Water-saving Potential in aeolian sand soil under straight tube and surface drip irrigation in Taklimakan Desert in Northwest China

Evaporation loss from the saturated soil beneath drip irrigation emitters highly influences the irrigation efficiency of drip krigation （D1]. Subsurface drip irrigation （SDI） is one good approach to curb this inefficiency, but in a new irrigation method, straight tube irrigation （STI）, the irrigation tubes do not need to be buried and thus STI is recommended to increase the irrigation efficiency under normal surface-applied DI. STI consists of only connectors and water-transference tubes that can directly transfer irrigation water from the lateral emitters in the drip line to the root zone of plants. Five-month field experiments were carried out in aeolian sand soil in the forest-belts of the Taklimakan Desert, which have poor water storage capacity, to compare the potential water saving between STI and DI. The preliminary results showed that, compared with DI, STI （1） improved the soil water content in soil depths from 40 to 100 cm under the soil surface; （2） achieved the same irrigation effects in relatively shorter irrigation durations; （3） had very little water loss due to deep seepage; and （4） formed a layer of dry sand about 10 to 30 cm thick immediately below the soil surface, which lessened evaporation loss of soil water beneath the emitters on the soil surface. This demonstrates that STI can maximize the water-saving potential of DI through the reduction of wetted soil perimeters on the soil surface. This is valuable information for water-saving engineering applications and projects with STI in arid and semiarid regions.

Minimization of Air Consumption and Potential Savings of Textile Denim Fabric Manufacturing Process

One of the most important aspects of Bangladesh’s textile industry is denim. Bangladesh now has a new opportunity thanks to the global demand for denim among fashion industry professionals. Entrepreneurs from Bangladesh provide denim products to well-known international merchants all over the world. The worldwide denim market is predicted to expand by roughly 8% through the year 2020. We must raise the standard of denim if we are to keep up with the expanding industry. In contrast to projectile and rapier systems, air-jet weaving machines nowadays can weave practically all types of yarns without any issues and at higher rates. Due to this, air-jet looms are an excellent substitute for other weft insertion techniques. This kind of device still has one significant flaw, though, and that is the enormous power consumption brought on by the creation of compressed air. Researchers and manufacturers of air-jet looms have therefore worked very hard to find a solution to this issue and achieve a huge reduction in air consumption without compromising loom performance or fabric quality. Therefore, the purpose of this project is to look into ways to decrease air consumption and reduce auxiliary selvedge waste without any decrease in loom performance and fabric quality on existing air-jet weaving looms which reduce the manufacturing costs with process improvement. Just updating the air pressure allowed a weaving mill to reduce air usage by 11 cfm. So, with just almost no cost, a company with 100 looms could save $0.15 M each year, on compressed air. Two new methods for decreasing process costs on air jet looms have also been developed by this project work.

Optimization of Finishing Process and Energy Savings in Denim Textile Facility

Denim is widely accepted among exported textile products due to its aesthetics, appearance, and fashion. Practitioners employed several physical or chemical treatments to improve denim qualities in denim finishing operations. So, several treatment processes, including enzymatic, bleaching, singeing, heat set, and ozone finish, are used, which made this processing more energy consumption and time-consuming. Therefore, it is significant to investigate how changing the chemicals and raw ingredients could improve the finishing process, which is environmentally and economically beneficial for sustainable production practices in the denim finishing process. This study’s research design comprises an experimental investigation in a denim plant in Bangladesh. Two different fabrics were chosen to analyze, determining the potential savings of finishing on the denim fabrics’ performance characteristics. By deducting singeing and heat-set processes, the researchers ran an experimental process by maintaining the same length of fabric. Then, the impacts of finishing process optimization on the mechanical, thermal, and comfort parameters of drape, stiffness, and tear strength were examined. The study’s findings demonstrated that this experiment increased productivity and reduced the finishing unit’s energy consumption without compromising the denim fabrics’ quality. This study significantly impacts environmental sustainability by preserving limited energy resources and manufacturing denim finishing processes.

