IPT - Ci2 - Artigos em Conferências
Permanent URI for this collection
Browse
Browsing IPT - Ci2 - Artigos em Conferências by Issue Date
Now showing 1 - 10 of 26
Results Per Page
Sort Options
- Energy Mix in the Production of HydrogenPublication . Pereira, Carlos; Coelho, Paulo; Fernandes, José; Gomes, MárioThis paper presents a study related to the production of electricity through a mini-hydro plant (MHP) and a photovoltaic (PV) system particularly sized for a location in Tomar (Portugal). A system based on this energy mix is adopted in order to produce hydrogen (H2) and oxygen (O2) at high pressure for energy storage purposes. The main features of the different equipments chosen in this study are also presented in the paper.
- Screening of Solid Waste as Filler Material for Constructed WetlandsPublication . Mateus, D. M. R.; Pinho, Henrique J. O.The reuse of solid waste can contribute to reducing Earth’s resource depletion, directly through use in the original production processes or by valorisation in alternative applications. In the present work, ten solid wastes were evaluated as candidates for filling material in constructed wetlands (CWs). For that purpose, physical characterization, leaching and adsorptiontests were conducted. Limestone fragments and brick fragments resulting from construction activities, coal slags resulting from power plants, snail shells resulting from the food and catering industry, and cork granulates resulting from the cork industry have potential for use as CW fillers. These five materials have adequate physical properties and some capacity to adsorb phosphorous and organic compounds from wastewater. On the other hand, crushed eggshells resulting from egg farms, dealcoholized grape pomaces resulting from alcohol distilleries, olive seeds waste from olive-oil mills, and pine bark fragments and wood pellets resulting from forestry cleaning activities, wood mills and pulp mills did not demonstrate sufficient potential to be used as CW fillers, either because they have very low adsorption capacities or leach compounds in contact with water, or because they have less adequate physical properties. None of the tested solid wastes showed the ability to adsorb nitrogen compounds. Although the five selected materials do not present a special capability for adsorption of nitrogen, phosphorous and organic compounds, they can all be valued as CW fillers, representing a way to reduce the amount of solid waste sent to landfills.
- Net Zero Energy for Industrial and Commercial Microgrids: Approaches and ChallengesPublication . Bandeiras, Filipe; Gomes, Mário; Coelho, Paulo; Fernandes, JoséThis paper addresses the concept of net zero energy and net metering in efficient buildings in order to assist in the study and development of future microgrids for buildings with annual zero energy consumption. There are several definitions for zero energy buildings available in the literature with a distinct set of project goals and interests, but this work is focused on the definition that accounts for energy losses by converting each energy type to source energy. Finally, a case study is presented to evaluate whether four distinct all-electric buildings can achieve annual zero energy by deploying on-site renewable sources within their site boundary.
- Solid Waste Mixtures as Constructed Wetlands Filling: Effect of Hydraulic Loading Rate on Nutrient Removal from WastewaterPublication . Pinho, Henrique J. O.; Alves, Ana; Graça, Nuno; Mateus, D. M. R.This study aims to contribute to constructed wetlands’ (CWs) eco-efficiency by applying the concepts of circular economy and waste to treat waste. Five sets of lab-scale CWs with different combinations of filling materials were evaluated and the effect of the hydraulic loading rate (HLR) on the nutrient removal efficiencies was studied. Each CW set consisted of two, duplicate, plastic pots with solid waste filling supporting Phragmites australis macrophyte plants. The filling materials were layer combinations of limestone rock fragments, a waste from construction activities, and one of four other solid wastes: cork granulates from the cork industry (LCG); snail shells from the food and catering industry (LSS); coal slag from coal power plants (LCS); and clay brick fragments from construction activities (LBF). A reference set (LO) was filled only with limestone fragments. The CWs were operated using a low-strength wastewater in successive fill-and-drain cycles with a retention time of one to eight days and a one-day rest. Their removal efficiency was evaluated for COD, total phosphorus (TP) and total nitrogen (TN). All four CWs with mixed filling showed COD removal efficiencies higher than the reference CW and above 79%. The highest removal efficiency was achieved by the LCS CW (91 to 97%). The reference LO CW showed the highest TP removal efficiency. With exception of the LSS CW, the mixed filling CWs showed removal efficiencies close to the reference CW (above 55%). All but the LSS CW showed higher TN removal efficiencies than the reference CW (above 51%). The observed effect of HLR depends on the type of CW. The effect on COD, TP and TN removal efficiencies averaged 9%, 15% and 20%, respectively, for a range of HLR from 0.005 to 0.087 m/day. From this study it can be concluded that all tested layer-packed mixed solid waste fillings are adequate substrate combinations for nutrient removal from wastewater. Moreover, high nutrient removal efficiencies were maintained over a wide range of hydraulic loading rates. This innovative combination of waste materials can improve the CW adaptability to specific types of wastewater and contribute to reducing solid waste disposal in landfills.
- VITASENIOR-MT: a telehealth solution for the elderly focused on the interaction with TVPublication . Pires, Gabriel; Frazão Correia, Pedro; Jorge, Dário; Mendes, Diogo; Gomes, Nelson; Dias, Pedro; Ferreira, Pedro; Lopes, Ana; Manso, António; Almeida, Luis; Lopes de Oliveira, Luís Miguel; Panda, Renato; Monteiro, Paulo; Grácio, Carla; Pereira, TelmoRemote monitoring of health parameters is a promising approach to improve the health condition and quality of life of particular groups of the population, which can also alleviate the current expenditure and demands of healthcare systems. The elderly, usually affected by chronic comorbidities, are a specific group of the population that can strongly benefit from telehealth technologies, allowing them to reach a more independent life, by living longer in their own homes. Usability of telehealth technologies and their acceptance by end-users are essential requirements for the success of telehealth implementation. Older people are resistant to new technologies or have difficulty in using them due to vision, hearing, sensory and cognition impairments. In this paper, we describe the implementation of an IoT-based telehealth solution designed specifically to address the elderly needs. The end-user interacts with a TV-set to record biometric parameters, and to receive warning and recommendations related to health and environmental sensor recordings. The familiarization of older people with the TV is expected to provide a more user-friendly interaction ensuring the effectiveness integration of the end-user in the overall telehealth solution.
