An Evaluation to the Performance of Evacuated Tube Solar Heaters for Arid and Hot Areas

Solar energy applications could be the best alternative to the conventional fuels for the purposes of domestic,water and space heating and some industries in the sunny,arid,and hot areas.In the present study,the performance of an evacuated tube solar heater for water heating for months of February and March was experimentally investigated.This was performed in a hot and arid area(Nasiriya City,South of Iraq).A solar heater with ten evacuated tube solar collectors with a capacity of 100 liter was used in the experiments.Each evacuated tube had a length of 1.8m with an outside diameter of 8 cm.It was observed that for the two selected months,water temperature of the solar heater reached a maximum more than 70°C during sunny days with no heat extraction from the tank of the solar heater.Moreover,heat was extracted from the solar collector with four different flowrates 0.5,0.75,1,and 1.25 l/min,respectively.The results showed that temperature of the solar heater behaved differently from the static situation.When the heat extraction begun,there was a gradual and noticeable decrease in the water temperature of the heater.The observed decrease was slight with the lowest flowrate(0.25 l/m)and becomes sharp with the highest flowrate(1.25 l/min).However,water temperature of the solar heater remained higher than 40°C for the investigated flowrates except the case of 1.25 l/min.The results showed that evacuated tube solar heater can work efficiently in arid and hot areas in winter and spring seasons when the conditions of solar radiation are suitable.

Maternal Deaths in Patients Evacuated to the Fousseyni Daou Hospital in Kayes over a Decade

Introduction: Evacuation refers to the rapid transfer of a patient in an emergency, from one health center to another more equipped and better specialized. The objective of this study was to study maternal mortality in patients evacuated to the gynecology and obstetrics department at the Fousseyni Daou Hospital in Kayes over a period of 10 years. Materials and Methods: This was a descriptive, cross-sectional, retrospective study over nine years from January 1, 2011 to December 31, 2019 and prospective over one year from January 1, 2020 to December 31, 2020 involving all patients or parturients evacuated for obstetrical causes and died in the gynecology-obstetrics department of the Fousseyni Daou Hospital. Confidentiality and anonymity were respected. The processing and analysis of the statistical data was carried out using SPSS 20.0 software. Results: during our study period we identified 38,854 obstetric admissions including 6758 evacuations or 17.4%, among the 6758 cases of obstetric evacuations 284 died, a frequency of 4.2%. The maternal death audit committee of the Fousseyni Daou hospital in Kayes audited 101/284 cases (files) or 35.5% of which 64 maternal deaths (63.4%) were considered inevitable. In our study the 20 - 29 age group was more represented with 38%. 85% of the deceased patients lived in rural areas. In our series, 63.7% of the deceased patients had not had antenatal consultations (NPC). Eclampsia accounted for 26.8% of admissions diagnoses and 30.9% of causes of death. Seventy-two (72%) of deaths occurred postpartum, 15% perpartum and 13% prepartum. Direct obstetric causes were predominant at 65.1%. Conclusion: Indicators of maternal deaths among evacuated patients remain poor in our work. Maternal deaths were driven by socio-economic and cultural factors, but also by factors related to the health system.

Evacuated tube transport technologies (ET3)^(tm):a maximum value global transportation network for passengers and cargo

Evacuated Tube Transport Technologies （ET3） offers the potential for more than an order of magnitude improvement in transportation efficiency, speed, cost, and effectiveness. An ET3 network may be optimized to sustainably displace most global transportation by car, ship, truck, train, and jet aircraft. To do this, ET3 standards should adhere to certain key principals： maximum value through efficiency, reliability, and simplicity; equal consideration for passenger and cargo loads; optimum size; high speed/high frequency operation; demand oriented; random accessibility; scalability; high granularity; automated control; full speed passive switching; open standards of implementation; and maximum use of existing capacities, materials, and processes.

Effect of Streamlined Nose Length on the Aerodynamic Performance of a 800 km/h Evacuated Tube Train

The aerodynamic resistance of a train running in the open air limits the maximum speed that can be attained by the train.For this reason,evacuated tube trains(ETT)are being considered as valid alternatives to be implemented in the future.The atmosphere in the tube,the so-called blocking ratio and the length of the streamlined nose are the key factors affecting the aerodynamic performances of these trains.In the present work,we investigate evacuated tube trains with different lengths of the streamline nose on the basis of computational fluid dynamics(CFD).The three-dimensional steady compressible Navier-Stokes equations are solved.The running speed of the ETT is 800 km/h and the blocking ratio is 0.2.Results show that with the increase of the streamlined nose length,the aerodynamic drag and lift forces of the head car decrease gradually,and the drag and lift forces of the middle car change slightly.For the tail car,the drag force decreases,whereas the absolute value of the lift force increases.At a speed of 800 km/h,a slight shock wave appears at the rear of the tail car,which affects the aerodynamic forces acting on the train.

