Operation Analysis of Selected Domestic Appliances Supplied with Mixture of Nitrogen-Rich Natural Gas with Hydrogen

This article presents the results of the testing of the addition of a hydrogen-to-nitrogen-rich natural gas of the Lw group and its influence on the operation of selected gas-fired domestic appliances. The tests were performed on appliances used for the preparation of meals and hot water production for hygienic and heating purposes. The characteristics of the tested gas appliances are also presented. The burners and their controllers, with which the tested appliances were equipped, were adapted for the combustion of Lw natural gas. The tested appliances reflected the most popular designs for domestic gas appliances in their group, used both in Poland and in other European countries. The tested appliances were supplied with nitrogen-rich natural gas of the Lw group, and a mixture of this gas with hydrogen at 13.2% content. The article presents the approximate percentage compositions of the gases used during the tests and their energy parameters. The research was focused on checking the following operating parameters and the safety of the tested appliances: the rated heat input, thermal efficiency, combustion quality, ignition, flame stability, and transfer. The article contains an analysis of the test results, referring, in detail, to the issue of decreasing the heat input of the appliances by lowering the energy parameters of the nitrogen-rich natural gas of the Lw group mixture with a hydrogen addition, and how it influenced the thermal efficiency achieved by the appliances. The conclusions contain an explanation regarding, among other things, how the design of an appliance influences the thermal efficiency achieved by it in relation to the heat input decrease. In the conclusions, on the basis of the research results, answers have been provided to the following questions: (1) Whether the hydrogen addition to the nitrogen-rich natural gas of the Lw group will influence the safe and proper operation of domestic gas appliances; (2) What hydrogen percentage can be added to the nitrogen-rich natural gas of the Lw group in order for the appliances adapted for combusting it to operate safely and effectively, without the need for modifying them?

Household intelligent personal assistants in the Netherlands: Exploring privacy concerns around surveillance, security, and platforms

Intelligent personal assistants (IPAs), also known as smart speakers, are becoming part of everyday life in more and more households around the world. Phone and household IPAs are integrated in intimate home contexts and require connections to (social) media profiles, user accounts, and domestic appliances. Users can control their household with voice-activated commands in order to make life more convenient and efficient. Yet, IPAs also bring privacy and surveillance concerns about devices “listening in,” the “platformization” of home life, and data security. Our exploratory mixed-methods study provides an in-depth and multidimensional account of users' privacy concerns around the emergence of IPAs in Dutch households. We differentiate between surveillance, security, and platform concerns, and our survey results indicate by which factors these are influenced. The focus group analysis highlights the role of conversation, recordability, locatability, control-ability, and assistance affordances. Our findings present a multidimensional and nuanced understanding of privacy concerns around household IPAs. We indicate how smart home technologies raise concerns about privacy, surveillance, device security, everyday behavior, and platform transparency, topics that demand urgent attention before the integration of IPAs will be fully normalized.

Detection of LPG Gas by Using Multi Sensors Array and Fabricated ZnO Gas Sensor

The demand for LPG (Liquefied Petroleum Gas) detection constitutes a major and critical problem in the field of gas detection. LPG is used for domestic appliances used in the heating of buildings, producing petrochemicals and as a motor fuel. The current paper used the fabricated ZnO, in addition to TGS 813, TGS 2600, TGS 4160, TGS 3870, TGS 822 as semiconductor gas sensors, in varying temperature and load resistance in a prototype setup so as to explore each model’s accuracy for performance prediction for gas detection. The fabricated ZnO gas sensor is used also to detect the LPG. The comparison is done between gas sensors array and the fabricated one from ZnO. The actual results are put in comparison with the empirical algorithms’ predictions. The optimal model is found to be the full quadratic empirical model based on the lowest error with different sensors.

Ex Situ Tribological and Electro-chemical analysis of Aluminium

Aluminium sample coupon is evaluated for electro-chemical, tribological and microstructural study under selected test conditions. Aluminium is a light-weight material chiefly preferred in fields like automobile, aerospace, marine and satellite domestic appliances etc. Moreover, due to its specific characteristics, it plays a crucial role in industries and research fields. In the present work, the ex situ tribological (wear test), electrochemical (corrosion test), mechanical (microhardness test) and microstructural (nodularity percentage) behaviours of Aluminum sample is presaged. The test results reveal that, when experiment advance, with respect to time the wear rate increases, frictional force is decreased and pin temperature increased. The corrosion test is held on specimen coupon in two modes, before and after wear test, and observed that the corrosion rate gets improved on specimen after wear test. Nodularity analysis also express that the nodularity percentage is increased by 5%. Before wear test, the percentage of accepted count to total count of nodules on texture is 65.18%, while the percentage after wear test is found to be 70.29%. The Vickers Microhardness analysis exhibits the hardness value as 160 HV on Vickers Hardness Scale.

Implementation Analysis of Solar PV Based SEPIC Inverter System

For welfare of environment, world needs to use more and more renewable energy system not only at the level of industrial but also for domestic load system. Due to much installation cost involving in a solar PV cell/panel based system there is a need of better mechanisms to get maximum utilization and benefits from the system with reliable operation, especially in the case of microgeneration power plant to full fill the minimum desired requirements of domestic appliances to achieved reliable operation. Mostly available PV based inverter system having problem of low output voltage generation and THD producing issue, which needs to a requirements of extra circuit to the control THD and boost up the level of output voltage. In this paper, solar PV based closed loop SEPIC converter by PWM technique to maintain a step up constant dc output voltage with no polarity reversal, low ripple in output and minimizing the requirement of additional filter circuit and fed to single phase inverter. This paper has been focused for the overall single phase PV based SEPIC inverter system implementation, performances and simulated on MATLAB/SPS software to provide low losses, 2% minimum THD and reliable operation in compare with single phase PV based Cuk inverter is used for DC-AC conversion system to compatible with domestic load appliances.

Financial development and CO2 discharge in Nigeria

This study examined the effect of financial development, fossil energy use, economic progress, and FDI on environmental pollution in Nigeria from 1981 – 2014 using the ARDL technique. The outcome of the bond test reveals the presence of a long-run association on the variables of the model. The short-run estimate shows that all the variables positively influence CO2. The result of the long-run analysis further indicates that financial progress, fossil fuel, and GDP accelerates the level of CO2 discharge. However, FDI does not explain environmental pollution in Nigeria. Hence, the study suggests that government and policymakers should formulate policies to improve financial development designed to mitigate CO2 discharge by giving directives to financial institutions that all credits allocation should be toward the purchase of low emission technologies and domestic appliances. In addition, environmentalists should enlighten citizens on the danger of environmental pollution and ways to reduce it through public lectures and seminars.

Implementation of Controlling Home Appliances Via Secure Short Message Service Technology

These days, homes include a variety of electrical devices that are important to families for accomplishing daily tasks. These devices are powered by electricity and in some cases, require a lot of power consumption. Home users must control these devices manually by switching them ON/OFF; this exposes them to potential electric shock and can give rise to other dangerous situations. This paper presents a new approach for creating an electrical system that makes it easy to control household domestic appliances via short message service from a smartphone device. In this manner, users can be provided with a relaxed and safe approach to using electrical devices. The result of this work, users can access to the home devices easily and interact with them without any problem of electrical shock and personal effort