Shape and volume optimization of industrial parts

In the present time, there are many challenges in the production of industrial parts. Due to the constantly rising prices of materials and energy, it is necessary to constantly look for ways to optimize production costs and optimize material consumption. There is great pressure on economical production, i. to produce products with the lowest costs given the expected and necessary properties. With the introduction of additive manufacturing technologies into practice and the production of parts for end use comes the introduction of methods for optimizing the shape of the part and the required amount of material for its production. We call this method Topological Optimization. The presented article describes the preparation of topologically optimized parts and a comparison of their strength properties with respect to the original and the original part.

Control of Substrate Water Availability Using Soil Sensors and Effects of Water Deficit on the Morphology and Physiology of Potted Hebe andersonii

Many plant producers tend to overwater crops to prevent water stress and salt-induced damage. These practices waste irrigation water and cause leaching that harms the environment and increases production costs. In order to optimize water consumption and minimize the environmental impact of plant production, this study aimed to determine the physiological and morphological responses of Hebe andersonii to three substrate volumetric water contents (49%, 39%, and 32%). The experiment was conducted in a greenhouse with an irrigation protocol that consisted of adding small volumes of water to avoid leaching while monitoring substrate moisture with dielectric soil sensors. The results showed that moderately low substrate moisture improved the water-use efficiency, while growth was significantly reduced under more severe water deficit conditions (but without leaf chlorosis or abscission). The photosynthetic activity of Hebe was primarily controlled by the stomatal aperture, which was co-determined by the substrate moisture and seasonal temperature. Hebe leaves promoted non-photochemical quenching when carbon assimilation was limited by a water deficit, and accumulated solutes through an osmotic adjustment process (especially Cl−, Na+, and K+) to maintain their water status. Overall, Hebe andersoni cv. Variegata could successfully grow and improve its water-use efficiency in low substrate moisture and under a non-draining irrigation regime.

ENTERPRISE COST MANAGEMENT METHODS

The article is devoted to the research analysis of current patterns in the methodology of cost management at the enterprise. Modern methods of production cost management are analyzed. Methods that take into account the influence of the internal and external environment on production costs are determined. It is established that each method used autonomously does not solve the entire complex of management tasks. Therefore, the improvement of cost management methods should be based on the synthesis of a new method that includes the advantages of existing cost methods and eliminates their disadvantages

The Effect of Price, Land Area and Production Costs on Rice Farmer’s Income: Case in Bone Bolango Regency

This study aims to determine the effect of price, land area and production costs on the income of rice farmers in North Toto Village, Tilongkabila District, Bone Bolango Regency. Data collection techniques used in this study were observation, interviews, questionnaires, and documentation. With a total sample of 44 farmers in North Toto Village. This research method uses a quantitative approach with multiple linear regression model analysis. The results showed that the price had a negative and insignificant effect on the income of rice farmers in North Toto Village. This means that every 1% increase in price can reduce income by 0.237. Land area has a positive and significant effect on the income of rice farmers in North Toto Village. This means that every 1% increase in land area can increase income by 0.682. Production costs have a negative and significant effect on the income of rice farmers in North Toto Village. This means that every 1% increase can reduce income by -0.254. The coefficient of determination (R Square) is 0.596, this shows that the percentage of rice farmers' income variation which is explained by the variation of the independent variables, namely price, land area and production costs is 59.6% for the remaining 40.4% influenced by other variables.

Exploiting Beneficial Pseudomonas spp. for Cannabis Production

Among the oldest domesticated crops, cannabis plants (Cannabis sativa L., marijuana and hemp) have been used to produce food, fiber, and drugs for thousands of years. With the ongoing legalization of cannabis in several jurisdictions worldwide, a new high-value market is emerging for the supply of marijuana and hemp products. This creates unprecedented challenges to achieve better yields and environmental sustainability, while lowering production costs. In this review, we discuss the opportunities and challenges pertaining to the use of beneficial Pseudomonas spp. bacteria as crop inoculants to improve productivity. The prevalence and diversity of naturally occurring Pseudomonas strains within the cannabis microbiome is overviewed, followed by their potential mechanisms involved in plant growth promotion and tolerance to abiotic and biotic stresses. Emphasis is placed on specific aspects relevant for hemp and marijuana crops in various production systems. Finally, factors likely to influence inoculant efficacy are provided, along with strategies to identify promising strains, overcome commercialization bottlenecks, and design adapted formulations. This work aims at supporting the development of the cannabis industry in a sustainable way, by exploiting the many beneficial attributes of Pseudomonas spp.

