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Repurposing used batteries for second-life applications has gained attention as a sustainable practice to reduce electronic waste. However, implementing reverse logistics for batteries faces significant challenges, including complex regulatory landscapes and safety requirements. This study focuses on the transportation of batteries failing safety criteria and highlights the need for specialized logistics firms. A recent breakthrough involving cryogenic freezing for lithium-ion batteries inspired this research, showing minimal impact on electrical performance. After flash cryogenic freezing, we extended this investigation to sodium-ion batteries and conducted a comprehensive comparative analysis of both battery types. Our results reveal that cryogenic freezing has no discernible impact on voltage stability, battery capacity, or energy efficiency for either battery chemistry. These findings highlight the resilience of lithium-ion and sodium-ion batteries to extreme cryogenic conditions and suggest their potential suitability for applications in harsh environments. Further research is needed to assess long-term effects and operational parameters for specific use cases. Nonetheless, our study provides a strong foundation for considering these batteries under cryogenic conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions present a formidable obstacle to sustainable development, particularly within the transportation sector, contributing to nearly a quarter of global emissions. Notably, in Thailand, road transport accounts for over half of the transport sector's energy-related emissions. Driving behavior significantly affects vehicle energy consumption. Differences in acceleration and braking patterns can be indicative of variations in energy consumption levels. Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) is a type of Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS), offering automatic speed control, which behaves differently than a human when driving. This enhancement affords greater operational ease to drivers and has the potential to exert a discernible influence on energy consumption paradigms. The current study compares the energy consumption patterns between driving with and without ACC functionality under real-world driving conditions. Three different drivetrains were tested, including a battery electric vehicle (BEV), hybrid electric vehicle (HEV), and internal combustion engine vehicle (ICEV). The driving tests were conducted on various rural routes. Vehicle sensor data was collected utilizing an onboard diagnostics-II system. The empirical findings of the current study indicate that the deployment of ACC led to an approximate escalation in energy consumption rates of 0.26% for the HEV, 1.43% for the BEV, and 2.26% for the ICEV. The findings significantly contribute to understanding the potential environmental impacts of utilizing ACC technology across different drivetrains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, the thermal behavior of a cryogenic heat pipe was experimentally investigated. The cryogenic heat pipe is a conventional type of a heat pipe (wicked heat pipe). The heat pipe studied here utilizes a cryogenic fluid as its working fluid and operates at low temperatures. To carry out the experiments, commercially available heat pipes that use water as the working fluid and are typically intended for use at room temperature were utilized. This study replaced the working fluid with either N2 or Ar. The heat pipe consists of copper and has a diameter of 6 mm, a length of 200 mm, and a thickness of 1 mm. The wick structure comprises sintered powder copper and grooves. The study investigated the impact of the filling ratio of the working fluid and the inclination angle of the cryogenic heat pipe. The N2− and Ar-heat pipes both exhibited an overall thermal resistance (Rth) value of 0.20 and 0.25 K/W, respectively, during normal heat pipe operation mode. It was found that the filling ratio of the working fluid had a significant impact on both the maximum heat transport capability, Qmax, and the overall thermal resistance of the heat pipe. Moreover, the inclination angle also had an effect on Qmax, with an angle greater than 10 ˚ when the evaporator section is positioned below the condenser section being found to notably increase the value of Qmax. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Leaves can be used to assess the health of a plant. The chlorophyll content and nitrogen status of plants might be used to assess plant health. Chlorophyll content of plant leaves is measurable in the laboratory using dimethyl sulfoxide or the Kjeldahl technique. These destructive investigations of plant tissues accurately evaluates chlorophyll concentration and nitrogen status. However, this procedure is costly and time-consuming. Using a SPAD instrument, non-destructive chlorophyll measurements were performed. However, the price of the instrument is high. This research intends to develop a technique for detecting chlorophyll content using a smartphone's built-in camera. The approach used is an advancement of ground-based remote sensing technology. The object of this research is maize. An RGB camera on a mobile phone was used to gather data on the greenness level of the leaf. Concurrently, the SPAD value was measured to determine the chlorophyll content. In this study, there were three primary phases, capturing leaf images with geotags, leaf image processing, and vegetation index (VIs) analysis. This