- Tracer experiments with lithium chloride to evaluate the hydrodynamics of constructed wetlands. Comparison of alternative analytical methodsPublication . Pinho, Henrique J. O.; Mateus, D. M. R.; Alves, Ana; Graça, NunoThe characterization of water flow dynamics (hydrodynamics) through constructed wetlands is relevant for optimizing wastewater treatment. Although constructed wetlands consist of simple systems, the water flow is complex and irregular, therefore, the study of hydrodynamics requires the use of experimental technics such as tracer experiments. To evaluate the effects of the use of three different analytical methods to compute the concentration of lithium chloride on the main hydrodynamics parameters, tracer experiments were conducted in ten independent lab-scale constructed wetlands. The concentration of lithium chloride in the output flow of the wetlands was calculated by flame photometry, electrical conductivity using a calibration curve and electrical conductivity using the salt molar conductivity. The paired samples T-test or the non-parametric Wilcoxon’s Signed-Ranks test were used to demonstrate that the computed hydraulic retention time and the number of tanks accordingly with the tanks-in-series model were not significantly affected by the selected analytical method.
- Towards a Practical and Cost-Effective Water Monitoring SystemPublication . Marques, João; Lopes, Brígida; Ferreira, Carlos; Pinho, Henrique J. O.; Barros, Manuel; Granchinho, Pedro; Neves, Pedro; Camarinha-Matos, L.; Almeida, R.; Oliveira, J.In recent years, there has been increasing awareness of the preservation, protection and sustainable use of natural resources. Water resources, being one of the most important, face major threats due to contamination by pollutants of various types and origins. Maintaining the quality of water resources requires more robust, reliable and more frequent monitoring than traditional data collection techniques based on manual sampling methods. This article, which is the result of ongoing research, proposes a practical and cost-effective solution for a surface water monitoring system, using a robotics platform and cloud services. The proposed solution allows for scalability and will accommodate a wide range of end-user specifications. To allow for continuous operation in longer activities, the design of a versatile real-time water quality monitoring system should also take into consideration the question of its energy requirements and self-sufficiency.
- Head-movement interface for wheelchair driving based on inertial sensorsPublication . Gomes, Daniel; Fernandes, Filipe; Castro, Eduardo; Pires, GabrielPowered wheelchairs provide the only means of mobility for many people with severe motor disabilities. For those with both lower and upper limbs impairment, available interfaces may be either impossible or very difficult to use, as well as not very efficient. In this paper we propose an egocentric interface based on inertial sensors placed on the user's head. This interface is based on head movements that provide continuous direction and speed commands to steer the wheelchair, and allows an initial null-position of the head according to the natural posture of the user. However, the development of an inertial interface for driving a wheelchair presents two main challenges, namely, (1) the simultaneous movements of the head and the wheelchair, each one with its own coordinate system, and (2) the free unrestricted movement of the head. Therefore, the two coordinate systems need to be combined and several safety features are required to only ensure admissible commands. In this paper we describe the overall implementation and preliminary experiments that show the effectiveness of the proposed solution.
- Recognition of human activity based on sparse data collected from smartphone sensorsPublication . Figueiredo, João; Gordalina, Gonçalo; Frazão Correia, Pedro; Pires, Gabriel; Lopes de Oliveira, Luís Miguel; Martinho, Ricardo; Rijo, Rui; Assunção, Pedro; Seco, Alexandra; Fonseca-Pinto, RuiThis paper proposes a method of human activity monitoring based on the regular use of sparse acceleration data and GPS positioning collected during smartphone daily utilization. The application addresses, in particular, the elderly population with regular activity patterns associated with daily routines. The approach is based on the clustering of acceleration and GPS data to characterize the user's pattern activity and localization for a given period. The current activity pattern is compared to the one obtained by the learned data patterns, generating alarms of abnormal activity and unusual location. The obtained results allow to consider that the usage of the proposed method in real environments can be beneficial for activity monitoring without using complex sensor networks.
- VITASENIOR-MT: A distributed and scalable cloud-based telehealth solutionPublication . Mendes, Diogo; Panda, Renato; Dias, Pedro; Jorge, Dário; António, Ricardo; Lopes De Oliveira, Luís Miguel; Pires, GabrielVITASENIOR-MT is a telehealth platform that allows to remotely monitor biometric and environmental data in a domestic environment, designed specifically to the elderly population. This paper proposes a highly scalable and efficient architecture to transport, process, store and visualize the data collected by devices of an Internet of Things (IoT) scenario. The cloud infrastructure follows a microservices architecture to provide computational scalability, better fault isolation, easy integration and automatic deployment. This solution is complemented with a pre-processing and validation of the collected data at the edge of the Internet by using the Fog Computing concept, allowing a better computing distribution. The presented approach provides personal data security and a simplified way to collect and present the data to the different actors, allowing a dynamic and intuitive management of patients and equipment to caregivers. The presented load tests proved that this solution is more efficient than a monolithic approach, promoting better access and control in the data flowing from heterogeneous equipment.
- «
- 1 (current)
- 2
- 3
- »