Cost Reduction

Terpenoids are the largest group of small-molecule natural products, with more than 60,000 compounds made from isopentenyl diphosphate (IPP) and its isomer dimethylallyl diphosphate (DMAPP). As the most diverse group of small-molecule natural products, terpenoids play an important role in the pharmaceutical, food, and cosmetic industries. For decades, Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Saccharomyces cerevisiae (S. cerevisiae) were extensively studied to biosynthesize terpenoids, because they are both fully amenable to genetic modifications and have vast molecular resources. On the other hand, our literature survey (20 years) revealed that terpenoids are naturally more widespread in Bacillales. In the mid-1990s, an inherent methylerythritol phosphate (MEP) pathway was discovered in Bacillus subtilis (B. subtilis). Since B. subtilis is a generally recognized as safe (GRAS) organism and has long been used for the industrial production of proteins, attempts to biosynthesize terpenoids in th...

The photolithography process is one of the most complex operations in semiconductor production. Exposure energy definition is particularly critical because it strongly affects the operation results. Very complex links exist between exposure energy, pattern critical dimensions, photo resist thickness, and resistivity. At present, the wafer test experimental procedure is used in order to define suitable exposure energy. With the aim of finding a less expensive control criterion of exposure operation in the photolithography process, a neural network has been developed that is able to model the relation between exposure energy and pattern dimensions measured in different positions on the wafer. As a result, the neural network model developed has been found to perform as well as the very expensive test wafer procedure and constitutes a good alternative to this one, allowing for a remarkable cost reduction

Emerging semiconductor VLSI requires improved device density on a single chip solution that many parameters are becoming vital concern for cost reduction by lowering the chip area, lowering power dissipation, reducing operating voltage, increasing speed etc. A previously designed precision sensor application mirror-amplifier was considered for optimizing in chip area consumption and improves sensing to make it ultra-precise, also this work has reduced the IC to a subcompact die sizes. MAGIC is used as two-dimensional CAD layout tool. Also PSPICE is used for electrical simulation purposes employed by extraction tool. Feature size is taken from mSCN3M_SUBM.30 process for 0.6µm layout and 0.5µm enhanced fabrication process. The improved design has area of 101λX48λ (minimized from 126λX59λ) or 30.3µmX15µm (minimized from 37.8µmX17.7µm) in 0.6µm CMOS design process. For multi-die placement, two sets of chip are designed those are placed on the four sub-dies in a single MOSIS tinychip die. For one set of chip coincidence detector is designed to make the mirror-amplifier ultra precise, buffer stage is designed for another set of chip to drive large load. This paper presents details of the key research works, results, completed chip layout and packaging of the chip.

Dis cus si on Papers are inten ded to make results of ZEW research prompt ly avai la ble to other eco no mists in order to encou ra ge dis cus si on and sug gesti ons for revi si ons. The aut hors are sole ly respon si ble for the con tents which do not neces sa ri ly repre sent the opi ni ...

In recent years, the significance of automated generation of object-oriented code from UML diagrams has increased due to its benefits, such as, cost reduction and accuracy. Consistency Checking between UML diagrams, and ensuring accuracy, maintainability, efficiency, and completeness of the generated code are the main concerns in this area. This paper extends our work on a tool called UJECTOR for automatic generation of executable Java code from UML diagrams. A set of three UML diagrams, ie, class diagram, sequence ...

We think of flip chip as a solution for better performance, high I/O or absolute size reduction. But a new and exciting technology is now emerging where the flip chip is the unique answer to extreme cost reduction in a very low I/O product, the RFID tag. RFIDs are Radio Frequency Identification systems - tiny two-way radios with immense commercial

En el proceso de reducción de costos en las inversiones asociadas a los transformadores de las subestaciones de distribución de la C.A. La Electricidad de Caracas, se estableció un cambio sustancial en el standard de regulación de voltaje, que en el largo plazo originó profundas consecuencias en la forma de desarrollar, operar y mantener estos equipos, y la red en general. En particular, la ubicación del cambiador de tomas con y sin carga, que inicialmente representó un ahorro de costos significativo, generó graves limitaciones para la operatividad y la expansión de las subestaciones involucradas. El análisis técnico de todos los aspectos relacionados condujo a un rediseño de los criterios considerados y a una revisión de la decisión tomada.

Abstract—The converter topology with a minimum number of power devices and control implementations to facilitate the pulsa-tion-free force control of the linear switched reluctance machines are investigated for the first time in this paper. The minimization of the devices offers cost reduction, ...

