Artificial neural networks (ANNs) constitute a class of flexible nonlinear models designed to mimic biological neural systems. In this entry, we introduce ANN using familiar econometric terminology and provide an overview of ANN modeling approach and its implementation methods. † Correspondence: Chung-Ming Kuan, Institute of Economics, Academia Sinica, 128 Academia Road, Sec. 2, Taipei 115, Taiwan; ckuan@econ.sinica.edu.tw. †† I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the editor, Professor Steven Durlauf, for his patience and constructive comments on early drafts of this entry. I also thank Shih-Hsun Hsu and Yu-Lieh Huang for very helpful suggestions. The remaining errors are all mine.

Artificial neural networks

Effect of biodiesel fuels on diesel engine emissions

As a renewable, sustainable and alternative fuel for compression ignition engines, biodiesel instead of diesel has been increasingly fueled to study its effects on engine performances and emissions in the recent 10 years. But these studies have been rarely reviewed to favor understanding and popularization for biodiesel so far. In this work, reports about biodiesel engine performances and emissions, published by highly rated journals in scientific indexes, were cited preferentially since 2000 year. From these reports, the effect of biodiesel on engine power, economy, durability and emissions including regulated and non-regulated emissions, and the corresponding effect factors are surveyed and analyzed in detail. The use of biodiesel leads to the substantial reduction in PM, HC and CO emissions accompanying with the imperceptible power loss, the increase in fuel consumption and the increase in NOx emission on conventional diesel engines with no or fewer modification. And it favors to reduce carbon deposit and wear of the key engine parts. Therefore, the blends of biodiesel with small content in place of petroleum diesel can help in controlling air pollution and easing the pressure on scarce resources without significantly sacrificing engine power and economy. However, many further researches about optimization and modification on engine, low temperature performances of engine, new instrumentation and methodology for measurements, etc., should be performed when petroleum diesel is substituted completely by biodiesel.

http://www.abe-research.illinois.edu/pubs/T_Grift/EffectOfBiodieselOnEnginePerformancesAndEmissions.pdf

Effect of biodiesel on engine performances and emissions

Advancements in development and characterization of biodiesel: A review

An ever increasing demand of fuels has been a challenge for today’s scientific workers. The fossil fuel resources are dwindling day by day. Biodiesel seems to be a solution for future. Biodiesel is an environmentally viable fuel. Out of the four ways viz. direct use and blending, micro-emulsions, thermal cracking and transesterification, most commonly used method is transesterification of vegetable oils, fats, waste oils, etc. Latest aspects of development of biodiesel have been discussed in this work. Yield of biodiesel is affected by molar ratio, moisture and water content, reaction temperature, stirring, specific gravity, etc. Biodegradability, kinetics involved in the process of biodiesel production, and its stability have been critically reviewed. Emissions and performance of biodiesel has also been reported. 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Review article Advancements in development and characterization of biodiesel: A review

Improvement of engine emissions with conventional diesel fuel and diesel-biodiesel blends.

/pdf/man-in-the-middle-attack-understanding-in-simple-words-1b4w199z85.pdf

Man-in-the-middle-attack: Understanding in simple words

Behavior of Diesel Combustion and Exhaust Emission with Neat Diesel Fuel and Diesel-Biodiesel Blends

Concern of environmental pollution and energy crisis all over the world have caused the research attention on reduction of IC engine exhaust emissions and saving of energy simultaneously. This investigation mainly focuses on reducing exhaust emission and energy saving by investigating diesel combustion with neat diesel fuel and a new attachment of inlet air preheater with Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR) system. Experiment was conducted in a four stroke naturally aspirated (NA) diesel engine with inlet air preheating attachment and EGR system. Inlet air preheating and EGR were applied to the experimental engine separately and also together to observe their effects on engine performance. In this study, engine exhaust gas temperature was used to preheat the inlet air passing through a newly designed air preheating system. In inlet air preheating attachment, a counter flow heat exchanger was used to transfer heat from exhaust gases to inlet air. It was found that combined effect of inlet air preheating attachment and EGR system provided better result on engine performance than individual effect. It was found that at medium load conditions, oxides of nitrogen (NO x ), carbon monoxide (CO), engine noise, and brake specific fuel consumption decreased when inlet air preheating and EGR were applied together as compared to those during normal operations of the engine. Thus the modified engine provides clean atmosphere and better fuel economy without reducing useful characteristics (brake power, brake thermal efficiency etc) of the engine.

/pdf/combined-effect-of-egr-and-inlet-air-preheating-on-engine-351gkh967o.pdf

Combined Effect of EGR and Inlet Air Preheating on Engine Performance in Diesel Engine

In this paper, a decentralized low-cost water treatment plant is designed using empirical equations. From the analysis of water quality of Bangladesh, it is seen that the standard level of water quality is not maintained in Bangladesh. First, the primary treatment plant is designed including septic tank and anaerobic pond design. But only primary plant is not enough for the removal of impurities, for this reason secondary treatment plant is designed considering facultative pond, wetland and sand filter. Wetland and facultative pond can remove almost 70% of N and 55–60% of P. The designed plant has an efficiency of 65% in both N and P removal and the effluent amount will be 8.1 mg/L and 1.5 mg/L respectively. The other parameters like arsenic and BOD are also discussed in this paper. Finally, a detailed feasibility analysis of the plant is discussed including environmental impact, technical analysis and installation and running cost. The installation cost of the plant is around 650–700 dollar, whereas a conventional water treatment plant of the same capacity costs 2000–3000 dollar approximately. The designed plant is very much compatible for a big family or two–three small families. Finally, some recommendations are provided which may be considered as future research work.

Mhia Md. Zaglul Shahadat

Papers

Improvement of engine emissions with conventional diesel fuel and diesel-biodiesel blends.

Man-in-the-middle-attack: Understanding in simple words

Behavior of Diesel Combustion and Exhaust Emission with Neat Diesel Fuel and Diesel-Biodiesel Blends

Combined Effect of EGR and Inlet Air Preheating on Engine Performance in Diesel Engine

Design and feasibility analysis of a low-cost water treatment plant for rural regions of Bangladesh