Key vacuum technology issues to be solved in evacuated tube transportation

Evacuated tube transportation （ETT） will be one of the ultra-large-scale vacuum application areas. This paper lists some key vacuum technology issues in ETT： （1） how to construct ultra-large-scale vacuum chamber with lower cost and high reliability, （2） how to evacuate gas out of the ETT tube in short time, （3） how to release heat or reduce temperature in the vacuum tube, （4） how to avoid vacuum discharge, （5） how to make vehicles with airproof shells and life support system, and （6） how to detect leaks and find leak positions efficiently. At the same time, some solutions are proposed.

Aerodynamic Design of a Subsonic Evacuated Tube Train System

The so-called Evacuated Tube Train(ETT)is currently being proposed as a high-speed transportation system potentially competitive with airplane transportation.Aerodynamic resistance is one of the most crucial factors for the successful design of an ETT.In the present work,a three-dimensional concept ETT model has been elaborated.The aerodynamic characteristics of the subsonic ETT have been numerically simulated under different conditions.The train’s running speed varies from 600 km/h up to 1200 km/h,and the blockage ratio is in the range between 0.1 and 0.3.As the blocking ratio and running speed increase,the resistance of the head car increases greatly,while the resistance of the middle car changes slightly.The aerodynamic resistance of the tail car is affected by the shock wave emerging in the wake flow.Two different design criteria for the maximum allowed aerodynamic resistance are proposed for aerodynamic parameter matching.With an increase in the blockage ratio and running speed,the atmospheric pressure in the tube should be decreased to achieve a balance.

Numerical simulation and analysis of aerodynamic drag on a subsonic train in evacuated tube transportation

The aerodynamic drag on a train running in an evacuated tube varies with tube air pressure, train speed and shape, as well as blockage ratio. This paper uses numerical simulations to study the effects of different factors on the aerodynamic drag of a train running at subsonic speed in an evacuated tube. Firstly, we present the assumption of a steady state, two dimensional, incompressible viscous flow with lubricity wall conditions. Subsequently, based on the Navier-Stokes equation and the k-c turbulent models, we calculate the aerodynamic drag imposed on the column train with a 3-meter diameter running under different pressure and blockage ratio conditions in an evacuated tube transporta- tion （ETT） system. The simulation is performed with FLUENT 6.3 software package. An analyses of the simulation re- sults suggest that the blockage ratio for ETT should be in the range of 0.25-0.7, and the tube internal diameter in the range of 2-4 m, with the feasible vacuum pressure in the range of 1-10 000 Pa for the future subsonic ETT trains.

Aerodynamic simulation of evacuated tube maglev trains with different streamlined designs

Based on the Navier-Stokes （N-S） equations of incompressible viscous fluids and the standard k-ε turbu- lence model with assumptions of steady state and two dimensional conditions, a simulation of the aerodynamic drag on a maglev train in an evacuated tube was made with ANSYS/FLOTRAN software under different vacuum pressures, blockage ratios, and shapes of train head and tail. The pressure flow fields of the evacuated tube maglev train under different vacuum pressures were analyzed, and then compared under the same blockage ratio condition. The results show that the environmental pressure of 1 000 Pa in the tube is the best to achieve the effect of aerodynamic drag reduction, and there are no obvious differences in the aerodynamic drag reduction among different streamline head shapes. Overall, the blunt-shape tail and the blockage ratio of 0.25 are more efficient for drag reduction of the train at the tube pressure of 1 000 Pa.

The approach to calculate the aerodynamic drag of maglev train in the evacuated tube

In order to study the relationships between the aerodynamic drag of maglev and other factors in the evacuated tube, the formula of aerodynamic drag was deduced based on the basic equations of aerodynamics and then the calculated result was confirmed at a low speed on an experimental system developed by Superconductivity and New Energy R＆D Center of South Jiaotong University. With regard to this system a high temperature superconducting magnetic levitation vehicle was motivated by a linear induction motor （LIM） fixed on the permanent magnetic guideway. When the vehicle reached an expected speed, the LIM was stopped. Then the damped speed was recorded and used to calculate the experimental drag. The two results show the approximately same relationship between the aerodynamic drag on the maglev and the other factors such as the pressure in the tube, the velocity of the maglev and the blockage ratio. Thus, the pressure, the velocity, and the blockage ratio are viewed as the three important factors that contribute to the energy loss in the evacuated tube transportation.