An Adaptive Modeling Framework for Bearing Failure Prediction

Rolling element bearings are a common component in rotating equipment, a class of machines that is essential in a wide range of industries. Detecting and predicting bearing failures is then vital for reducing maintenance and production costs due to unplanned downtime. In previous literature, significant efforts have been devoted to building data-driven health models from historical bearing data. However, a common limitation is that these methods are typically tailored to specific failure instances and have limited ability to model bearing failures between repairs in the same system. In this paper, we propose a multi-state health model to predict bearing failures before they occur. The model employs a regression-based method to detect health state transition points and applies an exponential random coefficient model with a Bayesian updating process to estimate time-to-failure distributions. A model training framework is also introduced to make our proposed model applicable to more bearing instances in the same system setting. The proposed method has been tested on a publicly available bearing prognostics dataset. Case study results show that the proposed method provides accurate failure predictions across several system failures, and that the training approach can significantly reduce the time necessary to generate an effective, generalized model.

Techno-Economical Evaluation of Bio-Oil Production via Biomass Fast Pyrolysis Process: A Review

Biomass pyrolysis is one of the beneficial sources of the production of sustainable bio-oil. Currently, marketable bio-oil plants are scarce because of the complex operations and lower profits. Therefore, it is necessary to comprehend the relationship between technological parameters and economic practicality. This review outlines the technical and economical routine to produce bio-oils from various biomass by fast pyrolysis. Explicit pointers were compared, such as production cost, capacity, and biomass type for bio-oil production. The bio-oil production cost is crucial for evaluating the market compatibility with other biofuels available. Different pretreatments, upgrades and recycling processes influenced production costs. Using an energy integration strategy, it is possible to produce bio-oil from biomass pyrolysis. The findings of this study might lead to bio-oil industry-related research aimed at commercializing the product.

Comparison of MINLP formulations for global superstructure optimization

Superstructure optimization is a powerful but computationally demanding task that can be used to select the optimal structure among many alternatives within a single optimization. In chemical engineering, such problems naturally arise in process design, where different process alternatives need to be considered simultaneously to minimize a specific objective function (e.g., production costs or global warming impact). Conventionally, superstructure optimization problems are either formulated with the Big-M or the Convex Hull reformulation approach. However, for problems containing nonconvex functions, it is not clear whether these yield the most computationally efficient formulations. We therefore compare the conventional problem formulations with less common ones (using equilibrium constraints, step functions, or multiplications of binary and continuous variables to model disjunctions) using three case studies. First, a minimalist superstructure optimization problem is used to derive conjectures about their computational performance. These conjectures are then further investigated by two more complex literature benchmarks. Our analysis shows that the less common approaches tend to result in a smaller problem size, while keeping relaxations comparably tight—despite the introduction of additional nonconvexities. For the considered case studies, we demonstrate that all reformulation approaches can further benefit from eliminating optimization variables by a reduced-space formulation. For superstructure optimization problems containing nonconvex functions, we therefore encourage to also consider problem formulations that introduce additional nonconvexities but reduce the number of optimization variables.

Enabling Production of Algal Biofuels by Techno-Economic Optimization of Co-Product Suites

Recent techno-economic analysis (TEA) has underscored that for algal biofuels to be cost competitive with petroleum fuels, co-products are necessary to offset the cost of fuel production. The co-product suite must scale with fuel production while also maximizing value from the non-fuel precursor components. The co-product suite also depends on algal biomass composition, which is highly dynamic and depends on environmental conditions during cultivation. Intentional shifts in composition during cultivation are often associated with reduced biomass productivity, which can increase feedstock production costs for the algae-based biorefinery. The optimal algae-based biorefinery configuration is thus a function of many factors. We have found that comprehensive TEA, which requires the construction of process models with detailed mass and energy balances, along with a complete accounting of capital and operating expenditures for a commercial-scale production facility, provides invaluable insight into the viability of a proposed biorefinery configuration. This insight is reflected in improved viability for one biorefining approach that we have developed over the last 10 years, namely, the Combined Algal Processing (CAP) approach. This approach fractionates algal biomass into carbohydrate-, lipid-, and protein-rich fractions, and tailors upgrading chemistry to the composition of each fraction. In particular, transitioning from valorization of only the lipids to a co-product suite from multiple components of high-carbohydrate algal biomass can reduce the minimum fuel selling price (MFSP) from more than $8/gallon of gasoline equivalent (GGE) to $2.50/GGE. This paper summarizes that progress and discusses several surprising implications in this optimization approach.