Technologies for Efficient Use of Irrigation Water and Energy in China

While the shortage of water and energy is a well-recognized worldwide natural resources issue, little attention has been given to irrigation energy efficiency. In this paper, we examine the potential energy savings that can be achieved by implementing improved irrigation technologies in China. The use of improved irrigation management measures such as a flow meter, irrigation scheduling, and/or regular maintenance and upgrades, typically reduces the amount of water pumped over the course of a growing season. The total energy saved by applying these improved measures could reach 20%, as compared with traditional irrigation methods. Two methods of irrigation water conveyance by traditional earth canal and low pressure pipeline irrigation （LPPI） were also evaluated. Our study indicated that LPPI could save 6.48x 109 kWh yr1 when applied to 11 Chinese provinces. Also, the COz emission was reduced by 6.72 metric tons per year. Among these 11 surveyed provinces, the energy saving potential for two provinces, Hebei and Shandong, could reach 1.45 x 109 kWh yr^-1. Using LPPI, potential energy saved and CO2 emissions reduced in the other 20 Chinese provinces were estimated at about 2.97×109 kWh yr-1 and 2.69 metric tons per year, respectively. The energy saving potential for Heilongjiang, a major agriculture province, could reach 1.77× 109 kWh yr-1, which is the largest in all provinces. If LPPI is applied to the entire country, average annual energy saving of more than 9 billion kWh and average annual CO2 emission reduction of more than 9.0 metric tons could be realized. Rice is one of the largest users of the world＇s fresh water resources. Compared with continuous flooding irrigation, intermittent irrigation （ITI） can improve yield and water-use efficiency in paddy fields. The total increments of net output energy and yield by ITI in paddy fields across China could reach 2.5× 1016 calories and l07 tons, respectively. So far only a small part of agricultural land in China has adopted water and energy saving technologies. Therefore, potential water and energy savings in China by adapting improved irrigation technology could be significant and should be carefully studied and applied.

Water-conducting Characteristics and Micro-dynamic Self-adjusting Behavior of Polyacrylamide/Montinorillonite Coating

A water-conducting polyacrylamide/montmorillonite coating was prepared by solutionblending.The coating was coated on fiber and then composited with polymer to form a composite film material that used for water saving and tree planting in arid and desert regions.The coating＇s water-conducting characteristics and dynamic self-adjusting behavior were investigated by Fourier transform infrared（FTIR）spectroscopy,thermal analysis（TG-DTA）,and environmental scanning electron microscopy（ESEM）.The results showed that the coating＇s water-conducting rate increased but water-retention capacity weakened with increasing montmorillonite content.The water-loss rate was positively related to temperature and negatively related to soil moisture.Water potential greatly influenced the water-conducting rate of the coating during its water conduction process.When the coating was at a low water potential,the montmorillonite particles interconnected and water was conducted quickly via montmorillonite layers,whereas when the coating was at a high potential,the montmorillonite particles disconnected and water was conducted slowly via the swelled polyacrylamide net structure.The rate can be regulated by changing the proportion of polyacrylamide and montmorillonite to guarantee a reasonable water supply for trees and make trees easier to survive.Thus,the survival rate of trees can be increased and the use of water resources can be significantly reduced.

Regional Differences in China's Energy Efficiency and Conservation Potentials

This paper investigates the maximum energy efficiency level and the energy saving potentials in each region in China that can be practically attained at current economic and technological development levels. Most of the nation ＇s energy efficient provinces are found along the coast of southeast China, while most of its least energy efficient provinces are in the hinterland that is rich in coal resources, and which depends heavily on coal consumption. China＇s low efficiency in energy resource allocation stems from its secondary industry, which is handicapped by the lowest energy efficiency and the most striking regional differentials. A comparison of the factors affecting the energy efficiency shows that the provinces being compared in this study differ tremendously in energy consumption structure, technological level of the secondary industry, and abundance of energy resources, and that the other factors are only adequate, rather than necessary, conditions. It is imperative to rectify the behaviors of provinces in balancing local energy allocation, to channel energy resources to energy efficient provinces, and to improve the national energy efficiency as a whole. When taking energy-saving steps, provinces must take into full consideration both the national and local factors that affect energy efficiency. Furthermore, it is unrealistic for China to set a unified energy saving goal for differentprovinces.

Finite time thermodynamic analysis and optimization of water cooled multi-spilit heat pipe system(MSHPS)

This study focuses on the heat transfer characteristics of the evaporation terminal,the cool distribute unit(CDU)and refrigerant flow distribution of a water cooled multi-spilit heat pipe system(MSHPS)used in data center.The finite time thermodynamic analysis,the exergy method and the software SIMULINK was employed to build the simulation model of the combined system.The results show that the IT servers should concentrate on arranging at the location below 1.3 m.The CDU has a heat transfer of about 74 J in a period of 6 s.And the optimum flow rate of the CDU is 0.82 kg/s.The flow distribution characteristic of a CDU which connect 2 heat pipe evaporator terminals of 6 kW was calculated,and the working fluid is R22.Then the free cooling time,part time free cooling and energy saving potential in major cities of China were analysised.The energy saving potential is from 61%to 25%.The results are of great significance for the operational control and practical application of a MSHPS and other pipe-net systems.