Design consideration of a super-high speed high temperature superconductor maglev evacuated tube transport (I)

The super-high speed high temperature superconductor （HTS） maglev evacuated tube transport （ETT） is a promising transport mode for the future. As a key component of the HTS maglev vehicle, the permanent magnet guide- ways （PMGs） with different geometrical configurations and iron yoke widths are analyzed by finite element method （FEM）. The levitation force of a single onboard HTS maglev device over the designed PMG at different field cooling heights （FCH） is measured by magnetic levitation measurement system. Based on the designed PMG and experimental results, a preliminary scheme of subterranean super-high speed HTS maglev ETT is described in this paper. The HTS maglev ETT is mainly composed of an evacuated tube, HTS maglev vehicle, PMG, propulsion system, station, emergency rescue system, etc. In addition, a subterranean tube that consists of foundation tube and vacuum airproof layer is introduced. In order to convert the stress caused by the air pressure difference between inside and outside of the vehicle, a multi-circular vehicle body is designed. The vehicle is driven by a linear motor propulsion system under the control of a ground controlling system. The scheme of long-distance super-high speed passenger transportation is accomplished by the connection of different vehicles.

Wireless Network Architecture for Evacuated Tube Transportation System

Evacuated Tube Transportation(ETT)systems have been claimed to have considerable strengths,including ultra-highspeed,safety,and environmentally-friendly.However,the frequent handover caused by the high-speed brings a challenge for ETT mobile wireless communication to preserve steady link performance.Moreover,in such a special scenario,the wireless link between the base station and the passengers on the train needs to experience fading from both metal pipe and train,thus the free-wave coverage with antennas in traditional high-speed rail wireless communication systems is not suitable for ETT.Based on the characteristics of ETT,an improved architecture of wireless communication network is proposed,using distributed base stations with remote radio units(RRUs)and baseband units(BBUs)and leaky waveguides to form stable coverage.And a redundant BBUs or RRUs structure is designed for coverage enhancement.Based on this redundant architecture,a fast handover scheme is proposed to resolve the handover problem.The analytical and simulation results show that the proposed scheme is capable of reducing communication outage probability and handover failure probability remarkably.

Some possible station layouts and characteristics of evacuated tube transportation

Since Maglev vehicles will run in a closed vacuum tube,the layout of the terminal stations of evacuated tube transportation（ETT） will differ from the traditional railway stations.This paper deals with some possible station layouts of ETT,e.g.,a station with an airlock,a station without an airlock,above ground and underground stations,and stations with either level arrayed or rotation platforms.Then different station layouts are compared,and characteristics of each are analyzed.Finally,a more secure mode for ETT station layouts is suggested,which can be the basis for future ETT station layout and designs.

Adapting Integrated High Concentrated PV Modules and Evacuated Tube Collectors to Minimize Building Energy Consumption in Hot Climate

Energy consumption in buildings is considered a significant portion of gross power dissipation, so a great effort is required to design efficient construction. In severe hot weather conditions as Kuwait, energy required for building cooling and heating results in a huge energy loads and consumption and accordingly high emission rates of carbon dioxide. So, the main purpose of the current work is to convert the existing institutional building to near net-zero energy building (nNZEB) or into a net-zero energy building (NZEB). A combination of integrated high concentrated photovoltaic (HCPV) solar modules and evacuated tube collectors (ETC) are proposed to provide domestic water heating, electricity load as well as cooling consumption of an institutional facility. An equivalent circuit model for single diode is implemented to evaluate triple junction HCPV modules efficiency considering concentration level and temperature effects. A code compatible with TRNSYS subroutines is introduced to optimize evacuated tube collector efficiency. The developed models are validated through comparison with experimental data available from literature. The efficiency of integrated HCPV-ETC unit is optimized by varying the different system parameters. Transient simulation program (TRNSYS) is adapted to determine the performance of various parts of HCPV-ETC system. Furthermore, a theoretical code is introduced to evaluate the environmental effects of the proposed building when integrated with renewable energy systems. The integrated HCPV-ETC fully satisfies the energy required for building lighting and equipment. Utilizing HCPV modules of orientation 25? accomplishes a minimum energy payback time of about 8 years. Integrated solar absorption chiller provides about 64% of the annual air conditioning consumption needed for the studied building. The energy payback period (EPT) or solar cooling system is about 18 years which is significantly larger than that corresponding to HCPV due to the extra expenses of solar absorption system. The life cycle savings (LCS) of solar cooling absorption system is approximately $2400/year. Furthermore, levelized cost of energy of solar absorption cooling is $0.21/kWh. Hence, the net cost of the solar system after subtracting the CO2 emission cost will be close to the present price of conventional generation in Kuwait (about $0.17/kWh). Finally, the yearly CO2 emission avoided is approximately 543 ton verifying the environmental benefits of integrated HCPV-ETC arrangements in Kuwait.

