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A successful rice production on swampland would require a planting material from high yielding varieties adaptated to the swampy ecosystem. This study was carried out to compare the growth and yield characteristics of five rice lines and a check variety as grown on non-tidal swampland. The lines were F4 generation of bulk selection from the crosses involving Bengkulu swamp rice landraces (Hanafi Putih, Tigo-tigo, Harum Curup, and Lubuk Durian) and high yielding varieties for the irrigated field (Sidenuk and Bestari). The trial was conducted on a shallow non-tidal swampland with stagnant inundation no more than 50 cm in depth often occurred during the plant life cycle. The lines and the check variety (Inpara 4) were arranged in a randomized complete block design with three replications. Observations were made for the agronomic performances of the plant, including plant height, total tiller number clump-1, effective tiller number clump-1, heading date, maturity date, panicle length, grain number panicle-1, 100-grain weight, and grain yield clump-1. Significant variation among the genotypes was found for all observed traits. On average, the evaluated lines showed comparable growth and yield performances to the check variety. Tigo-tigo × Bestari was the tallest line and potential for medium depth swampland. This line showed good overall agronomic performances and yielded relatively higher than the check variety, but delayed in attaining maturity. For shallow swampland, Hanafi Putih x Sidenuk exhibited the most potent line by having good overall agronomic and yield performances, except late in maturity. For early maturing line, Lubuk Durian x Hanafi Putih showed its potential for shallow swampland. Although this line was not the best, it showed better overall agronomic performances than the check variety. Keywords: F4 lines, growth and yield performance, rice landrace, swampland, plant maturity

© 2020 Elsevier Ltd Free cooling of buildings uses the nocturnal outdoor air as a heat sink via a ventilation process. This could be performed by storing the night coolness for use during the daytime as appropriate. Due to the latent heat capacity, phase change material (PCM) could play anessential role in the effective operation of the free cooling systems by shifting the daytime peak load to the night. However, there is a scarceness on the technology application in hot climates. This paper presents results of a parametric investigation into the application of PCMs as thermal energy storage (TES) to provide sustainable cooling to buildings in hot arid climate by making use of the night-time free cooling. The proposed TES medium comprises an arrangement of metallic modules filled with RT28HC PCM. Numerous geometrical configurations and operational parameters have been assessed. A transient CFD simulation has been employed using ANSYS Fluent software. Validation of the numerical results with experimental data has shown a good agreement. The results have demonstrated that the temperature difference between the PCM and the air, at appropriate air flow rate would have a significant impact on the performance of the system. A free cooling system based on the proposed arrangement has the potential to meet around 42% of a typical building cooling load and has the ability to save up to 67% of building cooling energy load in summer season compared to conventional air-conditioning systems in hot arid climates.

Abstract Additional experimental data concerning the kinetics of Ni-Mo codeposition were obtained by investigating cathodic polarization using a rotating disc electrode. The Ni-Mo alloys were deposited from an ammonium citrate bath. The alloy deposition was controlled by activation in the case of low values of the cathode potential and by diffusion in the case of higher values. The hydrogen discharge was found to be diffusion controlled. The inductive influence of nickel results in depolarization of the reduction of molybdenum which cannot be deposited separately. An increase in the disc rotation speed caused an increase in the maximum cathode efficiency and in the molybdenum content of the alloy.

We present the architecture and design of the IANOS scheduling framework. The goal of the new Grid scheduling system is to provide a general job submission framework allowing optimal positioning and scheduling of HPCN applications. The scheduling algorithms used to calculate best-suited resources are based on an objective cost function that exploits information on the parameterization of applications and resources. This standard-based, interoperable scheduling framework comprises four general web services and three modules. The middleware is complemented with one client and one admin console. The implementation is based on proposed Grid and Web services standards (WSRF, WS-Agreement, JSDL, and GLUE). It is agnostic to a specific Grid middleware. The beta version of IANOS has been tested and integrated with UNICORE. The validation of IANOS is in progress by running different types of HPCN applications on a large-scale Grid testbed.