A lot of studies worldwide show that biochar is a powerful tool to address some of the most urgent environmental problems of our time: global warming, soil degradation, water pollution by agro-chemicals, and waste management. In the Philippines, biochar from rice hull is commonly used as soil conditioner and as main ingredient in the production of organic fertilizers.  To popularize the use of biochar in the farm and improve the system of producing it, the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) developed the continuous rice hull (CtRH) carbonizer in 2010.  As its name implies, it operates in continuous mode with almost smokeless emission. The heat generated during its operation is recoverable for use as energy source in various farming operations. This action research was conducted in response to the need of a farmer/poultry grower for cost-reducing and environment-friendly technologies for his farm. Specifically, it aims to integrate the CtRH carbonizer in the poultry operations in order to accomplish two things: (a) make use of the carbonizer-generated heat for brooding chicks to replace the conventionally-used liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), and (b) production of biochar as ingredient of organic fertilizer together with the chicken manure. The study involved overcoming challenges of retrofitting the CtRH carbonizer into the automated heating system of a modern tunnel-type poultry house (capacity of 35,000 chickens) that has to comply with the standards set by the broiler integrator whom the farmer was in contract with. Results of the performance test trials showed that the CtRH carbonizer, equipped with heat recovery attachment, can substitute the existing LPG heater to provide the needed heat for brooding chicks, saving 5 to 6 tanks of LPG (50kg/tank) for every one heater replaced. At the price of rice hull and LPG of Php 0.20/kg and Php 70/kg, respectively, a net savings of Php 69,958 per growing period or Php 489,706 per year could be realized per building for brooding. Additional income is expected from the coproduced biochar (1,300kg) which, together with the chicken manure (13,300 kg), can be processed into organic fertilizer.  Moreover, with the integration of the CtRH carbonizer in the poultry operations, greenhouse gas (GHG) emission of around 23 tons CO2e per building per year could be prevented.

In the 21st century, automobile industries are increasing at an unimaginable space. A huge problem of internal combustion (IC) engines is that it is a main cause of noise pollution. That is the reason mufflers are used to reduce the noise produced. Though mufflers are not designed to serve any primary exhaust function, they are installed within the exhaust system of most IC engines. It is designed as a soundproofing device that reduces the loudness of the pressure created by the engine. But mufflers need design and geometry considering the physics behind it which is very confounded. Established muffler design has been an iterative process by trial and error method. With recent research in this area has made it possible to do it in an analytical and experimental way.
There are two types of muffler, absorption type muffler and reactive muffler. The project dealt with the complexity behind the different mufflers and finally designed and constructed an absorption type muffler. After constructing the muffler according to our design using mild steel sheet and steel wool, we compared its performance based on three cases, no muffler condition, laboratory muffler condition and our newly designed muffler condition. Each case we calculated the insertion loss, brake specific fuel consumption (BSFC) and specific fuel consumption (SFC). And finally we showed with graphical representation that, our designed muffler performed better than the laboratory muffler condition and no muffler condition.
Of course, we did not achieve our desired result, since mild steel is no longer used as the construction material anymore and the available steel wool was not quality as we expected. However, we hope using better construction material and our design will certainly reduce the sound pressure level a great deal.

Over the past decade, the environmental impact of wastes discharged from high-density flow-through fish-production systems has been viewed with increasing concern. Recirculating aquaculture systems are gaining wider acceptance because of their ability to reduce waste discharges, improve quality control,
and reduce costs. The crucial processes that must be addressed in treating recirculating water are solids capture, biofiltration, aeration, degasification, and ion balance. One of the greatest potentials for cost reduction rests with the development of designs that integrate two or more of these processes. Expandable granular biofilters (EGBs) integrate solids capture and biofiltration in a single unit process, potentially reducing the cost of treatment. Backwash frequency, a major operational parameter, influences the rate of nitrification and the volume of sludge produced. Computer and mass balance models allow the relationship between solids retention time, sludge production, and nitrification rates to be examined. While infrequent backflushing decreases water loss and sludge production, nitrification rates decline for extended solids retention times. Declining nitrification rates reflect ammonification of the accreting solids mass and a decrease in the availability of oxygen due to heterotrophic competition and increased mass-transfer resistance. Nitrification appears to be optimized with solids retention times in the range of 2-3 days, for filters utilized as the primary solids capture device. Studies indicate that biofiltration can be optimized in the presence of solids capture, by manipulating the backwash regime. This paper focuses on the primary in-filter stabilization and the post-discharge, predisposal digestion of aquacultural solids. However, because in-filter stabilization of solids is accomplished concomitantly with nitrification in EGBs, the interplay of these two processes are considered.