Maternal and Fetal Prognosis of Evacuated Parturients in N’Djamena Mother and Child Hospital (Chad)

Introduction: All pregnant women are at risk of obstetric complications leading to high fetal-maternal mortality and morbidity. The aim of this work was to evaluate the maternal and fetal prognosis of evacuated parturients. Patient and Method: we conducted a prospective analytical survey for four months, from April 1st to July 31st, 2018 in the Maternity of N’Djamena Mother and Child Hospital about the maternal and fetal prognosis of evacuated parturients. Any parturient evacuated or referred for obstetric complications was included. Study parameters were epidemiological, clinical, para-clinical, therapeutic and prognosis order. These parameters were analyzed in the SPSS 18 French version software. Results: Evacuated parturients represented 20% of maternity admissions. The average age was 23.9 years, with extremes ranging from 15 and 43 years. They were uneducated in 72.9%, primiparous in 46.8% of cases. The three delays were dominated by the 1st delay, which represented 34.1% of cases. In this series, 26.3% parturients had presented obstetric complications. Preruptive syndrome was the most common complication with 29.3% cases. Predisposing factors to maternal-fetal complications were low attendance antenatal care, late evacuation and distance travelled. The maternal mortality rate was 3%. Fetal complications were observed in 28.3% of cases and the neonatal mortality rate was 24.6%. Conclusion: The maternal and fetal complications of evacuated parturients are a real public health problem in our regions. The suppression of delays, capacity reinforcement of peripheral maternity and the periodic recycling peripheral centers to recognize obstetric emergencies will contribute to improve the maternal and fetal prognosis of evacuated parturients.

Performance of Water in Glass Evacuated Tube Solar Water Heater under Kenya Climatic Condition

Solar water heaters which provide a cost-effective and environmental friendly approach to hot water generation are in widespread application. Evacuated tube solar water heaters perform better than flat plate solar water heaters as a result of their greater surface area exposed for sunlight absorption. Water-in-glass evacuated tube solar water heaters are widely used as compared to heat-pipe solar water heaters due to their short payback periods. In this study, the performance of water-in-glass evacuated tube solar water heater is investigated through experiments under the climatic conditions in Kenya. The results revealed a daily efficiency range of 0.58 - 0.65 and a daily final outlet temperature greater than 55°C given an initial temperature of 25°C.

Building Evacuate Module for Urban Underground Passages: Subway Station in Turkey

The primary goal of crowd evacuation in urban underground passages or subways is to evacuate as many evacuees as possible to safe areas in the shortest time when emergency events occur. This paper chooses the underground passages of one metro in Istanbul, Turkey as research object, and uses a study method which combines by sites investigation, field test and computer simulation of the creating new software. It is called Building Evacuate Module software. We present a depth analysis of the related factors which include the number and width of passage, channelization setting and the number of pedestrians with the evacuation time. And the influential effect of public opinion is explained by using big data technology. In addition, pedestrians evacuation condition are recorded in three evacuation period, the morning peak, common and evening peak by the observation and statistic obtained with video, and build the model to simulate the change of evacuation time with pedestrians. So it reveals when the number of pedestrians reaches to more than 200, evacuation time increases significantly and the field experiment and simulation condition are consistent basically.

Continuous Gas Outflow Is More Effective Than Carbon Filters to Evacuate Smoke in Laparoscopic Colorectal Resections: A Comparative Study

