is an important factor which effect the cell performance. To improve the structure and the performance of electrodes, a new method of providing fuel cell electrodes is proposed in this paper. PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene) and ethyne black was ground for about half an hour in a high-speed grinder, then the catalyst was added into the grinder and milled for an hour. This milled catalyst was transferred into a mixer followed by the addition of surface-active agent. After a suspension was formed, it was filtered under vacuum condition.Then a thin uniform filter-cake of the catalyst …

Study On Electrochemical Reduction Properties Of Nitrobenzene, Chu-Na Ma, Wen-Kui Zhang, Hui Huang, Yong-Ping Gan

Journal of Electrochemistry

The electrochemical reduction characteristics of nitrobenzene was extensively investigated by using the techniques such as quasi-steady-state polarization, cyclic voltammetry, fast linear potential sweep method and chronoamperometry in this paper. The electroanalytic properties of Cu, Cu-Hg and Cu-Ni electrodes were evaluated. Based on the study of the transient steping behaviour of nitrobenzene to PAP, the reduction mechanism was discussed. The results showed that the transition steps existed on the electrochemical reduction of nitrobenzene in acidic solution, the reactant is also absorbed on electrodes surface. The control step in the reduction of nitrobenzene was ascribed to the diffusion of nitrobenzene and its …

A Novel Reaction Region Moving Electrode System For Electrochemical Power Sources, Jin-Kua You, Que Tu, Zheng-Jian Wang, Jie Sun, Zu-Geng Lin

Journal of Electrochemistry

In most of practical rechargeable batteries, charging/discharging process is always concerned with phase-transformation in the solid state. Due to the irreversibility of the phase-transformation, the cyclic performance of the rechargeable batteries are limited. In this paper, a novel reaction-region moving counter electrode system is constructed in our laboratory. The electrode system is operated at room temperature and cycled in solid-liquid phase during charging/discharging processes. With this electrode, the metal-complexes are firstly deposited (i.e. charging process) on the nearest working electrode and gradually extended to those another working electrodes several centimeters away from the counter electrode. The deposite is dissolved again …

High Performance Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells, Jing-Rong Yu, Bao-Lian Yi, Ming Han, Xiao-Liang Cheng, Zhi-Gang Shao, Jing-Xin Zhang

Journal of Electrochemistry

Proton-exchange membrane fuel cells(PEMFC) using a perfluorosulfonic acid proton exchange membrane as an electrolyte can simplify water and electrolyte management. In this paper, the effects of thickness of PEM on the performance of PEMFC were studied. The Nafion-112 PEM and low platinum loading E-TEK electrode yielded very high power density, of the order of 0.95 W/cm². The energy-conversion efficiency, the degree of platinum utilization and stability for PEMFC using Nafion 112 and E-TEK electrode were also investigated.

Photoelectrochemical Studies On The Tio2 Nanostructured Porous Film Sensitized By Cyanine Dye, Li Zhang, Mai-Zhi Yang, Xue-Bin Qiao, Yan-Zhong Hao, En-Qing Gao, Sheng-Min Cai

Journal of Electrochemistry

The photoelectrochemical behaviors of the TiO₂ nanostructured porous film sensitized by cyanine dye were investigated in this paper. The results showed that the excitaed state level matched the conduction band edge of TiO₂ nanoparticle. Therefore the sensitization of the dye can increase the photocurrent intensity of the TiO₂ nanostructured electrode obviously and results in a red-shift of optical absorption from the ultra-violet region to the visible. As a result, the light-to-electricity conversion efficiency was improved evidently, the maximum value of IPCE has reached 12.1%.

Investigation Of Sodium Hypophosphite Anodic Oxidizing Behavior In The Process Of Acid Electroless Nickel Deposition, Mei-Yuan Wang, Ya-Fei Kuang, Yan Xu

Journal of Electrochemistry

The anodic oxidizing behavior of sodium hypophosphite in the process of electroless nickle deposition (pH=5.5) was investigated with the linear potential sweep method and alternating current impedance. The results indicated that, the oxidation of NaH₂PO₂ was a complicated electrochemical process and affected by the concentration of NaH₂PO₂, the temperature of the bath, the sweep rate and the existence of nickel ion. The NaH₂PO₂ electrooxidation reaction was very likely preceded by heterogeneous interface transformation process, which might be the control step of the whole anodic process.