Impact of Business Practices on Individual Energy Consumption

Changing behaviours and attitudes towards more sustainable individual energy consumption is a difficult topic to address. After identifying the most recurrent factors influencing the bad energy consumption, society's environmental short-sightedness, a lack of individual responsibility and a tendency to put responsibility upon firms, institutions, and governments, the authors evaluated the effect that business practices can have on individual behaviour. By qualifying as highly credible sources of information, positioning themselves as examples to follow, and providing its employees with the necessary smart and innovative technology, business communities can have a major impact on changing individual behaviours towards more sustainable energy consumption.     

我国渔业企业经济效益分析研究——以2013年我国上市渔业公司数据为例

随着居民收入水平的提高,我国水产品消费数量不断增加.水产品消费需求的增加,一方面导致水产品养殖企业数量增多,水产品养殖产业初具规模;另一方面也导致了市场竞争压力的增大,使得水产品养殖企业经济效益降低.利用2013年我国上市渔业公司财务数据,基于因子分析法研究了我国上市渔业公司经济效益水平.研究结果显示,2013年大湖股份、国联水产各公共因子及综合因子得分都较高,表明其公司盈利能力、偿债能力及运营能力较强,企业后期发展前景较好.而好当家、武昌鱼的综合因子得分较低,需要引起公司重视.最后针对2013年我国上市渔业公司的整体得分情况,提出了提高我国渔业企业经济效益水平的建议.     

水情自动测报系统遥测站低功耗设计研究

针对水情自动测报系统运行环境和特点,分析了影响遥测站功耗的主要因素,详细阐述了器件选型、电源控制、远程通信、软件编程等关键环节进行低功耗设计的策略与实现方法。据此设计的数据采集器在现场得到广泛运用,验证了本方法的有效性和实用性。     

最大化最小能耗概率的移动Sink无线传感器网络数据收集方法

在基于移动sink传感器网络中,传感器节点能量受限,数据收集的能耗问题一直是研究的热点.通过建立最大化最小能耗概率模型,提出一种最大化最小能耗概率(Maximizing Minimum Probability of Energy Consumption,MMPEC)数据收集方法.MMPEC对网络中子节点与汇聚节点之间的路径长度进行分布式优化,使得整个网络的能耗达到最低的概率最大化.仿真结果表明,MMPEC在能耗方面优于同类基于移动sink的WSN分层数据收集方法.     

GPU集群能耗优化控制模型研究

随着大数据技术的发展,GPU集群作为一种高效的并行系统被应用到大规模数据实时计算中.能量是实时计算时重要的资源,GPU集群的能耗优化及实时消减成为一个具有挑战性的问题.从集群全局角度引入模型预测控制策略,并建立闭环反馈机制的多输入多输出控制器.通过调整计算频率和改变活跃流多处理器来改变能耗状态,利用反馈和滚动优化机制完成对未来的控制预判,实现消减冗余能耗的目标.实验表明:控制模型的精度和节能效果优于基准模型,而且具有较好的稳定性,适合应用到大规模数据实时计算中.     

基于双同步斩波模式的LED声控灯驱动电源设计

提出了基于双同步斩波模式的微功耗LED声控灯驱动电源设计方法。该驱动电源用一个单片机控制两个开关管分别为主电源和待机电源提供工作电流。主电源采用全波斩波工作模式为LED灯组提供工作电流;待机电源采用半波斩波工作模式,从而大幅降低了待机功耗。该驱动电源结构简单,可在50~60 Hz频率的180~250 V的宽电压范围内工作,具有恒流驱动功能和微功耗特性,且稳定可靠和较高的性价比。     

Design,development and reliability testing of a low power bridge-type micromachined hotplate