Background: Carbon filters and expensive evacuation machines are available to evacuate surgical smoke in long-lasting laparoscopic operations and achieve good visibility and patient’s safety. Methods: This study was aimed to determine which of two methods for laparoscopic smoke evacuation is most effective getting the best visibility. 20 patients submitted to elective laparoscopic colorectal resections were allocated to be operated using, either a carbon filter (Group A) or a home-made tubing with a continuous suction (Group B) connected through one of the ports to the hospital vacuum system: both methods were regulated with a roller clamp to increase smoke evacuation in order to obtain good visibility. A mono-polar hook and the LigasureV 5-mm vessel-sealing device were used. Groups were comparable for demographic characteristics, surgical techniques, and malignancy. Mann-Whitney and Fisher’s exact test were used for statistics. Results: Morbidity was 10%. There was no mortality, and there was no difference between Group A and B according to complications (p = 1.00), hospital stay (p = 0.23), duration of the operation (p = 0.79) and total consumption of CO2 (p = 0.36). However, the number of times that the clamp had to be released (Group A: 3.4 + 1 vs Group B: 1.5 + 1) (p = 0.006) and that a port had to be opened freely to quickly evacuate dense smoke (Group A: 0.9 + 0.7 vs Group B: 0) (p = 0.002) was very significantly increased in Group A as compared to Group B. Mean follow-up was 60 months and no port site metastases that could be a consequence of “chimney effect” or wound recurrence have been detected. Conclusions: The surgeon’s subjective impression that carbon filters are less effective for smoke evacuation than continuous outflow of gas through a port connected to the hospital vacuum source was confirmed. This simple method is advised for long-lasting laparoscopic procedures to improve visibility throughout the procedure.

Thermo-economic analysis of the performance of the combined system with evacuated tube collectors

Using combined cooling,heat and power systems can be an appropriate substitute for preventing emissions of pollutants and excessive consumption of fossil fuels.Utilizing renewable energy in these systems as a source of power generation can be an appropriate substitute for fossil-fuel-based systems.Therefore,in this paper,cogeneration cooling,heat and power systems based on gas-fired internal combustion engines with a solar-thermal system with evacuated tube collectors have been modelled and thermo-economic analysis has been done to compare fossil-fuel-based systems.The required rate of heat to supply the hot water is 50 kW.In the studied system,the internal combustion engine produces electrical energy.Then,the solar-thermal system with evacuated tube collectors and the gas-burning generator provide the thermal energy required by the studied building and the primary stimulus of the absorption chiller for cooling.In this study,two different scenarios are conducted in states considering simultaneous production systems and regardless of this environmental and thermo-economic analysis system.The results showed that the efficiency of the studied system was 60% in summer and 56% in winter.

Pedestrian flow through exit:Study focused on evacuation pattern

Experiments are conducted on the evacuation rate of pedestrians through exits with queued evacuation pattern and random evacuation pattern. The experimental results show that the flow rate of pedestrians is larger with the random evacuation pattern than with the queued evacuation pattern. Therefore, the exit width calculated based on the minimum evacuation clear width for every 100 persons, which is on the assumption that the pedestrians pass through the exit in one queue or several queues, is conservative. The number of people crossing the exit simultaneously is greater in the random evacuation experiments than in the queued evacuation experiments, and the time interval between the front row and rear row of people is shortened in large-exit conditions when pedestrians evacuate randomly. The difference between the flow rate with a queued evacuation pattern and the flow rate with a random evacuation pattern is related to the surplus width of the exit, which is greater than the total width of all accommodated people streams. Two dimensionless quantities are defined to explore this relationship. It is found that the difference in flow rate between the two evacuation patterns is stable at a low level when the surplus width of the exit is no more than 45% of the width of a single pedestrian stream. There is a great difference between the flow rate with the queued evacuation pattern and the flow rate with the random evacuation pattern in a scenario with a larger surplus width of the exit. Meanwhile, the pedestrians crowd extraordinarily at the exit in these conditions as well, since the number of pedestrians who want to evacuate through exit simultaneously greatly exceeds the accommodated level. Therefore, the surplus width of exit should be limited especially in the narrow exit condition, and the relationship between the two dimensionless quantities mentioned above could provide the basis to some extent.

An extended social force model on unidirectional flow considering psychological and behavioral impacts of hazard source

An accurate assessment of the evacuation efficiency in case of disasters is of vital importance to the safety design of buildings and street blocks.Hazard sources not only physically but psychologically affect the pedestrians,which may further alter their behavioral patterns.This effect is especially significant in narrow spaces,such as corridors and alleys.This study aims to integrate a non-spreading hazard source into the social force model following the results from a previous experiment and simulation,and to simulate unidirectional pedestrian flows over various crowd densities and clarity–intensity properties of the hazard source.The integration include a virtual repulsion force from the hazard source and a decay on the social force term.The simulations reveal(i)that the hazard source creates virtual bottlenecks that suppress the flow,(ii)that the inter-pedestrian push forms a stabilisation phase on the flow-density curve within medium-to-high densities,and(iii)that the pedestrians are prone to a less orderly and stable pattern of movement in low clarity–intensity scenarios,possibly with lateral collisions passing the hazard source.