research demonstrated that a mobile camera has potential as a tool for measuring chlorophyll content depending on the level of leaf greenness. Additionally, the GPS function on each data provides the chlorophyll distribution in a field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cannabis Sativa L. has been clinically proven to be used for antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antiemetic, parasitic, antibacterial, antiviral, antifungal, antipyretic, painkiller, etc. Consequently, this plant began to be widely produced as an agricultural crop with selling value. More than that, the production of medicinal cannabis products has been permitted in several countries across the world. Furthermore, detecting the chlorophyll content is very important to monitoring the quality of cannabis leaves since the chlorophyll content plays an essential role in determining photosynthetic capacity and plant growth. Chlorophyll content can be assessed using a bench-top method, which might give an accurate and stable result. However, the bench-top method is destructive, costly, and time-consuming. The hand-held SPAD chlorophyll meter is widely used nowadays as a non-destructive instrument. Nevertheless, the price of this device is not affordable, especially for small holder. This work aims to develop a relatively cheap, non-invasive, and accurate method for chlorophyll content detection. A low-cost Hyperspectral Imaging (HI) based on the mobile phone was used in this research. Low-cost HI can read reflected values at visible (400 - 700 nm) wavelengths by applying digital filters to photographs. The reflectance value at each wavelength was plotted and considered equal with the hyperspectral imaging system method afterward. Then, Artificial Neural Network (ANN) was used to analyze spectral data and generate a model prediction to predict unknown data. The best model predictions were built with 10- and 50-layer sizes. The coefficient determination (R2) exhibited acceptable model predictions of 0.785 and 0.8, with root-mean-squared deviation (RMSE) of 3.396 and 3.439, respectively. A low-cost HI device has great potential to detect chlorophyll content on the plant; hence pre-processing and resolution quality should be improved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vertical farming (VF) allows for more plants to be cultivated in a particular land area, maximizing land-use efficiency. VF employs multileveled shelves enabling crops to be planted at each level. This paper aims to develop an optimization model that could generate a required setup of a vertical shelf that would meet the sunlight requirements of strawberries. Firstly, the simulation model was developed using Rhino (Rhinoceros) software with Grasshopper plugin, which can predict the sunlight availability at each VF shelf level. The model is validated by the experiment in Chiang Mai province, Thailand, at an elevation higher than 310 m above mean sea level. The experiment set up of the VF shelf with three levels was constructed, and the solar radiation values were recorded and validated against the radiation predicted by the model. The validated model is used to simulate the sunlight radiation on each level of the shelf for different shelf designs with varying vertical spacings between each level. These sets of predicted radiation values and vertical spacings are used to train the ANN (Artificial Neural Network) model. The ANN simulation model was developed using MATLAB software with Simulink and Neural Net Fitting App. The trained ANN model has an MSE (Mean Squared Error) of 0.00019621 and an R (the correlation coefficient) value of 0.9992. As a result, the optimization model could successfully give out the vertical spacing between each level of the VF shelf with an input of desired sunlight availability on each level. For the PPFD (Photosynthetic Photon Flux Density) of 600 µmol/m2/s on both levels, the spacing should be 51.34 cm from the top to the middle (y1) and 48.69 cm from the middle to the bottom (y2). To receive 600 and 500 µmol/m2/s on the middle and bottom level respectively, the levels should be placed 66.77 cm (y1) and 30.89 cm (y2) apart. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two-dimensional (2D) lattice structures are attractive metamaterials because they can be designed to have lightweight features and desirable properties. The anisotropic behavior of the lattice structures can help design engineers develop lattice structures suitable for applied load directions. This study described the degree of anisotropy of the lattices' elastic properties, with a focus on unit cells having various patterns and orientations. The mechanical anisotropy of lattice structures constructed of square, body-centered square, hexagonal, and diamond unit cells was analyzed using analytical techniques. The closed-form expressions and the transformation equations were utilized to determine the degree of anisotropy exhibited by these structures, which was subsequently represented by means of polar plots of their mechanical properties. Moreover, the anisotropic polar plots allowed for a detailed description of the mechanical performance of the lattice structures with varying unit cells, providing valuable insights into their underlying physical mechanisms. Finally, the accuracy and reliability of the obtained results were confirmed by means of rigorous finite element simulations, thereby enhancing the robustness and validity of the research findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]