In this paper, the development and reliability of a platinum-based microheater with low power consumption are demonstrated. The microheater is fabricated on a thin SiO₂ bridge-type suspended membrane supported by four arms. The structure consists of a 0.6 μm-thick SiO₂ membrane of size 50 μm × 50 μm over which a platinum resistor is laid out. The simulation of the structure was carried out using MEMS-CAD Tool COVENTORWARE. The platinum resistor of 31.0 Ω is fabricated on SiO₂ membrane using lift-off technique. The bulk micromachining technique is used to create the suspended SiO₂ membrane. The temperature coefficient of resistance (TCR) of platinum used for temperature estimation of the hotplate is measured and found to be 2.2 × 10⁻³/°C. The test results indicate that the microhotplate consumes only 11.8 mW when heated up to 400 °C. For reliability testing, the hotplate is continuously operated at higher temperatures. It was found that at 404 °C, 508 °C and 595 °C, the microhotplate continuously operated up to 16.5 h, 4.3 h and 4 min respectively without degrading its performance. It can sustain at least 53 cycles pulse-mode of operation at 540 °C with ultra-low resistance and temperature drifts. The structure has maximum current capability of 19.06 mA and it can also sustain the ultrasonic vibration at least for 30 min without any damage.     

Hyphenation of optimized microfluidic sample preparation with nano liquid chromatography for faster and greener alkaloid analysis

A glass liquid–liquid extraction (LLE) microchip with three parallel 3.5 cm long and 100 μm wide interconnecting channels was optimized in terms of more environmentally friendly (greener) solvents and extraction efficiency. In addition, the optimized chip was successfully hyphenated with nano-liquid chromatography with ultraviolet and mass spectrometric detection (nanoLC–UV–MS) for on-line analysis. In this system, sample pretreatment, separation and detection are integrated, which significantly shortens the analysis time, saves labor and drastically reduces solvent consumption. Strychnine was used as model analyte to determine the extraction efficiency of the optimized 3-phase chip. Influence of organic solvent, pH of feed phase, type of alkaloid, and flow rates were investigated. The results demonstrated that the 3-phase chip nanoLC–UV/MS hyphenation combines rapid (∼25 s) and efficient (extraction efficiency >90%) sample prep, with automated alkaloid analyses. The method was applied to real samples including Strychnos nux-vomica seeds, Cephaelis ipecacuanha roots, Atropa belladonna leaves, and Vinca minor leaves.     

Effect of Filtrated Osmotic Solution Based on Concentrated Chokeberry Juice and Mint Extract on the Drying Kinetics,Energy Consumption and Physicochemical Properties of Dried Apples

Background: Filtration of osmotic solution affects selective penetration during osmotic dehydration (OD), and after drying is finished, this can influence the chemical composition of the material, which is also modified by OD. Methods: Osmotic dehydration was carried out in filtrated and non-filtrated concentrated chokeberry juice with the addition of mint infusion. Then, this underwent convective drying, vacuum-microwave drying and combined convective pre-drying, followed by vacuum-microwave finishing drying. Drying kinetics were presented and mathematical models were selected. The specific energy consumption for each drying method was calculated and the energy efficiency was determined. Results and Discussion: The study revealed that filtration of osmotic solution did not have significant effect on drying kinetics; however, it affected selective penetration during OD. The highest specific energy consumption was obtained for the samples treated by convective drying (CD) (around 170 kJ·g⁻¹ fresh weight (fw)) and the lowest for the samples treated by vacuum-microwave drying (VMD) (around 30 kJ·g⁻¹ fw), which is due to the differences in the time of drying and when these methods are applied. Conclusions: Filtration of the osmotic solution can be used to obtain the desired material after drying and the VMD method is the most appropriate considering both phenolic acid content and the energy aspect of drying.     

Demystifying terms for understanding bioelectrochemical systems towards sustainable wastewater treatment

Bioelectrochemical systems (BESs) have been intensively studied in the past decade, but precise understanding of BESs performance is hindered by unclear definition of several key parameters. Herein, we analyze and discuss three sets of terms about conversion efficiency, energy performance, and pilot scale. It is suggested that ‘Coulombic recovery’ can avoid the misleading results because of different organic removals, compared with ‘Coulombic efficiency.’ Power density is not a suitable term to describe energy performance of BESs, and energy production/consumption should be reported in the energy unit such as kWh. Pilot-scale BESs should meet several criteria, including hydraulic capacity, use of actual wastewater, non-laboratory condition, and long-term operation. Proper use of those terms is strongly encouraged and will be critically important to BESs research and development.