Abstract A CFD modelling study has been undertaken to examine the co-firing of pulverised coal and biomass with particular regard to the burnout of the larger diameter biomass particles. Computations were based on a research combustion facility that replicates an industrial coal-fired power station. Three percent, by mass, of pinewood was blended with a bituminous UK coal, and the effects of the wood particle size and shape on the burnout of the combined wood and coal char were investigated. The effect of varying the devolatilisation and char combustion rate constants for the biomass component in the blend was also investigated. It was concluded that the combustion of small (200 μm) wood particles was rapid but the rate of combustion of larger particles was dependent on their composition, size, and shape.

The Severn Estuary has the world's second largest tide range and a barrage across the estuary, located just seawards of Cardiff in Wales and Weston in the South West England, has been proposed for over half a century, with the objective of extracting large amounts of tidal energy. A Severn Barrage, as previously proposed by the Severn Tidal Power Group (STPG), would be the largest renewable energy project for tidal power generation in the world, if built as proposed, and would generate approximately 5% of the UK's electricity needs. However, concerns have been raised over the environmental impacts of such a barrage, including potential increase in flood risk, loss of intertidal habitats etc. In addressing the challenges of maximizing the energy output and minimizing the environmental impacts of such a barrage, this research study has focused on using a Continental Shelf model, based on the modified Environmental Fluid Dynamics Code (EFDC) with a barrage operation module (EFDC_B), to investigate both the far and near field hydrodynamic impacts of a barrage for different operating scenarios. Three scenarios have been considered to simulate the Severn Barrage, operating via two-way generation and using different combinations of turbines and sluices. The first scenario consisted of 216 turbines and 166 sluices installed along the barrage; the second consisted of 382 turbines with no sluices; and the third consisted of 764 turbines and no sluices. The specification of the sluice gates and turbines are the same for all scenarios. The model results indicate that the third scenario has the best mitigating effects for the far-field and near-field flood risks caused by a barrage and produces the most similar results of minimum water depth and maximum velocity distributions to those obtained from simulating the natural conditions of the estuary, i.e. the current conditions. The results also show that the flow patterns around the barrage are closest to those for the existing natural conditions with minimal slight changes in the estuary. Thus, the results clearly indicate that the environmental impacts of a Severn Barrage can be minimized if the barrage is operated for two-way generation and under the third scenario. Although it appears that the energy output for the third scenario is less than that obtained for the other two scenarios, if very low head (VLH) turbines are used, then the third scenario could generate more energy as more turbines could be cited along the barrage structure. Therefore, the study shows that a Severn Barrage, operating in two-way generation and with 764 turbines (ideally VLH turbines), would be the best option to meet the needs of maximizing the energy output, but having a minimal impact on environmental changes in the estuary and far-field.

Biomass plays an important role in the world primary energy supplies, currently providing ∼14% of the world's primary energy needs and being the fourth largest contributor following coal, oil and natural gas. Over the past decade, domestic biomass heating has received more governmental and public supports than ever before in many developed countries, such as the UK. Although biomass combustion releases some combustion pollutants, biomass is renewable and produces little net CO 2 emissions to the atmosphere. Owing to the low sulphur and low nitrogen contents of many biomass materials, substituting biomass for fossil fuels, particularly coal, can reduce SO x and NO x emissions. This study investigated flue gas emissions, particularly carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides, of a domestic biomass boiler under various operating conditions. The biomass boiler used in this study satisfies the current EU regulation (EN 303-05) on emissions of domestic biomass boilers. Emissions of the boiler had been measured not only under normal combustion conditions, but also under 'idle' combustion conditions when the boiler was not in but was ready for full operation. The experimental results are analysed and presented in this paper. Copyright The Author 2010. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org, Oxford University Press.