The role of adaptive thermal comfort in the prediction of the thermal performance of a modern mixed-mode office building in the UK under climate change

Climate change is becoming a serious issue for the construction industry, since the time scales at which climate change takes place can be expected to show a true impact on the thermal performance of buildings and HVAC systems. In predicting this future building performance by means of building simulation, the underlying assumptions regarding thermal comfort conditions and the related heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) control set points become important. This article studies the thermal performance of a reference office building with mixedmode ventilation in the UK, using static and adaptive thermal approaches, for a series of time horizons (2020, 2050 and 2080). Results demonstrate the importance of the implementation of adaptive thermal comfort models, and underpin the case for its use in climate change impact studies. Adaptive thermal comfort can also be used by building designers to make buildings more resilient towards change. © 2010 International Building Performance Simulation Association (IBPSA).

Trophic State Index, morphoedaphic index and fish yield prediction in a sub-tropical lake, Manchar (Sindh), Pakistan

Limnological factors of a sub-tropical lake Manchar were studied on seasonal basis. The mean values of various parameters were: transparency, (secchi disc reading): 90.5 cm, Orthophosphate: 0.257 mg/l, TDS: 3310,5 mg/l, Conductivity: 5232 µs/l, Total Chlorophyll (Planktonic): 31.3 µg/l Planktonic biomass: 5466 µg/l. Trophic state index (TSI) was calculated by using Carlson's (1977) equations. Mean TSI for transparency was 61, while for orthophosphate and chlorophyll, it was 82 and 64 respectively. TSI values indicate advanced eutrophic state of Manchar Lake. Morphoedaphic index (MEI) was also calculated on seasonal basis. The mean values were, TDS: 1103, conductivity: 1744, alkalinity: 60, transparency: 29 and biomass (plankton dry weight): 1746. Fish yield prediction for Manchar Lake (Z =3m, mean area=100 km²) was calculated by using MEI values. The results were quite different among various parameters. Conductivity (89.1mt/y), biomass (67.6 mt/y) and TDS (44.6 mt/y) were found to be good predictors of fish yield. Chlorophyll, transparency and alkalinity values gave very low estimate.

Performance prediction of graphene nanoribbon and carbon nanotube transistors

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) field-effect transistor (FET) can be the basis for a quasi-one- dimensional (Q1D) transistor technology. Recent experiments show that the on-off ratio for GNR devices can be improved to level exploration of transistor action is justified. Here we use the tight-binding energy dipersion approximation, to assess the performance of semiconducting CNT and GNR is qualitatively in terms of drain current drive strength, bandgap and density of states for a specified device. By reducing the maximum conductance 4e2/h by half, we observed that our model has a particularly good fit with 50 nm channel single walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) experimental data. Given the same bandgap, CNTs outperform GNRs due to valley degeneracy. Nevertheless, the variation of the device contacts will decide which transistor will exhibit better conductivity and thus higher ON currents. © 2011 American Institute of Physics.

Explosion pressure prediction via polynomial mathematical correlation based on advanced CFD Modelling

Computational Fluid Dynamics CFD can be used as a powerful tool supporting engineers throughout the steps of the design. The combination of CFD with response surface methodology can play an important role in such cases. During the conceptual engineering design phase, a quick response is always a matter of urgency. During this phase even a sketch of the geometrical model is rare. Therefore, the utilisation of typical response surface developed for congested and confined environment rather than CFD can be an important tool to help the decision making process, when the geometrical model is not available, provided that similarities can be considered when taking into account the characteristic of the geometry in which the response surface was developed. The present work investigates how three different types of response surfaces behave when predicting overpressure in accidental scenarios based on CFD input. First order, partial second order and complete second order polynomial expressions are investigated. The predicted results are compared with CFD findings for a classical offshore experiment conducted by British Gas on behalf of Mobil and good agreement is observed for higher order response surfaces. The higher order response surface calculations are also compared with CFD calculations for a typical offshore module and good agreement is also observed. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd.